Adams

The Adams are giants of light that were present at Second Impact in the Rebuild continuity.

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First seen at the south pole during the events of Second Impact, the Adams are a collective of massive giants. While they slightly vary in appearance, they all share common traits including their halos and Wings of Light.

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
During the Katsuragi Expedition, a contact experiment was conducted resulting in the destruction of the South Pole and the release of the Adams. This event would later be called the Second Impact and the true nature of its cause would be hidden from the public. Fifteen years later in the present day, the four crosses of the Adams are still present in the center of the crater at the South Pole.

During Evangelion Unit-01 battle with the Tenth Angel, Unit-01 enters a state of pseudo-evoloution in an attempt to save Rei Ayanami, inadvertently beginning the Near Third Impact. During its state of pseudo-evolution, the unit gains a third eye making it greatly resemble one of the Adams, though the reason for this similarity is never elaborated on further.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo
During the Evangelion Mark.09's assault on the Wunder, the unit is referred to as an "Adams' Vessel". Later in the film, the unit is also refered to as the "Wunders' original master" implying some connection between the Adams, the Vessels and the Wunder.

The Evangelion 13 is also referred to as one of the surviving Adams.

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time
Continuing on from the last film, it is revealed that there are 5 Adams, each sealed within a vessel, those being Evangelion Mark.09A, Evangelion Mark.10, Evangelion Mark.11, Evangelion Mark.12 and Evangelion 13. The four first Adams (Mark 9-12) are the masters of NERV made warships, the NHG Erlösung, the NHG Erbsünde, the NHG Gebet and the WILLE controlled Wunder. When used together, they possess the ability to open the chamber of Guf leading to the Minus Space

After the creation of the Spear of Gaius and the initiation of Neon Genesis, each vessel and the contained Adam is destroyed.

Trivia

 * One of the Adams has a third eye. This motif reappears with the Unit-01 as the Radiant Giant at Near Third Impact. While some kind of link between the two is implied, there is no way at present to know what that might entail. It is possible the connection was either changed for future movies or was a red herring.
 * IPEA's logo also depicts a 3 eyed giant.
 * The number of Adams and the association of a cross with each of them may be a referrence to the ultraman series especially the death of ultra brothers