Attack On Titan is easily one of the darkest anime around, having told its nihilistic tale through numerous deaths on both the sides of human beings and the Titans alike. As the series careens toward its finale, with the final season of the anime ending next year and the manga continuing the story of the war between Marley and Eldia, what better time than now to look back at some of the most horrific parts of the popular franchise?
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As we walk through our top five deaths that took place in the series, be warned that this will have heavy spoilers for the anime series, though those who have yet to catch up with the manga shouldn’t fear as we won’t be diving into any spoilers past season three here. With that being said, here is a break down of some of the most brutal deaths that have taken place in the world of Attack On Titan!
Carla Jaeger
If we’re going to start things off, we might as well start from the beginning. Carla Jaeger was the first major death of the franchise, with Eren’s mother dying in the wake of the Colossal Titan’s first attack on the cities within the walls. Carla was eaten by a Titan after being trapped beneath the destruction of her family’s home, eaten by her husband’s ex-lover from Marley for an extra added bit of irony, something revealed in the most recent season of the anime.
This opening salvo showed just how brutal Attack On Titan could truly be and the series hasn’t let up on the gas ever since!
Marlowe Freudenberg
This one hurt. While there were any number of characters that weren’t exactly top tier, Marlowe Freudenberg was an endearing ancillary character. Appearing alongside Eren and the rest of the Survey Corps when they were attempting to capture the female Titan that turned out to be Annie, it wasn’t until his encounter with the Beast Titan that his time ran out. As the Beast Titan unleashed a torrent of boulders in the Survey Corps’ direction, Marlowe spent his lost thought thinking of what Hitch had been up to, before being hit head on with a boulder to the face.
Faye Jaeger
This family has terrible luck. We meet Faye Jaeger in the final episodes of Attack On Titan season three, giving us a better idea of the nation of Marley and the technologically advanced word that populates it. Faye is the aunt of Eren and sister to Grisha, a young girl who is merely tagging along with her brother in an attempt to see new things. For her trouble however, we see the true terror of Marley, as she and her brother are captured by Marleyian soldiers. While Grisha is brought home, Faye is essentially eaten alive by wild dogs, with the blame resting squarely on her brother’s shoulders. It’s a terrifying tale and shows the depths of what the Marleyian people could be capable of.
Erwin Smith
While Commander Erwin’s death was the same as Marlowe’s, being assaulted by a series of boulders hurled his way by the Beast Titan, his finale was all the more tragic as he came so close to being brought back to life. With Erwin managing to hold onto his life, Levi brought him to Eren and the remainder of the Survey Corps to inject him with the Titan fluid, which would save his life and give him the powers of the Colossal Titan. Ultimately, the terrible decision had to be made to save Armin instead, giving Erwin a peaceful rest and tugging on audiences’ heart strings!
Mike Zacharias
We debated about this one, simply because we wanted to also include Hannes on the list somewhere, but when push comes to shove, there was simply no more brutal death than that of Mike Zacharias. Mike was considered to only be topped by Levi when it came to his overall skills as a soldier, but these could not save him from the grizzly fate awaiting for him at the hands of the Titans. Giving us our first look at an intelligent Titan in the form of the Beast Titan, who begins talking to Mike directly, Zacharias is torn apart horrifically by a number of Titans. Unlike those on the list like Carla and Marlowe, Mike’s death seemed long and brutal with the Titans ripping him apart as the maniacal Beast Titan simply looked on.
