Specifics of how an Eva works

[r0ach]

I didn't see a thread for this, so I thought I would give it a shot.

"Evas are human?"

I was always godly curious as to how something as organic an Eva, would just stop functioning because the there was no more power. It seemed weird. This giant would just stop functioning and go dormant like that.

So I thought of this. I always figured the sole mech part of an Evangelion was their armor/restraints. When they have their umbilical cable I thought it gave a bit of power to their armor/restraints. When there is no power, it's just 20 tons of dead weight, which would make it pretty hard to function.
does that make any sense?
if they did explain the specifics of how
link?

thoughts much appreciated

[Chuckman]

Very well, thank you.

Actually not very well, now that I think about it.

Unit One can apparently move around without power. It had the umbilical still attached during the Sachiel battle, but was running on and ran out of battery power during the Zeruel fight. Since the batteries can be drained at varying speeds, it's implied that doing certain things uses up more power. So, presumably, when it went berserk against Zeruel, it was generating power somehow without an S2 engine.

Maybe the armor helps it move around, but the actual creature can move on its own if it gets really, really pissed off?

[Cody MacArthur Fett]

Evas are cyborgs, and the reason they stop functioning when they lose power is because their bodies have been surgically altered so that they'll go numb if their implants lose power. This is why they use an umbilical cable instead of a gas engine, or fusion reactor, or any other on-board power generator: Nerv wants the ability to shut them down at any time. However, since the Evas canonically run off spiral energy it is perfectly possible for an Eva to run on its own power should the pilot or controlling soul's desire to "CLEANSE! PURGE! KILL!" become strong enough.

[deeRez]

An Eva should be able to move on its own without power.
Does Lilith need power to move? No.
Power is probably only needed to keep the Eva under the control of humanity.
Then why is the S2 engine/organ needed?
Probably mainly for regeneration ability...
Though Lilith can regenerate without the S2 engine.

If we ignore the issues raised by the S2 engine... the power provided by NERV to the Eva seems to be electricity, as seen from the +/- on the Eva's backup battery on the shoulder:

SPOILER: Show

I assume the Eva's brain has pulse-generators on the ends of nerves, and these pulse-generators require electricity to do their job.
Sort of like those old science experiments where they control limbs of animals by applying electricity to the nerves.

I don't think NERV disconnected the Eva's brain, but instead they just added a bridge to hijack the nerve signals. So that means, the Eva can regain control of its brain, if its neurochemical intention generates enough power to bypass the nerve implanted bridge.

Lightning does this constantly. It enters a circuit, and bypasses switches.

With no power, the pulse-generators would be shut off, causing the Eva to enter a coma if it's not mentally strong enough.
Also, the pilot's plug would also shut off.
A berserker would restore power to the Eva, but not to the plug... (I can't remember a berserker where the power ran out and the plug kept running)

Since the pilots themselves do not get implants in their own brains, synchronization rate could be how well the pilot's brain signal can be read from outside the skull. The messier their thoughts, the harder the outside equipment has to work to decode what the pilot's intentions are.

The closer the pilot gets to the focus of the plug, the greater the synchronization, because the better their brain waves are projected onto the surrounding dish-shape of the plug. The projections are probably then sent to the pulse generators inside the Eva which.

Sort of like a parabola's focus point, which is used for signal transmission:


The process is maybe run in reverse as well to allow a pilot to feel pain.

[Reichu]

Here's some more stuff:

http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/3847/Berserkers-power-source/
http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/2473/Eva-Nutrition/?
http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/5332/Evangelion-Bodily-Functions/?
http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/10238/If-Evas-are-alive-why-do-they-plug-in/

[r0ach]

Evas are cyborgs, and the reason they stop functioning when they lose power is because their bodies have been surgically altered so that they'll go numb if their implants lose power. This is why they use an umbilical cable instead of a gas engine, or fusion reactor, or any other on-board power generator: Nerv wants the ability to shut them down at any time. However, since the Evas canonically run off spiral energy it is perfectly possible for an Eva to run on its own power should the pilot or controlling soul's desire to "CLEANSE! PURGE! KILL!" become strong enough.

Your source for this? This would make perfect sense. Their bodies go numb.......where did you read or hear this? I'm sure I missed this somewhere. Your help would appreciated.
Whether or not their natural anatomy has mech-qualities or not is a mystery to me, but that would make some sense as to how they were able to keep replacing limbs and such (ala unit-02 in the 13th angel battle) Either way I think most of Eva's are organic.

The line still rings in my head though.

Shinji~ "Evas are human?"

When he got his answer, Ritsuko could've easily meant they are human in that they each possess a human soul. Evas are tricky business

[deeRez]

Here's some more stuff:

http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/3847/Berserkers-power-source/
http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/2473/Eva-Nutrition/?
http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/5332/Evangelion-Bodily-Functions/?
http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/10238/If-Evas-are-alive-why-do-they-plug-in/

Thanks.

Here's some interesting posts encountered:

I always thought it was pretty simple: Evas are restrained/supported using advanced, powered exoskeletons. In order to provide power to those, electrical power is needed, and in great quantities. Unrestrained from the exoskeletons, Evas would collapse to the ground in a heap, UNLESS their soul combines with the pilots at extremely high sync ratios, which renders them "alive" (berserk), and a power source becomes unnecessary.

when Unit 01 goes berserk in episode 19, her heart starts beating to power her.

[Reichu]

The show is rather inconsistent about whether Eva who run out of power actually collapse or simply freeze like giant statues. A somewhat peculiar inconsistency, I think... For example, they'll have an Eva's arm (which is so thinly covered you can see the muscles underneath; i.e., no possibility of 'armor' locking it in place) just freeze perfectly while it's extended. Try doing that and feel your muscles burn. It takes energy.

[Warren Peace]

Perhaps the mechanics extend below the skin. Well, we know they do, in the case of the entry plugs. If their modern technology can hold Keel together like a clock, maybe there's some mechanism inside the Evas which locks them.

[Reichu]

Perhaps the mechanics extend below the skin.

We see Eva-03's dismembered arm in #19, and past the plasticky arm cover there's nothing inorganic-looking to be seen. And you can see down through the muscles and to the bone. And there are all those delightful cross-sections of Eva-02 in EoE, as well. Nothing really cyborgian there, just the usual flabby, gooey, boney stuff.

As mentioned, the show isn't particularly consistent over whether Evas collapse like rag dolls (cf. Eva-02 after Gaghiel blows up) or freeze like statues (Eva-01 after Shamshel). This is probably just "one of those things".

[r0ach]

Well I think we can mostly agree that an Eva does seem to need electricity to operate. I think they mentioned once in the show, that electricity conducts with the LCL in the entry plug, helping the pilot synch and connect to those nerves in the brain of the Eva from the spine.


Maybe an Eva is a bit like Frankenstein! Just a body animated by electricity.

You give them a core to contain a soul/a mild personality for better control. You give them a pilot that the soul is familiar with and loves. Throw the armor on for more control. Next, put the entry plug onto the spine so that the pilot can control the Eva through its nervous system (doing this with the electricity conducted by LCL)


silly way to look at it. but it works for me I suppose. They didn't give us huge amounts to work on, as far as mechanics go.

[gatotsu911]

Specifics? In Eva??

SPOILER: Show

[Alvi288]

I think it's about the soul and the body of eva 01. The eva 01 it's the only eva that have both soul and body and i think when yui's soul feels Shinji is in trouble she takes control of the body of the eva. All the other eva's are clones of adam without a soul. Even lilith can't move without a soul (Rei)

[Blockio]

I think it's about the soul and the body of eva 01. The eva 01 it's the only eva that have both soul and body and i think when yui's soul feels Shinji is in trouble she takes control of the body of the eva. All the other eva's are clones of adam without a soul. Even lilith can't move without a soul (Rei)

Ill have to disagree on that one - we know for a fact that the soul of Asuka's mother Kyoko is (at least partially) in Unit 02, and I dont remember the exact details, but someone on here had some pretty convincing arguments that the soul of Rei 1 (the one that got killed by Ritsuko) was inside Unit 00. Also, all other pilots that we know of (or possible candidates for pilots, as stated by Ritsuko somewhere towards the final episodes, all the students in Shinjis calss are possible pilots) have deceased mothers - confirmed for Toji and Kensuke, very likely for Hikari seeing how she is the one who cooks the food for her family - there is also a picture of all three of them in plugsuits piloting Unit 03, 05 and 06 (from the numbers written on their suits, Ill send the picture if I can find it again), and from everything that has been established throughout the series, it appears that the soul needs to be of the mother.

EDIT: Found the picture

SPOILER: Show