Evangelion Unit-02
| Evangelion Unit-02 | |
| |
| {{{japanese}}} | |
| Model Type | Production |
|---|---|
| Pilot(s) | Asuka Langley Soryu |
| Soul(s) | Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu |
| First Sortie | Episode 08 |
Design and Production
Eva-02 is the third Evangelion completed, the first "Production Model" Evangelion. The design of Eva-02 supposedly rectifies the mistakes made during the construction of Prototype Eva-00 and Test Type Eva-01, making it the first Evangelion built specifically for combat against the Angels.
As a production model Evangelion, Eva-02 is shown to be capable of using different equipment fits, like the D-type Equipment seen in Episode 10. In addition, Eva 02 has a distinctive Progressive Knife that resembles a box cutter. Seemingly unique to Eva-02 is a rack of spikes in its right shoulder pylon, which can be fired like missiles.
Design Features
Eva-02 is a "Production Model" Evangelion and uses the same armor arrangement as the succeeding Eva-03 and Eva-04, and the repaired Eva-00. All Evangelions using this arrangement use the same pylon design and have five V-shaped armor plates on their torso.
This Evangelion is unique in having four eyes and bluish-purple blood, instead of the two eyes possessed by all other non-Mass Production Evangelions (the two-eyes rule includes Eva-00, whose eyes are never seen), and the standard red blood of all other Evas.
Although Eva-02 has a jaw and mouth, when armored these cannot open to the same extent as those on Eva-01, Eva-03 and 04, and so there is no hinged jawpiece in the helmet. Instead, the helmet has movable sections that can shift to cover or uncover the Eva's eyes. Four prominent nostril holes are located in a bulging section of helmet on the forehead.
The Eva-02 seen in the proposal is labeled "Test Type" and has two hornlike cheek extensions, apart from the other design changes between the Proposal Eva designs and the finished show. The proposal design does have a variant of the all-red color scheme seen in the show, however.
During the creation of the movie End of Evangelion, a new Eva-02 design was adopted. Although visually similar to the original design in the TV series, the new design has drastically reduced pylon size, more humanlike body proportions, and a narrower, redesigned head shape. These changes may have been done in order to ease the animation of Eva-02's final battle, although they sometimes add a jarring visual discontinuity with the rest of the series.
Soul
Eva-02's soul is that of Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu. For this reason her daughter, Asuka Langley Soryu was chosen as her pilot. Not all of Kyoko's soul was absorbed; the portion of her soul containing her maternal aspects was absorbed into the Eva. As a result, while Kyoko physically survived her "contact experiment" with Eva-02, she was driven clinically insane and had to be institutionalized, profoundly affecting her young daughter Asuka.
Also, even though Kyoko physically died after going insane, the maternal component of her soul continues to survive within Eva-02. It also seems likely that the remainder was salvaged into Eva-02 following the suicide, as well: in flashbacks to Episode 22 and Episode 25, we hear the insane Kyoko begging Asuka, "Please die with me!"
In the scene in Episode 25' where Asuka finds her mother within Eva-02, Kyoko repeats, "You mustn't die! You must live! You're alive!", several times. However, the familiar "Please die with me!" is mixed in twice among her inspirational words, thus strongly implying that the insane Kyoko and the maternal Kyoko were incorporated together.*
Eva-02 in Rebuild
Eva-02 is shown very briefly in the trailers for Rebuild 2.0. Notable alterations include the inclusion of a crescent-shaped piece of armor on the Eva's forehead, forming two small horns on top of its helmet. The Eva has been given more humanlike proportions than its original series counterpart, similar to the End of Evangelion design and the other Evangelions in the Rebuild continuity. Apart from alterations to the color palette (Notably the white "waistband"), Eva-02 is depicted with a new progressive knife design, and appears capable of deploying two progressive knives simultaneously instead of the single knife seen in the original series and End of Evangelion.
Notes
- See Soul Divisibility for more details of this phenomenon.
- The Eva-02 seen in End of Evangelion is sometimes called "Evil Gejikouban(Theatrical) Kyoko" by fans, who deride the design changes.
| Evangelions |
| Evangelions (general) |
| Failed Evangelion Prototypes | Simulation Bodies |
| Eva-00 | Eva-01 | Eva-02 | Eva-03 | Eva-04 | Mass Production Evangelions (Evas 05~13) |
| Rebuild of Evangelion: Mark.04 | Eva-05 | Mark.06 | Eva-08 | Mark.09 | Eva-13 |
| Eva 8+2 | Mass Production Evangelions | Failures of Infinity |
| Other: Extracanonical Evas |
