Written by: Carl Horn
Source: Originally published in the Viz edition of Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol. 5
Dated: September 2001
Recent remarks by Gendo and Fuyutsuki of NERV seem intriguingly to confirm that certain details of the Angels differ in this version of events. Although the first Angel to appear, Sachiel [in Stages 1-5], had been previously assumed to be the Third Angel as so coded in the anime, it is now suggested that in this version of events it was actually the Second. Fuyutsuki commented that the Angel Sahaquiel [Stage 30]—the Tenth Angel as coded in the anime—was actually "[number] seven," to which Gendo replied, "Yes. And five remain." According to this differing classification, then, the Third Angel would be Shamshel [Stages 9-10], the Fourth, Ramiel [Stages 15-19], the Fifth, Gaghiel [Stage 20], and the Sixth, Israfel [Stage 22-26]. Note that the Angels Sandalphon and Matarael—the Eighth and Ninth respectively—have not appeared in this version of events, as they did in the anime where they followed Israfel and preceded Sahaquiel.
The Angels appear to vary in size, shape, offensive and defensive strength, and tactics, but as a rule they are immense, uncommunicative, enigmatic, and ultra-powerful entities. The nigh-invulnerability of the Angels derives from both their A. T. Fields [see below] and their own physical makeup. Dr. Ritsuko Akagi has observed that the composition of the Angels appears to have both wave and particle properties [as do, for example, the photons through which the electromagnetic spectrum is expressed] and that the waveform pattern of the Angels is 99.89% expresses information similar to that of the human genome. Major [then Captain] Misato Katsuragi, remarked that that the Evangelion Units had an identical degree of similarity, suggesting an affinity between the Eva Units and the Angels.
As the Eva Units were designed to defeat the Angels, this similarity is perhaps not surprising. While it has also been demonstrated as possible to delay or damage Angels through the use of weapons of mass destruction [and therefore in theory a multi-megaton weapon of sufficient strength could destroy one entirely] the tendency of the Angels to be sighted only when closing on target has raised the considerable issue of collateral damage accompanying the use of N2 bombs [see below]. Previous to the orbital manifestation of the Angel Sahaquiel, the Angels had always first appeared in the environs of Tokyo-3 and immediately moved to attack NERV HQ. The exception was an incident involving the transshipment by the UN aircraft carrier Over The Rainbow (possibly the former U.S. ship Theodore Rooseve/t) of Eva Unit-02 and the then-embryonic First Angel, Adam, which was attacked in mid-ocean by the Angel Gaghiel.
Of the Angels, the Kabbalist Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi remarks, "those who would not concede human superiority...were relegated to the task of leading the chaotic forces that plague the universe and man in particular...[the] risk of deviation from the cosmic plan was corrected, legend tells us, by the attachment of the Divine Name EL [from 'elohim'] to the functional name of each angelic being, so that it could never exert more of its power than God wished. Thus each celestial being was confined to its task, like the angel Shalgiel who dealt only with snow." According to this Kabbalistic view, then, it is incorrect to think of the Angels attacking NERV as "invaders" from "outside;" it would be more accurate to speak of them having been present among/in certain aspects of creation and of having recently "awakened."
Named for the "absolute terror" it inspires—a directional field with the visual manifestation of concentric hexagons—a shield theoretically almost invulnerable to physical attack. The "A.T. Field" is understood not to exert physical force per se, but instead to warp normal three-dimensional space In a manner that serves to deflect attack. Only Angels and the Evangelion Units are known to be capable of generating an A.T. Field; by generating one in close proximity to that of an Angel, an Eva Unit can effectively cancel its usefulness to the Angel as a defense, and then close for hand-to-hand combat. Some quantitative sense of the defensive value of the A. T. Field can be appreciated by the estimate of NERV's Magi System that it would require a narrow-focused positron beam of at least 180 GW in strength [comparable to the combined output of 20 major power generating complexes such as Grand Coulee, U.S.A.] to disrupt and penetrate the Angel Ramiel's A.T. Field. The offensive value of the field was illustrated by its use by the Angel Sahaquiel to hurl pieces of itself at ultra-high velocity from orbit, striking with the force of a nuclear warhead. The A.T. Field is inadequately undenstood and remains a subject of ongoing research at NERV.
Also called "N2 mine." Aweapon of mass destruction with the force of a tactical nuclear bomb employed in a holding action against the Angels by the United Nations Army and NERV.
A.K.A "Eva Units" or "Eva." The Eva, which is approx. 40m tall, is humanoid in shape and bio-mechanical in construction, an organic being covered with articulated armor that varies according to the individual unit [and Eva Unit-OO has displayed at least one change of color in its armor scheme]. The pilot—normally, while wearing a special "plug suit," and cranial transmitters attached to his or her hair—boards the Eva first through sitting down in a control seat located inside the "entry plug," a long cylinder with rounded ends. The entry plug, with the pilot inside, is then inserted via mechanical servos into the upper back of the Eva, slanting downwards at approximately a 45-degree angle. The plug is then filled with LCL [Link Connect Liquid], an oxygenated, semi-transparent fluid which the pilots "breathe," and which provides a necessary transmission medium between the cranial transmitters and the Eva.
Although there are physical controls within the entry plug, these appear to be merely assistive somatic foci; it is necessary for the pilot to achieve a mental "synchronization" with the Eva in order to pilot. The higher the sync-rate, the more effective the piloting. The Eva has the full range of human articulation and can punch or kick, as well as fight with a wide range of scaled hand or projectile weapons. Eva Unit-01 has also been observed to apparently—with its pilot Shinji lkari unconscious—pilot itself, with a high degree of skill.
The Eva Series [as of Stage 33] numbers five, having been constructed—at very great expense—in various NERV facilities throughout the world. Ryoji Kaji's investigation has revealed that Dr. Yui lkari vanished in 2004 during the first, failed attempt to construct a working Eva Unit. A functional Evangelion, the "prototype" Unit Zero, was not realized until ten years later in 2014. It however went out of control during the initial attempt at activation with pilot Rei Ayanami, and had to be chemically "frozen" using a quick-setting plastic until its reactivation in Stage 15. In this version of events, Rei subsequently became the first pilot of the Eva Unit-01, with which she was presumably able to achieve a satisfactory synchronization. Unit-01, however, was later transferred to the "Third Child," Shinji Ikari, upon his arrivai in Tokyo-3.
Unit-OO and 01 were manufactured in Japan; Unit-02, piloted by Soryu Asuka langley, was the first "production model," manufactured in Germany. Eva Units-03 are 04 were under construction and testing at the two NERV facilities in the United States, in Massachusetts and Nevada respectively.
An acronym for Link Connect Liquid, the amber fluid which fills the cylindrical 'entry plugs' in which the Eva pilots sit while piloting. As the name implies, LCL is a transmission medium designed to convey the thought impressions of the pilot to the Eva Unit, allowing pilot and unit to "synch" and thus operate. LCL also provides oxygen to the lungs of the pilot; it is a liquid that can be "breathed," suggesting it may be a descendant of 20th-century U.S. Navy research into such breathable liquids to replace gaseous oxygen for deep-sea divers. As liquid cannot be compressed as can gas, such a medium provides protection from high-pressure environments. This implies that LCL may also serve to protect EVA pilots from physical shock in combat. LCL may have additional properties which remain classified.
A neologism developed to refer to deep underground construction developments, [the term "geofront" was also used in the manga GHOST IN THE SHELL and the first PATLABOR anime movie]. The geofront in which NERV headquarters is located is directly below the city of Tokyo-3, and is a massive dome-shaped vault 6 km wide and 900 meters high, lit by sunlight reflected down from the surface by a system of mirror-faced skyscrapers. Vehicles and personnel enter and leave the Geofront via trains that spiral up and down the curved walls. Many of Tokyo-3's above-ground skyscraper blocks are designed to be retracted below the surface and lock into a position from the roof of the Geofront dome; while this was designed to remove them from the possibility of damage in case of an attack on the city, the system has proved only partially effective against the Angels. The NERV HQ building rests on the floor below the dome, surrounded by a terraced and forested landscape. NERV HQ has a "mirror" architecture as unusual as the rest of the Geofront; it has the shape of a pyramid which appears half-buried at ground level, excepting the southeastem face, which descends down the side of a trench in the shape of an inverted pyramid. NERV HQ possesses a sealed-environment system; sub-basements of the building extend for at least one km below the surface of the Geofront.
Internal NERV references to the Second Impact and its actual origins remain classified. The official report of the United Nations states that at on Sept. 13, 2000, a small meteorite, estimated at no more than several centimeters in size, impacted Mt. Albert Markham on the Shackleton Coast of the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. The tremendous speed of the meteorite, only marginally less than that of light, gave the resulting explosion an energy equivalent to that of an object several miles across, vaporizing the Antarctic ice cap. What is not contested are the results: two billion people died as a result of immediate tsunami and flooding; the Southern Hemisphere was virtually wiped clean of life. On Sept. 15, conflict between refugees on the India-Pakistan border sparked the first of a series of wars that raged worldwide until the Valentine Cease-Fire of Feb. 14, 2001. The "Second Impact" was so-named after the theory of lunar formation which states that the moon and earth were one body during the very early history of the solar system, but were split apart by a massive object in the First, or "Great" Impact.
German for "nerve" (pronounced "nehrf"). Commanded by Gendo lkari, NERV is a paramilitary research organi- zation under the United Nations ceded provisional authority to assist in the war against the Angels; however objections to NERV from the conventional UN armed forces are frequent. In addition to its Tokyo-3 headquarters on Lake Ashino, NERV is believed to have six other branches: at Matsushiro in Nagano Prefecture (approx 50 km NNE of Tokyo-2), in Beijing (People's Republic of China), in Massachusetts and Nevada (United States—exact locations unknown), and in Hamburg and Berlin (Federal Republic of Germany). NERV's origins lie in an earlier group, GEHIRN (German for "brain"), also headed by Gendo Ikari, that dates to at least 2003—at which time lkari was Chief of Research of the U.N. Artificial Evolution Laboratory at Hakone (now Tokyo-3). By 2010, GEHIRN had become reorganized as NERV, following the death of Dr. Naoko Akagi, mother of NERV's current head scientist, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. NERV and its ultra-expensive Evangelion Series are regarded with controversy and suspicion by a number of UN member governments, and it is the subject of clandestine investigation by at least one national intelligence service. Further information is unavailable at this time.
On September 20, 2000, the city of Tokyo fell victim to the rising world chaos when it was hit by what is believed to have been a nuclear weapon of unknown origin, resulting in the death of approximately 500,000 people. The Provisional Government of Japan at first made efforts towards reconstruction, but soon decided to relocate the capital inland to the high ground of Matsumoto City in Nagano Prefecture, renamed Tokyo-2.