Author: Joe Iglesias
Source: AnimeXtra #1
Dated: August, 2000
Neon Genesis Evangelion contains plenty of religious symbolism, and towards the end especially it bears a startling resemblance to the Book of Revelations: seas of blood, a moon black as sackcloth, a mass-produced Whore of Babylon appears, and (depending on your choice of ending) the doors to the kingdom of Heaven are thrown open, or a divine sacrifice is made. But all these New Testament events come about as a result of Old Testament beings: the Angels.
Before I get rolling, I should note that analyzing a show like Evangelion, where more things are implied than explained, can be a real headache. This ambiguity extends to the (relatively rare) Biblical accounts of angels as well. For instance, the word 'angel' carries a lot of contradictory baggage... The Hebrew and Greek words usually translated into 'angel' merely mean 'messenger', no supernatural powers implied, and was used to refer to both humans bearing news and emissaries from God. This kind of translation issue actually comes up a lot, as
The preceding is actually directly relevant to Evangelion, as the Japanese word used in the series does not mean 'angel' but 'apostle', even though Gainax wishes them to be called 'angels' in English. So keep all that in mind and take a lot of this article with a grain of salt. I'll also try to keep spoiler material to a minimum, but since I'll be discussing the angels in the overall context of the show, there will be some.
"Real" angels bear startlingly little resemblance to the Evangelion critters that bear their name, but even less to the smiling winged do-gooders seen on new age bookstore shelves: first off, angels are genderless, and often not even humanoid. Or at least usually; there's an account of angels begetting children on humans, which is kind of hard to do without gender. Sometimes angelic visitations are depicted as being merely spiritual; a prophet hears a voice speaking and realizes it's an angel conveying God's words within him. Sometimes angels are natural forces (deriving from Middle Eastern quasi-animism which predates and informs Judaism and as a result Islam... and I'm boring you. Sorry).
Angels are also not benevolent, or at least not moreso than God Himself; angels bring plagues and death at His whim. The Jews marked their doors with the blood of a lamb to mark their households safe from the angel the Lord sent to slay Egypt's firstborn--a plague ultimately sent because God sent an angel down to harden Pharaoh's heart against the Israelites. This, at least, accords with Evangelion. Uncharitable scholars have said that God's main use for the angels to keep humans in line... such as the cherubim with a flaming sword posted at the gates of Eden to keep humanity out of earthly paradise. This does resonate well with Evangelion, if God is working to keep humanity away from unity and happiness.
Part of the problem with cataloguing angels is that most of the material dealing with them is either apocryphal or contradictory (which usually amounts to the same thing, actually). Many angels in the lore share dominion over the same thing, or share a name with a completely unrelated angel. But more often than not, they're divided up into several orders (or divisions, or choirs), so here they are.
Holiest of these holies are the seraphim, six-winged and associated with flame. Amusingly, the being most precisely fitting this description in Evangelion is Eva Unit 01 (albeit only in the opening credits and very briefly in the movie). The seraphim are flaming because their devotion to God is so total that they're inflamed with holy passion.
Next down the ladder are the cherubim (although I have also read that the word is just a generic synonym for angel, and someone from Israel tells me it actually means 'cabbage' in Hebrew). While the seraphim have internal love and faith in god, the cherubim have knowledge and understanding of him (although I have seen this rendered the other way around).
After them, and finishing up the first triad of angels, come the thrones. They are called this because God "resides on them" in a sense that only theologians can really explain, so I won't try.
Placed immediately after this triad of the highest are the dominions (having freed themselves from fear, they 'hold dominion' over the angels below them and teach humans to hold their base impulses in check), the virtues (the virtue in question being strength-- they also perform miracles for people), and powers (those angels having power to restrain the devil and his minions), and below them in holiness are counted the principalities (who reign over the kings of every country on the earth), the archangels (the great heralds which announce prophecies), and finally the angels proper, who carry news of God's lesser pronouncements.
Got all that? Good.
All of the angels in Evangelion are genuine named ones (if you missed their names, rewatch the recap episodes more closely), and most of them bear the names they do for a reason. Here's a breakdown:
Adam: the first Angel, whose significance comes from the kabbalistic tradition that the Biblical Adam was the 'ultimate man' and a mystic symbol of wholeness and completion. As an aside, the design on the floor of Gendou's office is essentially a kabbalistic map of the universe, culminating in God in his aspect as the Unknowable... right at Gendou's desk.
The Second Angel's identity is never really spelled out, but it's a good guess that it's Lilith, who in Jewish tradition was Adam's first wife, who left him and bore legions of demons to bedevil his children. This is very interesting in light of some of the Seventeenth Angel's dialogue.
Sachiel: Third Angel and first one seen in the series. Sachiel is one of the cherubim, and is specifically noted as being a servitor of the princes of Hell.
Shamshel: Fourth angel, the guardian angel of Eden (that is, the angel charged with keeping humans out once they'd been evicted from it), and yet another fallen angel according to the apocryphal book of Enoch. This is the Angel some refer to as the 'naughty tentacle' Angel; I kindly suggest that these people calm down a bit.
Ramiel: Angel number five, chief of thunder who presides over true visions (appropriate for a show like Eva, even if his appearance doesn't have anything to do with that) and is depicted in the show as a giant blue octahedron.
Gaghiel: the aquatic sixth Angel, who I couldn't find much on. The Eva Sage (see the Further Investigation section) calls him the angel of fish, but I can't find a reference for that.
Israfel: Angel seven, the splitting one. In Arabic lore, Israfel is the angel who will blow the final trumpet on Judgement Day, and is also destined to be destroyed then (in other words, a harbinger of Apocalypse). Also the only Angel from Evangelion to be mentioned in the works of Edgar Allan Poe.
Sandalphon: the eighth Angel, who was found in a larval state in a volcano. Appropriately, he is said to be 'instrumental in bringing about the differentation of sex in the embryo'. Also said to be the same being as the prophet Elijah by some sources.
Matarael: Ninth Angel, the spidery weeping one. The aforementioned Book of Enoch calls it one of the rulers of the world, and angel of rain (chosen because it weeps a rain of acid? That's my best guess...)
Sahaquiel: this descending Tenth Angel is said to be ruler of the sky in Enoch.
Iruel: the viral Eleventh and called Angel of fear (which is appropriate, but not moreso for this one than any of the others).
Leliel: Angel Twelve is actually another demon, which rules the night and is called prince of conception (appropriate for its womblike nature).
Bardiel: Thirteenth in the series of Angels and the angel of hail (watch all the clouds in episode 18 closely).
Zeruel: Chief of the principalities, angel of strength, and Angel number Fourteen. This one is the strongest of the Angels that engages in physical combat, and also helped David kill Goliath.
Arael: The Fifteen Angel is the prince of birds and resembles one vaguely.
Armisael: Angel Sixteen is shaped like a glowing double helix (you know, DNA) and called the angel of the womb; make what sense of that you will.
Tabris: The final Angel seen, number Seventeen is said to be the angel of free will and that turns out to be a very appropriate choice of name.
Gustav Davidson's Dictionary of Angels (including the fallen angels) is pretty much an invaluable clearinghouse of stuff. Very very broad, but that also means it is usually shallow, with comparatively few angels rating more than a paragraph.
The Evangelion Sage. Thorough and informative. While I don't agree with his read on some of the material, his research gave me a hand with the one or two angels I couldn't find anything on in Davidson.
Old Testament.Com. Don't just take my word for it, use the search engine.
An once more, go straight to the source with this English translation of the Book of Enoch. Ain't the Net great?