Levi Ackerman

30

160 cm

Ackerman clan Kuchel Ackerman (mother, deceased) Kenny Ackerman (uncle, deceased) Unnamed great-grandfather (deceased) Mikasa Ackerman (relative) Ackerman (relative, deceased)

Underground

Marley

Soldier

Squad Captain

Survey Corps Special Operations Squad

Thug

Levi Ackerman (リヴァイ・アッカマン Rivai Akkāman?), often formally referred to as Captain Levi (リヴァイ兵長 Rivai Heichō?), is the squad captain (兵長 Heishichō?, lit. "leader of the soldiers") of the Special Operations Squad within the Survey Corps and is widely known as humanity's strongest soldier.

Levi has short, straight black hair styled in an undercut curtain, as well as narrow, intimidating dull gray eyes with dark circles under them and a deceptively youthful face. He is quite short, but his physique is well-developed in musculature from extensive vertical maneuvering equipment usage. He is usually either frowning or expressionless; that, plus his extremely calm demeanor, often makes it difficult for others to guess what he is thinking.

He is most often seen in his Survey Corps uniform, with a light gray button-up shirt underneath, along with his trademark white ascot. When embarking on expeditions outside the Walls, he also wears the Survey Corps' green hooded cloak. Once, when forced to take leave from his duties due to injury, Levi was seen in a black suit, plain white shirt, ascot, and dress shoes.[citation needed] However, since the beginning of the coup d'état, he has left the ascot off. For most of the time during which the Survey Corps was on the run from the military and monarchy, he simply wore his vertical maneuvering equipment harness over casual clothes.[citation needed]

After a close-encounter explosion from a Thunder Spear set off by Zeke Yeager, Levi now has several scars across his face including one across his right eye and is missing both the index and middle fingers on his right hand

As a result of his early childhood years, Levi is described as a "clean freak" by those who know him personally as he prefers his environment and himself to be spotlessly clean. He is averse to having either himself or his equipment soiled, and has been known to wipe down his blood-smeared blades while still on the battlefield. However, he will not hesitate to touch filth if he deems it necessary.Despite his preoccupation with cleanliness, Levi is not very approachable. He rarely shows emotion, giving a cold impression to others. His manner of speaking tends to be very blunt, even insulting, and his comments are often coarse or inappropriate. He is not above provoking or belittling those who oppose or irritate him. His sense of humor tends toward the vulgar, insulting, and dark. All of this makes him unsettling to a great number of people.

In his pre-Survey Corps criminal life, when he lived in the Underground City, Levi refused to take orders from anyone (as Petra Ral tells Eren), though he placed a great trust in his comrades, something he would later do with his subordinates. However, after he joined the Survey Corps, he came to greatly respect Commander Erwin Smith, whose orders he follows willingly because he trusts in Erwin's vision for the Corps.Despite his preoccupation with cleanliness, Levi is not very approachable. He rarely shows emotion, giving a cold impression to others. His manner of speaking tends to be very blunt, even insulting, and his comments are often coarse or inappropriate. He is not above provoking or belittling those who oppose or irritate him. His sense of humor tends toward the vulgar, insulting, and dark. All of this makes him unsettling to a great number of people.

In his pre-Survey Corps criminal life, when he lived in the Underground City, Levi refused to take orders from anyone (as Petra Ral tells Eren), though he placed a great trust in his comrades, something he would later do with his subordinates.

However, after he joined the Survey Corps, he came to greatly respect Commander Erwin Smith, whose orders he follows willingly because he trusts in Erwin's vision for the Corps.

Levi's obedience is strictly limited to individuals he respects, and he has no problem showing open disdain for authority from anyone outside of this circle. At Eren's tribunal, he insulted the merchants by calling them "pigs" and told the Military Police that they were not competent enough to handle Eren,[22] mocking several MPs by observing that they have never battled or even seen a single Titan. He even sardonically suggests that they join the Survey Corps, which caused them to back off. He openly resents most of the MPs for their continual attempts to undermine the Survey Corps, and also presumably because of the criminal life he led before he joined the Corps.

Although he rarely shows it, Levi has a strong sense of morality and empathy. One of his most defining characteristics is the great value he places on preserving human life; this is especially shown when it was revealed that all Titans might have once been human themselves. The thought that he had unknowingly been killing humans all this time disturbs him greatly. Though Levi bore no malice against Eren, he was willing to resort to violence in order to save his life at his tribunal, eventually asking Eren whether he resented him for the beating. Levi himself has stated that he hates unnecessary casualties, and he tells his subordinates to use their judgment so that they can avoid blunders that may cost them their lives.

Because of their hazardous profession and his personal values, he cares greatly for his subordinates' welfare. This is seen several times: when ordered to retreat early to Wall Rose at the end of the disastrous 57th Expedition, Levi was visibly distressed that so many of his soldiers had died on a fruitless mission. Later, he risked his life against the Female Titan in order to retrieve Eren from her mouth and also to protect to Mikasa, who had gone after her recklessly looking for vengeance. As they re-entered the gate, Petra's father approached him, cheerfully talking about his daughter and her unwavering devotion to the Survey Corps. Unbeknownst to him, his daughter had just been killed; Levi remained silent, he was too overcome with grief to reply. Levi was visibly affected by the loss of his entire original Special Operations Squad at the hands of the Female Titan, stating that he carries the will of his fallen comrades, and that their collective grudge against the Titans further strengthens his resolve to continue to fight.

Despite his obedience to Erwin, Levi operates rather independently. Many of his Titan kills are solo, accomplished with little direct cooperation from other soldiers (due to him usually assigning them to hunt other Titans in the vicinity). Although he is looked up to by many, and he does not hesitate to give orders when necessary, Levi does not see himself as a leader in the same way Erwin is. He does not seem to have much use for hierarchy in general, and he leaves decisions up to his subordinates as often as he can.Though Levi is aware that his battle skill is in a different league from that of almost any other human soldier alive, he is not arrogant about it, as he knows from experience that no human soldier is invulnerable. Few will argue with his claims that only he can handle certain difficult tasks, because he has proven his ability to accomplish them.

While Levi shows loyalty and empathy for his comrades, he shows no mercy towards the Titans, slaughtering them indiscriminately with obvious indifference. However, when the Titans are former friends and subordinates, Levi can briefly hesitate and wonder if they are still aware of their actions while trapped inside their Titan forms; regardless, Levi has displayed no problem in killing them. When dealing with individuals he perceives to be enemies to mankind, Levi is capable of behaving sadistically, even vindictively. For example, when the Female Titan was captured, Levi relayed his enjoyment at watching her suffer and described in chilling detail how he intended to mutilate her human body. He has also tortured Djel Sannes with Hange Zoë, punching him and twisting his already broken nose. After defeating Zeke Yeager a second time, he sadistically made it clear that he was going to torture Zeke for his crimes against Paradis and the Survey Corps, impaling him with a Thunder Spear. Levi displays no emotion during these times aside from bloodlust, shown by his methodically slicing apart Zeke's legs.

Levi is occasionally known to lose his calm demeanor and to use threats or violence to get others to listen to him, even if they are fellow members of the corps. An example of such behavior was shown when he directly ordered Historia Reiss to take on the role of queen when the question was presented to her. When she shakily says she is unfit, he grabs her and lifts her off the ground, choking her and telling her to fight back if she does not like it. He then drops her and yells at her to make her decision, but is however calm once again when she complies with his demands.

Levi is the son of Kuchel Ackerman, a prostitute who worked in the Underground and was made pregnant by one of her clients. One day, Kenny Ackerman, Kuchel's older brother, came to the city to see her only to find that she was dead. There, he found a young and squalid Levi sitting in front of his mother's bed. In a rare showing of compassion, Kenny decided to take care of him. He raised Levi as well as he could: teaching him knife skills, how to get along with people, and violent behavior. Levi also learned to use his own inner power that he possessed as a member of the Ackerman clan. Following his mother's death, Levi attempted to steal back a tea set she had sold in order to pay for food. He was caught in the act and the merchants, after apprehending him, considered selling him into slavery. Levi, disgusted by their behavior, attempted to resist and was nearly beaten to death. However, before the merchants could finish him off his Ackerman blood awakened and he killed all of them in a moment of blind rage. After calming down, he was confronted by the sole surviving merchant who attempted to blackmail Levi into sparing his by arguing that his friends would hunt Levi down and kill him in retribution unless he left the merchant alive to talk them down. Levi simply retorted that no one would believe that a child had killed them before throwing the merchant to his death. Returning to his home, Levi made himself a cup of tea using her set. However, when he attempted to drink it the handle broke, causing him to drop and shatter the cup. From that point on, Levi refused to hold cups by their handles, choosing to hold them by their brims instead.

Time passed and eventually, Kenny taught Levi everything he knew. However, he did not consider himself as a good father figure. One day, in the subterranean city, Levi started a fight which he won easily. At that moment, Kenny decided to leave him behind, satisfied that he had taught Levi the skills he needto survive.

Later, he became a notorious thug in the underground but eventually left the place to join the Survey Corps. lthough he was at odds with Erwin, he ended up becoming one of his most trusted men.

Vertical Maneuvering Equipment Levi is unbelievably adept at using the vertical maneuvering equipment, to a point that everyone says he is the best at it; even after losing several of his fingers, Levi was still able to utilize the equipment almost as easily as before. He is also said to be as valuable as an entire brigade, far outweighing all of the other soldiers. Furthermore, he was considered extremely strong even before joining the Survey Corps.

He has shown the capability of incapacitating the Female Titan by moving too fast for her to defend, something which whole squads and even Eren in his Titan form could not accomplish. He even defeated Zeke Yeager in his Beast Titan form, who is one of Marley army's strongest Warriors and an extremely skillful Titan. Neither of these assaults are without some degree of prior planning and situational advantage, as the Female Titan was tired out from multiple conflicts in the span of a few hours, and Levi had engaged Zeke by surprise, getting too close to defend against before Zeke noticed. That said, Levi's full abilities with his blades are still tremendous, able to carve the Beast Titan's arm into multiple clean pieces so fast they fell in unison. Nonetheless, Levi has proven himself capable of taking on powerful possessors of the power of the Titans in a one-on-one situation where his vertical maneuvering equipment can be utilized to its utmost. For example, as seen when Levi bested Zeke again in a forest terrain where his vertical equipment could be properly employed.

Levi has formidable physical strength, which is no doubt evident by his mastery of the vertical maneuvering equipment. Despite his small stature, his body is well built with heavy muscle, making him very strong, and easily able to defeat his opponents. At one point, Levi intercepts one of the Female Titan's attacks, by using her hand to launch himself towards her mouth before she could hit Mikasa. This does not stop him from injuring himself though.

Aside from his extraordinary battle skill, Levi has shown a profound ability to quickly analyze situations, and make calculated decisions in the heat of battle. This has given him the ability to save himself and his comrades on many occasions such as when he realizes the Female Titan cannot be killed easily because of her skin hardening and regenerative abilities, and subsequently saves Mikasa when she tries to slay the Female Titan herself, or the time when he fights Kenny Ackerman inside a bar, using chairs, a double-barreled shotgun and even corpses to stop his adversaries. However, Levi admits that he does not believe a person can be right all the time, and some scenarios are beyond a person's control.

Levi has an unusual fighting stance that involves holding his right sword backhanded with the blade facing out and being behind him instead of in front of him. By doing this, the blades cut in a "circle" around him, and give him the ability to utilize spinning and other rotating attacks, allowing him to maintain incredible speed and agility while fighting. At the same time, this helps him keep his energy up without wasting stamina and strength needlessly, enabling him to fight for longer periods of time and take multiple targets out simultaneously. This reverse-grip technique may have been inspired by Kenny Ackerman's lessons on knife-wielding, in which Levi learned at a young age how to hold a blade in a reverse grip.

Levi does not seem to favor using Thunder Spears, since he does not carry them during the raid on Liberio, contrary to the other members of the Survey Corps's ground forces. However, he is competent enough with them to blow Zeke out of his Beast Titan's nape when Zeke tries to escape after turning Levi's soldiers into Titans.

Kenny Ackerman - Kenny looked out for Levi during his childhood and taught him the skills needed to survive in the underground city. He told Levi that he was a friend of his deceased mother.[184]However, he eventually abandoned him due to believing that someone like him was not fit to be a parent. Years later, they had an antagonist relationship due to being on opposite sides of the coup d'état. When Kenny finally laid dying, Levi found him and the latter gave information about the Ackerman clan and revealed that he was really the older brother of Levi's mother, making him Levi's uncle. Levi was shocked to learn this and questioned his reason for abandoning him. In his last words, Kenny stated he was unfit to be a parent, and Levi then watched solemnly as his uncle died.

Erwin Smith - Levi and Erwin's relationship was not initially an amicable one. Erwin eventually became one of the few people Levi places full trust in, obeying his every command and judgment. However, this did not stop Levi from speaking in his usual rude manner around him. Erwin was also one of the few people that could maintain a casual conversation with Levi, able to exchange brief banter with one another on equal grounds. Levi was very angered after Erwin was killed by Zeke, and years later, Levi held onto his promise to Erwin that he would kill the Beast Titan.

Hange Zoë - Levi was introduced to Hange during his first expedition as part of the Survey Corps. Levi had gradually become more familiar with Hange, able to comfortably reach out and reprimand them when they got too carried away. After years of working side by side, the two shared a strong bond of trust, and Levi did not doubt any theories they may have had on the Titans, even if he disliked them.

Eren Yeager - As humanity's strongest soldier, Levi commands great respect from Eren. Upon encountering Eren personally, Levi treated him like an animal, wary of his Titan shifting power, though he was impressed by Eren's passion. Upon getting to know him, Levi began treating Eren as he does most others: dismissively and coldly. However, Levi also becomes a mentor of sorts to Eren, understanding the potential good the young recruit is capable of, and offering advice during Eren's moments of doubt. He later becomes more patient with Eren, forgiving his mistakes, and nurturing his growth as a soldier, and as a vanguard for humanity's hope. Eren's assault on Liberio, and the formation of the Yeagerists leaves Levi dismayed at how Eren has turned out. When facing the army Titans Eren has recreated on his Founding Titan, Levi laments that they cannot worry about Eren's safety and that they must kill him, stating there were many things he wished to say to him.