The Neon Genesis Evangelion Thread

Note: The following information comes from a handbook given to the audiences during the original release of End Of Evangelion. It is considered canon.

4.6 billions years ago, deep in the milky way galaxy existed "The First Ancesteral Race", a group of alien beings who were practically omnipotent with their advanced technology. Their world faced with extinction, they accepted their fate, but decided to ensure that life would continue to exist in the universe. Placing the soul of one of their race into seven "Seeds Of Life", they scattered them to 7 inhabitable planets before their destruction.

Each equipped with The Dead Sea Scrolls and a Lance Of Longinus, the Seeds Of Life would provide a primordial soup of life to the planets, and begin life.

There were two kinds of Seeds, a Black Moon, and a White Moon. A "Fruit Of Life" White Moon would spawn Angels, strange and bizzare lifeforms to take over the planet and inhabit it. A "Fruit Of Knowledge" Black Moon would spawn intelligent beings, and ultimately lead to the life form forming civilization.

The White Moon landed on Earth first in Antarctica, but for whatever reason a Black Moon landed as well before the White Moon could begin life on Earth.

Sensing what was wrong, the White Moon became inactive to prevent two life forms from beginning at the same time, allowing us humans to emerge from the Black Moon (metaphorically speaking as evolution would have to take place over millions of years).

Jump forward to the year 2000. Seele, a mysterious organization, discover the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Black Moon uncovered in Japan. The Dead Sea Scrolls were instructions on what the Seeds Of Life were and what they did. They also explain what would happen if two Seeds Of Life hapened to meet on the same planet.

Discovering the White Moon in Antartica, Seele sends the Katsuragi Expedition, headed by Misato's father, to initiate Second Impact before Adam, the soul residing in the White Moon awakens. If Adam was able to reawaken, all Lillith (the soul residing in the Black Moon) based life would extinguish right down to the bacterial level.

Using a human "donor" to initiate contact with Adam, they start Second Impact. In the aftermath of the damage, they were able to suspend Adam into an embryonic state, and delay the coming of the Angels.



The White Moon, along with Antarctica is destroyed. The Black Moon, the birthplace of humanity, is quickly taken up by Seele and their U.N. puppet government along with the truth of Second Impact, instead fabricating a story that a meteor hit the planet. On top of the Black Moon, Tokyo 3 is created, a fortress city designed to intercept the Angels that will be coming in 15 years for Adam, the father of the Angels and Lillith, the mother of humanity, in the depth of the Black Moon Geofront.

The Angels are the offspring of the White Moon, and Adam the first. There are 15 Angels created by Adam, and 4 other Angels classified as such (Adam and Lilith being considered Angels by Seele for being born of the Moons).

Adam's children are described as humans who cast aside human form, meaning they were created from the same elements (the primordial soup of life), to be come the "monsters" they appear to be. Most of the Angel's have the same motivation: to reconnect with their now embryonic father Adam, and initiate a Third Impact that would eliminate all Lillian (Human) based life form. Angels become more and more complex with each appearance in the show, possibly a hint of how powerful they can be with maturity. Although it's explicitly stated by Kaworu and Kaji that the Angels wish to contact Adam, it's implied that the earlier angels were mistakened Lillith for Adam, since both come from the First Race. Even the last angel makes this mistake.

The reason why they want to eliminate humanity, is so that they do not have any competition for domination of the planet (biologically speaking).

Angels have all inherited from Adam: massive power to project energy, a core which holds their "soul", S2 engine and an A.T. Field.

With the backing of Seele, secret organization Gehirn is created, hidden as a U.N. Lab in the construction of Tokyo-3 and started with the original members of a Seele backed U.N. research group (the surviving members of the Katsuragi Expedition, including Ikari Gendo. It is tasked to start research and development on the Evangelion Series, the Magi supercomputer and plan the defenses for the coming of the Angels.

Dr. Naoko Akagi, the mother of Ritsuko Akagi, is the brain behind the development and ultimately success of the Magi Supercomputer, and the first Evangelion. Magi is meant to be a bionic super computer, implanted with three seperate human personalities.

Magi, named after the three wise men from the East, was created in order to act as an operation system for the Evangelion Series, and to give the series the capacity to hold personality. In the series, it is tasked with running the government of Japan (through majority rule between the three personalities), running NERV headquarters, and give NERV staff information, analysis and suggestions on the Evangelion Series and the Angels.



Soon after, future subcommander Fuyutsuki joins the organization, after revealing his knowledge of the true Second Impact. Ikari Yui, Shinji's mother and wife of Ikari Gendo, is seemingly killed and erased during a freak accident (that Shinji witnessed but has no recollection of when the series begins). Two successful Evangelion units are created: Unit 00 and Unit 01. The organization is reformed under a new name: NERV. Dr. Naoko Akagi commits suicide after killing Rei.

Evangelions are not robots. They're humans in the loosest sense of the word. Evangelions, with the exception of Evangelion Unit 01, are made from the remains of the Adam's Seed Of Life. Like Adam described as "the giant being of light", Evangelions share the same phsyical form of a human being and a unit "core".

Featuring an A.T. Field, and a power equal to the Angels themselves, they are humanities only hope of defeating the Angels and initiating Third Impact.

Unlike their White Moon counterparts however, the Evangelions originally did not have S2 engines, meaning that they are severely limited in operation time, and are forced to use a power cord before relying on internal power.

Later in the series, Experimental Evangelion Unit 01 was able to ingest an S2 engine. The Mass Production Evas proudly featured them, allowing them to have the ability of flight (no longer being constrained by the cord).

Evangelions are covered in binders, which also serves as armor, a way to control the Evangelion, and disguises the Evangelion series true inner workings: They have limbs, blood, a nervous system organ system, and even eyeballs (notably shown during the second episode, and during Asuka's defeat at the hands of the Mass Production Evas.



Like the Angels, Evangelions have regeneration abilities, although it's implied that it takes long periods of time to repair extensive damage (think of Angels when they recover from an N2 bomb). Damage sustained by the Evangelion units can result in massive repair costs to replace or salvage the armored binders, and give the Evangelion enough bio mass to help accelerate the regeneration.

The system that allows electronic personality for the Magi Computer is incorporated into all Evangelions, allowing each of the pilots to interface with the Evangelion's soul

In the series, Seele is a council of twelve members, five of whom are shown in the beginning of the series. Chairman Keel Lorenz, the guy in the green suit and weird glasses, is the head of both the full council and the inner circle of 5. When the full council convenes, they project an image of large stone monoliths in a video conference (Keel is SEEL 01 SOUND ONLY).

SEELE, is essentially a group of old men who rule the world, as they directly control the U.N. (and all the countries within the U.N.) and NERV, having funding and backing both organizations.

After completing o it's goals of creating the MAGI, and first opperational Evangelion (Unit 00), Geherin was directly reorganized into NERV. NERV is a paramilitary special agency, tasked with defending mankind against the Angels, and prevent the Angels from starting a Third Impact.

Given authority under the U.N. (SEELE), NERV is a laregely independent organization, as only the Evangelion Series can stand up to the Angels, although they do coordinate with with other organizations such as the JSSDF (Japanese Strategic Special Self Defense Forces). Their main role in the defense against the Angels, is to support the Evangelion Units, provide logistics and technical support to the pilots. They have branches all over the world (Asuka and Kaji were transfered from the Branch in Germany), and like the main branch in Tokyo-3, they host their own Magi supercomputers and have the infrastructure to support and build Evangelions, which is where the Production and Mass production models were created.

NERV is a semi public organization, being under the U.N., however their main purpose (to defeat the Angels and support the Evangelion series) is a top secret from the general public. NERV has thousands of intelligence agents, who track down former NERV employees, keep tabs on current, and eliminate all leaks. They have are also shown to have special privileges, and can override and give orders to local governments. They also regularly issue media black outs during Angel and Evangelion activity (though after a certain point, everyone in Tokyo-3 knows what's going on).

Ikari Gendo is the head of Special Agency NERV, and regularly butts heads with the SEELE organization. Because SEELE directly funds NERV, Gendo must work and show that NERV is accomplishing it's goals of completing it's secret agenda: The Human Instrumentality Project, otherwise NERV, and Gendo will be cut.

A.T. Field, also known as Absolute Terror Field, a barrier than can only be penetrated by another, is one of the primary sources of conflict for this show. Projected by the Angels and Evangelions, it renders conventional weapons useless against them (it took all the power in Japan to break through just one!). Although it is mainly a defensive tool, the Angels and occasionally the Evangelions, are shown using A.T. Fields offensively, by projecting them in a unique manner (The "Shadow" Angel inverted his A.T. Field, essentially creating a black hole.) N2 Mines, which stand for Non-Nuclear, have the power of a nuclear missile, but even they can only momentarily paralyze a unit protected by an A.T. Field. Evangelions are typically seen entering close combat with Angels, as it is the most effective way of dealing with an A.T. Field.

The only other way to negate this seemingly impenetrable forcefield is through the use of the Lance Of Longinus. The Lance Of Longinus, created by the First Artificial Race and sent to Earth in each of the Moons (Lillith's Lance was destroyed upon impact), is the most powerful weapon in the series. It is considered a godly weapon, able to completely piece through an A.T. Field without one of it's own, and wreaks massive amount of damage to either, which is why SEELE was very upset that the Lance was lost in orbit around the moon when the 22nd Angel Arael (the mind rape Angel). It is speculated that the Lance was included with the Black and White seeds, to offer a security measure for whatever beings seek to control their (The First Ancestral Race's) creations.

"Were you expecting some cute girl? I apologize... it's just me Ikari Shinji..."

LCL is an orange liquid, that floods the entry plug of an Evangelion unit. Because it is oxygenated, it allows for pilots to breathe while completely submerged, and once an electrical current is run through the LCL, it allows it to become as dense as air, allowing the pilots to see clearly. The solution allows for pilots to interface with the Evangelion's soul.

LCL is the primordial soup of life, where all life originated on Earth. Special Agency NERV obtains LCL from the blood of Lillith deep underground Centeral Dogma. With the Lance piercing her chest, Lillith bleeds LCL ("smells like blood"), and forms the lake of tang in central dogma.

Plugsuits are skintight (mmf) spandex suits. that help reduce interference for the pilots, they are also capable of providing emergency medical aid, such as a defibrillator but have a limited amount of power. They are not required to pilot Eva, as Shinji has shown numerous times in the series, though it appears that the interface headsets (the things that Asuka always wears) are critical in synchronizing. They're also a major source of a lot of latex fetishes for the fans.


"PERVERT!"


A high synchronization rate is critical to piloting the Evangelion, which is why LCL, plugsuits, interface headsets and an astounding amount of testing is required to increase the pilot's ability to interface. Pilots control Evangelions through their thoughts, and are able to move Evangelion like a part of their body, only if they are able to maintain a synchronization rate over 10%. The higher it is, the less clumsy Evangelion becomes, which is crucial in aiming the various weapons and engaging in close combat with the Angels. However the downside is that the pilots receive information at a higher rate as well from the Evangelion unit, meaning they experience pain. and ultimately injuries the Eva units recieve if the synchronization rate is high enough (Asuka losing her eye for example... and then eventually Unit 02 being eaten).

Alas, the great question. Why send giant robots (biomechanical whatever) worth billions of dollars to do battle against giant alien invaders, and risking the local population and infrastructure, piloted by a bunch of kids?

The simple half answer is that because the Angels only gave 15 years of notice, that's just the average age the pilots were, (since they had to be created into candiates, and in some cases created).

The real answer is that you cannot be an Evangelion pilot without losing your mother.

Every student in Shinji's class have been hand selected by the mysterious Marodoc Institute (an organization affiliated with SEELE and NERV), as candidates to be an EVA pilot. They all do not have a mother.

The unit "core" of the Evangelion, is home to the soul of the pilot's mother, which is why (with the exception of Rei and Shinji), pilots cannot interface with different Eva units.

Yui Ikari first completed the biomechanical theory, before the year of Second Impact. She theorized that personality and a person's "soul" could be transplanted like machinery. After the hell of Second Impact, the Gehirn Institute hires her to help complete her theory and materialize it in Eva.

With the Magi system completed, the NERV now had a system to allow pilots to interface with a unit's soul, despite the Evangelion units being completely biological.. Yui Ikari willingly allowed herself to be assimilated into the Eva unit, to protect and watch over Shinji, and fulfill her goal of advancing humanity for the sake of children like her son.



This is why Unit 01 goes beserk 3 seperate times in the series. Shinji's mother is still alive inside Unit 01, and protects him at all costs.

Unfortunately Asuka's mother had a much more tragic case. Instead of assimilated her entire personality and body into Unit 02, only the love and caring for Asuka was assimilated (although it accomplished the same results).