Evangelion (エヴァンゲリオン[?]) are giant, living humanoid beings of near-godlike power and are the namesake of the Evangelion franchise. They are present in nearly every single franchise entry, although their functionality and role can vary greatly depending on the story being told.
Originally created by Gehirn and further developed by NERV under the supervision of SEELE, the Evangelion are born from samples of the first Angel, Adam, with the exception of Evangelion Unit-01 which was created from the second angel, Lilith. While the Evangelion were supposedly created to combat the Angel threat, their most important functions, and one of their greatest secrets, is to initiate Third Impact to evolve humanity further.
Despite being giant humans (in the series' broader definition of the term "human"), Evangelion are often mistaken to be mechanical robots or mecha. As early as Episode 02, Unit-01 is seen without its helmet on, revealing that Evangelion are living organic creatures with cybernetic components grafted onto them. This misconception exists since all the biological parts of the units are covered from head to toe in restraining metal plates that hide their true organic form and because they have pilots who sit in the cockpit-like Entry Plug.
Evangelion has been suggested to play 5 roles. Click below to see other actors suggested for each role, and vote for who you think would play the role best.
