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| “ | I am Ilse Langnar. Taking part in the 34th expedition outside the Walls. In command of the left flank of the 2nd brigade. On the way back, encountered a Titan. Lost squadmates and horses. Abandoned my broken vertical maneuvering equipment… and ran north. I lost my horse outside the Wall in Titan controlled territory. And human legs aren’t fast enough to escape from a Titan. Prospects of return… and survival seem hopeless. Still… I may make it back to the Wall if I don’t encounter any Titans. Yes… this is no time to give in to fear. I’ve been prepared for this situation since I applied to the Survey Corps. I am a member of the Survey Corps, the wings of humanity. We do not fear death. Even if it means laying down our lives, we fight to the end. I have no weapons, but I can still fight. I will record what happens to me on this paper, and I will do everything I can. I will not succumb. I will not succumb. | „ |
| ~ Ilse in her notebook while traveling back to Wall Rose. |
Ilse Langnar is a minor character of the manga and anime Attack on Titan. She was a soldier of the Survey Corps and partook in the 34th expedition outside the Walls. After she lost her squad, horse and gear she tried to make it back to the Walls on foot. She would also record everything she experienced on her notebook, including her interaction with a rather mysterious Titan.
She was voiced by Sachi Kokuryu in Japanese, and by Marissa Lenti in English.
Appearance[]
Ilse Langnar was a young woman of small frame and build. She had medium long dark hair that was longer on the right. Her skin was more tanned, and she had a pair of freckles underneath her yellow eyes. She used to wear the typical Survey Corps uniform, including the green cape with a simple shirt under her uniform.
Her overall physical appearance was closely like that of Ymir, which caused a Titan who knew her from the past to try and communicate with Ilse.
Personality[]
Ilse appeared to be devoted and faithful to the Survey Corps and humanity’s cause. Wholly reassuring herself during times of hopelessness that her status as a Survey Corps soldier makes her dare to go against fear and keep on fighting. Yet she was still quite emotional, mainly because of the extreme pressure she was on while returning back from Titan territory. When she was capable of successfully communicating with a Titan, she got very angrily expressive and screamed that the Titans are “useless lumps of meat”, and that they have to “disappear from this world”.
Despite of this, Ilse was a smart soldier who cared about collecting information so it can help humanity in the long run, and when a Titan began talking to her, despite her fear, would try to have a conversation with it to gain more knowledge.
Story[]
104th Training Corps Arc[]
During 848 (849 in the anime version), Ilse was a participant in the 34th expedition outside the Walls, which took place within the Titan-ridden lands of Wall Maria. During the return back to Wall Rose, she and her group encountered Titans. Ilse’s entire squad was massacred, she lost her horse and her ODM gear broke. She would try to make it back to the Walls on foot, while documenting her experience on her notebook. She is aware that her chances to make it back alive are slim, but she suppresses her fear and keeps on fighting, so she will not succumb.
While writing this down she comes face to face with a Titan. It launches at her in an attempt to devour her, but she stumbles back on a tree. The Titan approaches her with its face very close to her. Ilse becomes emotional knowing that it’s the end, but still writes down what’s happening to her. She then notices that the Titan isn’t eating her straight away but simply staring at her. Ilse classifies it as an Abnormal Titan, but still knows she will die anyway. She regrets that she didn’t give anything back to her parents before her death and as Ilse ponders on her demise, the Titan begins speaking words to her. The words are “a Subject of Ymir”. Ilse is completely stunned by what she’s experiencing. The Titan then proceeds to respectfully bow before stating the words “Lady Ymir… well met.”
A confused Ilse writes down the words and concludes that this is probably the first time a human communicated with a Titan. She asks the Titan about who it is in an attempt learn more about its nature. The Titan however, doesn’t give an answer and begins moaning in an uncomfortable way. Ilse then asks where the Titan come from, so she can get an explanation for its origin. But the Titan proceeds to put its hands on its cheeks whilst continuing to moan.
She then asks it why they eat humans, but when the Titan still proceeds not to give any answers, she stops writing and begins angrily screaming at it. She declares that they are nothing more than mindless, worthless lumps of meat that need to disappear from this world. The Titan looks up at her and begins to tear apart its face, horrifying Ilse. As she proceeds to run away, the Titan gets up and goes after her, quickly running up to her and grabs Ilse. As she screams in terror and her head is in between its jaws, she writes down information on her notebook for the last time, until her head is crushed, killing Ilse.
The Titan didn’t eat the rest of her body. It would cave out a piece of a large tree and put the remainder of her corpse in it. The Titan would then kneel before her.
Ilse's corpse is found a year later, in 849 (either 849 or 850 in the anime version), during the 49th expedition by Hange Zoë and Levi Ackerman. The Survey Corps also encountered the "Talking Titan" that killed Ilse, which never moved location and even in its last moments headed back to the tree containing Ilse's body. The Titan exposed the corpse, possibly intending to run away with it or just look at it for one last time. When Hange and Squad Levi arrived at the scene, the Titan became enraged and furiously attacked them for coming too close to the tree. All these types of behavior displayed further Abnormal behavior from a Titan. Upon discovering Ilse's remains, Hange and Levi also find her notebook still left on the spot where she was killed, with the information she had written on it.
After the expedition is over, Hange reads Ilse's notebook back at Wall Rose, and after doing a bit of pondering writes down a copy of the notebook's contents, with the intent of using the information as a motivator for Commander Erwin Smith to finally authorize Titan capture operations. She also adds her own written words and request for Erwin, also reporting to him the Talking Titan's behavior and its attachment to Ilse's corpse. Afterwards, Hange travels to Ilse’s parents' home and report the death of their missing daughter to them, while giving them her uniform and notebook.
After reading Hange's letter and Ilse's final efforts, Erwin grants Hange permission to commence the capture of a Titan to be used to gain knowledge, prompting Hange and the military's engineers to design the special target restraining weapon, which is used in the 50th expedition at Wall Maria. Two Titans, "Chikatilo and Albert", are successfully captured alive by Squad Levi with no casualties and brought back to Wall Rose as test subjects. All the attempts at communication with them made by Hange fail, however, and no one is able to witness what Ilse did with the Abnormal who killed her.
The Female Titan Arc[]
During 850, after the Intelligent Titan Eren Yeager joins the Survey Corps, Hange shares with him all her knowledge about the Titans. After talking with him for hours, Hange remembers she left out Ilse Langnar's testimony and so begins to talk to him about it, only to be interrupted by Moblit Berner, who reports the assassinations of the Titan test subjects "Sawney and Bean".
Clash of the Titans Arc[]
During the third Titan invasion of the Walls, Pastor Nick reveals to the Survey Corps that there is one girl named Christa Lenz who enlisted their own regiment the same year, and may know secrets regarding the Titans and the history of humanity. Upon learning about who she is, Hange and Levi have a visible surprised reaction when they are told by the recruits that she is always hanging around another girl named Ymir, remembering it is how Ilse was referred to as by the Talking Titan. Following the Titan attack, Connie Springer becomes the second known human after Ilse who was spoken to by a Titan with words, which also leads to the near-confirmation that all kinds of Titans were once human beings.
Return to Shiganshina Arc[]
During the Battle of Shiganshina District, Ilse is seen standing among the many fallen Survey Corps comrades in the minds of Erwin, who laments their deaths and sees them looking at him and demanding to know if their deaths had meaning.
Trivia[]
- Her name is likely a reference to Ilse Langner, who was a German author, writer, journalist, and screenwriter. In the spinoff Attack on Titan: Junior High, Ilse is the news reporter of the school's newspaper club.
- Although the manga's special chapter with her role and first appearance was released in 2011 after the end of the Battle of Trost District arc, the flashback chapters of the 104th Training Corps arc, and prior the start of the Female Titan arc, the anime episode of Ilse's notebook was never released as part of any season. Instead it was released in December 9 2013 as the anime's first OVA episode, over two months after the end of the first season. It was not officially released in English until December 1 2015, which was only subbed. It was officially released in English dub in May 8 2022, nine years since the Japanese release.
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 Heroes
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Shiganshina trio Paradis Island Marley Hizuru | ||