NERV U.S.

NERV U.S. (ネルフUSA) appears in the novel Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA as a branch split away from the original NERV and financed primarily by the American government. NERV Japan first hears of its research from Maya Ibuki, in the aftermath of the discovery that Asuka's DNA, the Evangelion Unit-02 Type II Allegorica, and countless other lifeforms had merged into the Crimson A1 upon touching the Ark.

The branch genetically engineers pilot candidates so that the Evangelions will judge them worthy, splicing animal DNA into pilot and machine alike to simplify the thought patterns the two share. Fuyutsuki reveals that Gendo Ikari knew about the program yet chose another route, since it carried a high risk of yielding something no longer human; SEELE banned the approach outright, reasoning that such a pilot could never be trusted to unlock the Human Instrumentality Project. Animal traits could nonetheless sharpen combat performance. Fuyutsuki assumed the branch had been dispersed after the Unit-04 catastrophe, but Shigeru Aoba explains the failure served as a cover story that let NERV U.S. slip underground with federal funds and resources, shielding its DNA work from American religious groups who would never have stayed silent.

By unspecified means the branch obtained a Q.R. Signum and mounted it on the US Evangelion, called Wolfpack. When Maya requested its genetic modification data, the Americans answered by sending the Evangelion itself, which doubled as a reserve force for the battle at Novaya Zemlya in Russia, its team pausing in Japan to refuel and pay respects before flying on. Where other branches struggled to find compatible pilots, NERV U.S. simply removed the Evangelion's power to choose, using a process of devolution to regress the unit to a form predating consciousness; the Wolfpack forgot how to walk upright but gained explosive aggression in battle. Its medical team feared that every sortie let animal parts claim more of pilot Mari's body. After the Tower of Babel battle broke the unit loose, the team could barely read its telemetry even through the support robot in the entry plug, could not reach Mari by any means, and could only watch the Evangelion wander south until it reached water and began to swim, by then grown far too large for the military to stop or transport.

Mari is the branch's only known pilot, bonded to the US Evangelion Wolfpack, its sole known unit. The organization keeps ties to NERV, the United Nations, and the American government, and fields support hardware including a giant UN transport plane.