6. Ilse Langnar

Keeping a journal while running... Respect

Very little is known about Ilse, except that she was part of the 34th expedition outside the walls, during which her entire squad got wiped out. She also lost her horse and her ODM gear, so she was forced to try to return to the walls on foot. She seems to be a natural born journalist, and put her ordeal into writing the entire time she was running back.

What is awesome about her

Ilse’s efforts to record everything was both praiseworthy and very helpful to the Survey Corps, once they discovered her journal still intact a year later. It is because of this journal that we know her story, and a very important clue regarding the true makeup of the titans.

She’d met a random titan on her way back to the walls, while running through a forest. This titan didn’t immediately eat her, however, and instead bowed to her, saying two things: “People of Ymir” and “Lady Ymir... well met.” Ilse managed to rise above her shock and fear and put as much as she could into writing, even attempting to question the titan.

She became the one to document the first ever recorded instance of a titan showing the ability to form understandable speech. Her efforts made it somewhat suspect that titans may be humans, something which was only later confirmed after Connie’s village was turned into titans.

Current Status

Ilse is long dead, killed by the talking titan, but the results of her bravery still live on.

A titan speaks? Thank Ilse for that discovery.