The most brutal AoT deaths that traumatised us

Attack on Titan has consistently shown itself to pull no punches when it comes to the deaths of its characters. From deaths that pull on the strings of your emotions to deaths that are just plain brutal, this show has it all.

This list outlines 15 of the most brutal deaths in Attack on Titan. See for yourself.

15. Dimo Reeves

Kenny you bastard

Not many people pay much more attention to the Reeves Boss’ death than a passing, ‘oh snap!’ But when you think about it a little more, you realise just how disturbing his death was.

Now to be fair, compared to others, Dimo’s death was quite quick. But damn they really did him unfair. Aside from the fact that he was literally cornered and left with no choice but to help the military police, just when he found a ray of hope in the form of Levi promising to help him, he’s killed off.

And for what? All to frame the Survey Corps.

Harsh man, harsh.

14. Eren’s squad

The eye opener of eye openers, this scene

This makes the list of brutal deaths mainly because of what it signifies, both to the characters in Attack on Titan and to us the viewers: life isn’t going to give you roses just because you’re feeling good about the future.

Fresh out of military training, these guys were feeling prepared to face the titans. They’d been hyped up by Eren’s little speech the previous day about not allowing the deaths of their predecessors to go waste. They were even beginning to turn titan killing into a competition.

Wow. How wrong could they be?

These guys were all rudely snapped back to reality and then chugged into the grave the next moment, starting with the death of Thomas. Eren’s enraged charge ruined the group’s formation (if it wasn’t ruined already). Finally, Eren himself loses a leg, and the entire squad is just straight up wrecked.

A brutal reminder of the terror of the titans and fragility of life.

13. The Praying Wallists

These guys just minding their own businesses though...

These guys did nothing wrong except be in the building on which Annie would land after being punched by Eren. Their deaths are easy to gloss over especially since they’re part of the wall cult, but really, this is an entire church full of people crushed to death out of nowhere. Dozens of people killed, smashed to paste, just like that.

Imagine your eyes closed in meditation and right out of the blue, a titan just sits on you. Not cool. Actually you won’t be alive to think about how crazy that is. Sooo, yeah.

12. Rod Reiss’ family

These guys had it rough, no lie

Again, another series of deaths that are easy to gloss over simply because they’re associated with the current ‘villain’, Rod Reiss. Now, make no mistake, Rod was no villain. He just had different views.

But those in his family that got utterly wiped out by Grisha Yeager were even more innocent and didn’t deserve to die. Most viewers have concluded that Grisha must’ve had a good reason for killing the poor children and their defenseless mother in cold blood, since this is so out of character for him. But the fact remains - these people didn’t deserve to die.

Quite sad, really.

11. Marco

Whatever happened to Marco???

Oh Marco.

Who doesn’t remember Marco’s death? Who doesn’t remember how he was killed off-screen, so that no one even knew how he went out?

But is that the worst we get concerning Marco’s death? Nope, sorry. The lost girls OVA revealed glimpses of the real circumstances surrounding Marco’s death - he was betrayed, stripped of his 3DM gear, and left for titan food. It really is heartbreaking to learn that he died a confused, horrified mess.

Go ahead and watch the video to see what I’m talking about.

10. Hannes

Hannes: Oh look, a second chance! AOT: lol nope

Hannes was such a likeable character since we first see him. He becomes instantly more relatable when fear soon gets the better of him and he (wisely) chooses to forget about fighting the smiling titan and save Eren and Mikasa instead.

Guilt follows him the whole time. But finally, in the last episode of season 2, he gets the chance to redeem himself when he’s once again face to face with the smiling titan.

But what anime is this again, ladies and gentlemen? That’s right. Attack on friggin’ Titan.

Hannes just has to get ripped in two while Eren and Mikasa watch helplessly. Eren’s distraught laugh-cry made this death so much more heartbreaking.

9. Nifa

Never saw what hit her

Nifa’s death was quite disturbing because of the way they showed her lifeless body twitching. Poor girl was killed by the very person she’d just dismissed as urban myth.

At least she went out quickly, right? Right?

8. Franz Kefka

Death! Oh you cruel thing, you

Remember Franz? Hannah? That couple that got flustered because Eren called them a couple? Yeah, that Franz.

Now we didn’t see how he died either, so we don’t know just how brutal it was. But this scene emphasized just how brutal the world of Attack on Titan is. Here we see Hannah desperately trying to give an unresponsive Franz CPR. But do you notice something… off… about Franz’s body?

Take a closer look. I’ll wait.

Yep. His entire lower half is missing.

Let your mind chew on just how messed up that is. As for Hannah, we don’t see any more of her. But considering how delusional the pain of loss had made her, we can imagine what became of her.

7. Carla (Eren’s mum)

Carla didn't want to die...

The death that hooked us all. No descriptions are needed here, since the only one who has it more burned into their brain than we do, is Eren himself.

But I’ll point out something you may not have noticed. Carla told Eren that even if he could get her out, she’d not be able to run since her legs were already crushed under the debris, right? Well…

She lied.

Her legs were perfectly fine. You can actually see her legs kicking in protest as the smiling titan prepares to break her like some twig.

6. Mikasa’s mum

Humans are their own cruel nightmares

Wow.

Before we’re shown Mikasa’s history, we’re made to believe titans are the evillest things there is. But humans... humans are the real monsters, more than titans will ever be.

This side of humans in Attack on Titan shows up more and more as the story progresses, and here is where we see it for the first time, as Mikasa’s parents are murdered in cold blood. Her mother’s death, especially, was painful to watch. She just wanted to protect her daughter, who herself was way too paralysed to move.

And then when that axe comes swinging down...

5.That soldier Annie spun around like a yo-yo

Annie did this guy wrong. Plain wrong.

This is NOT the way I’d want to die. Like, really. What kind of a way to go is that? Damn just thinking about it makes me sick.

You can only wonder how long it’d take to die as you’re being spun like that; as the blood fills your head and all your innards are forced upward. Ugh.

Why, Annie? Just… why?

4. Gelgar

Not even a drop of wine to end life with. Harsh. Real harsh.

Gelgar’s death makes it this high up the list of brutal deaths because… well let’s be real, what happened to him sucks!

It’s like the entire universe set him up for that particular moment just to spite him and laugh at him and finally kill him.

After fighting so well, he lost only because his gas was finished and he’d hit his head in the scuffle. He gets saved by his teammate, is thrown through a hole in the wall into a room, and then he spots it: a bottle of well-deserved alcohol.

At this point he’d already come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t going to make it out alive. And what better way to go than after taking a real good swing of booze, amirite?

But this, boys and girls, this. Is. Attack on Titan!

Sigh…

At least his head got bashed into the wall as that titan brought him back out for a snack, so he was unconscious for the rest of the ordeal.

RIP Gelgar.

3. Nanaba

I feel bad for Nanaba anytime I watch her death scene

Nanaba’s death was another disturbing one to watch. She was basically torn to pieces and shared by multiple frenzied titans. Oh and, she’s the one who saved Gelgar earlier.

But what really hits hard, is all the things she screams as she’s being ripped apart. She loses her mind in those horrifying last moments, and seems to be re-living some really serious memories of abuse from her father. She’s pleading desperately, promising her father she won’t do it again.

Guys. If her mind broke during those last moments as she was being devoured by titans, and it was to throw her back to trauma from her childhood… then just how badly was she treated by her dad?

2. Mike

Mike screamed pitifully in his last moments. That's how terrifying the titans are.

Again, this is another death that no one would ever forget. Season 2 begins with such bleakness, it’s not even funny.

Mike, second only to Levi in combat strength, is here reduced to a crying, screaming mess as at least 4 titans take chunks out of him. And that one titan that bit off his cranium…

Geez.

Also, this particular scene was more brutal in the anime than it was in the manga. They really made it a point to emphasise Mike’s dying screams.

Speaking of dying screams, it’s time for the most brutal death (IMHO) in all of Attack on Titan:

1. The mother of the girl (Kaya) Sasha saved

This is the absolute worst way to be devoured by the titans

Did I say screams? Nope, there was no screaming here. Only agonised moans.

This person probably had it the worst, ever. The poor woman didn’t even lose consciousness as she was being slowly eaten alive by a titan small enough to be mistaken for an oversized human. How much more horrifying can this get?

Notice the conspicuous lack of screams? I think she was in so much agony, she couldn’t even. That, or she had already screamed her lungs out. She could no longer physically scream.

And for the final touch, you’ll remember that after Sasha took the little girl out of there, the titan gave chase almost immediately. So the natural question to ask is: what became of the half eaten woman, who was almost certainly still alive?

Only one thing is possible: she bled out. She lay there, most of her flesh eaten, in indescribable pain, and bled out.

This is how she died. This guys, is the most brutal death in Attack on Titan. Sorry for ruining your day for you.

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Which death was most brutal for you? Be sure to comment below!

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