Annie Leonhart

"I didn't use to care about anything. But it's different now. I think I've committed irredeemable sins...But. If it meant I could return to my father...I'd do it all over again."

- Annie expresses her conviction

Annie Leonhart (アニ・レオンハート) is a graduate of the 104th Training Corps and former member of the Military Police Brigade. Her exceptional skills with swords and unarmed combat earned her the 4th rank, but she is also noted to be a lone wolf who struggles to work with others.

She possesses the ability to transform into a Titan known as the Female Titan. Trained from an early age by her father, she is selected as one of Marley's Warriors. In the year 845, she is sent on a mission to retrieve the Founding Titan, along with fellow Warriors Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover, and Marcel Galliard. As the Female Titan, she serves as a major antagonist prior to her defeat, at which point she crystallizes herself and is left in a comatose state. She was held underground in the custody of the Survey Corps for approximately four years before escaping during a battle between the Military, the Yeagerists, and the forces of Marley.

Human form
Annie is a young woman of considerably short height with a small yet very muscular build and physique. She has moderately short blonde hair that is often tied at the back with her right fringe mainly draping over the right side of her face (though she tends to push it to the side on occasion, possibly for better visibility); currently she wears it down and it falls slightly below her neck. She has an oval-shaped face, blue eyes, a Roman nose, and pale complexion. Her hair is particularly pale and, when untied, reaches down the nape of her neck. Her eyes, although of considerable size and proportion, often have a sullen vibe to their appearance. Annie's casual attire mainly consists of a hooded sweatshirt underneath a jacket accompanied by dark gray pants. She is often seen in the Training Corps uniform and then the Military Police Brigade uniform after graduation. Though Annie frequently dons hooded sweatshirts as part of her standard attire, she also wears her signature white hooded sweatshirt as part of her standard military attire. During risky missions, it is implied that she always wears her silver ring, which has a small folding blade, on her right index finger; she uses the blade as her primary means of causing self-injury to transform into her Female Titan form at any time.

Female Titan form
Annie's appearance as the Female Titan changes quite drastically, though her overall physique and facial features remain mostly the same. The Titan body consists mainly of exposed muscle tissue, with noticeably limited skin coverage, and fingers made out of bone. Along with a massive difference in height from Annie's human form, its face is laden with muscle lining, notably underneath the cheeks (giving it the capability to stretch its mouth far more than it seems), along with yellowish teeth. Compared to the majority of other Titans encountered, Annie's Female Titan form seems much stronger and more physically fit, bearing a lean build with visible muscle definition and a feminine form.

Personality
Due to her harsh upbringing, Annie has become an isolated, exclusionary person; friendships do not come to her easily. She is rarely seen smiling and often has an emotionless expression. She is apathetic and somnolent, with little desire to put in any effort into meaningless disciplines or activities, and instead claims to focus exclusively on making it into the Military Police Brigade to obtain an easy life. While Annie tends to have a realistic outlook on life, she holds a fascination and even feelings of respect towards people who have a deep sense of duty and righteousness—people who devote their lives to and even die for causes they believe in.

Annie's sense of humor tends to be mocking, sarcastic, deadpan, and surprising. It also sometimes expresses a partial truth, and it happens mostly in intense situations. For example, when she was cornered by the Survey Corps in front of an underground passage, she claimed that she was a feeble maiden and mocked Eren as a suicidal blockhead. Despite Annie's usually cold and calm demeanor, she is capable of expressing her feelings in various ways. At the times she does lose her composure, she usually reacts with violence. She beats up Reiner Braun for his cowardice after Marcel was eaten and for trying to manipulate her to continue a mission that had, in her view, already failed. Also, while exhausted by her spy work and constantly avoiding hand-to-hand combat training, Annie is angered when he pushes her to take the training seriously, to the point she uses her fighting style on him, despite his protests and her already having demonstrated it on Eren at Reiner's bidding. While outwardly callous, Annie has expressed levels of guilt and shock, most notably when apologizing to a certain corpse after the battle of Trost and when Reiner emotionally manipulated her to help him kill Marco.

Annie is highly intelligent, able to think deeply about situations, and has shown considerable problem-solving ability and a quick wit. These personality traits, in conjunction with her calm attitude and analytical skills, make her a good tactician. While undercover as a refugee, and later as a trainee, she does most of the spy work for the Warriors. Annie also realizes the contradictions of the military training system within the Walls and is not fooled by the Marleyan propaganda. However, she is a bad liar, being called out on this by both Eren and Kenny, the former regarding her apathy towards her martial arts prowess, and the latter when she lies about being his daughter, even sarcastically insisting further. On the other hand, she is very good at spotting the lies of other people, seen when she realizes Armin Arlert's dishonesty far before they had even reached the underground tunnel, as well as Reiner's lie about befriending their fellow trainees as being nothing more than a pragmatic attempt to gain their trust.

She is extremely practical and self-aware, being honest about her strengths and weaknesses, and is rarely ever prone to self-deception or emotional mistakes. A notable example is when she recognizes her lack of skill in seduction and charm when thinking about possibly seducing a member of the Fritz family, causing her to readily dismiss the idea. Furthermore, she had a casual acceptance of her negative personality traits, freely admitting her faults even to almost-complete strangers such as Marlowe Freudenberg, calling herself worthless and evil with no hint of self-loathing. She is nevertheless capable of self-loathing. For example, she proposed to Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover to get close to one of the men in the Fritz family and marry into it for the sake of her mission. She also claimed to be as selfish as the Marleyan government.

Annie is very concentrated on her mission as a Warrior, to the point that she is willing to kill to reach her goal, although she is somewhat hesitant to kill former comrades and sheds tears when she fails to capture Eren. Though she is seemingly indifferent towards her capability as a hand-to-hand combat fighter, she remains proud of her skills and seems to enjoy the notion of fighting. The only time that she is seen genuinely smiling is when she expresses a curious interest in teaching Eren how to fight in her unique fighting style.

Nonetheless, what drives Annie more than anything is her desire for a normal life. Though she has no love for Marley itself, the only reason she is so concentrated on her mission is that it because it would allow her to go back home to her father, and she had urged Reiner several times before her eventual capture to return to Marley with the information they had gathered so far; despite her otherwise cynical and realist worldview, Annie managed to convince herself of the false notion that it would be enough to avoid punishment. When she lost Eren due to the actions of both Mikasa and Levi in the Titan Forest, Annie saw the easiest chance to return to her father was gone and she began visibly crying in her Titan form.

After escaping her confinement, Annie undergoes a significant change in character, becoming more open about working with her former friends to stop the actions of Eren and the Yeagerists. She also freely acknowledges to Hitch that she has committed unforgivable acts, something Annie normally would have kept to herself. Later, as the Wall Titans ravage through Marley, she admits to Armin that she appreciates that he cared and talked to her when she was enclosed inside her crystal. She also tells him she sees herself as a monster.

History
After Annie's birth, her blood test revealed she was a Subject of Ymir, which suggested her mother had an affair with an Eldian which led to Annie's deportation to an internment zone. She was taken there and adopted by Mr. Leonhart who was relocated for similar reasons. Her adoptive father intended to train her to become a Warrior so that he could live a privileged life. Thus, from a young age, Annie underwent rigorous combat training with Mr. Leonhart. Annie would eventually become as strong as he wanted; but in retaliation for all she had endured, she attacked him and left him permanently crippled. The brutal training she endured left her callous towards others, unable to find any value in whether one lived or died.

At some point in her childhood, Annie joined the Marleyan military as a Warrior candidate, meeting comrades such as Bertolt Hoover, Reiner Braun, and Marcel Galliard. Annie was praised as impeccable for her fighting abilities and was later chosen as one of seven promising candidates to inherit the power of the Titans. She was later granted the power of the Female Titan in accordance with her stellar combat skills.

Alongside the rest of her Warrior comrades, the six Titans in Marley's command used their powers to crush an entire nation, testing their abilities in the process. The six Warriors proved themselves to be more effective weapons than their predecessors, largely alleviating Marley's concerns about entrusting the upcoming Paradis Island Operation to children.

Annie was selected as one of the four Warriors to carry out this mission, along with the Jaw, Armored and Colossus Titans. The objective of the mission was to attack the Eldians living in the Walls and lure out and steal the Founding Titan. Before leaving Marley to begin the Paradis Island Operation, Annie was paraded through the streets in a horse-drawn carriage with Reiner, Bertolt, and Marcel and celebrated as a Warrior to save the world from the people of Paradis Island. Around this time, Mr. Leonhart apologized to Annie. Finally seeing her as his true daughter, he regretted his actions in making her become a Warrior and begged her to promise him to come home.

After arriving at the border of Paradis Island, Magath gave a final debriefing to the Warriors before they departed for the Walls on horseback.

Fall of Shiganshina arc
As the Warriors are camping for the night, a Pure Titan ambushes them and devours Marcel, who dies saving Reiner's life. After escaping from the Titan, Annie is able to find Reiner and angrily attacks him for his cowardice. She argues that they should retrieve the Jaw Titan's new wielder and return to Marley, but Reiner attempts to manipulate her into continuing the mission. Annie continues to beat him, saying that she never bought into Marley’s brainwashing propaganda. Reiner manages to win the scuffle and forces Annie and Bertolt to continue the mission, telling them that Marley would kill them if they flee now and that this was the only way they could ever go home.

Having planned for Marcel to transport them to the Wall using the Jaw Titan's high levels of endurance, the remaining Warriors are forced to switch their plan: Annie is tasked with the transport instead. Upon transforming into the Female Titan, Annie carries Reiner and Bertolt towards Wall Maria while bringing a horde of Titans behind her. However, Annie is pushed to the limit and becomes exhausted when they are in eyesight of the Wall; she leaves her Titan body and switches roles with the Armored Titan, who takes the Warriors the rest of the way. Slipping into unconsciousness, Annie is carried up the Wall by Reiner while Bertolt demolishes the gate to the Shiganshina District, the outer district to Wall Maria, before Reiner subsequently leaves Annie in Bertolt's care as he demolishes the inner gate to Wall Maria. After the attack, Annie regains consciousness in a refugee camp inside Wall Rose with Reiner and Bertolt. While with the refugees, the three meet a man from a small village in the southeast of Wall Maria that was destroyed by the Titans. The man is later found having apparently killed himself, and the three decide to co-opt his story as their own to cover for their lack of family records and preserve their cover. Annie would later compare the man's behavior to their abandonment of Marcel.

During the next two years, Annie enters the royal capital multiple times to do research for the Warriors. She discovers that King Fritz is merely a figurehead and that she, Reiner, and Bertolt still have to find the true royal family. Reiner decides that they will become soldiers and enroll in the Military Police.

104th Training Corps arc
Upon joining the 104th Training Corps, Annie is one of the few trainees not to undergo Keith Shadis's "rite of passage," as her face proves that she already has been through hell, according to another instructor. While undercover, Annie exhaustingly handled all the responsibility of their mission and learned that the Church of the Walls was monitoring fellow trainee Krista Lenz.

At some point during their hand-to-hand combat training, Annie is caught sneaking away by Reiner; Annie ignores Reiner until he subtly hints to their scuffle following Marcel's death. He asks Eren Yeager to confront Annie with a wooden dagger, and she effortlessly defeats and disarms him. She then gives Eren's knife to Reiner and tells him it is his turn to face her, defeating him shortly when he tries. Eren praises Annie for her technique; and even though she reveals that it was her father who taught her the move, as Eren shows interest, she dismisses the thought. She proclaims such training to be useless and continues mocking the entire military system, even including her father's ideals. Annie later watches as Eren uses her move to pacify Jean Kirstein. She then expresses interest in teaching Eren the proper way to perform it.

Nearly five years into their mission, Annie investigates the whereabouts of the Founding Titan in one of the cites at night and finds Kenny Ackerman. Hoping he will lead her to the real king of the Walls, Annie decides to follow him. When Kenny discovers and confronts her about it, Annie attempts to deceive him by telling him that she is his long-lost daughter. Unsuccessful in fooling him, Annie attacks Kenny and flees into the sewers.

The next night, Annie takes part in a meeting with Reiner and Bertolt. She tells Reiner that Kenny might have seen her face and that she will not be able to do anything in the Interior MPs if he is there. She again proposes going back to Marley with the information they have gathered so far, but Reiner insists that Marley will not be satisfied with their progress after five years. Reiner decides to destroy Wall Rose to hasten their mission and smoke out the King in the capital while chaos would ensue in Trost District. Annie notes that his plan will kill a lot of his new friends from the 104th Training Corps, but Reiner replies to her that they are not friends and are just Eldian devils. Annie continues her training until she successfully graduates at the rank of four.

Battle of Trost District arc
Shortly after graduation, the Colossus Titan appears in the Trost District and breaks through the outer gate, letting Titans into the town. In spite of the evacuation being finished, the trainees are unable to return due to insufficient gas, much to everyone's despair.

In this situation, Annie is suddenly approached by Mikasa, looking for Eren. She is then surprised to hear that he, along with most of his squad, were supposedly killed in battle. Trying to keep her cool, Mikasa attempts to shock everyone into action, with Annie and the others rushing after her to reach the HQ and replenish their gas. They eventually manage to get there, albeit with casualties.

With one of the Titans fending off the others attacking the HQ, Annie and the others attempt to get rid of the small Titans inside. After the plan's success, the group witnesses the Rogue Titan being eaten by other Titans. Annie argues that the Titan should be kept alive as it could serve as a powerful ally, but all debate on the matter is halted when Eren emerges from the nape of the Titan's neck.

When Eren transforms into a Titan to protect Armin and Mikasa, Annie is one of the first to rush to the scene of the transformation. The Warriors watch as Armin attempts to persuade the soldiers that Eren is strategically important for mankind until Dot Pixis arrives and stops Weilman.

Later in the battle, Annie comes upon Reiner and Bertolt as they are preparing to execute Marco, who overheard the two discussing their plans. Reiner insults Annie's conviction as a Warrior, bringing up the fact that she saved Connie's life from a Titan, and demands that she prove her loyalty to the Warriors by taking away Marco's vertical maneuvering equipment, leaving him defenseless. Although reluctant, Annie agrees and disposes of Marco's gear. Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt then retreat to a safe distance and watch as Marco is eaten by a Titan.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Trost, Annie is seen apologizing to an unknown corpse as she, Reiner, and Bertolt assist in cleaning up the remaining fallen bodies of other soldiers.

The Female Titan arc
Soon after Eren's enlistment into the Survey Corps, Annie and Reiner kill the two Titans captured for research, Sonny and Bean.

An investigation is launched; and while their equipment is being evaluated, Armin and Connie Springer discuss with Annie which military branch they want to join. When Annie reveals that she plans to go to the Military Police Brigade, Connie considers joining them too and asks for her opinion; Annie responds by telling him that it is his decision to make, not hers. When she learns Armin plans to join the Survey Corps, she asks him what he would do if he was ordered to die. He tells her if the reasons are good, then he will do so. Annie thinks he is weak physically but that he is very strong at heart. When Annie had offered Marco's vertical equipment for inspection as her own, this prompts Armin to become suspicious of her, unbeknownst to her. Ultimately, during the Survey Corps draft, Annie leaves to join the Military Police.

During the 57th expedition of the Survey Corps, Annie uses her Female Titan form to lead a group of Titans to capture Eren, wiping out the majority of the spotters on the right side of the Survey Corps' formation. Advancing further inside the formation, Annie encounters Armin. Although she corners Armin, she decides to spare his life after recognizing his face under the hood and continues her search for Eren. Armin, Jean, and Reiner join together and deduce that she aims to capture Eren, realizing that Annie may have acted upon false information as part of Erwin's plan.

Armin, Jean, and Reiner coordinate a plan together in an attempt to distract Annie and buy the other soldiers some time to regroup. Before they are able to attack her, she outmaneuvers them, at which point she manages to incapacitate Armin. Although Jean engages her in combat, her resilience and awareness of a Titan's weakness allow her to gain the advantage, as she is constantly covering the nape of her Titan form's neck. Before she can kill Jean, a bloodied Armin attempts to distract her by referring to Eren by the nickname of "suicidal bastard" while falsely claiming his death. This causes Annie to hesitate in confusion, allowing Jean the time to escape just as Reiner attempts to attack her. Annie manages to catch Reiner in mid-air, briefly toying with him before seemingly crushing him. Much to Jean and Armin's surprise, Reiner breaks free, though the seemingly heroic theatrics served to buy Reiner time to carve Eren's true position into Annie's Titan's hand, unbeknownst to Armin and Jean.

Annie continues to head in the direction of Eren's location, coming across various soldiers of the Survey Corps and killing them in various brutal ways. Though the formation heads into the Titan Forest, Annie follows suit and eventually catches up to Eren and the Special Operations Squad as they are attempting to flee on horseback. Annie is eventually lured into a trap in which her movements are halted by the special target-restraining weapon. This causes Annie to temporarily halt her pursuit as Erwin and members of the Survey Corps attempt to damage her hands in various ways with the intention of pulling her out of her Titan form. Constant provocations by Levi cause her to let out a roar that causes multiple Titans to converge on her position. Much to Erwin's surprise, the roar provokes the Titans to devour her Female Titan form, thus allowing Annie to escape from her Titan—undetected amid the heavy clouds of Titan steam produced—via the use of her vertical maneuvering equipment. Just as Erwin orders all personnel to retreat, Annie dons a Survey Corps cloak as a disguise and lures Eren and the Special Operations Squad towards her direction via the use of a green smoke flare.

Initially mistaken as Levi, Annie is able to swiftly kill Gunther Schultz before transforming into her Titan form to continue her pursuit. The Special Operations Squad engages Annie in combat after instructing Eren to flee; and although they seemingly gain the advantage to the point of injuring her and cornering her against a tree, Annie quickly retakes the upper hand by using her selective regeneration and her ability to protect her nape by crystallizing.

Annie systematically kills Eld Jinn, Petra Ral, and Oluo Bozado, causing Eren to turn back and finally engage her in his Titan form. The two begin a brutal fight using hand-to-hand combat techniques, at the end of which Annie succeeds in incapacitating Eren's Titan form by decapitating it. She captures Eren inside the mouth of her Female Titan form and begins to flee. Mikasa gives chase, continuously attacking her in a fit of rage; and Levi soon arrives to help her. Although Annie attempts to fight back, she begins to get overwhelmed by the barrage of attacks inflicted by Levi, allowing him to incapacitate her while gaining the chance to slice her Titan form's mouth and rescue Eren from within. As Mikasa and Levi decide to retreat with the unconscious Eren, Levi witnesses Annie's Female Titan form as it sits motionless while crying.

Sometime later, Annie awakens in her room in the Stohess District of Wall Sheena. She and her fellow rookies are given an assignment to guard a Survey Corps convoy with permission to use their vertical maneuvering equipment. Soon after departing for her assignment, Armin approaches her and asks for help in hiding Eren until they can convince the King to better protect the Walls. Annie reluctantly agrees before putting on a ring and escorting them to a place where they can hide.

When Eren and Armin attempt to convince her to join them in an underground passageway, she refuses as she is supposedly feeling frightened, all while expressing her suspicion towards their plan. As Eren and Armin continue to plea for Annie to join them and prove herself innocent, Mikasa, growing tired of their discussion, takes off her hood and draws out her blades, revealing her vertical maneuvering equipment. She openly refers to Annie as the Female Titan, taunting her to fight just as the two had fought before. Their suspicion is confirmed when Annie noticeably smiles in relief and acceptance of their discovery of her identity as the Female Titan, which is further proven by her refusal to enter the passage, where she cannot transform. Annie praises Armin for having cornered her but declares afterward that her gamble has only just begun. After Armin fires a signal, disguised Survey Corps members emerge from their hiding places and restrain Annie. Seemingly captured and immobile, she still manages to flick her thumb to open a small blade hidden in her ring, which she uses to wound herself and transform into her Female Titan form, killing those restraining her in the process.

Annie then stomps through the underground, killing some soldiers and blocking Eren, Armin, and Mikasa's escape path. Eren then transforms into his Titan form to face the Female Titan. During their battle, they kill everyone inside the church except Minister Nick and two other priests. In the church, Annie looks at the dead bodies and seems to be a bit moved by those deaths.

Annie then takes flight towards Wall Sheena. She is pursued by Eren, Mikasa, and several Survey Corps squads. The chase continues until Annie reaches a flat land with no buildings. Having nowhere to hook their vertical maneuvering equipment anchors, the Survey Corps squads and Mikasa are forced to take a long detour, while Eren gives chase alone. Annie uses this opportunity for one last ditch attempt at capturing Eren. A brief struggle between the two of them ensues, during which she gains the upper hand again; but fails to capture him because of the Survey Corps' intervention. She refocuses her efforts towards trying to escape by scaling the Wall Sheena; but Mikasa cuts off all of the fingers of Annie's Female Titan form, causing Annie to lose her grip on the Wall. As she falls, Annie recalls her father apologizing to her for all the rigorous training forced upon her and instructing her to return home one day. Eren, in his Titan form, holds down her Titan as soldiers attempt to extract Annie. Upon reaching her in the nape, they find that Annie is completely enclosed inside what appears to be an indestructible crystal.

While Annie is trapped inside the crystal, one of the Survey Corps members, Keiji, tries to break the crystal to extract her; but Hange stops him, saying that they do not have the time to do it, and tells both the Military Police Brigade and the rest of the Survey Corps to make a wire net, tie her up, and move her underground. In the aftermath, Hange orders a background check run on her. This leads to the discovery that she shares history with Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover, who fall under suspicion as her accomplices. Armin also comes to realize that Reiner's near-fatal encounter with the Female Titan was a plot and that he had been Annie's source of inside information.

Clash of the Titans arc
Later, when Eren engages the Armored Titan, he recalls the technique that Annie taught him and uses it against Reiner to temporarily turn the tide of the battle.

Annie's capture is eventually revealed to her comrades, Reiner and Bertolt, when Armin bluffs and claims she is being tortured for information.

The Uprising arc
After the Survey Corps get back Eren on Wall Rose, Armin recalls the Female Titan's ability to get the Titans to attack her by screaming, deducing that Eren must have used a similar ability to command Titans to attack the Armored Titan and the Smiling Titan.

While Marlowe and Hitch are taken prisoner by Levi's squad, Hitch accuses them of getting Annie killed during the fight in Stohess. When she is informed that Annie was one of the Titans responsible for the destruction, she is shocked.

After defeating Reiner's Armored Titan in battle, Zeke Yeager proclaims that the trio will worry about saving Annie only after they have retrieved the Coordinate from Eren.

Return to Shiganshina arc
Zeke explains his apathy towards Annie's situation, believing that the story Reiner and Bertolt were told about her torture was a lie.

When Armin Arlert confronts Bertolt, Armin reasserts that Annie is being tortured; but Bertolt sees through Armin's bluff, claiming to not care about Annie's situation.

Marley arc
While speaking with Karina Braun, Annie's father adamantly insists that Annie is alive, having promised him she would come back from Paradis.

Shortly after the Survey Corps return from their attack on Liberio, Armin visits Annie's crystal to confide in her. He compares the Survey Corps assault to the Warriors' attack on the Walls, due to having no choice. Despite Armin asking Annie to answer him with something, she remains asleep and in stasis within the crystal.

War for Paradis arc
Armin later returns to Annie's underground holding area. After being spotted touching the crystal by Hitch, Armin claims that he was doing so in an attempt to unlock memories from his Titan. Hitch mentions that it is nice that someone comes on a routine basis besides her to check on Annie.

After gaining full control of the Founding Titan's abilities, Eren undoes all Titan hardening, inadvertently releasing Annie from her crystal. Annie lies drenched and limp, surrounded by the fragments of her hardened skin. For the first time in four years, Annie's eyes have opened; and her body begins coughing up liquid.

After somewhat recuperating, Annie easily escapes her confinement from within the basement and conceals herself in an adjacent room. When Hitch enters the room, Annie attempts to take the girl hostage but is easily beaten in her weakened state. Hitch tries to call for help; but Annie reveals her cut, threatening to transform if Hitch were to call any more soldiers.

Despite Annie's meager condition, Hitch accepts her demands and willingly allows her to accompany her outside Stohess. While Hitch is preparing a horse, Annie reveals that she has a decent idea of what has been going on since she was in a semi-conscious state inside her crystal and could recall Hitch and Armin's voices. Annie then begins to wonder if Eren will destroy the world.

As they observe the Wall Titans, Hitch asks Annie if all of the killing she did was justified in the end; and Annie claims that she never cared about stopping the Rumbling. She tells Hitch about her harsh childhood training to be a Warrior and the last interaction she had with her father before she left for Paradis. Although she acknowledges that what she did to Paradis was irredeemable, she asserts that she would do it all again in order to return to her father.

After days of travel, Annie and Hitch arrive in Shiganshina during the middle of a festival. The two stop to eat, and Hitch goes to get refreshments for them while Annie waits. As she is waiting, she hears Armin and Connie talking about her and accidentally gives away her position to them. Annie chooses to go with them, leaving a note for Hitch explaining what happened.

Annie departs Shiganshina's military headquarters with Connie, Armin, Mikasa, Gabi Braun, and Falco Grice while Pieck causes a distraction for the Yeagerists. While leaving Shiganshina, they stop to pick up a comatose Reiner. Annie wakes him up from his coma by kicking him.

The group meets up with Hange, Magath and their allies outside of Shiganshina and share a meal together. As tensions run high between the Warriors and the Survey Corps, Annie demands to know if the Corps will be able to kill Eren if no other options are presented. Easily noticing the unease in Mikasa, Annie hypothesizes that if Eren does not back down and his death becomes a necessity, Mikasa will turn on them to protect him. Mikasa attempts to attack Annie, but Annie defuses the situation by assuring Mikasa that she has no issue with Eren living if he can be convinced to stop the Rumbling.

The group travels to Paradis' harbor, intending to use an airship to pursue Eren, only to find it occupied by Yeagerists. Annie has no qualms about launching an all-out attack, but Mikasa and Pieck point out that the Azumabito, who are needed to properly operate the ship, could be killed in the crossfire. Observing that her former comrades do not want to kill the Yeagerists, Annie demands that they explain a way to take back the Azumabito and the ship without casualties.

The argument is cut short by Hange and Magath, who inform the group that Eren and his Titans have apparently already reached Marley. This spurs the group to proceed with a plan to trick Floch into handing over the Azumabito mechanics, with Reiner and Annie on standby in case things go awry. When the plan fails and the Yeagerists are alerted to their presence, the group takes the Azumabito to the basement of the building they are being held in, allowing Annie and Reiner to transform and attack the Yeagerists without risk of collateral damage.

Despite their power, Annie and Reiner are quickly overwhelmed by the Yeagerists' Thunder Spears, as their attention is split between defending themselves and protecting the Azumabitos. Reiner tries to use his armor to shield Annie, but both Warriors are left crippled by the weapons, and it is only through the intervention of their former 104th allies that they are saved. Once it is time for the ship to depart, Mikasa needs to help Annie's injured form board it.

Once onboard the boat, Hange reveals that they will be going to Odiha instead of Liberio, and Jean and Mikasa have to restrain Annie in her distress. Hange reveals that they do not have enough time to save Liberio, and Annie, overwhelmed, decides to leave the group, as she now has no reason to fight and states she is getting off. Hange tries to convince Annie to stay by reminding her that there are more lives at stake besides Liberio, prompting Annie to circle back to a question which she had asked before; will they be able to kill Eren and if she tried to kill him, would they be able to sit back and watch. However, shortly afterward, Annie's demeanor weakens and she states that she no longer wants to fight or be prepared to kill Mikasa, the rest of the Survey Corps, or Eren for that matter.

On the deck of the boat, Annie asks Armin if he has healed up and offers him to seat beside her. She then thanks him for talking to her while she was stuck in her crystal but asks why he chose to talk to her and not anyone else. Armin tries to tell Annie how he feels about her but Annie chooses to instead believe that he only talked to her because he is a good person. Armin reminds her that he does not like being called a "good person," noting that he has killed many people and chosen to betray his own race. Armin laments that the world beyond the Walls did not match his and Eren's dream, but he tells Annie that he still chooses to believe that there is a part of the world yet to be discovered.

After reaching Odiha, Annie watches as the others begin working on the flying boat. Mikasa suggests that she practice with the anti-personnel gear before they leave but Annie reaffirms her intention of staying behind, claiming to feel no desire to save humanity now that Marley has been wiped out. Mikasa says that is all right, but tells her that Armin is coming with them. Annie is aware, but that does not change her mind. She asks Mikasa if she will kill Eren to save the world, but Mikasa insists they will talk him down.

Later, Annie informs Reiner and Pieck of her intentions to stay behind. Reiner apologizes for having forced her and Bertolt to carry out the Paradis Island Operation and Annie agrees to watch over Gabi and Falco for him. After returning to the ship, Annie barricades the door to Gabi and Falco's room so that they cannot escape.

Annie then talks to Kiyomi Azumabito on the boat deck. Kiyomi tells her the ship is sailing to Hizuru and that she feels responsible for bringing out the rumbling by bringing Eren and Zeke together. Miss Azumabito feels she has lost respect for others. Annie thinks of her father, Armin, and the good times she spent with her comrades of the 104th regiment and of the warriors, and says it’s too late. Gabi and Falco then come to Annie and Falco tells Annie he thinks his Titan can fly and thus he's going to transform and him and Gabi are going to leave the ship. Annie replies in anger that if he tries to transform himself here, then the boat could sink and that he is too sure of him since he had not been able to control his titan at all during his first transformation. Kiyomi then tells Annie that she doesn't mind if her boat sinks, not if the alternative is living with more regrets. Annie looks at Kiyomi, Falco and Gabi and thinks about what Kiyomi just said.

Abilities
Out of the 104th Training Corps members, Annie is one of the strongest fighters, along with Mikasa and Eren. She was ranked as one of the top 5 trainees (achieving the 4th position), meaning a degree of skill in several military combat forms. Although she is ranked 4th, she is usually portrayed as being on par with Mikasa in combat. Her being placed lower was likely due to a combination of her slacking off and not taking things seriously, as well as her nightly reconnaissance work as part of the Paradis Island Operation. Despite her impressive abilities, she appeared to be outmatched by Kenny Ackerman: not only did he manage to get behind her without her noticing, but he was also able to dodge her kick with apparent ease. The fact that Annie immediately chose to retreat into the sewers is further proof that she was unsure of a victory against him.


 * Vertical maneuvering equipment: As her graduation rank implies, Annie possesses a great amount of skill at controlling the vertical maneuvering equipment. With the use of the equipment's blades only, she was shown to effortlessly kill a Titan inside the Military HQ at Trost District in order to help the soldiers to refill their gas and then proceeded to slay another Titan that Connie failed to dispose of. Later, Annie was also able to utilize the equipment to kill Gunther Schultz.


 * Martial Arts: Annie is noteworthy for her unique fighting style, with a strong focus on minimizing the advantages of larger, stronger opponents through kicks, throws, and holds. She states that her father taught her this style, and during their time in training together, she teaches it to Eren Yeager. Annie retains the same fighting style in her Titan form, as Eren noticed in his first battle against the Female Titan.

Power of the Titans
Like Eren, Annie displays an ability to transform into a Titan, referred to as the Female Titan (女型の巨人). Her Titan form is 14 meters, the third shortest, being rivaled by the Cart Titan who is 4 meters and the Jaw Titan who is 5 meters. As the Female Titan, Annie is easily able to overpower veteran Survey Corps members, and wipe out several squads in Erwin's specialized scouting formations. Annie acquired her Titan powers while she was a Warrior candidate in Marley and was trained with using them by the military of Marley and by her father. During the 57th Expedition Outside the Walls of the Survey Corps, she was far more experienced in using her Titan form compared to Eren, who had only discovered his Titan powers recently. She is one of the more skilled of the Nine Titans, sporting a variety of presumably learned powers and special abilities not exhibited by any others with Titan power. The Marleyan officials note that Annie surpassed all of their expectations.


 * Regeneration: In her Titan form, Annie is capable of healing any injuries and even regenerating any parts of her body that were possibly lost in a battle. However, she takes this ability to a new level, being able to focus this ability on certain parts of her body, healing the chosen injuries at a much faster pace as opposed to the automatic, simultaneous regeneration of all the damaged parts. This has proven to be useful in battle as shown when Annie chose to regenerate only one eye to see the approaching Special Operations Squad and to defeat them, using the moment of surprise.


 * Crystallization: Annie has the ability to harden parts of her skin at will, something that is similar to the ability of the Armored Titan, as stated by Erwin. However, unlike the Armored Titan, Annie's hardened skin cannot be maintained for prolonged periods, as it will chip if struck. Annie employs this ability in various situations for various effects. The armor is hard enough for the soldiers' blades to be unable to cut through it and thus Annie can effectively defend herself against any attacks, even those coming from Eren in his Titan form. She also uses this ability for destructive attacks, being able to heavily damage Eren's Titan body by hardening her fists or legs. This way, she also avoids hurting herself as opposed to Eren, who easily loses even entire limbs after performing attacks in his Titan form. Upon capture and extraction, Annie used this ability to generate a cocoon of incredibly durable crystal to trap herself in to avoid being interrogated.


 * Titan Control: Annie is able to summon pure Titans, though her range is limited. Annie was the one who led Titans near Shiganshina District before the Colossus and Armored Titans broke Wall Maria. During the 57th expedition, she was able to lead an army of Titans to destroy a part of the Survey Corps formation in order to capture Eren. Later, after being trapped by the Survey Corps, she also used her ability in a smart way to attract Titans, as upon hearing her shouts, all nearby Titans ignored any other humans and rushed to her location, devouring her Titan form. This allowed Annie to effectively escape the Survey Corps' trap in her human form without being detected. This ability is similar to the Founding Titan, as stated by Armin and Erwin.


 * High mobility and endurance: In her Titan form, Annie has high mobility and endurance, unlike most human-controlled Titans, who are less fast than her and who tire out to the point of collapsing. During the 57th expedition, she was able to run long distances while fighting against many soldiers and the Attack Titan. Also, after escaping the Survey Corps' trap, she was able to transform for a second time without an extended recovery period.

Relationships

 * Mr. Leonhart - Having been abandoned at birth, Annie looked to her adoptive father as a source of strength despite his goal to solely train her into becoming a Warrior of Marley so that he could have a wealthy life. Annie would hold him in contempt for his selfish desires just before and throughout her tenure as a candidate in the Warrior program. However her views on her adoptive father would change the day she was sent to Paradis; he tearfully apologized to Annie for the harsh upbringing he inflicted on her and begged her to come back home at any cost, even if it was not as an honorary Marleyan. She has since vowed to fulfill that promise.
 * Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover - When they trained to become Warriors, Annie seemed indifferent to Galliard harassing Reiner and remained aloof when Bertolt attempted to involve her in their conversation. After Marcel's death, she saw the mission as being futile and wished to return back to Marley, clashing with Reiner who desired to continue. Eventually, the two fought and Reiner became her leader. After the fall of Wall Maria, it seems that she usually acted as a lone wolf during their mission, and her few interactions with Reiner during this time often resulted in tensions. The trio struggled during two years after the fall of the Wall to find the Founding Titan, and then realized that King Fritz was fake. Annie then suggested her trying to marry one of the men of the Fritz family, causing Bertolt distress, but quickly decided she could not because the Fritz family would never do anything that would risk infecting their family tree with filthy blood and plus she did not possess the charm to do so. Bertolt expressed his disagreement, causing Annie to be confused about the compliment then thanked him, having a lighter expression thereafter. It was hinted by Reiner that Bertolt had feelings for her, though it is unknown if she was aware of this. Both Reiner and Bertolt reacted with shock and anger upon learning of her capture and Reiner was willing to duel with Zeke for the right to rescue her, prioritizing Annie's rescue over capturing the Founding Titan. After returning home alone, Reiner remembers Annie as one of his fellow Warriors and feels immense guilt and responsibility over her fate, driving him to the brink of almost committing suicide. Later, Reiner talks to Annie again before taking the flying boat at Odiha. He apologizes to her for forcing her and Bertolt to continue to attack Wall Maria after Marcel's death. Annie pardons him and they hug. Before they separate again, Reiner asks Annie to take care of Gabi and Falco for him, which she agrees.
 * Zeke Yeager - Zeke trained her when she was a Warrior candidate and it seemed that she was aloof from him. It is apparent that Zeke is very familiar with Annie and her abilities, particularly her expertise in kicks. When he heard that Armin claimed that the Survey Corps had captured her, he did not prioritize the need to rescue her from the possibility of capture or torture, believing that her abilities as one with the power of the Titans and a skilled Warrior are enough to save her from such situations.
 * Eren Yeager - Eren was one of the few people Annie had a somewhat friendly relationship with. During their time in training, Annie and Eren developed a mutual respect and interest for each other. She was his mentor and she explained to him the contradictions of the military training system inside the Walls, where the people with the best ability to oppose the Titans get the privilege of staying far away from them. She trains him in her unique fighting style, and he is one of the only people who have managed to make her genuinely smile. But when her mission required it, she ruthlessly pursued him and fought him twice. Her betrayal deeply shakes Eren and he is initially unable to transform in order to fight her. Mikasa even suspected Eren held "special feelings" for Annie and Eren has expressed far less malice towards Annie than he ever did with Reiner and Bertolt.
 * Connie Springer - While they did not seem to be particularly close, Annie risked her life and the future of her mission to save Connie from a Titan. Later, when Annie reveals that she will go to the Military Police Brigade, Connie considers joining them too and asks for her opinion. She then answers by seemingly trying to convince him not to join the Survey Corps by frightening him about a possible death as a Survey Corps member. She probably did not want to have to kill him later during her attack on the 57th expedition. Connie seems then to be afraid, however, he later decided to join the Survey Corps after much hesitation.
 * Mikasa Ackerman - Their interactions suggest some level of rivalry, with Annie once describing Mikasa as a "beast." However, Annie may have heard and hinted about the legend of the Ackerman clan, thus her description of Mikasa as a beast could be interpreted as a fact and not as an insult. This only worsens when Annie's true identity is revealed, with Mikasa aggressively confronting her and later aiding in Annie's defeat. After her reemergence 4 years later, it initially seemed like they would continue their old rivalry. However, they were able to improve their relationship somewhat, as shown when Mikasa supported an exhausted Annie into the ship. In Odiha, Annie was even comfortable with Mikasa discovering her relationship with Armin. Annie still expresses doubt of Mikasa's intention to try and talk to Eren to stop the Rumbling, preferring to part with Mikasa and leave with the ship.
 * Armin Arlert - She respects Armin, recognizing his strong will and treating him well. This results in her trying to convince him not to join the Survey Corps and later sparing his life during her attack on the 57th expedition of the Survey Corps, which later allows him to discover her true identity. She admits to not being sure why she did not kill him and is seemingly bothered by his willingness to maneuver her into a trap. After Armin inherits the Colossus Titan, and therefore Bertolt's memories, he frequently visits Annie in her crystal to confide in her, which she would later admit she appreciated him doing. Underway to Odiha, Annie conversed with him while they were alone, inquiring on his motive when he talked to her in the crystal. She was bewildered when Armin revealed his feelings for her, and tried to downplay those feelings herself, nearly leaving Armin alone. But after further heart-to-heart conversation between the two, they came to accept their growing relationship, as in Odiha, Annie looked towards Armin as she conversed with Mikasa, before they stared wistfully at each other in the Alliance's departure.
 * Marlowe Freudenberg - Assigned to the same squad in Stohess District, Annie and Marlowe did not seem to be particularly close. They were in a way opposites, Annie fighting for her father’s and her own personal interests over everything else while Marlowe wanted to defend the general interest of the public and was not passive in the face of evil. When Marlowe declared that he wanted to clean up the military police brigade from corruption, she compared Marlowe to Eren and she admired him for his willingness to go against the flow. When Annie vanished during the battle of Stohess, Marlowe showed concern over her well-being. However, when he was captured by Survey Corps, he did not show much concern for her well-being.
 * Hitch Dreyse -  As roommates, assigned to the same squad in Stohess District, the two were in many ways opposites, Annie being stoic and withdrawn while Hitch is outgoing and enjoys an easy life which was why they were not particularly close. Hitch found Annie to be annoying at times due to her dark and antisocial outlook on life, frequently teasing the latter in an effort to provoke a reaction on which Annie would apathetically respond with sarcasm. However, after Annie's disappearance during the fight in Stohess District, Hitch felt anger towards the Survey Corps, blaming them for losing the opportunity to get to know Annie better, believing she had died in the conflict. But then Hitch was shocked and vivid after learning Annie's true identity as the Female Titan responsible for the destruction in Wall Sheena, afterwards desperately trying to reach out to her. Hitch would later be assigned to guard Annie's crystal and was often the only one to speak to her, implying that she was still somewhat fond. Hitch was the first to find Annie upon her escape from her crystal. After accepting Annie's demand to take her to Shiganshina, Annie uncharacteristically opens up to Hitch about her harsh past and feelings regarding her actions, to which Hitch thanks Annie for sharing. In the following days, Annie leaves Hitch a goodbye note, in which she thanks her for keeping her company, talking to her for four years during her lonely isolation in her crystal.
 * Gabi Braun and Falco Grice - At Odiha, Annie agrees to watch over Gabi and Falco and barricades the door to their room so that they do not follow the alliance.
 * Pieck Finger Because Annie kept a distance from everyone during her warrior training, Annie and Pieck were not close to each other. After meeting again 7 years later, they fight together with the alliance against the Yeagerists. Later, at Odiha, Annie prefers to part with Pieck and leave with the ship. However, Annie somewhat worries she is the only one running away, but Pieck tries to reassure her that there is no burden she needs to be saddled with because Annie had never submitted to Marley from the start.

People killed

 * Previous inheritor of the Female Titan (as a Pure Titan)
 * Luke Siss
 * Dita Ness
 * Darius Baer-Varbrun
 * Gunther Schultz
 * Eld Jinn
 * Petra Ral
 * Oluo Bozado
 * At least 15 unnamed Survey Corps members
 * At least 4 unnamed members of the Yeagerists

Indirectly

 * Carla Yeager
 * Marco Bott
 * At least 4 unnamed Survey Corps members
 * Over a hundred Stohess District citizens
 * Numerous counts of Shiganshina District citizens

Failed attempts

 * Jean Kirstein
 * Mikasa Ackerman
 * Levi Ackerman
 * Keiji
 * Goggled soldier

Trivia

 * Annie ranked sixth in the First Character Popularity Poll.
 * Annie ranked fifteenth in the Second Character Popularity Poll.
 * Annie ranked eleventh in the Third Character Popularity Poll.
 * Her fighting style resembles.
 * Isayama has stated that the Female Titan's three sizes are -  - . If the zeroes are removed, this seems to provide Annie's three sizes as well.
 * Isayama revealed in the March issue of Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine that Annie has the habit of sleep talking, sometimes murmuring "whoosh" when she dreams of practicing kicks on trees.
 * Annie wears a hoodie so that she can cover her head with its hood and feel alone when she wants to be alone in public.
 * Annie's surname Leonhart is derived from the Spanish word león and the Dutch word hart. These words combined literally translate to Lionheart; a nickname that is given to someone who is a great warrior.
 * Isayama based Annie's name on the Japanese word ani which means older brother and wants people to think of that even though she is a woman. He also liked the name since it is used in the television and movie series .

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