Military Dossier

CLASSIFICATION: UNRESTRICTED SUBJECT: Original Character Design Protocol for Attack on Titan Universe

The following dossier outlines the parameters, constraints, and design principles for constructing an original character within the AOT setting. This is not a forgiving universe. Characters die. Plans fail. Morality is contextual. Your OC must be built to survive — or to die meaningfully.

SECTION 1: BRANCH ASSIGNMENT

All military personnel within the Walls are assigned to one of three branches after completing the 104th-style training corps. Branch choice is the single most consequential decision for your OC.

Survey Corps (Wings of Freedom emblem)

• Mission: Expeditions beyond the Walls. Titan combat. Intelligence gathering.
• Mortality rate: Highest of all three branches. Most recruits die on their first expedition.
• Character type: Idealists, thrill-seekers, those with nothing to lose, and those obsessed with the truth. The Survey Corps attracts the desperate and the driven in equal measure.
• Gear emphasis: Heaviest ODM use, dual blade proficiency, formation riding.
• Design cues: Battered green cloak over standard uniform. Gear is scratched and repaired. Experienced soldiers carry replacement blade cartridges. Fresh recruits look terrified.

Garrison Regiment (Rose emblem)

• Mission: Wall defense, civilian evacuation, gate security. Fights Titans only when the Walls are breached.
• Mortality rate: Low during peacetime, catastrophic during Wall breaches.
• Character type: Pragmatists, locals, family-oriented soldiers, recovering alcoholics (canon acknowledges the Garrison has a drinking culture born from boredom and dread).
• Gear emphasis: Cannon operation, Wall-mounted combat, urban evacuation.
• Design cues: Stationed look — less fieldwear, more sentry gear. Often seen with stationary guard equipment. The uniform is the same but the wear pattern tells the story.

Military Police Brigade (Unicorn emblem)

• Mission: Interior law enforcement, royal guard, political protection. Officially the "best" — actually the most corrupt.
• Mortality rate: Near zero from Titans. High from political assassination.
• Character type: Top 10 graduates (it's an exclusive privilege), political operators, those who chose safety over purpose, and a handful of genuinely idealistic investigators (Nile Dok, Marlo Freudenberg).
• Gear emphasis: Minimal ODM training post-graduation. Sidearms, interrogation, investigation.
• Design cues: Cleaner uniforms, interior setting, often armed with firearms rather than blades.

SECTION 2: COMBAT SPECIALIZATION — ODM PROFICIENCY REPORT

Omni-Directional Mobility Gear is the defining technology of AOT combat. Every soldier learns it, but fighting style varies enormously.

Combat style classifications:

Anchor-and-slash — The standard approach. Anchor to a Titan's body or nearby structure, reel in at speed, slash the nape. Clean, efficient, high success rate against isolated Titans. This is what most soldiers are trained to do.

Rotational kill — Spinning during the approach to increase blade velocity. Levi's signature. Extremely effective but requires exceptional spatial awareness and core strength. Your OC using this technique should be explicitly exceptional.

Team-coordinated kill — One soldier anchors to draw the Titan's attention, another strikes the nape from the blind spot. Garrison-favored, since their soldiers often operate in Wall defense teams rather than solo.

Improvised urban combat — Using building-to-building grappling in city environments. Faster anchor points, tighter spaces, less room for error. Characters who grew up in urban districts (Stohess, Trost) might favor this naturally.

Your OC's ODM profile should include:

• Preferred anchor target (Titan body, structures, trees)
• Kill approach (direct nape slash, rotational, team-based)
• Gas conservation habit (aggressive burners vs. patient gliders)
• Weakness (every pilot has one — poor visibility reactions, over-reliance on height advantage, panic in open terrain with no anchor points)

SECTION 3: TITAN SHIFTER DESIGN (IF APPLICABLE)

Not every OC should be a Titan shifter. There are exactly nine Titan powers in existence at any given time. If your OC holds one, that decision carries enormous narrative weight.

The Nine Titans and their design implications:

If your OC is a shifter:

• They have a 13-year lifespan from the moment they inherit the power (the Curse of Ymir)
• They acquired the power by consuming the previous holder — that's a scene in their backstory
• Their human form carries some physical marker (dark circles, healing scars, a haunted look)
• Transformation requires self-harm (biting, cutting) and a clear purpose

SECTION 4: POLITICAL ALIGNMENT — ELDIAN/MARLEYAN AXIS

After the basement reveal, AOT becomes a geopolitical story. Your OC's ethnicity and nationality determine their entire worldview.

Paradis Eldian — grew up inside the Walls, unaware of the outside world until recently. Believed Titans were the only enemy. Learning the truth about Marley is a worldview-shattering event.

Marleyan Eldian — grew up in internment zones on the mainland. Treated as second-class citizens. Some serve as Warrior candidates (child soldiers given Titan powers to fight for their oppressors). Others simply survive.

Marleyan — grew up hating Eldians. Taught that the Subjects of Ymir are devils who once enslaved the world. Some believe it absolutely. Some question it. None are free from the propaganda.

Hizuru / Other Nations — the wider world exists beyond Marley and Eldia. Hizuru has historical ties to the Mikasa lineage. Other nations have their own relationships to the Eldian question.

Your OC's position on the Eldian-Marleyan conflict should be nuanced. The series' entire thesis is that both sides have committed atrocities and both sides contain good people trapped in bad systems.

SECTION 5: ERA PLACEMENT

SECTION 6: PROMPT CONSTRUCTION

AOT's visual style is grounded, military, and grim. No bright colors. No flashy outfits. Everything is utilitarian.

"A Survey Corps veteran with close-cropped brown hair and a vertical scar across the left cheek, wearing standard ODM harness over a field uniform, green cloak torn at the hem, replacement blade cartridges on both hips, standing on a Wall looking outward at Titan territory — manga style, heavy shadows, overcast sky"

Essential keywords: ODM gear/harness, branch emblem, cloak condition (new = recruit, torn = veteran), blade state, military setting. AOT characters are inseparable from their equipment.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Does my OC have to be a soldier? No. Civilians exist — farmers, merchants, clergy, politicians, journalists (post-timeskip). Some of AOT's most impactful characters never hold a blade.

How do I justify my OC surviving multiple expeditions? Luck, skill, and a willingness to retreat. In canon, survival rate for Survey Corps is about 50% per expedition. After 5+ expeditions, your OC is a statistical anomaly — lean into that. What does surviving when everyone around you dies do to a person?

Can my OC be an Ackerman? The Ackerman bloodline grants superhuman combat ability — but there are very few Ackermans in existence. If your OC is one, they need to grapple with the awakening moment (a life-or-death situation where their body suddenly "knows" how to fight) and the implications of being a genetically engineered weapon.

Should my OC know the truth about the outside world? Depends on the era. Before the basement reveal, almost nobody inside the Walls knows. After, the information spreads but is politically controlled. Your OC's level of knowledge should match their timeline and social position exactly.