Attack on Titan Character Ranking

Attack on Titan (S1-3) Character Ranking

Attack on Titan. At first glance, it seems like a typical, action-pack, shounen anime. And while it does have it action, it got much more than that. It got heavy hitting consequences with the characters' actions, difficult decisions that target their morality, mysteries surrounding the world they live in, and several complex, three-dimensional characters.

I'm gonna be ranking these characters. The characters I'm gonna rank will be from season 1 to season 3, and are part of the main cast. How they're placed on the list will be based on their complexity, development, likability, and background. I'll only be using the three seasons as my source, not the manga or the OVA.

Oh, and it won't be from worst to best. They will be ranked from good to great, from B-tier to S-tier, as all the characters here are far from the worst.

Also, spoiler warning. There's gonna be spoilers for season 1 to 3, so if you haven't watched the anime yet and don't want to be spoiled, then click out. Otherwise, enjoy.

14. Sasha Blouse

Unfortunately for our Potato Girl, she's last on this list. But it's not because she's as a bad character. She just not as good as the others.

Sasha is a pretty likable character. As one of the main sources of comic relief, she's an airhead, a big eater, a klepto on top of that, and during the beginning, a bit of a cowardly lion. But she's also caring for others, optimistic, have killer instincts, and when she needs to be, pretty brave.

She's also had a fair bit of character development, going from a girl who could care less about the refugees, to someone willing to fight a Titan with a bow in order to save a little girl. The development also showed a fair bit of complexity to her character, showing why she has such an obsession on food.

So, while she's a pretty good character, she's not comparable to the rest, and doesn't get as much screen time as the others. So she gets the last spot on this list.

13. Connie Springer

Connie here, while is another character who holds the title of comic relief, is a bit better than Sasha. 

At the start, he introduced himself as the idiot of the cast. Someone who's easy-going, goofy, and doesn't use their head much. But as the series progresses, as he gets hit with more and more tragedies, he becomes much more serious. Plus, he isn't as stupid as people would think, considering he's one of the top ten cadets.

The battle of Trost, the loss of his family and village, the betrayal of Reiner and Berthdolt, all took a toll on the character. It lead him to take being a soldier seriously, as well as desire vengeance on the one that turned his family into titans.

Overall, he's pretty similar to Sasha in terms of comic relief, and his development is shared with her and Jean. But he manage to get his own little pieces of development as a character, so he gets the 14th spot.

12. Reiner

Despite being the more expressive of his fellow warrior shifters, there's not much to really say about Reiner compared to the other two. Much of what you can say is either an act, or just part of his semi-split personality.

He's someone that will stick to his mission, no matter what happens; at the same time, he's someone that seems mentally strong, but really isn't. He struggles with hiding in a mask, struggle in keeping a strong will, struggle with keeping his own sanity, while on the mission to destroy mankind inside the walls.

And that all we really see from him, and we don't see that much. I know that's gonna change once season 4 hits, and he's still a good character because of that inner battle of the mind, but until then, he's gonna be at the 12th spot.

11. Annie

Despite her popularity, Annie isn't someone that's shown much in the series. Because of that, I can't really justify placing her high on the list. Saying that, whenever she hits the screen, she shows herself to be a really good character. 

Apathetic, cynical, pragmatic, and aloof would best describe Annie. She's someone who can see the world for how it really is, yet don't fight the flow of things. While she believes that you can't fight the way things are and win, she does admire those that will, Eren being the main example.

Also, despite her cynical view and self-centered outlook, she shown to care about people. After the battle of Trost, there are scenes where she's shown carrying immense guilt for her role in the mass murders. And when she fought Eren in her titan form in Wall Sina, she is shown worrying a brief moment for the people she crashed into. Also, when fighting the scouts and Eren, she doesn't kill any of her former comrades, even when she had the chance to.

There's also a few little things about her character, such as her passion for fighting, as well as the brief flashbacks of her father. But again, we don't see her character all that much, so she has to settle for 11th place.

10. Bertholdt Hoover

Out of the warrior trio, Bertholdt is probably the most stable one. He's a meek and quiet person, not really going to the forefront of the story. However, when he gets his time to shine, he really proves himself as a character.

While he doesn't seem as guilt-ridden as Reiner or Annie, it doesn't mean he isn't affected by the things he does. In the second half of season two, it's made clear that he sees himself as a monster, and knows that all the deaths he caused aren't forgivable. Despite that, he continues the mission, knowing that it's too late to stop now.

When season 3, part 2 came, he changed. He's not as quiet and emotional as before. In order to complete the mission of destroying humanity inside the walls, he became colder. More confident. Unafraid of any of the possible outcomes in this fight. Despite showing fear of dying in the end, it was a great piece of character development for the Colossal Titan shifter.

So, while he isn't as interesting as his warrior comrades, and has much less focus compared to the two of them, he had some nice development to his character, which gives him the 10th spot.

9. Ymir

Ymir is someone who claims to purely selfish. Someone who's looking out for herself, that doesn't intends to make friends, and feels that random acts of kindness gets you nowhere.

And for the most part, that is true. But there are times where see a more selfless side of her, one that cares for the people she befriends, defend others even at the cost of her own life, and is able to sympathize with others. She's someone that, after living a lie as the goddess Ymir Fritz, tries to stay true to herself and believes others should do so as well.

She's a pretty complex character, being someone who never want to live a lie again, and very cynical about life. Someone who tries to live for her own survival, yet is ultimately someone who's selfless and self-sacrificing for others. What keeps her from getting higher is the lack of screen-time she gets, with many of her character moments being in the short season 2. So she gets 9th place on this list.

8. Hange Zoe

If there's such a thing as a mad scientist in the Attack on Titan world, Hange fits that bill. From the start, she showed herself as eccentric when it comes to all things Titans, not showing fear or hate whenever she come across any, but rather excitement and eagerness to find out more about them.

The researcher of the Scout regiment is also very goofy, kindhearted, and chipper, making her a very likable character. However, that isn't all too her character. Hidden within that eccentric and silly scientist, lies a menacing, possibly even cruel, soldier. It was a part of her that she buried when she began researching Titans, though come out when someone messes with her and her comrades.

As seasons passed, as she loses more and more of her soldiers, and learns more about the world, much of her eccentricities is lost and replaced with her more serious side. While not everything about her changed, she isn't the same scientist from season 1.

That complexity, and slow and subtle change to her character, puts her in 8th place.

7. Mikasa Ackerman

Now, Mikasa is probably my favorite character in the series. Her devotion to Eren is probably one of my favorite things about her, as well as the series in general. Despite that, it's difficult to rank her high when her entire character is that devotion. Difficult, but not impossible.

She doesn't really develop throughout the series. The only time she does is during season 1, during the brief time she thought Eren was dead. Other than that, she remained pretty much a static character.

That isn't a bad thing, however. Despite her near blind devotion to Eren, or even because of it, she remains a multi-dimensional character. Her point of view of the world being cruel, yet beautiful; her belief of having to fight to survive; being so compose yet emotional at the same time; all this, and more, makes her a great character.

However, much of what makes her great aren't really explored in season 2 and 3. A few moments here and there, such as her emotional confession during the end of season 2, but other than those few moments, nothing else. Season 1 was the highlight for her. So for being such a complex character, yet not one that's explored as much, she gets the 7th spot.

6. Jean

Jean had a lot of character development throughout season 1 and season 3 (Part 1). At the start, he was cocky, yet honest, kid that merely wanted the good life, and saw fighting the titans as a suicide run.

Several arcs later he became a seasoned soldier, who's a capable leader, willing to do what's needed to win, but will question how far is too far. He's still afraid to die, and still see the battle in front of him as insane, but he'll fight through that fear in order for humanity to survive.

His character gets built with the battle of Trost, the expedition and capture of Annie, and the Uprising arc. He displays his skills as a leader, see and do what needs to be done to win and survive each fight, and gather the courage to actually fight. Despite this, he's still try to keep to his morality, and always challenges the length the scouts takes to ensure the survival of humanity.

So, because of his development into a multilayered character, he gets 6th place in this ranking.

5. Historia Reiss

Historia is another character that we see get a lot of development. In season 1, we see her as Krista Lenze, an extremely kind girl who's willing to help anyone in need.

Season 2, we find out that Krista isn't her real name, as well as hints that her kind personality isn't real either. Instead of being kind because she is that way, she's doing so that people would like her, and remember her as someone noble when she's die. We get a glimpse of much more complex character, and backstory, instead of just a static nice girl.

Then season 3 came, and we get more of her actual personality, her backstory as a bastard daughter, and her development into the the new queen of the walls. We see her be true to herself, rather than become something she's not just so somebody would like her. We see her actually becoming brave, selfless, and caring, and not faking those traits.

So, because of her slow reveal into her character, as well as her development, she gets 5th place.

4. Levi Ackerman

It should come to no surprise that humanity's strongest is this high on this list. But instead of development that got him to where he is, it's how complex the character is.

At the start, you get the impression that he's a cold, rude, and distrusting individual, with a pension for cleanliness. But when you pay attention, and as you continue watching the series, you see that he's more than that.

He's someone that cares about people, especially his comrades; who had learned from the choices that got those he cared for killed. Someone that was forced to survive on the streets, which caused that need to be clean. And someone that hates pointless deaths. 

All that is shown throughout the series. So because of how complex and well-rounded he is, on top of being an incredibly skilled fighter, he gets the 4th spot on this list.

3. Erwin Smith

The commander of the scout regiments is just layered as his top soldier. When we first see him, we see that he's a stoic and serious person, wanting to do whatever he can to save humanity.

Season 1 and season 2 enforced that even more. He makes decisions that not only cost the lives of soldiers, but civilians as well, knowing full well that lives would be lost. Also showed serious resolve when he continued commanding his troops to fight, even when his arm was caught in the mouth of a titan. Heck, he even escaped and continued fighting with just one arm.

Season 3, part 1 improves on this character, giving us a backstory as to his motivation and why he's on the path he's on. We see, not only his personal desire to prove his father right and see the proof for himself, but also as the gambler he is, his famous strategies being just major gambles.

And the thing that places him higher than Levi? Part 2 of season 3. He had such a strong end to his journey, charging at the Beast Titan alongside the surviving scouts, to give Levi the chance to kill the shifter. He gave up his dream, gave up the chance to see what's inside the cellar, in order to truly fight for humanity, and not just for himself. 

So for his high complexity and amazing end to his character journey, he gets 3rd place.

2. Armin Arlert

There's a lot about Armin in the series. He's incredibly intelligent, curious and insightful, and pacifistic, at least at first. He can be very timid, and lacks self-confidence; but when he gain that confidence, he's a very dangerous soldier/strategist.

Time after time, we see his high intellect and insight about the world around him. He created several plans throughout the series that saved several lives in the end, as well as learn about how he view the world and whats needed to ultimately win the battle in front of them.

We see his motivation to not only save humanity from the titans, but also be able to explore outside the wall, see things that he only read in books. While we don't see it often, we see it enough to know that that motivation has never left him.\

We see him developed throughout the series, from a scared little boy to a soldier willing to give up everything to save humanity. We see him get braver, see him utilize his brain more, see his confidence go up at times, and occasionally, see him make difficult choices.

All this, his development, his intelligence, his insight into the world of Attack on Titan, gives him the 2nd spot on this list.

1. Eren Yeager

Now here's the number one character on this list, Eren Yeager. I'm possibly gonna get some slack for this, but I do feel that this character is the best out of every character here on Attack on Titan. Don't worry, I'm gonna explain why.

Eren is a hot-blooded young boy, with an incredible drive and perseverance, a high moral compass, and a terrifying amount of anger. Even before the titans invaded Wall Maria, we saw that seemingly endless amount of  fury, passion, and righteousness.

But with those traits, comes flaws. He's very ignorant about the world, incredibly careless, often let his emotions take control over his reasoning, and not very empathetic. He can be naive in his thinking, and don't think about the situation before taking action. Can even be indecisive at times. And when those flaws come out in battle, he gets punished for it. Badly.

What makes him great is how developed throughout the series. It's not an instant development, but it's there, and it's noticeable.

He learns when to trust others, and when to trust himself; learns to think before acting; learns to watch his emotions, and becomes stronger for it. In other words, he grows up.

There's a lot to this character, from the loyalty he shows to those he cares for, to his surprisingly analytical mind, but this is getting long enough, so I'll end it with this: There's more Eren than just being the "suicidal bastard" of the 104th cadet corp. He represents a lot of the themes of Attack on Titan, and was a incredibly well-rounded character, even before his own development. So for that, he gets the number one spot.

Conclusion

That's the end of my list. Phew. It seems that with each ranking I do, it just gets harder and harder. Not sure if I can chalk it up to coincidence, or something.

Anyways, what do you think of this ranking? Agree? Disagree? I would like it if you leave some comments, give your opinion on these rankings, possibly your own personal rankings. I try to be as objective as I can be with these rankings. Hopefully, I'm accomplishing that task.

So, for the next post, I think I might do something brave and rank all the Star Wars movie; the original, prequel, and sequel trilogies, along with the spinoffs. Or possibly the MCU movies or it's characters. Maybe another anime/game. Haven't decided yet. Until then, I'll see you guys later.