Neon Genesis Evangelion is perhaps one of the most controversial, and intriguing anime to ever emerge from Japan. This timeless mecha action-filled psychological-thriller anime is renowned for its bizarre kind of show. Though the puzzling overall plot attracted a lot of viewers in, it was the weekly dangers caused by the Angels that kept each episode more engaging.
Occurring in an end-of-the-world future, humans have been battling powerful giant monster-like beings known as Angels using their mechas called Evangelion which were made by NERV. The Angels as the main enemies in the series were derived from various religions, including Christianity. Neon Genesis Evangelion showcases a lot of strong Angels, so we are here to shed some details on the top 10 strongest Angels in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
We’re going to exclude from this list Adam and Lilith since both are progenitors. They are basically Gods who’d take the number 1 spot and we don’t want to make boring by having such an obvious answer for the number 1 spot.
Without further ado, let’s get into it!
10. Leliel
Leliel is the 12th Angel that appears in Episode 16. Leliel’s name means the “Jaws of God” and it symbolizes “The Angel of Night”. Leliel seems to be a distorted black & white floating sphere. However, this Angel’s true body is the shadow under it, and the circle is the Angel’s shadow. Its ability is an inverted AT Field that can suck up any material from our planet to an alternate dimension within its body like a quicksand.
Leliel unexpectedly shows up over Tokyo-3 and the three Evas were deployed to go against it but the shadow sucks in Shinji and the Eva Unit-01 resulting in communication being lost, and the creature attempting to talk to Shinji. NERV plans to drop 992 N² bombs into it, whether in the process the plan would end up killing Shinji and the Unit-01 or not. However, Eva Unit-01 was out of control and enters Berserker mode. Despite having its battery power completely depleted, the Eva Unit-01 savagely tears its way through the Leliel’s body, destroying it and making it shower blood.
9. Ramiel
Ramiel is the 5th Angel that appears in Episode 5 and Episode 6. Ramiel’s name means the “Thunder of God” and it symbolizes “The Angel of Thunder”. Ramiel is the widely Evangelion fan adored blue and highly reflective surface octahedron or 3D diamond Angel that exhibits overwhelming power. It has a strong AT Field and shoots lasers. When it moves, you can hear a choral voice singing an F note again and again. The Angel has a lethal coordinated energy beam assault equipped for melting through an Evangelion’s shield in an instant, and it can support the impact for a long time, maybe infinitely.
The beam is equipped for hitting any objective inside the Angel’s shooting range with amazing preciseness, and the Angel can distinguish dangers coming up from underground as well as past its firing range. The intensity of its assault makes Ramiel too dangerous for the Evangelion to attack directly. Be that as it may, the Angel bleeds and is not immortal at all. One of the episodes, shows the Angel’s defensive surface being taken off and revealing its blood.
In another scene, Ramiel attempted to invade NERV by drilling a hole through their underground HQ using its laser so it can reach Lilith who is secretly hidden there. NERV was able to defeat Ramiel by focusing all of Tokyo’s electric power into Shinji’s Eva Unit-01’s rifle blast while Eva Unit-00 defends him with a special shield against Ramiel’s blast.
8. Matarael
Matarael is the 9th Angel that appears in Episode 11. Matarael’s name means the “Premonition of God” and it symbolizes “The Angel of Rain”. Matarael is a creepy enormous four-legged spider-like Angel. The numerous eyes found in the central body except the main eye are not real eyes, but rather a disguise to fool the enemies. Its unnerving main eyes can pour a dangerous orange-colored dissolvable liquid that looks like it’s crying and can melt anything in its way.
Due to the power outage, Matarael manages to infiltrate Tokyo undetected and tried to dissolve anything on its way into the NERV base. However, it was easily subdued by the continuous attack of Unit-00, Unit-01, and Unit-02.
7. Bardiel
Bardiel is the 13th Angel that appears in Episode 18. Bardiel‘s name means the “Humiliated Son of God” and it symbolizes as “Angel of Haze”. It is a parasitic fungus-like Angel that can take control over any Eva that it latches on. Bardiel can mutate its host like having abilities where it can discharge an infectious ooze and stretch out its arms to astounding lengths, momentarily expanding them to almost two times the length of an Evangelion. Bardiel can spread its infection beyond its host like a virus.
In Episode 18, the parasitic Angel Bardiel infects the new Eva Unit-03 that came from the US. It was able to successfully take control over the Eva gaining its properties and strengths. Unit-00, Unit-01, and Unit-02 were engaged to battle against the contaminated Unit-03. Bardiel successfully disabled Unit-02 when the pilot Asuka was distracted. Bardiel was also able to pin Unit-00 to the ground and almost infected it with its ooze coming out from Unit-03’s onto Unit-00’s left arm.
Luckily, NERV acted swiftly and remotely cutting off Unit-00’s left arm by detonating its internal explosives, leaving the still-synchronized Rei squirming in pain. Shinji and Unit-01 engage in a battle with Bardiel but was pinned in the mountain leaving Gendo Ikari to a decision to seize Shinji’s control over Unit-01. Gendo ordered to activate the Dummy System however Eva-01 went almost berserker-mode, strangling and breaking the neck of the infected Eva-03 instantly. Unit-03 was tossed, crushed, and torn until the tainted Eva’s entrance plug was squashed, and alongside it, the remainder of Bardiel.
6. Ireul
Ireul is the 11th Angel that appears in Episode 13. Ireul‘s name means the “Terror of God” and it symbolizes “The Angel of Terror”. Ireul is what you call an unconventional Angel as it is not like the others; it is a microscopic-size virus. Despite its nano-size, Ireul can fend off any weapon using its A.T. field. Aside from its A.T. Field, it exhibits an ability that can adjust and develop to nearly anything. This Angel appears to just spread by quickly cloning at the cell level.
Ireul attempted to assume control over NERV’s mother computer MAGI, and hack it to self-destruct the command center from within. It successfully gain control over 2 out of 3 MAGIs however, Ritsuko was able to reverse-hack the last MAGI driving the Angel to its destruction.
5. Sahaquiel
Sahaquiel is the 10th Angel that appears in Episode 12. Sahaquiel‘s name means the “Ingenuity of God” and it symbolizes as “Angel of the Sky”. The Angel is a monstrous and oddly molded creature. It has a wide, elongated orange body, with one eye in the middle and two on both ends, and also three stem-like extensions. Sahaquiel’s A.T. Field is similarly strong that it can able to shield against a few N² bombs. It additionally appears to have the capability to jam any satellite signals. The Angel’s most destructive weapon is itself where it drops bits of itself onto Earth as bombs. However, this was defeated by Unit-00, Unit-01, and Unit-02 when it tried to send off its entire body down onto the NERV base, with Unit-02 stopping it by cutting its center with its blade.
4. Armisael
Armisael is the 16th Angel that appears in Episode 23. Armisael‘s name means the “Mountain of Judgment of God” and it symbolizes as “Angel of the Womb”. It looks like a ring-shaped glowing with patterns that interchanges between blue and orange. Its design is somewhat close to a halo and a double-helix-like DNA. Its second form can move at a rapid pace and can easily penetrate any A.T. Field. One of its capabilities as well is its ability to fuse to any living organism. The fusion is apparent as venous lumps can be seen physically, which spreads and thickens progressively. Ultimately, even mental control becomes possible.
Armisael was only defeated through the joined efforts of Eva Unit-00 and Eva Unit-01. However, Rei has to sacrifice herself by self-detonating her Eva for it to be successful.
3. Zeruel
Zeruel is the 14th Angel that appears in Episode 19. Zeruel‘s name means the “Arm of God” and it symbolizes as “Angel of Strength”. Zeruel’s appearance has a stout body with foldable, paper-like arms that slice through nearly anything. He exhibits an upgraded ability for shooting the cross-formed energy. It can likewise fire energy that radiates straightforwardly from its eyes, requiring a couple of moments to charge before delivering a strong explosion of energy. It can also use its A.T. field to fly however it’s leaving itself an opening for the enemies. The utter size of Zeruel is unbelievable in itself, and, when joined with its strange face and destructive arms, it becomes perhaps the spookiest and most fearsome Angels in the same.
When Zeruel break through the NERV HQ, Eva Unit-02 was the first one to engage but unfortunately was defeated, and not long after Eva Unit-00. With just Unit-01 remaining, Shinji pummels down Zeruel and almost rips off its face before his Eva runs out of power. Yet, as we’ve seen many times before, Unit-01 went into berserker mode and ended up obliterating Zeruel and consuming his S² Engine.
2. Arael
Arael is the 15th Angel that appears in Episode 22. Arael‘s name means “The Light of God” and it symbolizes “The Angel of Birds”. Arael is one of the scariest Angels in the series, and not only because its appearance looks like a shining and multi-winged being of light that floats around the Earth. But unlike most Angels that utilize physical assaults, Arael chooses its A.T. Field’s strange trait of shooting a light beam directly to a human mind to gather and analyze information about the human race, and do psychological warfare by forcing to relive the enemies’ worst memories.
Arael appears later in the series where NERV discovered it hovering around the orbit. NERV respond by sending both Asuka as the front defender and Rei as the reinforcement. At first, it was a deadlock battle until Arael shoots a light beam at Asuka that messes up her head by letting her remember her worst memories. The mind attack leaves Asuka very vulnerable and unstable that her attacks are hitting across Tokyo-3. However, Rei ultimately knocks off Arael by stabbing it with the Spear of Longinus its body separates and whirls into a vortex, and at last, disappears in a fleck of light. An explosion of red blood is momentarily noticeable upon the Spear’s exit.
1. Tabris(Kaworu Nagisa)
Tabris or is also known as Kaworu Nagisa carries the soul of the 1st Angel Adam, is the Fifth Child, and the 17th Angel that appeared in Episode 24. He was shipped off to NERV by SEELE as a substitute pilot for Unit-02 after Asuka’s synchronization proportion is very low to an unusable point. Even though he is an Angel, Kaworu is like Rei Ayanami in being a Seed of Life that occupies a human body. Regardless, Kaworu does not appear to believe himself to be a human, calling people “the Lilin” in separation from himself.
Despite his human size, Kaworu exhibits incredible powers where he can control any Adam-based life, shown when he makes Unit-02 fight Unit-01, even remotely. He then later becomes a companion with Shinji during his time in Tokyo-3. After Shinji needed to battle against Unit-02 and Rei cut out Tabris’ A.T. Field, Shinji grabs tightly on him. When Kaworu realizes that it was Lilith who was in Terminal Dogma and not Adam, he allowed Shinji to kill him. After Shinji has some flashbacks of their friendship and faltering, he finally smashes Kaworu in Unit-01’s grasp.
You might also like: Darling in the Franxx
Just like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Darling in the Franxx is also a mecha anime with a spash of biology. Teen pilots use their giant robots called Franxx to fight giant monsters that live deep in the Earth. If you liked the Angel battles in Neon Genesis Evangelion, I can guarantee you that you will enjoy the battle scenes in this anime.
Needless to say, being a newer anime, the animation of this anime is very pleasing to the eyes and the colors are very bright and vivid. Other than an amazing story, this is just another factor that makes this anime something that you should give a try. Of course, the original soundtracks of this anime is great as well. They give the anime that oomph that it needs to take make take the experience to the next level. It really compliments the animation by making battle scenes more epic, romantic scenes more romantic and tragic scenes more heartbreaking.
So if you’re looking for your next mecha anime, look no more. Darling in The Franxx is already here and waiting for you!
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