Theory and Analysis:Angels' Origins

This is an extended analysis article which is a special extension from both the Episode 10 article and the main Angels article.

The series only vaguely discusses where Angels actually "come from". The Seeds of Life Adam and Lilith both landed on Earth after being seeded across space by the God-like progenitor aliens known as the "First Ancestral Race" four billion years ago. The Third through Seventeenth Angels are the "children of Adam". Humans ultimately derive from Lilith, hence the name "Lilim" applied to them by Kaworu Nagisa, the last Angel (

All subsequent references to "Angels" in this article exclude Lilith, and also the view that humans could be considered the "18th Angel" given that as Angels derive from Adam, they derive from Lilith, and Adam and Lilith were the same type of being, etc.

How did Adam create the other Angels?

Still, just exactly how Angels "come from" Adam is not specifically addressed. In The End of Evangelion, Misato Katsuragi states that Angels are "humans that have rejected human form". This could be again taken in the sense that Angels derive from Adam, humans from Lilith, and thus there is a link between the two but they branched off.

Thus several questions are raised: Were the Angels already created by Adam when Adam was traveling through space to Earth in her "White Moon" transport vessel? Were the Angels created by Adam after the White Moon landed on Earth, but lay dormant (in an embryonic stage of some sort) along with Adam underneath Antarctica? Were they created during Second Impact? Was Adam "impregnated" by something else ("prepared" somehow by the FAR) or did she produce the other Angels asexually?

No clear or definitive answer was ever given. What evidence there is seems to point to that Adam and Adam alone produced the other Angels, asexually, at least by the time of Second Impact.

How did the Angels physically get from Adam to attacking Tokyo-3?

Beyond the question of how the other Angels were created, is the question of how they went from being created by Adam to where they first appeared in the year 2015. If the Angels were present in the "White Moon" of Adam in Antarctica when Second Impact occurred on September 13th, 2000...how did they reach the areas where they were first encountered? Were the embryos or seeds of the Angels "scattered" across the globe from Antarctica in the explosion of Second Impact?

• Most Angels just appear mysteriously from the ocean, then make landfall either near Tokyo-3, or then proceed from the shore to Tokyo-3. This is the case with Sachiel, Gaghiel, Israfel, and Matarael. Shamshel, Ramiel, and Zeruel can fly, but they still entered Japanese airspace from over the ocean and their point of origin was unknown.
• Sahaquiel and Arael amazingly appeared in Earth orbit. How they got there is not speculated upon.
• Ireul apparently infiltrated Nerv HQ within a piece of recently installed metal plating, from which it spread to infect base systems. No investigation into the origin of the original infected plate is ever touched upon.
• Leliel and Armisael just suddenly appear directly over Tokyo-3, with no prior hint to their arrival.
• Bardiel first appeared as a strange cloud which the transport plane carrying Evangelion Unit-03 passed through as it flew Eva Unit 03 from the United States to Japan. Somewhat like Ireul, it then infected and took over Eva Unit 03.
• Sandalphon's first appearance is perhaps the most tantalizing, because Nerv actually discovers it before it starts attacking: Sandalphon is first discovered while in an embryo or cocoon-like immature state...deep inside the magma of an active volcano. Why it would first appear there of all places is unrevealed. Further, this raises the question: were all of the other Angels also hidden in other unaccessible parts of the world (volcanoes, deep ocean floor, etc.) "maturing" in a pupal state, before they attacked?
• Tabris, better known by his human name Kaworu Nagisa, represents somewhat of a special case, because there is also much discussion on the nature of Kaworu. All we know for certain is that Seele sent Kaworu to Nerv, and that Kaworu serves as a "vessel" for the soul of Adam. It has even been theorized that Kaworu was created by Seele (by inserting Adam's soul) and thus the last "naturally occurring" Angel was Armisael (this is of course unconfirmed).