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OtapediaEvangelion Seventh Angel Israfel

Israfel is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Seventh Angel and named after the “twin Angels of Poetry, Music and Dance”. It appears in Episode 9 of Evangelion anime series.

The first glimpse of Israfel shows it as a vaguely humanoid figure, sharing some characteristics of the Third Angel Sachiel. While Sachiel has broad shoulders and long, exaggerated arms, its shoulders, and head all appear as one unit that is similar in shape to a crescent moon. Israfel’s body also slightly more stout in comparison. Its core is located near what most would consider its stomach area to be. Like Sachiel, Israfel also has a rib cage-like structure surrounding its core. Israfel’s mask closely resembles the symbol for yin and yang, but are colored blue and red instead of black and white. The most unique trait of this Angel is its ability to split into two halves, something that no other Angel can do. Mahiro Maeda is credited for designing this Angel. Maeda previously worked as a key animator for classic Studio Ghibli films like Castle in the Sky and Porco Rosso. He is also credited as an assistant mechanical designer for Escaflowne.

Notable Abilities

  • Divisible Core: Israfel has the unique ability to split its core into two. Splitting its core effectively allows it to divide into two beings. This unexpected ability catches Asuka off-guard, as she believed cleaving it clean in half would be more than enough to defeat the Angel. In this case, her overconfidence is the cause of her downfall, as she cannot react in time when Israfel splits its core. When divided, the pair of beings are referred to as “Target Alpha” and “Target Beta”. They both are colored differently, one being silver while the other is copper. The yin and yang themed mask of the fused Israfel also changes. The two have the same style of mask, but they are both gray and have three holes in them. When separated, the two bodies are shown to move in perfect unison, as they are still supposed to be one being. Just as Israfel can be forcefully divided by physically cutting its body in half, it can be forcefully fused by pushing the divided halves back together. Compared to other Angels like Shamshel or Ramiel, Israfel may seem extraordinarily weak, but it is still able to overwhelm both Evangelion Unit 01 and Evangelion Unit 02 by burying the units halfway into the ground. Its split cores also make it rather difficult to defeat, as the only way to defeat Israfel is to destroy both cores with a perfectly synchronized attack. One weakness of its ability to split and fuse is that, while Israfel’s divided bodies can fuse together almost instantly, the divided cores take longer to recombine, leaving a chance for an attack.

Battle and Defeat

Israfel is intercepted by both Evangelion Unit 01 and Evangelion Unit 02 at the Kii peninsula. Asuka decides to take the initiative and charges toward Israfel while Shinji acts as support. With an axe in hand, Asuka manages to split the Angel cleanly in two, seemingly taking it down in one strike. Shinji, however, notices Israfel change and divide into two, catching them both off-guard. Both Eva-01 and Eva-02 are defeated, forcing NERV to relinquish control to the UN, who authorizes the use of an N2 bomb. Although it does not destroy the Angel, it damages it to a point that renders it unable to move for nearly a week. Misato learns that the only weakness of Israfel’s divisible core is that its cores take longer to fuse that its bodies, leaving a small window where it is vulnerable to attack. For the next several days, Asuka and Shinji are forced to perfectly memorize a synchronized attack pattern in order to defeat the Angel. Training for this plan is taken to a comical level at times. Misato, for example, forces them to wear the same outfit and has them speak in unison. It, however, seems to pay off as the operation succeeds perfectly. First, the complete Israfel is split into two by severing the original body in half. Then, the two Evangelion Units kick the two halves in the air, forcing them to begin fusing back together. Before the cores are able to fuse, however, Asuka and Shinji launch a final attack on the two cores simultaneously, resulting in the destruction of Israfel.

Israfel in Other Media

Seventh Angel, Israfel does not have any appearances in the Evangelion Rebuild movies. Israfel is actually replaced with a different Angel entirely in Evangelion Rebuild 2.0. Not a lot is known about this Angel, besides that it has a tall body comprised of many sharply four-pronged, geometrically similar pieces and has two Sachiel-like heads places like a clock.

Israfel is present in the manga created by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. There is only one minor difference between the original anime series and the manga. In the manga, after Israfel is split into two entities, they do not merge back into one before being defeated.

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Roles Credited to Mahiro Maeda

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Neon Genesis Evangelion