Evangelion First Angel Adam

Adam is a being that is designated as the First Angel and, long before human history, was the first living being to arrive on Earth. It is one of several beings that carries a “Fruit of Life”, which is another name for an Angel’s S2 engine according to information in the PS2 (and later PSP) game Neon Genesis Evangelion 2. Although the true appearance of Adam is not known, a glimpse of its profile is shown in Episode 12. It showed a giant humanoid glowing silhouette with four massive wings (later nicknamed the "Giant of Light". Strikingly similar to an Evangelion Unit, the giant had shoulder pylons, but it’s true nature is unknown.

Adam and Angels

The race of beings that Adam belongs to each has either a “Fruit of Life” or a “Fruit of Knowledge” and a Spear of Longinus, which is the only weapon known to be effective against said beings. Two creators of life are not supposed to exist on the same planet at once, and the Spears act as a countermeasure to prevent two entities from coming into contact with each other and creating an opportunity for a single being to wield both a Fruit of Life and a Fruit of Knowledge.

Before Adam has a chance to use its Fruit of Life, the Second Angel Lilith crashes into Earth, which results in the disappearance of Lilith’s Spear. In response, Adam’s Spear activates and forces it into a suspended state. Adam remains in this state until it is discovered by Dr. Katsuragi’s expedition, which resulted in experiments being done on Adam’s body. The team of scientists tested on Adam’s S2 engine and performed a “contact experiment” with its body, which caused Adam to come out of its state of suspension. This combination resulted in the S2 engine accidentally going haywire, which caused a wide-scale destructive event that was named the Second Impact. The “First Impact” is the name given to an event where a meteor crashed into the Earth and created the moon. What most people don’t know is that this “meteor” was Lilith’s Black Moon.

All other Angels, apart from Lilith, originate from Adam (although the Seventeenth Angel Tabris is somewhat of a unique case). Most Angels are “Children of Adam” and all share the trait of having an S2 engine. The mechanisms that Adam used to create the Angels are not known, however. It is possible that each Angel begins as a large embryo, as seen with Sandalphon. It is not stated exactly when, but at some point in time, Adam’s soul is extracted and implanted into the body of a human, creating the Seventeenth and Final Angel. This Angel is none other than Kaworu Nagisa. Kaworu displays several qualities shared by all Angels, such as the ability to produce an incredibly strong A.T. field. However, since he has a human body, it is unknown if Kaworu has a core.

Adam After the Second Impact

Although it is reduced to nothing more than an embryo, the body of Adam is still alive and is secretly delivered to Gendo Ikari by Ryoji Kaji. Gendo mentions that the embryo will play a critical role in his plan for the Human Instrumentality Project, but the details for this plan are kept hidden until End of Evangelion movie. The end goal for Gendo is to be reunited with his wife Yui and to do so, he needs to fuse Adam’s embryo with Rei, a human with the soul of Lilith. This fusion results in the beginnings of the Third Impact.

Adam and Evangelion Units

Adam is also significant in the fact that it is the basis in which Evangelion Units are derived. Although Evangelion units are often assumed to be robots, they are shown to have organic properties several times throughout the Evangelion series. When Evangelion units are injured, they are shown to bleed on occasion and, like when Evangelion Unit 01 goes berserk, teeth and skin are clearly shown. When compared to the photograph of Adam shown in Episode 12, it is quite easy to see the similarities between the two. Evangelion units also have a core and are capable of producing A.T. fields, creating an even closer link to Angels, and therefore, Adam.

Significance of Adam’s Name

Many allusions to Christianity and the Bible are made throughout much of the Evangelion series. The name “Adam” is shared with the first human on Earth that was created by God. Similarly, the Angel Adam was the first being to arrive on Earth in the Evangelion universe. Eve, the second human ever to exist, was made with the body of Biblical Adam. As Evangelion units are also derived from the Angel Adam, the decision to refer to these creations as “Evangelion units” is likely more than mere coincidence.

Adam in Other Media

Compared to the Evangelion TV anime series, in the Evangelion manga created by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Gendo Ikari is explicitly shown to devour Adam’s embryo that later sprouts as an eye on his palm. In turn, Gendo is granted the ability to create an A.T field.

In the Evangelion Rebuild movie series, fans are still in wait to see if there are any hints of an entity the same as Adam.