Evangelion Unit 02 (Eva Unit-02)

Evangelion Unit 02 (often abbreviated as Eva-02) is the third functional Evangelion Unit and is referred to as the first "production" model, suggesting that Eva-02 is the first fully functional unit. This does not mean, however, that it is the "final" version of the Evangelion units, as further experiments are conducted on future units to further improve them (such as with the S2 engine experiment with Eva-04 ). Regardless, it is clear that Eva-02 has additional tools compared to other units, as it is capable of utilizing specialized equipment that other units cannot. The designated pilot of Eva-02 is Asuka Langley Soryu (Asuka Langley Shikinami in the Rebuild films), though Kaworu is brought in to replace Asuka after her encounter with the Fifteenth Angel Arael and proves more than capable of piloting the unit as well.

Description

Much like its hot-blooded pilot, Unit 02 is colored a fiery red with orange and yellow accents. It is the only unit to have four eyes, all bright green when the unit is active and its armor attachments are intact. However, when removed, these eyes are actually orange. Unit 02 also uses its shoulder pylons to store weapons like other units. On one side, a Progressive Knife is stored, while on the other, there is a spike gun that appears to be unique to this particular unit. The design of Unit 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 lengthened, broken, 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. He is also seen wielding a weapon called the Sonic Glaive, which is said to act similarly to a Progressive Knife (a weapon that uses high vibration frequencies to increase its sharpness), albeit with 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 greatest example is probably the Type D equipment used on Eva-02 during the attempted recovery of the unhatched Angel Sandalphon . This equipment allowed the unit to survive incredible temperatures and pressures that it would otherwise not have been able to withstand at the expense of maneuverability and speed. Since it is referred to as "Type D" equipment, it is assumed that other types of equipment exist, but nothing other than the standard "Type B" armor is used in the original series.

Just as Unit 01's donor soul originally came from Shinji's mother, Yui Ikari , the donor soul for Unit 02 was Asuka's mother, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu. However, although Yui's entire body and soul were absorbed by Unit 01, only a portion of Kyoko's soul originally merged with Unit 02. As a result, Kyoko remained incredibly mentally unstable and became unable to recognize Asuka after the contact experience. 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 also placed in the unit, as whispers of "you must not die" (the voice of her maternal side) and "please die with me" (a phrase said by Kyoko to Asuka after the contact experience) can be heard while Asuka is hidden underwater in Eva-02 during the NERV attack in The End of Evangelion film.

Notable battles in the Evangelion anime

• With the sixth angel Gaghiel : Eva-02's first battle. Despite having two pilots (Shinji and Asuka) aboard the unit simultaneously and being underwater, the duo manage to force Eva-02 to open the Angel's enormous jaws just enough for two battleships to fire point-blank at the Angel's interior.

• With the mass-produced Evangelion units in The End of Evangelion : Although Unit 02 was already fighting the SEELE military to prevent them from advancing further into NERV, the mass-produced Evangelion units were deployed to eliminate Asuka. The military managed to cut Unit 02's power cord, giving it only a few minutes to eliminate all nine units—only a handful of seconds for each unit, in fact. Asuka starts off well, but Unit 02's battery dies and the mass-produced units tear it apart, leading to a gruesome end for Unit 02. This brutality also served as the catalyst for 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't Progress and 3.0 You Can't Redo Unit 02 features the unique ability to enter "Beast Mode" which acts similarly to a controlled Berserk Mode. This ability is first demonstrated 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 Unit 02 was also upgraded and slightly redesigned, as it was nearly destroyed at the end of the second film.