Shikishima

"Sometimes, we aren't lucky."

- Shikishima to Eren

Shikishima (敷島) was a member of the Scout Regiment in the live-action films  Attack on Titan, The Movie: Part 1 and  Attack on Titan, The Movie: Part 2, and was considered the strongest member among them. He was portrayed by.

Appearance
Shikishima was a slim man with medium, straight black hair combed forward, and a slight mustache. He wore the standard Scout Regiment uniform and cape.

Personality
Shikishima was a merciless warrior who slaughtered Titans without a second thought, and did not care that they used to be humans. He was also sarcastic, as shown by his interactions with Eren when he trained him to fight.

Abilities
Shikishima was referred to as "the Strongest Man," indicating that his fighting abilities were the best among humanity. He also presumably had leadership qualities due to being a captain within the Scout Regiment

He also was found to be in possession of the White Titan, increasing his fighting skills while also granting him increased protection due to the armor plating of the Titan.

History
During his childhood, Shikishima's father tested Jaeger serums on him, trying to turn him into a Jaeger Titan. Growing up, Shikishima would hold a strong resentment for his father, eventually having his parents executed and all of his father's research destroyed.

At some point in his teens, Shikishima joined the military and eventually rose to the position of Captain within the Scout Regiment. In addition, he also acquired the power of the White Titan at an unspecified time.

Attack on Titan: Hangeki No Noroshi
Shikishima is responsible for capturing the Titans Sawney and Beane for Hans to research and experiment on.

Attack on Titan, The Movie: Part 1
In the two years following the breach of the outer wall, Shikishima becomes acquainted with Mikasa and begins to train her to kill Titans. During this time, they develop an extremely close relationship.

Two years after the Colossal Titan's appearance, Shikishima and his squad take part in the plan to reseal the outer wall. Moving ahead of the rest of the military, Shikishima's squad sets up a station in Omotemachi, where they defend the military's explosives from Titans.

When the military's convoy arrives at Omotemachi, Shikishima and Mikasa work together to slay the Titans that have followed them, saving the lives of many of the recruits in the process.

After clearing the area, Shikishima meets with Kubal and Hans. Shikishima notes that he was not able to locate the physical location of the explosives inside the city, and Kubal explains that he had them stashed away due to rumors of an insurgency among the military's ranks.

After the meeting, Shikishima meets Eren. After learning the boy's name, Shikishima takes him aside to speak with him. At Eren's questioning, Shikishima explains how he became acquainted with Mikasa before having a prolonged discussion with Eren about the Titans. Following the conversation, Shikishima tails Eren as he goes to speak to Mikasa. As Eren is attempting to talk with her, Shikishima interrupts them and begins flaunting his close relationship with her in front of Eren, prompting him to leave in frustration.

As Titans begin attacking the town, Shikishima and Mikasa work to fight off as many as possible. During the battle, Shikishima sees Eren attempting to fight the Titans as well, and gives him advice on how to properly slay one. Eren is able to kill a single Titan using Shikishima's tips, but loses his leg in a Titan's mouth immediately afterword. Unimpressed by Eren's performance, Shikishima abandons him.

In the aftermath of the battle, Shikishima watches from afar as Eren is pulled out of his Titan's nape.

Attack on Titan, The Movie: Part 2
After Eren is apprehended by Kubal and the Military Police, Shikishima uses his Titan to break rescue Eren. The soldiers guarding Eren prove to be of little threat to him, and he easily absconds with Eren.

Shikishima takes Eren back to his bunker, where he explains the origin of the Titans. Shikishima reveals to Eren that their father was responsible for the experiment that created the Titans, and claims that Kubal was responsible for killing him. Eren agrees to work with Shikishima, and Shikishima takes him above ground to where his forces are waiting for them. He supplies Eren with a new set of ODM gear, and they set out for the missile in Monzen.

On their way to the missile, they meet up with Hans and her remaining soldiers, who have already secured the missile. Shikishima tries to apprehend the missile from them, revealing that his intention for it is not to seal the outer wall, but to breach the second wall and allow the Titans even farther in. Shikishima explains that if the Titans are allowed farther in, the government will be forced to focus all of its efforts on getting rid of them, allowing the military to overthrow the government while it is preoccupied and take charge over the remnants of humanity. He attempts to forcefully take command of the missile but Eren tries to stop him, causing Shikishima to savagely beat his brother. As he terrorizes the recruits, he reveals to Eren that he was the one who killed their father, but before he can kill Eren, he is distracted by Armin, who threatens to detonate the missile. Shikishima calls his bluff, but before he can act, Sannagi uses his ODM gear to collapse a nearby building, crushing Shikishima and his forces.

Surviving thanks to his Titan abilities, Shikishima transforms into the White Titan and gives chase. The recruits try to fight him off, to no avail, and he is able to easily best them. He is momentarily distracted by the arrival of several regular Titans and quickly eliminates them; one by punching through its head and by tearing out the spine of the other. By this time, Eren transforms into his Titan form in order to evenly match Shikishima.

Although Shikishima initially has the upper hand in their fight thanks to his armor plating, Eren's superior hand-to-hand combat skills allow him to best Shikishima. Though heavily injured from the fight, Shikishima manages to reach the outer wall, where he is greeted by the sight of the recruits fighting off the Colossal Titan. Confronted by Mikasa, she forces him to evaluate his goals and he realizes his plans were always going to fail no matter what, as the corrupt government was going to spend all resources saving itself before the people would have a chance to overthrow it. Observing that the missile is malfunctioning due to damage, Shikishima takes it upon himself to detonate the missile and seal the Wall. Using his Titan form, Shikishima grabs the missile and saves Eren from the Colossal Titan. Throwing the missile at the Colossal Titan's face and crushing the detonator, both are engulfed in the ensuing explosion which also seals up the gap in the Wall.

Relationships

 * Mikasa - Shikishima had romantic feelings towards Mikasa and they were a couple for some time. However, his feelings were one-sided, as Mikasa was in reality attracted to Eren.
 * Eren - Eren had a strained relationship with Shikishima, the latter being rather distant to Eren initially. It was later revealed that Shikishima was Eren's brother. Shikishima did genuinely want his younger brother on his side, mentoring him in an effective, if cruel way. Whilst he was also initially fully willing to kill Eren to achieve his goals when Eren turned against him, he was convinced to save his brother by Mikasa and died bidding Eren a good life.

People Killed

 * Himself (Self-sacrifice)
 * Kubal
 * At least three members of the Military Police Regiment
 * At least 5 members of the Scout Regiment

Indirectly

 * Sannagi
 * Shikishima and Eren's father

Trivia

 * Captain Shikishima appears to be an amalgamation of Levi, Reiner, and Zeke, none of whom are portrayed in the live-action adaptations.
 * He holds Levi's position as Eren's superior officer within the Survey Corps and his title, "The Strongest Man," is similar to Levi's, "Humanity's Strongest Soldier."
 * He has Reiner's ability to become the Armored Titan (known as White Titan in the films).
 * He has Zeke's relation to Eren as his older brother, though Zeke is only Eren's half-brother.
 * In real life, Shikishima was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the lead ship of the Shikishima class in the late 1890s. During the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905, she was second in the line of battle of the First Division, following Tōgō's flagship Mikasa. This could be a reference of his feelings towards her.
 * Shikishima shares an English dub voice actor with Zeke from the Attack on Titan anime.

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