Mikasa Ackerman

Mikasa Ackerman (ミカサ・アッカーマン), formerly the best trainee among the 104th Trainees Squad and now a member of the Scouting Legion, is the main female protagonist of the series and the adopted sister of Eren Jäger.

Appearance
Mikasa is very fit and has chin-length black hair. Originally, she wore her hair long, but when Eren told her to cut it since it would be a hindrance during training, she did so in spite of Jean Kirschtein telling her how beautiful it is just before that. Her height is average, she has light skin and black, calmly looking eyes.

As a soldier, Mikasa is often seen wearing the uniform consisting of a short light brown leather jacket with the badge of the Scouting Legion on both shoulders, on the front left pocket and on the center of the back, a light-colored shirt, a dark brown sash around the waist covering the hips, white pants and dark brown knee-high leather boots. She is also seen waring a green cape with the symbol of the Scouting Legion, often used during the legion's travels outside the wall. A unique part of her attire is a red scarf, which was given to her by Eren after saving her from the human traffickers. Because of that, it is very precious to her as she's never seen without it.

Personality
Mikasa is considerably more withdrawn after the murder of her parents; however, she still loves and cares deeply for her friends, especially Eren and Armin, seeing them as the last remnants of a family she cannot afford to lose. Her personality as a teenager is very much influenced and molded by Eren when as children they killed robbers who killed Mikasa's family, with Eren telling her that the world is a cruel place and she has to fight to survive - words that stayed with her till this very day and became the very drive for her to train herself to be one of the best soldiers ever seen.

Mikasa has a strong sense of right and wrong, but she is also very protective of Eren and does all she can to advise him to follow what she deems to be the right track. Despite that, she knows well that she cannot always sway Eren in his decisions, as such she made it a point to follow Eren to almost everywhere he goes and stick by whatever final decisions he makes, just so that she can be around to help him out when he is in trouble. She takes Eren's opinion so seriously that when he once said that her hair was too long, she immediately had it cut, even though Jean had just commented that it looked beautiful. Yet, for all her blind loyalty, Mikasa is also very level-headed. Her will is remarkably strong as she is seen to not lose her cool and being at a lost of what to do no matter how bleak the situations she is in seem to be, shown when even though it was believed that Eren was dead, she concentrated on keeping everyone else alive and not giving in to grief as many of her comrades are doing. Owing to her protectiveness of Eren, if he is ever in danger, Mikasa will stop at nothing to keep him safe, to the point of being willing to take on soldiers who try to execute Eren and relentlessly attacking the Female Titan when she captured Eren.

History
Mikasa and her mother were the last of their clan and the oriental race. Before her parents' death, she lived peacefully with them in the farmlands of Wall Maria. Mikasa underwent a painful scarring ritual from her mother, whom cut into her skin the mark of their oriental clan. Being the last of their race made them high value targets to human traffickers, who killed Mikasa's parents and kidnapped her when she was only 9 years old.

She was rescued by Eren who tricked and killed two of the slavers. He was then overwhelmed by the third trafficker and on the verge of being strangled. Desperately, Eren urged Mikasa to fight to win. Although she was initially frightened, she came to realize that "this world is a callous and merciless place" and dispatched the kidnapper who was trying to kill Eren. That was when she was given the red scarf by Eren and accepted into his family. This event awakened the fighting instincts and perfect self-control that would later turn her into a formidable soldier. She lived with Eren's family in Wall Maria's Shiganshina District until it was destroyed by the Colossal Titan.

Fall of Shiganshina arc
Mikasa appears for the first time in year 845 somewhere inside Wall Maria. She is seen waking Eren up, telling him that they need to return to home. She is then surprised to see tears in his eyes. On their way home, they meet Hannes. Mikasa watches as Eren complains about the soldiers slacking off while on duty. Later, both Eren and Mikasa watch the return of the Scouting Legion forces, witnessing yet another failure of their expedition. After returning home, Mikasa tells on Eren, telling his parents about his desire to join the Scouting Legion. Annoyed, Eren leaves, with Mikasa following him. They save Armin, who is being beaten by local bullies and together discuss their desire to go outside the walls.

At that moment, the three kids witness the arrival of the Colossal Titan and it breaching the wall's gate. Mikasa and Eren run back to their home to find it crushed and their mother trapped under the debris. In spite of their attempts, Mikasa and Eren are unable to free her and with the help of Hannes, they get away as they watch their mother getting eaten alive by a Titan. Mikasa and Eren then get on a ship just as the Armored Titan breaks through the inner gate, letting the Titans inside the Wall Maria. This is when Mikasa witnesses Eren's vow to kill all the Titans.

104th Trainees Squad arc
After the events of the Wall Maria's destruction, the government's desperate attempt to reclaim the lands using the refugees leads into nothing but more casualties. This prompts Mikasa, Eren and Armin enroll into the army and they become members of the 104th Trainees Squad. This is when Mikasa meets Jean Kirschtein, who praises her for her beautiful hair. However, much to Jean's dismay, Mikasa ends up cutting her in order to avoid any incidents with the 3D Maneuver Gear. During their training, Mikasa helps Eren as much as she can as he initially fails to grasp the basics of the 3D Maneuver Gear. However, they manage to get through and Mikasa quickly proves her skills, being praised as one of the best trainees in the history. At one point, Mikasa asks Annie to teach her a move that she was teaching Eren, which eventually calls for a bet with the 104th Trainees Squad to see who is the stronger fighter. After the 104th Trainees Squad's graduation, she ends up ranked first.

Battle of Trost District arc
Before having the chance to fully apply in the Scouting Legion so she can keep Eren safe, the Colossal Titan breaches Wall Rose the same way it did with Wall Maria. Much to her dismay, Mikasa is assigned to the rear guard to help fend off the Titans while the civilians escape into the safety of Wall Shina. Mikasa, before fulfilling her duty, makes Eren promise her not to do anything reckless.

Later on, as an abnormal Titan approaches the escaping civilians, Mikasa kills it, saving everyone. She then witnesses why the civilians are taking too long to escape: a cargo blocking the way. Mikasa asks the businessman to move the cargo so that the people would escape, but when he refuses, Mikasa threatens him, which scares the businessman. Seeing a mother and daughter being grateful to her, Mikasa for a moment is brought back to the time she lost her own parents and realizes that Eren is the only family she has. Thus, with the evacuation of Trost District citizens complete, she heads to the front guard in order to aid her comrades. However, the sole trainee survivors are low on gas, making them unable to scale the wall while the supply team inside the headquarters has barricaded themselves in against the onslaught of multiple Titans. After hearing Eren's supposed death, Mikasa calmly regroups the survivors to break through the Titans assaulting the headquarters.

However, due to her not rationally thinking after hearing Eren's supposed death, she does not notice that she's running out of gas. As two Titans close in on her, she contemplates giving up and begins to remember her time with Eren, when suddenly, she remembers Eren yelling at her to fight, which gives her motivation. When Mikasa prepares to kill a Titan reaching for her, another Titan arrives and kills the other Titan. This Titan, which ignores Mikasa, gives Armin enough time to rescue Mikasa and they both continue heading to the supply HQ. As they watch this rogue Titan continue killing other Titans, they hatch a plan to lure it to the HQ and relieve the siege there. With its help, the trainees manage to successfully refill their gas tanks and have clear access to the Wall.

However, as they watch the rogue Titan dispose of the last Titans surrounding them, Eren appears out of its spine. Overcome with relief that Eren is alive, Mikasa quickly rescues and embraces him and together, everyone leaves for the Wall. However, Mikasa and others find themselves facing the fear of soldiers, especially that of Captain Kitts Verman. Mikasa attempts to defend Eren to point that she threatens the soldiers, but witnessing Eren's Titan form fighting in Trost District, Verman does not hesitate and orders a cannon to fire at Eren, in spite of the latter's claim that he is a human. Eren uses his power to defend himself, Mikasa and Armin and thinks of a plan to have Armin persuade the soldiers. After a tense standoff, they are saved when Commander Dot Pixis, head administrator of the southern region, intervenes. They are sent on a mission to stopper the breach in the Wall with a rock that only Eren in Titan form can lift.

As the mission commences and Eren goes into Titan form, he loses control, attacking Mikasa, and eventually knocks himself out. The elite team, lead by Ian Dietrich, Rico Brzenska and Mitabi Jarnach, designated to defend Eren as he carries the rock, quarrel among themselves about what to do next. Mikasa is on the verge of attacking them until the team leader orders everyone to continue protecting Eren until he recovers. Thanks to Armin's intervention, Eren eventually snaps out of it and successfully places the rock down, albeit with many casualties. At that moment, they are saved by Levi as he kills the Titans approaching them.

The Female Titan arc
After the battle of Trost District is over, Eren is brought before a military tribunal to decide his future. Despite Mikasa's best efforts to defend him, she is forced to testify against Eren as his reckless actions have frightened many people in the courtroom. Some time later, Mikasa and everyone else have their 3D Maneuver Gear inspected in order to find out the culprit who killed the two captured Titans. Later on, Commander Erwin Smith comes to recruit new members for the Scouting Legion which is scheduling an expedition within a few months. Many leave except for Mikasa, Reiner, Armin, Sasha, Christa, Conny, Jean, Berthold and a few others.

Mikasa is then seen to be a part of the 57th expedition. Shortly after leaving for Wall Maria, the Female Titan appears and defeats numerous Scouting Legion members. The formation eventually reaches the Forest of Giant Trees, with Mikasa being stationed at its outskirts, making sure that no Titans enter the forest. Eventually, she attempts to approach Eren as she hears his roar in his Titan Form. Upon reaching Eren's location, she witnesses the Female Titan devouring Eren's human body. After overcoming the initial shock, Mikasa charges at the Female Titan, cutting it up in order to rescue Eren. However, she is unable to do so until she teams up with Levi. They manage to take Eren back and join the rest of the rest of the formation on their way home, facing the results of the expedition.

Following the Scouting Legions' failure, Armin manages to convince Annie to help them out until they can gather evidence to prove to the King that the walls need to be protected better. During that time, Mikasa takes a notice of the lack of diligence and honor in the Military Police. She prepares for battle when she gets fed up with Annie's games and excuses. She takes off her disguise and draws out out her sword to fight her, promising to "cut up the Female Titan one more time".

In the following battle, Mikasa learns that Eren in his Titan form isn't powerful enough to defeat Annie by himself. Being the strongest and most powerful soldier herself, she decides to take the fight to her. Despite being ordered to pull away by Hanji, Mikasa manages to make it to Annie as she attempted to climb over Wall Shina to escape to the flat lands. She cuts off all her fingers and pushes her off to fall to the ground. Annie is therefore captured, but encases herself in a crystal to avoid interrogation. However, it was far from over as Mikasa has just taken noticed of a Titan hiding behind the wall, similar to the Colossal Titan. As both the Scouting Legion and Military Police take an encased Annie underground to detain her, Mikasa realizes the Titan hiding in Wall Shina is breathing, but is too weak to move due to a lack of sunlight. Mikasa remains at Eren's bedside as Armin and Jean head down to a meeting involving Erwin and the Military Police.

Clash of the Titans arc
Following the supposed breach of Wall Rose, Mikasa, Eren and the other members of the Scouting Legion come to rescue Reiner and the others from the other Titans. She is among the others who learns of Christa's real name being Historia. After they reach the top of the wall, Mikasa is outraged when she overhears Reiner confessing that he and Bertholdt were responsible for the attack on Wall Maria and wanted Eren to join them. She takes them by surprise, attacking them with her swords and tells Eren to run. However, she fails to kill them and as Eren battles with Reiner, Mikasa faces her own troubles and regrets for not cutting off both his and Bertholdt's heads when she had the chance. During the fight with Reiner, she sees Eren in trouble and tries to fight him off. However due to the thickness of the armor, Mikasa has a hard time slicing the nape of Reiner's neck. Eventually, Armin sees a weak link in Reiner's line of defense in which his armor is breaking and gives Mikasa extra blades to replace her own. Taking advantage of the information, she cuts him at the back of the knee caps. However, Bertholdt manages to save Reiner thanks to his abilities of the Colossal Titan, knocking out most of the soldiers in the process.

Later, Mikasa along with Hanji and others from the Scouting Legion are injured from the heat blast from Berthold's Titan from. While Armin helps them recover, he gives Mikasa the news that she was dreading to hear: Eren along with Ymir was kidnapped by both Reiner and Bertholdt. Taking the scarf that he gave her, Mikasa covers her face with it and asks why Eren always runs off on them like that. She feels like she has failed in keeping her adoptive mother's promise in always protecting him and weeps. As Armin tries to console her, Hannes arrives to give out rations to the Legion. It was him who reminds her that despite him running off the way he does and often losing fights, he never gives up on them. Even thought the odds are stacked against him and he is unwilling to admit it, Hannes always knew that Eren relied on both Mikasa and Armin when he needed them. His words and his assistance reinvigorated them and are more determined to rescue Eren. Mikasa lowers her scarf and begins eating. Feeling the same feeling that Historia has in wanting to rescue Ymir, she takes her stance with the Scouting Legion.

She spearheads the attack on the traitors, aggressively chasing them down as they attempt to flee from the Forest of Giant Trees. Realizing that armor was protecting Reiner's joints this time, she instead targets Ymir and slashes into her face. Afterwards, she attempts to kill Bertholdt, who escapes by hiding between the Armored Titan's throat and his hands. Changing targets again, she prepares to try to kill Ymir and is only stopped when Christa intervenes. However, she is unmoved by Christa's words and threatens to kill anyone that gets in her way. Her cold expression and statement that she has no mercy or compassion to spare forces Christa and Ymir to back down, allowing her to focus on trying to find a way to take down the traitors.

Jean and Connie try to speak to Bertholdt and coax him into surrendering, but Mikasa coldly states that their reasons don't matter. She calls Reiner and Bertholdt a "plague upon humanity" and advises the others not to show mercy. This causes Bertholdt to yell at her, first stating that they never wanted to kill anyone and admitting to having cared for the others in the 104th. She is visibly shocked by this outburst, enough that it snaps her out of her murderous rage. Mikasa asks them to give Eren back, but her request is rebuffed as he claims it has to be done. Before the group can argue further, Hannes shouts a warning to them that a huge group of Titans are being lead straight towards them by Erwin Smith.

Mikasa retreats, but it is not long before Erwin orders them to attack one more time, claiming this to be the key moment for humanity's survival. However, he gets grabbed by a Titan and in spite of their initial shock, the soldiers, along with Mikasa, follow Erwin's orders and continue advancing. Mikasa eventually reaches her target, but has to be saved by Jean from the grasp of a Titan. Finally, Erwin frees Eren and Mikasa catches him, however, Reiner begins throwing Titans at the soldiers in an attempt to stop them and Eren and Mikasa find themselves facing a Titan they remember from 5 years ago, the Titan that ate their mother.

Abilities
Owing to the need to protect her adoptive brother who often runs off looking for trouble, Mikasa had honed herself to be a talented fighter at a very young age, often throwing boys bigger than her with ease, gaining her reputation. An example of this is when Armin was being bullied and Eren came to his rescue. The boys were preparing to take Eren on when they saw Mikasa behind him and promptly ran away, even though the bullies had superior numbers. She is strong to lift Eren off the ground without effort.

While she was still training, Keith even denoted that Mikasa's performance is exemplary in every subject, and that she is truly a genius. Combined with her prodigious skill in 3D Maneuver Gear, she can easily take down Titans with speed and efficiency. This has lead to her being mentioned as a military genius many times and "worth a hundred ordinary soldiers". With such prodigious skills coupled with her own remarkable will, she displays lethality against titans rarely seen among soldiers, recruits or veterans alike. This has been proven true when she took Annie in her Titan form, who had killed numerous experienced veterans with ease before, and survived.

Relationships

 * Father and Mother - Mikasa shares a loving bond with her parents. She excitedly shows her embroidery to her mother, who enthusiastically appreciates it telling her that she will pass this style of embroidery to her children as well. All three of them are happy to be together. When a few rogue men attack and kill her father, her mother confronts them so that Mikasa is able to escape. In the manga, her mother being one of the last Orientals (Asians) from her clan, had Mikasa underwent a painful scarring ritual that bore their clan mark.
 * Grisha Jäger - Grisha adopts Mikasa as his daughter and treats her kindly and respectfully. He wants Mikasa to be Eren's friend and cooperate with him.
 * Carla Jäger - Carla adopts Mikasa as her daughter and family and takes care of her. Since she is quiet and isn't reckless like Eren, she wants her to take care of Eren and guide him like his older sister.
 * Eren Jäger - Mikasa considers Eren to be her 'family', since he saved her from her kidnappers. She mostly wears a scarf, given by Eren to her, as a token of her memories with Eren. She derives her strength because of him and will go to any lengths to protect him and get him out of trouble. Eren gets a bit annoyed whenever she becomes too protective and asks her not to treat him like her 'baby brother'. During the reconquest of Trost, Mikasa blushed when Ian suggests that he was her boyfriend. Even Levi and Jean are confused about her attachment to Eren.
 * Armin Arlert - Mikasa is a close friend of Armin's, essentially because Eren is his friend. She recognizes Armin's ability to reason out the best solution and come up with the best strategy during dire situations. She is faithful to him and trusts him deeply, as shown when she refuses to leave him behind to his death during the battle of Trost. She encourages him to have more confidence in himself whenever he doubts or criticizes himself. She and Eren are responsible for Armin's boost in confidence when he tries to face a group of soldiers to convince them of Eren's value as a military weapon.
 * Annie Leonhardt - Their relationship is implied to be some sort of rivalry. It's hinted that Annie doesn't like Mikasa for the simple fact that she's a better fighter than her. Their rivalry worsens when she got fed up with Annie's games and calls her out as the Female Titan that attacked them. With that exposed, Mikasa stopped Annie from escaping by cutting off her fingers and forcing her to fall.
 * Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Fubar- Little is known about their friendship. However, Mikasa realizes that she hesitated and was unable to finish them off when they were revealed as the Armored Titan and Colossal Titan. She agonizes over this failure, recognizing that she should have been able to kill them with her level of skill. When she finally catches up to them, she flies into a murderous rage and even threatens Ymir and Christa when they get between her and the traitors. She calls them a "plague on humanity", stating that there is no reason to care what their reasons and motivations might be and encouraging the others to kill them without mercy. However, her rampage is stalled by Bertholdt's emotional confession.
 * Jean Kirschtein - Her primary interactions with him relate to his rivalry with Eren, and it is unclear whether she is even aware of his affections for her. When he calls out Eren for attacking her, Mikasa is quick to leap to Eren's defense and becomes angry at Jean for questioning him. It is unclear whether he continues to harbor feelings for her, calling her out for (supposedly) expecting everyone to mindlessly sacrifice themselves for Eren.
 * Levi - Their relationship begins in a negative fashion, as she witnesses him beat Eren during a military trial. She swears to make him pay someday, and later lashes out at him when the Female Titan is able to kidnap Eren after slaughtering Levi's squad. Regardless, he expresses an understanding of her and is seriously wounded saving her life -- while sidelined, he repeatedly offers her advice.
 * Hannes - It's impled that Mikasa is grateful towards Hannes after he rescues her and Eren from being killed by the titan that ate Carla. Hannes comforts her when she is depressed over losing her adoptive brother as he is the only family she has left. He encourages Mikasa not to give up, which snaps her out of her grief. Hannes rescues her and Eren from the titan and vailantly fights it. His death will have a profound toll on Mikasa more than Eren, causing her to give in to a temporary insanity.

Trivia

 * Misaka-Chara_Design.pnga is a Malagasy word meaning "resolve", while "Ackerman" is a German surname meaning "farmer".
 * Mikasa ranked third in the characters popularity poll.
 * The name Mikasa has several significant links in Japanese culture:
 * The Mikasa was a unique pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and served as a flagship during the Russo-Japanese War.
 * Mount Mikasa in Nara, Japan. An annual festival involves burning the dead grass on the mountain.
 * The princely house of Mikasa-no-miya, a branch of the Imperial family in Japan.
 * In a Volume 11 sideart Isayama portrayed several characters transformed into Titans. Mikasa took the form of a heavily muscled Titan.

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Mikasa Ackerman