Attack on Titan is also known to have a beautiful yet extremely cruel world where the characters are frequently weighed down by their fate. However, with this series coming to its climax, not all the most iconic arcs received the ending they deserved. In place of poetic closure, we were left with benched queens and unexpected off-screen exits that left the fans desiring more.
Although the conclusion was spectacular, it failed in some areas and left a lot to be desired by fans. Here are some of the characters that were either sidelined, rushed or became footnotes after seasons of unbelievable growth.
Attack on Titan Officially Reveals Mikasa's Husband In Latest Release
Mikasa's husband has finally been officially revealed, and fans are shocked.
6 Floch Forster
Whether you may love him or dislike him, Floch was the only person who said precisely what would have occurred had Eren been prevented from continuing his mission. He devoted every second of his life to the survival of his people and may have died like a villain to many, yet he fought for a cause he sincerely believed was the only means of rescuing his home. During the series, Floch was the character with the second-best character development, next to Eren himself.
To his own people, he was the real hero, his journey from a terrified recruit who wanted to disobey orders to a cold, determined leader who adhered to his ideals to the very last breath. Where others faltered and hesitated to take sides, Floch never faltered, and his desperate, solitary death at the hands of Mikasa was a bitter one to a man who had been right about the cycle of hatred the whole time.
5 Ymir (Scout)
Ymir’s death is among the largest what-ifs in the show as she was literally removed through the narrative by an off-screen flashback. She saved Reiner and Bertholdt and was brought to Marley, where she was consumed to transfer to the Jaw Titan. It was a huge waste of a person who still had many years to live and no motivation to die on behalf of the nation which had treated her cruelly all her life.
Marley would even have been able to make her a weapon of killing, but she could have remained on Paradis and kept Historia safe, but she died on behalf of a nation to which she did not owe anything. Her departure was more of a convenient means of changing the action than a conclusion that might well be accorded to her fiercely independent character and her love for the Historia.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
4 Erwin Smith
The irony of the story of Erwin Smith is that he died feet away to the basement, the very truth he had been desperately trying to get his entire life. He died just before the secrets of the world were understood after dragging hundreds of men into their death and giving up his own humanity to the truth. The ultimate narrative heartbreak is to die in the dirt where the answer to his life question was only a few roads away.
Although his last command was legendary, his fans remain in wonder about what a man of such genius could have done with the knowledge of the outside world. He should have seen the sea and the basement with his own eyes, and not be a ghost on whose account the Scouts made all the hard choices thereafter.
The Original Attack on Titan
Before Eren, Attack on Titan initially had a completely different main character. Here's a closer look at Attack on Titan: Volume 0.
3 Hange Zoe
Hange was the heart and brain of the Scouts following the death of Erwin, but her sacrifice during the finale seemed to be forced by the story. She went out in a blaze of glory and fought the Colossal Titans, and many fans believed the scene was set up only to put Armin in the Commander position, by force. The danger that Hange remained behind to delay did not appear quite insurmountable at that particular moment.
For a character who had defied all the impossible odds, and lived on science and curiosity, a simple suicide charge seemed like a feeble exit. Hange should have had a chance to witness the world outside the war, as they were one of few who cared about the biology and wonders of the Titans as opposed to the killing.
2 Ymir Fritz (The Founder)
One of the most controversial aspects of the entire finale was the revelation of the fact that Ymir was still a slave in the Paths because she loved King Fritz even though he never once treated her as a human. Following millennia of torment and her children devouring her own flesh, having her motivation boiled down to a forced toxic attachment due to her Stockholm Syndrome felt like a shallow explanation for such a cosmic tragedy.
She needed to be given a resolution that emphasized regaining her agency and her humanity, other than her waiting until Mikasa revealed how to “let go”. Her story was one of passive suffering to the very end, and as a being who is as powerful as a god, many fans are left to believe that they never actually got to see the real character of her being.
I May Be Humanity's Enemy, But I'm Your Friend, Eren. I Can't Be A Good Girl And I Don't Want To Be A God. But When I See Someone Crying, Saying No One Needs Them, I Want To Tell Them It's Not True. — Historia Reiss
1 Historia Reiss
The anime finale was fantastic, but it had much to be desired when it came to Historia Reiss, who turned out to be virtually nonexistent in the finale of the series. She was no longer the queen, nor was anything related to her pregnancy, husband or child ever revealed. What even was the point of her child? As it was given so much importance only to be completely ignored, she was ultimately turned into a background character with no words and a confusing pregnancy subplot.
Attack on Titan: Why Historia is One of the Series’ Most Underrated Characters
Attack on Titan built up Historia’s character beautifully, only to leave her irrelevant by the series’ end with many questions left unanswered.
Historia was a character based on the substance of living for herself, but she had finished the series as a political figurehead who had nothing to say in the final conflict, nor any role. To a woman who used to rebel against her father and the literal God of the Walls, being a silent footnote in the most significant hour in the series was a massive disservice to her whole journey.
Attack On Titan
- Release Date
- 2013 - 2023-00-00
Cast
-
Matthew Mercer -
Josh Grelle
WHERE TO WATCH
Based on Hajime Isayama's widely popular manga, Attack on Titan is a dark fantasy anime set in a world where humanity lives behind walls to protect themselves from massive creatures known as Titans. Over the course of four seasons, the story takes plenty of unexpected twists and turns, almost evolving into a different type of series in the process.
- Main Genre
- Action
- Seasons
- 4
- Studio
- Wit Studio, MAPPA
- Franchise
- Attack on Titan
- Characters By
- Hajime Isayama
- Japanese Title
- Shingeki no Kyojin
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Hajime Isayama
- Distributor
- Adult Swim (Toonami)
- Main Characters
- Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman, Eren Jaeger
- Production Company
- Wit Studio, MAPPA
- Story By
- Hajime Isayama
- Number of Episodes
- 94
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu, Crunchyroll, Adult Swim
- MyAnimeList Score
- 8.55 (Season 1)
