Leonhart

"Even if every other creature alive comes to hate you, your father will always be on your side... So please. Promise me...that you'll come back!"

- Leonhart to Annie

Leonhart (レオンハート) is an Eldian who lived in the Liberio Internment Zone and is the adoptive father of Annie Leonhart. He had trained his daughter to be a Warrior candidate which later led to her selection as inheritor of the Female Titan's power.

Human form
Leonhart has a receding hairline with his dark hair combed back. He appears to be a relatively short man, and well built for fighting as he is a trainer. He has only been seen wearing a light jacket over a white shirt with dark pants and shoes. During the Liberio festival, he is seen wearing a beret and using a cane. He is disabled and unable to walk straight.

Pure Titan form
Leonhart's Pure Titan retains all of the features from its human form. Most notably it has a large, round nose and large eyes.

Personality
He was selfish at first with Annie and his goal was to solely train her into becoming a Warrior of Marley so that he could have a wealthy life. He seemed to be a relentlessly strict trainer, not allowing his daughter to take breaks and yelling at her during the training sessions. However, sometime before Annie's departure, he had a change of heart and apologized to her, he finally saw her as his true daughter saying that she come back someday, and assuring her that he would always be on her side. He seems to be very motivated to see Annie again.

History
Many years ago, Leonhart was relocated to the Liberio internment zone from another country after it was discovered he had Eldian blood. While living in the city, he came across a baby girl who was abandoned for similar reasons; Leonhart decided to adopt the girl and gave her the name Annie. As Leonhart began raising Annie over the following years, he decided to have her become a Warrior so that he could improve his own life. Leonhart taught Annie fighting techniques that involved kicks and the use of the opponent's weight against themselves. Because of his harsh treatment, Annie eventually lashed out at him during training, crippling him for the rest of his life.

Before Annie left Liberio to partake in the Paradis Island Operation, Leonhart apparently had a change of heart, apologizing to her for everything he had done and claiming that becoming an honorary Marleyan no longer meant anything to him. Leonhart assured her that even if the whole world hated her and treated her like an enemy, he would always be by her side. He asked her only to promise him that she will return home.

104th Training Corps arc
After impressing Eren Yeager with her fighting technique during training, Annie mentions that her father was the one who taught it to her. She goes on to deride the ideals he held, comparing them to Eren's, and claiming that they have nothing to do with reality.

The Female Titan arc
While Annie is trying to escape from Stohess District transformed in her Titan form, she remembers the last words her father said to her before she left Liberio. This memory triggers her hardening ability, encasing her into a crystal cocoon and allowing her to avoid interrogation, although she is captured and placed underground.

Return to Shiganshina arc
While waiting for the Survey Corps to arrive in Shiganshina District, Bertolt recalls the moment during the battle for Trost when Reiner Braun pressured Annie into taking Marco Bott's vertical equipment, claiming that it would prove that she, and her father who is waiting for her return to her hometown, are different than the "evil race" within the Walls.

Marley arc
Leonhart attends Willy Tybur's production at the Liberio festival, being seated in reserved seats meant for honorary Marleyans. He speaks with Karina Braun about Bertolt Hoover's father having passed away, and Mrs. Braun discusses the pride of both Annie and Bertolt having devoted their lives for Marley. Leonhart denies this, adamantly stating that Annie is not dead, as she promised to come home.

Leonhart listens apathetically whilst Willy delivers his speech, seemingly caring little for his revelations on the true history of the Great Titan War, or his reasons to wage war on Paradis Island. After Willy officially declares war, the Attack Titan comes forth, killing Willy and sending building wreckage into the crowd. Leonhart avoids the carnage and tries to assist Mrs. Braun in escaping.

War for Paradis arc
Along with all other Subjects of Ymir, Leonhart is spoken to by Eren Yeager through the Founding Titan. Leonhart drops his shopping and falls to his knees, panicking about the declaration that the lives beyond Paradis Island will be exterminated.

Leonhart is among a group of Eldians who desperately try to convince Liberio's guards to allow them to leave before Eren arrives with the Wall Titans. Unfortunately, the guards do not believe the crowd, as only Eldians were able to see Eren's broadcast, and accuse the Eldians of plotting to escape their internment camps. The guards begin to detain the group and Leonhart, recalling Annie's promise to return to him, begins lashing out at them.

Leonhart, along with many of the other Eldians in Liberio, manages to escape the internment zone. Taking a Marleyan soldier and his family hostage, Leonhart forces him to operate a train and take all of the surviving Eldians to Fort Salta so that they can steal an airship and escape the Rumbling. As Fort Salta comes into sight, Leonhart is horrified to see airships already taking off, as well as the steam of the Rumbling on the horizon. Reaching Fort Salta, Leonhart and the others find that all of the fort's airships have departed to participate in the attack on the Founding Titan.

As they watch the ensuing battle, Karina collapses in tears for manipulating her son to join the Warrior program and Leonhart attempts to console her. As he is consoling her, the group is horrified to see Marley's airships being destroyed by the Beast Titan, who appears on top of Eren's Titan form. Leonhart reassures Karina by reminding her that her son is safe on Paradis, but is caught off-guard to see Reiner arriving with Paradis soldiers to stop Eren.

After the flying boat crashes, Leonhart is seen with some others helping to pull Onyankopon out. Though he is unconscious, Leonhart asks if he knows his daughter, Annie. After helping Onyankopon, Leonhart leads a group of Eldians to try to get medical aid for their wounded, but they are met with hostility from the Marleyans. Leonhart tries to talk down his allies and reach a peaceful resolution, but hostilities continue to escalate. Marley's military Secretary Muller arrives and fires a pistol into the air, gaining both sides' attention. He convinces the Eldians and Marleyans to work together to defend the fort before helping Leonhart up. As the two men agree to work together, Leonhart is surprised by the sudden arrival of Annie. Before the two can properly reunite, however, a smoke is released into the fort which causes Leonhart and the other Eldians to transform into pure Titans. The Titans inside the fort all immediately rally to the Source of all living matter to defend it as it tries to return to Eren Yeager.

After Eren's death the power of the Titans is undone and all of the Eldians return to their human forms. Leonhart happily reunites with his daughter, but their reunion is cut short by the arrival of Marley soldiers. Muller demands that the Eldians prove that they can no longer turn into Titans or face execution. Leonhart suggests that they take a blood test of all the Eldians, but Muller insists that he will execute them all on the spot unless they provide immediate proof. The Eldians are only saved by the intervention of Armin Arlert, who convinces Muller that they are no longer a threat.

Relationships

 * Annie Leonhart - Annie was an Eldian baby abandoned at birth and Leonhart adopted her. His goal was to solely train her into becoming a Warrior of Marley so that he could have a wealthy life while Annie looked to her adoptive father as a source of strength. Annie would hold him in contempt for his selfish desires. After time passed, Annie lashed out at her father for all she had endured up to that point. She left him crippled and unable to walk straight again. Yet, Leonhart rejoiced because she had become as strong as he wanted. However the day Annie was sent to Paradis; he changed his mind and finally saw her as his true daughter, he regretted his actions in making her become a Warrior and begged her to promise him to come home. Thus, Annie's views on her adoptive father changed and she has since vowed to fulfill that promise.
 * Karina Braun - While they knew each other, they did not seem to be close. During the Liberio festival, Leonhart said they had not met since Karina's son, Reiner Braun, returned to Marley four years earlier.

Trivia

 * The name Leonhart is derived from the Spanish word león and the Dutch word hart. These words combined literally translate to Lionheart. Lionheart is a nickname that is given to someone who is a great warrior, which is something that he strives his daughter Annie to be.

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