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“ | I can't fight the Titans.... My buddies were eaten right in front of me They were eaten alive...and I didn't feel anything! No sadness or hate...I was just incredibly grateful... that it wasn't me. | „ |
~ Daz showing his cowardly nature. |
Daz is a minor antagonist in Attack on Titan and a former member of the 104th Training Corps. After the Battle of Trost District in 850, he joined the Garrison, but eventually transfers to the Survey Corps sometime after the Battle of Shiganshina District and the discovery of the sea between 851 and 853. In the year 854, Daz is part of the original group of supporters of Eren Yeager and eventually defects from the Scouts to become a member of the Yeagerists, believing in Eren's plan to destroy the entire world in order to save Paradis Island. Daz and his accomplices start an uprising against the Eldian military, in which they gain the support of the majority of the population and successfully overthrow the government of the Walls.
Appearance[]
Daz had a rough, short crop of dark-grayish hair. He looked noticeably very tensed and fearful most of the time, which caused him to get wrinkles around his mouth and eyes. In his first appearance wore the normal military uniform of the Training Corps.
Daz would later come to wear the new standard black Survey Corps battle suit.
Story[]
Past[]
In the year 847, Daz would become a member of 104th Training Corps.
104th Training Corps arc[]
Daz is seen listening and asking questions to Eren Yeager, as the latter tells him and the other Trainees about his experiences during the Fall of Shiganshina and Wall Maria. The story visibly frightens Daz.
A day later, Eren has an accident with his 3DMG gear equipment and falls face first on his head. At dinner Daz and his friends look at him with condescending disdain and badmouth him, because of Eren's boasting the day before telling them that he will master the 3DMG equipment and exterminate all the Titans.
Daz also appears in the anime adaptation's OVA episode Distress, in the year 848. He is part of a group of Cadets led by Thomas Wagner to go on a wilderness hunt that will teach the Cadets to sustain themselves in times of peace. Daz finds out that someone has stolen the Trainees' ODM gear equipment. The group decides to speed up their mission to warn the other group of Cadets led by Marco Bott about the presence of bandits. The next day, Daz and his group come upon Marco's group, who have been engaging the bandits who kidnapped Krista Lenz, and help them disarm the remaining men.
At some unknown point during the three training years, the 104th Training Corps complete a snowstorm training exercise, arriving at a base at the foot of a mountain. For the duration of the exercise, which is intended to check the Trainees' persistence in severe climates, Daz pushes himself too hard, because he was looking to improve his score, and loses consciousness, forcing Ymir and Krista Lenz to drag his body along. Although Ymir again and again indicates leaving Daz, Krista refuses and Ymir eventually throws Krista away and swiftly leaves with Daz in her Titan form. Ymir brings him back to safety to the Trainees's base below the mountain, where he is being taken care of.
Battle of Trost District arc[]
After the Trost District's gate is breached by the Colossus Titan in the year 850, the Garrison's southern troops are forced to defend the city on their own, as by a convenient "coincidence" the Colossal returned on the very day the expert Titan killers of the Survey Corps have gone outside Wall Rose in Titan territory for their 56th expedition. This causes the Garrison at Trost having to send the recently graduated Trainees of the 104th to the frontlines. Daz and the other Trainees are seen getting orders from Garrison Captain Kitz Weilman. They are told that the Titans have already entered the city and wiped out the entire Garrison vanguard. With the exception of Mikasa Ackerman, who is put in the rear guard to assist the evacuation and defense of the civilians, all the Trainees are put in the middle guard to fight and hold the Titans off until the evacuation is complete. Daz starts having a mental breakdown and profusely vomits on the floor while being consoled by Krista. The equally unhappy Jean Kirstein angrily orders him to get up a few moments later.
Following the successful civilian evacuation, Daz and his comrades are left behind within the deserted and Titan-invaded city by their own supply team of Cadets inside the military headquarters, who in turn are left behind by Captain Weilman and the rest of the Garrison soldiers, who retire to Trost's inner wall as soon as the bell signals the retreat for everyone. Only the soldiers with enough gas left, including Ymir and Krista, are able to follow the signal and retire with the rest of the troops, while Daz and the others are forced to hide atop roofs.
Daz is later seen amid the Cadets that are left stuck in the middle of the deserted city of Trost, abandoned to fend for themselves after they bought time for the evacuation and the inner gate has been closed. Daz and all the rest are left behind due to their limited amount of gas and their supply team choosing to stay inside HQ instead of refilling them. Short on gas, the Cadets argue or despair as they are unable to reach the headquarters to resupply, because small Titans have already broken through the supply depot, while the building is entirely besieged by the larger Titans outside. Daz and his comrades are surprsingly joined by Mikasa, who came back for Eren. After she gives a powerful speech and leaves, Daz unites with the Cadets in an attempt to reach the headquarters with the little amount of gas left. He survives and makes it to the HQ, resupply and leave Trost District for the time being. The Cadets find their way to retreat cleared out, as a rampaging Abnormal Titan killed all the other Titans that were surrounding the building and is also drawing their attention to itself. The Titans are ignoring the Cadets and focusing on this specific Titan instead.
Once all the Trainees have joined one another and are now stationed in the safe inner wall of Rose with the Garrison troops, Daz begins recalling when he saw his friends being eaten alive and only feeling happy that it wasn't him. He starts to mentally collapse, thinking that as soon the Titans breach the inner gate he will become the next victim, and takes out his sword saying that he would rather commit suicide than fight the Titans again. Marco Bott tries to calm him down by reminding him to behave like a soldier but Daz gives in to panic, causing Marco having to hold him to prevent him doing anything foolish. The sound of the Garrison's cannon fire leads to more panic amongst the troops, thinking the Titans have come to breach the inner gate.
Later during that same day, all the soldiers are made to remain calm by the officers when they are updated about the arrival of more Garrison troops and Commander Dot Pixis, the Chief Official of the Southern Territories. Even if for the time being, the Titans are still confined within the walls of Trost District, which is fully deserted and overrun, Daz and his fellow Trainees as well as many Garrison soldiers remain terrified and on the verge of panic. They are all waiting for the Armored Titan to appear at any moment and bring down the inner Wall Rose and doom humankind. Daz and many other soldiers start to give in to terror when instead of receiving the order to fall back are told to stay where they are.
As they are awaiting for new orders from the Garrison Comander, Daz and the troops start to assume they will be sent back to Trost to fight the Titans and get completely wiped out in the attempt, just for glory. Thinking about being sent to the very place he barely managed to escape, Daz cries and shouts that he does not want to face the Titans ever again, screaming that he is not a disposable pawn and desires to go home. Whilst Marco tries to keep him quiet, a Garrison officer named Lobov overhears Daz and begins asking in a shouting manner if Daz wants to desert his position, warning him about the death penace for it. Daz carelessly confirms that he is going to desert and screams that trying to fight the Titans is only pure suicide and that he would rather be executed by people if that means he will not have to face them again and be eaten alive. Daz making a scene and arguing with Lobov drives the attention of all the Trainee and Garrison troops, who begin to feel encouragement to the idea of adding their support and desert with him.
Just before the argument can get any worse Dot Pixis arrives, silences the troops and begins giving a speech telling them the plan to recapture Trost District by blocking the hole in the wall's outer gate by using Eren Yeager's newly discovered Titan form, having been the Abnormal that was rampaging in the city. Daz yells against the plan, saying it is all nonsense and the other soldiers add their voices in support, not believing the reveal. An angry Garrison soldier then declares himself a deserter and many follow along to leave with him, including Daz. As Daz walks away, Lobov tries to stop him, but he declares that he wants to live out the rest of humanity's final days with his family. As Kitz Weilman prepares to kill all the deserters in a rage, out of nowhere Pixis declares that he will pardon every single soldier who wishes to quit. However, he also tells the troops that by doing so they are also wishing to leave the possibility of their families ending up being devoured alive by the Titans, if the advance of these monstrosities is not stopped right there at Trost. Pixis also reminds them about the fate of the majority of the population of Wall Maria, which is almost wiped out, and warns everyone that if they do not stop the Titans' advance, a civil war between the humans of Wall Rose and Wall Sina will likely implode, due to the lack of sufficient land to support all of them within Sina's lands. Begging them to consider these risks, Pixis insists they must plug up the hole at Trost before too many Titans enter the city and make the plan impossible to execute.
Understanding this, all the deserters stay and rejoin the troops, including Daz who reluctantly stay for the battle and is praised and encouraged by his friends, including Sasha Braus. When the plan begins, the Trainees and Garrison members are made to act as bait to lure as many Titans possible to the inner wall or to the northern parts of Trost, while the Garrison's Alpha Squad of elite members escort Eren south to the outer gate. Daz is seen with a Garrison soldier and small team of Trainees, one of them being Sasha, and are tasked to lure Titans north, away from the outer gate's breach. As a Titan approaches them, they are ordered to wait until it gets closer, whilst Daz and Sasha look in fear, and as soon as it is close enough they all flee swiftly and leave before the Titan can grab any of them.
Although Daz is not seen again, he actually survives the rest of the battle and retreats to safety as soon as the Survey Corps finally return to Wall Rose and join the Garrison in the purge of the Titans that remained in the city. He presumably takes part in the aftermath cleanup operation at Trost the following days and watches the dead bodies burning with his fellow grieving Trainees. He also presumably is among the Trainees having their equipment inspected following the assassination of two important Titan test subjects "Sawney" and "Bean". He joins the Garrison Regiment.
Marley Arc[]
Daz appears again in the year 854, now a soldier of the Survey Corps, where he took part in a raid on Marley and fought the Marleyan military in the city of Liberio, four years since the Battle of Trost District. At this point the Survey Corps is almost entirely made of former members of other branches and new graduates, as only 8 members of the original Survey Corps from the older days remain. Daz is part of a group of vocal supporters of the Eldian Empire's rebirth and Eren. As the invaders retreat from Liberio with a stolen Marleyan airship, Daz is shown alongside his fellow Scouts enjoying their victory, only to be caught off guard by Warrior candidates Falco Grice and Gabi Braun, who found their way up to the airship by killing former Garrison Commander Lobov and using his 3DM gear to board it. Sasha is shot to death by Gabi, who then fires the next shot on Jean, who only avoids it due to Falco protecting Gabi by moving her away from Jean's own gunshot. Daz and many of his companions run towards the two kids raging and disarm Gabi, then proceed to beat up both Gabi and Falco mercilessly. When they are done, Daz and his friends restrain them with ropes, although Gabi still keeps kicking, screaming and cursing insults and death threats. Surprised at how Gabi and Falco managed to board the zeppelin, the group rushes to check outside the door to find out that the kids also killed Lobov. Jean orders the group not to kill them, choosing to take them back to Paradis Island as captives instead.
War for Paradis arc[]
A month after the Raid on Liberio, Daz is among the Yeagerists deployed to defend Shiganshina District during Marley's surprise attack. The battle does not go well for the Yeagerists, as the Marleyans are on full offense and a large number of the Yeagerists get massacred by the Marleyan soldiers from both ground and sky with machine guns from the airships, while the Warrior Unit engages Eren's Attack Titan. Daz and his surviving comrades are eventually joined and aided by Zeke Yeager, who destroys the Marleyan airships above. Also Daz's former comrades of the Eldian military branches join the fight against the soldiers, until Zeke transforms all the ones who drank his wine into Pure Titans. When all the Walls crumble and the Rumbling begins, Daz appears inside the Paths of the Coordinate, alongside Samuel Linke-Jackson and Louise as they hear Eren's declaration along with every other Subject of Ymir in the world. Daz survives the Marleyan invasion and the sudden rampage of his former comrades' Pure Titans summoned by Zeke. He presumably helps with the detainment of the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers, who are betrayed by the Yeagerists out of fear of retaliations for Eren's real plan.
During the Rumbling, Daz and Samuel are amongst the Yeagerists based at the port of Paradis Island to inhibit anyone from trying to use the Azumabito family's flying boat, or the boat carrying it, or the captured Marleyan cruiser, to leave the island with any of those. The Yeagerists close the port and capture and hold hostage the politician and ambassador of Hizuru, Kiyomi Azumabito, and her country's best engineers. Suddenly Armin Arlert and Connie Springer arrive at the port to inform the Yeagerists that Marleyan stragglers from the battle from a few days ago are swimming away with their Titans to return to the mainland and kill Eren, adding that they already killed Jean and the Volunteer Onyankopon. Armin and Connie urge Floch Forster to send all the Azumabito mechanics to service the flying boat immediately, as they claim they are going to use it to pursue the retreating enemy Marleyans who survived the battle at Shiganshina.
Armin and Connie hurriedly approach Daz and Samuel, who stop them from seizing the Azumabito's flying boat. Armin and Connie are visibly horrified when they see the flying boat is rigged with explosives, active and connected to a detonator. Despite the two insisting they need it to stop the Marleyans, Daz and Samuel clarify that both Armin and Connie are suspected of treason and are allegedly working with Marley to undermine Eren Yeager's plan to destroy the entire world outside Paradis. Armin and Connie defend themselves from the accusation, clarifying that they would never betray Eldia, that the Rumbling is the only way to save the people of Paradis, and that they just want to chase the Marleyans. Daz relievedly defuses the explosives attached to the ship, although he admits that part of him really believed the accusation.
Abruptly after, everyone in the harbor freezes up upon hearing three gunshots coming from the main building. Shortly after more crashing sounds, Floch comes out from the main building with his 3DM gear and pronounces to the his fellow Yeagerists that Armin, Connie and Mikasa Ackerman have betrayed Eldia, and orders the soldiers to kill them. Daz silently begins reinforcing the explosives on the flying boat, while Armin tries to stop him, only to be shot in his jaw and chest by Samuel. Daz looks in shock, but his companion orders him to reactivate the explosives. As Armin is the holder of one of the Nine Titans, Samuel has no trouble stopping him with brutality, knowing his injuries will fully heal; however, he cannot do the same to Connie and is only able to threaten his old friend at gunpoint as he questions him about his betrayal. Unexpectedly two transformations form, and the Yeagerists are attacked by the Armored Titan and the Female Titan. While distracted, Samuel is tackled by Connie and the Yeagerists begin to fight an allied group between forces of Marley and renegades from Paradis who are already trying to rescue the Azumabito crew. As Samuel and Connie wrestle on the docks, Daz can only fearfully looking at them. He is brought back into action by Samuel, who angrily orders him to blow the flying boat up, but is then tackled by a wounded Armin. Daz tells Armin to quit it, whilst Samuel condemns the betrayal and reminds Connie of their friendship. Hesitating, Daz tearfully points a gun to Armin's head as he desperately considers shooting. This causes Connie to take Samuel's gun and shoot Daz in his head.
After he is shot, his lifeless body falls and sinks in the ocean.