Reiner Braun

* 857
* 854
* 850
* 845

Romances :

* Historia Reiss (crush)

Romances :

* Historia Reiss (crush)

Romances :

* Historia Reiss (crush)

Romances :

* Historia Reiss (crush)

> I wanted to become a hero...!! That's why I always acted like everyone's big brother, too. I wanted people to respect me.... That...that wasn't just history or my environment...it was my fault. Your mother was eaten by a Titan because of me!! I...can't stand this anymore.... Just...kill me, I beg of you.... I want...to vanish....
>
> Reiner to Eren, in Declaration of war

**Reiner Braun** is the Vice Captain of the Warrior Unit and the main protagonist of *Attack on Titan* from the Marleyan perspective. He is the illegitimate son of an Eldian and a Marleyan and grew up in Liberio's internment zone. Eventually, he was selected as a child to become one of Marley's Warriors. At the age of ten, he inherited the power of the Armored Titan.

In the year 845, he infiltrated Paradis Island alongside Bertholdt Hoover, Annie Leonhart, and Marcel Galliard as part of an operation to reclaim the Founding Titan. He joined the Survey Corps after graduating 2nd in the 104th Training Corps.

## Appearance

### Human form

Reiner has short blond hair, gold eyes, and a defined facial structure. His large height, broad shoulders, and serious expression give him an intimidating presence. As a member of the Survey Corps, he wears the wings of freedom jacket over his standard military uniform, with a green shirt underneath. In casual attire, Reiner wears a dark gray button-down shirt with rolled up sleeves and dark green pants with a brown belt.

In the year 854, Reiner has a short goatee and has lost weight, making his cheekbones appear more defined. He has also grown taller.

### Armored Titan form

Reiner's Armored Titan form is 15 meters tall and has plates of hardened skin covering the entirety of its body, except for muscles in its cheeks that become exposed when it opens its lipless jaw, as well as the muscle tissue behind its knees, elbows, and feet. Its eyes are covered by white, organic lenses, and it has short, silver hair. While fighting Eren, it has been noted that it has high agility and is capable of moving at a fast momentum, despite its seemingly heavy weight and being low on stamina.

## Personality

As a child, Reiner was rather quiet and meek yet at the same time very loyal and driven. He believed that if he became a Warrior then his Marleyan father would come back and deluded himself into thinking he would still cheer him on as he fought the Eldians, even after he rejected him. Because of his motivation, Reiner was very desperate to become a Warrior, even going as far as to accuse Galliard of being an Eldian spy when he belittled him. However, after he was chosen to inherit the Armored Titan, Reiner gained a newfound self-confidence, though it was quickly shattered when Marcel revealed that he was not chosen for his abilities. Due to Marley's propaganda and his mother's influence, he believed the Eldians of Paradis Island to be "devils" and that he would become a hero by exterminating them. He was also very gullible, never doubting the words of his mother and superiors.

Following Marcel's death, Reiner began incorporating elements from his personality into his own. He became more decisive and assertive, even willing to threaten Annie and Bertholdt to ensure they followed his orders, yet also deeply caring and genuinely desiring to protect them. He also accepted that his belief that his father would return if he were to become a Warrior and defeat the Eldians was just a fantasy. In addition to this, Reiner started to develop a negative perception towards himself, believing he was supposed to have failed in becoming a Warrior and that he should have been the one to die instead of Marcel.

By the time he joined the 104th Training Corps, Reiner had completely incorporated Marcel's personality into his own. He built up a reputation of being a passionate and honest person with a strong sense of duty who takes his role as a soldier very seriously and encourages others to do the same. However, he was also noted to have a kind heart and a tendency to always think of others before himself, taking on extra burdens for the sake of his comrades. He was stated to be the "big brother" of the other trainees.

However, beneath this facade, Reiner developed serious emotional and mental problems as a result of living a double-life. While still loyal to his true cause as a Warrior of Marley, he was unable to cope with the guilt he felt towards his actions and thus began to suppress his true memories in an effort to escape. Having to kill Marco seems to have been the final straw for him, causing him to snap and developing psychological issues. During these times, he would forget his actual identity and truly believes himself to be an Eldian soldier. Even after blowing his and Bertholdt's cover, he initially still continued to shift between his two personas. However, after Bertholdt bluntly told him that he was not a "soldier" but a "warrior", Reiner was, though with some difficulty, able to set his priorities straight.

While similar, there are a few differences between Reiner's "soldier" persona and his true self. He has shown himself to be more ruthless and fatalistic, though this is partly out of necessity. Despite these differences, he still tries to reach out to others and get to see things from their perspective, as seen when he trusted Ymir more than is perhaps wise.

Following the failure of the Paradis Island Operation and fighting in the Marley Mid-East War for four years, Reiner's personality has changed so much that both his mother and cousin noted that he seems like a completely different person. Despite the fact that they are enemies now, Reiner harbors little to no malice towards his former comrades, only sarcastically referring to them as "devils" while humanizing their actions and beliefs before his family. He also suffers from constant nightmares about his near-death experiences and frequently sees memories of his childhood. Eventually, Reiner's negative perception towards himself reached its lowest point and caused him to contemplate committing suicide. However, despite stating that he wants to die, he cannot bring himself to, as his dedication toward his loved ones still exceeds his self-loathing.

However, in spite of all his emotional issues, Reiner is very intelligent with notable leadership qualities, able to think clearly, analyze situations, and formulate effective plans. As Eren himself confirmed, he is able to think ahead and in the long term, able to accurately predict the consequences depending on the course of action taken, all while maintaining his composure. He understood the hidden meaning behind Zeke Jaeger's words when he indirectly implied that the Warriors' meeting was being bugged by their Marleyan superiors, and acted accordingly, quickly agreeing to his Captain's plan and intentionally cutting off Galliard before he could run his mouth too much. During their mission on Paradis Island, while it was Annie's job to gather the information, it was mostly Reiner who strategized, coming up with efficient multi-step plans not long after acquiring intel from her. As a leader, Reiner is also very devoted to his mission, to the point that he refused to talk and was ready to die when he was the Survey Corps' prisoner and Hange Zoë threatened to kill him for not cooperating.

## History

He was born in the Liberio Internment Zone to an Eldian mother, Karina Braun and a Marleyan father. Growing up, he was not allowed to see his father, as communication between the two ethnic groups were strictly forbidden. As a child, it was decided between him and his mother that he would become a Warrior candidate and potentially inherit one of the Nine Titans so that Reiner and his mother could become honorary Marleyans and reunite with Reiner's father.

After joining the Warrior program Reiner and his fellow candidates learned from Zeke Jaeger that in a few years an operation to reclaim the Founding Titan would begin, and six new Warrior candidates would be chosen to inherit the power of the Titans. He was mocked by fellow candidate Porco Galliard for believing he would inherit a Titan, who claimed that Reiner would have to wait thirteen more years to inherit the Armored Titan. This led to a fight that ended when Marcel pulled his brother back and the others left with Zeke. Bertholdt Hoover attempted to convince Reiner to give up his aspirations, but Reiner believed that even if he died young from the Curse of Ymir he would be remembered as a hero to the people of Marley and be the best son in the world. Marcel ultimately influenced the army, leading to Reiner being selected to inherit the Armored Titan in place of his brother Porco. Alongside the other Warriors, the six Titans crushed an entire nation, leading to them being regarded as a stronger group than their predecessors.

In 845 at age twelve, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and Marcel were tasked with retaking the Founding Titan in Paradis Island. Before they left Reiner found and confronted his father alone in a kitchen where the man worked. Reiner told his father he knew who he was and that because he and his mother were honorary Marleyans now they could all live together. Before he could finish his father cut him off, calling them Eldian devils and saying that his family would be done for if the truth about Reiner's parentage came out. To stop that, Reiner's father chose to run away.

Upon traveling to the island, the Warriors parted ways with the army at the border and began traveling by horseback under the cover of night. While resting, Reiner learned of Marcel being the reason he was chosen to inherit the Armored Titan. As the sun began to rise, Marcel pushed Reiner out of the way of a Titan emerging from the ground, leading to the Warriors fleeing while Marcel was eaten.

After the loss of Marcel, Annie and Bertholdt wanted to cancel the operation but Reiner opted against it as he claimed to know the consequences. This prompted Annie to attack him for his cowardice. After getting beaten up, Reiner tackled her and declared his resolve to become the leader as Bertholdt agreed to continue the operation.

## Story

### The Fall of Shiganshina arc

Shortly after the Colossal Titan first breaches Wall Maria via Shiganshina District, Reiner assumes his Armored Titan form and enters the city and makes his way across it to the interior gate of Wall Maria. Once there, he charges towards the gate as several Garrison members try to stop him with cannon fire. However the cannons have no effect and Reiner quickly smashes through the wall, allowing the other Titans to swarm Wall Maria. Following this, Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie mix in with the survivors and flee to Wall Rose with them. The three pass themselves off as survivors of a small hunting village on the south side of Wall Maria to cover for their lack of family records which the destruction of Wall Maria, and the loss of vital documents during the chaos, helped contribute to.

Shortly after the destruction of Wall Maria, Reiner and Bertholdt were among the many refugees that were informed of the food shortage.

After the attack, Reiner and his allies enter a refugee camp inside Wall Rose. While with the refugees, the three meet a man from a small village in the southeast of Wall Maria that was destroyed by the Titans. The man is later found having apparently killed himself, and the three decide to co-opt his story as their own.

### Humanity's Comeback arc

Two years after the destruction of Wall Maria, Reiner enlists in the military and becomes a member of the 104th Training Corps. On the first day of training, Reiner is one of the few students who the instructor Keith Shadis does not attempt to haze, as he is able to tell that Reiner has already been through a rite of passage. At a later stage, Keith does ask Reiner what he joined the military for and Reiner answers that he wants "to save humanity."

After failing repeatedly to operate the omni-directional mobility gear, Eren seeks advice from his fellow cadets and is sent to Reiner and Bertholdt for help by Marco Bott. Though initially unfriendly towards Eren and Armin, Reiner and Bertholdt quickly warm up to them after learning they are from Shiganshina District and are still willing to enlist in the Survey Corps. Reiner is especially impressed with Eren's will to enlist despite watching his mother being devoured by a Titan. He shares his desire to return to his lost hometown and agrees to give Eren advice. The next day they witness Eren's last attempt to pass where he fails yet again until Shadis notices that his equipment is defective. Upon being resupplied, Eren passes the test as Reiner and Bertholdt watch impressed with Eren's determination.

Over the next three years, Reiner continued his training with his fellow cadets. Reiner was noted by Keith Shadis to have exceptional mental and physical fortitude, as well as a great ability to gain the confidence of his comrades. Eren also came to view him as a big brother to the 104th and came to idolize Reiner and aspired to be as strong as him one day. However, the guilt of all the people who died because of him caused Reiner to develop physiological trauma and he developed dissociative identity disorder, developing an alter-ego that believed he really was a soldier and not a Warrior. Sometimes, Reiner would not be able to remember who he really was until Bertholdt reminded him which saddened his friend.

At some point during their training, the cadets completed a snowstorm training exercise. However, Reiner quickly notes that Krista, Ymir, and Daz are still missing. Marco suggests they are with Thomas' squad but Reiner points out that his squad just completed their mission. The next morning when Eren, Mikasa, and Armin decide to go looking for them, Reiner and Bertholdt decide to accompany them, as well as Connie, Sasha, and Marco. However, they hear a loud almost thunder-like noise and head out to investigate but discover Ymir returning to camp with Daz who is tended to by the others indoors.

Nearly five years into their mission Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt have a meeting. Annie reports to Reiner that Kenny Ackerman surprised her while she was spying and that she narrowly avoided capture. Kenny might have seen her face so that if she joins the Interior Military Police Brigade she could be compromised. When Annie once more expresses her wish to return to Marley, Reiner again disagrees with her and decides to destroy Wall Rose to flush out the Founding Titan. Annie notes his plan will kill a lot of his new friends from the 104th Training Corps, but Reiner insists the other trainees are not their friends.

Some time after that night, Reiner sees Eren take a bad fall while training with his ODM gear. He tells Eren to take a break, but Eren is afraid to do so. Eren does not want to die without having accomplished anything and asks what he can do to be like Reiner. Reiner tells him to simply do what he needs to and keep moving forward. He says that he is certain Eren will exterminate all the Titans.

In 850, when partaking in a jogging exercise carrying supplies through a rainstorm, Reiner notices Armin falling behind. Annoyed to see him fall behind from lack of physical strength, Reiner takes his supplies and carries them and his own for a time, but Armin insists on doing it himself and takes back his supplies. Later during hand-to-hand combat training, he advises Eren to take his duty as a soldier seriously when he questions the use of hand-to-hand when their enemies are Titans. Noticing Annie attempting to sneak away from training, he intercepts her and goads her into sparring with Eren to test him. After seeing her easily dispatch Eren, he hesitates to take her on himself but is convinced to by Eren and is quickly defeated as well. Later Reiner watches Eren and Jean argue over Jean's selfishness to join the Military Police so he will not have to fight Titans, and is impressed when he sees him use Annie's technique to put him in line. Eventually Reiner graduates 2nd in the class, finishing just behind Mikasa Ackerman.

### Distress

In the year 848, Reiner is placed in a group of cadets led by Thomas Wagner to go on a wilderness hunt that will teach the cadets to sustain themselves in times of peace. When it is discovered that the group's ODM gear has been stolen, Reiner and Annie investigate the remnants of a campfire nearby, as well as numerous carriage tracks, and deduce that their gear must have been stolen by thieves. Thomas suggests ending the operation early, but Reiner insists that they speed up their progress so that they can warn the other team of cadets, led by Marco Bott, before returning to the training grounds.

The next day, Reiner and his group come upon Marco's group, who have been engaging the kidnappers, and help them disarm the remaining men.

### A Sudden Visitor: The Torturous Curse of Adolescence

In the year 849, the 104th Cadets Corps participates in a mock defense mission in Trost District, to evaluate the cadets' abilities. After performing one mock operation with his fellow cadets, Reiner is present when Jean gets into a fight with Sasha and Connie for "stealing" his Titan kills during the mission. Reiner tries to point out that all of the Titans were free for anyone to kill, but is forced to step in when the altercation nearly devolves into a brawl. The argument is interrupted by Commander Dot Pyxis, who suggests that Sasha and Jean settle their differences with a cooking competition.

Reiner and Connie decide to help Sasha with her dish, and accompany her into the wilderness outside of Trost to search for a wild boar that has been reported, in order to cook it. Although they initially follow Sasha's nose to pursue the boar, Reiner begins to doubt they will be able to find it. He is proven wrong, as Sasha is able to successfully locate the boar, but upon seeing the size of it, insists that they leave it be. As he is attempting to leave, however, Sasha physically assaults him before breaking into tears that he would give up so quickly. Eager to make amends, Reiner apologizes and agrees to help, only for Connie to alert the two of them that their fighting has alerted the boar to their presence. They engage the boar, and Sasha manages to kill it.

After returning to Trost, Reiner helps Connie and Sasha prepare the boar's meat, and accompanies them to the competition to present it.

### The Struggle for Trost arc

As part of the defensive effort of the military after the second attack of the Colossal Titan, Reiner is assigned to the front guard. However, with the supply team stuck in Trost's Military headquarters, he is essentially immobilized with many of his teammates on a rooftop. He and Annie discuss what to do next, with Reiner suggesting that they wait for the Titans to gather to them before they make a move. Mikasa asks them if they have seen Eren, and Reiner points out Armin, telling her he was in Eren's squad.

Mikasa takes charge, leading an attempt to get to the military headquarters in Trost, which Reiner takes part in. Upon reaching the headquarters, Reiner keeps watch, alerting his teammates when Titans begin to attack the building. Connie, Mikasa, and Armin arrive shortly afterward, with an abnormal Titan in tow that promptly begins to kill the Titans swarming the outside of the building. Alarmed by the Titan's behavior, Reiner tries to find out how much the three know about it but is unable to get any information out of them.

Reiner takes part in Armin's plan to clear out the smaller Titans that have infiltrated the headquarters' armory. After the Titans are lured together by the cadets and blinded via gunfire, he and six other cadets attack them, in an effort to clear out all of the Titans in one move. As the other cadets move out after resupplying, Reiner is among the soldiers that stay behind to observe the abnormal Titan as it is overwhelmed by the mindless Titans. Suspecting that the Titan is intelligent, Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt argue that they should help it and prevent it from being eaten. They are silenced when the Titan breaks away from the Titans devouring it to kill one final Titan, before collapsing. They prepare to leave, but are shocked at the sight of Eren Jaeger emerging from the Titan's nape. Reiner, Jean, Annie, and Bertholdt are placed on standby with their fellow cadets, and are ordered not to tell anyone what they witnessed.

Later, after seeing what appears to be Titan vapor from inside the city, he and the soldiers that witnessed Eren's emergence from the Titan's nape scale the Wall to see what is happening. Over the Wall, they see Eren protecting Mikasa and Armin from cannon fire, with a shield made from the torso of his Titan form.

While watching Eren attempt to seal the hole in Wall Rose, Reiner and Bertholdt discuss the situation. Bertholdt is concerned that the Titans will kill Eren before they learn anything, but Reiner dismisses Bertholdt's concerns, saying that, with Eren's transformation, they finally have a clue after searching for five years. Marco overhears their conversation and asks the two of them what they are talking about. Though Reiner initially plays it off as a joke, he attacks and overpowers Marco, claiming that Marco is too intelligent to be let go. Shortly after, Annie appears and Reiner orders her to remove Marco's ODM gear. The three leave Marco stranded on a roof and watch in horror as a nearby Titan eats him. It is at this point that Reiner reverts back into his soldier persona and wonders why Marco was getting eaten.

### The 57th Exterior Scouting Mission arc

In the aftermath of Trost, Reiner enlists in the Survey Corps. During the 57th Exterior Scouting Mission, he comes across Armin, who has narrowly survived an encounter with the Female Titan and are soon joined by Jean. Reiner is surprised when Armin deduces the Female Titan is in a human Titan just like Eren, and that she is after someone specific. Armin deduces Eren but Reiner is confused after Armin and Jean tell Reiner that Eren and Levi Squad are in the left wing, as Reiner's copy of the scouting formation had them in the right wing. Reiner asks where Eren is meant to be and Armin deduces the rear of the center rank.

Reiner, Armin and Jean subsequently devise a plan to follow and attack the Female Titan to slow her down and allow the formation time to regroup. Before attacking Armin tells Reiner and Jean to pull their hoods all the way over to cover their faces knowing that she will not kill them if she does not know who they are, as any of them could easily be Eren. After Armin and Jean are injured, Reiner attempts a direct attack while the Female Titan is distracted by Armin's false claims that Eren is dead. Reiner is grabbed by the Female Titan and seemingly crushed but in reality secretly carves a message into her palm telling her Eren's true whereabouts.

Afterward, Reiner tends to Armin's head wound while Jean attempts to call back his missing horse. The group is preparing to decide who to leave behind, when Krista Lenz, having followed their flares, arrives with two extra horses, saving them. Stunned by her timely rescue and beauty, Reiner mentally expresses the desire to marry her.

The group rejoins the main force soon after, though they are frustrated by Erwin Smith's decision to continue the doomed mission and the lack of information available. Assigned to stand by at the edge of the Forest of Giant Trees and act as bait for the Titans, Reiner repeatedly expresses concern about what is going on inside the forest. When the mission ends in failure, he returns to Wall Rose in poor spirits.

### Clash of the Titans arc

During the assault on Stohess District, several of the 104th Training Corps recruits including Reiner are kept on standby at an outpost south of Wall Sina. They are under the watch of Mike Zacharius and a number of Survey Corps soldiers until further notice. Most of the recruits are bored and Reiner expresses suspicion over the real reason for their stay. They are out of uniform and not permitted to train, while the rest of the soldiers are fully equipped despite the fact they are inside the Walls and not on the frontline.

The mood quickly changes when Sasha announces that she hears footsteps and Nanaba arrives to tell them that Titans have been sighted and there is no time for them to gear up. They are to take their horses and evacuate all nearby homes and settlements under the assumption that Wall Rose has been breached. The veterans and recruits split into four teams and Reiner volunteers to go south with Connie's group and help him to his village, even though it is likely to be the most dangerous and closest to any possible breach.

When they arrive, they find the village empty, though there is an oddly deformed Titan on top of Connie's house. Since there is no longer anyone in the village left to help, Gelgar changes their mission to locate the breach in the wall. As they prepare to leave, the Titan brokenly says "Welcome home," which freaks out Connie. Reiner snaps him out of it and pushes him to focus on the mission.

However, after patrolling along the Wall, their team meets up with Krista and Ymir's without finding signs of any breach. The teams and their horses are exhausted so they decide to take refuge in Utgard Castle for the night. Gelgar has the rookies to get some rest while the veterans take turns keeping watch. When Ymir asks Connie how the trip to his village went, he tells her that it was destroyed, but at least no one was eaten, so they had likely escaped. He cannot stop thinking about the strangely immobile Titan on his house though. It reminds him of his mother. Reiner starts to tell him to stop thinking about it when Ymir breaks out with a mocking laugh. Her teasing irritates Connie enough to cause him to shut up about the subject.

Reiner later finds Ymir scavenging for food and thanks her for distracting Connie so he does not keep worrying about his family. Barely paying attention, Ymir finds a can of herring and Reiner asks if he can see it. When he looks at the strange lettering, he is surprised that Ymir can read it, but before he can press her for information, they are interrupted by the arrival of Titans and called to the top of the castle's tower. The soldiers are shocked to find themselves surrounded because Titans should not be active at night.

Lynne discovers some smaller Titans have breached the door at the bottom of the tower and instructs the rookies to go down and form a barricade as she, Gelgar, Henning, and Nanaba handle the ones outside. Reiner leads the charge, calling for the others to grab boards, rods, and whatever else they can get their hands on. Further down the tower, he opens a barred door and discovers a small Titan on the other side. He slams the door shut and calls for the others to bring something. Before anyone can, the Titan breaks an arm through the door and swipes at Reiner, triggering a childhood memory of when another Titan attacked him and a friend pushed him out of the way, sacrificing himself so that Reiner would live.

Bertholdt arrives and jams a pitchfork into the Titan. Together with Reiner, they force it back long enough for Krista, Ymir, and Connie to arrive with a cannon that they barrel down the stairs and into the Titan, pinning it to the floor. Before the group can head back upstairs, a second Titan emerges and attacks Connie. Reiner pushes him out of the way, but the Titan bites down on his arm. He grits his teeth and manages to lift the Titan over his shoulders and carries it to a window with the intention of jumping out with it. Connie uses his knife though and cuts open the jaw enough for Reiner to get his arm free before Ymir kicks it out.

Krista treats Reiner's arm and says it is probably broken and they will need a splint and bandages. She tears her skirt to wrap his arm and Connie doubts that he could ever be as brave as Reiner, who views his behavior as normal for a soldier. Connie asks Bertholdt if Reiner was always like this and Bertholdt says that in the past he was more of a Warrior, which confuses Reiner.

The battle outside goes poorly and the rookies join the veterans at the top of the tower in time to see them overwhelmed by the second wave of Titans. When Ymir transforms into a Titan to protect everyone, Reiner is stunned to recognize her as the Titan who ate Marcel five years ago. Ymir ends up bringing down the tower and asks everyone to grab on to her to escape. Hange's forces arrive shortly thereafter to finish off the remaining Titans.

The Survey Corps takes stock of their injured on top of Wall Rose. Reiner is disturbed by how he could have died twice now; once to the Female Titan and another to the Titan in Utgard Castle. Eren is sympathetic and says they have been driven far away enough from their hometown, which triggers something in both Reiner and Bertholdt. Bertholdt suggests that it is almost time for them both to go home and leave all this behind. However, Reiner reverts back into his Warrior persona and confuses this as Bertholdt telling him that this is the perfect opportunity to complete their mission. He then takes Eren aside and confesses to him that five years ago, he and Bertholdt, the Armored and Colossal Titans respectively, broke down the Wall to destroy humanity, but that is no longer necessary if Eren comes with them.

Eren, however, is incredulous and insists that Reiner is just not thinking straight, as it wouldn't make sense for Eren to just go with him them just because Reiner asked him to. Reiner realizes that this is true and comes to the conclusion that he has been living a lie for too long. He does not know what is right anymore, but he can face the consequences of his actions as a Warrior. Reiner undoes the sling around his broken arm to show it completely healing, revealing that he does indeed have the power of the Titans.

Reiner then tries to take Eren by force, but he is suddenly attacked by Mikasa. She injures Reiner and Bertholdt before they can take Eren, but Reiner shoves her off the Wall when she tries to finish off Bertholdt. With the injuries they have sustained, both Reiner and Bertholdt transform into their respective Titans. The Survey Corps tries to rescue Eren, but they are kept at bay by the Colossal Titan's steam. Reiner grabs a visibly shocked and betrayed Eren and descends down the wall. However, Eren bites his own hand to change into a Titan and breaks free.

The two engage in combat, and Reiner proves significantly stronger. He punches Eren across the field and though Eren regenerates multiple times, Reiner continues to beat him down. After getting back to his feet a third time, Eren charges Reiner once more as Reiner attempts another attack. However, Eren does not try to punch him. Instead he uses a technique Annie taught him. He locks his arms around Reiner and throws him to the ground. Reiner manages to break free of the initial hold, but Eren wraps his legs around the former's neck and squeezes his neck into his shoulder, causing his armor to crack. Eren then forces Reiner to the ground while applying more pressure to Reiner's right arm until it finally breaks and is torn out of the socket.

Eren then falls back to the wall as Reiner slowly follows but suddenly increases speed by shedding armor around his legs and charges towards Eren. He slams Eren into the wall and begins to repeatedly punch him. Realizing that dodging Reiner's attacks would be impossible, Eren allows himself to be tackled but wraps his arms and legs around Reiner's back and begins to squeeze. While they are locked in place, Mikasa uses swoops down and slices through the exposed Titan flesh behind his left leg where he would shed his armor leaving him almost immobile. Eren then starts squeezing harder until Reiner's armor begins to shatter once more, trying to tear him out of his Titan form. However, Reiner starts using his intact left arm to crawl back to the spot they landed and roars to Bertholdt, who then falls on them both.

With Bertholdt's assistance, Reiner is able to defeat Eren and bites him out of his Titan body. He and Bertholdt flee to a nearby forest of giant trees where they hold him and Ymir captive while they recover in preparation for their escape to Wall Maria. Reiner suffers from a case of mental dissonance where he lapses back into his persona as a soldier, commenting on how fortunate it is that Wall Rose was not actually broken and how they all should be promoted, until Bertholdt snaps him out of it by reminding him that he is a Warrior. This causes him to remember his involvement in Marco's death during the Struggle for Trost.

When Ymir starts talking Eren down from his latest bout of anger, she comes close to revealing more information than Reiner would like, so he offers her a deal to side with them. They might not be able to help Ymir specifically, but Reiner says they can still look after Krista. Ymir accepts and says nothing further to Eren.

He and Bertholdt prepare to leave once they spot the Survey Corps's signal flares. Before they depart, Reiner tells Bertholdt that, once their mission is complete, he needs to tell Annie how he feels about her. Bertholdt is embarrassed at his suggestion, but Reiner admits he is known about his crush for some time and believes Bertholdt should go for it. Reiner restrains Eren and flees together with Bertholdt and Ymir, but Ymir insists on going back for Krista and threatens to ruin their escape unless they accommodate her. They wait long enough for her to retrieve Krista, then Reiner transforms into the Armored Titan and begins running away from the forest with the rest of the group riding on his shoulders.

Despite their head start, a small group of soldiers catches up with them and begins to attack. Reiner protects Bertholdt and the captive Eren by covering them with his hands as they shelter under his chin. The other members of the 104th try talking to him and Bertholdt, but they scatter when Erwin leads a horde of Titans towards them. Reiner brings his head down and charges into them, but it is not enough to break through. Enough Titans grab him that he eventually immobilized.

Knowing that he will eventually be worn down, Reiner removes his hands from his throat and punches back the Titans, but this exposes Bertholdt and Eren to attack. During the fighting, Armin lands on Reiner's head and asks them why they are leaving Annie behind. He claims she is being tortured, which provokes Bertholdt and allows Erwin a chance to free Eren. The soldiers flee while Reiner is still trying to remove the Titans around him.

He begins throwing the removed Titans at the fleeing soldiers, seemingly no longer caring if Eren is eaten. Reiner manages to knock both Eren and Mikasa off their horses, leaving them to face a particular Titan. While the Scouts battle among the chaos Reiner continued shaking Titans off him trying to reach Eren. In a moment of desperation, Eren punches the Titan and screams. The sound reverberates through Reiner, Bertholdt, and Ymir as the smaller Titans rush in and devour the one Eren had faced.

Reiner realizes that Eren holds the Founding Titan and he is the worst person imaginable to possess it. He charges at Eren, but Eren screams that he will kill them. This triggers another reaction in Reiner and Bertholdt, and the other Titans turn to attack them. There are too many for Reiner to adequately protect Bertholdt by himself, but Ymir comes back to help them.

After the battle, the three catch their breath on top of Wall Maria, having managed to survive. Reiner asks Ymir why she bothered to save them, and she says that she is grateful for what they did for her, because if they had not come to break the Wall, she would never have woken from her nightmare.

### Royal Government arc

Roughly two months after Reiner and Bertholdt are exposed as traitors and escape the Scouts they are reunited with Zeke. They inform him of Marcel's death and Annie's capture. They also inform him about Eren's actions during their escape, believing him to be the holder of the Founding Titan.

Zeke decides to make the retrieval of the Founder their top priority. Reiner and Bertholdt protest and insist that the recovery of Annie take precedent over capturing Eren. Eventually, Reiner decides to challenge Zeke to a battle with their respective Titan forms in the ruins of Shiganshina District, but Zeke swiftly and effortlessly defeats him. While Bertholdt helps Reiner out of his Titan form, Zeke declares himself the winner and reaffirms that Annie's rescue will wait until after they had acquired the Founder from Eren.

Later Reiner and Bertholdt camp atop the Wall at Shiganshina District awaiting the arrival of the Survey Corps.

### Return to Shiganshina arc

Reiner, Bertholdt and Zeke set up camp atop Wall Maria, where they wait for the Survey Corps. Zeke assures them that Annie is not being tortured and reminds them of their mission, but Reiner is unhappy with Zeke's priorities. Zeke offers to fight Reiner again to decide what they should do next, but cows Reiner into submission by threatening to feed him to another Titan if he is beaten again. The quadruped Titan appears below and alerts them of the Scouts' imminent arrival, and the three Warriors share a last toast before preparing for battle. Reiner disposes of the evidence of their campsite and proceeds to his station with Bertholdt.

As Reiner and Bertholdt jog along Wall Maria, Reiner notes that the two of them will be in separate positions, and that Bertholdt will have to think and act for himself, rather than wait for Reiner's signal. Reiner admits that he never thought of Bertholdt as particularly reliable before, as he tends to leave things to others when it matters in spite of his immense ability, but claims that things are different between them now. Bertholdt affirms his desire to end things, and Reiner encourages him to keep up that attitude until he can be reunited with Annie. The two part ways.

Reiner, Bertholdt and Zeke wait for the scouts in Shiganshina District, with Reiner from inside Wall Maria as they carry out their plan to reseal the Wall. After being discovered, Reiner quickly dispatches the scout that found him before turning to attack Armin. However, Reiner is stopped by the interference of Levi, who quickly slices his nape before stabbing him through the midsection. Despite this, Reiner survives and is kicked down to the ground below Wall Maria, where he transforms into his Titan form while his human body twitches and his eyes glow. As the Beast Titan begins his attack, Reiner rises and turns to face Eren, ready to fight against him once again.

Reiner immediately charges the Wall and begins to climb it in order to give himself a better view of the battle. Upon reaching the top of the Wall, Reiner singles out the Scouts' horses and decides to kill them in order to further hamper the Scouts' retreat. He uses the flesh inside his Titan to remove Levi's blade from his neck and Reiner realizes if he had been any slower moving his consciousness from his head to his body, he would have died when Levi attacked him.

As he is contemplating, he notices Erwin perched atop the wall only a few yards away. He decides that killing the horses is more important than killing Erwin, but is caught off guard a second time by the sight of Eren transforming in the middle of Shiganshina. As Eren begins to flee, Reiner realizes that Erwin is forcing him to choose between securing Eren and the Coordinate or taking away the scouts' horses. Lamenting the trap he has been caught in, Reiner chooses to pursue Eren.

Eren proves to be much more deadly in hand-to-hand combat than the last time they clashed, managing to break through Reiner's armor with his blows thanks to his new hardening ability. Reiner manages to pin Eren down for a short time, but is summarily thrown off of Eren into a small clearing of town surrounded by buildings. As Reiner gets up he is perplexed to see Hange and Mikasa attacking him, believing that they will not be able to break his armor. However, using the newly developed Thunder Spears, Mikasa and Hange blind Reiner and leave him open for another volley which blows open the armor around his nape. Before Reiner can react, a third volley is launched which destroys his Titan's nape.

After the explosion, Reiner's seemingly lifeless body is left fully exposed in the nape, his head destroyed from the jaw upward. Having survived his injury to some extent, he cries out the signal for Bertholdt to be sent over Wall Maria. As Bertholdt comes soaring over the Wall, he spots Reiner and comes to his side, confirming that despite his injuries he is still alive. When Bertholdt goes to confront the Survey Corps, Reiner's Titan lies supine upon the street to prevent the Scouts from finishing him off while he slowly regenerates his head.

Following Reiner's regeneration, the Armored Titan emerges, ready to rejoin the fight. Squad Levi prepares to intercept him, but Reiner ignores them and heads for Eren's position. He is knocked down by Mikasa's Thunder Spear and left confused as to how his Titan could have been damaged so easily, having lost all memory of the events following his farewell to Bertholdt.

As Jean, Sasha, and Connie come in to attack, he strikes at the roof of a building, sending debris into Sasha and Jean while Connie uses his Thunder Spear to unhinge half of the Armored Titan's jaw. With Sasha's Thunder Spear having missed its mark, Mikasa realizes she has the last Thunder Spear and the plan is now endangered. At that moment, Hange arrives at the battle, destroying the other hinge of Reiner's jaw with their own Thunder Spear. Mikasa jumps on the Armored Titan's unhinged jaw, ordering him to get out as she sends her Thunder Spear into his mouth, sending Reiner flying out of the nape of his Titan and defeating him.

After being defeated, it is discovered by Hange that Reiner had been carrying a metal case with him during the battle. As they interrogate Reiner, Hange demands to know what is inside the case, and Reiner admits that it is a letter from Ymir that he had promised to give to Historia. After Reiner refuses to answer any more questions, Hange prepares to execute him. Before they can, however, Jean suggests using the Titan injection to steal Reiner's Titan power, which Hange reluctantly agrees to.

Mikasa is sent to retrieve the serum and is ordered to fire a signal flare if there is a change of plans, in which case Reiner will be executed. Some time after Mikasa departs, she fires a flare to signal that Reiner should be executed. However, before Reiner can be killed he is rescued by Zeke and the Cart Titan who flee the Walls, their missions seemingly ending in failure.

### Marley arc

Four years later, Reiner is present at the battle of Fort Slava at the climax of the war between Marley and the Mid-East Allied Forces. Reiner is stationed in an airship over the battlefield with Zeke and several other Marleyan paratroopers, to attack Fort Slava once its Anti-Titan Artillery is destroyed.

After Porco Galliard manages to destroy the anti-Titan artillery using his Jaw Titan and Marley's forces start advancing towards the fortress, Zeke and Reiner commence an airborne attack. After an initial assault with Pure Titans, Reiner is deployed in a parachute, transforming in mid air and destroying one of the walls of the fortress, while recalling his life inside the walls and his animosity towards their inhabitants. With Galliard's assistance, Reiner successfully destroys the fort's artillery despite losing his left arm. Zeke launches a final barrage of artillery shells against the enemy fleet, but is unprepared for the navy's retaliation, only being saved when Reiner jumps in front of him and takes the full force of the barrage, leaving him incapacitated.

After the battle, Reiner recovers from his injuries in a hospital. While resting he begins having nightmares about the Battle of Shiganshina District and wakes up to find Galliard watching over him. Reiner attempts to thank Galliard for saving him during the battle, but Galliard begins passive-aggressively criticizing Reiner for his incompetence at Fort Slava and for acting like Marcel while on Paradis Island. The exchange is interrupted by Pieck, who suggests that Reiner go meet with the Warrior candidates. The candidates greet Reiner affectionately and Gabi insists that they explore the Mid-East city before they return to Liberio. As they leave to explore, Reiner momentarily mistakes the children for his own childhood friends.

As the Eldian unit returns to Liberio aboard a train, the soldiers begin celebrating their victory. Reiner attempts to make small-talk with Falco Grice, commenting that Gabi will likely inherit his Armored Titan. This prompts Falco to make light of the Armored Titan, and Reiner threatens to report Falco for speaking out of turn. As Falco corrects himself, Reiner encourages him to inherit the Armored Titan so that Gabi will not have to inherit it.

Upon arriving home in Liberio, Reiner and Gabi reunite with their families. The entire Braun family eats dinner together. Gabi recounts her experience blowing up the Armored Train, warranting congratulations from her family, and Reiner agrees when pressed that Gabi is currently the most likely of the Warrior candidates to inherit the Armored Titan. When the topic of Reiner's time in Paradis Island arises, Reiner tells his family about his experiences with the people of Paradis Island. However, his words confuse and upset them all as his descriptions of the Wall people are not as negative compared to typical Marley propaganda.

As Reiner and Gabi are walking to the Warriors' base the next morning, Reiner notices that Gabi is no longer bragging about her accomplishments, claiming that she is acting strange. Gabi accuses Reiner of lying about his time on Paradis Island, but Reiner claims that he has nothing to lie about.

Arriving at the Warriors' headquarters, Reiner attends a meeting with the current Warriors to discuss the dangerous position Marley's waning power puts its Eldian citizens in. Zeke informs them of his plan to stabilize Marley's power by recommencing their attack on Paradis Island, while simultaneously improving the Eldians' view in the public eye by having the noble Tybur family act as the Warriors' spokespersons during the mission. Reiner, suspecting that the meeting is being bugged by Marleyan officials, immediately interrupts Galliard and agrees to the plan. Following the meeting, Reiner begins to contemplate the possibility of returning to Paradis.

Later that night Reiner reminisces about his time as a Warrior Candidate and his years undercover on Paradis. The following day Reiner returns to the Warriors' headquarters and, driven by the guilt of his memories, attempts to commit suicide. However, he is stopped when he hears Falco outside venting his frustrations over his poor performances as a Warrior Candidate. Hearing Falco convinces Reiner to preserve his own life, as he needs to still care for the Warrior candidates.

Reiner is brought in to consult with Marley's officials to help them coordinate an assault on Paradis Island based off of his knowledge from living there for five years. Although he is able to identify areas of the Walls with a lighter military presence, he is ridiculed for not suggesting a definitive attack strategy. After the meeting Reiner and the other Warriors watch Falco overtake Gabi to win a footrace. Reiner remains quiet as the other Warriors discuss Falco's progress and Colt expresses concern over Falco becoming a Warrior.

On the morning of the Liberio festival Reiner, Pieck, and Galliard watch over the Warrior candidates, and Reiner is reluctantly forced to pay for his allies as they enjoy the festival. As the Warriors leave the festival at sundown, Reiner is forced to drag Gabi along as she recovers from overeating. Later that night the Warriors return to the fairground to attend Willy Tybur's play. As they are waiting, Falco arrives and asks Reiner to come with him. Reiner is reluctant, but Zeke allows the two to leave. Reiner tries to ask Falco where they are going, but the boy refuses to tell him. Falco leads Reiner into a nearby building's basement where Reiner is greeted, to his horror, by Eren Jaeger.

Eren orders Reiner to sit with him. Noticing a bleeding cut on Eren's hand, Reiner realizes that Eren could transform at any moment and complies. Reiner begins breaking down, and asks Eren why he is in Marley. Eren responds that he is there for the same reason that Reiner went to Paradis, causing Reiner to begin panicking. However, rather than transform, Eren suggests that they listen to Willy's play.

During the production, Eren asks Reiner why he destroyed the Wall. Reiner explains that they did so as part of their plan to infiltrate the Walls and observe the King's reaction. The Warriors intended to recover the Founding Titan in order to save the world. Reiner asks Eren if he came to Marley to fulfill his promise of killing him, but Eren asks Reiner to forget he said that. Eren explains that he no longer blames Reiner for his actions and understands now why he did what he did. However, Reiner falls to the floor in guilt, insisting that the events of five years ago were his fault. He begs Eren to kill him, wanting "to vanish."

As Willy draws his speech to a close, Eren offers his hand to Reiner and helps him to his feet. He calmly states that they are the same, and he has probably been this way since he was born. At first relieved at Eren's seemingly peaceable nature, Reiner is horrified when Eren declares that he will continue moving forward until his enemies are destroyed and begins transforming. As Eren is transforming, Reiner desperately moves to shield Falco from being harmed by the resulting blast.

He manages to save Falco through a partial transformation into his Armored Titan and shields him with his Titan's hands. However, though Reiner survives as well, he is unconscious and his injuries have not healed. Falco suspects that this is because Reiner has lost the will to live. He tries to reassure Reiner before he leaves to get help.

Later, Gabi and Falco see that Galliard's Jaw Titan is about to be devoured by Eren and they scream for Reiner to save him. Barely conscious, Reiner is able to hear them but is reluctant to wake up. Frustrated that they will not allow him to die in peace, he opens his eyes and forms an incomplete and unarmored version of his Titan. Eren immediately attacks Reiner, knocking him across the plaza with a single punch. However, Reiner manages to grab the Jaw Titan by the hair, rescuing Galliard from Eren's grasp. He tries to get up again, but lacks the strength and falls back to the ground as Eren leaves the battlefield.

### War for Paradis arc

Following the battle, Reiner awakens in a hospital and is greeted by Pieck and Galliard, with the latter offering him a bottle of alcohol. Recalling that Gabi and Falco called out to him during the battle, Reiner asks where the two children are.

Along with his fellow Warriors, Reiner is later summoned to an emergency meeting by Magath. They are all stunned to hear Magath's revelation that Zeke has seemingly betrayed Marley and sided with Paradis. When he hears that Marley must wait six months until a global military alliance forms before retaliating, Reiner points out that Zeke will expect them to wait and insists that they attack immediately.

When Marley does launch its retaliation attack against Paradis, Reiner is stationed aboard one of Marley's airships. Having sliced open his palm, he parachutes into Shiganshina and transforms in midair once he has caught sight of Eren; upon reaching the ground, the two immediately charge each other and begin to fight.

Reiner is quickly overpowered by Eren, who uses his superior fighting skills and hardening abilities to smash through Reiner's armor, however, Reiner does manage to tackle Eren and hold him down long enough for Galliard to distract Eren and then letting Reiner completely restrain him, but the two Warriors are caught off guard as Eren uses the War Hammer Titan's ability to impale them on spikes of hardened skin.

Magath and Pieck fire two shots from Marley's anti-Titan artillery into Eren's head, severely hampering his motor skills, and Reiner uses the opportunity to free himself and use one of the spikes Eren created to impale the latter. He is skewered again as Eren creates more spikes to defend himself, but Galliard ambushes Eren and distracts him long enough for Reiner to pin him down.

Reiner silently admonishes Eren for continuing to fight and wishes he would just give up his efforts as both of them are doomed to die in a few years' time; he then tries to devour Eren, but is stopped as Eren manages to get a hold of his Titan's head and begins to separate it from the neck by breaking his jaw. As Reiner endeavors to break free from Eren's grip, he is knocked off of his adversary by a projectile thrown by the Beast Titan. Reiner is dazed from the attack but his Titan soon recovers and tries to ambush Eren from behind; this fails due to Zeke noticing him from the Wall and Reiner gets barraged by debris. Reiner is eventually given a reprive from Zeke's attacks when Magath manages to incapacitate him with anti-Titan artillery, but is frustrated to realize that Eren is still mobile enough to continue limping to Zeke's location.

With Zeke incapacitated, Reiner is ordered to devour Eren and reclaim the Founder before he can reach his brother. Another shot to Eren's head from Magath's anti-Titan artillery gives Reiner the opportunity to subdue Eren, trying to get Galliard to aid him as he does so. As he tries to wake Galliard, Reiner unknowingly transfers to him the memory of Marcel admitting his role in getting Reiner selected as the Armored Titan.

As he continues to grapple with Eren, Reiner is shocked to see Falco and Colt arrive on the scene, and horrified to learn that Falco accidentally ingested Zeke's spinal fluid. Despite the predicament, Zeke uses his scream and orders the newly transformed Falco to attack Reiner. Unable to juggle subduing both Eren and Falco, Reiner is forced to leave his nape exposed as he holds onto Eren, allowing Falco to begin to bite into it.

As Falco is eating through his armor, Reiner sees another shot from Magath's anti-Titan artillery hit the Beast Titan's nape, causing it to begin rapidly decomposing. Believing Zeke to be dead and the danger of Eren activating the Founder to be no more, Reiner decides to undo the hardening on his nape and let Falco devour him so that the boy will be saved. However, to Reiner's confusion, Falco withdraws and does not fully bite through his nape. He then spots a severely injured Galliard nearby and frantically calls out to him. Reiner witnesses Falco charge and devour his fellow Warrior.

Enraged, he turns and punches Eren's Titan, at which point Eren hardens and traps Reiner's hand inside his Titan. Reiner breaks free and spots Eren trying to approach Zeke; he tries to crush him but he gets shot in the hand by a Thunder Spear, quickly blowing it apart. In the confusion that follows, Reiner witnesses Eren being decapitated by Gabi, only for Eren's head to make contact with Zeke and unlock the Founding Titan. As the Rumbling begins and the Walls start to shatter, Reiner panics at the fact that Gabi is close to the falling debris.

Although Reiner manages to reach Gabi and shield her from the falling debris, his Titan's armor begins to crumble as well and he is forced to return to his human form. As the two Brauns retreat from the wall on foot, Gabi tries to find Falco and Reiner speculates that the boy was likely taken hostage by Jean and Conny.

Before they can go any farther, Reiner collapses from fatigue, overcome with despair at the thought that the world will soon be destroyed. Gabi helps Reiner into an abandoned building, where Reiner orders his cousin to retreat to the south and evacuate Paradis with the rest of Marley's forces. Although Gabi argues that they should continue to fight Eren, Reiner argues that fighting is pointless as long as Eren can use the Founding Titan to control all Subjects of Ymir. Reiner advises Gabi to flee again before succumbing to fatigue and passing out.

Reiner remains unconscious for days before finally being awoken by a kick from Annie. Reiner is shocked to awake to the sight of his former comrade standing with the rest of the 104th and the group explains to him that they want to work together to stop Eren.

The group leaves Shiganshina and camps together with the rest of their allies. While eating dinner together, hostilities and arguments continually break out between the Warriors and the Paradis Eldians. Yelena begins antagonizing both sides and brings up Annie's role in Marco's death to try to enrage Jean. Reiner comes to Annie's defense, claiming that she was only following his orders, and explains that he had Marco killed in Trost because he overheard Reiner and Bertholdt discussing their plans. Guilt-ridden, Reiner reveals that he killed the Titan that ate Marco and tries to apologize to Jean for what he did. Jean flies into a rage and begins beating Reiner, only stopping when Gabi puts herself between the two of them.

The next morning the group continues traveling to Paradis's docks to gain access to Kiyomi Azumabito's flying boat. Although Jean and Reiner are civil, Jean makes it clear that he does not intend to forgive Reiner for his past deeds. They arrive to find that the Jaegerists have already occupied the harbor. The 104th's reluctance to the idea of fighting former allies reminds Reiner of Eren's claim during their meeting in Marley that he and Reiner are the same, prompting him to suggest that only he and Annie fight so that the others will not be forced to kill anyone.

The conversation is interrupted by Hange, who reveals to Reiner's horror that Eren and his Titans have already reached Marley. This spurs the group to proceed with a plan to trick Floch into handing over the Azumabito mechanics, with Reiner and Annie on standby in case things go awry. When the plan fails and the Jaegerists are alerted to their presence, the group takes the Azumabito to the basement of the building they are being held in, allowing Reiner and Annie to transform and attack the Jaegerists without risk of collateral damage.

However, when the plan changes and the Amuzabito need to run for the ship, Reiner and Annie are quickly overwhelmed as they are forced to bodily protect the engineers from the Jaegerists. Reiner shields Annie from the Thunder Spears, which she has never faced before, but the two Titans are gradually overwhelmed. Before they can be killed Pieck's Cart Titan and Falco's Jaw Titan arrive to help. Once it is safe for the ship to depart, Conny and Jean carry Reiner aboard.

## Abilities

As one of the top ten graduates of the 104th Training Corps, Reiner is highly competent in the use of omni-directional mobility gear and respective weapons. He is also one of the best hand-to-hand fighters among the recruits, having also trained other skilled fighters such as Eren. Reiner is noted to possess both a strong body and will, both in his human and Titan form. After returning home and fighting a war for Marley for four years, it can be assumed that Reiner has had additional air force-related training as he is able to parachute out of an airship onto the battlefield.

Reiner Braun's statistics :

### Power of the Titans

Reiner is able to transform into a 15-meter Titan referred to as the **Armored Titan** in the series. Reiner uses this form to break down the inner gate of Wall Maria and actively uses it after he reveals his identity and objective to Eren. As he retains his human intelligence, he uses his hand-to-hand combat skills against other human-turned-Titans such as Eren, which in conjunction with his armor-like skin, gives him a solid advantage in combat.

* **Regeneration**: Reiner, like all other Titans and humans with the Titan powers alike, has the ability to automatically regenerate any wounds sustained and even entire limbs. This also applies to his human form as seen when he sustained a broken arm in a scuffle against a Titan in Utgard Castle, his arm was almost fully healed when he rejoins the Survey Corps on top of Wall Rose. Furthermore, Reiner loses the bottom part of his forearm when it is sliced off by Mikasa, however, he is seen with a complete limb by the time he is in the Titan Forest a couple of hours later. According to Falco, this ability also depends on his will to live as Reiner is unable to recover quickly after shielding Falco from Eren's transformation as he lost all his will to live from his experience in Paradis Island.
* **Regeneration Withdrawal**: Reiner possesses the ability to consciously control his regenerative ability, keeping it "off" to prevent injuries from blowing his cover as a Titan spy. Initially, Reiner was the only person with the power of the Titans who was seen capable of doing this until Eren displayed a similar ability during his infiltration of Marley several years later.
* **Enhanced Strength:** During the massacre in the Shiganshina District, Reiner in his Titan form demonstrated enough physical power to raze the buildings around him by simply taking off into a charge, then promptly smash through the inner gate of Wall Maria. While squaring off in an attempt to capture Eren in his Titan form, Reiner was shown to easily overpower his opponent with punches powerful enough to blow at least half of his head off. Reiner’s tackle had enough force to throw Eren’s Titan form back into Wall Rose, cracking it in the process. In addition, he uses his unique hardened skin to supplement his physical blows making them deadlier than those of normal-based Titans. In his second fight with Eren, Reiner was easily able to barge out of Eren's assault and throw Eren's Titan form around without much effort.

 File:Armored Titan breaks gate.gif
* **Enhanced Speed:** During the fall of Shiganshina, Reiner in his Titan form demonstrated enough speed to quickly cross the gap to the inner gate of Wall Maria preventing cannons from accurately firing at him. While fully armored his speed is noted to be much slower, however, Reiner has shown that he can choose to shed certain areas of his armor, such as joints located at the back of his legs, boosting his overall speed. This tactic was used several times by him successfully during his fight against Eren’s Titan form.
* **Armor Hardening:** While transforming into the Armored Titan, Reiner's body automatically produces a hardened, armor-like skin that covers most of his body, save for areas such as his joints at the back of his legs. The armor is hard enough to repel concentrated cannon fire without even stopping him, blows from other Titans such as Eren, as well as blade strikes from the vertical maneuvering equipment. The durability of this armor is enough to withstand a direct collision from the Colossus Titan who fell from the top of Wall Rose, wounding most people in the area, incapacitating Eren's Titan form, and leaving a large crater in the ground. As stated previously, the Armored Titan can choose to harden or not to harden joints at will, sacrificing speed and combat ability for protection. However, similar to medieval armor, his body needs gaps around the joints in order to move with necessary speed. This makes him vulnerable in just a few spots, like the inner part of his knees and his elbows. Additionally, he can harden his fingertips and toes into points in order to grip and climb flat, vertical surfaces like the Walls.
* **Steam Generation:** Reiner's Titan seems to overheat, judging by the "fire breath" that appeared after destroying the inner gate of Shiganshina District. As his Titan bears solidified skin over most of its body, it seems that the excess heat and vapor builds up and must be vented out through the mouth. The extent of this function the single time it appears was enough to superheat and ignite the steam that comes out.
* **Brain Function Transfer:** During the battle for Shiganshina District, Reiner was able to prevent his certain death on multiple occasions after transferring the functions of his brain into the rest of his body. With this profound ability, he was able to survive a direct strike to his spinal cord in the neck by Levi Ackerman's blade. Shortly afterward, he could use this same ability to maintain some control over his Titan form after his brain was destroyed by a Thunder Spear explosion by using his Armored Titan's brain as a backup, even to the point of regenerating his head after the fact. However, it is said that this ability is incredibly difficult to successfully carry out and is only used as a last resort. This proved to be the case when Reiner regained consciousness after regenerating his head, but lacking the memories of everything that had happened after parting ways with Bertholdt earlier that morning.

Armored Titan's statistics :

## Relationships

* Bertholdt Hoover - Reiner got to know Bertholdt in their early days of the Warrior program after the latter saved Reiner from the bullying of fellow candidate Porco, becoming inseparable friends. Reiner often partnered with Bertholdt and they were rarely seen apart, with Reiner taking the lead most of the time. Ymir notes that his psychological issues have caused friction between them, though Bertholdt was vital in helping him maintain his grasp on reality. During their failed mission to kidnap Eren, he expresses a great desire to keep Bertholdt safe, placing himself at a major disadvantage in order to protect him. Reiner's reaction to Bertholdt's demise was not shown but has been shown to be aware of it, sometimes thinking about him, Annie, and Marcel four years later.
* Annie Leonhart - Despite training and working together for several years, Annie and Reiner had a strained, but professional relationship. While training to become Warriors, Annie was initially indifferent to Reiner; however, things became tense after the death of their leader Marcel in Paradis Island. Annie then blamed Reiner for his cowardice, for trying to manipulate her and Bertholdt, and for Marcel's demise. Since then, Annie has been largely cold to Reiner and even hostile to him in private, frequently criticizing his decisions for their mission. However, they do not let their personal issues interfere with their mission and cooperate when working together in the field. Just before the Battle of Trost District, Reiner apologizes, feeling that he has put too much pressure on her. Reiner also swears to her and Bertholdt that he will do his best to lead them and get them home safely. Despite their conflict, Reiner is concerned with her well-being, and even fought Zeke so he could try rescuing her. Several years after he last saw her, Reiner is shown to still think about Annie, and he harbors considerable guilt over her defeat and capture. After Annie escapes confinement and joins the Survey Corp and Warriors once more, he immediately apologizes for his actions towards her during the operation 9 years ago and Annie forgives him; it is believed they are on slightly good terms as Reiner asked Annie to protect Gabi and Falco.
* Marcel Galliard - Another one of Reiner's fellow Warriors; Marcel was the opposite to his more bullish brother often restraining Porco and breaking up their altercations and apologizing to Reiner afterward. The night before the four Warriors were meant to go to the Walls, Marcel broke down in tears as he confessed that he manipulated the Marleyan military's decision to choose Reiner over his brother as the inheritor of the Armored Titan, however his actions caused him to feel guilty. The next morning Marcel pushed Reiner out of the mouth of a Titan but was eaten by Ymir. Reiner regrets the loss of his friend and even saves Connie from a Titan similarly to how Marcel saved his life, illustrating his emotional connection with him. Reiner respected Marcel's leadership enough, that he consciously began basing his personality around him in order to lead the Warrior group on Paradis Island. Upon remembering the death of Marcel, it seemingly further motivates Reiner and Bertholdt to complete their mission and return to their hometown. Nine years after Marcel's death his memory haunts Reiner, who is now more friendly towards Porco, no longer reacting to his verbal jabs, and showing him respect by calling him by his preferred name, Galliard.
* Zeke Jaeger - Zeke was Reiner's captain and was looked up to by the other Warriors, including Reiner. He refers to him as their strongest and believed even Levi was no match for him. While generally loyal and obedient, they do have their struggles. Reiner attempted to convince Zeke to rescue fellow Warrior Annie Leonhart, but Zeke expressed no interest whatsoever. This prompted Reiner to challenge Zeke and the two fought in their Titan forms, a brawl which ended in Zeke violently beating him to a pulp. Zeke then announced that rescuing Annie will wait until after they accomplished their primary goal. Reiner would refrain from challenging Zeke again, knowing he would lose his life if he was not victorious. After their defeat at the hands of the Survey Corps in Shiganshina, Zeke rescued Reiner from certain death, but left Bertholdt to die. Though, despite letting his friend down, Reiner saved Zeke from death, almost getting himself killed in the process. It is presumed that Reiner's relationship with Zeke has been severed after the latter's betrayal and defection during the Raid on Liberio.
* Porco Galliard - Galliard was one of Reiner's fellow Warriors and both used to be contenders for the inheritance of the Armored Titan. Galliard disliked Reiner for his weakness and obsequious behavior, and tried to taunt him when he showed some hope to become an honorary Marleyan, in their childhood candidate times. The two had some form of conflict and rivalry. In the year 854, Reiner showed gratitude towards him for protecting him in the battle at Fort Slava. However, Galliard still blamed him for the death of his brother and was disgusted with him for subsequently mimicking Marcel's personality to create his big-brotherly "soldier" persona. As such, while Reiner remained amicable towards him, Galliard typically criticized and mocked him in return. After Reiner saved Galliard's life in the Raid on Liberio, their following interactions seemed less hostile. Their rivalry remained, however, until Galliard's death, where he proclaimed his superiority before he sacrificed himself, saving Reiner in the process.
* Pieck Finger - Reiner and Pieck joined the Warrior program at roughly the same time and presumably had a stable relationship. After Zeke's betrayal, Reiner began to operate more closely with the few remaining Warrior candidates still loyal to Marley and his relationship with Pieck increased as a result. When Marley leads an attack against Paradis, Reiner noticeably was concerned after seeing the charred remains of the Cart Titan, fearing that Pieck may have been killed.
* Eren Jaeger - Eren was one of his closest friends, with Eren considering him both a "strong, capable guy" and something of a big brother. Eren looked up to Reiner, expressing that he wanted to become strong like him. However, their friendship turns violently antagonistic after he revealed his true identity to Eren, and the two are forced to fight. Eren recalls seeing Reiner's overflowing expression of justice after graduating the 104th Training Corps and is now disgusted by his former friend. After he is kidnapped and taken to the forest, Eren abandons his former feelings for Reiner and looks at him with hate and rage and says he will make sure they die in the most painful way possible. Upon learning that Eren possesses the Coordinate, he reacts with great concern and notes that Eren is the worst possible person to have it. Several years after the last time he saw him, Reiner is shown to still think about his time as a trainee and his interactions with Eren. This suggests a lingering affection towards Eren, even after they become enemies. However, upon seeing Eren again for the first time in four years, Reiner is shocked and frightened by his presence in Marley and begins to panic after questioning his motives for being there. Reiner even begs Eren to kill him after bringing up the latter's previous promise and stating he has nothing left to live for. Eren tells him that he experienced close to what Reiner had, though Eren still wants to see Reiner dead as he tried to kill him; however, it was not out of malicious intent but simply because they are on opposing sides of the war. Likewise, Reiner wants to kill Eren for similar reasons. He thinks Eren's death is best for the world, and does not understand why Eren wants so fiercely to live, wishing that he would just "sleep."Reiner later realize Eren's words back at Liberio and they are the same but on opposing side.
* Marco Bott - It is unknown what relationship Reiner had with Marco, although it is possible that Reiner recognized Marco's uncanny ability to remain calm and collected when fighting against a group of enemies or Titans. While Reiner is responsible for Marco's death, he would remain haunted by it for years. This lingering guilt would continue even after joining the remnants of his former comrades in the Survey Corps during his second trip to Paradis.
* Jean Kirschtein - Alongside with many others within the Training Corps, it is unknown what Reiner thought of Jean aside from being comrades within the Training Corps and the Survey Corps. When Reiner meets Jean along with the others set to fight against the Jaegerists, their relationship takes a harsh turn when he admits to Jean his part in Marco's death four years prior and is nearly beaten to death. Although Jean and Reiner have begun to act civil towards each other, Jean makes it clear that he does not intend to forgive Reiner for his past deeds. However, afterwards, he admits to Reiner that they are the same, since Jean also killed to save others.
* Historia Reiss - It has been hinted that he may have feelings for her, though it is unclear whether this is a simple crush or something stronger. It is also unclear whether these feelings are part of his delusions, or genuine. Prior to the battle in Shiganshina, Reiner tells Bertholdt that he made a promise to Ymir that he would save Krista "no matter what." After his defeat, Reiner used the last of his energy to reach for the letter Ymir wrote to her and begged the soldiers to give it to Krista right before they started talking of executing him.
* Ymir - Their relationship was complex. They recognized quite a bit about each other's motivations and shared a desire to keep Historia safe from harm. He used these feelings to manipulate Ymir into becoming their ally, but he also expressed more trust in her than Bertholdt felt is wise. Unlike Bertholdt, he did not appear to harbor any ill will towards her for nearly killing him as a child, nor for killing Marcel. Having failed his mission and even knowing that he cannot go home empty handed, he attempted to persuade Ymir to save herself by escaping.
* Connie Springer - Connie was also one of his closest friends and someone that Reiner had repeatedly put himself into harm's way to protect. After his true nature is revealed, Connie refuses to believe that Reiner is truly their enemy. After Reiner's escape with Bertholdt and Eren, Connie questions the traitors, asking if the time they had as trainees was fabricated. Connie mentions that they said they would grow old and drink together, but a distressed Bertholdt says that it was all real. Connie empathizes with Reiner's pain of having to kill comrades, and Reiner comforts Connie by placing a hand on his shoulder and saying they while they could never forgive themselves, they could still save the rest of humanity.
* Armin Arlelt - Reiner had a close friendship with Armin, even risking his own scores to help the smaller boy during training. They frequently sat together during meals and played chess during their free time. When the Female Titan attacked, Reiner seemingly came to his rescue. However, this turned out to have been a ruse and their friendship was shattered by the revelation of Reiner's true identity. Notably, it was Armin who devoured and killed Bertholdt, Reiner's best friend.
* Karina Braun - Reiner was very devoted to his mother in childhood, and a large part of his motivation for becoming a Warrior was due to his desire to obtain a better life for her in Marley as well as reunite her with his father. His beliefs about the "inherent evil" of Eldians was also passed down from his mother, as she often parroted Marleyan propaganda to him when he was young. However, due to his experiences on Paradis Island and discovering that the Eldians living there are in fact just normal people, he has been somewhat distant and cautious around his mother upon returning to Liberio. Karina herself is also evidently not bothered by the fact that her son only has two years to live, and in fact, encourages his younger cousin and her niece Gabi to consume him and inherit his power as the next Armored Titan. As such, Reiner has become disillusioned with his mother and no longer sees eye to eye with her on many of her beliefs.
* Gabi Braun - As Reiner's younger cousin, she is fond of Reiner and worries about his well-being more than others. Reiner, on the other way, has rather complicated feelings about Gabi's high motivation and loyalty to Marley. Unknown to Gabi, Reiner wants Falco to inherit the Armored Titan in order to save Gabi from a tragic fate "she would never imagine", despite Gabi's determination to become the next Armored Titan and inherit his memories that she suspects to be "painful and difficult to talk about."
* Falco Grice - Seeing Falco's determination to become the next holder of the Armored Titan and spare fellow candidate Gabi from having a shortened life, Reiner began to observe the young boy and would intimidate him to try and continue his push to surpass Gabi. Ultimately, Falco's encounter with Reiner on the train back to Marley cemented his determination to become a Warrior. Unknown to Falco or anyone else, it was Falco's sudden appearance outside of the building Reiner was in that brought him back from the brink of suicide. Despite threatening him earlier, Reiner cares enough for Falco and the other Warrior candidates to convince him to keep on living. Reiner's care for Falco is further displayed when he transforms to shield Falco from harm, despite personally having no will to live.

## People killed

* Previous inheritor of the Armored Titan (as a Pure Titan)
* Numerous members of the Garrison
* One Survey Corps member
* At least 8 members of the Mid-East Allied Forces
* At least 4 unnamed members of the Jaegerists

### Indirectly

* Carla Jaeger
* Thomas Wagner
* Mylius Zeramuski
* Mina Carolina
* Nac Tias
* Franz Kefka
* Hannah Diamant
* Tom
* Marco Bott
* Mitabi Jarnach
* Ian Dietrich
* Hannes
* Numerous counts of Shiganshina District citizens
* Numerous counts of Wall Maria citizens
* Numerous members of the Garrison
* At least 4 unnamed Survey Corps members

### Failed attempts

* Eren Jaeger
* Jean Kirschtein
* Sasha Braus
* Mikasa Ackerman

## Trivia

* Hajime Isayama has stated in recent interviews that Reiner is his favorite character in the series.
* When designing Reiner, Isayama took the eyes and eyebrows of David Beckham, as well as some characteristics from a personal friend of his, and added them to the appearance of Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) from *Saving Private Ryan*.
	+ Isayama has stated that he designed Reiner's muscular appearance and "outstanding personality" to give readers the impression that Reiner is a person "destined for great things."
* In a blog post, Isayama revealed that Reiner's Titan image (the Armored Titan) was actually based on Brock Lesnar, an American professional wrestler, and former Mixed Martial Artist.
* According to Hajime Isayama, amongst his fellow 104th squadmates, Reiner is the most popular boy.
* Reiner's bulky body is not the result of his training from his time in the 104th Training Corps, but is inherited from his parents, specifically his well-built father. Isayama likens Reiner's predestined body to Fedor Emelianenko, Koji Murofushi, and Hulk, people he believes to be naturally strong.
* According to Isayama, if the 104th Training Corps had an arm wrestling competition, Reiner would place second, losing only to Mikasa Ackerman.
* Reiner shares the same birthday with Zeke Jaeger.
* From the Germanic *Raganhar,* his name is Old Norse in origin, and means "Counseling Warrior."
* In German, the word "Braun" means "Brown."
* In the early draft of the series, when the graduates discuss the branches they intend to join, Reiner states his intention to join the Survey Corps. In the published version, he never states his intentions.
* Reiner's psychological issues resemble those of dissociative identity disorder, in which a person's identity is fragmented into two or more distinct personality states, producing behavior changes and lapses in memory. This condition is often associated with post traumatic stress disorder and can lead to depression and suicide attempts.
* Isayama revealed on his blog in 2017 that he had selected the song "Romance" by Shinsei Kamattechan as a character song for Reiner.

## References

1. ↑ *Attack on Titan* manga: Chapter 42 (p. 19)
2. ↑ *Attack on Titan* anime: Episode 70
3. ↑ *Attack on Titan* anime: Episode 75
4. ↑ *Attack on Titan* anime: Episode 76
5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `e77`
6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `e78`
7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `e80`
8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `e81`
9. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `e83`
10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `e84`
11. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `e85`
12. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `e86`
13. ↑ *Attack on Titan Guidebook* (p. 56)
14. ↑ *Attack on Titan Guidebook* (p. 128)