Lorenz Kiel, commonly referred to as Keel Lorenz in the original series, is the enigmatic chairman of the secret organization SEELE and the chairman of the Human Instrumentality Committee, a five-man subgroup that directly oversees NERV and its Evangelion project. His age and past are largely unknown, though early production materials gave his age as sixty-seven and indicated he was active within SEELE before the Second Impact. He was involved in the United Nations cover-up of the true nature of the Second Impact alongside Gendo Ikari. Between the Second Impact and the main events of the series, most of his body below the neck was replaced with cybernetic implants, and he wears a white visor that hides his eyes, though production drawings confirm he still possesses eyes. He is the driving force behind the Human Instrumentality Project, the plan to merge all human souls into a single, unified being by triggering a Third Impact, based on SEELE’s interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Lorenz Kiel is a cold, patient, and highly manipulative individual who views humanity as flawed and in need of transcendence. He is willing to use corruption, threats, murder, and extreme military force to achieve his goals, as seen when he orders the Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Force to invade NERV headquarters and later deploys the Mass Production Evangelions to capture Unit-01. He demonstrates no compassion for the general population, only for his fellow SEELE members, and he treats NERV commander Gendo Ikari initially as a protégé and valuable tool, but grows increasingly suspicious of Gendo’s true motives, which involve resurrecting his wife Yui rather than fulfilling SEELE’s plan. His relationship with Gendo is one of mutual manipulation, and Lorenz ultimately decides to carry out the Instrumentality without Gendo, relying on the Mass Production Units and the captured Evangelion. In The End of Evangelion, when Shinji Ikari chooses to reject human unity, Lorenz’s organic body dissolves into LCL, leaving behind only his mechanical spinal column. His notable abilities are not physical but systemic: he wields enormous political and financial influence over the United Nations and global governments, enabling him to fund the Evangelion project, cover up catastrophic events, and orchestrate a worldwide conspiracy. In SEELE meetings, he appears as a floating monolith marked with the number 01, representing his authority as the organization’s leader.