Eren Jaeger

Eren Jaeger
Naming
Others	Eren Yeager Eren Jäger
Original	エレン・イェーガー
Romanization	Eren Yēgā
Personal information
Species	Human/Titan Shifter
Gender	Male
Date of birth	March 30, 835
Age	15
Affiliation	Survey Corps
Relations	Mikasa Ackerman (adoptive sister) Kalura Yeager (mother, deceased) Grisha Yeager (father, deceased)
Current status	Active
Biology
Body type	Humanoid
Height	170 cm (5'7")
Weight	63 kg (138.9 lbs)
Intelligence
Sentience	Sentient
Sapience	Sapient
Behind the Scenes
Universe	Attack on Titan
Created by	Hajime Isayama
Performed by	Yūki Kaji (voice) Bryce Papenbrook (voice) Miguel Angel Leal (voice)

Eren Jaeger (エレン・イェーガー, Eren Yēgā, (often romanized as "Eren Jäger/Eren Jaeger") is the main protagonist of the Attack on Titan series.

He holds a personal vendetta against all Titans for destroying his home and eating his mother, and his goal is to kill every last one of them and explore the world beyond the Walls.

Appearance

Human Form

Eren, seemingly of Germanic heritage, is a young man of average height and build. He has a fairly long, yet rounded face, and sizable, expressive grey eyes (teal-green in the anime). His eyebrows are sparse and often furrowed, making him seem troubled or annoyed. His hair is short and black (dark brown in the anime), with his bangs falling naturally into a middle-parted curtain-type style. His complexion also seems somewhat more tan in comparison to other characters. He is first seen wearing regular townsfolk attire, which consisted of brown trousers, a green shirt with string tassels at the collar, a moss green coat (maroon in the anime), and simple brown shoes. A few years before the beginning of the story, he also wore a dark grey scarf (red in the anime), which he gave to Mikasa the day they met. As a teenager, he is often seen in the typical Survey Corps uniform when training. His casual attire consists of a long beige shirt (identical to that which he wore on his first appearance) worn with a maroon sash about his waist, brown trousers and brown shoes. He always keeps the key given to him by his father dangling around his neck on a string.

Titan Form

As a Titan, Eren's appearance changes quite drastically. Along with a massive increase in height (to about 15 m), his hair grows long enough to graze his shoulders, with his tongue and ears becoming elongated. His facial features also undergo a transformation. Along with a prominent, hooked nose, his eyes are deeply sunken within their sockets, and his mouth takes on an unusual jagged shape unsuited for intelligible speech. He also lacks lips and flesh about his cheeks, exposing all his teeth. Compared to the majority of other Titans, Eren's Titan form is well-proportioned and seemingly more physically fit, sporting well-defined lean muscle in lieu of the more common potbellied or emaciated appearance

Personality

Eren is best described as hardheaded, passionate and impulsive, which are both attributes of his strong determination to protect mankind and eventually leave the walls. 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 compared them to complacent livestock. As a child, Eren cared deeply for Armin, his best and only friend before he met Mikasa, and most importantly his family, risking harm and even death in order to help them. This quality was most often demonstrated in the form of Eren taking on the larger boys who would bully Armin without hesitation; and more tragically when he desperately attempted to lift the rubble crushing his mother during the Titan's assault in Shiganshina. In contrast, Eren is also capable of displaying very violent behavior in the defense of people he does not even know. This is highlighted when he brutally slaughtered two of the human traffickers who captured Mikasa in order to rescue her, despite the fact that they were total strangers at the time. Since witnessing his mother's gruesome demise and losing contact with his father, his fierce protectiveness to those he has left has only intensified. Eren has a number of defining traits that date back to his childhood. He came to share his friend Armin's awe of the lands beyond the Walls after the latter showed him a book depicting the wonders of the outside world; and decided to see it all for himself. This led him to develop a scornful attitude to anyone content to live and die within the Wall's confines without ever setting foot outside. This very contempt may have been the reason he did not easily make friends with his peers. He resented both the Walls that "caged" them in like cattle, and the Titans that had driven humanity to erect them in the first place. 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 easily took offense when anyone spoke badly of the Legion, and his determination to join caused friction between himself and his mother, as well as to Mikasa. Eren had a marked lack of self-restraint that often led him into trouble, causing both his friends and family to worry over him. His limited self-control extended to his temper, and as a result it was short at best and murderous at the very worst. When sufficiently provoked, his anger could drive him into a frenzy, accompanied by horrific levels of violence. Like many children, he tended to view the world in terms of black-and-white; having great compassion for humanity and its plight, but deeming those individuals who deny others their freedom as worthless scum unfit to be left alive. He also had the habit of thinking with his heart rather than his head, even in situations where his own life was in danger. His characteristic qualities have become more highly pronounced since his mother's death. He now focuses his destructive rage at the Titans, and holds a virulent hatred for them. Fueled by vengeance, he vows to personally wipe every single one of them out and restore mankind to its rightful place. Though he feels great remorse for quarreling with his mother till the very end, he still continues to go against her wishes by seeking entry to the Survey Corps. So strong is his desire to exterminate the Titans, he was plunged into despair when it seemed he could not even master the basics of the 3D Maneuver Gear during training, when his failure was in fact due to faulty equipment. He is not afraid to voice his intentions of leaving the Walls to eliminate the Titans, and is so concentrated in his hatred that he seems not to fear them at all; earning him the nickname "Suicidal Bastard" from the other Trainees. He possesses great amounts of selflessness, perseverance, fortitude, and a vigorous determination; managing to graduate fifth in his class despite his lack of natural talent, refusing to give up on his goal to exterminate the Titans even after being dismembered and eaten alive, taking on the Colossal Titan and attempting to fight the 14-15 meter tall Smiling Titan while in his human form. He greatly appreciates and/or admires his comrades, and will swiftly fly into a rage if one of them is injured or killed in front of him. He prizes human life, but his personal sense of justice dictates that anyone who steals away the freedom and dreams of others deserves to die. As the identities of the Titan Shifters are revealed, his disbelief quickly gives way to a burning desire to deal each a slow, agonizing death for their crimes. Though his ordeals since the Assault of Trost have taught him to conduct himself a bit more carefully, Eren still tends to behave quite rashly, and speaks his mind even when he knows he should not. This has put him in grave danger on numerous occasions, and he often finds himself having to be rescued. Whilst assuming his Titan form, Eren seems to become more savage, bloodthirsty, and all-round uncontrollable. Though he is able to consciously control his Titan body after the Battle of Trost, he can very easily become caught up in the pleasure of slaughtering his enemies, indulging in thoughts so brutal he gives the impression of being insane.

Abilities

Martial Arts

Originally, Eren's only noteworthy trait was his natural physical strength. 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.

3D Maneuver Gear

At first, it is shown that Eren is not very skilled with the gear, he tried and tried countless times but kept tripping and smacking his head on the floor. People mocked him for this. Eren pleaded for help from everyone but the only advice they could give Eren was that he needed to clear his mind and focus. On his last attempt Eren did just that and stayed upright for a short period of time before tipping over and hitting his head. The commander told Thomas Wagner to swap equipment with Eren and for Eren to try again. Eren did so and balanced with ease. Commander then told Eren that his equipment was damaged and that it was a miracle that he managed to stay up right at all. He isn't shown using the gear much, but was able to hold his own with the Colossal Titan for a short period of time until the Titan disappeared. He was eventually able to slowly develop a respectable amount of skill with the use of the gear, even being capable of killing a Titan on his own not too long after joining the Scouting Corps.

Titan Shifting

During the first Battle of Trost, Eren was swallowed whole 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. This sight combined with intense feelings of desperation and his drive to exterminate all Titans awoke his ability to transform into the Rogue Titan. In this form, he is a 15m Titan, with shoulder-length black hair, pointed ears, a long nose, and a gaping, skeleton like maw lacking lips. Unlike most other Titans, Eren's Titan form is considerably more muscular and defined; making him much stronger than even similar sized Titans while his intelligence and military training, something regular Titans don't have, 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 Wall Sina 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.[30] Despite this, Eren is still prone to thinking brutal thoughts often giving others the impression that he has gone insane when he is slaughtering enemies as seen in his second fight with Annie Leonhart. Eren, like all other Titan Shifters, must physically harm himself in order to transform into his Titan form. However, feelings of confusion or lack of remembering with memory can 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 a skeleton, arms, and a skull with some muscle tissue. The source of his powers have yet to be revealed. 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.

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 after he lost his arm and leg to a Titan he regrew them. When captured by Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover in the Forest of Giant Trees, Eren was seen regenerating his lost arms after he lost a fight in his Titan form.

• 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 1st transformation, Eren was able to decapitate a 15m Titan with a punch, and kill a 7m Titan with little effort. With both arms lost, he was also strong enough to bite 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 Forest of Giant Trees, 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 difficultly, carry it across a large distance, and slam it down to seal the hole in Wall Rose producing a large shock wave.

• Enhanced Endurance: Perhaps the Rogue Titan’s most famous trait of all is its ability to maintain levels of activity for an extended period of time. Eren’s 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 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 a large distance, and seal the hole in Wall Rose shortly before collapsing.

• Transformation: During the final battle with the Female Titan in the anime, Eren is left heavily wounded, and experiences enough psychotic feelings with his drive to kill all Titans fully unleashed. In addition, Eren’s Titan eyes emanate a bright light blue. It appears this is a temporary transformation as it only triggered by intense emotion and wears off once Eren fully controls himself again. Despite the short time limit, strength, speed, and other physical attributes are boosted to higher limits than in Eren’s normal Titan form. With this new found power, Eren was able to quickly catch up to the Female Titan despite her having a head-start, and him missing a leg from their previous encounter. His boosted strength also allowed him to decapitate the Female Titan with one punch.

The Coordinate

Eren possesses a mysterious ability to control nearby Titans, causing them to relentlessly attack his chosen target. The first time he uses it is entirely by accident, causing nearby Titans to attack and devour the Smiling Titan. The second time was as much an accident, setting the same Titans upon the foreign Titan shifters while telling them to stay back. While it is shown that other Titan Shifters can sense the activation of his power, it is unknown whether it is possible to use it to influence or control other Titan Shifters. The exact nature and limitations of this mysterious ability are yet unrevealed, but appear to have been the reason that Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt attempted to kidnap him, though both Reiner and Bertolt were alarmed when he showed the ability to direct the Titans. The source of this mysterious power is yet to be revealed.

Notes

• Eren ranked second in the Characters 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.
  • That said, he was immediately open to the idea of Mikasa living with them, and also risked his own life for her, before they had even met. He also shows that he cares for her right from the start, when he gives her his scarf, even taking the liberty of putting it on her himself.
• The scarf could be a reference to the "Red string of fate" which in Japanese folklore represents an unbreakable connection between soulmates.
• 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 Anglicised form of the name Jäger/Jaeger, common amongst German migrants in the USA. The name itself originates from the German and Scandinavian word Jäger, which means "hunter."
• 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 Bastard" (死に急ぎ野郎 Shi ni isogi yarō?, lit. the bastard who's in a hurry to die).
• When speaking about Titans, instead of using "-tai", the counter term for large creatures, Eren often uses "-hiki" the counter for small animals; which signifies his deep contempt for the Titans.
• 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".
• Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen is Eren's theme song. The song alludes to his name multiple times.
• Because Eren's Titan form lacks an official name, fans have unofficially dubbed it the "Rogue Titan", due to its aberrant behavior.
• 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 Atlas, who supported the celestial sphere on his shoulders.
• The above is appropriate as Atlas was very strong and also because, according to this Greek myth site, Atlas' name can translate to "suffers" or "endures". This speaks to Eren's hardships from the Titans and his enduring attitude to exterminate the Titans.
• Eren is one of the Attack on Titan characters that were made into Nendoroid figures, along with Mikasa, Levi, and the Colossal Titan.
• Eren's Titan form has nictitating membranes, a third eyelid possessed by predatory species such as sharks, birds of prey, and reptiles. It is unknown if he possesses them in the manga, but he can be observed blinking them several times in the 8th episode of the anime. It is unknown whether this trait is unique to him or possessed by other Titans, as no other cases have been seen.
• 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.
• 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.
• There are few instances of foreshadowing Eren's titan-shifting ability before it was revealed he was a titan shifter (though it was revealed extremely early in the series):
• When Eren fails to use the 3DMG due to broken equipment, he cracks his head against the ground. The steam that rises from his head is actually his unconscious ability to regenerate rather than embarrassment
• Additionally, he healed in one night which is extremely quick.
  • The most obvious one is his "dream" in which Grisha Yeager injected a serum into him.