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

Warrior Unit

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Titan Shifters of the Warrior Unit in the year 854.

The Warrior Unit is a military project by the Marleyan government which consists on recruiting Eldians among the ghetto populations in order to train them and indoctrinate them into becoming hardened "warriors" for Marley; the cream of the crop are then given one of the seven Titan powers under control by the Marleyan goverment. The program's main mission is to infiltrate the Eldian society behind the Walls and obtain the Coordinate Titan power from the Eldian royal family without awakening the millions of colossal Titans entombed inside the Walls. In return, the Marleyan Government promised to award full Marleyan citizenship to the participants who'd successfully carry out their mission, while granting special privileges to them and their families in the mean time. The initiative, which began fifteen to twenty years before the Fall of Shinganshina, was intended to give the seven Titan Powers of Ymir Fritz under the control of Marley to select individuals in order to carry out the infiltration, though only six individuals were shown to have been Titanized (with one going unused for undisclosed reasons).

The first "Warrior" mission to Paradis, lasting a period of over five years, involved the deployment of six of the Titan Shifters, of which four were supposed to infiltrate the Eldian society and enlist in their military forces and the other two oversaw operations and logistics from outside of the Walls; the mission was considered a disastrous failure because of the demise of two of the infiltrators, the capture of one by the Eldian Military, and the miraculous rescue of the remaining one by the skin of their teeth. All in all, it resulted in the loss of two of the Titan Powers, Female and Colossal, with only the salvaging of the Jaws Titan Power and having caused massive casualties within the Three Walls as the redeeming points of the operation. This failure caused the Kingdom of Marley to be politically and militarily undermined by their neighboring countries, elevating hostilities and causing a four year war against the Mid-East Alliance forces. The rise in hostilities and the newfound vulnerability of the Titan Shifters due to technological warfare advancement have reopened the discussion of undergoing a second "Warrior" mission to Paradis, this time with the full backing of the Marleyan Navy, with candidates for the Titan Powers being evaluated.

Most, if not all, of the Titan Shifters in the Warrior Unit come from the Liberio Internment Zone, which is further explored on this page.

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General Tropes

Tropes that apply to the Warrior Unit as a whole.

A Hero to His Hometown: On Paradis Island the Warriors are hated and feared due to being responsible for breaking down the Walls and the deaths of thousands of the few remaining humans there. The Warriors for the Marleyan controlled Eldians are highly revered as heroes and being recruited as one is considered an honour since it allows the Eldians to "atone" for their cursed blood. Their leader Zeke is held in high regard by other Eldians, as he has enough social standing to even have a say in the military decisions of the Marleyan military.
All for Nothing:
- The Warriors hope to prove that the Eldians of Marley have atoned for the actions of the Eldian Empire. But each and every generation, they're just fed to a new batch of indoctrinated Child Soldiers and the sorry state of Marley's Eldian population continues. Pieck spells this out to Gabi when they meet.
- One of the main purposes of the first Warrior campaign to Paradis Island was to secure the "Coordinate" in order to stop the King's "Rumbling" of the Wall Titans. It ends up happening anyway.
A Million Is a Statistic: Though the main purpose of the Warrior Unit is to recover the "Coordinate" for Marley, the "Warriors" were also instructed to use the Mindless Titans to wreak as much havoc and kill as many Eldians as they could without awakening the Wall Titans. With the Fall of Wall Maria alone, they were able to cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Eldians, added to the population that had to be sacrificed one year later by the Royal Government because of unsustainability and lack of resources to keep them alive, racking up to an insane amount of Eldians killed. Keep in mind that the "Warriors" did this just to be able to infiltrate the Eldian society undetected in the ensuing chaos.
Abusive Parents: Inherent in the very nature of the program, though some are shown to be worse than others. While there seems to be plenty of love between the parents and their children, all ultimately made the decision to sacrifice their children's lives for their own benefit.
Child Soldiers: They recruit children between the ages of five and seven among the Eldians living in the ghettos to mold them to serve as fanatically loyal "Warriors" for Marley; a select few are then given one of the Titan Powers. In exchange they grant the title of "Honorary Marleyans" to their families. In fact, the only real adult among their ranks seems to be Zeke, who appears to have gained his power at around 17. They employ children to indoctrinate them more easily, and to ensure that by enlisting, their families are kept in check. Presumably, the heavy indoctrination reduces the chance of a Warrior defecting, which would be quite devastating for Marley.
- This has bitten them in the ass, however, as no matter how indoctrinated, children simply don't have the emotional maturity to carry a complex plan to completion, and the foresight to make contingencies if something went pear-shaped. They lost a member before they even met the Paradians to personal issues ( Marcel confessing that he rigged Titan selections in favor of Reiner, which sent him into shock and allowed Ymir's Titan to surprise them, forcing Marcel into a Heroic Sacrifice to save him). Their cover was basically blown as soon as Annie was caught because they didn't work out good cover stories beforehand, and Reiner blows the remains to bits because he broke under the pressure of what he had to do. While definitely more loyal than most of the adults who infiltrated Paradis, they were also less effective due to their age.
Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Warriors wear red armbands and candidates wear yellow ones, in contrast with the gray ones worn by other Eldians.
Didn't Think This Through:
- The plan to reclaim the Founding Titan had several crippling problems from the beginning, yet it was still implemented. The biggest of which was sending the four Warriors to Paradis Island all alone without any sort of supervision or backup. Despite the fact they were all trained from a very early age and possessed the Power of the Titans, they were still kids, and were liable to make catastrophic mistakes due to their age regardless of their training. Not to mention their intel on Paradis Island itself was a century out of date. Magath actually took notice of this and his concerns were more or less brushed off by his superiors.
- The Warriors are only familiar with two types of Titan warfare: to use the Titan Powers against infantry, and to use Mindless Titans against infantry. However, they've seriously, and egregiously, neglected the possibility of melee combat against a potential enemy Shifter and the use of anti-Titan infantry and weaponry that the Paradian Eldians employ. This latter should have been addressed by the Marleyan military at the very least during the Mid-East Alliance War, where anti-Titan weaponry was developed and used.
Didn't See That Coming:
- The Warriors were certainly not expecting for the Attack Titan to appear at the Three Walls. This proverbially threw the wrench on their plans, and this was even before it was revealed that its holder (Eren), also held the Coordinate Titan.
- They certainly weren't expecting that the Eldians had not only one, but two Ackermans at their disposal, them being among the main reasons the Warriors lost not only at Paradis, but also at Liberio.
Epic Fail:
- The first campaign to Paradis was a gigantic failure for the Warrior Unit. Yes, they killed an insane amount of people at the Three Walls... but they still lost. Scampered out by the skin of their teeth, avoiding near-death multiple times and losing two of the Titan Powers that they brought to besiege the Paradian Eldians, they had to return to Marley with their tails between their legs and were immediately shipped to the front lines of a different war that arose from their failure in order to prove their worth. To add insult to injury, their opponents hadn't realized they existed before, and after the invasion were in a better position to combat the Marleyans. Ouch...
- The defense of Liberio was one of the worst showings for the Warriors, as they were handed their asses by the Paradian Eldians once again, with heavy military and civilian losses, and with the decimation of their military chain of command. Even when the "Devils" had a mole in the Warrior ranks, their loss was catastrophic for both the Warriors and Marley.
Failure Is the Only Option: Invoked. The first mission to Paradis itself went off the rails shortly after beginning with the death of the team leader, Marcel, and it went only downhill from there. Even though, there was no guarantee that other candidates like Pieck, Zeke and Porco would have fared any better, as it would have required a completely dispassionate and merciless team, incapable of pity, sympathy and camaraderie. Even the recruits after the time skip show signs of the same team fracturing and conflicts, adding to the fact that due to the first mission failure, the Eldians at Marley are in an even more precarious position, eliciting an urgency for the new mission to succeed... it just doesn't fare well for them at all.
Four Is Death:
- Four Warriors were initially sent to Paradis, they caused massive amount of deaths in their wake; in the end two were killed (one of them shortly after the mission starting) and one was captured.
- Four Warriors faced the Survey Corps during the battle of Shinganshina, and almost wiped out the entire force.
- Four Warriors faced the Survey Corps during the Storming of Liberio and lost categorically, facing hundreds of dead civilians and the high command of the military, losing the War-Hammer Titan, and finding out that Zeke defected to join the Eldians of Paradis.
Gone Horribly Right: Their plan to infiltrate the Walls' military, which they pulled off so successfully that they made friends with the other trainees, giving themselves massive guilt over their mission which contributed to its ultimate failure in several ways.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Their constant efforts at Bullying the Dragon as they have with not just Eren Yeager, but with the inherent threat of an invasion by the millions of Colossal Titans within the Walls may very well have only doomed them in their efforts to prevent this threat as well as preserve their own superpower status; come the invasion of Shiganshina in retaliation for the attack on Liberio the Rumbling has finally commenced, and Eren has declared his intent to destroy every non-Eldian on the planet.
Hunter of His Own Kind: Even though they are used by Marley for invasion purposes just like the previous holders of Titan Powers, they were precisely picked, trained and indoctrinated to attack the Eldians of Paradis, their own people. Though riskier than sending adults, Eldian children were considerably more easily indoctrinated to believe the Marleyan propaganda machine than any adult Eldian.
I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure:
- If a Warrior does anything to cause their loyalty to come into question, their families can be stripped of their status as "Honorary Marleyans" and turned into mindless Titans. Falco is nearly driven to tears, when Reiner points out that his misgivings about the program could be taken as treason... and his entire family would be executed as punishment.
- After the failure of the first campaign to Paradis, the whole program was put into question by the Marleyan authorities; so much that, in fact, even the new candidates for the program were sent to the front lines of the war against the Mid-East Alliance. Keep in mind that the previous Warriors were never sent to the front lines while they were training, and only when they were already awarded the Titan Powers.
In It for Life: Warriors have a 13 year tenure, which is exactly how long they have to live after gaining their powers. They are expected to serve Marley until their death, submitting to being devoured by their successor when the time comes.
Jerkass Has a Point: When questioned by Hitch about the mass casualties due to her attack at Stohess, Annie states that even with its iffy purpose and blood-filled execution, the Warriors' mission entailed stopping the "Rumbling" of the Wall Titans... which is actively happening as the two girls speak.
Klingon Promotion: Implied Trope among the Warriors, as Reiner challenged Zeke in order to determine their next move. He lost, and Zeke makes it clear he's willing to fight another duel for leadership... but a second loss will result in Reiner's death.
More than Mind Control: The Warriors are all raised on the propaganda of the "evil" Eldians within the Walls, and recruited through promising their families better treatment. Many believe their service will eventually prove the loyalty of their people to Marley, leading to their freedom from the internment camps. And each Warrior knows that disloyalty or failure could result in them being stripped of their position, and their family condemned to become fodder Titans. This combination of indoctrination, hope of a better life, and fear for their loved ones keeps them committed to their duties and willing to commit genocide or betray their friends.
Mysterious Past: As the Warrior Unit was created with the specific purpose of invading Paradis, the policies of Marley regarding their Titan Powers before the program have not been disclosed. However, it's implied that the Titan Powers that were used to expand their dominion were held by adults otherwise, though it's not known the level of indoctrination or the propagandistic nature of the Warriors applied to those Titan Power holders too.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: As noted above, it turns out that prodding an enemy people who didn't even have any memory of the Marley or of the world beyond the Walls may have very doomed the nation of Marley anyway, as they didn't count on one Eren Yeager to acquire the means to active the long-dreaded Rumbling, an event put into motion by not just their persecution of the Eldian race but also by their earlier attack on the island through the ill-prepared Warriors.
Not Quite the Right Thing: One of the main reasons the "Warriors" undergo Titanization and swear loyalty to Marley is to bid for a better treatment for the people in the ghettos and to finally demonstrate that the Eldians there are not traitors to Marley. In spite of this, nearly a decade into the tenures of the current Warriors, their families still live in the ghettos and the next generation is being prepped to replace them.
Our Demons Are Different: It's not known whether any of the Warriors carries ancestral memories of the people that held their Titan powers before them, or whether inheriting them caused any significant psychological changes in them like what happened to Eren. Eren still had to tap into memory cues to access his father's memories, which turned to be the change catalysts in him. The only possible exception would be Zeke, who is part of the Eldian Royal Family and has special powers additional to his Beast Titan as a result.
Perspective Flip: To the Eldians in Paradis Island, the Warriors are abominations that are responsible for wiping out most of humanity. However, it is shown through Reiner and the new Warrior recruits that the Warriors are just humans who want to better the lives of their own people. Even Zeke, the Beast Titan built up as the ultimate evil of the series, is shown to be a young man who loves his grandparents and cares for his fellow Warriors as an older brother.
Poor Communication Kills: The incident at Stohess District resulted in the discovery of Annie being the Female Titan. The covers of her co-conspirators depended on the fact that record keeping after the Fall of Shinganshina became a logistical nightmare, so Reiner and Bertolt made the mistake of stating one too many things to establish their fake identities as refugees by saying that both of them and Annie came from the same village, which arose suspicions from their superiors at the Survey Corps once they connected the dots. This meant that, including the surreptitious way on which they had to flee once they were found out, they hadn't discussed a contingency plan at all and they were winging it as time went on.
Soldier vs. Warrior: Members take the title of "Warriors", being much more powerful and independent in their actions than the opposing Redshirt Army. They are seemingly allowed to wear beards and longer hair, which are usually against military regulations, and are shown to be competitive and enjoy combat, but the guilt of killing so many people is taking a toll on their sanity.
Superpower Russian Roulette: Invoked. As a result of the intricacies of inheriting Titan Powers, this is more than likely the reason why Marley were able to wrest the Titan Powers from the Eldians. Should a Titan Shifter die without being devoured by another Titan, the ethereal links that connect all the Eldians ensure that the Titan Power has a random host; in this case, the hosts might have been Eldians that were under the power of the Marleyan authorities and/or were loyal to Marley.
Sympathetic Sentient Weapon: The Warriors are more or less equipment to Marley, a weapon to be used and disposed of once no longer useful. Their families are used as a carrot-and-stick to control them, and each has been subjected to extensive indoctrination during their childhood training. Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie in particular are shown to be traumatized by their actions, but unable to break free from their superiors.
True Companions: Contrary to the first Warriors, the younger individuals of new batch of cadets (Gabi, Falco, Udo and Zofia), are closer friends to each other than their predecessors.
Two Girls to a Team:
- Annie and Pieck are the only female members of the first batch of Warriors.
- Gabi and Zofia the only girls of the new candidates.
The Unreveal: It's not quite known why it was considered prudent of the Marleyan military to hand the portentous responsibilities of the Warrior Unit to children out of all people, though it's shown later in the story that a fraction the Marleyan POWs in Eldia, all adults, were somewhat easily swayed by the local Eldians. Still, even with their indoctrination and dedication to their mission, the first wave of Warriors were still soundly defeated on Paradis.
Weaksauce Weakness: The Marleyan military has several measures for controlling and confining Warriors should they step out of line or as punishment, these consist of underground prisons so narrow in space that the Warrior cannot transform without being crushed to death by his/her own Titan body. One of these is used by agents of Paradis Island for taking Pieck and Galliard out of commission during the festival.
We Have Reserves: The Warriors are all ultimately disposable, as numerous other candidates are waiting in the wings to inherit their powers. Should they screw up or act out, their superiors have the option of simply replacing them. This threat is used to keep them in line, and motivate them to fight their hardest. This is one of the reasons Bertolt states that he'd rather kill his fellow 104th comrades himself and be done with it rather than prolonging their suffering and struggle with further Titan Shifters who won't give them the benefit of a quick death.
With Friends Like These...: The Warriors have a fairly... interesting dynamic, growing up together as comrades but fairly dysfunctional. Reiner and Galliard were bitter rivals, Annie barely tolerated interactions with the others, Pieck seemed amused by the chaos, Zeke alternated between friendly and threatening, and Marcel and Bertolt were left as the ones trying to keep things together. Little surprise the Paradis mission went so badly, with poor communication and conflicting personality issues.
You Have Failed Me: Annie implies that this trope is being enforced by the Warrior Unit on their way to Wall Maria; if they return to Marley without anything to show for it, they get eaten by another candidate.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: When a Warrior is close to dying from the Curse of Ymir, or fails their superiors, they must allow themselves to be Eaten Alive to pass their powers on to another Warrior.

Characters who are known members of the Warrior Unit:

Note: These entries pertain exclusively to the Eldian individuals loyal to Marley that either hold Titan Powers or are candidates to inherit them as per the Warrior Unit; for entries pertaining the Titan Powers, see the section of the "Warriors" in the Titans character page.

Warriors of the First Mission to Paradis Island

Warchief Zeke Yeager

See the Zeke Yeager character page for tropes about Zeke.

Vice-Commander Reiner Braun

See the Reiner Braun character page for tropes about Reiner.

Bertolt Hoover

See the Bertolt Hoover character page for tropes about Bertolt.

Annie Leonhart

See the Annie Leonhart character page for tropes about Annie.

Pieck Finger

Debut: Chapter 93 (manga), Episode 61 (Anime)

Voiced by: Manami Numakura (JP), Amber Lee Connors (EN), Dolores Mondragón (Latin American Spanish)

"It's been two months since I've been a human. I kinda forgot the whole bipedal thing."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pieck_2.png

A Titan Shifter who's the current holder of the Cart Titan, she participated in her Titan form in the battles at Shighanshina and Fort Slava. Pieck is an easy-going but remarkably intelligent young woman who is eccentric and playful in an equal degree.

Affably Evil: Pieck is a genuinely good-natured and sweet young woman who is always kind to others and easy to get along with, and is even shown to have a soft spot for kids as the warrior candidates adore her. This doesn't make her any less ruthless as she helps Zeke in turning the good people of Ragako village into titans and Erwin's squad into mush.
Awesomeness by Analysis: Pieck's high intelligence allows her to quickly assess a situation. She immediately knew something was unusual about the soldier who was leading her and the rest of the Warrior Unit away from Internment Zone, allowing her to slip her comrades a message for help. She also deduced that, despite the high casualties that the Eldians inflicted during the Raid on Liberio, the Marleyans still held the strategic advantage and simply had to cut off the Eldian avenues for retreat. Later, while seemingly siding with the Yaegerists, she waves to some soldiers with her cuffed hand to show that she is a hostage.
Better the Devil You Know: When a confused Gabi asks her whether she had betrayed the Warriors or not, she states that she does believe in her own dreams of a free Eldia and has no faith in the Marleyan government, but she'd much rather fight at the side of the Warriors than to follow Eren, as she had led him and Gabi to believe otherwise.
Beautiful All Along: It's rather surprising how pretty she is when she's not transformed, especially considering how gonky her Titan form is.
Big Damn Heroes: She saves Zeke and Reiner all by herself from almost being captured and killed during the Return to Shinganshina.
- She does it again in Chapter 102 when she and the Cart Titan's Panzer Unit saves Porco from the Survey Corps with 3D maneuvering gear, and gives Lady Tybur a chance to reform the Warhammer Titan.
Blood from the Mouth: She coughs a large amount of blood when both her human and Titan body are torn to pieces by a barrage of Thunder Spears.
Brutal Honesty: She is fully aware that Marley will never grant the Liberio Eldians the freedom they seek in their service to their imperialist cause, and that with the Titans becoming an obsolete weapon amid the world's rapid modernization that they would soon have no further use for the Eldians living under their rule. She is the one to spell this out to Gabi when the latter assumes her to be a traitor to their cause, and Gabi is forced to see that everything she has done in the Marley's service has been meaningless.
Pieck: Gabi. Are we Marleyans? Or Eldians? What do you think?
Gabi: We are honorary Marleyans.
Pieck: No. We are... the people of Ymir. That is a truth that you cannot escape. No matter what name we take on, we are still humans that can turn into Titans. Just like you saw in Port Slavs, the power of the Titans will sooner or later become irrelevant. Which means, sooner or later, Marley will have no more use for us, and will kill us all. Even if we keep trying to prove that we're "good Eldians", the day that we are free will never come. We have no choice but to take back our human rights with our own two hands.
Conditional Powers:
- While it's shown that the Cart Titan can remain transformed for a long time, the handicap comes from the fact that Pieck has to get accustomed to walking on two feet once again when she's human because she reflectively loses the ability to do so.
- She is subject to the Curse of Ymir too, and she seems to have gained her powers around the same time as Reiner, which would make her remaining amount of time to live at about two years, give or take.
Curb-Stomp Battle: She's so damaged after the Survey Corps' infiltration of Liberio that she can barely regenerate, being brought to the brink of death in spite of her powers and much to the horror of Gabi and Falco, who can just sit and watch her; a half-dozen Thunder Spears to the face would do that to you, granted.
Daddy's Girl: Pieck deeply loves her father and does her best to take care of him. According to the cover story she told Eren, she even became a Warrior to give him better medical care. In contrast to Annie, their familial relationship appears to be much healthier.
Damn You, Muscle Memory!: An In-Universe example: due to the Cart Titan being quadrupedal, and able to say transformed for much longer than usual for a titan shifter, Pieck finds it difficult to readjust to walking on two legs after she turns human again, having to use crutches and crawling on all-fours on the floor during the aftermath of a mission.
Dude Magnet: Her Panzer crew all clearly have a thing for her, in spite of being Marleyans. They blush while greeting her, and are jealous when she only hugs one of them. When pretending to side with the Yeagerists, her greeting to the crowd results in several soldiers blushing.
First-Name Basis: It's shown that, in the current series time frame, Pieck is the only person who still calls Galliard by his birth name Porco.
Foil:
- In terms of resourcefulness and analytic capacities, Pieck is a Distaff Counterpart to Armin. Even Zeke can't spare praises for her intellect, much like Armin's friends can't either when it comes to him.
- In terms of weirdness and sense of humor, she is a lot like the Paradisians' Sasha and Hange.
Gender-Blender Name: Pieck certainly doesn't sound like a woman's name, which is why it came as such a shock when she is first shown in Chapter 93.
Genius Bruiser: Originally selected as a Warrior because of her incredible intellect, which makes her Titan even more dangerous. She's not the faster or strongest Warrior, but she's skilled at combining a Titan's brute force with clever tactics to bring down her enemies.
Healing Factor: Like the other Titan Shifters. However, it is noted that hers is less powerful than the others, taking a much longer time to heal injuries than them.
Healthcare Motivation: Like many other Eldian children, she enlisted to provide for her ailing father. At least, she uses this sob story when talking to Eren. While her father is definitely her motivation, it's unclear whether he actually needed medical care or not. The anime shows her father suffering a coughing fit when they reunite, which might suggest her story is true.
I Know You Know I Know: She tells Eren that she's aware that it's not that she was successful infiltrating his inner circle, but rather, that he allowed her to get close.
Major Injury Underreaction: She doesn't seem to be bothered by having both her legs shattered in a fall, carrying on like usual as though one of her feet wasn't backwards. Even with a healing factor, she's incredibly chill about the entire mangled limbs thing.
Manipulative Bastard: She tells Eren a sob story about her father and how she wants to show him a free Eldia before her time as a Titan Shifter passes, and does so in order to engrace herself to his cause by also promising him that she'd rat out her undercover comrades. She positions Eren at the middle of the Shinganshina military HQ's rooftop where Galliard breaks through from underneath using the Jaws Titan in an attempt to eat Eren, signaling the Marley/Warrior troops at nearby zeppelins to begin the attack.
The Mole: Seemingly following Eren's example, she's infiltrated Paradis Island, in the midst of their civil uprising. She later dons a military uniform, infiltrates the Yeagerists and personally captures Eren while he's visiting Gabi in custody.
Morphic Resonance: Downplayed, but still present. Pieck's Titan form is one of the most grotesque ones and distinctively male in appearance; this is a result of Isayama changing his mind about the character after designing the Titan form. Instead of a middle-aged man◊, Pieck ended up as a young woman. But still her prominent nose and deceptively gentle eyes and facial features are shared by both her human and Titan forms.
Nonuniform Uniform: She's the only member of the military seen wearing a skirt with her uniform.
Not So Stoic: While being calm and cool-headed during most of the Battle of Liberio, she actually loses it when Sasha snipes one of her Panzer crew, making her charge directly at her and allowing Jean to give her (Pieck) a Thunder Spear to the face.
Oh, Crap!: Pieck gets a pretty big one in Chapter 101 when she sees the Survey Corps members flying around on their OMD gear and realizes that a Titan isn't the only threat.
- Gets even bigger one when Jean fires a thunder-spear directly into her eye, leaving her vulnerable to Death from Above.
Only Known by Their Nickname: Played with. At first, it isn't clear whether "Pieck" is her surname, first name, or simply an affectionate nickname the others call her. Her full name is eventually revealed in Chapter 126 as Pieck Finger.
Phrase Catcher: "As expected of Pieck!" and "That's exactly right!", courtesy of Zeke.
Properly Paranoid: Pieck suspected something was up when the Warriors were ordered to leave Tybur's ceremony. When she glomped one of the guys from her unit, she was actually passing a message letting them know that there was something fishy about the soldier that was escorting Porco and her. The Panzer Unit later shows up with a rope to rescue them from the pit trap they'd been lured into.
Protected by a Child: Just before Jean can finish her off with a Thunder Spear, Falco climbs on to her damaged Titan and shields her with his own body.
The Reliable One: Pieck is cheery, dependable, and a particularly dexterous and nimble Titan Shifter. Both Reiner and Zeke wouldn't be alive if it weren't for her.
Remember the New Guy?: Downplayed. She's not thrown into the cast without warning, but both her Titan and human forms are introduced suddenly without much fuss.
Required Secondary Powers: Her ability to remain in Titan form for months at a time must also significantly affect her basic human necessities such as eating, sleeping, and going to the bathroom during that time, considering how much it affects her locomotion alone.
Running on All Fours: She sometimes does this in human form, claiming it's easier.
Scotty Time: The Panzer Unit say they can prepare the Cart Titan's armor in fifteen minutes, and she says, "Do it in ten!"
Spotting the Thread: She slowly puts together the identity of the soldier that trapped her underground, realizing it was a woman that worked for Zeke and disappeared off the coast of Paradis.
The Squadette: The lone woman of Marley's Panzer Unit, with the men all clearly smitten with her.
Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: Parodied. Galliard comes across Pieck crawling around on all fours with her hair hanging over her face... and nearly falls down the stairs in shock.
Stumbling in the New Form: She crawls around the apartment after spending so many months quadrupedal.
Those Two Guys:
- Pre-Time Skip Pieck and Zeke were left in charge of protecting Marley from invaders whilst the remaining four Warriors were sent out to Paradis Island. Because of this experience, the two seem to have a lot of care for one another and Zeke seems to like praising her.
- After the Time Skip, she and Galliard are apparently often deployed together while Zeke spends most of his time with Reiner. This is to the point that, while Galliard feels that he hasn't seen her face in ages, she comments that they hang out practically all the time in Titan form.
Toxic Friend Influence: Played for Laughs. When Falco wonders just how his brother ended up getting all that alcohol, Pieck admits she did it, because Colt "looked like he wanted some".
Troll: While her delivery is very bland and innocent, Pieck seems to genuinely enjoy messing with her comrades. She caused the party on the train by giving Colt booze, and terrifies Galliard first thing in the morning by greeting him at the top of the stairs posed like a Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl.
True Companions: With her fellow Warriors and the Panzer unit, Marleyan soldiers that have complete faith in her in spite of their nation's enforced Fantastic Racism. Pieck further Invokes this when explaining that while she doesn't believe in Marley, she has chosen to believe in the comrades that have always fought at her side.
Unkempt Beauty: She's always got messy hair and loose-fitting clothing, but she's pretty enough that her Marleyan crew all have a thing for her.
Unseen No More: Her human form was something of The Ghost until it appeared for the first time in Chapter 93, as readers had only seen her Titan form in the Battle of Shiganshina, and her name was mentioned for the first time by Colt during the Battle of Fort Slava in Chapter 91.
Viewer Gender Confusion: Originally assumed to be a man, until her human form was introduced. This is justified, since Word of God admits Pieck was originally a man until he started working on the Marley-centric arc and decided it should be a woman.

Marcel Galliard

Voiced by: Masamichi Kitada (JP), Nathan Sharp (EN), Alex Villamar (Latin American Spanish)

Debut: Chapter 39 (Manga), Episode 29 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marcel_1.jpg

A childhood friend of Reiner and Bertolt, who sacrificed his life to save Reiner from a Titan, later revealed to have been a Titan Shifter and with the same mission as them. It's further implied that he used to be the holder of the Dancing/Jaws Titan power before he was devoured.

The Band Minus the Face: He was supposed to lead the group in the mission to Paradis. Before Reiner persuades them otherwise, Annie and Bertolt considered that without Marcel, the mission just couldn't be carried out. They are eventually proven right, as none of the three would be able to complete the mission.
Bearer of Bad News: After starting their mission on Paradis Island, Marcel tearfully confessed to Reiner that he rigged the selection process for him to carry the Armored Titan in order to spare his brother Porco. It shocked Reiner to the point where he was oblivious to Ymir's Titan coming right at him, resulting in Marcel pushing him out the way and being eaten in his place.
Big Brother Instinct: Marcel rigged the selection of the Armored Titan, protecting his brother by ensuring that Reiner would be chosen instead.
Chekhov's Gunman: His death set a major event in motion, and serves as the trigger to more than one major revelation years later. Devouring him allowed Ymir to regain human form, and the conversation Bertolt and Ymir have about it leads Hange to realize Titans possess a Cannibalism Superpower.
Death of a Child: He is shown dying on panel and in a fairly graphic fashion.
Eaten Alive: Probably the youngest character to be eaten on panel.
Foil: To Marco. The compassionate friend who tried to even out fights, and died young on his first mission, having a massive impact on their closest friend in Jean and Reiner respectively.
Half the Man He Used to Be: Implied, as the Titan devouring him is seen sinking shark-like teeth into his midsection.
Heroic Sacrifice: Pushed Reiner out of the way, dying in his place.
The Leader: Galliard describes him as having been the reliable and steady type, and he acts as a tempering influence between his hot-headed brother and the other Warriors. It's revealed that he was intended to be the leader of the 4 infiltrators, a role Reiner attempted to fill after his death.
Meaningful Name: French for "Little Warrior".
Mysterious Past: In the same degree as Reiner and Bertolt. He's later shown to have been another of Marley's Warriors, sent to infiltrate the Walls.
Nice Guy: He comes off as a friendly and kindhearted individual who cares for his brother and treats Reiner significantly better than Porco does. Reiner's supportive attitude toward his comrades appears to be the result of emulating this aspect of Marcel's personality.
Plot-Triggering Death: One of several in the series. His death is what allowed Ymir to regain human form, setting a major player back on the proverbial board.
Posthumous Character: We don't even learn of his existence until five years after his death.
The Reliable One: According to Galliard, Marcel was a person who could always be depended on. He accuses Reiner of emulating Marcel during his time in the 104th, something that Reiner admits is true.
"Shaggy Dog" Story: Marcel tried to protect his brother from becoming a Warrior, going so far as to rig the selection process. But he ended up being killed, their mission ended in failure, and Ymir eventually gave the Jaws back to Marley. Galliard would inherit that power, and fight on the front lines of a deadly war. As such, everything Marcel did to keep his brother safe ended up being pointless.
Small Role, Big Impact: He doesn't survive for very long but not only is he the reason that Ymir became a Shifter instead of remaining a mindless Titan, but he was the entire reason that Reiner became the Armored Titan because he rigged the selection to save his brother.
Spanner in the Works: Marcel's actions in rigging the selection of the Armored Titan was the trigger for numerous events that would lead to Historia becoming queen and the Paradis Operation failing. Ironically, the one thing he did want to accomplish was doomed from the start.
Sudden Name Change: His name is given as "Berwick" in the original version of Chapter 47, but changed when it was published in Volume 12.
Taking the Bullet: For Reiner.
Team Dad: He kept his brother in check, and looked after the other Warriors when Zeke wasn't present. This resulted in his death, when he was the only one able to act when a Titan attacked them.
Tears of Remorse: He broke down crying out of guilt while confessing that he rigged the selection, so Reiner would be chosen over his brother.
You Killed My Father:
- Subverted; Bertolt confronts Ymir about having killed Marcel, but seems to forgive her since she doesn't remember doing it and had no control at the time.
- Zigzagged with his brother Porco; he doesn't seem to hold any ill will towards Ymir herself for directly eating Marcel, in fact he admits to feeling sorry for her plight and being grateful to get his brother's Titan back, but he does blame Reiner for his death and believes he abandoned him to die.

Warriors and Candidates during the Mid-East Alliance War

Porco Galliard

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 61 (Anime)

Voiced by: Toshiki Masuda (JP), Kellen Goff (EN), Rafael Escalante (Latin American Spanish)

"What the hell? Can't you see I'm a Titan?!"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/porco_galliard.png

Porco Galliard, or Galliard for short, is Titan Shifter serving under the Marleyan Army, having inherited the Jaws Titan after devouring Ymir from the 104th. He is Marcel's brother and was Reiner's childhood rival, a relationship that has only gotten worse with time. He was originally the lead candidate to inherit the Armored Titan during the preparations for the first Warrior mission to Paradis, though Reiner was given priority over him.

Porco was first on the list to receive a Titan after the return of the Warriors from Paradis, and he's the latest Warrior of the original program to receive a Titan Power. Though he is known in the military due to his contrarianism, Porco is considered an exemplary soldier and Warrior.

Adaptational Early Appearance: Porco appears in a Freeze-Frame Bonus in Episode 58 of the anime during a paths memory dump sequence that Historia receives from Ymir's letter, and it shows him moments before being Titanized and he's about to eat a chained Ymir back in Liberio. This is an anime-only sequence set a couple of episodes before his prospective first appearance in the anime, and an entire four years before he showed up for the first time in the manga's timeline. Due to additional information given in the episode, it's implied that this is a future memory of Ymir from the moment she wrote the letter, and it's unclear whether this has happened previous to Historia receiving the letter, or is bound to happen in the near future.
Aerith and Bob: With his brother; Marcel and... Porco. Understandably, he's not too fond of his first name and prefers to be called Galliard.
Best Friend: He and Pieck are joined at the hip. She is his greatest ally and closest companion.
Big Damn Heroes: He saves Falco and Gabi from machine gun fire with his Titan form. He later protects Reiner from artillery fire when Reiner tries to destroy Ford Slava's stronghold.
Break the Haughty: Galliard is incredibly arrogant when it comes to the power of his Titan, in spite of knowing how well things went for his comrades in the past. He repeatedly throws away caution, believing that he can't possibly lose to a bunch of humans. This arrogance leads to Zeke and Pieck being defeated when he breaks formation, and Eren figuring out that he could use the Jaw Titan to crush Lady Tybur. Galliard can do nothing but scream in horror while the enemy uses him to kill the War Hammer, and he only avoids being eaten as well when Reiner comes to his rescue.
Brutal Honesty: He has a tendency to speak his mind without consideration for others, openly criticizing or calling out even when keeping his mouth shut would be better.
Butt-Monkey: He is utterly humiliated in battle both in Liberio and later in Shinganshina. He's a proverbial Titan pincushion.
Conditional Powers:
- Gabi states that if there is familial co-linearity between a Titan Shifter and the Titanized individual who eats him, there are greater chances of the individual to inherit the memories of the Shifter they ate. Had he eaten Marcel himself, being full brothers, he would have inherited his memories, but the problem comes from the fact that it was Ymir who ate Marcel, adding a degree of separation between the siblings, thus making him unable to inherit Marcel's memories. Reiner brings this up after the Battle of Fort Slava because, if Galliard obtains his brother's memories, he would stop accusing Reiner of stuff Marcel is guilty of, but Reiner has no way of proving.
- He is subject of the Curse of Ymir too, having spent at least 4 of his allotted 13 years of remaining lifetime in the war against the Mid-East Alliance. It's not known how long ago he consumed Ymir, so it's not known how much time he has left before he succumbs to the curse.
Disappointed in You: He engages in a Tranquil Fury conversation with Reiner after returning to Fort Slava, though it's shown that Galliard would not resort to violence and bullying against Reiner as he would have done when he was younger, implying that he had somewhat accepted that Reiner was chosen instead of him in the time they hadn't seen each other. It's thus implied that Porco is more irritated at just how much Reiner fucked up at Paradis and how this cost the lives of Annie, Bertolt and Marcel.
Do Not Call Me "Paul": Galliard is actually his surname, and only Pieck calls him by his first name.
Dramatic Irony: Porco was the last candidate of the original batch of Warriors to receive a Titan Power and the third one to lose it after both his own brother Marcel and their teammate Bertolt. In spite of their prowess as candidates, and the fact that Porco achieved significant contributions to the Marleyan war efforts in their war against the Mid-East Alliance, neither of the Galliard brothers was able to do anything significant against the Eldians of Paradis other than losing their powers.
Drowning My Sorrows: While sitting at the hospital with Reiner and Pieck, he's shown to be working on his third bottle of alcohol. Suffice to say, his experiences fighting the Survey Corps have left him deeply shaken.
Dying Moment of Awesome: Steps into the scene of Titan!Falco munching Reiner's nape to offer his own Titan as a meal, making it possible for both Reiner and Falco to survive. His last words are asserting that this act makes it clear he was better than Reiner all along.
Early-Bird Cameo: The anime adds a scene of Historia connecting to the Paths while reading Ymir's letter, allowing her a glimpse into the other woman's memories. This includes a brief glimpse of Galliard preparing to inherit the Jaws Titan, though he doesn't appear until the following arc in the manga.
Embarrassing First Name: It turns out that Porco is not actually a Affectionate Nickname that Pieck calls him it's his actual first name. Which makes it all the more understandable why he dislikes her using it.
Entertainingly Wrong: He has formed a valid but rough opinion of Reiner based on the memories of Ymir, which is why Reiner asks him if he remembers something from Marcel's memories. If Porco did, he'd know that Reiner's election as a Warrior was Marcel's fault in the first place, which he tampered with in an effort to prevent Porco from coming into harm's way.
Everyone Is Related: He is Marcel's brother and one of the former candidates for the Armored Titan power, having lost it to Reiner.
Facial Horror: Eren attacks him directly instead of simply damaging his Titan, crushing the right side of Galliard's skull in the process. When he stumbles out of his Titan, that side is still crushed with blood and gore covering the right side of his head.
Foil: Galliard's relationship with Reiner is a bit of a Shadow Archetype to Jean's relationship with Eren as they were both Rivals to the respective characters who even had similar violent confrontations about their ideals. The difference is that Eren and Jean's relationship eventually improved whilst Reiner and Galliard's... didn't.
Hotblooded: He's always been temperamental, quick to speak his mind and easily angered by others.
Hidden Depths: According to the Marleyan commanders, in spite of his personal misgivings regarding Reiner, Galliard is both a dutiful and professional soldier. It's apparent that his bad attitude is reserved for Reiner only.
History Repeats: He made light of the devils of Paradis just like Zeke had done during the Battle of Shinganshina, and just like Zeke, he was handed his own ass in a plate by the Survey Corps using the 3DM gear, both times by an Ackerman. They are both eventually saved by an ally (Pieck saves Zeke, Reiner saves Porco).
Immunity Attrition: Falls victim to this during the battle against the Yeager brothers, slowly wearing him down through damage to his Titan and his actual body. Eren finally crushes him inside his Titan, leaving him too exhausted to fully heal the fatal injuries .
It's Personal: His disdain for Reiner stems from the fact that Reiner earned the Armored Titan over him in the past despite ostensibly being the worst of their group, leaving Galliard the only one who couldn't take part in the Paradis mission. Furthermore, he blames him for Marcel's death, believing that Reiner abandoned him like a coward. He also accuses Reiner's overblown wholesome and reassuring personality of being just an imitation of how Marcel himself used to be. What he doesn't know is that Reiner "became" Marcel for the sake of Annie and Bertolt and that Marcel caused the whole situation by rigging the election to leave his brother out of the selected four Warriors in an effort to save him, a revelation that shook Reiner and distracted him from the Titan that ended up eating Marcel.
Jerkass Has a Point:
- When he sees Reiner again after the Battle for Fort Slava, he tells him that if he had inherited the Armoured Titan, the catastrophes on Paradis Island would never have occurred. He asks Reiner if he actually accomplished anything while he was on the island or if he just had to be rescued all the time. While it's an especially harsh thing to say, especially considering how PTSD ridden Reiner obviously is, it's hard to deny that Reiner did have to constantly be saved during the mission.^note Still, it's fair to point out that there's no guarantee that Galliard would have fared any better than Reiner had he gone to the island as he was intended to. Reiner doesn't argue back, and says that Galliard is completely right.
- Invoked by the Marleyan high command, who consider Galliard an exemplary soldier in spite of his contrarianism.
Jerk Jock: As a child, he was hot-tempered and athletic, bullying Reiner for being the weakest member of their group. He's since grown out of this behavior for the most point.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he's always been a jerk towards Reiner, Galliard is actually pretty nice towards everyone else in their unit. He rescues the Candidates from enemy fire, has a good friendship with Pieck, and helps carry Colt from the train when he's too hung-over to walk on his own.
Jerkass to One: Much of Galliard's antagonism is kept exclusively towards Reiner. In the past the root of it was him wanting to knock down Reiner a peg due to him being a Boisterous Weakling. In the present, he's resentful of Reiner being the cause of his brother's death and feeling that their mission would've been successful if Reiner didn't "steal" his rightful place as the Armored Titan.
Knight in Sour Armor: He's none too happy nor idealistic with his lot in life, especially in matters concerning Marcel and Reiner, but he's clearly protective of his comrades during the battle of Fort Slava.
Laser-Guided Karma: He mocks and insults Reiner for his failures (both real and assumed) on Paradis, particularly involving the loss of several Titan Shifter powers and Marcel's death. He himself at Liberio ends up getting Lara Tybur killed and losing the War Hammer Titan to Eren, and is only saved from suffering the same fate by Reiner mustering up the will to live and attacking Eren.
Last-Name Basis: Almost everyone knows him by his last name; the only two people who ever called him with his first name are his late brother Marcel and Pieck, but he dislikes being called that by her.
Leeroy Jenkins: After Pieck advises patience and lays out a strategy that Zeke vocally supports, Galliard completely disregards it at the very first opportunity. Instead, he breaks their defensive formation and charges off alone....even after his previous charges had nearly gotten him killed. This leaves his comrades in serious danger, without anyone to help them, and Galliard facing overwhelming opponents on his own.
Locked Out of the Loop: He's unaware that Marcel intentionally sabotaged his chances, ensuring that Reiner would get the Armored Titan instead of him. His brother's memories remain out of reach, and Reiner has kept quiet about what Marcel did to protect his family.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Twice over during the attack on Liberio:
- Believing that the quickest way to end the war would be to take out Eren and reclaim the Founding Titan, he breaks formation and attacks Eren head on. This ends up leaving Zeke and Pieck vulnerable which results in them being overwhelmed by the Survey Corps' well choreographed attacks.
- His frenzied attack against Eren reveals that his Titan is capable of damaging Lady Tybur's crystal. Eren quickly exploits this ability by catching and crippling Galliard, then uses the Jaw Titan like an enormous nutcracker to crush Lady Tybur and swallow her remains.
Oh, Crap!:
- A subtle one during Chapter 98, Porco is taken aback when Zeke tells Colt that he's thinking too much like a brother and not so much as a Warrior when referring to Falco and his drive to become a Warrior. It's implied that he might be beginning to realize that his brother Marcel had something to do with Reiner being chosen as the Armored Titan instead of him.
- He has a much more pronounced one in Chapter 102. He tries to sneak up and Eren and bite him out of his nape, only to almost instantly have his jaw cut open by Levi and then nearly get blown to bits by the rest of Survey Corps shortly thereafter. Apparently, Porco was painfully unaware just how dangerous the soldiers of Paradis really are for Titans.
Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye: Mortally wounded by Eren, Galliard makes peace with Reiner and sacrifices himself to save his childhood rival by letting Titan!Falco eat him.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Galliard brothers had this dynamic, with hot-headed Porco the Red to reliable, steady Marcel's Blue. In time, Porco himself began to turn into a Blue Oni.
Refused by the Call: Galliard was chosen as a Warrior along with the others, but only 6 Titans were inherited. Galliard ended up losing out to Reiner, and spent the next 5 years waiting on the sidelines. He wouldn't receive his Titan until Ymir was brought back and surrendered the Jaws to him. In reality, he was going to be chosen... but Marcel tampered with the results to protect him.
Revenge Before Reason: He's blinded by his desire for revenge, repeatedly leaping into battle and making costly mistakes. His repeated attacks on Eren backfire spectacularly, causing their defensive formation to collapse and eventually causing the loss of the War Hammer.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: He states things would have gone differently, if he'd been chosen as the Armored Titan. He's not wrong about that, just how things ended up going wrong. It was Marcel and not Reiner that caused things to slowly go off the rails. If he hadn't tampered with the selection process to keep Galliard safe, Reiner wouldn't have been sent on the mission. And then, he wouldn't have confessed out of guilt and died saving a stunned Reiner from Ymir.
The Rival: He was one to Reiner in the past. Both were candidates to inherit the Armored Titan, and even though Galliard was ostensibly better than him, he ultimately lost out to Reiner due to Marcel's interference with the selection process. Their relationship still shows shades of rivalry in present day, as Galliard continues to insult and belittle Reiner even though they're supposed to be comrades. For his part though, Reiner seems to have become more or less too broken by his experiences to be bothered with protesting Galliard any longer; rather than lashing out like he used to, he simply accepts Galliard's insults and accusations and remains polite towards him.
Sacrificial Lion: Slowly uses up his powers trying to keep the Yeager brothers apart, until Eren finally crushes his real body. With the last of his strength, he makes peace with Reiner and then passes the Jaws on to Falco.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Hot-headed, light-haired Porco contrasts heavily with his more reasonable, even-tempered, and dark-haired brother, Marcel.
Smug Super: Has a very bad case of thinking he's invincible because he's a Titan Shifter. This has gotten him into a lot of trouble, since this belief causes him to underestimate non-Titan Shifters and act incredibly recklessly in combat.
Strong Family Resemblance: Despite not being twins, he looks identical to his late brother Marcel, the only notable difference between them being the color of their hair.
Sympathy for the Devil: He admits that he felt very sorry for Ymir after inheriting her memories noting that she inherited a name too big for her and appreciated that she would give back his brothers Titan.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He admits to Reiner that he only saved him during the battle of Fort Slava because they both serve Marley likely because he blames him for his brother Marcel's death.
This Cannot Be!: In spite of inheriting Ymir's memories, he completely underestimates the Survey Corps. When they successfully corner him, he's shocked at how mere humans could fight him in Titan form.
Underestimating Badassery: Porco's completely dismisses the idea of humans crazy enough to attack him while he's in Titan form, or defeat him for that matter. He has every reason to fear the Survey Corps, especially since he has no inherent defenses. At one point Levi and Mikasa close in on him, and he's only saved from certain death by Pieck's intervention.
Villainous BSoD: Albeit Porco is not a "villain" per se, witnessing the "death" of Zeke and Pieck being turned into minced meat, alongside his own close call, breaks him inside.
Wrong Genre Savvy: An interesting case - a century or so ago, he might have been right about being an invincible living superweapon who no human could hope to challenge. However, the genre has started shifting as technology has improved, and modern weaponry and 3D Maneuver Gear means that the story is entirely about normal humans standing up to Titans.
You Kill It, You Bought It: He inherited Ymir's memories and power, after consuming her.
You Killed My Brother: Towards Reiner, who does nothing to dissuade the notion; partially out of guilt, and partially for Galliard's own safety.
You Monster!: Upon seeing the transformation of the Colossal Titan in the distance and realizing that it confirms that Bertolt was killed and his Titan taken away from him, he calls the Survey Corps "devils" and breaks formation in anger charging head-on towards Eren.

Falco Grice

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (JP), Bryson Baugus (EN), Diego Becerril (Latin American Spanish)

"Hey...It's dangerous here...Fly away...somewhere...far away."

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/falco_grice.png

A young Eldian recruit serving on the Marleyan army under Captain Magath, also a candidate to inherit the Armored Titan power. Somewhat of a laggard, Falco is not particularly looking forward to inheriting the Titan Power, but Reiner's pleas convince him to push onward for the sake of Gabi. Falco is the nephew of the Eldian Restorationist Grice, who was Grisha Yeager's right-hand man, and whose capture led Falco and Colt to enlist in order to atone for his crimes.

From Chapter 91 onward, Falco becomes a Deuteragonist in the manga alongside Gabi and Reiner.

All-Loving Hero: Though he can demonstrate a cynical attitude, Falco is also perhaps one of the kindest people in the entire series. He repeatedly demonstrates compassion towards others, seeing the humanity in enemies and looking to resolve conflicts with minimal loss of life. Falco knows the world is a cruel place, but instead of letting it harden him, he continues to seek ways to help others and recognizes the truth that people are the same everywhere.
Always Save the Girl: Falco's entire motivation is centered around protecting Gabi, often from herself. He repeatedly throws himself into danger to save her life, often shielding her with his own body in the process. And his reason for striving to become a Warrior is to prevent her from inheriting the Armored Titan, and the Curse of Ymir with it. When she prepares to go on a suicide mission alone, he hesitates for a second before taking off with her.
And Then John Was a Zombie: Briefly. He is turned into a mindless Titan under Zeke's control, after Colt had begged Zeke to spare him. Moments later, Porco sacrifices himself to give Falco the Jaws Titan power.
Anguished Declaration of Love: At the gates of doom during the Second Battle of Shinganshina, moments before he is eventually Titanized, Falco declares his love for Gabi, lamenting to her that he will not be able to make her happy, marry her, or get to spend the rest of their lives together like he's always wanted. This stuns Gabi, but gives her and Colt the courage to try to fight their way out of Shinganshina and escape alive.
Animal Motifs: Fit to his name: Falcons. This extends to his flying Titan form resembling a giant bird of prey.
Big Damn Heroes: Falco gets two major moments to shine after becoming the Jaw Titan that prove instrumental in the series final arc.
- At the Port the alliance is being hammered at all sides by the Yeagerists with no way to escape when suddenly Falco activates his Jaw Titan power for the first time. While he soon loses control over it, he is able to break up the Yeagerists formation, allowing the alliance to take the port for themselves and escape.
- During the Final Battle the members of the alliance are being pinned down by an army of former nine Titan users with seeming now way to win. Falco's sudden arrival as a flying Jaw Titan allows the alliance to regroup and turn the tides on the battle. It's very likely that, without Falco's intervention, the alliance would have been slaughtered and Eren would have destroyed the world.
Broken Pedestal: Naturally, after realizing the true identity and intentions of "Mr. Kruger", he calls out Eren for deceiving and using him, telling him how he believed his encouragement and used to look up to him; His words resonate to Reiner who is also present as he did the same thing to Eren.
Cannot Spit It Out: Even though it's painfully obvious to EVERYONE, he's unable to just tell Gabi how he feels. The closest he gets to it is blurting out that he's doing everything for her, but Falco loses his nerve and runs away before he can explain himself.
- He finally confesses his feelings to Gabi during the Marleyan raid in Shinganshina.
Child Soldiers: Falco seems to be in his early teens, but has already seen combat in the trenches.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: In spite of his cynicism, Falco simply cannot stand by and watch others suffer. He rescued a wounded enemy on the battlefield, and is the only one to stop and help a One-legged War Vet (actually Eren in disguise) who'd fallen to the ground.
The Cynic: Falco recognizes the problems faced by the Warriors, noting their shortened lifespan and the fact they are just as likely to be killed in battle. While others think of it as an "honor", Falco sees the ugliness and tragedy of becoming a living weapon for Marley.
Deliberate Values Dissonance: In spite of not being as extremist and reactionary as Gabi against the Eldians of Paradis, Falco states that he's more than expectant of meeting another Marleyan at Paradis, implying that he finds security in the notion.
Deuteragonist: Gabi, Falco and Reiner are the Main Characters of the arc that began from Chapter 91 of the manga, but Eren is still a big deal here.
Distressed Dude: He follows Gabi on to the airship, and ends up taken prisoner by the Survey Corps.
Dogged Nice Guy: Invoked. He has a crush on Gabi, and his drive to compete with her, unlike hers, is to keep her safe from what amounts to a cursed destiny. To Gabi, though, Falco is just another step on the ladder.
Dramatically Missing the Point: The following exchange shows him failing to realize that Eren's preparing to transform into a Titan.
Falco: Hey... did you hurt your hand?
Eren, aka "Mr Kruger": Yes...
Earn Your Happy Ending: He gets betrayed by "Kruger" and accidentally sells out his homeland, loses his entire family, loses his friends, unintentionally kills a close comrade and steals his Titan, gets beaten to a pulp by grown men multiple times, almost dies several times, and suffers untold emotional trauma... but he successfully keeps Gabi alive and appears to have gotten his Relationship Upgrade with her after one final 3-year Timeskip.
11th-Hour Superpower: Falco discovers how to enable his Jaws Titan to fly, which allows him, Gabi, and Annie to participate in the final battle and save the Alliance from certain death.
Everyone's Baby Brother: Due to his kind nature pretty much everyone in the Warrior Unit likes Falco and he is directly described as being seen as a kid brother. Armin even argues against feeding Falco to someone after he inherits the Jaw Titan as, if Eren succeeds in wiping out the world, they Paradisians could start a whole new war with Reiner and Pieck over his death.
Everyone Can See It: Everyone seems aware of his crush on Gabi, including Eren Yeager, who correctly guesses the rival he wants to protect is a girl. That is, everyone except Gabi.
Everyone Is Related: He is the nephew of Grice, one of the Eldia Restorationists that were sent to Paradis to become a Mindless Titan alongside his co-conspirators Grisha and Dina, and the Marley authorities are using this treacherous background as leverage to make him subscribe to the Warriors' tenets.
Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: In an internal monologue, he realizes that if Reiner's "old friend" was someone he hadn't met in the past four years, the person in question must have been from the Isle of Paradis, and thus, an enemy.
Expy: Word of God revealed that he is based on Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad.
Foil:
- To Reiner. Not only does Falco physically look a lot like Reiner did when he was around his age, but they're experiencing similar challenges as well, with both of them trying to overcome their rival to inherit the Armored Titan power. But, Falco's nearly the opposite of how Reiner was; while Reiner was blindly devoted to the Marleyan cause and idealistic about inheriting the Titan powers, Falco is much more cynical and reserved when it comes to both topics.
- To Eren. Eren and Falco are considered below average among their cadet peers and tried to achieve their goals going by more sheer tenacity than skill. They also tasked themselves with protecting girls that are at risk of inheriting an Intelligent Titan (Historia and Gabi). Eren and Falco are fundamentally good people who care for their peers with great dedication, making it no surprise that the pair become quick friends when they meet at Liberio.
- He's also one to Mikasa. Both are cynics who recognize they live in a cruel world, but nonetheless try to do good for others. The difference is that Falco is more friendly and sociable while Mikasa is more reserved and quiet. They also both have romantic feelings for a Hot-Blooded idealistic youth that they are willing to risk their lives for. They even share the same birthday (Febuary 10).
Go Through Me: He climbs on to Pieck's disabled Titan, and shields her nape while begging the Survey Corps to stop.
Irony: Falco is utterly dead set on inheriting one of the Nine Titans. He does but not the one he expected.
I Just Want to Be Free: Falco longs to free the Eldian people from the endless cycles of war, but remains uncertain how to go about accomplishing this task.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He wants to inherit the Armored Titan to spare Gabi from a short lifetime of warfare and bloodshed, but later, when all hope seems lost, he confesses to Gabi that, above all, he wanted to spend his life with Gabi, marry her and grow old together.
Last-Name Basis: He is the only one who calls Reiner "Mr. Braun", it's implied because of his jealousy towards him.
Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: The feminine boy to Gabi's masculine girl. Falco is a soft-spoken gentle Nice Guy who clearly isn't built for war at all and is generally unassertive. Gabi is a loud aggressive Blood Knight who revels in opportunities to show off her skills during combat.
Morality Pet: Invoked and so far subverted. As of Chapter 108, he's trying to be one for Gabi at Paradis, as the girl is diving onto the deep end of a mental breakdown, having hints of becoming a Cloudcuckoo Landers Minder for her as well.
My God, What Have I Done?: After he puts the pieces together that "Mr. Kruger" came from Paradis Island, he realizes that he unknowingly aided an extremely dangerous enemy of Marley and potentially the entire world for an entire month and reacts accordingly.
Nice Guy: One of Falco's defining features is his kindness towards others, an aspect that earns him little favors with his peers (as Gabi states, he's supposedly showing off), but warrants admiration from Eren of all people.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero / Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Or rather nice job fixing it Nice Guy is irrelevant and entirely up to which side you're on, but either way, he qualifies for the trope; by fixing Eren's armband, he unknowingly helped him blend in better in Marley and possibly avoid suspicion. Furthermore, he also unwittingly helps progress Eren's plan along by agreeing to deliver letters for him to his "family" and even brings Reiner to him in an isolated location.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: After Koslow frightens a group of shell-shocked Eldians, Falco goes to help them and notices one of them has their armband on the wrong arm and fixes it without a second thought. As it turns out, that man was Eren, who later uses that act of kindness as an excuse to befriend Falco and later exploit his trust to unknowingly aid in his counterattack against Marley. This ends up getting Falco's friends Udo and Zofia killed during Eren's attack at the festival along with his home being ground-zero of a massive battle.
Oh, Crap!: Poor Falco. During the meeting between "Mr. Kruger" and Reiner, he can't figure out why the latter looks like he's about to be eaten by a Titan. Until he does some math in his head and realizes the two met during Reiner's time on Paradis Island.
- Continued in the next chapter when "Kruger" regrows his leg right in front of Falco, confirming his identity as Eren Yeager.
Power Incontinence: Like Eren he initially has very little control over his Titan form and he ends up trying to attack his own allies. Fortunately, he is subdued before he can cause any serious harm. He eventually manages to figure things out and becomes fully capable of controlling his Titan.
Puppy Love: He's in love with Gabi, and both are around 11-12 years old. It would be more straightforward if they weren't battle-hardened soldiers who fight under propagandistic lies for the cause of an evil empire.
Reluctant Warrior: Falco despises fighting, and longs to achieve peace for the Eldians. But he's also one of the top Warrior candidates, and a veteran of trench warfare.
The Rival: He is seen as such by Gabi towards her; Ironically from his part he seems to have a crush on her.
Rule of Symbolism: Each of his titan forms represents a different stage in the life cycle of a bird. His initial mindless titan form resembles a deformed chick, while his first appearance as the Jaw Titan resembles that of a fledgling that has yet to leave the nest. His final winged form is that of a full grown bird, symbolically showing Falco's growth as a Titan shifter.
Running Gag: Falco being slow on the uptake:
- Despite having had multiple conversations with Mr. Kruger, who he learned met Reiner some years ago, he failed to do the math (until it was too late) that would have put Kruger on Paradis at the time.
- Gabi was the one who shot and killed Sasha when she and Falco hitched a ride on the airship back to Paradis. They both wind up staying with her family, who naturally talk about their daughter who died on the way back. It's only while seeing Nikolo's unexpectedly distressed reaction that he makes the connection it's her family they were living with.
- When Connie is bringing an unconscious Falco to Ragako Village, intending to feed him to his titanized mother, Falco wakes up and thanks Connie for helping him, thinking he looks familiar. After arriving at Ragako Village, it takes the arrival of Armin and Gabi for him to realize Connie's intentions.
Sins of the Father: Falco was conscripted into the Warrior Unit to answer for his uncle's crimes.
Strong Family Resemblance: He looks identical to his treacherous uncle who was sent to Paradis Island.
Taking the Bullet: Narrowly avoided this when he saved Gabi from being shot by Jean, in turn saving Jean's life as well. Played straight later when the duo run into Nikolo and Gabi accidentally admits to killing Sasha, prompting Falco to shield her when Nikolo attacks her with a wine bottle and accidentally ingesting some of the tainted wine.
Throw the Dog a Bone: After the sheer amount of trauma he had to go through and losing the majority of his loved ones, Falco loses his Titan Shifter powers, thus curing him of the Curse of Ymir, and he’s able to reunite with Gabi, allowing him to live a full life with her.
Trauma Conga Line: Started as a child soldier fighting for an evil superpower. Then his act of kindness towards a veteran results in his hometown being destroyed and friends killed, then being captured and held prisoner by the Paradis Eldians, witnessing the cruel effects that Marleyan aggression had on civilians, and finally getting hit by a bottle with Zeke's spinal fluid and learning he's most likely going to be titanized. And then he kills his own brother while transforming and eats Galliard which leaves him devastated and traumatized. Poor kid.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His supposed act of kindness of delivering letters to "Mr. Kruger's" family and friends causes the attack on Liberio to take place, since he was actually Eren Yeager using another name and trying to get his friends to prepare for battle. Once Falco realizes this, he has an understandable My God, What Have I Done? moment.
Unwitting Pawn: Eren convinces him to sneak letters in and out of the ghetto, allowing him to pass messages without Marley discovering him. Dr. Yeager takes note of this, and warns "Mr. Kruger" to stop putting Falco in danger. Despite this, in Chapter 98 he still convinced Falco to arrange a private meeting between him and Reiner.
Why Am I Ticking?: When Zeke activates his Scream to transform the soldiers guarding him in the forest, Falco senses it happening through the Paths. The distance prevents him from being transformed, but marks him as someone infected with Zeke's spinal fluid. Should Zeke get anywhere near him, Falco becomes a walking time-bomb prepped to become one of his mind-controlled Titans.
Winged Humanoid: As shown in Chapter 135, his Jaw Titan is capable of growing wings and flying. It is implied that this is because his initial transformation to a mindless Titan was caused by spinal fluid from the holder of the Beast Titan.
You Are Worth Hell: Falco is willing to fight as far as he can as long as he can protect Gabi, thus trying to ensure that she doesn't inherit the Armored Titan so that she doesn't endure a short lifetime spent on pointless fighting for a dubious cause.
Your Days Are Numbered: Subverted. After becoming the Jaw Titan, like all shifters, he also becomes affected by the Curse of Ymir, which means that, had the Power of the Titans not being erased by the last chapter, Falco would have died at 25.

Gabi Braun

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (JP), Lindsay Seidel (EN), Danann Galván (Latin American Spanish)

"I'm gonna win this battle and prove that the Eldians left in this world are good Eldians!"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gabi_braun.png

"It's true... I am exceptional compared to Falco and the others. There may never be another Warrior as talented as I am. Not to mention one this cute."

An Eldian girl serving under Captain Magath. She is Reiner Braun's cousin, and one of the candidates being considered to inherit the Armored Titan from him. Enthusiastic, zealous and fierce, Gabi is the top Warrior candidate of the new batch of cadets.

Gabi is one of the main characters of the Marley arc (Ch. 91+) alongside Falco and Reiner. She continues being a prominent character until the conclusion of the manga.

The Ace: Gabi Braun is top her class in the Warrior Program. She's clever, fast, strong and an expert marksman.
Adaptational Early Appearance: She makes an appearance during the credit sequence of the final episode of Season 3.
And Then John Was a Zombie: Gabi, like the rest of the Eldians at Fort Salta, is forcibly turned into a Titan in the series penultimate chapter in order to serve as an army for the source of all organic matter to distract the Warriors so it can reconnect with Eren. Fortunately after Eren's death she becomes human again.
Armor-Piercing Question: She is hit by one repeatedly when she's with an Eldian "devil" on Paradis.
"What did my mother do to deserve being eaten alive?!"
As You Know: When her father asked Reiner about his mission on Paradis Island during their celebratory dinner, Gabi reminds him that any information pertaining to that mission was strictly classified.
The Atoner: She insists she is ready to face the consequences for having killed Sasha so long as no harm comes to Falco who had protected her from Nikolo, and is genuinely confused as to why Armin and Mikasa haven't killed her. Later she feels guilty for Falco's current state due to trying to protect her before and resolves to go and save him.
- During Marley's attack on Shiganshina, Gabi finally understands the reality of the war unfolding around her, and that the people she villified and killed with such glee were just ordinary people, not the "devils" she believed them to be. It is after overhearing Kaya's refusal to ever forgive Gabi for killing Sasha that forces her to come to terms with her crimes, and she openly regrets having dragged Falco into this situation. Determined to save his life, she decides the real fight is with Zeke and Eren, even without knowing the full extent of their true intentions.
Awful Truth:
- If she becomes the next Armored Titan and receives Reiner's memories of what actually transpired on Paradis Island.
- She found out that the person she idolized, Zeke, is actually a turncoat, which hits her pretty hard and she refuses to accept it.
- Upon being taken into the Braus household, she starts realizing that the Marleyan rhetoric against the Eldians is full of logical fallacies, and that they may have waged a war against innocent people that had nothing to do with the "sins" of their ancestors.
- When Pieck confronts Eren before her while disguised as a Survey Corps soldier, she lays it out to Gabi in blunt terms that the Marley were never going to give the Eldians in Liberio their freedom, and that no matter how much she tries to deny it to herself Gabi will never be anything more than a "Devil" in the eyes of the Marleyans to whom she had sworn loyalty, and that all her efforts to win her rights as an "Honorary Marleyan" have been a lie.
- Gabi overhears Kaya say she will never forgive her for killing Sasha, and would still kill her if they ever met again. Gabi is devastated by this and finally abandons her prejudice towards the people who had spared her life.
Badass Adorable: Gabi is a small, cute 12-year old girl. She's also the top candidate in Marley's Warrior Unit, and a talented, reckless soldier with Improbable Aiming Skills and combat experience.
Badass in Distress: She sneaks on to the Survey Corps' airship to take revenge, intending to die a heroic death against the invading "Devils". Instead, Jean takes her prisoner with the airship headed back to Paradis Island.
Be Careful What You Wish For:
- Gabi gleefully states to a wary Reiner that she feels winds of change during the festival; that very evening Eren rampages through Willy Tybur's rally, killing her friends Udo and Zofia, alongside hundreds of attendees and thus signaling the beginning of the war between Marley and the Paradian Eldians.
- Gabi sought to kill Eren Yeager in the aforementioned attack and went to great lengths to see it happen, ultimately getting herself captured after having killed Sasha among others in her pursuit of him. Come their first meeting since the battle in Liberio, and not only is she shown to be terrified of what he may be planning, but is quickly taken hostage along with the other members of the Corps who had spared her life.
- Gabi admits to Reiner that part of the reason she wants to inherit the Armored Titan so badly is because she wants to understand what happened to him while he was infiltrating Paradis Island and why he's changed so much. Once she is captured and brought to Paradis Island, she witnesses firsthand the same anguish Reiner felt when she befriends the Blouse family and is then subsequently outed as the person who killed Sasha. After hearing Kaya wish death upon her for Sasha's murder Gabi breaks down and says that she now finally understands the pain Reiner went through.
BFG: She picks up Colt's Anti-Titan rifle, and continues using it to fight. Being a weapon designed to bring down giant monsters, it's enormous compared to her and she usually ends up being thrown backwards by the recoil.
Big Damn Heroes: She rescues the Braus family from a mindless Titan, using one of the new Anti-Titan rifles to take it down. In the aftermath, Kaya briefly recalls the day she was rescued by Sasha.
Big Eater: She goes bananas at the Festival, running her cousin Reiner's wallet dry with her friends. In the end, she's so full that Reiner has to drag her.
Blood Knight: She's very competitive, and seems to enjoy fighting compared to everyone else. Even having just lived through trench warfare doesn't hamper her eagerness to engage in more battles.
Boomerang Bigot: She's an Eldian raised to hate other Eldians, and has bought completely into the legend of the "demons" on the island. She's genuinely confused when Reiner describes the people living within the Walls as "varied". She also hates the people of Paradis with a burning passion especially after many of her friends are killed when Eren attacked the city. Even after finding out the truth from Zeke, she still believes the islanders are devils who cannot be trusted.
- This comes to a head after her and Falco's escape from prison and Falco takes her armband off. She slams him to the ground and screams for him to give it back. When asked as to why she says "I'm a good Eldian! If I don't have that, I'll become the same as the devils on this island!!"
- Brought to another level when she accuses Nikolo, who was in love with Sasha, of being "blinded" and "seduced" by the "devils".
- Finally starts to subvert after Pieck herself tells Gabi that all her efforts to become an "Honorary Marleyan" have been based on a lie, and that she is of a race that the Marleyans will continue to subjugate no matter what she does to win their good graces. Gabi is visibly distraught over this awful truth.
Break the Cutie: The sight of her friends being killed in the chaos leaves her utterly broken, while Colt desperately tries to carry her to safety.
Break the Haughty: Constantly swears vengeance and vows that the "devils" of Paradis will be wiped out to the last man whether she lives or dies, even as said "devils" are forced to take her captive; the wind is sucked out of her completely when she realizes that it was Zeke who aided the Survey Corps in their assault on Liberio. And if that weren't enough, he calls her and Falco "miscalculations" right to their faces.
- Is hit with this yet again after she unwisely reveals to Nikolo that she had killed Sasha, who attacks her and Falco in a vicious rage and reveals Gabi's identity to Sasha's own family while holding Falco at knifepoint. When she attempts to defend her actions, she is left at an utter loss when Sasha's father refuses his chance to kill her, and is visibly horrified when Kaya turns on her and tries to stab her, an act prevented only by Mikasa, another soldier she sees as an enemy. Kaya renounces her friendship with Gabi and calls her a murderer in front of the entire crowd. The sight of the Braus family grieving with Kaya is what finally forces her to see what her actions have caused.
- After having boasted of her slaying of Sasha to Nikolo for which she was condemned by Kaya, Gabi is led away by Mikasa and Armin and personally takes responsibility for their friend's death, and offers her life to save Falco's.
- For all her big talk of killing Eren, she ends up very clearly terrified of him when he finally shows up in front of her, staring in horror at his bleeding hand and doing nothing but watching in silent terror as he brutally tears down Armin and Mikasa emotionally along with beating the former senseless. A few chapters later even, she once again freezes up when confronted by him and points out that she can't seem to move.
- Until now, Gabi has been convinced that if she continued to prove herself to Marley that she'd be considered one of them and one day gain the privileges of living outside the Liberio internment camp. When Pieck confronts Eren, she is the one to tell Gabi that she will always be an Eldian, and that she will forever be subjected to their prejudices along with the rest of their people and can only be free if she fights her own oppressors.
- The final straw however seems to be the simple fact that Kaya will never forgive Gabi for killing Sasha, and openly wishes death to both her and Falco even as her adoptive parents fear for their well-being. Having overheard this, Gabi has finally become disillusioned with the war to which she was once wholly devoted to.
Chekhov's Skill: Every time she shoots with her Improbable Aiming Skills below, she guarantees that her targets, usually important characters Sasha, Eren, the Okapi Titan are going to stay down, in pivotal moments of the manga, no less.
Child Soldiers: She's already a veteran of trench warfare, but Falco's comment about how long she would live if she became the next Armored Titan indicates she's roughly 12 years old.
Cute and Psycho: Gabi is a pretty little girl, wide-eyed and brimming with enthusiasm. She also takes pride of her lust for combat and her looks.
Cute, but Cacophonic: Upon returning home, she begins shouting and cheering at the top of her lungs. While Colt is nursing a monster of a hangover.
Cycle of Revenge: She's stuck dead-center in this cycle, when Eren attacks Liberio in revenge for Marley's attack on his home. The death of her comrades spurs Gabi to take revenge, killing Sasha in the process and simply furthering the cycle. Sasha's comrades and family, on the other hand, reject the opportunities to take revenge on Gabi.
- After managing to escape the cycle after Sasha's father refuses to kill her and Falco confesses his love for her, Gabi unfortunately slips back into it when Zeke's scream Titanizes Falco and kills Colt. Naturally this just makes things worse.
Death Seeker: She fully expects to be killed on Paradis Island, and only wants to ask Zeke why he betrayed them before that happens. However, she states that she does not want Falco to die with her.
Defiant to the End: She intends to go down fighting, screaming defiance at her captors. Seeing Zeke cooperating with the enemy immediately shuts her up.
Deliberate Values Dissonance: Gabi is the main example in the manga used to illustrate the hateful vitriol that has been taught to the Eldians of Liberio against the Eldians of Paradis. As such, Gabi's extreme words and actions greatly affect the people that meet her, more often than not, for the worse.
Despair Event Horizon: She may have reached this, after realizing that Zeke is in league with the enemy she has fanatically devoted herself to destroying.
- It gets even worse for her when she is exposed as Sasha's killer by Nikolo, a fellow Marleyan, and for her actions Falco is grievously injured and nearly executed right in front of her. Even after Sasha's friends and family, the people she sees as her sworn enemy refuse the opportunity to take revenge on her, Kaya attempts to kill her anyway and Gabi realizes that by killing Sasha, she had betrayed her only friend on the island.
- Immediately after this, Gabi has accepted that she will probably die for her actions and so insists to Mikasa and Armin that she will face the consequences if they spare Falco's life. They refuse to kill her, only for Eren to come in and take the entire group prisoner, during which Gabi can only watch helplessly as he asserts his control over his former allies. Already visibly shaken, she is again brought to tears when Eren reminds her of what she did to his comrade.
- During her time in Eren's custody, she is clearly haunted by the incident in the restaurant as she recalls the Braus family openly crying over Sasha, and seems to be questioning her perception of the so-called "Devils" while agonizing over this.
- While being rescued by Pieck, it is Pieck who tells Gabi right to her face that the Marley will never see her as a true equal due to her Eldian heritage, and that the Marley would no longer have use for her or the rest of her people with the Titans becoming an obsolete weapon of war. Gabi completely loses the will to fight upon hearing this, apparently beginning to see the truth in these words. And then she learns the grave danger she put Falco in at the restaurant...
- Gabi realizes she can never earn Kaya's forgiveness for what she did to Sasha, and that the girl who was once willing to protect her in spite of her Marleyan origins now wants her dead. Gabi finally understands the senselessness of her actions and nearly cries upon hearing Kaya's words.
Deuteragonist: Gabi, Falco and Reiner are the Main Characters of the arc that began from Chapter 91 of the manga, but Eren is still a big deal.
Dramatically Missing the Point:
- Triple-fold. When they return to Liberio, she assumes that Falco is staring at her because he's jealous of her achievements and the attention she's getting; their comrades assume that it's because of Falco's crush on her and tell her so; Falco covers his ass by agreeing with them because he wasn't staring at Gabi, but rather at Reiner at her side because he's suspicious of Reiner's treasonous pleas to him while they were partying on the train. This is, of course, completely lost on Gabi, who in turn thinks that Falco is mad at her for being too loud.
- Gabi berates Falco on what she perceives are futile efforts from him in the pursuit of obtaining the Armored Titan, especially considering that Falco's family is in the safe now that it's known that Colt will inherit the Beast Titan, making it unnecessary for Falco to become a Warrior too. Falco angrily retorts that he's doing it for her. Udo, Zofia and the Marleyan guards immediately catch his drift; Gabi? Not quite.
Dramatic Irony:
- Having been praised for her actions in service of Marley eager to further prove herself as a Warrior candidate, Gabi sees her killing of Marley's enemies, including the Eldians of Paradis as a glorious cause and at first thought nothing of having slain Sasha prior to her capture at Liberio. When she and Falco finally encounter one of the captured Marleyans living among the islanders, Gabi brags of her actions to him and expects to be praised for it. Instead the soldier Nikolo, who was in love with Sasha attacks her and Falco and exposes her true identity to Sasha's friends and family, triggering a violent confrontation in which Nikolo gives them the chance to kill her themselves. For this, they instead show Gabi mercy even as they openly mourn for Sasha right before her, and for the first time Gabi is forced to see that there is no glory in what she has been part of. She's out of the echo chamber, and what she's hearing now is not cookie-cutter perfect as before.
- Further amplified by the fact that Kaya, Sasha's own adopted sister had taken her and Falco in knowing full well they were Marleyan, but not yet aware of what Gabi had done to Sasha, whom she discusses in great detail with the two. Gabi does not connect the dots until the aforementioned confrontation with Nikolo, and for this she is nearly killed by Kaya when the truth comes out. Until now Gabi had stayed true to her conviction that the islanders were inherently evil, and it's only because of Kaya's unconditional kindness towards the two that Gabi had reluctantly accepted the care given to her by anyone in the Braus home. When Kaya finally does attack her, it is borne solely out of the fact that Gabi had killed someone she loved, and instead of anger Gabi feels shame for the grief she has personally caused her.
Easily Forgiven:
- By Kaya, even after Gabi has tried to kill her twice. Subverted however when Kaya finds out what she did to Sasha. Double subverted after Gabi saves Kaya from a Titanized Nile Dok.
- Despite murdering his only biological daughter, Gabi is spared by Mr. Braus, the latter of whom says it is the fault of adults who continue the cycle of war that children pay the price.
- After Gabi sadistically bragged to Nicolo about killing Sasha, Nicolo had brutally attacked her and was completely set on murdering both her and Falco as revenge before offering to let Mr. Braus avenge his daughter instead. All it takes is Mr. Braus's speech about the 'children in the forest' for Nicolo to let go of his vendetta.
- Implied for Connie, since he tells Falco that what happened to Sasha was "an act of war".
Enfant Terrible: At barely twelve years old, she is a raging fanatic who is eagerly dedicated to the cause of inheriting one of the Nine Titans to continue the genocidal war against Paradis, a nation who's people don't even remember the sins of their ancestors; all along the way she has an insatiable blood lust and takes great pride in killing in the name of Marley, a blind pursuit that she remains wholly committed to until her actions not only endanger her one friend on the island, but also very nearly leads to her own death at the hands of those she wronged after taking her under their care.
Entertainingly Wrong: Gabi might as well be the poster child for the trope:
- Gabi thinks that Reiner's trauma is because of something horrific the "Devils" did to him. Actually, they treated him very kindly (until understandably turning against him when they realized he was a spy), so much that he had a Heel Realization. He's traumatized from the sheer guilt of trying to kill people he'd made genuine friends with, for a cause that turned out to be a bunch of baloney. Gabi doesn't consider this option because of how deeply she's been indoctrinated into Marleyan hatred of Eldians.
- After escaping custody and infiltrating Paradis, she still buys into the Marleyan propaganda, but it's shown that both Falco and Kaya have started to make chinks on her armor. Upon the revelation of her slaying of Sasha, Gabi learns a hard truth from Sasha's dad: the hatred she so vitriolically proclaims is not and has never been mutual, there is no reason to provoke it, and there is no reason to prolong it.
- One assumption that almost costs Gabi her life: that all Marleyans in Paradis are still loyal to Marley and that they can be used as sleeper agents. This was an easy assumption for her to make due to the extreme racialization of Marleyan society, but it's very wrong.
- Gabi's entire worldview is brought crashing down when it is her longtime comrade Pieck who comes to her rescue and tells Gabi that her belief that her loyalty to Marley would help her to gain recognition as an "Honorary Marleyan" has been complete bullshit from the very start. She and the rest of their people would forever be stigmatized for their Eldian blood, and Marley would surely exterminate them once they had outlived their usefulness as Titan fodder. Sooner or later, they would have to fight the Marley if they expected to survive. By the end of it, Gabi has been spiritually broken as she realizes she has only been aiding her so-called allies towards her own eventual demise.
Everyone Is Related: She is Reiner's younger cousin from his mother's side.
Everyone's Baby Sister: She fills this role for the Warrior troops, and she's celebrated as such.
False Friend: Begrudgingly accepts Kaya's friendship on the island at Falco's urging, being reluctant to secondguess her long-held prejudice against the Eldians. When Nikolo exposes her as the one who killed Sasha, Kaya accuses Gabi of being this when Sasha's parents prevent her from killing Gabi. Gabi is nearly brought to tears, suggesting she regretted betraying the one person who until now had protected her. Pretty much confirmed later when Kaya says she wants Gabi dead, a statement Gabi overhears from afar and upon this regrets the grief she has caused to so many people.
Fearless Fool: Enemy gunner's nest? Train with massive guns that fire 50 mm anti-Titan rounds? She volunteers to face them alone, and ends up fleeing from enemy machinegun fire while laughing triumphantly.
Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: She's incredibly vocal about her disdain for the Eldians on Paradis Island compared to her fellow cadets, blaming them for everything bad about her life growing up in Liberio. She made it her personal mission to exterminate them all and show the rest of the world that "good" Eldians are the only ones left. She more than likely picked up this extreme mindset from Reiner's Mother, who also ingrained those extreme views into him when he was growing up.
Fish out of Water: She might excel in all matters related to military life, but as shown in Chapter 109, she sucks when dealing with horses. Too bad for her that she infiltrated Paradis, a land whose people take horse husbandry very seriously.
Foil: She resembles what Eren would have become if he'd grown up in Marley and had his passionate nature twisted by the racial hatred entrenched in that society. There is a single difference between Gabi and Eren: Gabi knows how to stop. She renounced her hatred of the "Devils of Paradis" and regretted her actions, deciding that there had been enough killing. Eren can't, the entire final arc is all about Eren going through with his genocidal plans because he's already gone too far.
Forgiveness Requires Death: At least, Gabi mistakenly believes this is how it works. She doesn't understand why Armin and Mikasa haven't killed her, and is ready to die as punishment for her actions as long as they won't hurt Falco.
Genki Girl: She is incredibly cheerful and energetic, especially in comparison to her more somber comrades.
Gone Horribly Right: Reiner is visibly disgusted and ashamed of how his cute little cousin Gabi spews the propagandistic drivel of the Marleyans as if it were second nature to her.
Gone Horribly Wrong: When the Marleyans launch an assault on Shinganshina, Gabi shoots Eren, beheading him. One second later, the Wall Titans awaken, Eren transforms into the all-powerful Founding Titan and commands the Wall Titans to destroy all nations.
Heel–Face Turn: The process takes a long time, but as of chapter 124 Gabi is offically out of Cycle of Revenge and states that she doesn't want to fight anyone anymore and her only motivation is to save Falco.
Heel Realization: After Kaya brings Falco and Gabi to her old village and tells them the fate of her mother, she asks them what her mother did to warrant so much hated from the rest of the world towards the inhabitants of the Walls. Gabi immediately recites Marleyan propaganda of the alleged atrocities their ancestors committed for thousands of years. Kaya points out that her mother was born long after those events and obviously had no involvement, yet Gabi still insists that merely being a descendant is enough justification. It isn't until Kaya gets right up to Gabi's face with tears in her eyes declaring that her mother never killed anyone and demanded an actual reason for her mother's death that Gabi is left completely shaken and speechless. Then Nicolo presents her to the Braus family as Sasha's killer, offering them the chance for revenge. Gabi is brought to tears when the family shows her mercy and openly mourns in front of her. When she is finally reunited with the Grice brothers, Gabi prevents Colt from shooting a Paradis soldier (Nile) and breaks down in tears because she finally understands the true source of Reiner's pain. Her experiences on Paradis have forced her to realize that there are no "Devils", just ordinary people.
Hero Killer: Singlehandedly takes out Sasha upon infiltrating the Survey Corps airship, spoiling what was almost a complete victory on their part. Possibly takes it even higher at the end of chapter 119 as well, when she blows Eren's entire head clean off and leaves his fate uncertain. Later averted because Eren survives this quickly as well as him no longer being a hero at this point.
Hero Worship: She seems to worship the ground that Reiner walks on and looks up to him. Considering his track record Reiner is appropriately uncomfortable.
Heroic BSoD: She completely shuts down upon Zofia's death, and has to be dragged to safety by Colt. She manages to pull herself together by the time the crowd has cleared out, but remains unwilling to accept that Udo is also gone.
Hidden Depths: She turns out to have a lot more going on that first appearances suggested.
- When Reiner slips up at dinner, she's quick to pick up that his descriptions suggest the Eldians on Paradis are more complicated than propaganda would suggest.
- She doesn't want the Armored Titan to achieve honor or glory. She wants it because she believes inheriting Reiner's memories will let her keep part of him alive, and finally let her understand everything he's gone through.
Hypocrite: Gabi berates Falco for what she percieves to be a nepotistic drive to obtain a Titan Power, especially considering that his brother is the lead candidate to inherit the Beast Titan. She says this, notwithstanding that she herself is Reiner's little cousin.
- She insists that all the Paradisian Eldians are guilty of the crimes of their ancestors and deserve to be exterminated because of it, ignoring the fact that her own ancestors were part of the Eldian empire too. In Gabi’s mind, being born in Libero and her fanatic dedication to Marley make her and other Eldians innocent (or atleast exempt) of this while hoping that killing them all will earn the rest of the worlds good graces in return. This mindset was installed into her by her aunt.
Hypocrisy Nod: Begs the remaining members of the Survey Corps to help Marley stop Eren's mass-killing, while also admitting she has no right to ask them after everything Marley has done to them.
Hotblooded: She doesn't do anything half-way, with a rash and loud-mouthed personality.
I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Implied Trope. One of the possible reasons she was allowed in the Warrior Unit in the first place was to punish Reiner for his failures on Paradis, and to make him behave, as he certainly proved unreliable on his own. The fact that Gabi rose on her own by sheer perseverance and merit is a different matter, however.
Improbable Aiming Skills:
- Gabi proves just why she's the top candidate, repeatedly demonstrating astounding marksmanship under extreme situations. First, she manages to shoot a member of the Survey Corps out of the sky while sliding across the ground. She follows this up by swinging into the airship's hangar, rolling into a crouching position, taking aim, and firing a precise (fatal) shot within a matter of seconds. She does all of this with a rifle nearly as large as she is. ^note
- It gets exaggerated when she hits the running Eren so precisely she shoots his head off. While not even lying on the ground like she's supposed to with this gun, which is powerful enough to fight Titans.
- While shooting Floch midair can be reasonably justified as to leading her target, sniping an Okapi-shaped Titan running at full charge while flying atop Falco's titan form thousands of feet in the air, with the anti-Titan rifle is not.
In Harm's Way: Just like Reiner, she basically wants to save the world and throws herself into danger without concern for her own welfare.
Innocently Insensitive:
- Gabi berates Falco for trying to upstage her, arguing that he doesn't need to demonstrate anything given that his brother will receive the Beast Titan; what Gabi doesn't quite grasp is that Reiner is her cousin and he's the Armored Titan, and that the favors earned by her and their family are considerably more fragile than she surmises. As such, Gabi doesn't realize that her position and Falco's are just as precarious as one another's, and that nothing is written in paper regarding who'll inherit the Armored Titan. In spite of this, Gabi is both callous and insensitive towards Falco, a boy that loves her and wants to keep her safe because he knows how much danger she's facing.
- She unwisely brags to Nikolo about how she was the Warrior Candidate who killed Sasha, unaware of the later's growing discomfort and rage despite Falco immediately noticing it. Resulting in Nikolo trying to kill her and Falco being seriously injured in his attempt to protect her.
I Surrender, Suckers: She feigns to be surrendering to the enemy in Fort Slava, only to use it as an opportunity to blow the armored train that was protecting the fort.
Insane Troll Logic: Played Straight, but then subverted. She seems absolutely giddy at the thought of inheriting her cousin's powers, even though it requires her to kill and eat him. But then we learn that her motives are a bit more complicated.
Irony: While Gabi is skilled at being a Child Soldier, it's her status as a child that spares her from certain death in most instances where she would have been dead already. The soldiers at the trench in Fort Salva, and most tellingly Sasha, chose not to shoot a child. Its layered with extra irony, since, if they had been a little more heartless, Gabi wouldn't have been able to kill them in the first place.
It's Personal:
- One of the reasons that she has for wanting to inherit the Armored Titan is to find out what is it that is eating Reiner inside by gaining his memories from the Paradis campaign. She is shown to be markedly concerned about his anguish and how different he became when he returned to Liberio. As such, she views Falco's desire to inherit the Titan Power as a personal affront against her, responding accordingly. What she doesn't know is that Falco is acting out of love for her and with the desire to keep her out of harm's way.
- After the Paradis Eldians attack Liberio, she swears revenge on Eren Yeager for the destruction, and personally, for the deaths of Udo, Zofia and the Liberio gatekeepers.
- Played with. When she's found out at Paradis, Gabi states that it's not like she killed an innocent person when she slew Sasha, as she had personally sniped the Liberio gatekeepers that were Gabi's friends in front of Gabi. It's earlier implied that it's not like she was aiming at Sasha in particular, but Sasha was unfortunate to find herself in Gabi's crosshairs. Just anyone could have been shot at the blimp, and it happened to be Sasha.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Gabi is often aggressive, mean, and condescending towards her friends, rubbing her skills as being the best on Warrior Program on their faces. However she does care about her friends like Falco on dire situations and regretted dragging him to her mess, and she says she does cherish the people around her in Liberio.
Jerkass Has a Point:
- Played with. When you take into consideration the gravity of what happened at Liberio, and that everything that she learned and held dear throughout the years is crumbling like a house of cards, you'd be hard pressed to find reasons against her Roaring Rampage of Revenge, but this is due to the fact that she has yet to grasp that what was done against the Eldians of Paradis was what elicited the battery in the first place. To her ears, the stuff that comes out of Falco's mouth only fuels the flames in her heart, and it's actually surprising that she's putting up with it. However, her meeting with Kaya at Paradis has forced her to open her eyes to the fact that the logic forced on her, and her wanton wrath, will never be justified.
- Invoked. As said on It's Personal, Gabi justifies her killing Sasha because of the deaths of the Liberio gatekeepers by her hand. Sasha's father gets her point, as it boils down to a soldier killing another soldier, and argues that it's him who pushed Sasha into that situation in the first place.
Just Friends: It's known that she does care about Falco as a comrade and friend, and shows sincere concern about his drive to one-up her so late into the selection process. However, she remains blissfully unaware that Falco loves her. However, their final two scenes together imply that they had their Relationship Upgrade by the time they're 15 after the last Timeskip.
Large Ham: Little girl, big mouth. It's as simple as that, only that she has shown her chops in war, warranting her loud mouth.
Laser-Guided Karma:
- She has expressed no regret in her part in killing soldiers from Paradis, and even proudly remarks upon her part in Sasha's demise when she runs into Nikolo, who has been residing on Paradis. For this, he attacks her, seriously wounding Falco who had protected her, and is left at the mercy of Sasha's friends and family when Nikolo reveals her identity to them. Even though she is not killed due to the intervention of both Mr. Braus and Mikasa, Falco is left grievously injured and Kaya, who had protected Gabi before learning this condemns her as a murderer for killing her adoptive sister and tries to kill her herself. For this, Gabi is forced to face the reality of the crimes she has committed.
- Not long after this, a visibly unhinged Eren arrives and takes her prisoner along with the rest of the Survey Corps, reminding her of her murder of his comrades.
- One of her fellow Warriors, Pieck is the one to tell Gabi that all of her efforts to come into the Marley's good graces have been in vain, and that she is going to forever be seen as an Eldian and thus an enemy to one day be slaughtered no matter what she does in their service.
- Gabi is once again brought to tears when she overhears Kaya voice her hatred for Gabi, wishing death on her for having killed Sasha. Gabi knows she will probably never earn Kaya's forgiveness and this prompts her to abandon her hatred for the Eldians of Paradis.
- Later when she shoots Eren's head off to stop the Rumbling, he comes back in mere seconds, more powerful than he ever was before, and had already begun his master plan of wiping out the outside world...and quickly makes his way to Marley and begins wiping out anything in his path, which would likely include Gabi's family...the very same punishment Gabi wanted to inflict on the "Island devils" when she first appeared in the story.
- After she kills Sasha, she tries shooting at the Survey Corps. again, just barely missing Jean's face and ultimately getting restrained by the rest of the Corps. The anime adds them beating the living crap out of both her and Falco while they do.
Laughing Mad: After destroying the armored train, she runs off back to the trench laughing maniacally.
Locked Out of the Loop:
- Everyone that knows them is aware that Falco likes her. This, however, hasn't reached Gabi's ears. Subverted in 118 when Falco finally confesses his love to her.
- She vows revenge against the Eldian devils, shooting, biting and kicking her way to their evacuating blimp. However, she ceases fighting once she learns that their attack on Liberio was Zeke's idea.
Love Redeems: Played with. After realizing the gravity of her actions against her Eldian kinmen and hearing Falco's confession of love towards her, her goals completely shift from wanton revenge to two simpler but harder goals: first, keep Falco alive; second, survive for Falco.
Martyr Without a Cause:
- She's taken the underlying Martyrdom Culture to heart, demonstrating a reckless disregard for her own safety or well-being. Rather than value her own life as Falco and Reiner do, she views her worth as directly connected to her ability to sacrifice herself to improve the status of her people. Like many other characters in the series, she mistakes suicidal recklessness for heroism and thinks the best way to help the Eldian people is to die fighting for Marley.
- She retains some of this while at Paradis, though she is somewhat held back by Falco.
- This comes back to hit her at full force when she is being held captive by Eren, from whom she is rescued by Pieck who spells out the awful truth of their efforts right to her when Gabi thinks Pieck has sold their people out to Eren. Pieck makes very clear to Gabi that the Marley will never see her as anything beyond an Eldian, and that when Marley have no further use for them as weapons they will almost certainly be slaughtered along with those living on Paradis. Pieck destroys any notion Gabi has of ever becoming an honorary Marleyan, and for the first time Gabi has no idea what she has been fighting for the entire time.
Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: The masculine girl to Falco's feminine boy. Gabi is a loud aggressive Blood Knight who revels in opportunities to show off her skills during combat. Falco is a soft-spoken gentle Nice Guy who clearly isn't built for war at all and is generally unassertive.
Meaningful Name: Her name is short for the female form of Gabriel, which in Hebrew means "God is my strength"; this fits with her strong determination and enthusiasm.
Misplaced Retribution: She considers the "Island Devils" to be solely responsible for all her and other Liberian Eldians suffering (believing that they give Eldians a bad name for "escaping their sins", the supposed threat of the Rumbling and allegedly just being bad people) rather than blaming Marley for their racist policies. She thinks that once they are gone then the world will see that they are "good" Eldians and they will be free, especially if she helps kill them all. This flawed mindset was instilled in her by her family, especially her aunt.
- Finding out the truth of King Fritz doesn’t change this (though she was shocked), though Willy’s words about preparing for an actual Rumbling Threat and the raid on Liberio likely didn’t help.
- After Kaya points out the lack of logic for blaming them for past Eldians actions, the Braus’ decide to spare her after finding out that she killed their daughter, and Pieck (a Warrior) outright telling her that Marley's promises of “redemption” were bullshit does she start to let go of this.
My God, What Have I Done?: She unwittingly reveals her role in Sasha's death to Nikolo, and for that he outs her right in front of Sasha's family and friends, after which Kaya, who until then had treated her with nothing but kindness in spite of her Marleyan loyalty calls her a murderer and nearly kills her in a fit of rage. The sight of Kaya and Sasha's parents grieving before her leaves her visibly regretful. Tellingly, she is fully prepared to accept her fate and owns up to her murder of Sasha, merely asking that Falco be spared regardless of what happens to her.
- Gabi is visibly distressed when she realizes it was her actions that caused Falco to be poisoned with the wine laced with Zeke's spinal fluid, and quickly takes full blame for it.
My Greatest Failure: Aside from realizing the truth about the so-called "Devils of Paradis", Gabi's slaying of Sasha seems to be becoming this as Kaya, the first person on the island to befriend her and Falco now wishes for them both to die for their actions.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Her "final sacrifice" during the close of the Battle of Liberio not only leads to the capture of herself and Falco, but also tremendously affects Eren who's progressive Sanity Slippage only worsens after she personally killed several of his closest comrades. By the time they cross paths again, they are utterly at Eren's mercy and he has even taken the remainder of the Survey Corps hostage, aggravating the already worsening situation among the Paradis leadership. Eren makes it very clear that he isn't finished with her, and that she cannot rely on the Corps to protect her or Falco from his wrath.
- She shoots Eren, blowing his head off. Unfortunately, Zeke catches Eren's head, activating the Founding Titan's power. Eren wrests control from Zeke and activates the Wall Titans. All of this happens in a split second, before Gabi can fall from the recoil. She watches helplessly as Eren begins transforming before her and the Wall Titans awakening.
No Indoor Voice: She has a tendency to begin shouting whenever she's excited, frequently requiring others (usually Reiner) to tell her to stop.
"Not So Different" Remark: For all her hatred for Eren, Armin says she reminds him so much of his former friend when she questions him and Mikasa on why she had not yet been killed for her crimes; Armin observes that like Eren, she seems to exhibit the same "kill or be killed" philosophy that drives his actions.
Oblivious to Love: She isn't aware that Falco likes her and behaves rather antagonistically towards him due to being another candidate for the Armored Titan power. Unaware of it all, she question's Falco's very motives for competing with her, as it's already public knowledge that Colt will inherit the Beast Titan, making Falco's family safe from what their revolutionary uncle brought upon them. Even when he tells her that he's doing it for her, she still doesn't catch his drift. Falco has to spell it out for her.
Oh, Crap!: When she sees Eren face to face for the first time since the events of Liberio, she's absolutely terrified of him and does not speak during his entire confrontation with Armin and Mikasa. The fact that he sat there with his hand deliberately slashed open for her to see probably had a lot to do with it.
- She shoots Eren, seemingly killing him. One second later, the Walls crumble, the Colossal Titans awaken and a horrified Gabi watches Eren transforming.
- She learns that Connie has kidnapped Falco with the intent of feeding him to his Titanized mother so that she may regain her humanity, which has her pleading for her former enemies to tell Eren to do this before this becomes necessary.
Once Done, Never Forgotten: Eren has consistently referred to her as "the brat who killed Sasha".
Plucky Girl: She fits the trope, even though her motives are markedly twisted. She is brave as hell, confident and charismatic, and she would be nothing short of a heroine save the fact that she's operating under propagandistic lies in favor of an evil empire.
Refuge in Audacity: Gabi is an ample practitioner of tooting her own horn, often calling herself an exemplary soldier and a cutie. She does it not only out of pride, but also because she has unbending confidence on her own capabilities as a soldier, and she has a point. The fact that she is everything she claims to be has earned her many admirers at the Liberio Ghetto, and her confidence is one of the main reasons she's the lead Warrior candidate in her batch.
Right in Front of Me: When she first meets Nikolo, she starts enthusiastically bragging to him about how she killed Sasha, unaware that she was very precious to him.
The Rival: She sees herself as this to Falco, since both are the prime candidates to inherit the Armored Titan power.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After her friends are killed by Eren, she swears revenge against him and intends to die fighting. She kills a fleeing soldier and uses his equipment to board the Survey Corps' airship, then opens fire on the group inside the hangar. She fatally wounds Sasha and nearly kills Jean, before being captured. She only stops screaming and fighting after being brought to see Zeke.
- This is also likely why she picks up Colt's rifle and shoots Eren's head off as he's running towards Zeke, as she'd just watched Falco get turned into a Titan by Zeke and Colt burn to death.
Rule 63: She is based on one Isayama previously designed for Eren.
Sanity Slippage: Zeke's betrayal certainly did a number to her mental state, when Falco removes her Eldian armband arguing that soldiers will recognize it, she clings to it claiming that without it she'll become "like one of the devils of the Island".
Selective Obliviousness: When Falco tries to stop her from going on a suicide mission against the Paradis Soldiers, she tearfully tells Falco that Liberio is her home and she'll never forgive them for trampling on it. She goes on to say that he doesn't even know why they attacked in the first place. At which point, Falco bluntly points out that Marley attacked Paradis first, and this was retaliation for their home being trampled on and their loved ones being killed. Gabi disregards Falco's reasoning and goes right back to reciting Marleyan propaganda that it's always been normal to kill "Island Devils" and runs off.
Senseless Sacrifice: Her "final" sacrifice proves to be this when she is taken captive by the Survey Corps and is taken to face Zeke, who is very much alive and revealed to be cooperating with the people she saw as the enemy. Her vows to fulfill "his" will fall flat as Zeke himself clearly isn't pleased by her and Falco's presence.
So Proud of You: Gabi is quite popular in the Liberio Ghetto because of her accomplishments and even elicits pride in Marleyan soldiers who meet her.
Spanner in the Works: Deemed as much by Zeke alongside Falco, calling the two children "miscaculations" to his plans. It's implied that he did not expect them to survive and make it to the blimp going back to Paradis in the first place. Turns out Zeke was right when both of them inadvertently led to the Survey Corps discovering that the wine served to the Military Higher-ups was tainted with Zeke's spinal fluid along with Falco being accidently exposed to it.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: A hot-tempered, idealistic kid with a reckless streak a mile wide... who wants to wipe out a faceless "evil" and free their people? She's very much like Eren, and Word of God confirms her design is a recycling of a Rule 63 Eren sketch. Just like him, she also witnesses a Titan's attack on her home and the deaths of her loved ones. The Cycle of Revenge continues with her swearing to kill her enemy.
Taking You with Me: Her entire plan for entering the airship was to go down fighting, and she very nearly gets her wish. Only Falco's quick action saves Gabi and Jean from a Mutual Kill.
Take Me Instead: Having been captured by the Survey Corps at the restaurant, Gabi's only request is that no harm be done upon Falco, that she'll take whatever punishment they'll see fit, and to even kill her if that's their choice. Armin and Mikasa tell her to just shut up about executions, and that they have no intention of killing her... that is, until a rather pissed off Eren storms the restaurant with his army of fanatics.
Took a Level in Kindness: Gabi's experiences on Paradis have changed her for the better, causing her to abandon her Nationalistic ideals and seek a more peaceful solution to the conflict, like pleading for Armin and Mikasa to reason with Eren so that he stops the Rumbling.
Ungrateful Bastard: While Sasha spares her life, Gabi only sees her as a frightening Cold Sniper who murdered 2 Liberio gatekeepers who are concerned about her in front of her. ^note Later on, she boards the airship while on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge and shoots into the crowd, killing Sasha.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Gabi's actions at the restaurant when she confronts Nikolo indirectly leads to Falco unknowingly ingesting wine laced with Zeke's spinal fluid when Nikolo attacks them both, putting him in serious danger of being Titanized along with the rest of Zeke's intended victims. She nearly costs her friend his life right on the spot as Nikolo very nearly slits his throat as revenge for Sasha and forces Gabi to watch.
- It is implied her killing of Sasha had a more damaging effect on Eren than first believed, as he was quick to remind her of her crime before taking her hostage along with the rest of his former comrades, with whom he had all but completely severed all ties with right in front of her.
- Worse still, it is implied that killing Sasha has had an equally disastrous effect on Connie, who's progressive Sanity Slippage comes to a head when he realizes Falco has inherited the Jaw Titan, and intends to have his mother in Ragako eat him so that she can be restored to human form. Determined to save at least one loved one, he kidnaps Falco and leaves Shiganshina. Gabi becomes desperate and begs Armin and Mikasa to find some way to ask Eren to restore her humanity before this can happen.
- Gabi shooting Eren's head off ended up being this as well in her attempt to stop Eren from activating the Rumbling. Most people would have been dead from a shot like that; turns out it's exactly what Eren needed in order to reach the Paths realm, acquire the Founding Titan's power, and activate the Rumbling, making Gabi directly responsible for Eren's ability to destroy the entire world outside of the island.
Use Your Head: She headbutts Falco after he announces his intention to be the selected Warrior to inherit the Armored Titan power.
Villainous BSoD: Though she's not a villain per-se, she is a pawn running on Marleyan propagandistic lies, and wreaks havoc as such:
- She gets one once she sees a supposedly dead Zeke riding on the blimp to Paradis.
- She is left aghast when, after the confrontation in the restaurant, Eren casually strolls in and sits at the table.
What Were You Thinking?: She is on the receiving end of this from General Magath after she is rescued by Pieck in Shiganshina, calling her an "imbecile" for having charged blindly at the enemy and getting herself captured for it.
Wide-Eyed Idealist: She genuinely believes all the problems in the world can be solved by beating the "Evil" Eldians on the island, making her a hero in the process. Witnessing Eren's rampage at the Festival along with the deaths of Zofia and Udo was a massive reality check on her end.
Wounded Gazelle Gambit: She uses the classic "Sick Prisoner" trick, attacking the guard when he comes to investigate Falco's shouting. Afterwards, the kids shove the body under the bed and flee into the woods.

Colt Grice

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Masaya Matsukaze (JP), Griffin Burns (EN), Jaime Alberto Carrillo (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/colt_grice.png

An Eldian serving in Marley's Warrior unit, and the elder brother of Falco. He has been selected to inherit the Beast Titan from Zeke, and shadows his superior. He alongside Falco are the nephews of the Eldia Restorationist Grice, and enlisted together in the Warrior Unit to atone for his crimes.

As You Know:
- He reminds to a shell-shocked Falco the details about the Mid-East Alliance War and how long they've been fighting on it.
- He fills in the audience on how Zeke's unique Titan abilities work as he explains his reasoning for not being worthy to be Zeke's successor.
Bait the Dog: After learning Falco has ingested some of Zeke's spinal fluid, Colt goes to plead with Zeke to let his brother escape before he Screams. Zeke states he understands Colt's love for his brother......and then does it anyway, transforming Falco and killing Colt.
Big Brother Instinct: He's not too keen on Falco becoming a Warrior too, and says one brother should be good enough. Zeke warns him about saying something like that, but then brushes it off as something any big brother would do.
- During the Marley's assault on Shiganshina, Colt rescues Falco and Gabi and commits himself to stopping Zeke from screaming in order to prevent his younger brother from being forcibly Titanized, along with hundreds of other soldiers held captive in the city.
Big Brother Mentor: He tries to be this to the younger recruits, being the oldest of that bunch. But he's also still a kid himself, and the others don't take him as seriously as he'd like.
Can't Hold His Liquor: He gets really, really into celebrating Gabi's victory in their last battle after a few drinks.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Burned to a crisp when Zeke ignores his pleas for mercy, and turns Falco into a Titan. Rather than flee, Colt stays with Falco as he transforms, promising he'll always be with his baby brother.
Heel Realization: Colt overhears Gabi's admission that her views towards the so-called "Devils of Paradis" had been wrong the entire time, and that they were responsible for having demonized their own people.
Inadequate Inheritor: Colt seems to believe that he is not worthy to inherit the Beast Titan's power yet and that Zeke is still leaps and bounds ahead of him. As he is left behind by Zeke during the Attack on Liberio (considering that he defected to Paradis), it's implied that Zeke never had the intention of surrendering the Beast Titan to him in the first place.
Kid Sidekick: The teenage sidekick to the eldest Warrior, Zeke.
Nerves of Steel: A more realistic example. While he's justifiably terrified, he remains focused on the task of getting his comrades to safety and figuring out their next move. Unlike the others, he doesn't give in to shock or blind panic even when Zofia and then Udo are killed.
Oh, Crap!: He is horrified to learn that his younger brother has been infected with Zeke's spinal fluid along with hundreds of other soldiers imprisoned in Shiganshina by the Yeagerists.
Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye: He spends his final moments reassuring Falco that he will always be with him, choosing to die rather than abandon Falco and try to save himself.
Senseless Sacrifice: While his staying with Falco until the latter's apparent end is very touching, it's completely in vain, as Falco becomes a shifter just several minutes later. Had Colt just stepped back, he would keep both his brother and his life, as Titan!Falco, controlled by Zeke, would probably have rushed to Reiner anyway, without trying to eat Colt.
Sins of the Father: Colt was conscripted into the Warrior Unit because of his uncle's crimes. Once he was chosen as the next Beast Titan, the Grice family was finally able to stop worrying about further punishment for having a relative that betrayed Marley.
The Strategist: He is shown to have a keen understanding of battlefield tactics, dispensing a lot of tactical advice to Captain Magath.
Tagalong Kid: Colt shadows Zeke at all times, allowing him to attend meetings with commanding officers or private talks among the Warriors. But he's not only the youngest person in the group, but the only one that doesn't possess any powers.
Vomit Discretion Shot: Zeke complains about him puking all over the train after getting drunk. Thankfully, we're never shown the results of his night of hard partying.

Udo and Zofia

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Ayumu Murase (Udo) and Yuumi Kawashima (Zofia) (JP), Ry McKeand (Udo) and Katelyn Gault (Zofia) (EN), Luis Navarro (Udo) and Amanda Hinojosa (Zofia) (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/udo_zofia.png

A pair of young Eldian recruits and Warrior Candidates, serving alongside Falco and Gabi in their unit.

But Not Too Foreign: Udo is an Eldian from an unspecified country, and came to Marley later on. Going by the fact that he speaks the language of the Mid-East Alliance, it's implied that he comes from there.
Combat Medic: Udo serves this purpose in his unit, tending to the wounded.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Zofia is crushed by debris during the battle, while Udo is trampled by the panicked crowd of diplomats and soldiers.
Cunning Linguist: Udo speaks at least two languages, and is tasked with translating when Falco brings a prisoner into the trench with them.
Deer in the Headlights: Udo freezes in horror when Zofia is crushed by rubble, and Colt isn't able to pull him to safety before the panicked audience tramples over him.
Deadpan Snarker: Zofia likes to throw subtle barbs at Gabi and Falco. Udo also likes to cynically snark about the situation at hand, such as sarcastically declaring that the Liberio festival will solve all of Marley's problems.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: Both Udo and Zofia are unceremoniously killed during Eren's opening attack on Marley. Zofia suffers a literal version of this trope when she is crushed by a falling piece of debris and Udo is trampled by the panicking crowd.
Dull Surprise: Zofia is by far the least expressive of the bunch, usually wearing a dull expression, though compared to Annie, she's a Genki Girl.
From Bad to Worse: It turns out that as horrible as life is for Eldians in Marley, it's much worse elsewhere. Udo considers Marley's treatment good in comparison to how it was back home.
Interservice Rivalry: Udo is very passionate in ranting about how the Infantry are the real workers of the military, while the Navy is lazy and incompetent.
Mauve Shirt: Their friendship with Gabi is what makes their deaths all the more impactful.
Nerd Glasses: Udo sports a pair of them, and demonstrates great intelligence as a medic and translator.
Nice Girl: Unlike Annie before her, Zofia is a closer friend to her comrades than Annie was with hers, and she's more doting and enthusiastic.
Not So Stoic: Zofia is girlier and has a bubblier personality than she seems to have at first glance. Still, Gabi considers her gloomy by her own standards.
Plot-Triggering Death: Gabi starts a rampage against the Paradian Eldians after witnessing the brutal deaths of Udo and Zofia. It results in the death of Sasha by her hands and the infiltration of both Gabi and Falco into Paradis. Turns out these have far reaching consequences, as it served to further break Eren's sanity and drive him to despair to the point he unleashed the Wall Titans just to end everything.
Sacrificial Lamb: They are killed during the Festival, victims of Eren's attack on the audience. Like Eren's mother at the beginning of the series, their deaths traumatize a passionate child (Gabi) and serve to represent the innocents killed by a Titan's rampage.
Shipper on Deck: Zofia is this for Falco and Gabi.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Zofia basically is Annie as far as looks and personality are concerned (though she's more prone to smiling and goofing around than Annie was). Udo also bears similarities to Bertolt, being the "sweaty nervous guy" of the group and visibly taller than his friends (Udo happens to be smarter and less riddled with complexes, though). Reiner even hallucinates them as their respective counterparts at one point, too.
Those Two Guys: They're often together, and lack the focus given to their comrades.
Toilet Humor: Zofia mentions that one of her neighbors claimed the sea was salty because he pissed in it every day.
Tomboyish Ponytail: Zofia wears her hair this way, and doesn't come across as particularly feminine; ironically, she's girlier than Gabi, though.
We Hardly Knew Ye: The least fleshed-out of the mainland Eldians, they are both killed during Eren's attack.

Others

Tom Ksaver

Debut: Chapter 86 (Manga), Episode 56 (Anime)

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada (JP), John Burgmeier (EN), Genaro Vásquez, Javi Sánchez (young) (Latin American Spanish)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tom_xaver_28anime29_character_image.png

The previous holder of the Beast Titan. He was close to Zeke as a child, frequently playing catch with him as training. As the holder of a Titan Power whose form was morphologically unsuitable for combat, he was marginalized as a placeholder until a suitable candidate was found in Zeke.

Always with You: He told Zeke he'd always watch over him upon his death. Words that Zeke would carry with him through difficult situations.
Bearer of Bad News: He is the person who made Zeke realize that his parents didn't love him and were using him for their own agenda.
Big Brother Mentor: He's shown to have been a caring mentor to Zeke, and his memory remains something that Zeke seems to cherish.
Death Seeker: He explained his choice to become a Warrior as looking for a way to die.
Early-Bird Cameo: He first appeared on Chapter 87 weeping next to Zeke as Grisha and Dina are being arrested and taken away.
Go Out with a Smile: The inheritance ritual to pass on the Beast Titan didn't even faze him since he loved Zeke and wished him well.
Improbable Aiming Skills: He passed on his pitching skills to Zeke, teaching him how to utilize the Beast Titan's abilities to serve as a deadly ranged opponent.
Informed Flaw: Ksaver claims that his Beast Titan was not particulary useful for combat. However, when Zeke restores him to aid Armin and the Survey Corps, it is revealed that his Beast was in the form of a ram and is shown to be more than capable of kicking ass. It is entirely likely that he was lying to help Zeke feel better about eventually eating him.
Like a Son to Me: Played with. He was more family to Zeke than the boy's own parents, and it's shown that Zeke holds a special place in his heart for him.
Manly Tears: He is seen crying while holding Zeke trying to comfort him as his parents are being taken away.
My Greatest Failure: In his youth, he concealed his heritage and married a Marleyan woman. When she discovered his deception, she killed their son and then herself.
Non-Action Guy: Marley left him at the capital, viewing his Titan as not very useful in combat (according to him). Instead, he was permitted to continue his research throughout his Tenure.
Old Soldier: He was notably older than any of the Titan Shifters (barring Grisha) seen in the current series. His generation was the last to utilize adults instead of the purpose-raised Child Soldiers of the Warrior Unit. Ksaver and his comrades spent their final years fighting on the front lines of a border conflict with another nation, before being fed to the children that would replace them.
Outliving One's Offspring: His son was murdered by his wife after the latter found out he was Eldian. Ksaver lives for another 13+ years before passing the Beast Titan to Zeke.
Parental Substitute: Zeke outright considers him more of a father to him than Grisha ever was.
Posthumous Character: He's been dead for roughly 12 years by the time he is first mentioned, having finished his "tenure".
Replacement Goldfish: Tom admits to Zeke that on some level their playing ball was an attempt to recapture what he lost when his son was killed.
Small Role, Big Impact: For better or for worse, Ksaver is the person who shaped Zeke into what he eventually became, even when that wasn't his original intention.
Superior Successor: Zeke became this to him in every way, becoming an exceptionally dangerous Beast Titan and carrying his research to a new extreme.
The Svengali: While he becomes a father figure for Zeke, he's the individual who inculcates him with the ideal of neutering all the Eldians.
This Is Wrong on So Many Levels!: He is visibly upset at Grisha and Dina's treatment of Zeke, instigating Zeke to sell them to the authorities to have a safe foothold on the Warrior Unit.
Tragic Keepsake: Zeke's glasses originally belonged to him, and seem to have sentimental value to the otherwise ruthless Warrior.

Characters / Attack on Titan: Warrior Unit

Warrior Unit

Characters who are known members of the Warrior Unit:

Warriors of the First Mission to Paradis Island

Pieck Finger

Debut: Chapter 93 (manga), Episode 61 (Anime)

Voiced by: Manami Numakura (JP), Amber Lee Connors (EN), Dolores Mondragón (Latin American Spanish)

Marcel Galliard

Voiced by: Masamichi Kitada (JP), Nathan Sharp (EN), Alex Villamar (Latin American Spanish)

Debut: Chapter 39 (Manga), Episode 29 (Anime)

Warriors and Candidates during the Mid-East Alliance War

Porco Galliard

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 61 (Anime)

Voiced by: Toshiki Masuda (JP), Kellen Goff (EN), Rafael Escalante (Latin American Spanish)

Falco Grice

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (JP), Bryson Baugus (EN), Diego Becerril (Latin American Spanish)

Gabi Braun

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (JP), Lindsay Seidel (EN), Danann Galván (Latin American Spanish)

Colt Grice

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Masaya Matsukaze (JP), Griffin Burns (EN), Jaime Alberto Carrillo (Latin American Spanish)

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Ayumu Murase (Udo) and Yuumi Kawashima (Zofia) (JP), Ry McKeand (Udo) and Katelyn Gault (Zofia) (EN), Luis Navarro (Udo) and Amanda Hinojosa (Zofia) (Latin American Spanish)

Others

Tom Ksaver

Debut: Chapter 86 (Manga), Episode 56 (Anime)

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada (JP), John Burgmeier (EN), Genaro Vásquez, Javi Sánchez (young) (Latin American Spanish)

Alternative Title(s): Attack On Titan Gabi Braun

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Characters / Attack on Titan: Warrior Unit

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Warrior Unit

Characters who are known members of the Warrior Unit:

Warriors of the First Mission to Paradis Island

Pieck Finger

Debut: Chapter 93 (manga), Episode 61 (Anime)

Voiced by: Manami Numakura (JP), Amber Lee Connors (EN), Dolores Mondragón (Latin American Spanish)

Marcel Galliard

Voiced by: Masamichi Kitada (JP), Nathan Sharp (EN), Alex Villamar (Latin American Spanish)

Debut: Chapter 39 (Manga), Episode 29 (Anime)

Warriors and Candidates during the Mid-East Alliance War

Porco Galliard

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 61 (Anime)

Voiced by: Toshiki Masuda (JP), Kellen Goff (EN), Rafael Escalante (Latin American Spanish)

Falco Grice

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (JP), Bryson Baugus (EN), Diego Becerril (Latin American Spanish)

Gabi Braun

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (JP), Lindsay Seidel (EN), Danann Galván (Latin American Spanish)

Colt Grice

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Masaya Matsukaze (JP), Griffin Burns (EN), Jaime Alberto Carrillo (Latin American Spanish)

Debut: Chapter 91 (Manga), Episode 60 (Anime)

Voiced by: Ayumu Murase (Udo) and Yuumi Kawashima (Zofia) (JP), Ry McKeand (Udo) and Katelyn Gault (Zofia) (EN), Luis Navarro (Udo) and Amanda Hinojosa (Zofia) (Latin American Spanish)

Others

Tom Ksaver

Debut: Chapter 86 (Manga), Episode 56 (Anime)

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada (JP), John Burgmeier (EN), Genaro Vásquez, Javi Sánchez (young) (Latin American Spanish)

Alternative Title(s): Attack On Titan Gabi Braun

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Index

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