Honestly, it’s the trauma. That’s why we’re all still obsessed. When Hajime Isayama first dropped the Attack on Titan manga, and eventually when WIT Studio (and later MAPPA) brought these Attack on Titan anime characters to the screen, nobody expected a simple shonen story about big monsters. We expected "Goku with swords." What we got was a nihilistic, crushing exploration of generational cycle of violence. It hurts. It’s supposed to.
Eren Yeager isn't your typical hero. He's barely a hero by the end. You’ve watched him go from a screaming kid with "vengeance" as his only personality trait to a literal mass murderer who sees the future and realizes he’s trapped by it. That shift is what makes these characters stick. They aren't static icons on a t-shirt; they are deeply flawed, often terrified people forced into a meat grinder.
The Eren Yeager Problem: Hero or Villain?
Most people get Eren wrong because they try to put him in a box. Is he the protagonist? Yes. Is he the villain? Also yes. By the time we hit the Final Season, the Attack on Titan anime characters we grew up with are forced to choose between their friend and the literal world. It’s messy. Eren’s development is a masterclass in "careful what you wish for." He wanted freedom more than anything. He ended up becoming a slave to a future he couldn't change.
Think about the basement. That moment changed everything. Before the basement, the enemy was "the monsters." After the basement, the enemy was "us." That transition is where Eren breaks. If you look closely at his eyes in the later seasons, the animators at MAPPA did something brilliant—they sucked the life out of them. He looks tired. He looks like a guy who hasn't slept in four years because he’s seen how it all ends.
It’s not just Eren, though.
Mikasa and the Burden of Choice
Mikasa Ackerman is often unfairly dismissed as just "Eren’s shadow." That’s a shallow take. If you really look at her trajectory, she’s the emotional anchor of the entire series. Her strength isn't just in how many Titans she can kill—though, let’s be real, it’s a lot—it’s in her restraint. She represents the human cost of Eren’s descent.
Her lineage as an Ackerman isn’t just a "power-up." It’s a curse of sorts. Is her devotion to Eren biological or a choice? The show plays with this idea constantly. When Eren tells her he’s always hated her (that scene in the restaurant still stings), it’s the ultimate test of her character. She has to decide who she is without him. That’s a more relatable struggle than fighting a sixty-meter tall skinless giant, honestly.
Why Levi Is More Than a Beyblade
Everyone loves Levi. He’s cool. He’s fast. He cleans things. But the reason Levi Ackerman is one of the most compelling Attack on Titan anime characters is his survivor's guilt. He is the strongest soldier, yet he loses every single person he cares about.
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- Farlan and Isabel? Gone.
- The original Special Operations Squad? Crushed.
- Erwin Smith? A choice that haunts him.
Levi’s "coolness" is a mask for a man who is profoundly lonely. He stays alive because he has to. He carries the "will" of the fallen. When he finally tells his fallen comrades to "dedicate their hearts" one last time at the end, it’s not a celebration. It’s a relief. He’s finally allowed to be tired.
The Marleyan Perspective: Reiner and Gabi
You can’t talk about these characters without mentioning the "villains." Except, they aren't villains. Reiner Braun is probably the most tragic figure in the whole show. He’s a guy who broke his own mind trying to be a hero for a country that hated him. The "Armored Titan" is literally a shell for a man who wants to disappear.
The duality of Reiner—the "Big Brother" scout versus the "Warrior" infiltrator—created a psychological split that the show handles with surprising nuance for an anime. He’s suicidal. He’s guilt-ridden. He sees himself in Eren, and that terrifies him.
Then there’s Gabi Braun.
People hated Gabi. Like, "death threats to the voice actor" level of hate. But Gabi is just Eren from the other side. She’s a child brainwashed by propaganda. If you hate Gabi but love Season 1 Eren, you’ve missed the entire point of the story. She exists to show us how the cycle starts. Her redemption arc, where she realizes the people on the island aren't "devils" but just people, is the most important thematic beat in the series.
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Supporting Cast and the "Redshirt" Myth
Usually, in shows like this, side characters are just fodder. In AoT, every death feels like a robbery.
- Sasha Blouse: Her death wasn't just for shock value. It was the moment the "fun" died in the series. No more meat jokes. Just war.
- Erwin Smith: A man who gambled with human lives because he had a "hunch" about the truth. Was he a great leader or a monster? Probably both.
- Armin Arlert: The "weak" kid who ended up having to become the Colossal Titan. The irony is thick. The pacifist becomes the weapon of mass destruction.
Armin’s struggle is intellectual. He believes there’s always a way to talk it out. The world constantly proves him wrong, yet he keeps trying. That’s a specific kind of bravery that usually gets overshadowed by Mikasa’s blades or Eren’s rumbling.
Technical Execution: Why They Feel Real
A lot of the credit goes to the voice acting. Yuki Kaji (Eren) literally strained his vocal cords to the point of injury during some of those screaming matches. You can hear the raw, ugly emotion. It’s not "pretty" voice acting. It’s desperate.
The character designs also evolve. Most anime characters wear the same outfit for 400 episodes. In Attack on Titan, we see them age. We see the scars stay. We see them lose weight from stress. By the end, they look like veterans because they are.
What People Still Get Wrong
There’s this weird subset of the fandom that thinks the story justifies Eren’s actions. It doesn't. The story portrays them as the inevitable result of a world that refused to stop fighting. The characters are victims of a system they didn't create.
Also, the "Ackerman Bond" thing? It was mostly a lie or a half-truth told by Eren to push Mikasa away. Isayama confirmed in interviews that Mikasa’s devotion was her own, which makes her eventual choice at the end of the series much more impactful. It wasn't a biological override; it was a heartbreak she had to overcome.
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Actionable Insights for Fans and Writers
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the lore or even write your own characters, there are a few things to take away from how Isayama built this cast.
Watch the "OVA" Episodes
If you haven't seen No Regrets (Levi’s backstory) or Lost Girls (Annie and Mikasa), you’re missing half the characterization. These aren't just filler. They explain the "why" behind their stoicism.
Pay Attention to Eye Contact
In the manga and anime, notice who looks away during conversations. Reiner rarely makes eye contact when he’s lying to himself. Eren stops looking people in the eye entirely in Season 4. It’s a subtle visual cue for guilt.
Read the Final Volume Again
Love or hate the ending, the dialogue between Armin and Eren in the paths is the key to understanding everyone’s motivation. It recontextualizes every interaction they had since they were kids.
Character Study Exercise
Pick a character and find their "contradiction."
- Levi: The strongest soldier who can't save anyone.
- Armin: The dreamer who becomes a killer.
- Erwin: The truth-seeker who dies just before the truth is revealed.
This is how you build depth.
The Attack on Titan anime characters work because they aren't safe. The plot armor is thin, and the psychological scars are deep. It’s a messy, violent, beautiful tragedy that reminds us that even in a world of monsters, the scariest thing is often just a person with a "righteous" cause.
If you want to appreciate the nuances, go back and watch Season 1. Look at Eren’s face when he talks about the sea. Then look at his face when he finally reaches it. That’s the whole story right there. One long, painful loss of innocence.
Stop looking for a "hero." Start looking for the people trying to survive the impossible. That’s where the real story lives. Each character represents a different way of dealing with trauma: some fight, some hide, some break, and a few—just a few—try to build something new from the ashes. It’s not a happy story, but it’s a human one.
To really understand the impact, look at how the community still debates these characters years after the finale. We don't do that for shallow characters. We do that for characters who feel like they could have been us, if our world was just a little bit crueler.
Next Steps for Enthusiasts:
- Analyze the "Dining Table" scene in Season 4, Episode 14, focusing on body language rather than dialogue.
- Compare the character arcs of Gabi and Eren to identify the exact moments their paths mirror each other.
- Review the official guidebooks for height and weight changes across the time skip to see the physical toll of the war.