Attack on Titan: Before The Fall is the prequel to Attack On Titan. It is a series of light novels, written by Ryō Suzukaze and illustrated by THORES Shibamoto. The series later got an manga adaptation, again written by Suzukaze but illustrated by Satoshi Shiki.
Set 70 years before the main series, the light novels were split into two parts. The first novel focused on Angel Aaltonen, the developer of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. The second novel follows the life of Kuklo, a boy who was born amongst a pile of Titan vomit after his mother was eaten. Good news is that he somehow survived this horrific ordeal. The bad news? Kuklo is labelled the "Titan's son", leading to him being abused and enslaved by humanity itself, until he’s freed by his owner's daughter, Sharle. Kuklo eventually joins the Survey Corps, wishing to eradicate the Titans for ruining his life.
The manga mostly omits the first novel’s story and mainly focuses on Kuklo’s journey.
Attack On Titan: Before The Fall contains examples of the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Rosa and her mother Maria are definitely this, given that they’re both soldiers in the Survey Corps.
- Adaptational Dye-Job: The light novels describe Kuklo with Black hair and Kuklo is depicted with the appearance of an Raven Hair, Ivory Skin on account of his dull brown eyes and his hair being shoulder-length. The manga has him with short reddish-brown hair with matching eyes.
- A God I Am Not: Kuklo rejects the Titan Cult attempting to turn him into an object of worship.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Everyone believes Kuklo is the “Titan’s Son” due to his freakish survival at birth from the Titan’s vomit bile. This lead to him forced into slavery and horrifically abused by various owners.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Rosa quickly develops a crush on Kuklo, but is dismayed when she sees his reunion with Sharle. She later confronts Sharle over her relationship with Kuklo, while she denies it, Sharle does admit she’s in love with him, making Rosa even more upset. After much talking, Rosa decides to let go of Kuklo and befriends Sharle.
- Almost Kiss: Kuklo reaches out to touch Sharle’s face, leading her to grab his hand. Just as both are moving in veeeery close, Xavi burst in and fights Kuklo.
- Arranged Marriage: Sharle was originally forced into this with Cardina by her father, but after his death and Cardina’s family falling to ruin, the engagement gets called off. But Xavi is VERY determined to stomp out Sharle and Kuklo’s frowning affections towards each other by forcing her into another forced marriage. Fortunately for Shale, she escapes.
- Big Bad: Xavi serves as this.
- Big Brother Bully: Sharle greatly fears her older brother, Xavi, as flashbacks shows him forcing her into accompany him to visit the son of a nobleman that she shows no interest in. When Xavi walks in on his sister’s reunion with Kuklo and share an Almost Kiss, he kickstarts a fight and nearly kills Kuklo. Then he forces Sharle to come home just so he can force into into an Arranged Marriage. Good thing she escapes and reunites with Kuklo again.
- Dark and Troubled Past: If you thought Eren or any of the characters in the main series had it bad, Kuklo had it far, FAR worse. His father dying in an expedition beyond the walls and having his head being flung back over by the Titans, his mother going crazy and joined the Wall Cult and getting eaten while she was still pregnant, and then his mysterious survival only gave way to him being labeled as "The Titan's Son". This lead to him being sold a slave; he was so abused that no one bothered to teach him how to even talk and was often beaten in general and starved on regular occasion. While Eren, Mikasa, and most characters in the main series may have had at least a family or friends growing up, Kuklo had nobody.
- Death Seeker: When Sharle came into Kuklo’s cell one night to kill him, she got scared and accidentally dropped the knife. He then got up and grabbed the knife and held onto her hands, then pointed at his chest. She was shocked at this and pulled the knife away from him, while Kuklo just picked up it for her, as if waiting for Sharle to put him out of his misery.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Kuklo spent his entire life as a slave because everyone believes him to be a Titan’s child, beaten on a daily basis and starved, until he meets Sharle, his only friend at this point. They go through hell and back to be together, so Kuklo decides to prove his worth to the very society that condemned him and joined the Survey Corps, wishing to eliminate the Titans. It would all pay off in the end when he teamed up with his former abuser Xavi and killed Ogre, the Titan that killed his father and drove his mother insane. In the end, he’s finally avenged his family, gained a lot of new friends with his comrades in the Survey Corps who managed to survive the ordeal, earned Xavi’s respect, and with his upcoming marriage with Sharle the following month after the expedition, he damn sure deserved his happy ending.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Sharle is very much a kind-hearted blonde. Her brother in the other hand, not so much.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Fake Ultimate Hero: Jorge Pikale is like this; to summarize, he isn't the first human to ever slay a Titan, it’s Sorum. And Angel was the one who really slayed Jorge's supposed kill. Jorge was essentially forced into taking the credit because Angel was shell shocked from all the horrors he seen and guilt over Sorum’s death.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: So a newborn baby miraculously survives a Titan swallowing him, how goes everyone react? By shunning said baby, enslave him, and abuse him to the point of never learning to talk!
- Living Legend: Jorge Pikale is revered as “Jorge The Hero” due to being the first human to kill a Titan. Except it’s not true, but he’s forced into the title to give humanity hope.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Xavi, oh so very much. He would rather have his sister, Sharle marry into their class, preferably above, than allow her to start an relationship with Kuklo, his former slave and punching bag. And he’ll do whatever it takes, even murder, to keep them apart.
- Shipper on Deck: Cardina is very supportive over Kuklo and Sharle’s growing feelings; in one omake chapter, he tries to hook them up under the guise of “self-defense class”.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Kuklo’s mother, Elena, was pregnant by the time of her husband’s death. Her grief over her Heath’s death drove her crazy and inspired her into joining a cult worshiping the Titans.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Kuklo and Sharle. The former is Made a Slave while the latter is an Uptown Girl who initial tries to kill him until she realizes he’s fully human. Sharle teaches him the world and how to read and write, thus leading to their friendship. She confides in Kuklo of her distressed over her Arranged Marriage, but he softens the blow by convincing her to help him and escape and go along with him. After he safes her from falling off a building, they start to admit their feelings and get really close for a kiss… Until Xavi pops up, fights Kuklo, gravely wounds him and leaves him for dead. Sharle tries to rush to his side, but Xavi forces her to come back home just so he will force her into a new Arranged Marriage. Good thing Kuklo survives, Sharle escapes from the match, and they reunite. However, Sharle believes Kuklo sees her more like a family than an love interest as he never experienced any sort of romance before. It’s only after his team up with Xavi in killing Ogre does he finally gain his respect and give his blessings for Kuklo to be with Sharle. The final chapter ends with Sharle revealing that the pair plan to get married the following month.
