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This is a question about the original "Evangelion" and the follow up "End of Evangelion". I haven't seen "Rebuild of Evangelion" yet.

In the series, it seems clear that the EVAs are cybernetic constructions.

So here's my question/conjecture (which may be a spoiler): are the prototype EVAs clones of the childrens' mothers, somehow mixed with the first angel's DNA?

  • Unit 0 and Unit 1 are seemingly both related to Shinji's mother Yui Ikari.

  • Asuka seems to say that Unit 2 is her mother during the final fight

  • We never learn much about Unit 3 before it is possessed

  • The mass production models all seem to be clones of Kaworu

Is there any canonical support for this conjecture?

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Wow Evangelion! That brings back memories of endless hours of speculation and analysis on anime forums in the late 90's! To the question at hand.

This only covers the original series, as I'm not that familiar with Rebuild.

The EVAs are biological constructs cloned from Adam, with the exception of EVA-01 which was cloned from Lilith (the giant crucified creature in Terminal Dogma) and encased in armor that also serves to control them. As part of their construction they are also infused with a person's soul, preferably the pilot's mother.

  • EVA-00's soul is a matter of speculation, as it was never directly stated. The prevailing theory is that it has Rei I's soul (the first Rei, killed in a jealous rage by Naoko Akagi). See this analysis.

  • EVA-01's soul is that of Shinji's mother Yui who was killed in the process. This is stated clearly in the course of the series.

  • EVA-02's soul is part of Asuka's mother Kyoko who went insane after the process. It is speculated that the part that resides in EVA-02 is the motherly aspect of Kyoko, which is why insane Kyoko no longer recognizes her own daughter. This too is in the series.

  • EVA-03's soul is never stated, but it is speculated that it is the soul of Toji's mother, who we know is dead.

  • Nothing is known about the souls of the Mass Production EVAs (if they even have any).

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  • Interesting. Anything on Unit 04?
    – Xantec
    Commented Jul 7, 2012 at 23:52
  • @Xantec - I think all that we know of EVA-04 was that it was destroyed when NERV Nevada was engulfed into a Dirac sea during an S2 engine expirement.
    – System Down
    Commented Jul 7, 2012 at 23:56
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    @SystemDown - I never thought to separate the "soul" from the "body" in this way. Very nice summary
    – SteveED
    Commented Jul 8, 2012 at 2:49

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