Neon Genesis Evangelion glossary
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This is a glossary of terms from the anime and manga series Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Contents |
[edit] Equipment
[edit] AT Field
AT Field is short for "Absolute Terror Field". While in the series the characters always refer to it as "AT Field", the opening credits show the complete expression. It has also been shown once in Death and Rebirth during the flashbacks, and in various documents like the Red Cross Book.
At the beginning of the series, the AT field is shown as a barrier that the Angels can erect, which can be penetrated by a large enough energy source, like the positron cannon used on Ramiel, the fifth angel, the N² Mine used against the seventh Angel, Israfel, or by another AT field (such as those generated by the Evas). Toward the climax of the series, it is revealed that every being has an AT Field, and that it is the literal wall that separates one's identity from other egos and external reality. It is, then, the cause of loneliness and pain, and can be related to the so-called "Hedgehog's Dilemma" exhibited by main character Shinji Ikari — the fact that some people feel pain from loneliness but also get hurt when approached, and the closer they are to others, the more they are hurt.
At the climax of The End of Evangelion, after the Third Impact, the re-awakened Lilith produces a massive Anti-AT field that neutralizes the AT fields of all human beings, thus returning them to an undifferentiated state — the Sea of LCL, a primordial soup of sorts.
The AT field is a very existential angst concept. It also bears resemblance to the "morphogenetic field" of Rupert Sheldrake.
Kaworu states that the AT field is the wall that surrounds a person's soul.[1] It would theoretically follow that all humans (and likely most animal organisms) have AT Fields of some sort.
[edit] B-type Equipment
The standard equipment of the Evas, such as the Prog-Knife. Not Suitable for combat in extreme conditions or underwater, as shown in the episode, 'Asuka Strikes'.
[edit] D-type Equipment
D-type equipment is a thick, heat-resistant armor used for sending Evas into extreme conditions. It resembles an old-fashioned diving suit and is fitted with coolant circulation systems. Unit 02 was equipped with the D-type equipment when it entered a volcano in episode 10. Asuka wears a modified plug suit with expandable thermal insulation in this episode, so the special suit may also be part of the D-type equipment.
[edit] Dummy Plug
The Dummy Plugs are artificial pilots. All the regular Eva units are eventually fitted so they can be operated with either the pilot or the Dummy Plug. There are two known types of Dummy Plugs, those with the "personality" of Rei Ayanami and those with the "personality" of Kaworu Nagisa (the latter was used in the Mass Production Evangelions). It is said that they are programmed with operator data collected from their subjects, but others believe that they contain soulless physical clones of Rei and Kaworu. This second belief is supported by a scene in which a large tank filled with clones of Rei floating in LCL is described as "parts for the Dummy Plug system" by Ritsuko. In fact, the two theories are not fundamentally incompatible, since the clones are mindless as well as soulless. The mass-produced Evangelions were equipped with Dummy Plugs in order to avoid the unpredictable behaviour of human pilots. Among the original Evas, Unit 01 is the only one incompatible with the DPS, which is methodically rejected at every activation attempt after the first one. Its main drive is stored behind the pilot's seat, marked by a large "DRIVE: A" plaque.
[edit] Entry Plug
Pilots control their Evangelion from within their "Entry Plugs." They are long, cylindrical structures rounded at both ends with a hatch to allow the pilots' entry. After the pilot enters the plug, the plug is filled with the breathable fluid, LCL. Control from within the entry plug for activation of the Evangelion usually consists of voice-commands (in conjunction with mental thought), although this is usually done by those concerned at NERV, remotely. In controlling the movements of the Evangelion, pilots must be able to "synchronize" with it. The Evangelion Death & Rebirth Theatrical Program booklet states:
The Evangelion are controlled mainly by linking with the cranial nerves of the pilot. Of these, the most important is this A^10 nerve. ... It is associated with higher order brain functions such as memory, cognizance and the execution of movement, and with emotions such as anxiety, fear, happiness and pleasure. In addition, it is also said to play an important role in affection between parent and child, and between lovers.
In practice, the connection is, most importantly, made through the interface headsets placed on the pilot's head, and are picked up from within the entry plug. Also, the plug suit helps in boosting the synchronization rate. Apparatuses found within the entry plug include two distinctly designed hand-triggers which are used for simple, but delicate, finger movement for firearms. The screens that show the external environment surround the pilot and are picked up by cameras located on the Evangelion's head. They also display other information, and are apparently three-dimensional projections.
[edit] Jet Alone
Jet Alone is a nuclear-powered, unmanned, super robot created by an independent corporation for the Japanese government with the intention of supplanting the Evangelion units. However, its control systems were tampered with by agents of NERV and the unit's first public demonstration nearly ended in a nuclear disaster. The project remained unsuccessful after the incident.
Introduced in Episode 7, Jet Alone and the company who made it were trying to show up the Evangelions and NERV, respectively. When Ritsuko publicly questions the creator of Jet Alone about the safety of Jet Alone using a nuclear reactor as a power source and of it's overall combat effectiveness, the creator states "It's better than a machine that won't work for more than 5 minutes and forcing it's pilot to undergo intense mental instability". He then went on to show top secret photos of Eva Unit 01 going berserk, claiming that Jet Alone, being unmanned and armed with a supercomputer that rivals the MAGI to calculate its' combat decisions, would never do such a thing. He then reveals to the world the existence of the AT Field that NERV had managed to emulate from the Angels, stating it would not take long to figure it out themselves to install on future Jet Alone units. It seemed that Jet Alone would surely surpass the Evangelions in every matter.
Ritsuko, obviously embarrased, apparently sabotaged the Jet Alone's program, and when it activates it does not stop walking and its cooling system fails. Continuously running to a nearby city just minutes from a reactor meltdown, Misato decides to have Shinji carry her into it with Unit 01 so she can manually shut off its reactor. She manages to do so.
Due to the public embarrassment, the Jet Alone Project was ended. NERV had successfully kept its good name.
The name of JA comes from the robot, Jet Jaguar, from the special effects film Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973). Jet Jaguar was a robot whose design was chosen from submissions from the public, and when it was initially announced, its name was Red Alone. Jet Alone is a combination of the two names. The Alone part may also refer to the fact that it needs no pilot to operate.
[edit] Lance of Longinus
The Lance of Longinus, also referred to as the Spear of Destiny within the anime, is an artifact of great power, and can easily pierce AT fields. It resembles a long red spear (Evangelion-sized) that forks near the middle, the two shafts first twisting around themselves to form a helix and then becoming straight. However, the split ends of the lance are reunited when embedded in a target.
The Lance was used in a "contact experiment" with Adam, which caused the Angel's awakening and the Second Impact. In episode 12, the Lance was recovered from the new "dead sea" (the remnants of Antarctica) to be used to control Lilith. The Lance was used as a last resort weapon to attack the fifteenth Angel, Arael, which was in orbit and outside the direct reach of the Evas or any suitable terrestrial weapons. After being launched by Unit 00, it destroyed the Angel, but reached escape velocity and became lodged in lunar orbit, effectively lost from NERV. It eventually planted itself into the moon's surface; it returned in The End of Evangelion, moments before the Third Impact. The Lance is a key piece to the process of Instrumentality. Its origins in the anime are never fully explained, except that it was found within the earth, possibly with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Artificial versions of the Lance are used as the primary weapon for the mass-production Evas, and also feature prominently in the Instrumentality.
The name "Lance of Longinus" originally refers to a Christian mythological object, also called the Spear of Destiny, which is supposedly the spear that a Roman soldier (Longinus) used to pierce Jesus Christ's side after he was crucified. In the original Japanese, the weapon was referred to as the "Spear of Longinus." The real name should be Lancea Longini, in the correct Latin form.
[edit] LCL
LCL is naturally a yellow-tinted, translucent liquid, and is used to mentally link a pilot with the Evangelion and supply oxygen directly to the lungs when breathed. Its properties can be altered when it is electrically charged; this includes turning the liquid colorless. It may also help in protecting a pilot from mental attacks and physical shocks. The LCL fluid may also be compared to the amniotic fluid in the mother's womb; many of the mother references that the main character has in the story take place in LCL. Shinji mentions that the cockpit smells of blood when filled with LCL. LCL is the blood of Lilith, the captured second Angel held in Terminal Dogma. This blood may come from the exit wound that the Lance of Longinus made in Lillith's back, despite the lack of similar bleeding from the entry wound; other fans have suggested that Lillith is instead menstruating LCL, despite the apparent lack of a corresponding orifice. The "dossier" sections of the Manga claimed that the term LCL stands for Link Connection Liquid, but this definition was denied in the Red Cross Book. Another theory is that it is a play on the French term "Elle Ciel", meaning "girl of heaven" (literally: "girl of sky") (very literally, "she sky").
In The End of Evangelion, it is shown that all living beings are comprised of LCL, given form as separate entities by their own individual AT Fields. When an individual's AT Field collapses, their body dissolves back into LCL.
[edit] MAGI Super Computer System
The bio-computer system designed by Dr. Naoko Akagi for GEHIRN. It is divided into three personalities, named after the three traditionally named Magi who, in some versions of the Gospel, visited Jesus at his birth:
- Melchior – Dr. Naoko Akagi as a scientist;
- Balthasar – Dr. Naoko Akagi as a mother;
- Casper – Dr. Naoko Akagi as a woman.
The original MAGI (MAGI 01) are located at NERV's First Branch in the Geo-Front, but the various other branches also have their own sets of MAGI supercomputers located in:
- MAGI 02: Matsushiro, Japan (part of the city of Nagano)
- MAGI 03: Berlin, Germany
- MAGI 04: Massachusetts, USA (On the MIT campus)
- MAGI 05: Hamburg, Germany
- MAGI 06: Beijing, China
[edit] N² Weapon (a.k.a. N² Mine)
This "non-nuclear weapon" is a "clean" bomb as strong as a nuclear bomb but without all the dangerous radiation and nuclear fallout (though it does produce a significant electromagnetic pulse). The significant explosive force is capable of harming even an Angel; in fact, it is first seen when utilized against Sachiel during episode 01. However, it only succeeds in causing moderate damage that the Angel proceeded to regenerate. The N² bombs, while considered in several other missions, were only used to harm one other Angel — Israfel, who lost 30 percent of its mass and took six days to recover. Over a dozen aerial N² weapons were deployed against Sahaqiel to little effect, being destroyed before reaching the target. Rei uses an N² mine in an attempt to destroy Zeruel, which only succeeds in damaging her own Eva since it was covering its core. One more N² weapon was used in The End of Evangelion to destroy the roof of the Geofront. A little over a thousand were produced, as use of the remaining 992 was considered against Leliel.
Shinji's and Misato's experience with the N² Weapon dropped on Sachiel is consistent with an explosive force of about 15-30 kilotons.
It should be noted that production notes of the series refer to the N² bombs as the P-bomb, leading to speculation that it might be some sort of positron-based antimatter weapon. Another possibility is that it is a highly efficient pure fusion bomb, with no fission tamper, and thus very little to no radioactive material left over from the reaction.
The translation by ADV Films uses the term "N² mine", a translation of heiki (兵器? weapon). It is not quite correct because conventional mines are not used in the same manner they are used in the series (for example, being dropped from planes and being used in suicide missions).
[edit] Plug suit
The plug suit is a form-fitting full body garment which the Eva pilots wear to aid in synchronization with their Evas. The suits are normally bulky but shrink to form to the pilot's body through a mechanism housed in the wrists of the suits. Each of these suits contain devices which help monitor the pilot's status, and give medical aid, such as defibrillation or CPR. Each pilot's suit bears the numerical designation of its corresponding Eva on the chest. No two suits are alike, and each is roughly color-coordinated with its corresponding Eva.
[edit] Progressive Knife
A combat knife, often referred to as a "prog knife", stored in the shoulder "wing" of the Evangelion that uses it. It works by vibrating particles at an extremely high frequency, which allows it to slice an object at the molecular level. However, it has almost no effect on the AT-Fields of angels.
Unit 02 has an advanced version, on which once the blade is broken, a button is pressed and another blade is extended from the handle. It resembles a utility knife with a multi-segmented, breakable blade, unlike Unit 01's knife, which resembles a giant Bowie knife.
[edit] S² Engine
The S², or "Super Solenoid Engine," is a limitless source of power originally found in the bodies of the Angels. The S² engine's operation is explained through the Super Solenoid Theory which was developed by Dr. Katsuragi, Misato Katsuragi's father. Being initially deprived of this kind of engine, the Evas must be always connected to an external power source and can only function for one to five minutes (depending of the Eva's level of activity) using only their internal battery. The terms "S² Organ" and "S² Engine" are interchangeable because Japanese uses the same word for both concepts.
An attempt was made to install an S² engine into Unit 04. When the S² engine was activated, the containment fields of the engine broke down and "all the installations involved within a radius of 89km from the center vanished," resulting in the disappearance of NERV-2 in the US. It is a possibility that it was caused by an act of sabotage. After the incident, SEELE tried to keep the S² engine from being used in the Evas, but these attempts failed when Shinji's Unit 01 acquired one from the consumption of the body of Zeruel, the fourteenth Angel (in episode 19, "Introjection"). This resulted in Unit 01 being considered a "God" by SEELE, which is what the committee did not want. However, when the Lance of Longinus is lost by NERV and Lilith is no-longer usable, Unit 01 became the alternative because of the above. The Mass Production Evas, however, all have S² engines because they were to be part of the Instrumentality project.
[edit] Organizations
[edit] GEHIRN
NERV's predecessor, located at GeoFront, tasked with the development of Evangelion Units. Branch 3 is located in Germany. Two other Branches are located in USA, and one probably in China. A minor Branch is located in Matsushiro, Japan. (Gehirn is German for "brain.")
[edit] Japanese Strategic Self Defense Forces (JSSDF)
The JSSDF is a special branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces formed following the outbreak of Valentine's Day war. The JSSDF are capable of extended overseas deployment and utilize special weaponry, such as the N² mines and the long range positron rifle. Throughout the series, the JSSDF is shown to be a buffer between the Angels and NERV, as well as providing ordnance and support to NERV. However, in The End of Evangelion, the JSSDF are tasked by SEELE, through the UN and Japan, with the duty of invading the NERV Geo-Front, killing every person inside NERV, seizing Central Dogma, and stopping Gendo Ikari before he can start the Third Impact.
[edit] Marduk Institute
The Marduk Institute selects Evangelion pilot candidates ("Children"). Later in the TV series it is revealed that it consisted of 108 fake/stub companies, and is actually controlled by SEELE.
[edit] NERV
- See Nerv for the French mathcore / tech metal band from Chambéry.
The UN Special Agency NERV (German for "nerve") is an organization led by Gendo Ikari and tasked with defending Earth against the Angels. It was formerly known as GEHIRN (German for "brain"), a UN Research Agency.
The NERV Logo is half a fig leaf covering its name, with the motto "God's In His Heaven... All's Right With The World" forming the quarter circle on the bottom. The motto comes from Robert Browning's poem "Pippa Passes."
In Genesis 3:7, Adam and Eve cover their nakedness with fig leaves. The fig leaf has covered nakedness in art and sculpture for hundreds of years, symbolically representing the guilt of the original sin.
The logo can also be viewed as a brief summary of NERV's mission - attempting a return to man's original "naked" state by actively fighting back into the Garden of Eden. It may also represent NERV as Humanity's "shield" against disaster. Finally, fig leaves (hiding the unpleasant) and olive branches (offering peace) are sometimes confused. NERV's stated purpose is to defeat the Angels, but the real objective is to trigger the Third Impact the way NERV and SEELE want it to be.
[edit] SEELE
SEELE are NERV and GEHIRN's secret backers, who wish to implement the Human Instrumentality Project. It consists of twelve prominent people; five of them form the Instrumentality Committee, which directly oversees NERV's progress, officially in the name of the UN. Its members are referred to as the "Old Men."
In the series and The End of Evangelion, all meetings with SEELE members are held by video conference. The Instrumentality Committee members are shown for their meetings, with each associated with a different color; however, for SEELE meetings, images of large stone monoliths marked "SEELE (member number) Sound Only" are projected instead of the images of the actual members. SEELE's leader is Keel Lorenz, SEELE 01.
Seele is German for "soul" and is pronounced "zay-le." /zeːlə/
Curiously, SEELE (along with NERV and GEHIRN) is traditionally spelled both in official sources and fan fiction entirely in capital letters. This practice is, at best, a grammatically questionable one, as neither the anime nor the manga adaptations in any way imply that these organizations' names are acronyms. Regardless, the practice remains an accepted, if not an entirely grammatically correct one.
An interesting thing to note is that SEELE violated the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, according to the treaty's article #3.
[edit] United Nations (UN)
- See also: United Nations
The UN is the world government which funds NERV. The UN of Neon Genesis Evangelion is very powerful, but this is explained by the fact that all countries in the world have joined the UN. United Nation is no longer an organization of peace. Due to the Second Impact followed by series of warfare, United Nation was pressured to make internal reform in hope of preventing more conflicts. To maintain world's order and security, UN was heavily funded by Superpowers (Such as United States and China) and other powerful organization (Like SEELE) that enabled UN to mobilize a military never seen before. It is possible that Superpowers feared one another and required a "neutral guard" to maintain world's peace while keeping up with the Superpower's "balance of power".
Much of traditional air force units are replaced with VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) fighters and bombers. It is a strong possibility that United Nation possesses N2 (Non-Nuclear) bomb as well as the traditional stealth planes. Much of the UN forces remain unknown, but it is clear that their military reforms is significant.
Unlike NERV and SEELE, UN still relies on traditional military with conventional weapons. As observed in "End of Evangelion", much of UN forces, both air and land, failed to defeat EVA-02 piloted by German pilot Asuka Langley Soryu.
[edit] Events
[edit] First Impact
The First Impact is the meteor impact that occurred around 4 billion years ago which caused the Moon to split from the Earth, according to the giant impact theory, shown in a document in the seventh episode of the series. It is confirmed in the PS2 game "Evangelions" that the "meteor" in question was in fact the Black Moon, carrying Lilith. When the Black Moon collided with Earth, it bounced and became the Moon, satellite of the Earth, while in the crash, a small part of it, containing Lilith, detached itself and was buried in the Earth, becoming the actual Black Moon, known as the Geofront millions of years later.
The real-life theory is that a planetoid called Theia having the size of Mars, orbiting at one of Earth's Lagrangian points smashed into Earth I (the planet Earth before the First Impact), causing part of the smashed-together planets to separate and coalesce, eventually becoming the Moon.
The First Impact is never shown in the series or movies.
[edit] Second Impact
The Second Impact is a cataclysm which followed the "contact experiment" conducted on Adam in the South Pole on September 13, 2000. The awakened and injured Angel created a strong anti-AT Field which caused an explosion that melted the Antarctic ice cap and caused a shift of Earth's axis; climate changes and gigantic floods followed. As a result, wars broke out due to scarce food and resources; these conflicts spread all over the world, and were ended on February 14, 2001 by signing what would be later called "The Valentine Treaty." By the end of these events, the human population of earth was halved.
Officially, there was no Adam and no "contact experiment." According to the cover-up, the Second Impact was caused by the impact of a meteorite that was too small (about 10 centimeters or 4 inches wide) and too fast (95% of the speed of light) to detect. A remarkably detailed description is shown briefly in the series in a text book, though it is highly unlikely that it could all be read within the short period that it was exhibited.
Unfortunately for SEELE, some people knew regarding SEELE's propaganda. Most of them were silenced, with some exception of people like Kozo Fuyutsuki who is currently a Deputy Commander of NERV-06 branch in Tokyo-03.
[edit] Third Impact
An event precipitated when Gendo Ikari takes Adam inside of Lilith, freeing Yui from her decision to transfer her soul to Evangelion Unit 01. Another form of the Third Impact takes place in the movie The End of Evangelion, where Rei absorbs Adam into herself, merges with Lilith, and takes on various forms to cause all humans to willingly disintegrate their AT-fields to put in motion subsequent merging of all souls into one sea of LCL. This is believed to be the version SEELE was hoping for.
[edit] Locales
[edit] Antarctica
Antarctica was ground-zero for the Second Impact, during which it was destroyed; the continent is now completely submerged in a sea devoid of life, but with pillars of ice protruding through its red surface. Humans cannot survive here, and must be shielded behind thick barriers.
[edit] Black Moon
The Egg of Lilith — the empty "egg" from which all human (a.k.a. Lilim) souls originated. Buried beneath the surface of the Earth, it was used by NERV as their base of operations (see GeoFront).
[edit] Central Dogma
NERV's pyramid-like control center located inside the GeoFront. Terminal Dogma is directly below it. Central Dogma takes its name from the central dogma of molecular biology, which explains the concepts of translation and transcription of genetic information.
[edit] GeoFront (NERV HQ)
- Further information: Geofront
A spherical cavern, protected by 22 layers of armored bulk heads, located under Tokyo-3. NERV headquarters is located inside the GeoFront. This is later revealed to be the Egg of Lilith, from which Humanity was born. Gendo Ikari reveals towards the end of the series that humanity didn't build the GeoFront: they found it pre-existing at its current location, and chose to build Tokyo-3 and NERV HQ there (in addition they did expand some internal space through tunneling, to construct their base). It is possible that SEELE found Lilith inside of the GeoFront/Egg of Lilith, building NERV HQ around her position in Terminal Dogma.
[edit] NERV-01
NERV-01 is the first North American branch of NERV located in Massachusetts. It is where Eva Unit 03 was created before being flown to NERV headquarters, possibly in coordination with MIT where one of the MAGI supercomputers is supposedly held.
[edit] NERV-02
NERV-02 is the second North American branch of NERV. It is located somewhere in the Nevada Desert, possibly at Area 51. It vanished, along with everything else in an 89km radius, when Eva Unit 04's S² Engine was activated.
[edit] NERV-03
NERV-03 (also known simply as "NERV-Germany") is the branch of NERV located in Germany. Eva Unit 02 was constructed here, and Asuka apparently trained here with her unit for some time, before both were transferred to the main NERV branch at Tokyo-3 via a UN naval convoy.
[edit] Sea of LCL
The Sea of LCL is a world in which there are no AT Fields, human consciousness is not divided between different bodies and the souls of all of humanity reside in a giant sea of primordial soup. It's the theoretical pinnacle of existence (according to SEELE) and ultimate goal of the Human Instrumentality Project.
[edit] Terminal Dogma
The deepest level of the NERV Headquarters, where Lilith and the Lance of Longinus are kept. It is ostensibly locked to all but the highest members of NERV (Gendo, Fuyutsuki, and possibly Ritsuko), however Kaji gains entrance and shows Misato its contents shortly before the completion of his final mission.
Lilith is stored here impaled upon a massive red cross (similar to the one Eva Unit 03 is transported on). It is crucified and pierced through the torso with the Lance, much like Jesus. The wound from the Lance has not healed and LCL seems to bleed from it. This has caused a small lake of LCL to form around the cross which functions as the reservoir for NERV's LCL needs.
[edit] Tokyo (Tokyo-1)
Tokyo (the original Tokyo, now known as Tokyo-1) is now a partially under-water ruins seen in the series. It was destroyed when a nuclear bomb was dropped on it during the war, which broke out as a result of tensions post-Second Impact. An official document on the Second Impact is shown in the series for a brief moment. The Japanese Prime Minister also states in The End of Evangelion that he wants Tokyo-3 to be so utterly destroyed and made completely uninhabitable that "no one can touch it for the next 20 years... like old Tokyo."
[edit] Tokyo-2
Tokyo-2 is the capital of Japan, and was built after the Second Impact destroyed Tokyo (Tokyo-1). It was created in the location of today's Matsushiro-cho, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture.
[edit] Tokyo-3
Located above the GeoFront, with buildings that can retract into the ground for safety, and buildings that contain large Evangelion equipment. Tokyo-3 is projected to replace Tokyo-2 as capital of Japan. However, Tokyo-3 was designed to intercept all incoming Angels to Japan. The city is protected with numerous defense missile stations around it. It was built in the location of pre-Impact Hakone.
Tokyo-3 was heavily damaged by the attack of the Angel Zeruel, though repairs on NERV HQ and much of the city were worked on subsequently. However, soon after this to destroy the Angel Armisael Rei was forced to self-destruct Eva Unit-00, destroying a large swath of the city. During the attack by JSSDF forces directed against NERV by SEELE in End of Evangelion, the JSSDF dropped an N² Bomb on Tokyo-3, completely vaporizing it. The city proper was destroyed entirely, leaving the GeoFront below open to the sky, though NERV HQ (located deep beneath the area of the blast's effect) survived the explosion.
[edit] White Moon
The egg from which all "shito" (Angels) originated, located in Antarctica. This is where Adam laid dormant before self-destructing and being shrunk to an egg cell because of an experiment of the Katsuragi Team, causing Second Impact.
[edit] Miscellaneous
[edit] Children
"Children," the plural of "Child", is used to refer to each of the Eva pilots in the singular (e.g. Shinji is the "Third Children", not the "Third Child"). This is intentional, and not a translation error. The English language dub produced by ADV, however, uses the word "Child" instead of "Children." In the audio commentary track of Evangelion: Death and Rebirth the translators stated that they made the change intentionally because "children" sounded unnatural in English when used repeatedly to refer to a single child.
[edit] Dead Sea Scrolls
- See also: Dead Sea Scrolls
The ancient Hebrew manuscripts found in the caves around Qumran between 1947 and 1956. In the series, they are in possession of SEELE, and contain prophecies of future events, including the arrival of the Angels.
[edit] Human Instrumentality Project
The Human Instrumentality Project is also known as The Human Enhancement Project or The Human Complementation Project.
Though the specifics of the project are largely mysterious and speculative, the Instrumentality Project is an operation initiated by SEELE to instigate an artificial Third Impact in which all human physical life will end and the minds of all humans become united in a single soul. NERV, the Evas, Adam, Lilith, and the Angels, along with Second Impact, all form part of SEELE's skillful maneuvering to achieve this purpose. It could be said to be the project to turn humans into God, which is largely played out in End of Evangelion, before Shinji decides to accept humans apart, and with different AT fields. Metaphorically, this decision could be the "New Beginning" indicated by the series name, Neon Genesis Evangelion.
[edit] Lilim
Lilim are the Children of Lilith, i.e. Humanity. Kaworu Nagisa (the seventeenth Angel) often refers to humans/humankind as "Lilim." In End of Evangelion, Misato refers to mankind as the eighteenth angel.
[edit] Project E
Project E is the project to create the Evangelion combat machine series that led to the formation of NERV. It's also called the Adam Revival Project.
[edit] Tree of Life
The Kabbalah refers to the organization of the ten Sephiroth as the Tree of Life. Two versions of the Tree of Life are depicted in the opening credits.
[edit] GAINAX terms
[edit] Evangelion Complementation Project
The project behind Renewal of Evangelion, the 10th anniversary new editions of NGE, and tie-in products.
[edit] Project EVA
The project to create the TV show. Nearly every anime has an organization called "project," such as that of "Project AKIRA" or "Project D".
[edit] Rebuild of Evangelion
The Rebuild of Evangelion is a reimagining of Evangelion, rebuilt into a set of four feature films.
[edit] Renewal of Evangelion
The reimaging (not reimagining) of Evangelion for perfection on DVD. This edition of NGE is available in the Western World as the Platinum Edition (not the Perfect Collection). It includes the Director's Cut versions of the last sets of episodes, sometimes referred to as the New Production Cut or NPC. Unfortunately for Western audiences, the vast quantity of bonus material to be found in the Renewal boxed set has not been translated into English, and was omitted from the Platinum Edition, to say nothing of the Renewal box itself.
[edit] Revival of Evangelion
The Revival of Evangelion is a re-edited concatenation of the movies Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, which together involve the whole story of the series. It was released in 1998 and is considered to be the final form of the Evangelion movies.
[edit] Terms from outside of the main series
[edit] Country Crawler / Trident
The Country Crawlers / Tridents are the flight-capable giant robots the Japanese government builds as a backup plan against the EVAs, and are also piloted by 14-year-olds. They are equipped with 100mm chin-mounted cannons (machine guns). They can be seen in Girlfriend of Steel / Iron Maiden, which is not canonic to Evangelion series, and is considered to be nothing more than an “official fanfic from GAINAX”.
[edit] F-Type Equipment
Known as Ｆ型装備 in Japanese, F-Type equipment appears in the game Girlfriend of Steel 2, as well as Super Robot Wars Alpha 3. This heavy-armored equipment is actually in direct conflict with the Evangelion's nature. This is because what was originally assumed to be armor was revealed by Ritsuko to be a restraint which kept the Evangelion units under control.
And thus came the idea of the 'A.T. Field Control Experiment.' The idea calls for an equipped system that would take the A.T. Field that a unit emits under normal circumstances and introduce a warping effect that would strengthen the unit's defenses. In this way, the requirement of the heavy armor was met without violating the spirit of the Evangelion system.
Boosting Unit 01's power dramatically, it's the UN's primary hand-to-hand combat tool. On the plus side, it reinforces the strength of Unit 01, but on the minus side, the increased weight slightly reduces its mobility. By deflecting the A.T. Field the unit normally emits, the armor can be used for defense or even extra power for jumping and propulsion.
The new shoulder pylons each contains a 'Progressive Dagger,' an improved Progressive Knife which is even bigger and longer. Each shoulder is also equipped with an electrical beam like launcher named 'Volt Launcher' or 'Impact Bolt,' an antiphase weapon with, along with devastating power, the ability to temporarily paralyze an enemy.
In addition to these, the extra weapons included with F-Type equipment includes:
- 'Dual Saw': A handheld dual chainsaw.
- 'Mastema' : An all-range weapon, the Mastema is a lightweight multi-weapon that includes a large-bore machine cannon, edges that can be used for slashing (Progressive Sword) and two cruise missiles with built-in N² warheads, making this a weapon of choice for both close-range and distance combat. Another fact is that this weapon is named after a fallen angel said to have brought much suffering on the human race.
Note that these weapons are not only limited to Unit 01 for use. They can be switched to the other Eva Units for their use.
In the episode featuring Jet Alone in the TV series, Unit 01 was referenced as being deployed using the F-Type Equipment, although it looks no different from the standard armor in this appearance. Closer inspection would reveal that Unit 01 has larger than usual shoulder packs. It can be assumed that the F-Type Equipment, apart from other uses, offers the units the ability to operate without the need of being connected via cable for longer periods.
[edit] Jet Alone Prime
Jet Alone Prime (also known as JA') is a further development of the Jet Alone project. This is found in the game Evangelion 2.
The JA that appeared in Episode 7 of TV series was the prototype model, and according to the setting, this unit with an onboard N2 reactor was actually in development at the time.
Initially afraid of having an onboard fission reactor, but forced to meet the deadline for the public test, they fitted the prototype with a nuclear reactor taken from the old system. Which in the ends up running amok.
This model with the new onboard reactor was treated as experimental at the time, and by coincidence, it slipped through the grasp of those who conspired to have it sabotaged, thus narrowly escaping disassembly.
The body of this robot with its new reactor is slightly smaller than the original JA. But, it's still powerful and nimble, and in exchange for only having to equip a single cooling system, it consumes massive amounts of water, requiring the presence of a nearby water supply during periods of extended operation. Its weapons include a giant hammer and a ring attached to the wrist that emits an electrical discharge.
[edit] Magoroku-Exterminate Sword
Known as マゴロク・エクスターミネート・ソード in Japanese, the Magoroku-Exterminate Sword, or Magoroku-E Sword for short, is a giant (EVA-sized) Progressive Sword with a curved blade, like a Japanese katana. Normally, it is paired with another shorter 'Counter Sword' that has a pistol attach to it, resembling a 'gunblade'.
This blades is commonly seen as an accessory to Unit 01 models and action figures, but was never shown in the series. However, it does appear in several video games, like Super Robot Wars Alpha 3.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ It is said that in mainstream psychology, the Absolute Terror Field is also comparable to the perceived physical (or mental) proximity at which an autistic person or someone similarly affected by conditions of a high ego will panic and become irrational or violent if someone or something that they do not recognize penetrates said proximity. In other terms, it is the threshold of violation of personal space. However, there is no actual mention of an, "absolute terror field" anywhere in psychiatry, mainstream or otherwise; most Google hits for "absolute terror field", plus "autisic" or "autism" are for Evangelion messageboards, Evangelion fansites or blogs.
Creators: Hideaki Anno | Yoshiyuki Sadamoto | Gainax
TV Series: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Films: Death and Rebirth | The End of Evangelion | Revival of Evangelion | Rebuild of Evangelion | Untitled Evangelion live action movie
Characters: Asuka | Gendo | Kaworu | Misato | Rei | Ritsuko | Kaji | Shinji | Toji | Yui
Glossary : Eva Units | Angels | Human Instrumentality Project | Timeline
Video Games: Ayanami Raising Project | Girlfriend of Steel | Girlfriend of Steel 2 | Evangelion 64 | Shinji Ikari Raising Project | Shinji and Good Friends
Misc: List of media and episodes | "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" | Angelic Days manga | Red Cross Book | ReDeath | Topics
