Evangelion Unit 02 (Eva Unit-02)
Evangelion Unit 02 (often abbreviated as Eva-02) is the third functional Evangelion Unit and is designated as the first “production” model, suggesting that Eva-02 is the first fully functional Unit. This does not mean that it is the “final” version of Evangelion Units, however, as further experiments are performed on future Units to further improve them (as with the S2 engine experiment with Eva-04). Either way, it is clear that Eva-02 has extra tools at its disposal when compared to the other Units, as it is capable of using specialized equipment that the other Units cannot. Eva-02’s designated pilot is Asuka Langley Soryu (Asuka Langley Shikinami in the Rebuild movies), although Kaworu is brought in to replace Asuka after her encounter with the Fifteenth Angel Arael and shows to be more than capable of piloting the Unit as well.
Description
Just like its hot-blooded pilot, Eva-02 is colored a fiery red and has accents of orange and yellow. It is the only unit that has four eyes, all of which are bright green while the Unit is active and its armor restraints are intact. When removed, however, it is revealed that these eyes are actually orange. Eva-02 also uses its shoulder pylons to store weapons like the other Units. On one side, a Progressive Knife is stored while on the other, there is a spike gun that seems to be unique to this particular Unit. The design for Eva-02’s Progressive Knife is also unusual in that, while the others’ resemble a bowie knife, this unit’s knife is a box cutter and has blades that can be extended, snapped off, and replaced as needed. The spike gun also acts as a short to medium-range weapon that uses needle-like bullets that can easily pierce its target. It is also seen wielding a weapon called a Sonic Glaive, which is assumed to act similarly to a Progressive Knife (a weapon that uses high-vibration frequencies to increase its cutting edge), albeit with a much improved range.
As the first “production” model, Eva-02 has access to equipment that the prototype Eva-00 and test Unit Eva-01 do not. The biggest example of this is likely the D-Type equipment used on Eva-02 when attempting to retrieve the unhatched Angel Sandalphon. This equipment allowed the Unit to survive incredible temperatures and pressures that it would have otherwise not been able to withstand at the expense of maneuverability and speed. As it is referred to as “D-Type” equipment, it is assumed that there are other types of equipment, but nothing other than the standard “B-Type” armor is used in the original series.
Just as the donor soul for Eva-01 was originally from Shinji’s mother, Yui Ikari, the donor soul for Eva-02 was Asuka’s mother, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu. However, although the entirety of Yui’s body and soul were absorbed into Eva-01, only a part of Kyoko’s soul was originally fused with Eva-02. As a result, Kyoko was left incredibly mentally unstable and became unable to recognize Asuka after the contact experiment. This is because the part of Kyoko’s soul that merged with the Unit was the maternal part of her personality that loved her daughter unconditionally. After her death, however, it appears that what remained of Kyoko’s soul was placed into the unit as well, as whispers of both “you mustn’t die” (the voice of her motherly side) and “please die with me” (a phrase said by Kyoko to Asuka after the contact experiment) can be heard while Asuka is hidden underwater in Eva-02 during the attack of NERV in The End of Evangelion movie.
Notable Battles in the Evangelion Anime
With the Sixth Angel Gaghiel: Eva-02’s debut battle. Despite having two pilots (Shinji and Asuka) inside of the Unit at once and being underwater, the pair manage to force Eva-02 to open the massive jaws of the Angel just wide enough for two battleships to shoot the inside of the Angel from point-blank range.
With the Mass Production Evangelion Units in The End of Evangelion: Although Eva-02 was already fighting SEELE’s military to prevent them from advancing further into NERV, the Mass-Production Evangelion Units were deployed to take Asuka out. The military managed to cut Eva-02’s power cord, only giving her a few minutes to take out all nine Units, only a handful of seconds for each Unit, in fact. Asuka starts off well, but Eva-02’s battery runs out and the Mass-Produced Units tear the unit apart, leading to a gruesome end to Eva-02. This brutality also served as a catalyst for the Third Impact, as SEELE needed Shinji to be incredibly mentally unstable to begin the process.
Eva-02 in the Rebuild Movies
In both 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance and 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, Eva-02 exhibits the unique ability to go into a “beast” mode that acts similarly to a controlled berserk mode. This ability is first shown by Mari Illustrious Makinami in 2.0, but is later displayed by Asuka herself in 3.0. Between the events of 2.0 and 3.0, Eva-02 was also upgraded and slightly redesigned, as it was left nearly destroyed by the end of the second movie.