Armin Arlert

## Voices

**Armin Arlelt** (アルミン・アルレルト, *Arumin Arureruto*) is a soldier in the Scout Regiment. He is also a childhood friend of Eren Jaeger and Mikasa Ackermann.

## Appearance

Armin is rather short for his age with a generally small frame. Although years of military training have given him a somewhat muscular build. He has a rounded feminine face with blond hair that is cut in the style of a bob. He also has large, expressive blue eyes, brown eyebrows, and a slightly upturned nose that is often slightly red.

## Personality

Even when he was young, the naturally curious Armin had a deep fascination with the world beyond the Walls. As a child, he found and studied an illegal book about the outside world that was owned by his grandfather. He told Eren Jaeger, his best friend, about the book and the information that was inside it. Armin was branded a heretic by the other children, for his unusual interest in the outside world, and was frequently picked on. Too timid to defend himself, Armin would often need to rely on his friends (Eren and Mikasa) to protect him from local bullies. This, coupled with his frail physique, was a source of much shame for Armin, leading him to have poor self-esteem and believe himself to be a burden upon others. Because of this, Armin has always been very eager to prove his worth. As a child, he hoped that one day he would be able to consider himself a true equal to his friends.

Armin continued to have low self-esteem during his training years and for a short while after graduation. During this time Armin considered himself to be useless and a burden due to his lack of physical strength and physical skill. However, soon after graduation, he came to learn that his mind is an equally valuable asset to the military and that he is not useless or a burden as he can use his brain to help people. Consequently, Armin gradually gains confidence in himself and his abilities. Nonetheless, he can still be hard on himself at times. The fact that he is so willing to sacrifice himself to achieve a goal shows that he still does not value his own life as much as he should.

Armin is exceptionally loyal, brave and selfless. He constantly worries for the safety of his friends. Armin is always prepared to throw himself into dangerous situations to save them, even offering to sacrifice himself for Mikasa. When he, Jean Kirschtein, and Reiner Braun had to decide who would be left behind without a horse, Armin immediately offered himself without hesitation. When Jean was injured in battle, Armin rushed to his aid, placing himself in danger as well. Although he and Eren were determined to live their dream of seeing the outside world, Armin was content to give up his life in order to defeat the Colossal Titan and to have his dream fulfilled through Eren. Armin is also very level-headed, keeping Eren and Mikasa under control when their emotions get the better of them. He has talked down a fight Eren started with a soldier and restrained Mikasa from acting rashly during Eren's military trial.

Armin is a very analytical person. He likes to think deeply about situations and solve problems using his mind. These personality traits, in conjunction with his intelligence, good judgment, level-headedness, ability to plan ahead, and ability to come up with creative ideas and think outside the box, make him a great tactician. He is not an extrovert or loud person. When he was suddenly thrown into a leadership role that involved being in the spotlight, speaking in front of people and ordering people around constantly, he got quite anxious and momentarily froze up.

Armin has shown great investment in humanity's future and is always striving for and thinking about how he can change things for the betterment of mankind.

Armin's hard and cruel life has caused him to have certain beliefs about how the world works. Armin believes that (in the cruel world in which they live) in order to surpass monsters, accomplish goals or make a difference, you must be willing to sacrifice anything, even your humanity. Armin admires strong leaders such as Erwin Smith, Ian Dietrich, and Dot Pyxis for their ability to sacrifice themselves and their humanity in order to achieve their goals. He believes that tactical related decisions should be based on logic (what actions will produce the logically best outcome?), rather than emotions.

Even though Armin makes calculated decisions, he is also a very emotionally sensitive and empathetic person. Due to Armin's kind heart, he faces conflict in his mind with his belief that he has to force himself to throw away his humanity. For example, Armin killed a person to save Jean as it was the logical thing to do; however, he became very emotionally upset afterward. This, in conjunction with the fact that he is hard on himself whenever he does something wrong, means that he has yet to completely throw away his humanity. Armin's most consistent traits remain his kind heart and keen intuition, making him often concerned with the group's morality.

Despite this, Armin strongly believes that morality is relative and that there are no universal laws of good and evil. Therefore, he has a distaste for the terms 'good person' and 'bad person', since no one could be either good or bad to everyone. This makes him willing to concoct underhanded, morally questionable plans that shock some of his comrades. Notably, both Mikasa and Eren, his best friends, show no hint of surprise at this ability of his, with the latter even commenting that he had always known Armin was capable of it.