Characters / Attack on Titan: Warrior Trio

Attack on Titan Main Character Index
Shinganshina Trio (Eren Yeager) | Warrior Trio | 104th Trainee Corps (Krista Lenz) | Survey Corps (Levi Ackerman) | Military Police Brigade | Garrison | Titans | Marley [Warrior Unit (Zeke Yeager)] | Eldia | Others | Before the Fall

WARNING: Unmarked spoilers abound. Beware if you are not updated with the manga.

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The Warrior Trio

Reiner: We were just kids... we didn't know anything. ^note From left to right: Reiner, Bertolt and Annie.

"You guys... You really are the worst pieces of shit. I bet in the history of mankind, nobody's done anything as terrible as you. I've gotta erase you. You shouldn't be allowed to exist anymore."

— Eren Yeager, in regards to Reiner and Bertolt

The primary antagonists for the first half of the series, Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover, and Annie Leonhart are outside agents sent to attack the Three Walls and exterminate those living within. Beginning in the year 845, they appeared at the town of Shinganshina and breached Wall Maria, allowing the Titans to enter human territory for the first time in a century. Afterwards, the group infiltrated human society in the chaos by passing themselves off as refugees from a remote village in the southern mountains of Wall Maria.

Two years after the Fall of Wall Maria, they enlisted in the military as members of the 104th Trainee Corps. While Annie acted separately from her partners, Reiner and Bertolt continued to openly associate with their fellow cadets and work closely together. All three established themselves among the top cadets, excelling in their training and eventually graduating just behind Mikasa Ackerman as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place graduates. They also established close bonds with several other cadets, befriending Eren and Armin in spite of their roles in destroying Shinganshina.

Shortly after their graduation, they resumed their mission by attacking the district of Trost and breaking down the external gate. Like their fellow graduates, they were assigned to assist the Vanguard in defending the district. Their initial plan was derailed with the discovery of Eren's powers, leading them to abandon any further efforts to attack the district. Changing their focus to capturing Eren, they continued their infiltration with Annie enlisting in the Military Police Brigade to gather intel from the interior, while Reiner and Bertolt joined the Survey Corps to monitor Eren. They would carry out several failed attempts to kidnap Eren, ultimately leading to the failure and abandonment of their mission.

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Annie Leonhart

Annie Leonhart

Voiced by: Yu Shimamura (JP), Lauren Landa (EN), Georgina Sanchez (Latin American Spanish)

Debut: Chapter 2 (Manga), Episode 2 (Anime)

"Anyway, I'm not stupid enough to enjoy playing soldier in this shitty world."

Ranked 4th. She is cold and aloof, but has a deep admiration for people with strong ideals. Noted for her exceptional and unique fighting style, which she taught to Eren. While her classmates choose to join the Survey Corps, she follows through with her stated plan of joining the Military Police Brigade; she is the only Top 10 candidate to do so. During the 57th Expedition, she appears as the Female Titan and slaughters many soldiers while pursuing Eren. Failing to capture him, she is identified by Armin and led into a trap by him. Defeated by Eren and Mikasa, she uses a mysterious power to encase herself in crystal and remains in the Survey Corps' custody.

As told through Reiner's memories, Annie was an Eldian girl from the Libero Internment Zone who was raised by her father to become a Warrior. Due to her excellent hand-to-hand combat skills, she earned the right to inherit the Female Titan, and was chosen to take part in the Paradis Operation. When the mission was threatened by Marcel's death, she fought to abandon the operation and was forced into continuing by Reiner. Over the years, she traveled between the Walls to gather information.

She is the main character of the spinoff manga, Attack on Titan: Lost Girls, which details her adventures while in the Military Police Brigade.

Branch: Military Police Brigade

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• 10-Minute Retirement: News that Liberio has already been destroyed and that her father has likely perished drain away Annie's will to fight, and she separates from the Survey Corps and the Warrior Unit as soon as she has the chance. However, after a conversation with Kiyomi, and at the insistence of Falco and Gabi, she decides to rejoin the fight against Eren, if only so she could protect her friends.
• 11th-Hour Ranger: Annie awakens from her crystal cocoon just as Eren unleashes the Wall Titans, and although she assists the Survey Corps in trailing him, she is the most hesitant in fighting due to the possibility of her father having already perished in the Rumbling.
• Action Girl: Noted to be one of the best trainees at fighting and that's saying something.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Like Mikasa, she has a more profound beauty in the anime.
• Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole:
  • Her mentorship of, and relationship of mutual respect and admiration with Eren was altogether removed from the anime. This causes Eren's Heroic BSoD to be unexplained.
  • Her shaken expression at accidentally killing civilians was likewise removed from the anime^note well, almost removed; she does seem to recoil in shock for a second, but we only see her from behind, so it's rather vague, while she also goes on to kill more people during Eren's BSOD, all of which arguably borders her on Adaptational Villainy.
• Adaptation Expansion: In the anime, when she's called out as the Female Titan by Mikasa, instead of grinning creepily like in the manga, her response is to burst out laughing. According to Isayama, this was a change pushed by himself, because he wanted her to convey her "fear, sadness, shyness, loneliness and guilt" while having a "relieved" outlet.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Her defeat at the hands of Eren and Mikasa is combined with memories of her father, finally causing her to burst into tears and seal herself away in crystal.
• All for Nothing: Her first attempt at kidnapping Eren sees her going to great physical lengths, barely avoiding capture and exposure while leaving dozens of dead soldiers in her wake, only to have Levi and Mikasa retrieve Eren from her at the last minute. This causes her to cry heavily while in her Titan form, though it's left vague as to whether the tears are from remorse or frustration, or both.
• Aloof Ally: Prefers working by herself. This is implied to have hurt her class ranking, as her combat skills are higher than Reiner and Bertolt's, but strategy and ability to work as part of a team are also factors when deciding graduating rank. It's shown through flashbacks to the Warriors childhoods that even as a kid Annie was quiet and aloof to her allies, rarely, if ever, interacting with them in any meaningful way. The stress of the horrible things they had to do on Paradis Island just seems to have made the gap between them larger. In an interview, Isayama stated that she intentionally kept the other Warriors at a distance, avoiding becoming close to them. She gradually grows out of this after her revival Post-Time Skip and is willing to work with the Survey Crops and her fellow Warriors to stop Eren's plan.
• Ambiguous Situation: Whether or not Armin and Annie get together in the future. It's shown that they both have feelings for each other but the epilogue leaves it vague whether or not they acted on them.
• And I Must Scream: To avoid interrogation after her capture, Annie sealed herself in a crystal that is impervious to all known human weapons. After Eren's use of the Founding Titan forces her out of the crystal, Annie is reunited with Hitch and references having to listen to her complain about men all the time. Hitch is horrified to realize this means Annie was awake and fully aware of the entire four years she was encased in the crystal.
• Anti-Villain: While she's much better at hiding her guilt than her partners, she's deeply disturbed by the loss of life at Trost and described by Word of God as a "normal girl" forced to do horrible things. It's clear her father is a major part of the reasons for what she's doing and she loves him regardless of what he's put her through.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other:
  • Despite their strained relationship due to Reiner forcing them to continue their mission, it is shown that Reiner still cares for Annie greatly, to the point he wanted to prioritize rescuing her over retrieving the Coordinate. Annie actually reciprocates, and when she decides to abandon the fight against Eren and go her own way, they hug and part on good terms. And, of course, solidified when she returns to fight and ultimately helps save Reiner, along with everyone else.
  • When going through the Paths dimension to have a final conversation with each of his closest friends, Eren included Annie among them despite the two having been trying to kill each other the last time they even spoke four years prior. And, though we don't get to see it (only his conversations with Armin and Mikasa are shown), it appears they ended their friendship on a positive note with Eren telling her to live long.
• Amazonian Beauty: Not to the extent of Mikasa, but Annie herself has a very muscular build and physique and has at least 2 guys falling for her. Even her legs are quite ripped, which is consistent with her fighting style.
• Back for the Finale: Is released from her self-imposed crystallization by Eren's destruction of the Walls, just in time for the final arc.
• Bad Liar: According to Eren, who always felt that she was more passionate about fighting than she let on.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: She's a master of Muay Thai, and imparted some of those skills onto Eren.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Armin was always kind and polite to Annie despite her cold nature, and she presumably spared his life due to this trope while slaughtering the Survey Corps as the Female Titan. However, this proves to be a catastrophic mistake; Armin eventually uncovers Annie's identity as the Female Titan, which in turn, starts the domino effect that leads to Bertolt and Reiner being exposed. This trope is also likely the reason she offered to train Eren in hand-to-hand combat after he praised her for skills... which proves to be another mistake since it enables him to defeat the Armored Titan later on.
• Becoming the Mask: While she tries to remain aloof, she comes to respect or care for several of her peers in the 104th. This results in her mentoring Eren, as well as sparing Armin's life during the 57th Expedition. She's shown to be deeply shaken in the aftermath of Trost, and horrified by the deaths of her classmates.
• Belated Love Epiphany: When Annie learns her father is likely already dead, she decides to abandon the fight against Eren entirely, having lost her reason to fight. She instead accompanies Kiyomi to Hizuru. On their way there, however, Kiyomi expresses her regrets about not caring enough about the people in her life until they were already gone. This leads Annie to realize how much she really cared about her friends in the Warrior Unit and the 104th, and to resignedly lament abandoning them when they needed her most. Fortunately, Falco and Gabi come up with a plan to go help them.
• Beneath the Mask: She actively cultivated a cold and distant persona, but when her mask slips hints of a kinder person emerge. Word of God describes her as an "ordinary girl", and when she finally stops hiding her true self, it's both unnerving and heartbreaking.
• Betty and Veronica: She's portrayed as the Veronica in official parodies, with Mikasa as the Betty and Eren as a clueless Archie. It's ambiguous whether or not such a dynamic existed in the main canon or not. Averted while she likes Eren as a friend, her Love Interest is Armin .
• Big Bad Friend: Though she acted as Eren's mentor, and is on good terms with others such as Armin... ultimately she's revealed as the Female Titan responsible for the slaughter during the 57th Expedition. Eren is so shocked by this revelation that he's initially unable to muster the focus and willpower to fight her. Armin also has a shocked expression when she reveals herself, despite the fact that he was the first to suspect it.
• Big Damn Heroes: In Episode 13, she saves Jean by pushing a Titan about to eat him out of the way while surfboarding on said Titan◊, though she ironically almost kills him later in her Titan form.
• Big, Thin, Short Trio: The "Short" to Reiner's "Big" and Bertolt's "Thin".
• Black Eyes of Crazy: While in the midst of transforming into her Titan form, her face is briefly glimpsed and reveals Tainted Veins as well as black sclera. By that point, her Sanity Slippage has begun and leads to her final desperate attempt to capture Eren.
• Blatant Lies:
  • Sometimes states that she's weak and helpless, which Eren (or anyone else who has seen her fight) can tell from first-hand experience is a load of crap. Though there may be more to that phrase than it seems (she may be referring to her mental strength, i.e. that she lacks the resolve to "go against the flow").
  • Towards the end of Wall Sina, Goodbye, she thinks how she "doesn't care" how many people she'll have to kill the next day in order to return to her father, but has to restrain herself from crying while going to sleep.
• Blood Knight: She does not show it on the surface, but, as Eren suggests, Annie only comes alive when she's showing off her fighting skills.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Implied Trope: Her attempt to capture Eren is different from subsequent attempts in the fact that the Warriors did not know that Eren was carrying the Coordinate; as such, it's implied that Eren's capture had to do with the possibility of swaying him over to their side. Later, the focus shifts to the obtaining of the Coordinate.
• Breakout Character: Like Levi's own spinoff in A Choice With No Regrets, she gets main character focus in Lost Girls. Her popularity is rather impressive considering she was Put on a Bus only about 1/4 of the way through the series.
• Break the Badass: She becomes progressively more unhinged her second time fighting Titan!Eren, and is ultimately defeated by him and Mikasa (as well as Armin in the manga), causing her to shed Broken Tears and seal herself away in crystal.
• Broken Bird: Hinted to be one. She spend most of her childhood training in order to kill the humans inside the Wall by her own father. Once there, despite her best efforts, she became emotionally attached to several of the people she was suppose to kill which ended up effecting her performance in the field.
• Broken Tears:
  • After her first attempt to capture Eren, and having received the battery of attacks from the Survey Corps and later Levi and Mikasa, the latter notices that Annie's Titan is crying.
  • When she's defeated and about to be captured in Stohess.
• The Bus Came Back: In Chapter 124, after a Long Bus Trip, she's finally released from her crystal self-imprisonment.
• Call-Forward: In a flashback, young Annie is seen crushing an insect underfoot in a similar manner to how she killed Petra.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • She slips on a plain metal ring as she agrees to help Armin smuggle Eren out of the capital. When this turns out to be a ruse and the Survey Corps tries to apprehend her and prevent her from biting herself, she whips out a barb in the ring and inflicts Self-Harm to transform.
  • Her crystallization cocoon serves three possible purposes in the story: to avoid interrogation and torture by the Royal Government or the military, Put on a Bus, which partly implies that she might return to consciousness in the future, and it is also implied that it would prevent her from losing the Female Titan power by being devoured and assimilated by another Titan.
• Chekhov M.I.A.: She is counted as dead by the Marleyan authorities, even though at least Reiner and Zeke are somewhat aware that she was captured alive at Paradis. To this day, however, the Marleyans are unsure of whether the Eldians of Paradis indeed procured the Female Titan from her, as it's theorized that they are only using the Colossal and Attack Titans to sink the Marleyan scouting ships en route to Paradis. Ch 106 finally brought her back, relatively speaking. See Rip Van Winkle.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Her design was apparently partly based off Avril Lavigne. Interestingly, her appearance in the Attack on School Castes fake previews has her looking a lot like Avril◊ in her Girlfriend era.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Between her comrades in the 104th and the mission her father raised her to complete. This causes her to make mistakes like teaching Eren to fight, and sparing Armin's life during the 57th Expedition.
• Contralto of Strength: Annie has a noticeably deeper voice than the other female characters to go with her badass credentials.
• Crystal Prison: After being dragged out of her Titan body with nowhere to run, she encases herself in one. It seems to be some sort of defense mechanism, but it also means that she's not going to give up any information anytime soon. She finally got out of it at the end of Chapter 124.
• Daddy's Girl: Her father had a very strong impact on her, and she seems to have fond memories of him. Whether this makes her Daddy's Little Villain or not is still unclear. He seems to have regretted raising her as a Tyke Bomb.
• Damsel in Distress: A false one. Armin reports she is being tortured, in order to distract Bertolt so Eren could be rescued. In reality, the whereabouts and status of the crystal she imprisoned herself in remains unknown.
• Dark Action Girl: She's a cold and cynical soldier who enlists in the infamously corrupt Military Police Brigade and one of the Titan Shifter spies, with her rampage as the Female Titan leaves scores of veteran soldiers dead.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Raised by her father as a Tyke Bomb, taught to hate the world, and sent into the Walls to spy on humanity while committing acts of mass murder.
• A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 31/Episode 23 gives her one before her revelation as the Female Titan.
• Deadpan Snarker: Most of the time Annie is a pretty cold individual however there are a few times that show she does have a dry sense of humour particularly when she is around Eren.
• Death Glare: A master of it.
• Disc-One Final Boss: She's the first of the Warrior trio to have her identity exposed and be defeated, but is far from being the last of the threats facing Paradis island.
• Dissonant Laughter: At one point she actually laughs out loud while blushing and it's rather cute. Or rather it would be if not for the fact that she's admitting her Secret Identity, making it really creepy.
• The Dog Bites Back: In her visual novel, it's revealed Annie once lashed out at her father in frustration over her Training from Hell. She ended up beating him so severely that he was left with a permanent limp, and from then on she never disobeyed him. Incidentally, it had the opposite result intended — he was so impressed by her strength, that he increased the intensity of her training.
• Donut Mess with a Cop: While working her final case as a member of the Military Police, she's given a donut as a treat. She immediately demands a second one.
• Dramatic Wind: When she refuses to follow Eren, Mikasa, and Armin underground, she's briefly accompanied by this while giving a menacing look, clearly symbolizing that something is about to go down.
• Dude Magnet: A muted example; out of all the girls, though Historia attracts more attention, Annie has actually had the most Ship Tease overall, namely with the trio of Bertolt, Eren, and Armin. Ironic, considering her generally antisocial personality.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Thanks to their shape and the shading underneath, her eyes look like this. Given her backstory, it's not hard to see why.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She makes a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in Episode 2, as one of the refugees in line for bread.
• Emotionless Girl: It's not that she can't have emotions, she just doesn't care about the world around her. When she gets angry, she looks creepier. It's revealed that the likely source of this is that her father put her through Training from Hell and asked her to hate the world.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Despite their rather... complex relationship, she genuinely loves her father and is desperate to return to him. In fact, it's very strongly implied that the only reason she is a part of the Paradis Island invasion mission is out of loyalty to her father rather than Marley.
  • Both Marlowe and Hitch, her comrades at the MPs were more fond of her than she probably realized, and are considerably distressed about her disappearance and the fact that no one is investigating it. That is, until Levi tells them that Annie was the Female Titan.
  • In the final chapters it's revealed that she's got a thing for Armin. When she believes that her father is dead she was willing to leave the world to be trampled by the Rumbling, believing that there is no reason left for her to live, but ultimately came back to help save Armin.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Invoked:
  • She develops little qualms with killing soldiers as the story follows through, but she's shown to be reluctant of killing civilians during the incident at Stohess, where her focus shifts to escaping rather than ravaging the district.
  • She is shown to be considerably reluctant about killing her fellow cadets from the 104th, showing to be in great distress over the death of Marco and purposely avoiding to harm Armin during the 57th Expedition; this turns out to be one of the aspects that makes it easier for the Survey Corps to pinpoint her identity.
  • Annie even spared Mikasa, whom she has an intense rivalry with, during the battle in the city. She kicks Mikasa out of the air, which causes her to crash onto the ground and not get back up, implying that she's out cold or unable to move. Annie could have stepped on her in the span of a second and ended a major threat to herself, her comrades, and her mission, but chose to allow Mikasa to live.
• Evil All Along: Zigzagged all over the place. While an enemy to mankind, her teaching Eren to fight — and to question some aspects of the society he lives in — was a genuine act and she's a deeply conflicted, morally complex character.
• Evil Counterpart: On the surface to Mikasa, being a cold, exceptionally skilled, and ruthlessly efficient girl in the Corps and in her trio.
• Evil Genius: The "evil" part is very up for debate, but Annie is extremely intelligent. She was able to see the flaws in the military system when everyone else failed too, and also knew from the beginning that Marley was brainwashing everyone. This contrasts Bertolt and especially Reiner, who sincerely have faith in their country.
• Evil Laugh: Once, but it's quite notorious, to the point where it became an Internet meme and being compared to Light Yagami's. Annie did when it was revealed that she was the Female Titan.
• False Friend: As much as she tried to avoid it, and ends up being undone by it when she genuinely starts to care.
• Fighting Fingerprint: Her fighting style is unique. Because of it, Armin is able to pin her as the Female Titan, and after she teaches it to Eren, he manages to one-up Reiner during their fight. Eren also lost the first Titan vs. Titan fight against her because he was distracted when he recognized her fighting style and realized that the Female Titan was Annie.
• Foe Romance Subtext:
  • Her relationship with Eren is fairly ambiguous, though it's clear she harbors some type of admiration for him, which is mutual. In a flashback, she's seen teasing Eren about needing to learn how to talk to girls, and only speaks fondly of him if he is brought up. In official parodies, she's a Tsundere with explicit romantic feelings for him.
  • She also has a little bit of this relationship with Armin as she is very reluctant to hurt him during her rampage as the Female Titan. Plus, when she is finally cornered and revealed to be the Female Titan, the anime (especially the English dub) heightens her voice and she starts talking in a flirty manner towards Armin (Word of God from the English commentary was this was done intentionally) saying that it was nice she could be a "good person" for him. Later, Armin visits Annie's crystal prison frequently to talk to her and Hitch teases him about having a crush on her. Come chapters 131 and 132, with Armin and Annie growing close and having flustered conversations. The dialogue between them in chapter 131 and Mikasa's later conversation with Annie in chapter 132 heavily imply that the two have had a Relationship Upgrade at some point.
• Foil:
  • To Mikasa — even physically. Mikasa is tall, Annie is short; Mikasa has dark hair, Annie is blond; Mikasa's fighting skills are almost instinctive, while Annie relies on complex techniques; Mikasa has small, dark eyes, while Annie's are large and blue; Mikasa has a small nose, while Annie's is large and aquiline; Mikasa lives for others, while Annie is self-centered. However, both are emotionally repressed, skilled fighters, and both have found themselves unable to kill someone, which would prove to be a critical mistake. Furthermore, both have a very high opinion of Eren, but express it in different ways: Mikasa is extremely protective and utterly loyal towards Eren, while Annie takes a different approach, putting Eren through harsh training so that he can become a stronger and psychologically more rounded person. She is also a foil to Mikasa in terms of their group dynamics. Mikasa loves Eren and Armin and makes every effort possible to protect them; Annie acts apathetic towards both Reiner and Bertolt during their time within the Walls, even though it's implied that they are secretly quite close. Mikasa stands with her men and joins the Survey Corps with them, while Annie leaves Reiner and Bertolt to join the MPs on her own. While Mikasa makes friends and lasting attachments with her fellow 104th cadets and Survey Corps members (all while being considered a true asset to have), Annie remains alone at the MPs and out of the Warrior Trio, she's the first who is brought down.
  • With the revelations about the Ackerman clan, the contrast is even more evident; Mikasa was born into the Ackerman clan and has no idea about her own powers, and is horrified to learn that her protective instinct and feelings for Eren may have been a byproduct of that. Annie, meanwhile, willingly became a living weapon for the sake of her father, and desperately wishes she didn't form attachments to her squadmates. Both of them are implied to get their extreme physical prowess in part due to the power of the titans they hold, and in the one battle where they fight on the same side, they compliment each other very well.
  • She is also one to Armin. Both are insightful individuals with a pragmatic outlook on life, and a firm understanding of human nature. However, while both are willing to be ruthless to ensure success, Annie repeatedly falters in her ruthlessness, and suffers defeat. In her side story, Annie even proves to have detective skills on par with those of Armin.
  • Carly, the young woman she searches for in her side-story, turns out to be one as well. Both are incredibly talented young women that commit major crimes for their fathers, out of a desire to make them happy and better their lives. And both struggle with their guilt over their actions, but Carly is able to break free from her father and escape her life of crime... while Annie remains trapped by her promise and dragged down by it.
• Four Is Death: Ranked fourth in her graduating class and she's also the fourth Titan Shifter shown (Colossal —> Armored —> Rogue —> Female) as well as the first enemy Titan Shifter to be discovered. Furthermore, she also has the highest kill count out of any Titan for a good chunk of the series.
• Freudian Excuse: Her father harshly trained her every day in order to have her join the Warrior Unit, which would lead to him having a better life. Then he regrets it at the last minute, and begs her to come back to him by any means necessary, even if it making the whole world her enemy.
• The Ghost: She has yet to appear in the present time, though her father expresses complete faith that Annie is still alive and will one day honor her promise to come home. Finally subverted as she awakens due to Eren deactivating all Titan hardened structures using the Founder.
• Glass Cannon: She lacks brute strength but she's skilled enough that her strikes are precise and fast enough to make her an formidable fighter regardless. Eren and Reiner underestimate her during hand-to-hand combat training and are stunned at how quickly she hands them their asses.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: In her visual novel, she receives a fatal gunshot wound to the abdomen. In the time it takes for a similar wound to kill another victim, she heals back to full strength.
• Happily Adopted: Zigzagged Trope. Annie was abandoned as an infant, and adopted by Mr. Leonhart. He originally intended to simply raise her as a Warrior, to gain access to a better life. But he came to love Annie when it was too late to change her fate, and now all either of them wants is to be reunited. Annie recognizes that her situation is screwed up, but loves her father anyway.
• Healing Factor: She's noteworthy for her ability to selectively focus her regeneration, allowing her to perform feats such as regrowing one eye instead of both at the same time. In human form, she's able to regenerate from a fatal gunshot wound in a matter of minutes.
• Heel–Face Turn: Teams up with the Survey Corps to track down and kill Eren in the final arc.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: If Annie ever talks about herself, she will describe herself as a weakling who is easily pushed around and only cares about her own skin.
• Hero Killer: Implacable and ruthless, aggressively hunting Eren in the Survey Corps at the cost of many experienced soldiers' lives.
• A Hero to His Hometown: While her identity is not public knowledge, the Female Titan's rampages are still a source of anger to the people of Wall Sina and the military. In Marley, however, she is considered a hero and was treated to parades. However, she seemed miserable with the attention her position earned her.
• Hidden Depths: Annie embodies many contradictions, some very intentional on her part. She hides her kinder nature beneath an aloof mask, and references her small build as a weakness while being one of the most skilled and dangerous fighters in the series.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: She cultivates an image of disinterest and apathy, but she's actually more caring than she seems.
• His Own Worst Enemy: Annie's staunch refusal to socialize with the rest of the 104th paved the way for her identification as the Female Titan, as she ensured that she had no plausible deniability and no alibi when she was confronted. The fact that she joined a separate branch of the military didn't help her cause either, as no other member of the 104th in the Survey Corps could vouch for her.
• Honey Trap: Prior to joining the military, she suggested trying to seduce a nobleman as a method to get closer to the royal family. She immediately follows it up by stating its only a joke, because she's not "charming enough" to make a man fall for her. Bertolt comically insists that isn't true.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: Conditioned by her father to feel this way since childhood, most likely to keep her from sympathizing with the group she was infiltrating.
• Hunter of His Own Kind: A villainous example; she kills Titans so her cover won't be blown.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Mirroring her cold and aloof personality.
• Ignored Epiphany: Utterly horrified in the aftermath of Trost, when she discovers what may have been her friend's corpse. She apologizes to it over and over, having been forced to experience the full horror of what her mission involves. This doesn't stop her from brutally slaughtering soldiers left and right during the 57th Expedition, or (in the anime) rampage through Stohess District later on.
• Impostor Forgot One Detail: Invoked and subverted. She tried to pass off Marco's 3DM gear as her own without knowing that Armin had intimate knowledge of Marco's gear. It's fair to point out that it was not possible for her to know this in the first place, so there's no way she would have overlooked this aspect otherwise.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: Any faith she may have once had in the world was lost long ago, and now she views the world with distrust. She expresses that the things her father believed in and raised her to achieve are "meaningless" and all she wants is to survive. These views have a strong influence on Armin in becoming more jaded as well.
• Karma Houdini: After she reawakens, she faces no punishment for all the Scouts she killed on the 57th expedition, not even Levi's squad. But let's be real; spending four years trapped in a crystal and aware of her surrounding THE ENTIRE TIME can easily be accepted as punishment enough.
• Kick Chick: Focuses quite a bit on kicks, which is Fridge Brilliance since the 3D maneuver gear requires incredible leg strength. Her visual novel explains how her father made her kick either the padding on his legs, poles on the ground, or a sandbag hanging from a tree every day from before the sun rose in the morning till it set in the evening. Her Signature Move became a Muay Thai-style high kick using her shin and the top of her foot.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: She does this both figuratively and literally to Reiner, kicking him repeatedly and cruelly telling him to die by taking responsibility for their mission failing. This, when he was already on the ground and hysterical over Marcel's death. Rather than being an evil action, it demonstrates that Annie was just barely clinging to her composure and equally devastated over losing a comrade.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: In Goodbye, Wall Sina, she takes a break out of her investigation when she spots a stray cat. Comically, the cat dodges her attempts to pet it until after she's given up.
• Lady of War: Her efficient fighting style focuses on precise kicks that remove larger, stronger opponents' size advantage, and, in personality, she's very graceful and aloof.
• Last-Second Chance: After Annie's true identity is revealed, Eren and Armin beg her to prove she is not their enemy and turn herself in, though they're quickly interrupted by Mikasa drawing her blade on Annie as she believes it's useless.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: Years after it was revealed, official art, merchandise, and many of the official parodies spoil the fact that she's the Female Titan.
• Laughing Mad: In the anime, when she's revealed as the Female Titan.
• Left for Dead: Zeke essentially does this to her, arguing that she's probably fine and threatening to kill Reiner and Bertolt if they make any efforts to organize a rescue mission before capturing the Coordinate. After the whole operation is abandoned, her superiors similarly write her off and abandon her to whatever her fate might be.
• Limited Wardrobe: She doesn't own much more than her uniform, and a few identical hoodies. Probably justified, since the life of a spy passing herself off as a refugee doesn't really allow for personal possessions.
• Long Bus Trip: She made no appearances in the present for 5 years in Real Life, going unseen from 2013 to 2018. Even then, upon finally reappearing, she's still trapped in her crystal and unresponsive. At the end of Chapter 124, her crystal is destroyed as a side effect of Eren awakening the Wall Titans, finally reintroducing her into the story.
• Lovecraftian Superpower: Her Titan-shifting, which creates a 14-meter Titan.
• Luminescent Blush:
  • In the anime. However, unlike most examples, it's not a good sign.
  • After the Timeskip (With Armin again, no less) she blushes in a more normal, shy way, while asking Armin about why he kept visiting, blushing even harder when he basically confesses his feelings for her.
• Magikarp Power: While not weak by any means, the Female on Titan on paper doesn't have as much raw strength or specialized abilities compared to the other shifters. However, due to the Female Titan inheriting abilities from other shifters much easier, it becomes a more customizable fighter that allows it to have a balanced and large assortment of abilities. And when in the hands of a skilled fighter like Annie, the Female Titan becomes even more deadlier.
• Male Gaze: Downplayed as this is a series that's very light on fanservice, but Annie does occasionally get some panels that focus on her curves. Both in and out of Titan form. In particular, when Hitch knocks her to the ground the anime zooms in and focuses on her crotch, and many scenes of her in titan form show off her large butt, especially when she throws her many kicks.
• Meaningful Name: "Annie" means "grace." Her surname means "Lionheart". Considering that the lioness is More Deadly Than the Male, her being one of the best fighters in the series this shouldn't come as a surprise; however it's also ironic given how the lioness often works in tandem with others and Annie has the second-lowest teamwork score among the 104th. Later, she works with Armin, Mikasa and the surviving members of the Survey Corps to stop the Rumbling.
• The Mentor: She teaches Eren a lot of hand-to-hand combat techniques and is the first to open his eyes to how corrupt the inner workings of the Walls are.
• Messy Hair: The first time she's shown without her bun is right after she wakes up, to which her hair would nearly resemble a mane.
• Missing Mom: Her father is the only family she's ever referred to. Annie is actually the result of an affair, with her mother's infidelity revealed by a blood test revealing the father was an Eldian. The infant was taken and abandoned in Liberio, where Mr. Leonhart adopted her.
• The Mole: One of the Titan Shifters sent to infiltrate the human ranks, and most likely her true reason for joining the Military Police Brigade.
• More Deadly Than the Male: Annie's fighting style focuses on removing the advantage a larger, stronger opponent has over her, often using her opponent's strength against them. While most Shifters rely upon brute force, as the Female Titan she relies on her exceptional fighting skills, enhanced speed, and greater control of her Titan form to devastate anything in her path. Her direct body count is the highest in the series, and she kills in a variety of sadistic and creative ways. Eren himself surpasses her in that regard, but only after unlocking the Titan's true abilities.
• Morphic Resonance: Out of all the Titan Shifters seen thus far, Annie's Titan easily bears the most resemblance to her original form; they have identical facial features, body shape, eye color, and hair color (and her actual hairstyle is also shown to be identical to the Female Titan's when she's finally seen with her hair down◊). This was Lampshaded by Mikasa, who plainly pointed out that Annie just flat out looks like the Female Titan when the Survey Corps was debating its identity.
• Mugging the Monster: She follows a suspicious individual within the Capital, thinking he'll unknowingly lead her to the true royal family within the Three Walls. Unfortunately for her, said individual is Kenny Ackerman, and she barely escapes by the skin of her teeth.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • In the aftermath of Trost, she was horrified by the death and destruction she'd had a hand in.
  • While fighting Eren in Stohess, she landed on a church full of civilians. Even as a Titan, the horror of seeing the dead and wounded is obvious on her face.
  • As a child, she crippled her father when she lashed out at him. She never disobeyed him again, and wants nothing more than to return home to him.
  • She breaks down while watching Marco die.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • She personally trained Eren in hand-to-hand combat during their trainee days, most likely because she saw it as just harmlessly passing the time. Once he awakens his Titan powers though, this very training turns Eren into one of the biggest obstacles in Marley's plans, as he proves to be far more of a threat than he would have been otherwise.
  • Sparing Armin's life while in her Titan form led him to expose her as the Female Titan.
  • Her last-ditch effort to escape from the military by scaling the Wall as the Female Titan resulted in the discovery of the Titans entombed within them and how deep the Government Conspiracy actually was.
• Noble Demon: She genuinely respects people with the courage to pursue high ideals, and cannot bring herself to hurt her former classmates even though doing so required great personal risk.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: A couple of rare villainous examples.
  • Had she not spared Armin's life during her attack on the expedition, she probably wouldn't have been exposed as the Female Titan.
  • Annie's decision to train Eren in martial arts not only bites her on the ass when he uses her moves against her it allows him to go up against the other Titan Shifters as well on equal footing.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: She beats the crap out of Reiner for causing Marcel's death and running away from Ymir's Titan before they could recover the power. It's the angriest she's shown in the whole series.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: Unlike Reiner and Bertolt, who are loyal to Marley, Annie doesn't seem to have the same loyalty and is fighting humanity so she can be reunited with her father. This is implied in Chapter 17 when she tells Eren that her father wasn't so dissimilar to him in spouting out his philosophy and that she always thought it was crap but decided to keep training because she loved him. Later, Annie outright voices her hatred of Marley. She is the only one of the Titan Trio able to see through its brainwashing.
  Annie: "Honorary Marleyan?! Chosen warrior?! Who gives a damn?! Marley, Eldia, they can all go to hell! They're all liars, every one of them! They only ever think of themselves! And I'm the same! I need to get back home!
• Not So Stoic:
  • The first indication that Annie isn't as cold as she initially appears is in Chapter 17 when Eren compliments her for her kick technique and tries to impress her by replicating it against Jean. Annie chuckles, tells Eren his technique sucks, and that she would be willing to train him if he wants.
  • At one point in the anime she breaks out in genuine, rich laughter and starts blushing immensely. It would be an adorable moment in another series that would signify a significant shift in personality but considering the circumstances, it's just her fake stoic persona breaking down, making it highly disturbing. This is reinforced by her changing her tone and expression to an alarming degree afterwards now that the cat's out of the bag.
  • A flashback in Chapter 77 would remove any doubt that Annie can show emotion. As Reiner pinned Marco down, she panicking called Reiner a "piece of shit!" for wanting to kill him, but ultimately got talked into removing Marco's 3D gear while wearing a horrified expression. Afterwards, as she, Reiner, and Bertolt watched Marco getting eaten, Annie sobbed heavily.
  • She gets a comedic example in Lost Girls when she tries to pet a cat that keeps evading her hand and then walks away, resulting in Annie staring at it in complete puzzlement. It returns shortly after however and lets Annie pet it, making her look confused at how to react.
  • Lost Girls in general had many moments, both serious and funny, where Annie would make very shocked faces.
  • Annie gets very emotional whenever her father comes up. Which is a good demonstration of how much he means to her.
  • She is slightly more openly emotional once she finally exits the crystal. She is more prone to anger, to smiling, and to showing embarrassment.
• Oblivious to Love:
  • She's almost as bad as Eren in this regard. While the Titan Trio discuss their plans, Annie mentions the possibility of her pulling a Honey Trap on a noble, which Bertolt strongly objects to. Then, when she dryly jokes that she's not "charming" enough to attract men anyway, Bertolt immediately blurts out "THAT'S NOT TRUE!". Annie's only response is to offer a confused "...thanks?"
  • Much later, after the Timeskip, she is similarly confused about why Armin continued to see her in her crystal for over 4 years until he basically spells out for her "I LIKE YOU" in flashing neon letters.
• Odd Couple: Annie is the serious, tidy one to Hitch's snark and tendency to slack off and leave messes everywhere. They were assigned to the same Squad, and also shared a room. Also has shades of Tomboy and Girly Girl, with Annie barely owning anything besides her uniform and Hitch getting dressed up to go party in the Capital.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • When she realizes that Reiner will strongarm her and Bertolt into continuing the mission without Marcel by blackmailing them, arguing that they didn't make an effort to recover the lost Titan power either and that they have no way of proving that it was Reiner's fault. This, he does under the threat that they will be purged too, even when it's almost entirely his fault.
  • She gets another one when her lead to the true royal family turns out to be Kenny Ackerman.
• Older Than They Look: She's still physically 16 after being stuck in her crystal for four years. Less pronounced after the final three-year Timeskip, as she's now 23 but physically 19, which isn't that much of a notable difference anymore. So, if anything, she's got the fortune of getting to look just slightly younger than her age suggests going forward
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: At one point in the anime she blushes and laughs, showing the breakdown of her false stoic persona and, according to Word of God, relief that her secret is now known.
• Parental Abandonment: She was taken from her biological mother as an infant, after blood tests confirmed she was the product of an affair with an Eldian man.
• Partial Transformation: In her visual novel, she breaks free from being handcuffed by bandits by choosing to transform only her hand into a Titan's hand.
• Perpetual Frowner: She never smiles, except for the occasional Slasher Smile here and there. She does smile once in the manga, when Eren compliments her fighting skills and expresses a desire to learn them. Seen here◊
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's tiny, which makes it all the more jarring when she easily hands Eren and Reiner their asses.
• Poison Ring: Annie wears a ring that hides a small needle on it. In the off chance she can't bite herself to transform, she can use the ring needle to stab her own hand and draw blood.
• Prim and Proper Bun: Wears her hair in this style, emphasizing her stern, no-nonsense demeanor. She has her hair down for a time after being released from the crystal, but styles it into a bun again by the time she joins the battle against the Founding Titan.
• Punch-Clock Villain: She has shades of this, being a relatively normal girl when not actively carrying out her orders. She even expresses disdain for her mission, feeling that it is pointless or stupid, but being committed to it never the less. Annie doesn't even hold any particular ill will towards humanity, and can be anything from an aloof comrade to a warm friend and mentor during her "off" hours. But once she's carrying out her mission, she's willing to endanger or actively attack the same people she helped previously.
• Put on a Bus: She encased herself in crystal, and hasn't been seen since. With all the chaos going on, it's unknown which Branch currently has the crystal in custody, and it doesn't seem like anyone knows how to get her out of the damn thing either, at least without killing her.
• Rage Quit: She attempted it after Marcel's death, declaring the mission a failure and taunting Reiner about how he would be eaten when they got back. When he protested them leaving, she beat him bloody while unleashing a Precision F-Strike against the entire world.
• Refuge in Audacity: A somewhat humorous example in Wall Sina, Goodbye. When she asks Hitch if she can report her as sick for the following day where she'll be going after the 57th expedition, Hitch accuses her of having a date and asks her "what kind of guy" he is. Annie replies "A 15 meter Titan". Hitch laughs and doesn't question her further.
• Rip Van Winkle: Chapter 106 reveals that she's still in the hands of the Pradis Military, asleep in her crystal.
• The Rival: Hinted to have been this to Mikasa, at least during their trainee days. A flashback shows Mikasa passive aggressively asking Annie to show her a few moves when she thinks Annie is putting the moves on Eren. In response, Annie wondered if her moves would even work on "a beast". As they prepared to fight, everyone else started making bets on who would win, clearly waiting for the day when the two strongest fighters would face off.
• Rival Turned Evil: To Mikasa. They already didn't like each other, but once Annie's status as The Mole is revealed, any remnants of tolerance between them goes completely out the window. In the anime, Mikasa — unlike Eren — was ready to kill Annie immediately. Pretty notable considering she even briefly showed a bit of hesitation to kill Bertolt and Reiner.
• Robbing the Dead: She's extremely vague on how exactly she ended up with Marco's equipment, leaving it unclear whether he died before or after she stole it. It was finally revealed that she reluctantly took Marco's gear off and chucked it into a nearby building after being pressed by Reiner to prove herself still loyal to their cause, leaving Marco to be eaten by a Titan shortly afterwards.
• Running Gag: Knocking down someone with a kick so strong it leaves them on their backs with their legs humorously over their heads.
• Sadist: Has shades of this, based on some of the utterly and unnecessarily vicious ways in which she killed members of the Survey Corps. One poor soul gets spun to death by his wires, all while she smiles playfully.
• Schrödinger's Gun: Invoked. She's crystallized herself into an unbreakable cocoon that has been transported to an undisclosed underground. It's practically impossible to break it open to even verify that she hasn't perished, but it's possible that she intends to wait out the remaining 8 years she has from the allotted 13 of the Curse of Ymir. However, a Mindless Titan like Ymir (before she ate Marcel to gain the Jaws Titan) lasted decades buried underground and deprived of air, so the possibility leans towards Annie being alive.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The moment things go wrong, Annie argues for abandoning the mission. She admits that she doesn't actually care, and just wants to go home.
• Secret Identity: The Female Titan.
• Self-Harm: She makes use of a specially-designed ring to transform. While it looks like a normal, silver ring it actually hides a small blade that can be flipped out to cut herself.
• Shared Unusual Trait: Her nose — similar yet different to fellow top-ranked Trainees, Reiner and Bertolt.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Gets regarded as one by her comrades in the Military Police Brigade because of her involvement in the Battle for Trost. It turns out she is indeed suffering but for completely different reasons as a mole.
• Sherlock Scan: In Goodbye, Wall Sina, she's able to deduce the series of events leading up to a murder and accurately identify the killer by one minor detail: the smell of the cigarettes butts left in the victim's apartment, which Mr. Stratmann identified as so rare only he could smoke them. Her deductions skills are possibly referenced in the third OVA, where she is the first out of her team to notice the remains of a fire, as well as wagon tracks in the woods.
• Ship Tease: Despite being rather antisocial she is a certified Dude Magnet. With Bertolt feelings for her being clear and Eren having a rather complex affection/respect for her. Finally in Chapter 132 she reveals that she does in fact have feelings for Armin. That being said, it's unclear if they ever hooked up.
• Shower of Angst: She takes one in Goodbye, Wall Sina while having a flashback about her father and thinking about what she'll have to do the following day. She's only seen with Shoulders-Up Nudity.
• Signature Move: A Muay Thai high kick.
• Slasher Smile: After being called out as the Female Titan, she sports one right before she attempts to transform.
• The Stoic: She barely ever changes facial expression or tone, to an even greater degree than Mikasa.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Discussed. Eren and Armin both express the belief that she hides a much kinder personality beneath her cold exterior.
• Super Power Lottery: Her ability to crystallize parts of her skin allows her to cover her Titan form's only weak spot, to shatter any sword the military attempts to use against her, to make her strikes much more damaging and finally to act as a Crystal Prison to prevent her interrogation at the hands of the military. She also possesses selective regeneration, and the ability to call Titans to her, both abilities that take the Survey Corps by surprise.
• Super-Soldier: She's physically stronger and tougher than an ordinary human, with a Healing Factor and the ability to transform into a 14-meter monster. She single-handedly slaughters some of the best veterans in the Survey Corps.
• Sweet Tooth:
  • Sasha notes, rather comically, that she's surprisingly fond of sweets — a luxury soldiers rarely get to experience. In particular, she ends up discovering a love for donuts after Carly buys some as a snack.
  • In a moment of levity after she is released from her cocoon due to the Rumbling, the Survey Corps find her wolfing down a cake like nobody's business, and Connie can't help but laugh at the notion that she's making up for four years of no sweets.
• Sympathetic Murder Backstory: A traumatized mass murderer, clinging to the promise she made to return home to her father. Eren wonders what would drive her to kill people, and the revelation of her betrayal shakes everyone to the core.
• Talking in Your Sleep: On a (slightly) humorous note, Isayama revealed in an interview that Annie talks in her sleep, and sometimes makes a "whoosh" sound when she dreams of her days practicing kicks on trees.
• Tears of Remorse: Annie is shown weeping hysterically while watching Marco die.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Their mission on Paradis strained the relationship between Annie and Reiner, with her growing to resent him for pushing them forward. It started with her beating him within an inch of his life after Marcel's death, and continued throughout the years with her expressing disgust over his befriending the other cadets. In spite of this, they were an effective team when necessary and she trusted Reiner to act as the team's leader.
• Tender Tears: Once all the dust has settled following the Fall of Shinganshina, and once they've reached safety, only then Annie allows herself to cry for the death of Marcel and the overwhelming gravity of what they just have done. Reiner does his best to console both her and Bertolt.
• Too Hungry to Be Polite: Given that she's encased herself in Hardening for four years, she hasn't eaten for that long, so when given the time to eat, she does so very messily. Connie is flabbergasted when he recognizes her and starts laughing when he sees just how much pie she stuffed in her mouth at once. Annie, on her part, is nervously sweating after realizing someone recognized her.
• Tragic Villain: She expresses admiration for heroic, good people... but also views herself as a terrible person. A flashback to her childhood reveals her father weeping as he apologizes to her, and then asks her to consider the entire world her enemy. Word of God describes her as "lonely" and "in pain" because of what she's had to do.
• Training from Hell: Her father trained her from sunrise to sunset every single day, from as early as she could remember. She takes a similarly harsh approach to training Eren, beating him senseless and not allowing him to tap out.
• Tyke Bomb: Her father raised her to carry out the mission against humanity, beginning her Training from Hell when she was still very young. She officially began it before the age of 10, and does not believe she has any options other than to complete it or die trying.
• Unwitting Pawn: Her superiors in Marley fabricated the entire reason for their mission, though Annie seems less convinced of their purpose to begin with.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Implied. Official artwork from Wall Sina, Goodbye depicts her as acting scared and reluctant when her father first started training her, having a much more innocent expression to her face than the cold and indifferent one she grew into.
• Villainous Breakdown: After her identity is revealed, Annie becomes noticeably more unhinged. She starts expressing a variety of emotions such as fear, fury and desperation, a far cry from her previous calm collectedness. Eventually she gives up on even trying to capture Eren and just desperately tries to escape the Walls in a vain attempt to be reunited with her father. Over the course of her fight with Eren, her fighting style gradually loses its composure altogether, and she is reduced to screaming in rage as she repeatedly tries to bash Eren's head in as he holds onto her hardened leg with his teeth.
• Villains Blend in Better: While Sasha struggles to fit in due to her backwoods upbringing, Annie not only blends in but even lectures Eren on political and social structures within the Wall society.
• Waif-Fu: Her fighting style, which focuses on removing larger, stronger opponents' size advantage. She likes to claim she's a "weak maiden", but no one buys this for a moment.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: During the 57th Expedition Arc, the Female Titan tore through the Survey Corps in her quest to capture Eren. This was the beginning of the conflict with The Warriors and a grim preview of just how much death a Titan Shifter can leave in their wake.
• Weak, but Skilled: Though she's strong for her size, Annie is ultimately still a 5-foot-tall, 16-year-old girl and can't rely on brute strength alone to take out her much bigger opponents. So, her entire fighting style is designed to mitigate her size disadvantage by attacking vital points with swift kicks and then going in for takedowns. She's easily one of the best hand to hand combatants in the series, outclassing Eren and even forcing Mikasa into a stalemate in a 1 v 1 fight. She's so good, in fact, that Eren swears there's no way she's as "weak" as she insists. Granted her skills mean nothing when someone gets the drop on her. Right after beating Reiner down, he gets up, tackles her and puts her in a headlock. Annie is unable to escape and only survives because Reiner is not trying to kill her. This is also played straight in the anime during her final bout with Eren as he goes completely berserk and utterly crushes her in the ending of their fight.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Yes, she's being hidden underground by the Survey Corps, but it's not known where, or whether she's still alive in the crystal cocoon. Yes, she is alive, and she is brought back as Eren destroys the Walls.
• When She Smiles: The only time that she is seen genuinely smiling is when Eren compliments her fighting skills, and she in return expresses a curious interest in teaching him how to fight in her unique fighting style.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: She favored simply destroying the last two Walls, as opposed to wasting any more time on investigation and infiltration.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Like all Titan Shifters, Annie is subject to the "Curse of Ymir"; 13 years to live after gaining one of the Nine Titan Powers. As of the last chapter, the Power of the Titans disappears, which probably means Annie has a normal life expectancy again.
• You Remind Me of X: She compares Eren to her father, another man she thought of as an idealist. While a member of the Military Police Brigade, she similarly finds that Marlo's idealism and sense of justice reminds her of Eren.
• You Should Have Died Instead: In the immediate aftermath of Marcel's death, she beats Reiner while screaming that he should have died. He takes this to heart, and declares That Man Is Dead, promising Annie he will become Marcel for her sake.

Reiner Braun

Reiner Braun

Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya, Jun'ya Enoki (child) (JP), Robert McCollum (EN), Alfonso Obregón Inclán, Ayari Rivero (child) (Latin American Spanish)

Debut: Chapter 2 (Manga), Episode 2 (Anime)

"Do you think this world has a future?"

^{Click here to see his post-Time Skip appearance}

"We're soldiers, aren't we? There are times when we can't back out."

Ranked 2nd. He has a strong sense of duty and is deeply admired by the others, who consider him to be their surrogate big brother. His village was destroyed by Titans, and he longs to return there someday. He strongly influences Eren to take his responsibilities as a soldier more seriously, and is prone to crude humor during stressful moments. His reassuring attitude and humor boost morale, leading others to deeply trust him.

Injured during the battle at Castle Utgard, he crumbles under the stress and confesses to Eren — his village was never destroyed by Titans. He's actually a spy, and his true identity is the Armored Titan, who has killed hundreds by this point. Unable to convince Eren to go with him, Reiner kidnaps him along with Ymir and flees into Titan territory. Pursued by the military, his thin grasp on reality continues to weaken and he is revealed to be guilt-ridden over his actions to the point of madness. He convinces Ymir to ally with him, but is eventually routed by the military and forced to abandon his mission, fleeing back to his homeland in defeat.

After the battle at Shinganshina, Reiner returns to Marley in defeat and takes responsibility for the failure of the operation. Nearly stripped of the Armored Titan, he spends the next 4 years on the front lines of the war with the Middle-East Union in order to prove his loyalty and usefulness to his superiors. His exceptional service restores his reputation, and he earns a promotion to Vice-Commander of the Warrior unit.

Once the weakest member of the Warriors, his fierce loyalty to Marley earned him the Armored Titan over his rival, Porco Galliard. Born from an illicit affair between an Eldian woman and a Marleyan at the Liberio Ghetto in Marley, he once dreamed of saving his homeland and reuniting his broken family. Chosen among a group of four kids with the mission to infiltrate the Three Walls and recover the Coordinate Titan Power, Reiner aims to prove himself as a worthy Warrior. At Paradis, Reiner assumes the leadership of the infiltrating group after his comrade Marcel Galliard is eaten by a Titan, pushing through by sheer determination, but his experiences while infiltrating the Walls have left him haunted and completely disillusioned back at Liberio, with only two years left on his "Tenure". A young group of candidates, including his cousin Gabi, are being considered to inherit the Armored Titan from him when his time runs out. Though he pretends to remain completely loyal to his superiors, he expresses the treasonous desire to save Gabi from following in his footsteps.

Branch: Survey Corps

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• The Ace: Reiner is incredibly strong and agile, lethally intelligent and has several unique powers both in human and Titan form that only he possesses. While the Beast Titan (who Reiner refers to as their general) stays on one side of the Wall with an army of Titans, intent on trapping the Scouts inside, Reiner is the only one within Shiganshina, trusted with fulfilling a large part of the mission and his warrior training definitely aided him when disguising himself as a soldier.
• Acquired Situational Narcissism: When he gets selected as the successor for the Armored Titan, he can't help but rub his victory in Galliard's face, since Galliard had previously mocked Reiner for being the worst performer in their group of Warrior candidates. Reiner's newfound self-confidence ends up being shattered when Marcel confesses that he'd arranged for Reiner to be chosen in his brother's stead.
• Affably Evil: He's done incredibly horrible things, but even so he's a genuinely good guy. Unfortunately, this results in him becoming friends with the very people he's supposed to help slaughter.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg:
  • In his nightmares, he pleads for mercy from his former comrades.
  • Even when Eren makes it clear that he has no wish to act on past promises of revenge, Reiner receives such a bad Breaking Speech that he resorts to pleading for everything to end already.
• All for Nothing: Basically, everything he has ever done proved meaningless. His obsessive drive to become a hero and make his family proud ended in him becoming a disillusioned mass murderer, simply waiting to die from the Curse of Ymir. In order to return home to his family, he lost all of his friends to either betrayal or death, and gave up the only freedom he'd ever known. But he's now a Stranger in a Familiar Land who has to lie to appease his family, and can never tell anyone about the things he's experienced. His failure led to a 4-year war and his cousin being groomed to follow in his footsteps once his time runs out. And worst of all, his superiors convinced him the Paradis Operation would save the world, but he's actually an Unwitting Pawn in Marley's plan to wipe out all Eldians once and for all.
• All or Nothing: His entire life philosophy, even back then he was The Load, as by giving 100% in anything and everything he put his entire being into, can completely flip the table on any potential long-running scheme his opponent favors by utilizing sheer insane and downright idiotic moves in the heat of the moment, taking everyone off-guard, even for just a short moment, to get the upper hand. However, this attitude is a double-edged blade, as once the tactic table is flipped, the risks for him suffering a devastating defeat become equal to the odds of a overwhelming victory, something he experienced firsthand multiple times through his life.
• Ambiguous Situation: After Marcel's death, Reiner and Annie argue about whether to abandon the mission or not. After Annie points out Reiner will probably be executed for his failure, he counters that it's possible their superiors will punish them all. Annie accuses him of blackmailing them to save himself, and he admits he isn't even sure what he's thinking. It makes sense, as they're both hysterical, frightened children that have just watched their leader get Eaten Alive.
• Angst Coma: After using his powers to protect Falco from Eren's transformation, Reiner lapses into an unconscious state while still merged with his Titan. Falco is unable to wake him, and theorizes his condition is the result of lacking the will to go on living.
• Anti-Villain: Reiner has been completely broken by his guilt, but knows it is too late to turn back now.
• An Arm and a Leg: After he reveals himself, Mikasa slices off his arm below the elbow and breaks the blade off bisecting his remaining arm nearly to the elbow. In Chapter 83, all his limbs have been cut off and he's been blindfolded.
• Arch-Enemy: While the entire island of Paradis wants his head, Eren Yeager is the most consistent enemy of his. They have had the most fights out of anyone in the series.
• Ass Shove: He jokes that this is a Titan's other weakness. Connie appears to take this claim seriously.
• Ate His Gun: After reflecting on his painful memories from his time as a soldier and betrayal of the Survey Corps, he loads a rifle and puts it into his mouth, ready to end his suffering. However, he ultimately doesn't go through with it when he hears Falco passing by the room, deciding that he still has the new cadets to live for at the very least.
• The Atoner: Discussed. He's gone mad from guilt but remains committed to his mission, and demands to know if Eren expects them to atone for their crimes.
• Bash Brothers: Demonstrates this dynamic with Zeke at the battle of Fort Slava, providing close-range attacks and protection while Zeke focuses on ranged attacks.
• Bastard Angst: His obsessive drive to become a Warrior stemmed from his desire to reunite his parents, so that he could have a real family. When asked about his father by Bertolt, he's forced to brush the subject off to avoid exposing his family's secret.
• Beard of Evil: Sports a pretty sharp looking goatee and chin-strap combo after the 4 year Timeskip.
• Beard of Sorrow: It may also count as this, based on the sheer amount of suffering he's experienced over the years.
• Becoming the Mask: As it turns out, he's suffering dissociative episodes where he believes his mask is real. His fake memories were created to escape himself, as he couldn't bear the guilt of what he'd done.
• Being Evil Sucks: He suffers massive, mind-breaking guilt over his crimes and recognizes that it means they are not only isolated from everyone else... but doomed to short, violent lives. He seems resigned to this idea.
• Beneath the Mask: He's spent years building a public persona as the reliable big brother, hiding the full extent of his cynicism and emotional instability from view.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: Rather than have Gabi, Falco, or anyone else inherit the Armored Titan from him when his tenure is up, Reiner attempts to blow his brains out to spare them from that fate. Hearing Falco outside of his quarters stops him from doing so, deciding that he must continue living on for them as long as possible.
• Big Bad Friend: He's ultimately revealed to be the Armored Titan and a member of a band of Titan Shifters trying to bring about the extermination of Paradis. However, he seems to genuinely care about his fellow soldiers as evidenced when he tries to bring Eren, Ymir, and Krista over to his side.
• Big Brother Instinct: Everyone considers him their big brother, due to his tendency to take the weaker members under his wing. This is best demonstrated during training, when he risks punishment to help Armin with his gear.
  • Turns out, while a lot of his personality may have been derived from Marcel, Reiner still displays the same desire to protect his younger comrades that defined him during his days as one of the 104ths. Reiner is currently trying to ensure that Gabi, his younger cousin, won't inherit the Armoured Titan from him in order to spare her the horror and guilt he suffered from in his youth. In fact, looking out for the new generation of Warriors is pretty much the only thing keeping him from blowing out his own brain.
• Big Brother Mentor:
  • To Eren in particular.
  • To the younger batch of Warriors, all competing to become his successor. Special mention goes to his younger cousin Gabi who seems to worship the ground Reiner walks on and whom Reiner desperately wants to protect from the fate of being a tool for Marley.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • He helps save Armin from the Female Titan. However, it turns out to have been a trick to pass information to Annie.
  • Just before Eren in Titan form can eat the defeated Galliard, Reiner musters up the remaining vestiges of his strength to force a half-transformation into a Titan form with exposed muscles and only some shards of armor on it. Eren defeats him with a single hardened punch, but wastes his remaining strength in doing so, while Reiner manages to grab onto Galliard and pull him out of Eren's hands, ultimately saving him as Eren is forced to retreat.
• The Big Guy: Described as having the strength (and willpower) of an ox.
• Big Man on Campus: He's ranked 2nd in class, has a Heroic Build and is very much a Gentle Giant (or so it seems). The databook even gives him a 10 out of 10 in Social Skills.
• Big, Thin, Short Trio: The "Big" to Bertolt's "Thin" and Annie's "Short."
• Bigot with a Crush: He develops feelings for Historia, despite having been bombarded with anti-Eldian propaganda and having believed it for some time. It crosses into Boomerang Bigot territory with the reveal that he has one Eldian and one Marleyan parent.
• Blatant Lies: As shown in Chapter 94, he can barely badmouth his comrades at the Trainee Corps in front of his family and tries to misconstrue Sasha's potato incident as an outlandish display of deviousness characteristic of the Eldians at Paradis. It's so blatant that even Gabi starts questioning him about whether the Eldians are such bad people, and his mom basically has to shut him up with a Death Glare.
• Blood from the Mouth: As a result of getting a blade driven into his throat by Hange.
• Bolivian Army Cliffhanger: At the end of the Clash of the Titans arc, he is last seen in his Armored Titan form, fending off a swarm of Titans alongside Bertolt and Ymir, though the epilogue of Volume 12 and later the Return to Shiganshina arc reveals that they indeed survived the battle.
• Born Lucky: As lampshaded by Zeke in Chapter 83, the truly ridiculous number of times that Reiner has almost been killed but has survived is just insane. Including all of the things mentioned in the Worf Effect below Reiner got hit directly by one of the Thunder Spears through his open mouth and send flying out of the back of his Titan form's head. While captured by the remains of the Survey Corps, Jean convinces Hange not to kill Reiner as they might be able to take his powers. This allows Zeke and the Mule Titan to save Reiner and escape since nobody else in the Survey Corps has enough gas to chase after the Titans without being slaughtered.
  • Granted, it might have been kinder had he been killed since, as shown by other tropes in this entry, things have been getting worse and worse for him the longer the fight drags on and now, with Bertolt dead, he's completely on his own. Seem's like Eren's promise is coming true.
• Born Unlucky: The more information there is about his life, the more obvious it is just how unlucky he really is. His astounding survival over the series seems less like good fortune, and more that the universe isn't done making him suffer. Every single thing in his life has gone horribly wrong, leaving him alive but robbing him of his friends, his ideals, his hope, and his sanity. The narrative even explicitly describes him as the boy that has lost everything.
• Break the Cutie: The flashbacks to his youth are essentially a Trauma Conga Line demonstrating how an overly-eager, innocent little boy was systematically and thoroughly broken by the world.
• Broken Ace: Ranked 2nd in the class, and looked up to by the others, but it turns out he's not nearly as solid and stable as he seems.
  • His numerous military victories during the war have repaired his reputation as one of Marley's greatest weapons, admired by others for his loyalty and heroics on the battle field. But he is a very broken man, struggling to conceal his trauma and guilt from the people around him.
• Broken Pedestal: The admiration and respect Eren and the others feel for him as The Ace and the Team Dad crumble once his true nature is revealed.
• Broken Tears: When he confesses to his crimes.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: He constantly looks after others, putting their well-being before his own. This has earned him the respect and admiration of the others, who view him as a surrogate brother.
• The Bus Came Back: Reappears at the end of Chapter 70, along with Bertolt and the Beast Titan, in the Shiganshina district to recapture Eren and rescue Annie.
• Child of Forbidden Love: His mother, Karina, told him that he was this. Revealing that his father's a Marleyan, thus neither Reiner or his mother couldn't be with him. Subverted. Reiner's father in reality wanted nothing to do with him and his mother. It's even implied that the man already has another family and that Karina is just making everything up to get back at her ex through their son. Although the part about Reiner himself being half Marleyan appears to be true given the man's reaction to his existence.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Connie observes his tendency to always take the most dangerous assignments, and always act for the sake of others. Bertolt notes it's always been one of his worst habits.
• Conflicting Loyalty: He clearly cared for his comrades, and this conflict between friends and mission solely erodes his sanity. He ultimately chooses the mission, while stating that there's nothing else left to him.
• Conveniently Unverifiable Cover Story: Bertolt claimed they were refugees from a remote mountain village, destroyed by Titans when Wall Maria fell. Hange notes that the family records were still in shambles five years later, and if they hadn't made the mistake of identifying themselves as from the same village as Annie... they might have never been found out.
• Cover-Blowing Superpower: Averted. He's able to turn his regeneration on and off, preventing anyone from getting suspicious when he's injured.
• Crazy-Prepared: Almost every notable ability Reiner possesses is designed to prevent his destruction. In case he's injured, he can avoid blowing his cover by withdrawing his regenerative power. His Titan possesses intensely strong armor, and in case someone goes for the gaps in it, he can seal those off with armor too. Even his ears and eyes are armored, preventing people from slashing at them and in the case of the latter, debilitating him by attacking them. And in case of a mortal injury, he can activate a new ability that will allow him to survive and function despite it by transferring his mind to his Titan body, though it's described by Bertolt to be a risky move.
• Cryptic Conversation: Engages in several of these with Ymir and/or Bertolt, dropping hints left and right.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: Essentially, when our mangaka needs to demonstrate how powerful a new character or ability is, Reiner is the punching bag. There is no doubt he's a fearsome warrior, but he has been involved in easily the most battles of any of the Titan Shifters, and has suffered brutal beatings and scenarios in every one of them, never claiming a solid win. To reiterate, Reiner's a scary fighter, but his outstanding ability is his power to survive.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: His parents' relationship is against the law, so his mother told him he couldn't have a father. Karina tells him that if they become Honorary Marleyans, the family will be reunited. But this is a complete lie. When Reiner met his father, he learned he was not only unwanted, but hated and suspected of being there for revenge. Technically, he had a very good reason for abandoning Reiner, as the boy's existence put his and his family's life in danger.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Survivor of a Titan attack, and sent to commit genocide against Paradis at a young age. He's more deeply affected than he's initially willing to admit.
• A Day in the Limelight: The entire Marley arc, from Chapter 91 onwards, has focused on Reiner's feelings and past with special mention going to Chapters 94 and 95 which show Reiner transition into the mess he is now.
• Dead Person Impersonation: A variation. Gallaird accuses him of modeling his dependable, big brotherly "Soldier" persona on Marcel, an accusation that Reiner readily agrees with. How accurate this actually is is up to debate, since Bertolt described him as always having been that way.
• Death Glare: This tends to be his response to attacks:
  • When Mikasa cuts off his left arm, brutally mangles the other one, and slashes his head and face open, this is the look he gives her. More specifically, this is the look he gave after throwing something at her to stop her from putting a sword through Bertolt's brain — after the relevant injury, mind.
  • When Levi mortally stabs him through the heart and spine/neck and spinal cord, this is his response, with glowing eyes for good measure. Notably, even Levi looks unnerved at this.
• Death Seeker: He can't bear to go on living, but his sense of duty to his subordinates keeps him from killing himself. Instead, he hopes that Eren will carry out his threats and kill him in revenge.
• Despair Event Horizon: After revealing his true identity, he may very well have crossed it. He immediately declares that the only thing left to him is taking responsibility by completing his mission, and he later tells Bertolt that they're murderers with little time left.
  • This is made even worse after it was revealed that Titan Shifters will die 13 years after acquiring their powers.
  • He may have gone over it, if his comments of just wanting to die or disappear are any indication. He enters an unconscious, non-regenerating state in Chapter 103 due to his lack of willpower to continue.
  • After Eren gains full control of the Founding Titan and awakens the Wall Titans, Reiner comes to the crushing realization that everything he trained for, everything he fought for, and everything he sacrificed for was all for naught. The entire basis for his original mission was a lie, and by his own desperate desire to be a hero caused it to become true. He tells Gabi quite bluntly that everyone in the world is going to die and that the only option is just run away and promptly passes out.
• Deuteragonist: Gabi, Falco and Reiner are the protagonists of the arc that began from Chapter 91 of the manga.
• Didn't See That Coming: He was caught completely off guard by the Survey Corps' new weapon being able to damage his Titan Form twice.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: The Ambiguously Bi half of Those Two Guys suddenly clasps his partner's shoulder and makes a casual confession that leaves the shyer one sputtering. No, though fans refer to this as Reiner "coming out", he's not making a romantic confession... he's blowing their cover as mass murdering spies.
• Doomed Hometown: A remote mountain village, that was overrun by Titans during the destruction of Wall Maria. He states his desire to return there someday. It's later proven to be a lie.
• Doom Magnet: The more that's revealed about him, the clearer it is that Reiner seems to just have a knack for attracting bad luck not just to himself, but everybody he cares about.
• Double Consciousness: Due to Becoming the Mask, he is torn between him being a Paradis Soldier and a Marley Warrior.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Throughout Chapters 94 and 95, the audience sees Reiner desperately training under the belief that he's a hero destined to save the world from the Eldian devils hiding behind the Walls. However, the audience is already well aware that the enemies Reiner hates are just normal people and that his experiences on the island will eventually turn him into a broken shell of a man who considers himself a monster.
  • It turns out that Annie and Bertolt wanted to abandon their mission, after losing Marcel. Reiner convinced them to continue with it...and ended up the only one of the three to return home.
  • Albeit Reiner is by far the most battered of the Warriors, having been in the brink of death multiple times, and his experiences have made him suicidal, the universe persists on cursing him with surviving whatever is thrown at him and thus, suffering for everything he has done and dilating every painful second of his wretched existence. At some point, it wouldn't be surprising for him to survive being turned into meat slurry.
• Driven to Suicide: He finally reaches his breaking point after watching Gabi and Falco training as well as realizing that he'd have to return to Paradis Island for Marley, and he reflects on his painful past as a Warrior before putting a loaded rifle in his mouth. However, just as his finger is on the trigger, Falco happens to pass by outside the room and unknowingly inspires Reiner to continue living, subverting the trope.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After spending the entire series suffering from guilt and trauma, he is freed from the Titan Shifters curse, reconciled with his mother and is forgiven by his Survey Crops comrades which prompt him to recover from his guilt and move on in his life.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He makes a brief cameo as one of the refugees in Episode 2, listening to the announcement of the mission to reclaim Wall Maria.
• Enigmatic Minion: He confronts Falco over his cynicism about the limited lifespan of a Titan Shifter, threatening to report him for treasonous thoughts. Once Falco agrees to fight to inherit the Armored Titan himself, Reiner drops the act and pleads with him to save Gabi from their "pitch black future". It isn't clear exactly how far Reiner's doubts go, but he's clearly no longer as loyal as he once was.
• Establishing Character Moment: When he takes Armin's pack during a training run, and risks them both getting in trouble to help Armin out. This is, of course, the beginning of a montage establishing the main cast through a narration by their instructor.
• Evil All Along: Zigzagged all over the place. He's an enemy of Paradis, and provides information to aid Annie's attack on the 57th Expedition... but he also cared about his comrades in the 104th, and is a complex character deeply disturbed by the actions he's been forced to take.
• Evil Counterpart: To Eren, being the physical powerhouse and most emotional of the three protagonists. Basically, he's a case study in what Eren would have been if he had grown up in Marley instead of Shiganshina. He has his passionate nature, his drive to succeed, and forms strong bonds with his True Companions. However, due to the poisonous propaganda he was raised with, his fervent hatred is directed against Eldians instead of Titans. Later becomes an inverted case. See Good Counterpart below.
• Exact Words: When starting training with the 104th Training Corps, he claims that he's here "to save humanity." In reality, he's not talking about saving the humans of Paradis from the Titans, but the rest of humanity from the Eldians inside the walls.
• Eye Scream: In Chapter 76, his former comrades show up during his fight with Eren equipped with the new "Thunder Spear" weapon, a large spike loaded with explosives that can be launched like a harpoon then detonated. First thing they did upon entering the fray? They went straight for the eyes, blinding him.
• Face Death with Dignity: After being mutilated at the Battle of Shiganshina Reiner makes sure to give the Survey Corps Ymir's parting letter to Historia. After he does so Hange asks Reiner if he intends to give them any information on his allies. Reiner merely grits his teeth, gives a small smile, and says "nope", knowing that it means his death. Although it gets subverted once Zeke arrives to rescue him.
• Failed a Spot Check: Turns out Eren's been shadowing him since Chapter 93; possibly longer. Completely justified, too. Reiner's got a lot on his mind, and there was no way he could have known that the Eldians had found a way off Paradis.
• False Friend: He's the friendliest of the infiltrators, and earns everyone's trust with little effort. However, he ends up starting to care about them and this contributes to his mental breakdown.
• Fee Fi Faux Pas: During his family dinner, he discusses his time on Paradis and the "horrible" people living there. He quickly realizes his mistake, and asks everyone to forget what he'd said.
• The Fettered: His strong sense of duty inspires Eren to take his role as a soldier more seriously, and is the thing that consistently keeps him bound to a certain course of action.
• Field Promotion: In the chaotic aftermath of the attack on Liberio, Reiner is promoted to War Chief and brought to the table as part of Marley's surviving top-brass. This grants him the authority to participate in planning their next move, and command their surprise attack on Paradis.
• Flashback Echo: He recalls Marcel's death at the hands of a Titan, while desperately attempting to hold off a Titan breaking through a door.
• Foreshadowing: Oh, so many subtle hints exist prior to the revelation of his true identity.
  • When Eren describes the appearance of the Armored Titan, Reiner is seen listening intently.
  • Reiner tells Eren that there is something he has to do, before he can return home. Bear in mind that this doesn't add up with his cover story- the "village" that the Warriors claim to come from was destroyed and their initial goal to join the MP's would take them farther away from there.
  • During the attack on Trost, Reiner advises Annie and Bertolt to let "them" gather before making their move.
  • Reiner is the most outspoken concerning the Rogue Titan, repeatedly inquiring about its origins and advising the others to rescue it.
  • When Eren partially transforms during the Trost arc, the telltale lighting and explosion sound leave everyone stunned.. except for Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie, who immediately rush toward it to investigate.
  • During the cleanup operation, he advises a traumatized Annie that apologies are useless. The only thing they can do is mourn and continue moving forward. He later reveals that he is overwhelmed by guilt, but feels there is nothing left to him but completing his mission.
  • He expresses interest in Eren's whereabouts in the formation, and immediately afterwards engages the Female Titan. After he escapes her grasp, she suddenly moves off in the direction Armin estimated Eren might actually be. This proves to be key evidence in exposing him as a spy.
  • A slightly less subtle example from the same situation. After Reiner escapes, his body is steaming, similar to the way a Titan Shifter does while healing.
  • He offers to help Connie sneak away when the rookies are placed under house arrest, stating that he suspects their superiors are looking for something in their group.
  • When Ragako village is found in ruins, he actively discourages Connie from thinking too much about how the House Titan resembles his mother.
  • Some that are non-related to his identity happen in Chapter 77: At the start of the chapter we see how he's responsible, along with Annie and Bertolt, for Marco's famously gorey death in which half his head and upper body are bitten off. At the end of the chapter, there's a similarly in-your-face scene of Reiner with the top half of his head removed. In the same chapter, he jokes to Bertolt about how anyone would mistake a stupid bastard rushing in to save them from a life-or-death situation for a handsome prince, even Annie. Ship tease for both ships aside, Bertolt certainly does come flying in to do just that — but it's for Reiner, who just roared to summon him again.
  • His comment referring to himself, Bertolt, and Annie as "short-lived mass murderers" is our first hint of the Curse of Ymir. He knows they only have 6 years left before the Curse kills them.
• From Bad to Worse: For Reiner and Bertolt when Eren reveals he does indeed have the "Coordinate" power.
  Reiner: This is the worst... Of all people, the Coordinate... has fallen into the hands of the worst possible person...
• Genius Bruiser: Hinted at, with Bonus Material mentioning he was one of the few people able to play Chess against Armin. Even so, Eren states he doesn't think Reiner is "clever enough" to be The Mole.
• Gentle Giant: Built like a linebacker, but is the resident Team Dad whom the others rely on for support.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Reiner alone pulls this off in human form when staring down Levi, who just stabbed him through the neck. This is notable, as Levi has in the past been seen with a red glint in his own eye, indicative of his Ackerman gene triggering. His Titan is also the only one never seen without glowing eyes.
• Good Counterpart: Reiner becomes this to Eren after the Time Skip, having previously served as Eren's Evil Counterpart before the Time Skip. The season 4 key visual even flips the persepctives from the original◊. With Reiner now looking up at Eren as he attacks his homeland.
• Good Feels Good: He's a firm believer in this principle.
• Hair Color Spoiler: Once the audience figures out the pattern of Morphic Resonance that Human Titans and their human forms have, Reiner's distinct build is a giveaway that he's the Armored Titan. To a lesser extent his actual hair resembles the Armored Titan's a bit.
• Half-Truth: It seems that what he says about his and Bertolt's backstory is at least partially true.
  • Double Meaning: Excels in doing this. An enormous percent of the things he does or says have a different significance, with the knowledge that he's The Mole.
  • Unreliable Expositor: Even Bertolt isn't entirely sure when to believe things Reiner says, due to his delusional episodes. As such, the audience doesn't know when he's been telling the truth, acting intentionally, or being influenced by his delusions concerning who he really is.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: Inverted. Reiner started out as the weakest and least talented of the Warriors, and had to overcome this enormous disadvantage through persistence and hard work. Though played straight with the reveal that Reiner shouldn't have received the Armored Titan. Marcel's brother Porco should have, but Marcel manipulated the results so Reiner would get the spot and Porco would stay safe. Reiner doesn't take this bombshell well.
• Healing Factor: He's shown to be able to consciously control it, enabling him to avoid blowing his cover when a Titan munches on his arm. He later heals it in an instant, once he decides to fight Eren. Taken to new heights when he gets his head blown off, he manages to survive by transferring his consciousness to the rest of his nervous system and even begins to grow a new one, brain and all.
• Heel–Face Turn: He teams up with his former Survey Corps comrades to help stop the Rumbling and save the world in the final arc.
• Heel Realization: He even calls himself a "villain" during his breakdown. Later, when Eren calls him a "murderous demon", he admits that he knows it.
• Hero Antagonist: Played with. His A Father to His Men and Big Brother Mentor attitude makes The Reveal that he was The Mole and an antagonist all along that much more shocking both in and out-of-universe, and the reveal of the more unsavory actions he took to maintain that cover prevent him from being seen too sympathetically or in a heroic light but rather highlight his status as a Tragic Villain. However, he gets the spotlight in the Marley Arc, which also highlights even further his Mirror Character status to Eren and how his past and present continue to haunt him, and when Eren steps back into the plot and reveals the full extent of his own Protagonist Journey to Villain, Reiner ends up taking Eren's previous spot in the Hourglass Plot as the Titan Shifter out to save his loved ones and home (and later the whole world) from the Titan threat to match him.
• Heroic BSoD: He went into shock after learning that Marcel influenced the selection process, unable to cope with realizing he didn't earn his Titan. This is the state he was still in, when Ymir's Titan emerged from the ground and attacked him...
  • It's implied that he's been stuck in a permanent B.S.O.D. ever since he ordered Marco killed, often switching between the "My Country, Right or Wrong" Reiner and the "True Companions of the Survey Corps" Reiner.
• Heroic Build: He stands out upon the soldiers for his heavy build. This actually becomes an issue, when they're in a Titan-infested area with only one horse and three people. Reiner is too heavy for the horse to carry him and a second person, and still run at full speed.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • Attempts one to protect Connie, but is saved at the last moment by the others.
  • In the final battle, he wrestles the origin of the titans at ground zero of Armin's explosive transformation to kill Eren, though the Survey Corps do expect Reiner to survive.
• Heroic Wannabe: Bertolt describes him as having always been one, which goes about as well as can be expected in this sort of series.
• A Hero to His Hometown: On Paradis Island, he is viewed as a mass murderer and a traitor. Back in Marley, he is a living symbol of Marley's military strength and treated with considerable admiration by the residents of Liberio. When he travels through the ghetto market in the morning, the people stop to warmly greet and praise him. To be fair, the Liberio residents were never told what exactly transpired during Reiner's mission and only know what the Marley Government wanted them to know.
• He's Back!: Broken out of his Angst Coma by the sound of Gabi and Falco screaming for him to save Galliard, giving him the strength for an incomplete transformation that lasts long enough to drive Eren off. Once he recovers from the battle, he's shown to have regained his sense of purpose and has taken over as the leader of the Warriors.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Bertolt is clearly the most important person in his life, and the two are rarely seen apart.
• Hidden Depths:
  • He looks like a typical bruiser, but he provides emotional support to the others and cracks randy jokes to lighten the mood during tense moments. His graduating 2nd in his class suggests he's also far more intelligent than expected.
  • Deep down, Reiner has never stopped loving and cherishing his friends at Paradis, which plays a great part on the overwhelming guilt he feels for what he did to them.
• History Repeats: Within moments of recalling his friend Taking the Bullet for him in the past, Reiner nearly sacrifices himself to protect Connie in the exact same manner.
• His Story Repeats Itself: Marcel's death saving him from a Titan was one of the most significant events in Reiner's life, haunting him nearly a decade later. Porco Galliard, Marcel's younger brother and the latest wielder of the Jaws Titan, repeats his brother's sacrifice and saves Reiner from being eaten by a mindless Titan at the cost of his own life.
• Hot-Blooded: Extremely passionate, and masculine to the extreme. It's hard to believe he's only seventeen.
  • As a child, he was 100% raw determination and passion. That passion was tempered a bit as he grew older, and has pretty much faded entirely as a result of his trauma.
• Hunk: Ruggedly handsome, and his looks are in stark contrast to most other males in the story, who tend to be slim pretty boys. If he wasn't one before, he most definitely is after the 4 year Timeskip. Justified as it is later revealed that Reiner is half-Marleyan and inherited his father's build.
• Hunter of His Own Kind: He kills Titans so his cover won't be blown. Also, his ultimate goal is to hunt and kill Eldians even though he himself is half Eldian.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: His sense of obligation kept Reiner from killing himself, but he ends up begging Eren to kill him.
• Identity Breakdown: Suffering from a long one due to being a double agent for Marley. The bonds he made with the other recruits of the Survey Corps, particularly those with Marco, were strong enough that when he has to drop the facade to kill Marco for overhearing him, Annie, and Bertholdt discuss their secret plans, he exhibits clear disassociative behavior, killing the titan that had just killed Marco in a rage, despite setting Marco up to be eaten in the first place. This does not let up even when he's older as the guilt he felt for betraying the Survey Corps, mixed with the growing realization that the people within the walls may not be the Devils he was raised to believe them to be, has turned him into a Death Seeker as he seeks absolution for his deeds.
• If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: He forced Annie to take Marco's gear, to prove that she hadn't become compromised. Ironically, this act ends up breaking them both, emotionally and mentally.
• Ignored Epiphany: After Eren rejects him, he briefly admits that he's losing it and has completely lost his moral compass. This moment of despair and remorse is immediately followed by him deciding that he's already done too much, and that his only choice left is to continue his mission. He then throws the proverbial crap in the fan, kidnapping Eren and Ymir.
• Ignored Expert: A particularly egregious example occurs as the Marleyan generals discuss how the second invasion of Paradis Island could be carried out. Reiner, who spent five whole years there, provides them with several logically-sound scenarios based on the knowledge he gained during that time, with each scenario having its own advantages and disadvantages. The generals disregard pretty much everything he tells them, saying that it was a mistake to formulate any plans with Eldians.
• I Have No Son!: After inheriting the Armored Titan, Reiner finally got to meet his father... who called him a monster and slammed the door in his face.
• I Just Want to Be Free: As a child, he dreamed about living free from the interment camps. He seems to have lost such hopes after a decade of disillusionment and loss.
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: He harbors considerable guilt over Annie's capture and the deaths of Marcel and Bertolt, suffering hallucinations of them and nightmares of the Colossal Titan's defeat.
• Inadequate Inheritor: Since Marcel was intended to be the leader of their mission, after his death he did everything in his capacity to fulfill the former's role; judging on how things went, this didn't work too well.
  • Even in regards to gaining the Armored Titan form. Porco constantly taunted him during training, saying he didn't have what it took. And he was right. The only reason Reiner was the one chosen to inherit the Titan power was because Marcel meddled in the results to have Reiner inherit it over Porco, who was the true legitimate candidate, to keep him out of danger. This revelation didn't help Reiner's morale one bit.
• Instant Armor: Part of being a Titan Shifter, and literal in his case since he is the Armored Titan.
• Interrupted Suicide: His suicide attempt is interrupted by Falco passing by the room, grumbling about his weakness. Reiner concludes he's got to continue living, for the sake of the kids.
• Irony:
  • Reiner bemoans to Eren and Armin the fact that, after having his arm broken saving Connie from a Titan, and almost getting crushed by the Female Titan, that if things keep up the way they are he won't have long to live. Not only does Reiner end up continuously surviving what should be lethal blows he ends up lasting longer then all of his other friends and teammates in the Warriors regardless of if he wants to or not.
  • He's identified by his instructor for having incredible willpower and mental fortitude. The others rely upon him and consider him a stable, reliable person. His Titan form is also almost completely invulnerable due to its armor plating. In fact, he's mentally and emotionally unstable, and the least sane of the Titan infiltrators.
• It's All My Fault: As a result of his guilt, Reiner took full responsibility for the failure of the Paradis operation and was very nearly stripped of the Armored Titan. While his Sanity Slippage caused issues for the mission, he readily accepts the blame for the mistakes his comrades also made. It's also worth mentioning that the mission in Paradis continued due to his efforts, even though his comrades wanted to return to Liberio as soon as possible. Later on, he breaks down and says it word for word while begging Eren to kill him.
• It's Personal: The revelation of Reiner being a Titan Shifter shook all of their comrades to the deep core, to the point that most, if not all of them, hesitate to kill him at some point. They care for him that much.
• I've Come Too Far: He resolves that after everything he's done, the only option left to him is to complete his mission or die trying.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: In stark contrast to his usual behavior, once his cover is blown he begins expressing some pretty jaded views about himself and the world. He has a very fatalistic view of things, describing the fate of a Warrior as "pitch-black" and wants to protect Gabi from suffering the same fate.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He tells Annie and Bertolt that their lives would be forfeit if they dare to return to Marley after collectively abandoning Marcel. Annie berates him and kicks his ass for assuming that he's trying to drag them down with him for something that it's his fault, but Reiner retorts by arguing that if they return empty-handed, they're as good as dead regardless of who takes the blame. He then tells them that he'll take the role of "Marcel" in the group if that's what they need to complete the mission.
• Jumped at the Call: As a child, Reiner threw himself wholeheartedly into his mission and couldn't wait to become a hero.
• Karmic Nod: He's resigned to living on borrowed time, as a result of his crimes. Of course, while his guilt and belief that he deserves to die are real, he's also cryptically referring to his, Bertolt and Annie's Tenure.
• Kick the Morality Pet: Nearly kills his former classmates with his frantic Titan-hurling routine. Armin even expresses shock at Reiner's reckless behavior, wondering if he even cares about the possibility of Eren being eaten in the process.
• Kill All Humans: He tells Eren their original mission was to exterminate mankind, though this doesn't seem to have been the complete truth. He also retracts this, stating that if Eren comes with them, killing off Paradis will no longer be necessary. However, that offer seems to have expired as of Chapter 78. Bertolt lays out two goals: get Eren and destroy the humans within the Walls. It seems the two goals aren't interchangeable anymore.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: The game Escape from Certain Death includes a sequence where he rescues and befriends a skittish kitten.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: After the top portion of his head finished regenerating, all of the memories he had between giving Bertolt a pre-battle pep talk and Bertolt telling him to flip his Titan form on its back to avoid being caught in the blast he was about to create disappeared as a side effect. This ended up being critical to finally taking him down as he had no memory of the Thunder Spears being able to destroy his armor, allowing the surviving soldiers a second chance at using them effectively.
• The Leader: Becomes this to the Titan Shifters, making most of their decisions. Annie, the loner among them, follows instructions he gives her at least twice and Bertolt tends to look to him for any course of action.
• Lineage Comes from the Father: Gender-Inverted. He was able to become the Armored Titan because his mother is an Eldian, while he gained nothing from his Marleyan father.
• Living with the Villain: Ymir was the Titan that killed his friend years ago, much to his shock.
• The Load: Initially, out of his whole generation's batch of warrior candidates, Reiner possessed zero talents to speak of, only making it into the "Warrior" program due to his over-zealous Undying Loyalty to the Marley's cause, much to his distress.
• Loose Lips: In an effort to prevent Eren from trying to escape, Reiner rather foolishly tells Eren, whose arms and legs had been cut off, that he's unable to use his Titan Power while his severed limbs were healing. This information ended up being instrumental to defeating Reiner, Bertolt, and Zeke at the battle to reclaim Shiganshina.
• Made of Iron: He survives a Titan's attempt to crush him and manages to walk it off. Even by the standards of a Titan Shifter, he is famously tough as nails. His ability to survive getting his head blown off (not his Titan's head, Reiner's actual head) is now legend among the other Warriors, and he manages to survive being blown to pulp by a battleship's artillery.
• Madness Mantra: In Chapter 95, flashbacks show him trying to cope with being rejected by his father and learning his selection was rigged through repeating a phrase. Instead of reassuring or calming him, it just comes across as desperate.
  "I am a Warrior chosen to inherit the Armored Titan. I will save everyone from the devils on Paradis Island. I'll be the hero that saved the world."
• Major Injury Underreaction: Barely slowed down when he's injured by a Titan. Later, he's not even slowed down when Mikasa cuts one of his arms off and horrifically mangles the other. He still manages to get back up and fight. Levi stabs him through the neck, one of the only ways to kill a Titan Shifter, actually severing his spinal cord and nearly his whole head, as well as putting another sword straight through his heart and spine. Once he is shown inside his Titan, he's seen to casually force it out of his throat while reflecting on how good it is that he has his latest-revealed power. Bonus points for Reiner's loose lips indirectly leading to Armin gaining the Colossal Titan power and subsequently devastate the Marleyan fleet, literally sinking ships.
• Male Gaze: He refers to the Female Titan, a partially-skinless horror currently rampaging her way through the Right Flank, as having a "nice ass". Of course, he may have been talking about the chick inside it.
• Mama's Boy: Raised by a single mother, basically everything he's done has been for her.
• Manly Man: A hot-blooded, ruggedly handsome Big Brother type. His design stands out from the others, overflowing with masculinity in contrast to everyone else being a gangly teenager.
• Mask of Sanity: His fractured mind gave this impression, making him seem like a stable and reliable individual.
• Meaningful Name: "Reiner" means "Deciding Warrior", alluding to his status as the leader and decision-maker of the Titan Trio.
• Mighty Glacier: He's not particularly fast compared to the others (especially Jean, Connie, and Mikasa) but he's one of the most physically strong recruits, being able to shrug off a Titan's attempt to crush him then cut his way out. His bulkiness and relative slowness do sometimes work against him, as Glass Cannon Annie makes quick work of him using his size against him in hand-to-hand combat training and later on something similar happens to his Titan form.
• Mirror Character: It turns out, he has many things in common with Eren. They were both children that grew up dreaming of escaping their confinement, and had an extremely naive view of the world. They both ended up abandoned by their fathers and they entered the military due to the influence of their mothers. Both believed they could save humanity simply through exterminating a faceless, "demonic" enemy and devoted themselves to this cause. In training, both were defined by their raw determination and lack of any exceptional skills... as well as having a loud-mouthed rival that they physically fought with. They both learned that they were The Unchosen One for their respective missions and only got their powers due to other peoples actions rather then their own merits. And both eventually had their simplistic worldview shattered through discovering that the "monsters" they sought to destroy were people just like them. Either one of them could have easily ended up following the same path, had their situations been reversed.
  Eren: "Why?" Really? You don't get it? I'm the same as you. I didn't have any other choice. That's why.
• Misanthrope Supreme: Not Reiner himself, but he is the one to reveal that evidently those from the Homeland are brought up to think this way, clearly to prepare them for war. The war chief, the Beast Titan, that he works for seems to live by this belief, that humans are evil and corrupt. On one half, obviously growing up alongside humans has tainted this view for Reiner, Annie, and Bertolt. On the other, the saddening thing is that, from a viewpoint of having been brought up under that belief, you could almost say it's right. The Titan Trio seem privy to many secrets, possibly including those of the Reiss house — which include letting a serial killer head a secret police to hinder technology and having a ritualistic practice of feeding their family members to a new one to pass on a hypnotic will. They also would have grown up to see that, in the midst of the death and destruction they themselves caused, humanity can be cruel, unsympathetic, and brutally self-serving, a point the manga repeatedly makes.
• Missed the Call: Reiner was going to be the spare, not Galliard. But Marcel interfered with the selection to protect his brother, leading to Reiner getting the Armored Titan.
• A Mistake Is Born: His mere existence is grounds for the entire family being executed, if his heritage were to be discovered. Karina dotes on him, but his father makes it painfully clear that Reiner's birth was a horrible mistake. He even goes so far as to suggest Karina kept Reiner out of spite.
• The Mole: One of the Titan Shifters sent to infiltrate the ranks.
• Morality Pet: The others became this to him, in particular Connie and Krista.
• Morphic Resonance: Played straight and averted. In present day, Reiner's Armored Titan looks incredibly similar to him, as far as build, hairstyle, and eye color. However, it looks exactly the same 5 years prior, when he was twelve and no doubt looked drastically different.
• Mr. Fanservice: Played for Laughs in the Smartpass extras, with a comical story of a Shirtless Scene witnessed by the girls of the 104th. After enjoying the show, the girls ended up getting handsy with him (with a little encouragement from Ymir).
  • Though leaner, he's definitely grown into an incredibly handsome adult. A Shirtless Scene and the appearance of his incomplete Titan form both serve as a demonstration of his good looks.
• Murder Makes You Crazy: Ymir accurately guesses that his guilt over his role in the destruction of Wall Maria caused him to flee into his false identity as an Eldian soldier to escape.
• Muscles Are Meaningful:
  • He's described as having the strength and constitution of an Ox. At one point, he hoists a roughly 3-meter Titan over his shoulders in a Fireman's Carry and schleps it up a flight of stairs to throw it out a window. With it gnawing on his broken forearm the entire time. Even though Titans are lighter than their size suggests, it's still an insane display of physical strength.
  • On top of the protective plating, the Armored Titan is noticeably buffer than Eren's Titan and it shows in their fight; while Eren's punches have virtually no effect on him, each of the Reiner's punches send the Attack Titan flying in the air and easily break his jaw. Eren has to resort to using techniques he learned from Annie (that is, techniques designed for weaker people to subdue stronger foes) to bring him down.
• Mutilation Conga: As far as Chapters 70 and beyond are concerned, a panel where Reiner isn't a bloody mess is a panel wasted. Let's see... Stabbed through the neck by Levi, stabbed through the heart and spine in the same instance, has the entire top half of his head blown off, doesn't even finish regenerating that before he's blown out of his Titan again, sustains a gaping gash in his abdomen from that instance of being blown out of his Titan, subsequently has his limbs chopped off, and to round it off has his throat slashed open by Hange in an attempt to torture information out of him. Goddamn. Is there anything else this man can suffer?
• My Country, Right or Wrong: Implied to be the entire impetus for all his actions. As hinted to when he killed Marco, again when he broke down to Eren and recently after the four-year timeskip when regarding the Titan Shifter's fate as "cursed", he deeply resents himself and possibly even his country for both everything he's done, everything Bertolt and Annie had to do and how the latter two ended up dead and MIA respectively. But he's still a soldier of Marley and a holder of one of the Titan powers, so he'll follow his obligations and duties to what he knows is going to be a bitter end, no matter how hellish it turns out — and no matter how much he desires otherwise. He continues to serve Marley, in spite of having serious doubts.
• My God, What Have I Done?: The guilt over his actions leaves his mind shattered, which seems to have started with killing Marco.
• My Greatest Failure:
  • Throughout the story, it's shown that Reiner felt personally responsible for the death of Marcel and made every effort possible to evoke him, and do justice to his lost friend and their cause. Contrary to Porco's speculation, Reiner did not imitate Marcel out of selfishness, but for the sake of Bertolt and Annie, who would have faltered otherwise.
  • He considers himself the sole responsible party in the failure of the mission to Paradis and shoulders the blame on his own to the Marleyan authorities. He is ashamed of the deaths of Marcel and Bertolt, and both his treatment towards Annie and the loss of her on one hand; on the other, he is plagued by the feelings of guilt over his role in the massacring of the Paradian Eldians and the betrayal he incurred into against his comrades on the 104th.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: He helped teach Eren to take his responsibility as a soldier more seriously, and introduced him to Annie — an event that would lead to Eren learning the skills later used to defeat Reiner in battle. His attempts to coax Eren into cooperating also make the other Shifter more determined to not let himself be taken.
  • When Eren wakes up in the forest after their first battle with both of his arms cut off, Reiner makes a point to tell him that he's unable to generate a Titan while his body is healing from severe injuries to dissuade him from trying to escape. This ends up being one of the worst mistakes Reiner makes in the entire series; Up until that point, the Survey Corps believed that there was no way to capture an enemy Titan Shifter alive. During the battle to reclaim Shiganshina, when Levi and Eren take out the Beast Titan and Colossal Titan respectively, they intentionally lob off Zeke and Bertolt's limbs to prevent them from Titan Shifting again. In Bertolt's case, severing his limbs kept him subdued long enough to be eaten by Armin as a Mindless Titan, granting the Survey Corps with another Titan Shifter on their side.
  • As of Chapter 97, we can add "Deception" to the skill list. Eren's infiltrated Marley with similar subterfuge techniques that Reiner used; such as a exploiting benefit of the doubt, Selective Honesty, and suppressing his Healing Factor.
• Noble Demon: He's respected for his strong sense of duty and honor, but this proves to be a fatal flaw for him. Being forced to act against his conscience for the sake of his mission has eroded his sanity, and left him deeply uncertain.
• No Brows: According to the design notes, though most of the time it looks like they're merely blond and very thin.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Reiner's design is noticeably more masculine and bulky than pretty much all of the other characters, who tend to be on the slim side.
• No One Should Survive That!: This is the general reaction when the top half of his head is blown off, and he still gets back up.
• Normally, I Would Be Dead Now: Levi tries to kill him while in human form by cutting his head off, but fails and Reiner transforms anyway As it turns out, it should very well have killed Reiner, but it doesn't.
• Off with His Head!: The attack with the Thunder Spears blows his head off above the jaw. This apparently still isn't enough to kill him, and is even capable of recovering from it.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • When Eren first uses the power of The Coordinate to control the Titan horde. He immediately thinks that Eren is the worst person to possess that ability.
  • When he sees the new weapon the Survey Corps have brought to the Shiganshina battle, and realizes within half a minute it's going to kill him.
  • In a flashback, he elicits one from his fellow Warriors when he makes Annie remove Marco's gear during the Battle of Trost in order for him to be eaten by Titans. After witnessing Marco getting chewed on by a Titan and both Annie and Bertolt are crying inconsolably at the sight, Reiner surreptitiously asks them why is Marco being eaten. This is the first time that both Annie and Bertolt start realizing that something's gone wrong in Reiner's mind.
  • The stunned look on his face when he sees Eren for the first time in years speaks volumes.
  • He gets another one a few seconds later when he realizes why Eren chose to meet him in that particular spot.
    Eren: "This is a nice place. You can hear the stage pretty well from here. The people living here must have a good view. All of them gathered by the window, waiting for the curtain to go up... right above us." (points up, letting Reiner see the fresh cut on his hand)
  • And then when he asks Eren the reason he's in Marley, and his reply is "Same as you".
  • Then he has a completely different reaction when the "I'm going to make you suffer" comment. Eren's response is a rather sheepish "... just forget I said that", causing Reiner's mind to skip a few cogs.
  • He doesn't react to Eren beginning to transform, not until he realizes that Falco is still there. He might not care about his own life, but Reiner is terrified that the boy is in danger.
• The Only Believer: While Annie, Marcel, and Bertolt all seemed to realise, to varying degrees, that the mission to destroy Paradis Island was a Necessarily Evil at best, poor Reiner genuinely believed that the people on Paradis Island were demons that needed to die in order to save the world. Suffice it to say, he suffered for his beliefs once he learned the truth.
• Oppressed Minority Veteran: He's devoted his entire life to serving Marley, and in spite of his many achievements and status of Marley's heroic champion.....Reiner is still a second-class citizen, treated only marginally better than his fellow Eldians. His family remains imprisoned in the Internment Zone, he remains under constant observation by the government, and his superiors humiliate him when his expert opinion contradicts their whims.
• Opt Out: Played for laughs when he considers fleeing from a sparring match with Annie, and in the second OVA where he tries to abandon the hunt for the monstrous boar.
• Organ Dodge: Performs this in the battle at Shiganshina; where after most of his bodies' upper head was destroyed by Thunder Spears; he managed to shift his entire conscious mind throughout the nervous system of his Titan body in order for his Healing Factor to kick in and repair the damage.
• Past Experience Nightmare: His trauma is partially revealed through his nightmares of being attacked by Levi and Mikasa, as well as helplessly watching the Colossal Titan fall.
• Perma-Stubble: Starts sporting this from the time skip of Chapter 91.
• Person of Mass Destruction: He's responsible for the death of a large percentage of Paradis people.
• Pet the Dog:
  • He instructs Ymir to take her chance to escape, knowing that her life is forfeit if she goes with them... but also that they can't go back empty-handed, having failed their mission. Ymir returns the gesture by refusing to leave.
  • Before the Battle of Shiganshina Reiner admits to Bertolt that one of their priorities is to protect Historia as a thank you to Ymir for saving them. After being defeated Reiner desperately tries to get a metal case out of his pocket to give to the Survey Corps. The case in question contains a letter from Ymir to Historia that Reiner promised he would deliver.
• Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: Overwhelmed with guilt, he throws himself at Eren's feet and begs the other man to kill him.
• Punch-Clock Villain: His compartmentalization is taken to an extreme degree, but overall when he isn't actively carrying out his mission he's a friendly and supportive comrade. He holds no ill will towards Paradis, and is bothered by what his mission requires him to do... but even so, he has a strong sense of duty. He can be brutal and merciless when carrying out his duty, but offer advice or help when just passing the time.
• Refuge in Audacity: While it can be attributed to Sanity Slippage, Reiner sincerely thought that if he just revealed the identity of himself (and a very shocked Bertolt), then Eren would actually just go along with what was happening and leave everything behind for the two people responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of people including Eren's mom.
• Regretful Traitor: When he attempts to bad-mouth the 104th in line with Marleyan propaganda, he ends up smiling wistfully and fails to actually insult any of them. It's clear that he still cares about them, after all that's happened. The horrified looks worn by his family force him to immediately backpedal, and parrot the usual propaganda.
• Rescue Romance: Discussed. Reiner jokes that even Annie isn't immune to this and would fall for Bertolt if they go rescue her.
• Revenge by Proxy: Reiner's dad tells him in considerable distress that his mom had him just to get back at him, and that by doing so (and by making Reiner enlist into the Warrior Program), she's nothing short of endangering his whole legitimate family out of spite.
• Running Gag: His desire to marry Krista whenever she's kind to him. It even shows up in the epilogue!
• Sanity Slippage: His sanity has been slipping for an unspecified period of time, with his grasp on his true self growing weaker. By the time he spills everything to Eren, he's gone over the deep end and progressively gets worse as the day goes on. Ymir finally comments on his condition, and he seems to finally realize how far gone he actually is by that point. It's later shown that his erratic behavior began due to his and his fellow Warriors' killing of Marco; in fact, the first sign of his mind breaking is when he suddenly becomes surprised and horrified at the sight of Marco being eaten, as if he suddenly didn't remember that he was the one who gave the order to leave Marco to die.
• Secret Identity: The Armored Titan. As a result of his guilt, he's begun to lose sight of his true self.
• Secret Test: He threatens Falco for questioning their superiors, but reveals his true intentions once Falco proves his determination.
• Self-Harm: Transforms by slicing open his palm with a knife.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Zigzagged. While at first it would seem he's the Manly Man to Bertolt's Sensitive Guy, these roles reverse as the series progresses, particularly after they both are revealed as The Mole. As Reiner becomes increasingly wracked with guilt over his actions, he suffers Sanity Slippage that makes him more emotional and prone to outbursts, whereas Bertolt remains comparatively stoic.
• Shadow Archetype: Thanks to the story, post Time Skip, focusing on his past a lot more Reiner and Eren basically serve as shadows of one another. At this point, it seems as if the two are basically the same character just viewed from opposite sides of the war.
  • To make things complicated, it's not really clear who's the Shadow anymore.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: From forming a relationship with his father to protecting Marley from the "devils" of Paradise Island, everything he's ever aspired to do in his entire life has gone horribly wrong and ended in utter failure. Even worse, there's very little room for things to get better because he only has two years to live (at the most) and not much power to sway the situation in his favor. Understandably, he's kind of become a shell of his former self as a result of the trauma. His attempts to help Gabi and Falco seem to be heading in the same direction, if Eren's presence in Marley is any indication.
• Shared Unusual Trait: His large nose and unusual height, shared with Bertolt.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: He demonstrates numerous signs of Post-Traumatic Stress, from having nightmares about the Battle of Shiganshina to hallucinating his subordinates as his childhood friends. He's a very broken man, and even refers to himself as having a "black future".
• Shipper on Deck: He repeatedly tells Bertolt that he should confess his feelings to Annie, encouraging his friend to have confidence.
• Shipper with an Agenda: He recognizes Ymir's feelings for Historia, and encourages her to act to protect the girl she loves. This is done to convince Ymir to cooperate with them, but he ends up promising to deliver her letter to Historia. He does this by giving the letter to the soldiers currently trying to hack his limbs off and begging them to make sure the letter gets to its intended destination.
• Shirtless Scene: Hange and the others saw fit to remove his shirt after blowing him out of his Titan, most likely in the process of searching him. Like the other examples so far, this isn't so much Fanservice as horrifying, given that Reiner's face has yet to fully regenerate and his limbs have all been lopped off.
• Significant Birth Date: Played with Laughs. August 1st is celebrated as Yaoi Day, due to the Otaku shorthand of 801 being used for the genre.
• Silent Scapegoat: By his own volition, he shouldered the whole responsibility for the failure of the Paradis campaign. What the Marley authorities and his comrades at the Warrior program didn't take into consideration is that Reiner and the Warriors of the campaign were not a match for the might of the Eldian fighters of Paradis, who massively outplayed them; so much, that there's no guarantee of a different outcome if they had given the Armored Titan to someone else. In fact, Reiner's former comrades at the 104th are so worthy of admiration that Reiner has difficulties badmouthing them when he's at home at Liberio.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Due to his feelings for Krista in canon he and Ymir often butt heads in official parodies such as Attack on Titan: Junior High.
• Sole Survivor: Marcel and Bertolt both ended up dying, while Annie was captured and encased herself in crystal. As a result, Reiner is the only one out of the original team to make it back from the island.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • As it turns out, Reiner was one to the entire Paradis Operation. Galliard was going to be selected for the mission, but Marcel rigged the selection to protect his brother. This led to Reiner being chosen for the Armored Titan, something Marcel confessed to the others during their trip towards Wall Maria. The shock of learning he hadn't earned his Titan through honest means left Reiner vulnerable to attack, leading to Marcel's death and Ymir regaining her humanity.
  • Despite getting batted away by Eren during his attack on Marley, Reiner managed to prevent Eren from performing a near Total Party Kill by rescuing Porco.
• Spit Take: In Chapter 3, during Eren and Jean's argument. Out his nose. Armin has the misfortune of being sprayed in the process.
• Stepford Smiler: He actively tries to keep morale high, making awkward jokes or offering reassurances he knows aren't true. In this way, he's exceptional at keeping his issues as a Broken Ace well hidden.
• Stranger in a Familiar Land: Ironically, Reiner spent his five years on Paradis fighting to return home. However, his experiences there has changed him too much, making it impossible for him to embrace the propaganda that his family believes in. When the Braun family gathers for a celebratory dinner, he's clearly the odd man out and struggles to hide his true feelings about Gabi becoming a Warrior and the "demons" of the island. His mother, who he did everything to please, repeatedly gives him angry and horrified looks.
• The Strategist: Recent chapters have him bordering on The Chessmaster. He's able to counter-maneuver Erwin's own plan, even if he hasn't figured it out in its entirety, including countermeasures to his own side's attack that even Armin and Erwin themselves hadn't thought of. All of this in a few seconds.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Reiner was able to recognize a stranger as his biological father, because of this. Word of God states he also inherited his Heroic Build from his father.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes/Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: His amber eyes are an early hint of his true nature, both as a Titan Shifter and a spy.
• Superpower Lottery: His Titan form is covered with armored skin, making him nearly invincible. It takes a combination of Hange's brilliant mind, Mikasa's skill, and Eren's raw determination to get close to defeating him. He can also transfer his brain functions to the rest of his body in an instant, allowing him to survive getting stabbed through the spinal cord with a three-foot blade and getting his entire top half of his head blown off. Given that the only reliable way of killing a Titan Shifter is to get them in the head or neck, this makes him borderline impossible to kill earlier in the manga. In fact, the only thing that seems guaranteed to kill him is "The Curse of Ymir" that limits the Titan Shifter's lifespans, as there doesn't seem seem to be a way to physically end his life at the moment.
• Super-Soldier: He definitely evokes the idea, being incredibly tough. His powers make him stronger and tougher than an ordinary human, and his Titan form is strong enough to destroy the Walls and shrug off attacks.
• Super-Strength: By any sane metric Reiner should not have been able to lift a 3-meter tall titan with a broken forearm, but he ended up doing so without any regard for how it would affect himself. It also should be noted that no one else has replicate this particular feat.
• Survivor Guilt: Hinted to be at least part of the reason he's prone to throwing himself into harm's way for the sake of others. He shows major signs of this, having been the only member of the original four Warriors sent to the island to make it home. The fact that he wasn't supposed to be selected for that mission in the first place only compounded his animosity towards himself.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Annie confronted him over how attacking Wall Rose would result in the deaths of the other cadets, Reiner insisted they weren't his friends and gaining their trust was just part of the plan. It's painfully obvious he was the only one fooled by this claim.
• Sympathetic Murder Backstory: A traumatized mass murderer, clinging to the hope of going home someday. Everyone is deeply shaken by the revelation of his true identity, and react in varying ways to it.
• Take a Third Option: It took Reiner and his comrades two years to gather scant intel regarding the monarchy in the Three Walls. Annie states that there's two options: for her to try to seduce a noble in the interior (which she thinks she cannot pull off), or for the three of them to knock down Walls Rose and Sina and force themselves in (which Reiner dismisses, as it's a provocation for the monarchy to use the Coordinate). Reiner instead tells his comrades that they'll join the military and aim for the Military Police in the interior.
• Taking the Bullet: He throws himself between Zeke and a battleship's artillery, with both his Titan and human bodies being blown to pieces.
• Teacher's Pet: Galliard accuses him of spending his time as a candidate heaping praise on their Marleyan instructors, suggesting that brown-nosing is his only noteworthy talent.
• Team Dad: He's viewed as a big brother by the other Trainees, encouraging them and doing whatever he can to protect or help them. He's especially protective towards Armin.
  • Chapter 98 includes a montage that shows his nurturing tendencies are as strong as ever, spending the day buying the Candidates treats and gently chiding Gabi when she over-indulges. Though it's worrisome as well, as a reader can't help but remember what happened the last time Reiner invoked this trope. As if to remind him of this, Eren confronts him at the end of the chapter.
• That Man Is Dead:
  • To Eren, after suffering a relapse into his "Soldier" persona.
  • To Annie, after Marcel's death. Since she insisted that Marcel was necessary to complete their mission, he stated "Reiner" was dead and that he would become Marcel if that was what they needed.
• Those Two Guys: With Bertolt Hoover.
• Throat Light: Combines this with Glowing Eyes of Doom just before transforming during the Battle of Shinghansina.
• Took a Level in Badass: It turns out, he wasn't always The Ace. As a Warrior candidate, he lagged behind the others and struggled through his training. What he lacked in natural talent, he made up for with sheer determination and hard work (another way in which he resembles Eren).
• Toxic Friend Influence: A particularly dark example, during his time on Paradis. While he was a positive influence to the other recruits, he was shown to have been the one behind most of the Warriors' schemes and crimes. Bertolt simply went along with him on things, while Reiner and Annie frequently clashed over their plans and he pressured her into working with him. Negative influences aside, he genuinely cared for them both and thought he was doing what had to be done to get everyone home safely. It back-fired in his face, causing him to lose them both in the end.
• Tragic Dream: All Reiner ever wanted as a child was to reunite his Eldian mother and Marleyan father together and become a hero they could be proud of by wiping out the "devils" living on Paradis Island. Instead, Reiner's father hated him and slammed the door in his face when he tried to explain why he visited him and he didn't realise until after he knocked down the Walls that the demons he wanted to kill were just normal people, which eventually turned him into the broken man he is at present.
• Tragic Villain: He's perhaps the most tragic of the three Titan Shifters, trying so hard to be a hero while going slowly insane from guilt.
• Trapped in Villainy: He states that he's got no choice but to continue his mission, even while coming apart at the seams from remorse. Whether this is solely because of his sense of duty and understanding that he's already done too much to be forgiven is unclear.
  • His threat to test Falco in Chapter 93 indicates that Marley leverages their families to keep Warriors in line. If they anger their superiors or otherwise become suspect... another Warrior will devour them to inherit their powers, and their families will be turned into mindless Titans as punishment.
• Trauma Conga Line: Within a short period of time, he exposes himself to his former friends and suffers an emotional breakdown. Then, his superiors execute Ymir and force him to abandon any hopes of rescuing Annie by threatening his life. Soon afterwards, he returns to Shiganshina to face his friends in battle and is nearly killed three times. Their group is utterly defeated, with Zeke abandoning both the mission and leaving Bertolt to die. When he returns home in defeat, his only remaining friend blames him for Marcel's death and a war starts because Annie and Bertolt were lost. He spends the next 4 years fighting on the front lines as a Shell-Shocked Veteran, and is tasked with overseeing the children that are competing to become his successor when his life ends in 2 years.
• Trauma-Induced Amnesia: A variation involving altered memories, used to cope with the guilt of his role as the Armored Titan. It's unclear how long or how often he lapses into this state and forgets his true past, leaving many of his actions throughout the series in question. For example, he asked in abject horror why Marco was being devoured by a mindless Titan at the Battle of Trost District despite the fact that he had given the orders to that effect shortly beforehand.
• Troubled Backstory Flashback: During the siege of Castle Utgard, he recalls being attacked by a Titan several years earlier. His comrade, Marcel, pushed him to safety and was Eaten Alive in his place. Shortly after this flashback, Reiner pushes Connie to safety and is injured protecting him.
• Two First Names: Inverted, he has two last names; "Reiner" is more commonly a German surname rather than a given name.
• Tyke Bomb: He began his mission to infiltrate and exterminate Paradis at the age of 12, after beginning his training somewhere around 5 — 7 years old.
• The Unchosen One: As if the comparisons between him and Eren weren't enough already, Chapter 95 reveals that Reiner was never supposed to inherit the Armored Titan's power; Porco Galliard was. The only reason Reiner inherited that power was because Marcel rigged the selection process to keep his little brother safe, much like how Eren only received the Coordinate and Attack Titan because he was his father's son rather than any merit of his own.
• Undying Loyalty: Marley selected him as a Warrior not because he was talented or strong... but because he demonstrated blind, idealistic loyalty to the nation. This expressed willingness to do do anything for Marley is heavily implied to be the reason he was chosen to receive the Titan power that was functionally an artillery magnet.
• Unreliable Expositor: According to Colt, Reiner's report about Paradis indicated they likely didn't know anything about the inheritance of the Titan powers. In reality, Jean and Hange discussed taking the power of the Armored Titan, while holding Reiner prisoner. It's unknown whether he actually somehow missed the entire argument, or left that information out of his report. It's fair to remember that just some 30 minutes before (at the most), he had to regrow his whole head, so he could be excused for missing some details of the conversation.
  • Reiner also wasn't present during the events of the Uprising arc, which meant he didn't know about Anti-Personnel Gear, 3DM gear designed to fight humans.
• Unwitting Pawn: To the Marley government, and likely Zeke as well. He doesn't know it yet, but the entire reason for his mission was one big fat lie. Reiner was told that Fritz Kingdom was getting ready to unleash the Wall Titans on the world. But this was just an pretense that the expansionist Marley government cooked up; Truth of the matter is that they've got their eyes on the Coordinate, and the abundant resources under the Kingdom, in order to keep their grip on world power. Zeke, meanwhile, seems to have his own designs for the Coordinate. There is going to be hell to pay if Reiner ever finds out about this.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: As a child, he was a Wide-Eyed Idealist that cried easily and wanted to grow up to be a hero. Boy, did life crush that idealism out of him.
• Villainous Breakdown: After Erwin wounds Bertolt and successfully rescues Eren, Reiner goes from ignoring the human soldiers to chucking Titans at them. His actions are so reckless that Armin wonders whether or not he's even still concerned about Eren's safety. Hange later theorizes he was intentionally trying to kill Eren, having given up and decided to simply feed Eren to another Titan to make a new Shifter with the Coordinate.
• Villainous BSoD: Turns out, he's been having them all along. His guilt drove him insane, but the cracks finally show after the events of Castle Utgard. Then it goes From Bad to Worse.
• Villainous Crush: He's very smitten with Krista/Historia despite being one of the traitors. And he continous to lust after her even in the epilogue, three years after she got married and after his Heel–Face Turn.
  Jean: "For the last time, Reiner, stop lusting after a married woman! It's perverted!"
• Villainous Friendship: With Bertolt, his closest friend and partner. He's extremely protective of his friend, and their strong bond makes them a dangerous pair that fights effectively together.
• Villainous Valour: He's pretty much made of this trope, earning great respect from others due to his strong sense of duty, considerable courage, and selfless concern for others. When swarmed repeatedly by hordes of Titans, his only thought is for Bertolt's safety, leading him to attempt to fight the horde off one-handed.
• Villains Blend in Better: While Sasha struggles to fit in due to her backwoods upbringing, Reiner seamlessly blends in with his classmates.
• Vulgar Humor: His way of lightening the mood and boosting morale when they prepare to face life-or-death situations.
• We Can Rule Together: Successfully persuades Ymir to do a Face–Heel Turn, and repeatedly attempts to get Eren to cooperate with them. This has mostly resulted in screaming and violence.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Desperately wanted to make his mother proud, and meet his father.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Deconstructed to heartbreaking effect. While Eren points out that the Warriors were just brainwashed children that believed their mission would save the world, Reiner insists that it doesn't matter because it was still wrong. He's so overwhelmed with guilt and disgust that he begs for death.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: He was an incredibly naive, idealistic child. His mission quickly destroyed his view of the world and himself.
• Willfully Weak: While fighting in their Titan fight, Eren is shocked at his opponent's raw strength and thinks that Reiner always held back during combat training. If this is true, it's a testament to Reiner's intense skill, given he still managed to outdo most of the class with a 9/10 combat ranking while holding back.
• Worf Effect:
  • Chapter 70; Reiner's Titan Form has been brutally beaten, to the point that many armored areas on his body have broken off, by the Beast Titan. You know, in case we needed more proof that the Beast Titan is pants-shittingly terrifying.
  • Chapter 74-75; Reiner's armor in general has received a huge Worfing at the hands of Eren. While Reiner's armor was able to shatter the older and thicker walls, Eren's newfound ability to harden his flesh in combination with the raw muscle strength of the "Attack Titan" is able to return the favor to Reiner and shatter his armor "like thin sheets of ice".
  • Chapter 76; However, the most prominent of these is Hange's team using the Thunder Spears to destroy the armor around his neck in one go, and then stabbing him in his exposed nape area with several spears before setting them off, basically with enough power to obliterate his entire neck area. Mind, the Thunder Spears are small enough for a single human to carry two. He does survive this though, apparently with the same trick as was used to survive Levi.
  • Chapter 92; He gets hit with this, not only on a personal level... but as a representation of Marley's stagnant military. He shields Zeke from a battleship's heavy artillery, and ends up with both his Titan and his human body blown to pieces. Later, military officials angrily note newspapers declaring the Anti-Titan artillery is now strong enough to fell even the legendary Armored Titan.
• Worthy Opponent: Twice Reiner has expressed admiration for Erwin Smith. Firstly, when he Bertolt and Ymir are trying to escape the forest of giant trees, he realises that the only person who would even dream of using such a risky manoeuvrer is Commander Erwin "a tough opponent." Secondly during the battle at Shighanshina, he comes face to face with Erwin Smith. They end up having a staredown, with Reiner realizing the commander's plan. He gives a frustrated smile, referring to the man as "Commander", and then slides down the Wall without making any attempt to attack him. Even if they're on opposite sides of the battle, he still has respect for Erwin.
• You Are in Command Now: After Marcel was killed, he stepped up to take the role of the leader in order to continue their mission. After the battle of Liberio, Marley has lost it's military command and its War Chief. This leaves Reiner as one of the high-ranking officers left, and he's shown taking an active role in planning Marley's next move.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Recognizes this, but says he at least wants to physically go back one more time.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Marley is prepping to select his successor, as he only has 2 years left to live. It's later revealed that he narrowly avoided this fate after returning from Shiganshina, and was instead forced to fight on the front lines to prove he was still useful.
• Younger Than They Look: He's only seventeen, but his rugged looks and heavy build make him seem much older. He looks even older after the timeskip with his facial hair. The combination of his experiences and the nearing the end of his "term" likely contributed to his rapid aging.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Like all Shifters, he's subject to the 13 year time limit. At this point, he only has 2 years left to live. This seems to be no longer the case after Eren erases the power of titans in the final chapter.

Bertolt Hoover

Bertolt Hoover

Voiced by: Tomohisa Hashizume (JP), David Matranga (EN), Yamil Atala (Latin American Spanish)

Debut: Chapter 2 (Manga), Episode 2 (Anime)

"I have... no will of my own."

Ranked 3rd. He is noted to have exceptional skill, but has horrible self-esteem and defers to others on almost all things. His comrades consider him quiet and awkward, in complete contrast with his childhood friend, Reiner. A refugee from a remote mountain village, he lost his home to a Titan attack and longs to return there someday. He expresses admiration for Eren's conviction, stating that he intends to join the Military Police Brigade in order to be safe from the Titans. However, he is one of those that follows Eren into the Survey Corps.

Unable to stop Reiner's stress-induced breakdown, Bertolt is exposed as a spy sent to attack Paradis as the Colossal Titan. In the ensuing chaos, he is nearly slain by Mikasa but is successful in kidnapping both Eren and Ymir. Though initially cold and unresponsive to his former friends, when pushed by Jean and Connie, he admits to his remorse over his actions and claims that he has no other choice. When Reiner is defeated by the military, he is forced to abandon his mission and retreat back to Titan territory along with his partner and Ymir.

As told from Reiner's flashbacks, Bertolt was an Eldian child from the Libero Internment Zone, he volunteered for the Warrior Unit and was accepted as a top candidate. Though a kind-hearted boy, he excelled in his training and was selected to inherit the power of the "God of Destruction" — the Colossal Titan. He was sent to Paradis Island in order to steal the Founding Titan, infiltrating the Walls after destroying Wall Maria.

Once an outgoing and cheerful boy, the guilt of his crimes made him withdraw further into himself. After being exposed, he gave in to despair and carried out a brutal assault against the Survey Corps. His defeat and subsequent death at Wall Maria was a crucial blow against Marley, sparking a 4-year War with the Mid-Eastern Union. Reiner, the sole survivor of the operation, remains haunted by his inability to save his friend.

Branch: Survey Corps

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• Affably Evil: Bertolt may be on a monstrous mission but he’s still a pretty nice guy who genuinely enjoyed being friends with the 104th and wants to kill them as painlessly as possible to spare them from what he sees as a cruel life.
• Affectionate Nickname: The Official Site notes that his nickname is "Bertl". Oddly, Ymir is the only one who calls him this.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Bertolt's last moments are pretty painful to watch. Deserved maybe, but still an incredibly cruel and tragic way to go. The saddest part comes right before Titan Armin chops down on him; he catches sight of his former friends from the 104th and starts begging for them to save him... then realizes they're not moving. He burned that bridge himself after all. Even worse, his last words are Annie and Reiner.
• Amazon Chaser: At least according to Reiner.
• Anti-Villain: Bertolt knows that his mission is despicable, but states that it has to be done.
• An Arm and a Leg: Lost both arms and both legs after Eren cuts him off of his Titan.
• Back from the Dead: Played with. When Ymir Fritz summons the past Titan Shifters to stop the heroes from reaching Eren, one of them is definitely Bertolt's Colossal Titan form, but whether it actually is Bertolt inside it or just a puppet controlled by Ymir is left unclear, though coincidentially Armin has a vision of Bertolt at around the same time.
• Badass Longcoat: Parodied in the Chibi special. In order to make him stand out more, Armin gives Bertolt a makeover featuring a bright red coat with a flaming skull version of the Trainee Corps' insignia. He's immediately dragged off by the instructor to face punishment for altering his uniform. Armin labels it a complete success.
• Beautiful Dreamer: Averted.
  Jean: Bertolt, you made sprawling out when you slept into an art. At some point, we started looking forward to your new creation every morning. We'd even use your posture to forecast the day's weather...
• Becoming the Mask: Seemingly averted, but then played straight. When pressured enough by the others, he breaks down and admits that he cares about the others but "someone had to do it".
• Beneath the Mask: His mask of awkwardness and stoicism has served to keep others from realizing the depth of his emotions, as well as his guilt over his actions.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: He's ranked 3rd in their class and considered to have great potential, but also noted to lack initiative or self-esteem. He defers to Reiner on all things, following his lead and going along with whatever he does. However, he's quite dangerous when absolutely necessary.
• Big Bad Friend: He's the Colossal Titan, the very being considered to be mankind's great enemy. But he's also the soft-spoken, passive guy that slept in such odd positions the others made a game of predicting the weather based on him. He admits to having thought of the others as his friends, but carries out his orders regardless of his attachment.
• Big, Thin, Short Trio: The "Thin" to Reiner's "Big" and Annie's "Short."
• Bolivian Army Cliffhanger: At one point, he's fending off a swarm of Titans alongside Reiner and Ymir, with their final fates unclear — until an epilogue included in Volume 12 reveals that they survived the battle. No, Bertolt's death comes later then that...
• Break the Cutie: His experiences on Paradis slowly broke him, leaving him a withdrawn and emotionally damaged teenager.
• Broken Tears: Marcel's death, and the resulting fight between Annie and Reiner left him sobbing helplessly.
• The Bus Came Back: Reappears at the end of Chapter 70, along with Reiner and the Beast Titan, in the Shiganshina district to capture the Coordinate and rescue Annie.
• Call-Back: In Chapter 78, when he delivers his rant about the way things have to be and people dying, he's posed in the exact same way as Reiner when he made his outburst about his crimes, showing similar frustration with his mission.
• Cannot Spit It Out: In the game Escape from Certain Death, he tries and fails to confess to Annie.
• Chekhov's Gunman: He's been around the whole time, and easily mistaken as a minor character right up until the revelation that he's the Colossal Titan.
• Childhood Friend Romance: One of the Unlucky variety. They grew up together, with Bertolt developing feelings for Annie over the years. But he was never able to confess his feelings, and probably would have been rejected even if he hadn't died.
• Climax Boss: Bertolt serves this role for the pre-Time Skip half of the series, being the last of the Titan Shifters to fall in the battle to reclaim Shiganshina. His defeat, and subsequent death, allow the people of Paradis to reclaim their lands, find out the truth of the outside world, and steal a highly valuable Titan power from Marley's hands.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: In a rather dark example, Bertolt is this to Reiner, having to constantly keep tabs on his friend's mental state and help him deal with his dissociative episodes.
• Cold Sniper: He earned his place in the Warrior Unit as a Marksman, excelling as a sniper. This extended to his ability to shut himself off emotionally, carrying out his orders without hesitation.
• Conflicting Loyalty: More subtle than the other Titan Shifters, but he turns out to be just as conflicted as the others about being forced to choose between his friends and his mission. Like Reiner, he seems to have chosen the mission out of a feeling that there's no other options available to him.
• Conveniently Unverifiable Cover Story: He claimed to be a refugee from a remote mountain village, destroyed by Titans when Wall Maria fell. Hange notes that the family records were still in shambles five years later, and if they hadn't made the mistake of identifying themselves as from the same village as Annie they might have never been found out.
• Cowardly Lion: He is among the top students of his class, but is constantly comparing himself negatively to others in terms of skill and mental fortitude.
• Crossing the Burnt Bridge: Played for Drama when he wakes up in the grip of a Titan, and instinctively calls out to his friends for help. It's only moments later that he fully regains his senses, and realizes that his own actions mean no one is going to save him.
• Crush Blush: He blushes furiously when Annie insists she has no "charm", and therefore wouldn't be useful as a Honey Trap.
• Cryptic Conversation: Engages in one with Reiner concerning their mission, and left another with Ymir.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He was a member of an oppressed minority living in an internment camp, and volunteered for a military Tyke Bomb program by his own family while still very young. After being indoctrinated and trained by Marley, he was sent off to commit genocide at the tender age of 11.
• Dead Person Impersonation: The story he told Armin and Eren about escaping his doomed village was stolen from a refugee that committed suicide. While a Conveniently Unverifiable Cover Story, his reason for claiming the story as his own was his inability to forget the doomed man.
• Death by Irony: One of the biggest, baddest, and most intimidating Titans ever seen is eaten alive in his human form by a Titan (Armin) whom Bertolt almost killed moments before that would normally be cannon fodder to him — and he goes out screaming and begging for his life like any other human would do to boot. Not only does Bertolt die in the exact same place where he caused the first Titan invasion, a survivor of that invasion ends up being the one killing him. Doubly karmic is how his final moments are almost eerily similar to how Marco's were at the hands of Bertolt and the other Titan Warriors; pleading for his grief-stricken friends to save him, only to realize they've silently condemned him to be eaten by a Titan, shortly before said Titan bites through his head.
• Death Seeker: Implied by one of Isayama's blog posts, where he commented that the song "Death-wish Season" suited Bertolt. As the title implies, the lyrics are about depression, giving up, and wanting to die.
• Didn't See That Coming: He's so distracted by Armin letting himself get burnt to a crisp during the Return to Shiganshina that he fails to notice that Eren's collapsed Titan form was just a hardened shell, allowing Eren himself to get the drop on Bertolt in human form.
• Didn't Think This Through: In hindsight, he should have realized that Armin has no business knowing what the Military is doing to Annie, and somehow assumes that Armin would be privy to that information due to the heat of the moment in which he's told. Zeke later eases his worries by pointing out that there's nothing he can do about Annie anyway anytime soon, and that he should focus on the task at hand and not let himself be taunted in such nonconstructive manner.
• Dirty Coward: Was always a bit of a doormat but the standout is in his final moments, where he screams for help from the friends he betrayed. Especially noteworthy is that he claimed he was fine with whatever outcome of the previous battle was, but the thing is, it was easy for him to say that when he was the basically invincible Colossal Titan. Take that away, and he was left eating his own words.
• Dissonant Serenity: When confronted by Armin, he talks about the complete and total annihilation of Paradis in a perfectly calm and rational tone, and doesn't even try to justify it. He doesn't condemn the Paradis people as "evil," but that it's simply too late to try to spare them, again without even bothering to say why.
• Doomed Hometown: A remote mountain village, that was overrun by Titans during the destruction of Wall Maria. Along with Reiner, he dreams of returning there someday. This is later proven to be a lie.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: While the parents of the other Warriors appear, Isayama admits he decided to just kill off Bertolt's parents because he got writer's block while trying to create them.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: When Eren confronts him and swears to make his death as horrible as possible. Instead of reacting, he merely looks resigned.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He makes a brief cameo as one of the refugees in Episode 2, listening to the announcement of the mission to reclaim Wall Maria.
• Eaten Alive: Devoured by a Titanized Armin, allowing them to steal the Colossal Titan. It's eventually learned being devoured would have been his fate either way, as Marley would have done it to him when his "Tenture" ran out.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: In contrast, when featured on one of the manga covers he is pale with dark hair and dark clothing.
• Establishing Character Moment: Questions Eren and Armin about their past, and expresses surprise that they would still willingly face the Titans after everything they went through. He admits to being a follower that just goes along with whatever is expected of him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He painfully unloads on his friends from the 104th, stating that no one in their right mind would cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people ''just because they want to''. This statement implies that the coercion towards both him and Reiner is strong and serious enough to warrant their actions (though these are not, by any means, morally justifiable).
• Everyone Can See It: Discussed. Reiner points out that Bertolt's crush on Annie is painfully obvious to anyone that pays attention, because he tends to stare.
• Evil All Along: Zigzagged all over the place. He's Paradis' greatest enemy and carried out two horrific attacks... but also revealed to care about his friends in the 104th, and aware that the things he's done are unforgivable. Like everyone else, he's a morally complex character that can't be strictly defined as evil.
• Extreme Doormat: Claims he has "no will of his own", and just goes along with whatever others tell him to do.
• Face Death with Dignity: Averted with extreme prejudice. He dies screaming, and begging, panicking as Armin eats him.
• False Friend: He readily took actions he knew would kill the others, and held it together the best of the three spies. Heartbreakingly, like the others, it turns out he did care about them but seems to have no choice but to betray them.
• Fastball Special: The Beast Titan throws him at Shiganshina, with the intention of wiping out the Survey Corps by having Bertolt transform over the city.
• The Fatalist: During the battle at Shighanshina, he's fallen completely into this mindset. Ironically, completely surrendering to the idea that everything is inevitable leads to him becoming a terrifying opponent. However, he hastily backpedals on this when he's about to be eaten by a Titanized Armin in a last-ditch effort to save himself, only to realize his former comrades have already condemned him.
• Foil: Serves as one to Armin for his trio. Much like Armin Bertolt serves as the Only Sane Man between his grief stricken and mentally fractured partners Reiner and Annie. Like Armin they both have very low opinions on themselves and their Heterosexual Life-Partner have to constantly remind them of their worth. And, like Armin, when they allow themselves to go all out, to two become some of the most dangerous characters on their respective sides. It's almost appropriate then that Armin is ultimately the one who eats Bertolt and gains his power.
• Foreshadowing: Many hints exist prior to the revelation of his true identity.
  • When Eren describes the Colossal Titan to the other recruits, Bertolt is shown to be listening intently.
  • During the siege of Castle Utgard, Bertolt begins to behave strangely and makes several statements that leave the others confused. He claims Reiner used to be more of a "warrior" when Connie asks if Reiner's always had a soldier's mentality, which is actually a comment on how Reiner's more or less Becoming the Mask and how he's struggling to reconcile his mission with his emotions.
  • When the Dancing Titan climbs the tower, he brings his hand up to his mouth. It looks like he's merely recoiling in fear, but after The Reveal, it becomes clear he's preparing to transform using the same method as Eren.
  • The Shifters' Titan forms are generally known to resemble their human selves, and though Bertolt seems like an exception to the rule, it should be noted that he is easily much taller than any other soldier- mirroring the Colossal Titan's height compared to the other Titans. Even more subtly, while Morphic Resonance applies much less for Bertolt than the other shifters, astute anime watchers may notice that Titan forms always have the same eye colors as their owners- and Bertolt is one of the few characters with dark green eyes.
  • An example unrelated to his true identity occurs in Chapter 77: Prior to joining the battle, Bertolt has a flashback to the battle of Trost where it was revealed that Marco accidentally overheard Bertolt and Reiner talking about their mission, which ultimately results in Bertolt, Reiner, and Annie stripping Marco of his gear and abandoning him on a building to be eaten by a Titan while his former comrades watch in horror. Fast-forward to Chapter 84, Bertolt ends up dying the exact same way.
  • After Armin lies to Bertolt and Reiner about Annie being brutally tortured during their first attempt to capture Eren, Bertolt snaps and calls Armin and the rest of the Survey Corps "Children of the Devil." This statement turned out to be a massive hint to the reveal of The Kingdom of Marley, which strictly enforces the notion that Eldians are descended from the Devil and that those who fled Marley (the Eldians currently residing in the Walls) escaped their just punishment for the sins of their ancestors.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Inverted. Not only does Reiner suffer nightmares involving Bertolt, but Armin is shown to engage in Talking to the Dead, and Galliard flies into a blind rage when he witnesses a new Colossal Titan in action.
• Gentle Giant: Towers over his peers at 192cm (6'3") and has a fairly meek and deferential personality. Subverted, when we discover he's the Colossal Titan although even then he's by far the least aggressive of the Titan Trio.
• Good Feels Good: He states they were prepared for being hated. But it's clear he wasn't prepared to make friends, or be genuinely happy while infiltrating the military.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: He survives a blade being driven into the side of his neck, severing the major artery and nearly deep enough to strike bone. Not only does he survive, he still has the strength necessary to perform a partial transformation and fight.
• Hair-Contrast Duo: With Reiner.
• Healing Factor: Like the other Shifters, he possesses a healing factor even in human form. This allows him to survive getting his throat slashed by Mikasa, an injury that would almost certainly kill a human.
• Healthcare Motivation: His father's illness motivated him to become a Warrior, giving the family access to a higher level of care than is typically available to Eldians. According to Mr. Leonhart and Ms. Braun, his "sacrifice" for Marley allowed his father to spend his final days comfortable and in the care of the military.
• Heel–Face Turn: Near the end of the story, he reappears inside the Paths to help stop the Rumbling.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: He has an extremely negative view of himself, describing himself as weak-willed and cowardly.
• Hero Killer: Ultimately zigzagged. He manages to wipe out Hange's entire squad of veterans and burns Armin alive, but Hange and Armin both ultimately survive. Hange is left severally wounded and may have lost an eye, while Armin survives only because the Titan serum is administered to him in time.
• A Hero to His Hometown: Just like the other Warriors, he was hated by the people of the Walls for all the death and destruction he'd caused. But a flashback to his childhood shows that as a Warrior, he was treated to parades and a massive send-off by adoring crowds of people that cheered for him as their hero.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He is essentially Reiner's shadow, and more than a little co-dependent.
• Hidden Depths: While quiet and submissive, he's also a soldier of exceptional skill and potential. His stoic exterior also conceals the full depth of his emotions, taking others by surprise when he finally speaks his mind.
• High-Pressure Blood: A justified example. When Mikasa slashes his throat, blood sprays out from the severed artery and he's barely able to stem the flow by covering it with his hand.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • The thick steam he generates while finishing off Armin is used as a makeshift smokescreen by Eren to sneak up behind him and rip him right out of the Colossal Titan while he's distracted; as a matter of fact, Eren is one of the few individuals that can approach his scalding steam and, while not walking unscathed, can recover from any significant damage dealt upon him.
  • Bertolt's act of loudly declaring death on not just the Survey Corps, but everyone else living in the Walls comes back to bite him hard when he finds himself in the clutches of a newly-created Titan Armin and his only chance of escape is begging the survivors of his own rampage to save him. It doesn't work.
• Humanizing Tears: He sheds Tears of Remorse when cornered, showing that, despite everything he's done, Bertolt is still human after all. He later weeps again, when Ymir states her intentions to risk her life so that Reiner and Bertolt can go home.
• Human Pack Mule: In the Smartpass interviews, he mentions that the girls invite him on trips into town and get him to carry their shopping.
• Hunter of His Own Kind: A villainous example; he kills Titans so his cover won't be blown.
• Hypocrite: Right before he transforms, Bertolt internally claims he'd be fine with any result no matter what happens. When the result ends up being him dying at the hands of a titan, he freaks out and begs for anyone to save him from his fate, even his friends that weren't even there.
• I Did What I Had to Do: He explains himself this way, when confronted about his actions by Jean and Connie. It's very clear he isn't proud or even comfortable with the horrors he's committed, but at the same time he firmly believes that his crimes were absolutely necessary.
• Ignored Epiphany: He admits to caring about the others, and recognizes how horrible his actions are, but immediately claims that it's impossible to even attempt to apologize. Like Reiner, he seems to believe that it's too late and continuing their mission is the only choice left to them.
• I'm a Humanitarian: He eats one unfortunate soldier in order to steal his gear.
• I'm Cold... So Cold...: "Hurts... It hurts..."
• Insistent Terminology: Not "soldiers" — "Warriors." He uses this as a way to keep track of Reiner's mental state.
• Instant Expert: Invoked Trope; Reiner states he was able to master the use of his Titan right away, using this as evidence that others may similarly be able to do so.
• Irony:
  • Bertolt is a self admitted Extreme Doormat who notes that he "has no will of his own". However because of his doormat like personality Bertolt is the one who has the easiest time accepting the horrible things he has to do and thus he can put aside his personal feelings and get the job done much easier then Reiner and Annie.
  • Isayama explains that as a child, he'd hoped inheriting the Colossal Titan would help him build confidence and become a stronger person. Instead, the duties assigned to him left him filled with self-loathing and traumatized to the point he came to view the world as pointlessly cruel.
• I've Come Too Far: He states they've already done too much to ever hope for forgiveness, and refuses to surrender when given the opportunity.
• Kill All Humans: Reiner claims this was their original mission, though Bertolt states it isn't something they wanted to do. Regardless of his feelings on the matter, the fact remains that he's indirectly responsible for killing off 20% of the Wall people. With a single kick.
• Last-Second Chance: Offered one by Mikasa, after he breaks down. He responds that he can't give Eren back, a refusal that results in many more lives being lost.
• Left for Dead: When the Warriors are defeated, Zeke makes the decision to abandon Bertolt rather than risk another confrontation with Levi.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Any semblance of nervousness or holding back goes out the window when Reiner calls for his help and he enters the Shiganshina battle.
• Loose Lips: His conversation with Ymir about her eating his friend Marcel as a mindless Titan and regaining her human form was overheard by Eren before Reiner knocked him out, inadvertently revealing critical information about the true nature of the Titans to their enemies.
• Lovecraftian Superpower: The most Lovecraftian of the bunch, as his Titan form is a 60-meter skinless horror.
• Meaningful Echo: Just before transforming into order to kill the Survey Corps, he echoes Mikasa's iconic sentiment that "the world is cruel". But his statement lacks Mikasa's hopeful addition that it is also beautiful.
• Meaningful Name: It means "Bright strength" or "Bright ruler".
• Mercy Kill: He decides that killing his former friends himself will spare them from suffering the way that Marco did.
• The Mole: One of the Titan Shifters sent to infiltrate the human ranks.
• Moral Myopia: He's aware that the things he's done are wrong and cruel, but threaten Reiner or Annie and all bets are off. Armin bluffing about Annie being tortured sends him into a murderous rage, even though he's indirectly responsible for killing many of their classmates at Trost.
  Bertolt: You spawn of the devil! I'LL PULVERIZE YOU!
• Morphic Resonance: The Colossal Titan shares his facial structure and eye color, a detail easily missed until The Reveal. Word of God explains that Bertolt's design was "the Colossal Titan in human form", intentionally designing him to look like his Titan form with unusual height and long features.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: Like Reiner, he admits to being uncertain about their mission and whether it's truly right. Even so, he feels that he must continue with his duty and remain loyal to his homeland.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He was deeply shaken over Marco's death, fighting back tears while watching his friend die.
• Necessarily Evil: He readily admits to knowing how horrible his crimes are, but insists that someone has to do it.
• Nervous Wreck: A very low-key example. He admits to lacking any confidence in himself, and wears a near-constant look of nervousness and discomfort. Once his composure is broken, he becomes a full-blown example constantly either on the verge of Tears of Fear or shrieking in panic.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • His mission requires him to bring Eren back, but unfortunately his actions in destroying Wall Maria resulted in the death of Eren's mother and attacking Trost five years later triggered Eren's Shifting powers. Both cement in Eren the desire to have revenge on the Titans, and provide him with the power necessary to turn the tide in the Wall's society's favor.
  • During the "Clash of the Titans" arc, he confronts Ymir regarding her eating his friend Marcel as a mindless Titan, which allowed her to become human again. Eren was within earshot of their conversation, and he wrote down everything he remembered about it after he was rescued. This ended up revealing some of the biggest secrets about the Titans; they were once normal humans, and they instinctively seek out and devour other humans until they eat another Titan Shifter to restore their humanity.
  • Bertolt loudly declaring to Armin and the rest of the Survey Corps that it's not just Eren they want, but the deaths of everyone else living in the Walls as well has turned out to be a massive blunder with significant ramifications. Now that the Survey Corps are aware of the existence of the Kingdom of Marley and have since taken back and repopulated Wall Maria, they're preparing in every manner possible for Marley's eventual invasion of Paradis Island fully expecting a "kill or be killed" scenario.
• Noodle Incident: His famous, weather predicting sleeping positions.
• Nothing Personal: He rather nonchalantly tells Armin that neither he nor anyone else living within the Walls have done anything wrong, and that they're not evil, they all just have to die.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Discussed in his image song, Alternative Drive.
  But they all risk their lives for the future they believe in,
  So what’s the difference?
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Bertolt's meekness makes him appear to be the most vulnerable of the Warriors, but even without the Colossal Titan power, he is actually one of the more talented Shifters. Reiner openly considers Bertolt to be the strongest in their group, and after a pep-talk from him and Zeke, Bertolt's newfound confidence makes him incredibly dangerous, even overwhelming Mikasa when she tries to ambush him.
• Not So Stoic: Later events have involved greater displays of emotion from him — while coming to Reiner's rescue, attempting to cheer him up, or sobbing hysterically after Mikasa slits his throat and moves in for the kill. Later on, when confronted about his lies, he breaks down in tears. This emotional state is exploited by Armin, who claims that Annie is being tortured in order to send Bertolt into a rage — allowing Erwin to ambush him and rescue Eren.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • He is horrified in chapter 48 when he barely avoids being stabbed by Mikasa, only saved by Reiner. The anime adaptation of this scene exaggerates both Mikasa's murderous intent and Bertolt's sheer terror, as seen here◊.
  • From Chapter 82, when Eren rips him out of the Colossus Titan.
  • Another one from Chapter 84 when Titan Armin grabs him and the only people around who could save him are those he was actively trying to murder.
• Only Sane by Comparison: He's the closest the Shifter trio has to an Only Sane Man as he's probably the most psychologically functional and the one least prone to accidentally blowing his cover by letting personal feelings get in the way of the mission. It's likely that if Annie and Reiner hadn't lost their minds so thoroughly he might have been able to continue the mission without being discovered. That being said, he's every bit as guilt-stricken as Reiner over the things they've had to do. When confronted by his former comrades over his actions, he has a mental breakdown.
• Perpetual Frowner: He wears a nervous frown as his default expression, and the times he's smiled can be counted on a single hand.
• Person of Mass Destruction: The powers of the Colossal Titan make him into one, making him fully capable of reducing a city to a smoldering ruin completely on his own. This was his primary task as the Colossal Titan, with Marley testing out his powers by slipping him on the edge of an enemy stronghold in order for him to vaporize it with his transformation.
• Plot-Triggering Death: His death and the resulting loss of the Colossal Titan led the Mid-Eastern Union to declare war on Marley, leading to the events of the Marley arc.
• Posthumous Character: Though he features heavily in the Marley Arc, it is entirely in flashbacks to his childhood and mission as he is dead in the present time.
• Protectorate: Messing with him is the fastest way to set Reiner off. When things are at their worst, he repeatedly thinks only of Bertolt's safety.
• Punch-Clock Villain: He passed five years peacefully between attacks on the Walls, and doesn't seem to hold any ill will towards the Walls' people. He even expresses admiration or sympathy for some, and befriends the very people his mission will require him to eventually doom. He isn't particularly happy about it, but will carry out his mission when the time comes without hesitation.
• The Quiet One: He's fairly quiet, leaving Reiner to do most of the talking. When he does speak up, however, it's often due to intense emotions or having something very important to say.
• Required Secondary Powers: Evident. Hanji discovers during tests with Eren that Titans have some sort of internal temperature control, or at least Titan Shifters do. This is especially relevant to Bertolt, as Science of Attack on Titan notes that his Titan's internal temperature would run at about 602 degrees Celsius, or 1,115.6 degrees Fahrenheit, easily enough to set trees on fire by walking near them. Bertolt alone would need this simply to avoid being cooked alive inside his own flesh.
• Robbing the Dead: Steals the equipment from one unfortunate soldier after eating him.
• Sanity Slippage: To a lesser degree than Reiner. During the second stage of their escape, his composure begins to unravel and he becomes more and more emotionally unstable. Armin takes full advantage of this, and uses a bluff to further agitate him.
• Say My Name: After noticing Reiner's condition in Chapter 78, Bertolt jumps out of his flying crate and yells Reiner's name all the way down.
• Secret Identity: The Colossal Titan.
• Self-Harm: A very subtle hint towards it. When Ymir climbs the tower in Titan form, close observation of his reaction reveals him preparing to bite his hand in the same fashion Eren uses to transform.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Initially, he's the Sensitive Guy to Reiner's Manly Man; however, this flips around as the series progresses, with Reiner becoming more emotional and prone to outbursts as the guilt from his actions weighs on him, whereas Bertolt remains comparatively stoic and unmoved.
• Shared Unusual Trait: His big nose and unusual height for his age, shared with Reiner.
• Shoot the Dog: At Shiganshina, he explains to Armin that it's because they are his friends that he's going to kill them all. He considers it the only way to prevent them from suffering, and attempts to vaporize them all with his explosive transformation. When he notices that the 104th escaped the explosion, he's disappointed that he failed to give them a quick death. Later, while battling Armin, Bertolt realizes he can't simply blow him away and decides to flash-fry Armin to end it.
• Shrinking Violet: Downplayed. He's got horrible self-esteem, and tends to linger awkwardly on the outskirts of the group. Even close friends like Eren can't offer more insight on him than that he's very quiet. He does open up and become more outspoken later on, after certain major events. Official parodies tend to play up this quality for humor.
• Slashed Throat: Mikasa tries and fails to kill him this way, which goes to prove just how tough Titan Shifters are. A normal human with such an injury would probably lose consciousness within moments, while Bertolt still has enough strength for a partial transformation.
• Socially Awkward Hero: A villainous example. Awkward in social situations, but he's ranked 3rd in his class and an exceptional soldier.
• The Stoic: Has a fairly low-key personality, rarely speaking up and generally observing things with at most a slightly uneasy expression. Although he does displays a bit more emotion than most typical examples, though said moments are few and far in between, and are quite surprising when they happen. However, when he's revealed as The Mole, and his former comrades start questioning him, he breaks down and loses the stoic facade.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: He's described as being taciturn by the others, but there's the occasional glimpse of warmth under his quiet, shy exterior.
• Superpower Lottery: His Titan form is 60m tall, and has steam powers as a defensive mechanism to counter his Mighty Glacier status.
• Super-Soldier: His powers make him tougher and stronger than an ordinary human, with a powerful Healing Factor. He's capable of destroying the Walls almost effortlessly, making him the greatest threat the Walls' faction has ever known.
• Sympathetic Murder Backstory: A traumatized mass murderer, clinging to the hope of going home someday. Everyone is deeply shaken by the revelation of his true identity, and react in varying ways to it.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Inverted. When confronted by his friends about his actions as the Colossal Titan, he starts to cry and finally admits that he really did care about them and consider them his friends.
• Talking in Your Sleep: The Smartpass Bonus Material includes Reiner catching him talking in his sleep — crying while apologizing over and over again.
• Talking to the Dead: Armin has one-sided conversations with his predecessor.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He towers above his peers, and is relatively handsome with dark hair and green eyes. His personality is anything but suave and charming, though.
• Tarot Motifs: In a flashback, he's shown sleeping in the classic pose used for The Hanged Man. He later confesses to Reiner and Annie that he frequently dreams of the refugee that hung himself.
• Tears of Fear: When Mikasa goes after him. Happens later when he's fed to the newly made Titan Armin.
• Tears of Remorse: When he breaks down, stating he never wanted to kill people. Even so, he realizes that he cannot be forgiven.
• Tempting Fate: Right before he transforms into the Colossal Titan during the battle in Shiganshina, he monologues about how any outcome would be acceptable to him. He clearly didn't accept the outcome of being Eaten Alive by Armin as a mindless Titan.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: He states that he'd rather kill his comrades right then and there rather than allowing someone else to prolong their suffering; this is because he's replaceable and other subsequent "Warriors" might not be inclined to give them the benefit of a quick death.
• This Is Unforgivable!: He says this about himself, acknowledging that being killed for his crimes is expected and that there's no way he could ever apologize for what he's done or be forgiven. When Eren vows to make him suffer for everything he's done, Berholt says nothing and simply seems resigned to the fact.
• Those Two Guys: With Reiner Braun.
• Took a Level in Badass: During the fight in Shiganshina, he finally pulls his wits together after words of encouragement from Reiner, and he noticeably becomes more confident and clear-minded, taking on the entirety of the Survey Corps singlehandedly, even holding his own against Mikasa.
• Tragic Villain: He's very clearly a damaged teenager driven by fear and desperation, with no choice but to carry out his mission or die trying. When confronted by the others, he admits to caring about them but knows he can't be forgiven for what he's done. In the end, he dies screaming and pleading surrounded by the friends he betrayed with his last words being for Annie and Reiner to save him.
• Trapped in Villainy: He implies that this might be the case, turning down his Last-Second Chance to return Eren.
  Bertolt: I can't. Someone has to do it...
• Troubled Fetal Position: He's shown to do this when sitting, in line with his meek personality.
• Tyke Bomb: He was eleven when he kicked a hole in Wall Maria, and began his infiltration. The Warrior Unit recruits children between the ages of 5 — 7, meaning he spent the majority of his life serving Marley's army.
• The Unfettered: In Chapter 78, he calls Armin's bluff about Annie, saying he doesn't care if Annie is left to the animals if she got herself captured. It's implied this isn't true, but he says it anyway and subtly threatens Armin with a blade while he does it. It's because he wanted to see if he could really put his priorities before his emotions, and to his own measure, he doesn't break down and cry, as he feared he would.
• Unfortunate Name: His last name is sometimes translated as "Fubar", which is military slang for fucked up beyond all recognition/any repair/all reason. Though given certain revelations, the name really does suit him...
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: Reiner's memories show pretty clear that Bertolt's had a crush on Annie since they were children and as for the "unlucky" part, well, as unlucky as in "your crush has been captured by the enemy and you believe she is being tortured, and you end up being eaten alive by the guy who starts crushing on said crush himself due to your inherited memories".
• Unwitting Pawn: Bertolt believed his mission was to obtain the Coordinate, in order the protect the world from being destroyed by the Wall Titans. He had also been told that his family would be granted Honorary Marleyan status, and given their freedom in exchange for his service. These were all lies, as Marley simply wants the natural resources under Paradis and will likely use the Founding Titan to wipe out all the Eldians, including those loyal to Marley.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He was a gentle and friendly boy, always offering encouragement to his weaker friend and acting as a peacekeeper along with Marcel.
• Used to Be More Social: He was more outgoing among the Warriors, and only later developed into an awkward and silent youth.
• Villainous BSoD: He finally breaks down when confronted by the rest of the 104th, first screaming at them before admitting that he liked being their friend and cares for them. Even so, he states that they have to complete their mission.
• Villainous Friendship: With Reiner, his closest friend and partner. Not only do they genuinely care about each other, but their friendship makes them extremely effective in combat.
• Villains Blend in Better: While Sasha struggles to fit in due to her backwoods upbringing, Bertolt has absolutely no issue blending into the society within the Walls.
• Villains Want Mercy: Just to twist the proverbial knife, after the 104th have resolved to kill him, he wakes up disoriented and immediately calls to them for help. Once he regains his senses, he realizes no one is going to help him because of what he's done.
• Was It All a Lie?: He's questioned thoroughly by Jean if everything to that point was a lie, Bertolt ends up stating that it was not, and that the 104th were honestly considered his friends, but even so, he remains adament in his mission for one reason or the other.
• Why Isn't It Attacking?: He has this reaction towards the Smiling Titan which approached him, made eye-contact with him, and just walked right past him through the hole he made in Wall Maria.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Like Reiner, he dreams of returning to their Doomed Hometown someday.
• You Killed My Father: He confronts Ymir after discovering that she was the Titan that ate his friend, Marcel. She immediately apologizes for it, admitting that she has no memory of her time as a regular Titan and wonders if he hates her for it. While he admits he isn't sure, he accepts her apology and forgives her. His former friends from the 104th weren't as forgiving.
• You Monster!: To Armin, when he bluffs and claims with a creepy smile that Annie is currently being tortured by the military.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Like all Titan Shifters, Bertolt was subject to the "Curse of Ymir"; 13 years to live after gaining one of the Nine Titan Powers. The Survey Corps got to him first.
• Your Head Asplode: He's killed when his head gets chomped on by Armin's Titanized form.

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