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Villain Overview

What a strange feeling... I'm barely even scared. I can see everything around me. I feel like, no matter how all this plays out, I can accept whatever happens. That's right, nobody's in the wrong. There's nothing we could do. Because this world...is just...that cruel.
~ Bertolt Hoover
Oh no. None of you have done anything wrong. And you're not devils. It's just that you all have to die. There's nothing you can do now.
~ Bertolt refusing to give any explanations about his motivations.
If we talk, will you agree to DIE?! We only have two demands!! We want you to give us Eren!! And we want all of humanity inside the Walls to be wiped out!! That's just how reality is, Armin!! Everything has already been decided!!
~ Bertolt's response to Armin asking to negotiate.

Bertolt Hoover, alternatively Bertholdt Hoover in the anime translation, is a major antagonist in the anime/manga series Attack on Titan. He is a Marleyan Warrior and the true identity of the Colossus Titan; an Eldian who infiltrated the military of the Walls as a spy, as a part of a plot to eradicate the "remainder of humanity". He is the archenemy of Armin Arlert, the childhood best friend of Reiner Braun, and one of the recurring main antagonists of the three seasons prior the timeskip. For the rest of the series, he remains a posthumous character, also appearing in multiple flashbacks and returning as a "soul" in the final battle.

Though largely a subordinate for Reiner and Zeke Yeager, Bertolt is the strongest, most feared Titan throughout the series and is considered humanity's greatest threat for most of the series. His actions are also the catalyst for main events of the series, including Eren Yeager's transformation into a soldier determined to exterminate the Titans; Bertolt being responsible for the death of the latter's mother Carla Yeager and the destruction of Shiganshina District. His, Reiner and Annie Leonhart's operations also caused the Fall of Wall Maria, resulting overall deaths of 10,000 people, a great famine endured by the citizens of Wall Rose which led to numerous more deaths by poverty and bringing them into conflict with Wall Sina's citizens and corrupt authorities, as well as less than 250,000 more deaths of civilians and soldiers a year after the first invasion.

In the Japanese version of the anime, Bertolt is voiced by Tomohisa Hashizume, who also plays the manipulative strategist Fa Zheng in the Dynasty Warriors video game series. In the English dubbed version, he is voiced by David Matranga.

The Colossal Titan[]

Colossal Titan

Colossal Titan

The Colossal Titan, or Colossus Titan, is the second largest Titan ever encountered, having first appeared in the Year 845 outside the District of Shiganshina.

It is approximately 60 meters tall with a physical appearance resembling a humanoid being without any skin, exposing muscles and connective tissue.

In addition, it has not shown any interest in consuming humans. It appears suddenly and without warning in a flash of lightning, and disappears in a similar manner in large clouds of steam, which constantly pours from most parts of its body.

It possesses the ability to release this steam at high pressure to defend the weak point at the base of its neck. Possessing a physical mass far larger than any other known Titan, it was easily able to kick down the Gate into the District of Shiganshina and thus is partially responsible for the fall of the Wall Maria.

It displays cognitive recognition when it appears before the District of Trost in the year 850, as after kicking down the gate into the district, it destroys the cannon artillery atop the wall so that the invading Titans would meet less resistance.

000000000000000Bertholdt

Bertolt Hoover

Personality[]

Bertolt is a quiet young man who identifies himself as someone that follows popular opinion with "no will of his own" and no purpose in life. This sometimes bothers his companions, because he acts as if he can't fight or do anything else, yet during his trainings in both Marley and Paradis' Walls, he excelled at everything he did and he was praised for his great shooting abilities. Likewise, his instructor noted him to be a person with great potential, but an utter lack of initiative, noting these words: "Highly proficient in various hand-to-hand combat styles and has great potential, but lacks in self-confidence and tends to leave it to others when it comes to showing assertiveness."

During childhood he was raised as a Warrior candidate, trained to be only a ruthless war machine to serve the power of the Marleyan Empire. He was fed with lies and to believe that one day he could save all the Eldians living in Marley's internment camps from the burden of having to carry Eldia's sins, by fighting for the nation and destroying all of its enemies. Within the Walls in Paradis Island, while Reiner and Annie allowed their feelings get in the way at times (the latter due to his dissociative identity), Bertolt always remained focused on his mission and never forgot his real identity.

Because of his personality, passive behavior, and utter dependence on others' commands, Bertolt's potential and talents are considered wasted and thus, at the Walls, he got the grade A- and ranked under Reiner, instead of Mikasa. He was further described by Eren Yeager as being taciturn, and often acting as "Reiner's shadow". Among his former comrades, he was particularly close to Armin Arlert and read with him.

He was also often seen with Jean, Eren, and Marco. Other times he could find himself surrounded by all his comrades, due to him being with Reiner, who used to be the most popular trainee, and Bertolt never approved of this due to his fear of Reiner exposing their real identities. Bertolt failed to stop his partner from becoming too popular. Reiner developed a delusional personality entirely taken from Marcel and even got a crush on Christa. While Eren got along with Bertolt, the former still had his reservations about him, not having a clear view of his reserved and silent nature.

Besides Bertolt's trouble with Reiner and concern for his mental stability, his relationship with Annie Leonhart is less complex, as noted by Reiner and Armin, Bertolt appeared to have a one sided crush on her stemming back to their days as Warrior candidates. In flashbacks with Bertolt with Annie, Reiner, Marcel, Porco, and Pieck as children, Bertolt tells Annie and Reiner how loyalty towards Marley is important implying that like Reiner he harbored similar feelings of patriotism for the country. It appeared Annie was close enough with Bertolt to would join him alongside Mina, Jean, and Marco during meals.

Bertolt tends to remain in the background unless necessary. By his own admission, he is something of a coward and is noted for his low self-esteem and lack of aggressiveness, though ways to anger him do exist as seen when Armin provoked him with taunts on Annie's torture, causing him to lash out in rage cursing his race. When Reiner calls him unreliable Bertolt quietly agrees without protests and the only thing he acknowledges about himself is being athletic and able to fight. His best talent is actually his exceptional aim with guns, as he never misses his targets and is the best Warrior in marksmanship.

His withdrawn and emotionless behavior initially led to the impression of him being the least emotionally compromised of the three Warriors infiltrating the Walls. While showing degrees of remorse over his actions he remained the most passive up to an extent, showing little attachment when the time came to enact their goal of retaking the Founding Titan. Bertolt seemed to care far more about his real comrades, Reiner and Annie, however, when confronted by his former comrades and questioned about their friendship, he revealed himself to be far more conflicted and guilt-ridden than it originally appeared.

He shows great devotion to both of his fellow agents, Reiner Braun and Annie Leonhart, and is easily driven to action or anger when he feels either is threatened. He rarely smiles and the only times he did it more often was during his three past years of training. In reality, he is constantly nervous, gloomy, with a frowning face showing uneasiness and insecurity.

He is wary of others and acts as a voice of reason to Reiner, cautioning him repeatedly about lowering his guard. Like Reiner he refuses to trust his prisoners and prefers to incapacitate them. His interactions with Ymir reveal that while his actions have caused considerable suffering, he is not a cruel person and is capable of showing genuine kindness towards others. Bertolt can also showed panic and slight tears when he saw Marco dying. He also points out that what he does is his job and his own feelings must not get in his way, causing Eren to view him as cold, indifferent, and unsympathetic person. However, he does feel sympathy for his enemies, as noted when he admitted to have felt sorry for Eren on the topic of the death of the latter's mother, when he expressed his regrets to his former comrades, when he decided to give Armin a quick death when he was about to kill him in his Colossal form, and when he was crying during Marco's murder, as he and Annie weren't prepared to have to dispose of him in human form after he overheard his and Reiner's conversation.

When Reiner decided not to continue their advance to the inner Wall Rose and focus on Eren's capture, Bertolt was notably bothered, showing a weak disagreement in letting Eren plug the Wall because he had "worked hard" to prepare the Trost District invasion. Upon facing the consequences of the exposal of his identity, Bertolt panicked and lost all confidence to the point of tears, but not enough to attack the Survey Corps and stealing a ODM gear and Ymir.

Over time, namely during the Return to Shiganshina arc, Bertolt became neutral in the war reaching a conclusion that no one side is truly right or wrong, just wanting to end his mission and return to Marley with his companions, already accepting himself as a terrorist with a short life anyway. When confronted by Armin Armin who tried to talk him out his mission and turning into the Colossal Titan, giving him a change of negotiation: Bertolt declined Armin's offer and mocked both Armin and his old self, stating and convincing himself he wouldn't cry and flee like before. Going so far as to bluntly state that he would kill them and all humans inside the Walls because he has decided to do so.

With this mindset, despite showing remorse to Connie and Jean, Bertolt has demonstrated if it came to down to it he was more than able to kill than spare lives. At first Bertolt let his insecurity and fears get the best of him and was deeply remorseful to betray his comrades, especially when he's cornered by them. Months later he decided to stop hiding behind Reiner and cast away his guilt and carry on with killing his former friends for the sake of his mission and real companions, thus acting more hostile and threatening, even accepting Mikasa's attempts on his life and fighting back. No longer fazed by Armin's attempt at manipulating him by bringing up Annie, and told him to have her fed to the pigs for all he cared. While still feeling brief panic when the Scouts where going to kill an immobilized Reiner in Titan form, he opted to leave him and trust that he would have enough willpower to move his Titan body frontward to avoid the hit from his Colossal's activation, apologizing in advance in the event that he could not. This further showed Bertolt's willingness to do whatever it took to bring the mission to an end. Even when he admitted that he never hated Armin and the other Eldians of the Walls, Bertolt proceeded to blow up the entire Shiganshina District with a huge explosion that killed almost every soldier present within the city. He showed disappointment and annoyance when ironically his 104th old friends were the only survivors, admitting to himself that he hoped they could just die already. He then proceeded to destroy the entire city and attempted to kill all his former friends, while Zeke kept Erwin, Levi, and their forces outside the city busy, killing all the other Scouts that weren't on Bertolt's reach.

Though he was later relieved to see Reiner alive and called out his and Annie's names upon his death at the hands of Armin's Pure Titan.

After eating Bertolt, Armin visits Annie in her crystal prison often, during an argument years later Eren speculates that reason for Armin's pacifist esque ideals and strategic abilities having faltered since becoming the Colossal Titan were due to Bertolt's memories clouding his judgement (though this was revealed to be a lie).

Quotes[]

Guys, please! Help me! Annie! Reiner!
~ Bertolt's last words before being crushed by Armin's Pure Titan.

Victims[]

  • Previous holder of the Colossal Titan (as a Pure Titan)
  • Unnamed Survey Corps soldier
  • Moblit Berner
  • Harold
  • Numerous people of unnamed nation
  • Numerous residents of Shiganshina District
  • Numerous unnamed Survey Corps members

Indirectly[]

Trivia[]

  • Bertholdt's Colossal Titan form is the most recognizable iconic image of the Attack on Titan series.
  • Bertholdt is the only Warrior who was actually created as a titan, and after as a human character. Hajime Isayama has said he created him as the Colossal Titan and then came up with Bertholdt's design by asking himself what kind of character would he get if the somehow weakly and docile Colossal Titan was turned into a person.
  • According to Reiner, Bertholdt was the only known human in the current story to have been able to master his Titan form the very first time as a child, without ending up exhausted and unable to stand like normally should happen the first time, the Titan form being also the most difficult to control. Nevertheless, when he was a child soldier he still struggled to keep his Colossal form for too long, unlike when he is older. Bertholdt's many outstanding abilities would explain why the Marley military would decide to give the Colossal to someone as insecure as him, however it seems that neither Magath or Zeke has ever bothered to work on his flaws that made most of his talents unused and wasted. In fact Bertholdt's personality makes it easy for everyone to underestimate him, including Bertholdt himself (much to Reiner's frustration), who refuses to take any initiative in anything unless only Reiner or Annie are in danger.
  • Despite his unrivalled mastery over the Colossal Titan, it has been remarked by his former comrades in the Survey Corps that Armin's Colossal is superior to his. This belief stems from the fact that while both believe they're horrible people, unlike Bertholdt, Armin has never hesitated to do what needs to be done, whereas Bertholdt only stopped hesitating during his final battle.
  • Out of all the young Warriors in training, Bertholdt and Annie were the only ones who didn't look interested in the Marley's teachings at all and kept a nonchalant attitude about it. Both of them are self-admitted weak persons who follow the greater flow without ever using initiative or expressing their actual thoughts. They also use their abilities only when it's necessary, otherwise they do nothing or speak at all. Their behaviors and lack of teamwork didn't go unnoticed by Reiner to the point that, after he took Marcel's personality and became a leader, he sometimes called them slackers and unreliable, who let him plan everything alone. However, unlike Annie, Bertholdt considers loyalty important, hence why he follows orders better than her or Reiner. Also unlike Annie, Bertholdt doesn't feel the need to cause creative deaths and inflict unnecessary extra pain.
  • There are parallels between Bertholdt and Mikasa Ackerman: they both know they live in a cruel world and they were both terrified by it. Their fears were replaced by control, self-awareness, and coldness.
    • The difference is that Mikasa did it while she was still a child and found something to live for, while Bertholdt only really stopped trembling when he realized he was just standing there all the time while he let most of the dirty job to Reiner and Annie and would not stop them when they made foolish mistakes. Mikasa's faces the cruelty of the world while looking beyond it and sees beauty and love, she focuses on those things and keeps living. Bertholdt doesn't see this and has only a nihilistic view of life. He's often apathetic and even admits to have no reason to live for to the point he considers death as freedom. In his last moments he had no problem with killing countless people anymore and was even cool with Annie being fed to the pigs or Reiner failing and die, possibly because he didn't expect to live longer anyway. He burned Armin alive with no hesitation, despite he was one of his favorite comrades, thinking he was putting him out of his misery. However, when he was defeated and was about being eaten alive, he still panicked and screamed for help.
    • On another note, Bertolt is similar to Mikasa in how he's protective of Reiner as she is with Eren, though in a less apparent manner. In this case, he could be seen as a symbolic parallel of her.
  • Another interpretation from readers is that perhaps he became too self-indulgent, having no true life purpose or actual like for life and will to live. It's believed that his projection of conflict into Armin is the culmination of all the subtle gathering of suppressed thought. So he would have been impenetrable not because the audience are denied access to his mind; rather, he is impenetrable because he doesn’t do a lot of thinking, and when he does, it’s superficial. The kind of defense he muster to explain himself is truistic, yet with a total absence of context it is cryptic and morally ambiguous. When he doesn’t hide himself behind somebody he hides himself behind words.
  • Bertolt, Annie, and Marcel never returned to their families in their hometown (Liberio's internment zone). Out of their group, Reiner is the only one who ever made it back to Liberio's ghetto and to his family.
  • During the training in Marley, Bertolt and Annie ranked above Reiner because they fight better than him and have more talent. While during the training in Paradis, Reiner ranked both of them, second only to Mikasa. Although Bertolt and Annie are better at fighting and more agile, and Reiner always lost against them, it's apparent that he still ranked above them due to his stronger spirit, loyalty, and above all teamwork. All of those are the most required things requested by the Wall military and the most necessary things to fight and survive the Titans, and Bertolt and Annie lacked those traits.
  • Bertolt's often mistranslated name in the early localized translations (i.e. Bertholdt Fubar) has led fans to commonly make memes about his name's ambiguity. The joke names range from phonetical resemblance (Bertoto Hoover), intertextual similarity (Boruto Hoover), and many more, such as Benedict Cumberbolt, a portmanteau of Bertolt Hoover and the famous actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

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