Evangelion Unit 00 (Eva Unit-00)
Evangelion Unit 00 (often abbreviated as Eva-00) is the first functional prototype of an Evangelion Unit. It was not originally designed for use in combat, but was eventually modified and upgraded in order to aid in the destruction of the Angels. Rei Ayanami is the pilot assigned to this Unit. As a prototype, it is the most unstable and is prone to going berserk, even in controlled conditions.
Description
Eva-00, like the other Eva Units, appears as a gigantic humanoid that can be controlled by a human pilot as long as they have the proper equipment and a proper synchronization rate. It is first seen wearing orange armor plating with white accents and, unlike all of the other units, no shoulder pylons. Since these pylons are not found on Eva-00, it might be considered much less well equipped than the other units, as the pylons are used to store tools and weapons like Progressive Knifes. Another unique feature of Eva-00 is that it has a singular red optical eye like a camera and its head appears to have a safety helmet on it, whereas the other units lack such additional armor and have two (or in Eva-02’s case, four) distinct eyes. After the fight with Ramiel, Eva-00’s armor was damaged beyond repair and needed to be replaced. The new-and-improved Eva-00 (sometimes referred to as Eva-00’) has blue armor with white accents as well as shoulder pylons, which allows Rei to use a Progressive Knife like the other Eva Units.
While it is confirmed that an Eva unit needs to have a soul donated to it in order to function properly, the owner of the soul used in Eva-00 is likely one of the most obscure. The origin of Eva-01’s and Eva-02’s souls imply that the donor soul usually comes from the pilot’s mother, this trend simply cannot apply to Rei, as she is an artificially created “clone” of Yui Ikari and, therefore, has no mother to begin with. It is often speculated that the soul of Rei I was the donor soul given to Eva-00, as Rei I was killed at a very early age, but many ambiguities surrounding Rei’s creation and character (such as her being the vessel of Lilith’s soul) complicate this theory.
Although Eva-01 is shown going berserk when its pilot, Shinji Ikari, is in danger, Eva-00 can likely be considered to be the most unstable Eva Unit, as it is shown going berserk under two separate tests in a controlled environment. The first instance was shown in a flashback when Rei attempts to activate the unit, but it goes berserk. This resulted in Rei being severely injured and caused Gendo Ikari to manually open her entry plug with his bare hands. The second time the unit is shown to go berserk during testing is when the pilots attempt to see how their synchronization rates are affected when using an Eva Unit other than the one they are assigned to. While the other units stay static, Eva-00 (which is being piloted by Shinji) once again goes berserk.
Notable Battles in the Evangelion Anime
With the Fifth Angel Ramiel: Since Ramiel’s main abilities revolve around incredibly powerful energy beams that are automatically fired when a target enters its range, Eva-01 was sent to fire at it from an incredibly long distance. As the first shot was fired, Ramiel fired back, causing the shot to miss the Angel’s core. When Shinji prepares to take a second shot, Ramiel fires again, but before it can connect, Rei and Eva-00 step in and block the energy beam with a shield designed to deflect the attack for a short amount of time. Although Rei survives what could have been considered a suicide mission, Eva-00 was all but a pile of molten armor. The aftermath of this battle is what led to Eva-00 being upgraded to its blue armor.
With the Sixteenth Angel Armisael: Eva-00 is the first target of this Angel and, using its unique ability to fuse with other biological creatures, begins merging with not only Eva-00, but with Rei as well. As the battle continues, the fusion between Eva-00 and the Angel continues and, in an attempt to rescue Rei, Shinji attacks the Angel, but to no avail. Rei sees that Armisael has started fusing with Eva-01 and she activates her A.T. field in a way that draws the Angel into Eva-00 and sets off the self-destruct on the unit, destroying Eva-00, Armisael, and herself all at once.
In the Rebuild Series
In Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, Eva-00 plays a much more significant role in the battle with Zeruel. Much like in the original series, Rei attempts to punch through the Angel’s A.T. field and use an N2 bomb to destroy the Angel. The Angel survives in both continuities, but instead of Zeruel continuing its descent into Terminal Dogma, in the Rebuild series, it consumes Eva-00 and Rei nearly whole, leaving nothing but the bottom half of the unit’s body left.
After 14 years have passed and Evangelion 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo begins, another clone of Rei reappears to save Shinji from being held as WILLE’s captive and does so by infiltrating the AAA Wunder in a unit that very closely resembles Eva-00, but is instead referred to as Evangelion Mark 09. In its default state, this unit is similarly colored to the original Eva-00, save for some minor color details. It does, however, have some distinct features that set it apart from the original unit, namely that it wields a scythe and has a set of wings on its back that can morph into various objects (like a rocket that it uses to escape with Shinji).