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We are the Nine is an Attack on Titan Alternate Universe Fic by Lightbringer34 where the Nine Titan Powers have personalities and goals of their own. Drawing from initial hints and patterns of behavior in the manga, the story follows the Nine Titans as a Dysfunctional Family across history with plans and grudges spanning centuries, all without the knowledge of their hosts. After several ugly family disputes, the Battle of Trost sees the Titan Wills become far more involved with their Shifters and several decide to start breaking the rules.

Emphasizing world building and lively character dialogue, the AU takes the time to expand on the reaction of Humanity to Titans as well as the political structures and cultures the Titan Powers would influence. Due to the nature of the Attack on Titan manga, heavy spoilers will follow. The fic was published in August 2020 and is still ongoing. It can be found here.


We Are the Nine contains examples of:

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  • Abomination Accusation Attack: Kitz Weilman consistently refers to Eren this way and it spreads to his companions Annie and Mikasa due to their actions in Trost.
  • Abusive Parents: Common for this series as Zeke, Annie, Reiner, and Eren agree. The Founding Titan is widely considered a "Father Figure" by the other Titan Wills and has been absent for at least 200 years, domineering for over a thousand years before that.
  • The Ace:
    • Per usual, the Ackermans are extremely deadly in combat due to their Charles Atlas Superpower and the Guardian Wills enhancing their Ancestral Memory. During the Battle of Mitras they are said to be moving faster than the eye can see.
    • Among the Titans, the Warhammer is one as the last unbroken Noble House, allowing her to draw on the experience of past battles with her power.
  • Achilles' Heel: As in the main series, Titans and Shifters have to protect the nape of their necks. Eyes are another vulnerable spot, which Armor quickly adapted to protect for his early Shifters.
    • For Ackermans, the defeat or demoralization of their Guardian Will leaves them vulnerable, dazed, and open to attack as their minds adjust.
    • Everyone realizes threatening a Titan Shifter's loved ones is an important way to limit any danger. This is partially why the Nine Noble Houses were created and why they had armies of their own during the Eldian Empire, or House Guards at the very least. The Female Titan points out that such threats did not always work, and caused the destruction of more than one city. This is another reason why Krista/Historia is so important as she and Ymir are deeply in love.
  • Acoustic License: Sasha is able to sense Titan footsteps through the ground and can hear Armin, Bertholdt, and Connie arguing from several blocks away in the middle of a battle. This is because she is one of the Touched, humans with one enhanced sense leftover from the Founder and Beast's experiments. She has super-hearing.
  • Action Girl:
    • Since the Titans take on the gender of their current host, all the Nine have been an Action Girl at one point or another. The Female Titan is the only constant one.
    • Mikasa Ackerman becomes one thanks to her training and Guardian Will. Levi's mother, Kuschel is no slouch either.
    • Annie Leonhardt is widely acknowledged as the best fighter among the Warriors sent to the Walls thanks to her father's training and Zeke thinks she's the only one who could possibly defeat him.
    • The Warhammer Titan is one, gleefully taking on several gun-wielding assassins with two meat tenderizers using Lara Tybur's body.
  • Adaptation Expansion: Arguably the entire point of the story. It goes into detail about the world beyond the Walls, their cultures and histories, usually through the view of the Titan Wills. The Eldian Empire's history is revealed piecemeal and The Great Titan War takes an entire chapter. Now the characters are seeking allies in the outside world this will continue.
    • The Wall Cult and its role in society is also addressed, following the manga's Aborted Arc when it was dropped midway through S3.
    • The Titan Powers themselves go from inanimate flesh-mechs to characters in their own right with relationships, biases, and goals all their own.
    • Kenny's backstory gets a little more characterization and his reasons for taking in Levi are elaborated upon.
  • Adaptational Gender Identity: The Nine Titans take on the gender of their host, so they easily switch between presenting as male, female, or nonbinary as circumstances require. Since she is the manifestation of YMIR's identity as a woman, the Female Titan is the only one to avert this.
  • Adaptational Non Sapience: Inverted! Here the nine Titan powers have a conscious of their own and try to guide/influence their shifters the best they can, rather than just being flesh Mechs passed down from one person to another.
  • Advancing Wall of Doom: This is what everyone is afraid of with the Rumbling.
  • Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Several of the taller Titans like to muss Jaw's hair. Both the Attack and Female Titans play with each other's hair.
  • After the End: For Armor, the world is worse off without the Eldian Empire's stability and he sometimes views the world like this.
  • All for Nothing:
    • Jean's efforts to keep Connie and Sasha safe. Connie dies and Sasha gets some nasty scars thanks to Annie.
    • The Attack Titan's plan to save Dina Fritz, the Founder's plan to slowly downsize the Eldian Empire.
    • Arguably, Grisha's entire life is reduced to this, but Attack doesn't think so.
  • All There in the Manual: The author's notes at the end of each chapter and during the rare intermission chapters provide further explanation of character's reasoning, historical context, cultures both real and fictional, as well as the inspirations they draw from. There are even maps of the world, with cities and nations marked appropriately. The Titan Wills are often given further characterization as well.
  • All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Kenny and the First Interior do this to Lord Targovistche and Kitz Weilman, just as Annie and the rest of the Warriors do the same thing to the Scouts.
    • Arguably happens after the Battle of Mitras, when the King's forces lose and The Warriors are no longer hunted.
  • Always Chaotic Evil: Sergeant-Major Gross is a despicable human being. The Beast Titan, while capable of playing nice, isn't much better, responsible for untold misery due to his "science projects".
    • It's hinted that Cromquist Fritz, who tried to combine all the Titan Powers, was this.
    • To his surviving family members, Kenny Ackerman. He left one of them to the streets and tried to kill the other twice.
  • A Million Is a Statistic: Frequently invoked.
    • The Eldian Empire is repeatedly stated to have conquered the world, sometimes destroying entire ethnic groups, but when Reiner brings up the historical crimes cited by Marleyan propaganda, Armor brushes some of them off.
    • The casualties of the Great Titan War and the resulting Marleyan pogroms are implied to be immense. Part of why the Attack Titan is so furious and why many of the Nine still hold grudges from the War.
    • The Beast Titan suspects the only way to ensure the Nine Titans die true deaths is to kill all Eldians. Cart is fine with this, though the other Titans are suitably horrified.
    • It isn't stated exactly how many people died in the Battle of Mitras, but they had to "scrape people off the flagstones". Fortunately, Historia's government manages to put most of the blame on her father, the King.
    • The Attack Titan is willing to unleash the Rumbling, killing billions, to release YMIR from Paths and give voice to her rage.
  • An Arm and a Leg: Used frequently to restrain Titan Shifters, who cannot transform while their bodies heal. Or for comic effect.
    • Eren spends most of Chapters 21 and 22 missing a limb when the New Warriors try to Fastball Special him up Wall Rose.
    • Happens when Eren and the Attack Titan go berserk, abandoning Titan healing so they can hit even harder than usual.
    • Reiner gets this from Mikasa after she finds out about the Curse of Ymir. He takes it in stride.
    • When fighting Guardians or the Vow to Renounce War, this happens to the Titan Wills as well.
  • Ancient Conspiracy: Arguably the Titan Wills themselves, as the Founder ordered them to never interfere with their Shifters or take control, only able to whisper into the host's subconscious. This changes after the Battle of Mitras.
    • There are hints the Tyburs still have some connections and resources left over from the Eldian Empire, as the last and only Noble House to survive.The Warhammer Titan knows even more and isn't shy about using them.
    • The Attack Titan has been working backwards due to his future knowledge, making sure certain bloodlines or families stay alive so they can be present when necessary. However, he can make mistakes.
  • And I Must Scream: Stuck alone in the Paths thanks to your family, who all assume you're ok, when you're in deep pain. YMIR Fritz has it rough.
    • Cart's almost worse, as the personification of YMIR's "slave" mentality, willing and happy to serve or debase themselves, eternal depression, and widely regarded as the "runt of the litter" by their siblings.
    • Being a Titan Will. Immortal but unable to change anything as hosts use your powers to slaughter thousands, enact all sorts of cruelties, and make you feared as a weapon. You can only watch and whisper into dreams, at best. Partially why so many of the Nine get so fed-up they start breaking the rules in Trost.
    • Lara Tybur has the reverse of this, being trapped inside her own body while the Warhammer Titan takes command for long periods of time, waking up in places she doesn't recognize or hurting her loved ones.
  • Animal Motifs: This is the Beast Titan's entire shtick.
    • The Leonhardts used to hold the Beast Titan and most of them had lion or big cat transformations. Annie is unaware of this.
    • Jaw is compared to a cat several times, lazing about in the sun and biting others for attention.
    • Duke Abelard's noble house crest is a boar and he is referred to as one several times. This is incorrect, because he's not a boar. He's a hunter.
  • Anyone Can Die: Something the Attack Titan tries to prevent, with limited success. He repeatedly chastises Eren for his reckless behavior and has unspecified "backup plans".
    • Connie, Pixis, Kenny, and half of Levi Squad die during the Battle of Mitras.
  • Appropriated Appellation: Reiner mentions their titles as “Warriors” during the return to Wall Rose, and starts calling their group “The New Warriors” with the addition of Armin, Eren, and Mikasa. The name sticks.
    • The Attack Titan refers to himself as “The Devil of All Earth”, an old title from when he was seen as a vengeful god. Similarly his sister tells Annie and Kuschel Ackerman she used to be “The Crystal Queen”.
    • Jean is referred to as “The Hero of Trost” due to his duel with Eren and Mikasa. His public persona helps make the Military Police a better organization, though there’s a lot of work behind the scenes to make that true.
  • Arc Villain:
    • For the Battle of Trost: Kitz Weilman whose trigger-happy attitude forces Eren and Annie to transform.
    • For the Dreams Arc: Kenny Ackerman hunts the Warriors relentlessly, terrifying even those who're on his side, like Jean.
    • For the Regicide Arc: Kenny Ackerman, King Rod Reiss, and the Vow to Renounce War share the stage.
    • In the Ways of the World Arc, Bertholdt is developing into one, along with the Beast and Warhammer Titans.
    • The Attack Titan may be this for the whole story, willing to cause the Rumbling just to free his mother.
  • Armchair Military: Part of General Zackley's accusation against the King and most of the Wall Nobles during the Royal Convocation. Duke Abelard admits it, and proves him wrong.
    • Averted by Pixis and Erwin, who fight on the front lines on several occasions.
    • Played straight by Nile of the Military Police, whose true skill is in managing organizations and logistics.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The Nine Titans are cunning beings with plans spanning centuries for their own curiosity or some larger goal. Beast performs horrific experiments to expand the boundaries of science, Attack is willing to cause a genocide to save his mother, Armor and Warhammer are responsible for several war crimes. The Female Titan and Jaw just want to make their Shifters happy.
  • Artistic License – Physics: As in the main series, the Power of the Titans bends physics like silly putty.
    • Titan bodies, especially Rod's False Founder laugh at the Square Cube Law.
    • No one should be able to survive using 3DMG due to the forces and speed at play, yet they do.
    • Several of the Founder's human experiments exhibit abilities that border on the supernatural.
    • The Warhammer can form physical objects out of Paths energy, while Eren has to let one of his limbs wither temporarily to create something of similar mass.
  • Ascended Extra: The Nine Titans themselves have personalities and play a significant role in the story, using their knowledge and expertise to aid or advise their hosts.
    • Kitz Weilmann, the bearded Garrison officer who ordered Eren to be shot with a cannonball, is revealed to have ulterior motives.
    • Kushel Ackerman, the Tyburs, and the Warrior's families are all expanded upon.
    • The nobles inside Wall Sina are not as arrogant and self-centered as they are in canon and several of them join the New Warriors in the Battle of Mitras. Lady Emelia, Lord Targovistche, and Duke Abelard all have their own reasons for helping.
    • The Wall Cult is portrayed as its own religion, with true believers and cynical priests alike. How they react to the threat of The Rumbling is an immediate topic of discussion.
    • Kenny's First Interior Squad also gets some characterization, particularly his second-in-command, Caven.Who is now JEAN's second-in-command.
  • Ascended Meme: The sound of the Beast Titan's scream is portrayed in the text as WRYYYYYYYY referring to another famous antagonist played by Zeke's Japanese voice actor
  • Atop a Mountain of Corpses: The Attack Titan sometimes lounges on these during Eren's dreams to make a point about the cost of freedom.
    • When going back over Wall Rose, Mikasa ends up doing this, killing so many members of the Garrison she stains the Wall red temporarily.
  • Atrocity Montage: All the Titan Wills have seen or been a part of these but Attack is the only one to show such horrors to Eren.
  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: What the Attack Titan's natural instinct is, as the avatar of YMIR's Rage. Strong-willed hosts can resist this compulsion and minimize the chances they go berserk. Eren has the opposite problem and now the Attack Titan its the one urging restraint.
    • Also hinted to be a façade to allow Attack to pursue his own goals in plain sight.
  • Awesome Momentof Crowning: Historia's public coronation and marriage to Ymir makes even the hardened Titan Wills get misty-eyed.
  • Awesomeness by Analysis:
    • Armin does this the most, deducing the identities of the Armored and Colossal Titan as well as the broad unpleasantness of Marley based on the few scraps of information and lies the Warriors give him. He was an excellent spotter for Bertholdt during the Battle of Mitras and later defeated him using a handful of Hardened crystal and ceremonial sword with seconds to plan. Also planned how to topple the monarchy and form a new one, down to assigning specific cabinet posts to nobles.
    • Mikasa is no slouch either, combining her own experiences during the Slaughter at Trost with Reiner’s deranged muttering to figure out the 2,000-year-secret of the Titan Wills, causing most of them to freak out. She’s wrong on a few details, but gets close enough to give Reiner a whole new existential crisis.
  • Badass Adorable:
    • While Historia and Armin are both acknowledged as "cute", they both prove to be every bit as dangerous despite lacking superhuman powers. Historia becomes an active and engaged ruler of the Walls, a far cry from the Puppet King she became in canon. Armin is the mastermind of a plan that sees the King of the Walls deposed and defeats the Colossal Titan using a sword, some crystal, and quick thinking.
    • Jaw is this because despite being a 2,000 year-old Titan Will, they often play the role of younger sibling to lighten the mood.
  • Badass Army: Per the setting, several.
    • The military of Dohrun had elephant cavalry and gave the Eldian Empire a serious run for their money, using halberds and grappling hooks to take down Mindless Titans. It required four Titan Shifters plus the Eldian Legions to defeat them.
    • Lady Emelia's "Violets" number a mere thirty and manage to keep up with Reiner and Armor using muskets and bayonets.
    • The Garrison gets a strong showing during the Battle of Mitras, coordinating hidden cannons to put Annie's Female Titan on the back foot and almost kill her twice.
    • The Armored Titan himself reminisces about his own House Guard and Legionnaires, who used great shields and pikes to mimic his defensive focus.
    • Zeke, Pieck, and their Titan Wills are all surprised at how well the Scouting Legion performs against Mindless Titans.
  • Badass Creed: House Abelard's motto, which doubles as both Call To Arms and Dare to Be Badass. Also a Title Drop.
    Are we the prey? No, we are hunters!
  • Badass Normal:
    • The un-named yellow-jacketed House Guard wielding knives who almost manages to kill Mikasa by overloading her Guardian’s tracking ability.
    • The Violets, who keep pace with Reiner and Armor despite using only muskets and bayonets.
    • Duke Abelard duels Kenny Ackerman to buy time for Mikasa and Levi, even managing to leave a cut on the other man’s chest. Kenny acknowledges if Abelard was younger and in better shape, he might’ve won.
    • Similarly, Kaspar Abelard shows no fear despite being kidnapped by the Military Police, mocking Jean to his face.
    • Pixis and pretty much anyone willing to take on a Titan Shifter without one of their own backing them up.
    • The Marleyans who managed to recruit or convince Titan Shifters to join their side during the Great Titan War, overthrowing an empire that had reigned for two thousand years.
  • The Bait: The entire purpose of the Royal Convocation, supposedly to discuss the threat of Titan Shifters. It’s actually a trap to draw out any Titan Shifters and for Rod Reiss to use the inevitable carnage to convince Historia to become the Founder.
    • Kenny uses Jean as bait repeatedly, sending him to spy on rebels or putting him in dangerous situations to test him. Or just because it’s funny.
  • Bastard Angst:
    • Averted for Historia this time around, since she has Ymir to steady her and to be someone she can protect as Queen. Due to her visible leadership during the Battle of Mitras, the public isn’t worried either.
    • Reiner still has some of this, which slips out during his first night back in Marley.
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted hard. Mikasa and Sasha all get severely wounded during the Battle of Mitras. The former two end up with visible scars and Mikasa loses the top of her left ear to Levi. Some of the Garrison soldiers who attack Annie have to be scraped off the stones.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: The initial reason Annie starts spending more time with Armin.
    • Historia carries some of this attitude into her rule as Queen, using a “Krista” face to be a kind and benevolent ruler, wrong-footing some of the nobles who aren’t expecting her colder side.
    • Why YMIR and Future Eren stick around in the Paths to watch this story unfold. YMIR wants to spend time with the only person who’s ever been kind to her.
  • Behemoth Battle: The Battle of Mitras devolves into this when Rod Reiss creates Mindless Titans in an attempt to flee, when he becomes the False Founder, all the Titan Shifters present join forces to kill him.
    • Also applies when Eren goes berserk.
    • Eren and Reiner’s “training sessions” in the crystal cave beneath Mitras.
  • Being Good Sucks: Reiner wants to be a hero more than anything. The dissonance between his dream and reality is part of what endears the Armored Titan to him in the first place. Without his Titan Will, Reiner would be a psychological wreck.
    • Jean tries to keep Sasha and Connie safe, taking on increasingly more dangerous missions to keep them out of trouble, to no avail.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Armor has this most of all the Wills, as his core is to “protect”. It’s part of what makes him so close to Reiner.
    • Jaw invokes this deliberately. As one of the more fragile Titans, it’s useful to have her siblings look at her as someone who needs to be protected.
  • Body Horror: Colossal implies both Beast and Founder were responsible for a lot of this in the past. While initially it was because the early Eldians didn’t understand how to transfer Titan Powers, Beast just kept going.
    • Implied to be what happened to Cromquist Fritz, who tried to be a second YMIR.
  • Bold Explorer: Armin wants to be this and Jaw used to be this, charting mountain ranges back when the continent was unmapped. An explorer noble house once used the Titan Power for roughly sixty years to this end.
  • Bound and Gagged: Happens to Eren when he’s dogpiled by the Military Police.
  • Break the Haughty: Happens to Jean twice this time. First in the Slaughter at Trost and later, when it doesn’t quite stick, during the Battle of Mitras.
    • Several of the Titan Wills shout at Mikasa’s Guardian because her arrogance and desire to prove herself almost got Mikasa killed.
    • Happens to the Founder when they’re awakened from slumber and realize what has happened in their absence, as well as YMIR’s suffering.
    • Happens to Eren in quick succession when he learns about the Curse of Ymir, his half-brother, and his father’s previous life in quick succession. All thoughts of a Roaring Rampageof Revenge against Marley are set aside due to shock.
  • Broken Masquerade: At Armin’s advice, Annie tells the Scouts about the Rumbling, using it as justification for why the Founder must be retrieved.
    • With Ymir on their side, the Scouts are able to rattle off truths that leave the Warriors absolutely dumbstruck during their parley, from the 13-year time limit to Marley’s existence.
    • After the Battle of Mitras, Historia’s new government opens the floodgates to inspire trust and more cynically, to create a rallying effect. Everyone within the Walls now knows about Marley and their own nature as Eldians/Subjects of Ymir. Bertholdt reflects that information control was impossible with a wild card like Ymir around.
    • But even that is topped when the Founder relents and [[spoilers:allows the Titan Wills to speak to their Shifters. The true nature of the Power of the Titans causes all the hosts to freak out.]]
  • Broken Pedestal: Eren, to his father, upon learning about his past life.
    • Reiner to Marley, as due to his debates with the Armored Titan. Having someone unconditionally approve of him that wasn’t a Marleyan also helped.
    • The Female Titan to Annie, after the former manipulated events to get them stuck on Paradis “for her own good”.
  • Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Fighting Guardians or the Vow to Renounce War leaves the Titan Wills in a deep slumber and wounds only the Founder can heal.
    • Similarly, fighting against Rod Reiss’s False Founder and discovering the Titan Wills during the Battle of Mitras exhausts all the Titan Shifters.
    • While she leaves Kenny open for the killing blow, Mikasa is wounded so badly she is unable to take part in the rest of the Battle of Mitras.
  • Building Swing: 3DMG does this all over the place and it’s also Jaw’s favorite method of locomotion. Fittingly as the “Scouting Legion’s Titan” they go together well.
    • Eren, Historia, and Jaw rebuild Mitras with this in mind.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Both the Scouting Legion and Jean’s New MPs are full of them. Sasha, Caven, and Kenny stand out.
    • Jaw especially so, as she’s a 2,000 year old immortal entity who pretends to be a younger sister and prankster. This is because she embodies the childhood YMIR never got to have.
    • The Female Titan embodies YMIR’s identity as a woman and thus takes a keen interest in her host’s sex lives, having been a hedonist in her younger years.
  • The Call Knows Where You Live: The Attack Titan sets these up on purpose, calling coincidence and fate “merely more subtle Paths”. Since the Nine Titans are repeatedly drawn back together despite distance and time, he has a point.
  • Changing of the Guard: The main focus of Chapter 34 and 35, focusing on the fall of the old monarchy and the main cast’s efforts to build an alternative. Some compromises are necessary.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Several, albeit with a twist that differs them from the original storyline.
    • The Female Titan once gloated about spending years in Sudeja, a land rife with drugs and stimulants. Sudejan sleeping darts are later used to subdue the New Warriors at several points.
    • Jean’s visual similarity to Eren is again used as a body double. This allows Eren, Historia, and Ymir to turn the tables on Rod Reiss.
    • Because YMIR Fritz and Ymir share the same name, Annie is convinced the dark-skinned girl who knows too much is the original YMIR. She’s wrong, but YMIR did feel sorry enough for her namesake to set things in motion, waking up her Mindless Titan to eat Marcel Galliard.
    • Because the Attack Titan made a well-documented Last Stand to allow refugee ships to escape to Paradis, Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt are able to identify Eren as the Attack Titan.
    • Rod Reiss’s bag of syringes is used to create a bunch of Mindless Titans as a distraction, making people think he’s using the Founding Titan.
    • Ymir’s past as a thief allows her two swipe two bottles of Titan spinal fluid from Rod, giving her black Armor scales while Eren gets a version of the Warhammer’s Creation power.
    • The Female Titan’s “Copy” ability which went unexplored in the manga, comes back with a vengeance here.
    • Dinah Fritz, The Smiling Titan is Zeke’s mother. Seeing her rattles the War-Chief so much the Scouting Legion is able to escape.
    • Mikasa’s arm brand allows her to find Paradis their first allies in the nation of Hizuru.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Ymir, a slum girl from Marley, has all the information the Scouting Legion has been searching for and to keep Historia safe, blows the Warrior’s secrecy out of the water. With the power of the Jaw Titan and now Queen-Consort to Historia, the Warriors can’t retrieve her power without provoking a war they would lose. Bertholdt laments that none of them could have expected such a wild card.
    • The Attack Titan’s plans rely on having just the right person in the right place and time, so he does this a lot.
    • The Beast Titan helped create the Ackermans, artificial Wills, and is best position to offer advice on dealing with the Vow to Renounce War, another artificial Will.
    • Rod Reiss’s actions during the Battle of Mitras made him the biggest target for all factions involved. It also makes everyone think Reiner ate the Founder, leaving Eren in a safer position.
  • Chekhov's Skill: The Attack Titan is mentioned to heal with green fire instead of steam. Eren weaponizes this to break free of cloth bindings during the Battle of Mitras.
    • Armin is mentioned as reading books about the government during training. He and Erwin re-invent Parliamentary democracy for Historia’s new government.
    • Mike is able to smell Sasha’s hidden pastries from several yards away. He is able to smell the Titan Spinal Fluid on the morning mist and saves the Scouts from Zeke’s gas attack.
    • The Female Titan’s Scream can block Zeke’s command of Mindless Titans, but not the Founder’s.
    • The Colossal Titan mentions electricity was first harnessed when one of his previous hosts meditated in a chamber while scientists studied the energy from transformation. Bertholdt uses this information to turn his explosive transformation into pure lightning, defeating Annie and nearly killing Armin.
  • The Chessmaster: Several of the characters play chess and the Titan Wills reference this trope twice, drawing contrasts between the Attack, Beast, and Warhammer Titans. Attack and Beast play lengthy games, while Warhammer always opens aggressively.
    • The Attack Titan compares his future sight to “playing blitz chess with Fate”.
    • The New Warriors, especially Armin and Annie, topple the Monarchy of the Walls in less than two months. However, they are equally matched by Erwin, Historia, and Ymir.
    • Lord Targovistche thinks he’s this, but other characters keep upstaging him.
  • Children Are Innocent: Jaw plays this up despite being 2,000 years old. She embodies the childhood her mother YMIR never got to have.
    • Historia still sometimes uses the false people-pleasing “Krista” mask to trick nobles who think they’re dealing with a naïve young ruler. While this doesn’t last long, it allows her and Ymir to seize control of negotiations.
    • Eren is disgusted that his father killed the Reiss children and this is part of what makes him more willing to listen to Zeke.
  • Child Soldiers: All the Warriors, but especially Annie and Zeke. Mikasa may count since her Guardian altered her brain, but emphasizes free will is important to an Ackerman’s development as a warrior.
    • Gabi Braun wants to be one.
  • The Chosen People: The Church of YMIR once believed this about the Eldians, and when your nobles can call down lightning from the sky and king can cure diseases, no wonder.
    • Grisha once said this to other Eldian Restorationists to hide how he couldn’t read an Ancient Eldian text about a Titan-created trade route.
    • While the Titan Wills recognize they are tightly bound to the Subjects of YMIR, they do not think Eldians have any special destiny. The Attack Titan in particular lampshades how Grisha’s declaration is grasping for significance and empowerment.
  • Citadel City: All the Walled Cities are this, especially the capital of Mitras once the New Warriors finish rebuilding it.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: The Marleyan Public Security Bureau do it to prisoners and Jean does it as part of his initiation into Kenny’s First Interior. He doesn’t like it.
  • Color-Coded Eyes: Lots.
    • The Attack Titan’s eyes have a tendency to be green and it’s the distinguishing feature Reiner and Bertholdt cite of Eren’s Titan.
    • The Founding Titan’s eyes are purple, befitting royalty. Realizing the Founder is blind is the Will’s first clue something is very, very wrong with their “father”.
    • Ackerman’s eyes are repeatedly stated to be silver or dark. When they fully synchronize with their Guardian, they gain an extra white ring inside their iris.
    • When the Titan Wills speak through their hosts, their eyes change colors. Ymir’s eyes go solid black for Jaw, Zeke’s tinge red for the Beast, and Warhammer’s go milky-white. Reiner’s eyes glow yellow-gold, Annie’s neon-blue, and Eren’s bright-green.
  • Conveniently Empty Buildings: Played straight in Trost, averted in the Battle of Mitras. The enormous civilian casualties caused by Rod Reiss make it easy for Historia to turn the population against him, but the New Warriors aren’t blameless either.
  • Contrived Coincidence: The Attack Titan sets some of these up and takes advantage of others. As he says to Eren: “Coincidence and luck are merely more subtle Paths.”
    • The Attack Titan and Eren Kruger deliberately set up the situation with Grisha and Faye Jeager, all so the Titan Will could one day inhabit the body of his son, Eren.
    • The Attack Titan sent several branches of the Ackerman clan to Paradis in the hopes one of them would survive and begat Mikasa.
    • Rod Reiss’s actions during the Battle of Mitras convince everyone his monstrous Titan was the Founder and Reiner now has it. None of the Titan Wills have corrected this mistake.
    • Ymir’s Mindless Titan just happened to wake up next to the Warriors. YMIR Fritz woke her up because she felt sorry for the girl who bore her name. This also allowed Ymir and Jaw to radically change things as part of YMIR’s unknown plan.
  • Cooldown Hug: Mikasa tries this when the Attack Titan goes berserk. It fails and almost gets her killed. Armin does this for Annie with slightly more success.
  • Crapsack World: Empires and revolutions are forged in oceans of blood and all the Titan Wills are soaked in it. Centuries of mute witness has made most of the Wills cynical, bitter, or amoral. Armor and Warhammer look fondly back on the days of conquest, and none of the Wills actually apologize for what was done with their power.
    • Beast performed countless experiments on Eldians to discover more about the nature of Titan Powers and Paths, leaving behind what Colossal considers “affronts to creation”.
    • Despite fighting for freedom, the Attack Titan has worked undercover for centuries and is willing to kill billions just to express YMIR’s rage.
    • Annie remembers a race riot in Marley while escaping an angry mob in Wall Sina. The memory of Eldians hung from lampposts almost gives her a panic attack.
    • By the time the Battle of Mitras is over, all surviving members of the 104th have blood on their hands.
  • Crazy Enough to Work: Why the Marleyan brass thought sending four children with the Power of the Titans to steal the Founder was a good idea.
    • Eren proposes rapidly ascending Wall Rose by having he and Annie throw the rest of the New Warriors up to the top.
    • Eren and Mikasa returning to Marley as triple-agents loyal to Historia, finding Paradis allies right under Marley’s nose.
  • Crazy-Prepared: The Attack Titan. He let Dinah Fritz be turned into the Smiling Titan and had at least three backup plans that hinged on her presence. Built multiple spy networks in his century of exile across multiple hosts, as well as two hidden mutual funds. If they still survive remains to be seen.
    • Warhammer is trying to be this, preparing her surviving spy networks for…Something.
    • Pixis set up cannons hidden inside Mitras’s mansions, church steeples, and belltowers, which nearly kill Annie.
  • Cruel to Be Kind: The Attack Titan crushes Eren’s spirit so he doesn’t get them killed the second they arrive in Marley. Tellingly, Future Eren is also cruel to Mikasa, driving her away so she isn’t culpable for his genocide.
  • Dare to Be Badass: Duke Abelard gives a hell of a speech exhorting members of the Legions and nobility to join him in rebellion despite having a dozen muskets pointed at him. Using his House’s motto also fires up his men and alongside Mikasa they’re the first ones to join the battle.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: The Nine Titan Wills have been around for 2,000 years and have seen the worst of humanity.
    • The Female Titan’s host before Annie was captured by a cult of mad Ach-Men and vivisected before Armor and Jaw arrived to rescue her. As a result, she is quite frosty towards Mikasa’s Guardian and terrified of Kenny Ackerman, who is close to becoming an Ach-Man himself.
    • Colossal hates his own destructive power and prefers studying astronomy to escape the horrors he’s caused. During the Great Titan War, his supposedly neutral Shifter was captured and thrown to a baying horde of Mindless Titans.
    • Armor and his Titan Shifters participated in or were witness to several atrocities he remembers with guilt even centuries later. Coming from one of the most martial Wills, it must’ve been bad.
    • During the Great Titan War, Jaw’s body was ripped in half by the ruthless Beaumont inside the Female Titan. She held a grudge for a long time until Jaw’s “loss” to Ymir spurred them to make up.
    • The Cart Titan is the embodiment of all of YMIR’s “slave” aspects, everything submissive, depressed, and miserable in her psyche was dumped into Cart. Worst of all, she knows this, and can’t do anything about it. She likes being submissive to powerful Wills like Warhammer, just as much as she hates it. Constantly denigrated or ignored by other members of her family, even the rest of human society. Despite the worship of the Nine as gods, Cart still got the short end of the stick.
    • The Attack Titan has caused countless deaths in his quest to free YMIR from the Paths and feels no remorse. Secrecy and necessity led him to isolate himself from the other Titan Wills, while his berserker rage made him the black sheep even compared to Cart. Disappearing before the Great Titan War severely harmed his relationships with all the other Wills. Including the Female Titan who he is hinted to have had a relationship with.
  • Death Glare: The Ackermans are experts at it and the extra white ring in their eyes at full synchronization is noted to be extremely intimidating.
    • Annie gives them regularly, as do the Attack and Female Titans.
    • When speaking through their hosts, all the Titan Wills can give these, complete with Glowing Eyesof Doom.
  • Declaration of Protection: The purpose of the Armored Titan’s Will, and he uses this to help heal Reiner’s fractured psyche following the Slaughter at Trost. Warrior and Soldier personalities are fused into “Protector” which is why Reiner and Eren’s relationship begins to mirror the one between their Titan Wills.
    • Historia and Ymir exchange these just before the anti-Titan mine they’re working on explodes. They exchange them again as part of their vows on their wedding day.
    • Eren and Mikasa have this, which eventually develops into romantic feelings.
    • Given directly or indirectly by many of the Titan Wills for their child/teenage hosts during the events of the story. Colossal complains the others are “getting too attached” and notably does not.
  • Defeating the Undefeatable: The New Warriors claiming the Founding Titan is widely viewed as this. From what we’ve seen of the Founder’s manipulation of bodies and minds, its true power is close to a capital-G God. Good thing it was a fake.
    • Similarly, the First Interior Squad are shocked to hear Kenny has been killed and many of them lose their will to fight.
  • Dehumanizing Insult: One of the Marleyans asserts that because all Eldians are already Titans it makes them stupid, hungry, and reckless. Zeke and Pieck are said to be of “almost Marleyan” intelligence despite being geniuses in their own right.
    • ”Devil-blood” or “devils” is the most common insult to hear directed at Eldians.
      • Bertholdt refers to Armin this way because as an Honorary Marleyan, that makes Annie and Bertholdt a better person, literally.
      • The mainland Eldians also refer to the people of Paradis as “Island Devils” and naturally assume them to be evil due to Marleyan propaganda.
    • General Calvi, one of Marley’s top brass, compares the “proper” Eldian servant to furniture.
  • Deliberate Values Dissonance: The Marleyan military is male-dominated, unlike Paradis’ more egalitarian Legions. Pieck is glad to have Mikasa as “another woman in the Warriors” because of this, but has learned to manipulate their chauvinism. Mikasa, on the other hand, swore she would never be helpless again, so being deferential is alien to her.
    • Eren views the submissive nature of many mainland Eldians as pathetic, and is greatly disturbed by their wish to see his homeland of Paradis die. He and Karina Braun do not get along, but Gabi helps him understand their perspective.
    • Many of the Titan Wills have little concern for human lives beyond the ones they specifically care for and are more upset Marley destroyed their noble families than the millions killed in retributive pogroms. The Attack Titan and the Guardians enjoy killing, while Armor and Warhammer occasionally glorify war. These four were “martial” Wills and the Ackerman Guardians were artificially created to excel at combat.
  • Determinator: Eren Jaeger most of all, which is why the Attack Titan needed him as his final host. The Attack Titan as well, since he was so determined to keep Eren alive, he used corpses as a makeshift raft.
    • Historia declared she would marry Ymir and protect her despite being the half of the Battle Couple without a Titan Power. She then became Queen of Paradis to fulfill her promise.
    • The Attack Titan himself waited for 2,000 years, plotting to ensure all the right people were born and in place for the final act. All so he and Eren Jaeger could free YMIR from Paths.
  • Disappeared Dad: Grisha Jaeger, so when Zeke finds the family photo in Eren’s basement, it’s a bit of a shock.
    • Sebren Arlert, Armin’s father, was arrested by the Military Police for studying aeronautics with his wife. When they attempted to escape in a hot-air balloon, they were shot. Armin finds the MP report summarizing the incident.
    • The Founding Titan, to all the other Wills. Without guidance, reassurance, or even stern authority, tensions rose between the Wills and the Noble Houses until the Great Titan War erupted.
  • Do Not Go Gentle: The other half of the reason the Attack Titan likes Eren, because they both will never stop fighting, no matter what the odds are.
  • Dramatic Irony: Tons.
    • Eren is first convinced to join the Warriors because of the threat of the Rumbling and repeatedly states such a thing would be horrible. He ends up causing it in the future.
    • Everyone saw Reiner eat Rod Reiss, so obviously he has the Founding Titan. Eren actually has the Founder and Rod just licked up the last spinal fluid from his bag.
  • Dreaming of Things to Come: Annie gets this when she has to tear Eren out of his Titan and accidentally gets a glimpse of her own future by copying the Attack Titan’s future sight.
    • Since he’s in the “present” or “endgame”, depending on perspective, this is what the Attack Titan’s future sight is reduced to, to his frustration.
  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: Keith Shadis is legendary for this and his sex-ed class is widely viewed as “worse than Titans”. Reiner asserts it was traumatizing, though given the context, this was probably a joke.
    • Both the Attack and Armored Titans use his form and voice when communicating something they really want their hosts to remember. He left an impression.
  • Dual Wielding: Standard for all 3DMG. The First Interior usually has dual shotguns instead of blades, but throws together a combination set just before the Battle of Mitras. Jean and Hanji are working on refining the idea.
    • The Ackermans break their swords several times in combat and grab new ones from dead bodies. Justified as the ultra-hard steel is meant to cut Titans, not engage in swordfights.
    • Mikasa fights a House Guard wielding two knives who almost kills her. She survives by abandoning one of her own blades to punch him in the face.
    • The Warhammer Titan uses two meat-tenderizers against several assassins.
  • Due to the Dead: Historia insists that every soldier, no matter their allegiance, is buried with honor. This is a problem because some of the bodies are reduced to smears.
    • Connie is given a tearful sendoff my the surviving members of the 104th.
  • Dysfunction Junction: The Titan Wills since forever and the New Warriors after the Slaughter at Trost. Everyone has baggage and some of it is Titan-sized.
  • Eaten Alive: What happens to every host when transferring the Titan Power. When ritualized by the Nine Noble Houses during the Eldian Empire, it was viewed as an honor and sacrifice. The Titan Wills themselves remember some of the more gruesome ones, but are largely inured to it after centuries.
    • Faye Jaeger is eaten by dogs and the Attack Titan not only caused it (debatable), he made sure Eren saw what was left.
    • The narration notes that despite turning Eren into a Mindless Titan on purpose, Grisha still panicked when it was his turn to be eaten.
  • Elite Mook: Aberrant Titans, which cause Eren to get eaten in Trost are unpredictable even to the experienced Titan Wills, behaving erratically. This is because they either had a Shifter ancestor, had strong emotions at the moment of injection, or were of royal blood. YMIR explains they were a popular way to get rid of rivals to the throne during the Empire.
    • The First Interior are this to the New Warriors, while House Abelard and Emelia’s personal guards are this to the loyalists.
  • Emotionless Girl: Mikasa puts up a front because she doesn’t want to worry her friends, but she is deeply shaken by several revelations. Her Guardian worries about this as part of the changes she made to Mikasa’s body was to rewire brain functions to avoid PTSD. “Killer’s guilt” or revulsion at gore were also removed, but an Ackerman’s free will remains intact.
    • Annie tries to be one, but Armin pulls her out of her shell. Mikasa’s friendship makes this even harder.
    • Kenny’s subordinate Caven is largely emotionless, though his death leaves her lost and Desperately Seeking A Purpose In Life. She joins Jean’s New Military Police.
  • End of an Age: The Nine know the Age of the Titans is coming to an end and it spurs them to action.
    • Armor and the Female Titan want to leave behind a legacy and family, respectively. Cart wants to die, Beast wants to see what happens, Warhammer wants to settle scores, and the Attack Titan is determined to Go Out With A Bang.
    • Marley wants the Founder to shore up their outdated conventional military and use Paradis Island’s resources to fuel their war effort. Their superpower status is on the wane according to both the Titans and Commander Magath’s classified military reports.
  • Enemy Mine: The New Warriors get help from some disaffected nobles who want to end the Founder’s stasis and save their own butts in the bargain. The Scouts and some of the Garrison join them out of personal animus against the government, idealism, or simply because they didn’t want to fight intelligent Titans.
    • Everyone joins forces to take down Rod Reiss and hating him is a useful starting point for Historia to build her new government.
    • All the Titan Wills fight together against the Vow to Renounce War, because a mad artificial Will with the Founder’s power is a doomsday scenario.
    • In the Paths, the Attack and Warhammer Titans are seen fighting the Beast Titan for an as-yet-unspecified reason.
  • Enfant Terrible: Eren killed two grown men at age nine. Future Eren says the Attack Titan wasn’t influencing him, it was just natural human rage. Future Zeke is not comforted by this.
    • Due to their Guardian conditioning, both Levi and Mikasa could be considered this. The Titan Wills later describe feral, drone-like Ach-Men, which include several children, who managed to take down at least one Titan Shifter.
  • Escort Mission: Annie gets a glimpse of one in a dream where she and several Military Police are helping many of the Warrior’s families. the mission goes wrong when her father is turned into a Mindless Titan.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The Attack Titan may seek to drown the world in blood but he’s a Mama’s Boy through and through. He also shows more open affection for Jaw and is implied to have been in some kind of romantic relationship with the Female Titan, though it’s Ancient History by now.
    • Warhammer, for all her faults, just wanted to put her family back together. She also cares somewhat for the Tyburs, but treats Lara as a pet more than anything.
    • Kenny was not capable of love, but he had some bond with his sister Kushel, enough to try and raise her son. He also had some familial interest in Mikasa, though how much of this was genuine is an open question. It’s possible he was merely seeking someone strong enough to give him a good fight, which to him could only mean another Ackerman.
    • Eren gets a big dose of this when meeting Reiner’s family.
    • Zeke is determined to “save” Eren from what he thinks is Grisha’s brainwashing and is delaying the Beast Titan’s plans for this purpose.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Part of the Attack Titans motivation is to free YMIR (who the nine consider their mother) from the Paths.
  • Exotic Eye Designs: When synchronizing with their Guardians, Ackermans gain a white ring in the middle of their iris. What purpose this serves is unknown but is hinted to play a part in their enhanced reaction time and Awesomeness by Analysis.
  • Eye Scream: One of the most effective ways to debilitate a Titan Shifter is to blind them. Annie gets blades stuck in her Titan’s eyes twice.
    • Sasha shoots Armin in the face and he loses his right eye.
    • When Bertholdt uses his new lightning power, channeling so much electricity through his body causes both his eyes to boil and pop.

    F-I 
  • Face Death with Dignity: Varies wildly. The Noble Houses tried to do this when transferring their titans to family and Eren Kruger gratefully relinquishes the Attack Titan to Grisha, even though it means getting Eaten Alive. Grisha and Marcel both panic and try to flee despite putting themselves in harm’s way.
    • When she thinks Eren is dead at Trost, Mikasa is ready to die this way, but her Guardian absolutely refuses.
    • Commander Pixis leads the charge against Annie’s Titan while laughing, even though he’s killed shortly after.
    • Kenny, kind of. Thanks to the Ackerman Guardians he gets yelled at by his sister and accepts his defeat and Mikasa and Levi’s hands. He dies getting hit in the face with a boot, impaled four times over to a marble block.
    • Rod Reiss, though this is only due to the Vow to Renounce War.
  • False Friend: Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt bend the truth to get Mikasa, Armin, and Eren on their side, making them enemies of everyone inside the Walls. While Armin figures it out early, Mikasa and Eren are furious when they find out who their friends really are and what they left out of their stories. The revelation of the Titan Wills is at first the only thing that keeps them even on speaking terms at first.
    • Kenny can be buddy-buddy with Jean, though his jocular façade is so thin even Sasha isn’t fooled. He’s more successful with Mikasa because he puts in more effort.
    • Bertholdt after the Battle of Mitras. Consumed with jealousy and homesickness, he tries to kill Armin twice, thinking then Annie will go home to Liberio.
  • Fantastic Light Source: One of the past Eldian Queens adorned the royal palace, then the city of Jotenhein with glowing crystal spheres far before electricity was ever invented. Similar crystal is found in a cave below Mitras. The Female Titan’s title as “The Crystal Queen” implies she can create something similar.
    • There are hints that the Iceburst Stone, a rare and powerful fuel resource, is related to or created by the Power of the Titans.
    • Several Shifters use sparks of transformation electricity to light candles.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture:
    • While the present-day Marleyans have heavy Nazi Germany tones, their culture and food is Italian-based. The Tyburs have Italian pines in front of their home. As someone who aspired to be Marleyan, Reiner’s favorite food is a tortellini pasta dish.
    • Paradis and the Eldian Empire before it was heavily Germanic, though in the present day they are similar to the Jews during the Holocaust. Armor and Attack both mention the Empire’s cities were very cosmopolitan and Mitras’s Grand Cathedral is modeled after St. Peter’s Basilica, as well as the Square outside.
    • The country of Sudeja, with a history of sexual texts, exotic drugs and spices, is similar to India, though since this is the Female Titan speaking, there’s probably far more to the country.
    • As in canon, Hizuru is an Eastern nation heavily based on Japanese culture, though it controls far more islands than Japan ever did, covering most of the Sea of Tōyō.
    • The Accrans, Onyankonpon’s people living under Marleyan subjugation, are British. Armin accidentally re-invented their Parliamentary democracy, which the Titans think will get the Accrans interested enough to visit.
    • Etrusca is a mix of Egyptian-themed and Byzantium, with pleated beards and golden thread as common accessories.
    • Corsuca and the Edosares are unknown, but they apparently hang Eldians from cranes.
    • The Beaumonts, the Female Titan’s former noble house, were French.
    • Several nations that are part of the Mid-East Alliance are based on the Ottoman Empire and various Middle Eastern cultures.
    • The Church of YMIR during the Eldian Empire had a “Branching Crisis” sparked by someone named Luther. Historia’s dealings with the Wall Cult are also heavily influenced by the Protestant Reformation, as well as the split between Eastern and Western Orthodox churches.
  • Fanservice:
    • With the Female Titan’s influence, her Beaumont family were the Austro-Hungarians of their day, sleeping their way across the continent. The Titan herself is an unabashed hedonist and subconsciously helps push Annie to sleep with Armin. For his part, Armin is noted several times to be good at using his mouth.
    • Eren and Mikasa have sex in a church and then, to Reiner’s chagrin, every other reasonably private spot they can find.
    • The New Warriors are supposed to meet up with Annie at a place in Wall Sina she assures them is safe. It turns out to be a high-class brothel.
    • Pieck and Zeke have some kind of Friends with Benefits arrangement, which is secret.
  • Fantastic Racism: The Marleyans, Corsucans, and Edosares against Eldians. The latter two are so bad Marleyan internment camps and habitual brutality are the better option.
    • One of the Marleyans asserts that because all Eldians are already Titans it makes them stupid, hungry, and reckless. Zeke and Pieck are said to be of “almost Marleyan” intelligence despite being geniuses in their own right.
    • ”Devil-blood” or “devils” is the most common insult to hear directed at Eldians. Bertholdt refers to Armin this way because as an Honorary Marleyan, that makes Annie and Bertholdt a better person, literally.
    • General Calvi, one of Marley’s top brass, compares the “proper” Eldian servant to furniture.
    • In the Eldian Empire some Marleyans were seen as second-class citizens, while marrying into Eldian families was a method of social climbing. “Eldian” described both a cosmopolitan national identity and an ethnic group, so someone could be an Eldian Marleyan or an Eldian Etruscan. Since the Church of YMIR proclaimed Eldians as Chosen People, it could have been Eldians and Everybody Else. It’s unclear.
    • Being half-Eldian was once a source of pride, but after the Great Titan War and during Marley’s subsequent pogroms, it became something to be hidden or erased. The Beast Titan once mused that if the “one drop rule” was true, Eldians could account for 1/4th of the world’s population.
  • Fantasy World Map: The author has one and makes repeated reference to it, but it has yet to be shown. The move beyond the Walls to Marley means it will take on greater relevance. As in canon, the continents are Earth’s flipped upside-down and reversed, though scaled significantly up. Paradis is far larger than the equivalent of Madagascar and the Marleyan continent is larger than any historical empire.
  • Final Solution: Several of the Wills want to kill a ton of people, for their own reasons.
    • As The Rage of YMIR, the Attack Titan wants to use the Rumbling to free YMIR Fritz from captivity in the Paths, killing as many people as possible to communicate her suffering.
    • Zeke and Tom Ksaver’s Euthanization Plan, actually an Infertility Plan, is revealed to actually be the Beast Titan’s plan to let the Titan Wills die permanent deaths. With no Eldians, the Paths and the Wills may cease to exist. Beast also wants to do it just to see if he can.
    • The Eldian Empire exterminated other ethnic groups in the past, including one that was apparently resistant to the Power of the Titans, something Beast laments. The Attack Titan implies some of these groups had beings that could challenge the Titan Wills, with Dohrun as the leading contender.
  • Fingore: Jean is forced to do this to Lord Targovistche as part of his initiation into Kenny’s First Interior Squad.
    • Eren is later given a bag of his own fingers. They were amputated while he was unconscious to prevent him escaping.
  • For Doom the Bell Tolls: The Attack Titan punches a Mindless opponent into a bell to draw the attention of his siblings, who are relieved Eren’s alive.
    • During the Battle of Mitras, several of the cannons are mounted in church steeples, with bells as counterweights, and they cause a clamor throughout the battle. One particular bell sounds when Connie dies.
  • Foul First Drink: Eren tries black coffee at Zeke’s urging and almost spits it back out.
  • Fragile Speedster: Jaw and Cart compared to their siblings. Jaw can be taken out by any of the other Titans, but they have to catch her first. Because of her exceptionally small size as a Titan, Ymir’s Jaw is even faster than that. Gaining Armored scales from a bottle of Titan serum helps alleviate the fragile part.
  • Full-Circle Revolution: As a Will known for inspiring rebellions and overthrowing kings, the Attack Titan’s seen a lot of this. Despite this, he still believes fighting for freedom is the right thing to do.
  • Gambit Pileup: The Royal Convocation in Mitras, arguably by design. Rod Reiss wanted to use the event as bait for any Titan Shifters and rebellious military elements, emotionally blackmailing Historia to take the Founder back from Eren with the chaos. The New Warriors know it’s a trap but go anyway to eat the King, while some of the nobles use the opportunity to save their own skins. Kenny wants to steal the Founder and fight his family, Jean wants revenge on Eren, the Titan Wills want to keep their hosts alive, and the Vow to Renounce War wants to scramble the brains of everyone in range of their power, which could be either all of Mitras, all of Paradis, or every Eldian on the planet. The result is absolute madness.
  • Game Changer: The Attack, Female, Armored, and Jaw Titans convince the Founder to remove the blocks separating Titan Will and hosts. While some of them had been pushing the line through dreams and subconscious nudges, this causes every single one of the Titan Shifters to freak out.
  • Gentle Giant: What the Colossal Titan really wants to be, observing the stars and wandering in awe of nature’s beauty. While Armor’s protective nature could be this, he’s been a soldier too long and is accustomed to war.
    • Occasionally a propaganda tactic or drunken foolishness used by the Eldian Empire, where some of the Nobles would let children play on their Titan forms. Beast was surprisingly popular with children because of his animal forms, though the Will and the Leonhardts were far from gentle.
  • Glowing Eyesof Doom: All the Titan Shifters get these when their Will is speaking through them. While intimidating and cool, it also makes subtlety impossible without very thick sunglasses.
  • Godzilla Threshold: The Vow to Renounce War is utterly insane and all the Titan Wills unite to fight it so the Vow doesn’t kill them permanently or liquify every Eldian’s brain.
    • Mad King Cromquist Fritz attempted to become a second YMIR by eating everyone with the Power of the Titans, which created something so horrible that even centuries later, the Wills still want to exterminate his entire bloodline. Just in case.
    • Rod Reiss’s False Founder and dozens of Aberrant Titans force even hated enemies like Jean and Eren to combine forces. Or at least punch someone else for a while.
  • Good Parents: Vanishingly rare and usually dead.
    • Grisha and Carla Jeager were good parents to Eren and Mikasa, but revelations about Grisha’s past have them wondering how much of it was calculated. While Grisha’s comments to the Reiss family indicate he truly saw Mikasa as his adopted daughter, he also jumped at the opportunity to befriend the pregnant Tsuhine Ackerman, remembering Eren Kruger’s cryptic words about Mikasa and Armin.
    • Pieck’s parents raised her to be a kind young woman in a world that is not kind to young Eldian women and in turn, Pieck tries to pass that on to others.
  • Good Thing You Can Heal: A source of black comedy, usually with Eren or Reiner on the receiving end. At this point when Reiner is stabbed in the chest his only reaction is to sigh.
    • When Eren is treated to a Fastball Special outside Wall Rose, Annie’s aim is a little off and he arrives at the top looking like roadkill. After Mikasa, Reiner, and Bertholdt are all injured atop the wall, they dump excess blood on themselves and pretend to be grievously injured to escape. Eren’s horrible wounds help and it’s implied the Warriors have used this ploy before.
    • Captain Levi throws a cursing, limbless, Annie to the ground and drags her off as part of an elaborate gambit by the Female Titan.
    • When Bertholdt uses his rediscovered power to turn the Colossal’s transformation into pure lightning, he boils his eyes from their sockets, burns the skin off his body, and is barely recognizable as human. While he heals from this, it’s the exact reason why such a power wasn’t famous.
  • Government Conspiracy: The familiar one inside the Walls with the Military Police, the corrupt nobles, and the Wall Cult keeping stasis. There are also implications the Warhammer Titan has something similar in Marley, with cells of informants answering to Ancient Eldian call-signs.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Is it the Beast Titan, the Attack Titan, or the Warhammer, who are all seen fighting each other inside the Paths themselves? Is it still Eren himself, some unholy combination of all four?
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Jean is jealous of Eren because of his crush on Mikasa. This is the seed for his more deep-seated anger at Eren’s violence and part of the impetus behind his desire to reform the Military Police.
    • Bertholdt repeatedly says his hostility to Annie and Armin has nothing to do with the fact she turned him down in favor of Armin. No one he’s speaking to believes this. It’s hinted Bertholdt is externalizing his self-loathing and perceived weaknesses in Armin, who he has tried to kill twice now.
    • The dumpy-looking, ungainly Cart Titan is jealous of the other Wills which are beautiful, powerful, and inspire legends. Compared to them, Cart’s powers and forms aren’t flashy at all.
  • Grey-and-Grey Morality: All over the place.
    • The Monarchists, including Pixis, Jean, half the Garrison, and most of the Military Police, value stability and safety, even if both are bought with blood. The Scouts, House Abelard, and the other half of the Garrison are willing to take risks, fight, and die, to break the boring stasis imposed by the Founder. Stability vs change is one of the main themes of the story, with change opening new opportunities and causing horrible bloodshed at the same time.
    • Most of the New Warriors have some variant of this discussion with their Titan Wills, especially Eren. The Attack Titan is trying to drag Eren out of his Good vs Evil dichotomy in preparation for returning to Marley.
    • Is it alright to be selfish?” is a question both Annie and Mikasa end up asking themselves.
    • Eren thinks Reiner and Bertholdt are scum for breaking Wall Maria and causing his mother to get eaten. Meeting Reiner’s family at Liberio’s docks makes this a little harder for him.
  • Guilt-Free Extermination War: The Titan Will’s attitude towards the Mindless Titans. It’s a shame for the people inside, but the Nine aren’t going to let themselves get eaten as a matter of pride.
  • Guns Are Worthless: Played with. The Walls use flintlocks, muskets, and cannons and the latter are only dangerous to Eren and Annie in large numbers. However, the First Interior are noted by Grisha Jeager to use “man-killer” custom shotgun cartridges that are highly lethal. Magath has a report about the prototype Anti-Titan guns being developed in the Mid-East that pose a serious danger to the Warrior unit.
    • The Ackermans can dodge bullets, mostly by reading the aim of a gun’s human operator, but dodging semi-automatic or belt-fed weapons forces their Guardians to “overclock” their brains and bodies, exhausting them.
    • Much to her chagrin, Mikasa is merely average with guns. She and her Guardian specialized in bladework ever since she first picked up a knife so while she does use guns on occasion in Marley.
  • The Gunslinger: All of the First Interior Squad are this.
  • Gut Punch: Connie’s death hits hard and Armin’s supposed death is a cliffhanger.
  • Here We Go Again!: The Titan Wills, especially Cart take this attitude when they see one of history’s familiar cycles swinging back around. Or whenever one of their siblings brings up an old joke.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: The New Warriors pretend they are this, trying to prevent the Rumbling even as the Walls try to hunt them down. After the Battle of Mitras, when they did save some people and very publicly take down Rod Reiss’s False Founder, things get a bit better. While some people think they are heroes, or at least kids with their hearts in the right place, the Walls are still happy to see them gone.
    • The Attack Titan’s killed a lot of people and is reviled as the Devil of All Earth, the Chaosbringer, but they’ve also saved lives seemingly out of nowhere, helped people be born, and is doing everything to save his mother.
  • Hidden Depths: The Attack Titan can sing, braid hair, and has a deep appreciation for beer. For an avatar of destruction and rage, he’s also very good at helping Eren plan dates.
    • Mikasa’s Guardian can be proud and boastful, because she’s a much younger Will surrounded by “cousins” thousands of years older than her and secretly feels like she has to live up to the Ackerman Clan’s warrior legacy.
    • The Colossal Titan is an expert astronomer and is tied with Beast for their knowledge of the natural world. They helped invent electricity.
    • Despite being cheerful and childlike, the Jaw Titan is more adept at politics than half her siblings and often works with Colossal to keep the Nine on good terms.
    • Warhammer is an architect and Willy Tybur finds a blueprint of a train station with a few adjustments added in his sister’s hand.
    • Cart’s outsider status and reputation as a “jumped-up horse” mean they know how to operate without any of the networks, people, and resources the other Wills had access to in Eldia. They also have a keen understanding of economic systems and have given Pieck and her family investment advice.
  • Humans Are Bastards: Something everyone in the story acknowledges. War, plunder, international politics, personal betrayal and a thousand petty cruelties show the worst of humanity and the Titan Wills have adopted some of these qualities consciously or not.
    • Even characters with the noblest goals and best intentions have to get their hands dirty sometimes.
  • Humans Are Flawed: The Titan Wills know humans keep making the same mistakes over and over and the Beast Titan used to collaborate with the Founder on projects to fix various “flaws”. However, the Founder came to realize it was a bad idea and is implied to have put self-imposed limits on how much humans can change and still count as human.
  • Humans Are Special: Despite all the misery, the Titan Wills are still interested enough in humanity to not give in to cynicism entirely. Bravery, selflessness, compassion, kindness, creativity, dozens of qualities inspire the positive aspects of the Titan Wills. Surprisingly, both Attack and Beast appreciate the unexpected nature of human choice and how even with centuries of experience, people will still manage to surprise them.
  • Humans Are Warriors: The Ackerman Clan and their Guardians were built to be this. Artificial Wills bound to a smaller branch of the Paths, they enhance their hosts to the physical and mental peak of human conditioning, removing PTSD and any instinctual human aversion to violence. Muscle fibres become as strong as steel cables, bones are reinforced, neurons adapted to think and react at superhuman speed, dozens of alterations to the point the Ackerman Clan is not entirely human any more. As a result, they have problems bearing children, though the Beast Titan suspects this was also a failsafe by the Founder to ensure a supersoldier race didn’t take over the world.
  • Hunter of His Own Kind: All the Titan Wills to the Mindless, who they look at with at best, pity.
    • Kenny, to Levi and Mikasa, for his own reasons. Partially he waned a truly challenging fight and to him, the only suitable candidates were other Ackermans.
  • Idiot Ball: Eren keeps picking it up, to his Titan’s frustration. He tries to sneak into an MP base with no disguise at all and is immediately recognized. He then tries to fight instead of flee and gets captured.
    • Mikasa arguably shares it with half the New Warriors when they follow Kenny into a half-submerged castle. Though in all fairness, he had answers they really wanted.
    • The Founding Titan drifting in a memory haze through the Paths, gives its arguably infinite power to King Karl Fritz. This causes the Great Titan War and the Vow to Renounce War traps the Founder in a deep, dreamless sleep for over 100 years.
    • The Marleyan Brass sending four child Warriors to Paradis. The Titan Wills think it’s insane and a suicide mission.
  • Inter-Service Rivalry: Both the Legions of Paradis and Marley’s Army, Navy, Air Force are considered their own little fiefdoms.
    • The Scouting Legion thinks the Military Police are corrupt, the Military Police think the Scouts are dangerous idealists, and they both look down on the Garrison for being full of “dead weight”. For their part, the Garrison considers itself to do the “real work” of keeping the peace (since many Military Police are just Garrison soldiers at outposts run by a Military Police officer) and do the bulk of the unacknowledged but vital work of any military (patrolling the Walls, manning the defenses, responding to local alerts, etc).
    • During the Battle of Mitras, the Legions split down the middle with the Scouts and half the Garrison joining the New Warriors, and the Military Police leading the other half of the Garrison, including Pixis, in defense of the monarchy. This leads to literal bad blood between them and when Darius Zackley is more interested in torturing nobles than addressing this, Historia hires Duke Abelard as Minister of War to fix this.
    • Part of the reason Commander Magath leads the Warrior Unit is because he doesn’t get involved in the politics of command and makes sure the Warriors stay out of it too.
  • It's Personal: The Wills still have some grudges left over from the last 2,000 years. Jaw hates her sister, Armor and Attack hate each other’s guts, and Attack sees the Warhammer’s betrayal as the height of hypocrisy. The Titan Wills take a lot of things personally.
    • When Eren sees the Smiling Titan, he forgets he has a giant sword, backup, and there’s 25-30 Mindless between them. He charges straight at her.
    • Eren also hates Reiner and Bertholdt for what they did at Wall Maria. The Titan Wills negotiate him down to a caustic simmer…For now.
    • Armin jokes that this is his motivation for toppling the monarchy.
  • I Hate Past Me: When talking to Eren and Mikasa about the Armored Titan (while keeping his cover) Reiner describes the person who got it (his younger self) as an idiot who didnt understand anything and thought everything would end up being like a storybook. He expresses disgust with himself for how he used to be and tells Eren that that kid is dead.
  • I Want Them Alive!:
    • Eren and the other New Warriors are captured by Kenny because Rod Reiss wants to feed Eren to Historia and the others to loyal flunkies.
    • When Hanji asks about this in relation to the enormous form of Rod’s False Founder Annie retorts that she’s sick and tired of chasing the Founder across Paradis, so they’re just going to make it simple and eat him.

    J-O 
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: What the Founder can do to Eldians on a whim and part of what makes it so feared. The New Warriors spend a lot of time sneaking around and doing everything they can to surprise the Founder rather than risk a straight-up fight. The Vow to Renounce War threatens to leave everyone in range a drooling, mindless husk.
    • All Titan Shifters don’t remember their first Shift. This is because their Will is the one in the driver’s seat, though it’s usually for a very brief period of time. The Attack Titan’s berserk state is a variant of this, though even HE isn’t in control, apologizing before he loses his mind and becomes a being of pure aggression.
  • Last of His Kind: Kenny thought he was the last Ackerman for a long time and while they were never a huge clan, Mikasa’s Guardian thinks there are perhaps 20 “awakened” Ackermans on the entire planet.
    • The Attack Titan knows Eren is his last host. When he shares this with his siblings, the other Titan Wills are shaken by what it implies.
  • Lightning Bruiser: The Female and Attack Titans, though Armor can drop some weights when he really needs to move. All are surprisingly fast, though Card wins at sheer miles traveled per day.
    • Bertholdt, literally.
  • Living Emotional Crutch: Several.
    • Eren, for Mikasa. When she thought he died, her world collapsed and only a very pissed-off Guardian kept her from dying to a Titan. When she finds out he has nine years to live she doesn’t take it well.
    • Armin, for Annie. As the first person to give her unconditional love, empathy, and support, Annie is terrified at how much Armin comes to mean to her in a short span of time. She’s aware this isn’t healthy, but her attempt to regain some distance fails. Annie finally, tentatively allows herself to love Armin and his near-death at Sasha’s hands leaves her in a murderous rage.
    • Ymir, for Krista, initially. After the Slaughter at Trost, Ymir and Krista exchange several volleys of Brutal Honesty, including Ymir’s terminal death sentence and Krista’s true identity as Historia Reiss. After accidentally setting off an anti-Titan mine and getting locked in Scouting Legion custody, the girls reforge their relationship into one of mutual honesty, respect, and trust.
    • Annie, for the Female Titan, Reiner, for the Armored Titan, and Eren, for the Attack Titan. All three Shifters become deeply invested in their host’s well-being, especially when Attack lets slip these may be their last hosts ever. The Female Titan wants Annie to be happy and have tons of kids, Armor wants Reiner to be an honorable hero worthy of his legacy, and Attack needs Eren to pull off his Grand Plan.
  • Living MacGuffin: Whoever hosts the Founding Titan, a being with enough control of Eldian minds and bodies that it can be described as a lowercase-g or even a capital-G God. The problem is figuring out how to use all that power, much less control it.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Tons of characters are keeping secrets from each other and keeping track of who knows what is important.
    • Armin figures out Bertholdt and Reiner are the Colossal and Armored Titans but doesn’t tell Eren and Mikasa since they’re all on the run together. Mikasa figures out some of it with Reiner, but Eren is left completely ignorant until the Armored Titan saves him from a bunch of Mindless.
    • Armor, Attack, Female, and Colossal are all keeping quiet about who really has the Founding Titan so Eren doesn’t get eaten. They also don’t trust Beast or Warhammer and want to figure out what their sibling’s intentions are first.
  • Lovecraftian Superpower: The Founding Titan and its creations the Calladi, who are able to mold their own flesh like clay to become spies and assassins, including their vocal chords.
    • Many of the Beast Titan’s experiments, to the point the Founder was worried about creating a race of super-soldiers that would replace humanity.
  • Love Epiphany: Eren only gets his when Mikasa kisses him at Trost. Annie gets hers in a rain-soaked barn after losing her horse.
  • Mama Bear: The Female Titan loves her Shifters and various families dearly and can be just as dangerous as the Attack Titan if you piss her off. She’s the first one to give her Shifter access to long-forgotten abilities such as Titansight in order to save her and Armin.
  • Martyrdom Culture:
    • Standard for those fighting Titans, and originates from the Noble Houses who once ruled the Eldian Empire. Sacrificing your life to something bigger than yourself is how the Empire expanded through military conquest and how the Noble Houses passed down the Titans entrusted to them. Watching a family member get eaten alive every thirteen years was a little easier when unbroken family lines created “Ancestral Memories” of battle experience in the Paths, making even a fresh Titan a deadly fighter. The Titan Wills themselves have varying views on the subject, with Armor and Female thinking such sacrifice was noble and to be expected, while Jaw, Cart, and Colossal looked down on it. The Attack Titan flip-flops on this, but it does appreciate all its previous hosts who fought and suffered to get to this point.
    • Mutated by Marley into fanatical devotion to the “Motherland”, where Eldian conscripts strap on explosive vests and are told that in dying, they are redeemed for their ancestor’s sins. A more subtle version of this is used on the Warrior trainees, since a Titan Power gives you only 13 years to live.
  • The Masquerade: Three of them:
    • The Founder, nobles, and Wall Cult working with the Military Police to keep everyone inside the Walls happy, stupid, technologically backwards, and ignorant.
    • The Titan Wills unable to communicate with their hosts about their true sentient nature after the Female Titan burnt out two of her earliest hosts. Forced to influence them through subconscious nudges and faintly-remembered dreams, the Titan wills still influenced their host families and the cultures of the world for 2,000 years.
    • The Tybur family and their informants as the true rulers of Marley, though Willy Tybur and the Warhammer both admit they barely did everything for several dozen years.
  • Mass "Oh, Crap!": When the Vow to Renounce War wakes up in the middle of the 104th Training Grounds.
    • Mass is relative since there’s only nine of them but when, the Founder removes the barriers between Will and Shifter, every single one of their hosts freaks out and half of them are knocked unconscious.
  • Meaningful Look: Since they’ve been around for 2,000 years, the Titan Wills can communicate certain feelings with their eyes alone. Time will tell if this works for their hosts as well.
  • The Mole: Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt are sent to infiltrate the Walls and retrieve the Founding Titan. Jean is sent to infiltrate Kitz Weilman’s staff, and Eren and Mikasa are sent back to Marley as convoluted triple agents.
  • Mood Whiplash: The Titan Wills pinball between idly commenting on a battle like it’s a golf game, or shouting panicked orders at Shifters who can’t hear them. While this might sound insane, it’s how all of them have learned to cope with being spectators for 2,000 years. At several points, the Wills keep score of how many Mindless their hosts have killed or place bets using embarrassing memories as currency.
  • Morality Kitchen Sink: The Titan Wills are complex and full of contradictions, some of them know they are hypocrites. But all of them continue to focus on the emotion and perspective at the core of their being. Love/Womanhood, Curiosity/Cruelty, Childhood/Laughter, Wonder/Awe, Creation/Creativity, Protection/Duty, Rage/Freedom, Slavery/Submission, and Calm/Control. Arguably, none of them can be anything else than what they are. They’ve all been heroes and villains and the human characters also run the gamut, from noble leaders, self-interested scoundrels, and the worst of humanity.
  • Morality Pet: Without any human connections, an awakened Ackerman will drift through the world seeking out violence for the sheer thrill of combat. When they spiral down, they become corrupted into Ach-Men, slavering warriors with no self-preservation who only want to die, but are too addicted to the high of killing to do so voluntarily.
    • Most of their human hosts are this for the Titan Wills and Eren is one of the few things delaying the Attack Titan from starting the Rumbling.
  • More Teeth than the Osmond Family: The distinguishing feature of Eren’s Attack Titan, he’s always grinning. Also applies to Beast, Jaw, and Cart.
  • Mundane Utility: The most useful, continent-changing thing the Founder YMIR ever did with the Power of the Titans? She built smooth roads and long bridges, allowing commerce and connecting distant towns and cities.
    • Eren and Reiner also help with cleaning up the debris after the Battle of Mitras.
    • The Shifters are also seen lighting candles using the lightning from an aborted transformation.
    • Cart is this principle in the shape of a Titan. Want a Titan who can stay active for months not hours? With a shape suited for moving cargo and steam for concealment? Several of the Will’s hosts and noble families used these powers to become very rich, building mercantile networks that formed the backbone of the Eldian Empire.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Mikasa’s Guardian during the Slaughter at Trost when she realizes that by focusing on glory to distract her grieving host, she’s pushed the other Wills away and is without gas or backup, running from a Titan.
    • Mikasa has this moment when she comes out of synchronization with her Guardian and realizes she’s killed every member of the Garrison atop Wall Rose. Especially since she isn’t very bothered by it.
    • Armin has his seconds after stabbing Connie in self-defense.
    • Sasha and Annie’s moments follow in quick succession. Sasha shoots Armin in the face. She has this feeling as soon as the arrow leaves the bowstring. In retaliation, Annie beats her so badly she leaves permanent scars, which is HER moment.
  • The Needs of the Many: Frequently invoked by government officials and military commanders, good and bad. Jean uses this argument against Kaspar Abelard, who is not convinced. Colossal, Founder, and Beast often use this argument amongst themselves, while Jaw, Female, and Attack take the opposite view. Armor flop-flops.
  • Nice Guy: Hannes, who saves Eren and Mikasa twice. Once from the Smiling Titan, and once from a First Interior spy on patrol near the gate of Wall Sina. Also saves Kaya since Sasha isn’t there to do it in this timeline. He adopts her.
    • Armin, mostly. He genuinely wants to explore the world and help people, so all his plans and ruthless moments are in the service of causing as little bloodshed as possible. He briefly entertains the hope the New Warriors and Scouts could join Pixis to pull off a Bloodless Coup, which makes the Titan Wills laugh like hyenas.
    • Marco, who Jean recruits into his New MP’s to counterbalance Caven’s more cynical attitude.
    • Historia is genuinely kind, but she also uses her “Krista” persona to confuse a bunch of nobles and reinforce her loyalty amongst the people.
  • Nightmare Face: The Attack Titan’s original face is a green-eyed skull, it’s what he returns to when reminding Eren just what he is. Frequent among the Mindless as well.
    • The Smiling Titan is so scary even Zeke is momentarily taken aback at seeing it. Also because it’s the Titanized form of his mother.
    • The Titan Wills debate who had the ugliest Titan ever and general consensus is on a Cart Titan who drank Beast’s spinal fluid to look like a star-nosed mole.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt end up helping Historia and Ymir become Queens of the Walls, which was never part of the plan.
    • Rod Reiss’s cowardly attempts to escape Eren, Historia, and Ymir end up making them look much better in the public eye. His death as a monstrous False Founder convinces everyone that Reiner now has the Founding Titan, buying Paradis some time to find allies.
  • No Conservation of Energy: The lightning generated by Titan Shifters and especially Bertholdt’s new power are a manifestation of Paths energy. While said energy is handwaved away as something passed among all living Eldians, it’s never really explained.
    • The Warhammer and Founder can create things from Paths energy, breaking this law over their knees. Colossal is also able to manifest and completely disappear in seconds, despite the fact this should cause sonic booms from the absence of air. Eren’s Warhammer constructs emaciate his body to steal his mass instead.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: The Warhammer Titan inflicted several of these during the Great Titan War and has started resuming them in the modern day. Beast estimates that she would win in any fight with a 90% probability as the last remaining Will with the battle experience of Ancestral Memory.
    • A berserk Attack Titan does this to Annie, Reiner, and Ymir during the Battle of Mitras, which scares them all. The other Titan Wills are also not enthusiastic about facing him and his chance to go berserk is one of the reasons why he’s the “black sheep” of the family.
    • Annie does this during the battle as well. She goes after Bertholdt and Sasha for hurting Armin.
  • Non-Action Guy:
    • Armin, who feels inferior on a team with four Titan Shifters and an Ackerman super-soldier. He makes up for it by reinventing an entire system of government with checks and balances, convincing the Scouting Legion to side with the New Warriors despite ample reason to kill them, and defeating Bertholdt’s Colossal Titan on his own. Romancing Annie also helped his self-confidence a little.
    • Cart whines about being this, but instead of contributing, they prefer to wallow in their negative feelings.
  • Not Blood Siblings:
    • The Titan Wills were formed from YMIR Fritz’s mind as pure spirits when she acquired the Power of the Titans. After several centuries absorbing human culture, they decided a family unit was the best description of their connections. The Founder took on a “Fatherly” persona, while the other eight Wills refer to each other as siblings despite not being related. The Female Titan is implied to have pursued relationships with several of her “siblings” but could not consummate the union for obvious reasons.
    • Eren and Mikasa. This disappears when they start dating and Eren stops taking her for granted.
  • Not Enough to Bury: The casualties from the Slaughter at Trost and the Battle of Mitras. People are reduced to paste. This is the common fate of humans who fight Titans.
  • Not Quite Dead:
    • Levi’s mother, Kuschel, who accidentally overwrote his unawakened Guardian personality with her own due to a dying desire to protect her son.
    • Kenny managed to copy a portion of his personality into Mikasa’s subconscious, and her Guardian is trying to get beast to fix it before it wakes up.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Reiner and Eren fire these back and forth at each other, just like their Titan Wills. Annie and Mikasa also see a lot of similarities in the other girl and become friends while they are being hunted by Kenny.
    • Kenny’s Guardian taunts the other Ackermans with this line. Both women deny it.
  • Nothing Is Scarier: The Beast Titan’s experiments are never described in detail and considering the one time they were mentioned involved screaming walls of flesh, it’s probably better that way.
    • Whatever Cromquist Fritz became, the Titan Wills still want to wipe out anyone from his bloodline, just in case.
  • Oblivious to Love: Eren only realizes Mikasa loves him when she kisses him on the lips. Even then it takes some convincing.
    • Annie thinks the butterflies in her stomach around Armin are a sign of period cramps initially.
  • Offingthe Offspring: This was a way of life and an honor to the Noble Houses of the Eldian Empire. Fathers would eat their daughters, uncles their nephews, or vice versa, as long as the Titan Power was kept in the family, preserving the House’s power, identity, and Ancestral Memories.
    • Kenny tries to kill his nephew, Levi on multiple occasions.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The Titan Wills talk about these frequently Highlights include:
    • Human rebels burying the Armored Titan under a mountain.
    • Varquen Harunel, an Attack Titan host losing her husband to an assassination attempt and personally killing the entire city who was responsible.
    • The Beaumonts and Czinosts managing to avert the Trojan War equivalent through trickery and romance. The story is later embellished and turned into a play similar to Twelfth Night, which the Female Titan and Jaw love.
    • The Attack Titan and his hosts built an elaborate spy network in Marley right under the Public Security Bureau’s nose and managed to avoid discovery for 100 years.
  • Older Than They Look: YMIR Fritz looks like a ten year old child in the Paths due to her trauma, but she’s really 2,000 years old. Since Paths exist outside of time and she builds Titans that take years, she may be even older than that.
    • When the Titan Wills use human forms during dreams, Armor, Beast, Colossal, and Attack tend to favor middle-aged forms, Jaw a child or teenager, while the Female Titan is eternally a young twenty-something.
  • Old Shame: The Attack Titan once fell ass-first onto a statue during a city fight, resulting in an Ass Shove. Even after hundreds of years, Armor doesn’t miss a chance to bring this up.
    • On a darker note, Armor feels guilty about certain war crimes he feels stain the honor of the Armored Titan, even though the hosts who were responsible are long dead.
  • One-Man Army: Ackermans were designed to be this and the Beast Titan considers them his crowning achievement. Levi kills an entire street full of Aberrant Titans and Mikasa at one point kills so many Garrison soldiers their blood stains Wall Rose red, granting her the Nom de Guerre “Red Death”.
    • Any Titan Shifter, even Jaw, used to lay waste to nations and cities. This is less true in the “modern” age but the Titans are still a force on the battlefield.
  • One-Steve Limit: Averted hard. Many people in the Old Eldian cities still retain names similar to the Noble Houses who once ruled there so there’s quite a few Krugers out there.
    • YMIR Fritz, the First Founding Titan, is impersonated by a nameless street girl named Ymir. Later a paranoid Annie thinks they’re the same person. According to Armin the name is not unknown within the Walls but there’s a superstition that says it brings bad luck.
  • Only in It for the Money: Why some of the nobles are so willing to join Historia’s government as the first movers get to influence any new government spending. Others want to preserve their existing wealth and status in the face of her revolution, which is why they get Cabinet positions or Parliament seats.
  • Out-Gambitted: Rod Reiss and the Vow to Renounce War during the Battle of Mitras.
  • Outliving One's Offspring: Not uncommon among the Nine Noble Houses of the Eldian Empire, as some members of the family were allowed to grow old before inheriting the Titan, while other enthusiastic teenagers or desperate children took control when pressed.
    • Unless something changes, all the Warrior’s parents will outlive them, save Zeke’s.
  • Outside-Context Problem: Arguably the Power of the Titans itself, because even the Titan Wills haven’t figured out how or why they came to be.
    • The Titan Wills to Marley and other belligerent nations, who are used to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The Titans can impart languages, secrets, and knowledge their hosts couldn’t possibly know and move through walls to collect information.
  • The Outside World: Expanded upon, also Lighter and Softer compared to the universal hatred for Eldians in canon.
    • While there are some nations who are even worse than Marley, it is implied many others toe the Marleyan propaganda line out of diplomatic pragmatism and harbor less animosity towards Eldians.
    • Thousands of Eldians fled abroad during and after the Great Titan War, living in various secret or not-so-secret diasporas.
    • The Nine Titans used to be worshipped as gods and at least the Female Titan still is, albeit under a different name in Sudejan fertility festivals.

    P-U 
  • Parental Abandonment: Armin’s parents never came back from their balloon test, Mikasa’s biological and adoptive parents both died, Eren ATE one of his parents.
    • Annie was found as a baby in an Eldian refugee camp. It turns out there was a good reason for this, as she is a descendant of the Leonhardts who used to hold the Beast Titan.
  • Parental Substitute: Annie’s Female Titan has taken on a motherly role, unsurprisingly. Armor is the supportive father Reiner never had, while the Attack Titan and Mikasa’s Guardian worked to keep their hosts safe during their years spent as refugees. Attack even admits that he’s grown to care for Eren in a way he has for few of his other hosts.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: The Attack Titan’s favorite pastime, overthrowing any and all tyrants, often causing great bloodshed. His names are “The Devil of All Earth” and “The Chaosbringer.”
    • Eren’s fine with this, until his Titan suggests widening the loop of what counts as “evil”.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: Jaw deliberately tries to be this. Sasha still kind of is but Connie’s death and her scarring at Annie’s hands made her less chipper, though still kind.
    • Gabi, Falco, Udo, and Zophia serve this role in Marley.
  • Power Incontinence: The Attack Titan can lose control and go berserk, where his green healing fire turns orange, his eyes go white, and he kills anything and everything in range. Emphasized to not be Mindless as he is still capable of using tools and doesn't eat anyone. This is part of what led to his ostracization by the rest of the family.
  • The Power of Hate: The Attack Titan is this personified. The personification of YMIR Fritz’s desire for freedom and rage against her enslavers, it was once worshipped as a god of bloody vengeance. It has led multiple uprisings to overthrow tyrants, and is the stated antithesis of the Founder and Cart, who are “Control” and “Submission” personified respectively. It heals with burning green fire and is stronger than a standard fifteen-meter Titan, punching hard enough to shatter bones with every swing. When it loses control of its own hate and goes berserk it abandons its Healing Factor to punch even harder.
  • The Power of Trust: Zig-Zagged. The Marleyan Warrriors take advantage of Eren, Armin, and Mikasa’s trust on multiple occasions, but because they are Fire-Forged Friends, Eren has no one else to really ally with. When he trusted them, they took down a government together, though after getting burned twice, he’s far more caustic to Reiner and Bertholdt.
  • Power Trio: Eren, Mikasa, Armin, as in canon, but also Eren, Annie, and Reiner as a result of their Titan Wills growing close again.
  • Punched Across the Room: The Attack Titan’s main fighting style. When his blows connect, you feel it. Annie blocked one of his punches and was still thrown up into the air, a feat of strength even Reiner has yet to match.
    • Because of her enhanced Ackerman nature, one of Mikasa’s kicks made an enforcer spin three times in midair before he hit the ground.
  • Pyrrhic Victory: Why it’s called the Slaughter at Trost and not a battle. The Legions of Paradis discovered the existence of Titan Shifters, drove them off, and since they came back the next day, nobody really gained anything except more corpse-piles.
    • The New Warriors returning to Marley with the Founder and Attack Titan, but having lost the Female and Jaw Titans may turn out to be this. It remains to be seen how the Marleyan brass and the rest of the world will react to a far less clear-cut defeat, especially since Eren and Mikasa are unofficial ambassadors from Paradis.
  • Red Baron: Mikasa is named The Red Death by Paradis forces because of her red scarf and because she kills so many members of the Garrison, Wall Rose is temporarily stained red. She’s not a fan.
    • The Titan Wills have accumulated a lot of these over the centuries and boast about them sometimes.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Eren is classically Hot-Blooded, balanced out by the cool and collected Mikasa. In a bizarre inversion, the Attack Titan is also Blue compared to his host, which causes them both a great deal of confusion.
    • The Attack Titan preferred to choose collected and strong-willed hosts to prevent him from going berserk. These hosts also aged faster than others due to the psychological strain of holding back the avatar of YMIR’s rage.
  • Red Shirt Army: Many of the Legions of Paradis and the Garrison is noted as suffering the most casualties during the Battle of Mitras. When fighting against Titan Shifters, even experienced soldiers like Levi Squad die like flies.
  • Refuge in Audacity: Armin’s plan to topple the Monarchy which involves walking into a blindingly obvious trap and fighting their way out.
    • Queen Historia planned to send Eren, Armin, and Mikasa back to Marley as triple agents, trusting the Titan Wills and members of the 104th to keep them safe. While Armin got left behind, this may still work.
  • The Remnant: Paradis is what remains of the Eldian Empire’s noble class along with just over a million refugees from the Great Titan War, living ignorant of the outside world thanks to the Founder. While the people survived, their culture was erased by the Founder. Some of them want to cut ties with Eldia in a national version of That Man Is Dead.
    • The Titan Wills are immortal vessels of knowledge many Eldians have forgotten, from their ancient languages to cultural practices and history. However, they don’t necessarily remember, or care to recount all of it. The Attack Titan derides Grisha’s Restorationists, saying the Empire’s time is past and trying to bring it back is impossible and doomed to fail.
    • The Tyburs still have a collection of artefacts they were able to keep during the Marleyan pogroms, due to being The Quisling. Warhammer also appears to be activating long-dormant cells loyal to the Tyburs, using Ancient Eldian code phrases, but for what purpose is unknown.
  • Related in the Adaptation: Turns out that Annie is a Leonhart by blood and her father simply took the name after adopting her. Their name comes from the fact that they were the original holders of the Beast Titan (which appeared as a lion).
  • Relationship Upgrade: Thanks to her Guardian Wills urging, Mikasa kisses Eren before the Battle of Trost. Later they start dating.
  • Relative Button: Controlling a Shifter’s family and loved ones is often just as good as controlling the Shifter themselves. During the days of the Eldian Empire the Nine Noble Houses engaged in all sorts of subterfuge and raised armies to prevent or invoke this. Some of the Tybur’s secrecy is a result of these same policies.
    • This can also backfire as one of the minor city-states found out. When they kidnapped two Beaumont children to get the Female Titan to stand down, the current host said she didn’t care because she could always have more children. She then took her army and destroyed the city completely, rescuing her children in the bargain.
    • The Marleyan government keeps the Warriors under control because they all know if they act out, their families will be turned into Mindless Titans and sent to kill them. Marley isn’t as explicit about this, because Commander Magath prefers a light touch.
  • Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain: One of the few guaranteed ways to instantly kill a Titan Shifter.
  • Rescue Romance: Eren saved Mikasa from kidnappers when they were eight and she’s loved him ever since.
  • The Reveal: Several.
    • The Warriors reveals the Rumbling to the Shiganshina Trio and Scouts in a bid to convince them to side with them. How to avoid such unimaginable devastation is a main plot point for all of the human characters going forward.
    • Ymir tells the Scouting Legion about Marley and what the Warrior’s real goal is, giving them an advantage in negotiations. Bertholdt and the other New Warriors are helpless to stop her.
    • Caven reveals Kenny’s First Interior actually saved a bunch of forbidden knowledge they were supposed to have destroyed, giving Paradis some help in closing the technology gap.
    • The Titan Wills revealing themselves to their hosts is THE main turning point in the story.
  • The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Armin hopes they can pull off a bloodless coup against the Monarchy, which sends the Titan Wills into peals of laughter. Instead the Battle of Mitras is chaotic as Garrison squads join either side, everyone springs traps, and Titan battles nearly level the city. Several groups take the opportunity to settle scores and Darius Zackley straps several nobles into his infamous torture chair. Historia, Duke Abelard, and Erwin put a stop to the worst excesses but ill feelings between the Legions and some of the citizens persist.
    • The Attack Titan is this trope personified. Fighting for freedom is not easy, clean, or quick. However, he still believes freedom is worth fighting for and Eren agrees.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Eren and the Attack Titan both love these. When and how they should start is a matter of debate.
    • During the Great Titan War, the Attack and Female Titans fought across the entire continent, saving people and punching enemy Titan Shifters in the face.
    • Eren’s first transformation in Trost is largely driven by the Attack Titan, who celebrates his return to the battlefield by killing every Mindless he can, in increasingly brutal ways. Eren subconsciously approves.
    • When Eren discovers who the Armored Titan is, his rage drives the Attack Titan into a mindless berserker state that scares everyone.
    • Eren also wants to do this the moment he sets foot in Marley, but Zeke and the Attack Titan separately work hard to dissuade him. It still takes the entire boat ride and some guilt-tripping from his Titan for Eren to stand down.
    • The Attack Titan’s final goal is to free his mother YMIR and use the Rumbling to express her rage to the world.
  • Rousing Speech: Erwin gives these to the Scouting Legion frequently, firing up his soldiers to risk their lives against terrifying odds.
    • Duke Abelard has one during the Royal Convocation that starts the Battle of Mitras, challenging the people of the Walls to Dare to Be Badass and throw off the chains of the Founding Titan.
    • Armor remembers quite a few of these from his many conquests over the centuries.
  • Ruleof Cool: Some of the Titan Powers are impractical, but very impressive such as Bertholdt’s lightning ability.
    • The Ackermans run on this. Part of the reason for their mystique is because they aren’t just incredible fighters, they look good doing it.
  • Sanity Slippage: Reiner undergoes this during and after the Slaughter at Trost. It gets so bad at one point he starts seeing beds of flowers instead of corpses, prompting the Armored Titan and Guardian to intervene.
    • Bertholdt is starting to undergo this when he realizes Annie may defect based on her love for Armin.
    • Eren is starting to have this thanks to his Titan Will and because of so many life-changing revelations hitting him in short succession.
  • Scars are Forever: Mikasa loses the top of her left ear in a swordfight with Levi, and gets a brutal scar from her shoulder to hip thanks to Kenny.
    • Armin loses his right eye in the Battle of Mitras and has started wearing an eyepatch.
    • Sasha gets a brutal facial scar during the Battle of Mitras and it’s still healing.
  • Scenery Porn: The Grand Cathedral of Mitras is lavishly described, and the Female Titan fondly reminisces about far-off lands on several occasions.
    • Paradis is repeatedly described as beautiful and the Colossal Titan often seeks solace in the natural world.
  • Schizo Tech: Paradis is rapidly becoming this, using the First Interior’s hidden blueprints to make huge advancements. Historia’s new government is offering rewards for new innovations and Jean’s already started production on revolvers as well as conical bullets.
    • The Female Titan is already planning around the reinvention of steam engines.
    • The Beast Titan is very impressed with 3DMG, begging Zeke to acquire an intact set of gear for him to study. He’s like a child on Christmas.
    • Marley is acknowledged as being behind technologically compared other nations due to their reliance on the Power of the Titans.
  • Seal the Breach: What Eren insists upon during the Slaughter at Trost, dragging the enormous boulder over to seal the hole kicked by the Colossal Titan. Because Annie doesn’t want to abandon him to the Legions, she is more or less forced to help him despite significant Garrison and Scouting Legion reinforcements. This contributes to the confusion around Eren and Annie’s intentions and makes the Scouts more willing to hear the New Warriors out.
  • Secret Identity: The kindly Krista is actually Historia Reiss, heir to the crown of Paradis, a position she accepts to protect her fiancée Ymir and our of disgust at her father’s actions.
    • Ymir’s identity as the Jaw Titan is the Scouting Legion’s ace in the hole, making the New Warriors freak out when Erwin and Levi mention things they couldn’t possibly know.
    • Willy Tybur is the internationally famous head of the Tybur family, but his sister Lara holds the Warhammer Titan, not him.
    • Zeke Jeager is of royal blood, making him a claimant to the throne in Paradis. He’s hiding this from everyone.
    • Eren, not Reiner, is the one who currently holds the Founding Titan.
  • Self-Deprecation: Armin does this a lot and his friends frequently talk him up as a result, emphasizing his contributions to the team.
    • Bertholdt also doesn’t like himself very much.
    • Cart’s entire existence is partially this, as YMIR put her depression and Stockholm Syndrome into them, shoving all the “bad” parts of her conditioned to accept slavery into one fragment of her personality. Cart hates how much they love serving someone and centuries of trying to fight their very nature has made them bitter.
  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The twist in how the Attack Titan’s Future-Sight works. The further away from the “present” they were, the more the Attack Titan could see, using thousands of years to ensure everything happened the way it was “supposed” to so he and Eren could free YMIR. Because things don’t always work out, the Attack Titan either has a backup plan or improvises wildly on the spot.
    • Marley wants to make sure the Rumbling doesn’t happen or ensure they can control it. By giving Eren Jeager plenty of reasons to hate them, he’s now the perfect host for the Attack Titan to launch it.
    • Annie gets a headache when she realizes part of the reason she’s trying to be friends with Hitch is because she saw the girl in a future vision. Many Attack Titans got lost in the causal loop caused when they received similar future memories.
  • Senseless Sacrifice: Dozens of soldiers die fighting the New Warriors, only for the group to become hesitant allies of Historia’s new government. Many survivors of the Battle of Mitras struggle to find meaning in their comrade’s deaths, including members of the 104th.
    • Reiner is starting to realize he doomed himself to a thirteen-year lifespan for a government that views him as a tool and a mother who no longer knows him. Armor attempts to provide some comfort, stating that Reiner can find his own meaning moving forward.
  • Shirtless Scene: Most of the New Warriors get one, but Mikasa gets a long Mirror Monologue musing about her scars. It’s repeatedly referenced how their 3DMG training has given them strong, muscular physiques, even Armin.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: Connie’s death is one of the signs things aren’t going well, but the Titan Wills keep enough comedy sprinkled throughout to keep things from getting too grim.
  • Shout-Out: Many, often explained in Author’s Notes.
    • The Warhammer Titan creates a long blade to fight a dragon-ish Beast Titan and its description brings to mind Berserk, which features another famous dragonslaying sword. The Attack Titan also performs a one-handed somersault using his own great cleaver, one of Guts’s famous moves upon donning the Berserker Armor.
    • Kuschel Ackerman wields silver wires in a similar manner to Walter C. Dornez of Hellsing.
    • The Female Titan performs a Fastball Special using both the Jaw Titan and several other characters.
    • Zeke’s scream is rendered in text as WRYYYYYYYY referencing another famous character voiced by his Japanese voice actor.
    • One of Kenny’s banned books is “The Purple Prince’s Wanderings”, a reference to a Game of Thrones Timeloop Fic Purple Days.
    • One of the old titles for the Jaw Titan is “The Jaws of God” inspired by the title given to werewolves in Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, “The Hounds of God”.
    • The Beast Titan’s title in Ancient Eldian is “Beast with a Thousand Faces” a reference to Joseph Campbell’s “Hero with a Thousand Faces”.
    • The Female Titan references a book similar to the Kama Sutra and apparently her hosts once wrote an entire chapter of it while on a “diplomatic mission”. Armin once read a few pages of his parent’s copy as a child, but didn’t understand it at the time.
    • One of the masters of the Yoddanah Yawe martial art Annie knows caught a fly with chopsticks, just like Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid
    • Duke Abelard leads the charge during the Battle of Mitras with “With me now! Now, with me!” just like Gurney Halleck.
    • The Ackerman’s “synchronization” with their Guardians to increase combat effectiveness is described similarly to synchronization in Neon Genesis Evangelion. The “bullet time” resulting from their increased reaction time and perception is similar to many moments in The Matrix.
    • Mikasa’s chest scar is similar to Alucard’s in Castlevania (2014), a grievous wound given by a family member and visual demonstration of what they can survive.
    • The Warhammer Titan’s favorite music is The Nutcracker Suite.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: Many of the Titan Wills have siblings who are polar opposites and don’t get along.
  • Sink or Swim Mentor: Kenny’s training methods for members of the First Interior and for Levi were mostly this.
    • The New Warriors undergo this while being hunted by Kenny. Mikasa says it feels like he’s testing them.
  • Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Even Kenny, a sociopathic serial killer, thanks Eren for killing the two slavers who kidnapped Mikasa, as the incident prompted the First Interior to track down and wipe out the entire ring.
    • The prostitutes in Wall Sina think Annie is running an anti-slavery operation and offer her badly-needed support and refuge.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: The story does not shy away from humanity’s uglier aspects, starting out with child slavery, maritial rape, and pillaging armies, but there are also genuinely heroic characters who can and do triumph against the odds. The Titan Wills frequently comment on how unlikely their host’s dreams are but end up rooting for them anyway.
    • The Female and Armored Titans end up recovering some of their idealism thanks to Annie and Reiner.
    • Jean specifically sets up his advisors in the New Military Police to invoke this, with Marco and Marlowe the idealists, Sasha in the middle, and Caven as the cynic.
  • The Smart Guy: Armin and Erwin for Paradis, Zeke and Pieck for Marley.
    • The Beast Titan is the smartest of the Wills, but as one Marleyan points out, there is such a thing as being too clever for one’s own good.
  • Soldier vs. Warrior: Armin and Annie have a discussion about this, which is really Annie telling him about why she feels they won’t work together.
    • Reiner’s fragmenting psyche creates the Soldier and Warrior personas to cope with the guilt of killing 250,000 people before he turned 11. The psychological turmoil actually harms the Armored Titan, who ends up fusing the two personalities with his own “Protector” imperative to stabilize his host, with the Guardian’s help.
  • The Spartan Way: Both Warrior training and the 104th Cadet Corps include this and Annie sees a fellow trainee fall to her death right in front of her.
    • Armor and Mikasa’s Guardian both appreciate this.
  • Square-Cube Law: The Power of the Titans bends it like silly putty.
  • Stages of Monster Grief: Mikasa is going through them after realizing she feels no pity or mercy when killing other humans, asking Eren if she’s a monster. Since Eren also has little pity for people who try to fight him, he says they can be monsters together. The other New Warriors are a little freaked out by this.
    • Kuschel Ackerman has to adjust to being a combination of human and artificial Will, questioning if she’s real and if her love for Levi is merely a Guardian bonding mechanism.
  • Sunk Cost Fallacy: Occurs on both sides of the Battle of Mitras. The Monarchists lived their entire lives under the King, anything else is unthinkable and many would lose everything they own if the system was overthrown. Likewise, since many of the Restorationists have committed treason or have sacrificed loved ones in pursuit of change, they can’t back down.
    • Reiner and Annie think they are beyond redemption and are resigned to killing thousands of people, the Titan Wills show them this is not true.
  • Super Serum: What Mikasa thinks Grisha Jeager might have given her as a child. She’s wrong.
    • Rod Reiss’s Magical Murder Bag full of Titan Spinal Fluid. Ymir swipes two bottles and gives herself and Eren upgrades to battle the Founder.
  • Superpowerful Genetics: The Ackerman Clan, who can awaken to become super-soldiers, though they have difficulty having children as a result.
    • Beast discovers that Eldian genetics can be this, if the Founding Titan wishes it. The Founder strikes an uneasy balance because if they add too many changes, Eldians become inhuman and fall outside of its control.
    • Arguably the Noble Houses, who took on traits over the centuries from their Titans, though this has less to do with genetics and more with Paths.
  • Sympathetic Murder Backstory: Annie and Reiner open up to the Shiganshina Trio for a variety of reasons, but mostly out of isolation and high-stress situations. Because Eren and Mikasa get their backstories before they realize who’s responsible for destroying Wall Maria, the New Warriors stay together. Barely.
    • Eren calls Reiner out on this every chance he gets, making pointed comments in front of Reiner’s family, mere hours after they returned to Marley for the first time in five years.
    • YMIR Fritz’s reasoning for unleashing the Rumbling, which is a kind of Primal Scream on a planetary scale. How justified this is remains up to the reader.
  • That Man Is Dead: Reiner says this to Mikasa and Eren when they ask him about his “former teammate” the Armored Titan and since his personality has been fused with an aspect of his Titan Will he’s not entirely wrong.
  • There Are No Therapists: Justified, because the Warriors are technically spies and then the New Warriors are on the run from everyone else in the Walls. Zeke brings this up to Commander Magath in his first report as a priority.
    • The Titan Wills sometimes serve this function for their Shifters, with varying levels of success. Armor states he’s tired of dealing with insane hosts.
  • They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: A major source of paranoia for Paradis when the New Warriors are on the run and there are several cases of unrest or lynch mobs which the Garrison and MPs have to put down.
    • A major source of paranoia for Marleyans and the rest of the world, who have to face the possibility one visitor could destroy a city in minutes, or any number of people could become Mindless Titans, a terror tactic Zeke famously used on a Mid-Eastern city. Despite this, some nations still accept Eldian refugees and citizens.
    • Several of the Titan Wills imply the “foolproof” blood tests used to identify Eldians are useless because the nearly a quarter of the planet is Eldian to one degree or another.
    • Gabi asks if the island devils really have pointed ears and a tail and is slightly disappointed to learn this isn’t true.
  • Time Skip: Several at the beginning of the story. Justified as the Eldian Empire existed for 2,000 years. Armor later says to Reiner that for long periods of time once the continent was conquered, nothing interesting happened. However, he’s an Unreliable Narrator.
  • Title Drop: When Kuschel Ackerman demands to know who the invisible ghost-woman is, the Female Titan gives herself a crystal halo and simply replies “We are the Nine.” Some of the other Titan Wills say this as part of an affirmation, making themselves feel important despite the circumstances.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Happens once an Ackerman is “awakened”, but the process takes three to five seconds and requires life-threatening danger.
    • Sasha, Marco, and Jean become elite First Interior agents re-building the Military Police and assigned to protect the Queen, among other duties.
    • Zeke Jaeger goes from being a Warrior washout mopping floors to Marley’s “Boy Wonder” and “Ace in the Hole”. It only cost him his parents, mentor, and most meaningful human connection.
    • Historia becomes Queen of Paradis and joins the Battle of Mitras to hunt down her father, slaughtering her way through an entire street of Mindless Titans and saving Captain Levi’s life. With Lady Emelia and her Cabinet’s assistance, she’s also becoming a capable ruler. All because she swore to protect Ymir.
  • Tragic Monster: All Mindless Titans, but especially the Smiling Titan. Zeke is visibly shaken when he first sees her. Because it’s his fault his mother is a Titan
    • Zeke himself, who was used as a tool by his parents at the age of five, drowned in two sets of propaganda, and forced to choose between betraying his parents or becoming a Mindless Titan. No wonder he thinks the Beast Titan’s infertility plan is a good idea, though he thinks it’s Tom Ksaver’s plan.
    • The Warhammer Titan, who helped cause the Great Titan War in the hopes removing the weighty Eldian Empire would allow their family to become close again. This failed spectacularly.
    • Reiner knows all the Warriors are this. Eren isn’t very sympathetic, stating 'There’s always a choice'.
  • Training from Hell: Annie’s training under her (adoptive) father to master the Yoddanah Yawe martial art was abusive mentally and physically, but she came out the other side as someone who can go toe-to-toe with the Ackermans.
    • Both Warrior training in Marley and Paradis’ own Cadet Corps put children through grueling physical and mental trials designed to weed out “weak links”. Compared to Eldian conscripts and most “average” soldier in other world armies, all the characters are superior soldiers in some way.
  • Trampled Underfoot: A running gag has Annie step on horses, but this is the fate of many of her victims during the Battle of Mitras.
    • Eren does this to two Violets who were on his side when he goes berserk.
  • Tranquil Fury: Annie is this way when she sees what happened to Armin during the Battle of Mitras and even in human form, she terrifies both Sasha, Bertholdt, and a seasoned First Interior soldier.
    • Mikasa on occasion.
    • Zeke never raises his voice and neither does Pieck, as anger is potentially lethal in certain parts of Marley. They make their displeasure perfectly clear anyway.
    • This is when the Attack Titan is actually at his most dangerous. Cold anger lets him think and plan.
  • Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Future Eren reassures Future Zeke he wasn’t influenced by the Attack Titan when he killed Mikasa’s kidnappers. Zeke isn’t reassured.
    • Duke Abelard is slightly creeped out and impressed at the New Warriors, who are planning a coup with seeming confidence despite being teenagers. Some of them speak like seasoned soldiers and it’s implied the Titan Will’s intense concentration on the same matters is bleeding through into their hosts.
    • Gabi Braun cheerfully parrots her teacher and Aunt’s screeds against Paradis with a smile on her face, hoping everyone on the island dies. For once it’s Mikasa who is disturbed.
  • Unable to Cry: Eren notices this at Connie’s funeral and thinks he’s a monster. The Attack Titan reassures him all humans grieve in their own way and as it turns out Eren cries in his sleep instead. He reacts the same way when he finds out he has nine years to live.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: One of the things everyone at the Royal Convocation accuses everyone else of.
    • Armin saves Bertholdt’s life, the shifter tries to kill him right after. Armin reminds him of this when Bertholdt tries killing him again.
  • Unreliable Narrator: Every single one of the Titan Wills, who have their own biases, opinions, and agendas. Bertholdt is right to be suspicious of them.
    • The Attack Titan only shares information to get others to do what he wants and lies to his family and Eren without blinking.
    • Armor, Jaw, and the Female Titan all have rose-colored glasses about certain aspects of the past. Armor thinks the Empire was great, Jaw thinks their family was just fine until the Great Titan War, and their sister cares more about her host’s love lives than the consequences.
    • Beast thinks some of his experiments were beautiful works of art, but Colossal considers them disgusting monsters. He insists scientific knowledge was massively advanced by his efforts, but the story hasn’t indicated how much of this is true.
    • Warhammer blames everyone except themselves for breaking up the family.

    V-Z 
  • Villain Protagonist: The Attack Titan is either this, or a very dark anti-hero.
  • Walking Spoiler: Ymir, which is part of why YMIR freed her. The New Warriors no longer have an information advantage and it’s much harder for them to lie now. Because of her, Historia doesn’t listen to Rod Reiss for a second. A significant portion of what might have been a dramatic scene is instead played for comedy because Rod is lying about the Power of the Titans to someone who already knows how it works.
  • War Arc: The Battle of Mitras.
  • Was It All a Lie?: Mikasa is asked this by a tearful Sasha and later asks the same question to Reiner.
    • The Female Titan accuses Attack of this. He never directly answers her.
  • We ARE Struggling Together: Heavily features in the Battle of Mitras and its aftermath.
    • The New Warriors want to take the Founder and return to Marley.
    • The Scouting Legion thinks the Monarchy is too corrupt and inefficient, holding them back from exploring the outside world. The Rumbling is also a significant threat, but they don’t trust the New Warriors with such power.
    • Ymir and Historia want to get married and live freely, with helping the Scouts as a condition of their freedom. They end up deciding We Can Rule Together, which nobody had planned for. Armin wanted to abolish the monarchy entirely.
    • The Pro-Rebellion Nobles realize they will either get caught by the MPs or killed by Titans, joining the New Warriors to save their own skins.
    • Darius Zackley and some of the Garrison members who follow him just really, really hate the nobles of Wall Sina and seize the opportunity to kill some of them.
    • Trying to get all these groups to form a government takes months and succeeds because Armin, Historia, Erwin, and Duke Abelard manage to shut out, intimidate, or bribe enough of the remaining interest groups.
    • The Titan Wills are like this when the Founder is temporarily freed, arguing amongst themselves just as much as they present a united front.
  • Xanatos Gambit: Rod Reiss sets up a decent one, using the Royal Convocation and Kenny’s First Interior to expose both human traitors and Titan Shifters. He uses Historia to reclaim the Founder, promising she can use its power to stop the fighting, then mind wipe everyone and return to the status quo. Who actually wins the battle is irrelevant, though Rod would prefer his enemies take each other out. It’s ruined because of Ymir, who is an Outside-Context Problem, deeply in love with his daughter, and knows more about Titans than he does.
    • Kenny’s plan was eating the Founding Titan and become a compassionate person with godlike power. If this fails, he’s still the World's Strongest Man in the center of a battlefield and a blank check to kill as many people as he wants. While he fails to gain the Founder’s power, he still succeeds, dying after apologizing to his sister and the best fight of his life.
  • You Killed My Father: Eren blames Reiner and Bertholdt for his mother’s gruesome death, but realizes his own hands aren’t clean either. With everyone else more or less forcing him to remain civil, Eren’s friendship and admiration for Reiner sours quite a bit. He brings this up frequently.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: A conundrum that’s driven several Attack Titan hosts mad. The Attack Titan itself has complained that it often has to play blitz chess with fate when things don’t go according to plan. Sometimes fate works in its favor, sometimes not.
    • It’s difficult to tell how much control the Attack Titan, Founder, or even YMIR have over events by this point.
  • You Can't Go Home Again: Eren and Mikasa realize this when they return to Shiganshina. Reiner begins to realize this when he returns to Marley.
  • You Monster!: Eren accuses Reiner and Bertholdt like this, realizing he’s also insulting himself and Mikasa, who has her own worries about being “monstrous”. He pulls his foot out of his mouth shortly after.
    • The Attack Titan does not pretend to be anything else, and Beast gladly accepts the label. Attack warns Eren about his tendency to play holier-than-thou and repeatedly emphasizes how little high ground Eren has. This is part of his plan to make Eren agree to the Rumbling
    • A common epithet thrown at the New Warriors in Paradis, and again in Marley. The relentless dehumanization has Eren and Mikasa seeking new friends in the other Warriors, despite technically being enemies. This is part of Marley’s plan to truly gain their loyalty, but they underestimate the Eldian’s resolve and strength of character.

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