Carla Yeager

"Eren!! What are you thinking?! Do you know how many people have died because they dared to venture outside the Walls?!"

- Carla to her only son, Eren after knowing his desire to join the Survey Corps

Carla Yeager (カルラ・イェーガー) was the mother of Eren Yeager, the adoptive mother of Mikasa Ackerman, and the second wife of doctor Grisha Yeager.

Appearance
Carla had light-colored eyes and rather long dark hair. Her hair was kept tied loosely to the side on her right shoulder with a dark red tie, and only a few short hairs around her ears and forehead were loose.

When she was seen inside her home, Carla wore a cream-colored sweater with frilled sleeves and a long red skirt with a white apron and small tan boots.

During her younger days, Carla could be seen wearing a short-sleeved dress with a black front laced corset over top.

Personality
Carla had a kind, willfull, and concerning nature, reprimanding her friends and family for dangerous decisions. This was mainly seen during her interactions with Eren when he wanted to join the Survey Corps, showing her motherly care. Unlike Shadis, Carla was more content with the simple aspects of life and did not believe that is necessary to be acknowledged by others, seeing that existing is special on its own.

Carla had been known to be protective towards her family, enough to put them before herself. This was shown when her parents were sick at her side and when her children were in potential danger for attempting to rescue her from a Titan. However, once Eren and Mikasa left earshot, she whispered that she did not want them to leave her alone to die and continued crying until her death.

History
During her youth, Carla worked as a waitress in a small bar that Keith Shadis frequented. One day, Keith brought along Grisha Yeager, who had recently been found lost outside of the Walls. Carla reprimanded Shadis, thinking that he wanted to beguile Grisha into joining the Survey Corps, but both men denied this.

Sometime later, Carla became ill with a disease that plagued Shiganshina and was urgently taken by Shadis to Grisha, who had become a doctor. However, she was more worried about her parents, but Grisha ensured her that everyone would be fine. He eventually managed to save Carla and her family, and Carla hugged him as she rejoiced in tears.

They soon fell in love, and sometime later married and had a son named Eren. When Shadis returned from an unsuccessful mission as commander, he approached Carla with a young Eren and she expressed her and Grisha's worry for him. Out of spite, he accused her of being ordinary and lacking in imagination. However, Carla stated that some people do not have to be special or greater than everybody and existing on its own was special.

Fall of Shiganshina arc
Carla is first shown forbidding Eren to join the Survey Corps after Mikasa spoke of Eren's desire to join the military. Though Eren's father, Grisha, remained passive and even encouraging of Eren's ambition before leaving the house, Carla continues to attempt to convince Eren otherwise, leading Eren to yell at her and run off to ignore her protests. Upon this, Carla tasks Mikasa with looking out for Eren, saying he needs to be protected from himself.

During the invasion of Wall Maria, the Colossus Titan breaches the Wall of Shiganshina District by kicking at its main gate, and some of the flying debris fall on the Yeagers' house, destroying it with Carla inside. She is trapped and her legs are crushed. Eren and Mikasa attempt to free her, but they are not strong enough to lift the beams holding her down. She begs them to leave because of the Titans swarming the city as one Titan is visibly approaching their house.

Soon, Hannes arrives, initially declaring that he would save the three of them from the approaching Titan, despite Carla's protests that he should grab the children and run. However, Hannes loses his nerve at the frightening appearance of the Titan and decides to take the children to safety instead, abandoning Carla under the wreckage as she requested. Against Eren's desperate protests, Carla screamed to her children that she loved them and pleaded them to stay alive. Once the three were on the run and out of earshot, Carla mutters that she does not want them to go, but covers her mouth with her hand so that the children cannot hear her last words. The Titan pulls her from the debris and squeezes her in its hand, causing her innards to spew out of her mouth. Just after Mikasa looks away, it devours her as Eren watches in horror. She would be avenged by Eren, years later, when he used the Coordinate ability to make the Titans attack and devour the Titan that killed her.

Return to Shiganshina arc
When Eren, Hange Zoë, and Squad Levi go to question Instructor Keith Shadis on his knowledge of Grisha Yeager, Keith puts into words his meeting of Grisha and losing Carla to him and the experiences that led up to, and followed those events.

Relationships

 * Eren Yeager - Eren was Carla's only son, who she considered to be cute since he was a baby. She felt a deep love for him, seen when she told him not to join the Survey Corps because it is too dangerous. Knowing her son is too reckless for his own safety, she often took care of him with Mikasa's help. Even when she was trapped under the debris of their house, Carla ordered Eren and Mikasa to run away and leave her behind so that they could escape from the Titans. She also told Hannes to take them and run, feeling relieved and thanked him when he accepted. She would be avenged by Eren, years later, when he indirectly killed the Titan that killed Carla.
 * Mikasa Ackerman - When Mikasa was first accepted into their home, Carla showed that she was comfortable with her company. The two often did household chores together such as washing dishes and bonded over this. Carla relied on Mikasa to keep an eye out for Eren, trusting her enough to pull him out of trouble. She also greatly cared and worried for Mikasa, despite her independence and strength. When Mikasa struggled to save her and when she was taken away, Carla painfully called out to her in her final moments, worried for her safety. Her death had a deep impact on Mikasa, who vowed to uphold the promise she made to her in protecting Eren.
 * Grisha Yeager - After Keith introduced them, Carla was worried that her friend tried to recruit Grisha to the Survey Corps. She fell in love with Grisha after he was able to cure her and her parents of a life-threatening disease. Carla soon married Grisha and they lived together with their son Eren until Grisha's departure and her death at the hands of a Titan. While Grisha did not entrust her with knowledge of the outside world and the two had their differences on raising their son, he did still seem to love her no less. This was shown in Eren's memories of Grisha injecting him with the Titan serum and in confusion tells him that Carla's death drove him insane.


 * Keith Shadis - Carla knew Keith from his regular visits to the bar she worked in, becoming friends over time. However, she was often annoyed when Keith tried to convince customers to join the Survey Corps. Though it is hinted that Keith had strong feelings for her, she seemed to be always unaware of his thoughts. Still, Carla respected him and was worried about the dangers that he experienced in the Survey Corps. After one of the expeditions in which she had not heard from him, she awaited Keith to scold him for risking his life. Despite the fact that Keith responded rudely, she did not seem to be offended but only momentarily surprised, and continued talking to him kindly. After her death, Keith regretted his reaction and tried to prevent her son Eren from joining the military in order to save his life, though he ended up changing his mind since Eren's wishes were too strong.


 * Hannes - Carla, and Hannes were acquainted for some time prior to Shiganshina's destruction. When it was breached Hannes initially tried to fight the Smiling Titan to save her but out of cowardice fled and took Eren and Mikasa with him, though Carla was thankful that Hannes took the kids to safety. Carla's death and his cowardice to stop it haunted Hannes for the rest of his life, and was ironically killed by the same Titan 5 years later.

Trivia

 * Carla tied with the Female Titan for forty-third in the Second Character Popularity Poll.
 * Carla is the first character in the series who is shown being eaten by a Titan.
 * Her death at the hands of Dina Fritz as a Titan is ironic as she was Grisha's first wife.

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