Nanaba

Nanaba (ナナバ) was a veteran member of the Survey Corps in Squad Mike.

Appearance
Nanaba had short light hair styled in an undercut with bangs, which she parted just slightly off to the right side. Nanaba was not very tall and had a somewhat petite build, but was physically very fit as showcased in her maneuvering gear skills. Nanaba dressed in standard Survey Corps uniform with a light-colored v-neck underneath and when on missions, she would wear the corps' green cape as well.

Personality
Nanaba was a calm soldier, often staying quiet and rarely speaking unless spoken to. When faced with the prospect of Wall Rose being broken, she initially fell into despair, but quickly regained her composure and determination. Nanaba was shown to be very loyal and protective of her allies, risking her life to protect the trainees under her watch and her fellow squad mates without a second thought. Ultimately it was protecting her team mates that caused her death.

The Female Titan arc
Nanaba first appears during the 57th Expedition as the Squad Leader of Krista Lenz's unit. Krista is initially worked up about the Titans that have started climbing the trees at the edge of the Titan Forest, to which Nanaba calmly replies that if they use their equipment to climb further up, it will all be fine, and assures the worried Krista that they only have to hold out a little longer, most likely referring to the capturing of the Female Titan.

Clash of the Titans arc
During the Stohess District raid, Mike's squad is tasked with watching several of the 104th Training Corps recruits under suspicions of a Titan spy being among them. Mike realizes Titans are coming from the southern side of Wall Rose and realizes that there must be a breach in the Wall somewhere. Nanaba informs the 104th of the situation and orders them to mount their horses to depart before returning to Mike on the rooftop. Nanaba expresses feelings of despair for the dwindling hope of humanity's survival, but Mike helps her regain her courage by reminding her that they have only lost once they stop fighting.

As Mike's squad and the recruits escape, Mike separates from the group to lead nearby Titans away and the group splits up into four teams. Nanaba's team searches Wall Rose for a breach but runs into Gelgar's squad coming from the opposite direction without finding anything. As night falls, the two groups take refuge in Utgard Castle.

Utgard Castle soon comes under attack from numerous Titans capable of moving during the night. Since the soldiers who had been under suspicion do not have vertical maneuvering equipment, the only ones able to directly engage the Titans are Nanaba, Gelgar, Henning, and Lynne. However, Henning and Lynne are soon killed by a projectile thrown by the Beast Titan, who summons another horde of Titans to attack the castle. Nanaba angrily notes how it seems as though it has only been toying with them the entire time.

With no other options, Nanaba continues to fight with Gelgar until their supply of blades and gas is completely exhausted. Injured, Gelgar falls from the tower and is caught by a Titan. Nanaba rushes to save him, and kills the Titan holding him, but runs out of gas and is left at the mercy of the Titans. Both are then ripped apart by several Titans, while their inferiors can only watch in horror.

Return to Shiganshina arc
As Erwin Smith contemplates his role as Commander of the Survey Corps and the lies he has told his comrades, he envisions himself standing atop a mountain of corpses of the soldiers he sent to their deaths. In his mind, Nanaba lies with Mike and Gelgar at the top of the corpse mountain, staring back at him. Later in the Battle of Shiganshina, as Erwin Smith begins to lament the dwindling hopes of his dream, Nanaba stands among the many fallen Survey Corps comrades in Erwin's mind, wanting to know if their deaths had meaning.

War for Paradis arc
In the forest, as Levi contemplates all the times he risked his life to save Eren, Nanaba appears among the comrades he had lost along the way.

When Hange decides to oppose Eren's plan to destroy the world beyond the Walls, Nanaba is one of the soldiers Hange remembers when arguing that their fallen comrades would not support destroying the world.

While Levi and Gabi stay on Falco's Titan, Levi starts thinking about his fellow Survey Corps members, and Nanaba is seen.

Abilities
Nanaba had not been seen in action much; however, it is safe to assume that she was an elite soldier among the Survey Corps. Her skills were praised by Gelgar as "Superb as always" and he also complimented Nanaba's skill of very deep cuts.

Her skill in a team was demonstrated later when she and her comrades killed 8 Titans with relative ease, impressing Ymir. The fact that she survived the events from 5 years ago, as well as surviving for more than 5 years in the Survey Corps also implied a highly experienced and powerful soldier.

Trivia

 * Nanaba ranked fifteenth in the First Character Popularity Poll.
 * Nanaba ranked eighteenth in the Second and Third Character Popularity Polls.
 * Nanaba ranked twenty-fourth in the Fourth Character Popularity Poll.
 * According to Eld Jinn, she was one of the few surviving soldiers from before the fall of Wall Maria, alongside Hange, Levi, Mike and Erwin. Her survival was the reason why she was alerted to Erwin's true objective regarding the 57th Expedition, and most likely the reason why she, alongside Mike, was trusted by Erwin to watch over the graduates.
 * Answering to a question about Nanaba's gender on his blog, Isayama said "I’m not interested in strict delineation of character sex distinctions, so I think varied reader interpretations are fine. Why not the view that Armin is a girl, for example?"
 * Isayama has stated that of all of the people Mike Zacharias sniffed, Nanaba smelled the best, possessing a "fruity smell."
 * Isayama has stated that her hairstyle looked like a bunch of bananas so he named her "Nanaba."

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