Bertolt Hoover (Junior High Manga)

Bertolt Hoover (ベルトルト・フーバー) is a student at Attack Junior High School.

Appearance
Bertolt is a rather tall boy with short, dark hair. He can usually be seen wearing his school uniform while in class.

Personality
Bertolt is a very shy and quiet boy. He is shown to be very withdrawn in public, (often wishing that he stay in the background and not be as noticeable) and is usually only shown to have casual conversations with his friend Reiner. Bertolt can easily panic in social situations and can buckle under pressure; he is also known to have some self doubt and reluctant to reveal his feelings to others in fear of being embarrassed.

Story
Bertolt is among the many first year students entering Attack Junior High School and is assigned to Class 3 along with his friends Reiner, Annie, Krista and Ymir.

He participates in the dodge-ball tournament and displays teamwork with his classmates when they easily advance to the second round; while not eliminating as many players, Bertolt is able to make several saves during the match. Despite his prowess, Bertolt and Class 3 are beaten by Class 4 who then advance to the finals.

Bertolt is with Reiner when the latter reveals the existence of the rumored 'Survey Club' on campus. Bertolt joins the club with everyone and also signs up to be on the volleyball team as well. He takes part in the athletic fair pitting the first year students against the upperclassmen, but they are defeated and forced to dance with the Titans at the dance afterward.

A summer festival is announced and Bertolt is asked by Reiner to go with him and Krista. Caught by surprise by this proposal, the two hear Krista accept and insist Ymir go with them. Both Bertolt and Ymir are reluctant to be paired together, with the latter firmly stating she will be with Krista. She confronts Bertolt about it and knows he was against the attempted pairing as well; Bertolt agrees and begins to think about asking Annie. Ymir, knowing Bertolt has a crush on Annie, insists he ask her or she will reveal to Annie about his crush. Reluctantly, Bertolt agrees to; he bemoans this and merely wishes to fade in the background. Despite this, he does go to Annie and ask her to meet him after school. After class, Bertolt starts to side-step the issue and reveals to Annie he is going with Reiner, Krista and Ymir; as he indirectly asks Annie to go with him as a date, Bertolt notices her attention is elsewhere. He spots her looking at Eren and sheepishly says she can invite someone to go with them if she wants.

Relationships

 * Reiner Braun - His childhood best friend, Bertolt is almost always seen with Reiner. Bertolt admires Reiner's confidence and, while not as assertive, does see that Reiner is trying to build Bertolt's confidence and to make him more outgoing.
 * Annie Leonhart - Another of his childhood friends, Bertolt has had a severe crush on Annie for some time; however, he is hesitant to reveal this to her. Whenever he is near Annie, Bertolt becomes easily flustered and unable to clearly speak; he does acknowledge that Annie has a crush on Eren and tries to improve himself to make him more appealing.