Best Female Characters in Attack on Titan

When it comes to female characters in anime, it’s a hit or miss—and all too often, it’s a miss. On the one hand, you can have an Orihme Inoue and Misa Amane, and on the other, we have Maki Zenin and Jolyne Cujoh. As prevalent as the dismal portrayal of women in anime sometimes is, the medium doesn’t have a monopoly on bad representation. It’s just more noticeable when a team consists of two men that have their own dreams, wants and ambitions, while the woman is relegated to being a stand in for a cardboard cutout whose only interest is in the male lead whom she fancies while he couldn’t care less about her. 

Once in a blue moon, however, you find a Shonen Manga that gets it right. That’s not to say that all the portrayals in the work are perfect, but it’s clear that thought and time went into crafting this character and that for many, Attack on Titan gets it. Many anime productions don’t even have a cast of female characters large enough to even consider a best-of list, so Attack on Titan really stands out. There will be spoilers for the final arc of the manga, so please proceed with caution. 

10. Carla Yeager

We only got to know Eren’s mother for one episode before she died a gruesome death (which we later find out that Eren orchestrated, but we’re not here to talk about that). So much of the titan world is focused on survival and political intrigue that we don’t often get to see the lives of civilians inside the walls. In the first episode we spent 10 minutes at most with Carla, but in that limited amount of time we were able to see how she cared for Eren and Mikasa. While using the suffering of women to propel men further along in their journeys isn’t a new trope, she had other interesting aspects about her life.

9. Yelena

The first time I saw Yelena, I knew something wasn’t right. She’s everything you would want a formidable villain to be, deceptive with a healthy dose of manipulation. But even with all the cunning nature in the world, she couldn’t amount to more than Zeke’s sidekick. The thing is, no matter how dedicated to Zeke she was, she couldn’t be trusted because she couldn’t think for herself. On any other day this would unacceptable written into a female character, but there is a rhyme and reason for her zealotry, so I’ll allow it. 

8. Gabby Braun

I can already hear the booing, but you all have to let the hate for Gabby go, and I don’t say that just because she and I share a name. When she killed Sasha I was upset like everyone else, but by the end of the episode I came to grips with the fact that she was a child. That, and she’d just seen Eren kill a bunch of her friends. By the time we got the The Marley Arc, we were finally getting to the meat of the matter and understanding who the real villains were, and somewhere along the way, people decided it was a 12 year old girl.

Gabby was obviously intended to be the foil to Eren’s character. Let’s not forget she was one of the best warrior candidates and she was the one to behead him and would have been successful had it not been for the coordinate. She represented who he might have grown up to be had he been born in Marley and inundated with internalized racism, indoctrination and propaganda. 

7. Sasha Braus

You truly don’t know what you have until it’s gone. It may look sometimes as though Sasha didn’t bring that much to the survey corps, but the story wouldn’t have been the same without her. That’s why we see everyone, but especially Connie and Jean, react the way they do to her death. She made me laugh out loud and when it was time to go, she was there with the rest of her team. She was kind, courageous, friendly and not to mention the best sharpshooter they had. Long live Potato Girl.

6. Piek Finger

Piek was actually meant to be a middle aged man but Isayama’s editors advised him to go a different route, and it resulted in a win for the rest of us. Piek is one of the most charismatic characters on the show and though she’s aligned with Marley forces, what she wants more than anything is for her people to be free.  The cart titan doesn’t have any tactical prowess, however, she was the one to save Zeke and Reiner in Shiganshina and was the only warrior to be on the same intellectual wavelength as Zeke to where she was able to see through his plans.

5. Historia Reiss

Christa Lenz’s transformation into the formidable Historia Reiss is one of the best examples of character growth that we have in the series. Starting out as the secret illegitimate daughter of the King then rising to the role of Queen on your own terms is a glow up if I’ve ever seen one. Her relationship with Ymir is one of the most defining tenants of the identity she would soon come to accept, and the battle with her father would make that an even clearer reality. 

4. Annie Leonhart

As the female titan, Annie was one of the three members of the Paradis infiltration squad. Her titan has the hardening ability, which saw her encased in a shell of her own making for the better part of the series, and she also had the power of summoning other titans in close proximity. She is second only to Levi in hand to hand combat, which we find out later is due to her past and some of the trauma she faced at the hands of her father. She is incredibly strong and on more than one occasion has proved how intelligent she is. I mean, you have to be in order to see through a plan concocted by Armin himself.

3. Hange Zoe

So I’m going to break the rules of this list a bit. Many people aren’t aware of this particular fact, but Isayama has confirmed that Hange is genderqueer and requested that in the manga if they were to use gendered pronouns that he/she is used equally. So while I recognize that Hange isn’t a woman, they deserve to be recognized on any list of best-of Attack on Titan characters.

Hange is known for their mad scientist persona but if you’ve seen the show, you know their personality extends far beyond that. They’re energetic and often display a wide range of emotion in direct contrast to their close friend and other fan favorite Levi Ackerman. It was really a no brainer that they would be the one to take over after Erwin’s death—not to mention they single-handedly created the thunder spears. That alone landed them in the top 3 for this list. Let’s be serious. They will be remembered and highly regarded.

2. Mikasa Ackerman

Mikasa is top 2 for obvious reasons and while many have her as number one, there’s one major flaw in her personality. But first, the positives. Mikasa is one of strongest characters in the story notwithstanding gender. She might be second only to Levi and maybe Eren after he acquired the founder, but let’s not forget what Mikasa did to Eren, and how she was inches away from Levi’s throat with a blade. We were told that one Mikasa is worth 100 soldiers and she made good on that premise every chance she got.

The biggest (and only) issue is the Eren problem. For three seasons Mikasa’s sole purpose for existence was Eren Yeager and outside of that and her being the best scout, I have no idea who that girl is. That being said, in the final seasons and chapters she does come into her own, but that in and of itself was a product of Eren’s actions.  

1. Ymir (Founder and Titan) 

There was no other way this could go. When we found out that every time someone turned into a titan Ymir was the one creating their bodies out of clay, that reshaped the series for me. Ymir is the traceable ancestor of every Eldian to have ever lived and her titan was the strongest of all. Her life was tragic from beginning to end with her being a slave and King Fritz using her to expand his empire. I have a lot to say about Eren, but him finally freeing Ymir was the best thing he ever did.

(Feature Image Via Crunchyroll)

---