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* AdaptedOut: Armin is Erens best friend, but the manga is the medium that shows the deepness of their relationship. Similar case to Mikasa's AdaptationalExpansion in the anime, essentially, the anime instead shifts the deepness of Eren and Armin's relationship to Mikasa.
** In the last episode of the first season, Mikasa is the one who pulls Eren out of his Titan form and holds him, while the manga counterpart has Armin as the one holding him. Additionally, the scene where Eren regains consciousness, Mikasa is at his bedside while Armin is off to the side with Jean; in the manga, Mikasa is still at Eren's bedside, Jean is still off to the side, but Armin is sitting on the bed with Eren before he even wakes up.
** In the last episode of the first season, Mikasa is the one who pulls Eren out of his Titan form and holds him, while the manga counterpart has Armin as the one holding him. Additionally, the scene where Eren regains consciousness, Mikasa is at his bedside while Armin is off to the side with Jean; in the manga, Mikasa is still at Eren's bedside, Jean is still off to the side, but Armin is sitting on the bed with Eren before he even wakes up.
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Changed line(s) 362 (click to see context) from:
* {{Byronic Hero}}ine: She joined the Survey Corps only because of Eren, who is everything to her. She has a tragic past and will kill anyone who threatens Eren, be they foe or former friends.
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* {{Byronic Hero}}ine: ByronicHeroine: She joined the Survey Corps only because of Eren, who is everything to her. She has a tragic past and will kill anyone who threatens Eren, be they foe or former friends.
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* DoomMagnet: Since the Titan Shifters want to capture him, a lot of Titans inevitably end up appearing and many soldiers wind up dying as a result.
* FightMagnet: He tends to draw in battles with Titans and pick fights with people that he disagrees with.
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* IllKillYou: He says this to the Female Titan, though it can't hear him at the time, even threatening to ''eat'' it. Later on, to [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt.]]
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* IllKillYou: He says this to the Female Titan, though it can't hear him at the time, even threatening to ''eat'' it. In the anime, when he goes berserk fighting it he says that he'll destroy the entire world. [[spoiler: Later on, to [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt.]]
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* PlotMagnet: He is so important that many fans want him to get captured:
** DoomMagnet: Since the Titan Shifters want to capture him, a lot of Titans inevitably end up appearing and many soldiers wind up dying as a result.
** FightMagnet: He tends to draw in battles with Titans and pick fights with people that he disagrees with.
** DoomMagnet: Since the Titan Shifters want to capture him, a lot of Titans inevitably end up appearing and many soldiers wind up dying as a result.
** FightMagnet: He tends to draw in battles with Titans and pick fights with people that he disagrees with.
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* PlotMagnet: He is so important that many fans want him to get captured:
** DoomMagnet: Since the Titan Shifters want to capture him, a lot of Titans inevitably end up appearing and many soldiers wind up dying as a result.
** FightMagnet: He tends to draw in battles with Titans and pick fights with people that he disagrees with.captured.
** DoomMagnet: Since the Titan Shifters want to capture him, a lot of Titans inevitably end up appearing and many soldiers wind up dying as a result.
** FightMagnet: He tends to draw in battles with Titans and pick fights with people that he disagrees with.
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* SuperPoweredEvilSide: Initially, he is unable to control his Titan form and viciously attacks Mikasa. Armin manages to get through to him, and he's since learned how to control himself.
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* SuperPoweredEvilSide: Initially, he is unable to control his Titan form and viciously attacks Mikasa. Armin manages to get through to him, and he's since learned how to control himself. [[spoiler:In the anime, he goes berserk a second time while fighting the Female Titan, proclaiming he'll destroy the world and nearly eating Annie, only to be stopped by the sight of her crying.]]
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Changed line(s) 338 (click to see context) from:
** Do '''NOT''' screw with Eren if you value your life. Just look at [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/a209d3573ec70ac53a47830486209e9a/tumblr_mpizho4xDi1qh3v8wo1_500.jpg the look on her face]] when Levi beats up Eren during his trial. She's ready to beat the in-series WorldsStrongestMan to within an inch of his life!
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** Do '''NOT''' screw with Eren if you value your life. Just look at [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/a209d3573ec70ac53a47830486209e9a/tumblr_mpizho4xDi1qh3v8wo1_500.jpg [[https://theglorioblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/vlcsnap-2013-07-14-15h38m31s13.png the look on her face]] when Levi beats up Eren during his trial. She's ready to beat the in-series WorldsStrongestMan to within an inch of his life!
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* ActuallyPrettyFunny: The first thing Historia does after being crowned Queen is [[spoiler:punch Levi in the face and then dare him to do something about it]]. Everyone present just stares in shock... except for Mikasa, who can be [[FunnyBackgroundEvent seen in the background]] with a [[Funny/AttackOnTitan satisfied smirk on her face]] (guess she was glad that ''someone'' finally did it, though she probably wanted the honor herself).
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* FunnyBackgroundEvent: The first thing Historia does after being crowned Queen is [[spoiler:punch Levi in the face and then dare him to do something about it]]. Everyone present just stares in shock, except for Mikasa who can be seen in the background with a [[Funny/AttackOnTitan very pleased smirk on her face]] (guess she was glad that ''someone'' finally did it, though she probably wanted the honor herself).
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** DramaticIrony: His Titan hatred was born after watching his mother brutally eaten by one. [[spoiler:Later, it's revealed that ''he ate his father'' after the latter's injection turned him into a mindless Titan.]]
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Changed line(s) 494 (click to see context) from:
* MyGod,WhatHaveIDone: Shows remorse after [[ spoiler:blinding Reiner with the Thunder Spear]]
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* MyGod,WhatHaveIDone: MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Shows remorse after [[ spoiler:blinding [[spoiler:blinding Reiner with the Thunder Spear]]
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Changed line(s) 483 (click to see context) from:
* CharacterDevelopment: Not necessarily for the better--which is not a bad thing on its own. Mikasa's heart has noticeably hardened since Trost, being much less willing to spare others where it concerns Eren and being willing to kill anyone that threatens him, including people who were until that moment her friends. Contrast this with the Titan Shifters, who can't bring themselves to harm her or their other friends. Thus, she's become a much more deadly soldier.
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* CharacterDevelopment: Not necessarily for the better--which is not a bad thing on its own. Mikasa's heart has noticeably hardened since Trost, being much less willing to spare others where it concerns Eren and being willing to kill anyone that threatens him, including people who were until that moment her friends. Contrast this with the Titan Shifters, who can't bring themselves to harm her or their other friends. Thus, she's become a much more deadly soldier. Another instance of character development is how she [[spoiler: rescues Historia before Eren in chapter 66]].
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* MyGod,WhatHaveIDone: Shows remorse after [[ spoiler:blinding Reiner with the Thunder Spear]]
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* StraightForTheCommander: Armin is a target of this by the [[spoiler: enemy Titan Shifters]], and has come within literal inches of being killed by [[spoiler: all three of them]]. Despite posing almost no physical threat to the highly trained and lethal opposition, Armin's quick thinking and intelligence makes him the soldier that older veterans listen to and follow because it tends to result in success, and now that he's part of the neo-Special Operations Squad, he has the rank to back it up. Annie spares him from her rampage through the Survey Corps [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe because he was a friend of hers]], and later regrets it, as Armin pieces together her identity as the Female Titan and corners her. Later, when [[spoiler: Reiner is discovered within the Shiganshina Wall, he wonders how they figured out his location, before basically coming to the conclusion of "Armin". In the same instant, he turns a DeathGlare normally reserved for dangerous combatants on Armin, who is less than five feet away, and Armin only lives because of Levi's fast action. Later, he gets himself suicidally close to Bertholdt, who is armed and doesn't turn down the opportunity presented and Armin only gets away because of Mikasa attacking Bertholdt.]]
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Changed line(s) 337 (click to see context) from:
* BecasueYouWereNiceToMe: Her unwavering loyalty and devotion towards Eren stems from the day that he rescued her by ruthlessly murdering a group of human traffickers who killed her biological mother and father.
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* BecasueYouWereNiceToMe: BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Her unwavering loyalty and devotion towards Eren stems from the day that he rescued her by ruthlessly murdering a group of human traffickers who killed her biological mother and father.
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Changed line(s) 337 (click to see context) from:
* BecasueYouWereNiceToMe: Here unwavering loyalty and devotion towards Eren stems from the day that [[spoiler]]young Eren ruthlessly murdered the Human Traffickers who killed her biological mother and father and rescued her.[[/spoiler]]
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* BecasueYouWereNiceToMe: Here Her unwavering loyalty and devotion towards Eren stems from the day that [[spoiler]]young Eren he rescued her by ruthlessly murdered the Human Traffickers murdering a group of human traffickers who killed her biological mother and father and rescued her.[[/spoiler]]father.
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* BecasueYouWereNiceToMe: Here unwavering loyalty and devotion towards Eren stems from the day that [[spoiler]]young Eren ruthlessly murdered the Human Traffickers who killed her biological mother and father and rescued her.[[/spoiler]]
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* VomitIndiscretionShot: In Chapter 59, he's shown vomiting beside a tree, out of shock of spoiler:having killed another human for the first time.
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* VomitIndiscretionShot: In Chapter 59, he's shown vomiting beside a tree, out of shock of spoiler:having having killed another human for the first time.
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* GrinOfAudacity: Before lying to spoiler: Bertolt.
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* GrinOfAudacity: Before lying to spoiler: Bertolt.
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* IShallTauntYou: He distracts her allies by telling them that [[IHaveYourWife the military is currently torturing the Female Titan for information.]] spoiler: It's not true, of course, but it's enough to perturb Bertolt.
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* IShallTauntYou: He distracts her allies by telling them that [[IHaveYourWife the military is currently torturing the Female Titan for information.]] spoiler: It's not true, of course, but it's enough to perturb Bertolt.
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* ManipulativeBastard: In Chapter 49, he lies to spoiler: Bertolt to manipulate his feelings and disturb him.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He killed a person to save a friend and was ''horrified'' afterwords, to the point he became physically ill. What made it worse is that, after thinking about it, He realized that the only reason he got the shot off was because spoiler: the attacker, a woman about their age, recognized Jean and hesitated, while Armin pulled the trigger without a second thought and notes this means she was a kinder person than him.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He killed a person to save a friend and was ''horrified'' afterwords, to the point he became physically ill. What made it worse is that, after thinking about it, He realized that the only reason he got the shot off was because spoiler: the attacker, a woman about their age, recognized Jean and hesitated, while Armin pulled the trigger without a second thought and notes this means she was a kinder person than him.
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* ManipulativeBastard: In Chapter 49, he lies to spoiler: Bertolt to manipulate his feelings and disturb him.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He killed a person to save a friend and was ''horrified'' afterwords, to the point he became physically ill. What made it worse is that, after thinking about it, He realized that the only reason he got the shot off was becausespoiler: the attacker, a woman about their age, recognized Jean and hesitated, while Armin pulled the trigger without a second thought and notes this means she was a kinder person than him.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He killed a person to save a friend and was ''horrified'' afterwords, to the point he became physically ill. What made it worse is that, after thinking about it, He realized that the only reason he got the shot off was because
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Changed line(s) 596 (click to see context) from:
* GrinOfAudacity: Before lying to [[spoiler: Bertolt]].
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* GrinOfAudacity: Before lying to [[spoiler: Bertolt]].spoiler: Bertolt.
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* IShallTauntYou: He distracts her allies by telling them that [[IHaveYourWife the military is currently torturing the Female Titan for information.]] [[spoiler: It's not true, of course, but it's enough to perturb Bertolt.]]
to:
* IShallTauntYou: He distracts her allies by telling them that [[IHaveYourWife the military is currently torturing the Female Titan for information.]] [[spoiler: spoiler: It's not true, of course, but it's enough to perturb Bertolt.]]
Changed line(s) 602,603 (click to see context) from:
* ManipulativeBastard: In Chapter 49, he lies to [[spoiler: Bertolt]] to manipulate his feelings and disturb him.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He killed a person to save a friend and was ''horrified'' afterwords, to the point he became physically ill. What made it worse is that, after thinking about it, He realized that the only reason he got the shot off was because [[spoiler: the attacker, a woman about their age, recognized Jean and hesitated, while Armin pulled the trigger without a second thought and notes this means she was a kinder person than him.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He killed a person to save a friend and was ''horrified'' afterwords, to the point he became physically ill. What made it worse is that, after thinking about it, He realized that the only reason he got the shot off was because [[spoiler: the attacker, a woman about their age, recognized Jean and hesitated, while Armin pulled the trigger without a second thought and notes this means she was a kinder person than him.]]
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* ManipulativeBastard: In Chapter 49, he lies to [[spoiler: Bertolt]] spoiler: Bertolt to manipulate his feelings and disturb him.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He killed a person to save a friend and was ''horrified'' afterwords, to the point he became physically ill. What made it worse is that, after thinking about it, He realized that the only reason he got the shot off was because[[spoiler: spoiler: the attacker, a woman about their age, recognized Jean and hesitated, while Armin pulled the trigger without a second thought and notes this means she was a kinder person than him.]] him.
* NeverRecycleYourSchemes: A rare protagonist, if heroic is too strong a word, example. He gets Bertholdt and Reiner to break down by telling them Annie is being tortured by the military in their absence with an absolutely horrifying grin on his face, distracting them enough that Eren can be retrieved. In Chapter 78, [[spoiler: he shouts down the rest of the squads telling him to get away from Bertholdt, convinced he can do some masterful talking, and tries to pull the same lie and the same smile again. '''It doesn't work'''. Bertholdt is completely unaffected, and gets within moments of killing Armin before Mikasa intervenes.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He killed a person to save a friend and was ''horrified'' afterwords, to the point he became physically ill. What made it worse is that, after thinking about it, He realized that the only reason he got the shot off was because
* NeverRecycleYourSchemes: A rare protagonist, if heroic is too strong a word, example. He gets Bertholdt and Reiner to break down by telling them Annie is being tortured by the military in their absence with an absolutely horrifying grin on his face, distracting them enough that Eren can be retrieved. In Chapter 78, [[spoiler: he shouts down the rest of the squads telling him to get away from Bertholdt, convinced he can do some masterful talking, and tries to pull the same lie and the same smile again. '''It doesn't work'''. Bertholdt is completely unaffected, and gets within moments of killing Armin before Mikasa intervenes.]]
* SuicidalOverconfidence: In Chapter 78, he actually [[spoiler: moves ahead of the other squads, who are all rightfully terrified of Bertholdt Hoover, thinking he can manipulate him with lies about Annie again. This turns out to be a deadly mistake and Bertholdt nearly kills him.]]
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* VomitIndiscretionShot: In Chapter 59, he's shown vomiting beside a tree, out of shock of [[spoiler:having killed another human for the first time.]]
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* VomitIndiscretionShot: In Chapter 59, he's shown vomiting beside a tree, out of shock of [[spoiler:having spoiler:having killed another human for the first time.]]
time.
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* GoodScarsEvilScars: Mikasa also has a small scar below her right eye, which she received after Eren (in his Titan Form) unknowingly attempted to kill her.
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Changed line(s) 91 (click to see context) from:
** In a way, he is this to Historia. Not only is she the true heir to the monarchy of the walls; but the very powers Eren possess rightfully belongs to the Reiss bloodline to begin with, meaning, his powers were meant for her. This leads to his HeroicBSOD as he starts to think himself as worthless and in the way of what should have been Historia's quest of slaughtering titans and not his, until she snaps him out of it.
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** In a way, he is this to Historia. Not only is she the true heir to the monarchy of the walls; but the very powers Eren possess rightfully belongs to the Reiss bloodline to begin with, meaning, his powers were meant for her. This leads to his HeroicBSOD as he starts to think himself as worthless and in the way of what should have been Historia's quest of slaughtering titans Titans and not his, until she snaps him out of it.
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--->'''Levi:''' It's clear to me. This guy's a true monster. His Titan abilities have nothing to do with it either. No matter how much force you hold him down with, no matter what kind of cage you shut him up in, forcing this guy's will into submission is something nobody can do.
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--->'''Levi:''' It's clear to me. This guy's a true monster. His Titan abilities have nothing to do with it it, either. No matter how much force you hold him down with, no matter what kind of cage you shut him up in, forcing this guy's will into submission is something nobody can do.
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** When he finds out that [[spoiler: some of his friends are Titan-shifters instigating mankind's destruction]], he does not take the news well.
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** When he finds out that [[spoiler: some of his friends are Titan-shifters Titan Shifters instigating mankind's destruction]], he does not take the news well.
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* HeroicRROD: As he pushes his Titan shifting ability to its limits, maintaining lucid control becomes more and more difficult, and can result in loss of consciousness at best, and Eren melding with his Titan body at worst.
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* HeroicRROD: As he pushes his Titan shifting Shifting ability to its limits, maintaining lucid control becomes more and more difficult, and can result in loss of consciousness at best, and Eren melding with his Titan body at worst.
Changed line(s) 132 (click to see context) from:
** In the anime, after Annie kicks his face in, Eren manages to get a second wind from his [[{{Determinator}} unshakable willpower]] and his [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge desire to murder every last Titan]]
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** In the anime, after Annie kicks his face in, Eren manages to get a second wind from his [[{{Determinator}} unshakable willpower]] and his [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge desire to murder every last Titan]]Titan]].
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* 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.
to:
* 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 Titan Shifter is revealed it becomes a ''very'' good thing because it gives him a massive edge when fighting other Titans.
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* InSeriesNickname: Amongst The 104th Trainee Corps he's known as "that Suicidal Bastard" ("Suicidal Maniac" in the dub) due to how eager he was to pick a fight with the titans; Jean came up with the moniker, and is the only person who will say it to Eren's face. This comes up later on, when Armin bluffs the Female Titan [[INeverSaidItWasPoison by saying this nickname instead of "Eren"]] and figures out that she must be one of the Trainees to correctly guess who he was talking about.
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* InSeriesNickname: Amongst The 104th Trainee Corps he's known as "that Suicidal Bastard" ("Suicidal Maniac" in the dub) due to how eager he was to pick a fight with the titans; Titans; Jean came up with the moniker, and is the only person who will say it to Eren's face. This comes up later on, when Armin bluffs the Female Titan [[INeverSaidItWasPoison by saying this nickname instead of "Eren"]] and figures out that she must be one of the Trainees to correctly guess who he was talking about.
Changed line(s) 152 (click to see context) from:
** DramaticIrony: His Titan hatred was born after watching his mother brutally eaten by one. [[spoiler:Later it's revealed that ''he ate his father'' after the latter's injection turned him into a mindless Titan.]]
to:
** DramaticIrony: His Titan hatred was born after watching his mother brutally eaten by one. [[spoiler:Later [[spoiler:Later, it's revealed that ''he ate his father'' after the latter's injection turned him into a mindless Titan.]]
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* JackOfAllStats: His skills at 3DMG are average. He is skilled at martial arts though and that helps a lot when you are a Titan-shifter. Also, his instructor notes that his sheer persistence and dedication to training allow him to surpass many others.
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* JackOfAllStats: His skills at 3DMG are average. He is skilled at martial arts though and that helps a lot when you are a Titan-shifter.Titan Shifter. Also, his instructor notes that his sheer persistence and dedication to training allow him to surpass many others.
Changed line(s) 157 (click to see context) from:
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: After his mother's death, Eren was supposedly injected with a mysterious serum by his father, but can't recall the details due to a side effect of said serum. The serum is believed to have been what gave Eren his Titan-shifting powers. [[spoiler: However, the serum didn't give him all of his powers as the Coordinate powers he received from eating his father, who had eaten the real person with Coordinate powers: Frieda Reiss, Krista/Historia's older half-sister.]]
to:
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: After his mother's death, Eren was supposedly injected with a mysterious serum by his father, but can't recall the details due to a side effect side-effect of said serum. The serum is believed to have been what gave Eren his Titan-shifting powers. [[spoiler: However, the serum didn't give him all of his powers as the Coordinate powers he received from eating his father, who had eaten the real person with Coordinate powers: Frieda Reiss, Krista/Historia's older half-sister.]]
Changed line(s) 165 (click to see context) from:
* MacGuffinSuperPerson: Just about every faction in the story aside from the Garrison wants to have custody of him. This is understandable, as he's the first known human capable of transforming into a Titan. Even when other Titan-Shifters start pop up, they still see him as important enough to risk everything and abandon their plans to destroy the people within the Walls just to kidnap him. This is later revealed to be due to Eren [[spoiler: also having the mysterious "Coordinate" power, which lets him control Titans.]]
to:
* MacGuffinSuperPerson: Just about every faction in the story aside from the Garrison wants to have custody of him. This is understandable, as he's the first known human capable of transforming into a Titan. Even when other Titan-Shifters Titan Shifters start pop up, they still see him as important enough to risk everything and abandon their plans to destroy the people within the Walls just to kidnap him. This is later revealed to be due to Eren [[spoiler: also having the mysterious "Coordinate" power, which lets him control Titans.]]
Changed line(s) 297 (click to see context) from:
* TookALevelInBadass [[spoiler:In chapter 66, Eren upgrades his titan by eating a serum labelled "Armored" after choosing to act and fight against Rod Reiss's titan.]]
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* TookALevelInBadass [[spoiler:In chapter Chapter 66, Eren upgrades his titan by eating a serum labelled "Armored" after choosing to act and fight against Rod Reiss's titan.]]
Changed line(s) 599 (click to see context) from:
* IShallTauntYou: He distracts her allies by telling them that [[IHaveYourWife the military is currently torturing the Female Titan for information.]] [[spoiler: Its not true, of course, but its enough to perturb Bertolt.]]
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* IShallTauntYou: He distracts her allies by telling them that [[IHaveYourWife the military is currently torturing the Female Titan for information.]] [[spoiler: Its It's not true, of course, but its it's enough to perturb Bertolt.]]
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Deleted line(s) 115 (click to see context) :
* FoeRomanceSubtext: He goes into strong denial about Annie being TheMole, and is even accused by Mikasa of having "special feelings" for her. WordOfGod would later state his feelings to be platonic however, while he remains silent on Annie. In the official HighSchoolAU, their ShipTease is ascended to Annie having explicit feelings for him.
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Deleted line(s) 547 (click to see context) :
* HoYay: With Eren.
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** This doesn't exactly improve in the second battle with the Female Titan, at least in the anime. While she certainly displays skill the other soldiers don't (they keep dying), she ends up getting ''knocked unconscious'' by the Female Titan ''twice''. It's a wonder she's alive.
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Deleted line(s) 144 (click to see context) :
* HoYay: With Armin.
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Deleted line(s) 139 (click to see context) :
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Armin.
* HoYay: With Armin.
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* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Eren.
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* HeterosexualLifePartners: HoYay: With Eren.
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Deleted line(s) 164 (click to see context) :
* [[LittleMissBadass Little Mister Badass]]: As a child, he used his adorable and innocent appearance to get close enough to a kidnapper to brutally murder him. He then immediately turns into a CreepyChild, stabbing the other guy to death while screaming at him.
Deleted line(s) 166 (click to see context) :
* LivingMacGuffin: Just about every faction in the story aside from the Garrison wants to have custody of him. This is understandable, as he's the first known human capable of transforming into a Titan. Even when other Titan-Shifters start pop up, they still see him as important enough to risk everything and abandon their plans to destroy the people within the Walls just to kidnap him. This is later revealed to be due to Eren [[spoiler: also having the mysterious "Coordinate" power, which lets him control Titans.]]
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* MacGuffinSuperPerson: Just about every faction in the story aside from the Garrison wants to have custody of him. This is understandable, as he's the first known human capable of transforming into a Titan. Even when other Titan-Shifters start pop up, they still see him as important enough to risk everything and abandon their plans to destroy the people within the Walls just to kidnap him. This is later revealed to be due to Eren [[spoiler: also having the mysterious "Coordinate" power, which lets him control Titans.]]
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Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
[[Characters/AttackOnTitan Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanShinganshinaTrio The Shinganshina Trio]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanSurveyCorps Survey Corps]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanMilitaryPoliceBrigade Military Police Brigade]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanGarrison Garrison]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanTitans Titans]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanOthers Others]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanBeforeTheFall Before The Fall]]
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[[Characters/AttackOnTitan Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanShinganshinaTrio The Shinganshina Trio]] [[Characters/AttackOnTitanThe104thTraineeCorps 104th Trainee Corps]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanSurveyCorps Survey Corps]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanMilitaryPoliceBrigade Military Police Brigade]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanGarrison Garrison]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanTitans Titans]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanOthers Others]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanBeforeTheFall Before The Fall]]
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The primary characters of the series. Childhood friends from the Shinganshina district that are orphaned during the attack in the year 845. They join the 104th Training Corp hoping to free humanity.
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The primary characters of the series. Childhood friends from the Shinganshina district that are orphaned during the attack in the year 845. They join the 104th Training Corp hoping to free humanity.
save humanity and see the world beyond the walls.
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[[Characters/AttackOnTitan Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanShinganshinaTrio The Shinganshina Trio]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanSurveyCorps Survey Corps]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanMilitaryPoliceBrigade Military Police Brigade]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanGarrison Garrison]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanTitans Titans]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanOthers Others]] | [[Characters/AttackOnTitanBeforeTheFall Before The Fall]]
'''WARNING: Unmarked spoilers abound.'''
-->''Beware if you are not caught up to the manga.''
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'''WARNING: Unmarked spoilers abound.'''
-->''Beware if you are not caught up to the manga.''
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The primary characters of the series. Childhood friends from the Shinganshina district that are orphaned during the attack in the year 845. They join the 104th Training Corp hoping to free humanity.
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[[folder:Eren Yeager]]
!!Eren Yeager
!!!Voiced by: Creator/YuukiKaji (JP), Creator/BrycePapenbrook (EN)
[[quoteright:238:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/238px-Eren-Chara_Design_9624.png]]
->''"I want to see and understand the world outside. I don't want to die inside these Walls without knowing what's out there!"''
The main protagonist of the series. An aggressive young man with two defining passions: his desire to explore the world beyond the Walls, and his hatred towards the Titans. His murderous grudge against the Titans is catalyzed further when they invade his home village and he is helpless to save his mother from being devoured.
During his military training he is judged to be of average skill and talent, but through sheer hard work he is able to graduate 5th out of his class. After a near-death experience, he discovers that he possesses the ability to create and control a Titan body, transforming himself into a Titan. This revelation makes him a target for several opposing factions, who either view him as a threat or the key to humanity's survival. However, his inexperience with the power means that he struggles to transform into anything that is not a berserker fueled by blind hatred at first. Even after he learns to gain some measure of control, the experience gap places him at a distinct disadvantage against his main adversaries.
'''Branch:''' Survey Corps
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* ActionHero: His modus operandi. At the end of the day, fighting is how Eren usually chooses to solve his problems.
%%Eren is not AxCrazy. This trope requires the character to be undoubtably unstable and a clear danger to friend and foe. Eren is normally too rational despite his obsession with revenge, and his berserker moment occurred when Eren had no conscious control over himself.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Both the windows and curtains. Eren has dark brown hair and vibrant green eyes in the anime which is a clue to him being the Rogue Titan, but jet-black hair and steely grey eyes in the manga.
* AdaptationExpansion: During his second fight with the Female Titan, his calm teamwork with Armin and Mikasa to capture her is replaced in the anime with Eren losing control of his Titan form and going berserk, chasing down the Female Titan and brutally beating her down. However, despite going berserk, Eren still hesitates upon seeing a crying Annie, which allows her to crystalize herself.
* AnArmAndALeg: His arms and legs are repeatedly severed over the course of the series, but, thanks to his HealingFactor, he always recovers them.
* [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie And Then Eren Was A Titan]]: Not that he minds.
* AntiHero: He's an idealist in a cynical world, he wants the best for humanity, and his gift is stated to be his HeroicResolve. What muddies up his status as a straight-up hero is that he's fueled by [[ThePowerOfHate his hatred for all Titans]] and his UnstoppableRage can be absolutely ''terrifying'' to behold.
* AttackAttackAttack: His default strategy against Titans is "attack relentlessly until it's dead" with varying results, in Titan form this works okay in human form not so much. He later manages to avert it during his battle against the Armored Titan, once he manages to calm down enough to start using tactics.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: He learned one of Annie's fighting techniques after seeing it only twice.
* AwesomeMcCoolName: See MeaningfulName down below to see just how cool his name is.
* BadLiar: According to his mother, Eren's ears turn red when he lies.
* {{Badass}}: He is considered the best at hand to hand combat in his class after Mikasa and Annie. While in his Titan form, he is able to kill 20 normal Titans, and is a close match for Annie and [[spoiler: Reiner]] despite them having more experience with their Titan-Shifting abilities. Outside of Titan form he's noted as being unremarkable in most areas and ends up getting eaten his first time in battle.
* BadassBoast: He has had several.
** From the manga:
--->'''Eren''': Humanity will feast on the Titans.
** From the anime:
--->'''Keith''': ... or will you become a glorious soldier who exterminates the Titans? The choice is yours.\\
'''Eren''': Yeah, I will. I'll exterminate every last one of them.
** After he finds out that [[spoiler:Reiner and Bertolt were the Armored and Colossal Titans]]:
--->'''Eren:''' I will do everything in my power... To make your deaths as excruciating as possible.
** While inside a Titan's stomach.
--->'''Eren:''' As if I'll give up! I'll exterminate you, every single one of you! Me! With these very hands![[note]]Eren was missing his left arm at the time.[[/note]]
** As a child:
--->'''Eren:''' I put down some dangerous animals. Animals that just happened to look like people.
* BadassFamily: After being put through hell after the death of their mother, Eren and Mikasa have become ''quite'' skilled at slaughtering Titans. And this applies doubly once Eren begins harnessing his powers as the Rogue Titan.
* BadassInDistress: After a close fight with Annie in her Titan form, Annie is able to defeat him when he is distracted and he is swallowed, forcing Levi and Mikasa to rescue him. Happens again in Chapter 45 [[spoiler:after a close fight with Reiner, Bertolt bodypresses him (in Colossal Titan form, from the top of the wall) , giving Reiner the opportunity to swallow and abduct him. And even when he awakens to discover both his arms missing, he continues to resist his captors, including PUNCHING Reiner in the face with his stumps repeatedly. It doesn't work out, but points for trying.]]
* BerserkButton:
** The Titans in general and human existence under them are one giant Berserk Button for Eren.
** Even at a young age, flippant comments from people about humans getting eaten or insulting the warriors in the war against the Titans sets him off enough to provoke a violent response. When the townsfolk disparage and ridicule the battered Survey Corps after their failed mission, Eren comes close to taking a stick to them before getting hauled off by Mikasa, and after he watches his mother get eaten, he's angry enough to kick a soldier who wishes more people got eaten so there'd be less refugees to feed. Armin has to get him out of the mess by apologizing profusely.
** Acting casually about human suffering or death, or showing depraved indifference to others, will set him off ''immediately''. We first see how much this sets him off during Mikasa's flashback where he butchers the slavers that killed her family. We see it again when [[spoiler:Bertolt and Reiner]] act chummy with him despite being responsible for thousands of deaths.
* TheBerserker: He has pretty serious rage issues. Especially in his Titan form.
** His entire fighting style as a Titan consists of roaring, smashing to a bloody pulp, rinse and repeat.
* BerserkerTears: Against the Female Titan and basically every time he is crying.
* BettyAndVeronica: The official parodies [[RunningGag portray]] Mikasa and Annie as these, respectively, with him oblivious to their affections.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Inverted, Mikasa acts this way towards him. He hates it though.
** Played straight with Armin, though they're about the same age.
** Later he even shows traces of this towards Krista, telling her he likes her better when she's not constantly faking a cheery attitude, and is also the one who calms her down when she's in tears [[spoiler:after Ymir left with Reiner and Bertolt.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: As the main character, he's bound to have some of these.
** His first meeting with Mikasa. He tracked down the human traffickers who'd kidnapped her and made a beeline for their hideout, knife at the ready.
** His first appearance as the Rogue Titan, saving Mikasa after she ran out of gas.
** After he has his powers under control, he carries the large rock and seals the hole, giving humanity their first victory against the Titans.
** His biggest one yet is [[spoiler: in Chapter 50, everything is going from bad to worse. The soldiers are being slaughtered left and right by Titans, Erwin lost an arm, Mikasa is hurt, Hannes was just eaten, Reiner is coming for Eren, Jean was knocked out by Reiner throwing Titans everywhere, Armin being forced to protect him, and Eren is having a Heroic BSOD over Hannes' death. After Mikasa breaks him out of it, Eren awakens his new power to control Titans, he swarms the normal Titans to brutally murder the Smiling Titan, then turns his attention on to Reiner, giving the humans the time to escape.]]
* BigNo: Eren screams out one of these as his mother is about to get eaten. In the anime, his scream of ''"YAMEROOOOOOOOOOOOO!"'' [[note]]"STOP IT!"[[/note]] has all the intensity of one of these.
* BlackAndWhiteMorality: His view of the world is very much this, so much so that he feels absolutely no remorse for [[EnfanteTerrible brutally murdering]] criminals and even becomes angry at [[spoiler:[[TragicVillain Reiner]]]] for having guilt over his crimes. It borders on BlackAndWhiteInsanity in some cases.
* BoundAndGagged: He's been tied up more than anyone else. This is due to the fact that SelfHarm is a trigger for his transformation so keeping him from biting his hand is everyone's main priority.
* BoxedCrook: He becomes one, after his powers are discovered. Levi and his hand-picked Special Operations Squad are given orders to keep him under control, and kill him if necessary. When the 57th expedition fails, he's almost taken back into custody and the threat of execution is never far off should the government decide he's too dangerous or not useful enough.
* BreakTheHaughty: Has a brief bout of this during training. After talking big and saying weaklings should just drop out of boot camp (although it was an anime-only scene), he earns little pity upon discovering that he seems to have ''zero'' natural talent when it comes to the 3D maneuvering system. His {{Determinator}} spirit returns when it's realized that his lack of progress was due to faulty equipment.
* BrokenSmile: Sported a brief one upon learning that Marco was dead.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: Eren does this quite literally every single time he fights other Titans. He once lost both his arms doing it, and most of his ribs.
* BullyHunter: The story was inspired by the author's memories of bullying in school, and thematically, Eren's that small, scrawny kid who refuses to be let people push him around no matter how many times he gets knocked down.
* CameBackStrong: His near-death experience triggers his Titan powers.
* CannotSelfTerminate: [[spoiler: In chapter 65 of the manga while in the underground chamber in the Reiss chapel. After it's been revealed what happened to the Reiss family and what Eren has to do with it, Kenny Ackermann takes the gag off of an BoundAndGagged Eren and [[BodyHorror cuts open his forehead]] to allow him to get revenge, only to be surprised when Eren basically states how he never wanted any of this while sobbing and Eren begs Historia/Krista to eat him and set things right. For a moment it looks like she will, but she ultimately refuses.]]
* ChasteHero: He seems to be utterly uninterested in anything romantic, to the extent he states that he found [[DudeMagnet Krista]] to be somewhat "creepy". This trait is played up in official parodies, with Eren viewing [[BettyAndVeronica Mikasa and Annie]] as OneOfTheBoys.
* ChekhovsSkill: During training, Eren's only remarkable skill was his proficiency in hand-to-hand combat, which he admits is pointless when facing Titans. At least, it would be if not for the fact [[spoiler:Eren can turn into one]].
* ConsummateLiar: He [[BrutalHonesty doesn't bother with lying]] most of the time, but as seen in Mikasa's backstory, he can act ''very'' convincingly, enough to make hardened criminals temporarily lower their guard.
* CrazySane: Seriously, if his UnstoppableRage and Titan Shifter powers weren't extremely useful against the Titans, he'd probably get locked up in a mental hospital.
* CreepyChild: He violently murdered two men at the age of nine, and Hannes admits he always found Eren a little scary because he was so intense.
* CursedWithAwesome: Being a Titan Shifter. Humans regard him as a liability (at best) or an abomination (at worst) but it's extremely useful for Titan-slaying, grants him a useful HealingFactor in both Titan and human forms, gives him an outlet where UnstoppableRage is actually a good thing, and may very well be legitimate hope for the survival of humanity. [[spoiler: He later gains a power that is ''undeniably'' useful: Controlling Titans]]. However, this is the reason that he is being targeted by the enemies of mankind and may be part of the reason they attacked the city and ruined his life to begin with.
* CuteAndPsycho: How he's looked at by people outside of his closest friends and family as a 9 year old. The military bring up his actions during his trial to question his humanity.
* DareToBeBadass:
** You can bet money that this is his response to anything resembling apathy, doubt, or cowardice in others. A good example is when he rallies the panicking and doubtful Trainees right before the battle for Trost, exhorting them to be strong as they've already shown through 3 years of hellish training that they ''are'' strong. Most notably he's had a profound effect on Mikasa (see her entry below).
** Does this to himself in Chapter 50 after [[HeroicBSOD Mikasa thanks him for all he's done for her]] declaring he'd do it a thousand times over if he had to and [[NotAfraidToDie tries to take on a Titan with his bare hands]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Eren can be pretty sarcastic at times, but he tends to be at his snarkiest when he's [[FacialDialogue not saying anything at all.]]
* DeathSeeker: Averted, despite what the majority of his allies think of him. See NotAfraidToDie.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Many of Eren's tropes are not [[HeroicWillpower unusual]] [[HotBlooded for]] [[IdiotHero shonen]] [[WideEyedIdealist protagonists]], but what is unusual is that they are treated ''more realistically'' by have as many negative consequences as positive ones for him. Determination is essential for a soldier and especially for one fighting TheDreaded, but rushing blindly on determination alone will get you or someone else killed. If he wasn't a Titan Shifter he'd be have fairly little to show for his determination, and be dead. He is [[LampshadeHanging called on his stupidity]], suffers he suffers defeats aplenty, and practically all Eren's victories come with active support from friends and allies.
* DecoyProtagonist: Subverted. He's maimed and eaten in the first major battle, which seems like the perfect start to a StuffedIntoTheFridge scenario to motivate the more skilled Mikasa or stir then cowardly Armin to heroism, until it's revealed that Eren is a Titan Shifter and escapes.
** In a way, he is this to Historia. Not only is she the true heir to the monarchy of the walls; but the very powers Eren possess rightfully belongs to the Reiss bloodline to begin with, meaning, his powers were meant for her. This leads to his HeroicBSOD as he starts to think himself as worthless and in the way of what should have been Historia's quest of slaughtering titans and not his, until she snaps him out of it.
* DesignatedVictim: He is either severely injured or kidnapped in every major arc so far. He Lampshades this in chapter 62.
--> '''Eren''': [[{{Lampshade}} How many times have I been kidnapped now?]]
* {{Determinator}}:
** The very core of his character. Eren had to earn his position as 5th best of his class through sheer determination as he lacked any other outstanding or natural talent like those ranked above him. When Hannes is asked whether he's worried about the trio's survival, he expresses they all have a trait that helps them survive. While Mikasa has [[ActionGirl sheer physical prowess]] and Armin has [[GuileHero sharp intuition and intellect]], Eren's trait is simply being [[HeroicResolve unbreakable]]. Hannes notes that even as a child, when Eren picked fights, he might not have always ''won'', but he ''never gave up''.
** Also worth noting is his ability to [[SelfHarm bite his hand enough to draw blood over and over trying to transform. For anyone willing to try this, bite down on your hand as hard as you can and see how painful it is, and that's without even breaking skin. He cranks this up even further when he's severely injured, his sheer hatred proves enough to motivate him to ''further impale himself on a spike lodged in his chest'' to transform.]]
** Still pledged to exterminate all the Titans. Right after he got his arm and leg bitten off. WHILE he was in the stomach of a Titan.
** Captain Levi had this to say about Eren.
--->'''Levi:''' It's clear to me. This guy's a true monster. His Titan abilities have nothing to do with it either. No matter how much force you hold him down with, no matter what kind of cage you shut him up in, forcing this guy's will into submission is something nobody can do.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In Chapter 50, after recovering from his HeroicBSOD, he blocks the [[spoiler:Smiling Titan]]'s hand, and then punches it, before [[spoiler:using his Coordinate powers to sic a horde of Titans on it.]]
* DieOrFly: His Titan-shifting powers awoke when he was in the belly of the Titan who ''ate'' him, and his ability [[spoiler: as the Coordinate manifested when his group was surrounded by Titans outside the Wall with little hope of anyone getting out alive]].
* DistressedDude: He's frequently the victim of kidnappings or kidnapping attempts. [[spoiler: First by the Female Titan, then by Reiner and Bertolt, and now by the 1st Brigade]].
* EnfanteTerrible: Even as a child, there's always been something a bit off about Eren. His father implied he was very cold and anti-social, noting that Armin was his OnlyFriend. At the age of nine, he planned and carried out the brutal killing of two grown men to rescue Mikasa. While it was ruled justified, the soldiers sent to the scene were shaken by what two ''children'' managed to do to three adults. Even ''before'' his mother's death, Little Eren was a little unstable.
* 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.
* EtTuBrute: For all his pathological hatred of Titans and criminals in general, he's very distressed to learn that his own mentor and comrade Annie was the Female Titan responsible for the slaughter of the 57th expedition, and (in the manga) can't bring himself to express hatred towards her (while hesitating to harm her personally in the anime as well). By the time he learns about [[spoiler:Reiner and Bertolt]] however, his BlackAndWhiteMorality returns in full effect and he wants nothing more but to kill them "as excruciatingly as possible".
** The reason he didn't freeze up was because had some warning [[spoiler: The Survey Corps knew that there was more than one shifter in their ranks and Reiner and Bertolt were the most suspect. Eren had been in the know about this since he and a few other members of the crew had been ordered to keep a close eye on them]]. He still took it pretty hard, hence his outburst.
* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: Killed a grown man as a child, by stabbing him over and over (and over) again while screaming in a murderous rage. He also has a tendency towards this when fighting in his Titan form, especially during his first transformation.
* FaceOfAThug: Armin even says he and Jean have the look of a criminal in their eyes. This comes up later [[spoiler: when Jean pretends to be Eren so he can escape from the capital and probable execution]]. Interestingly, he doesn't object to looking like a thug, just that he doesn't have Jean's [[RunningGag horseface]].
* FailureHero: The foundation of Eren's struggle; he is a weakling in a cruel world. Throughout the story, Eren fails repeatedly and suffers for his mistakes, but he comes back a little stronger and a little wiser every time.
* FatalFlaw: His hotheadedness and inability to control his rage would have gotten him killed at Trost if he hadn't lucked out with his then-unknown Shifter powers. Later, he's in the company of two people who know a great deal about Titans and the other mysteries of the plot while in a situation where there's nothing they can do but talk. Eren knows that his best course of action is to grill them for information and specifically acknowledges that he needs to keep his temper. Even so, one off-color remark sets him off threatening to brutally murder them, and he (and the audience) learns nothing.
** Eren himself [[CharacterDevelopment acknowledges this]] at the end of the the ''Uprising'' arc.
* FearlessFool: Jean in particular considers him one, and many consider his over-confident attitude concerning the Titans a [[DeathSeeker death wish]]. He's beginning to learn to pick his fights, but only after several ''very'' harsh lessons.
* FightingFingerprint: After Annie kicks his ass and teaches him her technique, he adopts it as his main fighting style. One of the strongest hints that the Rogue Titan is him is that it puts up the same boxing stance and uses the exact same techniques shown earlier.
* FightingYourFriend: During his training session with Reiner, he was against practicing with his teammates but accepted it after his discussion with him. This is played straight when he has to fight Annie and subverted after [[spoiler: he discovers Reiner and Bertolt's true identities.]]
* FoeRomanceSubtext: He goes into strong denial about Annie being TheMole, and is even accused by Mikasa of having "special feelings" for her. WordOfGod would later state his feelings to be platonic however, while he remains silent on Annie. In the official HighSchoolAU, their ShipTease is ascended to Annie having explicit feelings for him.
* {{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).
* GladHesOnOurSide: Even as he slowly gains the trust of the soldiers in his squad, most of humanity remains fearful of him. And for good reason.
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: The HealingFactor that comes with being a Titan Shifter has saved him more than once, and it means that he can shrug off ''dismemberment and at one point having his face melted completely off.''
* GreenEyes: In the anime, his eyes are a vibrant green. It's one of the few features he has in common with his Titan form.
* GuiltFreeExterminationWar: The overall goal of the humans but Eren is hateful enough to [[BadassBoast declare he'll kill every Titan by himself]].
* HairTriggerTemper: Before the fall of Shiganshina he gets pissed of by people not taking the military seriously (either civilians or slackers like Hannes) and frequently gets into fights with bullies over trivial things. After watching his mother get eaten just about everything pisses him off (but nothing more than the Titans)
* HealingFactor: As a Titan Shifter, he passively heals at a rapid pace, even regrowing whole limbs in a matter of hours.
* 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.
* HeroicBuild: His Titan form has it, and his actual body is pretty sculpted, too.
* HeroicBSOD: Once he knows that Annie is the Female Titan, he can't bring himself to transform and fight her, not even to save himself when he's getting crushed. It takes several of his friends yelling at him, including Mikasa, Armin, and Jean, then the memories of his mother getting eaten ''and'' the Special Operation Squad getting killed before he finally snaps out of it. It is a sight to behold. This happens only in the anime version, in the manga he snaps out of it ''much'' faster, just as Armin and Mikasa go off to distract the Female Titan.
** When he finds out that [[spoiler: some of his friends are Titan-shifters instigating mankind's destruction]], he does not take the news well.
** He has a nasty one when [[spoiler:Hannes is eaten in front of him, making him feel completely useless. It takes Mikasa reassuring him of everything that he has done for her to break him out of it, and when [[TookALevelInBadass he does]]...]]
* HeroicResolve: A necessary ingredient for transforming into his Titan form.
* HeroicRROD: As he pushes his Titan shifting ability to its limits, maintaining lucid control becomes more and more difficult, and can result in loss of consciousness at best, and Eren melding with his Titan body at worst.
* HeroicSacrifice: Sacrifices himself to save Armin during the Battle of Trost, though he manages to survive the experience.
** [[spoiler:Seeming pulls one again by losing his will to live and allowing Historia to claim her birthright by eating him.]]
* HeroicSecondWind: At one point, it looks like he's down for the count, but then sees the same Titan that ate Thomas Wagner. He immediately gets the [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge resolve]] to [[ItsPersonal fight his way through several Titans to put it down]].
** In the anime, after Annie kicks his face in, Eren manages to get a second wind from his [[{{Determinator}} unshakable willpower]] and his [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge desire to murder every last Titan]]
** While Hannes is getting eaten Eren is powerless to help (being unable to transform) and breaks down in tears. Mikasa snaps him out of it and he tries to take on the Titan that ate his mother and Hannes with his bare hands. [[spoiler: Thanks to his power as the coordinate kicking in Eren walks away victorious.]]
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: At more than one point in the story so far, Eren's realized that he's made the wrong decision and people wound up dying as a result. While nobody blames him, as said "wrong choice" is more often than not a reasonable one with consequences that no one could have predicted, he still blames himself whenever this is the case and responds by flying into a murderous rage and slaughtering whoever is ''truly'' to blame.
* 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.
* HeroicWillPower: How he maintains control of said Titan form.
* HeroWorshipper: Little Eren held the Survey Corps in the highest regard and aspired to join them one day.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Armin.
* HighPressureBlood: Used for drama, whenever he [[SelfHarm bites his hand]]. Blood tends to splatter out around his teeth, even though such an injury generally wouldn't actually cause that to happen.
* HopeBringer: For many people. His Titan Shifting ability is a weapon that could permit them to eradicate Titans. Even more so after Chapter 50 [[spoiler: when he awakens the power to ''control'' normal Titans.]]
* HorrifyingHero: He's unquestionably on humanity's side, but being a Titan Shifter horrifies everyone, understandably.
* HotBlooded: Evident throughout the series, but particularly lampshaded in Chapter 34. Due to his perilous situation, he resolves to control his emotions. This state lasts for less than half the chapter.
* HowDoIShotWeb: Eren initially has difficulty activating his Titan-shifting power at his own free will. He eventually learns that only by having a deliberate goal in mind as he experiences pain does the transformation work.
* HumblePie: His experiences during and following Trost greatly humble him, causing him to be more introspective and less rash.
* TheHunter: Well, his last name ''is'' [[MeaningfulName Yeager.]] He's the fourth type, one who seeks revenge against the Titans for his mother's death.
* HunterOfHisOwnKind: Humanity's trump card against the Titans, and absolutely vital in taking on the other Titan Shifters.
* IdiotHero: Not precisely stupid, but lets his emotions get the better of him. The show {{deconstruct}}s the typical shonen examples by showing the realistic consequence of [[LeeroyJenkins rushing blindly on willpower alone]], and thereby ignoring the plan that your military superiors have set up. The consequences are terrible for him and his team in Trost.
* IJustWantToBeFree: Despises the fact that humanity is reduced to the state it is, going as far as to call the Walls "cages".
* ILetGwenStacyDie: He blames himself thoroughly for the deaths of the Survey Corps elite squad. In Episode 24, when he's undergoing a major HeroicBSOD and his usual motivations (namely "kill all the Titans" and "humanity will be free") don't seem to be able to shake him out of it, he gets angry remembering their deaths and gradually regains his resolve via UnstoppableRage.
* IllKillYou: He says this to the Female Titan, though it can't hear him at the time, even threatening to ''eat'' it. Later on, to [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt.]]
* InSeriesNickname: Amongst The 104th Trainee Corps he's known as "that Suicidal Bastard" ("Suicidal Maniac" in the dub) due to how eager he was to pick a fight with the titans; Jean came up with the moniker, and is the only person who will say it to Eren's face. This comes up later on, when Armin bluffs the Female Titan [[INeverSaidItWasPoison by saying this nickname instead of "Eren"]] and figures out that she must be one of the Trainees to correctly guess who he was talking about.
* {{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.
** DramaticIrony: His Titan hatred was born after watching his mother brutally eaten by one. [[spoiler:Later it's revealed that ''he ate his father'' after the latter's injection turned him into a mindless Titan.]]
* ItsAllMyFault: At several points, he's forced to make choices that end up getting people killed. He hates himself for this and keeps holding himself solely responsible even when there was no feasible way he could've known the consequences.
* JackOfAllStats: His skills at 3DMG are average. He is skilled at martial arts though and that helps a lot when you are a Titan-shifter. Also, his instructor notes that his sheer persistence and dedication to training allow him to surpass many others.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He has a habit of saying what's on his mind when he ''really'' shouldn't and his anger is horrifying, but he is ultimately a nice guy in casual conversation.
* KidHero: He is 15.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: After his mother's death, Eren was supposedly injected with a mysterious serum by his father, but can't recall the details due to a side effect of said serum. The serum is believed to have been what gave Eren his Titan-shifting powers. [[spoiler: However, the serum didn't give him all of his powers as the Coordinate powers he received from eating his father, who had eaten the real person with Coordinate powers: Frieda Reiss, Krista/Historia's older half-sister.]]
* LaserGuidedTykebomb: When they discover he is able to transform into a Titan, humans allow him to live so he can exterminate all Titans.
* LeeroyJenkins: During his first battle, Eren gets pissed upon seeing a Titan eat one of his comrades and charges madly into the fray. This gets nearly everyone with him killed. [[DramaticIrony Ironically, the only time where he doesn't pull this]] leads to many people being killed by the Female Titan.
** His basic tactic as a Titan when facing other Titans. It's a double edged sword because Eren has a limited amount of time as a Titan anyway and thanks to his HealingFactor and hand to hand training he can bring down dozens of them but is susceptible to [[ZergRush overwhelming numbers]].
* {{Leitmotif}}: The first intro theme ''Guren no Yumiya'' (Crimson Bow and Arrow) is stated to be Eren's theme.
* [[LittleMissBadass Little Mister Badass]]: As a child, he used his adorable and innocent appearance to get close enough to a kidnapper to brutally murder him. He then immediately turns into a CreepyChild, stabbing the other guy to death while screaming at him.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: To Mikasa, in an odd fashion. Eren has been such an effective crutch that [[spoiler: he doesn't even need to be alive for Mikasa to be supported, all she needs is her memory of him.]]
* LivingMacGuffin: Just about every faction in the story aside from the Garrison wants to have custody of him. This is understandable, as he's the first known human capable of transforming into a Titan. Even when other Titan-Shifters start pop up, they still see him as important enough to risk everything and abandon their plans to destroy the people within the Walls just to kidnap him. This is later revealed to be due to Eren [[spoiler: also having the mysterious "Coordinate" power, which lets him control Titans.]]
* LotusEaterMachine: Briefly (compared to Ymir's experience) trapped in a weird dream state while trying to retake Trost. In his dream he has no memory of his mother dying and doesn't remember his desire to explore the world beyond the walls (which Armin is able to remind him of breaking the dream). While in this state he is very violent towards Mikasa and tries to kill her. [[spoiler:It's later implied that ''all'' Titans experience this when they lose control.]]
* LovecraftianSuperpower: His Titan-shifting in particular demonstrates the more horrifying aspects of the power.
* TheMcCoy: The brashest, most emotionally-driven, and most eager to fight among the main trio, although he's quick on his feet and can think when it counts. He is also highly invested in doing what he feels is the right thing, which may not always be the ''best'' thing.
* MeaningfulName: His surname, ''Yeager'', is a transliteration of ''Jäger'', which means ''Hunter'' in German.
** "Eren" in Turkish means "holy," or "righteous." So his full name could be interpreted as [[AwesomeMcCoolname Holy Hunter or Righteous Hunter.]]
* MundaneObjectAmazement: As noted under TheWorldIsJustAwesome, Eren is amazed and flabbergasted that there might exist bodies of water so massive no merchant could ever empty it, or that there might be entire plains of ice or fields of sand.
* NeverASelfMadeWoman: An inversion. Eren became one of the best hand-to-hand fighters thanks to training from Annie, which later becomes very significant when [[spoiler: it allows him to overcome Reiner's advantage of size, strength, and armor]].
* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: His last conversation with his mother, prior to the Titans attacking, involved screaming at her. [[PartingWordsRegret He later expresses frustration at himself for this]].
* NotAfraidToDie: What sets him apart from many other recruits. When Eren fights, he has no time to let the prospect of of death get in his way, and, in spite of what his allies [[DeathSeeker think of him]], Eren has every intention of walking out of each fight alive. Best exemplified when he unhesitatingly rushes the Colossal Titan the moment it reappears, meanwhile everyone else is too stunned to even move.
* NotBloodSiblings: With Mikasa, who was adopted by Grisha and Carla after the murder of her biological parents. Despite their closeness, he tends to view Mikasa as the [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling Annoying Sibling]] due to her overprotective nature.
* NotSoDifferent: Although their goals and personalities are very different, Eren and Annie share the same love for unarmed combat, and both sometimes show a disturbing sadistic streak. Also, Eren's Titan form is closest to Annie's in terms of fighting ability, and even copies some of her moves. Finally, both characters have a mysterious father figure implied to be connected to -- or perhaps responsible for -- their Titan-shifting abilities.
* ObliviousToLove: He finds Mikasa's desire to keep him safe irritating and sees her as his [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling annoying adopted sister]].
** Unlike his squadmates, he fails to grasp that Hitch may have feelings for Marlo.
* 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
* OurHeroIsDead: Gets eaten by a Titan in Chapter 4. It starts to look like a case of DecoyProtagonist, except he's NotQuiteDead. He comes back A-OK in Chapter 9 as the Rogue Titan, who ignored any humans it came across and instead slaughtered every Titan it could find.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Prone to this when dealing with enemies he feels are "not human", such as the kidnappers from his childhood or the Titan Shifters.
* PlotCoupon: He is in possession of the key to the Yeager residence's basement, which is believed to hold a secret that may contribute to humanity's victory against the Titans. The basement in question, however, is still located in Titan-infested Wall Maria.
* PlotMagnet: He is so important that many fans want him to get captured:
** DoomMagnet: Since the Titan Shifters want to capture him, a lot of Titans inevitably end up appearing and many soldiers wind up dying as a result.
** FightMagnet: He tends to draw in battles with Titans and pick fights with people that he disagrees with.
* PowerCopying: He's able to learn and effectively use one of Annie's moves after she used it against him. She's genuinely surprised when he uses it later that evening, and ends up teaching him her fighting style.
* 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.
* PowerHigh: Not so much from power itself, but simply from being able to kill Titans with ease. When he first regains consciousness after having emerged from his Titan body, he sleep-talks about wanting and being able to kill so many Titans with a creepy grin on his face.
* ThePowerOfHate: What really motivates him is his desire to eradicate every Titan on the planet. Seeing as he needs a specific goal to transform, the desire to kill is actually is the trigger to many of his transformations. Even while in the stomach of a Titan, it is his insatiable rage that manifests his powers for the first time.
%%No need to start an edit war over whether or not the ThePowerOfLove trope applies. Please take it out on the discussion page.
* ProHumanTranshuman: Determined to use his Titan powers for the sake of humanity.
* ProperlyParanoid: Before the attack of the Colossal Titan, Eren was always warning others that the Walls won't protect them forever. People would laugh at him and say he was crazy -- Until that day...
* {{Protectorate}}: Under Mikasa's completely unwanted protection, and, later, the Survey Corps'.
* PsychoForHire: A heroic example. Having a job where you have to kill Titans perfectly suits a guy who craves exterminating them, no?
* RebelliousSpirit: His childhood was marked with constant battles with other children (and even adults in the Garrison), all the while calling people livestock for being content in their lives within the Walls. While he was ProperlyParanoid, he continues to challenge social norms and accuse high-ranking military and government officials of being cowards.
* RedOniBlueOni: HotBlooded Red Oni to Mikasa's EmotionlessGirl Blue.
* {{Revenge}}: Eren has a personal, ever-growing list of people he seeks bloody vengeance for, and every name leads back to the Titans.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: You could say his entire life is one. He always wanted to join the Survey Corps, but after the Titans killed his mother, he promised to kill them all.
** 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.
** 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.
** He has his biggest one yet after [[spoiler: finding out that some of his friends were the Titans responsible for all of his suffering.]]
* SanitySlippage: While nowhere as bad as the other Shifters Eren is in need of some serious therapy. Completely justified as he watched his mother get eaten and his home razed by the things that kept him caged from seeing the outside world, and later the identities of the Colossal, Armored and Female Titans [[ThereAreNoTherapists are things that would need psychiatric help to deal with...]]
** Best shown when 'dreaming' (actually remembering) his rampage after becoming the Rogue Titan for the first time with a SlasherSmile on his face. Armin's expression shows that he realizes just how far off the deep end his friend has gone.
* SayingTooMuch: His restraint isn't that great even after some harsh lessons. At one point, he even mentally questions whether to keep his rant going or not during his trial but proceeds anyway. Bad idea.
* ScreamingWarrior: Eren is quite prone to this. Especially in Titan form. Mikasa even says that his roar embodies humanity's collective rage.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: He insists that if he had gone to get help after tracking down Mikasa's kidnappers they would have been too late (which is likely true). [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer With only himself and a knife there]], [[KickTheSonOfABitch he did the only thing he could to save her.]]
* SelfHarm: How Eren shifts to his Titan form; he usually bites his hand. Eren himself does not understand how he knew doing so would trigger the change. It should be noted that the bite alone isn't enough to do it (as he found out during a Survey Corps experiment), he also needs a specific impetus besides "turn into a Titan" such as "block that cannon shell".
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The manly man to Armin's sensitive guy.
* SiblingYinYang: Compared to his sister, who's TheStoic, TheLancer, and an EmotionlessGirl.
* SlasherSmile: He sported one while still asleep after his first transformation into a Titan, thinking his memories in that form were a dream. He also gets an ''epic'' one when he's one strike from slaying the Female Titan in his Titan form, though his human form is the one doing the smiling.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Eren being a Titan Shifter derailed the other Shifters' initial plan and made them focus on abducting him instead.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The official translation gives his family name as Yeager, which is the Anglicized version of Jäger/Jaeger. However, many translations (most notably Funimation's) use Jaeger as his surname.
* SpringCleaningFever: Eren is shown to thoroughly clean any new place he winds up in, not because he likes cleaning, but because of his experience with ''Levi''.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: His face is almost identical to his mother's.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: His eyes are sometimes colored this way in the manga, to emphasize his unusual abilities.
* SuperPoweredEvilSide: Initially, he is unable to control his Titan form and viciously attacks Mikasa. Armin manages to get through to him, and he's since learned how to control himself.
* SuperSerum: Got his powers after Grisha's injection. [[spoiler: But not all of them.]]
* SuperSoldier: His Titan powers have the potential to make him one, and he is treated as humanity's trump card. When announcing the plan to reclaim Trost, Pixis invokes this trope as a cover story to explain away Eren's powers to the masses -- stating that he is the result of a secret government experiment to create a SuperSoldier.
* SurvivalMantra: "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!!"
* SwordOverHead: In the [[AdaptationExpansion anime adaptation]], Eren, while in a murderous craze, has the opportunity to either capture or outright finish off Annie during their fight, but he instead hesitates, allowing Annie to crystalize herself.
* SympatheticMurderBackstory: Played with. He once murdered two men to rescue Mikasa, but this is later used by the Military Police Brigade to paint him as dangerous.
* ThrowTheDogABone: In Chapter 41, Eren [[spoiler: finally gets to kill a Titan (as a human)]] just like he's always wanted. Notably, this doesn't have any real story importance and he's promptly told to step back.
* TookALevelInBadass: Twice. The first was awakening his Titan Shifter powers, and the second time was [[spoiler: awakening his "Coordinate" power, which allows him to command all normal Titans.]]
* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: He gets eaten, then Titan-shifts for the first time within the Titan's stomach. The results of an unintentional EatMe are not pretty.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: The first time he shifts into Titan mode is ''inside another Titan's stomach'' with 2 limbs missing, screaming that he will kill every last Titan. [[{{Determinator}} This kid does]] ''[[{{Determinator}} not]]'' [[{{Determinator}} give up.]]
** [[spoiler: Awakens his ability as the "Coordinate" after Hannes' death, allowing him to command normal Titans.]]
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Most normal youths his age don't express the degree of bloodcurdling fury Eren displays. It's a little scary.
** As a child, he killed two grown men to save a kidnapped Mikasa and showed no remorse.
* TrueCompanions: He, Mikasa, and Armin are this.
* UnstoppableRage: His rage is a ''terrifying'' thing. Annie is noticeably frightened at several points during their battles, and during the mission to capture her, she abandons her mission to kidnap Eren (a thought that terrifies her comrades) and attempts to ''scale Wall Sina with her bare hands'' once he comes out swinging.
** This is made even more apparent in the anime, where AnArmAndALeg have been broken off of his body in the second fight between him and Annie, and he's set aflame, he comes out running and [[{{Squick}} crushes her skull]]. Damn.
** After getting [[AnArmAndALeg his arm and leg bitten off]] and while in the gut of a Titan he takes a moment to freak out before declaring that he WILL murder every last Titan.
* WatchingTroyBurn: He, Mikasa and Armin had to evacuate from Zhiganshina, the first district to fall into Titan hands after a hundred years of volatile peace. Coupled with the loss of his mother, his response was to swear revenge.
%% WhenSheSmiles is not an AudienceReaction trope. If a character ''in-universe'' notes that his smile does make him more attractive, feel free to re-add the example.
* VigilanteMan: He hunted down and killed human traffickers, taking the law into his own hands. That he was a child at the time and the brutality of his actions left the authorities shaken.
* WeMeetAgain: To the Colossal Titan:
-->'''Eren:''' Hey, there....it's been five years.
* WhatTheHellHero: Several characters call him out on his unwillingness to fight Annie once she's revealed as the Female-type because of the high death toll the unchecked rampage causes. In the anime version, later, Armin calls him out on his ''seconds''-long hesitancy to capture her, which lead to Annie encasing herself in her CrystalPrison.
* WideEyedIdealist: He is pretty idealistic, thinking humanity could still beat the Titans. And believing no matter how many times the Survey Corps fails, they at least bring back information mankind can use.
* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: In-universe, it's hearing about the fascinating and weird aspects of the outside world like never ending pools of water, entire fields of ice and sand, and burning water that drive Eren to want to leave the safety of the Walls. By the time of the main story, it's the other part of his raison d'etre aside from murdering every single Titan: Eren wants to venture out into the world simply because it is the awe-inspiring world he was born into.
* 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.
----
!!Tropes that apply to the second half of the series
[[quoteright:180:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/erenyeagersecondhalf121_9658.png]]
->''"And then I'll know... I'll know exactly who to point all this anger at..."''
After Eren is captured by enemy forces, he awakens his most powerful ability and the main reason the Titan Shifters were after him: the power to control other Titans. In the next arc, he becomes a target for kidnapping ''again'', this time alongside Historia and by a dangerous enemy faction hiding within the Walls.
----
* 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.
* TheBeastmaster: In Chapter 50, he develops the ability to direct Titans.
* BrokenPedestal: Deeply admired and looked up to [[spoiler: Reiner]], leading to a complete destruction of the pedestal when he learns that [[spoiler:Reiner]] is the Armored Titan. He expresses disgust over his former hero's deception and hypocrisy.
* BrutalHonesty: After Historia shared her concerns with him, he bluntly told her that he found her creepy when she was trying to act as a NiceGirl.
* CannibalismSuperpower: His Titan Shifter power comes from [[spoiler:having eaten his own father after being turned into a Titan. He also inherited the Coordinate ability, which his father had gotten by eating Frieda Reiss.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: He's grown more introspective and thoughtful from his many experiences. Since he has [[FailureKnight a lot of mistakes to make up for]], he has developed [[HeroicSelfDeprecation some crippling self-doubt.]] However, because he can reflect on his experiences and what went wrong before, it all culminates in a [[HesBack moment where, despite everything he's been through, he chooses to bet on himself once more.]]
** Chapter 70 shows you how much Eren has changed as a character. His [[spoiler:rant from "I want to kill Reiner and Bertolt and give them the most excruciating death ever" changes to "I must kill them regardless of whether I want to or not." When prompted by Historia about whether he wants to or not, he seems to hesitate and only replies that he must.]]
* CompellingVoice: Erwin theorizes that his voice can be used to influence not only Titans, but humans as well. [[spoiler:Turns out it can, but only in the hands of the Reiss family.]]
* DeclarationOfProtection: He gives one to Mikasa, declaring that everything he has done for her, he'd do all over again.
* 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.]]
* DeusExMachina: The ending of Chapter 66 [[spoiler:has everyone trapped in a collapsing cave, when Eren suddenly notices Rod's bag that just happened to lie right next to them ''and'' contain a serum for an "armored" Titan, the type of Titan ability Eren had tried hard at mastering beforehand and is exactly what they needed to escape the situation.]]
* DevouredByTheHorde: [[spoiler: It turns out he has the power to invoke this when he used this odd scream to get a bunch of Titans to gang up and tear apart the Titan that killed his mother years ago.]]
* DoNotGoGentle: When he faces what seems like certain death, instead of sitting down and accepting it, Eren gets up and tries to ''punch a Titan''.
* FacialHorror: When his Titan-shifting ability is pushed to its limits, Eren can barely eject from his Titan body, and his face ends up partially melted off. [[GoodThingYouCanHeal He recovers.]] He also happens to be [[FanDisservice shirtless]] in this scene.
* HeroicBSOD: When he sees the Titan [[spoiler:who ate his mother]] approaching him and Mikasa, he completely shuts down. It takes her confessing how much he means to her to snap him out of it.
** Suffers another one when [[spoiler:he discovers that he is pretty much, in his own words "unnecessary" due to the Reiss family being able to eat Titans and therefore absorb the memories that he received from Frieda. He even refuses to turn when Kenny wounds him, and asks Historia to eat him.]]
* HeroicRROD: After Eren overuses his new power he suffers an intense nosebleed.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation:
** After [[spoiler:learning that he is incapable of hardening]], Eren briefly questions if he is capable of shouldering humanity's hope and muses how powerless he still is.
** [[spoiler:Taken to new heights now that he realizes that he has no use due to simply being a vessel for the Reiss family, and wholly loses the will to live, calling himself "unnecessary".]]
* HesBack: Crosses a DespairEventHorizon near the end of the Uprising arc, but manages to come back from it.
* 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.
%%* HumbleHero: Eren's come a long way since
* ItsPersonal: For Reiner and Bertolt, the feeling is ''definitely'' not mutual (his feelings towards Annie are much more complex). They indirectly caused the death of his mother. [[PrepareToDie Of course he won't forgive them.]]
-->'''Eren:''' I'll do everything in my power... '''TO MAKE YOUR DEATHS AS EXCRUCIATING AS POSSIBLE.'''
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt]] might have been captured without incident if Eren hadn't gone and mentioned their village at that particular moment. Instead, it inspires them to decide now is the time to make their move and leads [[spoiler: Reiner]] to confess everything to Eren. It rapidly goes downhill from there.
* NotSoDifferent:
** With TheReveal that came at the end of the "Uprising" arc, it turns out that Eren has much in common with the Titans, ''and'' the Shifters. It's seems to have put a damper on his [[BlackAndWhiteMorality Black and White views of the world]].
--->'''Eren:''' What are we really fighting against..? Are Titans... really Humans... trapped in a nightmare..?
** His thoughts About [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt]].
---> '''Historia''': What are you going to do... If we meet them again?\\
'''Eren''': ...(quietly) I must kill them.\\
'''Historia''': Do you want to kill them?\\
'''Eren''': ...I must... kill them.
* OhCrap: He insults Rod Reiss's short height before realizing that Levi is right behind him.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: His lack of resistance in Chapter 65 briefly takes Historia aback.
** Played for laughs in chapter 70 when Jean gets up to his old tricks and throws a few sarcastic remarks in Eren's direction (complete with a hilarious {{Troll}} face)... and is a little disappointed when Eren doesn't take the bait.
* OutOfFocus: Thanks to getting kidnapped ''again'' during the "Krista is Royalty" plotline, he goes several chapters without an appearance.
* PhlebotinumGirl: He possesses the Command ability, which the king hopes to acquire by [[spoiler:[[CannibalismSuperpower eating him]]]].
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: After the truth about where his power came from is revealed, Eren [[spoiler:loses the will to live and outright asks Historia to eat him]].
* SelfMadeOrphan: It's revealed that [[spoiler:Grisha intentionally fed himself to Eren, so that his son would gain the ability to control his Titan form]].
* ShirtlessScene:
** In Chapter 53, Eren is given the honor of being the first shirtless scene in the series. It is combined with FanDisservice, thanks to his face being melted off at the time.
** In Chapter 61, his captors seem to have taken the time to remove his shirt before chaining him up.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: An epic one in [[spoiler:Chapter 19 and to Reiner during Chapter 43.]]
* ThousandYardStare: As he sees [[spoiler:the Titan '''that killed his mother five years ago''' slowly approaching him in Chapter 49.]]
* TookALevelInBadass [[spoiler:In chapter 66, Eren upgrades his titan by eating a serum labelled "Armored" after choosing to act and fight against Rod Reiss's titan.]]
* TraumaInducedAmnesia: The gap in Eren's childhood memories is revealed to be the result of him [[spoiler:suppressing the memories of his father's death]].
* WorthyOpponent: [[spoiler: Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie]] genuinely respect and seem to care for him, regardless of circumstances requiring that they are enemies.
* YouAreWorthHell: While facing seemingly certain death together, Eren has declared that everything he's done for Mikasa he'd be willing to do all over again.
* YouMonster: His reaction upon discovering [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt's]] true identities, stating that [[YouMakeMeSick he wants to puke]]. He later delivers a screaming rant to [[spoiler: Reiner]] calling him an inhuman monster with no right to feel guilt over his actions.
* 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.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Mikasa Ackerman]]
!!Mikasa Ackerman
!!!Voiced by: Creator/YuiIshikawa (JP), Creator/TrinaNishimura (EN)
[[quoteright:238:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/238px-Misaka-Chara_Design_2997.png]]
->''"This world is a very cruel place. But it is also very beautiful."''
The adoptive sister of Eren and mutual childhood friend of Armin, Mikasa hides her emotions but cares deeply for Eren -- never hesitating to cry with tears of joy or despair depending on what happens to him. She shares an unbreakable bond with Eren following events in their past, and his mother requesting that she protect him made her even more overly protective of him than she was beforehand. She is the top-ranked graduate of the class.
'''Branch:''' Survey Corps
----
* ActionGirl: Very, ''very'' much so. Mikasa is stated to be as deadly as one hundred soldiers by herself.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Downplayed. While Mikasa is considered beautiful in both the anime and the manga, the anime emphasizes her attractiveness more.
* AdaptationExpansion: The last few episodes gives her some scenes with Eren that weren't in the manga.
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: She's beautiful, stoic, and stands out as the only main female character with black hair.
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Gender-inverted. Mikasa's first priority will always be Eren's safety, to the point where the latter finds it annoying.
* AmazonianBeauty: Despite her overall slim and feminine build, she's [[http://i.imgur.com/BQsTk0o.jpg insanely]] [[http://i.imgur.com/UScNvNi.jpg toned]] and [[http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=of0mrq&s=5#.Uq9Pgvbpj-k ripped]] under her uniform, sporting ''BruceLee muscles''. While you don't get to see much of her muscularity in the actual series, some official illustrations have her in sports wear to show off her physique.
* [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling Annoying Sibling]]: To Eren, because of her insistence on accompanying him everywhere.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Mikasa was named for the IJN Mikasa, an imperial Japanese Dreadnought. Her surname, Ackerman/Ackermann is reference to farmers, meaning one who tills the field, or reaps the crops. Ergo, her name essentially mean ''Dreadnought Reaper''. Considering the size of the Titans, you could say she was born to kill them.
* TheAntiNihilist: She has shades of this, she realizes how crappy the world is, but fights because she has something to cling to: Eren.
* {{Badass}}: The biggest badass of the 104th Trainee Corps. [[AllThereInTheManual According to supplementary material,]] among the only people who rival her battle skills are [[TrainingFromHell Annie Leonhart,]] [[{{Determinator}} Ian Dietrich,]] and [[TheBigGuy Mike Zacharius.]] The only person to actually ''surpass'' them is, of course, [[WorldsStrongestMan Levi.]]
* BadassBoast: Several.
** "I am strong. Stronger than any of you."
** Gives a chilling one during a standoff with a bunch of soldiers when they threaten to execute Eren.
--->'''Mikasa''': My specialty... involves flesh... and the lacerating thereof. You just draw close enough, and I'll be happy to demonstrate. Should anyone wish to experience my technique... by all means, feel free to come this way.
** Also to a belligerent businessman being difficult during the evacuation, threatening that she could kill him and not bat an eye.
* BadassCreed: Though only uttered once or twice, she lives by what Eren said to her at their first meeting.
-->'''Mikasa''': If I can't, I die. But if I win, I live. I can't win unless I fight.
* BadassNormal: Despite not having any special abilities like some other characters, she manages to rank #1 in her class. She also manages to slay several Titans and escape without a scratch whereas others die within moments of encountering one. [[spoiler: Subverted later on when it is revealed her entire family has special abilities that give them a boost in times of extreme peril.]]
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Described as beautiful by other characters, and firmly on the heroic side.
* BerserkButton:
** Do '''NOT''' screw with Eren if you value your life. Just look at [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/a209d3573ec70ac53a47830486209e9a/tumblr_mpizho4xDi1qh3v8wo1_500.jpg the look on her face]] when Levi beats up Eren during his trial. She's ready to beat the in-series WorldsStrongestMan to within an inch of his life!
** This can be a problem when her anger gets the better of her. At one point, when Eren is in danger, Levi orders her to focus on the main objective and to keep in check her own desire to attack blindly. [[spoiler: She still gets baited into trying to finish the Female Titan off, which ends up costing Levi]].
* BettyAndVeronica: She's portrayed as the Betty in official parodies, with Annie as the Veronica and Eren as a clueless Archie. It's ambiguous whether or not such a dynamic existed in the main canon or not.
* BigDamnHeroes: She's rather prone to this.
** In Episode 22, she manages to save Dieter in the nick of time just before a Titan puts him in his mouth.
** She appears at the head of a group of reinforcements at Castle Utgard, coming out of nowhere to kill a Titan just before it grabs one of her comrades.
** A short time later, she leaps to Eren's defense just before [[spoiler: Reiner tries to kidnap him, severing one of his arms and stabbing the other, as well as slicing into the nearby Bertolt's neck and right hand]].
* TheBigGirl: Despite her smaller stature, Mikasa is looked up to and relied on as the very best combatant amongst the trainees.
* BigSisterInstinct: She is this towards Eren in spades, though they're the same age.
** And, to a lesser extent, she has this attitude towards Armin as well.
* BlatantLies: Provides some comedy to cover for Eren twice. First "Sasha farted" in boot camp then when her squadmates ask her exactly happened when Eren [[spoiler: lost control during his second Titan-shift and attacked her, punching in his own face in the process]], she claims he was ''swatting a fly''. [[TheComicallySerious In a completely straight face and tone]].
* BodyguardCrush: There are hints here and there that this is the case between her and Eren.
* BodyguardingABadass: Her entire reason for joining the military is to protect Eren. [[spoiler: Who is revealed later to be a Titan Shifter, and badass by himself.]] Even with that development, she is still more competent than him.
* BoyishShortHair: She cuts her hair after Eren tells her it may get in the way of her training. It contributes to her tough ActionGirl image.
* BrainsAndBrawn: The brawn to Armin's brains.
* BreakTheCutie: When she was younger, she seemed to be an average nine-year-old instead of the stoic badass we know today. Then, her parents were killed in front of her and she was kidnapped. But that was not what broke her; after Eren killed two of the kidnappers, the third just came into the room and almost killed Eren. As Eren almost died, she finally broke, realizing how messed up the world was. And then her adoptive mother was killed one year later, and her adoptive father disappeared somewhere unknown, leaving her and Eren all alone to recover from the Titan attack.
** She suffers from this trope again upon hearing that [[spoiler: Eren was killed during the Battle of Trost.]]
* BrokenAce: The second best fighter, including the [[LovecraftianSuperPower Titan Shifters]], beaten only by [[WorldsStrongestMan Levi]]. However, she only became so skilled after the trauma caused by the death of her parents, both biological ''and'' adoptive. In her eyes, Eren is all she has left in the world, and she must protect him at ''all'' costs.
* BrokenBird: Once upon a time she was just a normal little girl. Nowadays, she rarely ever smiles.
* [[BigBrotherWorship Brother Worship]]: In the eyes of Mikasa, Eren is the greatest person in the world.
** [[WhatTheHellHero Gets called on this several times]] by characters (most notably Jean in Episode 16) when it interferes with her normally rational thinking. Make no mistake, as awesome and useful as Eren is, she can be almost fanatical about him to the point where it can cause major problems if someone doesn't snap her out of it.
** In fact, Eren himself has called her out on this early in the series for caring more for him than the human race.
* BrutalHonesty: She cares for her friends, but she doesn't hesitate to call them out if she thinks they're in the wrong.
* ButNotTooForeign: She is half-Asian.
* {{Byronic Hero}}ine: She joined the Survey Corps only because of Eren, who is everything to her. She has a tragic past and will kill anyone who threatens Eren, be they foe or former friends.
* CatchPhrase: "This world is a cruel place".
** With the occasional addition of "But it is also beautiful."
* TheChampion: Towards Eren. She's frequently called out on taking her "Protect Eren above all else" devotion too far.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Has shown WAY more strength than any normal person of her age or size should possess. It's strongly implied that her childhood trauma somehow shattered her natural mental limiters.
* ClingyJealousGirl:
** In a flashback chapter where Annie was wrestling with Eren during combat training, Mikasa decides they're getting too close and ''throws Reiner at them''.
** Portrayed this way in the official parodies, such as when she looms in the background with swords out when Eren talks to [[DudeMagnet Krista]].
** In chapter 70, while Eren is praising Krista for her recent actions and helping her carry stuff, Mikasa seems annoyed at how chummy they were. After confronting them, she claims Eren must be tired from all his training, and yanks away the bags he was carrying.
* TheComicallySerious: Most funny moments involving her revolve around the fact that shes known to hold an absurdly serious and deadpan expression in (almost) any situation, along with the occasional dry quip. See BlatantLies and ClingyJealousGirl.
* TheCoatsAreOff: Dramatically drops her traveler cloak and draws her sword when she's had enough screwing around trying to talk to Annie when it's clear that she is the Female Titan.
* CryCute: When Eren comes out of his Titan mode, she runs to him and sobs after finding he is still alive.
* TheCynic: She's not vocal about it like Jean, but her catchphrase ''is'' "The world is a cruel place", and it's easy to see why.
* CynicismCatalyst: Her parents' death has made her TheStoic EmotionlessGirl she is today.
* DareToBeBadass: What made her the hardened badass she is today.
-->'''Mikasa:''' If you win, you live. If you lose, you die. If you don't fight, you can't win!
* DarkActionGirl: Mikasa actually has some darker shades, too. She develops over the course of the series and obviously holds some strong morals dear to her, but as soon as Eren is in danger she is willing to slice up pretty much anyone, friend or foe without a second thought to protect him. While most others join the Survey Corps to actually fight for mankind, Mikasa couldn't care less if Eren hadn't joined.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Saw both her biological parents get killed by human traffickers. Also saw her adoptive mother get eaten by a Titan. And then her adoptive father disappeared as well.
* DeathGlare: When Eren is in danger. If looks could kill, Levi would be six feet under six times over by now.
* DeathSeeker: She has a tendency towards this when/if Eren is believed dead.
* DeclarationOfProtection: To Eren, of course.
* {{Determinator}}: If Eren is in danger, she will not rest until he is safe again. She did almost give up after she heard from Armin that Eren died, but even ''then'' she never stopped struggling and continued fighting a Titan with no gear and only half a blade left.
* TheDreaded:
** A heroic example. Even with several dozen soldiers surrounding just her, Eren, and Armin, they're visibly afraid of her after the BadassBoast she gives as shown above.
** In a more lighthearted example: The boys bullying Armin are unfazed when Eren charges toward them. It isn't until they see ''Mikasa'' that they haul ass.
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: In anime Episode 7, Mikasa has this right after she hears of Eren's supposed death. It happened again in Episode 21, when she witnesses Eren being devoured by the Female Titan.
* EffortlessAmazonianLift: Twice thus far. The first time, she breaks up an argument between Eren and Jean by throwing Eren her shoulder and walking away. In a flashback, she's shown to have once ''thrown [[HeroicBuild Reiner]]'' at Annie from across the training yard.
* EmotionlessGirl: The stoic type.
* EnlightenmentSuperpower: More mundane than most but still follows a similar path. When confronting the slave traders who kidnapped her, she had an epiphany that lead to a higher understanding about the world. This empowered her to feel like she was capable of anything.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Discussed on the evening of her first day of training. Eren suggests she cut it, to avoid accidents while doing 3D maneuver training and she immediately agrees with the idea. Since then, she's worn her hair in the same mid-length bob.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: She seems serene when she acknowledges that she's probably going to die at one point, before remembering Eren's DareToBeBadass influence from when they met and deciding to [[DoNotGoGentle fight to her last]]. She makes it out alive.
* FatalFlaw: Despite being a perfect soldier, Mikasa is still susceptible to [[UnstoppableRage Wrath]]. Her poor control over her anger has resulted in reckless behavior that has gotten herself and others hurt. She has improved on this shortcoming, but never truly overcomes it.
* FireForgedFriends: Her bond with Eren originates from how, as a child, she was kidnapped by her parents' murderers and Eren was the first one to track them down. If it weren't for him, she may not be alive.
* TheGift: Mikasa is described by her instructor as a prodigy of unparalleled talent, with a natural mastery of all subjects. She's outshined only by Levi, and he's the legendary WorldsStrongestMan.
* GoodEyesEvilEyes: If one pays close attention to her scene as a child where she breaks, she retains her adorable TaremeEyes and can't even bring herself to move in her fright; the moment she mentally breaks, she ''immediately'' switches to TsurimeEyes in a DeathGlare, ''breaks the floor boards'' in her rapid foot transition, and uses that to propel her movement as she closes in and kills the human trafficker in a fit of rage.
* GrayEyes: A dark shade, just shy of qualifying as black, emphasizing her status as TheStoic.
* GreenEyedMonster: Shows traces of this towards Annie. During a flashback of Annie and Eren training together, they do so in a manner suggesting Annie was flirting with him, only to be interrupted by Mikasa ''throwing Reiner'' at them, followed by her asking Annie in a passive aggressive manner if she can't teach those moves to her as well. Later, she asks Eren if he hesitates to fight Titan!Annie because he has "certain feelings" for her, with a not-so-happy expression on her face.
* HappilyAdopted: Deeply attached to Eren's family, as they took her in after her own died and treated her as their own. After Carla's death and Grisha's disappearance, she clings to Eren because he's the only one left.
* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: When someone calls Eren her boyfriend, she just says he is just family, but not without a blush.
* HeroicBSOD: When she finds out that Eren is dead, she acts cool about it, but Armin realizes she is not thinking calmly and uses up her gas. She more or less gives up on life, till she remembers Eren's words and decided to live on.
** She has another brief one when the Female Titan seemingly swallowed Eren whole. She very quickly switches into UnstoppableRage mode, though.
** She has one more [[spoiler: after Eren is kidnapped by his fellow Titan Shifters in Chapter 45.]] A RousingSpeech from Hannes pulls her out of it.
** [[spoiler: Has yet another one in Chapter 50, after watching Hannes get killed by the Titan that killed Carla five years ago. Mikasa looks at the sad situation of the military's desperate struggle in trying to survive against the Titans, she actually gives up on living and thanks Eren for all he has done for her.]]
* HeroicBuild: as shown [[http://i.imgur.com/EILprDG.jpg here]].
* IdolSinger: Parodied in the volume 9 fake preview, which features her alter-ego "[[http://wikiwiki.jp/shingekih/?plugin=attach&refer=%A5%C7%A1%BC%A5%BF%2F%A5%AF%A5%E9%A5%B9%2F%A5%DF%A5%AB%A5%B5&openfile=%A5%DF%A5%AB%A5%B5_%A5%B9%A5%C6%A1%BC%A5%B8%A5%A8%A5%F3%A5%BF%A1%BC%A5%C6%A5%A4%A5%CA%A1%BC.jpg Mikarin]]".
* IJustWantToBeNormal: She joined the army only because of Eren. She wanted to have a peaceful life.
* IneffectualLoner: Averted, as is the case with fellow [[TheAce ace]] Levi, she has superb ratings in everything combat-related but below-average Teamwork, though not as low as Levi's. She will work with her fellow soldiers when the plan calls for it (especially one of Armin's plans) but she's most often seen taking out Titans solo without backup and does it rather effectively.
* IOweYouMyLife: Part of her devotion to Eren comes from how he saved her from human traffickers, taught her how to survive, and has become the only family or anchor she has left.
* KnightTemplarBigSister: Mikasa is even willing to fight her fellow soldiers and become an enemy of humanity to protect Eren.
* LadyOfWar: She is calm and collected when using her 3D Maneuver Gear, cutting down Titans with grace and deadly speed, in contrast to [[TheBerserker Eren]].
* TheLancer: Mikasa is everything Eren isn't.
* LastOfHerKind: The last (half) Asian.
* LeeroyJenkins: She acts in a uncharacteristically rash manner whenever Eren is in danger. After the Female Titan kidnaps him and slaughters a great many survey corpsmen on the expedition outside the walls, Mikasa tries to slice her nape to kill her for good, despite Levi's ''explicit'' warning not to do so. She certainly would have died if the WorldsStrongestMan hadn't reacted quick enough to save her, taking a dibilitating injury in the process.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Her relationship with Armin. Ironically, she gets along with him more than Eren.
* LittleMissBadass: As a child, she killed one of the men who killed her parents and kidnapped her.
* MeaningfulName: She is named after IJN Mikasa, Japanese pre-dreadnaught battleship that served as flagship of Imperial Japanese Navy fleet in Russo-Japanese War, in which it contributed to the defeat of then thought to invincible Russian Baltic fleet. It is also the [[LastofHisKind only remaining pre-dreadnaught battleship in existence]]. The name was chosen by Hajime Isayama based on his theory that [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion series with heroine]] [[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya named after warships]] will be a hit.
** Her surname doesn't lack in the symbolism department either. Ackerman is a family name that references someone who would till the fields, and collect the crops that grew from them. Ergo, a ''reaper''.
* MixedAncestry: The reason she's [[HalfBreedDiscrimination not considered as "valuable" as her (Asian) mother]] is because her father was white.
* MsFanservice: Not in the material direct but Mikasa has been shown posing in sports bras in concept art and on some of the manga's volume covers, and the second anime opening [[MaleGaze provides a generous shot of her cleavage]]. The second anime OVA also features a completely irrelevant montage of Mikasa's sweaty workout routine, showing some [[AmazonianBeauty nice muscle tone.]]
* MundaneUtility: As a child, Mikasa used her super-strength to accomplish chores faster and with greater efficiency than Eren.
* MyBelovedSmother: How Eren tends to view her over-protection.
* NotBloodSiblings: With Eren. She was adopted by Grisha and Carla after the murder of her biological parents, and she takes [[BigBrotherInstinct Big Sister Instinct]] to a ''whole'' new level.
* ObliviouslyBeautiful: She doesn't seem to notice or care that her looks are enough to leave Jean nearly speechless.
* ObliviousToLove: She doesn't notice that Jean loves her.
* OneWomanArmy: Ian comments that "She's as good by herself as a hundred ordinary soldiers."
* OrphansOrdeal: Goes through this ''[[UpToEleven twice!]]'' Her biological parents were murdered by human traffickers who wanted her and her mother, presumably because they were the last Asians known to mankind, and very valuable as a result. However, she still went on to have a happy childhood as Eren's family adopts her after she's rescued. [[BreakTheCutie Then she witnesses her adoptive mother get eaten by a Titan and her adoptive father disappear to parts unknown.]]
* PillarsOfMoralCharacter: A walking example of "gimu" (a [[IOweYouMyLife life debt]]). She will do anything to protect Eren, because he saved her when they first met. Further highlighted by the fact that she's [[LastOfHisKind the last living person of Asian descent]].
* PowerCopying: In the anime, she has begun adopting Levi's SpinAttack fighting style after having seen it in action.
* ThePowerOfLove: A subdued form, in stark contrast to [[ThePowerOfHate Eren]]. Most of her badassery is the direct result of her caring for and wanting to protect [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Eren.]] It's also her biggest flaw as her desire to keep Eren safe often causes her to make mistakes and act irrationally.
* PreMortemOneLiner: A non-fatal example, used just before she kicks Annie down the Wall.
-->'''Mikasa''': Annie. ''Fall.''
* RavenHairIvorySkin: The first time Jean sees her, he's momentarily struck speechless by her beauty and barely manages to [[GibberishOfLove ramble]] about how she [[LastOfHerKind looks different]] from everyone else and her black hair is "really pretty".
* RedOniBlueOni: The calm and collected blue to Eren's hot-headed red.
* TheRival: Appeared to have had this dynamic with Annie during their trainee days. Chapter 44 offers of flashback where the two prepare to square off in a training fight, to which WordOfGod later confirmed they had been so equally matched the instructor had to interfere and call it a tie.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge[=/=]UnstoppableRage: She does this whenever something happens to Eren, and it is never portrayed as a healthy or positive thing. Each time, her actions place her or others into considerable danger.
** At Trost, she taunts the disheartened Trainees into following her into battle and then proceeds to [[spoiler: completely exhaust her supply of gas, leaving herself helpless and the other Trainees abandoned until Jean takes charge]]. All because she thought Eren had been killed, and was attempting to avoid dealing with it through taking action.
** During the Female Titan arc her recklessness results in Levi injuring his ankle sidelining [[TheAce Humanity's Strongest]] for an arc.
** RoaringRampageOfRescue: During the 57th Expedition, when the Female Titan successfully captures Eren, she goes in pursuit. She ignores Levi's warning that they won't be able to kill the Female Titan, and her reckless attack results in him breaking his ankle while protecting her.
* RunningGag: The official 4-koma likes to poke fun at her weight, with first Armin and later Levi dropping her after realizing she's too heavy to carry. Doing so [[MadeOfExplodium causes an explosion]] when she lands.
* SatelliteCharacter: Her motives and actions revolve solely around Eren. The Battle of Trost briefly explores this dynamic, showing how Mikasa would function without Eren.
* ScarfOfAsskicking: A sentimental keepsake from when she first met Eren and became part of his family. He gives it to her after she says she's cold, having just rescued her from the human traffickers. She hasn't taken it off since.
* ScarsAreForever: When the Rogue Titan/Eren attacks her, her cheek is scratched by a piece of debris; she has kept the scar ever since. It makes her look even more badass, if anything.
* SecurityBlanket: Said scarf mentioned above. When she is particularly anxious or upset, she'll nuzzle her nose under it.
* SiblingYinYang: Compared to her brother, who's TheBerserker, HotBlooded, and a WideEyedIdealist.
* SparingTheAces: While she's protecting Eren, who has just exhibited his Titan-shifting abilities, from Weilman (who is trying to get them shot on sight), one of Weilman's subordinates mentions her status as TheGift in what was either this or genuine fear that she would fight her way out of their situation.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: So, translate Mikasa phonetically because it is written in hiragana, or directly use the kanji of the battleship Mikasa? Official material says phonetically, the rest of the fanbase disagree. TheOtherWiki compromise by having them both.
* TheSpock: The most outwardly emotionless and calmest fighter among the main trio, able to be decisive in many situations where others would hesitate. However, in regards to Eren, this attitude does not apply at all.
* StaticCharacter: Beyond the change caused by her DarkAndTroubledPast, present-day Mikasa has yet to be as dynamic as the other characters. She has remained virtually unchanged since the beginning of the series.
* TheStoic: Most of the time, she shows little to no emotion on her face, but if it involves Eren...
** NotSoStoic: Her general response to Eren being in danger is either panic or murderous fury.
* SubmissiveBadass: The best soldier in the Trainee Corps, yet completely loyal to Eren.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: She hides her emotions from others and presents herself as stoic, yet she's a very loyal person who cares very deeply about Eren.
* SuperStrength: One of the reasons why she's such a powerful fighter. She demonstrates this even as a little kid during the moment where she killed one of her kidnappers - she crushes the hilt of her knife and her first step shatters the wooden floor when she charged him. The Military Police are astonished when they find that her knife went 3 inches through his heart from the back.
* SympatheticMurderBackstory: Forced to kill a man, to save herself and Eren. An entire episode is devoted to her backstory, and it's later used by the Military Police Brigade to suggest she's dangerous.
* TheTalk: The very last conversation she ever had with her parents. When she asks her mother where babies come from, Mrs. Ackerman passes the buck to her husband... who awkwardly suggests she should ask Dr. Yeager when he arrives. Then there was a knock at the door and everything went to hell....
* TranquilFury: Mikasa rarely displays the fury she feels and prefers action rather than stewing in her emotions.
** During her RoaringRampageOfRevenge after believing Eren was killed, she remains outwardly emotionless. Only Armin can tell she is enraged by analyzing her actions.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: She's only [[OneManArmy extremely competent at killing]] because of her [[ChildrenForcedToKill seriously screwed up past]]. It's heavily implied that the prospect of Eren getting hurt shattered the subconscious physical limiters in her mind and body that changed her from a scared little girl to a better fighter than any human has any right to be. [[spoiler:To be more specific, it awakened the superhuman abilities inherent to her bloodline.]]
* {{Troll}}: Is a very hilariously deadpan version of one in regards to Sasha. The part where she pretended to offer bread to her, only to eat it herself comes to mind.
* TrueCompanions: Eren, her, and Armin are this.
* TuckAndCover: She shields a defenseless Eren in this fashion from an approaching Titan.
* UnbrokenVigil: Anytime Eren is left unconscious, Mikasa will insist on remaining at his side to watch over him.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Eren, who she views as the last remaining person of importance in her life.
* TheUnfettered: Whether it's protecting Eren or just fighting for something she believes in, Mikasa lets nothing stand in her way, be they Titan or human.
* UntouchableUntilTagged: She can slaughter Titans left and right, but there are times where even Mikasa is caught off guard, and we're reminded that she's still human.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Before her biological parents were killed, she was shown to have a wide range of emotions, but now she does not hesitate to kill anyone if she needs to.
* [[WatchingTroyBurn Watching Zhiganshina Burn]]: While escaping by river, she watched her home being destroyed.
* YouAreWorthHell: Over and over again, Mikasa has followed Eren into hell and has helped drag him out every time.
----
!!Tropes that apply to the second half of the series
->''"There are only so many lives I can value. And... I decided who those people were five years ago."''
[[quoteright:191:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mikasaackermansecondhalf_5960.png]]
Discovering several traitors hiding in their midst, Mikasa reaffirms her mission to protect Eren. With Humanity's Strongest sidelined by an injury, she is forced to step up and take to the front lines to protect Eren. While facing the traitors, she realizes her own attachment to comrades may impede her mission and is deeply shaken by her failure. This leads to her becoming more ruthless, even willing to cut down her own comrades if they should prove an obstacle. She is promoted into the second incarnation of the Special Operations Squad, and appears to have become Levi's new second in command.
----
* ActionDuo: Increasingly so with Levi, to the point he basically treats her like a right hand man in combat.
* BadassFamily: [[spoiler: The Ackerman family possess a special trait, granting them incredible strength and skill once awakened. This trait led to them being driven out of Central, with Mikasa's father going into hiding. Mikasa awakened her power to protect Eren.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Not necessarily for the better--which is not a bad thing on its own. Mikasa's heart has noticeably hardened since Trost, being much less willing to spare others where it concerns Eren and being willing to kill anyone that threatens him, including people who were until that moment her friends. Contrast this with the Titan Shifters, who can't bring themselves to harm her or their other friends. Thus, she's become a much more deadly soldier.
* ClingyJealousGirl: She gets visibly upset watching Eren and Historia talking and interrupts their moment.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Toward Levi. Since the court trial, Mikasa has held a bitter grudge against him for his handling of Eren. After Levi is injured while protecting her, Mikasa seeks to make up for her mistake by defeating the Female Titan in his stead. By Chapter 58, she has chosen to completely set aside her personal feelings, understanding how important trusting Levi's leadership is.
* FreakOut: She has a bit of a breakdown after [[spoiler: Bertolt and Reiner]] make off with Eren. Her eyes become massive and bloodshot, even by this manga's standards, and she buries her face in her red scarf.
* FunctionalGenreSavvy: After her previous encounter with kidnappers, Mikasa makes sure to double check that there are only three men the second time around.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: The first thing Historia does after being crowned Queen is [[spoiler:punch Levi in the face and then dare him to do something about it]]. Everyone present just stares in shock, except for Mikasa who can be seen in the background with a [[Funny/AttackOnTitan very pleased smirk on her face]] (guess she was glad that ''someone'' finally did it, though she probably wanted the honor herself).
* GreenEyedMonster: Does not react well when she sees Eren and Historia casually chatting away with one another.
* LastSecondChance: She surprisingly enough offers one to [[spoiler: Bertolt]], after his VillainousBSOD. Her expression, when he refuses, is murderous.
* LineInTheSand: When Jean, Connie, and Sasha begin to question their reason for fighting, Mikasa states that if they wish to opt out, now is the time.
* LongLostRelative: She comes from the same bloodline as [[spoiler: Levi and Kenny]]. They all share the surname, Ackerman, something Mikasa has only recently been made aware of.
* MyGreatestFailure: To a degree, not having killed [[spoiler:Reiner and Bertolt]] when she had the chance, due to briefly feeling sorry for them.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: She goes on one again when Eren is kidnapped by [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt]], letting ''nothing'' stand in her way. This leads to her threatening [[spoiler: Historia Reiss]], making it clear she will kill ANYONE that gets between her and saving Eren. She was willing to not only turn on her TrueCompanions, but also risk the Survey Corps' best chance to uncover the GovernmentConspiracy.
* SuperpowerfulGenetics: Her father was a member of the Ackerman clan,[[note]]Who acquire superhuman strength and reflexes through TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening.[[/note]] and her mother was Asian. [[spoiler:Both bloodlines possess the ability to resist the Coordinate ability, and were thus ruthlessly persecuted by the royal family.]]
* TearfulSmile: For one of the very few times since childhood, she smiles as she thanks Eren for everything he's done for her with tears in her eyes. It would be a nice moment, if not for the fact they were surrounded by Titans with no way of defending themselves.
* ThousandYardStare: As she sees the Titan '''that killed her adoptive mother five years ago''' slowly approaching her and Eren in Chapter 49.
* WithUsOrAgainstUs: She makes it ''very clear'' to Historia that her only consideration is Eren's safety, and people should either help her or get the hell out of her way. She has no sympathy or mercy for those that get in her way.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Armin Arlert]]
!!Armin Arlert
!!!Voiced by: Creator/MarinaInoue (JP), Creator/JoshGrelle (EN)
[[quoteright:238:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/238px-Armin-Chara_Design_5457.png]]
->''"People who can't throw something important away can never hope to change anything."''
Eren's and Mikasa's best friend, whose dream is to see the world outside the Wall. Although physically weak and initially a coward, he excels in strategy and gains considerable confidence. His plans are instrumental in several key victories, saving his classmates and later the city of Trost through his unconventional ideas. Enlisting in the Survey Corps, he proves to be one of their most vital members during the 57th expedition. His encounters with the Female Titan allow him to deduce her identity, leading to her eventual defeat.
'''Branch:''' Survey Corps
----
* AlliterativeName '''Ar'''min '''Ar'''lert.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Bullied as a child, due to his [[ChildProdigy intelligence]] and heretical interest in the outside world.
* AntiHero:
** ClassicalAntiHero: Has all the right intentions but lacks the confidence and physical strength his compatriots have (at least at first).
** PragmaticHero: Showing signs of this as time goes on. He's growing into a ruthless military thinker that declares only leaders capable of throwing away the lives of their men have any hope of changing things. While Jean is horrified at the idea, Armin completely supports the most ruthless actions of their superiors, such as using soldiers as cannon fodder.
* AttractiveBentGender: One of the official 4komas has him dress-up in a cute bunny girl outfit because it suits him better than any of the girls.
* BadassBookworm: As a child, he always had a book with him. As a teenager, although he is still not that useful in a physical fight, the others rely on him to have a strategy and most of his guesses and plans have worked out great. It was he who first deduced that the Female Titan was [[spoiler: intelligent, and accurately guessed her true identity based on an incident from months previous.]]
* BadLiar:
** Lampshaded by Annie and later subverted when his quick thinking and BlatantLies manage to distract the Female Titan by bluffing that she killed Eren after having figured out that the Female Titan's goal was to either capture or kill Eren. His quick lie saves Jean's life.
** Then played straight during the mission to capture Annie. Armin believes that she knew his request was a trap from the start.
** Subverted once more when he manages to ruthlessly [[ConsummateLiar bluff]] about the fate of [[spoiler: Annie]] in order to distract [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt]].
* [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Better To Die Than Be Eaten]]: During the Battle of Trost, he gives Mikasa his remaining equipment, but asks to keep a blade for himself in case a Titan comes along. Mikasa, finally out of her [[HeroicBSOD Heroic BSOD]], denies his request.
* {{Bishonen}}: Joked about in an official omake where Armin is suggested to [[WholesomeCrossdresser look better in a bunny girl outfit than any of the actual girls]].
* BlatantLies: A heroic variant. In Episode 17, he suddenly starts screaming for Jean, who was about to be killed by the Female Titan to avenge his "best friend", obviously meaning Eren. Armin had figured out that the Female Titan's goal was to get to Eren. By lying about his fate, he managed to distract her enough so that she didn't murder Jean.
* BrainsAndBrawn: The brains to Mikasa's brawn.
* CatchPhrase: "People that can't throw something important away can never hope to change anything." These become important words for him as he matures and comes to terms with what has to be done in order to win.
* CharacterDevelopment: Evolves from a timid and uncertain boy to a more confident and brave young man. And later, to a hardened strategist who understands what needs to be sacrificed for the greater good.
* TheChessmaster: He isn't one yet but shows very high potential to be one with enough experience. A good example is how he pieced together who the Female Titan was from bits of information gathered thus far then planned a trap to apprehend her in a rather short period of time. On the other hand, he's starting to understand just how important is is to be able to [[HeroicSacrifice trade a pawn for a piece of higher value]], meaning that he's starting to look more and more ruthless.
* ChessmasterSidekick: He's absolutely brilliant and shows great potential for ruthlessness, but he's utterly loyal to his friends and respectful of his commanding officers.
* ChildProdigy: Far smarter and more interested in his studies than his peers, which unfortunately got him beat up when it came to his knowledge of the world outside, in addition to potentially putting him at risk of worse consequences if the authorities found out.
* CowardlyLion: He snaps as easily as a twig during the first phases of Trost though later on he's willing to do the unthinkable (for him at least) if it means he can protect his friends. He is willing to stand with Eren and mount a bold defense with his words for him when everyone looks poised to kill them and later on, he volunteers to join Mikasa in what looks like a suicide mission to cover Eren.
* CrazyEnoughToWork: Most of his plans are this.
* CrossdressingVoices: Shares the same voice as the (female) narrator in the Japanese version. Averted in the dub.
* CuteBookworm: Armin was absolutely this in his childhood.
* DeathGlare: Delivers an absolutely murderous look at the Female Titan while yelling at Jean to avenge all the Survey Corps members it killed. This doubles as a WhatTheHellHero towards Annie, who was about to smash Jean.
* FailedASpotCheck: He completely misses the Rogue Titan emerging from the same Titan who just ate Eren, despite having been ''[[http://fightingdreamer34.tumblr.com/post/55339133742 right there]]'' when it happened. This may be justified as Armin was in the middle of a traumatic HeroicBSOD at the time.
* GuileHero: Armin's strength lies not in his fighting ability, but in his tactical genius, both at the drawing board and in the field.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: At first, but as his eyes open more to how the world works, his heart has become more and more hardened.
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Initially he thinks he'll be useless since the only thing he has going for him is his book smarts. It turns out he's great at both analyzing people and situations within moments and formulating plans to get out of bad situations, making him an invaluable tactician for the Survey Corps.
* HeroicBSOD: When he's too scared to move, Eren sacrifices himself for Armin. This causes Armin think of himself as worthless, and is catatonic until Mikasa shows up.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Armin initially has nothing nice to say about himself, feeling he is useless. He gets better.
* HeroicWannabe: He is at first misguided in his endeavors to be useful, believing he must become a kind of hero to deserve being at Eren and Mikasa's side.
* HeroWorshipper: He admires leaders like Pixis and especially Erwin because they are able to sacrifice people to save humanity.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Eren.
* HyperAwareness: Armin can quickly notice things no one else can. Best shown in his analysis of each surprising discovery they make: in the case of the Rogue Titan he notices its intelligence based on its fighting style and its tendency to ignore humans within moments and in the case of the Female Titan, he's very quickly aware of its intelligence based on its knowledge of 3DMG weaknesses and it protecting its weak spot, so he pieces together that it must be another Human Titan.
* IJustWantToBeBadass: His greatest desire is to be useful. After he realizes that his friends do not think lowly of him at all, he grows out of it.
* INeverSaidItWasPoison: He's clever enough to make use of this. When he's bluffing the Female Titan he makes specific statements like "the suicidal bastard" and "my best friend". Based on its subsequent actions he deduces that it is, in fact, one of his classmates he knows well since it guessed (correctly) he was talking about Eren, since the former is the 104th Trainee class's nickname for Eren and the latter is only obvious to people that knew both Eren and Armin personally.
* InnocentBlueEyes: They fit him to a T, though later on [[JadeColoredGlasses he's gradually losing the "innocent" part]].
* IWillOnlySlowYouDown: Attempts this repeatedly, and is proven wrong each time.
* JadeColoredGlasses: Developing them slowly, as he begins to grow into an up-and-coming [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]]. He readily accepts the most questionable actions of his superiors, and recognizes the ugliness of the CrapsackWorld he lives in.
* JapanesePronouns: He uses the modest and soft-spoken "Boku".
* TheKirk: Mediates nicely between [[TheMcCoy Eren]] and [[TheSpock Mikasa]].
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Mikasa.
* TheLoad: He was always saved by Eren and Mikasa since his childhood. He was still the Load until the Battle for Trost. He eventually grows out of this because he saved his friends many times along the way.
%%* LovableCoward:
* LoveIsAWeakness: In one of the [[BonusMaterial Smartpass interviews]], Armin expresses that romantic feelings can be a weakness. After all, they make people do irrational things and can be used against them.
* MaleGaze: Parodied in the Episode 23 4-koma. A horrified Annie accuses Armin of looking at her [[UnusualEuphemism like that]], while flashing back to him repeatedly checking out her Titan form.
* MoralityPet: To Annie. Armin managed to befriend her, to the degree she's unable to hurt him and gets drawn into a trap because he said he'd consider her a "bad person" if she didn't help him.
* NiceGuy: He's very kind and selfless, almost to a fault. When he, Jean and Reiner were stranded and one of them needed to be left behind, Armin willingly offered himself. He has never come into direct conflict with any ally, and tries to mediate peace and understanding as much as possible.
* NonActionGuy: In the beginning. Eventually he becomes a perfectly competent soldier in his own right, though he still pales in comparison to [[HeroicWillpower Eren]] and [[TheAce Mikasa]].
* OddFriendship: Becomes friendly with [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Jean]], though only after their respective CharacterDevelopment. Emphasized more in the anime.
* OnlyFriend: Armin was Eren's only friend before he encountered Mikasa.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The senstive guy to Eren's manly man.
* ShorterMeansSmarter: One of the shortest of the main male cast (second only to Connie) and the most intelligent -- the character guidebook lists his intelligence as a perfect 10/10.
* TheSmartGuy: It's stated to be his gift, which caused problems for his self-esteem in the past, as he believed his low physicality made him TheLoad. When retaking Trost, he's stunned to realize that a half-assed, off the cuff suggestion of his is the best plan anyone can come up with.
* TheStrategist: Although he's lacking in physical strength, his smarts more than make up for it. He usually comes up with ideas that end up saving the other characters lives, such as baiting the smaller Titans inside the storehouse during the Battle of Trost with soldiers on the elevator, having said soldiers shoot the Titans in the eyes to blind them temporarily, and having their best soldiers sneak up on them and kill the Titans. Although not everyone managed to kill their target on the first try, they're able to eliminate the threat and resupply without any casualties.
* SurvivorsGuilt: He suffers from this after Eren sacrifices himself by yanking him out of the Titan's mouth, and getting himself eaten in the process.
* TeenGenius: He is the smartest of the group and was first in theoretical courses.
* TookALevelInBadass: When he realizes that he isn't TheLoad, he grows into a fairly competent soldier and an even better strategist.
** For a concrete example, he goes from being completely unable to move as Eren is devoured by a Titan in front of him to preparing to face down a Titan alone, on the ground, while dragging an unconscious Jean under one arm.
* [[WatchingTroyBurn Watching Zhiganshina Burn]]: He actually doesn't seem to have watched it from the boat, hiding with the other refugees.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Strategists listen to ''his'' insight despite being older and out-ranking him. His wisdom is the reason that his friends and allies trust his insight without question: case in point, Armin succeeded at stopping Mikasa from [[spoiler: trying to intervene with Levi's beatdown of Eren]] just by saying "Wait!" and giving a knowing look. That's right, Armin is the only force on earth capable of stopping [[BadassNormal Mikasa]] from acting on her BerserkButton and [[NonActionGuy his]] holding [[TheAce her]] arm back definitely had nothing to do with it.
* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: Less pronounced than Eren, but still just as important. Armin was the one who introduced the bizarre descriptions of the outside world to Eren, and was repeatedly bullied by other kids for his fascination with it.
----
!!Tropes that apply to the second half of the series
[[quoteright:180:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arminartletsecondhalf_8809.png]]
->''"What else do I need to throw away? How do I make things change?"''
His keen mind proves vital in uncovering the identities of several traitors hiding among his comrades, providing key evidence to their guilt. He takes part in the mission to rescue Eren from the traitors, revealing a far more ruthless side in order to turn the tide of the battle. Afterwards, he is promoted into the second incarnation of the Special Operations Squad charged with protecting Eren and Historia. To this end, he wears a disguise and becomes bait to lure out their enemies.
----
* AscendedMeme: Armin's feminine appearance and resemblance to Krista has often been joked about among the fandom. He later actually winds up having to impersonate Historia as part of a mission.
* AttractiveBentGender: He crossdresses at one point, and ends up getting the ''worst'' kind of attention from a DirtyOldMan.
* AwesomeByAnalysis: Many are willing to listen to his plans. He was able to discover the identities of the enemy by piecing together seemingly unrelated pieces of circumstantial evidence along with his own information gathering.
* BigDamnHeroes: Though it's PlayedForDrama. He saved Jean's life by killing the enemy soldier.
* BleedEmAndWeep: After killing the woman threatening Jean's life.
* BodyDouble: He serves as a convincing double for Historia.
* BrokenTears: After his first kill.
* ConsummateLiar: Gradually outgrowing his BadLiar tendencies and filling this role. Proves to be a great asset on the battlefield, for example in Chapter 49 when he claims that Annie is currently being tortured by the military in order to upset and distract [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt]].
* DisguisedInDrag: Used as the BodyDouble for Historia, wearing a long wig and her clothing.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Armin, while disguised as Historia, winds up molested by a man after he is captured. Even after his true gender is revealed, the man insists that he's still attracted to Armin.
* FalseFlagOperation: Discusses such an operation, horrifying his comrades. Eren notes this isn't the first time Armin has dreamed up those kinds of scenarios.
* GrinOfAudacity: Before lying to [[spoiler: Bertolt]].
** SlasherSmile: The look on his face when he describes how Annie is supposedly being tortured is absolutely terrifying. Isayama actually toned it down from its original version, as shown on [[http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/isayamahazime/imgs/4/3/430980c4.jpg his blog]].
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: After being kidnapped while acting as Historia's BodyDouble, Armin is molested by one of his captors. It's a disturbing and jarring scene, especially due to the series tending to avoid sexual themes.
* {{Irony}}: For a member of the Survey Corps, the first person he killed is a human.
* IShallTauntYou: He distracts her allies by telling them that [[IHaveYourWife the military is currently torturing the Female Titan for information.]] [[spoiler: Its not true, of course, but its enough to perturb Bertolt.]]
* JustJokingJustification: When noticing how much his FalseFlagOperation idea horrifies his comrades, he tries -- and fails -- to write it off as a joke.
* ManipulativeBastard: In Chapter 49, he lies to [[spoiler: Bertolt]] to manipulate his feelings and disturb him.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He killed a person to save a friend and was ''horrified'' afterwords, to the point he became physically ill. What made it worse is that, after thinking about it, He realized that the only reason he got the shot off was because [[spoiler: the attacker, a woman about their age, recognized Jean and hesitated, while Armin pulled the trigger without a second thought and notes this means she was a kinder person than him.]]
* PragmaticHero: Becomes this more and more as the series goes on. He's aware of it too, and very worried about it.
* RankUp: Assigned to the new Special Operations Squad. He is notably the only new member that did not make it into the Top 10 of the trainees.
* TheUnsmile: When he sees that his friends are horrified by his FalseFlagOperation idea, he tries to pass it off as a joke, but the smile on his face as he does so makes it all the more disturbing.
* VomitIndiscretionShot: In Chapter 59, he's shown vomiting beside a tree, out of shock of [[spoiler:having killed another human for the first time.]]
[[/folder]]
!!Eren Yeager
!!!Voiced by: Creator/YuukiKaji (JP), Creator/BrycePapenbrook (EN)
[[quoteright:238:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/238px-Eren-Chara_Design_9624.png]]
->''"I want to see and understand the world outside. I don't want to die inside these Walls without knowing what's out there!"''
The main protagonist of the series. An aggressive young man with two defining passions: his desire to explore the world beyond the Walls, and his hatred towards the Titans. His murderous grudge against the Titans is catalyzed further when they invade his home village and he is helpless to save his mother from being devoured.
During his military training he is judged to be of average skill and talent, but through sheer hard work he is able to graduate 5th out of his class. After a near-death experience, he discovers that he possesses the ability to create and control a Titan body, transforming himself into a Titan. This revelation makes him a target for several opposing factions, who either view him as a threat or the key to humanity's survival. However, his inexperience with the power means that he struggles to transform into anything that is not a berserker fueled by blind hatred at first. Even after he learns to gain some measure of control, the experience gap places him at a distinct disadvantage against his main adversaries.
'''Branch:''' Survey Corps
----
* ActionHero: His modus operandi. At the end of the day, fighting is how Eren usually chooses to solve his problems.
%%Eren is not AxCrazy. This trope requires the character to be undoubtably unstable and a clear danger to friend and foe. Eren is normally too rational despite his obsession with revenge, and his berserker moment occurred when Eren had no conscious control over himself.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Both the windows and curtains. Eren has dark brown hair and vibrant green eyes in the anime which is a clue to him being the Rogue Titan, but jet-black hair and steely grey eyes in the manga.
* AdaptationExpansion: During his second fight with the Female Titan, his calm teamwork with Armin and Mikasa to capture her is replaced in the anime with Eren losing control of his Titan form and going berserk, chasing down the Female Titan and brutally beating her down. However, despite going berserk, Eren still hesitates upon seeing a crying Annie, which allows her to crystalize herself.
* AnArmAndALeg: His arms and legs are repeatedly severed over the course of the series, but, thanks to his HealingFactor, he always recovers them.
* [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie And Then Eren Was A Titan]]: Not that he minds.
* AntiHero: He's an idealist in a cynical world, he wants the best for humanity, and his gift is stated to be his HeroicResolve. What muddies up his status as a straight-up hero is that he's fueled by [[ThePowerOfHate his hatred for all Titans]] and his UnstoppableRage can be absolutely ''terrifying'' to behold.
* AttackAttackAttack: His default strategy against Titans is "attack relentlessly until it's dead" with varying results, in Titan form this works okay in human form not so much. He later manages to avert it during his battle against the Armored Titan, once he manages to calm down enough to start using tactics.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: He learned one of Annie's fighting techniques after seeing it only twice.
* AwesomeMcCoolName: See MeaningfulName down below to see just how cool his name is.
* BadLiar: According to his mother, Eren's ears turn red when he lies.
* {{Badass}}: He is considered the best at hand to hand combat in his class after Mikasa and Annie. While in his Titan form, he is able to kill 20 normal Titans, and is a close match for Annie and [[spoiler: Reiner]] despite them having more experience with their Titan-Shifting abilities. Outside of Titan form he's noted as being unremarkable in most areas and ends up getting eaten his first time in battle.
* BadassBoast: He has had several.
** From the manga:
--->'''Eren''': Humanity will feast on the Titans.
** From the anime:
--->'''Keith''': ... or will you become a glorious soldier who exterminates the Titans? The choice is yours.\\
'''Eren''': Yeah, I will. I'll exterminate every last one of them.
** After he finds out that [[spoiler:Reiner and Bertolt were the Armored and Colossal Titans]]:
--->'''Eren:''' I will do everything in my power... To make your deaths as excruciating as possible.
** While inside a Titan's stomach.
--->'''Eren:''' As if I'll give up! I'll exterminate you, every single one of you! Me! With these very hands![[note]]Eren was missing his left arm at the time.[[/note]]
** As a child:
--->'''Eren:''' I put down some dangerous animals. Animals that just happened to look like people.
* BadassFamily: After being put through hell after the death of their mother, Eren and Mikasa have become ''quite'' skilled at slaughtering Titans. And this applies doubly once Eren begins harnessing his powers as the Rogue Titan.
* BadassInDistress: After a close fight with Annie in her Titan form, Annie is able to defeat him when he is distracted and he is swallowed, forcing Levi and Mikasa to rescue him. Happens again in Chapter 45 [[spoiler:after a close fight with Reiner, Bertolt bodypresses him (in Colossal Titan form, from the top of the wall) , giving Reiner the opportunity to swallow and abduct him. And even when he awakens to discover both his arms missing, he continues to resist his captors, including PUNCHING Reiner in the face with his stumps repeatedly. It doesn't work out, but points for trying.]]
* BerserkButton:
** The Titans in general and human existence under them are one giant Berserk Button for Eren.
** Even at a young age, flippant comments from people about humans getting eaten or insulting the warriors in the war against the Titans sets him off enough to provoke a violent response. When the townsfolk disparage and ridicule the battered Survey Corps after their failed mission, Eren comes close to taking a stick to them before getting hauled off by Mikasa, and after he watches his mother get eaten, he's angry enough to kick a soldier who wishes more people got eaten so there'd be less refugees to feed. Armin has to get him out of the mess by apologizing profusely.
** Acting casually about human suffering or death, or showing depraved indifference to others, will set him off ''immediately''. We first see how much this sets him off during Mikasa's flashback where he butchers the slavers that killed her family. We see it again when [[spoiler:Bertolt and Reiner]] act chummy with him despite being responsible for thousands of deaths.
* TheBerserker: He has pretty serious rage issues. Especially in his Titan form.
** His entire fighting style as a Titan consists of roaring, smashing to a bloody pulp, rinse and repeat.
* BerserkerTears: Against the Female Titan and basically every time he is crying.
* BettyAndVeronica: The official parodies [[RunningGag portray]] Mikasa and Annie as these, respectively, with him oblivious to their affections.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Inverted, Mikasa acts this way towards him. He hates it though.
** Played straight with Armin, though they're about the same age.
** Later he even shows traces of this towards Krista, telling her he likes her better when she's not constantly faking a cheery attitude, and is also the one who calms her down when she's in tears [[spoiler:after Ymir left with Reiner and Bertolt.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: As the main character, he's bound to have some of these.
** His first meeting with Mikasa. He tracked down the human traffickers who'd kidnapped her and made a beeline for their hideout, knife at the ready.
** His first appearance as the Rogue Titan, saving Mikasa after she ran out of gas.
** After he has his powers under control, he carries the large rock and seals the hole, giving humanity their first victory against the Titans.
** His biggest one yet is [[spoiler: in Chapter 50, everything is going from bad to worse. The soldiers are being slaughtered left and right by Titans, Erwin lost an arm, Mikasa is hurt, Hannes was just eaten, Reiner is coming for Eren, Jean was knocked out by Reiner throwing Titans everywhere, Armin being forced to protect him, and Eren is having a Heroic BSOD over Hannes' death. After Mikasa breaks him out of it, Eren awakens his new power to control Titans, he swarms the normal Titans to brutally murder the Smiling Titan, then turns his attention on to Reiner, giving the humans the time to escape.]]
* BigNo: Eren screams out one of these as his mother is about to get eaten. In the anime, his scream of ''"YAMEROOOOOOOOOOOOO!"'' [[note]]"STOP IT!"[[/note]] has all the intensity of one of these.
* BlackAndWhiteMorality: His view of the world is very much this, so much so that he feels absolutely no remorse for [[EnfanteTerrible brutally murdering]] criminals and even becomes angry at [[spoiler:[[TragicVillain Reiner]]]] for having guilt over his crimes. It borders on BlackAndWhiteInsanity in some cases.
* BoundAndGagged: He's been tied up more than anyone else. This is due to the fact that SelfHarm is a trigger for his transformation so keeping him from biting his hand is everyone's main priority.
* BoxedCrook: He becomes one, after his powers are discovered. Levi and his hand-picked Special Operations Squad are given orders to keep him under control, and kill him if necessary. When the 57th expedition fails, he's almost taken back into custody and the threat of execution is never far off should the government decide he's too dangerous or not useful enough.
* BreakTheHaughty: Has a brief bout of this during training. After talking big and saying weaklings should just drop out of boot camp (although it was an anime-only scene), he earns little pity upon discovering that he seems to have ''zero'' natural talent when it comes to the 3D maneuvering system. His {{Determinator}} spirit returns when it's realized that his lack of progress was due to faulty equipment.
* BrokenSmile: Sported a brief one upon learning that Marco was dead.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: Eren does this quite literally every single time he fights other Titans. He once lost both his arms doing it, and most of his ribs.
* BullyHunter: The story was inspired by the author's memories of bullying in school, and thematically, Eren's that small, scrawny kid who refuses to be let people push him around no matter how many times he gets knocked down.
* CameBackStrong: His near-death experience triggers his Titan powers.
* CannotSelfTerminate: [[spoiler: In chapter 65 of the manga while in the underground chamber in the Reiss chapel. After it's been revealed what happened to the Reiss family and what Eren has to do with it, Kenny Ackermann takes the gag off of an BoundAndGagged Eren and [[BodyHorror cuts open his forehead]] to allow him to get revenge, only to be surprised when Eren basically states how he never wanted any of this while sobbing and Eren begs Historia/Krista to eat him and set things right. For a moment it looks like she will, but she ultimately refuses.]]
* ChasteHero: He seems to be utterly uninterested in anything romantic, to the extent he states that he found [[DudeMagnet Krista]] to be somewhat "creepy". This trait is played up in official parodies, with Eren viewing [[BettyAndVeronica Mikasa and Annie]] as OneOfTheBoys.
* ChekhovsSkill: During training, Eren's only remarkable skill was his proficiency in hand-to-hand combat, which he admits is pointless when facing Titans. At least, it would be if not for the fact [[spoiler:Eren can turn into one]].
* ConsummateLiar: He [[BrutalHonesty doesn't bother with lying]] most of the time, but as seen in Mikasa's backstory, he can act ''very'' convincingly, enough to make hardened criminals temporarily lower their guard.
* CrazySane: Seriously, if his UnstoppableRage and Titan Shifter powers weren't extremely useful against the Titans, he'd probably get locked up in a mental hospital.
* CreepyChild: He violently murdered two men at the age of nine, and Hannes admits he always found Eren a little scary because he was so intense.
* CursedWithAwesome: Being a Titan Shifter. Humans regard him as a liability (at best) or an abomination (at worst) but it's extremely useful for Titan-slaying, grants him a useful HealingFactor in both Titan and human forms, gives him an outlet where UnstoppableRage is actually a good thing, and may very well be legitimate hope for the survival of humanity. [[spoiler: He later gains a power that is ''undeniably'' useful: Controlling Titans]]. However, this is the reason that he is being targeted by the enemies of mankind and may be part of the reason they attacked the city and ruined his life to begin with.
* CuteAndPsycho: How he's looked at by people outside of his closest friends and family as a 9 year old. The military bring up his actions during his trial to question his humanity.
* DareToBeBadass:
** You can bet money that this is his response to anything resembling apathy, doubt, or cowardice in others. A good example is when he rallies the panicking and doubtful Trainees right before the battle for Trost, exhorting them to be strong as they've already shown through 3 years of hellish training that they ''are'' strong. Most notably he's had a profound effect on Mikasa (see her entry below).
** Does this to himself in Chapter 50 after [[HeroicBSOD Mikasa thanks him for all he's done for her]] declaring he'd do it a thousand times over if he had to and [[NotAfraidToDie tries to take on a Titan with his bare hands]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Eren can be pretty sarcastic at times, but he tends to be at his snarkiest when he's [[FacialDialogue not saying anything at all.]]
* DeathSeeker: Averted, despite what the majority of his allies think of him. See NotAfraidToDie.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Many of Eren's tropes are not [[HeroicWillpower unusual]] [[HotBlooded for]] [[IdiotHero shonen]] [[WideEyedIdealist protagonists]], but what is unusual is that they are treated ''more realistically'' by have as many negative consequences as positive ones for him. Determination is essential for a soldier and especially for one fighting TheDreaded, but rushing blindly on determination alone will get you or someone else killed. If he wasn't a Titan Shifter he'd be have fairly little to show for his determination, and be dead. He is [[LampshadeHanging called on his stupidity]], suffers he suffers defeats aplenty, and practically all Eren's victories come with active support from friends and allies.
* DecoyProtagonist: Subverted. He's maimed and eaten in the first major battle, which seems like the perfect start to a StuffedIntoTheFridge scenario to motivate the more skilled Mikasa or stir then cowardly Armin to heroism, until it's revealed that Eren is a Titan Shifter and escapes.
** In a way, he is this to Historia. Not only is she the true heir to the monarchy of the walls; but the very powers Eren possess rightfully belongs to the Reiss bloodline to begin with, meaning, his powers were meant for her. This leads to his HeroicBSOD as he starts to think himself as worthless and in the way of what should have been Historia's quest of slaughtering titans and not his, until she snaps him out of it.
* DesignatedVictim: He is either severely injured or kidnapped in every major arc so far. He Lampshades this in chapter 62.
--> '''Eren''': [[{{Lampshade}} How many times have I been kidnapped now?]]
* {{Determinator}}:
** The very core of his character. Eren had to earn his position as 5th best of his class through sheer determination as he lacked any other outstanding or natural talent like those ranked above him. When Hannes is asked whether he's worried about the trio's survival, he expresses they all have a trait that helps them survive. While Mikasa has [[ActionGirl sheer physical prowess]] and Armin has [[GuileHero sharp intuition and intellect]], Eren's trait is simply being [[HeroicResolve unbreakable]]. Hannes notes that even as a child, when Eren picked fights, he might not have always ''won'', but he ''never gave up''.
** Also worth noting is his ability to [[SelfHarm bite his hand enough to draw blood over and over trying to transform. For anyone willing to try this, bite down on your hand as hard as you can and see how painful it is, and that's without even breaking skin. He cranks this up even further when he's severely injured, his sheer hatred proves enough to motivate him to ''further impale himself on a spike lodged in his chest'' to transform.]]
** Still pledged to exterminate all the Titans. Right after he got his arm and leg bitten off. WHILE he was in the stomach of a Titan.
** Captain Levi had this to say about Eren.
--->'''Levi:''' It's clear to me. This guy's a true monster. His Titan abilities have nothing to do with it either. No matter how much force you hold him down with, no matter what kind of cage you shut him up in, forcing this guy's will into submission is something nobody can do.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In Chapter 50, after recovering from his HeroicBSOD, he blocks the [[spoiler:Smiling Titan]]'s hand, and then punches it, before [[spoiler:using his Coordinate powers to sic a horde of Titans on it.]]
* DieOrFly: His Titan-shifting powers awoke when he was in the belly of the Titan who ''ate'' him, and his ability [[spoiler: as the Coordinate manifested when his group was surrounded by Titans outside the Wall with little hope of anyone getting out alive]].
* DistressedDude: He's frequently the victim of kidnappings or kidnapping attempts. [[spoiler: First by the Female Titan, then by Reiner and Bertolt, and now by the 1st Brigade]].
* EnfanteTerrible: Even as a child, there's always been something a bit off about Eren. His father implied he was very cold and anti-social, noting that Armin was his OnlyFriend. At the age of nine, he planned and carried out the brutal killing of two grown men to rescue Mikasa. While it was ruled justified, the soldiers sent to the scene were shaken by what two ''children'' managed to do to three adults. Even ''before'' his mother's death, Little Eren was a little unstable.
* 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.
* EtTuBrute: For all his pathological hatred of Titans and criminals in general, he's very distressed to learn that his own mentor and comrade Annie was the Female Titan responsible for the slaughter of the 57th expedition, and (in the manga) can't bring himself to express hatred towards her (while hesitating to harm her personally in the anime as well). By the time he learns about [[spoiler:Reiner and Bertolt]] however, his BlackAndWhiteMorality returns in full effect and he wants nothing more but to kill them "as excruciatingly as possible".
** The reason he didn't freeze up was because had some warning [[spoiler: The Survey Corps knew that there was more than one shifter in their ranks and Reiner and Bertolt were the most suspect. Eren had been in the know about this since he and a few other members of the crew had been ordered to keep a close eye on them]]. He still took it pretty hard, hence his outburst.
* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: Killed a grown man as a child, by stabbing him over and over (and over) again while screaming in a murderous rage. He also has a tendency towards this when fighting in his Titan form, especially during his first transformation.
* FaceOfAThug: Armin even says he and Jean have the look of a criminal in their eyes. This comes up later [[spoiler: when Jean pretends to be Eren so he can escape from the capital and probable execution]]. Interestingly, he doesn't object to looking like a thug, just that he doesn't have Jean's [[RunningGag horseface]].
* FailureHero: The foundation of Eren's struggle; he is a weakling in a cruel world. Throughout the story, Eren fails repeatedly and suffers for his mistakes, but he comes back a little stronger and a little wiser every time.
* FatalFlaw: His hotheadedness and inability to control his rage would have gotten him killed at Trost if he hadn't lucked out with his then-unknown Shifter powers. Later, he's in the company of two people who know a great deal about Titans and the other mysteries of the plot while in a situation where there's nothing they can do but talk. Eren knows that his best course of action is to grill them for information and specifically acknowledges that he needs to keep his temper. Even so, one off-color remark sets him off threatening to brutally murder them, and he (and the audience) learns nothing.
** Eren himself [[CharacterDevelopment acknowledges this]] at the end of the the ''Uprising'' arc.
* FearlessFool: Jean in particular considers him one, and many consider his over-confident attitude concerning the Titans a [[DeathSeeker death wish]]. He's beginning to learn to pick his fights, but only after several ''very'' harsh lessons.
* FightingFingerprint: After Annie kicks his ass and teaches him her technique, he adopts it as his main fighting style. One of the strongest hints that the Rogue Titan is him is that it puts up the same boxing stance and uses the exact same techniques shown earlier.
* FightingYourFriend: During his training session with Reiner, he was against practicing with his teammates but accepted it after his discussion with him. This is played straight when he has to fight Annie and subverted after [[spoiler: he discovers Reiner and Bertolt's true identities.]]
* FoeRomanceSubtext: He goes into strong denial about Annie being TheMole, and is even accused by Mikasa of having "special feelings" for her. WordOfGod would later state his feelings to be platonic however, while he remains silent on Annie. In the official HighSchoolAU, their ShipTease is ascended to Annie having explicit feelings for him.
* {{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).
* GladHesOnOurSide: Even as he slowly gains the trust of the soldiers in his squad, most of humanity remains fearful of him. And for good reason.
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: The HealingFactor that comes with being a Titan Shifter has saved him more than once, and it means that he can shrug off ''dismemberment and at one point having his face melted completely off.''
* GreenEyes: In the anime, his eyes are a vibrant green. It's one of the few features he has in common with his Titan form.
* GuiltFreeExterminationWar: The overall goal of the humans but Eren is hateful enough to [[BadassBoast declare he'll kill every Titan by himself]].
* HairTriggerTemper: Before the fall of Shiganshina he gets pissed of by people not taking the military seriously (either civilians or slackers like Hannes) and frequently gets into fights with bullies over trivial things. After watching his mother get eaten just about everything pisses him off (but nothing more than the Titans)
* HealingFactor: As a Titan Shifter, he passively heals at a rapid pace, even regrowing whole limbs in a matter of hours.
* 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.
* HeroicBuild: His Titan form has it, and his actual body is pretty sculpted, too.
* HeroicBSOD: Once he knows that Annie is the Female Titan, he can't bring himself to transform and fight her, not even to save himself when he's getting crushed. It takes several of his friends yelling at him, including Mikasa, Armin, and Jean, then the memories of his mother getting eaten ''and'' the Special Operation Squad getting killed before he finally snaps out of it. It is a sight to behold. This happens only in the anime version, in the manga he snaps out of it ''much'' faster, just as Armin and Mikasa go off to distract the Female Titan.
** When he finds out that [[spoiler: some of his friends are Titan-shifters instigating mankind's destruction]], he does not take the news well.
** He has a nasty one when [[spoiler:Hannes is eaten in front of him, making him feel completely useless. It takes Mikasa reassuring him of everything that he has done for her to break him out of it, and when [[TookALevelInBadass he does]]...]]
* HeroicResolve: A necessary ingredient for transforming into his Titan form.
* HeroicRROD: As he pushes his Titan shifting ability to its limits, maintaining lucid control becomes more and more difficult, and can result in loss of consciousness at best, and Eren melding with his Titan body at worst.
* HeroicSacrifice: Sacrifices himself to save Armin during the Battle of Trost, though he manages to survive the experience.
** [[spoiler:Seeming pulls one again by losing his will to live and allowing Historia to claim her birthright by eating him.]]
* HeroicSecondWind: At one point, it looks like he's down for the count, but then sees the same Titan that ate Thomas Wagner. He immediately gets the [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge resolve]] to [[ItsPersonal fight his way through several Titans to put it down]].
** In the anime, after Annie kicks his face in, Eren manages to get a second wind from his [[{{Determinator}} unshakable willpower]] and his [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge desire to murder every last Titan]]
** While Hannes is getting eaten Eren is powerless to help (being unable to transform) and breaks down in tears. Mikasa snaps him out of it and he tries to take on the Titan that ate his mother and Hannes with his bare hands. [[spoiler: Thanks to his power as the coordinate kicking in Eren walks away victorious.]]
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: At more than one point in the story so far, Eren's realized that he's made the wrong decision and people wound up dying as a result. While nobody blames him, as said "wrong choice" is more often than not a reasonable one with consequences that no one could have predicted, he still blames himself whenever this is the case and responds by flying into a murderous rage and slaughtering whoever is ''truly'' to blame.
* 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.
* HeroicWillPower: How he maintains control of said Titan form.
* HeroWorshipper: Little Eren held the Survey Corps in the highest regard and aspired to join them one day.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Armin.
* HighPressureBlood: Used for drama, whenever he [[SelfHarm bites his hand]]. Blood tends to splatter out around his teeth, even though such an injury generally wouldn't actually cause that to happen.
* HopeBringer: For many people. His Titan Shifting ability is a weapon that could permit them to eradicate Titans. Even more so after Chapter 50 [[spoiler: when he awakens the power to ''control'' normal Titans.]]
* HorrifyingHero: He's unquestionably on humanity's side, but being a Titan Shifter horrifies everyone, understandably.
* HotBlooded: Evident throughout the series, but particularly lampshaded in Chapter 34. Due to his perilous situation, he resolves to control his emotions. This state lasts for less than half the chapter.
* HowDoIShotWeb: Eren initially has difficulty activating his Titan-shifting power at his own free will. He eventually learns that only by having a deliberate goal in mind as he experiences pain does the transformation work.
* HumblePie: His experiences during and following Trost greatly humble him, causing him to be more introspective and less rash.
* TheHunter: Well, his last name ''is'' [[MeaningfulName Yeager.]] He's the fourth type, one who seeks revenge against the Titans for his mother's death.
* HunterOfHisOwnKind: Humanity's trump card against the Titans, and absolutely vital in taking on the other Titan Shifters.
* IdiotHero: Not precisely stupid, but lets his emotions get the better of him. The show {{deconstruct}}s the typical shonen examples by showing the realistic consequence of [[LeeroyJenkins rushing blindly on willpower alone]], and thereby ignoring the plan that your military superiors have set up. The consequences are terrible for him and his team in Trost.
* IJustWantToBeFree: Despises the fact that humanity is reduced to the state it is, going as far as to call the Walls "cages".
* ILetGwenStacyDie: He blames himself thoroughly for the deaths of the Survey Corps elite squad. In Episode 24, when he's undergoing a major HeroicBSOD and his usual motivations (namely "kill all the Titans" and "humanity will be free") don't seem to be able to shake him out of it, he gets angry remembering their deaths and gradually regains his resolve via UnstoppableRage.
* IllKillYou: He says this to the Female Titan, though it can't hear him at the time, even threatening to ''eat'' it. Later on, to [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt.]]
* InSeriesNickname: Amongst The 104th Trainee Corps he's known as "that Suicidal Bastard" ("Suicidal Maniac" in the dub) due to how eager he was to pick a fight with the titans; Jean came up with the moniker, and is the only person who will say it to Eren's face. This comes up later on, when Armin bluffs the Female Titan [[INeverSaidItWasPoison by saying this nickname instead of "Eren"]] and figures out that she must be one of the Trainees to correctly guess who he was talking about.
* {{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.
** DramaticIrony: His Titan hatred was born after watching his mother brutally eaten by one. [[spoiler:Later it's revealed that ''he ate his father'' after the latter's injection turned him into a mindless Titan.]]
* ItsAllMyFault: At several points, he's forced to make choices that end up getting people killed. He hates himself for this and keeps holding himself solely responsible even when there was no feasible way he could've known the consequences.
* JackOfAllStats: His skills at 3DMG are average. He is skilled at martial arts though and that helps a lot when you are a Titan-shifter. Also, his instructor notes that his sheer persistence and dedication to training allow him to surpass many others.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He has a habit of saying what's on his mind when he ''really'' shouldn't and his anger is horrifying, but he is ultimately a nice guy in casual conversation.
* KidHero: He is 15.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: After his mother's death, Eren was supposedly injected with a mysterious serum by his father, but can't recall the details due to a side effect of said serum. The serum is believed to have been what gave Eren his Titan-shifting powers. [[spoiler: However, the serum didn't give him all of his powers as the Coordinate powers he received from eating his father, who had eaten the real person with Coordinate powers: Frieda Reiss, Krista/Historia's older half-sister.]]
* LaserGuidedTykebomb: When they discover he is able to transform into a Titan, humans allow him to live so he can exterminate all Titans.
* LeeroyJenkins: During his first battle, Eren gets pissed upon seeing a Titan eat one of his comrades and charges madly into the fray. This gets nearly everyone with him killed. [[DramaticIrony Ironically, the only time where he doesn't pull this]] leads to many people being killed by the Female Titan.
** His basic tactic as a Titan when facing other Titans. It's a double edged sword because Eren has a limited amount of time as a Titan anyway and thanks to his HealingFactor and hand to hand training he can bring down dozens of them but is susceptible to [[ZergRush overwhelming numbers]].
* {{Leitmotif}}: The first intro theme ''Guren no Yumiya'' (Crimson Bow and Arrow) is stated to be Eren's theme.
* [[LittleMissBadass Little Mister Badass]]: As a child, he used his adorable and innocent appearance to get close enough to a kidnapper to brutally murder him. He then immediately turns into a CreepyChild, stabbing the other guy to death while screaming at him.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: To Mikasa, in an odd fashion. Eren has been such an effective crutch that [[spoiler: he doesn't even need to be alive for Mikasa to be supported, all she needs is her memory of him.]]
* LivingMacGuffin: Just about every faction in the story aside from the Garrison wants to have custody of him. This is understandable, as he's the first known human capable of transforming into a Titan. Even when other Titan-Shifters start pop up, they still see him as important enough to risk everything and abandon their plans to destroy the people within the Walls just to kidnap him. This is later revealed to be due to Eren [[spoiler: also having the mysterious "Coordinate" power, which lets him control Titans.]]
* LotusEaterMachine: Briefly (compared to Ymir's experience) trapped in a weird dream state while trying to retake Trost. In his dream he has no memory of his mother dying and doesn't remember his desire to explore the world beyond the walls (which Armin is able to remind him of breaking the dream). While in this state he is very violent towards Mikasa and tries to kill her. [[spoiler:It's later implied that ''all'' Titans experience this when they lose control.]]
* LovecraftianSuperpower: His Titan-shifting in particular demonstrates the more horrifying aspects of the power.
* TheMcCoy: The brashest, most emotionally-driven, and most eager to fight among the main trio, although he's quick on his feet and can think when it counts. He is also highly invested in doing what he feels is the right thing, which may not always be the ''best'' thing.
* MeaningfulName: His surname, ''Yeager'', is a transliteration of ''Jäger'', which means ''Hunter'' in German.
** "Eren" in Turkish means "holy," or "righteous." So his full name could be interpreted as [[AwesomeMcCoolname Holy Hunter or Righteous Hunter.]]
* MundaneObjectAmazement: As noted under TheWorldIsJustAwesome, Eren is amazed and flabbergasted that there might exist bodies of water so massive no merchant could ever empty it, or that there might be entire plains of ice or fields of sand.
* NeverASelfMadeWoman: An inversion. Eren became one of the best hand-to-hand fighters thanks to training from Annie, which later becomes very significant when [[spoiler: it allows him to overcome Reiner's advantage of size, strength, and armor]].
* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: His last conversation with his mother, prior to the Titans attacking, involved screaming at her. [[PartingWordsRegret He later expresses frustration at himself for this]].
* NotAfraidToDie: What sets him apart from many other recruits. When Eren fights, he has no time to let the prospect of of death get in his way, and, in spite of what his allies [[DeathSeeker think of him]], Eren has every intention of walking out of each fight alive. Best exemplified when he unhesitatingly rushes the Colossal Titan the moment it reappears, meanwhile everyone else is too stunned to even move.
* NotBloodSiblings: With Mikasa, who was adopted by Grisha and Carla after the murder of her biological parents. Despite their closeness, he tends to view Mikasa as the [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling Annoying Sibling]] due to her overprotective nature.
* NotSoDifferent: Although their goals and personalities are very different, Eren and Annie share the same love for unarmed combat, and both sometimes show a disturbing sadistic streak. Also, Eren's Titan form is closest to Annie's in terms of fighting ability, and even copies some of her moves. Finally, both characters have a mysterious father figure implied to be connected to -- or perhaps responsible for -- their Titan-shifting abilities.
* ObliviousToLove: He finds Mikasa's desire to keep him safe irritating and sees her as his [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling annoying adopted sister]].
** Unlike his squadmates, he fails to grasp that Hitch may have feelings for Marlo.
* 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
* OurHeroIsDead: Gets eaten by a Titan in Chapter 4. It starts to look like a case of DecoyProtagonist, except he's NotQuiteDead. He comes back A-OK in Chapter 9 as the Rogue Titan, who ignored any humans it came across and instead slaughtered every Titan it could find.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Prone to this when dealing with enemies he feels are "not human", such as the kidnappers from his childhood or the Titan Shifters.
* PlotCoupon: He is in possession of the key to the Yeager residence's basement, which is believed to hold a secret that may contribute to humanity's victory against the Titans. The basement in question, however, is still located in Titan-infested Wall Maria.
* PlotMagnet: He is so important that many fans want him to get captured:
** DoomMagnet: Since the Titan Shifters want to capture him, a lot of Titans inevitably end up appearing and many soldiers wind up dying as a result.
** FightMagnet: He tends to draw in battles with Titans and pick fights with people that he disagrees with.
* PowerCopying: He's able to learn and effectively use one of Annie's moves after she used it against him. She's genuinely surprised when he uses it later that evening, and ends up teaching him her fighting style.
* 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.
* PowerHigh: Not so much from power itself, but simply from being able to kill Titans with ease. When he first regains consciousness after having emerged from his Titan body, he sleep-talks about wanting and being able to kill so many Titans with a creepy grin on his face.
* ThePowerOfHate: What really motivates him is his desire to eradicate every Titan on the planet. Seeing as he needs a specific goal to transform, the desire to kill is actually is the trigger to many of his transformations. Even while in the stomach of a Titan, it is his insatiable rage that manifests his powers for the first time.
%%No need to start an edit war over whether or not the ThePowerOfLove trope applies. Please take it out on the discussion page.
* ProHumanTranshuman: Determined to use his Titan powers for the sake of humanity.
* ProperlyParanoid: Before the attack of the Colossal Titan, Eren was always warning others that the Walls won't protect them forever. People would laugh at him and say he was crazy -- Until that day...
* {{Protectorate}}: Under Mikasa's completely unwanted protection, and, later, the Survey Corps'.
* PsychoForHire: A heroic example. Having a job where you have to kill Titans perfectly suits a guy who craves exterminating them, no?
* RebelliousSpirit: His childhood was marked with constant battles with other children (and even adults in the Garrison), all the while calling people livestock for being content in their lives within the Walls. While he was ProperlyParanoid, he continues to challenge social norms and accuse high-ranking military and government officials of being cowards.
* RedOniBlueOni: HotBlooded Red Oni to Mikasa's EmotionlessGirl Blue.
* {{Revenge}}: Eren has a personal, ever-growing list of people he seeks bloody vengeance for, and every name leads back to the Titans.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: You could say his entire life is one. He always wanted to join the Survey Corps, but after the Titans killed his mother, he promised to kill them all.
** 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.
** 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.
** He has his biggest one yet after [[spoiler: finding out that some of his friends were the Titans responsible for all of his suffering.]]
* SanitySlippage: While nowhere as bad as the other Shifters Eren is in need of some serious therapy. Completely justified as he watched his mother get eaten and his home razed by the things that kept him caged from seeing the outside world, and later the identities of the Colossal, Armored and Female Titans [[ThereAreNoTherapists are things that would need psychiatric help to deal with...]]
** Best shown when 'dreaming' (actually remembering) his rampage after becoming the Rogue Titan for the first time with a SlasherSmile on his face. Armin's expression shows that he realizes just how far off the deep end his friend has gone.
* SayingTooMuch: His restraint isn't that great even after some harsh lessons. At one point, he even mentally questions whether to keep his rant going or not during his trial but proceeds anyway. Bad idea.
* ScreamingWarrior: Eren is quite prone to this. Especially in Titan form. Mikasa even says that his roar embodies humanity's collective rage.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: He insists that if he had gone to get help after tracking down Mikasa's kidnappers they would have been too late (which is likely true). [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer With only himself and a knife there]], [[KickTheSonOfABitch he did the only thing he could to save her.]]
* SelfHarm: How Eren shifts to his Titan form; he usually bites his hand. Eren himself does not understand how he knew doing so would trigger the change. It should be noted that the bite alone isn't enough to do it (as he found out during a Survey Corps experiment), he also needs a specific impetus besides "turn into a Titan" such as "block that cannon shell".
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The manly man to Armin's sensitive guy.
* SiblingYinYang: Compared to his sister, who's TheStoic, TheLancer, and an EmotionlessGirl.
* SlasherSmile: He sported one while still asleep after his first transformation into a Titan, thinking his memories in that form were a dream. He also gets an ''epic'' one when he's one strike from slaying the Female Titan in his Titan form, though his human form is the one doing the smiling.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Eren being a Titan Shifter derailed the other Shifters' initial plan and made them focus on abducting him instead.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The official translation gives his family name as Yeager, which is the Anglicized version of Jäger/Jaeger. However, many translations (most notably Funimation's) use Jaeger as his surname.
* SpringCleaningFever: Eren is shown to thoroughly clean any new place he winds up in, not because he likes cleaning, but because of his experience with ''Levi''.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: His face is almost identical to his mother's.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: His eyes are sometimes colored this way in the manga, to emphasize his unusual abilities.
* SuperPoweredEvilSide: Initially, he is unable to control his Titan form and viciously attacks Mikasa. Armin manages to get through to him, and he's since learned how to control himself.
* SuperSerum: Got his powers after Grisha's injection. [[spoiler: But not all of them.]]
* SuperSoldier: His Titan powers have the potential to make him one, and he is treated as humanity's trump card. When announcing the plan to reclaim Trost, Pixis invokes this trope as a cover story to explain away Eren's powers to the masses -- stating that he is the result of a secret government experiment to create a SuperSoldier.
* SurvivalMantra: "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!!"
* SwordOverHead: In the [[AdaptationExpansion anime adaptation]], Eren, while in a murderous craze, has the opportunity to either capture or outright finish off Annie during their fight, but he instead hesitates, allowing Annie to crystalize herself.
* SympatheticMurderBackstory: Played with. He once murdered two men to rescue Mikasa, but this is later used by the Military Police Brigade to paint him as dangerous.
* ThrowTheDogABone: In Chapter 41, Eren [[spoiler: finally gets to kill a Titan (as a human)]] just like he's always wanted. Notably, this doesn't have any real story importance and he's promptly told to step back.
* TookALevelInBadass: Twice. The first was awakening his Titan Shifter powers, and the second time was [[spoiler: awakening his "Coordinate" power, which allows him to command all normal Titans.]]
* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: He gets eaten, then Titan-shifts for the first time within the Titan's stomach. The results of an unintentional EatMe are not pretty.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: The first time he shifts into Titan mode is ''inside another Titan's stomach'' with 2 limbs missing, screaming that he will kill every last Titan. [[{{Determinator}} This kid does]] ''[[{{Determinator}} not]]'' [[{{Determinator}} give up.]]
** [[spoiler: Awakens his ability as the "Coordinate" after Hannes' death, allowing him to command normal Titans.]]
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Most normal youths his age don't express the degree of bloodcurdling fury Eren displays. It's a little scary.
** As a child, he killed two grown men to save a kidnapped Mikasa and showed no remorse.
* TrueCompanions: He, Mikasa, and Armin are this.
* UnstoppableRage: His rage is a ''terrifying'' thing. Annie is noticeably frightened at several points during their battles, and during the mission to capture her, she abandons her mission to kidnap Eren (a thought that terrifies her comrades) and attempts to ''scale Wall Sina with her bare hands'' once he comes out swinging.
** This is made even more apparent in the anime, where AnArmAndALeg have been broken off of his body in the second fight between him and Annie, and he's set aflame, he comes out running and [[{{Squick}} crushes her skull]]. Damn.
** After getting [[AnArmAndALeg his arm and leg bitten off]] and while in the gut of a Titan he takes a moment to freak out before declaring that he WILL murder every last Titan.
* WatchingTroyBurn: He, Mikasa and Armin had to evacuate from Zhiganshina, the first district to fall into Titan hands after a hundred years of volatile peace. Coupled with the loss of his mother, his response was to swear revenge.
%% WhenSheSmiles is not an AudienceReaction trope. If a character ''in-universe'' notes that his smile does make him more attractive, feel free to re-add the example.
* VigilanteMan: He hunted down and killed human traffickers, taking the law into his own hands. That he was a child at the time and the brutality of his actions left the authorities shaken.
* WeMeetAgain: To the Colossal Titan:
-->'''Eren:''' Hey, there....it's been five years.
* WhatTheHellHero: Several characters call him out on his unwillingness to fight Annie once she's revealed as the Female-type because of the high death toll the unchecked rampage causes. In the anime version, later, Armin calls him out on his ''seconds''-long hesitancy to capture her, which lead to Annie encasing herself in her CrystalPrison.
* WideEyedIdealist: He is pretty idealistic, thinking humanity could still beat the Titans. And believing no matter how many times the Survey Corps fails, they at least bring back information mankind can use.
* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: In-universe, it's hearing about the fascinating and weird aspects of the outside world like never ending pools of water, entire fields of ice and sand, and burning water that drive Eren to want to leave the safety of the Walls. By the time of the main story, it's the other part of his raison d'etre aside from murdering every single Titan: Eren wants to venture out into the world simply because it is the awe-inspiring world he was born into.
* 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.
----
!!Tropes that apply to the second half of the series
[[quoteright:180:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/erenyeagersecondhalf121_9658.png]]
->''"And then I'll know... I'll know exactly who to point all this anger at..."''
After Eren is captured by enemy forces, he awakens his most powerful ability and the main reason the Titan Shifters were after him: the power to control other Titans. In the next arc, he becomes a target for kidnapping ''again'', this time alongside Historia and by a dangerous enemy faction hiding within the Walls.
----
* 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.
* TheBeastmaster: In Chapter 50, he develops the ability to direct Titans.
* BrokenPedestal: Deeply admired and looked up to [[spoiler: Reiner]], leading to a complete destruction of the pedestal when he learns that [[spoiler:Reiner]] is the Armored Titan. He expresses disgust over his former hero's deception and hypocrisy.
* BrutalHonesty: After Historia shared her concerns with him, he bluntly told her that he found her creepy when she was trying to act as a NiceGirl.
* CannibalismSuperpower: His Titan Shifter power comes from [[spoiler:having eaten his own father after being turned into a Titan. He also inherited the Coordinate ability, which his father had gotten by eating Frieda Reiss.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: He's grown more introspective and thoughtful from his many experiences. Since he has [[FailureKnight a lot of mistakes to make up for]], he has developed [[HeroicSelfDeprecation some crippling self-doubt.]] However, because he can reflect on his experiences and what went wrong before, it all culminates in a [[HesBack moment where, despite everything he's been through, he chooses to bet on himself once more.]]
** Chapter 70 shows you how much Eren has changed as a character. His [[spoiler:rant from "I want to kill Reiner and Bertolt and give them the most excruciating death ever" changes to "I must kill them regardless of whether I want to or not." When prompted by Historia about whether he wants to or not, he seems to hesitate and only replies that he must.]]
* CompellingVoice: Erwin theorizes that his voice can be used to influence not only Titans, but humans as well. [[spoiler:Turns out it can, but only in the hands of the Reiss family.]]
* DeclarationOfProtection: He gives one to Mikasa, declaring that everything he has done for her, he'd do all over again.
* 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.]]
* DeusExMachina: The ending of Chapter 66 [[spoiler:has everyone trapped in a collapsing cave, when Eren suddenly notices Rod's bag that just happened to lie right next to them ''and'' contain a serum for an "armored" Titan, the type of Titan ability Eren had tried hard at mastering beforehand and is exactly what they needed to escape the situation.]]
* DevouredByTheHorde: [[spoiler: It turns out he has the power to invoke this when he used this odd scream to get a bunch of Titans to gang up and tear apart the Titan that killed his mother years ago.]]
* DoNotGoGentle: When he faces what seems like certain death, instead of sitting down and accepting it, Eren gets up and tries to ''punch a Titan''.
* FacialHorror: When his Titan-shifting ability is pushed to its limits, Eren can barely eject from his Titan body, and his face ends up partially melted off. [[GoodThingYouCanHeal He recovers.]] He also happens to be [[FanDisservice shirtless]] in this scene.
* HeroicBSOD: When he sees the Titan [[spoiler:who ate his mother]] approaching him and Mikasa, he completely shuts down. It takes her confessing how much he means to her to snap him out of it.
** Suffers another one when [[spoiler:he discovers that he is pretty much, in his own words "unnecessary" due to the Reiss family being able to eat Titans and therefore absorb the memories that he received from Frieda. He even refuses to turn when Kenny wounds him, and asks Historia to eat him.]]
* HeroicRROD: After Eren overuses his new power he suffers an intense nosebleed.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation:
** After [[spoiler:learning that he is incapable of hardening]], Eren briefly questions if he is capable of shouldering humanity's hope and muses how powerless he still is.
** [[spoiler:Taken to new heights now that he realizes that he has no use due to simply being a vessel for the Reiss family, and wholly loses the will to live, calling himself "unnecessary".]]
* HesBack: Crosses a DespairEventHorizon near the end of the Uprising arc, but manages to come back from it.
* 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.
%%* HumbleHero: Eren's come a long way since
* ItsPersonal: For Reiner and Bertolt, the feeling is ''definitely'' not mutual (his feelings towards Annie are much more complex). They indirectly caused the death of his mother. [[PrepareToDie Of course he won't forgive them.]]
-->'''Eren:''' I'll do everything in my power... '''TO MAKE YOUR DEATHS AS EXCRUCIATING AS POSSIBLE.'''
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt]] might have been captured without incident if Eren hadn't gone and mentioned their village at that particular moment. Instead, it inspires them to decide now is the time to make their move and leads [[spoiler: Reiner]] to confess everything to Eren. It rapidly goes downhill from there.
* NotSoDifferent:
** With TheReveal that came at the end of the "Uprising" arc, it turns out that Eren has much in common with the Titans, ''and'' the Shifters. It's seems to have put a damper on his [[BlackAndWhiteMorality Black and White views of the world]].
--->'''Eren:''' What are we really fighting against..? Are Titans... really Humans... trapped in a nightmare..?
** His thoughts About [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt]].
---> '''Historia''': What are you going to do... If we meet them again?\\
'''Eren''': ...(quietly) I must kill them.\\
'''Historia''': Do you want to kill them?\\
'''Eren''': ...I must... kill them.
* OhCrap: He insults Rod Reiss's short height before realizing that Levi is right behind him.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: His lack of resistance in Chapter 65 briefly takes Historia aback.
** Played for laughs in chapter 70 when Jean gets up to his old tricks and throws a few sarcastic remarks in Eren's direction (complete with a hilarious {{Troll}} face)... and is a little disappointed when Eren doesn't take the bait.
* OutOfFocus: Thanks to getting kidnapped ''again'' during the "Krista is Royalty" plotline, he goes several chapters without an appearance.
* PhlebotinumGirl: He possesses the Command ability, which the king hopes to acquire by [[spoiler:[[CannibalismSuperpower eating him]]]].
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: After the truth about where his power came from is revealed, Eren [[spoiler:loses the will to live and outright asks Historia to eat him]].
* SelfMadeOrphan: It's revealed that [[spoiler:Grisha intentionally fed himself to Eren, so that his son would gain the ability to control his Titan form]].
* ShirtlessScene:
** In Chapter 53, Eren is given the honor of being the first shirtless scene in the series. It is combined with FanDisservice, thanks to his face being melted off at the time.
** In Chapter 61, his captors seem to have taken the time to remove his shirt before chaining him up.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: An epic one in [[spoiler:Chapter 19 and to Reiner during Chapter 43.]]
* ThousandYardStare: As he sees [[spoiler:the Titan '''that killed his mother five years ago''' slowly approaching him in Chapter 49.]]
* TookALevelInBadass [[spoiler:In chapter 66, Eren upgrades his titan by eating a serum labelled "Armored" after choosing to act and fight against Rod Reiss's titan.]]
* TraumaInducedAmnesia: The gap in Eren's childhood memories is revealed to be the result of him [[spoiler:suppressing the memories of his father's death]].
* WorthyOpponent: [[spoiler: Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie]] genuinely respect and seem to care for him, regardless of circumstances requiring that they are enemies.
* YouAreWorthHell: While facing seemingly certain death together, Eren has declared that everything he's done for Mikasa he'd be willing to do all over again.
* YouMonster: His reaction upon discovering [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt's]] true identities, stating that [[YouMakeMeSick he wants to puke]]. He later delivers a screaming rant to [[spoiler: Reiner]] calling him an inhuman monster with no right to feel guilt over his actions.
* 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.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Mikasa Ackerman]]
!!Mikasa Ackerman
!!!Voiced by: Creator/YuiIshikawa (JP), Creator/TrinaNishimura (EN)
[[quoteright:238:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/238px-Misaka-Chara_Design_2997.png]]
->''"This world is a very cruel place. But it is also very beautiful."''
The adoptive sister of Eren and mutual childhood friend of Armin, Mikasa hides her emotions but cares deeply for Eren -- never hesitating to cry with tears of joy or despair depending on what happens to him. She shares an unbreakable bond with Eren following events in their past, and his mother requesting that she protect him made her even more overly protective of him than she was beforehand. She is the top-ranked graduate of the class.
'''Branch:''' Survey Corps
----
* ActionGirl: Very, ''very'' much so. Mikasa is stated to be as deadly as one hundred soldiers by herself.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Downplayed. While Mikasa is considered beautiful in both the anime and the manga, the anime emphasizes her attractiveness more.
* AdaptationExpansion: The last few episodes gives her some scenes with Eren that weren't in the manga.
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: She's beautiful, stoic, and stands out as the only main female character with black hair.
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Gender-inverted. Mikasa's first priority will always be Eren's safety, to the point where the latter finds it annoying.
* AmazonianBeauty: Despite her overall slim and feminine build, she's [[http://i.imgur.com/BQsTk0o.jpg insanely]] [[http://i.imgur.com/UScNvNi.jpg toned]] and [[http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=of0mrq&s=5#.Uq9Pgvbpj-k ripped]] under her uniform, sporting ''BruceLee muscles''. While you don't get to see much of her muscularity in the actual series, some official illustrations have her in sports wear to show off her physique.
* [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling Annoying Sibling]]: To Eren, because of her insistence on accompanying him everywhere.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Mikasa was named for the IJN Mikasa, an imperial Japanese Dreadnought. Her surname, Ackerman/Ackermann is reference to farmers, meaning one who tills the field, or reaps the crops. Ergo, her name essentially mean ''Dreadnought Reaper''. Considering the size of the Titans, you could say she was born to kill them.
* TheAntiNihilist: She has shades of this, she realizes how crappy the world is, but fights because she has something to cling to: Eren.
* {{Badass}}: The biggest badass of the 104th Trainee Corps. [[AllThereInTheManual According to supplementary material,]] among the only people who rival her battle skills are [[TrainingFromHell Annie Leonhart,]] [[{{Determinator}} Ian Dietrich,]] and [[TheBigGuy Mike Zacharius.]] The only person to actually ''surpass'' them is, of course, [[WorldsStrongestMan Levi.]]
* BadassBoast: Several.
** "I am strong. Stronger than any of you."
** Gives a chilling one during a standoff with a bunch of soldiers when they threaten to execute Eren.
--->'''Mikasa''': My specialty... involves flesh... and the lacerating thereof. You just draw close enough, and I'll be happy to demonstrate. Should anyone wish to experience my technique... by all means, feel free to come this way.
** Also to a belligerent businessman being difficult during the evacuation, threatening that she could kill him and not bat an eye.
* BadassCreed: Though only uttered once or twice, she lives by what Eren said to her at their first meeting.
-->'''Mikasa''': If I can't, I die. But if I win, I live. I can't win unless I fight.
* BadassNormal: Despite not having any special abilities like some other characters, she manages to rank #1 in her class. She also manages to slay several Titans and escape without a scratch whereas others die within moments of encountering one. [[spoiler: Subverted later on when it is revealed her entire family has special abilities that give them a boost in times of extreme peril.]]
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Described as beautiful by other characters, and firmly on the heroic side.
* BerserkButton:
** Do '''NOT''' screw with Eren if you value your life. Just look at [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/a209d3573ec70ac53a47830486209e9a/tumblr_mpizho4xDi1qh3v8wo1_500.jpg the look on her face]] when Levi beats up Eren during his trial. She's ready to beat the in-series WorldsStrongestMan to within an inch of his life!
** This can be a problem when her anger gets the better of her. At one point, when Eren is in danger, Levi orders her to focus on the main objective and to keep in check her own desire to attack blindly. [[spoiler: She still gets baited into trying to finish the Female Titan off, which ends up costing Levi]].
* BettyAndVeronica: She's portrayed as the Betty in official parodies, with Annie as the Veronica and Eren as a clueless Archie. It's ambiguous whether or not such a dynamic existed in the main canon or not.
* BigDamnHeroes: She's rather prone to this.
** In Episode 22, she manages to save Dieter in the nick of time just before a Titan puts him in his mouth.
** She appears at the head of a group of reinforcements at Castle Utgard, coming out of nowhere to kill a Titan just before it grabs one of her comrades.
** A short time later, she leaps to Eren's defense just before [[spoiler: Reiner tries to kidnap him, severing one of his arms and stabbing the other, as well as slicing into the nearby Bertolt's neck and right hand]].
* TheBigGirl: Despite her smaller stature, Mikasa is looked up to and relied on as the very best combatant amongst the trainees.
* BigSisterInstinct: She is this towards Eren in spades, though they're the same age.
** And, to a lesser extent, she has this attitude towards Armin as well.
* BlatantLies: Provides some comedy to cover for Eren twice. First "Sasha farted" in boot camp then when her squadmates ask her exactly happened when Eren [[spoiler: lost control during his second Titan-shift and attacked her, punching in his own face in the process]], she claims he was ''swatting a fly''. [[TheComicallySerious In a completely straight face and tone]].
* BodyguardCrush: There are hints here and there that this is the case between her and Eren.
* BodyguardingABadass: Her entire reason for joining the military is to protect Eren. [[spoiler: Who is revealed later to be a Titan Shifter, and badass by himself.]] Even with that development, she is still more competent than him.
* BoyishShortHair: She cuts her hair after Eren tells her it may get in the way of her training. It contributes to her tough ActionGirl image.
* BrainsAndBrawn: The brawn to Armin's brains.
* BreakTheCutie: When she was younger, she seemed to be an average nine-year-old instead of the stoic badass we know today. Then, her parents were killed in front of her and she was kidnapped. But that was not what broke her; after Eren killed two of the kidnappers, the third just came into the room and almost killed Eren. As Eren almost died, she finally broke, realizing how messed up the world was. And then her adoptive mother was killed one year later, and her adoptive father disappeared somewhere unknown, leaving her and Eren all alone to recover from the Titan attack.
** She suffers from this trope again upon hearing that [[spoiler: Eren was killed during the Battle of Trost.]]
* BrokenAce: The second best fighter, including the [[LovecraftianSuperPower Titan Shifters]], beaten only by [[WorldsStrongestMan Levi]]. However, she only became so skilled after the trauma caused by the death of her parents, both biological ''and'' adoptive. In her eyes, Eren is all she has left in the world, and she must protect him at ''all'' costs.
* BrokenBird: Once upon a time she was just a normal little girl. Nowadays, she rarely ever smiles.
* [[BigBrotherWorship Brother Worship]]: In the eyes of Mikasa, Eren is the greatest person in the world.
** [[WhatTheHellHero Gets called on this several times]] by characters (most notably Jean in Episode 16) when it interferes with her normally rational thinking. Make no mistake, as awesome and useful as Eren is, she can be almost fanatical about him to the point where it can cause major problems if someone doesn't snap her out of it.
** In fact, Eren himself has called her out on this early in the series for caring more for him than the human race.
* BrutalHonesty: She cares for her friends, but she doesn't hesitate to call them out if she thinks they're in the wrong.
* ButNotTooForeign: She is half-Asian.
* {{Byronic Hero}}ine: She joined the Survey Corps only because of Eren, who is everything to her. She has a tragic past and will kill anyone who threatens Eren, be they foe or former friends.
* CatchPhrase: "This world is a cruel place".
** With the occasional addition of "But it is also beautiful."
* TheChampion: Towards Eren. She's frequently called out on taking her "Protect Eren above all else" devotion too far.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Has shown WAY more strength than any normal person of her age or size should possess. It's strongly implied that her childhood trauma somehow shattered her natural mental limiters.
* ClingyJealousGirl:
** In a flashback chapter where Annie was wrestling with Eren during combat training, Mikasa decides they're getting too close and ''throws Reiner at them''.
** Portrayed this way in the official parodies, such as when she looms in the background with swords out when Eren talks to [[DudeMagnet Krista]].
** In chapter 70, while Eren is praising Krista for her recent actions and helping her carry stuff, Mikasa seems annoyed at how chummy they were. After confronting them, she claims Eren must be tired from all his training, and yanks away the bags he was carrying.
* TheComicallySerious: Most funny moments involving her revolve around the fact that shes known to hold an absurdly serious and deadpan expression in (almost) any situation, along with the occasional dry quip. See BlatantLies and ClingyJealousGirl.
* TheCoatsAreOff: Dramatically drops her traveler cloak and draws her sword when she's had enough screwing around trying to talk to Annie when it's clear that she is the Female Titan.
* CryCute: When Eren comes out of his Titan mode, she runs to him and sobs after finding he is still alive.
* TheCynic: She's not vocal about it like Jean, but her catchphrase ''is'' "The world is a cruel place", and it's easy to see why.
* CynicismCatalyst: Her parents' death has made her TheStoic EmotionlessGirl she is today.
* DareToBeBadass: What made her the hardened badass she is today.
-->'''Mikasa:''' If you win, you live. If you lose, you die. If you don't fight, you can't win!
* DarkActionGirl: Mikasa actually has some darker shades, too. She develops over the course of the series and obviously holds some strong morals dear to her, but as soon as Eren is in danger she is willing to slice up pretty much anyone, friend or foe without a second thought to protect him. While most others join the Survey Corps to actually fight for mankind, Mikasa couldn't care less if Eren hadn't joined.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Saw both her biological parents get killed by human traffickers. Also saw her adoptive mother get eaten by a Titan. And then her adoptive father disappeared as well.
* DeathGlare: When Eren is in danger. If looks could kill, Levi would be six feet under six times over by now.
* DeathSeeker: She has a tendency towards this when/if Eren is believed dead.
* DeclarationOfProtection: To Eren, of course.
* {{Determinator}}: If Eren is in danger, she will not rest until he is safe again. She did almost give up after she heard from Armin that Eren died, but even ''then'' she never stopped struggling and continued fighting a Titan with no gear and only half a blade left.
* TheDreaded:
** A heroic example. Even with several dozen soldiers surrounding just her, Eren, and Armin, they're visibly afraid of her after the BadassBoast she gives as shown above.
** In a more lighthearted example: The boys bullying Armin are unfazed when Eren charges toward them. It isn't until they see ''Mikasa'' that they haul ass.
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: In anime Episode 7, Mikasa has this right after she hears of Eren's supposed death. It happened again in Episode 21, when she witnesses Eren being devoured by the Female Titan.
* EffortlessAmazonianLift: Twice thus far. The first time, she breaks up an argument between Eren and Jean by throwing Eren her shoulder and walking away. In a flashback, she's shown to have once ''thrown [[HeroicBuild Reiner]]'' at Annie from across the training yard.
* EmotionlessGirl: The stoic type.
* EnlightenmentSuperpower: More mundane than most but still follows a similar path. When confronting the slave traders who kidnapped her, she had an epiphany that lead to a higher understanding about the world. This empowered her to feel like she was capable of anything.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Discussed on the evening of her first day of training. Eren suggests she cut it, to avoid accidents while doing 3D maneuver training and she immediately agrees with the idea. Since then, she's worn her hair in the same mid-length bob.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: She seems serene when she acknowledges that she's probably going to die at one point, before remembering Eren's DareToBeBadass influence from when they met and deciding to [[DoNotGoGentle fight to her last]]. She makes it out alive.
* FatalFlaw: Despite being a perfect soldier, Mikasa is still susceptible to [[UnstoppableRage Wrath]]. Her poor control over her anger has resulted in reckless behavior that has gotten herself and others hurt. She has improved on this shortcoming, but never truly overcomes it.
* FireForgedFriends: Her bond with Eren originates from how, as a child, she was kidnapped by her parents' murderers and Eren was the first one to track them down. If it weren't for him, she may not be alive.
* TheGift: Mikasa is described by her instructor as a prodigy of unparalleled talent, with a natural mastery of all subjects. She's outshined only by Levi, and he's the legendary WorldsStrongestMan.
* GoodEyesEvilEyes: If one pays close attention to her scene as a child where she breaks, she retains her adorable TaremeEyes and can't even bring herself to move in her fright; the moment she mentally breaks, she ''immediately'' switches to TsurimeEyes in a DeathGlare, ''breaks the floor boards'' in her rapid foot transition, and uses that to propel her movement as she closes in and kills the human trafficker in a fit of rage.
* GrayEyes: A dark shade, just shy of qualifying as black, emphasizing her status as TheStoic.
* GreenEyedMonster: Shows traces of this towards Annie. During a flashback of Annie and Eren training together, they do so in a manner suggesting Annie was flirting with him, only to be interrupted by Mikasa ''throwing Reiner'' at them, followed by her asking Annie in a passive aggressive manner if she can't teach those moves to her as well. Later, she asks Eren if he hesitates to fight Titan!Annie because he has "certain feelings" for her, with a not-so-happy expression on her face.
* HappilyAdopted: Deeply attached to Eren's family, as they took her in after her own died and treated her as their own. After Carla's death and Grisha's disappearance, she clings to Eren because he's the only one left.
* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: When someone calls Eren her boyfriend, she just says he is just family, but not without a blush.
* HeroicBSOD: When she finds out that Eren is dead, she acts cool about it, but Armin realizes she is not thinking calmly and uses up her gas. She more or less gives up on life, till she remembers Eren's words and decided to live on.
** She has another brief one when the Female Titan seemingly swallowed Eren whole. She very quickly switches into UnstoppableRage mode, though.
** She has one more [[spoiler: after Eren is kidnapped by his fellow Titan Shifters in Chapter 45.]] A RousingSpeech from Hannes pulls her out of it.
** [[spoiler: Has yet another one in Chapter 50, after watching Hannes get killed by the Titan that killed Carla five years ago. Mikasa looks at the sad situation of the military's desperate struggle in trying to survive against the Titans, she actually gives up on living and thanks Eren for all he has done for her.]]
* HeroicBuild: as shown [[http://i.imgur.com/EILprDG.jpg here]].
* IdolSinger: Parodied in the volume 9 fake preview, which features her alter-ego "[[http://wikiwiki.jp/shingekih/?plugin=attach&refer=%A5%C7%A1%BC%A5%BF%2F%A5%AF%A5%E9%A5%B9%2F%A5%DF%A5%AB%A5%B5&openfile=%A5%DF%A5%AB%A5%B5_%A5%B9%A5%C6%A1%BC%A5%B8%A5%A8%A5%F3%A5%BF%A1%BC%A5%C6%A5%A4%A5%CA%A1%BC.jpg Mikarin]]".
* IJustWantToBeNormal: She joined the army only because of Eren. She wanted to have a peaceful life.
* IneffectualLoner: Averted, as is the case with fellow [[TheAce ace]] Levi, she has superb ratings in everything combat-related but below-average Teamwork, though not as low as Levi's. She will work with her fellow soldiers when the plan calls for it (especially one of Armin's plans) but she's most often seen taking out Titans solo without backup and does it rather effectively.
* IOweYouMyLife: Part of her devotion to Eren comes from how he saved her from human traffickers, taught her how to survive, and has become the only family or anchor she has left.
* KnightTemplarBigSister: Mikasa is even willing to fight her fellow soldiers and become an enemy of humanity to protect Eren.
* LadyOfWar: She is calm and collected when using her 3D Maneuver Gear, cutting down Titans with grace and deadly speed, in contrast to [[TheBerserker Eren]].
* TheLancer: Mikasa is everything Eren isn't.
* LastOfHerKind: The last (half) Asian.
* LeeroyJenkins: She acts in a uncharacteristically rash manner whenever Eren is in danger. After the Female Titan kidnaps him and slaughters a great many survey corpsmen on the expedition outside the walls, Mikasa tries to slice her nape to kill her for good, despite Levi's ''explicit'' warning not to do so. She certainly would have died if the WorldsStrongestMan hadn't reacted quick enough to save her, taking a dibilitating injury in the process.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Her relationship with Armin. Ironically, she gets along with him more than Eren.
* LittleMissBadass: As a child, she killed one of the men who killed her parents and kidnapped her.
* MeaningfulName: She is named after IJN Mikasa, Japanese pre-dreadnaught battleship that served as flagship of Imperial Japanese Navy fleet in Russo-Japanese War, in which it contributed to the defeat of then thought to invincible Russian Baltic fleet. It is also the [[LastofHisKind only remaining pre-dreadnaught battleship in existence]]. The name was chosen by Hajime Isayama based on his theory that [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion series with heroine]] [[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya named after warships]] will be a hit.
** Her surname doesn't lack in the symbolism department either. Ackerman is a family name that references someone who would till the fields, and collect the crops that grew from them. Ergo, a ''reaper''.
* MixedAncestry: The reason she's [[HalfBreedDiscrimination not considered as "valuable" as her (Asian) mother]] is because her father was white.
* MsFanservice: Not in the material direct but Mikasa has been shown posing in sports bras in concept art and on some of the manga's volume covers, and the second anime opening [[MaleGaze provides a generous shot of her cleavage]]. The second anime OVA also features a completely irrelevant montage of Mikasa's sweaty workout routine, showing some [[AmazonianBeauty nice muscle tone.]]
* MundaneUtility: As a child, Mikasa used her super-strength to accomplish chores faster and with greater efficiency than Eren.
* MyBelovedSmother: How Eren tends to view her over-protection.
* NotBloodSiblings: With Eren. She was adopted by Grisha and Carla after the murder of her biological parents, and she takes [[BigBrotherInstinct Big Sister Instinct]] to a ''whole'' new level.
* ObliviouslyBeautiful: She doesn't seem to notice or care that her looks are enough to leave Jean nearly speechless.
* ObliviousToLove: She doesn't notice that Jean loves her.
* OneWomanArmy: Ian comments that "She's as good by herself as a hundred ordinary soldiers."
* OrphansOrdeal: Goes through this ''[[UpToEleven twice!]]'' Her biological parents were murdered by human traffickers who wanted her and her mother, presumably because they were the last Asians known to mankind, and very valuable as a result. However, she still went on to have a happy childhood as Eren's family adopts her after she's rescued. [[BreakTheCutie Then she witnesses her adoptive mother get eaten by a Titan and her adoptive father disappear to parts unknown.]]
* PillarsOfMoralCharacter: A walking example of "gimu" (a [[IOweYouMyLife life debt]]). She will do anything to protect Eren, because he saved her when they first met. Further highlighted by the fact that she's [[LastOfHisKind the last living person of Asian descent]].
* PowerCopying: In the anime, she has begun adopting Levi's SpinAttack fighting style after having seen it in action.
* ThePowerOfLove: A subdued form, in stark contrast to [[ThePowerOfHate Eren]]. Most of her badassery is the direct result of her caring for and wanting to protect [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Eren.]] It's also her biggest flaw as her desire to keep Eren safe often causes her to make mistakes and act irrationally.
* PreMortemOneLiner: A non-fatal example, used just before she kicks Annie down the Wall.
-->'''Mikasa''': Annie. ''Fall.''
* RavenHairIvorySkin: The first time Jean sees her, he's momentarily struck speechless by her beauty and barely manages to [[GibberishOfLove ramble]] about how she [[LastOfHerKind looks different]] from everyone else and her black hair is "really pretty".
* RedOniBlueOni: The calm and collected blue to Eren's hot-headed red.
* TheRival: Appeared to have had this dynamic with Annie during their trainee days. Chapter 44 offers of flashback where the two prepare to square off in a training fight, to which WordOfGod later confirmed they had been so equally matched the instructor had to interfere and call it a tie.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge[=/=]UnstoppableRage: She does this whenever something happens to Eren, and it is never portrayed as a healthy or positive thing. Each time, her actions place her or others into considerable danger.
** At Trost, she taunts the disheartened Trainees into following her into battle and then proceeds to [[spoiler: completely exhaust her supply of gas, leaving herself helpless and the other Trainees abandoned until Jean takes charge]]. All because she thought Eren had been killed, and was attempting to avoid dealing with it through taking action.
** During the Female Titan arc her recklessness results in Levi injuring his ankle sidelining [[TheAce Humanity's Strongest]] for an arc.
** RoaringRampageOfRescue: During the 57th Expedition, when the Female Titan successfully captures Eren, she goes in pursuit. She ignores Levi's warning that they won't be able to kill the Female Titan, and her reckless attack results in him breaking his ankle while protecting her.
* RunningGag: The official 4-koma likes to poke fun at her weight, with first Armin and later Levi dropping her after realizing she's too heavy to carry. Doing so [[MadeOfExplodium causes an explosion]] when she lands.
* SatelliteCharacter: Her motives and actions revolve solely around Eren. The Battle of Trost briefly explores this dynamic, showing how Mikasa would function without Eren.
* ScarfOfAsskicking: A sentimental keepsake from when she first met Eren and became part of his family. He gives it to her after she says she's cold, having just rescued her from the human traffickers. She hasn't taken it off since.
* ScarsAreForever: When the Rogue Titan/Eren attacks her, her cheek is scratched by a piece of debris; she has kept the scar ever since. It makes her look even more badass, if anything.
* SecurityBlanket: Said scarf mentioned above. When she is particularly anxious or upset, she'll nuzzle her nose under it.
* SiblingYinYang: Compared to her brother, who's TheBerserker, HotBlooded, and a WideEyedIdealist.
* SparingTheAces: While she's protecting Eren, who has just exhibited his Titan-shifting abilities, from Weilman (who is trying to get them shot on sight), one of Weilman's subordinates mentions her status as TheGift in what was either this or genuine fear that she would fight her way out of their situation.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: So, translate Mikasa phonetically because it is written in hiragana, or directly use the kanji of the battleship Mikasa? Official material says phonetically, the rest of the fanbase disagree. TheOtherWiki compromise by having them both.
* TheSpock: The most outwardly emotionless and calmest fighter among the main trio, able to be decisive in many situations where others would hesitate. However, in regards to Eren, this attitude does not apply at all.
* StaticCharacter: Beyond the change caused by her DarkAndTroubledPast, present-day Mikasa has yet to be as dynamic as the other characters. She has remained virtually unchanged since the beginning of the series.
* TheStoic: Most of the time, she shows little to no emotion on her face, but if it involves Eren...
** NotSoStoic: Her general response to Eren being in danger is either panic or murderous fury.
* SubmissiveBadass: The best soldier in the Trainee Corps, yet completely loyal to Eren.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: She hides her emotions from others and presents herself as stoic, yet she's a very loyal person who cares very deeply about Eren.
* SuperStrength: One of the reasons why she's such a powerful fighter. She demonstrates this even as a little kid during the moment where she killed one of her kidnappers - she crushes the hilt of her knife and her first step shatters the wooden floor when she charged him. The Military Police are astonished when they find that her knife went 3 inches through his heart from the back.
* SympatheticMurderBackstory: Forced to kill a man, to save herself and Eren. An entire episode is devoted to her backstory, and it's later used by the Military Police Brigade to suggest she's dangerous.
* TheTalk: The very last conversation she ever had with her parents. When she asks her mother where babies come from, Mrs. Ackerman passes the buck to her husband... who awkwardly suggests she should ask Dr. Yeager when he arrives. Then there was a knock at the door and everything went to hell....
* TranquilFury: Mikasa rarely displays the fury she feels and prefers action rather than stewing in her emotions.
** During her RoaringRampageOfRevenge after believing Eren was killed, she remains outwardly emotionless. Only Armin can tell she is enraged by analyzing her actions.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: She's only [[OneManArmy extremely competent at killing]] because of her [[ChildrenForcedToKill seriously screwed up past]]. It's heavily implied that the prospect of Eren getting hurt shattered the subconscious physical limiters in her mind and body that changed her from a scared little girl to a better fighter than any human has any right to be. [[spoiler:To be more specific, it awakened the superhuman abilities inherent to her bloodline.]]
* {{Troll}}: Is a very hilariously deadpan version of one in regards to Sasha. The part where she pretended to offer bread to her, only to eat it herself comes to mind.
* TrueCompanions: Eren, her, and Armin are this.
* TuckAndCover: She shields a defenseless Eren in this fashion from an approaching Titan.
* UnbrokenVigil: Anytime Eren is left unconscious, Mikasa will insist on remaining at his side to watch over him.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Eren, who she views as the last remaining person of importance in her life.
* TheUnfettered: Whether it's protecting Eren or just fighting for something she believes in, Mikasa lets nothing stand in her way, be they Titan or human.
* UntouchableUntilTagged: She can slaughter Titans left and right, but there are times where even Mikasa is caught off guard, and we're reminded that she's still human.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Before her biological parents were killed, she was shown to have a wide range of emotions, but now she does not hesitate to kill anyone if she needs to.
* [[WatchingTroyBurn Watching Zhiganshina Burn]]: While escaping by river, she watched her home being destroyed.
* YouAreWorthHell: Over and over again, Mikasa has followed Eren into hell and has helped drag him out every time.
----
!!Tropes that apply to the second half of the series
->''"There are only so many lives I can value. And... I decided who those people were five years ago."''
[[quoteright:191:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mikasaackermansecondhalf_5960.png]]
Discovering several traitors hiding in their midst, Mikasa reaffirms her mission to protect Eren. With Humanity's Strongest sidelined by an injury, she is forced to step up and take to the front lines to protect Eren. While facing the traitors, she realizes her own attachment to comrades may impede her mission and is deeply shaken by her failure. This leads to her becoming more ruthless, even willing to cut down her own comrades if they should prove an obstacle. She is promoted into the second incarnation of the Special Operations Squad, and appears to have become Levi's new second in command.
----
* ActionDuo: Increasingly so with Levi, to the point he basically treats her like a right hand man in combat.
* BadassFamily: [[spoiler: The Ackerman family possess a special trait, granting them incredible strength and skill once awakened. This trait led to them being driven out of Central, with Mikasa's father going into hiding. Mikasa awakened her power to protect Eren.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Not necessarily for the better--which is not a bad thing on its own. Mikasa's heart has noticeably hardened since Trost, being much less willing to spare others where it concerns Eren and being willing to kill anyone that threatens him, including people who were until that moment her friends. Contrast this with the Titan Shifters, who can't bring themselves to harm her or their other friends. Thus, she's become a much more deadly soldier.
* ClingyJealousGirl: She gets visibly upset watching Eren and Historia talking and interrupts their moment.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Toward Levi. Since the court trial, Mikasa has held a bitter grudge against him for his handling of Eren. After Levi is injured while protecting her, Mikasa seeks to make up for her mistake by defeating the Female Titan in his stead. By Chapter 58, she has chosen to completely set aside her personal feelings, understanding how important trusting Levi's leadership is.
* FreakOut: She has a bit of a breakdown after [[spoiler: Bertolt and Reiner]] make off with Eren. Her eyes become massive and bloodshot, even by this manga's standards, and she buries her face in her red scarf.
* FunctionalGenreSavvy: After her previous encounter with kidnappers, Mikasa makes sure to double check that there are only three men the second time around.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: The first thing Historia does after being crowned Queen is [[spoiler:punch Levi in the face and then dare him to do something about it]]. Everyone present just stares in shock, except for Mikasa who can be seen in the background with a [[Funny/AttackOnTitan very pleased smirk on her face]] (guess she was glad that ''someone'' finally did it, though she probably wanted the honor herself).
* GreenEyedMonster: Does not react well when she sees Eren and Historia casually chatting away with one another.
* LastSecondChance: She surprisingly enough offers one to [[spoiler: Bertolt]], after his VillainousBSOD. Her expression, when he refuses, is murderous.
* LineInTheSand: When Jean, Connie, and Sasha begin to question their reason for fighting, Mikasa states that if they wish to opt out, now is the time.
* LongLostRelative: She comes from the same bloodline as [[spoiler: Levi and Kenny]]. They all share the surname, Ackerman, something Mikasa has only recently been made aware of.
* MyGreatestFailure: To a degree, not having killed [[spoiler:Reiner and Bertolt]] when she had the chance, due to briefly feeling sorry for them.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: She goes on one again when Eren is kidnapped by [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt]], letting ''nothing'' stand in her way. This leads to her threatening [[spoiler: Historia Reiss]], making it clear she will kill ANYONE that gets between her and saving Eren. She was willing to not only turn on her TrueCompanions, but also risk the Survey Corps' best chance to uncover the GovernmentConspiracy.
* SuperpowerfulGenetics: Her father was a member of the Ackerman clan,[[note]]Who acquire superhuman strength and reflexes through TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening.[[/note]] and her mother was Asian. [[spoiler:Both bloodlines possess the ability to resist the Coordinate ability, and were thus ruthlessly persecuted by the royal family.]]
* TearfulSmile: For one of the very few times since childhood, she smiles as she thanks Eren for everything he's done for her with tears in her eyes. It would be a nice moment, if not for the fact they were surrounded by Titans with no way of defending themselves.
* ThousandYardStare: As she sees the Titan '''that killed her adoptive mother five years ago''' slowly approaching her and Eren in Chapter 49.
* WithUsOrAgainstUs: She makes it ''very clear'' to Historia that her only consideration is Eren's safety, and people should either help her or get the hell out of her way. She has no sympathy or mercy for those that get in her way.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Armin Arlert]]
!!Armin Arlert
!!!Voiced by: Creator/MarinaInoue (JP), Creator/JoshGrelle (EN)
[[quoteright:238:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/238px-Armin-Chara_Design_5457.png]]
->''"People who can't throw something important away can never hope to change anything."''
Eren's and Mikasa's best friend, whose dream is to see the world outside the Wall. Although physically weak and initially a coward, he excels in strategy and gains considerable confidence. His plans are instrumental in several key victories, saving his classmates and later the city of Trost through his unconventional ideas. Enlisting in the Survey Corps, he proves to be one of their most vital members during the 57th expedition. His encounters with the Female Titan allow him to deduce her identity, leading to her eventual defeat.
'''Branch:''' Survey Corps
----
* AlliterativeName '''Ar'''min '''Ar'''lert.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Bullied as a child, due to his [[ChildProdigy intelligence]] and heretical interest in the outside world.
* AntiHero:
** ClassicalAntiHero: Has all the right intentions but lacks the confidence and physical strength his compatriots have (at least at first).
** PragmaticHero: Showing signs of this as time goes on. He's growing into a ruthless military thinker that declares only leaders capable of throwing away the lives of their men have any hope of changing things. While Jean is horrified at the idea, Armin completely supports the most ruthless actions of their superiors, such as using soldiers as cannon fodder.
* AttractiveBentGender: One of the official 4komas has him dress-up in a cute bunny girl outfit because it suits him better than any of the girls.
* BadassBookworm: As a child, he always had a book with him. As a teenager, although he is still not that useful in a physical fight, the others rely on him to have a strategy and most of his guesses and plans have worked out great. It was he who first deduced that the Female Titan was [[spoiler: intelligent, and accurately guessed her true identity based on an incident from months previous.]]
* BadLiar:
** Lampshaded by Annie and later subverted when his quick thinking and BlatantLies manage to distract the Female Titan by bluffing that she killed Eren after having figured out that the Female Titan's goal was to either capture or kill Eren. His quick lie saves Jean's life.
** Then played straight during the mission to capture Annie. Armin believes that she knew his request was a trap from the start.
** Subverted once more when he manages to ruthlessly [[ConsummateLiar bluff]] about the fate of [[spoiler: Annie]] in order to distract [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt]].
* [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Better To Die Than Be Eaten]]: During the Battle of Trost, he gives Mikasa his remaining equipment, but asks to keep a blade for himself in case a Titan comes along. Mikasa, finally out of her [[HeroicBSOD Heroic BSOD]], denies his request.
* {{Bishonen}}: Joked about in an official omake where Armin is suggested to [[WholesomeCrossdresser look better in a bunny girl outfit than any of the actual girls]].
* BlatantLies: A heroic variant. In Episode 17, he suddenly starts screaming for Jean, who was about to be killed by the Female Titan to avenge his "best friend", obviously meaning Eren. Armin had figured out that the Female Titan's goal was to get to Eren. By lying about his fate, he managed to distract her enough so that she didn't murder Jean.
* BrainsAndBrawn: The brains to Mikasa's brawn.
* CatchPhrase: "People that can't throw something important away can never hope to change anything." These become important words for him as he matures and comes to terms with what has to be done in order to win.
* CharacterDevelopment: Evolves from a timid and uncertain boy to a more confident and brave young man. And later, to a hardened strategist who understands what needs to be sacrificed for the greater good.
* TheChessmaster: He isn't one yet but shows very high potential to be one with enough experience. A good example is how he pieced together who the Female Titan was from bits of information gathered thus far then planned a trap to apprehend her in a rather short period of time. On the other hand, he's starting to understand just how important is is to be able to [[HeroicSacrifice trade a pawn for a piece of higher value]], meaning that he's starting to look more and more ruthless.
* ChessmasterSidekick: He's absolutely brilliant and shows great potential for ruthlessness, but he's utterly loyal to his friends and respectful of his commanding officers.
* ChildProdigy: Far smarter and more interested in his studies than his peers, which unfortunately got him beat up when it came to his knowledge of the world outside, in addition to potentially putting him at risk of worse consequences if the authorities found out.
* CowardlyLion: He snaps as easily as a twig during the first phases of Trost though later on he's willing to do the unthinkable (for him at least) if it means he can protect his friends. He is willing to stand with Eren and mount a bold defense with his words for him when everyone looks poised to kill them and later on, he volunteers to join Mikasa in what looks like a suicide mission to cover Eren.
* CrazyEnoughToWork: Most of his plans are this.
* CrossdressingVoices: Shares the same voice as the (female) narrator in the Japanese version. Averted in the dub.
* CuteBookworm: Armin was absolutely this in his childhood.
* DeathGlare: Delivers an absolutely murderous look at the Female Titan while yelling at Jean to avenge all the Survey Corps members it killed. This doubles as a WhatTheHellHero towards Annie, who was about to smash Jean.
* FailedASpotCheck: He completely misses the Rogue Titan emerging from the same Titan who just ate Eren, despite having been ''[[http://fightingdreamer34.tumblr.com/post/55339133742 right there]]'' when it happened. This may be justified as Armin was in the middle of a traumatic HeroicBSOD at the time.
* GuileHero: Armin's strength lies not in his fighting ability, but in his tactical genius, both at the drawing board and in the field.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: At first, but as his eyes open more to how the world works, his heart has become more and more hardened.
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Initially he thinks he'll be useless since the only thing he has going for him is his book smarts. It turns out he's great at both analyzing people and situations within moments and formulating plans to get out of bad situations, making him an invaluable tactician for the Survey Corps.
* HeroicBSOD: When he's too scared to move, Eren sacrifices himself for Armin. This causes Armin think of himself as worthless, and is catatonic until Mikasa shows up.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Armin initially has nothing nice to say about himself, feeling he is useless. He gets better.
* HeroicWannabe: He is at first misguided in his endeavors to be useful, believing he must become a kind of hero to deserve being at Eren and Mikasa's side.
* HeroWorshipper: He admires leaders like Pixis and especially Erwin because they are able to sacrifice people to save humanity.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Eren.
* HyperAwareness: Armin can quickly notice things no one else can. Best shown in his analysis of each surprising discovery they make: in the case of the Rogue Titan he notices its intelligence based on its fighting style and its tendency to ignore humans within moments and in the case of the Female Titan, he's very quickly aware of its intelligence based on its knowledge of 3DMG weaknesses and it protecting its weak spot, so he pieces together that it must be another Human Titan.
* IJustWantToBeBadass: His greatest desire is to be useful. After he realizes that his friends do not think lowly of him at all, he grows out of it.
* INeverSaidItWasPoison: He's clever enough to make use of this. When he's bluffing the Female Titan he makes specific statements like "the suicidal bastard" and "my best friend". Based on its subsequent actions he deduces that it is, in fact, one of his classmates he knows well since it guessed (correctly) he was talking about Eren, since the former is the 104th Trainee class's nickname for Eren and the latter is only obvious to people that knew both Eren and Armin personally.
* InnocentBlueEyes: They fit him to a T, though later on [[JadeColoredGlasses he's gradually losing the "innocent" part]].
* IWillOnlySlowYouDown: Attempts this repeatedly, and is proven wrong each time.
* JadeColoredGlasses: Developing them slowly, as he begins to grow into an up-and-coming [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]]. He readily accepts the most questionable actions of his superiors, and recognizes the ugliness of the CrapsackWorld he lives in.
* JapanesePronouns: He uses the modest and soft-spoken "Boku".
* TheKirk: Mediates nicely between [[TheMcCoy Eren]] and [[TheSpock Mikasa]].
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Mikasa.
* TheLoad: He was always saved by Eren and Mikasa since his childhood. He was still the Load until the Battle for Trost. He eventually grows out of this because he saved his friends many times along the way.
%%* LovableCoward:
* LoveIsAWeakness: In one of the [[BonusMaterial Smartpass interviews]], Armin expresses that romantic feelings can be a weakness. After all, they make people do irrational things and can be used against them.
* MaleGaze: Parodied in the Episode 23 4-koma. A horrified Annie accuses Armin of looking at her [[UnusualEuphemism like that]], while flashing back to him repeatedly checking out her Titan form.
* MoralityPet: To Annie. Armin managed to befriend her, to the degree she's unable to hurt him and gets drawn into a trap because he said he'd consider her a "bad person" if she didn't help him.
* NiceGuy: He's very kind and selfless, almost to a fault. When he, Jean and Reiner were stranded and one of them needed to be left behind, Armin willingly offered himself. He has never come into direct conflict with any ally, and tries to mediate peace and understanding as much as possible.
* NonActionGuy: In the beginning. Eventually he becomes a perfectly competent soldier in his own right, though he still pales in comparison to [[HeroicWillpower Eren]] and [[TheAce Mikasa]].
* OddFriendship: Becomes friendly with [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Jean]], though only after their respective CharacterDevelopment. Emphasized more in the anime.
* OnlyFriend: Armin was Eren's only friend before he encountered Mikasa.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The senstive guy to Eren's manly man.
* ShorterMeansSmarter: One of the shortest of the main male cast (second only to Connie) and the most intelligent -- the character guidebook lists his intelligence as a perfect 10/10.
* TheSmartGuy: It's stated to be his gift, which caused problems for his self-esteem in the past, as he believed his low physicality made him TheLoad. When retaking Trost, he's stunned to realize that a half-assed, off the cuff suggestion of his is the best plan anyone can come up with.
* TheStrategist: Although he's lacking in physical strength, his smarts more than make up for it. He usually comes up with ideas that end up saving the other characters lives, such as baiting the smaller Titans inside the storehouse during the Battle of Trost with soldiers on the elevator, having said soldiers shoot the Titans in the eyes to blind them temporarily, and having their best soldiers sneak up on them and kill the Titans. Although not everyone managed to kill their target on the first try, they're able to eliminate the threat and resupply without any casualties.
* SurvivorsGuilt: He suffers from this after Eren sacrifices himself by yanking him out of the Titan's mouth, and getting himself eaten in the process.
* TeenGenius: He is the smartest of the group and was first in theoretical courses.
* TookALevelInBadass: When he realizes that he isn't TheLoad, he grows into a fairly competent soldier and an even better strategist.
** For a concrete example, he goes from being completely unable to move as Eren is devoured by a Titan in front of him to preparing to face down a Titan alone, on the ground, while dragging an unconscious Jean under one arm.
* [[WatchingTroyBurn Watching Zhiganshina Burn]]: He actually doesn't seem to have watched it from the boat, hiding with the other refugees.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Strategists listen to ''his'' insight despite being older and out-ranking him. His wisdom is the reason that his friends and allies trust his insight without question: case in point, Armin succeeded at stopping Mikasa from [[spoiler: trying to intervene with Levi's beatdown of Eren]] just by saying "Wait!" and giving a knowing look. That's right, Armin is the only force on earth capable of stopping [[BadassNormal Mikasa]] from acting on her BerserkButton and [[NonActionGuy his]] holding [[TheAce her]] arm back definitely had nothing to do with it.
* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: Less pronounced than Eren, but still just as important. Armin was the one who introduced the bizarre descriptions of the outside world to Eren, and was repeatedly bullied by other kids for his fascination with it.
----
!!Tropes that apply to the second half of the series
[[quoteright:180:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arminartletsecondhalf_8809.png]]
->''"What else do I need to throw away? How do I make things change?"''
His keen mind proves vital in uncovering the identities of several traitors hiding among his comrades, providing key evidence to their guilt. He takes part in the mission to rescue Eren from the traitors, revealing a far more ruthless side in order to turn the tide of the battle. Afterwards, he is promoted into the second incarnation of the Special Operations Squad charged with protecting Eren and Historia. To this end, he wears a disguise and becomes bait to lure out their enemies.
----
* AscendedMeme: Armin's feminine appearance and resemblance to Krista has often been joked about among the fandom. He later actually winds up having to impersonate Historia as part of a mission.
* AttractiveBentGender: He crossdresses at one point, and ends up getting the ''worst'' kind of attention from a DirtyOldMan.
* AwesomeByAnalysis: Many are willing to listen to his plans. He was able to discover the identities of the enemy by piecing together seemingly unrelated pieces of circumstantial evidence along with his own information gathering.
* BigDamnHeroes: Though it's PlayedForDrama. He saved Jean's life by killing the enemy soldier.
* BleedEmAndWeep: After killing the woman threatening Jean's life.
* BodyDouble: He serves as a convincing double for Historia.
* BrokenTears: After his first kill.
* ConsummateLiar: Gradually outgrowing his BadLiar tendencies and filling this role. Proves to be a great asset on the battlefield, for example in Chapter 49 when he claims that Annie is currently being tortured by the military in order to upset and distract [[spoiler: Reiner and Bertolt]].
* DisguisedInDrag: Used as the BodyDouble for Historia, wearing a long wig and her clothing.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Armin, while disguised as Historia, winds up molested by a man after he is captured. Even after his true gender is revealed, the man insists that he's still attracted to Armin.
* FalseFlagOperation: Discusses such an operation, horrifying his comrades. Eren notes this isn't the first time Armin has dreamed up those kinds of scenarios.
* GrinOfAudacity: Before lying to [[spoiler: Bertolt]].
** SlasherSmile: The look on his face when he describes how Annie is supposedly being tortured is absolutely terrifying. Isayama actually toned it down from its original version, as shown on [[http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/isayamahazime/imgs/4/3/430980c4.jpg his blog]].
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: After being kidnapped while acting as Historia's BodyDouble, Armin is molested by one of his captors. It's a disturbing and jarring scene, especially due to the series tending to avoid sexual themes.
* {{Irony}}: For a member of the Survey Corps, the first person he killed is a human.
* IShallTauntYou: He distracts her allies by telling them that [[IHaveYourWife the military is currently torturing the Female Titan for information.]] [[spoiler: Its not true, of course, but its enough to perturb Bertolt.]]
* JustJokingJustification: When noticing how much his FalseFlagOperation idea horrifies his comrades, he tries -- and fails -- to write it off as a joke.
* ManipulativeBastard: In Chapter 49, he lies to [[spoiler: Bertolt]] to manipulate his feelings and disturb him.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He killed a person to save a friend and was ''horrified'' afterwords, to the point he became physically ill. What made it worse is that, after thinking about it, He realized that the only reason he got the shot off was because [[spoiler: the attacker, a woman about their age, recognized Jean and hesitated, while Armin pulled the trigger without a second thought and notes this means she was a kinder person than him.]]
* PragmaticHero: Becomes this more and more as the series goes on. He's aware of it too, and very worried about it.
* RankUp: Assigned to the new Special Operations Squad. He is notably the only new member that did not make it into the Top 10 of the trainees.
* TheUnsmile: When he sees that his friends are horrified by his FalseFlagOperation idea, he tries to pass it off as a joke, but the smile on his face as he does so makes it all the more disturbing.
* VomitIndiscretionShot: In Chapter 59, he's shown vomiting beside a tree, out of shock of [[spoiler:having killed another human for the first time.]]
[[/folder]]
