Do we like Eren Yeager?
A character from Attack on Titan (2013–2023)
Our score: 3 out of 10. We'd back the angry kid who wanted freedom for everyone. We couldn't back where his rage takes him, and the cost is far too high for most fans to forgive.
Eren Yeager grows up in Shiganshina, a town on the outer edge of a walled-in civilisation. The walls protect people from giant, man-eating Titans. He hates living like livestock and dreams of seeing the world beyond the walls. When a monstrous Titan breaks through the wall and his home is destroyed, he vows to wipe out every Titan. He joins the military with his childhood friends Mikasa and Armin.
Eren is loud, impulsive and furious, and he is easy to root for in the early seasons. He throws himself at impossible odds, he won't back down, and he cares fiercely about his friends. He also has real flaws. He is reckless and self-righteous, and he is quick to scorn anyone who accepts a small life. His bravado hides a lot of fear and insecurity.
That is why the score is low. Eren's defining trait is a freedom-at-any-cost mindset, and the story steadily shows how dark that can get. Fans argue over whether he is a hero, a villain or a tragic victim of circumstance, and the show deliberately avoids a simple answer. We like who he starts out as, but we can't back who he turns into.
In the later seasons Eren changes dramatically. He becomes cold and secretive, he infiltrates the enemy nation of Marley, and he eventually launches a catastrophic campaign of mass destruction to 'protect' the people of his island. His closest friends are forced to stop him. The story presents him as a figure trapped by his own choices, but that does not erase the harm he does.