Sasha Braus (Anime)

"We've gotta try anyways! 'Cuz unless we fight, we can't win!"

- Sasha's resolve during the Battle of Shiganshina District

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 out of the top 10. 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 parted slightly on the right 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.

In the year 854, Sasha has grown taller and her hair is cut shorter with longer bangs, exposing more of her face. While in Marley, she wears the black Scout Regiment uniform with support belts for her vertical maneuvering equipment, as well as a brown bandolier carrying clips of ammunition for her rifle.

Personality
Sasha is a friendly, fun-loving girl. Originating from Dauper Village, she has a local accent, but actively hides it out of embarrassment by using formal speech, even when conversing with her fellow cadets.

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. She possibly developed these gluttonous tendencies due to her younger years of struggling to hunt and find food.

Before she matured and entered the military, Sasha was shown to be rather intolerant and close-minded. She only cared about herself and her village, and was very aggravated by all of the people from Wall Maria coming in and hunting all the game they once hunted. Additionally, she refused to change their traditions for the greater good.

The Fall of Shiganshina arc
Sasha argues with her father, as he tells her not to eat the meat from the winter from the ground. He fails to stop her, and as she devours the meat he wearily explains to her why it is important to keep the food: after the fall of Wall Maria, many refugees have come to Wall Rose's lands, which has resulted in a food shortage due to the extra mouths to feed. In particular, refugees have begun hunting for food in Dauper's territory, leaving less game for the village's citizens than usual.

Her father admits to having considered giving the forest to them so that they can make fields, while the hunter's tribe starts taking care of horses, but Sasha objects, arguing that they should not stop living like they do just because of the newcomers. Her father acknowledges her point, but disagrees, saying that it is more important to take care of the people, rather than live all alone. He finally states that he wants to live with his clan, even if it means to change their way of life. Sasha, angered, enlists in the Military in retaliation.

Humanity's Comeback arc
On the first day of training, she steals a steamed potato from the kitchen and eats it during initiation. She is questioned by Keith, their head commandant, 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 is made to choose between skipping dinner, or run around the premises until she is on the brink of death. She chooses the latter.

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.

Like many of her fellow cadets, Sasha gradually begins to slack off during training exercises that will not go towards helping her graduate in the top 10. This lack of motivation among the cadets leads to a confrontation between Eren Jaeger and Jean Kirschtein over the way the Cadet Corps operates, which garners Keith's attention. In order to spare Eren from getting in trouble for starting a fight, Mikasa Ackermann claims that the commotion was caused by Sasha passing gas, a lie which she atones for by giving Sasha her loaf of bread after Keith has left.

Once, she hopefully asks Mikasa for her bread following an argument with Eren, but Mikasa eats it herself. During training sessions, it is observed that she had uncanny intuition and followed unconventional practices, which makes her inappropriate for group activities.

At one point during their training, Sasha is approached by Christa and Ymir. Ymir confronts Sasha about the abnormally polite way Sasha speaks to her fellow cadets, guessing that Sasha is ashamed of the dialect used by the people of her village and criticizing her aimless way of living. Christa attempts to stop Ymir's diatribe, but Ymir continues to berate Sasha, telling her to speak as her true self without shame of what others think of her. Christa scolds Ymir, insisting that there is nothing wrong with Sasha's way of living regardless of whether or not she lives as her true self. Ymir still thinks of Sasha as annoying, and Christa reminds Ymir that not all people as are insensitive as her.

Distress
In 848, Sasha is assigned to Marco Bodt's group for a wilderness exercise. When out in the open, Sasha spots a lizard and Jean tries hunting it but is stopped by Eren. Late in the night, Sasha and her group are ambushed by thieves who take Christa Lenz away as hostage, along with their ODM gear. Sasha notes that they should find a vantage point to locate the thieves. They spot campfire smoke and devise a plan to reacquire their mobility gear before the thieves leave. Sasha and Conny block off one of the traveling roads, forcing the thieves to opt for a narrower path. The group successfully rescues Christa and obtain their mobility gear.

A Sudden Visitor: The Torturous Curse of Adolescence
In the year 849, Sasha and the rest of the cadets head to Trost District to practice mock drills using their omni-directional mobility gear. Sasha is in a team for the drill, namely with Conny Springer and Reiner Braun. While training, Jean leads his group out of their designated territory, trying to take down Sasha's group's targets. After practicing, Jean calls out Sasha and Conny while in their fighting stances but their fight is stopped by Reiner. Commander Pyxis overhears their conversation and instead declares a cooking contest between Sasha and Jean.

Sasha heads to the forest to find the alleged boar that dwells in the outskirts of Trost in hopes to obtain its meat. Sasha's group find the boar first, but have a hard time subduing it due to Jean's team behind them. Sasha ensures her victory by killing the boar first. Sasha and Conny show off their victory by parading through Trost with the boar.

With their gathered supplies, Sasha and her group prepare for the contest. She confidently presents Pyxis with her meal - as expected, Pyxis enjoys the meat and finishes the whole dish. It is Jean's turn next, and he presents an omelet to Pyxis. To Sasha's surprise, Pyxis declares Jean the winner and Sasha melodramatically laments her loss. Jean offers her a hand and the two make amends.

Sasha later graduates in the ninth position among the top ten cadets.

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. She steals some meat from the officers' provisions and offers to share it with them. She enthusiastically predicts that after they retake 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 to the ground.

She is later assigned to guard the middle of Trost from incoming Titans, and is among the cadets that are left stranded and unable to retreat to from battle due to running out of gas for their omni-directional mobility gear. Sasha tries to convince the remaining cadets to try retaking the headquarters together, but is unable to convince them. After Mikasa decides to try to reach the headquarters, Sasha elects to join her, mocking the other cadets to try to motivate them to join in the attack.

She successfully reaches the headquarters, where Armin devises a plan to clear the supply room of Titans. Sasha is one of seven soldiers that are selected to kill the Titans in the supply room, once they have been drawn in and blinded with gunfire. During the execution of the plan, she messes up, not cutting deeply enough through her assigned Titan's neck. As it turns to eat her, Mikasa kills it and Sasha is immediately grateful to her.

After escaping the headquarters, they reunite with their fellow cadets and are placed on standby. While waiting, Sasha attempts to fake having a stomachache in an attempt to get out of returning to battle.

During the operation to reseal Wall Rose, Sasha and her fellow cadet Daz are assigned to a team which is tasked with drawing Titans in the district toward the wall and away from Eren and the elite squad.

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 Calaneth District with the Scout Regiment, worn and broken.

Clash of the Titans arc
Sasha and the others are stationed close to her and Conny's villages as they await orders. They do not seem to understand why they were stationed there. Sasha hears multiple heavy footsteps coming from a distance and they soon learn that Wall Rose had been breached and that they must act quickly. She joins the North Squad to help evacuate the villagers in the northern part.

She worriedly returns to her own village noticing that a certain Titan had headed straight for it. She enters a house, wherein a 3-meter Titan is eating a woman's leg while her child sits nearby, paralyzed with fear. Sasha takes the girl to her horse, but the horse becomes restless and runs off. Taking a bow and a handful of arrows, Sasha runs for the main road with the girl. Escaping to the drawbridge, Sasha sends the girl ahead to find help while she fends off the Titan. She decides to buy time by blinding the Titan and climbs a short incline for a better shot. Having missed two shots, Sasha scores a direct hit in the Titan's eye with her third arrow. She throws her bow away, taking her last arrow and stabbing it directly in the Titan's other eye. The Titan attempts to grab her, but Sasha manages to escape its grip. She searches for the girl and eventually finds her with a group led by her father.

Sasha returns from Wall Rose with a message for Hange and receives a steamed potato as a reward. Sasha is part of a discussion among the Scouts about Reiner and Bertholdt being traitors.

When Reiner and Bertholdt reveal their true identities atop Wall Rose, Sasha is nearly thrown from the Wall by their transformations. The skirmish ends when the Colossal Titan falls off the Wall onto Eren and Reiner's Titan forms. Sasha physically shields Armin from the resulting blast.

After Eren has been taken away, Sasha is one of the two to ride down to Dot Pyxis and the other units to inform everyone about the news. She is also part of the team to retrieve Eren from the hands of Reiner and Bertholdt. Upon arriving at the Titan Forest and encountering Ymir's Titan form, Sasha demands her to tell them about where Eren is and she is completely surprised when Ymir ate Christa for safekeeping.

When the team catches up with the Armored Titan, Bertholdt and Ymir, Sasha and her friends attempt to persuade Bertholdt to give Eren back. She gets off the Armored Titan when Erwin brings in Titans to attack. Along with Conny, they take Christa away from Ymir. Sasha watches as the other Titans all seemingly start devouring the Smiling Titan, and when they turn their attention and start charging towards the Armored Titan, Commander Erwin orders for a full retreat and Sasha rides back to Wall Rose with the others.

The Uprising arc
Some time later, Sasha is selected to be a member of the new Squad Levi assigned to safeguard Eren and Historia in an isolated forest cabin. Hearing her friends bantering, Sasha remarks that things feel like they did in their early cadet days. Armin later catches her attempting to steal a loaf of bread, and her friends confront her.

However, Erwin Smith sends a message warning the cabin's inhabitants that the government is freezing all Scout activity outside the Walls and is demanding that Eren and Historia be handed over. Levi and Hange abandon the cabin with their squads, and Sasha goes with Levi and his squad to Trost District where they hope to avoid the Military Police. There, a carriage comes crashing through and seemingly kidnaps Eren and Historia, though the kidnapped victims are actually Jean and Armin in disguise.

The squad pursues the kidnappers to their hideout, where Sasha helps rescue the two of them. While Mikasa is securing one of the captors, he draws a gun on her and Sasha uses her arrows to disarm him. Shortly after, Sasha and the others hear gunshots and go to investigate. They spot the wagon carrying an unconscious Eren and Historia with Levi in pursuit. To Sasha's shock, Levi kills a soldier pursuing him and orders the squad to chase the wagon and kill their opponents, given the chance. Jean and Armin attempt to retake the wagon, but are unsuccessful, and Sasha and Levi are forced to pull them to safety before they can be killed.

Following the battle, Dimo Reeves agrees to help Levi's squad and tricks two Military Police of the First Interior Squad to come with him to a remote cabin, where Squad Levi takes them hostage at gunpoint. Sasha and the rest of the squad listen uncomfortably to the screams as Levi and Hange conduct their interrogation. When the two are through, Sasha and the others are informed that Eren and Historia are likely being held near Rod Reiss.

After the Scout Regiment is accused of trying to monopolize Eren's Titan powers, the government begins arresting all members of the organization. Sasha and the rest of Squad Levi avoid being captured, and camp out in the woods outside of Stohess. As they are discussing a plan to rescue Eren and Historia, Sasha tells her comrades that she hears people approaching. After Marlo and Hitch have led them to a nearby MP checkpoint, Sasha, along with Conny and Jean, charges at the MP checkpoint in a carriage, breaking down the roadblocks they have erected.

After crippling most of the personnel in the outpost, Levi and his squad escape with a hostage. They interrogate him about Eren and Historia's location while Sasha watches nearby, but he claims not to know anything. Before they can question their hostage further, Sasha hears people approaching on foot and alerts her companions. To the entire squad's delight, it is Hange, who informs them that the Scout Regiment has been exonerated, and that they have a lead on Eren and Historia's whereabouts.

When they find Eren and Historia under the Reiss chapel, Sasha takes part in the operation to rescue them. She shoots barrels full of gunpowder and oil with gas canisters attached with fire arrows, making them explode and creating a smokescreen that hides the squad. During the fight she saves Conny's life by firing an arrow at the soldier who was about to shoot him. However, the squad is not fast enough to stop Rod Reiss from transforming himself into a Titan, destabilizing the structure of the cavern.

Sasha and the squad arrive and Eren is freed, but the squad is pushed back against the Wall due to the heat and force of the steam emitted by Rod Reiss' Titan. They are saved when Eren notices a bottle labeled "Armor" and crushes it in his mouth while transforming. Eren manages to control his hardening powers and stops the cave from falling. As the squad retrieves Eren, Sasha and Conny find an exit out of the cavern, and Sasha apologizes to Eren for doubting him. The squad travels to Orvud District, where they plan to fight Rod.

As Rod approaches the Wall, the members of the Levi squad douse themselves in water to endure the extreme heat from the steam. Sasha takes part in the operation to kill the Titan by blowing apart one of its hands with a gunpowder barrel with built-in shooters made by Hange. When it is crippled and loses balance, Eren takes the opportunity to transform into a Titan and shoves gunpowder into its mouth, causing the steam to ignite it and explode Rod. The squad tries to cut the flying pieces in order to kill the main body.

After Historia is crowned as the new queen, Sasha and the rest of Squad Levi accompany her as she goes to find Levi so she can punch him. The squad tries to talk her down, but she punches the captain as soon as she sees him. Expecting Levi to retaliate, the squad is surprised when he reacts by smiling and thanking them.

Two months later, Sasha is on the orphanage with the rest of the squad carrying some boxes while getting her hair pulled by one of the children.

Later on, Sasha is seen eating with the rest of her squad and Marlo. Marlo and the other new transfers are excited about a Titan guillotine and the prospect of taking back Wall Maria, and Sasha asks him if Hitch tried to stop him from joining the Scouts. He admits she tried to convince him of the benefits of staying in the Military Police, claiming that he had been forced to tell her off for her selfish behavior. Sasha, Jean, and Armin are all appalled at Marlo's inability to recognize her feelings for him, and begin angrily insulting him.

In the morning, Sasha accompanies the rest of her squad to visit their old commandant Keith Sadies and question him about his relationship with Eren's father. During the entire meeting, Sasha keeps her distance from Keith, traumatized by the numerous times he disciplined her during her time as a cadet.

Time passes, and the preparations for the retake of Wall Maria are finished. The day before the operation, the soldiers have a special dinner with meat to celebrate their upcoming mission. Seeing the meat, Sasha goes crazy and tries to eat it all by herself. Conny and Jean try to stop her and Jean is bitten for his trouble. Sasha is eventually restrained by Conny and Eren, but not before punching Marlo and Mikasa. Sasha regains her senses but her comrades neglect to untie her, leaving her in the cafeteria after the meal is finished.

The following day, Sasha is ready to go to Shiganshina District, along with the rest of the Scouts. They are surprised when the civilians start cheering for them. In response, Sasha, Jean, and Conny begin cheering with them.

Return to Shiganshina arc
After arriving in Shiganshina, Sasha watches Eren seal the hole in Wall Maria alongside her fellow scouts. After Eren successfully seals the hole, Sasha and the rest of her squad begin to go to meet up with the rest of the Scout Regiment, but stop and take up positions atop the Wall after Erwin shoots a signal flare into the air. From there they witness Reiner's emergence from within Wall Maria, and the appearance of the Beast Titan and his army.

As Eren and Reiner fight in their Titan forms, Sasha and her squad surround the two and prepare to help Eren. After Hange and Mikasa manage to blind Reiner, Sasha and the rest of the squad use their Thunder Spears on his Titan form's nape and expose his human body. Although both Sasha and Conny find themselves unwilling to kill Reiner, Jean manages to convince them to carry on with their mission. As Sasha and Conny cry over Reiner's apparent death, Jean tries to convince them not to mourn for him. Sasha and Conny do not stop crying but the three are left stunned when Reiner's Titan form suddenly begins to roar.

Sasha quickly evacuates the immediate area around Reiner with the rest of the soldiers as Hange announces that Bertholdt will be attacking them from above. After Armin unsuccessfully tries to negotiate with Bertholdt, Sasha and her teammates use Eren's Titan form to shield themselves as Bertholdt transforms.

The Colossal Titan begins throwing burning houses in the air, searching for them. Conny begins to panic and laugh, prompting Sasha to hit him on the head at Jean's request. Jean orders the team to get on Eren to save gas as they move to the river, where Eren unsuccessfully tries to draw Bertholdt's attention from the rest of the Scouts. The squad scatters as Eren begins a direct attack to Bertholdt's ankle, but Bertholdt kicks Eren into the top of the Wall. Jean formulates a plan in which he, Sasha, and Conny will act as a diversion while Mikasa fires a Thunder Spear at the Colossal Titan's nape. The plan is unsuccessful, as Bertholdt uses steam from his Titan form to repel the entire squad.

After Reiner's return to the battle, Sasha participates in Squad Levi's attack to keep him from reaching Eren and Armin. Sasha and Conny attempt to use their Thunder Spears to blow open Reiner's mouth, but Sasha is severely injured when Reiner uses debris from nearby houses to defend himself and her Thunder Spear misses its mark. As she loses consciousness, Sasha is carried away from the battle by a panicked Conny.

After Reiner is defeated with the help of Hange, Sasha's unconscious body is attended to by Conny. She rests atop Wall Maria, occasionally complaining about her comrades' noise.

The surviving Scouts then return to Trost where Sasha recovers from her injuries while her comrades debrief the military on the knowledge gained in Shiganshina. She eventually regains consciousness and eats a few apples as she rests. Later, she rejoins the other Scouts to be exonerated with a medal for her role in the recent battle.

After the Battle of Shiganshina, a year passes and the use of the Executioner from Hell clears Wall Maria from all Titans. Sasha is among the Scouts to lead an Expedition beyond Wall Maria, and finds a Titan whose limbs were so small that it could only crawl. The Scouts arrive at the ocean and Sasha playfully experiences it with her friends.

Marley arc
In the year 854, Sasha takes part in the Scout Regiment's attack on Liberio. Together with Conny, she is seen killing several armed combatants entering the internment zone with her rifle, and setting up light markers throughout the city. After finishing, Sasha and Conny reunite with the rest of the Scouts, and watch from a safe distance as Eren and Mikasa attempt to defeat the War Hammer Titan.

As the Jaw, Cart and Beast Titans arrive to the battle, Sasha and her allies regroup and prepare to face off with their enemies. Sasha takes cover from the Cart's gunfire behind a destroyed artillery gun and shoots and kills one of its gunners. Enraged, the Titan charges at her, but Sasha escapes as Jean and the other soldiers fire a barrage of Thunder Spears at it.

Abilities
Raised as an animal hunter, Sasha specializes in archery, horseback riding, and tracking. Sasha is ranked one of the top 10 cadets of her squad, implying good physical abilities. She was also commented to have a better sense of balance than some of the other cadets. Sasha's hearing is also very acute, to the point that she could detect an approaching group of Titans before many of her fellow cadets. 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 later shown to be able to disarm a person without any injury to the said person with archery alone. She is proven to be a skilled thief, as she often manages to steal food from the infantry storage without getting caught.

Four years after reclaiming Wall Maria, she had proven to be very proficient in using bolt action rifles, fatally sniping down multiple Marleyan soldiers from a rooftop in only a couple of seconds and sniping a gunner through a narrow opening in the middle of a firefight.

Relationships

 * Conny Springer - Sasha and Conny get along well as teammates and as friends. The pair often make jokes, as they enjoy each other's company. As cadets, 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.
 * Historia Reiss - In Sasha's cadet 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.

People killed

 * Carlo
 * One member of the Anti-Personnel Control Squad
 * Two Marleyan guards

Failed attempts

 * Reiner Braun

Trivia

 * An interview with Isayama's editor in Otomedia's October 2013 issue revealed Isayama originally intended to kill Sasha in the events which would be adapted into Episode 27. However, he was persuaded to change his mind by the editor, who apparently went to the bathroom and cried when presented with the ending. This accounts for Sasha's absence during the majority of the Clash of the Titans arc in the manga, though the anime adaptation gave her a much stronger presence in the events of the arc following Episode 27.
 * Hajime Isayama named Sasha after comedic actor to reflect the fact that he intended for her to provide a comedic element to the series.
 * Sasha's name is short for "Alexandra," which comes from the Greek "Alexandros," meaning "defender of humankind." "Blouse" (Brauss) comes from the German saying "in Sauß und Brauss leben," meaning "to live off the fat of the land," a phrase she herself quotes.
 * She was one of the few characters to survive an encounter with a Titan without using her vertical maneuvering equipment.
 * Isayama stated that there is not any food Sasha dislikes.
 * Isayama revealed on his blog in 2014 that he had selected the song "Bambous" by as a character song for Sasha.

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