Keith Sadies (Anime)

"Just like all the other missions... we achieved nothing at all! My incompetence has done nothing but needlessly send soldiers to their deaths! We haven't found anything about them!"

- Keith breaks down to Ms. Braun

Keith Sadies (キース・シャーディス) is the head commandant (教官) of the 104th Cadet Corps. He is in charge of their training and evaluation to become soldiers. He is the former Commander of the Scout Regiment, being the direct predecessor of the current Commander Erwin Smith.

Appearance
Keith is a tall and intimidating man. He is bald, with a slightly tan complexion and prominent wrinkles on his forehead. His most notable features are dark circles around his eyes which make him appear more imposing and frightening.

During his years as a Scout Regiment commander, Keith had a head of short brown hair, a gentler face, and a slightly lighter skin complexion.

The stress of being a member of the Scout Regiment has taken a huge toll on Keith. Within the span of a few years, he lost all of his hair and gained dark circles around his eyes indicating that his experiences have tormented him to a certain degree.

Personality
As a commandant, Keith deliberately presents himself as imposing, strict and frightening, and because of this most of the cadets from the 104th Squad remain wary of misbehaving around him. He shouts and commands at the top of his voice, putting the cadets into submission and fear.

He is observant and has the ability to discern the character traits of other people by their expressions, mannerisms, actions and abilities, as shown when he gives a character analysis of some of the cadets of the 104th Cadet Corps.

History
In 844, one year prior to the fall of Wall Maria, Keith served as commander of the Scout Regiment, and during this time, the scouts were in danger of losing funding for expeditions. Though dejected by the news, Keith could only accept the impending collapse of his regiment, but an intervention by the ambitious Erwin Smith would see the Scout Regiment saved. Keith expressed shock that Erwin found a way to sway the political field, realizing the frightening potential and genius that Erwin possessed.

At some point in time, Keith would cross paths with Levi. After being able to talk down to his other comrades and being unable to talk down nor "head butt" Levi, he would note that he did not need to meld him any more and from that point onward, people with "that look" within their eyes did not have to go through the Rite of Passage.

The Fall of Shiganshina arc
In the year 845, Keith, Commander of the Scout Regiment, returns through the Shiganshina District after leading a failed expedition outside the Walls. His surviving troops trudge through the town in defeat, most injured, and are observed from a distance by a young Eren and Mikasa. The mother of one of his fallen soldiers comes to him to inquire about her son. He presents the elderly woman with what little remains of him, only but an arm. Horrified and in tears, she asks him if he served well and aided humanity's cause even in the least bit, forcing him to break down as well and admit that all their missions have ended in failure and that he has nothing to show for all the deaths under his command.

Humanity's Comeback arc
He is next seen two years later, having left his command and now serving as a commandant of the 104th Cadet Corps. He goes around intimidating and frightening cadet after cadet, asking them their names and place of origin. Other commandants note this as "rite of passage", meant to break cadets down so that they can become stronger. He ignores a few cadets like Eren, Mikasa, Annie, Bertholdt, and Reiner as he is able to read, from their faces, the terror they had undergone. He roughly turns Armin around with his hand, asking the third line to turn around and watch him as he proceeds. After hearing that Jean wanted to join the Military Police, he gives him a head butt, making him fall down. He attacks Marco telling him how he would be a very good servant for the King. When Conny performs the salute with his left hand, he picks him up, holds his head and stretches his eyes and asks him if his heart was on the right side. He sees Sasha Braus eating a potato and walks over to her demanding to know the reason she was eating it at a time like that. When offered a piece of the potato, Keith orders her either to skip lunch or do laps until she was on the verge of death. She accepts the latter.

Next day, Keith supervises and instructs the cadets regarding the basic aptitude test, which involved swinging upright with ropes tied to their waists. If they failed at it, they would be sent back to the landfills. Keith decides to sabotage Eren's ODM gear so that he would be forced to give up and not have to fight the Titans. When Eren was unable to perform the stunt, he commands him to keep his upper body up. Eren still was not able to pull it off, so he gave him a second chance the next day.

On the next day, Eren was momentarily able to remain upright, after which he swings over upside down and hits his head. Keith finally decides to allow Eren to join the Military due to seeing the fire in his eyes. He claims to notice that something is off and "presumes" that Eren's equipment might be faulty, asking Thomas Wagner to switch belts with Eren. Eren is easily able to pull it off after that and he praises him for having managed as he did even with a broken belt. Keith muses that Grisha's son has finally become a soldier. Later, he supervises and instructs the cadets regarding further training involving horse riding, hand-to-hand combat, mobility gear, etc. He is seen commanding and criticizing Armin for his lack of stamina and observes as Reiner helps Armin to carry his load and soon enough, Armin refuses to be helped and proceeds confidently. He keenly observes the characters of each of his cadets and analyses the strengths of the squad.

He notes the following regarding some of his cadets:
 * Reiner Braun - Stalwart in both mind and body, and well-respected by his comrades.
 * Armin Arlelt - Although lacking in physical strength, his aptitude in the classroom is extraordinary.
 * Annie Leonhart - Her slice attacks are absolutely flawless, but her reclusive tendencies make her a poor fit for coordinated efforts.
 * Bertholdt Hoover - He possesses remarkable potential, but lacks aggressiveness.
 * Jean Kirschtein - Top-class omni-directional mobility. But his volatile personality tends to cause friction with others.
 * Conny Springer - He excels at executing quick turns, but is also a bit dim-witted.
 * Sasha Braus - She has unconventionally good intuition, but also demonstrates poor teamwork as a result.
 * Mikasa Ackermann - Completely proficient in every area. It's apt to say she's an unmatched, unprecedented genius.
 * Eren Jaeger - He has no real specialties, but he's improved his grades with his unparalleled effort. And he possesses twice the sense of purpose than anyone else.

Trivia

 * According to Hajime Isayama, he remains single because he does not believe he deserves happiness after so many soldiers died under his command.