Levi / Levi Ackerman

Full Name: Levi Ackerman

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Survey Corps (Attack on Titan)

Rank/Role: Soldier Captain (often addressed as “Captain Levi,” formally “Squad Captain” / “Soldier Captain”)

Height: 160 cm

Weight: 65 kg

Birthday: December 25

Age: Stated to be in his early 30s (the author has avoided a precise number, as it may affect story details)

Blood Type: A-type image by author only (not an official in-world setting; blood types may not follow real-world four-type system)

Voice Actor (anime): Hiroshi Kamiya

Stage Actor (2017 play): Yuya Endo

Stage Actor (2023 play): Ryo Matsuda

Favorite Drink / Hobby: Tea (especially black tea; strongly dislikes coffee and even coffee-flavored foods)

Notable Quirk: Holds teacups by gripping the rim from above rather than the handle

Popularity Polls: 1st in the 1st poll, 1st in the 2nd, 2nd in the 3rd, 1st in the 4th

Levi is widely revered and feared as “humanity’s strongest soldier,” a title he more than justifies through his extraordinary combat prowess against Titans and humans alike.

He serves in the Survey Corps, the branch that ventures beyond the Walls to expand humanity’s territory and knowledge.

He is usually called “captain” by other characters, but the more precise translation of his position is “soldier captain” or “squad captain.”

Unlike the enlisted “corporal” in real-world armies, his title indicates a unique officer/specialist role within the Survey Corps, though its exact equivalence in a real hierarchy is unclear.

Levi is short and compact, with an undercut “two-block” hairstyle and narrow, intimidating three-quarters eyes that give him a perpetually sharp, cold stare.

Beneath his uniform he dresses in a surprisingly aristocratic style, with a collared shirt and a white cravat at his neck.

He is obsessively clean and highly neurotic about dirt and disorder.

He orders major cleanups of headquarters roughly every two days, wipes off Titan blood even during battle if he has a spare second, and often begins by inspecting dust levels when entering a new room.

Despite his harsh way of speaking and rough, street-born manners, Levi is deeply loyal to his comrades and cares about them in his own blunt way.

He is mostly emotionless on the surface and almost never cries, with only two scenes in the entire series showing him in tears.

Levi loves black tea and negotiates to secure extra supplies of it for the Survey Corps, even prioritizing it over rare foodstuffs in some deals.

By contrast, he cannot stand coffee at all, including things like coffee milk or coffee jelly; the flavor itself depresses him and simply does not suit his tastes.

His teacup-holding habit—grabbing the rim from above rather than using the handle—comes from a childhood trauma.

The only teacup he once managed to obtain as a child broke when he used the handle, so he subconsciously avoids trusting cup handles ever since.

Long shrouded in mystery, his surname Ackerman is revealed when he reunites with Kenny Ackerman, who turns out to be his uncle.

At Kenny’s death, Levi also learns that his mother, Kuchel, was Kenny’s sister.

The author has stated that Levi’s design is modeled on Rorschach from Watchmen (the film version).

His given name “Levi” was inspired by a boy named Levi who appears in the documentary film Jesus Camp.

Levi is outwardly stoic, blunt, and often downright foul-mouthed, reflecting his upbringing in the underground slums.

He rarely bothers with polite speech and has no patience for formalities, though he can use respectful language when he chooses.

As a leader, he is clear-headed and brutally realistic, capable of making dreadful decisions for the sake of the mission or humanity’s survival.

At the same time, he respects the lives and wills of his subordinates, often staying with dying comrades, taking their bloodied hands, and swearing to eradicate the Titans.

His obsession with cleanliness is almost a running gag, but it likely stems from his mother’s death, the filth of the underground slums, and his need for control in an otherwise chaotic life.

Even when first introduced to the above-ground barracks, he immediately checks the underside of the bunk frames for dust and is dismayed by the amount of filth that drops off.

Levi rarely shows overt grief or joy, preferring to bury his emotions beneath dry sarcasm and clipped orders.

Yet his choices—such as whom to save with the Titan injection or how he avenges fallen comrades—reveal a strong personal sense of responsibility and deep emotional weight.

He has a complex, slightly sour sense of humor, often insulting others in a deadpan manner.

Nonetheless, later depictions show him handing out candy to children and helping refugees, suggesting that beneath his harsh exterior he has a quiet, compassionate core.

Levi is small but extremely muscular, with a compact frame honed for speed and agility rather than brute strength.

His undercut hairstyle and cold gaze give him a perpetually threatening, no-nonsense look that intimidates both enemies and subordinates.

He is famed for his mastery of the omni-directional mobility gear and the use of ultra-hard steel blades.

His characteristic fighting style involves holding his blades in a reverse grip and spinning at tremendous speed, shredding Titan flesh into ribbons in a blur of motion.

This signature technique, often dubbed “Levi’s slash,” is so fast that even Titan hardening is unable to keep up in certain scenes.

He can dispatch multiple mindless Titans in an instant and has repeatedly overwhelmed intelligent Titan shifters in close combat when he manages to enter their range.

Levi’s strength is not only in raw physical ability but also in his battlefield judgment.

He excels at reading situations in a split second, exploiting any opening, and turning even ambushes or unknown enemies into opportunities for advantage.

He is as lethal against humans as he is against Titans.

He can deflect gunfire with his cloak, close the distance faster than most can react, and cut down multiple opponents with a single fluid swing.

Though he can handle any weapon according to the author, Levi trusts blades most and continues to rely on them even as firearms and Thunder Spears spread through the military.

Against hardened enemies, he combines his blades with Thunder Spears when necessary, adjusting tactics but never abandoning the sword-centric style that defines him.

Over time, his body is heavily damaged by war.

By the final battles he has lost his right index and middle fingers, his right eye, and suffers severe leg injuries, ending up in a wheelchair and likely weakened further by the disappearance of the Ackerman power after the Titans vanish.

Levi serves under Commander Erwin Smith as the Survey Corps’ most powerful frontline fighter and tactical asset.

He often leads elite squads into high-risk operations outside the Walls.

After discovering Eren Yeager’s Titan-shifting ability, Levi becomes Eren’s commanding officer and supervisor within a special operations squad.

Although officially there to “monitor” Eren as a potential threat, Levi’s true aim is to protect him and secure humanity’s best chance at survival.

His squad, known as the Levi Squad, is an elite handpicked unit assigned to guard Eren.

During the 57th Exterior Scouting Mission, they are annihilated by the Female Titan (Annie Leonhart), leaving Levi and Eren as the only survivors.

Devastated but resolute, Levi later reforms his squad using members of the 104th Training Corps such as Eren, Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, and others.

He continues to operate as a field leader and top combatant as technology, politics, and the entire world landscape shift around him.

Battle of Trost District

During the Trost District operation to retake the breached gate, Levi appears at a critical moment with the Survey Corps and saves Eren Yeager and other soldiers from being overrun.

Witnessing Eren’s Titan abilities firsthand, Levi decides that Eren is valuable enough to risk trusting, leading to Eren’s transfer under his supervision.

He plays a key role in the tribunal that decides Eren’s fate, offering to take responsibility for him within the Survey Corps.

While his methods are rough, his promise of control and utility persuades the leadership to spare Eren for military use rather than execution.

57th Exterior Scouting Mission and the Female Titan

On the 57th Exterior Scouting Mission, Levi commands the Special Operations Squad while Erwin Smith executes a complicated long-distance enemy detection formation.

They encounter the Female Titan, later revealed to be Annie Leonhart, who massacres the original Levi Squad and captures Eren.

Levi arrives in time to fight the Female Titan in close quarters, displaying speed and skill so overwhelming that he dismembers her and retrieves Eren.

In the process, he is injured while protecting Mikasa Ackerman, forcing him to temporarily withdraw from the front lines afterward.

Return to Shiganshina and Final Battle for Wall Maria

In the final operation to retake Wall Maria, Levi joins Erwin Smith and new recruits in a desperate confrontation against the Beast Titan, Zeke Yeager.

The Beast Titan devastates the Survey Corps with a lethal barrage of thrown stones, leaving Levi and a handful of soldiers facing annihilation.

Erwin proposes a suicidal charge to draw the Beast Titan’s fire, sacrificing himself and the remaining recruits to give Levi a chance to attack.

Levi uses this opening to launch a stunning surprise assault, tearing Zeke from the Beast Titan and inflicting massive damage, nearly killing him.

Just as Levi is searching for a survivor to devour Zeke and end him, the Cart Titan (Pieck Finger) intervenes and rescues Zeke, forcing Levi to pull back.

He then returns to Shiganshina District, where an even more agonizing decision awaits him.

There, Levi is forced to choose who will receive the Titan injection and become a mindless Titan to devour the captured Colossus Titan shifter, Bertolt Hoover.

The candidates are the critically wounded Erwin Smith and the equally near-death Armin Arlert, who has helped turn the tide of battle.

Levi initially insists that Erwin, whose experience and leadership are invaluable to humanity, must be saved.

Eren and Mikasa clash with him over this, desperate to save Armin instead, but Levi refuses to budge—until Erwin, half-conscious, bats away Levi’s hand and mutters about his teacher’s lie that humanity did not exist outside the Walls.

At that moment, Levi remembers Kenny Ackerman, who spoke of everyone being slaves to something, and recalls how Erwin surrendered his own dream to lead the suicide charge, trusting Levi to finish the mission.

He realizes that injecting Erwin would drag him back into a hell of responsibility and guilt, denying him the rest he has finally earned in death.

Choosing to prioritize his own “personal feelings,” Levi decides not to revive Erwin and instead has the Titan injection used on Armin.

To Floch Forster, who cannot accept this, Levi quietly explains that Erwin had become an “devil” only because they demanded it of him, and that now Levi must let him sleep.

This decision becomes a pivotal fracture point in later conflicts among the survivors.

It also defines Levi’s arc: he chooses mercy for Erwin over cold, utilitarian logic, and lives with that choice.

Four Years Later and the Marley Invasion

Four years after the retaking of Wall Maria, Levi remains soldier captain and continues to work with the now-seasoned members of the 104th Training Corps.

He grows increasingly surrounded by “kids” who have surpassed him in height, which he takes with a somewhat prickly mixture of pride and annoyance.

During the Paradis attack on Marley’s city of Liberio, Levi leads forces that support Eren Yeager’s surprise assault.

In the chaos, he once again confronts Zeke Yeager and successfully helps capture him alive.

After returning to Paradis Island, Levi is tasked with guarding Zeke, who has become the key figure in the plan to unleash or prevent the Rumbling.

He oversees a squad of about 30 soldiers assigned to watch Zeke, while special wine spiked with Zeke’s spinal fluid is smuggled into the island by Yelena and others.

Most of Levi’s men drink this wine and later, when Zeke screams, they are forcibly transformed into Titans.

Levi, either due to never drinking the wine or because his Ackerman heritage protects him, does not transform.

Faced with his own men turned into Titans, Levi makes the horrific choice to kill them all, slicing them down despite their faces and memories.

Covered in the blood of former comrades, he shows a furious expression unlike anything seen before, and then brutally disables Zeke’s Titan form.

Levi knocks Zeke out of his Beast Titan, plants a Thunder Spear in his abdomen, and wraps the trigger wire around Zeke’s neck while cutting his legs to prevent further transformations.

However, he underestimates Zeke’s resolve; Zeke detonates the Thunder Spear in a suicidal blast that engulfs them both.

Levi barely survives by instinctively kicking off from a snap-off blade as a foothold, trying to gain distance from the explosion.

Even so, he loses his right index and middle fingers and suffers a horrific wound that destroys his right eye, passing through his temple, face, and jaw.

Found by Hange Zoë, who hears the explosion while being escorted by Yeagerist forces, Levi is rescued from the brink of death.

Though maimed, he regains consciousness and prepares for one last mission to stop the Rumbling.

Final Battle: “War of Heaven and Earth”

In the final global confrontation often