Evangelion Unit-00 (Rebuild)

''This article is about the Evangelion from the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series. For the Evangelion from Neon Genesis Evangelion, see Evangelion Unit-00.''

Evangelion Unit-00 (零号機) is an Evangelion unit appearing in Rebuild of Evangelion. It was piloted by Rei Ayanami, it is the first functional Evangelion unit ever created.

Profile
Evangelion Proto Type-00 (汎用ヒト型決戦兵器 人造人間エヴァンゲリオン 試作零号機) is the prototype, the first successful Evangelion.

Unit-00's armor is primarily golden yellow with grey and white details all over its body.

The head design is quite boxy and singular. It has a single red sensor with no visible eyes whatsoever. It also has a transparent green, sensor-like dome (whether or not it's an actual sensor is not revealed) along with another screw head-like, yellow one on the top of its head.

The rest of its body armor is just a simple, standard Evangelion armor without any shoulder pylons. Its chest armor includes a V-shaped piece along with two rounded pieces that moves along with the Eva. Interestingly, both of the aspects of this chest armor are seen in the ones used on the Unit-01 (movable side pieces) and the Production Models (V-shaped piece).

Unit-00 undergoes a massive upgrade after the battle against the Sixth Angel in which it was heavily damaged. It has also been made more suitable for combat against the Angels.

The upgraded Unit-00, designated as Evangelion Proto Type-00' (同 試作零号機（改）), bears the exact same armor as the Production Model Evangelions, including a simpler V-shaped chest plate and shoulder pylons.

Features
Besides the compatibility with standard Evangelion armament, save for the Progressive Knife and the shield, the Unit-00 doesn't have any special features whatsoever.

The upgraded Unit-00', because of the nature of its armor, can presumably use two Progressive Knives, as well as store them in its shoulder pylons, just like the Production Models Unit-02 and Unit-03. However, the progressive knives are never deployed.

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
Unit-00 is only seen in actual battle during the fight against the Sixth Angel, where it is deployed to support and uses the Enchanted Shield of Virtue to protect the Unit-01 while the locks-on its target with the 2nd Experimental High Power Self-Propelled 460mm Positron Cannon. It is critically damaged during the course of the combat.

Aside from this, the story of the unit and its pilot, Rei Ayanami, is shown during the movie. During the first activation test of Unit-00, the Evangelion went berserk. The Entry Plug had to be forcefully ejected inside the test facility with Rei ending hurt as the entry plug falls from a great heigh to the ground.

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
Unit-00 is upgraded as the Unit-00' after the battle against the Sixth Angel, now having the shoulder pylons and different armor.

It is deployed against the Eighth Angel, alongside the Unit-01 and Unit-02. Seeing that the core of the Angel moves constantly, Rei (in the Unit-00') grasps it, allowing Asuka (in her Unit-02) to destroy it. It is moderately damaged by the heat of the core in its hands and arms (sustaining 38.6% damage: second among the three units).

The unit is put into standby after this fight to be repaired.

During the attack of the Tenth Angel, Rei secretly pilots the incompletely-repaired Unit-00, attempting a kamikaze attack against the Angel with a N² missile by trying to pierce its A.T. Field, which happens with the help of Unit-02 in its Beast Mode, while it happens, the angel uses the bones structure to protect the core as Rei pushes Unit-02 to safety as the missile explodes.

As the explosion happens, we see a burnt Unit-00 and the angel intact, the angel devours the Unit-00 up to the knees and spits the helmet and absorbs the rest, getting an humanoid shape.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo
Unit-00 does not appear in Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo, however, it is mentioned once by Shinji when he mistakenly identifies Mark.09 as Unit-00 when Evangelion Mark.09 attacks the AAA Wunder.

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time
In one of the scenes in the mental scene in the film studio, the Evangelion Unit-00 can be seen with others as rubber suits. Both the Evangelion Proto Type-00 and the Evangelion Proto Type-00' can be seen in the background.

Despite being destroyed, Unit-00 makes it's last onscreen appearance when Gendo destroys all of the Evangelion Units with the Spear of Gaius piercing Unit-01 and Evangelion 13 to remove everything related to Evangelion.

Development

 * Evangelion Unit-00 sports more white and gray than its NGE counterpart, namely on its forearms and its legs. Contrary to the anime, Unit-00' remains yellow in color.
 * Similar to the Evangelion Unit-01 (Rebuild), the design and color separation of Evangelion Unit-00 is more similar to the concept design shown in Sore o Nasumono: Neon Genesis Evangelion Concept Design Works released in 1998 rather than the one used in the TV series. In both designs, the usage of the white color and the grey parts, are more similar to each other, having few different places where it is present.

Trivia

 * The Japanese name of the unit, "Zerogōki", does not follow the naming system used for the succeeding Evas. Under that system Unit-00 would have been called "Reigōki", giving both the Eva and its pilot, Rei Ayanami, practically the same name.
 * In its last appearance in Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time, there are two markings near the main camera, instead of just the left one, like always presented.

Evangelion Unité-00 (Rebuild)