Evangelion
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Evangelion
This article contains content from the EvaGeeks.org Wiki article Bardiel. Please view that page's revision history for the list of authors.
This article has a collection of images to further represent its content. To see its gallery, visit Bardiel/Gallery.

This article is about the character from Neon Genesis Evangelion. For the character from the Rebuild of Evangelion film series, see Ninth Angel.

This article largely borrows its content from another wiki, such as Wikipedia or EvaGeeks. Substantial cleanup and reformatting may be needed.

Bardiel (バルディエル?) (Hebrew: ברדאל) is the 13th Angel, which infects Evangelion Unit-03, taking on its form and inheriting its strength. Although not considered one of the strongest Angels, Bardiel has a significant impact on the main cast, specifically Shinji, due to its actions causing NERV to make Unit-01 destroy it and leave Shinji, almost killing Toji (in the manga, actually resulting in Toji's death). It is preceded by Leliel and succeeded by Zeruel.

Profile[]

Bardiel's original form, when it was hiding in a thundercloud, is not seen but is assumed to be similar to the fungus-like growth on Unit-03. Somewhat similar to Ireul's control over the Simulation Bodies, the fungus-like infection spread into the former Evangelion's systems, revealing itself when the former Evangelion, having turned rogue, was activated at the secondary NERV testing facility at Matsushiro. The infected Unit-turned-angel set off an explosion, partially destroying the base, and then proceeded towards Tokyo-3.

Bardiel is capable of spreading its infection beyond the former Eva's body under its control, such as when it tried to spread to Unit-00 by seeping infected ooze out of its arm. The presence of the Entry Plug and/or the Pilot seems to be necessary for the Angel to effectively control the Unit, since Bardiel physically prevented the Entry Plug from being ejected. That the Dummy System-controlled Unit-01 went specifically for the Entry Plug (which bled after being crushed) implies that a substantial portion of the Angel, presumably the portion of the Angel in control of the former Eva, was located within the Entry Plug - the theory is further supported in Evangelion 2.0 when NERV systems identify the substance around the Entry Plug as "Core-like". Whether or not Bardiel had direct contact with Toji Suzuhara is not directly stated, although it is probable (in the Manga, it is actually shown that Toji was directly infected by the Angel).

Bardiel Appears (NGE)

Bardiel

Bardiel is shown to be capable of mutating its body, shown both with its ability to leak infectious ooze from it and extend its arms to amazing lengths, instantaneously increasing them to nearly twice as long as an Evangelion is tall.

History[]

Neon Genesis Evangelion[]

Bardiel vs eva01

Bardiel attacking an unwilling Shinji.

Unit-00, Unit-01 and Unit-02 were all deployed against the infected Unit-03, which had now become the 13th Angel. Bardiel succeeded in attacking and incapacitating Unit-02 when Asuka was distracted. Unit-00 succeeded in gaining a position from which it could attack from behind, but Rei hesitated to fire and possibly kill Toji, who was still trapped inside the infected Eva's entry plug. Her hesitation allowed the Angel to react to Unit-00's presence by making the infected Eva backflip and pin Unit-00 to the ground. The Bardiel-infection then began oozing out of Unit-03's arm and onto Unit-00's left arm, in an attempt to spread the infection. However, NERV acted quickly and remotely severed its left arm with internal explosive charges, leaving the still-synchronized Rei writhing in pain. Bardiel did not press its attack on the downed Unit-00 and continued to advance.

Bardiel then encountered Unit-01. With Shinji totally unwilling to fight and risk killing the human pilot trapped inside Bardiel, the Angel attacked Unit-01, knocking it down on its back before extending its mutated arms to strangle Unit-01. Pinned against a mountain, with Shinji refusing to fight despite being in danger of being killed himself, Gendo Ikari ordered that pilot control over Unit-01 be cut and the Dummy System be activated. Under the Dummy System's control, Unit-01 reached berserk-like power levels and strangled the Angel in turn, breaking Bardiel's neck in little time. With Bardiel's body crippled, the Angel was no longer capable of physical attack. The crippled Bardiel was thrown to the ground, its skull smashed in and its body ripped apart, until the Angel's entry plug was crushed, and along with it, the last of the Angel.

Trivia[]

  • The lightning display in the thundercloud as well as the similarity of Toji's usual attire to Bardiel's host body, Unit-03, foreshadows (along with just about every other hint) that he is to be the pilot and that he will be in grave danger.
  • Bardiel is named after the angel of fog in Christian mythology; fittingly, it first appears in a cloud and its initial form (outside of the one possessed Eva unit) is never seen.
  • Bardiel's status as the Thirteenth Angel in the original anime may reference the superstition of thirteen being an unlucky number; Bardiel's new form and the aftermath of its battle (Shinji indirectly maiming Toji through the Dummy Plug) marks the beginning of a series of increasingly traumatizing events that drive most of the characters to near-insanity and facilitate the Third Impact.

References[]

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