Eren Yeager

Eren Yeager (エレン・イェーガー) is the main protagonist of the series. He is from Shiganshina District, a town of the outer most wall, Maria. His closest friends Mikasa and Armin both joined the Scouting Legion with him after having their town annihilated by the Titans. He holds a personal vendetta against all Titans and his goal is to annihilate them from the earth.

Human Form
Eren, seemingly of Germanic origin, is a young man of average height & build. He has a fairly long, yet rounded face, and sizeable, expressive grey eyes (the brightness of which vary from flat and steely to nearly translucent, depending on the lighting). Though he exhibits a wide range of facial expressions, he is most often seen with his brow furrowed, making him seem troubled or annoyed. His hair is short and jet-black, with his bangs naturally falling in a middle-parted curtain-type style. His skin seems slightly more tan than that of the other characters. He is depicted with dark brown hair and teal-green eyes in the anime adaptation.

He is first seen wearing regular townsfolk attire, which consisted of brown trousers, a green shirt with string tassels at the collar, a moss green coat (maroon in the anime), and simple brown shoes. A few years before the beginning of the story, he also wore a dark grey scarf (red in the anime), which he gave to Mikasa the day they met. As a teenager, he is often seen in the typical Scouting Legion uniform when training. His casual attire consists of a long beige shirt (identical to that which he wore on his first appearance) worn with a maroon sash about his waist, brown trousers and brown boots. He always keeps the key given to him by his father dangling around his neck on a string.

Titan Form
As a Titan Eren's appearance changes quite drastically, yet there are a few qualities that make him recognizable. Along with a massive increase in height, his hair grows long enough to graze his shoulders, with his eyes becoming deeper-set and narrowed in contrast to their normally wide and unobtructed appearance. His tongue, nose, and ears become more prominent and elongated. He also lacks lips and flesh about his cheeks, exposing all his teeth and bestowing him with a particularly menacing appearance. Compared to the majority of other Titans, Eren's Titan form is well-proportioned and seems much more physically fit, sporting well-defined lean muscle in lieu of a potbellied or emaciated appearance.

Personality
Eren is best described as hardheaded, passionate and impulsive, which are both attributes of his strong determination to protect mankind and eventually leave the walls. As a young child, he was so intent on joining the Scouting Legion that he argued with and shouted at his mother, referring to the people in the village as "silly" and compared them to complacent livestock.

As a child, Eren cared deeply for Armin, his best and only friend before he met Mikasa, and most importantly his family, risking harm and even death in order to help them. This quality was most often demonstrated in the form of Eren taking on the larger boys who would bully Armin without hesitation; and more tragically when he desperately attempted to lift the rubble crushing his mother during the Titan's assault in Shiganshina. In contrast, Eren is also capable of displaying very violent behavior in the defence of people he does not even know. This is highlighted when he brutally slaughtered two of the human traffickers who captured Mikasa in order to rescue her, despite the fact that they were total strangers at the time. Since witnessing his mother's gruesome demise and losing contact with his father, his fierce protectiveness to those he has left has only intensified.

Eren has a number of defining traits that date back to his childhood. He came to share his friend Armin's awe of the the lands beyond the Walls after the latter showed him a book depicting the wonders of the outside world; and decided to see it all for himself. This led him to develop a scornful attitude to anyone content to live and die within the Wall's confines without ever setting foot outside. This very contempt may have been the reason he did not easily make friends with his peers. He resented both the Walls that "caged" them in like cattle, and the Titans that had driven humanity to erect them in the first place. As a result of this, he greatly admired the soldiers of the Scouting Legion, regarding them as "heroes", and wishing to join their ranks as soon as he became eligible for enrollment. He easily took offence when anyone spoke badly of the Legion, and his determination to join caused friction between himself and his mother, as well as his adoptive sister Mikasa.

Eren had a marked lack of self-restraint that often led him into trouble, causing both his friends and family to worry over him. His poor self-control extended to his temper, and as a result it was short at best and murderous at the very worst. When sufficiently provoked, his anger could drive him into a frenzy, accompanied by horrific levels of violence. Like many children, he tended to view the world in terms of black-and-white; having great compassion for humanity and its plight, but deeming those individuals who deny others their freedom as worthless scum unfit to be left alive. He also had the habit of thinking with his heart rather than his head, even in situations where his own life was in danger.

His characteristic qualities have become more highly pronounced since his mother's death. He now focuses his destructive rage at the Titans, and holds a virulent hatred for them. Fueled by vengeance, he vows to personally wipe every single one of them off the face of the earth and restore mankind to its rightful place. Though he feels great remorse for quarreling with his mother till the very end, he still continues to go against her wishes by seeking entry to the Scouting Legion. So strong is his desire to exterminate the Titans, he was plunged into despair when it seemed he could not even master the basics of the 3D Maneuver Gear during training, when his failure was in fact due to faulty equipment. He is not afraid to voice his intentions of leaving the Walls to eliminate the Titans, and is so concentrated in his hatred that he seems not to fear them at all; earning him the nickname "Suicidal Bastard" from the other Trainees.

He possesses great amounts of perseverance, fortitude, and a vigorous determination; managing to graduate fifth in his class despite his lack of natural talent, refusing to give up on his goal to exterminate the Titans even after being dismembered and eaten alive, and fighting the 14-15 m tall Smiling Titan while unarmed and in his human form. He greatly appreciates and/or admires his comrades, and will swiftly fly into a rage if one of them is injured or killed in front of him. He prizes human life, but his personal sense of justice dictates that anyone who steals away the freedom and dreams of others deserves to die. As the identities of the Titan Shifters are revealed, his disbelief quickly gives way to a burning desire to deal each a slow, agonising death for their crimes.

Whilst assuming his Titan form, Eren seems to become more savage, bloodthirsty, and all-round uncontrollable. Though he is able to consciously control his Titan body after the Battle of Trost, he can very easily become caught up in the pleasure of slaughtering his enemies, indulging in thoughts so brutal he gives the impression of being insane.

Year 844
When Eren was a child, he saved Mikasa from being sold by human traffickers. Three men, which were the killers of her parents, were in a house. Killing two of them, he was caught off guard by the third who proceeded to strangle him. With superhuman strength, Mikasa leapt forward at the man after realizing that it is a "live or die" life they are living. As Eren's father finds them surprisingly safe and unharmed, Eren gave Mikasa the scarf she always wears, and declared her a part of his family.

Fall of Shiganshina arc
In year 845, with the invasion of Wall Maria after the Colossal Titan makes a path, Eren discovered the horrors of the life he is living that sets the motion for his future. Seeing the destruction of his town, mindless Titans slaughtering humans, and his own mother being eaten alive as he was helpless to save her, Eren remarks that the life humans live is controlled entirely at the mercy of the Titans and humans are nothing more than cattle. Being dragged away by a local Stationary Guard, Hannes, Eren swears to kill every single Titan in existence with tears of frustration and hatred.

104th Trainees Squad arc
After the fall of Wall Maria, Eren, Mikasa and Armin briefly stayed in the “landfill” working on a farm before reaching the proper age to enroll in the military. Here they spent approximately four years in training, Eren placed fifth in his class upon graduation.

Battle of Trost District arc


Upon graduation, before Eren is able to formally apply for a position in the Scouting Legion, the Colossal Titan appeared the same as it did the day of the fall of wall Maria. Eren attempts to destroy it, but it vanishes in a puff of smoke after having broken the gate open.

In response to the crisis, the new recruits are scrambled and split into squads in charge of spreading to and defending different parts of the city. Eren is grouped with Armin. Upon seeing his comrades killed, Eren leaps into battle after a Titan, only to have his leg bitten off below the knee, incapacitating him. The rest of his group attacks and dies as a result. Just as Armin is about to get eaten, Eren manages to pull his friend out of the bearded Titan's mouth, effectively switching places with him. Eren is swallowed, his left arm being severed as the Titan shut its mouth. It is later revealed that in the stomach of the bearded Titan, Eren’s desperation and drive to exterminate all Titans triggered his first transformation into a Titan, bursting from the bearded Titan and proceeding to wreak havoc on all the Titans he could get his hands on. In the process he unwarily saves the mourning Mikasa’s life and is baited by a team of his classmates to help fend off a procession of Titans from a storage headquarters for the compressed gas used to power their 3D movement gear.

As the Titans seem to overwhelm him and Mikasa’s group is about to intervene, a certain Titan that killed one of Eren’s team members appears and Eren’s rage powers him to throw off the percussion and destroy the Titan. As soon as the massacre is over, Eren falls to the ground and his human form emerges from the back of his Titan form’s neck (with both lost limbs back) to the shock of all the onlookers. He is retrieved by an overwhelmed Mikasa. Upon his awakening, Eren seems to only have a faint dream-like memory of his time as a Titan and finds himself cornered by the military with only Mikasa and Armin as his support. The military intends to kill Eren, thinking him an enemy. A cannon is fired at the three of them and Eren grabs onto his two friends and bites his own hand, wounding himself and partially transforming into a Titan, blocking the cannon ball before emerging from the skeleton. Eren allows Armin to try and talk them out of their tight spot with limited success until Commander Dot Pixis intervenes.

A plan is made for Eren to use his Titan form to move a huge boulder they had planned to use to reseal the gate to prevent Titans from further entering, but were unable to move it. Eren is assigned to a team including Mikasa to defend him while he carries the boulder. Upon his transformation to execute the plan, though, he attacks Mikasa, who tries to communicate with him to snap out of it, unsuccessfully. Eren ends up wounding himself and his body fails to regenerate, the mission is declared a failure. Despite this, the leader of the group, with some non-verbal convincing by Mikasa, decides they must stay and guard Eren. Armin arrives on the scene and convinces Mikasa to go help fend off the Titans while he tries to get through to Eren. Eventually he is able to do so, and Eren moves the stone and is able to plug the hole in the wall at the sacrifice of the rest of the team members (with the exception of Rico, Armin and Mikasa). They are saved from the desperate situation after Eren’s transformation back to human by Levi.

Eren again woke up, this time in a dungeon prison cell chained. Levi was there and upon hearing his motive to kill Titans says he’ll accept him on the team. Eren was left there for a time before he was escorted by Scouting Legion members to the court room where he was tried with one side calling for his decision and execution and the opposing side, the Scouting Legion, arguing to use his power to their advantage in scouting missions. After an outburst by Eren, Levi beats him accrediting his dominance over Eren’s threat and it is decided his fate will be decided after a “test” mission with the Scouting Legion.

The Female Titan arc
Eren, along with some of his old classmates who also joined the Scouting Legion, train for a month, learning long distance communication formation, before they had to depart outside Wall Rose to the ruin in the region once protected by Wall Maria. Eren along with most of the group were not told the goal of the operation but were simply expected to follow orders. Eventually, a deviant “intelligent” Titan known as the “Female Titan” caught up with Eren’s team and pursued them into a huge forest. Upon it’s closer approach and the death of some comrades from behind as Eren and his team simply keep running, Eren is tempted to use his Titan power and save his comrades and fight the Female Titan. Levi allows this choice, but Eren eventually decides to trust in his team, sacrificing the last remaining member of the rear guard. The Female Titan, suspected to be the same as Eren and merely a “human in Titan skin,” nearly captured Eren before being ambushed and captured herself. Eren and the rest of his team excluding Levi ride out of the forest firm in the belief that the Titan was captured and her human self apprehended. This is proved false as the unidentifiable human form of the Female Titan kills one of the team members before re-transforming into a Titan. The remaining three team members tell Eren to go on while they kill the Female Titan. Eren wishes to stay and fight with them, but again, is convinced otherwise and retreats. The three are promptly slaughtered and a regretful Eren transformed into a Titan and engaged the Female Titan.

He ultimately loses the fight and his human self was captured by the Female Titan. Mikasa arrived on the scene in time to observe this and pursued to retrieve him, closely followed by Levi. The two teamed up to retrieve Eren, leaving the Female Titan alive and whilst they departed back to wall Rose, the mission failed and many soldiers lost. Eren is shocked when Annie Leonhardt smiled the same way the Female Titan did when she unhooded Armin. Eren is later realises that Annie is the female Titan. When he tried to go into Titan form by injuring himself, he couldn't do it because of his shock and his mind was clouded. Going back to a meeting room, Eren apologized to Levi for disobeying orders to fight off the Female Titan. If he hadn't done so, they wouldn't gotten in the predicament they're in. When Mikasa and Armin prepare themselves to take on Annie by themselves, Eren eventually overcame his shock and transformed into his Titan form and helps capturing her.

Clash of the Titans arc
When Wall Rose is supposedly breached, Eren is among one of the teams within the area. He made his way to Castle Utgard under squad leader Hanji Zoe in order to use it as surveillance building. Eren and the rest of the the Scouts arrive just in time to save Reiner and co, Eren kills a 7m type female Titan and celebrates his first kill as a Scout. On their way back home, Reiner starts acting weird around Eren and Eren starts to panic. It is then that Mikasa realizes who Reiner and Berthold are and proceeds to try and kill them. Reiner transforms into the Armored Titan and kidnaps Eren. Eren calls Reiner "A fucking traitor" and shifts into his Titan form. He and Reiner then engage in battle at first Reiner had the advantage, but Eren using his martial skills was able to pin Reiner and was ripping Reiner's neck off. Berthold proceeds to body slam both Eren and Reiner. In the midst of the chaos Eren is kidnapped. Eren and Ymir are taken to the Forest of Giant Trees by Reiner and Berthold. He attempts to transform into his Titan form in spite of losing his arms, but Ymir wisely tells him not to as she too is also healing from losing both her arms. While she questions Reiner and Berthold about the Ape Titan they're after, Eren broods in silence as Reiner reveals that Humanity has no hope in fighting against the Titans. He and Berthold offer both him and Ymir a chance to join them in order to protect their loved ones. As she considers joining them, Eren furiously refuses and blames both Reiner and Berthold for causing him a lot of grief. He trusted them and they betrayed his trust by breaching his home and killing his mother. When he discovers that Ymir is considering joining Reiner and Berhold, Eren tried vainly to talk her out of it.

Martial Arts
Originally, Eren's only noteworthy trait was his natural physical strength. As he grew and joined the 104th squad, he trained extensively in hand-to-hand combat. After additional training with Reiner and Annie, Eren's prowess and skillset diversified, including the use of punches, throws, grappling and submission locks. He had the best scores for hand-to-hand combat of the entire 104th graduate squad. While hand-to-hand fighting would appear useless due to the massive physical differences between humans and Titans, these skills gave Eren a powerful edge when fighting other Titans in his own Titan form.

3D Maneuver Gear
At first, it is shown that Eren is not very skilled with the gear, he tried and tried countless times but kept tipping and smacking his head on the floor. People mocked him for this. Eren pleaded for help from everyone but the only advice they could give Eren was that he needed to clear his mind and focus. On his last attempt Eren did just that and stayed upright for a short period of time before tipping over and hitting his head. The commander told Tomas Wagner to swap equipment with Eren and for Eren to try again. Eren did so and balanced with ease. Commander then told Eren that his equipment was damaged and that it was a miracle that he managed to stay up right at all. He isn't shown using the gear much, but was able to hold his own with the Colossal Titan for a short period of time until the Titan disappeared. He was eventually able to slowly develop a respectable amount of skill with the use of the gear, even being capable of killing a Titan on his own not too long after joining the Scouting Corps.

Titan Shifting
After being swallowed by a Titan, Eren in his desperation awoke the ability to transform into a Titan himself. In this form, he is a 15m Titan, with shoulder-length black hair, pointy ears, and a huge mouth. Unlike most other Titans, Eren's Titan form is considerably more muscular and defined; making him much stronger than even similar sized Titans while his intelligence and military training; something regular Titans don't have; allow him to out-maneuver and dispatch entire groups of Titans with ease.

While initially, having little to no control over his actions, he managed to overcome this with extensive use of his transformations. His Titan form, combined with his growing experience and his hand-to-hand combat skills allowed him to kill over 20 Titans in his first transformation and later manage to overpower and nearly kill the Armored Titan.

His transformations are triggered through causing physical harm onto himself while having a clear goal in mind. He can also trigger partial manifestations. Even in his human form, Eren still has some Titan-related benefits such as their accelerated regenerative capabilities. The source of his powers have yet to be revealed fully but is suggested to be a result of the injections given to Eren by his father following the breach of Wall Maria and the death of Eren's mother. From his suppressed memories, Eren believes that the full truth of his Titan powers as well as a way to defeat the Titans once and for all is located in the basement beneath the ruins of his family home.

The Coordinate
Eren possesses a mysterious ability to control nearby Titans, causing them to relentlessly attack his chosen target. The first time he uses it is entirely by accident, causing nearby Titans to attack and devour the Smiling Titan. The second time, he sets the Titans under his control on Reiner and Bertholdt after ordering them to stay away. While it is shown that other Titan Shifters can sense the activation of his power, it is unknown whether it is possible to use it to influence or control other Titan Shifters.

The exact nature and limitations of this mysterious ability are yet unrevealed, but appear to have been the reason that Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt attempted to kidnap him. It may be similar in nature to the Ape Titan's ability to command Titans, as both are being sought by the Shifters for an unknown purpose.

Relationships

 * Grisha Yeager - Eren is Grisha's only son. It is shown that Grisha is caring towards Eren, as he scolds him for confronting Mikasa's kidnappers alone. He also understands Eren's curiosity and will, as he listens calmly to his wish to see the outside world. He also seems to have belief in him as he forcibly gave him an injection, which is supposed to have given him Titan powers.
 * Carla Yeager - Eren is Carla's only son. Carla cares for her son and scolds him for wanting to join the Scouting Legion, as many people died outside the walls. Eren becomes annoyed and argues with his mother whenever she rebukes or scolds him. Later, after her death, he repents arguing with her till the very end. Her death was the catalyst for his revengeful motives against the Titans.
 * Hannes - Prior to the fall of Wall Maria, Eren is constantly frustrated by Hannes being a habitual drunkard in the line of duty. Despite not having saved Carla from the hands of the Titan, Eren bears no ill will towards Hannes. Instead he looks upon him with respect and understanding. Eren felt great remorse as he witnessed Hannes being brutally killed by the same titan that devoured his mother.
 * Armin Arlert - Armin is Eren's closest friend, who inspired him to dream of the world beyond the walls. Armin was partially responsible for motivating him to join the Scouting Legion. Whenever Armin gets into trouble, say get into a fight with local bullies, Eren usually tries to save him. Eren also praises and recognizes Armin's ability to reason out the best solution in a dire situation, which inspired self-confidence in him, such that he could face a group of soldiers, who were intent on killing them out of fear of Eren's Titan form, and try convincing them of Eren's value as a military weapon.
 * Mikasa Ackerman - Mikasa is Eren's adopted sister. Mikasa considers him to be her 'family' and has a strong bond with him. She can go to any lengths to protect him or get him out of trouble, as he was the one who saved her from a group of kidnappers. As a token of her memories, she mostly wears a scarf which Eren gave to her after saving her from the kidnappers. Eren, while he cares for Mikasa he harbors somewhat of an inferiority complex towards her and gets a bit annoyed whenever Mikasa acts too protective and feels as if she treats him like her 'baby brother'. During the reconquest of Trost, Mikasa blushed when Ian suggests that he was her boyfriend, seeing her strong attachment to him. Even Levi expresses confusion as to why she was so attached to him.
 * Jean Kirschtein - Jean is an antithesis to Eren; Eren is hotheaded as Jean is collected, Jean is pessimistically pragmatic as Eren is idealistic. Eren is assertive and obstinate whereas Jean, while he respects others' opinions, disapproves to have others' opinions be forced upon him. Eren thinks with his heart while Jean thinks with his head. Although severely at odds with each other, Jean, after realizing Eren's potential as Titan, puts aside his enmity toward Eren. At times, they work together to accomplish things despite their differences.
 * Connie Springer - Eren and Connie share the same plight; both their families and homes are now nothing but distant memories.
 * Annie Leonhardt - Eren greatly admires Annie, and was trained in her unique fighting style during their years as Trainees. He considers her to be a kind person beneath her cold exterior, and credits her with making him aware of the contradictions within the military system. He is horrified upon learning that she is a Titan, and becomes so conflicted he is initially unable to transform. Even while fighting her, he continues to wonder about her motives of antagonizing humanity and expresses concern for her.When Eren failed to transform into a Titan to face Annie in the Inner Wall, Mikasa says that it may be due to Eren harboring "Special feelings" for her.


 * Reiner Braun - Eren describes Reiner as being like an older brother to him, and admires him as a "strong, capable guy". The two were shown to have trained together, and Reiner teaches him the importance of the duty soldiers have to protect the weak. In fact, The one who Eren looked up to was neither Levi (titled as the strongest of the mankind), nor Mikasa (called a centennial progeny); it was Reiner. However, Eren quickly comes to despise Reiner upon learning of his true identity as the Armored Titan and vows to kill him by any means required.
 * Bertholdt Fubar - Though on good terms, Eren seems to think of him as "taciturn". After his true identity is revealed, Eren comes to hate him and calls him a "lackey", confronting him over his role in his mother's death. He is further infuriated by Bertholdt's cold response, and swears to make his death as painful as possible.
 * Marco Bodt - Eren had great respect for him, and recognized his tendency to think of the group before himself. He stated he would have liked to be on his squad, and considered him a good leader. In fact, Eren was in disbelief upon knowing of Marco's death and had even saw an apparition of him donning the Scouting Legion's cape.
 * Levi - Eren holds great respect for his superior and they both rely on each other. During the trial, Levi saved Eren's life while Eren decided to trust Levi and his comrades when Levi allowed Eren to choose between believing himself or the Scouting Legion as a whole during the Female Titan expedition. After finding out about Levi's injury, Eren apologizes about making the wrong decision but Levi tells him that there was no way they could have predicted the outcome.
 * Petra Ral - Among the members of the squad who were assigned to protect him, Petra was the one closest to Eren. Eren admires Petra, not only for her skill, but also for looking up to him. He was greatly devastated at the time she was killed by the Female Titan that caused him to trasform into his own and fight the said titan.
 * Auruo Bossard - Despite his senior's haughty and boastful nature, Eren more or less stil respects Auruo as a warrior even with his badmouthing when complimenting him. It is worth noted that after Auruo's death, Eren's titan transformation occurred afterwards to avenge the lives of his fallen comrades.
 * Erd Gin & Gunter Shulz - Eren admires the two soldiers; both in their skills and devotion to humanity by facing titans. Their deaths fueled Eren in facing the Female Titan and pledges to avenge them.

Trivia

 * Eren-Chara_Design.png ranked second in the characters popularity poll right after Levi
 * Eren is known for fighting with local bullies.
 * In a flashback, his father notes that he does not make friends easily.
 * The name Eren is of Cultural Ethnic Turkish origin. Its exact meaning and description is "He who progresses/has reached towards divine maturity and sacred wisdom". It can also be interpreted as a "saint" or "holy person".
 * Eren's last name, Yeager, is an Anglicised form of the name Jäger/Jaeger, common amongst German migrants in the USA. The name itself originates from the German and Scandinavian word Jäger, which means "hunter." It is officially romanised in English as Yeager, and put into kana as "Yēgā", most likely to guide both Japanese and English-speaking readers with pronunciation.
 * According to Armin Arlert, the 104th Trainee Squad nicknamed him "the suicidal bastard."
 * The first opening song of the anime, Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen, seemingly makes reference to this in its first lyrics ("Seid ihr das Essen? Nein wir sind der Jäger!" lit. "Are you the food? No, we are the hunter!").
 * Hajime Isayama stated in a interview that he based Eren's Titan form off of the Japanese martial artist Yūshin Okami, paraphrasing it to be the "ideal physique of a middleweight mixed martial artist."
 * Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen (Crimson Bow and Arrow, Japanese: 紅蓮の弓矢 Guren no Yumiya) is Eren's theme song.
 * Due to Eren's Titan form lacking an official name, fans have given it the unofficial name of "Rogue Titan" based Eren's Titan form often having a rampaging streak to its behaviour.
 * The flame-engulfed animated version of his superheated Titan form may be a reference to the Norse Fire Giant.

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