Summary
There are few mechs in anime as iconic and famous as the Evangelion Units fromNeon Genesis Evangelion—gigantic humanoid mechs with incredibly slender builds and menacing faces. But right from the get-go, the Eva are shown to not be what they seem. In the second episode of the original 1995 series, Eva Unit 01 loses the top half of her helmet, showing a humanoid face with skin and big green eyes.
The true nature of the Eva units may seem confusing to fans. To both new and hardcore fans ofEvangelion, whether the Eva are mechs or not is still an ongoing debate. What are the Eva?
The following contains spoilers for Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)
Eva Units are Not Mechs
Flesh and Bone Inside, Armored Outside
TheEva are the multipurpose humanoid decisive weapon, artificial humans created by NERV. Mainly by scientists Yui andGendo Ikari.They are giant artificially created human-like beings. The colored exterior is nothing but armor made to both protect them and restrain their true power. Most Eva units are clones of the first angel, Adam. Granting them a powerful AT Field their teenage pilots can use in battle. While Eva Unit 01 is a clone of the second angel, Lilith.
The Eva are fully made of flesh and bone, although withcybernetic parts to make them into pilotable cyborgs. The Eva possess nerves, brains, hearts, and most of what a human has. Their hearts are different though, because of their closeness to angels, they each have an S2 Core. The “heart” angels have their one weakness.
However, the Eva don’t have their own souls as opposed to humans, hence, they are embedded with a human soul to make them fully functional. The nature of these souls, is what allows the teenage pilots, Shinji Ikari,Asuka Langley Sohryu, and Rei Ayanami tosynchronize with themand move them with their thoughts mentally.
“This is humanity’s ultimate fighting machine, the synthetic life form know as Evangelion Unit 01”
Each Eva unit has a human soul from a deceased person. In the case ofUnit 01 and Unit 02, it is the souls of Yui Ikari and Kyouko Zeppeli, Shinji and Asuka’s mothers respectively. In the case of Unit 00, it is unknown whose soul she has. The Eva feel and have a limited level of thought, as when they lose control and go berserk, the resident soul takes control and manifests their instinctual will. Eva Unit 01 enters berserk to protect her son, Shinji. And so did Unit 02 the one time she went berserk. But Unit 00 always attacks her pilot, Rei and Gendo Ikari. So it is unclear who her soul is.
Why Are Eva This Way?
Are Full Robots Not an Option?
NERV determined that to fight the Angels on even ground, it was necessary to essentially fight fire with fire. A fully mechanized weapon does not possess a soul, so they can’t use an AT field, the Angel’s primary source of power. So, the Eva’s ability to use an AT field and their versatility via mental control are much more effective at fighting the deadly angels. Robots are unreliable, as seen when a rival company created the Jet Alone. A giant mech that was meant to replace the Eva, as it wouldn’t lose control. The Jet Alone was a failure. However, it was alsosabotaged by NERV agents.
Eva are mentally linked to the pilots, which gives an immediate response in battle, and in the case of Eva Unit 01, her ability to fight for herself and swiftly destroy the angels is NERV’s greatest asset. Eva Units are in fact not mechs, they’re giant pilotable cyborgs with a human soul. And they’re humanity’s main weapon against the angels.
