Levi Ackerman

Following the termination of the Titan curse, Levi Ackerman survives the war but is left permanently disabled, requiring the permanent use of a cane to walk due to his severe leg injuries. ​In one of the series' most emotional closing moments, a weary Levi sits alone in the thick fog of the battlefield. He experiences a vision of his fallen comrades—Erwin, Hange, Petra, and the rest of the Survey Corps. He offers them one final, tearful salute, acknowledging that the hearts they dedicated to the cause finally brought a peaceful future. Years later, Levi is seen living in the outside world, accompanied by Gabi Braun and Falco Grice, quietly drinking tea and watching a world finally free of walls and Titans.

Four years later, Levi participates in the ambush on Liberio, once again defeating the Beast Titan in a staged performance to extract Zeke to Paradis Island. Levi is tasked with keeping Zeke under maximum security in a forest of giant trees. However, Zeke triggers a backup plan, turning all of Levi’s subordinates into Pure Titans via wine laced with his spinal fluid. ​Forced to slaughter his own transformed men, an enraged Levi catches up to Zeke and captures him once more, rigging a Thunder Spear explosive to Zeke’s chest as a deterrent. In a desperate act of self-destruction, Zeke intentionally detonates the Thunder Spear at point-blank range. The explosion throws Levi’s body into a nearby river. He is rescued by Hange Zoë, but the blast leaves him permanently scarred: he loses two fingers on his right hand, suffers severe facial lacerations across his right eye, and is initially confined to a wheelchair. ​Despite his heavily degraded physical state, Levi joins the global alliance of Paradis soldiers and Marleyan warriors to stop Eren Jaeger from destroying the world via the Rumbling. During the final battle on the back of the Founding Titan, Levi pushes through his agonizing physical limitations. He assists Mikasa by blowing open the Founding Titan's mouth with a Thunder Spear, allowing her to deliver the final blow to Eren. In the process, Levi achieves his final lingering promise to Erwin by decapitating Zeke Jaeger when the latter exposes himself from the Rumbling.

The operation to reclaim Wall Maria and Shiganshina District features Levi's most iconic and brutal military engagement. As the Survey Corps is pinned down by a devastating barrage of supersonic rocks thrown by Zeke Jaeger, the Beast Titan, Commander Erwin Smith proposes a suicidal cavalry charge to distract the beast, allowing Levi to slip away undetected into the tree line of surrounding Titans. ​Levi utilizes the line of standing Titans as anchors for his ODM gear, successfully flanking the Beast Titan. In an unparalleled display of combat mastery, Levi shreds the Beast Titan’s arms, blinds his eyes, slices through his ankles, and rips Zeke Jaeger out of his Titan nape in a matter of seconds. ​Before he can administer the Titan serum to save a dying soldier and feed Zeke to them, the Cart Titan ambushes Levi and rescues Zeke. Levi is left standing on the wall, completely exhausted and covered in blood, forced to make a harrowing choice: use the remaining serum to save Commander Erwin Smith or the young tactician Armin Arlert. After a heated emotional confrontation with Eren and Mikasa, Levi ultimately decides to let Erwin rest, choosing to release his commander from the living hell of the world and injects Armin instead.

With the military government turning against the Survey Corps, Levi is forced to operate from the shadows. He takes charge of the new Special Operations Squad, comprised of the remaining 104th Training Corps graduates (Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Conny, and Sasha). ​The arc becomes deeply personal for Levi when the crown deploys the Anti-Personnel Control Squad, led by his childhood mentor, Kenny Ackerman. Levi is forced to shift his combat focus from Titans to humans, engaging in high-stakes, urban ODM shootouts through the streets of Mitras. ​The conflict culminates in an underground cavern beneath a chapel, where Levi and his squad successfully defeat Kenny's forces. Following the transformation and subsequent defeat of Rod Reiss’s gargantuan Titan, Levi finds a mortally wounded, heavily burned Kenny resting under a tree. In his final moments, Kenny reveals to Levi that he is his biological uncle and hands him a syringe containing Titan spinal fluid before passing away, leaving Levi with the ultimate burden of deciding who will inherit the power of a Titan.

During the 57th Exterior Scouting Mission, the Survey Corps attempted to capture the mysterious Female Titan (Annie Leonhart) within a massive forest of giant trees. The mission took a devastating turn when the Female Titan escaped her restraints and ambushed Levi’s squad. Despite their elite coordination, Eld, Petra, Oluo, and Gunther were completely eradicated. ​Arriving at the scene of the massacre, a stoic but deeply grieving Levi teamed up with Mikasa Ackerman to retrieve Eren, who had been swallowed by the Titan. In the ensuing clash, Levi demonstrated his terrifying speed, blinding and completely incapacitating the Female Titan's arms within a matter of seconds. However, while saving a reckless Mikasa from a counterattack, Levi severely fractured his left ankle, a lingering injury that forced him to stay on the sidelines during the immediate subsequent crises.

​Levi makes his formal entrance in the main storyline returning from an expedition just as the Trost District falls. After saving Eren, Mikasa, and Armin from a Titan ambush, Levi takes a personal interest in Eren’s unique ability to transform into a Titan. Following the military tribunal where he secured Eren's custody, Levi formed the Special Operations Squad—a handpicked group of elite veterans (consisting of Eld Jinn, Petra Ral, Oluo Bozado, and Gunther Schultz) dedicated to protecting Eren and killing him if he ever lost control of his Titan form.

​Levi eventually grew up to become a notorious and highly feared thug in the Underground. Alongside his close companions, Furlan Church and Isabel Magnolia, Levi formed a criminal gang. The trio managed to acquire illicitly obtained ODM gear and mastered its mechanics entirely on their own, using it to evade the Military Police and pull off daring thefts. ​Their skills caught the attention of Nicholas Lobov, a corrupt politician who offered the trio a staggering reward: official citizenship on the surface world and documentation, provided they could assassinate the rising star of the Survey Corps, Erwin Smith, and steal a crucial political document from him. ​During a standard criminal pursuit, Levi and his friends were cornered by the Survey Corps. Levi engaged in combat with Miche Zacharius but was ultimately outmaneuvered and forced to surrender when Erwin Smith threatened the lives of Isabel and Furlan. Erwin offered them a choice: join the Survey Corps and use their talents for humanity, or be handed over to the Military Police for their crimes. Levi accepted, intending to use the upcoming expedition outside the walls as the perfect opportunity to assassinate Erwin. ​During the 23rd Exterior Scouting Expedition, a massive storm hit the battlefield, severely reducing visibility. Seizing the moment, Levi separated from his friends to hunt down Erwin. However, the heavy rain allowed a pack of abnormal Titans to ambush Furlan and Isabel's squad. By the time Levi returned, he found his friends brutally slaughtered. Consumed by a terrifying, unbridled rage, Levi's true Ackerman powers reached a terrifying peak; he tore the responsible Titan into microscopic shreds in a display of pure violence. ​Erwin arrived shortly after, revealing that he knew about Levi's assassination plot all along. Erwin confronted Levi's despair, imploring him not to regret his choices, but to look at the larger picture of human survival. Recognizing Erwin’s profound vision and unwavering res

Early Life in the Underground ​Levi was born in the dark, sunless slums of the Underground District beneath the capital city of Mitras. He was the son of Kuchel Ackerman, an impoverished prostitute working in the slums. His mother contracted a terminal illness and passed away when Levi was a young child. Left entirely alone in a small room, Levi began to slowly starve to death alongside his mother’s corpse. ​He was eventually discovered by Kenny Ackerman, Kuchel’s estranged brother and a notorious serial killer known as "Kenny the Ripper." While Kenny possessed no paternal instincts and withheld any form of genuine emotional affection, he chose to take the skeletal child under his wing. Kenny taught Levi everything required to survive the lawless Underground: how to handle a knife, how to fight opponents twice his size, and how to carry out acts of calculated violence. Once Levi grew strong enough to win brawls on his own, Kenny abruptly abandoned him without a word, believing that he was not fit to be a true parent and that Levi was now capable of surviving the slums alone.

By utilizing this reverse grip, Levi is able to execute rapid, continuous spinning attacks. As he flies through the air using his ODM gear, his body spins in a tight, circular trajectory. This maximizes his momentum and kinetic energy, allowing him to slice through tough Titan flesh and bone with minimal stamina expenditure. This rapid-fire, buzzsaw-like technique makes it impossible for Titans to track his movements or harden their skin fast enough to defend themselves. ​Tactical Brilliance ​Beyond his physical speed and strength, Levi possesses a gifted tactical mind. He is capable of analyzing complex, shifting battlefield variables in a matter of seconds. He recognizes when a situation is a lost cause and will prioritize saving lives over achieving pyrrhic victories. His reflex speed allows him to dodge high-velocity projectiles, including debris thrown by the Beast Titan.

Levi Ackerman’s combat prowess is so extraordinary that he is considered a one-man army, capable of executing strategic objectives that would normally require entire military brigades. ​The Ackerman Awakening ​Levi’s near-superhuman traits are a result of his lineage. The Ackerman clan was a product of ancient Eldian genetic experimentation, designed to serve as the royal family's personal bodyguards. They are essentially humans who can manifest the physical power and combat muscle memory of Titans without actually transforming. Every Ackerman undergoes an "awakening" moment—typically triggered by an intense survival instinct or a profound directive from a chosen leader. For Levi, this awakening allowed him to tap into the collective combat experience and physical perfection of every Ackerman ancestor who preceded him through the metaphysical domain known as the "Paths." ​Reverse-Grip Spinning Technique ​Levi utilizes a completely non-standard, highly customized fighting style with his dual blades. He holds his right-hand sword with a backhanded grip, meaning the blade faces backward behind him rather than forward.

​Levi is brutally blunt, unceremonious, and possesses a dark, deadpan sense of humor. He has no patience for empty rhetoric, self-righteous zealotry, or political posturing. He believes that discipline and pain are often the most effective tools for instruction and survival in a world where a single mistake results in death. This is vividly demonstrated during Eren Jaeger’s military tribunal, where Levi ruthlessly beats Eren to a bloody pulp. While seemingly sadistic, this act was a calculated, theatrical display to prove to the court that the Survey Corps could safely control the power of the Attack Titan, effectively saving Eren from execution by the Military Police. ​Despite his harsh exterior, Levi carries an immense sense of responsibility for the lives of his subordinates. He treats every soldier’s death with gravity, often kneeling beside dying comrades, ignoring the blood coating his hands, to comfort them in their final moments and promise that their sacrifices will have meaning.

Levi's personality is complex, shaped entirely by a lifetime of trauma, loss, and survival in the harshest environments. While he initially appears cold, abrasive, and unapproachable, his actions consistently reveal a profound sense of morality and deep empathy for his fellow humans. ​The "Clean Freak" (Cleanliness Obsession) ​One of Levi's most prominent and comedic, yet tragic, traits is his extreme germaphobia and obsession with tidiness. He is a self-proclaimed "neat freak" who cannot tolerate dirty environments, stained equipment, or dusty quarters. When his squad takes over a new base, his first command is invariably a top-to-bottom deep clean. He is frequently shown wiping down his blades mid-combat if they become soiled with Titan blood. This obsession stems directly from his childhood in the damp, squalid, and disease-ridden conditions of the Underground district, where cleanliness was a luxury and a means of psychological survival. ​The Way He Holds Tea ​Levi has a highly unique method of drinking black tea, which is his favorite beverage. Instead of utilizing the handle of the teacup, he grasps the vessel firmly from the top, gripping the upper rim with his fingers. This quirk also originates from his impoverished youth. When he finally managed to acquire a proper ceramic teacup in the Underground, the handle snapped off immediately when he lifted it, causing the cup to shatter on the floor. Traumatized by losing something precious, he resolved to always hold cups by the rim to ensure they could never drop from a broken handle.

Despite his terrifying reputation on the battlefield, Levi Ackerman possesses a surprisingly small and compact physical stature. This contrast between his unassuming build and his immense physical capabilities serves as one of his defining visual features. ​Height and Weight: Levi stands at a modest 160 cm (approximately 5 feet 3 inches) and weighs 65 kg. His weight is largely attributed to a dense, heavily developed muscular physique forged through years of intensive underground brawling and decades of continuous, high-exertion ODM gear usage. ​Facial Features: He has a deceptively youthful face, though it is perpetually set in a stoic, stern expression or a slight frown. His hair is short, straight, jet-black, and styled in a clean undercut. He possesses narrow, sharp, and intimidating dull blue eyes with heavy dark circles underneath—a physical manifestation of his chronic insomnia. It is remarkably difficult for others to gauge his emotional state or thoughts based on his facial expressions alone. ​Attire: Levi is most frequently seen in his official Survey Corps uniform. This consists of a short, light brown jacket featuring the "Wings of Freedom" insignia on the back and shoulders, worn over a light gray button-up shirt. His most distinct personal accessory is a crisp white cravat (or ascot) tied neatly around his neck, reflecting his deep-seated obsession with cleanliness. When participating in scouting expeditions beyond the walls, he dons the iconic green-hooded cloak of the Survey Corps. When recovering from severe injuries that temporarily remove him from active duty, he switches to a sharp black formal suit paired with a plain white shirt and dress shoes.

​Levi Ackerman (often spelled Ackermann) is one of the central figures of Hajime Isayama’s dark fantasy series Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin). Serving as the Squad Captain (Heishichō) of the Special Operations Squad within the Survey Corps, Levi is universally recognized as "Humanity's Strongest Soldier." He stands out as a highly intricate, deeply empathetic, and grounded individual operating within a brutal universe. He is widely respected as the absolute master of the Omni-Directional Mobility (ODM) gear, utilizing a signature circular spinning blade style that makes him a terrifying match for even the most formidable of the Nine Titans.