In a show as gruesome and emotional as Attack on Titan, it’s only natural that there is an abundance of impactful character deaths along the way. To celebrate the show finally coming to an end, we’ve rounded up 15 of the most devastating death scenes, evaluating why they were so moving and emotional in comparison to other slaughters.
Carla Jaeger
How could anyone forget the brutal demise of Carla Jaeger, biological mother to Eren and adoptive mother to Mikasa?
This was one of the very first deaths in the show, and helped set up expectations for just how dark, harsh, and brutal the story would be moving forward. While Carla urges the children to go and live on, this death is particularly heartbreaking because once they are out of earshot, she whispers ‘Don’t go’, giving away just how terrified she was of dying alone.
However, perhaps the most devastating fact surrounding her death was that when Eren gained control of the Founding Titan powers, he had to witness this event all over again, choosing to ensure that the Smiling Titan devoured his mother rather than Bertholdt to ensure that the timeline remained the same — and that his motivations for killing the Titans would be fostered in his younger self.
Marco Bodt
Poor, poor, Marco. As one of the first faces Eren and his friends meet in their time during their training, he also ends up being one of the first comrades to meet his end, perishing off-screen during the Battle of Trost.
Marco’s fate was particularly brutal. Half of his body and face were ripped off by a Titan, while the other half was found discarded among the other casualties on the streets by Jean. This death hits particularly hard, as Marco was a very gentle-natured person with an undeniably big heart. To see him meet such a horrible fate, and so soon, only reiterated the harsh reality that nobody was safe.
Unfortunately, this death scene was made even more impactful when it was later revised and elaborated on. Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt’s were directly responsible for his death, removing his Mobility Gear from his possession in order to make sure he couldn’t reveal to anyone else that they were the traitors and the Titans attacking Paradis.
It’s heartbreaking to witness, as Marco wasn’t even mad at the trio; just devastated, wanting a chance to talk things out with them. Marco was betrayed by the people he thought he could trust the most, his comrades, who he thought to be his friends.
Petra Ral & The Levi Squad
The Levi Squad was an undeniably badass Scout group, consisting of soldiers hand-picked by none other than Captain Levi himself. To put it lightly, these were the best of the best, which is partially why their deaths were so impactful.
While Eld, Gunther, and Oruo all made an impact on Eren and friends, Petra stood out even more significantly due to her welcoming and kind-hearted personality, and her ability to inspire teamwork and companionship with her unwavering dedication to her squad. Levi even appeared to have a soft spot for her, knowing how much she looked up to him.
All of this made seeing the Levi Squad get obliterated in such a brutal fashion oh so heart-wrenching, with Annie wiping them out as if they were nothing. The look of immense terror and dread building on their faces is nothing short of horrifying, as they went into the mission with nothing but bravery and trust in the plan; only for it to backfire, with all of them spending their last moments screaming in terror at the sight of the Female Titan, squished and ripped apart one by one.
Ymir
Despite her harsh and cynical facade, Ymir had an undeniably good heart to the very end, making her demise exceptionally bittersweet.
This somewhat underappreciated member of the Scouts undeniably has one of the most tragic life stories in Attack on Titan. Having grown up on the streets of Marley as a nameless orphan beggar until she was taken in by a man who gave her the title of ‘Ymir’, she was raised in a cult that worshipped her as the blood of Founder Ymir.
When the cult was discovered, this man told authorities that Ymir had deceived him into thinking she was of royal blood, to which she agreed to save the lives of everyone else. This resulted in Ymir being turned into a Mindless Titan and thrown into the wild. After gaining the power of the Jaws Titan when she mindlessly devouring Marcel Galliard, Ymir established her freedom, swearing to live life only for herself.
After her secrets are revealed and she comes to the understanding that she stole the Jaws Titan power from Marley, Ymir at first is determined to fight to live her life alongside Historia. Yet, the discovery of Eren’s founding Titan powers changed everything. She feels a sense of hope for humanity after all, choosing to sacrifice herself to Marley and give back the power that she stole.
Because of this, Ymir never really got her wish to live a full life, nor did she end up living for herself. Instead, she perished off-screen in another selfless act to do what was right for other people, leaving behind nothing other than a note for Historia to remember her by.
Isabelle Magnolia & Furlan Church
Isabelle and Furlan were childhood best friends of Levi, surviving together as thieves of the Underground with the use of stolen ODM Gear. After a failed assassination attempt against Erwin Smith, the trio are wanted passage out of the underground to join the ranks of the Scouts, having impressed Erwin with their self-taught ODM Gear skills.
Unfortunately, this new life together on the surface would not last long for the three, with both Furlan and Isobel losing their lives during their first Exterior Scouting Mission. While they originally worked well with one another to bring down a Titan upon being ambushed, Levi splits off from the main Scout group to move forward with their original assassination plans against Erwin — only for the group to be ambushed by an Abnormal Titan in his absence.
Levi returns to find the severed head of Isabelle and watches the Titan spit out the top half of Furlan’s torn body. It’s a sudden, yet effective means of taking these initially vital characters off the table almost as soon as they were introduced, and you can’t help but empathize with Levi in his hatred for Titans afterward.
Ilse Langnar
Ilse’s death was devastating for one main reason; she was the first to discover proof of the true origins surrounding Titans, yet she died before she was able to pass this information along.
After being the last to survive an ambush of Titans, Ilse finds herself in the forest with no sight of her hose and broken ODM gear, leaving her alone in Titan territory with nothing but her journal. Ilse eventually encounters a Titan, which chases her up against a tree, but strangely hesitates before eating her, which causes her to start taking notes in her journal. Shockingly, this Titan appears to become self-aware, mistaking her for Ymir due to their similar appearance, speaking to her with the words “Lady Ymir…well met.” and bowing its head.
In a moment of horror, however, this Titan seems to lose control of the humanity it has left, pulling at its face and tearing its skin apart as it fights the urge to chomp down on poor Ilse. The Titan is unable to fight this urge any longer and kills Ilse by biting her, all while Ilse continues to scribble notes down in her journal whilst being crushed in its mouth.
As if this death wasn’t horrible enough, this self-aware Titan begins to weep after killing her, and instead of eating her, leaves her body sitting in a tree as a sign of respect; much like the chair that Ymir used to sit on while the cultists bowed to her.
Ymir Fritz
Ymir Fritz’s life was rather horrific, with her village being raided and enslaved by Eldians, making her an orphan. After letting some pigs escape from their pen, the entire village turned her in when King Fritz questioned the slaves, with Ymir being hunted to death in a sport-like fashion to pay for her actions. This is how she stumbled across the strange tree and received the powers of the Founding Titan.
However, with her new power, Ymir chose not to seek revenge, but to return to Eldia and use her abilities to help her people, serving King Fritz by slaughtering Marley’s armies, building structures and bridges on the land of Eldia, and eventually bearing his children.
Devoted to the man who had enslaved her so brutally, Ymir even saved his life from an assassination attempt, which resulted in her death. In desperation to not lose the power of the Founding Titan, King Frtiz then had their children eat their mother’s corpse, making her demise even more disturbing and saddening.
Sasha Braus
The girl that launched a thousand memes, Sasha Braus’ death was one of the biggest ones to occur in the early portion of the Final Season and easily ranks among one of the most devastating in the series.
Sasha is a beloved longtime character from the beginning of Attack on Titan, having joined the 104th Cadets. She had some great character development, managing to go from a girl who only knew hunting and had an obsession with food to one of the strongest soldiers in the Scouts, helping to save friends and civilians on countless occasions.
And yet, for all of her development, expertise, and formidable skill, her life was still ended in an instant by a bullet wound from Gabi. Her perception even enabled her to pick up that something was off before she was shot, but the airship was too noisy for her or Jean to react in time.
On the plus side though, Sasha never lost her energetic and fun-loving side before she died. She even spends her last moments muttering about food — unapologetically herself to the very end. While her death is heartbreaking, there is some comfort in knowing that she was still the same meat-obsessed girl that everyone met in the 104th Cadets.
Hange Zoe
I think Hange’s death in particular will forever be burned into my mind — and yes, that unintentional pun made my heart sink.
In fact, for the majority of AOT, I respected Hange as a character but didn’t particularly admire her. However, her death was so impactful that it made me feel like I’d lost a longtime friend. If that isn’t enough of an indicator, I don’t know what is. Heroic as ever, Hange is undeniably one of the bravest Scouts in existence, nobly sacrificing her life during the Rumbling to slay as many Colossal Titans as possible, buying time for her comrades to flee the scene.
With the emotional Bauklotze track aiding her, as she slices through these hulking giants, Hange goes out in a literal blaze of glory, taking down as many Titans as possible while the steam from their bodies lights her on fire. Despite the unimaginable pain and unbearable heat she must be facing, Hange continues to fight on until she is finally engulfed in flames, burning alive.
However, much like Sasha, Hange never loses sight of who she is. Even when she knows she’s staring death in the face, she still finds herself admiring Titans and finding beauty in the horrific creatures, helping her character feel that much more special.
It’s safe to say I’ll never not be a devoted Hange fan after that. I have far, far too much respect for her character, and I’ll never hear Bauklotze again without tearing up.
Erwin Smith
Commander Erwin had experienced a lot of pain and suffering during his lifetime. However, if there was one thing that kept him pushing forward, it was his dream of uncovering the truth of humanity and longing to discover if his father’s theories had been correct.
Tragically, Erwin met his end before he was unable to achieve this dream, his absomen shredded by debris thrown at him by the beast Titan. To add salt to the wound of this death, he died when he was so close to his goal, the secrets hidden within Eren’s basement just out of reach. In classic Erwin fashion, he was courageous to the very end, bravely inspiring and leading his soldiers to fight even when they were staring death right in the face.
However, as tragic as Erwin’s passing may be, it was acknowledged by Levi and Hange that their beloved friend finally got to rest in peace after a lifetime of hell. This is proven to be true in the scene following Hange’s death, where the two are shown to reconnect in the afterlife with Erwin having a much a lighter expression and tone to his voice.
Hannes
Hannes has always been an important supporting character, but it always seemed likely his death wouldn’t be a pleasant one.
He was the one to grab Eren and Mikasa and flee to safety following the breach of Wall Sina during the horrific moment in which Carla Jaeger is devoured by the Smiling Titan. While this made him a hero, he also felt guilty for this outcome, knowing full well that he could have tried to fight the Titan off and save Carla.
Later down the line, Hannes gets a chance to redeem himself by taking on the Titan again during the battle against and chase of Bertholdt and Reiner. Determined to right his wrongs and make up for his previous lack of courage, Hannes tackles his fears like a champ, putting up a vigilant fight against the Smiling Titan.
And yet, the Smiling Titan manages to catch him off guard. Just when he thinks he’s getting the upper hand, it tears his body in half as Eren and Mikasa are forced to watch helplessly from the sideline.
While Hannes’ death is tragic in itself, what stirs the most emotion is Eren’s anguished and heartbroken response to witnessing this. Just like the death of his mother, he was unable to do anything, and it’s made paiinfully clear just how far off he is from achieving his goals.
Mike Zacharias
During Mike’s time alive, he was known to be one of the most powerful Scout soldiers in existence, second in power only to Captain Levi. All the same, he was powerless in the face of the world’s more powerful Titans,
After buying time for his allies to get away and warn nearby towns of the incoming breach by Titans, Mike manages to kill off enough of the monsters to get away. However, just as he’s about to make his escape, he encounters Zeke as the Beast Titan. As Mike calls his horse towards him, Zeke grabs it and hurls it toward him, sending him crashing onto the ground and into the clutches of the remaining Titans who chomp down on his legs.
Unable to flee, Mike can only stare in horror as the Beast Titan bends down to have a conversation with him regarding ODM Gear. Poor Mike is too frightened to respond, which causes Zeke to steal his ODM gear and release the Titans to swarm him. Mike is then shown screaming in pain and horror as the Titans tear his body in two.
It’s brutal and disturbing to watch, with one of humanity’s most powerful soldiers going out as if he were no more than weak fodder.
Dina Fritz
Dina Fritz is a descendant of the royal family, the first wife of Grisha Jaeger, and mother to Zeke Jaeger. After placing Zeke in the Marley Warriors training program to take on the power of one of the Titans and operate as a mole, they were later betrayed by him as he ratted them out to the government. As punishment, both Dina and Grisha were sent to Paradis Island to become Mindless Titans, where Grisha was forced to watch his wife become one of the fearsome monstrosities before his very eyes.
Despite the grim circumstances, Dina looks at Grisha and moments before being turned, promises to find his Titan wherever they end up, ending her life with a smile on her face. Grisha, on the other hand, was saved by the Owl, stopping him from becoming a Titan at all. In a saddening and twisting turn of events, it would be none other than Dina and her smile who become the terrifying Smiling Titan upon her transformation.
This makes her death even more sad and disturbing, as it is this very Titan who is responsible for taking the life of Grisha’s second wife and mother to Eren, Carla Jaeger. It likewise colors the Titan’s eventual murder at the end of season 2 with a tinge of bitter-sweetness, as Dina is freed from her years-long torment in a truly violent and disturbing manner.
Marlo Freudenberg
Marlo was a heroic character, remaining a dedicated and extremely loyal soldier throughout his lifetime.
Joining the Military Police not because he was seeking the safety of the Walls, but because he wanted to rework the broken system, he had dreams of grandeur and being hailed as someone who helped others. Sadly, despite his undeniable heroism and bravery inspired by Commander Erwin, Marlo was one of the numerous lives lost during the Scouts’ final charge, in which Zeke slaughtered all but a handful of the organization.
Making his death even sadder is the fact that he knows he’s riding into certain doom. However, even as he can see his end approaching, he begins to ask himself in fear ‘Is this how I’m going to die?’, spending his last moments thinking about his close friend and crush Hitch is probably sleeping in at that very moment, and how nice that sounds. Marlo’s very last thought is ‘What am I doing all the way out here?’, indicating that he regrets the choices he had made to wind up in such a position.
Ramzi
If there’s one death that is the most likely to stick with Attack on Titan viewers, it’s pretty easily Ramzi‘s.
Ramzi is just a child when he meets a horrifically gruesome end during the events of the Rumbling, being crushed while fleeing the Rumbling Titans with his best friend Halil. As the two boys run for their lives, falling debris knocks them both to the ground, crushing Ramzi’s leg and killing Halil on impact.
As Ramzi remains trapped on the path of the Titans, all he can do is stare at the fractured skull of Halil as he is crushed alive by the foot of a Colossal Titan, the two still gripping onto each other’s wrists as blood clouds Ramzi’s vision and his teeth are shattered by the pressure.
However, the most disturbing part of Ramzi’s death was that Eren knew it would occur. Having seen Ramzi’s demise via the Founding Titan’s powers, he confessed and apologized to the boy in advance. begging him for forgiveness and apologizing profusely for the fate he had in store.
Yet, this didn’t deter Eren’s plans in the slightest. Poor Ramzi thanked Eren with gratitude after being saved; only for the Titan Shifter to brutally kill him off at a later date.
Talk about twisted.
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