The are fictional entities from the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production, and directed by Hideaki Anno. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from October 1995 to March 1 ...

'', which was produced by

Gainax Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; , Hepburn: ) was a Japanese anime studio famous for original productions such as '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'', '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise'', '' Gunbuster'', '' Nadia: The Secret of Blue ...

studio and directed by

Hideaki Anno is a Anime, Japanese animator, filmmaker, Film producer, producer, and voice actor. His most celebrated creation, the Neon Genesis Evangelion (franchise), ''Evangelion'' franchise, has had a significant influence on the anime television industr ...

. The Angels also appear in the

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation of the same name, which was illustrated by

Yoshiyuki Sadamoto is a Japanese character designer, manga artist, and one of the founding members of the Gainax anime studio. Career When Gainax was originally founded as Daicon Film, Sadamoto served as animator on the second animated project, the Daicon IV op ...

. In the original animated work, almost all of the Angels are antagonists of mankind who repeatedly try to reach the headquarters of the special agency Nerv in the city of Tokyo-3. Most of the Angels originate from an entity called Adam, but the eighteenth specimen, humanity, is descended from Lilith, the second Angel. To counter the Angels' invasion, Nerv builds the Evangelions,

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...

s that possess a force field called an AT Field, which the Angels also use to defend themselves. The Angels appear in works from the animated series, in spin-off manga, video games, visual novels, in the ''

yonkoma is a comic strip format that generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom. They also sometimes run right-to-left horizontally or use a hybrid 2×2 style, depending on the layout requiremen ...

'' manga '' Petit Eva: Evangelion@School'', and the ''

Rebuild of Evangelion ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', known in Japan and on Amazon Prime Video as , is a Japanese animated film series and a reboot of the original ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' anime television series, produced by Studio Khara. Hideaki Anno serves as the ...

'' film tetralogy. The names of the Angels past Adam and Lilith, which are revealed in the fourteenth and twenty-third episodes of the series, refer to the namesake

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

s of the

Judeo-Christian The term ''Judeo-Christian'' is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's recognition of Jewish scripture to constitute the Old Testament of the Christian Bibl ...

tradition. The characteristics and functions of each Angel are deliberately similar to those of their namesakes in ancient sacred texts. Their designs have been praised by critics and animation enthusiasts, and influenced subsequent animated series.

Conception

During the making of ''

'', the production staff decided to set the work on a battle between gods and humans.Interview with Sadamoto in In one early draft, which was published about two years before airing,

included enemies named , which they conceived as ancient relics scattered all over the globe and left in hibernation by a species called . These enemies were referred to as simple weapons with almost no biological component. According to Gualtiero Cannarsi, the editor who was in charge of the first Italian-language edition of the series, the Gainax studio members might have been inspired by James P. Hogan's ''Giants'' series,

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. Clarke co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A ...

's short story "The Sentinel" and its film adaptation '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''. The Apostolos would have been the servants and apostles of the giant Adam, the divine sentinel of a distant alien race formed long before humanity, drawing on Hogan's evolutionary and science fiction themes. Anno also drew inspirations from classic carnivorous ''

kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...

'' such as Gyaos from the ''

Gamera is a fictional giant monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the Gamera, the Giant Monster, eponymous 1965 Japanese film. The character and the first film were intended to compete with the success of Toho's Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' ...

'' franchise and Gaira from the 1966 film ''

The War of the Gargantuas is a 1966 ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Referred by film historian Stuart Galbraith IV as a "quasi–sequel" to '' Frankenstein vs. Baragon'', the film was a Japanese-American co-production; ...

''. The original authors intended there to have been twenty-eight enemies, the first of which, Adam, would have been found in the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

region but destroyed in an explosion fifteen years before the events of the series. The initial scenario also included the introduction of two Apostolos named , which was described as the "Angel of silence" and , "the rock of God". Writer Virginie Nebbia compared Turel design with the Emperor Neo mask from '' Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water''. The project was shelved during the production, but the ideas were recycled for the Angels Ramiel and Sahaquiel. The first episode would have featured a confrontation between Eva-01, piloted by Rei, and a "metal Angel" named

Raziel Raziel, ( ''Rāzīʾēl,'' "God is my Mystery") also known as Gallitsur ( Hebrew: גַּלִּיצוּר ''Gallīṣūr'') is an angel within the teachings of Jewish mysticism (of the Kabbalah of Judaism) who is the "Angel of Secrets" and the "An ...

which would have had anthropomorphic features similar to those of a giant. In the twenty-fourth episode, titled , there would be a great lunar battle against twelve Apostolos; humans would realize their helplessness in the face of their enemies' overwhelming superiority and "the promised time" would approach. For their number, the authors took inspiration from the twelve apostles of the Lamb that are mentioned in the

book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

, but the idea of multiple clashes on the Moon was abandoned, eventually being recycled for the battle against the nine Mass Production Model Evangelions in the 1997 theatrical conclusion. Another scenario planned two ancient prehistoric civilizations equipped with advanced technology appearing on Earth before the appearance of humanity. The first of the two, known as the "First Ancestral Race", would create artificial humanoids Evangelion, which would then rebel against their creators causing their extinction. A "Second Ancestral Race" would then create the Spear of Longinus in an attempt to defeat them, scattering the dormant Angels around the globe in case anyone tried to reactivate the humanoids. Moreover, in a draft of the twenty-first episode of the series, Misato would mention the origin of the enemies, saying; "I know the Angels aren't just battle weapons left by the First Ancestral Race". According to Nebbia, staff took inspiration both from ''Nadia'' and '' Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' for the scenario, in which ancient civilizations are destroyed by their own creations, while for the opposition between Adam and Lilith Gainax possibly took clue from the works of artist

Daijiro Morohoshi is a Japanese manga artist. He is well known for science fiction comics, allegorical comics and horror/ mystery comics based on pseudohistory and folklore. The indirect influence by Cthulhu Mythos also appears here and there in his works. B ...

. Nebbia also compared Angel red core with

Ultraman The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series '' Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fi ...

's Color Timer, and the AT Field to the Ideon's barrier from ''

Space Runaway Ideon is a 1980 anime television series produced by Sunrise, created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, produced immediately following his signature work, '' Mobile Suit Gundam''. It first premiered on TV Tokyo from 1980 to 1981, followed by two f ...

''. In the final version of the show, the Angels were renamed and indicated in the characters' dialogue with the word , after

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

twelve disciples In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and ministr ...

, rather than the term , with which the angels of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

tradition are usually indicated. Within the series' narrative, Gainax chose to use the English translation for Angel, "messenger", which is written in

Latin characters The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

and is readable in graphemes and written in overlays, as in the case of Nerv's computers. Michael House, the only American member of Gainax, protested about the juxtaposition of the two terms, but

decided to keep the dual naming of the enemies. In one early draft of the series, the Nerv's supercomputer, the Magi System, would assign a name to each Angel. The director gave general guidelines for the design of each Angel. Their shapes became reflections of the feelings of Anno's generation, reflecting the climate of Japan in the 1990s. During the broadcast of the series, the Japanese economy and society were perceived in the country as inherently corrupt and decadent, with no one being able to trace the causes, making the concept of "enemy" ambiguous. The enemy of twentieth-century Japan, according to Anno, was neither political nor defined, as in the case of the religious sect Aum Shinrikyō, which in March 1995 attacked the

Tokyo subway Two major operate in Tokyo: the Tokyo Metro and the Toei Subway. Most of the network is located in the Special wards of Tokyo, 23 special wards, with portions extending into Chiba Prefecture, Chiba and Saitama Prefecture, Saitama Prefectures. ...

with

sarin Sarin (NATO designation GB nerve_agent#G-series.html" ;"title="hort for nerve agent#G-series">G-series, "B" is an extremely toxic organophosphorus compound. The Angels and the character

Gendo Ikari is a fictional character from the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise, created by Gainax. In the original anime series with the same name, Gendo is the supreme commander of the special agency Nerv, which is dedicated to the study and annihi ...

were represented as amorphous beings, since for the director the concept of "enemy" is per sé undefined.

Mahiro Maeda Mahiro Maeda (前田真宏 ''Maeda Mahiro''; born March 14, 1963) is a Japanese anime director, character designer, and animator. Helen McCarthy in ''500 Essential Anime Movies'' called him "one of the most imaginative visualists in anime". ...

drew Gaghiel and Israfel, while Yoshitō Asari designed Sachiel, Shamshel, and Zeruel. The artists avoided giving them anthropomorphic designs, which would have been more challenging during production. In the first two episodes, in which Sachiel appears, the staff had enough resources to hire animators, but for the fifth and sixth they already changed course.

Characteristics

Angels are organic beings whose atomic structure has both particle and wave nature, and therefore characterized by the wave-particle duality of light. At the beginning of the series, their objectives and identity are unknown. but they are all attracted by an Angel – called Lilith – that is locked in the deepest section of the Nerv's headquarters, the Terminal Dogma. Academic Thouny described them as "polymorphous figures of destruction that mark irruption of the world into the everyday, the opening of the social structure to alterity and death". The Angels' genetic makeup has a 99.89% affinity with that of humans. They can change shape from vaguely anthropomorphic to that of a geometric solid, and equally variable sizes. Many are equipped with a red sphere known as the "core" or "sphere of light", which is also their main source of energy and weakness. The "fruit of life", an organ of unknown nature, is responsible for their regenerative abilities. Humanity, the last example of an Angel, has the "fruit of knowledge" instead. Angels have the universal ability to generate a force field called the Absolute Terror Field, or simply AT Field, which is similar to that of Evangelion units and makes them nearly indestructible. Their names and attacks have been prophesied in the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient documents in the possession of a secret organization called Seele. The reason they appear in Tokyo-3 one at a time, never attacking collectively, is unknown. In the opening sequence of the seventeenth episode, " Fourth Child", Nerv director Gendō Ikari says the Angels "are beginning to attain intelligence". According to academic Satoshi Tsukamoto, the sentence means that the Angels "are attempting to acquire abilities to compete against human beings and control them". Writer Kitamura similarly stated that the Angels gradually make progress in communicating with the Evas they fight and send message to Shinji during the series. According to a guide on the series contained in a manual for the card game , there is a connection between the Angels; each Angel seems to be an evolutionary outgrowth of the previous one, and the fact they attack one at a time suggests they are aware of the status of each of the other specimens and react accordingly.

In ''Neon Genesis Evangelion''

Adam

is the progenitor of most of the Angels. It is represented as a giant of light with features similar to those of an Evangelion. A research team named the Katsuragi expedition, led by

Misato Katsuragi is a fictional character from the Gainax-created media franchise ''Neon Genesis Evangelion''. In the eponymous anime television series, Misato is head of the operations department of the special agency Nerv, and is in charge of directing an ...

's father, finds Adam in Antarctica and begins to examine its energy source, the S² engine. The scientists of the expedition accidentally awaken Adam as a result of a contact experiment, causing a planetary catastrophe known as the Second Impact to occur. Half of the human population dies, and Adam is reduced to an embryonic state. Behind the event is the secret organization Seele, which is devoted to the search for the "path to

Adam Kadmon In Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon (, ''ʾāḏām qaḏmōn'', "Primordial Man") also called Adam Elyon (, ''ʾāḏām ʿelyōn'', "Most High Man"), or Adam Ila'ah (, ''ʾāḏām ʿīllāʾā'' "Most High Adam" in Aramaic), sometimes abbreviated as A ...

". from the video game '' Neon Genesis Evangelion 2''. Agent

Ryoji Kaji The Japanese anime television series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' has an extensive cast of characters that were created by Gainax. The show's protagonist is Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy whose father Gendo recruits to the shadowy organization Ne ...

transports Adam to the Nerv headquarters, handing it over to the commander of the agency, Gendo Ikari. Adam's

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

is incorporated in the seventeenth Angel Tabris, while its embryo is implanted into Gendo's body. Adam is cloned and used as basis to build the Evangelions, with the only exception of Eva Unit 01, created from Lilith. Its name comes from the Biblical

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

. In the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

, God creates

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

, the first woman, from Adam. In the twenty-first episode of ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', it is revealed the Evas were similarly created from Adam. In the Jewish

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

, Adam is described as a kind of deity, a being that is capable of giving life and as an entity to which all things are destined to return at the end of time. According to writers Kazuhisa Fujie and Martin Foster, in the series

Kaworu Nagisa , real name , is a fictional character from the '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise created by Gainax. In the original television series, he is the pilot of a giant mecha named Evangelion Unit 02 for the special agency Nerv, as well as the ...

states "those who come from Adam must return to Adam" referring to this tradition. Writer Virginie Nebbia compared Adam's arrival on the White Moon to that of Bemular, Ultraman's very first enemy, on a blue sphere. According to Nebbia, Adam's luminescent appearance during the Second Impact also recalls that of the giant of light from ''

Ultraman 80 is a Japanese tokusatsu TV show produced by Tsuburaya Productions which aired on the Tokyo Broadcasting System channel from April 2, 1980, to March 25, 1981, lasting a total of 50 episodes. After going off the air in 1981, the network still aired ...

''. Critic Marc MacWilliams noted ''Evangelion'' Adam is portrayed as a giant being of light "as portrayed again in Kabbalistic texts before his

Fall Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemispher ...

". Academic Fabio Bartoli likened Adam's role to the

Kabbalistic Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (). Jewi ...

concept of Adam Kadmon; in Hermetic terminology, Adam Kadmon refers to humanity in a state of mental and spiritual perfection. He is also described in Kabballah as an androgynous being. In the twenty-fourth episode of the series, Kaworu Nagisa describes Adam as the "mother" of all Angels. Carl Gustav Horn similarly noted; "the Kabbalistic view is that all other creatures without exception – even the angels and archangels – are based on Adam (Kadamon) but were left incomplete: only Adam (of Genesis) was a complete image of the Divine". A being named Adam was also introduced by Gainax in the series ''Nadia''.

Lilith

is the second Angel. It is kept in the Terminal Dogma, the deepest section of the Nerv headquarters. Lilith's face is covered with a mask on which are drawn the seven eyes of a symbol called the Seele emblem. Lilith has the appearance of an anthropomorphic giant whose hands are nailed to a cross. Instead of lower limbs, it has small, humanoid legs. Lilith is pierced on the cross by a weapon called Spear of Longinus. The soul of the Angel is kept inside

Rei Ayanami is a fictional character from the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise created by Gainax. In the anime series of the same name, Rei is an introverted girl chosen as the enigmatic pilot of a giant mecha named Evangelion Unit 00. At the begi ...

. In the film ''The End of Evangelion'' (1997), the Angel's body unites with Rei, takes on the form of a giant Ayanami, and grows to the size of the Earth, developing a giant anti-AT Field and starting the Third Impact, an event in which the souls of all human beings merge into one being. Writer Gerald Miller noted that just as the intercourse between Adam and Eve was the genesis of humankind's lineage in the Judeo-Christian story, so does the union of Adam and Lilith lead to "a new genesis for humankind". Lilith, according to the video game '' Neon Genesis Evangelion 2'', arrived by chance on Earth in a celestial object called Black Moon, also called Lilith's Egg, which along with a White Moon of Adam was sent by an alien "First Ancestral Race". According to the video game Classified Informations, the First Ancestral Race, billions of years before the series, sent seven Moons into the universe with seven beings called the Seeds of Life, including Adam and Lilith, seven objects to contain them named Spears of Longinus and instruction manuals named Dead Sea Scrolls. The First Race did not plan for two Seeds to co-exist on the same planet; so the progenies of Adam and Lilith clash for survival. The Angels are thus the legitimate successors of Adam and the original inhabitants of Earth. Lilith's arrival caused the First Impact, the destruction of its Lance and the formation of the Moon. The video game also says; "Some ngelswere trying to access Lilith and reset all life, some of them had nothing in mind, and some were trying to recover their progenitor Adam". Its name comes from

Lilith Lilith (; ), also spelled Lilit, Lilitu, or Lilis, is a feminine figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, theorized to be the first wife of Adam and a primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Eden ...

, Adam's first wife. According to Jewish legends, demons called

Lilim A lilu or lilû is the masculine Akkadian word for a spirit or demon. A female lilû was called a lilītu or ardat-lilî. Together, these were a class of demon that the ancient Mesopotamians believed emerged from the unfulfilled spirits of adole ...

were born from their union. The Angel Lilith's design was elaborated upon by

Mitsuo Iso is a Japanese animator and director. He worked as a freelance artist through Neomedia, Studio Zaendo, and Studio Ghibli. When he participates in anime works as an animator, he sometimes uses aliases such as Mikio Odagawa and Hideo Tateda, or do ...

. According to character designer

, the original scenario did not include Lilith, which was introduced following the airing of the series and some staff research on Christianity because "not touching Lilith seemed to hurt Anno's pride". Writer Virginie Nebbia compared Lilith's arrival on Black Moon to Ultraman's arrival on a red sphere in the series of the same name. In the episode " Rei II", the image of two giants without the lower part of their bodies and merged to each other is visible; according to Gainax, it represents Lilith and Eva-01 around the period of Yui Ikari's disappearance. In the ''

'' tetralogy, Lilith is present from the beginning. Misato shows Lilith to Shinji before the battle against Ramiel. In the saga, Lilith's aspect has been modified by animator Okama and Hideaki Anno: in '' Evangelion 1.0'' (2007) Lilith has scars on its chest, the result of scientific experiments; its mask is similar to that of the Angel Sachiel. Lilith, along with Rei and Eva-01, has been compared to the

Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of over 20 books, illustrator, and correspondent, Jung was a c ...

ian archetype of the Great Mother, the feminine authority that represents protection, fertility, darkness and inescapable abyss. Its role can also be likened to the

astrological Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions of celesti ...

concept of the Black Moon, which is also named

Sachiel

, the third Angel, has an anthromophorpic appearance. On the upper part of its trunk, it has a disk that is similar to a face, while on the outer sides of the legs it has two gills. Once on land, the armed forces of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

attack Sachiel, which can survive the UN's most powerful weapon, the N² mine. The attack damages Sachiel's face and temporarily stop its advance. Sachiel then regenerates and replaces its face with a second face. After the crash, Sachiel learns how fighter aircraft work and can replicate their effectiveness, developing the ability to launch explosive light beams. It can also use a pair of "protractile spears" or "spears of light" incorporated into the forearms. In the second episode, "

The Beast The Beast may refer to: Religion * The Beast (Revelation), one of three beasts described in the New Testament ''Book of Revelation'' Fictional characters * The Beast, imaginary monster in William Golding's novel ''Lord of the Flies'' (1954) * ...

", Sachiel fights with Eva-01, which goes into a berserk mode and manages to defeat the Angel. Eva-01 neutralize Sachiel's AT Field, and Sachiel commits suicide self-exploding. Its name comes from

Sachiel In kabbalistic and Christian angelology, Sachiel (Ge'ez ሳቁኤል) is an archangel of the order of cherubim. The name 'Sachiel' originally occurs in the late 1500s grimoire called ''The Heptameron''. Name In the early mentions of that ange ...

, the angel of water. Sachiel is considered a

cherubim A cherub (; : cherubim; ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'') is one type of supernatural being in the Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden o ...

who protects the

tree of life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...

with spears of fire according to the Old Testament, a detail that possibly inspired the fictional Angel's protractible spears. Academics Sellés de Lucas and Hernández-Pérez linked its second face to the

Book of Ezekiel The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Nevi'im#Latter Prophets, Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and one of the Major Prophets, major prophetic books in the Christian Bible, where it follows Book of Isaiah, Isaiah and ...

, where cherubims are described as having four heads. The authors initially intended the Angel to fight at sea against Unit 02 in the eighth episode " Asuka Strikes!", but this idea was set aside and used for Gaghiel. Writer Dennis Redmond described it as a "strangely abstract, gilled creature" and a " neo-Expressionistic

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

". Sachiel is based on Ishtar, an android that appears in the manga ''Wahhaman'' by Yoshitō Asari; its back is inspired by that of a cat. Writer Virginie Nebbia also compared its design to Jamila from ''Ultraman'' and King Bockle from ''

Return of Ultraman is a List of Japanese television series, Japanese ''tokusatsu'' Science fiction on television, science fiction television series produced by Tsuburaya Productions. The third entry (fourth overall) in the Ultra series, the series aired on TBS Tel ...

''. At the

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding proce ...

stage, Sachiel's figure had different connotations and its fight was similar to the ''Ultraman'' battles. In ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', Sachiel is known as the fourth Angel. The animators superimposed images of a light reflecting on an expanse of water and one of the

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

on its luminescent core.

Shamshel

, the fourth Angel, has an insect-like appearance and its form fuses that of a

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

and that of a

cetacean Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...

. Although it has limbs, Shamshel slowly flies at low altitude, to avoid detection by Nerv radar equipment. Shamshel uses two weapons that are similar to luminescent whips and have high cutting capabilities, being able to pierce the abdomen of Eva-01 in battle. Shamshel is shot down by the Unit 01, which pierces it with a weapon called Prog-Knife. According to

Ritsuko Akagi The Japanese anime television series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' has an extensive cast of characters that were created by Gainax. The show's protagonist is Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy whose father Gendo Ikari, Gendo recruits to the shadowy org ...

, the DNA map of the Angel corresponds with 99.89% of that of human DNA. Its named after

Shamsiel Shamsiel (Hebrew and Aramaic: שִׁמְשִׁיאֵל ''Šīmšīʾēl'', "God is my sun" Greek: Σεμσιήλ Semsiḗl), also spelled ''Samsâpêêl'', ''Shamshel'', ''Shashiel'' or ''Shamshiel'', was the 16th Watcher of the 20 leaders of th ...

, who is believed to be the angel of the day. The name, according to official sources, is an allusion to its fight with Unit 01, which takes place in daylight and ends just before sunset. Its appearance is similar to that of an Alien Bira from ''

Ultraseven is a List of Japanese television series, Japanese ''tokusatsu'' Science fiction on television, science fiction television series created by Eiji Tsuburaya. It is the second entry (third overall) in the Ultra Series and was produced by Tsuburaya ...

'', and is inspired by that of a creature called "the three-meter extraterrestrial", whose

garage kit A garage kit (ガレージキット) or resin kit is an assembly scale model kit most commonly cast in polyurethane resin. They are often model figures portraying humans or other living creatures. In Japan, kits often depict anime characters, and ...

was made by a Gainax-associated company called General Products. Its battle took inspration from the ''Ultraman'' battles by director

Akio Jissoji was a Japanese television and film director best known outside Japan for the 1960s tokusatsu TV series '' Ultraman'' and '' Ultraseven'', as well as for his auteur erotic ATG-produced Buddhist trilogy , , and . He was also known for his film ...

. In ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', Shamshel is known as the fifth Angel. Shamsiel's torso opens into a set of articulating ribs that claw the air like crab legs.

Ramiel

is the fifth Angel. Its body is a regular

octahedron In geometry, an octahedron (: octahedra or octahedrons) is any polyhedron with eight faces. One special case is the regular octahedron, a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex. Many types of i ...

. A wide drill, which pierces the strong armor of the underground Nerv headquarters, extends from the lower body. Ramiel is equipped with a strong AT Field and an accelerated- particle cannon, which, exploiting the collision of

subatomic particle In physics, a subatomic particle is a particle smaller than an atom. According to the Standard Model of particle physics, a subatomic particle can be either a composite particle, which is composed of other particles (for example, a baryon, lik ...

s, emits a powerful beam of

photon A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that can ...

s due to an inner torus reactor. Ramiel's core, unlike those of previous Angels, is located inside its body, overcoming the biggest weakness of its predecessors and revealing the existence of a direct link between the Angels. In the fifth episode, "

Rei I "Rei I", also known by the Japanese title is the fifth episode of the anime ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', which was created by Gainax. "Rei I" was written by Hideaki Anno and Akio Satsukawa, and directed by Keiichi Sugiyama. It was first broadcas ...

", Ramiel strikes Eva-01 with its light beam before its exit to the surface. To face the threat, in the episode " Rei II" Misato Katsuragi conceives a strategy called Operation Yashima to destroy Ramiel, involving both Eva-01 and Eva-00. The fight concludes once Eva-01 hits Ramiel with a

positron The positron or antielectron is the particle with an electric charge of +1''elementary charge, e'', a Spin (physics), spin of 1/2 (the same as the electron), and the same Electron rest mass, mass as an electron. It is the antiparticle (antimatt ...

cannon, permanently destroying it. As a source of inspiration for Ramiel, the authors took the monster from ''Return of Ultraman''.

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

's Lynzee Loveridge described Ramiel's design as "Anno's shout out to ''Future Police Urashiman''", while Yasutaka Yoshimura compared it with some abstract shapes in the final scenes of

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''. It is named after

Ramiel Ramiel (, ''Raʿamʾēl''; ) is a fallen Watcher angel. He is mentioned in Chapter 6 of the apocryphal Book of Enoch as one of the 20 Watchers that sinned and rebelled against God by mating with human women and creating offspring called Nephili ...

, the angel of thunder, in reference to its particle cannon. Initially, in correspondence of each face of the octahedron Ramiel would have had a solid, floating, triangular shape and its beam of light would have used positrons. In ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', Ramiel is known as the sixth Angel and possesses the ability to transform its regular octahedron form into a variety of solids. For its ''Rebuild'' design, the staff took inspiration from the depiction of the microorganism Andromeda in

Robert Wise Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American filmmaker. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of Music'' (1965). He was als ...

's science fiction film ''

The Andromeda Strain ''The Andromeda Strain'' is a 1969 novel by American writer Michael Crichton, his first novel under his own name and his sixth novel overall. It documents the outbreak of a deadly extraterrestrial microorganism in Arizona and the team of scie ...

'' and an image that Takashi Watabe drew twenty years earlier which depicts a four-dimensional body moving in a three-dimensional world.

Gaghiel

, the sixth Angel, appears in " Asuka Strikes!" in the Pacific Ocean and goes to attack the UN fleet, which is transporting Eva-02 and secretly the embryonic form of Adam. Gaghiel resembles an aquatic creature; its body has fin-like appendages and a hydrodynamic shape, allowing it to quickly move through water. The upper body has a face identical to the faces of Sachiel. The Angel attacks the naval fleet using the bulk of its body, sinking ships. When approaching its targets, it opens its mouth and squeezes its enemies in its jaws. Gaghiel's core, unlike those of previous Angels, is located inside the mouth. During the fight, Gaghiel jumps onto the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

''Over the Rainbow'' and moves to attack Eva-02, leading the Angel and Eva to crash into the sea in the Itō area. Its body is long. Eva-02 neutralizes the Angel's AT Field and opens its mouth to allow two armored warships, which were evacuated and sunk with the Kingston valves, to penetrate its jaws and fire on the Angel's core. The operation is successful and Gaghiel is defeated by

Asuka Langley Soryu is a fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion (franchise), ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise created by Gainax. She first appears in the Neon Genesis Evangelion, original anime series, and also appears in the franchise's animat ...

and

Shinji Ikari is a fictional character from the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion (franchise), Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise created by Gainax. He is the franchise's poster boy and protagonist. In the Neon Genesis Evangelion, anime series of the same name, Sh ...

. The behavior of the Angel, which appeared at sea away from Tokyo-3, is attributable to the presence of the first Angel Adam on the ships of the fleet. The name Gaghiel (Hebrew: ), also called Gagiel, Daghiel or Dagiel, in Judeo-Christian folklore is the angel of the fish. Its Hebrew name can be translated as "roaring beast of God", and has been interpreted by writer Will Raus as a possible allusion to its appearance, which is similar to that of a beast fighting in the water.

Israfel

is the seventh Angel. Asuka Langley Soryu, aboard her Eva-02, strikes it with its Sonic Glaive splitting it in half. After the attack, the Angel regenerates into two parts, both of which able to fight individually. Israfel attacks and defeats the two mechas, which return to their base to await a second confrontation. Following their first defeat, the UN armed forces attack Israfel, the two parts of which they nickname Kō and Otsu. Thanks to the use of N² weapons, the UN can temporarily stop its advance. The only way to defeat Israfel, according to Misato, is "a double coordinated attack on its core"; between the two parts of the divided Angel is a bond that allows Kō and Otsu to share their behaviors and vulnerability. After a regeneration process, the Angel merges, regains its original form, and again begins its advance. In the second clash with the units, Israfel imitates the weapons used against it in the first battle, launching rays with high destructive potential against the Eva and using its upper limbs as blades. During the fight, Eva-01 and Eva-02, moving in synchronization, attack the Angel. Israfel splits again, and the two units jump into the sky, launching a synchronized kick that destroys its cores. The seventh Angel is named after the messenger of music and resurrection,

Israfil Israfil (, ''ʾIsrāfīl) o''r Israfel Lewis, James R., Evelyn Dorothy Oliver, and S. Sisung Kelle, eds. 1996. ''Angels A to Z''. Visible Ink Press. . p. 224. is the angel who will blow the trumpet to signal ''Qiyamah'' (the Day of Judgment) in ...

(

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: إسرافيل), a detail related to the musical attack of Eva-01 and 02. According to Will Raus, Israfel's role of resurrection could allude to the Angel's ability to split. The terms Kō and Otsu come from the series of

Heavenly Stems The ten Heavenly Stems (or Celestial Stems) are a system of ordinals indigenous to China and used throughout East Asia, first attested during the Shang dynasty as the names of the ten days of the week. They were also used in Shang-era ritual ...

. Writer Virginie Nebbia compared Israfel with Pestar from ''Ultraman''. Its capacity of fission and brithness have been compared with those of a single-cell organism and mercury.

Sandalphon

, the eighth Angel, is detected inside the volcanic crater of

Mount Asama is an active complex volcano in central Honshū, the main island of Japan. The volcano is the most active on Honshū. The Japan Meteorological Agency classifies Mount Asama as rank A. It stands above sea level on the border of Gunma prefecture ...

in a human-embryo-like state and enclosed in a

chrysalis A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages the ...

. The Nerv decides to attempt to capture it, but the being awakens during the attempt and quickly mutates. Gualtiero Cannarsi, editor of the first Italian adaptation of the series, compared its adult form with the Limanda fish. Sandalphon collides with Eva-02, demonstrating high levels of physical endurance. Its core is concealed within its body and is not visible to observers. During the fight, Asuka and other Nerv members using the concept of

thermal expansion Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to increase in length, area, or volume, changing its size and density, in response to an increase in temperature (usually excluding phase transitions). Substances usually contract with decreasing temp ...

to develop a plan to defeat it. Eva-02, using a

coolant A coolant is a substance, typically liquid, that is used to reduce or regulate the temperature of a system. An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic, chemically inert and neither causes nor promotes corr ...

in its equipment, causes Sandalphon to undergo thermal constriction, resulting in damage to its body structure. The fictional Angel's name alludes to

Sandalphon Sandalphon (Hebrew: סַנְדַּלְפוֹן ''Sandalp̄ōn''; ''Sandalphṓn'') is an archangel in Jewish and Christian writings, although not in scripture. Sandalphon figures prominently in the mystical literary traditions of Rabbinic Juda ...

, the angel of embryos. During its metamorphosis into its adult form, the producers included a plaintive background voice using the electronically distorted howls of an infant. The Angel's design took inspiration from prehistoric creatures such as the

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...

and the ''

Anomalocaris ''Anomalocaris'' (from Ancient Greek , meaning "unlike", and , meaning "shrimp", with the intended meaning "unlike other shrimp") is an extinct genus of radiodont, an order of early-diverging stem-group marine arthropods. It is best known fro ...

''. The idea of an enemy-capture attempt was planned for the eleventh episode, but moved to the tenth during the production. According to a guide on the original series included with the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion RPG'' card game, the Sandalphon episode suggests that dormant, larval Angels are hidden around the world. An official encyclopedia on the series links its appearance with the biblical

Book of Enoch The Book of Enoch (also 1 Enoch; Hebrew language, Hebrew: סֵפֶר חֲנוֹךְ, ''Sēfer Ḥănōḵ''; , ) is an Second Temple Judaism, ancient Jewish Apocalyptic literature, apocalyptic religious text, ascribed by tradition to the Patriar ...

, in which the word "Heaven", the abode of angels, actually refers to an Earthly location; because Sandalphon is discovered in the

magma chamber A magma chamber is a large pool of liquid rock beneath the surface of the Earth. The molten rock, or magma, in such a chamber is less dense than the surrounding country rock, which produces buoyant forces on the magma that tend to drive it u ...

of a volcano, ''Evangelion'' Angels similarly exist "in the same world as ours". According to writer Virginie Nebbia, for Sandalphon's battle staff took inspiration from the novel'' Sundiver''.

Matarael

The ninth Angel, , resembles an

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

arachnid Arachnids are arthropods in the Class (biology), class Arachnida () of the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, opiliones, harvestmen, Solifugae, camel spiders, Amblypygi, wh ...

chelicerate. Unlike arthropods, it has a single central body, from the top of which extends four oversized legs, making it akin to the opilionid subclass. The main body is similar to a geometric solid obtained from the section of

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a Surface (mathemat ...

, reminiscent of an upside-down turtle. Nine human-eye-like drawings are evident on its main body. The eyes are arranged in an equilateral triangle, and one of them is placed at the center of the body's lower section; from the central eye it pours a corrosive liquid on its enemies. The acid is likely produced by an

exocrine gland Exocrine glands are glands that secrete substances onto an epithelial surface by way of a duct. Examples of exocrine glands include sweat, salivary, mammary, ceruminous, lacrimal, sebaceous, prostate and mucous. Exocrine glands are one of ...

inside the Angel. Once ashore, Matarael invades Tokyo-3 and decides to penetrate Nerv by corroding an armored portcullis leading to the organization's headquarters. The Angel pours its acid into the wells dug in the sixth episode of the series by the Angel Ramiel, and its strategy suggests it is mindful of its predecessor's actions. It clashes with Eva 00, 01 and 02, which defeat it with gunfire. The name Matarael (Hebrew:) comes from the

, which describes it as the angel of rain. The name of ''Evangelion'' Matarael refers to its offensive strategy and its powerful, corrosive acid, which it rains on its enemies.

Sahaquiel

, the tenth Angel, appears in Earth's orbit above the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

using its body as a bomb. Its symmetrical body shape is similar to that of some single-celled organisms such as

amoebas An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; : amoebas (less commonly, amebas) or amoebae (amebae) ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and re ...

. On its body are three geometric figures that resemble the human eye, with a big central eye in which the core is located. Before attacking the Nerv headquarters, Sahaquiel detaches some small portions of its main mass that are equipped with an AT Field, and hurls them to the ground to correct its trajectory. Gualtiero Cannarsi compared its ability to divide with the

budding Budding or blastogenesis is a type of asexual reproduction in which a new organism develops from an outgrowth or bud due to cell division at one particular site. For example, the small bulb-like projection coming out from the yeast cell is kno ...

protozoa Protozoa (: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a polyphyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic debris. Historically ...

and

mesozoa The Mesozoa are minuscule, worm-like parasites of marine invertebrates. Generally, these tiny, elusive creatures consist of a somatoderm (outer layer) of ciliated cells surrounding one or more reproductive cells. A 2017 study recovered Mesozoa ...

. It can materially interfere with Nerv's military equipment, destroying a research satellite and jamming enemy ground communications. Its destruction requires the collaboration of all the three Evas owned by Nerv. Once it arrives at Tokyo-3, Sahaquiel is jammed by Unit 01, while its AT Field is breached by Unit 00. Eva-02 destroys its core, defeating it. For Sahaquiel staff took inspiration from the angel of the same name, the angel of the sky and guardian of the fourth heaven of Paradise, which is referenced in the fictional Angel's aerial attack strategy. The connection with the biblical Sahaquiel's guardian function is realized in its elongated shape, which resembles that of a deformed eye. The name Sahaquiel (Hebrew: ) is translatable as "Ingenuity of God", which Will Rauss interpreted as a possible allusion to the Angel's uses of its AT Field. Its design was inspired by

surrealist art Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

. In the initial draft, Sahaquiel had a sharp, string-shaped body similar to Armisael's. Sadamoto drew the Angel to show ''Evangelion'' enemies may not always be anthropomorphic, like Seele. In ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', Sahaquiel is known as the eighth Angel. Its design by Mahiro Maeda has several changes; in the movie ''Evangelion 2.0'', its AT Field is powerful enough to distort the path of light and its body, which was initially spherical, unravels and changes shape, revealing silhouettes of humans on its surface. At the bottom of its main body, Sahaquiel develops an anthropomorphic entity that pierces Unit 01's hands with spear-like weapons, which were designed by director Takeshi Honda. Masayuki suggested having Sahaquiel die in a wave of blood that floods Tokyo-3, which was inspired by the ''

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, ''tokusatsu'' mainly refers to science fiction film, science fiction, War fi ...

'' tradition and the scene in which Sapporo collapses in '' Japan Sinks'' (1974).

Iruel

is the eleventh Angel, which first manifests itself as corrosive stains on a wall of the Nerv headquarters. At this early stage, Iruel behaves as an obligate

anaerobic Anaerobic means "living, active, occurring, or existing in the absence of free oxygen", as opposed to aerobic which means "living, active, or occurring only in the presence of oxygen." Anaerobic may also refer to: *Adhesive#Anaerobic, Anaerobic ad ...

bacterium Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the ...

. Nerv attempts but fails to eradicate Iruel by increasing the presence of

ozone Ozone () (or trioxygen) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , break ...

in the air, but Iruel starts a fast evolution process which allows it to resist to ozone. Iruel is a biological microprocessor and a colony of microscopic

nanomachine Molecular machines are a class of molecules typically described as an assembly of a discrete number of molecular components intended to produce mechanical movements in response to specific stimuli, mimicking macromolecular devices such as switch ...

s-sized individuals rather than a single Angel. These singularities, similar to bacteria, are united in an agglomeration that quickly evolves radically to take on the form of a computer. Iruel hacks and seeks the access code to the three Magi supercomputers, the most important part of the structure, to activate a program of self-destruction at the headquarters. Dr. Ritsuko Akagi devises a "reverse hacking" strategic plan, believing it is better to increase the enemy's evolution and insert a program to make Iruel choose to coexist with the Magi System. Ritsuko's program defeats Iruel, saving Nerv's headquarters.

suggested a battle against an invisible enemy and the basic plot. In religious texts, Iruel is referred to as the angel of fear. Writer Will Raus interpreted the sense of dread felt by Nerv members during its attack as a reference to the biblical angel. ''Evangelion Chronicle'' encyclopedia likened the Angel's program of self-extinction with cellular

apoptosis Apoptosis (from ) is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms and in some eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms such as yeast. Biochemistry, Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (Morphology (biol ...

, while coexistence with the Magi System as a form of

symbiosis Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction, between two organisms of different species. The two organisms, termed symbionts, can fo ...

. Iruel's properties, such as

self-replication Self-replication is any behavior of a dynamical system that yields construction of an identical or similar copy of itself. Biological cells, given suitable environments, reproduce by cell division. During cell division, DNA is replicated and c ...

, are similar to those of a universal

molecular assembler A molecular assembler, as defined by K. Eric Drexler, is a "proposed device able to guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision". A molecular assembler is a molecular machine. Some biological molecules such a ...

Leliel

appears as a black-and-white-streaked floating sphere and a black shadow. The spherical body is its true shadow, while the apparent shadow on the ground is the main body. The Angel is wide and thick. It extends its AT Field in the vicinity of its enemy, a process that coincides with the manifestation of the apparent shadow, which is capable of engulfing the matter it encounters. This physicality is maintained using an inverted AT Field, within which extends a dimension called " number-imaginary space", a parallel dimension known as the "Dirac Sea". During the fight, this dark shadow extends to the feet of Eva-01 and begins to engulf it. It is not made clear whether Leliel's goal is the absorption of the humanoid or direct contact with its pilot,

. Dr. Ritsuko Akagi devises a strategy to destroy Leliel and recover Unit 01 using all existing N² bombs. During the countdown to ordnance release, the spherical body breaks and Unit 01 emerges, causing an anomaly in the imaginary number circuit and shooting down the enemy. Leliel Neon Genesis Evangelion

To explain the Angel's nature and its Dirac sea, Ritsuko said its body is made up of

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

. Leliel is the angel of the night and is called the "prince of conception". The fictional Angel's shadow and the outflow of Unit 01, which resembles childbirth and gives it the characteristics of a womb, allude to the biblical angel. Geometric figures similar to female genitalia are also visible in its pattern. Its name means "jaw of God", which Will Raus interpreted as a reference to the fictional Angel's ability to consume any object. Its design is inspired by

Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

and

optical art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create optical illusions. It began in the early 20th century, and was especially popular from the 1960s on, the term "Op ...

. Japanese architect Yasutaka Yoshimura compared Leliel's design with

Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in West Norwood, No ...

's work ''Fragment 5''. Writer Virginie Nebbia compared it with Dada from ''Ultraman'', while academic Dennis Redmond noted that ''

Neuromancer ''Neuromancer'' is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian author William Gibson. Set in a near-future dystopia, the narrative follows Case, a computer hacker enlisted into a crew by a powerful artificial intelligence and a traumatis ...

'' makes use of moiré patterns in a scene in which Case tries to break free from a neural trap set by one of the AIs of the story. While trapped inside the Angel, Shinji encounters and converses with another self, which is presumed to be Leliel. The scene, which is set on a train, was the idea of Kazuya Tsurumaki, who took inspiration from a dream he had as a child. The staff decided to include an episode with an Angel that is interested in humans to avoid revealing the riddles about the Angels' true nature. For the clash, Gainax condensed the ideas of what would have been a trilogy of episodes with the same theme. In the initial scenario, Leliel would select

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

from the verses of some animals and several human languages so it could communicate with Shinji. Tsurumaki and the production staff changed their minds, finding the idea of an Angel conversing in human language "too anti-climactic" and "

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...

". According to the official film books of the series, the two Shinji in the sequence represent the psychological concepts of ego and

superego In psychoanalytic theory, the id, ego, and superego are three distinct, interacting agents in the psychic apparatus, outlined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche. The three agents are theoretical constructs that Freud employed t ...

. The Dirac Sea depicted in the anime took inspiration from

Paul Dirac Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac ( ; 8 August 1902 – 20 October 1984) was an English mathematician and Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist who is considered to be one of the founders of quantum mechanics. Dirac laid the foundations for bot ...

's concept of the same name and is also drawn from the novel by

Ryu Mitsuse Ryū Mitsuse ( ''Mitsuse Ryū'', March 18, 1928 - July 7, 1999) was a Japanese novelist, science fiction writer, alternate history writer, historical novelist, and essayist. Mitsuse is the author of ''Hyakuoku no Hiru to Sen'oku no Yoru''. Among h ...

Bardiel

has a nature similar to that of a

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

or a parasitic

, which allows it to infiltrate the body of Eva-03 during its transport by air from the United States of America to Japan. After the contamination, a crack opens on the unit's back, inside which molten filaments similar to

hyphae A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one o ...

are visible. During its advance towards Tokyo-3, Bardiel fights against Eva-02 and Eva-00, making a white, irritant liquid drip inside the unit's body. Bardiel's attack mode does not belong to a single being, but to a colony of microscopic Angels. The Angel is defeated by Shinji Ikari's Eva-01, which is activated by a new piloting system named the Dummy System, which destroys the infected Evangelion. The fictional Angel's contamination of Unit 03 during its passage through a blanket of storm clouds is an allusion to its namesake Bardiel, the angel of hail and lightning. Writer Dennis Redmond interpreted the scream of the infected Eva-03 as a reference to

. Redmond also noted that Bardiel is framed against a setting sun reminiscent of the

Japanese flag The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner with a red circle at its center. The flag is officially called the but is more commonly known in Japan as the . It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising Sun. The ...

in the episode. According to him, this is "a dead ringer for

John Woo John Woo Yu-sen ( zh, t= ; born 22 September 1946) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong film director known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre. The recipient of various accolades, including a Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Award ...

's Hong Kong thrillers, and the conclusion will subtly quote Woo's trademark theme of warring brothers or battling doubles". Most of the scenes where Bardiel appears were produced by

Production I.G is a Japanese animation studio. Headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Production I.G was founded on December 15, 1987, by producer Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and character designer Takayuki Goto as I.G Tatsunoko, a branch studio of the animation giant Ta ...

, who also contributed to the animation of the fight against Iruel. Writer Virginie Nebbia compared Bardiel's role to Imit Ultraman from the ''Ultraman'' series, fake Ultramans controlled by Alien Zarab. In ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', Bardiel is known as the ninth Angel.

Zeruel

, the fourteenth Angel, is almost anthropomorphic. On its back are signs of a pair of wings, which in classical and popular iconography are the symbol of angelic creatures. In combat, Zeruel shows great physical strength, easily surpassing the line defences of Nerv and destroying 18 armor plates of the Nerv headquarters by a single attack. It is also able to evade detection by radar equipment, allowing it to penetrate the headquarters of the organization unimpeded. It emits explosive beams of light from its eyes, and can use its thin upper limbs by means of a blade-and-bellows-like mechanism. Although the Angel's core is exposed in the center of the chest, it has a protective armor to hide it in case of danger. This ability suggests the enemy is aware of the N² device and that there is some kind of communication system between the Angel specimens. After Zeruel defeats Eva-00 and Eva-02, it is finally defeated by Eva-01, which enters the berserk state to devour it, ingesting its S² engine. Zeruel's first attack technique is similar to that of the ''Ultraman'' series's Jet Beetle. Writer Virginie Nebbia also compared Zeruel to another ''Ultraman'' monster, Zetton. Zeruel is the angel of power, a reference to its physical strength. Its name can be translated as "arm of God", to which its second offensive technique alludes. According to Will Raus, its limbs are as thin as a sheet of paper and suggest a pun on the Japanese words for and . The manga artist Yoshitō Asari collaborated in the conception of its basic structure. According to Asari; "When I was asked to collaborate, I was told that the Angel's body should appear slow and clumsy, but that it was so strong that it could make fun of he Evangelion. In ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', Zeruel is known as the tenth Angel. Asari again designed the creature; except for the skull, which is almost identical to the one in the classic series, the movie's Zeruel has paper-like tentacles it wraps around its body like the bands of a mummy. During the fight, it devours Unit 00 with Rei Ayanami, assuming the appearance of an anthropomorphic female figure. For the likeness of the new Zeruel, the animators took inspiration from the monster King Joe from ''Ultraseven'' and an Angel in the original draft of the series, a cube-shaped "

origami ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a ...

Apostolo" inspired by the

Möbius strip In mathematics, a Möbius strip, Möbius band, or Möbius loop is a Surface (topology), surface that can be formed by attaching the ends of a strip of paper together with a half-twist. As a mathematical object, it was discovered by Johann Bened ...

. Its anthropomorphic female form is inspired by Riderman from ''

Kamen Rider The , also known as ''Masked Rider Series'' (until ''Kamen Rider Decade, Decade'' and except Thailand), is a Japanese superhero fiction, superhero media franchise consisting of tokusatsu television programs, films, manga, and anime, created by ...

''. Writer Virginie Nebbia also noted that Zeruel's battle closely resembles the final battle in ''

Revolutionary Girl Utena is a Japanese anime television series created by Be-Papas, a production group formed by director Kunihiko Ikuhara and composed of himself, Chiho Saito, Shinya Hasegawa, Yōji Enokido and Yūichirō Oguro. The series was produced by ...

''.

Arael

is the fifteenth Angel. It appears and remains in

geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular orbit, circular geosynchronous or ...

for the entire duration of its observation. At first, it is motionless at a constant distance from Earth, deploying giant luminescent wings. Asuka Langley Soryu with her Eva-02 positions herself at the center of Tokyo-3 to intercept it, but the Angel begins to erode her mind using a wave that radars cannot detect. The Angel makes Asuka relive her childhood trauma in an attempt to investigate her mental wavelength by learning her mechanisms and rendering the human on board the Evangelion harmless. According to Ritsuko, Arael's attack is an attempt to investigate the human heart and contact the unit's pilot. The energetic light beam is visible to humans, a phenomenon attributed to the presence of an unknown energy, something similar to an AT Field. Units 00 attacks Arael with its firearm, but its attempts are thwarted by its strong AT Field. Arael is ultimately defeated by Eva-00 after it launches into orbit a weapon called Longinus' spear, quickly reaching Arael and piercing through its AT Field. Virginie Nebbia compared Arael's design with Perolynga from ''Ultraseven'', and its exploration of Asuka's mind with Solaris from the novel of the same name. Arael is the angel of birds; its bird-like appearance in the show is a reference to this. Its name means "light" or "vision of God", which Will Raus interpreted as referenced by its beam of light. Arael was planned to appear in the nineteenth episode; it would appear in the Earth's atmosphere and would use its twelve semi-transparent wings as a high-frequency cutting weapon. The Evangelion units would face it in an aerial confrontation, in which Shinji would attempt to save Asuka. The sequences of the psychological battle between the Angel and Asuka have been compared to

Gestalt psychology Gestalt psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology and a theory of perception that emphasises the processing of entire patterns and configurations, and not merely individual components. It emerged in the early twent ...

, in particular by the field theory of the German psychologist

Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin ( ; ; 9 September 1890 – 12 February 1947) was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social psychology, social, industrial and organizational psychology, organizational, and applied psychology in the ...

, according to which each individual is part of a context in which each one creates a personal reality.

Armisael

has a luminescent body and an ill-defined circular shape that later stabilizes above the valley of Ōwaku, rotating around its axis. Once its rotation stops, the Angel metamorphosizes into a string, It launches an attack against Unit 00, piercing its body at the level of the womb. Armisael seeks physical and mental contact with the target, violating the components of the unit, which is led by pilot Rei Ayanami. It is speculated Armisael continues Arael's psychic incursion, launching into a communicative attack on Rei. Under attack, Rei loses her senses and inside her mind she meets another self that is Armisael, which sweetly speaks to her using the words from her own unconscious mind. The Angel asks Rei to unite with it to alleviate the pain caused by the attack. After awakening, Rei activates a process of self-destruction of her unit. Rei causes a violent explosion that engulfs and annihilates the Angel, and much of Tokyo-3. Shortly before the explosion and the Angel's defeat, Eva-00 assumes the silhouette of Rei Ayanami, with Armisael arranged on her head like a

halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

, an iconographic Christian attribute of angels and saints. Armisael, confirming the hypotheses of intercommunication between the Angels and the Angel being aware of their predecessors' experiences, is aware of the human psyche. In religious texts, Armisael is the angel of the womb; in Jewish tradition, a woman could relieve the pain of childbirth by invoking his name. During the battle on 00's back, a heteromorphic organism with contours that recall the forms of the previous Angels develops. Armisael thus contains the genetic information of the other Angels. Its shape is similar to a double helix ring and has been compared with the

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

or a mathematical surface that cannot be oriented, such as the

and the Klein's bottle.

Tabris

goes by the name of

, and becomes the replacement pilot of Eva-02 after Asuka's mental breakdown. After arriving in Tokyo-3, Tabris becomes a friend of Shinji Ikari, but betrays him and takes possession of Eva-02 in an attempt to break into the Terminal Dogma, where it believes Adam is kept. Upon discovering the giant guarded in Nerv is Lilith, Tabris decides to stop its attack and entrusts its fate to Shinji's Unit 01, allowing itself to be killed. Writer Virginie Nebbia compared Kaworu's role to Perolynga and Metron from ''Ultraseven''. According to the ''Nuctemeron'' of

Apollonius of Tyana Apollonius of Tyana (; ; ) was a Greek philosopher and religious leader from the town of Tyana, Cappadocia in Roman Anatolia, who spent his life travelling and teaching in the Middle East, North Africa and India. He is a central figure in Ne ...

, Tabris is a demon and the angel of

free will Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...

. This is reflected in ''Evangelion'' Tabris’s choosing to die at the hands of Shinji. ''Nuctemeron'' also mentions a demon called Cahor, pronounced in Japanese, which is referred to as the angel of deception, a detail the ''Evangelion Chronicle'' encyclopedia relates to Tabris' deceptive, anthropomorphic appearance. Like Arael and Armisael, who both attempt to make contact with Asuka's and Rei's souls, Kaworu aggressively tries to touch Shinji's thoughts, but through peaceful human exchange rather than an open attack. Tabris claims that the Angels' AT Fields are the light of the soul and "the walls of the heart," possessed by everyone, so it neutralizes Shinji's AT Field by eliminating the emotional barriers around his metaphorical heart. Following previous Angels, which have taken various forms, Tabris adopted the form of a man by gathering information from its predecessors.

Lilin

, or , is the name used by Kaworu Nagisa to refer to human beings. In the movie ''The End of Evangelion'', it is revealed humans are the eighteenth and final Angel, and direct descendants of Lilith. According to rabbinic scriptures, the Lilim, known as Lilin, are the children of Adam and his first wife, Lilith.

In ''Rebuild of Evangelion''

New Angels are introduced in the ''

'' film tetralogy, while reappearing Angels from the original series have an altered numbering. In the films, the Angels were made with three-dimensional and CG models, with the exception of the ninth and tenth Angels, which are based on Bardiel and Zeruel. A rainbow appears when the Angels are killed; according to Comic Book Resources' Danny Hernandez, the symbol may refer to Genesis, according to which God placed a rainbow in the sky by God as a testimony of His covenant with

Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...

. Writer Virginie Nebbia noted that a rainbow appears after Gorbagos death in ''Return of Ultraman'' and in '' Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis'' (1988). In ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', the Angels do not have names; according to Masayuki, their names were excluded in the scripting phase because they were never used by the staff, who barely remembered them. The new Angels that appear in the films are: *The . Its body, which is composed of bones, is similar to a snake skeleton. The third Angel is equipped with four small limbs for walking, an Evangelion cockpit, a tail and a long neck similar to wings which it uses to fly. It is unearthed from

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

in the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

, and is sealed by the European branch of Nerv to be researched and dissected. To kill its enemies, the third Angel uses light beams, which it uses to fight against Eva-05. The fight takes place in Bethany base, where it is defeated. Its basic design was conceived by Hideaki Anno, who during production thought of giving it the ability to spit acid, taking inspiration from the monster from ''Ultraman''. Anno asked Mohiro Kitoh to redefine its appearance, suggesting something in the style of '' Narutaru''. Writer Virginie Nebbia interpreted it as a possible homage to ''Ultraman'' Seabosu. *The is shaped like a grandfather clock; its head is identical to Sachiel's mask and is capable of rotating like the hands of a clock. It has a fake oscillating core that it uses as a decoy and an authentic core that is hidden inside its body. The seventh Angel moves by freezing the sea's surface; it uses water to kill its enemies and is defeated by Eva-02. It reprises the role of Gaghiel, which appears in the eighth episode of the classic series. The seventh Angel was included in the movie due to technical necessity; the ''genga'' or key frames of the eighth episode were lost and the production staff rethought the entire scenario of Asuka's arrival. It was designed by second unit director Daizen Komatsuda to resemble a

drinking bird A drinking bird, also known as the dunking bird, drinky bird, water bird, and dipping bird, is a toy heat engine that mimics the motions of a bird drinking from a water source. They are sometimes incorrectly considered examples of a perpetual mo ...

. The creature's face is the work of animator Shigeto Koyama, while the body, which was designed by Anno, is inspired by the Toshiba IHI building at the 1970 Osaka Expo. *The , which is introduced in the film '' Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo'' (2012), takes the form of a set of black filaments that emerge from Mark.06 and is eventually killed as it gets eaten by Evangelion 13.

In other media

Angels appear in works based on ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' with different appearances and roles. In the comic book adaptation of the series, which was drawn by character designer

, Sandalphon, Matarael, Iruel and Leliel do not appear and the number of Angels is reduced to twelve. More differences are introduced in the manga '' Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse'', in which they are depicted as creatures that take possession of dead bodies to obtain gems called "cores". In the video game ''Shin seiki Evangelion: 2nd Impression'', an Angel called is introduced. The Angel presents itself in different forms. In the first form, the Angel's body is formed by disc-shaped plates, from which sprout small, scissor-like spines, and on the bottom some limbs similar to those of an insect. After a metamorphosis, it transforms into a

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

and then evolves into its final flying-insect-like form. In its third form, the Angel splits its AT Field and absorbs the energy of the Evangelion units. Original Angel's core is hidden inside a girl named Mayumi Yamagishi. Mahiro Maeda worked on the Original Angel design. In the board game , which was published by

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...

, Angels Sachiel, Shamshel, Ramiel, Gaghiel, Israfel, Materael and Sahaquiel, and two new Angels appear. The first, , has the appearance of a purple-colored mollusk. On the top of the shell is a graphic motif in the shape of a human eye. The second, called , is orange and spherical. Additional Angels appear in a board game called : , similar to an aquatic spore that shoots energy projectiles; is a humanoid Angel equipped with an energy cannon; is dinosaur-like and attacks with its claws; and is shaped like a virus and able to attack by manipulating gravity. The Angels have also been used in video games based on the television series and other games detached from the ''Evangelion'' franchise, as in ''

MapleStory ''MapleStory'' () is a free-to-play, 2D, side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game, developed by South Korean company Wizet. Several versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions, published by var ...

'', ''

Million Arthur is a Japanese media franchise created by Square Enix, consisting primarily of a series of video games. The first release was an online free-to-play card battle game titled , which was released for iOS and Android in 2012. A sequel ga ...

'', '' Monster Hunter Explore'' and in the video games and ''Summons Board'' by GunHo Online Entertainment. In the ''

Divine Gate is a 2013 Japanese smartphone game developed by Acquire for iOS and Android devices. An anime television series adaptation by Pierrot aired from January 8, 2016 to March 25, 2016. Plot The living, heavens, and underworld become connected af ...

'' video game by the same production company, Angels from ''Rebuild of Evangelion'' are depicted in anthropomorphic robes and have different names. An enemy similar to ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' Angels appears in a crossover episode of the anime ''

Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion is a Japanese toy franchise created by Takara Tomy, in association with the Japan Railways Group. It is a spin-off of the long-running Plarail model train franchise, with the toys first launched back at March 16, 2015. An anime adaptatio ...

'', whose design combines those of several ''Rebuild'' Angels.

Cultural references and interpretations

Writer Patrick Drazen analyzed the series' cosmology, comparing it with the

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

cosmology presented in the texts of the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and ''

Nihon shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

''. According to Drazen, the

cosmogony Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony is the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used in ref ...

proposed by Anno, despite the Judeo-Christian references, presents a strong Japanese background. He compared the First Impact, and the presence of the White Moon of the Angels and the Black Moon of humanity, to the Japanese myth on the origin of the world, according to which the cosmos was born from a primordial, chaotic, egg-like soup from which light and darkness were separated. The Spear of Longinus has also been compared with , the spear of the two creator ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

s''

Izanagi Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally referred to with a divine honorific as , is the creator deity (''kami'') of both creation and life in Japanese mythology. He and his sister-wife Izanami are the ...

and

Izanami , formally referred to with the honorific , is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial ...

; according to the myth, the two creator deities formed the first island of the Japanese archipelago with the spear. Drazen, noting the Black Moon is placed on the

Izu Peninsula The is a mountainous peninsula with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the island of Honshu, Japan, the largest of the four main islands of Japan. Formerly known as Izu Province, Izu peninsu ...

, interpreted the mythopoiesis of the series as a cosmogony according to which all human life on Earth springs from Japan, as a hi-tech version of ''Kojiki''. According to writers Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy, the use of Western religious symbols, such as cruciform explosions generated by Angels, leads one to think of Western beliefs as an alien invasion within ''Evangelion'', but in their view the symbols are rooted in Anno's insights into

archetypes The concept of an archetype ( ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main mo ...

and

Jungian psychology Analytical psychology (, sometimes translated as analytic psychology; also Jungian analysis) is a term referring to the psychological practices of Carl Jung. It was designed to distinguish it from Freud's psychoanalytic theories as their s ...

. Writers have interpreted ''Evangelion'' as a recreation of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

from the Japanese point of view, especially regarding the final apocalyptic events.

Susan J. Napier Susan Jolliffe Napier (; born October 1955) is a professor of the Japanese program at Tufts University. She was formerly the Mitsubishi Professor of Japanese Literature and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin. She also worked as a visit ...

, an American critic and writer, linked the monstrous creatures in ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' and other anime to the

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...

trauma suffered by the Japanese people after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Writer Virginie Nebbia similarly compared the Second Impact to the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and its consequences on Japan. According to researcher Marcello Ghilardi, the Angels reflect the feelings of a part of Japanese youth of the 1990s, a time when Japanese society was in the midst of an economic crisis and when "the ability to react and trust in the future seemed to have vanished", while the impossibility of clearly identifying the origin of the difficulties paralyzed society and made it made "prey to a sense of expectation and precariousness". Their identification code, "Blood Type – Blue", is an homage to the alternative title of the sci-fi film ''Blue Christmas'' (1978) by

Kihachi Okamoto was a Cinema of Japan, Japanese film director who worked in several different film genre, genres. Career Born in Yonago, Tottori, Yonago, Okamoto attended Meiji University, but was drafted into the Air Force 1943 and entered World War II, an exp ...

, an influential author for Anno. ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' manga editor Carl Gustav Horn also noted that in some doctrines of the

Jewish Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (). Jewi ...

angels are not conceived as alien entities, but as beings that were present and recently awakened in the Creation. Critics compared the Angels to the ''

kaijū is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju ...

'', monsters typical of Japanese science fiction. Anime Academy reviewers linked ''Evangelion'' to earlier monster-of-the-week products, such as ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters (later reorganized into ...

'' and ''

Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an American media franchise created by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy and Shotaro Ishinomori built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. It is currently ow ...

'', tracing influences to ''

Macross is a Japanese science fiction mecha anime media franchise/ media mix, created by Studio Nue (most prominently mecha designer, writer and producer Shōji Kawamori) and Artland in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth and t ...

'' and the works of

Gō Nagai , better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', but is best known for creating popular 1970 ...

. Art magazine ''Real Time'' also analyzed the Angels, saying their design reflects ancient and modern archetypes, comparing them to

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

paintings,

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

murals and

Donald Judd Donald Clarence Judd (June 3, 1928February 12, 1994) was an American artist associated with minimalism.Tate Modern websit"Tate Modern Past Exhibitions Donald Judd" Retrieved on February 19, 2009. In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for ...

cubes.

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

's Ramsey Isler interpreted the battles against the Angels as a metaphor for Anno's attempts to defeat his internal demons and depression. Scholar Mariana Ortega, noting the mythological Lilith represents "the Other Side", a dark world in which deep libidinal and

unconscious Unconscious may refer to: Physiology * Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli Psychology * Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...

desires are not controlled, interpreted ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' as a possible tale of psychic struggles between ego and unconscious, Jungian

shadow A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio ...

and anima/animus. According to Ortega, the purpose of the Nerv, the Seele and the Angels is "a kind of return to an original womb". Other scholars have described the Angels as representations of the Other that Shinji must face to form his identity, while Japanese writer Kotani Mari interpreted them as a representation of the concept of

abjection In critical theory, abjection is the state of being cast off and separated from norms and rules, especially on the scale of society and morality. The term has been explored in post-structuralism as that which inherently disturbs conventional ident ...

, which was formulated by philosopher

Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva (; ; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, ; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and novelist who has lived in France since the mid-1960s. She has taught at Colum ...

. Susan Napier, noting the Angels are explicitly associated with Gendo throughout the series, described them as father figures. Hideaki Anno himself compared Gendo and the first Angel Adam to father figures, saying he took inspiration from the Oedipal complex postulated by

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

Cultural impact

Popularity and critical reception

The Angels' designs and fighting styles received positive reviews from critics and audiences. In 2017 the news magazine Livedoor News opened a survey asking the fans to choose their favorite Angel; in the poll, Adam and Ramiel ranked first and second, respectively. The magazine, talking about the reasons for Ramiel's popularity, discussed the beauty of its geometric features and felt sorry for Arael's low position of the eleventh place.

's Nick Creamer praised the first confrontation against Sachiel, calling its disc face "iconic". Creamer also lauded the battles against the Angels, describing them as "a captivating combination of eerily distinct monster designs, creative tactical setups, and gorgeous, horrifying fight animation". The synchronized battle against Israfel received positive reviews from critics.

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

described the fight as one of the best action scenes in the entire series. The fights against Bardiel and Zeruel also drew positive opinions. The US magazine ''Anime Invasion'' ranked the Zeruel battle as the eighth-best fight in Japanese animation history. Martin Theron of Anime News Network and Nicole MacLean of

THEM Anime Reviews THEM Anime Reviews, otherwise known as THEM or T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews, is an anime review website that writes about current and past anime in any form, including OVAs and ONAs. The website offers reviews, editorial content and hosts forums. ...

also made positive comments about their design, describing them as "jaw-dropping" and "nothing short of astounding". Anime News Network's Justin Sevakis appreciated the omission of their names in the first two installments of the ''Rebuild of Evangelion'' film tetralogy, lacking the Judeo-Christian references from the original series, which he described as "confusing and problematic".

Merchandise and legacy

Images of the Angels have been used to produce merchandising items, such as action figures, T-shirts, paperweights, bags, underwear, collectible models and foodstuffs. In 2005, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the first airing of the series, manga artist

Mine Yoshizaki is a Japanese mangaka, manga creator. His most well known works are ''Sgt. Frog'', a manga he created which later received an anime adaption, and ''Kemono Friends'', a multimedia franchise for which Yoshizaki serves as concept designer. Career ...

designed several action figures of the Angels in anthropomorphic likenesses for a line titled Angel XX; among the various models, he designed Lilith and Sachiel puppets inspired by Rei Ayanami's character design. The website Evastore, the official distributor of articles and merchandise inspired by ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', adopted as its mascot an Angel named Yuru-Shito, which was later used for products and an official role-playing game of the series. According to Guido Tavassi, a scholar and critic of Japanese animation, the "revolutionary" appearance of the Angels is among the stylistic innovations introduced by the anime, "

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

proposes a complete abstraction of the shapes of the enemies ... with a choice that will have an enormous impact on the design of the series of the

echa The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA; ) is an agency of the European Union working for the safe use of chemicals. It manages the technical and administrative aspects of the implementation of the European Union regulation called Registration, ...

genre that followed". Matarael's design inspired

Nobuhiro Watsuki , better known by his pen name , is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his samurai-themed series '' Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story'' (1994–1999), which has over 70 million copies in circulation, and a sequel he is cur ...

to create the eye costume of Usui Uonuma, one of the characters in the manga ''

Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins in 1878, the 11th year of the Meiji era in Japan, and follows a former assassin of the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his work against ...

''. Leliel inspired

Yūichirō Oguro is a Japanese writer. He co-created the 1997 television anime series ''Revolutionary Girl Utena is a Japanese anime television series created by Be-Papas, a production group formed by director Kunihiko Ikuhara and composed of himself, ...

to create the enemies of '' Gekiganger 3'', the aliens of the Kyo'akk Empire who come from a dimension called "Dark String Universe". Staff of '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' also took inspiration from the Angels of ''Evangelion'' for the design of the panda Hei Bei. Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy have traced a possible ''Evangelion'' influence on the Dolems, ''

RahXephon is a Japanese anime television series created and directed by Yutaka Izubuchi. The series follows 17-year-old Ayato Kamina, his ability to control a mecha known as the RahXephon, and his inner journey to find a place in the world. His li ...

'' main antagonists. For '' Sci Fi Weekly'' Tasha Robinson, '' Aquarion'' Shadow Angels can also be influenced by ''Evangelion'' Angels.

's Jemima Sebastian compared a scene in '' Godzilla vs. Kong'', in which

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

on a ship suffers an underwater attack from

, to the fight between Gaghiel and Eva-02 from the eighth episode of the series. The same author also noted how an evolution of Algomon presented in the ''Digimon'' anime is reminiscent of the designs of certain Angels from ''Neon Genesis Evangelion''. Sachiel's design inspired Jordan Vogt-Roberts for '' Kong: Skull Island''s Skullcrawler. ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

'' compared the unfurled design of the flying

cryptid Cryptids are animals or other beings whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. Cryptozoology, the study of cryptids, is a pseudoscience claiming that such beings may exist somewhere in the wild; it has been widely cri ...

movie monster Jean Jacket in

Jordan Peele Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is known for his film and television work in the Comedy film, comedy and Horror film, horror genres. He has received List of awards and nominations r ...

's '' Nope'' with Sahaquiel. On July 25, 2022, ''Slashfilm'' confirmed via Peele's production notes for ''Nope'' that Jean Jacket had been specifically inspired by the Angels of ''Neon Genesis Evangelion''; Peele himself stated that he was particularly influenced by their "hyper minimalism" and "biomechanical design flair". The creators of the video game ''

Genshin Impact ''Genshin Impact'' is a 2020 action role-playing game produced by MiHoYo, MiHoYo/HoYoverse. The game features an anime-style open world environment and an action-based Role-playing battle systems, battle system using Classical element, element ...

'' also drew inspiration from Ramiel's design for the conception of some life forms called Hypostasis.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Angels in Neon Genesis Evangelion

Animated characters introduced in 1995

Kaiju Neon Genesis Evangelion characters Neon Genesis Evangelion lists