Adams

Each of the Adams is a towering humanoid rendered in pure radiance. Their individual builds vary slightly, but a halo and Wings of Light mark every member of the group. One giant carries a third eye set into its forehead, and each bears a uniquely detailed core; fans read these designs as nods to the Ultra Brothers of the Ultraman franchise, whose script epithet, giants of light, the films borrow for the Adams themselves.

The contact experiment conducted during the Katsuragi Expedition shatters the South Pole and frees the Adams, a catastrophe the public comes to know as Second Impact while its true cause stays hidden. Fifteen years on, four crosses still stand at the heart of the polar crater. When Unit-01 slips into pseudo-evolution while trying to rescue Rei Ayanami, sparking Near Third Impact, a third eye opens on the unit and it briefly mirrors one of the giants, a resemblance the films never explain.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo labels Evangelion Mark.09 an Adams' Vessel and later the Wunder's original master, and counts Evangelion 13 among the Adams still alive. The final film confirms five in total, each sealed within a vessel: Evangelion Mark.09-A, Mark.10, Mark.11, and Mark.12, plus Evangelion 13 itself. The first four command the great warships, NERV's NHG Erlösung, NHG Erbsünde, and NHG Gebet along with the WILLE-operated Wunder. As Mari sends the last NERV ships to the bottom, she offers the Adams a farewell, telling them the Lilin no longer need them and bidding them rest in peace.

Used in concert, the four vessel-sealed Adams can force open the Doors of Guf, the passage leading into Minus Space. Each giant also stands as master of the warship built around it, a status the films underline when Mark.09 is identified as the Wunder's original master. All display halos and Wings of Light, the traits that define their appearance at Second Impact.