"If we only focus on making the best moves, we will never get the better of our opponents. When necessary, we must be willing to take the big risks and be prepared to lose everything."
— Erwin Smith
Both within and without the great Walls, there are those who seek to preserve and destroy humanity with their planning and drive.
By order of introduction.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
- Eren Yeager began as a boy desiring freedom, and vengeance upon the Titans by destroying them all. After becoming a Titan Shifter, Eren steadily grows to believe peace between the Eldians and the rest of the world is impossible. Staging an attack on the belligerent nation of Marley and killing the shadow-rulers, the Tyburs, Eren focuses the hate of the world onto himself while inspiring others to follow in his footsteps. Even outwitting his genius brother Zeke while winning over the first Titan, Ymir Fritz, to his side, Eren proceeds to initiate the Rumbling: awakening millions of massive Titans to eradicate everything but the Eldians. It is finally revealed Eren always intended to be stopped, becoming the final villain and scapegoat to all the atrocities and even manipulating events across the timestream, all to give the future a chance at peace.
- Annie Leonhart is one of the best of Keith Shadis's trainees. A laid back, seemingly apathetic woman, Annie is the bastard daughter of a Marley woman and an Eldian man, sent to the ghettos to be raised by Mr. Leonhart, who trained her as an expert combatant. Infiltrating the Walls as the Female Titan, Annie clandestinely helps murder recruit Marco and covers it up, later using her Titan form to try to capture Eren and pass on intelligence for her allies while killing multiple Survey Corps members. When discovered, Annie nearly escapes the Walls and crystallizes herself to remain immune from torture or interrogation. Later siding with the heroes to stop Eren's rampage, Annie is finally reunited with her father and becomes an ambassador of peace from Eldia and the rest of the world.
- Ymir began life as a nameless urchin taken in by a cult and given her name. With no identity beyond helping others, Ymir was arrested and blamed as the true leader, turned into a Titan around Paradise until the day she consumed a Titan Shifter. Stealing into the walls and hiding her true identity along with the answers she has, Ymir falls in love with Krista Lenz, true name Historia Reiss, pushing her to abandon her martyr complex. Ymir later assumes her Titan form to save her comrades and allies with Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover upon their exposure as fellow Titan Shifters so she might see Krista again. Later betraying all sides to protect Krista and secure her safety, Ymir decides she is tired of running and allows herself to be returned to Marley, leaving a final letter for Krista as she knows death awaits her.
- Erwin Smith, commander of the Survey Corps, is a brilliant strategist who formed the infamous formation to use against Titans, cutting down on casualties immensely. From a young age, Erwin was known as a genius who used and manipulated those around him, sacrificing countless lives for the benefit of humanity. Recruiting humanity's strongest warrior, Levi Ackerman and winning his loyalty, Erwin uses his own troops as bait to draw out hypothetical Titan Shifters, utilizing other Titans as weapons against them. When arrested, Erwin even helps to come up with a plan to overthrow the corrupt monarchy and install his subordinate Historia on the throne, driven by a desire to prove humanity shall not fall easily in his war against the Titans even at the cost of his own life.
- Hange Zoe is a squad leader in the Survey Corps and their eccentric scientific expert on the Titans. Hange performs a myriad of experiments on Eren to uncover the weaknesses of the Titans and the enigmatic Shifters while proving a tactical genius who instantly deduced where the Shifters took a kidnapped Eren and Ymir. During the rebellion against the Monarchy, Hange physically and psychologically tortures a captured Military Police to reveal the secret of the true rulers of Paradis and uses clever gambits to turn the common people against their enemies. Following Erwin's death, Hange succeeds Erwin as the Corps' leader and roots out Zeke and Eren's Yeagerist spies and ultimately sacrifices their life to help end the Rumbling.
- Levi Ackerman grew up a child abandoned by his uncle Kenny and survived the slums as a successful thief before joining the Survey Corps to avoid jail. Killing over a dozen Titans on just his first mission, Levi becomes a commander of the Corps, renowned for his ruthlessness and tenacity. Testing Eren's loyalty by brutally beating him for hours, Levi also helps uncover the conspiracy within the Eldian government, even being willing to torture their agents. After defeating and reconciling with his uncle, Levi helps in an attack to stop the powerful Titan-Shifter Zeke Yeager, ambushing Zeke while Erwin and his teenaged platoon perform a charge on Zeke's Titans, sacrificing themselves in the process. Later defeating Zeke, Levi is injured in the fight, but continues to advise the Survey Corps when Eren enacts the Rumbling, with Hange's Heroic Sacrifice leaving Levi the highest ranking Survey Corps member when Eren is stopped.
- Dot Pixis is the Commander of the Southern Branch of the Garrison and charming elder willing to sacrifice his soldiers to secure humanity's future. During the Battle of Trost, Pixis gives a rallying speech to prevent mass desertion and uses many under his command as bait to lure the Titans away from Eren to achieve victory. Later working with Erwin to overthrow the Royal Government, he tricks the Nobility into admitting their cowardice and corruption and turns on them to put Historia Reiss on the throne. Proving himself one of Historia's most level headed advisors, he's among the leadership poisoned with Zeke's spinal fluid and ensures the infected do as little damage as possible when they are turned into mindless Titans.
- Zeke Yeager is Eren's half brother and the holder of the Beast Titan. Selling out his parents, who pressured him into becoming a Warrior, to Marley, Zeke formulates an "Euthanization" plan to peacefully exterminate the Eldian race by using the godlike power of the Founding Titan to sterilize all Eldians. Leading the operation to retrieve the Founder, Zeke turns the citizens of Ragako Village into Titans to do his bidding, and executes a brilliant strategy that nearly wipes out the entire Survey Corps. Betraying Marley to ally himself with Paradis, Zeke fakes his death, and comes within a hair's breadth of succeeding with his Euthanization plan. When Armin Arlert convinces him of the true value of life, Zeke sacrifices his life to stop the Rumbling.
- Kenny Ackerman, once known as "Kenny the Ripper" for his skillful hunting and slaying of dozens of Military Police, is one of the last scions of the Ackerman line and the man who raised the famed Levi. Having attempted to assassinate King Rod Reiss and his brother Uri, Kenny instead joined Uri as his friend and guard, becoming the leader of the Anti-Personnel Squadron whom he captivated with his charisma and vision. Intending to use Rod to eventually allow him to claim the Founding Titan, Kenny is easily able to see through Levi and Erwin's attempted coup, capturing Eren and Historia before realizing he himself cannot inherit the Founder. Expressing his disgust at Rod for his cowardice, Kenny simply frees Eren to fight Historia and when mortally wounded, chooses to die human instead of taking the Titan serum after a final farewell with his nephew Levi.
- Eren Kruger is the founder of the Eldian Restorationists, a group of patriots dedicated to opposing Marley. To help the Restorationists, Kruger infiltrates Marley's Public Security Authorities and passes information on to his comrades, while also recruiting oppressed Eldians to his cause. To make sure that his cover remains intact, he tortured many of his own Eldian brethren before turning them into Titans and sending them to Paradis Island: one example being Dina Fritz while having her husband, Grisha Yeager, watch. Afterwards, Kruger arranges Sergeant Major Gross to be eaten by a Titan, before using the powers of the Attack Titan to kill off Gross' men. He then reveals himself as "The Owl" to Grisha before sending him to Paradis Island, while giving him the Attack Titan's powers and instructing Grisha to find an heir to pass it on to.
- Lady Kiyomi Azumabito is the Ambassador of Hizuru who works against her ostensible ally Marley to align with Paradis and secure their resources to empower her nation. Secretly meeting with Zeke, she uses diplomacy to ensure his alliance to Paradis while promising to bring their technology up to modern standards in return. When the Survey Corps come to scout Marley, Kiyomi helps them stay undercover and works with Eren to assassinate much of Marley's leadership. When the Rumbling occurs, Kiyomo provides an extremely advanced plane to help the Corps and the Warriors fight against Eren and save what remains of humanity.
