Hange Zoë (Anime)

"Do you people know why we the scouts have shed so much blood?! To take back our freedom from the Titans! I was willing to sacrifice my own life for that cause!"

- Hange lecturing Minister Nick

Hange Zoë (ハンジ・ゾエ) is a high standing veteran member of the Scout Regiment and a section commander (分隊長 Bun-taichō?, lit. "Leader of a squad") in charge of the fourth squad. Hange conducts research on Titans to the point of being obsessed with them and as such, is deeply interested in Eren Jaeger, who has the ability to transform into a Titan.

Appearance
Hange has wide, light brown eyes and medium-length dark brown hair that she often keeps tied up in an unkempt high pony tail with bangs parted down the middle. As a constantly busy person, her hair is thrown up very quickly and is usually oily and unclean. Hange wears square, thick-rimmed glasses that have bands strapped around her head to keep them from dislodging during combat; but when she is out of combat she wears thin oval shaped glasses, still keeping the bands on her head most of the time. She is occasionally shown pulling her glasses up onto her forehead from time to time, often to indicate seriousness or anger. Hange is often seen wearing the normal Scout Regiment uniform with a yellow button-up shirt underneath. When on missions or business, she wears the traditional green Scout Regiment cloak.

Personality
Hange is not a character with a solid personality; all of her emotions are usually broadcast in the most extreme way possible. Originally, to most people she appeared as an energetic and quirky scientist with a very unique way of conducting herself and her work. She explains that she first had a very hateful heart when she joined the Scout Regiment, but when she kicked the head of a 3 meter Titan she was shocked at how abnormally light it was. This drove her to take an extreme and outside the box approach to Titan research and showcased her eccentric and wild actions. Hange showed great compassion for her Titan test subjects, even crying when she was forced to put Beane in severe pain for an experiment. Hange developed relationships with the Titans; and when they were killed she had a complete meltdown. Hange is a genius, using her brain for the benefit of humanity. As a leader Hange excels and she is able to easily figure out complex problems and create plans for her teammates to carry out. However, despite her cheeriness, in an interview, Hajime Isayama said that he believes Hange to be the scariest character when angry.

Attack on Titan: No Regrets
Hange is among surprised recruits when Levi, Isabel Magnolia, and Furlan Church are introduced to the Scout Regiment as new recruits. She enthusiastically watches Levi demonstrate his vertical maneuvering equipment skills during training, commenting on how individual skill and style weighs in on performance and outcomes in battle.

Ilse's Notebook: Record of a Fallen Soldier
Hange is impatiently waiting to leave Trost District for the 49th expedition outside the Walls, wanting to capture a Titan to study. She tries to convince Levi Ackerman and Miche Zacharius to help her capture one but they both dismiss her. After the expedition has begins, she attempts to convince the commander, Erwin Smith, to authorize a Titan capture operation, but he refuses. She then takes her frustration out on Oruo Bozad, telling him how important it is to study targets if they are going to win while choking him. After this, Titans are sighted in the vicinity and as the corps prepare themselves, Hange runs ahead and attempts to lead a Titan to the Walls. The Titan briefly chases her but suddenly changes course and runs to a spot in the woods. Hange follows it and tries to communicate with it, but the Titan does not pay attention. Taking advantage of the Titan's distraction, Oluo attempts a surprise attack, but stops when Hange asks him to, and is caught by the Titan. However, Levi kills it and saves Oluo, to Hange's disappointment.

Hange and the Special Operations Squad then find a notebook and the corpse of a Scout Regiment soldier named Ilse Langnar. Upon reading the notebook, Hange returns Ilse's belongings to her parents and is able to convince Erwin to authorize capture operations. A short while after, with the help of the Special Operations Squad, Hange is able to successfully capture Titans with no casualties taken.

The Struggle for Trost arc
Hange later appears leaving Trost District on another expedition with the Scout Regiment. As Eren Jeager, Mikasa Ackermann, Armin Arlelt, Hanna Diament, and Franz Kefka watch them leave, they and many others in the crowd admire Captain Levi. Hange teases Levi, saying that his admirers would be disappointed if they knew what a clean freak he was. Hange gleefully awaits the mission departure by the gate, just behind Commander Erwin Smith. She states that she hopes to see an Abnormal Titan this time and how wonderful it would be. Levi tells her that there is already an abnormal Titan present and when Hange excitedly looks for it, he grabs her head and states that the abnormal is her. After the Scout Regiment departs, Hange is next seen excitedly flying through an abandoned town using her vertical maneuvering equipment. Hange glides by a Titan, grabbing its attention, and lands on a roof. She promises the Titan that she is not going to hurt it, and when the Titan swings at her, she easily evades it and congratulates it on trying. She cheerfully states that it is her turn and kills the Titan. Hopping away, she turns to the Titan's body and assures it that her attack did not hurt before it falls to the ground.

During the 49th expedition outside of Wall Rose, Hange and Levi find the corpse of a fallen Scout Regiment member. Upon looking at their armband, Hange states that it is from the 34th expedition, belonging to a woman named Ilse Langnar who had died a year prior. Nearby, Levi finds her notebook where she described her encounter with a Titan and how it spoke to her.

The 57th Exterior Scouting Mission arc
Hange Zoë is introduced as part of the group, along with Miche Zacharius, assigned to take Eren to his court hearing in front of the leaders of the Military. She is present with the rest of the Scout Regiment as Levi beats up Eren and checks on his condition after the tribunal is over, noting that Eren's lost tooth grew back. Later, when Eren and the Special Operation Squad are at the former Scout Regiment Headquarters, Hange explains that she is in charge of experimenting with captured Titans Sawney and Beane and begins to prep Eren on previous experiments, but noting his enthusiasm to learn, ends up talking until morning. They are then interrupted with news that Beane and Sawney are dead. Rushing to the site, Hange cries at the loss of the Titans. She later moves forward with the experiments on Eren. When it turns out Eren cannot turn into a Titan at will, Hange is a little disheartened. However, seeing Eren's Titan hand later on earned an overly-excited response from Hange and breaks the tension between Eren and the Special Operations Squad. When she excitedly runs to Eren and touches his Titan arm, she burns her hands on the exposed muscle. When Hange finds a teaspoon being clutched by Eren's Titan arm, she concludes that Eren's Titan powers are only awakened when he has a clear objective in mind, such as defending his friends from a cannon. She also hypothesized that this switch must have a good reason as well as being connected to the Titan's nature. Hange is present during the capture of the Female Titan and mockingly tells her that the special target restraining weapon is designed so that the more her wounds heal the more her joints will be immobilized. She then laughs and wonders what is taking Levi and Miche so long to draw out whoever is inside.

When Eld Gin wonders why they were not told of the plan to capture the Female Titan in the Forest of Giant Trees, he speculates that Erwin only told those who were in the regiment before the fall of Wall Maria to be sure they were not spies and Hange is among those mentioned. During Annie Leonhart's rampage through Stohess District, Hange again uses the special target capture weapons to halt her. After capturing Annie, Hange goes to the ground and holds her sword to Annie's eye. She tells her she is too far in to get Titans to devour and free her this time. She then states that she will be the one to devour her and that she will get all the information she can from her. Annie then shakes free and Hange safely returns to a roof top stating that they did not have enough traps and she then orders the soldiers to follow her. When Annie heads for an open area Hange tells the soldiers to split up and work their way around.

Later, Hange stops Jean Kirischtein from continuing to try and break open the crystal Annie presumably put around herself to avoid capture. She orders the crystal containing Annie be removed to safety and worries for the future of the Scout Regiment after this failure of a mission. Annie is later brought deep below ground and kept under the Scout Regiments custody.

Trivia

 * The manga's author, Hajime Isayama, has left Hange's gender open to interpretation as he told his editor that 'either one is fine' and instructed Kodansha USA not to confirm any gender in their translation. Since then, Kodansha has removed gendered pronouns for Hange in their translation and clarified that indeed, Hange's gender is up to the reader's interpretation. The anime and the live-action movie, on the other hand, have consistently depicted Hange as female.
 * According to Hajime Isayama in an interview, Hange is the scariest when angry.
 * According to Hange Zoë's character interview, Levi forcefully bathes Hange by hitting her and making her lose consciousness.
 * When Hange Zoë was asked in the character interview about her type of partner, she answered, "Someone who is fine even if I can’t pay attention to them, I guess."
 * According to Hajime Isayama in an interview, Hange's eyesight is so poor that she can not tell Jean apart from Reiner without her glasses.