Rebuild of Evangelion

Rebuilding in a new world. This is the second Alternate Timeline World Asgard might encounter.

Setting

The story of Neon Genesis Evangelion primarily begins in 2000 with the "Second Impact", a global cataclysm which almost completely destroyed Antarctica and led to the deaths of half the human population of Earth. The Impact is believed by the public at large and even most of NERV to have been the impact of a meteorite landing in Antarctica, causing devastating tsunamis and a change in the Earth's axial tilt (leading to global climate change) and subsequent geopolitical unrest, nuclear war (such as the nuking of Tokyo), and general economic distress. Later, Second Impact is revealed to be the result of contact with and experimentation on the first of what are collectively dubbed the Angels: Adam. The experiments were sponsored by the mysterious organization SEELE, and carried out by the research organization Gehirn.

In the year 2010, Gehirn had accomplished a number of its scientific and engineering goals and corporately changed into the paramilitary organization NERV which is headquartered in Tokyo-3, a militarized civilian city located on one of the last dry sections of Japan; NERV's central mission is to locate the remaining Angels predicted by SEELE, and to destroy them. However, NERV has its own secret agenda, as directed by its Machiavellian commander Gendo Ikari: the Human Instrumentality Project, which, according to Gendo in episode 25, is the task of uniting all human minds into one global spiritual entity. Associated with NERV is the Marduk Institute, which has the task of selecting the pilots for the Evas, the most capable being children conceived after the Second Impact (14 year-olds). The institute consists of Commander Ikari, and NERV's chief scientist Ritsuko Akagi; supporting the two are 108 companies which are all revealed to be ghost companies.

Factions

NERV

God's in His Heaven, all's right with the World.

NERV (German for "nerve") is a special organization that was put together to combat the Angels after the Second Impact and is the organization responsible for the creation of the Evangelions.

Mission

NERV has several missions. First of all, it aims to put in place the Human Instrumentality Project , under the supervision of the high escalon of SEELE. But the public purpose of NERV is to defend humanity against the Angels to prevent them from initiating the Third Impact after the destruction carried out during the Second Impact. For this, the organization has developed and uses the Evangelions. In reality, the destruction of the Angels is one of the stages for the implementation of the Human Instrumentality Project.

Organization

Officially, the NERV is a private organization under the direct supervision of the United Nations, with limited authority by the local administration and, to some extent, over the military forces of the United Nations. However, NERV is primarily independent from the United Nations, except for funding. Due to the inability of conventional forces to fight the Angels, combat strategies are often left to the discretion of the highest levels of NERV without any external interference. NERV is able to keep its own positions if it feels necessary.

NERV employs several thousand people, including scientists, technicians, paramilitary security forces, and support personnel. The standard uniform for NERV employees is a khaki uniform with triangular patterns on the shoulders. People in a position of command (Gendo Ikari, Kozo Fuyutsuki, and even Ryoji Kaji) wears other type of clothes. All NERV employees have a triangular clip on their left breast to indicate their rank.

In the absence of the Commander and Vice-Commander, control of NERV HQ falls to Misato Katsuragi. She and Ritsuko Akagi seem to have more or less an equivalent position in the NERV hierarchy. The exact relationship between the two is a bit unclear. At several times, they give each other orders but it seems that Misato commands Ritsuko on the tactical level, in particular on the use of Evangelions, while Ritsuko commands Misato when it comes to technical level, especially when it comes to damage to the units.

Technical Division

The Technical Division, headed by Ritsuko Akagi corresponds to the scientific branch of NERV, responsible for research and development of Evangelions, as well as maintenance and development. She also carries out scientific analyzes about the Angels to try to better understand them and help the Operation Tactical branch in their fight.

Each NERV facility accommodates a large number of mechanics, electricians and other personnel dedicated to maintenance, repair and construction. The standard uniform consists of an orange jumpsuit and a hat. Personnel involved in Evangelion research, development and testing wear the standard khaki NERV uniform. Doctor Akagi wears a white lab coat instead of a uniform.

Intelligence Division

The NERV Intelligence and Security Department is a division of NERV that includes intelligence and counterintelligence activities. They are also special agents tasked with tracking Evangelion pilots and investigating security breaches. They manage to recover from Shinji Ikari after his escape two days earlier.

Public Relations

NERV has its own public relations department, which manages propaganda and media censorship to control information about Angels and Evangelions to the general public. For example, after the fight against the Fourth Angel, the official information released indicates that no one was injured in the fight between Evangelion Unit-01 and the Angel, when in reality Sakura Suzuhara was mentioned to be injured.

NERV Personnel

Commander Gendou Ikari	Vice-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki	Doctor Ritsuko Akagi	Major Misato Katsuragi	Operator Makoto Hyuga

Operator Maya Ibuki	Operator Shigeru Aoba

Children

First Child Rei Ayanami	Second Child Asuka Shikinami Langley	Third Child Shinji Ikari	Fourth Child Mari Makinami Illustrious	First Angel Kaworu Nagisa

Class Representative Hikari Horaki	Toji Suzuhara	Kensuke Aida

Euro-NERV

God's in His Heaven, all's right with the World.

Euro-NERV is an organization that deals with the Evangelion production and management as according to the IPEA. One of its bases is located in Paris, France, a facility that contains numerous equipment that was guarded by numerous autonomous Evangelion Mark.44A, Evangelion Mark.44B and one Evangelion Mark.4444C. It was raided by WILLE with Evangelion Production Model Custom Type-08 β-ICC fighting against it as WILLE soldiers could use the sealing pillars to decontaminate the base and regain control of it and its contents.

Seele

Überm Sternenzelt richtet Gott, wie wir gerichtet.

Seele (also shown as SEELE) was a mysterious group of beings shown in Rebuild of Evangelion to have significant influence over NERV.

Goals

Seele's goal was to start the Human Intrumentality Project via an "impact" event. The project was meant to exterminate all life on Earth and replace it with lifeforms born with the "fruit of life". The Near Third Impact would have been Gendo Ikari's scenario of the project if it had succeeded, while the Fourth Impact was Seele's scenario. Seele's original plan was to resurrect Lilith, but that clearly failed. Seele's back up plan also failed as Evangelion 13 was deactivated.

Organization

In the first two Rebuild movies Seele is shown to have major control of NERV and funds its operations. However, unlike the original anime they seem to have considerably less direct control over the ensuing events.

At some point following the Near Third Impact, Seele fell silent and remained so by the time of Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo. Gendo explained to Kōzō Fuyutsuki that the Human Intrumentality Project would be enacted in accordance with the Dead Sea Scrolls, so there was no need for Seele to speak. Presumably, Seele was certain that with the failure of the Third Impact, the planned Fourth Impact would inevitably follow their designs and achieve their desired outcome, and therefore they had no need to relay further instructions. Despite this certainty, the Fourth Impact was halted soon after Seele is shut down, and Gendo and Fuyutsuki note that their own plans were still on track.

True Nature

Gendo reveals that Seele were lifeforms (whether human or otherwise is not specified) gifted with the "fruit of knowledge" who altered the "shape" of their souls to be able to live indefinitely. Seele apparently assisted human evolution through the ages by granting humans the gift of civilization. Gendo described shutting Seele down as an act of respect and gratitude for Seele's aid because their souls were being returned to their rightful place. Seele 01, the last to be shut down, broke its silence and told Gendo that their wish for mankind had already come to pass, and expressed its final hope that the instrumentality of humanity would occur, along with the "peaceful purification of souls".

As they were deactivated, the usually opaque black Seele monoliths turned white and translucent. Each monolith revealed an anatomical diagram of a brain inside it, which flashed and faded as they were shut down.

SEELE Council

01 Sound Only	02 Sound Only	03 Sound Only	04 Sound Only

Technology

Bakelite

Bakelite (ベークライト) is a fast-setting red-colored phenol resin, which, after being released in liquid state, quickly hardens in a similar fashion to that of quick drying concrete. Bakelite is deployed inside of NERV HQ in the event that an Evangelion breaks loose and needs to be quickly restrained. Also, part of NERV HQ's defensive system is to flood presumably most or possibly all access corridors with bakelite, as means of cutting off the advance of an approaching enemy. It is used to block entire passage ways in an effort to stop the Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force troop movements inside NERV Headquarters as can be seen in The End of Evangelion.

After Adam was reduced to an embryonic state, the embryo was encased in bakelite in order to freeze it and make it easy and safe to transport.

Evangelions

Evangelion (エヴァンゲリオン[?]) is a giant humanoid being of near-godlike power, created by NERV from samples of the First Angel, Adam (although Unit-01 might be an exception). Evangelions were supposedly created to combat the Angel threat, although their most important function (and one of their greatest secrets) is to initiate Third Impact to evolve humanity further.

Despite being giant humans (in the series' broader definition of the term "human"), Evangelions are often mistaken for giant robots. As early as Episode 02, Evangelion Unit-01 is seen without its helmet on, revealing that Evangelions are clearly not robots, but cyborgs, living organic creatures with cybernetic machine and computer components grafted onto them. They are also covered from head to toe in restraining metal plates that hide their true organic form and serve to keep them under NERV's control, and in part because they have pilots who sit in the cockpit-like Entry Plug.

Each Evangelion has been imbued with the soul of the pilot's mother, with the exception of Unit-00 and possibly the Mass Production Evas.

Evangelions do not have a fixed size in the show, and vary in size as the situation demands, going from 40 meters to a towering 200 meters in height (they all have a height of approximately 80 meters in the Rebuild continuity, with Eva-13 being slightly larger). Created from the Seed of Life Adam (with the seeming exception of Unit-01), their massive bodies are formed of Particle-Wave Matter, but their shape appears to be determined genetically rather than through their A.T. Fields since they were born without souls, having their soul inserted in a Contact Experiment with a human being. Evangelions are also incapable of generating an S² Engine, although Unit-01 later acquires one and Mass Production Evangelions are all equipped with them.

Like the original Adam, an Eva has essentially the same physical form as a normal human, albeit with exaggerated torso/waist proportions and varying head forms. The limbs are identical to human limbs in structure, down to the point of the fingers having fingernails (Episode 03) and the feet having toes (seen in End of Evangelion).

Skull shape and features vary from Evangelion to Evangelion. Some of the failed Prototype Evangelions have a skull shape almost identical to that of a human, while the Mass Production Evangelions have no eyes and a vaguely cetacean head form. Production model Evangelions vary in head shape, as well as in the number of eyes and nostril position.

Evangelions have internal organs including a complete digestive tract, as evidenced by display monitors and Unit-01's attack on Zeruel, and visually seen during the dismemberment of Unit-02. With the exception of Unit-02, which has blue-purple blood (In Rebuild, Unit-02's blood has been switched to red), all Evangelions have red blood, which sprays out of wounds in spectacular fashion.

Like Adam and the Angels, all Evangelions have a core, located on the solar plexus region in a similar manner to the more humanoid Angels. Unit-01 is known to have two smaller cores located below and next to the main core. NERV's technology allows the core to be prepared for a Contact Experiment or for piloting. Cores appear to have their own supply of LCL, and pipes for the liquid connect to the back of the Eva's head.

Like the Angels, Evangelions have regenerative capabilities. It is directly stated that they are capable of regenerating damaged or destroyed organs. Unit-01, in particular, has demonstrated extremely fast, controlled regeneration, including the ability to convert foreign biomass to its own. Likewise, Evangelions can lose their limbs or even their head and have them reattached later.

Unit-02's left leg is ripped off at the knee (which the script attributes to a blasting bolt), after which the torn off leg sinks deeper into the magma of the volcano, presumably beyond all hope of recovery; however, by the next episode Unit-02 is seen to be fully repaired with a full left leg. NERV is either capable of creating replacement limbs for the Evas (as opposed to simply being able to reattach limbs that have been severed), or of making Evas regrow lost limbs from their torso. It is not known how long or difficult of a process this might be, as it is not clear how much time passes between episodes during the fairly standalone "Action Arc" of the series, although in Episode 19, Unit-00 did not have time to grow a new left arm after the battle with Bardiel, implying that the regenerative process is fairly slow (or at least for Unit-00).

Evangelions are covered in bindings that serve to restrain them and bind them to NERV's control, and are restrained heavily at all times when not in combat. Whether the bindings serve to restrain them physically or use some other mechanism to restrict their power is not known as the functioning of the bindings is not elaborated upon within the series. The bindings appear to serve as armor of sorts, but they are presumably unnecessary in that role. The shoulder pylons serve as part of the restraint system, attaching to external restraints as well as serving as storage for weapons like the Progressive Knife and Unit-02's spike launcher.

Evangelions seem to be created from a sort of asexual amoeba-like[1] fission process with either Adam or Lilith, in which the torso of the Eva is 'pulled' out of the Seed; Bochan_bird's translation of the Japanese liner notes, Genesis 0:12, in the "Eva Tomo no Kai" section:

   "[...] Among these are an image of two giants lying stretched out. These apparently are Lilith and Unit-01 at the stage of the experiment where Yui disappeared. Both are in the condition with most of their lower bodies missing, and the missing lower torsos appear to be joined. Yui probably performed contact in the condition with Lilith and Unit-01 joined, and was taken/absorbed into [the Eva]."

In the Rebuild continuity, the biological creation of the Evas is mostly the same at first, but a few key differences surface over the progression of the movies. First is that their origins are somewhat different as the First Angel was not involved in the Second Impact, but instead the four Adams take his role. Secondly, as the movies progress, NERV and SEELE begin to expand on Eva development, using different source materials for their creation such as Angels and even the Adams, culminating on the creation of Evangelion 13, which is one of the living Adams, restrained and mechanized.

Piloting Modifications

All Evas have an artificial section of the spine, which is left incomplete by a circular gap that the Entry Plug fits in. Inserting the entry plug completes the nerve connections from the head to the rest of the body. As an added precaution, a Signal Termination Plug is often kept in place of the Entry Plug to prevent neural impulses from flowing. While in operation, the Entry Plug is kept covered by a flush-fitting armor plate, although it can be lifted to eject the Entry Plug in an emergency.

The end of the Entry Plug is inserted into the core, which has a cylindrical cavity drilled out to accommodate it. The depth of the Plug inside the core can vary according to the synchronization rate and other factors, such as the Eva going berserk. The Entry Plug is flooded with LCL, which is either generated by the core itself or is pumped in from external storage before being processed and purified by the life-support systems. It serves to both provide oxygen and establish the link between the Entry Plug's occupants and the Eva, although the Interface Headset would appear to be necessary to actually pilot the Eva.

In addition, there appears to be an extensive computer interface between the pilot and the Eva, as the system must be set to the pilot's native language (the language in which the pilot thinks, see note below) to allow the Eva to activate and be piloted. It might also link to the viewscreens in the Eva cockpit (which can flicker on and off depending on the activation state of the Eva).

The shoulder-armor pylons on Evangelions do not actually contain any biological part of the Eva, underneath the armor. The entire pylon is just an extension of the Eva's outer armor. As seen in Episode 14, the pylons can actually be removed should the need arise, in this case to fit them into external restraints; besides Unit-00, both Unit-01 and Unit-02, which always had shoulder-armor pylons, are here seen without them.

Operational Capabilities and Equipment

Evas run off power from an umbilical cable, attached to a socket in the back of the artificial spine segment. How electrical energy is converted for the Eva's usage, or if the Eva indeed is capable of motion off raw electrical energy alone, is not elaborated in the show. If the cable is broken or disconnected (for increased speed and mobility), Evas have up to five minutes of Internal Battery power in reserve (alternatively quoted as one minute at maximum and five minutes with gain- varying depending upon plot).[2]

In the Rebuild continuity, while this remains the same for the first two movies, in 3.0, the technology for feeding energy to an Eva appears to have evolved, as Evas 02 and 08, appear to have small, portable batteries connected to their backs rather than cables, allowing them greater freedom of movement and quicker replacements, should their energy run out. On the other hand, some Evas, such as Mark.04, Mark.06, Mark.09 and Evangelion 13 appear to be completely autonomous, having apparently limitless energy, likely due to the presence of an S² Engine.

Also, in this continuity, more is revealed about the hardware embedded within the Evangelion units. There is 255 terabytes of memory available to the software used to run the Evangelion Provisional Unit-05. It is unknown, however, if this also applies to the other Eva units. More curiously, the colors used by the holographic display to show the various information, alerts, and so on, seems to be changeable via a control panel, as seen when Mari plays with this feature in her Evangelion Unit-08.

Defensively the Evas are fitted with 1200 pieces of special armor that is able to resist a low yield nuclear blast (Episode 7 and EoE) and can protect the Eva from conventional weapons, they are also capable of creating protective A.T. Fields as well as eroding the A.T. Fields of Angels, and have tremendous strength in addition. In complete contrast to their size and mass, Evas are capable of acrobatic feats like drop-kicks and enormous spinning leaps into the air. Performance rises with increased synchronization, and an Eva in battle rage can inflict crippling physical damage on an Angel or even another Evangelion, or cast its A.T. Field as an offensive weapon. The height of Eva capabilities is the Berserk mode, when the resident soul has taken control from the pilot. It is characterized by savage, animal-like behavior. A berserker Evangelion has greatly enhanced physical strength, and, at the height of berserker mode, can run without any electrical power at all.[3]

Evangelions have weapons and other equipment loaded on for combat purposes. Evas have computerized targeting systems, Radar and Sonar, as well as assorted weaponry.

All Evangelions (with the exception of Unit-00 in its original armor) have a Progressive Knife stored inside their left shoulder pylon, and Unit-02 has a spike launcher in its right shoulder pylon. Unit-00's shoulder pylons have a rocket system that allows the Eva to slow down when making large jumps (or presumably increases jump height as well).

Evangelion Pilots

An Evangelion is imbued with the soul of its pilot's mother. Whether the soul or the pilot is chosen first is unknown. A pilot can easily sync only with a compatible soul. Synchronization depends upon the pilot's psychological condition. Synchronization rate and performance can be pulled down when the pilot is emotionally distressed and increase under duress or anger, reaching a high sync rate when in battle rage. In 2.0, Shinji is able to achieve a whopping 400% synchronization rate with the awakened Evangelion Unit 01.

In Episode 14, Ritsuko's "mutual compatibility experiment" marked the first time that it was attempted to switch Eva pilots between Evangelions. Rei could synch with Unit-01 fairly well, but when Shinji tried to sync with Unit-00, it went berserk. Evangelions are thus permanently associated with exclusively one pilot, and while Ritsuko considered the experiment enough of a success to begin work on the Dummy Plug system, pilots are never really switched between Evas in the series.

Absolute Terror Fields

The Absolute Terror Field (also known as A.T. Field (A.T. フィールド[?], "A.T. Fīrudo")) is a barrier that both Angels and Evangelions can generate to protect themselves. A.T. Fields typically take the shape of an octagon and are usually orange in color. The strength of A.T. Fields produced varies between Angels; for example, the Angels Zeruel and Ramiel possess extremely powerful A.T. Fields, while Matarael's A.T. Field was very weak. The strength of Evangelion units' A.T. Fields depends upon the synchronization level of the pilot, and the strength setting used at the time. Eva pilots can control the strength of the A.T. Field from their entry plug.

A.T. Fields are normally invisible barriers but become visible to the naked eye when colliding with other things. They are mainly used as an almost impenetrable shield; only the most powerful weapons, such as N² Weapons are capable of breaching them. Even then, damage to the Angel is generally minimal. Through most of the series, the only thing that can reliably penetrate an A.T. Field is another A.T. Field, as seen in Episode 02 when the Evangelion Unit-01 "corrodes" Sachiel's A.T. Field.

Some Angels are sophisticated enough to use A.T. Fields as a method of attack or movement. Sachiel, Israfel and Bardiel can be seen making jumps assisted by their A.T. Fields, while Sahaquiel and Zeruel use theirs to attack, with Sahaquiel using it to destroy satellites and Zeruel in the Rebuild to shove attackers away. Kaworu's A.T. Field is powerful enough (or perhaps his mass is low enough) that he's able to use it to glide through the air.

It is revealed later in the series that every living thing with a soul possesses an A.T. Field: Angels and Evangelions just have A.T. Fields so strong that they are easily detectable and can even stop physical attacks. The boundary within an A.T. Field is subject to different physical laws as decided by its creator, and in the case of Angels this effect is so powerful that they are able to create seemingly supernatural phenomena within the enclosure of their Field. While substantially weaker in human souls, the A.T. Field nevertheless provides a vital function: Bounding the ego and sense of self of a person from everyone else, allowing them to exist as an individual. Without an A.T. Field, it becomes almost impossible for souls to define their own existences without substantial conscious effort, causing the physical body of the soul to degenerate into pure LCL.

The Lance of Longinus, an ancient and unbreakable weapon, is able to penetrate any A.T. Field, no matter how strong it is.

N2 Technology

N² weapons (N² 兵器, N² heiki) is the name given to the strongest conventional (non-Evangelion) weapons ever created by mankind. N² weapons are as strong as nuclear bombs, even being capable of producing electro-magnetic pulses, but they lack the radioactive fallout generated by their nuclear counterparts, allowing them to be used more readily than their predecessors. The name N², meaning 'Non-nuclear' refers to this. They are capable of dealing moderate damage to some of the weaker Angels, as can be seen during Sachiel's attack to Tokyo-3, although even several detonations of N² weapons are incapable of affecting others. It has been said that the N² weapons are broadly similar to a low-yield nuclear warhead, with no apparent fallout comparable to FOABs and other real life Thermobaric weapons.

N2 Reactor

N² Reactor is a technology appearing in Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA. It is used on the UX-1 Allegorica support unit and Evangelion EUROII Heurtebize. Its purpose is essentially the same as the S² Engine's one as it grants the Evangelion unit an unlimited amount of operational time. However, it uses N²-derived technologies to achieve this.

Trivia

This is the Rebuild of EVA world. Gendou escaped here. Round two, Space Station Asgard.

• Timeline will probably be post Movie 2. We'll see though.