Mikasa Ackerman

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Mikasa Ackerman
Anime | Manga
Name	Mikasa Ackerman
Biological Information
Gender	Female
Birthday	February 10th[1]
Height	170 cm
Weight	68 kg
Affiliates	Mr. Ackerman (Father) Mrs. Ackerman (Mother) Dr. Grisha Yeager (Adoptive Father) Kalura Yeager (Adoptive Mother) Eren Yeager (Adoptive Brother)
Affiliation	Survey Corps
Former Affiliation	104th Trainees Squad
Grad Rank	1st
Species	Human
Status	Alive
First Appearance
Manga	To You, 2000 Years From Now
Anime	To You Two Thousand Years Later
Seiyū
Anime	Yui Ishikawa
Image Gallery

Great! This here is a Featured Article. Mikasa Ackerman has been featured, meaning it was chosen as an article of interest.

Mikasa Ackerman (ミカサ・アッカーマン Mikasa Akkāman^?) is the adopted sister of Eren Yeager, and the main female protagonist of the series. Though she desires only to live a peaceful life, Mikasa chooses to follow Eren into the military, where she would become the best soldier among the 104th Trainees Squad, and later join the Survey Corps.

Contents

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Appearance

Mikasa's appearance

Mikasa is very physically fit and has chin-length black hair. Originally, she wore her hair long, but cut it short at Eren's suggestion, despite Jean considering her hair to be beautiful.^[2] Mikasa is of average height, with pale skin and calm, black eyes. In the anime however, her eye color is not consistent and often varies depending on the light and surroundings.
As a soldier, Mikasa is often seen wearing the uniform consisting of a short, light-brown jacket with the badge of the Survey Corps on both shoulders, on the front left pocket, and on the center of the back, a white shirt, a dark brown sash around the waist covering the hips, white pants and dark brown knee-high leather boots. She is also seen wearing a green cape with the symbol of the Survey Corps after entering the faction. A unique part of her attire is a black (dark red in the anime) scarf, which was given to her by Eren after saving her from the human traffickers.^[3] Because of that, it is very precious to her as she is almost never seen without it.

Personality

A few years before the storyline, Mikasa appeared to be cheerful, outgoing, yet unusually perceptive child. She became aware of the harshness of nature at an early age, witnessing the manner in which predators would hunt and kill weaker prey. However, her innocence allowed her to push these thoughts to the back of her mind, and she continued to live happily with her parents. This illusory peace was shattered when a band of criminals brutally murdered her parents before her very eyes, and when she witnessed Eren Yeager kill two of the robbers in an attempt to rescue her. As the last of the kidnappers was strangling Eren to death for killing his friends, she could no longer ignore the cruelty that defined the world she lived in. As a result, Mikasa lost all inhibition and hesitation, and killed the assailant in a desperate act of self-preservation.
Though she is considerably more withdrawn after the murder of her parents, she still loves and cares deeply for her friends, especially Eren and Armin, seeing them as the last remnants of a family she cannot afford to lose.^[4] Her personality as a teenager is very much influenced and molded by Eren, who told her she stood no chance of survival if she did not fight for it ^[5]. His words continue to stay with her, and her mind automatically recalls them to spur her on when she is close to death. Her determination to protect Eren as much as possible may also have contributed greatly to her phenomenal skills as a soldier. Though she is among the best of the best, she remains humble and refrains from putting on airs or displaying arrogance.

Mikasa's protective attitude towards Eren

Mikasa has a strong sense of right and wrong, but she is also very protective of Eren and does all she can to advise him to follow what she deems to be the right track.^[6] Despite that, she knows well that she cannot always sway Eren in his decisions and makes a point to follow Eren to almost everywhere he goes and stick by whatever final decisions he makes, just so that she can be around to help him out when he is in trouble.^[7][8] The sole reason she enlisted in the military and joined the Survey Corps after her graduation was to keep an eye on Eren, despite the fact that she truly wished to live out the rest of her days in relative peace within the Walls. She also takes Eren's opinion seriously, so much so that when he once said that her hair was too long, she immediately had it cut, even though Jean had just commented that it looked beautiful.^[2]
Yet for all her blind loyalty, Mikasa is quite stoic and level-headed. Her will is remarkably strong, and she is rarely seen to lose her cool or be at a loss of what to do, no matter how bleak a situation seems to be. Even when she believed Eren to be dead, outwardly she managed to remain so calm that only Armin could tell that she was battling with the pain of losing her brother. However, she is not completely immune to the effects of her emotions. Her strong feelings for Eren, particularly when he is in harm's way, does at times cloud her judgement - sometimes at the expense of other peoples' well-being. A notable example is the occasion she briefly gave into her grief over Eren's apparent demise and lost the will to live - forgetting her responsibility for the lives of the soldiers she had taken upon herself to lead in the process. 
When it was discovered that Eren was in fact alive and well during the Battle of Trost, Mikasa's cool facade broke, and she openly wept in relief while clinging to his body. Since that experience, her protectiveness of Eren has become more pronounced. Mikasa will now stop at nothing to keep him safe, to the point of being willing to kill anyone who threatens his life and developing vengeful grudges towards those who harm him. She relentlessly attacked the Female Titan in a murderous fury as it attempted to abduct Eren, and later assaulted Reiner and Bertolt with her blades for trying to do the same. When she discovered that the two had managed to make off with Eren and had gotten a five hour headstart while she was knocked unconscious, Mikasa was disconsolate and began to cry at the thought of once again losing Eren. However, even when Mikasa gives in to her sadness, it does not take much to snap her out of it, as she never truly gives up all hope.
Mikasa also has a habit of blushing or expressing embarrassment when others make certain assumptions about her relationship with Eren. Her face flushed when Ian mistook Eren for her sweetheart during the reconquest of Trost District,^[9] and also when she told Armin she wished to remain behind with Eren while he and Jean left his room after capturing the Female Titan ^[10].
Despite the independence and strength Mikasa has gained, Eren still remains a great source of comfort and reassurance to her. She cherishes the scarf he gave her on the day they met, constantly wearing it unless the weather is too warm, and nuzzles her nose to it whenever she is upset. She is thankful to him for coming into her life, saving her from a horrible fate, and teaching her how to keep on living.  She is willing to face death if it is for his sake, and is also able to smile and accept it, as long as she is beside him.

History

Mikasa was born to a Caucasian father and Asian mother.^[11] Before her parents' death, she lived peacefully with them in the farmlands of Wall Maria. In the manga, Mikasa underwent a painful scarring ritual from her mother, whom cut into her skin the mark of their Oriental clan,^[12] while in the anime and visual novel, was taught an Oriental style embroidery.^[13] Being the last of their race made them high value targets to human traffickers, who killed Mikasa's parents and kidnapped her when she was only nine years old.^[11]

Mikasa receives the scarf

She was rescued by Eren who tricked and killed two of the slavers. He was then overwhelmed by the third trafficker and on the verge of being strangled. Desperately, Eren urged Mikasa to fight to win. Although she was initially frightened, she came to realize that, "This world is a callous and merciless place," dispatching the kidnapper who was trying to kill Eren. When Eren's father arrived with members of the Military Police Brigade, she was given the scarf by Eren and accepted into his family. This event awakened the fighting instincts and perfect self-control that would later turn her into a formidable soldier.^[14] She lived with Eren's family in Wall Maria's Shiganshina District until it was destroyed by the Colossal Titan.^[15]

Story

Fall of Shiganshina arc

Mikasa wakes Eren up

Mikasa appears for the first time in year 845 somewhere inside Wall Maria. She is seen waking Eren up, telling him that they need to return to home. She is surprised to see tears in his eyes and asks why he was crying.^[16] On their way home, they meet Hannes. Mikasa watches as Eren complains about the soldiers slacking off while on duty.^[17] Later, both Eren and Mikasa watch the return of the Survey Corps forces, witnessing yet another failure of their expedition.^[18] After returning home, Mikasa tells on Eren, revealing to his parents his desire to join the Survey Corps. Annoyed, Eren leaves, with Mikasa following him. They save Armin, who is being beaten by local bullies and together discuss their desire to go outside the Walls.^[19]

Mikasa, Eren and Armin see the Colossal Titan

At that moment, the three kids witness the sudden appearance of a Colossal Titan that breaches the Wall's gate.^[20][21] Mikasa and Eren run back to their home to find it crushed and their mother trapped under the debris.^[22] In spite of their attempts, Mikasa and Eren are unable to free her, Hannes rescuing them as a Titan devours their mother.^[23] Mikasa and Eren are placed on a ship just as the Armored Titan breaks through the inner gate, letting the Titans inside Wall Maria, witnessing Eren's vow to kill all the Titans as they are transported to safety.^[24] Once inside the safety of Wall Rose, Eren confronts a soldier from the Garrison who manifests his annoyance for having to share their food with outsiders. The short beating the soldiers give Eren cause him to claim that he will retake Wall Maria with his own hands and insult Armin for his doubt, Mikasa punching him to bring him back to his senses. She then declares that she will do everything to keep him alive, forcing him to eat the rations he had previously discarded out of anger.^[25]

104th Trainees Squad arc

Mikasa during the military training

After the events of the Wall Maria's destruction, the government's desperate attempt to reclaim the lands using the refugees leads to nothing but more casualties. This prompts Mikasa, Eren and Armin enroll with the army and become members of the 104th Trainees Squad.^[26][27]
During their training, Mikasa helps Eren as much as she can as he initially fails to grasp the basics of the Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear.^[28] They manage to pass the qualifying tests, Mikasa quickly proving her skills and is praised as one of the best trainees in military history.^[29] At one point, Mikasa asks Annie Leonhart, a fellow trainee with exceptional skill, to teach her a self-defense technique that she was teaching Eren, which eventually calls for a bet with the 104th Trainees Squad to see who is the stronger fighter.^[30] At the 104th Trainees Squad's graduation, she is ranked first in the class.^[31]

Battle of Trost District arc

Before having the chance to fully apply in the Survey Corps so she can keep Eren safe, the Colossal Titan breaches Wall Rose the same way it did with Wall Maria.^[32] Much to her dismay, Mikasa is assigned to the rear guard to help fend off the Titans while the civilians escape into the safety of Wall Sina.^[33] Before fulfilling her duty, she makes Eren promise her not to do anything reckless.^[34]

Mikasa kills the abnormal Titan

Later on, as an abnormal Titan approaches the escaping civilians who are blocked at the gate. Mikasa kills it, saving everyone.^[35] She then witnesses why the civilians are taking too long to escape; an overloaded cargo cart is blocking the way. Mikasa asks the businessman to move the cart so that the people could escape, but when he refuses, she has to resort threatening him after knocking his guards unconscious, which scares the man enough to relent and move his goods.^[36] Seeing a mother and daughter show their gratitude for saving them, Mikasa flashes back to the time she lost her own parents and realizes that Eren is the only family she has left.^[37] Thus, with the evacuation of Trost District citizens complete, she heads to the front guard in order to aid her comrades.^[38] However, the sole trainee survivors are low on gas, making them unable to scale the Wall while the supply team inside the headquarters has barricaded themselves in against the onslaught of multiple Titans.^[39] After hearing of Eren's supposed death from Armin, Mikasa regroups the survivors and insults them, saying she will break through the Titans assaulting the headquarters.^[40]
Because of her grief over Eren's death, she fights irrationally and does not notice that she is running out of gas.^[41] As two Titans close in on her, she contemplates giving up and begins to remember her time with Eren, recalling Eren's cries of fighting back against her kidnappers, which gives her motivation to fight once more.^[42] When Mikasa stands up to kill the Titan in front of her, another Titan comes running from behind and saves her.^[43] This Titan, which ignores Mikasa, gives Armin enough time to rescue Mikasa and they both continue heading to the supply HQ.^[44] As they watch this rogue Titan continue killing other Titans, they hatch a plan to lure it to the HQ and relieve the siege there.^[45] With its help, the trainees manage to successfully refill their gas tanks and have clear access to the Wall.^[46]

Mikasa protecting Eren and Armin

However, as they watch the rogue Titan dispose of the last Titans surrounding them, Eren appears out the nape of its neck.^[47] Overcome with relief that Eren is alive, Mikasa quickly rescues and embraces him, everyone leaveing for the Wall.^[48] However, Jean, along with Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt are ordered to hand Eren over to superior officers under the command of Kitts Verman and to treat the incident as something confidential.^[49][50] Their refusal to do so causes Mikasa and her friends to be accused of treason and find themselves surrounded by Captain Verman's men, who are prompt to execute them.^[51] Mikasa attempts to defend Eren by drawing her blades and threatening to kill anyone who would try to harm Eren,^[52] but witnessing Eren's Titan form fighting in Trost District, Verman does not hesitate and orders a cannon to fire at them in spite of the latter's claim that he is a human.^[53] Eren uses his power to block the cannonball and tries to think of a plan of escape. He proposes that they either try to flee over the walls and escape into the Titan territory or have attempt Armin persuade the soldiers to spare them, leaving him to choose.^[54][55] Armin tries his best to convince the soldiers that Eren's Titan abilities could help to save humanity, but realizes the commander is far too scared to think rationally. Before the order can be given to fire upon them once more, they are saved when Commander Dot Pixis, head administrator of the southern region, intervenes.^[56] They are sent on a mission to plug the breach in the Wall with a rock that only Eren in Titan form can lift. ^[57]
As the mission commences and Eren goes into Titan form, he loses control, attacking Mikasa, and eventually knocking himself out.^[58][59] The elite team, lead by Ian Dietrich, Rico Brzenska and Mitabi Jarnach, designated to defend Eren as he carries the rock quarrel among themselves about what to do next.^[60] Mikasa is on the verge of attacking them until Ian orders everyone to continue protecting Eren until he recovers.^[61][62] Thanks to Armin's intervention, Eren eventually regains his senses and successfully places the rock down, albeit with many casualties.^[63] At that moment, they are saved by Levi as he kills the Titans approaching them.^[64]

The Female Titan arc

Mikasa among the new Survey Corps members

After the battle of Trost District is over, Eren is brought before a military tribunal to decide his future.^[65] Despite Mikasa's best efforts to defend him, she is forced to testify against Eren as his reckless actions have frightened many people in the courtroom.^[66] Some time later, Mikasa and everyone else have their 3D Maneuver Gear inspected in order to find out the culprit who killed the two captured Titans.^[67] Later on, Commander Erwin Smith comes to recruit new members for the Survey Corps which is scheduling an expedition within a few months.^[68] Many leave except for Mikasa, Reiner, Armin, Sasha, Krista, Connie, Jean, Bertolt and a few others.^[69]
Mikasa is then seen to be a part of the 57th expedition.^[70] Shortly after leaving for Wall Maria, the Female Titan appears and defeats numerous Survey Corps members.^[71] The formation eventually reaches the Forest of Giant Trees, with Mikasa being stationed at its outskirts, making sure that no Titans enter the forest.^[72] Eventually, she attempts to approach Eren as she hears his roar in his Titan Form.^[73] Upon reaching Eren's location, she witnesses the Female Titan devouring Eren's human body.^[74] After overcoming the initial shock, Mikasa charges at the Female Titan, cutting it up in order to rescue Eren.^[75][76] However, she is unable to do so until she teams up with Levi. They manage to take Eren back and join the rest of the rest of the formation.^[77] While heading to the Walls, the formation is attacked by multiple Titans brought by a couple of rookie soldiers who disobeyed a direct order from Commander Erwin, and Mikasa must save the rookies who are caught by the Titans.^[78]

Mikasa ready to battle Annie

Following the Survey Corps's failure, Armin manages to convince Annie to help them out until they can gather evidence to prove to the King that the Walls need to be protected better.^[79] During that time, Mikasa takes a notice of the lack of diligence and honor in the Military Police.^[80] She prepares for battle when she gets fed up with Annie's games and excuses. She takes off her disguise and draws out out her sword to fight her, promising to "cut up the Female Titan one more time".^[81]
In the following battle, Mikasa learns that Eren in his Titan form isn't powerful enough to defeat Annie by himself. Being the strongest and most powerful soldier herself, she decides to take the fight to her.^[82] Despite being ordered to pull away by Hange, Mikasa manages to make it to Annie as she attempted to climb over Wall Sina to escape to the flat lands. Since Annie had already climbed more than half way towards the top of the Wall, Eren throws Mikasa upwards so she can catch up with the Female Titan, and cut off all her fingers. She then proceeds to push Annie off to fall to the ground.^[83] Annie is therefore captured, but encases herself in a crystal to avoid interrogation.^[84] However, it was far from over as Mikasa has just taken noticed of a Titan inside the Wall.^[85] As both the Survey Corps and Military Police take an encased Annie underground to detain her, Mikasa realizes the Titan hiding in Wall Sina is alive, but is too weak to move due to a lack of sunlight.^[86] Mikasa remains at Eren's bedside as Armin and Jean head down to a meeting involving Erwin and the Military Police.^[87]

Clash of the Titans arc

Mikasa cuts Reiner

Following the supposed breach of Wall Rose, Mikasa, Eren and the other members of the Survey Corps come to rescue Reiner and the others from the other Titans. She is among the others who learns of Krista's real name being Historia.^[88] After they reach the top of the Wall, Mikasa is outraged when she overhears Reiner confessing that he and Bertolt were the Titans responsible for the attack on Wall Maria and wanted Eren to join them. She takes them by surprise, attacking them with her swords and tells Eren to run. However, she fails to kill them as Reiner stops her from doing so, transforming afterwards and attempting to kidnap Eren.^[89] While Eren transforms, and engages in battle with Reiner, Mikasa faces her own troubles and regrets for not cutting off both his and Bertolt's heads when she had the chance.^[90] During the fight with Reiner, she sees Eren in trouble and tries to fight him off. However due to the thickness of the armor, Mikasa has a hard time slicing the nape of Reiner's neck.^[91] Eventually, Armin sees a weak link in Reiner's line of defense in which his armor is breaking and gives Mikasa extra blades to replace her own. Taking advantage of the information, she cuts him at the back of the knee caps. However, Bertolt manages to save Reiner thanks to his abilities of the Colossal Titan, knocking out most of the soldiers in the process.^[92]
Later, Mikasa along with Hange and others from the Survey Corps are injured from the heat blast from Bertolt's Titan from. While Armin helps them recover, he gives Mikasa the news that she was dreading to hear: Eren along with Ymir was kidnapped by both Reiner and Bertholdt.^[93] Taking the scarf that he gave her, Mikasa covers her face with it and asks why Eren always runs off on them like that. She feels like she has failed in keeping her adoptive mother's promise in always protecting him and weeps.^[94] As Armin tries to console her, Hannes arrives to give out rations to the Legion. It was him who reminds her that despite him running off the way he does and often losing fights, he never gives up on them. Even thought the odds are stacked against him and he is unwilling to admit it, Hannes always knew that Eren relied on both Mikasa and Armin when he needed them. His words and his assistance reinvigorated them and are more determined to rescue Eren. Mikasa lowers her scarf and begins eating.^[95]

Mikasa strikes Ymir

She spearheads the attack on the traitors, aggressively chasing them down as they attempt to flee from the Forest of Giant Trees.^[96] Realizing that armor was protecting Reiner's joints this time, she instead targets Ymir and slashes into her face.^[97] Afterwards, she attempts to kill Bertholdt, who escapes by hiding between the Armored Titan's throat and his hands. Changing targets again, she prepares to try to kill Ymir and is only stopped when Krista intervenes. However, she is unmoved by Krista's words and threatens to kill anyone that gets in her way. Her cold expression and statement that she has no mercy or compassion to spare forces Krista and Ymir to back down, allowing her to focus on trying to find a way to take down the traitors.^[98]
Jean and Connie try to speak to Bertolt and coax him into surrendering, but Mikasa coldly states that their reasons don't matter. She calls Reiner and Bertolt a "plague upon humanity" and advises the others not to show mercy.^[99] This causes Bertolt to yell at her, first stating that they never wanted to kill anyone and admitting to having cared for the others in the 104th. She is visibly shocked by this outburst, enough that it snaps her out of her murderous rage.^[100] Mikasa asks them to give Eren back, but her request is rebuffed as he claims it has to be done. Before the group can argue further, Hannes shouts a warning to them that a huge group of Titans are being lead straight towards them by Erwin Smith.^[101]
Mikasa retreats, but it is not long before Erwin orders them to attack one more time, claiming this to be the key moment for humanity's survival.^[102] However, he gets grabbed by a Titan and in spite of their initial shock, the soldiers, along with Mikasa, follow Erwin's orders and continue advancing.^[103] Mikasa eventually reaches her target, but has to be saved by Jean from the grasp of a Titan.^[104] Finally, Erwin frees Eren and Mikasa catches him, however, Reiner begins throwing Titans at the soldiers in an attempt to stop them and Eren and Mikasa find themselves facing a Titan they remember from 5 years ago, the Titan that ate their mother.^[105]
Believing that it will be their final moments after seeing Hannes being eaten, Mikasa tells Eren that she wants to thank him for being together with him, for teaching her how to live, and for giving and wrapping the muffler on her which she always wears.^[106] As she moves closer to Eren, he turned away to face the Smiling Titan and vowed to Mikasa that he will wrap the muffler around her as many times as he needs to. ^[107] Mikasa and Eren both escaped with the others as Eren unknowingly awakens his power to control other Titans, and orders them to attack the Smiling Titan, Reiner and Berthold.^[108]

Abilities

Mikasa in action

Owing to the need to protect her adoptive brother who often runs off looking for trouble, Mikasa had honed herself to be a talented fighter at a very young age, often throwing boys bigger than her with ease, gaining her reputation. An example of this is when Armin was being bullied and Eren came to his rescue. The boys were preparing to take Eren on when they saw Mikasa behind him and promptly ran away, even though the bullies had superior numbers.^[109] She is strong enough to lift Eren off the ground without effort.^[110][111]
While she was still training, Keith even denoted that Mikasa's performance is exemplary in every subject, and that she is truly a genius.^[29] Combined with her prodigious skill in 3D Maneuver Gear, she can easily take down Titans with speed and efficiency. This has lead to her being mentioned as a military genius many times and "worth a hundred ordinary soldiers".^[52] With such prodigious skills coupled with her own remarkable will, she displays lethality against Titans rarely seen among soldiers, recruits or veterans alike. This has been proven true when she took Annie in her Titan form, who had killed numerous experienced veterans with ease before, and survived.^[76]