- "Unit-13" redirects here. For the Mass Production Unit-13, see Mass Production Evangelion#Specific Eva Units.
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Evangelion 13 (エヴァンゲリオン 第13号機, Evangerion Dai Juusangōki?) is an Evangelion Unit belonging to the Rebuild of Evangelion film series. It was introduced in Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, piloted simultaneously by two pilots, Shinji Ikari and Kaworu Nagisa.
Profile[]
In terms of its overall appearance, Evangelion 13 is similar to its predecessor Evangelion Unit-01, especially the NGE version. However, it has several (if minor) aesthetic differences. While it mostly maintains the green, purple and black color scheme, the green highlights are much less prominent, replaced with a few pale yellow ones on its knees and forearms and a much higher spread of purple and black across its body. The purple is deeper in color compared to Unit-01. Also the entirety of its body has more detailed and segmented plates across it, and the armor in its legs has been completely redesigned, with slightly wider, almost square-shaped hips, larger knee pads and heel-like foot covers. Its helmet design still retains the ceratoid dinosaur-like appearance, though in a much more detailed fashion, its horn is designed in crooked way and it has four glowing, bright yellow eyes, with equally colored lines coming from each eye. Another key difference, is the black, cross-shaped chest piece, with two red circles on top with no visible core-piece.
Another major difference compared to other Eva units is 13's massive size, as it towered over Unit-02'γ, with the latter reaching the former's elbows in height at best.
When entering in its Awakened state, its eyes and various highlights turn red, its center piece collapses and unveils a second set of arms. After being devoured by the Twelfth Angel, its pylons explode, revealing two crystallized wing-like appendages.
The Evangelion is also able to perform pseudo-evolution (the term is mentioned by Mari), similar to when Unit-01 goes into an awakened state when confronting the Tenth Angel. The eyes of the Evangelion enlarge, and the mouth opens to reveal a set of teeth. After engulfing the Twelfth Angel, the whole body of 13 turns into glowing-white, except for that the red decals on his chest, turns green. Then, the crystal wing-like appendages extend further to lengths similar to the height of an Evangelion (In the 3.333 version, these appendages also turn into a purple color as it grows.). It assumes the appearance of a giant of light, similar to Unit-01 and the Adams, and manifests two Halos. The Halos grow vertically, unlike the way it grows on Unit-01's head. 13's two halos represent two souls: Kaworu and Shinji, while that of Unit-01 represents one: specifically Shinji Ikari. However, it should be noted that 13 awakens under its own will, but not Shinji's like in 2.0.
In pseudo-evolution state, 13 is able to withstand a full ram from the AAA Wunder unharmed when Misato attempts to seal 13 inside an A.T.-field and blast the Evangelion with full power.
When Kaworu impales the two Spears of Longinus into 13 and he is killed by the activation of the DSS choker, 13's eyes reduce back to normal, and the two pair of eyes merge into one pair. However, the Evangelion still remains in pseudo-evolution state until Mari forcefully ejects Shinji's entry plug from the unresponsive Evangelion.
Features[]
Unlike other Evangelion units, 13 has displayed several unique features. One of its more prominent ones is that it requires the use of two Entry Plugs (as two souls are necessary to wield this Eva and two Spears at the same time). Though it requires two pilots, its control system can be changed to give full control to a single pilot. Its physical strength is also noteworthy, as it was able to overpower and toss Unit-02' around despite the fact that Shinji was fighting defensively against Asuka. Another interesting fact it that it does not appear to have any energy cable or battery of any kind, attached to it, implying that this unit must be powered by an S² Engine.
Also, unique to 13 is that it does not possess any A.T. Field at all like the other Eva or the Angels (as demonstrated when Unit-08 shot it with a special Anti-A.T. Field Ammunition; 13 deployed no A.T. Field and instead the bullets disintegrated on contact with its body). Instead, four drones housed in the containers of the Eva's shoulder pylons (two containers on each shoulder pylon) generate an energy barrier very similar to an A.T. Field. These jellyfish-like drones, called "RS Hoppers",[2] can either be used as either defensive or offensive weapons, depending on the situation. The velocity of a RS Hopper is also noticeably high. The RS Hoppers explode violently when destroyed. This Evangelion also has an extra set of fully functional arms, kept locked across its chest, that can be released and gives this Eva the physical strength required to wield two Spears. Like the other Adams, it has the ability to fire beams of light but much more powerful.
Much like Unit-01, 13 is capable of entering an Awakened state and becoming a Giant of Light, when consuming an Angel's core. This led Mari to theorize that this unit is in fact one of the surviving Adams. The unit itself is much more resilient to damage, able to withstand a full assault from the AAA Wunder, Unit-02' and Unit-08, with virtually no damage. It's also much more difficult to stop the Evangelion in this state than it was with Unit-01, as it took it being stabbed with both Spears of Longinus, and having both its pilots disabled before it was finally deactivated.
History[]
Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo[]
The 13 is first seen on screen inside a giant dome-like incubation facility deep inside the remains of NERV. Gendo and Fuyutsuki refer to it as "the Final Executor" as it is pulled from the incubator, ready to be deployed.
After Kaworu convinces Shinji to help him restore the world, 13 is deployed together with Mark 09 equipped with a scythe. Together, they breach the seal blocking Central Dogma, and proceed to retrieve the Spear of Longinus and the Spear of Cassius impaled on the enlarged corpse of Second Angel Lilith.
However, soon after they enter Central Dogma, they are attacked by Asuka in her Unit-02'γ with Mari in her Unit-08β as her support. Unit-13 fights back using its RS Hoppers and, with the help of Mark.09, manages to reach the Spears. Despite Kaworu's discouragement, Shinji takes over the controls and pulls the spears from Second Angel Lilith's corpse and Evangelion Mark.06. To Kaworu's surprise, the Spear of Cassius was missing and two spears of Longinus are instead impaled into Lilith's corpse. This awakens the Twelfth Angel which was sealed inside Mark.06. 13 begins to act on its own as it absorbs the Angel and awakens, becoming a Radiant Giant and rising at high speed from Central Dogma in the process. Kaworu mentions that he has been "demoted" from the First Angel into the Thirteenth, which somehow triggers yet another Impact and activates the DSS Choker.
After opening the Doors of Guf, 13 initiates the Fourth Impact on its own. This pulls the Black Moon from the underground and raises it to the surface. AAA Wunder arrives at the scene and rams the awakened 13 at full speed to no effect. While Mark.09 hijacks the Wunder, Kaworu attempts to abort the Impact. He impales both spears into the chest of 13, and the DSS Choker gruesomely kills him in front of Shinji's eyes. This incapacitates the Eva but does not end its Awakened state, so Mari forcefully ejects Shinji's Entry Plug to terminate Fourth Impact, shutting off the Unit completely. This severely corrodes Unit-08β's arms and also injures the pilot.
In the final scene, the unresponsive Eva is seen crashing down to the Earth, with Gendo and Fuyutsuki inside a dark room commenting that everything went according to the plan with Kaworu dead and 13 awakened.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time[]
The unit makes a reappearance in the film, during Operation Yamato. It first appears on a cross, apparently dormant in the middle of a lake of LCL. Asuka then tries to destroy it, but an A.T. Field prevents her from doing so. Asuka then realizes, since 13 does not possess its own A.T. Field, that the A.T. Field is actually coming from Unit-02, apparently "afraid" of 13. She then forcefully tries to break her A.T. Field, to no avail. She then forcefully removes her eye patch, resulting in her becoming the remains of the Ninth Angel and merging with her Evangelion in order to destroys it's A.T. Field. However, as soon as she does this, 13 activates and destroys Unit-02, as well as its entry plug, absorbing Asuka in the process and her angelic powers.
Later on, Gendo reveals the true purpose of 13: To use it on Minus Space to resurrect Yui. He then willingly fuses with it, making him the primary soul and controller of the Eva. He, along with 13, then go inside Minus Space.
Shinji pilots then Unit-01 and duels Gendo in 13 inside a Minus Space, and is a fight involving the Spear of Cassius and the Spear of Longinus. The fight consists of multiple settings throughout the series, including Tokyo-3, Misato's Apartment, Rei's Apartment, Shinji's Classroom, outside the Geo-front, Kaji's melon patch, and on the ruined beaches of Tokyo-3. This is due to the fact Minus Space can't be perceived by humans normally, so it utilizes pre-existing memories as a setting. However, during the battle, Shinji and Gendo realize that the fight isn't going anywhere, and resolve to talk about their issues with each other.
During the finale, as Shinji is about to sacrifice himself to rebuild the world, the souls of Gendo and Yui interrupt him from doing so. Gendo destroys all of the Evangelion Units with the Spear of Gaius piercing Unit-01 and 13 to remove everything related to Evangelion.
Development[]
While 13 itself was never shown in the preview at the end of Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, the role of the Unit-08 seen in the preview as an awakening Evangelion has visibly been switched to the 13 over the course of the writing of the final script for the movie.
Trivia[]
- It seems that the numerical designation of this Evangelion, 13, was eerily prophetic, as the 13th Arcana is death, and this is the Evangelion in which Kaworu dies.
- Biblically, the number 13 refers to Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus Christ. After killing Jesus, Judas ends his life by suicide, which resonates with the fact that 13 impaled itself with Spear of Longinus (which was used to impale the waist of crucified Jesus) and that Kaworu killed himself with the DSS Choker.
- The Entry Plug sound effect of both 13 and Mark.06 is different from all other Evas with 13's Entry Plug emitting a straight low monotonic hum, seemingly due to the fact that 13 is created based on the Mark series.
- 13 does not physically have hatches for entry plugs like other standard Evangelion units. The entry plugs enter by being "absorbed" into the unit. The red dots on its back are the positions where the entry plugs are inserted.
- The unit was named 13α on a display screen.
- When 13 awakens by absorbing Asuka's plug the same pattern when the Mass Produced Evangelions merged with Rei appears.
- In some concept art 13 was intended to have some design changes.
- Evangelion 13 inherited elements from Fortune, an Evangelion that appears on Sore o Nasumono: Neon Genesis Evangelion Concept Design Works according to Ikuto Yamashita[3]
References[]
- ↑ Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (pamphlet) (2012) p.40
- ↑ The name of the drones can be seen on a monitor inside Shinji's Entry Plug, shortly after Asuka destroyed them in her Evangelion Unit-02'γ.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/ikuto_yamashita/status/554511421728243713