| Model Type |
EVA-00 PROTO TYPE |
| Pilot |
Rei Ayanami |
| Soul |
Rei I |
| First Appearance |
Episode 5: Rei I |
No specific information is given about Rei's origin or heritage. Ritsuko Akagi states that Rei was born in a certain room deep in the lower levels of NERV headquarters, but this is all that is explicitly revealed in the series about her creation. The Red Cross Book stated that Rei was created from the "salvaged remains" of Yui Ikari after Yui's absorption into Unit-01 in 2004. The connection between Rei and Yui is implied a few times during the series. Gendo introduces Rei to the NERV staff in 2010 as an "acquaintance's child" whom he is temporarily taking care of. In episode 21, Naoko Akagi says that Rei physically resembles Yui.
“Those who hate themselves cannot love or trust others.” — Rei Ayanami
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Unit-00 is the prototype, the first successful Evangelion, and is piloted by the First Child, Rei Ayanami. The head design is similar to that of the previous failed attempts, but with only one camera. There are two domes on the top of the head, one white and one transparent green; their function is never revealed. Unit-00 is the only one of the original Evangelions that is never seen without its armour or opening its mouth; thus, the appearance of its organic body is unknown.
| Model Type |
Test Type |
| Pilot |
Shinji Ikari |
| Soul |
Yui Ikari |
| First Appearance |
Episode 1: Angel Attack |
Shinji Ikari is the Third Child, the main protagonist of the series and the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-01. He is the son of Gehirn bioengineer Yui Ikari and NERV Commander (formerly Chief of Gehirn) Gendo Ikari. After his mother's death, he was abandoned by his father and lived for 11 years with his sensei, until he was summoned to Tokyo-3 to pilot Unit-01 against the Angels. He lives initially just with Misato Katsuragi; they are later joined by Asuka Langley Soryu.
“No one can justify life by linking happy moments into a rosary.” — Shinji Ikari
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Unit-01 stands out from the other units as it frequently acts independently (the "Berserk Mode"), without the instructions of a pilot and without any apparent power source. Unit-01 will also take action to protect its pilot while sometimes servicing other interests. The Evangelion's resident soul, Yui Ikari (Shinji's mother), appears to be responsible for such events. Unit-01 is called the "Test Type", perhaps because of the experimental way in which it was created: although Unit-01 seems to be an Adam-derived cybernetic organism like all other Evangelions, it is the sole Evangelion to have been born from Lilith.
| Model Type |
EVA-02 PRODUCTION MODEL |
| Pilot |
Asuka Langley Sohryu |
| Soul |
Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu |
| First Appearance |
Episode 8: Asuka Strikes! |
Asuka is one-quarter Japanese, and is a native of Germany, having been raised there, though her nationality is American. Asuka was born to an American father, known only as Mr. Langley and a German-Japanese mother, Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu. Asuka had years of training starting from a young age to become a pilot for the Evangelion. Asuka is very proud of being an Eva pilot, and near-constantly wears her A10 nerve clips in her hair because she wants everyone around her to know that she is a pilot.
“What we see doesn't matter… what matters is what we see in the eyes.” — Asuka Langley Sohryu
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As a Production Model Evangelion, Unit-02 is shown to be capable of using different equipment fits, like the D-type Equipment seen in Episode 10. In addition, Unit-02 has a distinctive progressive knife, the PK-2, that resembles a box cutter. Seemingly unique to Unit-02 is the needle gun, a rack of spikes in its right shoulder pylon which can be fired like missiles.