Neon  Genesis Evangelion has been considered one of the most highly regarded anime franchises ever made. Taking place in an apocalyptic future, humanity has been fighting powerful alien beings known as Angels using mechas called Evangelion. Created by NERV, these huge cyborgs were created to defend the city of Tokyo-3 from the Angels.

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As the main antagonists of the series, the Angels were derived from different religions, including Christianity and Judaism. Every one of these otherworldly creatures has different abilities. There are so many of these Angels, but which one is the strongest of them all?

10 Leliel

The Angel Leliel looms over the city in Neon Genesis Evangelion

This creature serves as an omnipresent angel that can defend himself whenever he’s attacked. Appearing initially as a floating sphere, Leliel’s actual body is the shadow that lies underneath the orb. Known as the Jaws of God, Leliel’s sphere is surrounded by a field projection if something comes into contact with him.

So if something tries to hit Liliel, it would just faze right through it. The same would go for his real body. Despite having a good defense, Leliel doesn’t have a great offense. However, if an Evangelion tries to strike him, it’ll engulf them within his pocket dimension within the aura projection.

9 Ramiel

ramiel from evangelion

Ramiel appears as a giant blue crystallized octahedron that can blast a firing beam through its nuclear fusion reactor. His beam can hit any target with efficiency and also detect any danger coming within its radius both above and below ground. This angel is very hostile and extremely powerful with its Anti Terror field.

His name, which means the God of Thunder, can penetrate any electrical field and turn it into power when he strikes. His A.T. field is so strong that anyone can see it refract light when he shoots those beams. Its no wonder the Unit-01 was easily defeated by this powerful force.

8 Ireul

Ireul is an unusual Angel in the gallery because it acts more like a virus than actually causing destruction like the rest of them. It was first mistaken to be corrosion before spreading itself into the Evas. Just like a computer virus, Ireul can infect machines and easily control NERV.

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Despite its small minuscule size, Ireul can repel against any weapon using its A.T. field. Known as the Terror of God, the creature can cause self-destruction against computer systems. With only the ozone as it’s a weakness, this Angel still managed to become quite the danger for our heroes with its mutation abilities.

7 Sahaquiel

sahaquiel from evangelion

Sahaquiel may be one of the only angels whose body can act as a deadly weapon. With his body, Sahaquiel can cause massive craters on the Earth wherever it touches the ground. Even pieces of itself can be dangerous with whatever it touches, just like bombs.

Appearing as a giant eye with two eyes connected to it, Sahaquiel can use it’s A.T. field to block multiple mines. Being able to fly, the Ingenuity of God as it translates can jam signals that can prevent NERV from contacting one another. All it took were three Evas to take him down, proving how destructive this angel can be.

6 Arael

arael from evangelion

Shaped like a bird of light, Arael floats above the Earth’s atmosphere. At that distance, nothing can come to its reach, but Arael can shoot psychologically inducing blasts into the Earth that can truly mess up anyone’s mind. No weapon can penetrate its A.T. field in the sky.

When Asuka went up against him, she went into her own personal hell reliving some of her most painful memories. The only way Arael could be defeated was to strike it into its core with the Lance of Longinus, a weapon that can cut through any A.T. field it hits. It was a sacrifice to lose the weapon in space, but this creature was impenetrable from the Earth’s surface.

5 Zeruel

This angel uses its eyes to blast cross-shaped explosions onto its enemies. Zeruel’s bulky body has sleeve-like arms that can cut through anything it slices, especially an Eva’s armor. It can use it’s A.T. field to levitate but its outer skin can get exposed and leave an opening for the Evas.

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Its body also has an exposed core, but just dropping a mine onto it will leave Zeruel unharmed with proper protection. As the strongest angel in combat, Zeruel nearly destroyed Tokyo with its arms and being able to pierce through the GeoFront. Shinji was able to use his Unit-01 on berserker mode to defeat it and consumed its engine, but it only led to what we know as the Third Impact during the film End of Evangelion.

4 Armisael

armisael from evangelion

What’s unique with Armisael is that it doesn’t have a form like the rest of the angels. Initially appearing as a string of light, Armisael has many different forms in its body. This angel can penetrate through an A.T. field so easily.

Armisael can also heal itself if it gets attacked but it can also cause psychological harm with its blood. Whenever the angel came into contact with the Evas, it’ll actually fuse with them. It managed to fuse with Rei’s Eva to communicate with her and take her down. It was her sacrifice when Rei self-destructed her Eva in order to defeat Armisael.

3 Kaworu

Kaworu and Shinji Neon Genesis Evangelion

Kaworu is considered one of the most powerful angels despite also being a NERV pilot as well. For a human, his A.T. field is stronger than most angels except for Adam and Lilith. Other than levitation, Kaworu can basically take control of any Evangelion without piloting it.

In the story, he carried Adam’s soul, which explains his god-like capabilities being similar to his. His power actually derives from Lilith, another of the most powerful angels to exist. Despite his power, it took another Eva to take him out since Kaworu was also a pilot of Unit-02. Even being part angel, his human side was what made him one of the strongest characters in the series.

2 Lilith

As the second Angel, Lilith is considered equal in strength to Adam. As one of the two Seeds of Life, Lilith was the one who is considered the progenitor of the human race as depicted in the series. As a celestial being, Lilith was created by the First Ancestral Race billions of years ago. Compared in size to an Evangelion, Lilith appeared as a humanoid in its upper torso with rubbery white flesh without any legs or hips.

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Perhaps the most noticeable about its feature is the purple mask that covers its face. The creature was also part of the DNA that went into the making of the Unit-01 that Shinji pilots. By itself, Lilith isn’t considered much of a threat being tied to a red cross. However, when it’s combined with Adam, these two beings grow just as powerful as the FAR.

1 Adam

At the top of the list, we have Adam, the First Angel and the second of Earth’s two Seeds of Life along with Lilith. Adam is the progenitor of the Third Impact that happens in End of Evangelion. This Angel was also the basis for the creation of the Evangelions.

As the most dominant Angel, Adam can almost eliminate all of humanity with its power. In appearance, all we see is a glowing silhouette but its humanoid shape is similar to an Eva. Adam has the ability to use its bright white wings and split into four to cause an explosion to anything it hits. With its A.T. field, it can wipe out most of all life on Earth.

NEXT: Evangelion: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Rei