History Characters / AttackOnTitanErenYeager

** In Chapter 112, he tells Armin and Mikasa that [[spoiler:they have become slaves. Mikasa is conditioned by her Ackerman blood to defend Eren, even unconsciously, while Armin has fallen to the influence of Bertolt in his mind, even falling in love with Annie, an enemy. When an irate Armin is about to deck Eren, Mikasa instinctively pins Armin to the table, proving Eren's point. Still, Armin tells even that even with all that, he's still a gaping asshole for doing that to his closest friends]].

* TookALevelInJerkass: After the time skip, Eren becomes so engrossed in defeating his enemies to the point he no longer cares about Misaka and Armin, telling the former right in her face that he hates her since young and even calls her a slave and beats up Armin.

* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Without bloodhounds, gps, tracking devices, cameras, or surveillance equipment of any kind, he was able to track down Mikasa's kidnappers and Mikasa herself, alone, and at age seven. How he was able to do this is not shown.

* DespairEventHorizon: He finally breaks after learning [[spoiler: he is the only reason the Reiss family is unable to save humanity from the Titans, which would make every sacrifice for his sake meaningless.]]deus

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Eren's Titan is a fiercer combatant than all other Titans including the other Titan Shifters. If anything, he's too fierce for his own good.

* HateatFirstSight: [[spoiler: According to him, towards Miksasa.]]

* OrderVersusChaos: His obsession in gaining freedom using questionable methos puts him in the Chaos Neutral.

* YouAreWhatYouHate: The first variation--he [[spoiler:genuinely did not know about his Titan-shifting capabilities]]. Yet once he gets over the initial shock, he seems to take it in stride for the most part, and wants to use his [[spoiler:Titan form]] for the betterment of humanity.

* JerkassHasAPoint: In Chapter 107, [[spoiler:Eren berates Hange due to the fact that Historia was indeed treated like livestock in spite of all his efforts and worries for her well-being, and that no one was able to give him or Historia a better alternative to that route in the four years since diplomatic talks began with the Marleyan military rebel faction and other allied countries. He even states that his punishment is pointless, as being the holder of the War-Hammer Titan, he doesn't even have to break out of confinement to wreak havoc. As a result, Hange later laments not being able to give Eren an answer, and states that she might not have been the right person to take command of the Survey Corps in the first place.]]

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* {{Foreshadowing}}: Some that's very, very easy to miss. When he hurts his head during training he recovers in one night and can be seen with small amounts of steam leaving his head (though that can be interpreted as a visual indicator of his frustration).

* {{Irony}}:
** Hates Titans more than anyone else in the series (to the point that he's essentially [[ThePowerOfHate powered by that hate]]) yet can turn into a Titan himself.
** He has singlehandedly killed dozens of Titans on open combat, but it takes him a considerably long time to do it by employing what he was trained to do, which is to kill them by using the 3DM gear. That first time, he gets so excited that he almost compromises the whole mission.
** Though he is shown to have a HealingFactor, he is still very vulnerable whenever he is not in Titan form. Being humanity's trump card puts his superiors in a position where they have to protect him and prevent him from getting away (which adds to the previous point).
** Eren became the single most important Eldian in Paradis and the flag carrier for the freedom of the Eldian people in the island, though surprisingly this is by very little virtue of his own. His powers were given to him by his father in an act of desperation, he constantly has to get rescued from kidnapping and he is too hot-headed for his own good; more than a force of nature, he became a gigantic target. ''Keep in mind that we're talking about a person who is practically the most powerful individual in the Three Walls''. The virtue that he ''does'' have is that he's frighteningly tenacious and he inspires tremendous loyalty from his comrades and friends.

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[[center: [-[[Characters/AttackOnTitan Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanShinganshinaTrio Shinganshina Trio]] | '''Eren Yeager''' | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanWarriorTrio Warrior Trio]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanReinerBraun Reiner Braun]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanThe104thTraineeCorps 104th Trainee Corps]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanSurveyCorps Survey Corps]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanMilitaryPoliceBrigade Military Police Brigade]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanGarrison Garrison]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanTitans Titans]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanMarley Marley]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanEldia Eldia]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanOthers Others]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanBeforeTheFall Before The Fall]]]]-]

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* AnArmAndALeg: His arms and legs are repeatedly severed over the course of the series, but, thanks to his HealingFactor, he always recovers them.
** As part of his disguise, he's missing his left leg below the knee. It appears that he has gained control over the regrowth of his limbs in the time skip. He may have also [[EyeScream lost an eye]] as well, though whether he has or not is hard to tell with the bandage over it. Either way though, he's shown to have both eyes by the time he removes the bandage.
** His healing factor has improved dramatically the past 4 years, as he can now regenerate an entire leg in seconds. For reference, it used to take him hours to heal that much.

* BadLiar: According to his mother, Eren's ears turn red when he lies. However, this is otherwise [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] because Eren has been shown to be an excellent ConsummateLiar and actor when dealing with other people. Perhaps he simply couldn't fool his mother's maternal intuition though.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The military at Paradis basically toted Eren as humanity's greatest weapon, which in turn made him into a "savior", or a "messiah" of sorts. What's the problem with that? Well, a messiah doesn't have to answer to any authority, does he?

* DontCelebrateJustYet: [[spoiler: A year after Bertoldt attacked Trost, the Titans have finally been (mostly) cleared from Paradis Island and Eren and Armin finally get to see the ocean with their own two eyes. But while Armin and the Survey Corps celebrate, Eren just gazes ominously into the distance instead, reminding everybody that they can't truly be free until they've dealt with their enemies.]]

* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Pretty badass by himself -- he's ranked fifth in his class -- but discovers his Titan-shifting powers after he gets eaten by a Titan.

* FightMagnet: He tends to draw in battles with Titans and pick fights with people that he disagrees with.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Eren's Titan is a fiercer combatant than all other Titans including the other Titan Shifters. If anything, he's too fierce for his own good.

* HeroInsurance: This is a DownplayedTrope. His fight with the Female Titan destroys a good part of Stohess district, and many of the buildings he destroys were ''not'' empty (his first attack notably throws her on a "church" where a bunch of Wall Cultists were praying). The reactions afterwards vary between blaming Erwin for the damage -- since it was his plan -- yet knowing that this was the only way to stop Annie once she had transformed. But nobody seems to blame Eren personally. Said damage is much more emphasized in the anime though.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: He is framed as an OmnicidalManiac that is planning to destroy the world, in order to justify declaring war against Paradis. It doesn't help that he acknowledges he ''could'' be the bad guy, and he's willing to [[spoiler: kill innocents in order to assassinate Willy Tybur]].
* HeroicBuild: His Titan form has it, and his actual body is pretty sculpted, too.

** When he finds out that [[spoiler: some of his friends are Titan Shifters instigating mankind's destruction]], he does not take the news well.

* HeroicLineage: [[spoiler: Eren currently possesses the powers of the "Attack Titan," one of the original nine Titans, that he inherited from his father, Grisha, and his namesake Eren "Owl" Kruger.]]

* HeroesFightBarehanded: He's the best hand-to-hand combatant in the 104th, having trained extensively in it during his boot-camp days. At first it doesn't seem like a useful skill given the size difference between humans and Titans, but when his nature as a Titan Shifter is revealed it becomes a ''very'' good thing because it gives him a massive edge when fighting other Titans.

* HunterOfHisOwnKind: Humanity's trump card against the Titans, and absolutely vital in taking on the other Titan Shifters.

* LegacyCharacter: Invoked and played with. [[spoiler:According to the theory of the ethereal pathways that connect all Eldians, and by hints given by Eren Kruger in Grisha's memories, it's strongly hinted that Eren Yeager was ''meant'' to be the Attack Titan, or that there was at least a certain predisposition for him to acquire the Titan power, especially due to the fact that Kruger was able to mention Mikasa and Armin to Grisha Yeager years before the children were born, heavily suggesting that Kruger might have been tapping into Eren Yeager's memories from the future]].

* OlderAndWiser: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zig-zagged]]. While the young Eren was filled with righteous fury towards his foes, as an adult he no longer sees his enemies as monsters to be exterminated. Instead, he explains to Falco how people fight because they are pushed into it by their environment, other people, or their own vision of something beyond the horror of war. However, [[spoiler:he deliberately goes against the Survey Corps' plan during their assault on Liberio, and his rash decision causes an otherwise-flawless operation to end up with several casualties, including Sasha]]. Hange lampshades this, saying that his actions were "suicidal" and the Survey Corps had to bail him out for them. In short, while Eren is much more composed and intelligent, he's no less [[LeeroyJenkins reckless]].
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: His lack of resistance in Chapter 65 briefly takes Historia aback.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Annie is finally revealed as the Female Titan, he does not (initially) react with the typical murderous rage he shows when Titans are around -- he shows a surprising amount of compassion, and is actually willing to hear her out -- he simply cannot bring himself to completely dehumanize her. This highlights just how deeply he's grown to respect her.
** The only time he completely loses hope and is unable to use his rage to get back into the game is when he's unable to transform as the Smiling Titan bears down on him and Mikasa. He does not take it well

* WeWillMeetAgain: [[spoiler:Once the Survey Corps are forced to leave Liberio after their attack Eren tells Reiner that the two of them will meet once more on the battlefield.]]

* YouKilledMyFather: Drops this on [[spoiler:Bertolt]] in Chapter 46, telling him that a chunk of Wall Maria landed on his house, breaking his mother's legs and leaving her unable to run. The seemingly-cold response he gets only infuriates him further, and Eren vows to kill him as slowly and painfully as possible. [[spoiler:He eventually delivers on that promise in Chapter 84 by feeding Bertolt to a Titinized Armin, though by that point [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty he finds no satisfaction in doing so]]]].

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* AllForNothing: Invoked. [[spoiler:All his efforts to protect Historia from harm are amounting to nothing when the military junta allows time to pass, closing dangerously into Zeke's time limit for his plans regarding the Paradian Eldians and their allies, as the Curse of Ymir will kill him in mere months' time. As such, Historia is forced into pregnancy to produce heirs and is prospected to inherit the Beast Titan from Zeke (following the plan), basically conceding everything while achieving nothing for themselves. As such, and due to their inaction, Eren is forced to attack Liberio. As of Chapter 107, all is going according to Zeke's plans, while the military junta and Hange have been basically sitting on their hands and allowing every advantage they have to be taken away from them.]]
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: As a part of CharacterizationMarchesOn, Eren correctly deduces that Falco is hoping to save a girl (Gabi) from the horrible fate of inheriting a Titan power and having a shortened life span. Eren was shown to be rather thick-brained regarding the concept of romance during his youth, so it's rather telling that he is at least able to pick up the clues to make the deduction. He wasn't going to stay a boy all his life!
* ApeShallNeverKillApe: He gains the specific ability to defy this trope thanks to his power to command Titans, as well as being able to do it himself as a Titan Shifter. Following [[spoiler:Hannes' death]], Eren unconsciously directs mindless Titans to rip [[spoiler:the Smiling Titan]] into pieces, and later hinders [[spoiler:Reiner and Bertholt]] by turning the horde against them.
* AxCrazy: Subverted. Eren is normally too rational despite his obsession with revenge, and his berserker moment occurred when Eren had no conscious control over himself. One of the main aspects of his arc is to show how he gradually gains control of his Titan form from the LotusEaterMachine stupor experienced by mindless Titans to a more manageable functional state under his full command.

[[center: [-[[Characters/AttackOnTitan Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanShinganshinaTrio Shinganshina Trio]] | '''Eren Yeager''' | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanWarriorTrio Warrior Trio]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanThe104thTraineeCorps 104th Trainee Corps]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanSurveyCorps Survey Corps]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanMilitaryPoliceBrigade Military Police Brigade]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanGarrison Garrison]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanTitans Titans]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanMarley Marley]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanEldia Eldia]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanOthers Others]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanBeforeTheFall Before The Fall]]]]-]

[[caption-width-right:175:[[labelnote:Click here to see his post-TimeSkip appearance]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amputeekun.png[[/labelnote]]]]

* & After the TimeSkip he is of a different variety than what he was at the start of the series. He is no longer a revenge-fueled berserker, but his actions have become more morally questionable. [[spoiler:He manipulates a kid who into helping him in his conquest against the kid's country, [[ShameIfSomethingHappened threatens to kill a bunch of civilians]] to Reiner, and then proceeds to carry out that threat by transforming, killing many men, women, and children in the process to assassinate Willy Tybur.]]

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* YourDaysAreNumbered: [[spoiler: As revealed in Chapter 88, anyone who inherits one of the nine original Titans abilities die thirteen years after inheriting due to Ymir Fritz dying thirteen years after she obtained her powers. As such Eren has approximately eight years left to live, so long as the statement is true. Chapter 91 [[TimeSkip shortened that to Four]].]]