Snk Character Positivity Day: Levi Ackerman

I was that rare kind of person who disliked Levi from the very beginning. I’ve been in fandom since 2014 and I got really bored by hearing “Levi is so sexy and badass” kind of stuff said by almost every second fan. I thought he was just a typical guy from shounen manga with tons of fanservice and super-powers to attract new readers to the manga itself.

How could I be so wrong about him?

The Uprising arc changed my views towards Levi completely. I’ve finally seen the real face of a person who was hiding his emotions under the “hero” mask for many and many years. He was “The Humanity’s Strongest” and everyone beyond the Walls saw Levi only in that way. But he was a human as well as other soldiers in the Survey Corps. He had ordinary fears, dreams and, most importantly, he had feelings. He wasn’t an emotionless machine for killing titans, because he had a heart and this heart was full of love towards others.

I hate myself for being so blind to this character for so long. He’s a real pearl of snk manga for being one of the most empathetic characters who does care about other’s lives. For him life of every soldier has the same value, and it’s painful to see him trying to save everyone, but facing the death of everyone he loves over and over till the very end.

His path is full of sacrifices, pain and loses, but he’s strong to find powers to move forward. And this is what impresses me the most in this character. He lost his family, his friends, his squads and finally he lost his one and only liege, but he keeps moving forward no matter how much his heart is wounded. He’s definetely “The Humanity’s Strongest”, not only physically, but mentally as well.

I love Levi for his human side, for his emotions hidden deep inside of his heart, for his devotion to the people he loves and truly worries about. For me he’s a hero not for being “The Humanity’s Strongest", he’s a hero for remaining the Human in the world full of cruelty, betrayal and death.