The Eva considered to be tha very first to be developed and built in the world. It has been treated as a central unit to Project E since the beginning. Its designated pilot is the First Child, Rei Ayanami. Data collection and experimentation have been done largely on this unit, and its coloring strongly suggests that it is an experimental and prototypical model. However, it took seven months to synchronize with Rei Ayanami, and there was also an accident where it went out of control during an experiment, making achieving practical use difficult. The part on the front of the head that looks like a single eye is an optical lens, which serves to provide sight. There are two radio wave antennas on the top of its head, one is exposed and the other is in front of the first under a cover.
It is not compatible with some of the various types of armor for use in extreme conditions, which the other Evas can equip, and its further lack of shoulder parts make it a unit with many questionable elements when it comes to sending it out for combat. Even in Operation Yashima, it just serves in an auxiliary capacity to Unit-01. However, during this operation, it is heavily damaged, and is repaired and improved. The significant differences are its color change from yellow to blue, the change to a new type of armor, and the newly equipped shoulder parts, which were an outstanding problem. Due to this, it is now equipped with a progressive knife and is also capabie of connecting to emergency batteries its combat capabilities improved by leaps and bounds, and it can now be expected to perform competently in battle.
When Unit-00 is thrust into battle once again, it is against the Ninth Angel. It obliterates the Angel successfully together with Units 01 and 02. Since this battle, Unit-00 is counted as one of the combatants and is sent into combat repeatedly.
Built over 14 long years at the cost of vast expenditures, this is the ultimate multipurpose humanoid decisive weapon, the artificial human, Evangelion. Its construction was carried out in absolute secrecy by Special Duty Organization NERV, and its operation is also in the hands of the same organization. Pilots are limited to boys and girls who are 14 years of age. It is activated by inserting the tubular cockpit, the entry plug, into the Eva's spinal cord area and connecting nerves, first and foremost of which is the A10 nerve. It operates by receiving power through an umbilical. In an emergency, it is also capable of disconnecting from the cable and operating on its internal batteries. However, that period of operation is extremely short, allowing only for 1 minute at maximum and at most 5 minutes even when utilizing gain. Also, one of its greatest unique characteristics is the ability to deploy and/or neutralize AT fields, something existing weaponry are not capable of. This is why the Evas are the only ones who can destroy the Angels.
Of the Evangelions, Unit-01 is the very first one to be sent into actual battle. Due to the activation probability of 00000000001% that the supercomputer MAGI had calculated before its initial activation, those involved in the project sarcastically referred to it as the 09 (oh-nine) System. However, it was activated by the Third Child, Shinji Ikari, who produced a 41.3% synchro rate upon boarding the Eva for the first time. After that, he becomes the designated pilot of this Eva. In terms of attack methods, it has a progressive knife (standard equipment in left shoulder) for a close-quarter combat weapon, which slices through opponents with high-vibration particles. There are also firearms, such as the pallet gun. for long-distance combat weaponry.
Although it has acted numerous times outside of calculated boundaries, such as going out of control several times and activating without an entry plug, it takes a central part in many operations, partly due to its high synchro rate with its pilot.
The Humanoid Decisive Weepon, Eva Series, has been pretty much perfected in Unit-01, and this is the first unit of the production model. In anticipetion of combat deployment, it is capeble of equipping various special equipment for localized tactical situations. The design and manufacturing of parts were done in Japan, and the final assembly and activation tests were done in Germany. The designated pilot is 14-year-old Asuka Langley Sohryu, who was trained in Germany. Suited to the pilot's temperament, it is a craft that is both unreservedly powerful end exudes a sense of elegance through its bright red coloring and stylish form. Ever since it fought the Sixth Angel Gaghiel at sea while being transported to Japan, it has been assigned to the defense of New Tokyo-3 and interception of Angels along with Unit-01 and 00.
Its head is equipped with 4 each of auxiliary optical cameras and electromagnatic wave sensors, which serve as its visual sensors. The shoulder parts, which differ in shape from that of Unit-01, are speced for a needle gun launcher and the prograssive knife that is also stored there has been modified to hava a box cutter-like blade. While its combat capabilities are about the same as that of Unit-01, its internal structure is markedly different, and while Unit-01's bodily fluid is red, Unit-02's is blue. This indicates that the physical makeup of the production model differs from that of the early Evas. Its personal patterns are also different from that of Unit-01 and 00.
After its series of defeats to the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Angels, it is determined that it can no longer be counted as part of their war potential due to the mental breakdown of the pilot. It goes through some turbulent situations during this time, as its control system is taken over by the Seventeenth Angel, Kaworu, and it ends up fighting Unit-01.