Eren Yeager

"I think...we were born this way. I just keep moving forward. Until my enemies are destroyed."

- Eren to Reiner Braun

Eren Yeager (エレン・イェーガー) is a former member of the Survey Corps and the main protagonist of Attack on Titan. He lived in the Shiganshina District with his parents and adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman until the fall of Wall Maria. During the incident, Eren impotently witnessed his mother being eaten by a Titan. This event aroused in Eren an intense hatred towards the Titans, and he swore to wipe all of them off the face of the Earth.

Soon afterward, his father, Grisha Yeager, found him and gave him the key to his basement, instructing Eren to find it at all costs and retake Wall Maria. He then injected Eren with a Titan serum.

In the year 847, Eren, Mikasa, and his best friend, Armin Arlert joined the 104th Training Corps. The three graduated with Eren ranking 5th best, and they joined the Survey Corps following the battle of Trost District.

After finding the basement and unlocking his father's memories, Eren learned about the truth of what the Titans are, as well as the history of Eldia and Marley. Eren vowed to free his home from their true enemy: the world across the ocean.

Eren currently possesses the power of three Titans. From his father, Eren inherited the Attack and Founding Titans. After eating the younger sister of Willy during the Battle of Liberio, he gained the War Hammer Titan as well.

Human form
Eren is a young man of average height and muscular build. His facial features strongly resembles his mother's; he has a fairly long, rounded face and sizable, expressive, gray eyes. His hair is short and black, and his bangs fall in a natural, middle-parted, curtain-type style. His complexion appears to be somewhat tan. After his training and during his time as a soldier, he became very physically fit and muscular, although this is often unseen due to his relatively baggy clothing. After the four-year timeskip, Eren grew his hair down to his neck.

He is first seen wearing typical townsfolk attire that consists of brown trousers, a green shirt with string tassels at the collar, a reddish-brown coat, and simple brown shoes. A few years before the fall of Wall Maria, he also wore a black scarf, which he gave to Mikasa the day they met. As a teenager, he is often seen in the typical Survey Corps uniform while training. His casual attire consists of a long beige shirt identical to the one he wore in his first appearance, a maroon sash around his waist, white trousers, and brown knee-high boots. He always keeps the key given to him by his father dangling around his neck on a string.

By the time Eren infiltrates Marley in the year 854, Eren has grown visibly taller, and his hair has grown down to shoulder length. He has a slight mustache and goatee, as well as bandages that cover his forehead and left eye. To maintain his cover, he wears the Eldian armband around his left arm, though he had initially worn the armband around his right arm before it got corrected by Falco. After returning to Paradis Island, Eren ties his hair back into a bun and shaves off his mustache and goatee.

Titan form
Eren's appearance changes quite drastically when he transforms into a Titan. His height increases to, his hair grows long enough to graze his shoulders, and his tongue and ears become elongated. His facial features also undergo a transformation; he develops a prominent, hooked nose, his eyes become deeply sunken within their sockets, and his mouth takes on an unusual, jagged shape that is unsuited for intelligible speech. Despite this, he is capable of howling and roaring in order to express his exhaustion and anger. Also, he lacks lips and flesh on his cheeks, so his teeth are exposed.

Similarly to others with the power of the Titans, Eren's Titan form is well-proportioned and physically fit, sporting a well-defined, lean, and muscular appearance in lieu of the more common pot-bellied or emaciated appearances of regular Titans.

Eren's Pure Titan form was much shorter than his current Titan form. It was tall with short, rugged hair and a jagged, lipless mouth that exposed his teeth. The Pure Titan form also had a stocky build, a big head, and elongated ears.

Personality
Eren is best described as hardheaded, strong-willed, passionate, and impulsive, which are attributes of both his strong determination to protect mankind and, eventually, his equally strong determination to escape the Walls. Even as a young child, he was so intent on joining the Survey Corps that he argued with and shouted at his mother, referring to the people in the village as "silly" and comparing them to complacent livestock.

Eren cares deeply for his friends and family, risking harm and even death in order to protect them. As a child, he took on larger boys who bullied Armin and, more tragically, he attempted to lift the rubble that crushed his mother during the Titans' assault in Shiganshina. Eren is also capable of displaying violent behavior in defense of people he does not even know. This was highlighted when he attempted to rescue Mikasa by brutally slaughtering two of the human traffickers who had captured her.

After Armin showed Eren a book depicting the wonders of the outside world, he grew to share his friend's curiosity of the world beyond the Walls and decided to see it for himself. This led Eren to develop a scornful attitude towards anyone who was content to live and die within the Walls' confines without ever setting foot outside. As a result of this, he greatly admired the soldiers of the Survey Corps, regarding them as "heroes" and wishing to join their ranks as soon as he became eligible for enrollment. He was quick to take offense when anyone spoke badly of the Corps, and his determination to join them caused friction between himself, his mother, and to a lesser extent, Mikasa.

Eren has a marked lack of self-restraint that often leads him into trouble, causing his friends and family to worry about him. His limited self-control is evident in his temper, which often caused him to act recklessly in anger, or say things he himself knew he should not have. This is exacerbated by his tendency to view the world in terms of black and white, where individuals who deny others their freedom are worthless scum, unfit to be left alive. Though he has great compassion, Eren has little in the way of empathy and is prone to taking things at face value, evaluating situations or ideas solely by his own arbitrary perspective and rarely ever thinking deeper about them unless someone else points things out for him.

Though Eren spoke about eradicating the Titans with seemingly great confidence, his bravado hid deep insecurities. He was often ready to blame himself and his incompetence whenever something went wrong, believing a course of action he took - or failed to take - was the reason for the disastrous results. This is most evident when he blames himself for the death of the Special Operations Squad at the hands of the Female Titan, and for the deaths of the many veterans that perished in the rescue operation after he had been kidnapped by Reiner and Bertolt.

Eren's ordeals since the coup d'état have mellowed his personality considerably. When he discovered the truth about where his father had been the night Wall Maria fell he was willing to ask Historia Reiss to eat him for the good of humanity. He admitted that he viewed himself as weak, and that his reliance on the Attack Titan proved it. It took a lot of encouragement from his friends for him overcome this state of despair and regain his passion.

By the time he finds out from his father's books that Titans are actually humans who were forced to transform by the Marleyan Government, he seems to have let go of his hatred. When passing by a slow-moving Titan en route to the ocean, he shows no signs of anger or unrest, and instead calmly calls the Titan an "Eldian."

Eren possesses great amounts of perseverance, fortitude, and determination. As such, he managed to master the basics of vertical maneuvering equipment, even when his equipment was damaged, and graduate as fifth top student in his class despite his lack of natural talent.

Eren has been noted to be quite charismatic and has a talent for delivering impassioned speeches, often unwittingly managing to persuade the mass of his listeners to sympathize with his point of view. Even Jean, his bitter rival, has admitted this, as he convinced over half a dozen recruits to consider joining the Survey Corps before the Battle of Trost. Four years later, he makes use of this skill consciously, as shown when he easily lifts Falco's spirits and convinces him to deliver a letter outside of Liberio, despite the fact that Eldians are usually forbidden from leaving the internment zone.

In the years since the recovery of Shiganshina, Eren has shown remarkable progress in his analytical and tactical skills, both in and outside of battle. Apart from maintaining his cover as a Marleyan soldier for an extended period of time and procuring a method of transporting his letters to the Survey Corps, Eren accurately guesses the source of Falco Grice's injuries and the reason why he wanted to become the next Armored Titan. Later on, he successfully leads Reiner into a trap, and in his battle against the younger sister of Willy, he quickly deduces the true location of the War Hammer Titan. When he is unable to crack the crystal encasing her with his Attack Titan's jaws, he is resourceful enough to use the Jaw Titan's jaws as an improvised nutcracker to kill her and obtain the War Hammer Titan.

Eren is aided in this by his unnervingly stoic and calm demeanor he developed since infiltrating Marley, never losing his composure and usually wearing a blank expression on his face, no matter how dire or stressful the situation may be. Although he admits to becoming angry when Koslow traumatized Eldian soldiers, he remains outwardly unfazed during the incident. Additionally, he appears to have become less proud overall, thanking Mikasa for helping him, which he normally used to dislike and criticize her for.

His infiltration of Marley has given him a change in perspective regarding his enemies. After spending time as a Marleyan soldier, he comes to understand that his enemies are people no different from his own. Because of this, he deeply empathizes with Reiner and the other Warriors who were sent to Paradis Island, letting go of his desire to kill them in revenge for attacking his home. Nevertheless, he still prioritizes his personal mission of destroying Paradis Island' enemies for the sake of his people's freedom.

Eren believes that righteous goals sometimes require unethical means. He is ready and willing to use such methods himself when he declares war against Marley. Eren abuses the twelve-year-old Falco's trust, fully aware of his family's precarious situation, and eventually kills dozens of innocent Eldian civilians (including children) as collateral damage in a surprise attack on Willy Tybur.

In spite of this, he seems to have developed a dislike for war, referring to it as "hell." He believes that, with good reason, no one would want to go to war if they knew the suffering it would put them through.

Eren's time serving in the Marley Mid-East War also seems to have had an effect on his psyche to some extent. While he has shown great sorrow for comrades who have died on expeditions, and has demonstrated a great amount of compassion for his fellow graduates from the 104th, he laughs upon hearing that Sasha Blouse's final words were "meat;" although he changes his reaction and is seen about to cry after Jean Kirstein accuses him of being responsible for her death and remembers Sasha's conviction that they would have more sheep and cows after recovering Wall Maria.

Early life
Eren was born in Shiganshina District on March 30th, 835, in the southern region of Wall Maria to Carla Yeager and Grisha Yeager. He had a few friends, although his best friend was Armin Arlert, whom he often defended from the neighborhood bullies. Armin inspired his passion to leave the Walls and travel by showing him a hidden book about the outside world. He dreamed of joining the Survey Corps as soon as he reached the enlistment age, in order to see the outside world. Because of this dream, Eren and Armin were regarded as heretics and harassed.

Year 844
When Eren was nine years old, he saved Mikasa Ackerman from being sold into slavery by robbers. On a visit to the Ackermans' home, he and his father discovered both parents murdered and their daughter missing. Fearing the worst, Dr. Yeager instructed Eren to stay within the house while he fetched the Military Police. Eren, however, wanting to rescue the missing girl as soon as possible, tracked the robbers to a small cabin in the forest behind the house.

Opening the door to the room where Mikasa was being held captive, he found her lying on the floor with two of the robbers keeping watch. Feigning distress and claiming that he was lost, while keeping a knife hidden, the robbers dropped their guard. One of them closed in on Eren, who then stabbed him, before quickly ducking back out of the room. As the second man went after him with an axe, Eren charged him with a makeshift spear, piercing him in the shoulder. Once he was down, Eren proceeded to stab him to death in a wild frenzy while Mikasa looked on.

As Eren untied her in the aftermath, he was caught off-guard by the third robber, who proceeded to strangle him. Mikasa picked up Eren's knife, but balked at the thought of using it to kill someone. Eren urged her to fight back, warning her that they would both be killed if she did nothing. As Eren began to lose consciousness, Mikasa finally lost all inhibition and lunged at their attacker, stabbing him through the heart and killing him.

When Dr. Yeager eventually returned with the MPs, he took Eren aside, scolding him angrily for his reckless behavior. While Eren was genuinely sorry for upsetting his father, he expressed no remorse whatsoever for killing the robbers. When Mikasa remarked that she was cold, Eren gave her the scarf from his own neck; and when Dr. Yeager invited Mikasa to live with their family from then on, Eren accepted her with no hesitation, tugging on her sleeve and shyly insisting that they return home.

Fall of Shiganshina arc
In the year 845, Eren lives with his adoptive sister Mikasa, mother Carla, and father Grisha in Shiganshina District. After waking up from a nightmare interrupted by Mikasa, they stroll through the city and Eren expresses anger in being kept like cattle within the Walls, and reveals his intentions in joining the Survey Corps. Upon returning home, Mikasa reveals what he said to their parents. Carla forbids him from joining, do to the corps' high body count, and begs Grisha to talk some sense into his son, but Grisha tells her that nothing will deter Eren's curiosity. Grisha tells Eren that he will show him what he has hidden in their basement after he returns from a trip. After Grisha leaves, Carla reiterates that she will not allow Eren to join the Survey Corps, and they exchange a heated but short-lived argument before he bolts off.

Eren, attempting to scare off bullies harassing their neighborhood friend Armin Arlert, initially believes he is the one who scared them away when in fact it was Mikasa. The three stroll through Shiganshina and settle by the riverbank, where Eren reveals his intentions in joining the Survey Corps to Armin. Armin asks how telling his parents went, and Eren says not well. Armin then contemplates who really believes staying in the Walls will protect them forever, and that they could be breached at any time.

Suddenly lightning strikes and the ground shakes. The civilians gather around the center of town and look up in wonder at the sight of a giant hand. Eren catches up with Armin and Mikasa and they all gawk in horror at the sight. The Colossus Titan kicks a hole through Wall Maria's gate, sending massive pieces of debris throughout the town. This forces Eren and Mikasa to search through the panic-stricken town to find their own home. Upon arriving, they find their house destroyed, with Carla trapped under the debris. As a Titan is approaching the leveled house, Carla begs the children to run, but they refuse.

A Garrison member, Hannes, arrives and Carla begs him to take the kids and run. Wanting to repay Dr. Yeager for all he has helped the village with, Hannes decides to kill the Titan and save Carla as well, but the massive height and frightening appearance of the Titan forces him to take Eren and Mikasa and leave Carla behind. Eren witnesses as the Titan lifts Carla up, breaks her back, and eats her alive.

As the evacuation of Shiganshina is underway, Eren, Mikasa and Hannes arrive in an alley and Eren starts attacking Hannes, crying and asking why he did not save her. Hannes says that the reason Eren could not save her was because even though he had the courage, he lacked the strength, and Hannes himself lacked the courage even though he had the strength.

Hannes leaves Eren and Mikasa on the boat leaving the Titan-infested city. There, Eren and Mikasa witness an Armored Titan destroy the back gate of Shiganshina. Eren, Armin, and Mikasa are forced to depart on the boat as Eren realizes that he can never return home, and vows to kill every Titan in existence.

Eren, along with Mikasa and Armin, are sent to a shelter for refugees from Wall Maria. Soon after, Grisha arrives and finds Eren, who tells him that his mother was eaten. After hearing this, Grisha takes Eren into a nearby forest, and instructs him to go to the basement, before injecting him with a Titan serum, turning him into a mindless Titan. Eren instinctively eats his father, granting Eren his Titan powers, including the dormant Founding Titan.

104th Training Corps arc
After the fall of Wall Maria, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin briefly worked on a farm with other survivors of Wall Maria before reaching the proper age to enroll in the Military two years later. Eren joins the military along with Mikasa and Armin, where he meets his future comrades Jean, Connie, and Sasha. During their rite of passage conducted by instructor Keith Shadis, Eren restores his vow to kill all Titans, and that next time around, they will be the ones who will be devoured.

Before training, Eren draws a crowd of trainees at dinnertime and upon questioning, describes the appearance of the Colossus and Armored Titans. He becomes sick as he remembers his mother being eaten, at which point Marco suggests they no longer question Eren about things he would rather not bring back. However, Eren attributes this to eagerness to begin his training and kill all the Titans with the Survey Corps. Jean Kirstein interrupts Eren and mocks his decision. Eren does not admire Jean's desire to join the Military Police simply to live in the Interior Walls and the two prepare to fight each other. The bell signaling the end of dinner rings breaking the tension and the two drop their disagreement with each other.

The next day, the trainees begin practicing with vertical maneuvering equipment. Eren utterly fails to keep himself steady and takes extra tutoring from Armin and Mikasa. He knocks himself out and at dinner, other trainees mock his performance especially after his pledge to kill all Titans.

Back at the dorm, Connie and Jean do not offer any suggestions and Eren visits Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover for help. Although they are reluctant at first, the group exchange their stories of how they first encountered the Titans. The three exchange tips and later, depart as friends.

Eren is back at the practice rigging as Shadis lets him try to balance himself on the vertical equipment harness one last time before he will be shipped to the landfills. At first, it appears Eren can maintain his balance and his peers begin cheering, but Eren quickly loses control and falls over. Shadis has him put back on the ground and after a few moments of contemplation, has Eren switch equipment with Thomas Wagner. Eren easily keeps his balance and Shadis reveals his equipment was defective, impressing everyone as Eren could keep his balance, even for a while, with the broken equipment. Shadis mentally notes to Eren's father, Grisha Yeager, that his son is finally becoming a soldier.

Despite his bravado, Eren's personal mission weighs heavily on him and he pushes himself unreasonably hard during training, to the point that he takes a bad spill while using his vertical maneuvering equipment and Reiner warns him that he will get himself killed. Tearfully, Eren asks him what he would need to do to become like Reiner or Mikasa, because at this rate his life is going to end without him having done anything. Reiner is sympathetic and he tells Eren that the only thing to do is to just keep moving forward. He boosts Eren's confidence by saying he knows Eren has the potential to fulfill his dream of exterminating every last Titan.

In 850, Eren graduates in the top 10 of the 104th Training Corps. After graduation, he is assigned to clean the cannons atop Wall Rose with Sasha, Connie and a few others. There they witness the return of the Colossus Titan, who has not been seen in the last five years. Eren faces the Titan alone in combat as his fellow trainees can all but look on in horror.

Battle of Trost District arc
The Colossus Titan has appeared for the first time in five years, and most trainees are paralyzed with fear; however, Eren attempts to kill it. Despite getting close enough to the Titan to nearly slice the nape of its neck, it vanishes into thin air and the soldiers are forced to create a Colossus Titan contingency plan, placing Eren and his squad in the middle guard of Trost, which the Titan itself has breached.

In response to the crisis, the new recruits were split into squads in charge of defending different parts of the city. Eren is grouped with Armin. Enraged upon seeing Thomas devoured by a Titan, Eren leaps into battle after the Titan, only to have his leg bitten off below the knee, incapacitating him. The rest of his group attacks and dies as a result. Just as Armin is about to get eaten, Eren pulls his friend out of the Titan's mouth, switching places with him. Eren is swallowed, his left arm being severed as the Titan shut its mouth.

It is later revealed that in the stomach of the Titan, Eren saw all the dead/dying soldiers, one wanting her mother before sinking inside stomach acid. Upon this, he remembers his goal, which was to kill every last Titan alive. He thrusts his severed limb up with his goal, getting more and more desperate. Suddenly, a Titan's arm bursts from the Titan's throat, and out steps Eren from the Titan's back, transformed into a Titan himself. He then proceeded to wreak havoc on all the Titans he could get his hands on. In the process, he unknowingly saves the mourning Mikasa’s life and is baited by his classmates to help fend off a procession of Titans from a storage headquarters for the compressed gas used to power their vertical maneuvering equipment.

As the Titans seem to overwhelm him and Mikasa’s group is about to intervene, the Titan that killed Thomas appears and Eren’s rage powers him to throw off the percussion and kill the Titan. As soon as the massacre is over, Eren falls to the ground and his human form emerges from the back of his Titan form’s neck (with both lost limbs back) to the shock of all the onlookers. He is retrieved by an overwhelmed Mikasa. Upon his awakening, Eren seems to only have a faint dream-like memory of his time as a Titan and finds himself, Mikasa, and Armin surrounded by the Garrison, under the command of Kitz Weilman. After a failed attempt at negotiation, Weilman signals the Garrison to fire a cannonball at the three of them and Eren grabs onto his two friends and bites his own hand, wounding himself and partially transforming into a Titan, blocking the cannonball before emerging from the skeleton. Eren allows Armin to try and talk them out of their tight spot with limited success until Commander Dot Pixis intervenes and orders Weilman to stand down.

A plan is made for Eren to use his Titan form to move a huge boulder they had planned to use to reseal Trost's gate to prevent Titans from further entering, but were unable to move. Eren is assigned with a team including Mikasa to defend him while he carries the boulder. Upon his transformation to execute the plan, though, he attacks Mikasa, who unsuccessfully tries to communicate with him to snap out of it. Eren ends up wounding himself and his body fails to regenerate, the mission is declared a failure. Despite this, the leader of the group, with some non-verbal convincing by Mikasa, decides they must stay and guard Eren.

Armin arrives on the scene and convinces Mikasa to go help fend off the Titans while he tries to get through to Eren. Eventually, he is able to do so, by reminding Eren that they wanted to see the world together, causing Eren to remember how he wanted to join the Survey Corps, and destroy all the Titans. Eren moves the stone and is able to plug the hole in the Wall at the sacrifice of the rest of the team members (with the exception of Rico, Armin, and Mikasa). They are saved from the desperate situation after Eren’s transformation back to human by Levi Ackerman.

Eren again wakes up, this time in a dungeon prison cell chained. Levi is there and upon hearing his motive to kill Titans says he will accept him into the Survey Corps. Eren is left there for some time before being escorted by Survey Corps members to the court room where he is tried with the Military Police and Church of the Walls calling for his dissection and execution. As the opposing side, the Survey Corps argues to use his power to their advantage in scouting missions. After an outburst by Eren, Levi beats him accrediting his dominance over Eren’s threat and it is decided his fate will be decided after a “test” mission with the Survey Corps.

The Female Titan arc
After joining the Survey Corps, Eren is assigned to Levi's Special Operations Squad and sent to an abandoned castle which had formerly served as the base of operations for the Survey Corps. While there, he is tasked with cleaning duty by Levi while also helping Squad Leader Hange Zoë with her Titan experiments.

During one of the experiments with his Titan abilities, Eren was lowered into a well before being told to transform into a Titan, in case he lost control. However, no matter how hard he tried, Eren was unable to activate his Titan abilities. He was eventually brought back to the surface and tended to his self-inflicted wound on his hand with Levi's squad, who expressed their relief at his inability to turn into a Titan. However, whilst bending over to pick up a dropped spoon with his injured hand, Eren accidentally triggered his Titan ability in a partial transformation, creating a Titan hand in a small explosion.

Expressing fear and disbelief at the sudden usage of his Titan powers, Levi's squad surrounded Eren, demanding that he prove he was not a threat to them. The tense situation was defused with the help of Levi and Hange, and after learning that Eren's transformation was unintentional, bit their own hands as way of apologizing for their overreaction. After this incident, with the help of Hange's deductions, Eren learned that a Titan transformation required him to have a clear goal in mind in addition to self-injury.

While he was with Levi's squad, Eren met some of his classmates from the 104th Training Corps who had opted to join the Survey Corps. which included Mikasa, Armin, Connie, Sasha, Reiner, Bertolt, and to Eren's surprise, Jean. He learned of Marco's death from them and was later given a lecture by Jean about his responsibilities to humanity.

After a month of training, Eren and the Survey Corps embark on the 57th Expedition Outside the Walls. After leaving the safety of the Walls, the soldiers assume the Long-Distance Enemy Scouting Formation, an extensive formation created by Commander Erwin, which aims to maximum the visibility of the scouting group in order to detect and avoid fighting Titans whenever possible. Eren was positioned at the center of the formation, where it is the safest. However, as per Commander Erwin's orders, the knowledge of Eren's location within the formation was known only to a select few, with the fresh recruits being given false information in order to misdirect any spies within their midst.

It soon became apparent to Eren that something was going wrong with the expedition. First, he received the news of the decimation of the right wing of the formation. Then, he noticed black flares, which signaled the presence of an Abnormal in close proximity to his location, even though he was supposed to be in the safest position in the formation. Soon after, the soldiers head toward a Titan Forest. The central column of the scouting force, including Eren and Levi's squad, were told to enter the forest, while the rest of the soldiers were to stand guard at the perimeter of the forest to prevent any Titans from entering.

Soon after entering the forest, Squad Levi was set upon by a seemingly intelligent Female Titan, who was able to dispatch pursuing soldiers with ease. Seeing the soldiers perish one by one, Eren is tempted to use his Titan power to fight the Female Titan and save his comrades. Levi allows this choice, but recalling Levi and his squad's trust in him when he accidentally used his Titan powers, Eren decides to trust in his team, sacrificing the last remaining member of the rear guard.

This opened the way for the Female Titan to focus completely on Levi's squad, and she was inches from grabbing Eren before being ambushed and captured herself. Eren and the rest of his team excluding Levi ride out of the forest firm in the belief that the Titan was captured and her human self apprehended. This is proved false as the unidentifiable human form of the Female Titan kills Gunther before re-transforming into a Titan. The remaining three team members tell Eren to go on while they attack the Female Titan. Eren expressed his desire to stay and fight with them, but again, is convinced otherwise and begins to retreat. Although the three soldiers manage to blind the Female Titan and cripple her arms, they were caught off guard when the Female Titan regenerates an eye much faster than they had expected, resulting in their deaths. Upon seeing this, Eren, filled with regret, finally transforms into a Titan and engages the Female Titan.

Even though he initially had the upper hand against the crippled Female Titan, Eren, blinded with rage, quickly spent all of his energy and ultimately loses the fight. His human form was eaten by the Female Titan just as Mikasa arrived on the scene. She pursued the Female Titan, but was unsuccessful in rescuing Eren. It was only after she was joined by Levi that they were able to incapacitate the Female Titan and retrieve Eren, still alive, from its mouth. The Survey Corps returned to Wall Rose in defeat, with the failure of the mission to capture the Female Titan and the loss of the lives of many soldiers. Due to the mission's failure, Eren was to be handed over to the Military in Wall Sheena.

Before Eren can be handed over to the Military, he is let in on a plan by Commander Erwin to capture the Female Titan, whom Armin deduced to be actually Annie Leonhart of the 104th, who has joined the Military Police Brigade after graduation. At this realization, Eren is initially shocked and angry at the accusation, refusing to believe that such a betrayal by one of his fellow trainees, whom he had trained with for 3 years, is possible. However, after Mikasa tells him to think back to when he was fighting against the Female Titan in the forest, he realized in astonishment that the fighting style the Female Titan exhibited was exactly the same as Annie's, forcing him to come to terms with Annie's betrayal, and he agreed to participate in the plan to capture her.

After Armin convinced Annie to join them in escorting Eren out of the city, they led her to the entrance to an underground tunnel, where she refused to continue following them, despite Eren's continued pleas for her to join them and prove her innocence. When Annie's capture fails and she transforms, he, Mikasa, and Armin were forced into the underground tunnel to escape from her Titan. As per the plan, Eren tries to go into Titan form by injuring himself but cannot due to shock and disbelief at Annie's betrayal, and his friendship with Annie making him unwilling to fight her. As Mikasa and Armin depart to attempt to lead Annie away, Eren is reminded of the lives Annie took as the Female Titan as well as his vow to exterminate the Titans, allowing him to finally overcome his inhibitions, transform into his Titan form, and engage the Female Titan for the second time.

Even though Eren is in better control of his Titan and is equipped with knowledge of his opponent this time round, he is ultimately no match for Annie's superior fighting technique and hardening ability. He manages to throw Annie into some buildings, but gets his right leg taken off by a hardened kick from Annie, who proceeds to slam him into a building and pummel his head repeatedly with her hardened fist.

Annie attempts to climb Wall Sheena to escape, but has her fingers severed by Mikasa, causing her to fall back to the ground, where she is set upon by Eren, who holds her down as corps soldiers pry open her nape.

Clash of the Titans arc
When Wall Rose is supposedly breached, Eren is among one of the teams within the area to survey the Wall for the breach. He makes his way to Utgard Castle under squad leader Hange to save his comrades stranded there. Eren and the rest of the Corps arrive just in time to save Reiner and the others. Eren kills a 7 meter Titan and celebrates his first kill as a Scout in human form.

In the aftermath, Eren is among the soldiers on top the Wall recovering from the ordeal at Utgard. He questions Ymir's condition and gives Reiner a hand up the Wall as Historia explains her true parentage. Helping Armin up as well, Eren checks on Reiner after hearing about how his arm was injured in Utgard Castle; this, along with the moment he was almost killed by the Female Titan, causes Reiner to comment that he does not expect to live much longer and that they should keep fighting until the breach in Wall Maria is covered. Bertolt reassures Reiner that they do not have to wait much longer and can return home soon. Hannes arrives with news that there is no hole or breach in the Wall, confusing everyone and prompting Eren to question if Hannes is drunk. As Hange orders them to stay on standby in Trost District, Reiner wishes to speak with Eren in private.

Reiner reveals that five years ago, he and Bertolt breached the Wall and launched their attack on humanity. He reveals their respective identities as the Armored and Colossus Titans, going on to say that their objective was to wipe out all the humans living in the Walls, but that there is no longer any need and says that if Eren comes with them, they will not attack the Wall again and they will go to their hometown. Mikasa notices the three discussing and Armin beckons them. Eren briefly remembers a past discussion with Hange, who confronted Mikasa, Armin and him about Reiner and Bertolt potentially being accomplices to Annie. Armin slowly puts together that Reiner attempted to usher Eren's location out of Armin, and cut the information into Annie's palm. Hange warns the three to act carefully around Reiner and Bertolt, and tells them not to mention anything to do with Annie. She says that they must play it safe until the two end up in confinement deep underground.

Eren tries to persuade Reiner that he is tired and simply not thinking straight. Bertolt plays along, and Eren says that even if the two are responsible for the mass murder of humankind, they could not expect him to go with them willingly anyway. This surprises them, and Reiner admits he must have gone mad, but then claims that he is been surrounded by fools for too long and explains that he no longer knows what is right or wrong, but what he does know is that he must complete his mission. Reiner removes the bandage on his arm and reveals the rapidly healing wound, discharging steam. Just then, Mikasa attacks them, chopping off Reiner's hand and nearly decapitate Bertolt. Reiner tackles Mikasa and prevents her from killing Bertolt. Reiner arises beside his friend, bloodied, and the two transform. This throws the soldiers back, with Reiner grabbing Eren and Bertolt taking Ymir. Eren is disgusted by his former friends, calling them traitors as he bites his hand to transform.

Now as a Titan, Eren and Reiner being an attack on one another while Hange's squad attempts to take Bertolt down but are prevented from attack him due to the expelling steam. As Reiner rises from Eren's attack, Mikasa launches an attack on him but finds out that her blades are useless against his armor. Eren recalls all the pain these two have caused and the look of justice Reiner had as a trainee, noting that they both now gross him out now. As Eren attempts to attack Reiner, his armor can not be penetrated and Eren is instead punched in the face and thrown backwards.

Eren recalls words of wisdom from Annie, who taught him some important fighting techniques that she was able to use to take down Reiner. He then recalls Mikasa challenging Annie to a fight but can not recall the winner. Continuing to endure blows from Reiner, he uses the techniques Annie taught him and dodges Reiner's punch, tossing him to the ground. As Reiner tries to get up, Eren locks him in a submission hold and focuses pressure on one of Reiner's arms, eventually breaking the armor around the joints and tearing the arm off completely. Just as things turn in his favor, the two are stopped by Bertolt, who plummets down the Wall and lands on them both.

Eren and Ymir are taken to the Titan Forest by Reiner and Bertolt. He attempts to transform into his Titan form in spite of losing his arms, but Ymir wisely tells him not to as she too is also healing from losing both her arms. While she questions Reiner and Bertolt about the Beast Titan they are after, Eren broods in silence as Reiner reveals that humanity has no hope in fighting against the Titans. He and Bertolt offer both him and Ymir a chance to join them in order to protect their loved ones. As she considers joining them, Eren furiously refuses and blames both Reiner and Bertolt for causing him a lot of grief. He trusted them and they betrayed his trust by breaching his home and killing his mother. When he discovers that Ymir is considering joining Reiner and Bertolt, Eren tried vainly to talk her out of it.

Eren later tried to deceive Reiner into believing that he can not resist but immediately attacked Reiner while he was within reach, but was easily subdued. He was later seen bound up and was strapped around the back of Bertolt who is being carried by Reiner in his Armored Titan form.

Meanwhile, the Survey Corps with some of the military officers was able to catch up to them to rescue him. Mikasa attacked Ymir while trying to rescue him. While she and the other trainees were trying to talk Reiner and Bertolt to surrender Eren, a large group of Titans lead by Erwin (using himself as bait) goes right to them. The group is forced to briefly retreat and watch as the Armored Titan is overwhelmed by the Titans. Erwin orders the group to head into battle, stating that humanity has no future if Eren is lost. Eren was later rescued after Armin distracted Bertolt and Erwin wounded him, releasing his strap on Eren who landed on Mikasa.

As Mikasa sprints Eren away, the Smiling Titan suddenly appeared. Hannes tried to save Eren and Mikasa but was eaten himself. Eren howls in disbelief stating that nothing has changed from when he faced the Smiling Titan for the first time, as he was unable to save his mother back then, and now he lost Hannes. Mikasa then states to him that this is not true. Believing that it will be their final moments after seeing Hannes being eaten, Mikasa tells Eren that she wants to thank him for being together with him, for teaching her how to live, and for giving and wrapping the muffler on her which she always wears. As she moves closer to Eren, Eren turned away to face the Smiling Titan and vowed to Mikasa that he will wrap the muffler around her as many times as he needs to. Mikasa and Eren both escaped with the others as Eren unknowingly used the power of the Founding Titan to control other Titans to attack the Smiling Titan, as well as Reiner and Bertolt.

The Uprising arc
Eren and the unified military group manage to return to Wall Rose. However, he feels guilty, as sixty percent of the soldiers who went to rescue him died in the attempt, only half of the survivors are walking and the Survey Corps itself lost most of its veteran soldiers. Armin tells Eren that the Titans ignored them on the way back and theorizes that it was because Eren somehow controlled them into attacking the Armored Titan.

While Eren tries to remember exactly what happened and how, Jean tells him that whether it was worth paying the price to rescue him will depend on what Eren does going forward. Eren finds it odd to be lectured by Jean, but recognizes that he is right and vows to no longer hesitate. He will control the Titans, seal Wall Maria, and catch Reiner and Bertolt.

Approximately one week later, he joins his comrades of the 104th Training Corps as a member of the new Squad Levi in a secluded forest cabin. He cleans the cabin in preparation for Levi's arrival, fully aware of the Captain's concern for cleanliness. As he argues with Jean over it and a kerfuffle rises around Sasha stealing food, he is reminded of the original Squad Levi.

Levi begins a meeting with his and Hange's squads, announcing their plan to retake Wall Maria. Armin wants Eren to harden his Titan form, similar to the Titans that made the Walls, to plug the hole. Under ideal conditions, they could do this in less than a day without laying a supply line like in the original plan.

Eren understands this obligation, so Levi asks Hange if she can experiment with Eren and learn the extent of his power, although Hange is initially reluctant. She is concerned about a schism in the military and that someone in the interior is clearly after Eren, but after discussing with Levi she agrees they should go ahead.

Eren participates in Hange's experiments without much success. After attempting three transformations within a few hours, he ends up with a partially formed Titan and falls unconscious for a day. When he wakes up, he does not remember anything.

Hange tells him that he was unable to harden his Titan form so they ran backup tests to evaluate his intelligence. He tried communicating with them in writing and mentioned "What my father did to me" before his writing became too jumbled to read. Eren exited his Titan with a cloudy memory and only half-conscious. His second transformation resulted in a smaller, less intelligent Titan and his third attempt could not even stand. Eren was partially fused to the body. Hange and the others had to tear him out.

Eren is discouraged by the results, since they cannot retake Wall Maria without his hardening, but Hange and Levi manage to cheer him up, because they still learned a lot about his abilities and limitations. He wonders why he thought about his father during the experiments and that triggers a memory of a dark-haired girl who reminds him of Historia.

After receiving word from Erwin, Eren moves out along with the rest of Levi's squad and heads to their rendezvous point in Trost District. However, he does not accompany them inside. Instead, he waits with Historia in an undisclosed location. The two of them bond over dreams they cannot remember and expectations they cannot meet. Historia reveals that her real self is not like the kind-hearted Krista everyone else knew, and how they must be disappointed by how empty she is inside. However, Eren tells her that he never liked the old Krista, but there is something he likes about her now.

Eren joins Hange and Levi's squads after they capture two members of the Military Police's First Interior Squad. The atmosphere is uncomfortable for most of the 104th as they listen to Djel Sannes being tortured, since this is not what they expected when they signed up, but Eren does not feel they have a choice.

Eren wakes up the next morning, remembering his time with Reiner, Bertolt, and Ymir, and runs to find Hange before he forgets. He finds her venting her frustration on the furniture and hands her a paper with the details of Bertolt and Ymir's conversation in the forest. Hange departs with the information to take to Erwin and Nifa returns with a message from the night before.

Erwin's plan is to have Historia take the throne, since the Reiss family is the true royal family. She does not think she can do it, but Levi bullies her in front of the rest of the squad until she makes up her mind. With her agreement, they move on to the next phase where they will hand Eren and Historia over to the Reeves Company as bait to take them to Rod Reiss, who they believe to be the real power behind the Walls.

Eren and Historia are tied up in a remote location by Dimo Reeves, so they can be handed over to the Military Police's First Interior Squad. Reeves gives Eren a few tiny blades, to be tucked under his tongue, in both hands, and in both feet so he will be able to cut himself in case of an emergency. However, the Military Police suspect a trap and take away the hidden blades before they can be used. Eren and Historia are then loaded into a carriage.

They are transported in coffins by the Interior Squad until they can be taken to their destination. When they arrive at an undisclosed location, one of Eren's kidnappers opens the coffin, but the other man opening Historia's is who captures Eren's attention. It is her father, Rod Reiss.

Some time later, Eren wakes to find himself shirtless, gagged, and chained on an outcropping in a gigantic, glowing cavern. Historia, Rod Reiss, and Kenny Ackerman are standing below. He is glad to see she is safe and Historia assures him that her father has been misunderstood. Despite his actions, he had to take them for the benefit of humanity. Eren feels that he has been here before and Rod says that it would not be surprising if he remembered it even if this is his first time here.

Rod suggests that he and Historia lay their hands on Eren's back because it might help him remember. When they do, it triggers memories of things that happened before in this same underground chamber, which he now knows is beneath a chapel. He sees Rod and his family, another Titan, a member of the Survey Corps, his father's key, and then himself about to be injected with a syringe. Eren realizes that he ate his father when he became a Titan. Rod asks him if he now remembers his father's sin.

Touching Eren also restores a portion of Historia's memories and she recalls that she had an older sister, Frieda Reiss, who kept her company when she was young. She asks to meet her, but Rod says that she was killed by Grisha Yeager five years ago. Grisha possessed the power of the Titans and came to steal away the power that resided inside of Frieda. She had the greatest power of all the Titans, but was not experienced enough to use it, so she was eaten by Grisha and her power stolen. Grisha then killed the rest of Rod Reiss' family.

Once the three of them are alone, Rod opens a satchel and reveals a syringe, which Eren recognizes as the same kind his father had used on him. Rod tells Historia that her sister's memories live on and she can still meet her. Understanding what is about to happen, Eren struggles to warn her.

Historia notices Eren's reaction and asks why he is glaring at her. Rod says it is because Eren is aware of his fate and that his power will be restored to its rightful place inside of her. He tells her about a special Titan that created the three Walls and altered humanity's memories to give them a life of peace. Frieda inherited this Titan and with its power, they would not be in their current situation with so many lives being lost and humans fighting other humans. She probably could have gotten rid of the Titans too. But Eren has the power now and it can only be fully used by descendants of the Reiss family.

Kenny Ackerman returns to voice his disbelief that there would be no point if he turned into a Titan and ate Eren himself. He and Rod threaten each other and when Historia intervenes Kenny tells her that Rod's intention is for her to eat Eren. Historia says she will in order to save humanity and wipe out all the Titans. Disappointed with both Historia and Rod, Kenny walks over to Eren and removes his gag. He gives Eren a cut on the forehead so he can transform and tells everyone that Eren and Historia can both become Titans fight to the death.

Rod pressures Historia to inject herself and eat Eren, but she is puzzled by the fact Eren makes no attempt to transform. Eren tells her that he did not need to happen. If his father had never come here her sister would have been able to take care of everything and so many people would not have died. Eren asks her to eat him and save humanity.

She hesitates and then smashes the syringe on the floor. Historia throws her father over her shoulder and then runs for Eren, bringing Rod's satchel with her. Eren pleads with her to eat him as she angrily tells him that they are leaving. Historia works at his chains, claiming that humanity is part of the problem and after she lets him get away she is going to destroy everything.

Rod licks the smashed contents of the syringe, transforming into a Titan himself and Eren tells Historia she can let him go and he will be eaten by Rod instead. Historia refuses, because even if she is an enemy to humanity, she is still Eren's friend.

She is blown back by the winds created from Rod's transformation, but Levi and his squad arrive in time to save her and get the keys to Eren's chains. Connie, Jean, and Levi work together to free Eren and manage to do so before a chunk of the ceiling smashes into the outcropping where Eren was moments ago. The ceiling is caving in due to the sheer size of Rod's Titan and the squad's escape is blocked. Eren realizes that everyone with him is going to die.

He apologizes for his uselessness as the squad debates whether it is worth the risk of being burned by the Titan's heat in order to escape the collapsing ceiling. Levi tells Eren that he is going to have to make a choice, recalling the time they had been pursued by the Female Titan. Eren decides, and grabs a bottle labeled "Armor" that has spilled out of Rod's satchel. He wants to believe in himself as he puts the jar between his teeth and bites down.

Eren wakes up as he is being extracted from his Titan by Armin and Mikasa. To his surprise, he sees that he was able to harden his body in order to hold back the collapsing ceiling. Moreover, his Titan body has not disappeared. He deduces that his newfound powers must have come from the "Armor" bottle that he had consumed. Levi tells him that with this new ability, Eren should be able to seal Wall Maria.

The squad climbs out of the ruined cavern and regroups to chase after Rod Reiss, who has become an abnormal Titan twice the size of the Colossus. Hange discusses the limitations of the Reiss family's Founding Titan with Eren and Historia and how even if a descendant of the family receives it, they are controlled by the ideology of the First King. Eren still considers being eaten by Rod to save humanity, but Historia is against it. The Reiss family had already tried undoing the brainwashing and once Rod has the Founding Titan's power, he can alter everyone's memories so they have no interest in restraining him.

Historia says these circumstances, now that the Founding Titan has been taken away, might be humanity's one hope and she tells Eren that this is why his father killed the Reiss family. It was the only option he had to save humanity. This causes Eren to remember his father's words from right before he injected him. His father asked him to learn to control this power to save Mikasa, Armin, and everyone else.

They meet up with Erwin while Eren screams at Rod and punches the air in a vain attempt to control the giant Titan the same way he had controlled the other Pure Titans. The Survey Corps falls back to Orvud District, which is in the path of the Titan and make preparations to fight it there.

Eren helps the Survey Corps stack barrels of gunpowder together on a net of rope. He watches Historia stand up to Erwin and admires how strong she has become compared to him. Feeling melancholy that humanity has to depend on someone like him, he spots children in Orvud who remind of himself as child and thinks back to when the Colossus Titan appeared. Armin tells him that it will be different from before, because this time the soldiers on the Wall can fight back. Eren punches himself, to try beating out his feelings of uselessness.

When Rod's Titan arrives and pulls itself up to the Wall, Eren transforms into his Titan form. He takes the net stuffed with barrels and shoves it into the open mouth of the Titan, which is hot enough to make the gunpowder ignite. This causes the Titan's head and neck to explode and enables the Survey Corps soldiers to attack the flying chunks of meat in hope of destroying the nape.

Two months after Historia becomes queen, Eren and the other members of the 104th join Historia at a rural orphanage. He is impressed by how much she has thought things through to aid the people she wants to help most. She catches Eren, Jean, and Armin slacking by the fence and goads them into carrying their share of boxes. Jean and Armin go on ahead and she talks to Eren about the progress with his hardening experiments.

Eren says they are going well, but they need to hurry before Reiner and Bertolt come back. She asks what he would do if they meet up again, and Eren says he will have to kill them, not because he wants to, but because he has to. He tells Historia that she is amazing for having done all this despite her words about dooming humanity, which causes Mikasa to abruptly interrupt the conversation and take Eren's load away from him.

Thanks to Eren's hardening experiments, the Titan guillotine is developed, giving soldiers a reusable weapon to safely kill Titans without risking their lives. However, creating the materials for one puts a strain on Eren's body.

As Eren and his friends eat dinner in the mess hall, Connie leaves to go check on his village to see if he can learn anything new. This causes Eren to remember the events of the past few months, particularly those concerning Ymir and how she said her life was like a nightmare when she was a Titan outside of the Walls. He wonders if Titans are just humans tormented by nightmares and how there must have been a time when he was like that too, but all he remembers is what his father saw when Eren ate him.

Jean tells Eren what he really should focus on remembering is the identity of that Survey Corps soldier from his father's memories. Eren agrees that man has to know something and after Jean jokes that what he needs is a headbutt from their instructor, Eren realizes that the man his father had seen was Head Instructor Keith Shadis. He tells the group that tomorrow they are going to see him.

Return to Shiganshina arc
The next morning, Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Levi, Hange and Sasha visit Keith Shadis, their former instructor. They have a conversation inside a small house, all sit except Sasha. Keith points out that Eren resembles both his father and his mother. Eren then asks him to tell them all that he knows. Keith starts telling what he knows, how he met Grisha and everything he knows about him. Keith finally confesses that he is nothing more than a bystander and that he has no power to change things.

Time goes by, and the operation to retake Wall Maria is ready. The day before the operation the soldiers are having a great dinner in order to ready them for the operation. However, the food turns Sasha into a mindless state. She is later retrained by Eren and Connie. They remember how much things have changed in three months since the battle of Trost. However, that makes them happy, seeing how much they have escalated. The night continues and Jean starts a fight against Eren by insulting him. While they brawl, they wonder why nobody is stopping them, when suddenly Levi comes and knocks them.

After the fight, Eren, Armin and Mikasa have a conversation about their future. They talk about how strong and weak people need to combine their abilities in order to succeed. After mistaking a Garrison with Hannes, Mikasa wonders if they will be able to go back to easier times when they reconquest Wall Maria. Eren answers that it may not be possible, but that is the reason why they must make them pay. Armin also adds that there is more beyond the Walls and that it can be discovered thanks to being part of the Survey Corps. Finally, he vows to see the ocean, without noticing that Levi is overhearing their conversation.

The next morning, the soldiers are ready to travel. They get very surprised when they see that the civilians are cheering them. Finally, Erwin orders the start of the operation and Eren travels towards Shiganshina along with Squad Levi.

While traveling on foot under the cover of night, Eren apologizes to Mikasa, who is escorting his horse in addition to her own, but she insists that he save his energy so that he can seal Wall Maria. After running into an inactive Titan, Eren is surprised to find himself shaking in anticipation. Although he insists, when asked, that he is just shaking from the cold, Armin assures him that it is normal to feel scared of the Titans, and reminds Eren of when he was nearly eaten during the Battle for Trost. Eren reveals that he sacrificed himself to save Armin that day because he had remembered the first time Armin told him about the outside world, which had caused him to realize just how much the Titans had taken from the humans.

Arriving in Shiganshina, the Corps soldiers quickly scale Wall Maria with their vertical maneuvering equipment. Eren is left momentarily stunned at the sight of his home town, but quickly begins heading toward the breach in the Wall at Levi's urging. Sailing over Wall Maria, Eren prepares to turn into his Titan form. Transforming into his Titan form, Eren quickly uses his hardening abilities to seal the hole in Wall Maria before being retrieved by Mikasa, who carries him back to the top of the Wall. As he takes Mikasa's cloak to replace his burned one, Eren informs Hange that he still has the strength to carry on, and assures Levi that he understands that the Corps still has to kill Bertolt and Reiner before their mission will be complete.

While going to meet up with the rest of the Corps, Hange orders Eren's squad to take up positions along the top of the Wall after observing a signal flare fired by Erwin. While waiting, Eren observes the Corps soldiers inspecting the side of the Wall, and begins to wonder if Armin discovered where Reiner and Bertolt are hiding. He is shocked to see Reiner emerge from the inside of the Wall and kill a Corps soldier before being attacked by Levi. As Reiner transforms into his Titan form, Eren is surprised again by the sudden appearance of an army of Titans on the outskirts of Shiganshina, with the Beast Titan leading them. As the Titan army approaches, Eren asks why Erwin has not ordered the Corps to attack, and Hange explains that he is likely observing the enemy's movements before attacking.

On Erwin's orders, Eren descends into Shiganshina, where he changes into his Titan form and acts as bait to draw Reiner's attention. After leading Reiner away from Wall Maria, Eren begins to engage him, using his new hardening abilities to cover his fists in armor. As they fight, Eren grows progressively angrier, and finally, as he declares that he will retake his home, lands a solid punch to the side of Reiner's head, shattering his armor. Although he initially has the upper hand against Reiner, Eren is momentarily overpowered, and pinned to the ground. However, he manages to regain control of the fight and throw Reiner off of him, and into an area where Hange's squad can attack. As Eren watches, Hange's squad blinds Reiner with their Thunder Spears before blowing open his Titan form's nape and apparently killing him. Believing Reiner to be dead, Eren is shocked to see Reiner's Titan form begin roaring.

After being informed that Bertolt is approaching, Hange orders Eren and his comrades to retreat from Reiner's immediate vicinity to avoid the blast from Bertolt's transformation into the Colossus Titan. After Bertolt chooses not to transform in order to check on Reiner, Eren stays with his squad while Armin tries to negotiate with Bertolt. After negotiations fail, and Bertolt transforms into his Titan form, Eren uses his Titan form to shield his comrades from the blast triggered by the transformation. As Bertolt begins to rampage through Shiganshina, throwing buildings through the air, Eren becomes enraged at the sight of his hometown being further desecrated. After Armin gives control of the squad to Jean, Eren begins to retreat from Bertolt's position on Jean's orders, using a nearby building to keep himself hidden.

After escaping Bertolt's immediate vicinity, Eren attempts to draw his attention away from Wall Maria, and the Survey Corps' remaining soldiers. However, when Bertolt chooses to ignore him, Eren and his comrades are left with no choice but to engage him. As his comrades flank Bertolt, Eren grabs one of Bertolt's legs and attempts to push him back. For a moment, it looks as though Eren has halted Bertolt's advance, but it is quickly revealed that Eren has no control over Bertolt, who calmly kicks Eren into the side of Wall Maria, leaving him incapacitated. Eren lays motionless atop Wall Maria and is incapable of moving.

After Armin wakes him up, Eren reluctantly goes along with Armin's plan, pretending to fall down to the ground and become immobile in front of the north gate, while Armin pretends to act shocked. Escaping his Titan form after hardening it, Eren then grapples onto the nape of the Colossus Titan, slices it open, and yanks Bertolt right out. Once Bertolt is out and incapacitated, Eren stares blankly at his friend's charred corpse. He then comments that out of the three of them, Armin was always the bravest.

Remembering the first time he met Armin, Eren falls on his knees and laments that he could not do anything to prevent Armin from being killed. Eren then notices Zeke closing in on him, and picks up an incapacitated Bertolt; threatening to kill him if Zeke comes any closer. When Eren asks him about his father, Zeke retreats as Levi catches up to him. Noticing that Armin is still breathing, Eren begs Levi to use the Titan serum on him. When Levi decides to use it on Erwin, Eren and Mikasa confront him. As Levi announces he is going to use the serum on Erwin, Eren steps in front of him and grabs the serum, asking Levi why he did not give him the serum earlier. Eren is then punched in the face and knocked out briefly, but then regains his composure, as he reminds Levi of all that Armin accomplished; from the planning of sealing the Trost Gate, uncovering Annie's true identity, to finally defeating the Colossus Titan. As Armin returns to his human form after receiving the serum, Eren, along with Mikasa, picked him up off the ground, as Eren is overjoyed to the point of tears to see he is alive.

When Armin wakes up, Eren surprises him with a hug and the surviving members of the Survey Corps joins them as Eren explains to Armin what had transpired, including the latter eating Bertolt. Before long, he, along with Hange, Levi, and Mikasa make their way to his old house and down the stairs to its basement's door. However, they discover that the key Grisha had given him does not fit the lock. Levi then promptly kicks down the door and they enter an office. At first, it seems to be just full of medical books and supplies when Mikasa finds a keyhole in Grisha's desk. Eren tries the key on it and it opens to reveal a drawer that appears to be empty. However, upon closer inspection, it has a fake bottom and underneath it are preserved books. Eren, with Mikasa, opens one of them and finds a picture of a family. On the back of it, Grisha had written that it is not an illustration, it is called a photograph and that humanity has not perished.

Upon returning victorious to the Walls, Eren, along with Mikasa, was placed in detention for disobeying orders from Levi and Hange. While serving his sentence, he helps Armin verify the contents of Grisha's books regarding the outside world and the true nature of the Titans by comparing them with his memories that Grisha passed down to him. During one of his nightmares, he was startled awake with the realization that Dina, Grisha's first wife, was the Smiling Titan who had devoured his mother. During Eren's time in prison, he discusses and verifies the contents of his father's books by comparing them with his memories. During this time, he learns about the Curse of Ymir.

After spending a short time in detention, Eren and Mikasa were released by Levi and Hange ten days early, who informed them that their punishment was only to set an example to the public, and that their help is needed to chart a new course for the Survey Corps after their losses at Shiganshina and in light of the new revelations about the outside world.

Eren, along with the rest of the Survey Corps, then proceeded to attend a meeting with the rest of the military, including the Queen, to discuss the results of the expedition to Shiganshina and the information about the outside world recovered from Grisha's books. During the meeting, Eren came to the sudden realization that the reason he was able to activate the Founding Titan's powers in the past was because he had physical contact with Dina Fritz, a member of the royal family, causing him to let out a great yell, startling all of those present. When questioned about his outburst by Darius Zackly, Eren apologized but decided to stay silent, as he felt that this was not the proper occasion to discuss such a controversial idea, especially if it involved the possibility of Historia having to be fed to him in order to control the Founding Titan. Eren remains solemnly quiet until the conclusion of the meeting, where it is decided that the findings of the basement will be released to the people of the Walls.

The surviving members of the Survey Corps later attend a ceremony, to be commemorated with medals for their bravery and success in Shiganshina. Before the ceremony begins, Floch Forster tells Armin that he, and everyone else that had read the reports believed Erwin should have been the one to survive. This angers Eren, who replies with hostility to Floch, questioning what he knows about Armin. An argument then begins, however before it could escalate it was broken apart by Jean. Armin, agreeing with Floch's argument, is comforted by Eren who reminds Armin of his dream to see the ocean, however Eren is sent into a daze when remembering the death of his aunt Faye.

Eren contemplates the findings of the basement, whilst receiving his medal from Historia. When kissing her hand, he receives a memory from his father, desperately trying to reason with Freida Reiss, currently under the will of the First King. Eren is startled by this.

Time passes, and roughly a year after the Battle of Trost District, the Titan Guillotine had vanquished all Titans within Wall Maria, and Shiganshina District is repopulated. The Survey Corps hold their first expedition beyond the Walls in six years. Eren ventures out with the Survey Corps, going beyond the Walls for the first time in his life. The Survey Corps encounters a deformed Titan, who had been crawling towards the Wall, and Eren pronounces the Titan to be a former compatriot. The Survey Corps follows the deformed Titans trail until they reach the edge of Paradis Island. Eren and the Survey Corps here see the ocean for the first time.

The Survey Corps go down to the beach front, dismounting their horses and taking off their boots. As Jean, Connie, and Sasha play in the salty water, Eren stares out to sea. Armin begins joyfully talking to Eren, saying how large the ocean is, and Eren agrees. Eren, however begins to solemnly monologue about how the other side of the ocean does not hold freedom as he used to believe, but instead, enemies exist on the other side of the ocean. Eren wonders if killing everybody across the ocean will bring the people of the Walls freedom.

Marley arc
In the year 851, one year after retaking Shiganshina District, Eren works with Hange Zoë and the Survey Corps to prepare for Marleyan action against Paradis Island. Eventually, the first scouting ship arrives and Eren uses his Titan form to pick it up and beach it on the shoreline. As Hange meets with two soldiers from the ship, Eren remarks to his friends that they were lucky and mentions they need to strike back in case Marley gets serious in attacking them. At a meeting between members of the Eldian Military, Eren supports the plan made by Zeke Yeager and recalls the encounter with Dina Fritz that caused him to activate the powers of the Founding Titan. He reveals to a disappointed Hange and Levi Ackerman that he stayed quiet for so long to not threaten Historia Reiss's life with unreliable information.

Over the next three years, Marley sends a total of 32 scouting ships to Paradis Island, all of which ended up missing or destroyed by Eren and Armin Arlert's Titans. At a shooting range the next year, Eren asks Armin if he saw anything from Bertolt Hoover's memories that could help them since Zeke only has a few years left to live. When Armin inquires if there is a way for Paradis Island and Marley to resolve the misunderstandings diplomatically instead of fighting, Eren abruptly brushes it off. He states that everyone still sees them as devils and reaffirms his position that Paradis must strike the first blow in order to buy the island time.

Eren later attends a meeting between Kiyomi Azumabito, from the nation of Hizuru, and the heads of Paradis on forming an alliance. When Eren hears that one of the three paths of action would involve Historia succeeding Zeke as the Beast Titan, he refuses to accept the plan, even though Historia agrees to it. Eren decides that they need to go over all the options available and if there is another way to spare Historia. Both sides agree to stay in contact without rushing to a decision.

In 853, while helping his friends assemble a train line with his friends, Eren is disappointed to hear that Hizuru has been unable to find additional allies for them. As they discuss going to Marley themselves, Eren wishes that they had a little more time since Zeke only has two years left to live before he dies and Eren himself has only five years left. He says they will eventually have to consider who will inherit his Titan and when his friends offer themselves, he tells them that they are too important to him and he wants them all to live long lives.

Roughly a year later, Yelena is able to discretely meet with Eren during a festival in Trost. Eren and Yelena both felt a similar sense of danger regarding Marley, though Yelena would later deny that she advised him to infiltrate the other nation and force the Survey Corps into action.

At some point, Eren travels to Marley, arriving before the end of the Marley Mid-East War. Disguising himself as a soldier, Eren is seen near Fort Slava with his left leg amputated. He follows Reiner and the Warrior cadets from afar. He returns to Liberio with the injured and is sent to the hospital along with the other wounded and traumatized soldiers. After being knocked to the floor by a terrified soldier scared by Koslow, he is helped back up by Falco who points out that his armband is on the wrong arm.

Later, under the alias of Kruger, Eren is visited by Falco while he is in the hospital, pretending to have amnesia, so he will not be sent home to any family. He admits to Falco that his condition is fake, saying that he just does not want to go back. Looking at the other war-injured around him makes him wonder how things turned out this way. He asks Falco to send a letter for him from outside of the internment zone so it will not be looked at and the hospital will not figure out that he is faking his illness. Eren says the letter is to his family, to let them know he is all right.

Over the next month, Eren continues to receive visits from Falco, who delivers more letters to and from Eren in his stead. Eren thanks Falco for this, and praises him for being able to beat Gabi in a foot race. Falco notices a baseball and glove next to Eren, who explains that his family gave it to him as something to do. Eren tells Falco that he believes he should return home after the upcoming Tybur festival. Falco then leaves after seeing a doctor whose appearance surprises Eren.

The doctor sits down next to Eren, and tells him his name is Yeager. Eren recognizes the physician as his grandfather, and introduces himself under his alias name. The two talk about Falco, and Yeager asks Eren to stop using Falco to run errands, so that there would be no risk of undoing the hard work that had returned peace to the Grice family. Eren asks Yeager if he has any regrets about his family. Yeager says that he has many, yet before he finishes explaining exactly what they are, he begins to have a mental breakdown. Yeager is taken back inside by hospital staff, as a patient, and Eren returns to throwing a baseball.

At some point during his stay in Marley, Eren meets up with Zeke and learns more about the latter's plan and seems to fully agree with it. He learns about the Ackerman family lineage and how they can harness the power of the Titans while maintaining a human form. Just before the start of the Tybur festival, Falco asks Reiner to follow him to show him something. He leads Reiner down into a basement, and once Reiner goes inside he sees Eren seated and waiting for him. Eren tells Reiner that it has been four years now, and it is good to see he made it back to his hometown. Reiner asks Eren why he is in Marley, and Eren responds that he is there for the same reason as Reiner; he has no choice. Revealing that he has already slit his hand in preparation to transform if need be, Eren insists that Reiner sit with him to listen to Willy Tybur's play.

As Willy continues his speech, Eren begins to regenerate his left leg. Falco stares in disbelief regarding how Eren has lied and deceived him, saying that he looked up to Eren and respected him. Eren apologizes and admits that the letter Falco sent was not for his family but to his friends stationed in Marley; this revelation stuns both Falco and Reiner. Eren overhears Willy saying that he is a rebel and a threat to the peace of Marley and tells Reiner that he is indeed the bad guy; however, he counters that when Wall Maria was broken and his mother was eaten in front of him, Reiner and the other Warriors were the bad guys. Eren finally asks why Reiner and the others broke the wall.

Reiner says that it was due to their mission: to find and capture the Founding Titan in order to save the world. When Eren is asked by Reiner if he has come to kill him, he tells Reiner to forget that he said that; Eren admits that he saw everyone across the sea as an enemy yet mentions that just like Reiner did in Paradis Island, he too saw both good and evil people in Marley. When he starts to say he understands the turmoil Reiner went through, the latter breaks down and insists on being the cause of Eren's mother being killed.

After hearing this as well as a plea to kill him, Eren offers Reiner a hand. Helping him to his feet, Eren says that he now understands that they are both the same. Gripping his hand, Eren declares that he will continue until he wipes out the enemy; Eren then proceeds to transform into the Attack Titan and breaks through the building they were in. He brings his hand down on the stage where Willy was addressing the crowd, destroying it and crushing Willy. Eren then loudly roars, flinging Willy's eviscerated body through the air, and then swallowing it.

He then lunges into the crowd and flings himself on top of the military high command, crushing many if not most of them. As Eren bashes the stands around him, the War Hammer Titan emerges, and he punches it in the face before it can fully form. At first, it appears that he is winning, until a hardened pillar impales the Attack Titan, raising it high into the air.

The War Hammer Titan finishes its formation and raises a hammer at the end of a long pole to swing at Eren, but he breaks the pillar trapping his Titan and flings himself out of the way. Eren lands on the ground and finds that it now covered in barbed spikes, preventing him from lifting his feet. Meanwhile, the Marleyan military fires anti-Titan artillery at his back. Eren hardens his Titan's hands an attempt to block the War Hammer's next strike, but fails, and the Attack Titan's head is sheered away. Eren emerges from his Titan's nape and the War Hammer Titan asks if he has any last words. He then calls for Mikasa, saying that it is time. She attacks the War Hammer at the same time the rest of the Survey Corps attack the Marleyan military. Mikasa lands on the Attack Titan's shoulder after the completion of her attack and Eren expresses gratitude that they all came.

Mikasa questions Eren if he has any idea of what he has done, as he has killed civilians, including children, and there is no way to undo that. However, Eren does not answer the question and instead points out that the War Hammer Titan is still alive. Mikasa is shocked to see the Titan standing up, as she is sure that she destroyed its nape completely, and the War Hammer Titan then fires a pike of its hardened substance towards them. Mikasa quickly grabs Eren and flees away of the Attack Titan's body, barely evading the pike. Eren comes up with a plan to defeat and eat the War Hammer Titan, and asks Mikasa to distract the enemy enough for him to enact it.

As Mikasa fights the War Hammer Titan, Eren remembers that this Titan's body materialized from its feet up rather than its nape, and deduces that its human body is located somewhere underground. Transforming back into the Attack Titan, he sees a hole in the street from where a long cable of flesh comes out, attached to the War Hammer Titan's left heel. Eren puts his hand through the hole and grabs the crystallized body of the younger sister of Willy connected to the other end of the cable, who has been controlling the Titan from there. Eren severs the connection and the now inanimate body of the War Hammer Titan falls to the ground.

Just as Eren is about to eat the younger sister of Willy, Galliard appears behind him in his Jaw Titan form and bites Eren's neck, trying to eat him and regain the founder. However, before he can bite through, his jaw is slashed by Levi Ackerman, preventing him from moving it. Eren smashes Galliard against the building and tries to take him off his back, but Galliard manages to flee, although he is soon held off by Mikasa and other Survey Corps soldiers. However, the Corps are attacked by the Cart Titan's Panzer Unit; and as Eren is distracted by the commotion, he fails to realize that the younger sister of Willy has been generating a new cable towards the ground, from which the War Hammer Titan materializes again, impaling the Attack Titan in a tree-like structure made of its hardened substance. Gabi and Zeke arrive to the battle zone, with the former declaring her intentions to kill Eren.

Trapped in the War Hammer Titan's hardened substance, Eren breaks his hand out and attempts to consume the younger sister of Willy once more. When he bites the crystal, he breaks his Titan's jaw on the hardened surface. He realizes it is the same crystalline structure that Annie had encapsulated herself in. Declaring that the War Hammer's energy has been squandered, Eren resurfaces from his trapped Titan form and immediately transforms once again. Picking up the crystal, Eren watches the battle progress from across the battlefield, while the Survey Corps neutralizes the Beast and Cart Titans.

The Jaw Titan runs across the plaza to assault Eren, and resorts to using its claws to strike him. During the attack, Eren blocks a slash from Galliard, using the younger sister of Willy's crystal. Noticing that the attack had been able to successfully produce cracks in the crystal, Eren devises a plan to use Galliard's Titan to get to the younger sister of Willy. When Mikasa cripples the Jaw Titan's legs in a surprise attack, Eren grabs it and proceeds to tear off its arms. After disabling it, Eren jams the crystal into its mouth and presses down in order to make it break through. He successfully kills the younger sister of Willy, consuming the fluids from her body and giving him the powers of the War Hammer Titan. He moves to finish off the Jaw Titan also but is stopped by the arrival of an incomplete Armored Titan. Eren punches Reiner, who manages to rescue the Jaw Titan from Eren. Eren emerges from his Titan, proclaiming that their mission is done, leading Mikasa to ask that they go back home. As they grapple up to the airship, Eren sadly gazes at Reiner, bidding him farewell and promises that they will meet again.

Once on the airship, Eren is met by Levi, who kicks him and orders that he be restrained. Eren does not resist, but insists that nothing in his letter was wrong. Eren waits in a room with Zeke and Yelena aboard the airship when Jean arrives with Falco and Gabi, saying that Gabi shot Sasha. Hange berates Eren for having forced the Survey Corps to accommodate to his plans and how he has abused their trust. However, Eren is unrepentant, saying that the destruction of the Marleyan military leadership has bought them time. When Connie comes in to announce that Sasha has died, Eren asks about her final words. On hearing that it was "meat," Eren is reminded of when Sasha told him about how they would reclaim their lost land to raise livestock again and disturbs everyone by laughing with tears in his eyes.

The airship successfully reaches Paradis Island and as the deceased are carried off, Eren walks away in silence. He is taken to a cell underground in accordance with his arrest. Eren tidies himself up, and declares his resolve to fight. Hange arrives and notes that Eren was talking to himself about fighting, before attempting to make small talk with him, but Eren demands to know what Hange visited him for.

Hange informs Eren that Paradis has not been able to come up with any other plans, before chastising Eren for inflaming the rest of the world against Paradis with his attack. Eren reveals that he stole the power of the War Hammer Titan in Liberio, explaining its ability to create objects with its hardening ability to Hange. Eren claims that he can free himself at anytime and that, despite all their threats, Paradis cannot kill either him or Zeke. Grabbing Hange through the bars of his cell, Eren demands to know what Hange can do to him, and asks if there is any other way for them to act. Hange storms off, demanding to know if Eren is still going through a "rebellious phase." After Hange leaves, Eren sits on the bunk in his cell and stares blankly ahead.

At roughly the same time Darius Zackly was killed by a bomb in his office, Eren uses his Titan abilities to escape from his cell. He seals up his exit route with hardened skin to prevent his captors from following him. After escaping, Eren meets up with Floch and the other recruits who sided with him during his incarceration. Donning a jacket, Eren does not react to hearing Floch say he is the only one who can save the Eldian people and declares they need to locate Zeke. Eren and the Yeagerists hear the proposal put forth by Commander Pixis and Eren refuses the offer; he instructs his followers they are not to negotiate at all with the Military no matter what. He then learns Hange, Mikasa, Armin and the other Survey Corps soldiers are located at a restaurant where Marleyans work and travel there.

While he instructs Floch to restrain and move them, he goes to the back room where Mikasa, Armin and Gabi are. He makes his presence known and, having cut open his palm early on as a precaution, raises his hand to subtly threaten them into compliance. As Floch announces they are leaving with the others, Eren has Mikasa, Armin and Gabi keep their hands on the table and proclaims they can solve Eldia's problems without violence. When asked by Armin if Zeke and Yelena have convinced Eren to join their side, Eren brushes it off and merely states everything he has done since the attack on Marley was by his own free will. Mikasa insists he is being controlled and brings up how the old Eren would never have killed innocent civilians and brings up how he saved her when they were both children; Eren ignores this but harshly reminds Mikasa to keep her hands on the table. He goes on to say that he met with Zeke and spoke brother to brother, learning much about his plan.

Eren asks Armin if his frequent visits to Annie are by his own doing or if he has been influenced by Bertolt's memories, shocking the latter: Eren goes on to berate his former friend and refers to him as useless, influenced by the enemy. When Mikasa goes to defend Armin, Eren mentions what he learned of her family lineage from Zeke. He muses that the only reason she has stayed by his side is due to her blood and instincts to protect her host, which she convinced herself to be Eren; Eren explains how Mikasa awakened her abilities when she was 9 during the kidnapping attempt.

While Mikasa tries to process this, Eren goes on to say that Ackermans, once awakened, often suffer unexpected headaches due to their true self fighting the urge to protect the recognized host. He mentions the true Mikasa died the day he saved her. Armin demands Eren to stop, but the latter goes on to say he has always hated Mikasa and calls her the thing he hates most: an undoubting slave that only follows orders.

Armin lunges at Eren, but his point is proven when Mikasa instinctively grabs Armin and slams him into the table. Eren does not react when Armin punches him in the face; he merely stands up and recalls they have never fought each other before. Eren starts beating Armin, questioning why and claims the reason is due to Armin having no chance of putting up an actual fight. After kicking Armin to the ground, he orders both of them and Gabi be taken away; however, Eren becomes briefly enraged when Armin calls him the true slave for following a piece of shit.

Martial arts
Originally, Eren's only noteworthy trait was his natural physical strength, which stemmed from having to defend his friend Armin from bullies who were bigger and stronger. As he grew and joined the 104th squad, he trained extensively in hand-to-hand combat. After additional training with Reiner and Annie, Eren's prowess and skill set diversified, including the use of punches, throws, grappling and submission locks. He had the best scores for hand-to-hand combat of the entire 104th graduate squad. While hand-to-hand fighting would appear useless due to the massive physical differences between humans and Titans, these skills gave Eren a powerful edge when fighting other Titans in his own Titan form.

Vertical maneuvering equipment
Though having little talent, through intense training and effort he managed to gain a considerable amount of skill with the equipment. Even so, Eren was not completely lacking in natural aptitude. While using the damaged equipment, he had managed to stay upright for a short amount of time, which the instructor, Keith Shadis, said was an incredible feat, and balanced with ease when using proper gear. The fact he graduated as the 5th best of the 104th graduate squad, even before Jean Kirstein, who was top of the class in mobility with the gear, implied that he had considerable combat skill with the maneuvering equipment.

Though Eren is not shown using the equipment much, he was able to hold his own against the Colossus Titan until the Titan disappeared, almost reaching the nape twice. He was even capable of killing a Titan on his own not too long after joining the Survey Corps. His most significant use of maneuvering equipment was shown during the Battle of Shiganshina, where he was able to use it to cut Bertolt Hoover out of the Colossus Titan's nape while he was distracted by his hardened Titan form, despite being exhausted.

Power of the Titans
After the fall of Wall Maria, Grisha found Eren in a refugee camp and brought him into a nearby forest. After giving him the key to the basement, Grisha injected a struggling Eren with a serum, which transformed him into a 4 meter Pure Titan with short rugged hair and a skinny body. This Titan ate Grisha, giving Eren the powers of the Founding Titan and Attack Titan. Years later, during the first Battle of Trost, Eren was eaten alive by a Titan, and inside the stomach-like cavity saw other fellow recruits lying dead/dying, one wanting her mother before sinking in stomach acid. The sight combined with intense feelings of desperation and his drive to exterminate all Titans awoke his ability to transform into his Titan form for the first time.

In this form, Eren is a 15 meter tall Titan, with shoulder-length black hair, pointed ears, a long nose, and a gaping, skeleton-like maw lacking lips. Unlike most other Titans, his Titan form is considerably more muscular and defined; making him much stronger than even similar-sized Titans while his intelligence and military training, allow him to out-maneuver and dispatch entire groups of Titans with ease. A transformation takes a heavy toll on Eren’s body and requires large amounts of stamina. As a result, he has displayed several symptoms when he over-exerts himself such as a nosebleed, pale skin, and labored breathing. In some cases, Eren is rendered unconscious for a short period of time after a Titan transformation.

Initially, Eren has no control over his actions when he first transforms into a Titan and is unable to remember any actions that occurred during the first Battle of Trost. He is in a “dream-like state” and fails to remember how to transform in the first place. However, Eren recalls fragmented memories of his father by seeing the key to the basement of his old home and is able to successfully transform to protect Armin and Mikasa from certain death. It has been shown that with more transformations, Eren retains more of is intelligence being able to form rational thoughts. At the beginning, during the second Battle of Trost, Eren in his Titan form attacks Mikasa but ultimately plugs the hole in Trost's gate after Armin forces him to wake up. His Titan form, combined with his growing experience and his hand-to-hand combat skills, allowed him to kill over 20 Titans in his first transformation and later manage to overpower and nearly kill the Armored Titan.

Eren, like all others with the power of the Titans, must physically harm himself (or suffer some kind of injury) in order to transform into his Titan form. However, lack of a determined goal and resolution for it inhibit his ability to transform as shown when he cannot transform at first to confront Annie Leonhart. Within Titan transformations, he has displayed the ability to partially transform, as shown when he protected Mikasa and Armin from a cannonball by forming the upper torso skeleton, complete with arms and a skull with some muscle tissue. From his suppressed memories, Eren believes that the full truth of his Titan powers, as well as a way to defeat the Titans once and for all, is located in the basement beneath the ruins of his family home.


 * Enhanced Strength: As a result of Eren’s Titan form being much more muscular than other Titans, he is much stronger in terms of physical strength. During his first transformation, Eren was able to decapitate a 15m Titan with a single punch and kill a 7m Titan with little effort. With both arms lost, he was also strong enough to bite into the neck of a large, abnormal Titan that ate Thomas and lift it up above his head. With enough force, Eren was able to throw the abnormal into another Titan hard enough to knock them both into a building. Against the Female Titan in the Titan Forest, Eren’s Titan form had enough physical force to leave large craters in the ground, as well as lift the Female Titan into the air with a punch. Ultimately, Eren’s greatest display of strength was when he lifted a giant boulder, albeit with difficulty, carry it across a large distance, and slam it down to seal the hole in Trost's gate, producing a large shock wave.


 * Enhanced Endurance: Perhaps Eren's most notable trait of all is his ability to maintain levels of activity for an extended period of time. His first transformation carried on long enough to incapacitate 20 Titans in total. In battle, even after receiving massive amounts of damage from the Female Titan, Eren can carry on fighting, despite the handicaps that he suffers. He was also able to fight against the Armored Titan for a period of time and gain the upper hand. Eren’s endurance in his Titan form was enough to allow him to sustain the effort of hoisting a huge rock on his back, carry it over a large distance, and seal the hole in Trost's gate shortly before collapsing. In Marley, Eren displayed exceptional improvement in his durability. He could transform into a Titan three times in one battle, surprising Galliard.
 * Hardening: After drinking a bottle labeled "Armor" from Rod Reiss' bag, Eren's Titan form gained the ability to harden its body, as well as create a web of pillars that appear to originate from his Titan body. The hardened pillars are incredibly durable, capable of preventing a cave-in, as well as shielding Squad Levi from the heat of Rod Reiss' Titan form. The constructs, as well as Eren's Titan, also retain their durability and hardened state even after he has been separated from his Titan body. After two months of training with Hange Zoë, Eren is able to seal a cave with his hardening powers and reinforce the hole the Colossus Titan left in Trost. However, constant use of this power can overwhelm Eren and make him weak. By focusing his hardening in one place, it gets even stronger. Focusing in his fists gives Eren a hardened punch, capable of easily breaking the Armored Titan's face armor. In Marley, Eren's improved hardening abilities let him harden his forearm fast enough to block a hardened spike from the War Hammer before it could pierce his nape.


 * Regeneration: Eren’s Titan form has demonstrated the ability to automatically heal any injury sustained in battle and also to regenerate entire limbs. Unlike Annie Leonhart, Eren has not shown the advanced ability to focus regeneration to one wounded area of his Titan form. His healing factor was fast enough to heal an entire lost hand in mere seconds to an entire arm in minutes. This ability is useful to Eren as, when he fights, he often loses entire limbs in his Titan form. While in his human state, Eren can also regenerate entire lost limbs, as seen by regrowing an arm and leg he lost to Titans. When captured by Reiner and Bertolt in the Titan Forest, Eren was seen regenerating his lost arms after he lost a fight in his Titan form. During his infiltration mission in Marley, Eren has mastered this ability to the extent that he can restrain the regeneration of his left leg in order to disguise himself as an injured soldier.

Founding Titan
With the power of the Founding Titan that Grisha Yeager stole from the Reiss family, Eren possesses the ability to control nearby Titans, causing them to relentlessly attack his chosen target. However, this ability can only be used while Eren is in contact with a Titan of royal blood.

The first time he uses it is entirely by accident, by touching the palm of Dina Fritz's Titan, causing nearby Titans to attack and devour her, and setting the same Titans upon Bertolt and Reiner. While it is shown that others with the power of the Titans can sense the activation of his power, it is unknown whether it is possible to use it to influence or control other human-controlled Titan.

Possession of the Founding Titan is the reason many groups have expressed an interest in Eren, including Marley's Warriors in their Paradis Island Operation, and Rod Reiss, the former patriarch of the Reiss family.

War Hammer Titan
Eren obtains the power of the War Hammer Titan during the Battle of Liberio by devouring the younger sister of Willy. He claims to be capable of using the War Hammer's abilities to create weapons and more by controlling Titan hardening.

Relationships

 * Mikasa Ackerman - Eren has a complex relationship with his adoptive sister. He often displays a brusque, casual attitude with her, which belies their deep bond and care for each other. While Mikasa is more open with showing concern for him, Eren only does so when she is injured or in distress. Despite his blunt exterior, he is always looking out for her, and will not hesitate to comfort or reassure her when he senses that she needs him to. He would even go as far as to call himself a monster to ensure that she would not be targeted by the prosecution. Like typical siblings, they do not always agree, but Eren will usually not stop Mikasa from doing what she wants, so long as it is within reason. He also seems to harbor somewhat of an inferiority complex towards her, due to her outstripping him in both strength and battle skill. This is further compounded by her desire to constantly keep tabs on him and keep him out of trouble - a habit he generally views as annoying. At times, he feels so stifled by her protectiveness that he openly lashes out at her, telling her not treat him like her "little brother." Despite this, he will attack anyone and anything that threatens Mikasa, even meeting a punch from a 14 m class Titan bare-handed simply to protect her. After joining the Yeagerists, Eren breaks all ties with Mikasa and the Military; when Mikasa tries to bring him around, he calls her an obedient slave and claims that she's become the thing he hates most in the world.
 * Armin Arlert - Armin was Eren's closest friend, who inspired him to dream of the world beyond the Walls (and in doing so, became partially responsible for motivating him to join the Survey Corps). During their childhood, they were snubbed by other children as well as adults for their "heretical" ideas. Armin himself is frequently targeted by bullies, whom Eren (sometimes with Mikasa in tow) would constantly try to fend off. This pattern would continue into their teenage years, with Eren leaping into action to save Armin from danger, not caring if he himself is harmed in the process; the most memorable occasion being the day Eren (sans his left leg) snatched Armin from a Titan's jaws and got swallowed in his place (losing his left arm in the process). Despite Armin considering himself as burdensome, Eren greatly appreciates his quick-wittiness and brilliant judgment (it also did not miss him that Armin's quick thinking had saved his and Mikasa's lives in 845). Eren's confidence in Armin is so great that he would entrust him with his life with no hesitation if asked to do so. However, four years later, some friction has developed between them due to differing opinions on how to deal with Marley and the other nations. Like Eren's relationship with Mikasa, his friendship with Armin is presumably shattered after he joins the Yeagerist movement.
 * Jean Kirstein - As Eren's main rival, his temperament is the very antithesis of Eren's. Where Eren is hotheaded, he is collected; and Jean is pessimistically pragmatic as Eren is idealistic. Jean believed anyone who wished to join the Survey Corps was a suicidal fool, while Eren regarded those who looked down on the people who wanted to fight the Titans with contempt. Initially, they are able to resolve their differences in a civil manner despite starting off on the wrong foot. However, this friendliness was short-lived, and a fierce rivalry budded between them, with the two constantly provoking each other and getting into fistfights. In addition to insulting Jean to his face, Eren also seems to be fond of saying Jean has a "horse-face" behind his back. In the wake of the Battle of Trost, Eren and Jean seem to have set their differences aside and stopped antagonizing each other. Though they still quarrel as much as before, their animosity has noticeably lessened. Once Eren joins the Yeagerists, he views all the Survey Corps soldiers loyal to the Military, including Jean, as enemies.
 * Levi Ackerman - As humanity's most formidable soldier and Eren's superior officer, Levi commands great respect and admiration from him. Eren bears no grudge against Levi for beating him before the entire court during his trial, recognizing that it had been a necessary measure to secure his life. Aware of the vast gap in experience between them, Eren strives to learn as much as he can from Levi, heeding his advice with little hesitation and trusting his judgment. During the thirty days he shared living space with Levi's squad, he also seems to have learned the standard of cleanliness Levi demands very well. A notable depiction of this is when he is shown diligently cleaning his new squad's base (and fretting over the somewhat slovenly habits of his peers) in anticipation of Levi's arrival. As Eren has spent more time with Levi and witnessed how harsh he can be to his peers, he is able to laugh at and encourage the notion of punching Levi in the face. His admiration, however, has somewhat damaged his own self confidence due to Levi's brusque insults, going as far as to call himself a "shitty brat" when talking about his worth. Later, Levi becomes a sort of mentor towards Eren, giving him advice in his times of doubt. As their trust in each other grows, Levi becomes more patient with Eren and forgives his mistakes, nurturing his growth as a soldier, and as a vanguard for humanity's hope.
 * Erwin Smith - Eren briefly meets Erwin as a child the day Shingashina when the Survey Corps returns from a mission. Erwin sees Eren in the crowd smiling in awe but Erwin looked away in sadness due to the heavy losses sustained. Five years later Eren is officially introduced to Erwin following the Battle of Trost and Erwin expressed interest in recruiting hin into the Survey Corps so they could reclaim Wall Maria, and acted in Eren's defense during his hearing. Though Eren was at first discomforted by Erwin's willingness to take big risks and endanger lives he gradually came to understand Erwin's actions when faced with increasingly dangerous threats to humanity.
 * Reiner Braun - Eren once described Reiner as being like an older brother to him, and admired him as a "strong, capable guy." The two were shown to have trained together, and Reiner taught him the importance of the duty soldiers have to protect the weak. It can be said that he was the one Eren looked up to the most in his career as a soldier. However, Eren eventually came to despise Reiner upon learning of his true identity as the Armored Titan and began to view him as a disgusting traitor who had no right to be alive. He planned to slaughter him along with Bertolt Hoover in the slowest, most excruciating manner possible in repayment for all that they had done. When they meet again four years later, Eren's contempt towards Reiner seems to have mellowed to some degree, expressing to Reiner that it is good that he had managed to return to his hometown. In return, Reiner was shocked by Eren's presence and could barely say a word to him. Eren expresses a newfound sympathy towards Reiner after learning the truth about Reiner's mission within the Walls and the world's hatred towards Eldians and experiencing the same infiltration mission within Marley that Reiner carried out years before. Eren even admits he and Reiner are the same, driven by freedom for their people and manipulated by corrupt leaders for the actions of their ancestors. Eren even admits his own anger towards Reiner and Bertolt (and that his promise to make their deaths as miserable and painful as possible) was rash due to him not knowing their reasons why. Despite this Eren still tries to kill him though implies it is not out of malicious intention, but because they are on opposing sides of the war.
 * Bertolt Hoover - When Eren first met Bertolt, he had some reservations about him and seemed to think of Bertolt as "taciturn." Regardless, Eren came to trust Bertolt and saw him as a valued friend. After his true identity as the Colossus Titan was revealed, Eren was horrified and despised Bertolt for causing the death of his mother; this inspired Eren to seek vengeance on all Titans with Bertolt being the main target of his mission. He was only further infuriated by Bertolt's cold response and became bent on making his death as miserable and painful as possible. Eren eventually made good on this promise, personally ripping Bertolt out of the Colossus Titan and severing his limbs, leaving him helpless against the pure Titan of Armin Arlert. Despite this, however, Eren ultimately did not revel in Bertolt's death; rather, he silently cried with a stunned expression on his face as he watched him being eaten. Four years later when Eren meets Reiner again, he admits his promise and anger towards him and Bertolt was misguided since he did not understand their motives at the time. Eren also seems to acknowledge in his forgiveness towards Reiner that Bertolt was as much a victim as they were.
 * Annie Leonhart - Eren greatly admired Annie, and was trained in her unique fighting style during their years as trainees. He considered her to be a kind person beneath her cold exterior and credited her with making him aware of the contradictions within the military system. However, he was eventually horrified to learn of her identity as the Female Titan. Even as Annie herself transformed in front of him, a part of Eren refused to accept her betrayal; and he became so conflicted that he was initially unable to summon the will to fight her (Mikasa even went so far as to suggest that his hesitation was due to him harboring "special feelings" for her). Even as he went toe-to-toe with Annie, he continued to brood over what had driven her to slaughter their comrades and displayed far less anger and contempt towards her than he did for Bertolt or Reiner.
 * Historia Reiss - Eren did not initially interact with Historia very much, and had in fact secretly disliked her because he felt she was a phony. However, once her true identity was revealed and her demeanor began to change, Eren began to see her as more "honest" and warmed up to her. He even accepted being eaten by her if it meant the annihilation of all Titans, which shows deep confidence in her. Despite this, he still wishes for Historia to lead her own life. Eren omitted that coming into contact with a royal blooded Titan would enable him to use the Founding Titan's abilities, fearing that sharing information he considered uncertain at the time would cause Historia to be turned into a Titan. Eren also argues against the plan of Historia being used to birth more heirs to the royal bloodline and becoming the next inheritor of the Beast Titan.
 * Connie Springer - As members of the same trainee squad, Eren and Connie shared many experiences together and get on well with each other. In the early days of their training, Connie was among the trainees who eagerly questioned Eren about the Titans' invasion in 845. Though he only enlisted in order to have a good reputation in his home village and initially wished to join the Military Police Brigade, Connie was so moved by Eren's passionate conviction to defeat the Titans that in the end, he decided to join the Survey Corps instead. Though their backgrounds are different, the two now find themselves sharing a similar plight. Both their families and homes are reduced to little more than memories, and each carries the burden of his mother's cruel fate. However, following Sasha's death and Eren's seeming indifference in having a hand in it, Connie starts viewing Eren contemptuously and sees him as a different person from the one he befriended, and states he is ready to kill Eren should the need arise.
 * Hange Zoë - When Eren first met Hange, he was put off by her obsession with him, finding it creepy. After learning about her work on Sonny and Bean, however, and her reason for being so obsessed with Titans and change (which he could relate to), he became one of the first people to be interested in Hange's work and was saddened by the deaths of the Titan test subjects (although he still finds her weird, especially after she kept him up the entirety of one night). After four years, their relationship sours when Hange notes that Eren's actions in Liberio made the entire Paradis Island Island a target to Marley; furthermore, she expresses anger over how Eren abused the Survey Corps' trust in him for his own selfish desires. Their relationship takes another blow when Eren physically assaults Hange, slamming her against the bars of his cell after returning from Marley and being arrested for his actions.
 * Grisha Yeager - Much like his late wife, Grisha was shown to be a very caring parent towards Eren, greatly concerned with his personal development and general well-being. He understood his son's nature very well, and though he would reprimand Eren when he stepped out of line, he was more likely to simply listen to and guide him. Eren seemed to appreciate Grisha for this, and as a result was greatly frustrated and saddened by his sudden disappearance after Wall Maria fell. Upon remembering the mission his father left him before he vanished, Eren expressed anger and bitterness at the fact that Grisha had kept secrets from them, on top of abandoning himself and Mikasa. He also seems to hold to the belief that his father is still alive, at times pondering over his whereabouts and what he had been doing since the fall of Wall Maria. Afterward, Eren is shown memories of his father thanks to Historia and Rod Reiss in which he learns his father had returned after the fall of Wall Maria. He also learned that his father was the one who gave him his powers and he was dead because Eren devoured him. Eren became distraught to realized he killed his own father but became horrified that the latter was a Titan that killed the Reiss family. He tried to persuade Historia that they do not have to follow the wishes of their fathers, showing he gained some resentment for Grisha. This lasted until he saw his father's memories and saw why he kept his past a secret from him; this caused Eren's perspective of Grisha to change to a sense of understanding. This understanding was seen again after he met his grandfather who broke down after reflecting on his past treatment to his son.
 * Carla Yeager - Carla cared for her son deeply and seemed to want the best for him. Not surprisingly, she was against the idea of Eren enlisting in the Survey Corps when he got older, as many people died outside the Walls. Though Eren never listened to her warnings or advice and insisted on pursuing his dream, he loved her very much. During the fall of Shiganshina, he struggled in vain to rescue her from the rubble of their demolished home despite being surrounded by Titans and wanting to run away from the danger. Unfortunately, he was ultimately forced to watch a Titan devour her as he was hauled to safety. Her brutal demise and his own powerlessness to prevent it severely traumatized Eren. In his grief, he expressed remorse for continuing to disobey and argue with her in their last moments together, and her loss fueled his virulent hatred of all Titans.
 * Hannes - Prior to the fall of Wall Maria, Eren was constantly frustrated by Hannes being a habitual drunkard in the line of duty. Despite not having saved Carla from the hands of the Titan, Eren borne no ill will towards him, and instead looked up to him with respect and understanding. Eren was driven to the brink of despair as he witnessed Hannes being eaten alive by the Smiling Titan, and he remains tormented by his loss despite managing to avenge him. In memory of Hannes and his sacrifice, Eren has become more determined than ever to discover the truth about the Titans and punish any guilty parties.
 * Marco Bott - Eren had great respect for him, and recognized his tendency to think of the group before himself. He also stated he would have liked to be on his squad, and considered him a good leader. Upon learning of Marco's death, Eren was initially in a state of disbelief and was visibly stricken when Jean reaffirmed that the news was indeed true.
 * Petra Ral - Among the members of the squad assigned to protect Eren, Petra seemed to be the one closest to him. She was among the least eccentric and most friendly of the members, and Eren admired her not only for her skill but for her open acceptance of him as a comrade as well. Witnessing her demise at the hands of the Female Titan was a devastating blow to him, and he remains remorseful of making the decision that led to her death.
 * Oluo Bozado - Of all the members of Levi's squad, Oluo gave Eren the toughest time, often badmouthing and blustering at him. Despite his senior's somewhat obnoxious and boastful demeanor, Eren still respected Oluo as a top-tier soldier. In return, Oluo once threatened Eren but saw his mistake and atone for it though he said so in his arrogant ways. His violent death was perhaps the trigger event that caused Eren to finally transform into his Titan form to stop the Female Titan in its tracks. Along with the other member's of Levi's special squad, his death still haunts Eren.
 * Eld Jinn and Gunther Schultz - Eren admired the two soldiers; both in their skills, serious attitude and devotion to humanity by facing the Titans. Their deaths partly fueled Eren's rampage against the Female Titan, and he is still filled with regret over not choosing to fight while they were still alive.
 * Zeke Yeager - Zeke is Eren's older half-brother. Though they initially did not have much interaction, Zeke told Eren that he understands him and wants him to believe him that they both were victims of their father's brainwashing and said that someday he will come to save him. Eren was very surprised Zeke had a resemblance to his father and wondered about the connection until he saw his father's memories and discovered their relationship, becoming shocked that his father had a previous family. Of particular note, Zeke's turning on their father indirectly led to Eren's birth and he also learned that Zeke's mother was the Titan that killed Eren's mother. Four years later, Eren meets his brother in secret, learning numerous secrets and creating a mutual understanding between them. The two now work together, and plan to meet once again to set in motion their secret plan.
 * Falco Grice - Eren seems to have taken a liking to Falco as seen with his friendly demeanor when he saw Falco in the hospital but still manipulated him into unwittingly send messages to the Survey Corps for him.
 * Mr. Yeager - Eren saw his grandfather through his father's memories but what opinion he had of him was unknown. Four years later, he met his grandfather in person while disguising himself as a wounded soldier. He was surprised by the latter's appearance but kept it to himself to avoid suspicion. In a talk, Mr. Yeager appeared to be aware of Eren having Falco do errands for him and told him to stop as it might bring trouble for his family. Mr. Yeager soon confided in him about his past which led his son to form a movement and slowly blame himself for raising him to follow in his footsteps. Eren was solemn at his grandfather's outburst but appeared to understand the choices of his father.

People killed

 * Two unnamed robbers
 * Grisha Yeager (as a Pure Titan)
 * Willy Tybur
 * Zofia
 * Calvi
 * Younger sister of Willy
 * Audience members at the festival hosted in Liberio

Indirectly

 * Bertolt Hoover
 * Udo
 * Lobov (unintentional)
 * Sasha Blouse (unintentional)
 * Six unnamed Survey Corps members (unintentional)
 * Over a hundred Stohess District citizens (unintentional)

Failed attempts

 * Bertolt Hoover
 * Mikasa Ackerman (unintentional)
 * Annie Leonhart
 * Reiner Braun
 * Falco Grice
 * Porco Galliard

Trivia

 * Eren ranked second in the First Character Popularity Poll, right after Levi Ackerman.
 * Eren was known for fighting with local bullies before Shiganshina fell.
 * In a flashback, his father notes that he does not make friends easily.
 * Hajime Isayama has said that he does not see Eren and Armin being best friends forever.
 * This proved to be true after Eren declared Armin as being controlled by Bertolt, and through their fight after Eren declared he has always hated Mikasa.
 * The name "Eren" is of Cultural Ethnic Turkish origin. Its exact meaning and description is "He who progresses/has reached towards divine maturity and sacred wisdom". It can also be interpreted as a "saint" or "holy person." "Eren" could also stand for the German word "Ehre" (plural "Ehren"), which means honor.
 * Eren's surname, Yeager, is an Anglicized form of the name Jäger/Jaeger, common among German-American migrants.
 * Eren's name is believed to have come from his father's compatriot, Eren Kruger. He also uses his last name, Kruger, when he pretends to be an injured soldier while infiltrating Marley.
 * Eren Yeager sounds similar to the German word "Ehrenjäger," which means "titular hunter."
 * According to Armin Arlert, the 104th Trainee Squad nicknamed him the "Suicidal Blockhead" (死に急ぎ野郎).
 * When speaking about Titans, Eren has a habit of using -hiki (the counter suffix for small animals) instead of -tai (the counter for large animals), signifying his deep contempt for them.
 * He has the highest Titan kill record by far of all the former graduates of the 104th Training Corps, though he has killed only one Titan in human form with his vertical equipment abilities, and the rest have been killed using his Titan abilities. In human form, the most kills belong to Mikasa.
 * According to Isayama, if the 104th Training Corps had an arm wrestling competition, Eren would be evenly matched with Jean Kirstein.
 * Hajime Isayama stated in an interview that due to the fact that he and Eren are "polar opposites," he had a hard time writing for the character until around the fourth volume of the manga. He claimed, however, that he was not truly able to understand Eren's character until he heard 's portrayal of him.
 * Hajime Isayama stated in an interview that he based Eren's Titan form off of the Japanese martial artist Yūshin Okami, paraphrasing it to be the "ideal physique of a middleweight mixed martial artist."
 * Whilst lifting the giant boulder in his Titan form to block the breach in Wall Rose, Eren bore a striking resemblance to the Ancient Greek Titan, who supported the on his shoulders.
 * An interview with Isayama's editor in Otomedia's October 2013 issue revealed Isayama originally intended for Eren to have known all along that he was a Titan, but scratched the idea.
 * In the game Age of Gunslingers Online, a special Titan Mode was made as a tribute to the series. It features Eln, an NPC modeled after Eren and voiced by Yūki Kaji. A trailer of this mode can be viewed here. There is also a special skin for the Dual Pistol class available for purchase.
 * Eren is one of the Attack on Titan characters that were made into Nendoroid figures, along with Mikasa, Levi, Armin, and the Colossus Titan.
 * Eren ranked first in the Akiba Souken Shingeki no Kyojin online character popularity poll.

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