Stohess District Mayor (Anime)

"Do you have any proof that this devastating operation of yours has helped to prevent the downfall of humankind?"

- Stohess District Mayor to Erwin Smith

The Stohess District Mayor (ストヘス区長) is a politician who oversees the business and affairs of Stohess District.

Appearance
The Stohess District mayor is a middle aged man, with golden, sunken eyes. He has short, brown hair, with a thin mustache, an average build, and he wears a black suit with a white shirt underneath.

Personality
The Stohess District mayor is a rational and calm man, able to keep a level head when discussing with Erwin Smith the fatalities of hundreds of his local citizens at the hands of the Female Titan and the Scout Regiment under his order.

Assault on Stohess arc
After the Scout Regiment's operation to capture the Female Titan in Stohess District, which led to a high number of casualties and devastation, Erwin Smith, among other high profile individuals including Pastor Nick, are called into a meeting with the mayor to discuss the damage.

The mayor questions Erwin about his decision not to ask for help from the Military Police Brigade, to which he responds that due to the possibility that the suspect had allies, he needed to make sure only those who were ruled out knew about the plan. The mayor acknowledges that the Female Titan turned out to be Annie Leonhart, a member of the Military Police, but still questions what Erwin has to say about the heavy damage the district suffered during the operation to capture her. Erwin insists that his plan was to deal with her without causing damage, but it did not turn out the way he expected and many properties and lives were lost, to which he offers an apology.

However, he points out that had they let her escape, she and her allies could have destroyed the Walls, and the resulting damage would have been magnitudes greater; and from that perspective, he just chose the least evil. The mayor wonders whether his actions really prevented humanity's demise, since they are unable to get any information out of Annie. Erwin accepts that in her current crystal encasing it is impossible to question her, but from his point of view, the fact that they succeeded in capturing one of the enemies of humanity is valuable enough, because that proves they are among them, and asks his permission to track down and corner all of them.