Evangelion (mecha)

In Neon Genesis Evangelion, Evangelion (エヴァンゲリオン, Evangerion^?) (also referred to as Evas or EVA) are the fictional cyborgs piloted by the Children chosen by the Marduk Institute (a front company of Seele). The Evas were created by Nerv. Their principal purpose is to defend Tokyo-3 from the Angels. The visuals of the Evas were designed by Ikuto Yamashita and series director Hideaki Anno, who also created their stories.

The Evas were designed similarly to the Japanese folklore creature Oni. Although they were originally assumed to be giant humanoid robots, the Evas are actually cyborgs, integrating a mostly biological being with a substantial mechanical infrastructure, including a capsule called an "entry plug" in which the pilot sits and controls the Eva's actions, though the extent of this control can waver. The only people who can pilot Evas are fourteen-year-olds whose mothers have died after the Second Impact, who are chosen by the Marduk Institute and designated in numeral order as "children" (i.e. First Child, Second Child). The reason of this is not explained for some time, until it is revealed that the souls of the pilots' mothers are integrated with the Evas to enable a psychic link between the two. Once connected to the Eva, the entry plug is filled with a translucent, breathable liquid known as LCL, which allows the pilots to electrochemically control the Evas. LCL is repeatedly described as smelling like blood and is revealed later on to be derived from the blood of the second Angel, Lilith. The pilots wear uniforms called plug suits and devices called interface headsets on their heads to achieve better synchronization with the Eva. Although the Evas wear armor, their most significant defense is the Absolute Terror Field (AT Field for short), a form of force field which protects the Eva from all forms of conventional damage and can be used to disrupt an Angel's AT field.

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