Every season of Hajime Isayama’sAttack on Titanhas surprised us with soul-crushing and gruesome deaths that we still haven’t recovered from.
While the creator’s plan to open a spa using our tears ran perfectly, some characters' deaths were particularly hard-hitting than the rest.
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The more unexpected their last moments were, the more impact they had on the surviving characters. Not to forget, a handful of characters died without a farewell, leaving their friends and us with unresolved grief.
As we get over the trauma of losing our beloved characters, let’s look at the most brutal deaths in AoT that still haunt us emotionally and mentally.
The following list contains significant spoilers for Attack on Titan, so we recommend reading the manga or watching the anime in advance.
10Sasha Blouse
Everyone’s Favorite Potato Girl
Compared to the upcoming entries, Sasha Blouse had the least painful death and was surrounded by all her friends when she died. However, that doesn’t make her death any less of an emotional wreck, making her a perfect start to the list.
After regrouping with her friends and other Scouts on the airship, she was impulsively killed byGabi Braunbefore she could respond to the situation.
Moments before Sasha’s death, Connie hugged Jean and Sasha tightly, expressing his gratitude to both for surviving.
This made her death more emotional and shocking as I had least expected Gabi to kill Sasha right after that wholesome moment. Plus, I didn’t expect her to shoot anyone on an airship filled with armed enemies.
Sasha’s death wasn’t just a loss of comic relief but marked a bleak and gritty turn of events in Attack on Titan.
9Bertholtd Hoover
Still Can’t Pronounce His Name
Even with Bertholtd’s complicated and guilt-ridden personality, he was an antagonist for carrying out a mass slaughter and justifying it with the cruelty of his cause or world.
When his time came, he was eaten by Armin Arlert in his Pure Titan form as he desperately called Reiner, Annie, and his former friends for help.
Nevertheless, Berthold’s smile for a split second when Armin grabbed him and was about to devour himcaught me off guard.
After I revisited that scene, I concluded it was because he saw Eren and his former friends on the roof, knowing they would rescue him.
However, Bertholtd neither knew they had aTitan syringenor it was Armin who was about to take over his Titan powers, making his death more devastating.
8Carla Jaeger
Could Have Stopped Rumbling In Seconds!
As an affectionate, loving mother and wife,Carla Jaeger’s deathundoubtedly established the premise of Attack on Titan and fueled Eren’s hatred to wipe out all the Titans.
Trapped under the debris of the Wall of Shiganshina district as multiple Titans wreaked havoc, Carla pleaded with Hannes to protect Eren and Mikasa, leaving her.
Ultimately, she is ripped apart and eaten by the Smiling Titan, as Eren vulnerably watches and gets dragged away by Hannes.
Her death served as a macguffin to Eren and the AoT series, but I almost broke down when she suppressed her urge to yell at Hannes for help. Little did I know that we were just getting started.
100 Points For The Effort!
Like the former entry, this isanother gut-wrenching momentfor Eren as he watched someone close to him get killed but couldn’t do anything.
Failing to protect Carla Jaeger from the Smiling Titan once, Hannes was excitedly obliged to intervene when both Eren and Mikasa were injured and knocked off of their horses in the Titan Forest.
Hannes tried taking her down with his 3D maneuver gear and partially immobilized her by slashing her heel.
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Since it was an open field, he couldn’t hold on to nearby objects or maintain a safe distance from the Smiling Titan.
Eventually, the Smiling Titan grabbed and finished him off, leaving his wish to avenge Eren’s mother unfulfilled.
As Eren witnessed him getting devoured, it was even more disturbing to see him break down and desperately bite his hand to transform.
6Marlo Freudenberg
Do And Most Willingly, Die!
Marlo Fruedenberg could have chosen an easy life by staying in the corrupt Military Police Regiment. But his righteousness led him to fight his way to joining the Scout Regiment and sadly get killed.
He was the de facto leader of the suicide charge led by Commander Erwin against the Beast Titan to gain some time for Levi Ackerman.
As the Beast Titan hurled volleys of rocks at the targeted unit, Marlo was prepared for his death. However, he couldn’t help but wonder why he was thinking about his former colleague, Hitch.
Until Marlo could complete the train of thought and maybe realize he had feelings for Hitch, as many fans speculated, a stone obliterated the right side of his face, instantly killing him.
5Petra Ral
Falling Star
Petra Ral was a valuable member of the original Levi squad, credited with 52 Titan kills and known for her quick reflexes.
Unfortunately, she was killed by theFemale Titanwhen the Scouts had little to no knowledge about the Titans and their underlying abilities.
Petra was stupefied by how fast the Titan could heal her eye after the Scouts injured her severely. Using this as an advantage, the Female Titan caught up to the surprised Petra and heartlessly killed her against the tree.
While Petra’s death was an emotionally charged moment, it broke my heart even further when Levi kept his silence after returning as he heard her father enthusiastically talk about her despite being unaware that she was dead. It is evident that her death had one of the most disturbing impacts on Levi.
Childhood Scarier Than Titans?
Having survived for over five years, Nanaba was an elite and experienced Scout whose death was psychologically horrifying for me to contemplate on the first watch.
Before she fell to her death, Nanaba and her team wiped out eight Titans, securing her inferiors from the Titan ambush. However, it wasn’t enough.
When she realized she had no gas and broke both her ODM blades after saving Gelgar from a Pure Titan, she was targeted by a horde of Pure Titans who didn’t hesitate to feast upon her.
As she was pulled apart by these titans, she begged for her father’s forgiveness without any context or backstory, subtly implying she might have been abused during her childhood.
For me, this particular death sequence got cemented into my memory due to its vague realism and depiction.
3Miche Zacharius
Couldn’t Smell His Looming Death
Miche Zacharius' death exemplified that lack of information can get you killed even if you are one of thestrongest charactersand have the most refined olfactory senses.
His fate was sealed the moment when the Beast Titan knocked him off the building, and he fell into a Pure Titan’s mouth, devouring one of his legs.
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Paralyzed with fear when the Beast Titan started talking, Miche braced himself to fight as soon as the Titan turned his back. But, he didn’t realize he was surrounded by the Pure Titans he had mapped earlier.
Fueling the nightmare, it was chilling yet surprising to see him get devoured by the horde of Titans as he begged them to spare him.
Given his hardened personality, his death reaction felt a bit off to me at first. After revisiting it, I couldn’t help but acknowledge the emotional realism of the scene.
2Fay Jaeger
Sorry, But Who Let The Dogs Out?
The death of Grisha Jaeger’s sister, Fay, was the epitome of the systemic racism of the Marleyans against Eldians that had been going on for centuries.
As an innocent, hopeful child with no knowledge of the world outside the internment zone, it washeartbreakingto see her suffer the fate merely for following her brother’s lead and for being an Eldian.
She was cruelly fed to the dogs by the Marleyan officers while another officer gaveGrisha Jaegera beating for roaming outside the zone without permission.
What made it worse was that when the officer escorted Fay away from Grisha, they told her he was dropping her home.
For a death that was shown only as a single frame in the anime and a single panel in the manga, Fay’s death had the most profoundemotional impacton Grisha.
Caught In A Crossfire!
Children should never be victims of war, but the majority of the innocent people couldn’t outlive the rumbling, including Ramzi and his best friend, Halil.
Of all the entries, I feel Ramzi’s death was too gruesome and underserved for a character who had no part in the power struggle between Eldia and Marley.
He was crushed by a giant foot of the Colossal Titan after being pinned under a flying debris from the Rumbling as he watched his best friend, already dead.
During the Marley arc, Eren saved him from a group of multiple men who were beating him for pickpocketing in an attempt to rewrite the future. When he realized it wouldn’t change anything, he tearfully apologized to Ramzi as he dropped him home.
However, Ramzi couldn’t understand the language, as he was neither an Eldian nor Marleyan, showcasing the gruesome irony of suffering such a fate.
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