Niccolo

Nicolo (ニコロ) is a former Marleyan soldier who served on Marley's Navy and was part of the first survey fleet to Paradis Island after the failed Paradis Island Operation. After being taken captive, he begins working on the island as a chef for the military.

Appearance
Nicolo is a young Marleyan man of short stature and slim build. He has a petite pointed nose and is blond, with his hair falling to the sides, looking like he has an undercut. He wears the standard Marleyan military uniform.

While visiting the cemetery, Nicolo wears a black suit and tie.

Personality
Nicolo was at first a very typical Marleyan, fearing the Eldians of Paradis Island and calling them devils. He was very disgusted with having been captured by them and having to live by their side, but after spending a lot of time with the Survey Corps, he and his comrades have developed a grudging respect and shaky friendships with the ones they once thought of as devils.

Nicolo seems to be somewhat courageous, disregarding his own life to beg his fellow soldiers to kill the islanders despite being held at gun point by them. He is also shown to be willing to risk ruining his relationship with his friends in order to keep them safe, deriding Connie Springer and Jean Kirstein for their Eldian status in an attempt to keep them from drinking wine laced with Zeke Yeager's spinal fluid.

Marley arc
As a member of the first survey fleet's advanced party, Nicolo arrives at Paradis Island ahead of the main Marleyan vessel. Sometime after being captured, the Attack Titan seizes the main vessel. Hange Zoë and Levi Ackerman threaten Nicolo with a blade in an attempt to make the navy soldiers comply. Despite being in danger, he screams for his naval captain to shoot the islanders.

On one occasion later in the year, Nicolo cooks seafood for those working on the port. He is surprised by Sasha Blouse's impassioned reaction to the new style of food. He and Sasha eventually grow closer, developing a more intimate relationship. Nicolo would later credit Sasha for instilling in him a belief that he should use his cooking skills to bring people happiness, claiming that she "saved" him from the Marleyan's war with Eldia. Nicolo is later approached by Yelena and is told by her to serve the wine aboard the ships to all military personnel with an emphasis on the most high-ranked members; he agrees, but suspects something was done to the wine. Regardless, he keeps this to himself and does as told.

In 854, hearing about Sasha's death in Liberio, Nicolo attempts to visit her grave to pay his respects, but is harassed by a member of the Military Police because of his Marleyan status. Jean Kirstein and Connie Springer come to his defense, and Nicolo explains to them why he has come to the cemetery. Arriving at the grave, Nicolo asks to know how she died. Jean apologizes to him, blaming his own carelessness for Sasha's death, but Nicolo is confused as to why Jean is apologizing to him, pointing out that he was only their cook. He asks Connie how he is coping, but their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Blouse and his family. After they have paid their respects, Nicolo introduces himself and offers to cook for them someday.

Later, Nicolo and a fellow prisoner of war are seen serving Military Police officers. One of the officers demands another bottle of wine, and Nicolo brings one.

On the day that the Blouse family comes to eat at his restaurant, Nicolo is a ready for them and greets them at the entrance and gives them a tour of the restaurant, before showing them to their table. As he is cooking their main course, Hange and several other officers from the Survey Corps arrive requesting a word with him. He shows them to a private room where he will be able to talk with them after serving the Blouses. As he is returning to the kitchen, Jean notices that the wine in the room is the kind reserved for the military elite and tries to take some. Terrified that Jean might ingest some of Zeke's spinal fluid, Nicolo confiscates the bottle, claiming that he does not to waste it on lowly Eldians.

As he is returning the wine to the wine cellar, Nicolo is confronted by two children from Blouse's group claiming to be warrior candidates. He demands to know how they got onto Paradis, and is mortified to learn that they were brought on the airship that returned from Liberio. He demands to know if they killed any soldiers on their way to the island, which Gabi confirms, and Nicolo flies into a rage, attacking her with the wine bottle. Falco protects her from the initial blow, but Nicolo proceeds to beat her before dragging the two of them upstairs.

Nicolo takes the two to the Blouse family, revealing to them that Gabi is the one who killed Sasha. He offers Mr. Blouse a knife to kill her with, claiming that he will kill her if Blouse does not. The stand-off is interrupted by the Survey Corps, but Nicolo keeps them at bay by threatening Falco. Gabi tries to talk him down, but her words only incense Nicolo to kill Falco in order to hurt her. Before he can, Mr. Blouse requests the knife, and Nicolo complies. However, to Nicolo's shock, Blouse gives the knife to his wife and announces that he will not kill Gabi. Lisa Blouse orders Nicolo to release Falco, and Nicolo sullenly complies. As Connie and Jean restrain him, Nicolo advises Hange to try to keep any wine from getting in Falco's mouth, revealing that the wine potentially has Zeke Yeager's spinal fluid in it. He admits that he has no proof to back his claims, but informs them that the ships he arrived in were stocked with more alcohol than would normally be required, and recalls Yelena's order to serve the wine to the military's officials before anyone else. He reaffirms to the distressed soldiers that he is only theorizing, but notes that using Zeke's spinal fluid to create Titans has allowed Marley to conquer nations almost instantaneously in the past. When questioned by Jean, Nicolo refuses to admit that he stopped them from drinking the wine to protect them, claiming that what little information he had was to atone for his attempt to murder Gabi.

As Nicolo is helping the Corps wash the wine out of Falco's mouth, they are taken captive by the Yeagerists, who have been tipped off to the officers' presence in the restaurant by another Marleyan prisoner.

Relationships

 * Sasha Blouse - Nicolo was initially hateful towards Sasha because of her Eldian heritage, but he softened up after she complimented him on his cooking skills. After their meeting, the two gradually became closer enough for Kaya to believe they were in love. Nicolo credits Sasha with saving him from the war and teaching him that he can cook to make people happy.
 * Gabi Braun - Nicolo holds a great deal of animosity towards Gabi for her murder of Sasha. Upon learning what she did he immediately attempted to kill her in a fit of rage. He was also very vengeful towards her, willing to kill Falco in front of her because he was potentially precious to her just as Sasha was to him.

Trivia

 * It is said by Yelena that Nicolo is a master of Marleyan cuisine.

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Nicolo Nicolo Nicolo Nicolo Николо 尼柯洛