SO, WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND?

In the year 2000 A.D. a giant meteorite hit the polar icecap of Antarctica causing the second impact, melting the ice and increasing the world's water level drastically and wiping out half of the world's population. The earth's climate and natural eco-system changed greatly and the seasons of the year disappeared causing there to be only one season all year round.

WHAT ARE THESE "ANGELS"?

The angels are natural creatures of unknown origin pursuing a mysterious objective in Tokyo-3. The angels aren't fundamentally hostile given that they never attack first. Angels are protected by a force field called an 'absolute terror field' or AT field. The angels are all different in their look and the weapons they have at their disposal. Although they are called angels they are the 'bad guys' of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Their Japanese name is 'Shito' which means messenger but was translated into angel for the english language version. There are 17 angels in total, each with a different name.

WHAT ARE EVANGELIONS?

The synthetic, bio-mechanical machines created by Nerv through genetic research carried out on the remains of the first angel. The Evangelions, or Eva's for short, are protected by an 'absolute terror field' like the angels and have a variety of weapons either long range or short range, the most distinctive of which is the progressive knife, a combat weapon which releases an ultra-sonic wave to damage the enemy. The children who pilot the evangelions are found by the Marduk agency who search for children of the right qualities to pilot Eva. There are five Eva's in total, units 00, 01, 02, 03 and 04 but only units 00, 01 and 02 are used during the series (unit 03 and 04's fates are kept in the eva section of this site). In addition there is a auto piloted EVA-series unit 05 through 13.

WHAT IS NERV?

Nerv is the organisation which developed and constructed Evangelion, formerly known as Gehirn it's name comes from the German word meaning nerve, pronounced ner-hf. Gehirn is German for brain. Nerv is a United Nations special agency stationed in the geo-front underneath Tokyo-3. Nerv's HQ is a giant pyramid shaped building and, although it's exact composition is unknown, the base reaches further underground than is immediately apparent.

WHAT IS A GEO-FRONT?

The geo-front which Nerv headquarters resides within is a natural cavity in the earth, a sphere which used to be almost completely buried. The geofront has a diameter of over 10 kilometres and trains circling around the walls of the geofront take Nerv personel to and from the surface.

Tokyo-3

Tokyo-3 is the new capital of Japan, after the confusion that the second impact caused the original Tokyo was destroyed by a new weapon of the United Nations, the N2 or NN, non-nuclear, mine. The capital was then moved to the Nagano prefecture and named Tokyo-2. Around 2005, when the geo-front was discovered in the area of Hakone, a fortress city was built there, this city was the third Tokyo and in 2016 the capital was transferred from Tokyo-2 to Tokyo-3. Tokyo-3 is actually a mixture of residential and military buildings, Evangelions can be launched from Nerv's geofront HQ to Tokyo-3 and there are a lot of different exits for the Evas to be sent up to. When the city comes under attack the residential buildings revert into shelters and sink into the ground to the safety of the geo-front, civilians are transferred to the shelters. This form of defense isn't always effective because in the first episode, the third angel, Sachiel, creates explosions over Tokyo-3 and some of the buildings fall from their places, into the geo-front.