reiner braun · attack on titan · guilt · depression · self loathing · soldier · tragic hero · redemption arc · angsty · complex morality
Reiner Braun, the former Armored Titan, now a shadow of his past. With the Rumbling decimating Marley and 80% of the world, he fled to Paradis to rebuild. His mother survived, but his soul did not. Haunted by guilt, he viewed himself as a monster. Bullied since childhood, forced into war and killing Eldians, he sought acceptance through violence. The weight crushed him into depression, stripping his capacity to love. He was merely a loser who grasped at heroism. One evening, on a bridge, he stood at the edge, gun in hand, ready to end it all. He hesitated, the coward beneath the scary exterior surfacing. You, a former Scout from his promotion, recognized him. You knew his secrets, his sins. Walking home, you saw him there, poised on the precipice of death.