Shinganshina Trio (Eren Yeager) | Warrior Trio | 104th Trainee Corps (Krista Lenz) | Survey Corps (Levi Ackerman) | Military Police Brigade | Garrison | Titans | Marley [Warrior Unit (Zeke Yeager)] | Eldia | Others | Before the Fall
Characters from the prequel novel and manga adaptation, Before the Fall. Their story takes place 50 — 70 years prior to the main series.
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Main Characters
Kuklo
Kuklo
The main character of the prequel, Before the Fall. His mother was devoured by a Titan, and soldiers sent to investigate were shocked when they removed a living infant from her vomited-out corpse. During his childhood, he was displayed in an oddity shop with a malnourished body and barely any knowledge of civilization. He was brought by Dario Inocencio in his teens for the purpose of getting beat up by Xavi Inocencio, in an attempt to show his guest how "strong" Xavi is.
- Aborted Arc: The Titan Cult dissappears early in the story and is later reported to have ceased activity.
- Adaptational Dye-Job: In the light novel, Kuklo is depicted as a Raven Hair, Ivory Skin with dull brown eyes and his hair being shoulder-length. The manga has him with short reddish-brown hair with matching eyes.
- A God I Am Not: The Titan Cult wants to worship him, but he wants no part of it.
- All of the Other Reindeer: His strange birth led to him being treated as an oddity and a freak, abused and sold off by various owners.
- Almost Kiss: Just as Kuklo touches Sharle’s face and both are leaning in suggestively... Xavi ruins the scene and fights Kuklo.
- Ambiguously Human: Despite the glaring fact that Kuklo isn't a Titan offspring, nor is he a Titan Shifter, he still has an unusual degree of endurance, spatial awareness, and can somehow heal pretty quickly from injuries.
- Big Damn Hero: Saving Sharle, saving Cardina from the Titans during their death sentence, and saving Xavi from the Titans during their first expedition.
- Born from a Dead Woman: Kuklo was born after his mother's dead body was regurgitated by a Titan, and this is why he is treated as a freak.
- Call-Forward: Rosa mentions his body heals unnaturally quickly. With no Titan Shifter powers, it could be the result of Eren's and Ymir's meddling.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Sentenced to death via getting escorted outside Wall Maria. It failed.
- Dark and Troubled Past: If you thought Eren or any of the characters in the main series had it bad, Kuklo had it far, FAR worse. His father dying in an expedition beyond the walls and having his head being flung back over by the Titans, his mother going crazy and joined the Wall Cult and getting eaten while she was still pregnant, and then his mysterious survival only gave way to him being labeled as "The Titan's Son". This lead to him being sold a slave; he was so abused that no one bothered to teach him how to even talk and was often beaten in general and starved on regular occasion. While Eren, Mikasa, and most characters in the main series may have had at least a family or friends growing up, Kuklo had nobody.
- Death Seeker: Living his entire life abused and beaten, Sharle came into his cell one night to kill him, but she got scared and accidentally dropped a knife. He then got up and grabbed it and held onto her hands, then pointed the knife at his chest. She was shocked at this, while Kuklo just picked up the knife for her, as if waiting for Sharle to put him out of his misery.
- Determinator: The first word he learned was "Resist!", becoming the mantra that drove him.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Living most of his entire life as a slave because everyone believes him to be a Titan’s child, beaten on a daily basis and starved, until he eventually escape with Sharle, his only friend at this point, only to be made out as a criminal and narrowly escaping his death sentence. Then he decided to prove his worth to the very society that condemned him and joined the Survey Corps, wishing to eliminate the Titans. It would all pay off in the end when he teamed up with his former abuser Xavi and killed Ogre, the Titan that killed his father and drove his mother insane. In the end, he’s finally avenged his family, gained a lot of new friends with his comrades in the Survey Corps who managed to survive the ordeal, earned Xavi’s respect, and with his upcoming marriage with Sharle the following month after the expedition, he damn sure deserved his happy ending.
- Foil: To Eren Yeager, the protagonist of the original story. Like Eren, he seeks to become a Survey Corps member and fight Titans to free humanity from the walls. However, his motivations are often inverted. With his family having died before he was even born, he instead derives familiar love from Sharle (in turn a Foil to Mikasa, whom Eren actively neglected). Instead of actively despising the people who stole his freedom, he easily forgives both Dario and Xavi (though the latter is debatable as he is more than willing to square up with him). Also, unlike Eren, he is a regular human possessing none of the Nine Titans. The big reveal for him and the other characters is that he is in fact NOT the 'Titan's son' as everyone thought.
- Lightning Bruiser: Outruns the Titan Cult and a Titan.
- Made a Slave: Raised in captivity, until he was purchased by the Inocencio family. According to him, this was a lot better than being publicly mistreated prior to that.
- Made of Iron: For someone who spent his entire life being beaten and malnourished, Kuklo is rather unusually tough.
- Parental Abandonment: His father died prior to his birth, and his mother was devoured by a Titan. How he survived to be born is a great mystery.
- Only One Name: Legally speaking, his surname should be Munsell, like his parents. However, since he was raised as a Titan instead of a human, and the only one who even remembers his true parentage is Carlo, he simply goes by Kuklo.
- Prisons Are Gymnasiums: Slowly built up strength during his time imprisoned by the Inocencio family.
- Smarter Than You Look: You wouldn't expect someone like Kyklo to be able to learn quite quickly from books despite being starved and beaten for most of his life, and neither his unusually spatial awareness of his surroundings and people.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Kuklo, Made a Slave because he is believed to be “The Titan’s Child”, with Sharle, born into high society. Her Big Brother Bully, Xavi, naturally disapproves of their growing feelings so he fights and severely wounds Kuklo, then leaves him to die. He then kidnaps Sharle and tries to force her into an arranged marriage until she escapes and reunites with a healed-up Kuklo. However, Sharle believes Kuklo sees her more like a family than a romantic partner as he never experienced any sort of romance before. It’s only after his team up with Xavi in defeating Ogre does he finally gain his respect and give his blessings for Kuklo to be with Sharle. The final chapter ends with Sharle revealing that the pair plan to get married the following month.
- Traumatic C-Section: How he was born.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: When Xavi confronts him in their final battle and reveals Sharle’s feelings towards him, Kuklo reacted with shock and confusion. The final chapter reveals the two agree to marry the following month, with him happily cuddling with Sharle.
- Wild Child: He was basically treated like a dangerous animal for his entire childhood; locked in cages with occasional scraps of food tossed his way. He didn't even learn how to speak until his teen years because no one cared enough to teach him.
- Will They or Won't They?: Has a fondness towards Sharle, calling her his “family” and at one point almost kissing her. But it’s often teased whether he’s a Celibate Hero or doesn’t fully understand the concept of love. The final chapter reveals that they got together.
Xavi Inocencio
Xavi Inocencio
The male heir of Inocencio family, he is trained by his father Dario Inocencio to gain political power through the military. To gain his self-confidence, he tortured Kuklo every single day.
- Barbaric Bully: Tortures Kuklo daily.
- Big Bad: Of Before the Fall.
- Big Brother Bully: When he discovers his little sister Sharle and Kuklo are about to kiss and admit their love to each other what does he do? Severely wounds Kuklo in a fight then leaves him almost for dead. What does he have in store for Sharle immediately afterwords? Kidnaps the poor grieving girl so that he can force her into an arranged marriage. Fortunately, she escapes and reunites with Kuklo. Flashbacks shows he’s always treated her like a marriage tool for the ‘sake’ of the family and shoots down her protests while glaring at Sharle and demands that she’ll obey his orders without question.
- Determinator: Gets very desperate after his numerous attempts to get Kuklo killed fail.
- Engineered Heroics: Kuklo plays the victim.
- Evil Counterpart: To his sister Sharle to some degree. Both are born into a wealthy family, but Sharle is very much Spoiled Sweet while Xavi is just a Spoiled Brat. Xavi loves nothing more than to beat up Kuklo just for the heck of it while Sharle treats him very kindly and eventually falls in love with Kuklo. Both of them are blondes but his sister is a Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold, Xavi’s an evil blonde.
- Foil: To Jean. While they look similar, have a similar personality and seek to join the Military Police for a cushy life, Xavi differs from Jean in his sheer lack of morals and genuine malice. Somewhat offset by the end of the series, though not to the extent of Jean's character developement.
- Jerkass: Beating up an unarmed Kuklo for two years For the Evulz. When he finds out Sharle is in love with Kuklo, Xavi almost kills him and tries to force his own sister into an unwanted arranged marriage into nobility. All for the sake of the family, or rather more precise, HIS Sake.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: After getting defeated by Kuklo, he improves his attitude.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Cut Kuklo's 3DMG strap so he would fall and kill himself.
- Malicious Slander: He falsifies his testimony when Kuklo was recaptured in order to get Kuklo killed.
- Moment Killer: Kuklo and Sharle were just about to kiss and admit their feelings hadn’t Xavi burst in and fight Kuklo.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Xavi would rather have Sharle marry into their class than have her start a relationship with their family slave Kuklo. And he’ll do whatever it takes, even murder, to keep them apart.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Attempts to pay his way to the top ten. He succeeds, but chooses to join the Survey Corps instead.
- Spoiled Brat: As most nobles tend to be in this series.
Sharle Inocencio
Sharle Inocencio
The sister of Xavi, engaged to marry Cardina. She initially fears Kuklo, but realizes he is simply a normal boy and teaches him about the world.
- Almost Kiss: Just as she and Kuklo are both leaning in closely with Kuklo touching her face and Sharle grabbing his hand... big brother Xavi bursts in and fights Kuklo almost to death.
- Arranged Marriage: To Cardina, however it later gets broken off. But Xavi made it his mission in life to stop Sharle and Kuklo’s growing feelings for one another and force his sister into another arranged marriage. Fortunately it fails.
- Despair Event Horizon: When it seems Xavi has killed Kuklo before her very eyes, she just lost it right then and there. Before Sharle can even rush to his side, Xavi kidnaps her and tries to force her into an arranged marriage. Good thing Sharle recovers and escapes to reunite with the now recovered Kuklo.
- Establishing Character Moment: Braving her obvious terror, she goes to slay Kuklo because she assumes he is a Titan. When she finds out he's actually just a starving, chained up slave boy who lives in the castle dungeon and is beaten up by her brother every day of his miserable life, she brings him food instead.
- Everyone Has Standards: Because she assumed like everyone else that Kuklo was ‘the Titan’s child’, she tried to kill him but when she got scared and dropped the knife, Kuklo picked it up and held onto her hands, then pointed the knife at his chest. This shocked even her, questioning why he would want to die, before realizing she came there to kill him in the first place.
- Foil: To Mikasa, serving as the woman of the main trio. The similarities end there though, and Sharle is essentially a complete opposite of Mikasa. While Mikasa is tall and black-haired, Sharle is short and blonde. While Mikasa is a pragmatic everywoman willing to join the Survey Corps to protect Eren, Sharle prefers to support from the background and organize the necessary prerequisites for the construction of the 3DM gear. Lastly, while Mikasa's love for Eren was largely unrequited, Sharle and Kuklo are much less awkward around each other if not for all the troubles they have to go through to be together and marry at the end of the series.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A good blonde.
- The Ingenue: An innocent and sheltered girl, initially.
- Nice Girl: Very kind and caring despite her nobility, and the first person to ever treat Kuklo like a human being; she even taught him about the world since no one else ever bothered to.
- Silk Hiding Steel: When she heard that her father brought the "Titan's Child" to their home, fearing what that monster may do, she decided to kill it, even if she were to die in the process. Of course, after meeting Kuklo, she ends up realizing that he is just a normal human.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Initially started as friends, she soon falls in love with Kuklo for his kind heart and would much rather stay by his side than go back to her wealthy family and be married off into nobility.
- Spoiled Sweet: Born into a wealthy family, she was the first to treat Kuklo like a decent human being and taught him everything about the world.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Is this with Kuklo, a slave her wealthy family purchased so that her brother could torture. After rescuing Sharle from falling off of a building, Kuklo and Sharle were about to admit their feelings to each other until Xavi breaks them apart and almost forces Sharle into an arranged marriage until she escapes and reunites with Kuklo. However she believes that Kuklo may not understand the love she feels for him is the same as her, as he sees Sharle as his only family. Final chapter reveals he does feel the same way and they plan to marry at the end of the series.
- Will They or Won't They?: Admits she has feelings for Kuklo, but is afraid of taking it too far since he’s never experienced any sort of love since nearly living his entire life horrifically abused as the ‘Titan’s child’, but is happy to be with him. The final chapter reveals that they got together.
Survey Corps
Cardina Baumeister
Cardina Baumeister
The son of another powerful family, he is sentenced to death after his father's political position was eliminated. Engaged to Sharle Inocencio at the beginning of the story.
- Arranged Marriage: To Sharle. However, he doesn't show affection to Sharle and doesn't care about Kuklo's love affair. The engagement gets broken off not long after.
- Call-Forward: Early on, he mentions that Titans come from the south and head towards Shiganshina. Years later, the manga revealed the reason for this was the Marleyan port situated on the southern cape of Paradis.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: How many manga readers mistake him for a woman?
- Foil: To Armin, serving as the lancer in the main trio. While he might look a bit like Armin though, their personalities couldn't be further apart, as Cardina is a Deadpan Snarker and always keeps in high spirits. Unlike Armin, he also comes from a patrician family rather than Shiganshina's lower class.
- Impoverished Patrician: Because his family had fallen from grace due to political reasons, he winds up imprisoned to silence the whole mess. Kuklo is coincidentally thrown in the same prison as him.
- The Lancer: To Kuklo. Care-free, has no commitment, and a Deadpan Snarker.
- Regal Ringlets: Rare Male Example with many curled cowlicks, seeing he was part of a wealthy family.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Left Trainee Corps just before graduation, only to get caught, imprisoned, and sent right back as Kuklo's company.
- Shipper on Deck: Cardina is very supportive of Kuklo and Sharle’s growing feelings for one another and tries to help them get closer.
- Spoiled Brat: Subverted. He's a nice guy.
Heath Munsell
Heath Munsell
The squad leader of the squad composed of Sorum and Carlo, he is the husband of Elena Munsell and the father of Kuklo.
- Death by Origin Story: The story opens with Heath's death.
- Off with His Head!: His head somehow ended up being tossed over the Wall, landing at his stunned widow's feet.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Left behind his pregnant wife, who... did not take his death well.
Rosa Carlstead
Rosa Carlstead
Daughter of Sorum Humé, she trained with Xavi, Kuklo, and Cardina. The leader of the 3D Maneuver Gear trainee squad after Cardina's leave, she's determined to avenge her father's death.
- Action Girl: What else would you expect from a female soldier?
- All Love Is Unrequited: Has the hots for Kuklo, as she secretly thinks of how ‘dashing’ he was when using the Vertical maneuvering equipment. And is visibly seen anguishing when Kuklo and Sharle are reunited with a passionate, tearful embrace. When Rosa finally asks Sharle if she and Kuklo are a couple, she says while they are not but admits she’s in love with Kuklo and this gets Rosa even more upset. Subverted later on as she admits admiring Kuklo, but in a way to be just like him but teases Sharle that they will be “love rivals” and compete for Kuklo’s affection.
- Determinator: Really wants to master 3DMG.
- Disappeared Dad: His death is one of her main motivations.
- Family Theme Naming: Named after Wall Rose, while her mother is named after Wall Maria. It can only be assumed her daughter will be named Sina Carlstead.
- Nice Girl: She’s a really sweet kid. Even when she develops a crush on Kuklo, she couldn’t bring herself to hate Sharle and the two become fast friends.
Angel Aaltonen
Angel Aaltonen
A weapon-smith and the person credited for the creation of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.
- Attack Its Weak Point: He was the first one to figure Titans' weak point.
- Childhood Friends: With Sorum and Maria.
- Foil: Intentionally framed as one to Armin in his flashback sequences, with Sorum playing the role of Eren and Maria the role of Mikasa. With Angel being the most intelligent of the trio, his role in the story can be considered an examination of what might have happened to Armin had Eren died in Trost.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He created multiple inventions in order to fight Titans.
Sorum Humé
Sorum Humé
Husband of Maria Carlstead and the father of Rosa Carlstead, he found Kuklo along with Carlo in the attack 70 years ago. He was killed in an expedition to capture a Titan.
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Possibly. Due to the way the Japanese language functions, transliterations of foreign names often seriously distorts the name, making it unclear what it's meant to be in the original.
- Childhood Friends: With Angel.
- Death by Origin Story: As stated above.
- Foil: Intentionally framed as Eren in Angel's flashback sequences, with Angel himself serving as a Foil to Armin and Maria as one to Mikasa. His role in the story is an examination of what might have happened had Eren not received the Attack Titan that saved him in Trost.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Jumped off Angel's horse so Angel could escape from the grasp of a Titan. He's captured soon after, but then ignited his explosives near the nape of the Titan instead of suffering the fate of being eaten.
- Meaningful Name: Sorum itself is Turkish for "responsibility", while Humé is French for "sense".
- Retirony: Slated to transfer to Garrison after one final expedition to take care of the pregnant Maria. Well...
Jorge Pikale
Jorge Pikale
An ex-Survey Corps member promoted to the Military Police, and the father of Carlo. He is hailed as the first human to ever slay a Titan. After his promotion, he became an instructor in Trainee Corps.
- Barbarian Long Hair: Duh.
- Big Damn Heroes: Saves Kuklo and Cardina by giving the former Sharle's knife to escape from the carriage that doomed them as Titan food, then busts out the 3D Maneuver Gear to pull both Kuklo and Cardina up to safety.
- Fake Ultimate Hero: Of a sorts; he isn't the first human to ever slay a Titan. That would be Sorum. And Angel was the one who really slayed Jorge's supposed kill.
- Foil: To Levi from the original manga, with both of them being hailed the best soldiers of humanity during their times.
- Kicked Upstairs: As a reward for disobeying orders and leading the effort that killed the second Titan.
- Living Legend: It takes Cardina only one glance to realize that he and Kuklo are saved by "Jorge the Hero", the first person to ever defeat a Titan.
- Realpolitik: Seeing he is aware that everyone's trust on him as a Titan slayer is misplaced, but isn't willing to disappoint them by admitting the truth, he uses his newfound fame to get 3DMG funding from the higher ups.
Other Characters
Elena Munsell
Elena Munsell
The widow of Heath Munsell, and Kuklo's mother.
- Death by Origin Story: Devoured by a Titan. Kuklo's mysterious survival leads to him being labeled the "Child of Titans".
- Eaten Alive: By the Titan her group let in.
- Someone to Remember Him By: She was pregnant when her husband died.
- Swallowed Whole: And good thing for Kuklo she was.
- Traumatic C-Section: Sorum and Carlo cut her open after seeing her corpse move, and were shocked to discover a living baby.
Maria Carlstead
Maria Carlstead
Wife of Sorum Humé and mother of Rosa Carsedic. A member of the Garrison, she was considered the Patron Saint of Wall Maria and regarded as good luck by the Survey Corps.
- Braids of Action: Braided and pinned up around her head.
- Childhood Friends: With Angel.
- Family Theme Naming: Named after Wall Maria, while her own daughter is named after Wall Rose.
- Foil: Intentionally framed as Mikasa's counterpart in Angel's flashbacks, with Angel himself serving as a counterpart to Armin and Sorum as one to Eren. Like Mikasa, she is also idolized for her duty to Shiganshina.
- Jeanne d'Archétype: To the point that she's considered the Patron Saint of Wall Maria much like how Jeanne herself was canonized.
- Patron Saint: Referred to as one.
"Mammon"
A ten-meter Titan who unwittingly kickstarts the events of Before The Fall. 70 years before the Colossal Titan would break the gate for good, Mammon was let into Shiganshina by a Titan cult, resulting in the deaths of some 5000 people. After being led back into the wilderness with prototype ODM gear, Mammon would become the first target of the Survey Corps.
- Arch-Enemy: Angel deems him as this due to killing Corina.
- Fat Bastard: Is ridiculously obese, even before gorging himself with people. Considering what we now know about Pue Titans, it is likely he was just as obese in life.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: It's hard to see at first, but upon closer inspection, he has maybe a hundred teeth.
- Mythical Motifs: Named for Mammon, a Biblical demon of greed. Interestingly, this is outright stated by Cardina.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: It's not every day a Titan is named for a demon. Interesting in hindsight, though.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Downplayed. He is no small fry, having eaten so many people. However, he is just one Pure Titan. In spite of this, he was able to essentially kickstart the developement of anti-Titan weaponry without which humanity wouldn't be able to retaliate seventy years later.
- Your Head Asplode: His nape is exploded by accident along with his head.
"Ogre"
The second most dangerous Titan after Mammon, Ogre terrorized the Survey Corps for over 15 years before the introduction of ODM gear. After the return of Angel Aaltonen and the Corps' restructuring, he is finally within their sights. He serves as a recurring antagonist in Before The Fall.
- Body Horror: His muscle to fat ratio is grotesque and ludicrous. While most Titans are either skeletal or portly, his body is more like that of a modern bodybuilder. He even surpasses the Attack and Female Titans.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Corps can do absolutely nothing to him except desperately slash at his shins with their swords.
- Fairy Tale Motifs: It's no surprise he's named after ogres.
- It Can Think: Downplayed. He's by no means intelligent, but demonstrates abnormal behavior such as setting up ambushes and throwing other Titans.
- Non-Standard Character Design: He has two large scars running down his face, something which should be impossible given the Titans' healing abilities.
- The Dreaded: Without a doubt. No Titan would ever come close to him in reputation until the Colossal Titan.
