Attack on Titan is a series filled to the brim with tragedy across the board. The series starts off with one of the most harrowing and heartbreaking episodes in anime history, followed by some amazing writing and story developments that made it a must-watch series in every sense of the world. It's easy to see why so many people absolutely adore Attack on Titan and the complexity of this series.
Viewers who want to check out this series should keep in mind that getting attached to the characters in the show can be pretty heartbreaking. These characters have a great presence and make for some of the series' best moments, so it feels particularly grating and flippant when some of these beloved characters die for absolutely no reason. The most egregious examples of the bunch are mentioned below.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
10 Miche Zacharius
Season 2 introduced the Beast Titan in a truly monstrous fashion. He pretty much used the Survey Corps as guinea pigs for his experiments, wondering how his Titan powers could work out against this division.
One unfortunate casualty of his experiments was Miche Zacharius. The poor Survey Corps member was stranded as the Beast Titan stole his ODM gear before unleashing his Titans on the defenseless soldier.
9 Hannes
Hannes was one of the more fun characters in the series, having a connection with Eren and the rest of his friends from the very first episode. Watching him die was one of the worst moments in a season that was already tragic enough as is.
While his death did compel Eren to unwittingly use the Coordinate, it still feels a bit shallow and meaningless. Surely Eren could've regained his fighting spirit without this casualty?
8 Moblit Berner
Moblit was Hange's comrade-in-arms who was extremely close to this eccentric high-ranking member of the Survey Corps. He played a critical role throughout the series and helped Hange out during her research quite a bit.
So, to watch him sacrifice his own life and save Hange was hard to bear. He was a noble character who looked out for his commanding officer all the way to the very end.
7 Marlo Freudenberg
The suicide charge against the Beast Titan was one of the hardest things to watch in Attack on Titan. Erwin's deep character was explored a lot more during these final moments, although the casualties that arose were still hard to bear.
One particular death that was harder to digest than others — aside from Erwin himself — was that of Marlo Freudenberg. He seemed like a stand-up dude who would play a major role in the events to come...but he died before Hitch could even proclaim her love for him.
6 Zofia & Udo
Grouping two deaths in the same bracket might be cheating, but fans of the show know why this is the case with Zofia and Udo. These two were steadfast friends of Colt, Falco, and Gabi who were introduced after the time skip.
However, their life was cut short when Eren unleashed an attack on Liberio that led to several unnecessary casualties...including that of Zofia and Udo. The former lost her life after a piece of debris fell on her, while Udo got caught in the subsequent stampede and had his head smashed in.
5 Sasha Braus
Sasha's death was the hardest to digest in the entire series. After what everyone assumed was a successful mission, the Survey Corps began their celebrations...only for Gabi to come in and rain on their parade.
She shot Sasha in the chest, with this fatal wound spelling her demise. It was a horrid death that was hard to digest for many fans and is one of the major reasons why so many people hated Gabi in the early run.
4 Dhalis Zachary
The head of Paradis Island's military seemed like a powerful and smart character. However, the most people got to know about his character was that he was a psycho who loved torturing people.
There wasn't really much depth to his character, and he was disposed of quickly after the Final Season started. The way he was blasted might've been memorable...but there's nothing much to say about this character's death.
3 Griez
Griez was a pretty shallow character whose hate for the Subjects of Ymir didn't die away, even after joining the Yeagerists. He showed this blind rage in a tactless manner in front of Yelena.
This led to the former Marleyan soldier shooting him in cold blood, which was purely for shock and nothing else. She later decided to reveal Eren and Zeke's complicated plan and how it could help the Eldians avoid this cycle of bloodshed once and for all.
2 Colt Grice
Falco's brother was a great character who looked out for his sibling every step of the way. However, his protective nature ultimately proved to be his downfall when Falco turned into a Titan.
He refused to let go of Falco and was burned alive during the Titan transformation. This death is even more meaningless in hindsight since Falco ended up eating Porco and reverting back to his human form anyway.
1 Nile Dawk & Dot Pyxis
These two high-ranking members of the military were unfortunate casualties of Zeke's roar, which turned them into Titans. It was a shame, especially since no one would've predicted that the amazing wine they were having was actually spiked with Zeke's spinal fluid.
Nile was taken care of by Gabi, who protected Niccolo and the Braus family from his violent tirade. Meanwhile, Commander Pyxis had to be taken down by the Survey Corps, which was a sad yet necessary action that needed to be done.