Evangelion Unit-0.0

Evangelion Unit-0.0, formally the Unit-00 Type II Kai Area Defensive Unit and commonly shortened to EVA0.0, designates three identical machines introduced in the Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA novels. NERV Japan assembles them from salvaged Unit-00 parts mated to External S² Engines recovered from the Mass Production Evangelions, routing each engine through the spine itself, a choice that later proves troublesome. The bulky armor keeps the yellow and white palette of the never-repaired Unit-00. Unusually for an Eva, the model exists in triplicate, one copy assigned to each dormant Rei Ayanami clone: EVA0.0 [Quatre], EVA0.0 [Cinq] and EVA0.0 [Six].

Together the trio forms the network called the Sword of Damocles. One unit holds the airspace over Tokyo-3 while the other two wait in orbit, their pilots kept in suspended animation inside the entry plugs until a confirmed threat wakes them; between them, any point on the planet can be struck directly with a high-output laser driven by the engines' enormous output. The plugs themselves barely resemble the ones Shinji and Asuka use. Multiple added information consoles exploit the Rei clones' superior processing ability for joint operations with NERV Japan headquarters, and because each pilot spends extended stretches in orbit, artificial hibernation and life support machinery completely reshapes the seating. Sensor systems are upgraded beyond the Stage 1 specification, waste heat sinks for space service are added, and the units later receive Stage 2 restraint armor at the Tanegashima Space Center after trials on Unit-02 Type II prove the improvement.

The External S² Engines free the Units-0.0 from any outside power supply but demand constant supervision. Run the output too high and the Mass Production Eva flesh around an engine begins regenerating in place; run it too low and the engine destroys itself. NERV Japan's countermeasure deceives each engine into believing its original body still exists, compressing the donor Eva's sensory organs into tube protrusions standing in for fake limbs, which greatly widens operational leverage. The engine connection is physically compatible with Unit-02 and the Super Evangelion, yet the calibration for each unit is so delicate that reusing one elsewhere is considered nearly impossible.

Rei Quatre, Rei Cinq and Rei Six each pilot their own copy. In Volume 1, after Rei loses her ability to connect with the orbiting clones, one machine goes rogue, descends to Earth, and lands a nearly fatal positron rifle hit on Evangelion Unit-01 Type F before quitting the battlefield. Following Quatre's mind contamination and defection, her unit is rebuilt around a Q.R. Signum embedded in its chest, becoming the Evangelion Unit-0.0 Mutant, which the Kaji vessel eventually flies. That variant carries a dual-seat cockpit similar to Evangelion 13's in Rebuild of Evangelion, crewed at different points by Quatre alongside Shinji and finally by Quatre with Kaji. A scrapped plot thread would have sent an EVA0.0 to retrieve the Spear of Longinus from the Moon's surface.