Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force

The Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force, or JSSDF, is the fictionalized counterpart to Japan's real Self-Defense Force appearing in Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion. Its origins trace back to Article 9, the postwar constitutional clause renouncing war, under which the original JSDF was formed purely for national defense. Years after Second Impact reshaped the world, escalating friction with China over the Nansha Islands prompted Japan to strike Article 9 from its constitution and stand up the JSSDF in its place. Unlike its predecessor, this is a true military, staffed by hardened and combat-tested soldiers.

The force serves as Japan's opening shield, defending the nation and Tokyo-3 in particular. It fights as part of the reorganized United Nations forces, which is why its vehicles frequently carry UN markings. Against the Angels, its tanks, warships, aircraft, and even N² mines rarely accomplish more than buying time until an Evangelion can sortie.

When Sachiel becomes the first Angel to reach Tokyo-3, the JSSDF answers with everything in its arsenal, from armored columns to aircraft. The Angel shrugs off the barrage while inflicting heavy losses, forcing the military to fall back on its ultimate option: an N² mine, a device so destructive that its detonation forces maps to be redrawn. Even that only stalls the creature temporarily. Out of options, command passes to NERV, and Evangelion Unit-01 launches for the first time. The pattern repeats against Israfel; after NERV's initial attempt fails when the Angel divides in two, authority reverts to the JSSDF, whose N² strike once again devastates the landscape without killing the target. The attack does buy six days, time NERV spends drilling Asuka Langley Sohryu and Shinji Ikari in the synchronized routine their rematch demands.

The force's largest deployment is also its last. After Kaworu Nagisa dies, SEELE grows afraid of what Gendo Ikari might do with Instrumentality and uses its grip on the Japanese government to order an assault on the GeoFront, justified by the claim that NERV intends to start Third Impact. The mission's objectives: kill every living Eva pilot, neutralize the Evangelion units, and retake the Magi system undamaged. Infantry platoons sweep through headquarters executing NERV personnel with gunfire and flamethrowers, restrained only near the Magi, where collateral damage cannot be risked. Troops pump Bakelite into the Eva cage to freeze Unit-01 in place. Soldiers corner Shinji and prepare to execute him, but their hesitation costs them when Misato Katsuragi cuts them down. Asuka, awakening in Unit-02 to the truth of the Evangelion, annihilates the forces above, destroying a warship and multiple aircraft; severing her power cable and detonating two more N² mines still fails to stop her, pushing SEELE to release the Mass Production Evangelions. Misato dies buying Shinji his path to the cage, and though JSSDF teams breach central command, Third Impact overtakes them before the Magi can be seized, dissolving every survivor into LCL along with the rest of humanity.

No individual soldiers are named on screen, though the DEATH (TRUE)² script labels the infantry teams after famous JBL basketball players: Yamagishi, Yanagihara, and Shinjo. Notably, the Mass Production Evangelions fighting alongside the raid are not theirs; SEELE built all nine and controls them through Kaworu-based Dummy Systems, leaving the JSSDF largely blind to what the Evas really are.

The force's ground arm fields main battle tanks patterned on the Type 74, Humvees, and rocket artillery platforms including a Smerch launcher. Its air wing flies Heavy Fighter Jet VTOL gunships packing attack-helicopter firepower, lighter and nimbler VTOL craft, fixed-wing bombers for ballistic ordnance, and enormous flying-wing transports used to ferry Evangelion units across oceans or straight into battle. Frontline infantry wear black bodysuits and helmets with only light armor, trading protection for speed; their suits cannot stop a .45 caliber round, so assault teams carry ballistic shields when storming fortified positions. Standard weapons include the Heckler and Koch G11 rifle, the FN P90 submachine gun, and the Browning Hi-Power pistol, with select squads carrying Panzerfaust 3 launchers or M2 flamethrowers.