Sasha Braus (Anime)

Sasha Braus (サシャ・ブラウス) is a member of the Scout Regiment and one of the few former members of the 104th Cadet Corps, of which she was ranked 9th best, that decided to join. A compulsive food hoarder with an overly polite way of speech, Sasha originates from Dauper, a village in the southern territory of Wall Rose.

Appearance
Sasha is a young woman with light brown eyes and reddish brown hair kept in a ponytail that reaches the base of her neck. Her bangs are slightly parted to the left cascading down each side of her face and stopping around the middle of her neck. On missions she wears the standard Scout Regiment uniform with a light gray shirt underneath. When not on missions, she wears a simple long sleeved blouse with a skirt that slightly covers her boots. On some occasions she even wears a sleeveless vest over her blouse. She has a slender figure and is of average height.

Personality
Initially, Sasha is shown to be somewhat timid and prone to make mistakes when under stressful situations. She is rather simple-minded and eccentric, but, surprisingly, her intuition is very sharp, surprisingly courageous, and she has been considered a wise judge of circumstances and danger.

Sasha has an incredible appetite; eating provides her with considerable gratification and relief, especially during times of great stress, and food is often the only thing on her mind when at ease. So compulsive in her desire to eat, she has proven willing to steal food from the infantry stores and/or kitchen and has earned herself the nickname "potato girl" (芋女) after stealing a potato and absent-mindedly explaining herself when her superior caught her.

Humanity's Comeback arc
On the first day of training, she steals a steamed potato from the kitchen and is questioned by Keith, their head instructor, while he performs the "Rite of Passage" ritual on them. In shock, he wonders why she was eating a potato during training, and she says it is natural for humans to eat potatoes. She rips off the smaller half of the potato and hands it to him, grinning. As punishment, she runs around the premises for 5 hours, or until she is on the brink of death.

Christa Lenz sneaks in some bread from the dining hall to help Sasha out after she passes out from the exercise, and Sasha greedily steals it. She is also present as Ymir chides Christa for helping Sasha. She is in the cabins, asking Mikasa for her bread, but Mikasa eats it for herself. During training sessions, it is observed that she had uncanny intuition and followed unconventional practices, which makes her inappropriate for group activities. She normally hangs out with Conny and even teases Jean, after having bested the two during one of their training sessions. Her fellow trainee Ymir taunts her for speaking overly politely and lady-like and ignoring her home village's dialect. Ymir asks her to remove the mask she was putting on herself and speak her original dialect. This causes her and Christa to fight each other about it. Christa opines that she should speak those words as and when they come to her. Sasha later graduates in the ninth position among the top ten trainees.

The Struggle for Trost arc
Sasha, along with Eren and the others, is assigned to maintain the cannons on top of Wall Rose in Trost District. She steals some meat from the Officer's provisions and offers to share it with them. She enthusiastically predicts that after they reconquer Wall Maria, they will be able to keep cows and sheep. This puts everyone into high moods as they accept the meat and get back to work. Suddenly, the Colossal Titan appears out of nowhere and breaks the gate of Trost with its foot. Everyone is knocked off the Wall and Sasha manages to save Samuel Linke-Jackson from falling off the Wall.

She is later assigned to guard the middle of Trost from incoming Titans. As the trainees are stuck in Trost unable to climb the Walls to escape, Sasha tries to convince the remaining trainees to try retaking the headquarters together. When Mikasa arrives and Armin blurts out the names of the fallen of Eren's squad 34, she along with the others discover Eren and his squad did not survive. After Mikasa's speech and subsequent attempt to escape Trost, Sasha mocks everyone in an attempt to motivate them. She successfully reaches the headquarters, where Armin devises a plan to clear the supply room of Titans. During the execution of the plan, she messes up, not cutting deeply enough through the Titan's neck. As it turns to eat her, Mikasa kills it and Sasha is immediately grateful to her.

Eve of the Counterattack arc


Sasha decides to join the Scout Regiment, seeing that Jean, Conny, Ymir, Reiner, Bertholdt and Christa were doing the same. She becomes a bit afraid and starts crying when Erwin Smith gives his daunting speech about the scouts' missions. However, she does not back off and remains there, facing the fear of the Titans.

The 57th Exterior Scouting Mission arc
A month later, she is sent out with the Scout Regiment on their 57th expedition. She is positioned on Line 2 and File 3 in the enemy detection formation and is on relay duty. On the way, she is attacked by a Titan, which was unassumingly hiding behind a building. Her squad members successfully lure it away and she returns to her assigned position. Being on the left flank, she does not encounter the Female Titan. Later, she is assigned to guard the border of the Titan Forest, after the middle flank successfully lures the Female Titan in. After the Female Titan's capture, she recognizes her scream to be similar to that of a cornered animal screaming for help. She realizes that they should be much more careful than before and warns Mikasa, who is about to run into the fray, about it. Later, she returns back to the Calaneth with the Scout Regiment, worn and broken.

Abilities
"Lightning fast, with uncanny intuition. But her eccentricity makes her unfit for group operations."

- Keith Sadies on Sasha as a trainee

Raised as an animal hunter, Sasha specializes in archery, horseback riding, and tracking. Sasha is ranked one of the top 10 trainees of her squad, implying good physical abilities. She was also commented to have a better sense of balance than some of the other trainees. Sasha's hearing is also very acute, to the point that she could detect an approaching group of Titans before many of her fellow trainees. As well as physical abilities, Sasha has good knowledge of wild animals and utilizing her hunter experience (shown when the Female Titan screamed), she knew exactly what the scream meant (a distress cry; danger) and that they should be wary of it. She also seems to be athletic and useful with bow and arrow, injuring a 3m class Titan alone with just a bow. She is proven to be a skilled thief, as she often manages to steal food from the infantry storage without getting caught.

Relationships

 * Conny Springer - Sasha and Connie get along well as teammates and as friends. The pair often make jokes, as they enjoy each other's company. As trainees, they frequently got in trouble together. In spite of that, they defend each other if need be.
 * Ymir - Ymir and Sasha share a strained relationship. Towards Sasha, Ymir oftentimes acts crass and nit-picky. As such, Ymir disapproves of her behavior and is easily unimpressed by Sasha's actions. For example, Ymir questioned Sasha's way of speech, deeming it too sickeningly polite. Ymir was held back by Historia. Ymir's words have impacted Sasha's way of speech after that point, as Sasha uses her words more freely.
 * Christa Lenz - In Sasha's trainee days, Historia has shown her a great deal of kindness, though Ymir often questioned the latter's actions. Historia is quick to come to Sasha's defense and trusts Sasha as a comrade. As well, Historia encourages Sasha to be herself and speak her mind when she wants to.
 * Eren Jaeger and Mikasa Ackermann - Sasha admires their bravery and strength to a certain degree. Though they do not really share a close acquaintanceship with Sasha, they are on good terms as teammates.