Dummy System
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"Making something... Nurturing something is really great. You can see and learn so many things from the process." |
A dummy system (ダミーシステム) is an artificial pilot system for the Evangelion Units. It can be made to take over control of the Eva from the pilot, as in Episode 18, or it can work with a dummy plug (ダミープラグ), an altered entry plug which is red instead of white, as with the Mass Production Evangelions. The dummy plugs contain the personality data of either Rei Ayanami or Kaworu Nagisa and are designed to "trick" an Evangelion into thinking that it is synchronizing with a real pilot by mimicking the pilot's thought patterns.
The Rei dummy system is implied to be beset with problems. Nerv successfully uses it only once, when Gendo has it seize control of Eva-01 from Shinji in Episode 18. In Episode 19, Eva-01 rejects both Rei and the Rei dummy plug, accepting only Shinji as its pilot. Never again is any attempt made to use the dummy plug with Eva-01. A dummy system was installed on Eva-02 and the required data transferred as well, but no attempt was ever made to utilize it.
The Mass Production Evangelions exclusively use Kaworu dummy plugs, removing the human element from their actions.
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Analysis
At the end of Episode 23, Ritsuko Destroys the Rei Tank in the Dummy Plug Plant, putting an end to the Dummy System. The connection between Rei clones and the Dummy System is neither obvious nor easy to comprehend. From what little that can be deduced, the scenes with Rei soaking in the LCL seem to have something to do with imbuing the Dummy System with her personality and/or memories.
The Dummy Plugs themselves do not have clones physically inside them (the controller Ritsuko uses to destroy them starts with Rei 4 and Rei 1-3 are accounted for) which raises the question of how the destruction of the tank of clones could affect the Dummy Plugs installed in the Evangelions. The Dummy System was successfully activated only once, and never seen in operation afterwards, so there remains no way of knowing how much functionality the systems installed aboard the Evas retain.
The existence of Kaworu Dummy Plugs for the Mass Production Evangelions means that another, independently created Dummy System is in existence, but nearly nothing is known about it.
Rebuild of Evangelion
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"I've heard this story countless times already." |
Gendo briefly alludes to the dummy system in Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone with the line, "The dummy plug is not yet in its trial stage."
Trailers for Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance as well as the actual film reveals Eva-01 under the control of the Dummy System during the 9th Angel battle, similar to the TV series.
