Beast Mode
Beast Mode (ビーストモード) is a special built-in combat function that gives an Eva pilot access to more of an Eva's innate power, resembling a "controlled berserk".
In Evangelion 2.0, the mode is showcased when Mari pilots Eva-02 against the Tenth Angel. After traditional combat methods prove ineffective, she initiates the process by saying, "Invert mode. Secret code: The Beast!"
This jettisons the shoulder pylons, painfully releases the Eva's limiters, and triggers a physical transformation wherein the Eva "abandons its humanity". The Eva's body proportions are generally elongated, and the head becomes saurian in appearance, with a large maw and uniformly shaped teeth. By the end of the transformation, many of the Eva's outfittings are missing or otherwise altered.[1] The reconfigured Eva is still controlled by the pilot and relies on internal battery power, but exhibits vastly heightened mobility and A.T. Field-breaching power.
Both the Eva and its pilot behave in a very animalistic manner. Activating Beast Mode seems to be very taxing on the pilot, and entails a negative plug depth that puts her at great risk for losing human form herself. The only unambiguous physical change that Mari experiences as a result of the venture are glowing green irises.
It is unknown if any other Eva units possess the Beast Mode function.
| Beast Mode | |||
Name
The term "Beast Mode" is not used within the film itself, but rapidly entered the fan parlance. (First appeared as a a fan coinage?) It appears on the packaging of a set of Eva figurines released by HDM Souzetsu[2], and possibly other merchandise, which gives "Beast Mode" sufficient authenticity.
The "official" term for the mode, as used by Ritsuko in-film, is Beast Form 2nd Phase (Type 1)[3] (獣化第２形態（第１種）, Juuka Dai 2 Keitai (Dai 1 Shu)). This raises the questions of what "1st Phase" would refer to, or what the other implied "types" are.
References
- ↑ This is not well-explained. The one cut addressing it simply shows the plates on Eva-02's back vanishing, as by "sinking into" a dark matrix from which the limiters then eject.
- ↑ Full Color Market. HDM創絶エヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版2 ｓｐ入全9種フルコンプ. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
- ↑ Translation from Evangelion 2.0 Complete Records Collection.
