The N² Technology ("N²" being short for Non-Nuclear) is a technology seen throughout various Evangelion series in different forms.
N² Weapons
An N² mine explosion in Rebuild
N² mine explosion in the original series
N² weapons (N² 兵器, N² heiki) is the name given to the strongest conventional (non-Evangelion) weapons ever created by mankind. N² weapons are as strong as nuclear bombs, even being capable of producing electro-magnetic pulses, but they lack the radioactive fallout generated by their nuclear counterparts, allowing them to be used more readily than their predecessors. The name N², meaning 'Non-nuclear' refers to this. They are capable of dealing moderate damage to some of the weaker Angels, as can be seen during Sachiel's attack to Tokyo-3, although even several detonations of N² weapons are incapable of affecting others. While they are never seen destroying an angel on their own, N2 weapons are sometimes successful in damaging and delaying them, buying NERV valuable time to plan and prepare Eva attacks. Due to their indiscriminate destructiveness and questionable effectiveness against any particular angel, the military is reluctant to use these weapons in proximity to populated areas, usually doing so only as a last resort. It has been said that the N² weapons are broadly similar to a low-yield nuclear warhead, with no apparent fallout, and are thus comparable to fuel-air bombs and other real life thermobaric weapons as well as very-high yield conventional explosives such as the MOAB. Unlike a fuel-air bomb, which relies on atmospheric oxygen to ignite, an N2 weapon can be detonated underwater. They have the secondary effect of severely changing the terrain on which they are used, creating large craters. The Japanese military has approximately one thousand N2 weapons in its arsenal, with slightly fewer towards the end of the series as they are expended against various angels.
N² weapons come in five basic forms.
- N² bomb (N²爆弾, bakudan)
- Episode 19: Used on Zeruel by Unit-00'. It destroys Unit-00's right arm, which was in contact with the bomb, but Zeruel was unaffected by the explosion at point blank.
- Episode 25': Dropped onto the extension of Ashinoko where Tokyo-3 had been to open up the Geofront.
- Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time Wille installs these on warships during Operation Yamato.
- N² depth charge (N²爆雷, N² bakurai)
- Episode 09: Used on Israfel Alpha and Beta to temporarily incapacitate them and give the pilots some time for preparations.
- N² land mine (N²地雷, N² jirai)
- Episode 01: Set in Sachiel's path to temporarily halt its advance. Despite the Angel being damaged to some extent, the mine failed to kill it.
- Evangelion 1.0: Used in the same manner on the Fourth Angel.
N² aerial weapon has no effect on Sahaquiel
- N² aerial weapon (N²航空兵器, N² koukuu heiki)
- Episode 12: Used on Sahaquiel multiple times, but without any real effect.
- Evangelion 2.0: Used in the same manner on the Eighth Angel.
- N² missile
- Evangelion 2.0: Used on the Tenth Angel by Unit-00'. It destroys Unit-00's arms and chars Unit-00', but once again Tenth Angel is not visibly damaged at all.
N² Reactor
N² Reactor is a technology appearing in Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA. It is used on the UX-1 Allegorica support unit and Evangelion EURO-II Heurtebise. Its purpose is essentially the same as the S² Engine's one as it grants the Evangelion unit an unlimited amount of operational time. However, it uses N²-derived technologies to achieve this.
Note
- Although "N²" is always written with a superscript "2", it is not pronounced "N-squared", but simply "N-two".
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