Human Instrumentality Committee (人類補完委員会?) is a supposed United Nations committee and the inner circle of SEELE tasked with overseeing the progress of NERV.
Profile[]
While officially a part of the United Nations tasked with overseeing NERV, in reality the committee is the upper echelon of SEELE and are in control of the UN. The Instrumentality Committee is composed of five members, and is also headed by Chairman Keel Lorenz.[1] All meetings of the Committee are held by video conference. Unlike meetings of the full SEELE council, video conferences of the Committee actually show images of all members. Only Keel is actually assigned a name in the series; the other Committee members are only designated by the shaded color of their video conferencing image.
As revealed in the Classified Information in Neon Genesis Evangelion 2, the committees ultimate goal is to ascend to godhood by enacting instrumentality for themselves allowing them to merge into S² Engine equipped Evangelion. They also planned to destroy the true Spear of Longinus as once they ascended to godhood, that would be the only weapon in existence with the power to stop them.
The five members of the Committee each "represent" a different country in order to maintain the public facade that they are a subcommittee of the UN. Four out of five of the countries represented on the Human Instrumentality Committee are also permanent members of the present-day UN Security Council. China, the remaining permanent Security Council member, is notably absent, with the fifth seat on the Instrumentality Committee going to Germany.
Known Members[]
Instrumentality Committee[]
- Keel Lorenz - Committee chairman, Representative of Germany (独国代表?)[2]
- Unnamed Yellow Member - Representative of France (仏国代表?)
- Unnamed Blue Member - Representative of Russia (露国代表?)
- Unnamed Green Member - Representative of the United States of America (米国代表?)
- Unnamed Red Member - Representative of the United Kingdom (英国代表?)[3]
Guests[]
- Gendo Ikari - Frequently called upon to discuss matters relating to the projects progress
Trivia[]
- In English, Instrumentality is a reference to Instrumentality of MankindWP, from Cordwainer SmithWP's sci-fi novels. In the original Japanese, however, it is referred to as 補完 (Hokan?). "Ho" translates literally to "supplement, supply, make good, offset, compensate, assistant, learner" and "kan" to "perfect, completion, end". translate literally to "complete" or "completion". In many early fan translations, it is referred to as "Complementation". This nuance can be understood as the separate, individual egos of humankind being complemented by others. Alternatively, it can also have a nuance of "perfecting" humanity into a superior being. The "tuning" metaphor present in Evangelion: Death and Rebirth is also appropriate.
- The only member whose country is revealed in the show is "Green", during an interchange among the Committee members after reviewing the battle against Gaghiel in Episode 14. The rest are known only from production drawings in Neon Genesis Evangelion Newtype 100% Collection.
- The Committee only appear in episodes 2, 10, 14, 17, and 20. In Episode 20, they convened without Gendo.
- While their motivation as per the classified information is in line with their actions, it raises the question of why they produced nine Mass Production Evangelion instead of five, a question which is never answered.
References[]
- ↑ Evangelion Chronicle 6, p.19
- ↑ Evangelion Chronicle 6, p.20
- ↑ Evangelion Chronicle 7, p.11-13
Organizations | ||
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Neon Genesis Evangelion | NERV • Gehirn • SEELE • Human Instrumentality Committee • Marduk Institute | |
Rebuild of Evangelion | NERV • Euro-NERV • SEELE • WILLE • KREDIT • JMEPRO • IPEA • JSSDF • Kuroshio Group | |
Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA | NERV Japan • NERV U.S. • NERV Germany | |
Other | Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force • United Nations • Earth Defense Band • Global Unknown Event Keepers • Autobots • Decepticons • Autobot-NERV • MENSCH |