Zeke Yeager

"I was pretty sure we speak the same language... Or you're so frightened that you can't speak..."

- Zeke to Mike Zacharius

Zeke (ジーク), otherwise known as the Beast Titan (獣の巨人) is a mysterious Titan Shifter that was first seen within Wall Rose during its supposed breach, and was responsible for the transformation of the people of Ragako into Titans. He acts as a military leader of the warriors of the Homeland and serves as one of the primary antagonists of the series.

Reiner referred him as a lead warrior, and the Quadrupedal Titan addressed him as Warchief, revealing not only a high-ranking Titan Shifter, but also a tactician commanding a group of Titans.

Human Form
In his human form, Zeke has a well-toned body, light white skin, shaggy blonde hair and a matching mustache that descends down into his beard. He was seen wearing no shirt, loose pants, combat boots, and circular glasses. He also has a large scar running down his left arm.

Titan Form
In his Titan form, he is an extremely unusual specimen, having a distinct, ape-like appearance. His body structure and facial features are like that of a human's, he walks upright like one also. He stands at a previously unseen 17 meters in height. Dark fur covers the large majority of his body, with the exception of his face, hands, feet, and torso. His arms are also elongated, with long fingers and fully-functional thumbs. The proportions of his upper body are similar to those of the Colossal Titan, possessing a massive chest and small head, as well as disproportionately slim arms. He is also one of the few titans known to have the ability of sentient communication with humans, including use of the human language while in Titan form.

Personality
Zeke is a very intelligent and curious person. He tried to communicate with Mike Zacharius in order to get information about the Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear and learn about Mike's language. He has the traits of a leader, giving orders and telling other people, sometimes even Titans, what to do. While he was talking with Mike, he told the Titan that was eating him to hold him instead of devouring him. If his orders are not followed, he does not hesitate on using brute force, like when he crushed the head of the Titan that was eating Mike when it disobeyed him or when he beat Reiner to make him and Bertolt focus on his plans instead of saving Annie.

Also Zeke seems to be a cruel, sadistic and sarcastic individual. He killed several human soldiers without hesitation and let a group of Titans eat Mike when he stopped being useful, not caring about the pain that he was about to endure. Instead he mocked him, saying that he discovered that they speak the same language.

He also prioritized the recovering of the Coordinate over the rescue of Annie, who was presumed to being suffering torture since months ago. However, he did not believe Annie had truly been captured nor tortured.

Clash of the Titans arc
Zeke makes his first appearance when Titans are mysteriously appearing within Wall Rose even though the Wall remains intact. He is encountered by Mike Zacharius, who instantly notes the strangeness of his characteristics, mistaking the Titan with a regular Deviant-type. He displays an unexpected behavior when he grabs Mike's Horse and launches it at him, preventing his escape and throwing him from the roof he was on.

After Mike falls to the mouth of another Titan, Zeke orders the other Titans to not eat him so that he can question Mike about the 3D Maneuver Gear. However, the Titan disobeys him and Zeke crushes its head to release Mike.

Zeke then proceeds to interrogate Mike, but as he neglects to respond out of shock, he theorizes that Mike does not speak due to them not speaking the same language, or Mike being too afraid. After inspecting the gear, he allows the surrounding Titans to devour Mike. As Mike screams in horror, the Beast Titan is amused to see that they did actually speak the same language after all. He finally leaves the scene contemplating the 3D Maneuver Gear.

He next appears walking past Castle Utgard, seemingly ignoring those taking refuge within. Instead, he uses his incredible strength to scale Wall Rose and then disappears.

As the soldiers manage to fend off an attack, he suddenly turns his attention towards them. He begins to break off chunks of the Wall, hurling them long distances at the members of the Survey Corps trapped in Castle Utgard. The first shot kills their horses, and the second kills Lynne and Henning.

He then howls, summoning more Titans to continue the assault on the castle. Nanaba angrily notes that he seems to be intentionally toying with them. Afterwards, he climbs over the Wall and disappears into the lost territory of Wall Maria.

When Ymir and Eren are kidnapped by Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover, Ymir states that the Beast Titan is directly responsible for the appearance of Titans within Wall Rose; possibly in order to "test" humanity's strength. She also notes that the reaction of Reiner and Bertolt to his appearance resembled gawking, excited children. She theorizes that locating him became one of their goals after his initial sighting and that it is key for them to return to their village.

The Uprising arc
In the aftermath of Eren's failed kidnapping, an investigation is performed at the village of Ragako. The investigation confirms the suspicion that the villagers had been transformed into Titans, though the methods employed by the Beast Titan remain undisclosed.

Two months after Historia Reiss is crowned queen, Zeke is shown in Shiganshina District defeating the Armored Titan in battle. While Bertolt takes out Reiner's body from his Titan form, Zeke emerges from his Titan body, telling Bertolt and Reiner to worry about Annie's rescue later. He then reveals his plan to ambush the Survey Corps in Shiganshina with their help in order to capture Eren and steal the Coordinate, their top priority.

Return to Shiganshina arc
After some time, the Survey Corps initiate the operation to retake Wall Maria. After Eren manages to seal the outer gate of Shiganshina, Zeke, Reiner, and Bertolt launch their operation. After Reiner's failed attack and its momentary downfall, Zeke transforms along with a numerous horde of Titans outside the Wall. After that, he picks up a giant boulder and launches it at the inner gate, so that the Horses could not get over it, as well as keeping the soldiers from running away, which would allow the Titans to wipe out the Survey Corps. Zeke then starts walking slowly towards the city with a maniacal grin on his face. He then roars, ordering smaller Titans to attack the Survey Corps' horses, while having the larger Titans form a circle around the entrance of Shiganshina district in order to prevent the soldiers from escaping.

When Reiner gets incapacitated, events before the battle are shown where Zeke is talking to Reiner and Bertolt the night before the Survey Corps' arrival. He tells them not to worry about Annie and questions their resolve when they doubt his words. He goes as far as to threaten Reiner with a rematch if they still doubt his decision. He then talks how they need to regain the Coordinate in order to put an end to something he calls the "cursed history." They are shortly after interrupted by Quadrupedal Titan who informs them of the Survey Corps' arrival.

Back in the battle of Shiganshina, incapacitated Reiner roars in his Titan form, signaling Zeke to throw a barrel containing Bertolt towards Reiner's location. After sending Bertolt over the wall, Zeke begins assaulting the Survey Corps north of the district with a barrage of stones, forcing the Levi and the rest of the soldiers to retreat to the base of the wall.

Titan Shifting
Zeke is able to transform into a 17-meter Titan referred to as the Beast Titan (獣の巨人) in the series. He used this form when he transformed the inhabitants of Ragako, wandering between the walls in his Titan form, and when he fights Reiner in Shiganshina District, so that he follows his commands. It is unknown how he gained his power. He retains his human mind even when transformed, allowing him to do delicate tasks of even speaking.

Unlike other Titan Shifters, he is able to fluently speak without issue in his Titan form, casually talking to other Titans and even giving them orders. He possesses great physical strength, sufficient enough to pick up a horse or even break off large chunks from Wall Rose and hurl them at a great distance away. He also seems to possess dexterous hands, as he managed to retrieve Mike's Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear without damaging him or the gear.

He is revealed to possess some unknown means to transform humans into Titans. These Titans, unlike the regular Titans encountered, were capable of functioning at night, though Hange has theorized that this may be because of the full moon at the time since moonlight is just reflected sunlight. As many houses showed signs of the transformations taking place indoors, it does not appear that immediate physical contact is required to cause a transformation. Also, these Titans seem to obey his orders. He also appears to have the ability to repel Titans as the Titans never attack him unlike the other Titan Shifters.

He seems to be a very formidable fighter, since he was able to defeat the Armored Titan and inflict him considerable damage without sustaining any visible injury. He is also mentioned as "the most powerful Titan" in the final notes of Chapter 70. According to Reiner, while Levi is indeed powerful, the former claims that he is no match for their lead warrior.

Relationships

 * Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover - Zeke serves as Reiner and Bertolt's superior as their Warchief. While offering encouragement to the two warriors, he does not hesitate in displaying his dominance as Warchief. By his methods, disagreements between him and his warriors are decided through combat which he is likely to win, such as the decision to forsake Annie's well-being in favor of waiting in Shiganshina for the Coordinate. He is also not above threatening to order Reiner to surrender his armor, and his life in the process, to another warrior if he fails again in decision by combat.


 * Annie Leonhart - Zeke appears to be very familiar with Annie, trusting in her abilities and knowing of her expertise in kicks. After he defeated the Armored Titan in a battle, he told him that Annie could be saved after retrieving the Coordinate, prioritizing the power over Annie, who was supposedly being tortured since months ago. However, Zeke did not believe that Annie had truly been captured and certainly not tortured, trusting that her abilities would be enough to avoid such circumstances.

People Killed

 * Henning
 * Lynne
 * Dirk
 * Marlene
 * Klaus
 * Numerous counts of unnamed Survey Corps members

Indirectly

 * Mike Zacharius
 * Ragako's inhabitants

Trivia

 * Isayama draws mystery man.png's Titan appearance resembles several, such as the Sasquatch/Bigfoot, Yeti, and Yowie.
 * He appears to have had limited to no contact with the humans inside the Walls for a long time, as he expresses interest in humanity's 3D Maneuver Gear. He also wondered whether or not he speaks the same language as Mike.
 * He ranks 3rd on the Titan Popularity Poll.
 * He makes an appearance in Attack on Titan: The Last Wings of Mankind.
 * Hajime Isayama has unofficially showed a "mysterious character" in Japan, which resembles Zeke.
 * He is the only human/Titan Shifter seen so far whom regular Titans do not attempt to attack.
 * In the final notes of Chapter 70, Zeke is described as "the most powerful Titan". However, this is contradictory with his stats revealed in the guidebook INSIDE &amp; OUTSIDE where he got a 7 (of 10) in "power", being surpassed by the Armored Titan with 8 and the Colossal Titan with 11.
 * On the other hand, he has an 11 (of 10) in "smart", making him the most intelligent character of the series so far along with Hange Zoë, suggesting that his dangerousness not only relies on raw strength.
 * Hange thought that the reason why the Titans that Zeke created were able to move at night was because moonlight is just a reflection of sunlight, which can be used to power the Titans.
 * Zeke's name is the shortened form of "Ezekiel", which is Hebrew in origin meaning "God will strengthen". In Biblical literature, Ezekiel was a prophet among the Hebrews exiled to Babylon who prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and Israel's restoration.
 * Zeke appears to be a fan of baseball, referring to his boulder tosses as "pitches" with the hopes of achieving a "" in the battle of Shiganshina.

Quotes
"What an interesting thing they invented!"

- Zeke talking about the Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear

"Don't you know you should be trying to retake the Coordinate?"

- Zeke to Reiner Braun

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