Evangelion Fourteenth Angel Zeruel
Zeruel is a Child of Adam and is designated as the Fourteenth Angel named after the “Angel of Strength”. It appears in Episode 19 of the Evangelion anime series.
Physical Appearance
Zeruel is arguably one of the deadliest Angels, as it has a variety of incredibly powerful weapons at its disposal. With its incredible destructive power, Zeruel becomes the first Angel to infiltrate NERV with brute force alone. Its A.T. field is also strong enough to levitate itself through the air. Its body is around the size of an Evangelion Unit and is built very stout. When compared to average human proportions, Zeruel’s legs are incredibly short. Zeruel’s arms are flat and folded like paper when not in use, though, when unraveled, can extend many times its body length and be manipulated at will. Zeruel’s core is also clearly displayed near the center of its body but it is capable of producing a cover to shield it when endangered.
Notable Abilities
Folded Arms: When at rest, Zeruel’s flat arms are folded up and do not extend past its core. When it uses its arms to attack an opponent, they unravel as if they were made with paper and run, at a minimum, the full length of Zeruel’s body. These arms can be extended to cover an incredible amount of distance, however. Furthermore, they make incredible piercing and slashing weapons. Zeruel uses them to slice and pierce through Evangelion Units with seemingly little effort. They are also flexible enough to be wrapped around an opponent, as seen when it picks up Evangelion Unit 01 by the head and throws it aside. Although they are durable, these arms are not indestructible and can be torn or even cut like cloth with enough force.
Energy Beam: If its arms weren’t enough, Zeruel can fire beams of energy with destructive power that may be comparable to Ramiel’s beams. With a single blast, this Angel tears through eighteen of NERV’s twenty-two layers of defense. Multiple beams can also be fired in quick succession, leading to the Angel making its way into the underground facility at speeds never seen by any other Angel. Each shot is also strong enough to expose Unit 01’s core, though whether or not it can physically destroy the core is unknown.
Battle and Defeat
Zeruel is spotted levitating in the air and quickly begins attacking Tokyo-3. It opens with a beam attack that burns through nearly all of NERV’s layers of armor. Since it appears it will only be a matter of time before the Angel infiltrates the facility, Asuka and Evangelion Unit 02 are sent to wait for the target inside the GeoFront and open fire on it the first chance she gets. Bullets and missiles prove to be ineffective, however. The Angel unfurls its arms and swiftly cuts both of Unit 02’s arms off and follows up with another blow to the head, rendering the unit and its pilot incapacitated. Since Shinji quit being an Evangelion pilot as a result of the battle with Bardiel, NERV attempts to have Rei pilot Evangelion Unit 01 with a Dummy Plug as a backup, but the unit rejects both of them and refuses to activate. Meanwhile, Shinji discovers the aftermath of the fight between Zeruel and Evangelion Unit 02. Ryoji is also nearby, watering his patch of melons. The two talk with one another and Ryoji says that watering his melons is the only thing he can do now and hints to Shinji that, while Ryoji can do little more than wait for his death, there is something else that he can do.
Before Shinji can act, an injured Evangelion Unit 00 appears on the battlefield with an N2 bomb in hand, apparently in an attempt to sacrifice herself and destroy the Angel. Rei is able to break through Zeruel’s tough A.T. field, but it manages to shield its core at the last moment. While Unit 00 is still left standing after the blast, Zeruel attacks it with its foldable arms, rendering the unit inoperable. The Angel continues to blast deeper into NERV in an attempt to make contact with “Adam” (which Kaworu later identifies as being Lilith). It finds its way to the command center of the facility and begins charging an energy blast, but it is intercepted by Shinji in Evangelion Unit 01 before it is able to fire. Blows are exchanged between the two giants and Shinji manages to gain the upper hand. However, before he can give the finishing blow, Unit 01 runs out of power. Zeruel begins its counterattack by firing a beam strong enough to expose the Eva Unit’s core and striking it with its arms. Before its core is destroyed, Unit 01 reactivates and goes berserk. Although Unit 01 has gone berserk before, this instance seems to be much more intense. Unit 01 displays incomprehensible amounts of raw strength, completely decimating Zeruel with a single swipe of the hand. The berserk unit also has a much more primal behavior, as it begins walking on all four of its limbs toward the fallen Angel to devour its core. With its core effectively destroyed, the Fourteenth Angel is slain.
Zeruel in Other Media
The Fourteenth Angel Zeruel, play a significant role in the Evangelion Rebuild 2.0 movie as the Tenth Angel. In comparison to the anime, the battle is staged similar in the Geofront. However it is Mari Illustrious Makinami that engages with Zeruel first as the pilot for Evangelion Unit 02, along with Rei and Unit 00. The battles includes Mari using secret codes to turn Unit 02 berserk, and Rei and Unit 00 is devoured into Zeruel. The conclusion to the battle is the most significantly different with Shinji in Evangelion Unit 01 stepping in, defeating Zeruel and starting the Third Impact initiation process.