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History[]
Mikasa Ackerman was born on February 10, 835 within the Walls of Paradis. She and her mother were incorrectly believed to be the last of their clan and the Oriental (Asian) race, while her father was a member of the Ackerman family from Eldia. Before her parents' death, she lived peacefully with them in mountain farmlands in southern Wall Maria. Mikasa underwent a painful scarring ritual from her mother, whom cut into her skin the mark of their oriental clan. Being the "last" of their race made them high value targets to three human traffickers, who killed Mikasa's parents in 844 and kidnapped her when she was only 9 years old, although they failed to kidnap her mother. She was rescued by Eren Yeager, who tricked and killed two of the slavers. He was then overwhelmed by the third trafficker and on the verge of being strangled. Desperately, Eren urges Mikasa to fight to win. Although she was initially frightened, she came to realize that "this world is a callous and merciless place" and dispatched the kidnapper who was trying to kill Eren. This event awakened the fighting instincts and perfect self-control that originated from the powers of the Ackerman clan, which contained DNA of Titans. Such superhuman powers would later turn her into a formidable soldier. She lived with Eren's family in Wall Maria's Shiganshina District until the beginning of the story.
Story[]
In 845, Mikasa witnessed the begin of the Fall of Wall Maria, witnessing the Colossal Titan breach Shiganshina District's outer gate, from where hordes of Titans invaded en masse to attack and devour the humans. Mikasa and Eren initially ran back to Grisha and Carla Yeager's house, only to find it destroyed by the Colossal's attack. Despite finding Carla still alive under the debris, the two kids are unable to move her and Hannes takes them with him to the safety of the town's inner gate, while Carla is devoured by a smiling Titan. However, later during the invasion, Mikasa and Eren witness from their evacuation boat the appearance of the Armored Titan, who suddenly breached Shiganshina's inner gate, allowing the Titans to enter further and fully invade Wall Maria's lands. The same year, Mikasa and all the other survivor refugees are sent by the Royal Government to cultivate the fields in an unsuccessful attempt to avert a food shortage crisis.
The following year, 846, Mikasa, Eren, and Armin lose their sole adult figure, Armin's grandfather, when he is forced to join 250,000 Wall Maria refugees and Survey Corps soldiers to be sent back to Wall Maria by the Royal Government. They refugees and soldiers fight the Titans in an operation to "reclaim" the lost human territory, which in truth a successful effort to dispose of part of the unemployed masses that the government was unable to feed, in order to avoid a civil war within the Walls. After this, Mikasa, Eren and Armin decide they will enlist the military as soon as they will reach the eligible age, two years later. From 847 to early 850, Mikasa worked in the 104th Training Corps under the command of Keith Shadis, learning skills to fight Titans with the purpose of using them to protect the reckless Eren.
Mikasa, upon graduation, is ranked first. Before having the chance to fully apply in the Survey Corps so she can keep Eren safe, the Colossal Titan breaches Wall Rose from Trost District the same way it did with Wall Maria. Much to her dismay, Mikasa is assigned to the rear guard to help fend off the Titans, while the civilians escape into the safety of Wall Sina. Mikasa, before fulfilling her duty, makes Eren promise her not to do anything reckless. Later on, as a Titan approaches the escaping civilians, Mikasa kills it, saving everyone. She then witnesses why the civilians are taking too long to escape: a cargo blocking the way. Mikasa asks the businessman Dimo Reeves to move the cargo so that the people would escape, but when he refuses, Mikasa threatens him, which scares Mr. Reeves. Seeing a mother and daughter (named Louise) being grateful to her, Mikasa for a moment is brought back to the time she lost her own parents and realizes that Eren is the only family she has.
Thus, with the evacuation of Trost District's citizens complete, she heads to the front guard in order to aid her comrades. However, the sole trainee survivors are low on gas, making them unable to scale the wall while the supply team inside the headquarters has barricaded themselves in against the onslaught of multiple Titans. After hearing Eren's supposed death, Mikasa calmly regroups the survivors to break through the Titans assaulting the headquarters.
However, due to her not rationally thinking after hearing Eren's supposed death, she does not notice that she's running out of gas. As two Titans close in on her, she contemplates giving up and begins to remember her time with Eren, when suddenly, she remembers Eren yelling at her to fight, which gives her motivation. When Mikasa prepares to kill a Titan reaching for her, another Titan arrives and kills the other Titan.
This Titan, which ignores Mikasa gives Armin enough time to rescue Mikasa, and both of them, along with Connie, continue heading to the supply HQ. As they watch this rogue Titan continue killing other Titans, Armin hatches a plan to lure it to the HQ and relieve the siege there. With its (unintentional) help, the trainees kill the small Titans that entered the building, manage to successfully refill their gas tanks and have clear access to the inner Wall. However, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie stay behind to watch the rogue Titan dispose of the last Titans surrounding them, Eren appears out of its spine. Overcome with relief that Eren is alive, Mikasa quickly rescues and embraces him and together, everyone leaves for the Wall.
However, the Garrison also witnessed Eren emerging from the Titan's carcass, and their commander, Kitz Woermann, who fears Eren is a Titan spy, attempts to have Mikasa and Armin executed along with him. After a tense standoff, they are saved when Commander Dot Pixis, head administrator of the southern region, intervenes and vouches for their safety. They are sent on a mission to plug the breached outer gate of Trost with a huge boulder that only Eren in Titan form can lift.
As the mission commences and Eren goes into Titan form, he attacks Mikasa and eventually knocks himself out. The mission is declared a failure and the leaders of the elite team (Ian, Rico and Mitabi) designated to defend Eren as he carries the rock quarrel among themselves about what to do next. Mikasa was on the verge of irrationally attacking Riko and Mitabi until Ian orders everyone to continue protecting Eren until he can be retrieved to evacuate. Eren eventually snaps out of it and even successfully carries the boulder to Trost's outer gate, completing the mission. Afterwards, Mikasa, Armin and Riko cut him out of the Titan, and just as two Titans are about to attack them, they are joined by Captain Levi, who kills the two giant creatures. Meanwhile, the Survey Corps have returned to Wall Rose from their scouting mission in Wall Maria's lands and help the Garrison to clean up the city from all the Titans within. The following days, Mikasa and her comrades have to clean up the battlefield and burn the bodies.
Despite saving Trost, Eren has been taken into custody of the Military Police Brigade. After spending several days locked in a cell, he is brought before a military tribunal to decide his future, in which Mikasa and Armin were summoned to attend. Despite Mikasa's best efforts to defend him, she is forced to testify against Eren, as Riko advised that hiding the truth about Eren's Titan's unpredictable behavior was not going to help him. After Eren behaves recklessly to defend her and himself from accusations, she is forced to watch helplessly as Eren is beaten and assualted by Levi.
Sometime later, Mikasa and all her fellow Cadets were having their Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear (3DMG) inspected by the Military Police in order to find out which 3DMG was used to kill Sawney and Bean, two Titans that were captured alive during the Battle of Trost. Later on, Commander Erwin Smith comes to recruit new members for the Survey Corps, which is scheduling another expedition within a month. The majority, including Annie, left, except for Mikasa, Reiner, Armin, Sasha, Christa, Connie, Jean, Bertolt, Ymir, and other eleven Cadets.
During the 57th Expedition Outside the Walls, the Female Titan appeared and, given her knowledge of the Corps' scouting formation, she was able to wipe out the right flank of the Scouts. Mikasa and her comrades are ordered to ride to a forest of giant trees, where they lure the Female Titan. While standing on top of a tree with Sasha, Mikasa is surprised by the sounds of weapons, followed by Titan screams, unaware of what is going on. After the Female Titan kidnaps Eren, Mikasa teams up with Levi and the two attack the Female Titan relentlessly until they manage to get Eren back, then they retreat, knowing better than trying to kill or capture the person theorized to be inside the Titan.
Following their failure, the Survey Corps are summoned by the Royal Government to the capital Mitras, to hand Eren over. During the days before the date of the summons, Mikasa is part of a small group of Scouts gathered by Erwin in the old HQ castle to reveal in private that the MP recruit Annie Leonhart is suspected to be the Female Titan. Mikasa is made to join Erwin's plan to lure Annie for capture, as while en route to the capital Mitras, the Survey Corps leaders are to pass through Stohess District, in eastern Wall Sina.
Erwin sends Armin persuade Annie to help Eren escape from the Walls, under the pretext of planning to "gather evidence" to prove to the King that the Walls that Eren is necessary to protect humanity from extinction. While at Stohess District, Mikasa, Armin and Eren unsuccessfully attempt to lure Annie deep underground, in order to have her captured and confined, only for Annie to refuse to go down and quickly being confronted by Armin about her guilt and being possibly involved in Marco Bott's death in the Battle of Trost. Mikasa is the first to prepare for battle when she gets fed up with Annie's games and excuses. She takes off her disguise and drives out her blade to fight her. Mikasa calls her out as the Female Titan who attacked them earlier.
Mikasa and Armin are aware that Eren in his Titan form isn't powerful enough to defeat Annie by himself. Being the strongest and most powerful soldier available (Levi is injured), she decides to take the fight to her, despite the danger posed by the Female Titan being familiar with 3DMG movements. After a chase and a fight between Eren and Annie in their Titan form in Stohess District, Annie suddenly abandons her attempts to capture Eren and attempts to flee from the city by climbing the outer wall. Mikasa, however, manages to make it to Annie as she attempted to climb over Wall Sina to escape to Wall Rose's lands. She cuts off all her fingers and pushes her off to fall to the ground. Annie is therefore captured, but uses her hardening ability to encase herself in a crystal to avoid interrogation. However, it was far from over as Mikasa has just taken notice of a huge Titan standing inside the wall, similar to the Colossal Titan.
As both the Survey Corps and Military Police take an encased Annie underground to detain her, Mikasa realizes the Titan hiding inside Wall Sina is breathing, but is too weak to move due to a lack of sunlight. Her superior, Squad Leader Hange Zoë, and other officers take over to deal with the situation. Inside Stohess' military headquarters, Mikasa remains at Eren's bedside as Armin and Jean head down to a meeting involving Stohess' politicians, the Military Police, and Commander Erwin Smith to testify.
After being alerted of a sudden second Titan invasion of Wall Rose, Mikasa, Eren, and Armin are among the soldiers assigned to Hange's unit that travels to Ermich District, in Wall Rose, while on their way to fight in Titan territory to locate the alleged breach of the wall. While stopping at Ermich, Mikasa hears Pastor Nick revealing that the Cadet Christa Lenz might know secrets of humanity and the Titans. That same night, Mikasa and her friends attend a brief meeting with Hange, her squad, and Levi, where they learn that Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover originate from the same area of Wall Maria as Annie, yet these three's family records are spotty or missing, leading to much speculation and theories about possible ploys orchestrated by the three, especially on Reiner's account. The attendants are instructed by Hange not to act in any suspicious way if they come across Reiner or Bertolt on the battlefield, then they start riding to the ruins of Utgard Castle, hoping to find anything about the ongoing Titan invasion there.
At Utgard, Mikasa and the rest of Hange's unit come to rescue Reiner, Bertolt, Christa, Connie and Ymir from a horde of Titans, who already managed to wiped out Squad Mike before they could make it. Following the battle, Mikasa is among the soldiers who learned Christa's real name being Historia. That same morning, Mikasa is outraged and put in alarm when she overhears Reiner nonchalantly confessing that he and Bertholdt are the Armored and the Colossal Titans responsible for the Fall of Wall Maria, 5 years ago, and asking Eren to join them to head back to their "hometown". After Reiner snaps and charges toward Eren, she takes him and Bertholdt by surprise by attacking them both, screaming at Eren to run, while Reiner pushes her down the wall and he and Bertholdt transform into their infamous Titan forms.
As Eren's Titan battles with Reiner's Armored Titan, Mikasa contemplates in struggle her inability to kill both Bertholdt and Reiner, regretting not cutting off their heads when she had the chance. During the fight with Reiner, she sees Eren in trouble and unsuccessfully tries to aid him in battle. However due to the thickness of the Armored Titan, Mikasa is unable to time the nape of its neck.
During a flashback, Mikasa asked Annie to teach her a move that she was teaching Eren, which eventually called for a bet with the 104th Training Corps to see whom was the stronger fighter. Eventually, Hange saw a weak link in Reiner's line of defense in which his armor can be removed at will to move faster, exposing the Titan's kneecaps. Furthermore, Eren also manages to break the armor by using Annie's own fighting techniques, although it requires a lot of struggle. Armin gives Mikasa extra blades to replace her own broken ones, so she can assist Eren to defeat Reiner. Taking advantage of the information about Reiner's weakness, Mikasa cut at the back of the Armored Titan's exposed kneecaps (which are still unarmored after Reiner removed the hardening to run) while Eren holds him still.
However, before they can take Reiner out of the Titan's body, Mikasa, Hange, and the other soldiers are injured from the huge heat blast from Bertholdt's Colossal Titan, who dropped himself from the wall to intervene. Four hours later, Mikasa wakes up only to find Armin attending her and delivering the news that she was dreading to hear: Eren along with Ymir was kidnapped by both Reiner and Bertholdt, who escape outside the Walls and no one was able to chase them. Taking the scarf that Eren gave her as a child, Mikasa covered her face with it and asks Armin why Eren always runs off on them like that. When she previously fought Annie in her Titan form, Mikasa and Levi were able to recover him back. This time, she feels like she has failed in keeping her adoptive mother's promise in always protecting him and weeps.
As Armin tries to console her, Hannes arrives to give out rations of the military. It is he who reminds her that despite Eren running off the way and often losing fights, he never gave up. Even when the odds were stacked against him and was always unwilling to admit it, Hannes always knew that Eren relied on both Mikasa and Armin when he needed them. His words and his assistance reinvigorated them and are more determined to rescue Eren. Mikasa lowered her scarf and begins eating. Later, Erwin's troops of the Survey Corps and the Military Police arrive ahorse by riding atop Wall Rose, joining Mikasa and the rest of Hange's unit. Feeling the same feeling that Historia has in wanting to rescue Ymir, Mikasa joins the rescue mission.
Later, as sunset approaches, Mikasa and her comrades manage to locate Bertholdt and Reiner in the nearest forest of giant trees within Wall Maria's Titan-infested lands. However, the Scouts are tricked by Ymir, who manages to kidnap Historia while in her Titan form, then joins Reiner and Bertholdt in their escape south with the captive Eren. Following Hannes' leadership and thanks to the Armored Titan's slowness, Mikasa spearheads the attack on the traitors, aggressively chasing them down as they attempt to flee from Wall Maria. Realizing that the armor is protecting Reiner's joints this time, she instead targets Ymir and slashes into her Titan's face. Afterwards, she attempts to kill Bertholdt, who escapes by hiding between the Armored Titan's throat and his hands, carrying Eren on his back.
Meanwhile, Ymir attacks Mikasa, prompting the latter to conclude she needs to rid herself of her by killing her first. Changing targets again, she prepares to try and kill Ymir, only to be stopped by Christa intervening. However, she is unmoved by Christa's words and threatens to kill anyone who gets in her way. Her cold expression and statement that she has no mercy or compassion to spare forces Christa and Ymir to back down, allowing her to focus on trying to find a way to take down the traitors.
Jean and Connie (Sasha as well in the anime version) try to speak to Bertholdt and coax him into surrendering, but Mikasa coldly states that the traitors' mysterious reasons don't matter. She calls Reiner and Bertholdt a "threat to humanity" and advises the others not to show mercy. This causes Bertholdt to yell at her, first stating that they never wanted to kill anyone and admitting to having genuinely cared for his former comrades in the 104th. She is visibly shocked by this outburst, enough that it snaps her out of her murderous rage. As an ultimatum, Mikasa demands Bertholdt to give Eren back, but her request is promptly rebuffed as he claims it has to be done.
Before the group can argue further, Hannes shouts a warning to them that a huge group of Titans are being lead straight towards them by Erwin.
Epilogue[]
Mikasa's fate left to be debate whether she move on to love someone else after Eren passed away or not, due to the lack of official statements in the Guidebook and from the author himself. In eight additional pages for chapter 139, Mikasa continues to vist Eren's grave outside Shiganshina District, beneath a tree. As she grows older in her life, she is seen acompanied by another man, who might be her husband, her friend Armin, or anyone else entirely. With her and the man are several other children, possibly Mikasa's own children and grandchildren, blood or adoptive relatives to visit it. As an elderly woman, her family members have to help her during her visits due to her no longer being able to stand on her own and being carried on a wheelchair. After dying of natural causes, she is buried on the same site within the tree, which remained intact even after Paradis Island was destroyed through carpet bombing in another conflict, becoming larger and unkempt.
After the final ending theme named Itterasshai releashed, the possibility of Mikasa moving on and having a husband and children is placed in even greater doubt. Since the MV's lyrics and animation strongly imply that Mikasa never had another man and reunited with Eren in the afterlife.
The storyboard of the epilogue from the Blu-ray version contains no mention of Mikasa's "husband" nor "her kid(s)".