(BGM from "EVAs")
Evangelions, or EVAs in short, are the ultimate humanoid weapons developed by Nerv to destroy the attacking Angels. Although they look like robots, actually they are "living", protected by the armor pieces. There are mainly 3 Evangelions appearing in the Anime. They all need external power sources, and when the external power cable is cut, internal power will be used which can only provide 5 minutes of power. They can also create "Absolute Terror Field" just like Angels. They are controlled directly by the pilots' will power, and the efficiency is determined by "synchoronization" between the pilot and the Evangelion. The pilots are designated to each Evangelion according to "Muldock's Report"(secret). They are common in a way that they are all 14-year-old childrens. However, under what actual bases are they chosen is still unknown.
(Evangelion is a word taken from the German word: evangelium, which has religious connotations meaning Gospel. It is also used as a slang to mean Absolute Truth.)
(Eva is a german word for Eve, a religious word derived from the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. According to the Bible, Eve was the wife of Adam, the first man to be created by God in his likeness. She tempted Adam into eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, and was exiled forever as punishment for disobeying God.)
EVA-00, Proto Type, piloted by Ayanami Rei
EVA-01, Test Type, piloted by Ikari Shinji
EVA-02, Production Model, piloted by Sohryu Asuka Langley
More in-depth info about EVAs can be found below. Be warned that the following info is EXTREMELY SPOILING and is suitable ONLY for those who have watched TV episodes 1-24(at least). If you do not follow I'm sure you will regret what you have done.
Warning! You are now on the way down to Terminal Dogma under Nerv headquarters! Return before it is too late!
You are now near Terminal Dogma! Return now! This is your last warning!
It's already too late...you have come to Terminal Dogma. May God bless you.
All Evangelions like Angels are derived from Adam, the second Angel discovered in Antarctica 15 years ago. Apart from the 3 Evangelions described above, there are other types of Evangelions being developed in other countries. The newest massive production model is EVA-05 which is used to destroy Nerv after all Angels were eliminated. It is white in color and looks quite different from other EVAs. It can fly and is powered by S2 organ which eliminates the need of external power source.
Pilots of EVAs are chosen by Muldock Organization. In the year 2014, Muldock Organization finally got a conclusion from the results of the experiments concerning the A10 nerve synchoronization and its importance in controlling EVAs and was reported in "Muldock's Report". According to this, 14-year-old children without mother are most able to be linked with Evangelions under pure and stable state. Therefore, Rei, Asuka, Shinji and Touji were chosen.
However, Muldock Organization is actually under full control of Nerv(or you may simply say it doesn't exist). Note that "Fifth Children"(the fifth qualifier), Kaworu, who is actually the last Angel, was directed to Nerv by Selee but not Muldock Organization.
(A10 nerve is the nerve that produces natural morphine in our brains, also known as the pleasant section of the brain. It is also the section that manages our long term memories.)
(Muldock is a word taken from one of the gods of the Babylon Empire.)
EVA-01 does have a soul, although the way it gained the soul was somewhat accidental. Years ago, Yui(Shinji's mother) was doing an experiment of synchoronization with EVA-01. However, an accident occured and she disappeared inside the EVA. All methods were used to rescue her, but at last only the soul-less body of Yui was found. Her soul was still kept inside EVA-01, and her remaining body was cloned to create dummies(and one of them became Rei). This explains why Shinji can have such a high synchoronization rate with EVA-01. It is suspected that the other two EVAs were also filled with souls, with the soul of Naoko(Ritsuko's mother) in EVA-00 and the soul of Asuka's mother in EVA-02.
EVA-01 seems to be the most important EVA among all of them. Gendou is always trying to protect it at all costs. EVA-01 does have some unique features which are absent in other EVAs. It has its own thought and will(that's why it sometimes went out of control), and the ability to develop S2 organ by its own. It is known that EVA-01 plays a very important role in "Human Completion Project".
Note: Feel free to tell me if you find anything wrong in the above info.
Neon Genesis Evangelion and related images are copyrighted by GAINAX/ Project EVA, TVX, NAS.