‘Attack on Titan’ Reveals Levi’s Heartbreaking Backstory

Attack on Titan knows how to dig into its audience, and the anime reminded fans it can still deal out damage. After all, the show delved into Captain Levi’s past at long last, and it’s way more tragic than you expected.

However, this is Attack on Titan… Fans should expect tragedy to be the norm by now.

Recently, the anime put out its new episode, and fans watched as Levi met up with Kenny for the last time. The older man was on his death bed, and Levi had to decide whether he needed to kill the man or simply wait for the inevitable to happen. However, before Levi could deal any sort of blow, Kenny took a moment to apologize for how he acted years ago.

As it turns out, Kenny and Levi were connected just as the latter said. The boy did live with the mercenary when he was a kid, but there is far more to the story than that. The pair met when Kenny went to visit his sister as she was working as a prostitute. By the time the man arrives, Kuchel has passed away, and Kenny meets an emaciated Levi as the boy cowers beside his mother’s corpse.

Unaware of his heritage, Levi is wary of Kenny, and the older man says he cannot leave the boy to starve. He takes the boy under his care though Kenny refuses to play dad to the brat. With food at his disposal, Levi is able to bounce back from near-death, and Kenny goes so far as to teach the boy the ways of the underground. He leaves how to fight, use a knife, and strike a deal forcefully if need be. And, by the time Levi comes into his teens, Kenny finds the boy to be strong enough to live on his own. The older man decides it is time for him to skip out on the kid, leaving Levi alone and jaded.

So, do you see Levi any differently after seeing his backstory? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Attack on Titan was originally created by Hajime Isayama for Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in 2009. The series has since been collected into 23 volumes as of 2017, and it’s set in a world where the last remnants of humanity live within a walled city in order to escape the danger of the Titans, a race of giants monsters that eats humans. The lead character,Eren Yeager, ends up joining the military with his two childhood friends Mikasa and Armin after the Titans break through the wall and attack his hometown.

Now Eren, Mikasa, and Armin must survive in a world where they not only have the Titans to fear, but the very humans they are trying to save. You can currently find the series streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Saturday nights on Adult Swim’s Toonami block.