Fanfic / Lost Paradis

Lost Paradis is a cannon divergent Attack on Titan fanfic on Archive of Our Own. The author's account has been abandoned and is listed as "orphan_account".

What if the Battle of Shiganshina District happened differently? Berthodt is alive, Levi and Mikasa are dead, Erwin is alive, and Eren is successfully taken by the warriors. After being brought to Marley, Eren is given an ultimatum by Marley’s military, either he can use his Founding Titan powers to serve Marley as a warrior or Paradis can be invaded. Eren reluctantly chooses the former, but while he’s in Marley he learns some things and changes. He restarts his friendships with Reiner and Bert, he makes new friends on Porco and Pieck, he bonds with his family in Libero, and he even finds love.

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Lost Paradis provides examples of:

• Actually Pretty Funny: Magath had to prevent himself from laughing when Eren explains why he bound & gagged Annie. The only reason he doesn't is because he's a general & it wouldn't have been dignified of a general to laugh in such a situation.
• Adaptational Badass: Zig-zagged. Here, Zeke manages to kill Levi when he attacks him and then he manages to kill Mikasa. However, for the former its stated that the main reason Zeke was able to kill Levi was because the latter was overconfident, hindering his abilities. In Mikasa’s case, Eren distracted Mikasa long enough for him to grab a sword and strike her.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: A variation. Eren awakens Annie four years eariler.
• Adaptational Dumbass: Zeke apparently didn't know that someone with the Founder can activate their powers if they come into contact with someone of royal blood, despite his mentor telling him this in the main series.
  • Averted with the Marley government. it is hinted that Zeke being royal blood is no longer/never was a secret since the Jeagar brothers are able to reveal how Eren can use the Founder to the higher ups without any issue.
• Adaptational Heroism: Here, Eren never starts the Rumbling and even marries a Marleyan girl.
• Adaptational Karma: After she reawakened, Annie faced no punishment for all the Scouts she killed on the 57th expedition, not even Levi's squad. While this can be partly justified with everything that was happening at the time, Annie is never called out for all the horrible actions she took. Whereas Reiner & Berthodt were more remorseful were repeatedly lambasted and mauled for their actions (with B Berthodt getting outright killed by Armin). Here, Eren delivers some much well deserved comeuppance to Annie while calling her out for all the horrible things she did.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In canon, the Warriors were specifically told to wipe out Paradis and take the Founder. Here, Marley leaves Paradis alone after Eren is brought to them.
  • Also, since Magath knew that Reiner's father was Marleyan, that would imply that while marriage isn’t legal, having kids with an Eldian is not a crime. At least not one punishable by death.
• Adaptational Sexuality: Eren is bisexual, being interested in men and women. Reiner was in a relationship with Eren and he enters into one with Bertolt at the end of the story, it is unknown if he had a crush on Historia/Crista like in canon, or if he did it was just part of his persona.
• Adaptational Villainy: Erwin and Grisha.
  • While Erwin was a morally complex character he ultimately decided to abandon his selfish desire to learn the truth and sacrificed his life to beat the Beast Titan. Here, Erwin survives and he ends up becoming a Fallen Hero who is willing to do morally ambiguous things to retrieve Eren (or rather the Coordinate) back. He sends Connie, Jean and Sasha to kidnap Genevieve to coerce Eren into coming back to Paradis and later tries taking the Founder's Power for himself.
  • Downplayed for Grisha. In the canon fourth season, it was revealed that his actions (including taking the Founder and giving it to Eren) were due to manipulations of Eren's future self. Here, Eren never does anything like that with his power so Grisha’s actions are entirely his own. When meeting his mother in the Paths (which would allow her to see everything), she tells Eren that his father set him on the path that he went on. Eren decides that he's angry at his father for giving him the Attack Titan at such a young age but reaffirms to Zeke that he still loves him and believes he loved them both.
• Afterlife Antechamber: After being tortured by a sadistic Marleyan doctor in an attempt to break him, Eren’s mind goes to the Paths where he see’s the spirits of his mother and Mikasa who urge him to accept his new life in Marley and do whatever it takes for him to survive.
• All-Loving Heroine: Genevieve Beauregard is a half-Marleyan half-Alish girl who lives in Libero with her parents running a flower shop. She was taught by her father that everyone is a child of god and holds no discrimination towards Eldians. She even falls in love with Eren despite him also being an “island devil”.
• And This Is for...: Eren gives this to Annie for all the people she's killed during his beatdown on her.
  Eren: This is for Marco! And this is for Petra! For Eld! For Gunther! For Oluo! For all the scouts you murdered!
• Bash Brothers: Eren and Zeke become this since Eren has the Founder and Zeke is the only one who can help him activate it.
• Berserk Button: Do NOT insult or hurt Genevieve in front of Eren. He threatens Koslow after he insults her to his face and he threatens to start the Rumbling unless he agrees to give her bodyguards.
• Big Eater: A justified example. After spending weeks imprisoned, Eren develops this to make up for the lost nutrients.
• Bittersweet Ending: Mostly sweet. Eren suffers anmesia and forgets his life until the day before the titans invaded his home. However, he still has recollections of his loved ones, including his wife and daughter and continues to live a happy life with them. Jean finds new love in Pieck, Reiner in Bert, Gabi and Falco, Sasha and Niccolo, etc. Eren still dies young but he manages to live to his forties and dies a successful man who helped all Eldians everywhere, leaving his daughter to carry on his work for him.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Eren is briefly convinced by Marley that his friends back in Paradis were never really his friends. Even then, he refuses to do anything to put the island in jeopardy. He gets over this entirely later.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: Eren breaks up with Genevieve after he is informed by her father that she is being harassed for having a relationship with an Eldian. Though even after this she continues to be harassed since they all still know that Genevieve is an Eldian Sympathizer and eventually they decide to get back together anyways.
• Character Development: Eren becomes less revenge driven and more rational after coming to Marley and learning the full picture. He apologizes to Reiner and Bertolt for his attitude towards them and he learns to be less prideful and stubborn to get by.
• Death by Adaptation: In the very first chapter, Levi and Mikasa are both killed by Zeke in self-defense.
• Defector from Decadence: Part of Eren’s brainwashing by Marley involves convincing him that his friends back in Paradis were never really his friends. The doctor torturing him specifically has Reiner remind Eren about when neither Connie or Jean tried helping him with his 3D gear when he and Bertolt did. Despite this, Eren continues to care about his friends on the island and his motivation for serving Marley is because they promised to leave the island alone. Thankfully he later gets over his brainwashing.
  • Realizing that the higher ups are considering his ever-growing popularity a threat, knowing that Genevieve and their unborn child is in danger and that they will likely target Paradis again when he is gone, Eren and the Warriors revolt against the government and take over themselves.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Mikasa does so in Eren's arms. She could not imagine a sweeter end.
• Easily Forgiven:
  • After coming to Marley, Eren forgives Reiner and Bert for their actions recognizing what conditions they grew up in drive them to do what they did.
  • Averted at first in that Eren refuses to forgive Zeke for killing Mikasa. It takes Marley torturing him and Zeke helping him later that causes them to bond.
  • Averted with Annie, who Eren makes it very clear that he will not forgive her for everything she's done.
  • Both Eren and Genevieve forgive Sasha, Connie and Jean for trying to kidnap the latter and invite them to their wedding.
• Everybody Loves Blondes: Eren was in a relationship with Reiner and later Genevieve, both have blonde hair.
• Fantastic Racism: Like the Eldians in the internment zone, Joseph and Anna has this view towards the Paradisians. However, they put this aside after a stern talk from Zeke, as insulting Carla would not endear them to Eren, especially after the trauma he went through.
• Fainting: Mikasa's death, coupled with the events of the day caused Eren to have this.
• Foil: Eren to Genevieve, his OC love interest. Eren has dark hair, Genevieve is blonde. Eren is Eldian, Genevieve is Marleyan. Eren is a Blood Knight, Genevieve is a religious All-Loving Hero. They seem completely different, but…
  • Genevieve proves to be just as stubborn and strong willed as Eren. Insisting on being in a relationship with him despite the misgivings of those around her. She stands by her belief that Eldians are no different from anyone else, even when that attitude drives away her racist friends and mother.
  • She is also just as brave & bold as Eren, willingly hugging him in public despite the taboo associated with it.
• For Want Of A Nail: Several things happen differently than they did in cannon at the Battle of Shiganshina District that causes the events in the story to unfold.
  • Due to lack of caution from overconfidence, Levi loses against the Beast Titan and ends up fatally injured as a result.
    • So when Zeke confronts Eren, he's in good condition and successfully manages to kidnap Eren after killing Mikasa and take him to Marley.
  • Armin breaks away from Berthodt with only suffering some first and second degree burns. Not enough to kill him like it would have in canon, so Berthodt is never fed to him and Berthodt returns to Marley with the Warriors and Eren.
  • Erwin survives the Beast Titan's attack, albeit with both his legs broken, and takes control of Paradis Island after discovering the truth from Grisha’s journals in Eren's basement.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Sasha tells Jean and Connie that Mikasa’s attitude towards Reiner was because she was jealous of his relationship with Eren. When Reiner briefly rekindles his relationship with Eren, he would act a bit possessive whenever they saw Genevieve.
• Group Hug: Eren receives one from Zeke, Joseph & Anna after not having a home or family in so long.
  • He receives one again from Armin, Sasha & Jean, with all of them mourning Mikasa.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Genevieve Beauregard, a religious 14-year old girl that Eren meets in Libero.
• I Have No Daughter!: Genevieve’s Marleyan mother disowns her for loving Eren. Her father remains fully supportive of her though.
• Irony: Eren being taken to Marley leads to the permanent salvation of Paradis, leads to a great reformation of the Marley government and essentially improves the lives of all Eldians everywhere, while also allowing Eren to live a full life and start a family before dying. As opposed to canon where Eren stays on Paradis and eventually starts the Rumbling.
• In Spite of a Nail: Thanks to Eren being taken from Paradis, a lot of things (particularly the Rumbling) never happen like they did in canon. Despite this there are a few things that happen regardless.
  • Reiner attempts suicide due to Eren leaving him to rekindle his relationship with Genevieve.
  • Sasha is shot in the stomach, this time accidentally by Eren when she, Connie and Jean were ordered to kidnap Genevieve by Erwin. Thankfully she survives.
  • At the end, Eren manages to convince Ymir that her relationship with King Fritz was not love and she gives full control of the Founder to Eren. In canon, she grants Eren her power after he sets her “free” and she only relinquishes the power of the Titans completely after seeing Mikasa kill Eren, inspiring her to break away from her love of Fritz.
• In the Back: How Zeke kills Mikasa.
• Magnetic Hero: Despite Eldians and Marleyans alike initially being warry of Eren due to being an “island devil”, he inevitably wins over both sides by using his powers to aid Marley’s wars. He even manages to convince the other Warriors to help him lead a revolution against Marley’s government. After he takes over, he makes Eldians and Marleyans equal while fixing relationships with the countries that Marley annexed.
• Maligned Mixed Marriage: Eren initially breaks up with Genevieve because their relationship causes the latter to be looked down by her fellow Marleyans. Subverted, after they are married they become famous as the couple that got together despite the hardships.
• My Greatest Failure: Eren for not being able to save Mikasa.
• Named In The Adaptation: Eren's paternal grandparents are given the names Joseph and Anna.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Even after Eren takes control of Marley to stop their attacks on Paradis island, improves conditions of Eldians in the rest of the world, and sends Hizuru to Paradis to help them advance technologically, Erwin still blackmails Eren into returning to Paradis so he could eat him and take the Founder's power. Erwin insists that it is in the best interest of the island but Eren calls him out on just wanting power for himself.
• Open-Minded Parent: Carla’s spirit tells Eren that she will support whoever he chooses, Genevieve or Reiner.
  • Mr. Beauregard is a mixed case. He has no issues with Eldians personally but tries to dissuade his daughter from getting too close to Eren because of the racist backlash he knows she will receive. Though even after Genevieve and Eren stop seeing each other and Genevieve continues to face discrimination he seems to have no issue with her and Eren becoming official.
• Please Wake Up: Eren tries this with Mikasa, begging her to open her eyes.
  Eren: Mikasa, C'mon open your eyes, please open your eyes!
• Pragmatic Villainy: Marley doesn't just feed Eren to a Warrior Candidate when he is brought to them because none of the ones they have are strong enough to handle his power. So they try convincing him to be loyal to Marley instead. Eren agrees to stop trying to return to Paradis after they promise not to attack his home any more if he does. Then they brainwash him somewhat into swearing loyalty to them by convincing him that he can have a better life in Marley. But what really does it for Eren is making new friends and bonding with his family in Liberio.
• Rage Breaking Point: When Reiner reveals the truth about Marco's death, Eren starts beating Reiner in a fit of rage.
• Related in the Adaptation: After the revolution, Magath reveals to Gabi that he is actually her biological father.
• Relationship Upgrade: Eren and Zeke become a lot closer (to say the least) than they were in canon and they genuinely bond over their resentment towards their father. Eren and Gabi also form a brother-sister like bond, a massive upgrade from canon where Gabi tries to kill him. Eren also becomes genuine friends with Porco and Pieck while keeping most of his friendships from the island intact.
• Secret Test of Character: The higher ups have Reiner purposely provoke Eren to test the latter's loyalty to Marley by seeing if he still cares about his friends on the island. Eren fails after he beats up Reiner for admitting that he killed Marco.
  • Later, Eren was sent to retrieve Annie from Paradis to test his loyalty to Marley. He succeeds this time.
• Spared By Adaptation:
  • Erwin survives Zeke’s attack, unfortunately (see Adaptational Villainy for more details).
  • Berthodt is never fed to Armin (who only suffered second degree burns from his attack).
  • Sasha survives her bullet wound,
  • Finally, Eren never starts the Rumbling, sparing himself, Zeke, and 80% of the world including Magath, Hange and anyone else that died in canon.
• Sudden Humility: Eren loses a lot of his pride for the sake of surviving in Marley. Said chapter is actually named “Losing Pride”.
• Would Hit a Girl: Eren delivers this to Annie. Given her actions, Annie has it coming.