Evangelions

Misato Katsuragi: "What in hell *is* an Eva?!"
Ritsuko Akagi: "It's a thing created by Man in Man's own image. I really can't describe it any other way".
Misato: ""Created by Man"?! You didn't create anything! You just copied something you found in the Antarctic! What was the original? That's what I want to know!"
Ritsuko: "This is not just a copy".

An Evangelion (エヴァンゲリオン) is a giant cybernetic combat unit built by Nerv with the express purpose of defeating attacks by the Angels. At first glance, Evangelions (often called Evas for short) appear to be giant humanoid "robots". However, most of an Evangelion is actually organic -- with external armor hiding their true appearance.

Evas are genetically-modified clones of the First Angel, Adam (but see note below). After being "grown", they receive cybernetic implants, namely in the spine and upper torso, which allows humans to control them -- both in terms of manipulating ("piloting") them, and keeping their incredible power under control. The armor plating and mechanical implements grafted onto their bodies act first and foremost as "restraints", although exactly how this works is never elaborated upon.

As Adam-based beings, Evangelions are capable of generating a A.T. Field, a super-force field against which renders conventional attacks useless. Due to the fact that an A.T. Field is the only thing that can neutralize another A.T. Field, the Evas are humanity's only means of combating the Angels.

Notes

• Evas are referred to as "copies" of Adam, and, in the CI, by the awkward phrase "clonal regenerations" (in reference to the "Adam Revival Project", or Project E). In real life use, "clone" means an exact genetic copy, which, considering the differences the Evas exhibit amongst themselves, they clearly cannot be.
• Eva-01 was made from Lilith in some way, but the exact nature of their relationship is undetermined -- i.e., if Eva-01 is (somehow) a "Lilith clone" or if Lilith was simply a "surrogate mother". See: Theory & Analysis: Eva-01 and Lilith.
• According to Ritsuko in Episode 01, the formal full name for the Evangelion Units (almost never actually used) is "Ultimate All-Purpose Humanoid Decisive Battle Weapon: Evangelion".

See Also:

• Evangelion weapons
  • Evangelion melee weapons
  • Evangelion ranged weapons
• Evangelion equipment

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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