Top 20 Attack on Titan Moments

Ah yes, just when we were starting to learn what an absolute unit Captain Levi is. After Eren gets himself soundly defeated and swallowed by the Female Titan, it falls to Levi to once again leap into the fray and save him – which he accomplishes in style. Despite the Titan Shifter’s reach and flexibility, Levi is in a whole other league, tearing through her flesh before stabbing her in both eyes at once. As if he would let anyone other than himself chew out Eren.

The Final Season certainly started off with a bang, we just didn’t expect to see the Marleyans bringing the boom. Four years after their failed attempt to secure the Founding Titan, Reiner and Zeke are left to deal with the consequences when Marley’s surrounding nations decide to take a shot at challenging the power of the Titans. Their upgraded artillery certainly proves effective, but there’s only so much you can do when the Beast and Armored Titan come crashing down from above, along with a legion of Pure Titans to serve as fodder. This is how Marley handles warfare, and it is brutal.

Seeing a member of the Survey Corp suddenly transform into a Titan is bound to raise a few eyebrows. Despite sealing up Trost, Eren is put on trial, with the Military Police gung-ho about executing him. Thankfully, Levi steps in with the proposal of moving Eren into his custody where the Survey Corp can keep a close eye on his Titan abilities. But not before giving a practical demonstration that they can keep him under control…by beating in his face for a whole lot of minutes! Painful yet effective.

Sassy and sarcastic with the hots for Christa, that’s all we knew about Ymir from the first season. Then she revealed that beneath all that snark, there was so much more. After their castle stronghold comes under attack from a horde commanded by the Beast Titan, the ill-prepared corp have no way out…at least until Ymir leaps into the fray and turns into a Titan herself. It was so out of the blue, so unexpected, that it took everyone for a loop, showing that there was way more to this firecracker that we first thought.

It’s the rematch we were all waiting for. With Annie’s identity as the Female Titan revealed, Eren goes on the warpath, leading to the two duking it behind the walls, and pretty much smashing apart anyone unfortunate enough to get caught under them. In spite of her hardening ability allowing her to cut through his defences, Annie’s survival instinct has got nothing on Eren’s rage. Losing himself to the monster within, all Annie can do is reassess her life choices as she comes within inches of being consumed by the jaws of death. Oh, and there are Titans inside the walls. Go figure

The Special Operations Squad may not have had much time to develop compared to the likes of Mikasa, Jean and the rest, but they were still an endearing group, especially when it came to Petra. Fiercely loyal to the likes of Levi, they were some of the best the Survey Corp had to offer. And we got to watch the Female Titan tear them apart one by one. In spite of their top tier skills, the Female Titan’s strategy and killer instinct proved to be their undoing, each meeting a tragic end that probably still keeps Eren up at night.

There have been plenty of unsettling and visceral deaths across this series, though none have come close to matching the horror of Mike’s demise. With a nose for trouble, this veteran member of the Survey Corp appeared to be the kind of soldier that could cut his way through any predicament. And that might still be true…if he were dealing with the average Titan. Alas, he tangled with the Beast Titan, who promptly disabled his manoeuvre gear before feeding him to his underlings. All in graphic detail. His screams still haunt us.

Given how he had just watched his new allies get splattered across the forest floor, it’s easy to see why Eren might have lost his temper and thrown himself into a brawl with the Female Titan. Enraged, the Rogue Titan goes all out…only to be swiftly defeated by his opponent’s superior dexterity and utilisation of its Titan abilities. Concluding with a gnarly decapitation. It’s one of Eren’s soundest defeats, and the battle that showed this gigantic femme fatale was not to be messed with.

An uncharacteristically serene way to cap off the third season, like all things Attack on Titan there is both beauty and darkness in abundance here. Armin’s reaction to finally seeing the ocean with his own eyes resonates deeply. It’s such a heart-warming moment as these embittered soldiers get to experience this natural wonder for themselves. At least until we see Eren, who since finding out the truth about Marley and his father, can only focus on what’s on the horizon – a whole bunch of people they have to kill in order to achieve true freedom.

Genius tactician, uncompromising leader, demon atop a mountain of corpses, Erwin Smith was all these things, and it's fair to say without him everyone behind the walls would have been killed off long ago. The only thing more impressive than his list of deeds is his death, which stands tall as equally heart-breaking and awe-inspiring. Faced with the Beast Titan’s non-stop barrage of projectiles, Erwin musters his terrified troops for a suicide charge that ultimately claims their lives…but not before he delivers one hell of a speech!

How is it possible for someone to go from background character to best girl in a single episode? Well, if you’re Historia, you reject your father’s maniacal plan to keep the status quo, destroy the Titan Serum, damn well near break his back, and just to top it tells Eren to man the hell up. It’s all kinds of amazing, and a standout moment of character growth that would take Historia all the way from the resident nice girl all the way to the Queen that humanity desperately needed.

This is where it all started. With the looming, inhuman face of the Colossal Titan as it sent countless innocents to their doom. Shattering years of supposed peace with a single strike of its knee, the skinless giant paved the way for the dozens of Titans to just waltz on in and start devouring their way through Eren’s hometown. Of course, this was a two-man operation, since the inner wall was also broken down thanks to the Armored Titan and that unbreakable shoulder charge of his.

So much for all that spunk. Eager for combat and vengeance, Eren wastes no time leaping into the action during his first combat encounter. While motivated and possessing a decent amount of skill following his graduation, things don’t go according to plan when a random Titan snaps his leg off and sends him into a tailspin. His sheer force of willpower might have been enough to save Armin from meeting the same fate, but in his wounded state, Eren was essentially Titan chow. While him emerging unscathed from his transformed state is also worthy of note we still feel this has more punch. Or bite.

Who do you choose? The one humanity needs or the one it deserves? With both hanging on death’s door and only one sample of Titan Serum, Levi is forced to make a crucial decision about who to save. It’s a moral dilemma that forces the corp and the audience to pick a side – head or heart, hopeful or pragmatic. Despite settling on Erwin as the candidate, the dying words of his friend give Levi cause to change his mind – ensuring that Armin lives to see another day, now with the power of the Colossal Titan at his disposal

Moments of triumph are certainly few and far-between in this show, so any time Eren and the rest emerge victorious against impossible odds is always something to celebrate. Despite initially losing himself to his Titan form, a few choice words from Armin bring Eren back to his senses, allowing him to complete his mission of sealing up Trost. The swelling of the music combined with the chants from his friends really add a gravitas to it all, topped off with the Attack Titan’s iconic roar.

The purest example of Levi’s badassery can all be found right here. Following on from the Survey Corp’s suicide charge, humanity’s strongest soldier makes his move, getting in close enough so that he can finally tear into Zeke. While the hairy bastard certainly has size on his side, he’s in no way prepared for Levi’s speed and ferocity, wherein he proceeds to slice the big ape apart until the scumbag inside is ripped out, where he too experiences Levi’s special brand of Eren training.

While hindsight would bring a whole new dimension of hype to this scene, even self-contained it’s still a vital moment that brings one of Eren’s many torturous arcs full circle, and that’s revenge against the Titan that ate his mother. After the Smiling Titan kills Hannes in a traumatically similar fashion to Carla Jaeger, all Eren can do is let out the biggest scream of his life. Unknowingly activating the Coordinate within, the surrounding Titans bend to Eren’s will rip the smile right off its face. Poor Dina.

Continuing the trend of Historia being the best, the way in which she puts to rest not only her father, but the legacy of the First King was just monumental. As Rod Reiss’ Titan form is blown to pieces thanks to Eren ramming a whole bunch of explosives into it’s gaping face-hole, Historia is the one to slice apart the remains of its nape, killing the Reiss patriarch once and for all, and ushering in a new age for those behind the walls. And that’s how you become both a hero and a monarch all in one day!

The betrayal that has yet to be surpassed. The way in which Reiner, in a moment of madness, revealed that he and Bertholdt are the Armored and Colossal Titans was a low-key bombshell. From there, all bets are off, as the traitor soldiers go all out in an effort to capture Eren. The emotional devastation of witnessing the two most trusted members of the unit be ousted as the instigators of their shared tragedy is only matched by the proceeding heavyweight Titan showdown. As you can imagine, Eren was not a happy bunny that day.

Before we reveal our titanic number one pick, here are a few honourable mentions.

The Owl Saves Grisha

Carla’s Death

Survey Corp vs Kenny’s Squad

Coup D'état

Kenny’s Death

Mikasa’s Last Thunder Spear

Able to produce explosions of steam, larger than every Titan combined, Bertholdt’s Titan form appeared to be borderline invulnerable. With even the Thunder Spears proving useless, taking it down seemed out of the question. At least until Armin and Eren pulled off their biggest win thus far. Full credit to Armin for nearly burning death just to create an opportunity to spring a counterattack but we still can’t get over how Eren, in his human form, appears from behind and took down the behemoth with the ultimate “surprise bitch” in anime.