Petra Ral

Petra Ral (ペトラ・ラル) was a hand-picked soldier from the Survey Corps by Levi in the Special Operations Squad.

Appearance
Petra is a relatively short woman. In the manga, she is portrayed with blonde hair and blue eyes. However, in the anime, she has light ginger hair and amber eyes.

Personality
Petra looks up to Levi as a captain and cares deeply for her team, though is notably at odds with Oluo.

Petra is kind and caring, as shown when she looks after and guides Eren when he is first admitted to the squad. She seems to have acted as some sort of attachment figure for Eren among Levi's Squad as she is the one shown to worry most about him. Although the whole of Levi's squad wished (and demanded, to an extent) Eren's unconditional trust, it was ultimately Petra who had lead him to do so.

She also showed the most remorse over the reaction of Eren's accidental transformation. Along with her comrades, she had bit her hand just like Eren, signifying that they had established a close bond.

Story
Petra is first introduced during an expedition outside Wall Rose, tending to a mortally wounded soldier. When she was unable to stop the bleeding, she helped Levi comfort the dying youth and wept openly at his death.

She is later selected to become a member of the Special Operations Squad and ordered to guard Eren Yeager. It is established that she greatly admires Levi, and argues frequently with Oluo Bozado over his imitation of their commander and his harsh behavior.

While initially wary of Eren and quick to draw her swords when he transformed by accident, she readily accepts him afterwards. She is the first of the group to bite her hand in imitation of Eren's method of transforming, and notes that doing so is actually quite painful. She serves as a gentle, almost maternal presence within the squad and discusses with Eren the importance of trusting one's comrades completely.

When the Female Titan begins her attack on the 57th Expedition, Petra is one of those most vocal about Eren avoiding battle. She repeatedly begs him to trust in his commanders and comrades, and accept the sacrifices of others so that the mission can continue. Eren eventually makes the decision to follow her advice, allowing the Survey Corps to successfully capture the Female Titan in a trap. Afterwards, the Special Operations Squad is ordered to standby while efforts are made to capture the human within the Female Titan. However, the operation ends in failure when the Female Titan uses a scream to summon other Titans to her position and is devoured by them.

Afterwards, the squad begins to retreat back to their horses, when a flare leads them off-course. They are then ambushed by a person later revealed to be Annie Leonhart, who murders Gunther Schultz before transforming back into her Titan form. Eren is ordered to flee while the surviving squad members engage the Titan in battle. Petra and the others initially seem to have the upper hand, first blinding the Female Titan before crippling both her arms. But when Petra and Eld Jinn move in for the kill, the Titan suddenly regenerates a single eye and kills Eld.

Paralyzed from the shock, and despite Oluo's pleas, Petra is unable to react in time to the Female Titan's attack, which breaks her spine and splatters her against a tree. During the Survey Corps' return from the expedition, the surviving soldiers are being chased by Titans and in order to escape, Levi orders the troops to abandon the bodies of the deceased so that the weight would be lifted off from the wagons. One of the bodies that were disposed of was Petra's, whom Levi was watching over.

Her father comes to greet her when the troops return, appearing to be nervous and tense when approaching Levi (presumably because he has yet to catch sight of her). He reveals that Petra wrote to him constantly, saying that she had great pride in being selected as a member of the Special Operations Squad. The contents of her letters suggest she may have been overly eager to excel in her career as a soldier, and this leads her father to express worry over his daughter's safety. He implies that he wishes for her to settle down and get married, though he admits that she is still too young for a serious relationship. Levi listens to him in silence with a vacant, mortified expression on his face.

Abilities
She was a skilled and experienced warrior and had a high kill record of Titan kills (58 Titans killed, 48 in team and 10 in solo), being one of the highest known in the series so far.

Relationships

 * Levi: Petra expresses great admiration for her commanding officer, and criticizes Oluo for imitating him. She notes that many people are surprised upon actually meeting him, and admits that he doesn't live up to the legend of Humanity's Strongest due to his many personality quirks and flaws. Her relationship with him is portrayed somewhat differently between the manga and the anime adaptation. In the manga, it is revealed after her death that she wrote to her father about her wish to live up to Levi's expectations and dedicate herself to her career. Her father expressed his worry over her safety to Levi, as well as his disappointment that she did not seem to want to marry, despite acknowledging that she was still too young. In the anime however, she declared her intention to devote her life to Levi in their correspondence. The phrasing of her letters implies she may have even had romantic feelings for Levi, and her father sought him out to express his disapproval due to her young age.


 * Eren Yeager: Initially, she is uneasy around him and draws her swords on him when he accidentally transforms. However, after learning that it was a mistake she apologizes for her behavior and bites her own hand to acknowledge him as a comrade. She quickly takes him under her wing, and acts as an almost maternal figure during his month with the Special Operations Squad. During the mission in the forest, she repeatedly asks him to place his trust completely in his comrades and wishes for him to believe in her. Petra's death deeply affects Eren.


 * Oluo Bozado: Petra and Oluo are frequently at odds, often bickering with each other. She is highly critical of his attempts to imitate Levi, demanding that he stop and stating he should bite his tongue off and die. However, beneath this seeming-hostility is a strong bond of trust born from their many missions together. He also tells Petra, "You're still ways to go to be fitting for my wife." His horror after her death, and attempts to mimic the man she admired hints that he may have harbored feelings for her.


 * Eld Jinn and Gunther Schultz: As comrades, she has great faith in them and cares deeply for them. She is enraged after Gunther is murdered, and repeatedly challenges the Female Titan while swearing revenge. Eld's death similarly shakes her, causing her to panic and leading to her death.

Trivia

 * Petra was the only female in the original Special Operations Squad led by Levi.
 * Her name is Greek in origin, written "Πέτρα" and meaning "rock" or "stone". It's also the name of an ancient city in the region that is now Jordan.
 * According to Eld, Petra cried and soiled herself during her first Survey Corps expedition.

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