Among shonen anime MCs, Eren Yeager is controversial. He is without a doubt popular and well-loved, but there is some question as to whether he is truly a protagonist. Like Light Yagami of Death Note, Eren’s behavior gets dangerously close to villainy.
Eren’s behavior is often childish. This doesn’t always mean that his childish behavior is villainous though. In fact, sometimes Eren’s ignorance is cute.
10 Before Capturing The Power Of Hardening, Eren Has To Shed A Few Tears To Mark The Death Of His Innocence
Few Attack on Titan fans will ever forget the shiny diamond cave that Rod Reiss trapped Eren and Historia in for the last half of the third season. After being kidnapped and nearly eaten, Eren is forced to step up to the plate to save his friends. Of course, before Eren can save his friends, they have to save him.
Instead of preparing himself for his friends’ arrival, Eren uses the time prior to Levi and Mikasa’s arrival to cry over his lost innocence. Up until this point in the story, Eren believes his cause is just and righteous. When he finds out that his father is a revolutionary, he responds like any child would if they found out their dad wasn’t the perfect caretaker they imagined them to be.
9 Thanks To Mikasa In Season 1, Eren Doesn’t Have Another Outburst Toward His Friends Until He Insults Mikasa In Season 4
One of Eren’s most child-like qualities that never disappears is his habit of insulting his friends before truly exploring his own emotions. In the very first season of the anime, Eren nearly loses Armin’s friendship by calling him a coward the moment after his hometown was just destroyed by Titans.
Luckily, Mikasa steps in as a parental figure and smashes Eren’s face in for ever daring to insult everyone’s best boy Armin. Though fans may see this as a clear rift in Eren and Mikasa’s relationship, it only proves how two people can be raised in the exact same setting and still mature at completely different paces.
8 Eren Embraces The Selfish Behavior Of A Child When Choosing To Invade Marley Before Warning His Allies
Eren’s actions in the fourth and final season of Attack on Titan have been controversial amongst fans of the series and the members of the Scouts. By invading Marley on his own, Eren forced his allies into a war before ever even asking them for their diplomatic opinion on the matter.
Considering the relationship that Eren has with his fellow Scouts, let alone life-long friends Mikasa and Armin, Eren’s invasion of Marley was childishly selfish. There was absolutely no reason that Eren couldn’t have conducted his scouting mission while keeping his allies well informed. If he had done this, there would have been no reason to drag Falco into his plot in the first place.
7 The Moment Zeke Mentions Grisha Yeager, Eren Falls Apart Like The Pouty Baby Boy He is
The moment it became clear that Eren and Zeke had been plotting together since Eren’s secret invasion of Marley, the entire AoT fanbase let out a collective sigh of disgust. Not only did Eren force his friends to join him in war, but he also hid his true intentions from them before and after doing so. Prioritizing information like power is childish enough, but betraying his lifelong friends for a man that he hardly knows because they have information on his dad is a whole different level of childish.
On top of this, Zeke is so clearly manipulating Eren with nods at their shared parentage that any man capable of waging war should be able to see through it.
6 Despite Being Surrounded By The Best Titan Killers In The World, Eren Still Questions Their Authority Without Offering A Useful Alternative
Questioning authority is not inherently childish, but it is if those who are asking the questions are not prepared to offer any alternative solution. Levi makes it very clear that Eren is not wrong for questioning whether he should become a Titan to help capture the Female Titan. Instead, Eren is wrong for questioning his allies without providing an alternative solution by changing into a Titan to help.
Transforming into a Titan may have also been an immature way to handle this situation considering the plan Erwin had prepared, but anything would have been better than the way Eren danced around the decision before finally choosing to put his own life on the line.
5 Absolute Claims Like “I Will Kill Every Last Titan” Are The Perfect Example Of Childlike Ignorance
Though threatening genocide may seem like a very tough and adult thing to do, it is actually extremely childish. To assume that an entire group of people should be treated one way because of the way a few of them act is as ignorant as it is immature. When Eren makes the claim that he is going to kill all the Titans before even fully understanding what the Titans are, he damns himself to a path filled with death and destruction.
Eren continues this trend of immaturity in the most recent anime episodes by making the assumption that eugenics is any better than genocide. Since this series began, Eren has approached the Titans with childish aggression that will one day get him killed.
4 By Insulting Mikasa, Eren Demonstrates What Childishly Misplacing Rage Looks Like
One of the most recent episodes of Attack on Titan created a strong rift between Mikasa and Eren by letting the new antagonist of the series finally share the feelings he has been harboring for Mikasa since the first season. Eren has never been a fan of Mikasa because of the way she stands in the way of him being the strongest.
For some reason, Eren believes he must be the one to fight for freedom and save the day. Every time he forces his way into battle, it is as if to prove that he is capable. The young man’s ego is so deflated that he can’t even admit that he is a bit jealous of Mikasa’s success. It is clear that Eren has always hated the fact that Mikasa was able to enter the fray and leave without being captured or injured, but his childish brain has never been able to accept that fact.
3 Despite Being A Soft Boy From The Start, Eren Childishly Demands Strength & Stoicism Of Himself
Eren has been a soft boy since the very first episode of the anime series. When first introduced next to Mikasa, Eren is brought to tears by a scary dream. This moment makes it clear that Eren is a sensitive young man that may be able to stand out from the stereotypes of a masculine protagonist.
Unfortunately, this is all ruined the moment Eren tries to hide the fact that he was crying. There is absolutely nothing wrong with shedding a few tears. Despite being a soft boy, it is clear that Eren still has some childish ideas about the way he should and shouldn’t be acting.
2 Nothing Is More Beautifully Child-Like Than An All Night Nerd Binge
When Hange confronts Eren after the attack on Marley, she reminds him of the night the two of them spent talking about the mystery of the Titans way back in the first season of the anime. When Eren was just a Cadet, he and Hange spent an entire night sharing the details they had on the Titan species. In moments like these, it was hard to believe that Eren would ever go down the dark path he is on now.
There is nothing more beautiful than the childlike energy it takes to stay up all night and talk about ideas and theories regarding the state of the world. Hange seems to have brought this childlike behavior into adulthood, which may be a reason so many fans love the Titan scientist so much.
1 Eren Childishly Dreams Of Being Absolutely Free, Even Though Absolute Freedom Does Not Exist
When making a list about Eren’s childish behavior it must be considered that Eren was at one point a literal child during the run time of Attack on Titan. Though he certainly behaves in immature ways as a young adult in the most recent season, the majority of his childlike behavior can be seen during flashbacks of his childhood.
During a flashback between Armin and Eren, the pair of friends dreams of a life beyond the walls. Armin dreams of a wide-open sea full of salt while Eren dreams of freedom and profit. These childlike dreams are cute and even endearing. If only Eren had dreamed of something more specific or attainable than absolute freedom, then he may not have found himself in the position he is in today.
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