Neon Genesis Evangelion glossary
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This is a glossary of terms from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Equipment
Entry Plug
Pilots control their Evangelion from within their "Entry Plugs", which are like cockpits and are filled with a breathable fluid, LCL. It is frequently stated that LCL stands for "Link Connect Liquid", but this has been denied by Gainax. The LCL fluid may also be compared to the amniotic fluid in the mother's womb, (even though this fluid is not breathable) and all the mother references that the main character has in the story. In the series, it is described to be like the primordial soup of life that existed on prehistoric Earth.
Dummy Plug
The "Dummy Plugs" are artificial pilots. All the regular Eva units are fitted so they can be operated with either the pilot or the Dummy Plug. There are two types of Dummy Plugs, those with the 'personality' of Rei and those with the 'personality' of Kaworu (used in the Mass Production types). It is said that they are programmed with operator data collected from their subjects, but others believe that they contain soulless physical clones of Rei and Kaworu.
Progressive Knife
A combat knife used by the Evangelions, housed in the shoulder "wing", that vibrates at high frequency in order to cut things apart at sub-atomic level. It is often referred to as the "prog knife". Unit 02 has an advanced version, on which once the blade is broken, a button is pressed and another blade is extended from the handle.
Lance of Longinus
An artifact of great power, able to pierce AT fields. Just before Second Impact, the Lance was used in a "contact experiment" with Adam, causing the Angel's awakening. In episode 12, the Lance was recovered from the new "dead sea" to be used to control Lilith. The Lance was "accidentally" put into lunar orbit in episode 22 when it was used to defeat the 15th Angel, Arael, after which it eventually planted itself into the moon's surface; it returned in End of Evangelion, moments before the Third Impact. The Lance is a key piece to the process of Instrumentality.
Artificial versions of the Lance are used as the primary weapon for the mass production type Evangelion units, and also feature prominently in Instrumentality.
S2 Engine
"Super Solenoid Engine", an Angel's limitless source of power. A faulty version of it was installed in Evangelion-04; during startup, the Engine produced a strong anti-AT Field which destroyed the American Branch of NERV. After the incident, SEELE tried to keep S2 from being utilized in the Evangelion, but their attempts failed when Eva 01 devoured one from the body of the Zeruel.
AT Field
"Absolute Terror Field". This is seen at the beginning of the series to be a barrier that the Angels can use to withstand nearly any conventional assault, a barrier only the Evangelion seems able to neutralize. Toward the climax of the series, it is revealed that every being has an AT Field, and that it is the literal wall that separates your identity from other egos and external reality. It is, then, the cause of loneliness and pain. It is a very existential angst concept. It also bears resemblance to the "morphogenetic field" of Rupert Sheldrake.
The Absolute Terror Field also refers, in psychology, to the perceived physical (or mental) proximity at which an autistic person or someone similarly affected by conditions of a high ego will panic and become irrational or violent if someone or something that they do not recognize penetrates said proximity. It would theoretically follow that all humans (and likely most organisms within the Animal Kingdom) have Absolute Terror Fields of lesser magnitudes . . . this can be illustrated by issues of trust. E.g. Would most people appreciate a total stranger touching them inappropriately or whispering in their ear? No. Such actions violate a sensibility concerning proximity that is tied directly to how well one knows (and ergo how much one trusts) another person.
D-type Equipment
A thick, heat resistant armor used for sending Evas into extreme conditions. Unit 02 was equipped with the D-type equipment when it entered a volcano in episode 10.
N2 Mine
"Non-Nuclear mine", the most powerful "clean" bomb ever made, capable of actually injuring Angels. It has roughly the same explosive force as a standard hydrogen bomb, but without any of the radiation or nuclear fallout an H-bomb would produce.
MAGI Super Computer System
The biocomputer system designed by Dr. Naoko Akagi for GEHIRN. It is divided into three personalities:
- Balthasar - Dr. Naoko Akagi as a mother;
- Melchior - Dr. Naoko Akagi as a scientist;
- Caspar - Dr. Naoko Akagi as as a woman; (the one that betrays her daughter for her lover).
The original MAGI are located at NERV's First Branch in the Geo-Front, but the various other branches also have their own sets of MAGI supercomputers.
Jet Alone
A nuclear-powered Japanese government unmanned super robot, created by an independent corporation with the intention of supplanting Evangelion Units. The test run was sabotaged secretly by NERV.
Dead Sea Scrolls
The ancient manuscripts of religious nature found in the caves around Qumran in 1947. Currently in possession of SEELE. They are said to contain the recordings of future events in History, including the arrival of the Angels.
Organizations
NERV
UN Special Agency NERV, and organization tasked with defending Earth against Angels. Lead by Gendou Ikari. Formerly Gehirn, a UN Research Agency. (German for "nerve")
GEHIRN
NERV's predecessor, located at GeoFront, tasked with the development of Evangelion Units. Branch 3 is located in Germany. Two other Branches are located in USA, and one probably in China. A minor Branch is located in Matsushiro, Japan. (German for "brain")
SEELE
NERV and GEHIRN's secret backers, who wish to implement the Human Instrumentality Project. Consists of twelve prominent people; five of them form The Instrumentality Comittee, which directly oversees NERV's progress, officially in the name of UN. (German for "soul")
United Nations
(UN)The world government which funds NERV. Most probably not the United Nations Organization that we know from our world.
Marduk Institute
The Marduk Institute selects Evangelion pilot candidates ("Children"). Later in the TV series it is revealed that it consisted of fake/stub companies, and is actually controlled by Gendo Ikari and Ritsuko Akagi.
Lilim
The Children of Lilith, humanity. Kaoruw Nagisa (the 17th Angel) often refers to humans/humankind as "lilim".
Events
Genesis
The beginning.
First Impact
The First Impact is the meteor impact that occured around 4 billion years ago which caused the Moon to split from the Earth, according to the Giant impact theory. Some erroneously say this was the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, but there were no dinosaurs 4 billion years ago.
Second Impact
A cataclysm which followed the "contact experiment" conducted on Adam in the South Pole on 13/9/2000. The awakened and injured Angel created a strong anti-AT Field which caused an explosion that melted the Antarctic ice cap and caused a shift of Earth's axis; climate changes and gigantic floods followed. As a result, wars broke out due to scarce food and resources; these conflicts spread all over the world, and were ended on 14/2/2001 by signing what would be later called "The Valentine Treaty".
Due to Second Impact and the events that followed, human population decreased by 50%.
Officially, there was no Adam and no "contact experiment". According to the cover-up, the Second Impact was caused by an undetected large meteorite.
Third Impact
An event precipitated when Ikari Gendo places Adam inside of Lilith, causing AT-fields to disappear and the subsequent merging of all souls into one.
Locales
Black Moon
The empty egg from which all (human/lilim) souls originated, the Egg of Lilith, located in the Geofront.
White Moon
The egg from which all "shito" (angels) originated from, located in Antarctica.
GeoFront
Headquarters of NERV Japan and NERV International. A spherical cavern located under Tokyo-3. Later revealed to be the Egg of Lilith, from which Humanity was born.
Tokyo-3
Located above the GeoFront, with buildings that can slide into the ground, and buildings that contain Evangelion equipment. Tokyo-3 is projected to replace Tokyo-2 as capital of Japan. It was built in the location of pre-Impact Hakone.
Tokyo-2
Tokyo-2 is the capital of Japan, and was built after the Second Impact destroyed Tokyo (Tokyo-1). Created in the location of today's Nagano.
Tokyo (Tokyo-1)
Ruins seen in the series. Destroyed by the Second Impact, which caused sea levels to rise across the world. Some sources claim however that Tokyo was in fact destoyed when the first N2 bomb was dropped on it during the war, which broke out as a result of tensions post-Second Impact. The Japanese Prime Minister states in End Of Evangelion that he wants Tokyo-3 to be secured so that "none can touch it for the next 20 years...like old Tokyo".
Terminal Dogma
The deepest level of the NERV Headquarters, where Lilith and the Lance of Longinus are kept.
Trench of Malebolge
Central Dogma
NERV's pyramid-like control center. Terminal Dogma is directly below it.
Antarctica
Destroyed by the Second Impact, the continent is now completely submerged in a sea devoid of life, but with pillars of ice poking up through the surface. Humans cannot survive here, and must be shielded behind thick barriers.
Sea of LCL
A world in which there are no AT Fields, human consciousness is not divided between different bodies and the souls of all of humanity reside in a giant sea of primordial soup. The theoretical pinnacle of existence and ultimate goal of the Human Instrumentality Project.
Miscellaneous
NERV Logo
The NERV Logo is half a fig leaf, with the motto "God's In His Heaven... All's Right With The World" forming the quarter circle on the bottom. The motto comes from Robert Browning's poem "Pippa Passes."
The fig leaf has covered mans' nakedness in art and scuplture for hundreds of years, symbolically representing the guilt of his orginal sin. In Evangelion, man is now making war on the angels and challenging God himself. Mankind no longer feels shame for his sins - when the fig leaf is pulled back, NERV is revealed.
The logo can also be viewed as a brief summary of NERV's mission - attempting a return to man's original "naked" state by actively fighting back into the Garden of Eden.
Human Instrumentality Project (Human Completion Project)
The artificial precipitation of the Third Impact, in which all human physical life will end and the minds of all humans become united in a single soul.
Project E
The project to create the Evangelion combat machine series. The Adam Revival Project.
Tree of Life
See Tree of Life. The Kabbalah also refers to the organization of the ten Sephiroth as the Tree of Life.
Project EVA
The project to create the TV show.
Evangelion Complementation Project
The project behind Renewal of Evangelion, the 10th anniversary new editions of NGE, and tie-in products.
Renewal of Evangelion
The reimaging (not reimagining) of Evangelion for perfection on DVD. This edition of NGE is available in the Western World as the Platinium Edition (not the Perfect Collection). It includes the Director's Cut versions of the last sets of episodes.
Terms from outside of the main series
F-type Equipment
F-type equipment appears in the game Evangelion 2. It is made for Unit-01, and features increased mobility, armor, and several added modes of attack.
JA'
Jet Alone Prime, a further development of the Jet Alone project. This is found in the Evangelion 2 game. ja:エヴァンゲリオン (架空の兵器)
