Bertholdt Hoover (Anime)

Bertholdt Hoover (ベルトルト・フーバー) is a graduate of the 104th Cadet Corps and a former member of the Scout Regiment. He ranked 3rd in his class, and is described by others as a weak-willed and quiet person. He is rarely seen without Reiner Braun, his close childhood friend, both of whom originate from an unknown area which he refers to as his hometown.

Along with Reiner and Annie Leonhart, he is a person that possesses the ability to transform into a Titan. In the year 845, he used his power to help Reiner breach Wall Maria and infiltrate the military for unknown reasons.

Appearance
Bertholdt is a rather tall, slender young man. He has short, dark hair, pale green eyes, thin eyebrows and an elongated face. He is seen mainly in his trainee uniform, and after he enters the Scout Regiment, he uses their uniform with the green hood on missions. He is also noted by others to always be sweating. In his casual clothes, Bertholdt wears a blue sweater with a white button down underneath and tan pants.

Personality
Bertholdt is a quiet young man who identified himself as someone with a weak will that follows popular opinion. Likewise, his instructor noted him to be a person with great potential, but an utter lack of initiative. He is further described by Eren Jaeger as being taciturn, and Bertholdt tends to remain in the background unless necessary. By his own admission, he is something of a coward and is noted for his low self-esteem.

Humanity's Comeback arc
Bertholdt joined the 104th Training Corps with aspirations of joining the Military Police and living in the safety of the inner Wall. As part of the 104th, he was considered to be one of the best in regards to vertical maneuvering equipment, enough so that Eren Jaeger came to him for advice when he was dealing with faulty equipment.

After seeing Eren's determination and desire to join the Scout Regiment, he considered himself a coward for wanting to get far away from the Titans. However, Eren encouraged him, saying that after witnessing the attack on his village, no one would blame him for his decision. Eventually, he graduated in the top ten of his class coming in at third place, just under his friend Reiner.

The Struggle for Trost arc
When Armin, Mikasa, and Conny made it to the headquarters, with the help of the Mysterious Titan, Armin devised a plan to get rid of the Titans in the supply room. Bertholdt, part of the second group, came in from the ceiling and killed his target in one blow. The mission was a success and after everyone resupplied, he and the rest of the group leave the headquarters.

On the way out, he joins Mikasa and others on a rooftop as they watch the rogue Titan being eaten by other Titans. Reiner suggests helping it out, but ultimately it ends up not being necessary as the Titan fights his way out upon seeing the Titan that ate Thomas. After the rogue Titan kills it, the Titan collapses, and Bertholdt is among the first people to learn of Eren's ability.

Eve of the Counterattack arc
Post-Trost, Bertholdt joins the Scout Regiment with Mikasa, Reiner Braun, Eren, Conny, Sasha Braus, Christa Lenz, Armin, Ymir, Jean Kirschtein and a few others.

The 57th Exterior Scouting Mission arc
Bertholdt participates in the Scout Regiment's 57th exterior scouting mission into Titan territory, sticking close to his friend Reiner the whole time. The mission is fairly slow paced for him until he arrives at the forest of giant trees with his group and is ordered to be on standby. He waits in the trees with his comrades so that they may stop any Titan from entering the forest where their superiors are. After awhile of little events, a loud Titan scream can be heard from within the forest and several Titans begin to charge in. Bertholdt is among the soldiers as they attempt to stop the Titans from entering.

After the Titans are gone beyond the soldiers watch point, Bertholdt sees the smoke signal indicating the time for retreat. He regroups with his comrades and they head back to the walls. Upon re-entering the gate, the Scout Regiment receives comments and criticisms for their loss of life and lack of results.

Clash of the Titans arc
During the assault on Stohess District, several of the 104th Cadet Corps recruits including Bertholdt are kept at an outpost in Wall Rose under suspicions of a Titan shifter spy being among them. They are under the watch of Miche Zacharius and a number of Scout Regiment soldiers until further notice. While they wait inside, Sasha and Conny complain of boredom and mention that their villages are near by while Reiner and Bertholdt sit across from each other playing chess. Reiner then expresses suspicions of their reason for staying in this location as they are unarmed despite the rest of the soldiers being fully equipped. Sasha then begins to shout about hearing foot steps but is brushed off briefly. She continues to shout until Nanaba stops at the window, opens it, and informs the 104th that several Titans were just spotted to the south of Wall Rose, saying that they must mount their horses quickly without gear as they are pressed for time. Reiner expresses panic at the notion of Titans within the Wall to Bertholdt before they begin to tack up their horses and the soldiers move out with the goal of evacuating and informing citizens.

Miche asks if anyone is familiar with the area, and Sasha notes that both she and Conny know it. Asking to go to his village after leading the southern group, Conny accepts the task from Miche and is joined by Reiner and Bertholdt for aid. During their escape, the Titans begin to sprint and start to catch up to the soldiers and their horses. Miche realizes this and takes charge to divert their focus and separates from the group so that they may escape. Watching him go, Bertholdt breaks off into one of the four teams as they split up and leave.

After discovering Conny's village to be deserted, the Southern team meets up with Ymir and Christa's team, and they decide to take refuge for the night in Utgard Castle. At some point during the night, the castle comes under attack by Titans and the recruits are forced to defend the interior from the smaller Titans that have invaded. After Reiner takes off on his own to investigate, Bertholdt offers a strange observation of his friend's "bad habit" of risking himself for others. When a Titan manages to break through a stairwell door, he comes to Reiner's defense with a pitchfork and helps fight it off. The two reaffirm their promise to survive and return to their home together.

After a second Titan manages to enter and injure Reiner, he helps Ymir toss it out a window. Afterwards, he begins to behave in a withdrawn manner and responds to questions about how Reiner was in the past with a strange comment about how Reiner has changed and is no longer a "warrior". However, he refuses to elaborate further on the subject.

Eventually, their superiors are killed by the attacking Titans and the rookies are left defenseless. This drives Ymir to reveal herself to be a Titan, using her powers to protect the others. Thanks to her efforts and the timely arrive of Hange's soldiers, the rookies are saved.

The Scout Regiment takes stock of their injured on top of Wall Rose and when Eren sympathizes Reiner and Bertholdt about being driven out of their hometown, Bertholdt uses that to push Reiner to remember their desire to go back to their hometown. His cryptic words about how there is barely anything left to do cause Reiner to remember something.

Reiner confesses to Eren that he and Bertholdt are the Armored and Colassal Titans and broke down the Wall five years ago to destroy humanity. Bertholdt asks Reiner why he is revealing this, but Reiner ignores him, leaving Bertholdt clearly uneasy. When Eren refuses to go with them, Reiner tries to take him by force, but Mikasa intervenes, attacking both Bertholdt and Reiner. She nearly kills Bertholdt, but Reiner saves him. Bertholdt and Reiner both use their injuries to transform and take Eren.

Abilities
"Highly proficient in various hand-to-hand combat styles and has great potential. But lacks in self-confidence and tends to leave it to others when it comes to showing assertiveness."

- Instructor Keith Sadies regarding Bertholdt's training

Bertholdt graduated in 3rd position among the trainees and was noted as the best user of the vertical maneuvering equipment among them. He managed to kill a small Titan without the use of the vertical maneuvering equipment. Due to his high-level position, he is also likely to possess other Military and combat skills.

Relationships

 * Reiner Braun - Reiner is his childhood friend, and the two are rarely apart. Bertholdt almost always follows along with whatever Reiner decides and values him as a friend.
 * Eren Jaeger - Though friendly, the two are not particularly close in comparison to Eren and Reiner's friendship. Bertholdt expresses admiration for Eren's courage and the strength of his conviction to fight even after experiencing the horror of a Titan attack.

Indirectly

 * Numerous counts of Shiganshina District
 * Carla Jaeger
 * Thomas Wagner
 * Milieus Zeremski
 * Mina Carolina
 * Nack Tierce
 * Franz Kefka
 * Tom
 * Marco Bodt
 * Mitabi Jarnach
 * Ian Dietrich

Trivia

 * The official site reveals his nickname is "Bertl" (ベルトル).
 * His name is Old German in origin, meaning "Bright Strength".