Human
Human (人: hito, 人間: ningen, 人類: jinrui)[1], as used in the Evangelion universe, most often refers to Lilin (Mankind). However, the many "untraditional" uses of "human", "person", etc., indicate that a more expansive concept of humanity exists, although it is never precisely defined.
Over the course of the show:
- Adam is referred to as the "first human".
- Lilith is said to be a "person" and "human". (Though note that this is after it has fused with both Adam and Rei 3.)
- The Evas are called "artificial humans". Ritsuko later simply refers to them as "human" (affirming Shinji's inquiry regarding their status as "people").
- Adam's children are described as "humans who cast aside human form".
- Rei says that Kaworu is as human as she is -- hence they both are human.
- And, of course, the Lilin are humans.
This effectively means that everything designated an "Angel" within the show, along with some "off the list" Angelic entities (the Evas and Rei), are "human" as well, raising the question of what the exact distinction between "Angel" and "human" is, if any exists at all. Since Humans have also been referred to as the 18th angel, the distinction could be even harder to spot.
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"The story presented to the public was just a cover-up." |
The answer may lie in the common origin of all these entities: that is, the First Ancestral Race. They were a humanoid species, and it would probably not be a stretch to consider them the original form of humanity. Nothing conclusive is known about the FAR's motivations, although it is possible that the Seeds of Life were created as human gods made in the FAR's image for the purpose of preserving humankind. This would be on both a physical and metaphysical level, with humanity embodied by each individual Seed in body and soul, and, additionally, each Seed would be intended to propagate a different variation of humankind.
With Adam, that variation was to be a race of gods who could take on any form imaginable, but still be intrinsically human. With Lilith, a human species would arise through (possibly "guided") evolution from microscopic beginnings, acquiring a remarkable resemblance to the "original model" of humanity despite taking a completely different developmental path.
......Of course, this is all speculation.
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References
- ↑ These three Japanese terms vary in nuance, although they can all be translated to the English word "human" (depending on context). They are also the three words used to refer to "human", "person", "humanity", "mankind", etc., in Evangelion. For example, "artificial human [ningen]" (the Evas) and "humans [jinrui] that cast aside human [hito] form" (Adam's children).
