History Characters / AttackOnTitanErenYeager

** A year before that, there was his first meeting with Mikasa. His father was her family's doctor, so they were the first ones to find out that Mikasa had been kidnapped by two traffickers and her parents murdered. Eren also found out where they were before the authorities did, and went there with a knife and some serious bloodlust at the ready. Doubles as a RoaringRampageofRescue as well.

** Chapter 123 reveals [[spoiler: his whole plan is this against every living being outside Paradis Island, may it be Eldian, Marleyan, or ''[[WouldHarmASenior anyone ]] [[WouldHurtASenior else]]''.]]

** Even before that, there was his first meeting with Mikasa. His father was her family's doctor, so they were the first ones to find out that Mikasa had been kidnapped and her parents murdered. He also found out where they were before the authorities did, and went there with a knife at the ready.

** Chapter 123 reveals [[spoiler: his whole plan is this against every living being outside Paradis Island, may it be Eldian, Marleyan, or ''anyone else''.]]

* DogKickingExcuse: [[spoiler: In Chapter 131, he tearfully confesses to a confused Ramzi that while he felt that the Rumbling was necessary to save Paradis and that he felt guilty for it, he genuinely WANTED to destroy the human race because he was "disappointed" that humanity thrived beyond the walls and that he wanted to see the "beautiful sight" of the destruction in his future memories]].

* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Depending on your view of him, he's either this or a true WellIntentionedExtremist. As emphasized by his conversation with Ramzi in chapter 131 and the scene of him as a child above the clouds, his claims towards saving Paradis from annihilation and uniting the remaining world against him in hatred to protect them is tertiary at best. In truth, he likely just desires for himself and his friends to gain the childish vision of freedom that he himself was never able to experience, and the existence of people that get in the way of his vision of this prompted him to do the Rumbling. He provides his friends the ability to stop him, but he makes it clear that if he hadn't been stopped, he would have destroyed the entire world.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Confirmed to be one in Chapter 123, though his means are far too warped for it to be portrayed positively. [[spoiler:His goal is still to protect the people of Paradis... but through his manipulation of the events of the series, including his own past, he aims to do so by killing every single living thing outside of the island to ensure their continued survival. Even his real goal being that of ensuring peace between Paradis and the rest of the world ends in the extermination of 80% of humanity.]]

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:While Eren's decision to destroy all life outside Paradis is a horrific one, there are hints that he didn't want this to happen. Eren's conversation with Reiner in Liberio made it evident that he doesn't hate anyone and instead views them as victims of brainwashing. Eren looks pained after commanding Grisha to massacre the Reiss Family. During his announcement of the Rumbling, Eren made it clear [[DirtyBusiness he was doing it to protect his friends and the people of Paradis, and not for personal gratification]]. In fact, his former friends theorize that the only reason the remaining Shifters haven't been robbed of their powers is because Eren ''[[DeathSeeker wants]]'' them to kill him. This later turns out to be true.]]

** When Thomas dies during the Battle of Trost, Eren absolutely loses it and pursues the Titan who did it to avenge his friend. It nearly cost him his life. Thankfully, his Titan-shifting powers saved him.

* DeathSeeker: Averted, despite what the majority of his allies think of him. [[spoiler: However, in Chapter 133, Reiner theorizes that the only reason that Eren has not prevented his former friends from trying to stop the Rumbling is that deep down, he ''wants'' them to kill him as he would not be able to live with guilt of exterminating humanity beyond the Walls. In the penultimate chapter, Mikasa has a vision of an AlternateTimeline where she eloped with Eren, and where Eren told Mikasa to forget about him and move on with her life when he would innevitably die. It's implied that this vision was actually sent by Eren as a way to tell Mikasa to kill him as she was aware that Eren was in his Titan's mouth, and when Mikasa decapitates him, Eren makes no attempt to resist.]]
** [[spoiler: Ultimately PlayedWith. He wanted the Survey Corps to kill him so that they could be established as heroes who got rid of him, and making the foundation of peace between Eldians and rest of the world. However, he also states that he would have gone through with the Rumbling entirely if his friends could not or would not stop him, and when he confesses all of this to Armin, he makes it clear that he ''really'' doesn't want to die and would rather stay with his friends.]]

** In contrast with his friends, he seems to harbor a grudge against Gabi for [[spoiler: killing Sasha]], so he insistently refers to Gabi solely as [[spoiler: "The Brath who killed Sasha"]] to drive the point across, further twisting the knife in for the already guilt-ridden young girl.

** [[spoiler:Eren's rampage during the Festival causes a major divide within the Survey Corps, with even Armin and Mikasa looking upset with him. Levi has him arrested for his actions, and Hanji states his decision was a betrayal of his comrades. Taken even further, Jean informs Eren that he is directly responsible for Sasha's death. Subverted; it is AllAccordingToPlan]].

* NonLinearCharacter: [[spoiler:Due to being a bearer of the Attack Titan, Eren is able to glimpse into the memories of every previous bearer and future ones, including his own. This power gives him greater foresight into the events which'll unfold later on and at the end of the story. ]]
** [[spoiler: It gets stranger once he reaches the realm of the Paths. Once there, he can use the Founding Titan's power to effectively alter the past by projecting his current self's perspective of the memories he can now freely observe into the minds of past Attack Titan holders to influence key events. Something he only knows how to do because he sent memories of doing this to himself in the past. By the end of the series, he's changed so much of the past and implanted so many experiences into his past self that he tells Armin that he is no longer able to distinguish between present experiences and his time-displaced memories anymore. To him, every moment is so detached that it feels like he's only a passive observer of his own life with [[YouCantFightFate no impact on the outcome]]. The only thing he's certain of is that all his memories end with his death very soon.]]

** [[spoiler: When within his father's memories with Zeke in the Paths Realm, listening to Frieda go on and on about justifying the genocide of Eldians for their ancestors crimes '''infuriates''' Eren]].

* ObfuscatingDisability: [[spoiler: When he infiltrated Liberio, Eren severed his own leg and put out one of his eyes to maintain the guise of a wounded Eldian soldier. Of course, being a Titan shifter means [[GoodThingYouCanHeal he can regenerate both those missing body parts]] without a hitch, and only does so after he gathers the intel he needs and is ready to commence the next part of his plan.]]

** [[spoiler: Delivers shockingly brutal ones to Armin and Mikasa of all people upon their reunion in chapter 112, explaining [[TranquilFury calmly and yet ferociously]] that he believes Armin has let Bertolt's memories make him "absolutely useless and soft". He then goes on to coldly dismiss Mikasa's feelings and explain that her devotion to him is nothing more than the result of experiments done on her bloodline long ago, calling her a "slave" and expressing that he's always hated her. He earns Armin's wrath for his troubles, though being bigger and stronger, he easily deals with him]]

* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:While Eren's FinalSolution is a horrible one, he has proper reasons for doing so. No matter how much Paradis implores for peace, most nations insist on denouncing them as devils that need to be exterminated. Worse, Marley and other nations were planning an all out strike on Paradis, much sooner than expected. As Paradis is at a huge disadvantage in terms of technology, resources, and population and unable to gain any foreign allies, the island would inevitably fall to a full assault. To ensure the survival of his people, Eren has come to believe he has no choice ''but'' to wipe out humanity outside of the Walls. This is also acknowledged InUniverse by the remaining protagonists after he goes rogue: while they find Eren plan [[EveryoneHasStandards unacceptable]] and are resolved to stop him at any cost, they admit that Eren wasn't wrong about his assessment of their worsening situation and nobody allied with them had any viable alternative solutions.]]
* VillainousBSOD: [[spoiler:In Chapter 131, after finally initiating the Rumbling, the emotional toll of massacring millions of innocents proves to be too much for Eren to handle in the moment, and as somewhat of a defense mechanism, he begins to hallucinate that he's a child again and is just freely soaring across the planet like he always wanted, oblivious to the horror happening beneath him.]]

* HiveQueen: Revealed in Chapter 50 to possess the ability to command Titans, causing them to attack his opponents. The other Shifters are shown to feel/sense the command, but are able to resist or ignore it.

* ObliviousToLove: He finds Mikasa's desire to keep him safe irritating and sees her as his [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling annoying adopted sister]]. [[spoiler:Except that he isn't. He's completely aware of how Mikasa feels about him, returns her affections, but pretends to be oblivious as part of his plan to push her away so that she'll eventually have the strength to kill him]]
** Unlike his squadmates, he fails to grasp that Hitch may have feelings for Marlo.

** He befriends Falco, and is relieved when the boy admits he probably won't be chosen as a Warrior. He offers encouragement and advice to the boy when he feels defeated over his training. Cruelly subverted later when [[spoiler:it's revealed that Falco's letter deliveries were at least part of the reason Eren befriended him, and he later has no qualms nearly killing Falco as an incidental casualty]].

* GuiltFreeExterminationWar: The overall goal of the humans but Eren is hateful enough to [[BadassBoast declare he'll kill every Titan by himself]]. This decreases once he finds out what Titans really are (or rather, what they were). He still does intend for extermination [[spoiler:of every living thing outside of Paradis]], but is implied to feel he has no choice and he doesn't take any joy in it.

* NotBloodSiblings: With Mikasa, who was adopted by Grisha and Carla after the murder of her biological parents and she lived with them for about a year. Despite their closeness, he tends to view Mikasa as the [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling Annoying Sibling]] due to her overprotective nature.

** It's revealed that Eren actually holds Zeke in contempt for his anti-natalist ideology and seeing him as a brainwashed victim. He makes this known by repeatedly mocking Zeke and his trauma with their father throughout their trip through Grisha's memories, culminating in Eren trying to ruin Zeke's moment of reconciliation with the man by casually reminding him he devoured him.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Eren [[spoiler: partly admits one of his main reasons for causing the Rumbling is because he always imagined the residents of the Walls to be special, and was disappointed when he learned humanity existed beyond the Walls, and hoped that somehow they all disappear.]]

* {{Manchild}}: [[PlayedForDrama Tragically so]]. At his core, Eren is still the little boy who dreamed of killing his enemies and seeing the outside world as he imagined it. He's just been [[DespairEventHorizon driven to the point]] that he sees humanity outside of Paradis as his enemies, and wants to create a world where his friends won't have to fight for their survival. During his rampage across the world, he even imagines himself as being young again, finally free to see the world outside the walls.

** [[spoiler: His stoic behavior is fully revealed to be a facade in chapter 139, where he tells Armin that he really didn't want to do what he did and distanced himself from his friends to allow them to move on when he dies, and in particular motivate Mikasa to do her part and kill him. His young, reckless, and emotional self best comes through when he basically has a tantrum over needing to die and how he doesn't even want Mikasa to find another man after he dies.]]

** He's wearing his hair long and unkempt, as part of his cover as a traumatized soldier. It also helps [[PeekABangs obscure his face]].

* TheBeastmaster: In Chapter 50, he discovers the ability to control Mindless Titans. Later he learns that he has the Founding Titan but has a bloodline restriction. [[spoiler:Four years later, Eren manipulates Zeke into taking him to the realm of Paths, where he successfully nullifies all restrictions of the Founding Titan and uses it to unleash the Wall Titans.]]

* SatanicArchetype: To the Marleyans, Eren (as the holder of the Coordinate) is effectively the leader of the Devils of Paradis, who himself usurped the "deity" of the Kings of the Walls to wage war on humanity with his hordes. [[spoiler: TheReveal that the holders of the Attack Titan inherit their successors' memories, and that Eren has been influencing them throughout history--much like the proverbial devil on the shoulder--makes him fit this idea even outside of the Marleyan propaganda.]]
** [[spoiler:The way he convince Grisha to slaughter the Reiss family mirrors the role of Satan in theology that goad humans into commiting sins.]]

* {{Manchild}}: [[PlayedForDrama Tragically so]]. At his core, Eren is still the little boy who dreamed of killing his enemies and seeing the outside world as he imagined it. He's just been [[DespairEventHorizon driven to the point]] that he sees humanity outside of Paradis as his enemies, and wants to [[KillEmAll create a world]] where his friends won't have to fight for their survival. During his rampage across the world, he even imagines himself as being young again, finally free to see the world outside the walls.

* WorldsStrongestMan: After the TimeSkip, Eren was already among the strongest Titan shifters, but [[spoiler:after acquiring absolute control over the Founding Titan, he is practically a god. Eren's new Titan form far surpasses the size of the Colossus Titan. Not only that, he is able to [[MindControl command]] [[MillionMookMarch hundreds and thousands of mindless Colossus Titans to march and destroy all nations outside of Paradis.]] He can also disintegrate Reiner's armor and shatter Annie's crystal through willpower alone. Even after the destruction of his Founding Titan body, Eren is still able to reform one last Titan body as huge as the Colossal Titan and easily overpower Armin's own Colossal Titan.]]

* DesignatedVictim: He is either severely injured or kidnapped in every major arc so far. He Lampshades this in Chapter 62.

* PsychopathicManchild: Whilst assuming his Titan form during the first half of season 1 Eren displays traits of this when killing other Titans showing absolute glee about slaughtering them with no remorse.

* CryCute: In the anime, he begins an angry tirade against the military after they callously give him and his friends food and shelter. Mikasa knocks him down from his high horse, arguing that his attitude won't keep him alive and that she won't allow him to endanger himself or die on her watch by not abiding to their rules, shutting him up by shoving a loaf of bread on his mouth. Defeated, Eren breaks down and cries at the helplessness of their situation.

* PowerEchoes: During his rematch with the Female Titan in the anime, after she almost bashes his face in and takes off, Eren reaffirms his resolve to kill all Titans with his voice distorted and echoic.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Even before his life was ruined by Titans and he became justifiably bitter, Eren was always unusually antisocial, cold, and prone to bursts of anger as a child, which his father candidly pointed out at the time. His brutal, fearless, and [[TheUnfettered completely unfazed]] butchering of two grown child slavers at the age of ''nine'' (having never committed a major act of violence like that beforehand, either) was probably the point where it became clear he's never been ''quite'' fully right in the head. The various traumatic and violent events in his life that followed have not helped him, as you can imagine.

* {{Expy}}: [[spoiler:By the end of the series, Eren shows aspects of both Paul Atreides, and his successor, Leo II from the ''Franchsie/{{Dune}}'' novels, as his own character arc becomes a deconstruction of TheHerosJourney. Like Paul, he's initially motivated by avenging the deaths of his loved ones, and gains the ability to see into the future. Like Paul, his prescience horrifies him as it foretells him going on a dark and destructive path, and he tries and fails to avert this fate. And finally, like Leo II, he ultimately decides to become a mass-murdering monster [[ZeroApprovalGambit and take all the world's hatred upon himself]] in order to free humanity from the destructive course they're currently on.]]

* {{Expy}}: [[spoiler:By the end of the series, Eren shows aspects of both Paul Atreides, and his successor, Leo II from the ''Franchsie/{{Dune}}'' novels, as his own character arc becomes a deconstruction of TheHeroesJourney. Like Paul, he's initially motivated by avenging the deaths of his loved ones, and gains the ability to see into the future. Like Paul, his prescience horrifies him as it foretells him going on a dark and destructive path, and he tries and fails to avert this fate. And finally, like Leo II, he ultimately decides to become a mass-murdering monster [[ZeroApprovalGambit and take all the world's hatred upon himself]] in order to free humanity from the destructive course they're currently on.]]

* {{Expy}}: [[spoiler:By the end of the series, Eren shows aspects of both Paul Atreides, and his successor, Leo II from the ''Franchsie/{{Dune}}'' novels, as his own character arc becomes a deconstruction of TheHeroesJourney. Like Paul, he's initially motivated by avenging the deaths of his loved ones, and gains the ability to see into the future. Like Paul his prescience horrifies him as it foretells him going on a dark and destructive path, and he tries and fails to avert this fate. And finally, like Leo II, he ultimately decides to become a mass-murdering monster [[ZeroApprovalGambit and take all the world's hatred upon himself]] in order to free humanity from the destructive course they're currently on.]]

** [[spoiler: He made himself into the the world's true enemy, so that his friends will stop him and being seen as the heroes who will strive for true peace.]]