Adam stands as one of the most important entities in Neon Genesis Evangelion's complex mythology. This being serves as the First Angel and the progenitor from which all subsequent Angels descend. Understanding Adam's nature and role is essential to grasping the series' deeper narrative.
Many viewers initially confuse Adam with other beings in the series, particularly Lilith who is crucified in NERV's deepest levels. This confusion is intentional—NERV deliberately deceives both SEELE and the attacking Angels about Adam's true location. Let's unravel the mystery of who Adam truly is and why this being matters so much.
Adam: The First Angel Explained
Adam is classified as the First Angel and represents one of two "Seeds of Life" sent to Earth by an unknown alien intelligence. These Seeds were designed to propagate life throughout the universe, with each seed creating its own evolutionary tree.
Adam arrived in what would become Antarctica, carried within a vessel called the White Moon. This progenitor possessed the ability to generate offspring—the Angels numbered Third through Seventeenth—all sharing Adam's genetic template and instinctive drive.
Key characteristics of Adam:
- First Angel and progenitor of all other Angels
- Source of the Fruit of Life (immortality)
- Creator of powerful AT Fields
- Reduced to embryonic form after Second Impact
- Hidden within Gendo Ikari's hand during the series
- Genetically templates all EVA units
Adam vs Lilith: The Two Seeds
The series presents two progenitor beings with fundamentally different roles:
|
Aspect |
Adam (First Angel) |
Lilith (Second Angel) |
|
Arrival Location |
Antarctica (White Moon) |
Japan (Black Moon) |
|
Offspring |
Angels (Third-Seventeenth) |
Humanity and terrestrial life |
|
Gift to Children |
Fruit of Life (immortality) |
Fruit of Knowledge (intelligence) |
|
Current State |
Embryo in Gendo's hand |
Crucified in Central Dogma |
|
Purpose |
Create immortal Angel lifeforms |
Create intelligent human lifeforms |
According to the series mythology, only one Seed should have colonized Earth. The accidental arrival of both created the conflict between Adam's children (Angels) and Lilith's children (humanity). This cosmic accident drives the entire narrative.
Second Impact: Adam's Awakening
In the year 2000, scientists discovered Adam frozen in Antarctica. SEELE, the secret organization controlling world events, ordered contact experiments to study and control this progenitor being. These experiments aimed to trigger controlled evolution and achieve their Human Instrumentality Project goals.
The contact experiment went catastrophically wrong. Adam awakened and began returning to its giant form, threatening to call all its Angel children back to Earth for reunification. This would have caused an extinction event eliminating humanity entirely.
Dr. Katsuragi and his team desperately attempted to stop Adam's awakening by reducing it to an embryonic state using the Lance of Longinus. The resulting explosion vaporized Antarctica, melted the ice caps, shifted Earth's axis, and killed half the planet's population. This cataclysm became known as Second Impact.
The official story blamed a meteorite impact, but SEELE and select NERV personnel knew the truth—humanity itself caused Second Impact through reckless experimentation with Adam.
Adam's Embryonic Form
After Second Impact, Adam remained in a reduced embryonic state roughly the size of a human fetus. This form maintained Adam's essential nature while preventing the being from achieving full power and calling its children.
SEELE entrusted this embryo to Gendo Ikari, who implanted it directly into his right hand. Throughout the series, Gendo keeps Adam hidden within his own flesh, disguising the First Angel's location from both SEELE and the attacking Angels.
The embryo glows with an otherworldly light and possesses immense power despite its diminished size. Gendo's plan involves eventually using Adam's essence to reunite with his wife Yui, whose soul resides in EVA Unit-01.
Why Angels Attack Tokyo-3
Every Angel from the Third onward possesses an instinctive drive to reunite with Adam. They sense their progenitor's presence beneath NERV headquarters and attack with singular purpose—reaching Central Dogma to achieve reunion.
However, NERV deceived the Angels. The giant being crucified in Central Dogma isn't Adam at all—it's Lilith, disguised with the Lance of Longinus and a mask bearing seven eyes. The Angels attack the wrong target, never realizing Adam's embryo resides in Gendo's hand.
This deception serves NERV's purposes perfectly. Angels waste their efforts attacking the facility while NERV develops EVA units and prepares their own version of Instrumentality using Lilith instead of Adam.
Adam's Genetic Legacy in EVA Units
All Evangelion units except Unit-01 are created using Adam's genetic material. Scientists extracted tissue samples from Adam's embryonic form and used this biological template to construct the EVAs' organic components.
This is why EVAs aren't mechanical robots but living beings with synthetic armor restraining their true nature. Each EVA contains Adam's DNA, giving them abilities similar to Angels including AT Fields, regeneration potential, and immense strength.
EVA units created from Adam:
- EVA Unit-00 (Rei's prototype)
- EVA Unit-02 (Asuka's production model)
- EVA Unit-03 (infected by Bardiel)
- EVA Unit-04 (disappeared in experiment)
- Mass Production EVAs (SEELE's units)
EVA Unit-01 stands apart as the sole EVA created from Lilith's genetic material, explaining its unique purple color and special abilities including the capacity to initiate Third Impact.
Adam in SEELE's Plans
SEELE's Human Instrumentality Project required controlling both Seeds of Life. Their original scenario called for using Adam to forcibly evolve humanity by merging all souls into a single unified consciousness.
By reducing Adam to embryonic form and keeping it under control, SEELE believed they could trigger their desired evolution without the extinction threatened by Adam's full awakening. The organization spent decades positioning pieces for their ultimate scenario.
However, Gendo developed his own competing plan using Rei and Lilith instead of following SEELE's Adam-based approach. This internal conflict between SEELE's vision and Gendo's personal goal creates much of the series' political tension.
Adam's Role in End of Evangelion
During the film's climactic events, Gendo attempts to use Adam's embryo to reunite with Yui inside Unit-01. He implants the embryo further into himself and approaches Rei, intending to merge Adam with Lilith under his control.
Rei rejects Gendo's plan. Instead, she takes Adam from him and merges it with Lilith herself, initiating Third Impact according to Shinji's will rather than Gendo's. This fusion of both progenitors triggers the extinction event both organizations sought, though ultimately Shinji's choice determines the outcome.
The merged Adam-Lilith being appears as the massive Rei/Lilith giant seen during Third Impact. This fusion represents the reunification of both Seeds of Life, creating the conditions necessary for either forced evolution or rejection of Instrumentality.
Adam's Biblical and Mythological Symbolism
The name "Adam" deliberately invokes the first human in Abrahamic religions, though Evangelion inverts this symbolism. In the series, Adam represents the progenitor of non-human Angels while Lilith spawns humanity.
This reversal references Lilith's role in Jewish mythology as Adam's first wife before Eve, a representing independent creation outside the standard biblical narrative. Evangelion uses these names to explore themes of creation, evolution, and competing visions of life's purpose.
The series consistently employs religious imagery without claiming literal religious meaning. Adam serves as a symbol for alien life and the cosmic accident that placed two competing evolutionary paths on the same planet.
The Lance of Longinus Connection
The Lance of Longinus—the massive double-helix spear pinning Lilith in Central Dogma—originally belonged to Adam. SEELE's team used this weapon during the contact experiment to reduce Adam to embryonic form and prevent full awakening.
After Second Impact, SEELE retrieved the Lance and placed it with Lilith both to restrain that progenitor and to further the deception that Lilith was actually Adam. The Lance possesses reality-warping properties and serves as one of the few weapons capable of permanently killing Angels or controlling the Seeds of Life.
Adam in Different Evangelion Continuities
The Rebuild of Evangelion films alter Adam's role somewhat. In this alternate continuity, Adam appears briefly in different forms and the mythology around the Seeds of Life receives modification and expansion.
The Rebuild series introduces concepts like additional Seeds and altered relationships between the progenitors and Angels. These changes create distinct storylines while maintaining Adam's fundamental importance as a progenitor being whose fate affects all life on Earth.
The Scientific and Philosophical Implications
Adam represents Evangelion's exploration of first contact gone wrong. What if humanity discovered alien life but couldn't control it? What if that life possessed the power to reshape evolution itself?
The series uses Adam to examine humanity's hubris in believing we can control forces beyond our understanding. Second Impact results directly from SEELE's arrogance in experimenting with a being whose true nature they didn't comprehend.
Furthermore, Adam raises questions about the nature of life and consciousness. Is a progenitor being like Adam truly alive in a way we'd recognize? Does it possess will and consciousness, or merely operate on cosmic programming? The series leaves these questions deliberately ambiguous.
Why Adam Matters to the Overall Story
Understanding Adam clarifies much of Evangelion's plot that initially seems confusing. The Angels' behavior makes sense when you realize they're children seeking their parent. NERV's defensive strategy becomes clearer when you understand they're protecting the wrong progenitor while hiding the real Adam.
Gendo's mysterious behavior throughout the series—his strange hand, his secret meetings, his confidence in his unique plan—stems from possessing Adam's embryo. This gives him leverage over both SEELE and the Angels themselves.
The entire conflict structure of Evangelion derives from the accident of two Seeds arriving on one planet. Adam and Lilith represent incompatible visions of life, and humanity survives only because Adam was reduced to embryonic form before calling all its children home.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Adam stronger than Lilith?
Both progenitors possess similar fundamental power levels as Seeds of Life. Adam's children (Angels) have the Fruit of Life granting immortality and immense individual power. Lilith's children (humans) possess the Fruit of Knowledge granting intelligence and adaptability.
Why did SEELE want to control Adam?
SEELE's Human Instrumentality Project required controlling a Seed of Life to forcibly evolve humanity. Their original plan involved using Adam to trigger a controlled Third Impact that would merge all human souls while maintaining SEELE leadership's influence over the resulting unified consciousness.
Where exactly is Adam during the series?
Adam's embryonic form is implanted in Gendo Ikari's right hand throughout most of the series. He keeps it hidden there, using special gloves to conceal the glow. The giant crucified being in Central Dogma that Angels seek is actually Lilith, not Adam—a deception maintained by NERV.
Can Adam be restored to full size?
Theoretically yes, though the series never shows this happening. The reduction to embryonic form using the Lance of Longinus appears reversible under certain conditions.
What would happen if an Angel reached Adam?
If any Angel successfully reunited with Adam, it would trigger Third Impact—an extinction-level event restructuring all life on Earth according to Adam's template. This would likely mean the end of humanity and the dominance of Adam's evolutionary line over Lilith's creation.
Did Adam create the Angels intentionally?
The series suggests Adam generates offspring instinctively as part of its nature as a Seed of Life. Whether this represents conscious choice or biological programming remains unclear. The Angels themselves seem to act on instinct rather than complex thought, suggesting their creation follows predetermined patterns rather than deliberate planning.
Conclusion
Adam represents one of the foundational elements making Evangelion's mythology so compelling. This progenitor being's presence drives the entire conflict while remaining hidden for most of the series. Understanding Adam's true nature and location transforms how viewers interpret the Angels' attacks and NERV's defensive strategy.
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