Jean Kirstein

"I just don't want those charred bones I saw to be disappointed in me. I... I know what I have to do now."

- Jean to Armin and Reiner

Jean Kirstein (ジャン・キルシュタイン) is a graduate of the 104th Training Corps, among whom he ranked 6th best. Jean hails from Wall Rose's Trost District, and joined the military with hopes of obtaining a peaceful life as part of the Military Police Brigade, but would later find himself joining the Survey Corps. He is currently one of the elite members serving under Captain Levi.

Appearance
Jean is a young man with spiky, light-brown hair shaved into an undercut style, with the shaved portion being black. He has small, intense brown eyes, and is said to have the same vicious look in them as Eren does. Jean is of average height and muscular build, and has a scowl similar to Eren's but is said to have a long face (a "horse face"). He is often seen wearing the typical uniform of the Survey Corps worn with an olive-gray button-up shirt. After overthrowing the government, his hair appears slightly longer than before.

His casual attire mostly consists of a white button-up shirt, dark pants, and a dark-brown vest. When concealing his identity, he also fashions a cloak and fedora.

Four years later, he has grown a goatee and his hair is now longer. Jean wears the new black Survey Corps uniform with anti-personnel vertical maneuvering equipment.

Personality
Jean has a blunt personality. He holds no restraint when it comes to speaking his mind, even when he knows it would not be wise to do so or when it could spark conflict. Jean is also pragmatic: he has a strong aversion to exposing himself to dangerous situations, and has openly admitted his desire to join the Military Police is due to wanting an easy and safe life.

During his time as a trainee, Jean was extremely hot-headed, easily becoming frustrated and quick to resort to violence when pushed. Jean was also very cynical about defeating the Titans, believing that humanity has no chance against them. He openly mocked more idealistic individuals like Eren, and saw resisting the Titans as a hopeless cause.

Despite his shortcomings, Marco describes Jean as a natural leader, being able to understand others and assess situations well because of his flaws. Indeed, during the Battle of Trost, Jean proves capable of leading his fellow soldiers when they are left confused and leaderless, and rallies Armin and Reiner in an attack on the Female Titan, knowing that not fighting her would endanger the rest of the Survey Corps. His awareness and leadership capabilities were further displayed during the Battle of Shiganshina, when he took command of Armin's squad, and Liberio when he led many of the 104th graduates to attack the Marleyan military.

Although he presents himself as self-centered, Jean places high value on the lives of his comrades, and is ashamed and horrified when he must leave helpless allies behind to save himself and others. He was also willing to risk his life even if just to slow down the Female Titan, as refusing to do so would have certainly resulted in countless more deaths. Jean later criticized Erwin's plan of withholding information from his subordinates out fear that there was a spy among them, feeling that the plan did not justify the lives lost because of it. In addition, Jean is greatly averse to taking human lives. Jean's moral principles initially prevented him from killing enemy soldiers, but he would reluctantly set aside his conscience for the sake of his friends and allies.

Jean's first instinct is to always see life through cautious and doubtful eyes. He was hesitant to accept Armin and Reiner's plan of having the Attack Titan fight for them, and immediately admitted to never having trusted Ymir when she seemingly kidnapped Krista. Despite this, following the second appearance of the Armored Titan, Jean was also the one to motivate Eren to continue fighting for humanity's victory, showing that he is slowly adopting the same idealistic outlooks he once criticized.

104th Training Corps arc
After becoming of age, Jean enlists into the military, joining the 104th Training Corps. On the day of his enlistment, Jean admits his desire of joining the Military Police, and receives a headbutt from Keith Shadis for his troubles. That night, Jean encounters Eren Yeager for the first time. The two immediately take a disliking towards each other and their respective ideals.

Jean performs well during his training, motivated by his ambitious dream of ranking amongst the top 10 to join the Police Brigade and his desire to outdo Eren.

As part of the 104th, Jean succeeds in ranking in the top 10 of its graduates, placing just under Eren and coming in at sixth. After the graduation ceremony, Jean, proud of his accomplishment and eager to join the Military Police, gets into an altercation with Eren. Fancying himself a realist, Jean's ideals brings him to blows with the more idealistic Eren, who criticizes Jean as a coward.

Battle of Trost District arc
Following the second attack of the Colossus Titan, Jean, along with the rest of the 104th Training Corps, are sent to the front lines to deal with the Titans that have begun entering the city. Only one day away from joining the Military Police, Jean panics, and regrets the timing of the attack on Trost.

Later, due to a shortage of maneuvering equipment fuel, Jean and his fellow soldiers are left unable to fight. Led by Mikasa, he and the rest of the group rush towards the HQ to resupply. When Mikasa runs out of gas, Jean takes the lead, but quickly loses faith in his ability to shoulder the lives of others. Soon after, a soldier runs out of fuel and the Titans swarm him. Seeing the opportunity, Jean commands everyone to take advantage of the distraction and make a break for the military HQ to refuel. Jean successfully leads the group to safety, but to his horror, several soldiers were left to die because of his command.

Finding the cowering resupply team, Jean strikes one in anger, telling them they are responsible for the soldiers who were killed. Soon after, Mikasa, Armin and Connie arrive with the help of a rogue Titan. Still having to deal with the Titans in the headquarters, Jean is made part of the second group in Armin's plan to clear the supply room. Jean manages to slay his assigned Titan, and the plan succeeds.

After resupplying, he stays back with Reiner and Annie. After Reiner suggests helping the rogue Titan out, Jean is very hesitant, as they had just barely escaped with their lives, and he is unwilling to risk it again for a Titan. Fortunately, they do not have to because the Titan breaks itself free in order to attack another Titan, collapsing soon after. Witnessing Eren emerge from the nape of the Titan's neck, Jean ends up being one of the first people to learn about Eren's Titan ability.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Trost, Jean finds the body of his friend, Marco, whose unceremonious demise greatly disturbs Jean. Later, he and the rest of the 104th Training Corps burn the corpses of their fallen comrades in a bonfire. Watching the bones of his friends burn, Jean remembers Eren's speech and Marco's compliment about his strengths. Mourning Marco's death and internalizing his words of encouragement, Jean asks the other trainees which branch of the military they are planning to join. Against his own wishes and fears, Jean tearfully declares that he will join the Survey Corps. During graduation, despite fearing what might happen to him in the future as he would inevitably encounter more Titans, Jean joins the Survey Corps instead of the Military Police Brigade.

The Female Titan arc
After joining the Survey Corps, Jean confronts Eren regarding his role as humanity's savior, declaring that he is putting his trust in him as he does not wish to die. Jean participates in the 57th Expedition of the Survey Corps.

Not long into the expedition, Jean encounters the Female Titan. Cooperating with Armin and Reiner, Jean engages the Female Titan, believing that if he does not at least slow it down, it will continue to wipe out more and more soldiers. The three succeed in confronting the Titan, but are quickly overpowered and are nearly killed, though they all escape with their lives. Following the battle, Jean desperately tries to locate his lost horse. With only Reiner's horse present, someone will have to be left behind. Luckily, Krista arrives with Jean's horse in tow.

Making their way to Titan Forest, Jean and the others are ordered to perch among its tall branches to distract Titans from entering while Erwin and Eren handle the Female Titan. Jean is surprised to see how the Titans learn to climb the trees in order to reach them. While they wait, Armin confides to Jean his belief that their commander had suspected a spy amongst them but declined to reveal this knowledge. Jean questions the morality of such a decision, but Armin defends Erwin, stating that it was a necessary risk, and the lives it cost are justified if gambles are ever to succeed, though Jean has his doubts.

After the expedition fails, Jean returns safely to Wall Rose. Days later, due to both having similar eyes and demeanor, he is chosen to pose as Eren for his trial, leaving the real Eren free to help in the final attempt to capture the Female Titan.

Following the second appearance of the Female Titan, at Eren's bedside, Jean finally learns about Annie's true identity from Armin and how she encased herself in a crystal to avoid interrogation. He also finds out about the Titans similar to the Colossus Titan inside the Walls being used due to their hardening abilities. Jean and Armin head down to the meeting between Commander Erwin Smith and the head of the Military Police Brigade, Nile Dok.

Clash of the Titans arc
Jean reappears as a member of the squad with Erwin, who have come to assist with the breach of Wall Rose. He is present when a exhausted Garrison member informs Dot Pixis that there is no breach and that three more Titan shifters have been identified. He is shocked by the news and demands to know who they are before Erwin calms him down and the Garrison member tells the rest of the story. He is outraged at Reiner's and Bertolt's betrayal and their secret correspondence with Annie. He also learns about Ymir being a Titan shifter and that both she and Eren have been taken hostage. Jean becomes determined to stop his traitorous teammates, readying himself to rescue Eren along with the combined might of the Survey Corps, Military Police Brigade and Garrison.

Along the journey past Wall Rose, Jean observes a Military Police soldier be devoured by surrounding Titans, seeing how poorly prepared they are for battle. The troops enter the Titan Forest in pursuit of the traitors where Jean's squad encounters Ymir in her Titan form. When she suddenly attacks and kidnaps Historia Reiss by capturing her in her Titan form's mouth, Jean is the one to rally the other soldiers and order them to pursue Ymir into the forest, Jean stating that he never trusted her to begin with.

Jean watches as Ymir, Bertolt, Eren, and Historia flee on the Armored Titan's back. He joins Hannes in pursuing them and assists Mikasa in the assault on the Armored Titan. After realizing that he cannot use force to save Eren, he attempts to talk to Bertolt and Reiner, recalling their time during training camp and questioning if everything they shared was a lie.

Unfortunately, the encounter is cut short when Jean is forced to jump off the Armored Titan once Hannes warns him about the oncoming Titan hoard led by Erwin in order to stop the Armored Titan. Joining Erwin in the charge, he saves Mikasa after she is grabbed by a Titan, stabbing it in the eye. After Eren is rescued, Jean and the others attempt to flee but he is knocked off his horse by one of the Titans thrown in desperation by the Armored Titan. Wounded and unconscious, Jean is defended from the remaining Titans only by a helpless Armin which has lost his horse too. With the situation appearing hopeless, Jean and the others are narrowly saved when Eren uses a mysterious power to order all the Titans in the area to attack first the Smiling Titan and then the Armored Titan. Seizing the opportunity, the troops flee from the battlefield with Jean carried to safety.

The Uprising arc
Jean survives the retreat back to Wall Rose and estimates that 60% of the soldiers who went to retrieve Eren perished and another 20% are critically wounded. He notes that what Eren does will decide if the sacrifices were worth it. He also says that he has saved Mikasa. Instead of getting angry, this revelation convinces Eren to not hold back and do everything he can to retake Wall Maria. Jean later appears as a new member of Squad Levi, carrying supplies with Sasha and Armin.

Jean sits in silence as Levi, Armin, and Hange reveal their plan to use Eren to seal Wall Maria by hardening his skin like the Female Titan. He is also present when Historia reveals the truth about her past and when Hange reveals the murder of Minister Nick by the Military Police First Interior Squad. He and Sasha are later assigned to stand guard outside the hut.

He stands guard again during Hange's Titan experiments with Eren, and is bothered when he is informed that the experiments did not work.

Later, the group receives some mysterious instructions from Erwin that leave them in shock, and they abandon the hut to follow the plan. Shortly after, they watch from the distance the hut being stormed by the Military Police Brigade First Interior Squad.

As they walk through the city, they are surrounded by angry citizens who accuse them of wasting their taxes without giving results, and in the commotion, Eren and Historia are seemingly kidnapped by a rushing wagon. However, it is later revealed that they are Jean and Armin posing as Eren and Historia, with Jean visibly annoyed for having to impersonate Eren again.

He assists in taking down his captors who turn out to be members of the Reeves corporation, led by the president himself.

At their new base, Jean expresses worry over who their enemies really are, and theorizes that they will be hung if their revolution to replace the king with Historia fails. He hears Erwin's plan from Nifa to hand over Eren and Historia to the Military Police so that they can find Rod Reiss. He is shocked when Levi starts attacking Historia and tells him that such action is unnecessary.

After the Survey Corps is accused of the murder of Dimo Reeves, Jean is among the members that remain in hiding. He passes unnoticed among the crowds gathered to hand out flyers and discuss the fugitives, wearing a hat and cloak to disguise himself. Upon rejoining the others at a stable, he passes out the flyers detailing Levi's appearance and crimes, and expresses doubt about their circumstances. He states he expected to be killed by a Titan, not forced to become a hated fugitive from the law. Disheartened, he expresses doubts about Levi and their current situation, stating that he would refuse to kill another human even if ordered to do so.

After Levi is attacked by the Military Police Brigade, Levi's squad starts moving in order to follow Eren and Historia. They are surprised when they see the anti-personnel vertical maneuvering equipment and even more when Levi kills a soldier cutting him in half. Levi regroups with his squad and tells them to stop chasing Eren and Historia because the Military Police is using them as feed so that they can kill them. Levi orders Jean to provide fire with his rifle. He manages to train his rifle on an enemy soldier who is kicked into the wagon by Mikasa, but when he hesitates to kill her she slaps the gun out of his hand. However, Jean is saved by Armin.

The squad manages to escape and they hide in a barn. Jean seems to feel very sad and ashamed because Armin had to kill in order to save him. He then apologizes to Levi and admits that he was mistaken and that he will not hesitate next time he has to pull the trigger. Jean is a part of the group to capture Hitch Dreyse and Marlowe Freudenberg, and listens carefully at the conversation between them and Levi. Jean asks Levi to take care of Hitch and Marlowe himself. He takes them away from the squad and decides to kill them, but fails. Marlowe takes the chance to pick up Jean's knife but Jean immobilizes him again. Jean then makes a deal: if Marlowe gives him the knife and risks his life, he will believe that Marlowe's wish to help the Survey Corps is sincere. Marlowe accepts and throws away the knife. Jean, after being hit by Hitch, reveals that it was all a test and that Levi will accept them.

Thanks to Marlowe and Hitch, Levi's squad manages to infiltrate a Military Police base. Jean helps the infiltration by disabling the enemies with his rifle. The squad takes a hostage and Jean watches while Levi interrogates him. A group of Military Police comes looking for the Levi's squad. This group later informs that the Survey Corps have been cleared of treason, which makes Levi's squad to rejoice.

Jean takes part in the assault of the Reiss Chapel against the Military Police. He first shoots flares in order to keep Levi and Mikasa hidden, before then jumps into action with his vertical maneuvering equipment. During battle, Jean kills his first person by cutting his adversary's neck. However, the battle is suddenly interrupted by the flash and sound of a Titan's transformation from deep within the cave. Levi's squad locates the cavern where Eren and Historia are, which is starting to fall down due to the transformation of a gigantic Titan. Jean helps unchain Eren while trying to explain the current situation to him. Just as Eren is freed, Jean and Levi pull Eren out of the way of a falling boulder. As they contemplate their options, Eren begins apologizing and doubting himself. Jean jokingly questions his abilities, but like the others, he waits for Eren to decide what action to take. Eren finally decides to transform into a Titan and believe in himself in order to save his friends.

After Eren transforms and hardens his body to hold the falling rocks, Jean helps Mikasa get Eren out of his hardened Titan body. Then Jean and Squad Levi start following the now Abnormal Titan Rod Reiss, which is heading to the Orvud District attracted by the dense population. Jean is present when Erwin and Hange explain their plan to the Garrison soldiers to fight Rod outside the city. He is then seen at sunrise on top of the Wall with the rest of the Squad where he explains to Eren that they had to kill people and they have had a long and stressful day. Their conversation is interrupted when Rod Reiss finally arrives at the city. As Rod's Titan looms over Wall Sheena, Jean and the rest of the squad cover themselves in water to resist the Titan's intense heat. After destroying the Titan's hands to make him crumble, Eren, in his Titan form, obliterates its head using concentrated gunpowder. Jean and his squad mates target chunks of the destroyed Titan's body, hoping to destroy Rod's human body within.

Sometime later, following Historia's coronation as queen, Jean and the rest of Squad Levi follow Historia as she talks about punching Levi. Eren advises her against it, but Jean cheers Historia on. he is stunned when she actually punches Levi, but even more so when Levi smiles softly and thanks them.

Two months later, Jean, Armin, and Eren are talking on a farm that Historia uses as an orphanage. He tries to antagonize Eren, but is ignored. When Historia sees them, Jean tries to convince her to give them a break. She orders them to continue carrying boxes inside, causing him to compare her to his mother.

Days later he is in the barracks eating with other soldiers. He talks with Marlowe about how happy he seems about transferring to the Survey Corps even though he has never seen a Titan, just like other soldiers that did the same, and that the new Titan guillotine works, allowing the soldiers to retake Wall Maria. The conversation changes to Eren's memories and the nature of the Titans, remembering Ymir and Connie's mother. Jean tells Eren that he has to focus on remembering the man that his father met years ago. He again jokes with Eren, saying that he should be head-butted by the instructor, giving Eren the answer.

Return to Shiganshina arc
In the morning, Jean goes with Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Levi, Hange, and Sasha to see the instructor. Jean sits inside a small house with the rest of the team except Sasha. He listens to the story about Grisha Yeager and Keith Shadis without saying a word. Finally, after telling the whole story, Keith admits that he has no power and that he is just a bystander.

Time passes, and the preparations for the Shiganshina District operation are ready. The night before the operation, the soldiers are having a special dinner in order to celebrate and prepare them for the operation. The dinner becomes crazier and crazier because of various reasons: first, Sasha gets mad after seeing all the meat, trying to eat it all, even biting Jean and punching Marlowe.

After this, Jean explains Marlowe why, as a rookie, he should be on the rear instead of on the front line, saying that he needs it in order to learn and survive long enough to train other soldiers. Jean uses Eren as an example of a useless and a suicidal soldier, who charges straight into the enemy. This enrages Eren and they start fighting and insulting with nobody stopping them. Jean shouts at Eren asking him how many times would he have died if he did not have those Titan powers and how many times would Mikasa have had to save him. The fight continues until Levi steps in and knocks them both, stopping the fight.

The next morning, Jean takes part in the operation to retake Wall Maria. After hearing the cheers of the civilians, he is one of the first that screams in joy. When the operation starts, he is with the Levi Squad, riding towards Wall Maria.

On the way to Shiganshina, the soldiers are walking at night on foot through a forest on a mountain. Jean scolds Connie for calling Eren for his name, telling him he has to assume that there's an enemy around every corner.

When they arrive at Shiganshina, Jean switches to his vertical maneuvering equipment at the order of Erwin. He is covered in a hood and a cloak just like the others soldiers, so Reiner and Bertolt could not discover which of the soldiers is Eren. After Eren seals the hole in Wall Maria, Jean's squad begins to return to Erwin, but stop and take up positions on the Wall before they can reach him after seeing him fire a signal flare. From there, they are able to watch as Reiner reveals himself to be hiding inside the Wall, and the Beast Titan reveals himself with an army of Titans.

As Eren and Reiner engage each other, Jean and his squad wait alongside Hange's squad for an opportunity to attack. After Eren manages to maneuver Reiner into an area of town with tall buildings, Hange and Mikasa blind Reiner with their new Thunder Spears, which allows Jean and his fellow soldiers to destroy the armor covering Reiner's nape with their Thunder Spears. When Hange orders a second attack to destroy Reiner's nape, Jean notices Connie and Sasha hesitating, and pushes them to fight. After destroying Reiner's nape, Jean begins gloating to Reiner's body, but the sight of Connie and Sasha crying for Reiner causes him to tear up as well, though he desperately tries to convince them to cheer up. At this point, to Jean and his comrades' surprise, Reiner's Titan begins roaring.

Having been informed by Armin of Bertolt's approach, Hange orders Jean and his comrades to retreat before they are caught in the blast of Bertolt's transformation. After retreating to a safe distance, Jean and his comrades watch as Armin goes to try to negotiate with Bertolt. When negotiations fail and Bertolt transforms to his Titan form, Jean and the rest of Squad Levi take cover behind Eren's Titan form to shield themselves from the blast. As Mikasa and Armin return, Jean is shocked to learn of the apparent demise of Hange and her squad.

As Bertolt begins to rampage through Shiganshina, Jean and his teammates ask Armin to instruct them on what to do. However, Jean is unhappy with Armin's plan to retreat beyond the Wall and wait for Bertolt to exhaust his energy, pointing out that Bertolt will simply throw burning debris over the Wall where the horses and the commander's group are. Armin decides to give leadership to Jean, but Jean insists that he will still need Armin's help coming up with a plan to fight Bertolt.

After retreating from Bertolt's immediate vicinity, Jean has Eren attempt to attract Bertolt's attention away from the rest of the Corps but is surprised to see that Bertolt is deliberately ignoring them. With no other option, Jean orders a direct attack on Bertolt, despite protests from Connie and Sasha. As Eren approaches Bertolt, Jean and his comrades spread out and watch as Eren attempts to push Bertolt back. For a moment, it looks as though Eren has stopped Bertolt's advance, but Jean and his teammates are horrified when Bertolt calmly kicks Eren into the side of Wall Maria. Jean reassures a worried Mikasa that Eren is not dead. Despite acknowledging that humanity is on the verge of defeat, he announces that they should not go down without trying to defeat the Colossus Titan. He takes advantage of the Thunder Spear considering that the Colossus Titan is unaware of their properties. He shouts insults at the Colossus Titan to get its attention in order for Mikasa to pierce his nape with the Thunder Spear. But before being able to do so, the Colossus Titan repels them off with hot and pressurized steam. Before Jean can formulate another attack, his group is stopped by the sight of the Armored Titan. Seeing that Reiner has once again recovered from his injuries, Jean begins to lose hope and turns to Armin for advice. After hearing Armin's theory about the Colossus Titan's weakness, Jean agrees to lead Squad Levi in an attack against Reiner while Armin goes to retrieve Eren.

As he leads Squad Levi toward Reiner, Jean orders his teammates to focus on Reiner and to trust Eren and Armin to stop Bertolt. Jean orders his teammates to try to keep Reiner's attention, but when Reiner ignores them, Jean agrees with Mikasa that Reiner will have to be killed. As the squad only has three Thunder Spears left, Jean devises a plan to blow open Reiner's mouth with two, before firing the third into his mouth to blow him out of his Titan's nape. Jean acts as bait to distract Reiner while Sasha and Connie attack, but they are caught off guard when Reiner throws debris from nearby buildings at them. Jean is injured by the attack but remains conscious to witness Hange's return and Reiner's defeat at Mikasa's hands.

As Jean's injuries are treated by Mikasa, Jean watches as Hange interrogates a captive Reiner. When Reiner refuses to give up any meaningful information, Hange decides to execute him, but Jean hurriedly argues that Reiner should be kept alive so that his Titan shifting powers can be taken away with the Titan injection. Hange's response, that Reiner is too dangerous to be kept alive, surprises Jean, who comments that Hange has never been the type to simply accept that she does not understand something. Swayed by Jean's words, Hange orders Mikasa to retrieve the serum from Levi so that they can use it, to Jean's relief.

As Jean and Hange discuss who should be given the serum, they are interrupted by Mikasa, who fires a signal flare, signaling that Reiner should be executed. As the flare rises into the air, Jean notices a quadrupedal Titan approaching Hange. Acting quickly, Jean manages to save Hange from being devoured but is unable to stop the Titan from rescuing Reiner and departing. As the Titan retreats, Jean angrily blames himself for letting Reiner escape death yet again, though Hange assures him it was her choice, thus her mistake.

He comes to the rooftop with Hange and Connie, who carries Sasha on his back. Jean is shocked after seeing Erwin and Armin, both half-dead and lying unconsciously. Then he and his comrades observe debate over who receives the serum. When Levi proclaims that he is going to inject Erwin, Jean leaves the roof with the others, crying and saying his goodbye to his comrade. However, Levi finally decides to give Armin the serum instead. Jean and his fellow soldiers see Armin's mindless Titan form devouring Bertolt. They later help Armin with getting out of his Titan body.

Jean sits on a bedroll after Eren informs Armin of the events that had transpired and says that it is been four hours since the battle had ended and that they have searched for survivors this whole time, without finding any.

After returning home victorious, Jean accompanies Hange to deliver Ymir's letter to Historia. He then attends a meeting where he and the rest of the surviving Survey Corps soldiers are debriefed by Military generals and Historia. He is later seen awaiting an honorary ceremony with his fellow soldiers. When Hitch arrives, Jean assures her that Marlowe died with honor, but Floch disagrees, admitting that he was very brave, but he most likely regretted his choice in his final moments. As a sad Hitch leaves, Jean is appalled by Floch's insensibility. He is later honored by Historia.

After the Battle for Shiganshina, a year passes and the use of the Titan guillotine clears Wall Maria from all Titans. Jean is among the Survey Corps members to lead an Expedition beyond Wall Maria, and finds a Titan whose limbs were so small that it could only crawl. He is among the Survey Corps soldiers that arrives at the ocean, amazed that the water was actually salty.

Marley arc
In the year 854, Jean participates in the Battle of Liberio along with the rest of the Survey Corps. He alights on the edge of a building and shoots the hook of his anti-personnel vertical maneuvering equipment into a Marleyan soldier to throw him off the roof. Witnessing an explosion at a nearby building, Jean grapples his way over to find Floch with an armful of explosives. He yells at him to keep civilian losses to a minimum, but Floch is undeterred. Floch says they cannot wait inside the Walls for death, which Jean cannot refute.

Connie Springer and Sasha Blouse report in to Jean that all the lights are in place and ask if they are moving forward with the plan. Jean confirms they are as long as they can disable the War Hammer Titan in time.

He and the other Survey Corps soldiers with him watch Eren Yeager attempt to devour the holder of the War Hammer Titan and the subsequent attack on Eren by the Jaw Titan. Jean and the others jump into the fray to join Levi Ackerman, but are brought up short by the arrival of the Cart Titan, which is perched on a nearby roof. As the War Hammer Titan reforms, Jean notices the arrival of the Beast Titan. Jean warns his soldiers of the incoming debris being thrown by the Beast Titan and tries to prevent them from prematurely retaliating, but two of them are killed by the Cart Titan's Panzer Unit. After Armin Arlert cuts off the Marleyan reinforcements, Jean orders his soldiers to take out the Cart Titan's machine guns. When the Cart Titan charges at Sasha Blouse for killing a member of the Panzer Unit, Jean intervenes, telling it that he never got to pay it back for last time.

He fires a Thunder Spear that strikes the Cart Titan's helmet and it ricochets through the eye slit, blowing off part of the Titan's head. Jean calls for his squad to give it all they have, and they succeed in killing the Panzer Unit. The battered Cart Titan stumbles off the roof and crashes to the ground below. Jean pursues it, intending to strike a killing blow, but a boy jumps in the way and begs him not to shoot it.

Vertical Maneuvering Equipment
Jean is highly adept at using vertical maneuvering equipment, being able to maneuver well even on open terrain, which is considered extremely difficult and not many people can do so. He has also shown his capability in being able to attack and slay Titans efficiently even without his proper equipment and can successfully maneuver around them in order to directly attack their nape or simply avoid them. Four years after Wall Maria was reclaimed, his skill on maneuvering equipments has not changed. Jean has proven to be highly proficient in using anti-personnel vertical maneuvering equipment; ambushing Marleyan infantry from rooftops and even using his equipment's hooks to fling an enemy soldier off a building. Maneuvering equipments are his greatest strengths.

Thunder Spears
It has been shown that, mostly during the Marley Arc, Jean is a skilled fighter with Thunder Spears. It can be seen him using the spear efficiently and successfully to eliminate enemy targets, such as when he ambushed Pieck with the spear, which detonated on her eye socket and led to the death of Panzer Unit. With Vertical Maneuvering Equipment and Thunder Spears, he is a very dangerous fighter.

Other
Jean is also an exceptionally level-headed individual, able to see the big picture and make tactically wise decisions when it counts. It was these traits that earned Jean his rank as 6th best among the 104th squad.

He also seems to be proficient with Firearms, as he is seen using one during the persecution of the Survey Corps. He is capable of shooting people with no intention to kill them, just to incapacitate them, with great accuracy.

Relationships

 * Marco Bott - Since their days as trainees, Marco had been Jean’s closest friend and confidant. Jean would occasionally mock Marco for his idealistic reasons for joining the Military Police, insisting that the only reason anyone would join would be for the safety and comfort. Despite this, it was Marco who encouraged him to accept his abilities as a leader, and his death at Trost had a life-altering impact on Jean.


 * Eren Yeager - Jean and Eren initially share a fierce rivalry which stems from their differing viewpoints: while Jean sees Eren’s eagerness to join the Survey Corps as suicidal and foolish, Eren sees Jean’s desire of joining the Military Police as cowardly and selfish. It was actually Jean’s desire to outdo Eren that would push him to improve himself during training. Despite their bitter rivalry, which would occasionally turn violent, Jean also respects Eren to a certain degree, admitting that he lacks the latter’s courage. Upon realizing Eren’s potential as a Titan shifter and the hope he represents for mankind, Jean sets aside his enmity for Eren.


 * Mikasa Ackerman - Jean has had a huge crush on Mikasa ever since he met her, and admires her beautiful black hair, although Mikasa has more or less remained indifferent to Jean. During casual conversation, Jean tends to blush and stutter around Mikasa and immediately jumped to her rescue when a Titan threatened her. Despite his crush, Jean does not sympathize with Mikasa’s devotion to Eren, stating that most people do not share her willingness to throw their lives away for him. It was this same devotion that partially fueled Jean’s resentment of Eren.
 * Armin Arlert - Although Jean was initially put off by Armin’s dedication to Eren, the two eventually manage to find common ground in their similarly rational natures. Jean and Armin often share complex conversations about morality, strategy, and the problems at hand. While Jean usually takes a more humanistic stand, Armin will often defend a more pragmatic point of view. Despite their differences, Jean and Armin gradually become friends. He cried when he thought Armin was dead, and later helped him out of his Titan, crying tears of relief.
 * Marlowe Freudenberg - Jean instantly took a liking to Marlowe due to the fact that they were much alike.

People Killed

 * Kenny's subordinate E
 * At least one Marleyan soldier

Trivia

 * Hajime Isayama has said his favorite character is Jean.
 * In a more recent interview, Isayama revealed that Reiner Braun had replaced Jean as his favorite character.
 * According to Isayama, if the 104th Training Corps had an arm wrestling competition, Jean would be evenly matched with Eren Yeager.
 * "Jean" is the French variant of "John", meaning "Blessed by God."
 * When feeling great confliction, Jean has a habit of tightly clenching his fist and staring at it intently.
 * In a fake preview for Volume 19, Jean can be seen being devoured by the Gluttonous Titan.
 * Additionally, in the fake preview, Jean can be seen as a Titan. The Titan was around 7 meters and retained his facial features while having a slight limp.

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Jean Kirstein Jean Kirschstein Jean Kirschtein Jean Kirschtein ジャン・キルシュタイン Jean Jean Kirschtein pt-br:Jean Kirschtein Жан Кирштайн 約翰·基爾休坦