Warning: This list contains spoilers for Attack On Titan
Fans of the massively popular anime, Attack on Titan, are eagerly awaiting part three of the final season, which won’t be out until some time in 2023. The show has gripped viewers’ attention from the very beginning and has broken many hearts. It seems like almost no character is safe, as they continue to drop like flies as the story progresses.
Of all the character deaths, a handful have been absolutely excruciating to watch. The crushing of fans’ souls seems to never end, as tragic deaths are always right around the corner and don’t stay away for long. As painful as it can be to watch, the heartbreak that comes with the demise of characters just goes to show they are incredibly well written. Stories with superb characters are worth the emotional torment and are often compelling because of how difficult the losses are to stomach.
Marlo Freudenberg
Shiganshina District was overrun by Titans in season one, and it took years for humanity to return. Eventually, they retook it as their own, but their victory was short-lived. Zeke Jaeger and multiple pure Titans trapped the Scouts by the wall.
Unable to escape, the Scouts had no choice but to charge at Zeke’s Beast Titan to draw his attention away from Levi so he could attack. The charge was guaranteed to get everyone killed, but they bravely faced their doom. In his final moments, Marlo thinks about where Hitch is and what she’s doing. It brings him some comfort, but doesn’t stop him from meeting a swift end from a barrage of rocks.
Dot Pyxis
As commander of the Garrison Regiment, Pyxis has long been a major player for humanity within the walls. His work was vital for the success of the people of Paradis, but his leadership was cut short when Zeke Jaeger’s scream turned him into a Titan.
There’s nothing that could be done to turn Pyxis into a human again, so the Scouts had no choice but to kill him. It was a grim truth, but it made for one of the best fight scenes in the whole show. Armin took it upon himself to take out Pyxis, but he couldn’t do it without first thanking the him for all he’d done.
Erwin Smith
Erwin led the Scouts in a charge towards Zeke, but he was quickly struck by a large rock. The blow didn’t kill him instantly, so Floch carried him back to Levi so the Titan serum could be used to revive Erwin.
Ultimately it was decided that Armin, who was horribly burned, would be saved instead Erwin. The decision to choose between Armin and Erwin was an agonizing one for the survivors at Shiganshina, especially for Levi. The entire episode is excruciating to watch, but it’s one of the best Attack On Titan episodes of the entire series.
Colt Grice
Just like Pyxis, Falco Grice also ingested some of Zeke’s spinal fluid that was put into bottles of wine, so he also turned Titan. The worst part of it was that he and Colt begged Zeke not to scream so Falco would remain human. Zeke didn’t listen, so Falco burst into pure Titan form.
Falco’s violent transformation ended up killing Colt because he refused to leave his little brother in his final moments as a human. It was a terrible end for a kind man, as his last breaths were spent feeling that he failed Falco.
Carla Jaeger
Fans didn’t have long to get to know Carla, but the impact of her death was still powerful. When Eren and Mikasa return home, they find Carla under a pile of rubble, unable to move.
Hannes shows up and plans to save her and the kids, but he’s terrified by an approaching Titan. He listens to Carla’s pleas to take the children and run, but once he’s gone Carla quietly cries for them not to leave. Eren looks on in horror as his mother is picked up and devoured by a Titan.
Daz & Samuel
When the people inside the walls discovered that Titans are in fact transformed human beings they realized that their true enemy is just a different group of people. The goals of all the regiments from Paradis began to shift, especially when Eren went rogue. The group known as Jaegerists broke off from the rest of Paradis’ people, ending trust between individuals who were once friends.
Daz and Samuel were two Jaegerists in the wrong place at the wrong time when they found out that Armin and Conny didn’t truly align with Eren, now that he changed. As a result, the four were at odds but still tried to understand how things ended up like they did. However, none of them were willing to compromise, so Conny shot and killed Daz and Samuel before letting out a gut-wrenching scream. It clearly tore Conny apart to kill his former friends, but he didn’t have much of a choice.
Hannes
Hannes always looked out for Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. They certainly drove him crazy sometimes, but he loved them despite all of it. His inability to save Carla Jaeger haunted him ever since the moment it occurred, and in season three he had a chance to redeem himself by taking down the Titan that ate Carla.
Sadly, he couldn’t defeat it. He gave his best effort and was brave to the very end, but it wasn’t enough. Even worse, it was now Eren who was unable to save Hannes from being eaten. All he and Mikasa could do was watch as their longtime friend was devoured by the same Titan that took Eren’s mother from him. As painful as the moment is, it’s one that Attack On Titan fans love to rewatch over and over.
Sasha Braus
Sasha is well loved by both the characters within Attack on Titan and the real-life fans of the show. Her friendship with Conny often brings laughter and smiles to viewers, but like all good things, it couldn’t last. Gabi Braun saw Sasha kill a couple of officers from Liberio, so she was determined to get payback. This led her to try to get aboard the Scout’s airship at all costs.
After she killed Lobov while he was dangling beneath the airship, she used his gear to climb aboard with Falco. Once inside, she fired a shot directly at Sasha, which ended up killing her moments later. Conny delivered the news to Jean and a few others and looked as if he lost a huge part of himself. His reaction, along with the weeping of Armin and Mikasa, is difficult to watch.
Bertholdt Hoover
When Armin was near death after being burned by the Colossal Titan’s steam, Levi game him Titan serum in order to revive him. But in order to turn back into a human, he would have to eat a Titan-shifter. Bertholdt happened to have been captured by Eren just moments before, so he was fed to Armin’s pure Titan.
Bertholdt may have been an enemy of Paradis, but he also loved the comrades he’d trained with. His unfortunate situation forced him to remain enemies with people he’d grown to love. Unfortunately, his betrayal of the Scouts led them to decide to feed him to Armin. As he is eaten, Bertholdt cries out to his former friends for mercy. It was horrible but was made necessary because of the actions leading up to it.
Marco Bodt
Marco was one of the kindest members of the 104th Cadet Corps. He genuinely saw the best in people and was a smart young man on top of that. Unfortunately, he got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time when he overheard Bertholdt and Reiner talking about their Titans.
Realizing their mistake, the shifters chased Marco down and, when Annie arrived, took his ODM gear. Left alone on a rooftop, Marco begged for answers and cried out for mercy as they left him to die. His screams were absolutely haunting for fans to hear, and even the three Marleyan spies looked like they were tormented by what they’d just done.
