#Might do a drawing for the 104th like how I did with the warriors but that'll probably take awhile- | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ohgodwhy151 · 7 years ago

Text

Bertholdt Hoover, the waiting observer (Spoilers!)

As with all the so called ‘warrior’ children the most fascinating aspect of Bertholdt Hoover is how he, like Annie chooses to deal with impacts his actions have on his mental state. (Reiner didn’t choose, his divide was a reaction to the contradictions he encountered in the walls.) From the more recent chapters, we have learned a lot about all of the children’s backstories and Bertholdt’s strikes me as particularly interesting.

Obvious parallels can be drawn between the BRA trio and the EMA trio but not in the ways we would have expected. We would assume that Bertholdt would be similar to Armin in the sense that they struggled during training and needed the help of their companions, in the case of Armin it being Eren. This is due to the nature of Bertholdt Hoover, as a character, he is always seen next to or with Reiner and since Reiner has the larger presence due to his outgoing, charming and friendly personality Bertholdt almost vanishes. Once again this draws links to Eren and Armin, Eren is similar to Reiner in the sense that they are both strong minded and strong-willed, and while at first Eren is often seen as a madman (His nickname being Suicidal bastard) when he voices his opinions and expresses his views and abilities he tends to draw a crowd which tends to put Armin in the sidelines.

This common theme of being in their friend’s shadow has a near-constant presence in the story up until the latest chapter where we learn that it was Reiner who relied on his friends during training and not the meek, weak-willed ‘flunky’ we see during the earlier chapters. Bertholdt was actually commented to be a particularly good recruit, especially when it came to marksmanship. This sudden shift in how we view Bertholdt makes people go back and change how they see him during earlier encounters with him.

For example, Bertholdt describes himself as “Having no will of his own.” And this is important to understanding him as a character and his motivations. While Reiner tires, and in some ways succeeds, in separating himself from the mental trauma of his actions and Annie, as best she could, removed herself from all situations where she would have to be faced with it, Bertholdt fully understood and embraced it. He knew from the beginning that his actions were cruel and wrong to a level difficult to describe, as Eren puts it. “No one in the history of humanity has ever done something as evil as you two.” Now, this brings up the idea of the Marlian brainwashing, a theme I will touch on later. Bertholdt however quickly overcomes the initial teachings he was shown as a child (Except when pushed to the brink by Armin when he was told Annie was being tortured.) during training Eren told him of the events that lead to his mother’s death and Bertholdt listened, likely knowing that his story was painfully familiar to thousands of other children in the walls and while Reiner seemed outgoing in helping Eren overcoming his issues with the training gear Bertholdt seemed quiet, possibly due to his natural personality but possibly due to the fact that Bertholdt is an observer, at this point in his life he was being exposed to people and ways of life that totally contradicted everything he had learned as a young boy.

Here he was, deep in enemy territory surrounded by people he were told were the literal children of the devil and yet, they were kind, friendly and Bertholdt could even see a life beyond his mission with them. When escaping on the Armoured Titan, Connie and Jean question whether everything they talked about in training was a lie, particularly when Connie said. “Didn’t you say we’d grow old together and go out drinking?” The fact that Bertholdt, who was most aware of the hatred of Titans (Being the literal face everyone human feared and hated) and the most engaging with the trauma that plagues him, through his observations of Eren and the others. Him saying those things shows that Bertholdt truly wished for that life. While it is likely Reiner said similar things his split personality voids these promises and further isolated Bertholdt, who at thing point could begin to see the cracks in Reiner’s personality, as he knew he was the only one being fully sincere about wanting that life.

There is a fantastic webcomic that perfectly describes Bertholdt’s nature as an observer (Reference here) we see Bertholdt watching as Reiner engages with people that as a child he wanted to eradicate, it goes a long way to show how we as people might cope when faced with a world and people that contradict everything we learned as child. Do we convince ourselves that the contradiction was never there in the first place (Like Reiner), do we detach ourselves from it as best we can and do what we can to live with ourselves (Like Annie) or we do we observe, evaluate and make a final decision (Like Bertholdt)

As someone who heavily identifies with Bertholdt, I find myself looking at great depth at his development from the small child we saw helping Reiner from the dirt to the scared teenager we saw in the mouth of a Titan. The events in Bertholdt’s life didn’t allow for a natural development, since the age of roughly seven he, and many other children, had been ‘given’ up by his family to embark on a mission that would result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. To put such a weight on the shoulders of a child alters them and their development greatly. Since we saw so little of Bertholdt childhood we can use the example of the candidates for the Armoured Titan to gauge Bertholdt’s views and opinions at the time.

And while some aren’t happy at the sudden divergence of the story to Reiner and the children I am happy as they are (And already have been used in this way) as a parallel to Bertholdt, Reiner, Annie, Marcel, Gilliard (And possibly Pieck) so having a larger sample size helps to understand Bertholdt’s motivation as a child, even after his death.

We see that Udo, Falco, Zophia and especially Gabi truly believe that the people of Paradis are demons that need to be wiped off the face of the earth. Not just an enemy, but a scourge that could strike at any time. At a similar age Reiner believed with this with even more valour and heart and since we’re drawing parallels between Eren and Armin with Reiner and Bertholdt, the fact that Armin’s curiosity rubbed off on Eren could tell us that Reiner hatred (At least to some extent) rubbed off on Bertholdt as seen when he snaps when Armin tells him about Annie being tortured, a reaction which we had never seen from him at that point or ever see again. But back to the new generation of warriors.

While we haven’t seen enough of Udo and Zophia to really use them a lense to view Bertholdt’s childhood through we have seen a lot of Falco and Gabi and these two make it a lot easier to view and judge what Bertholdt’s childhood was like.

We see that all the kids believe in the ideas that Marely have espoused to them since they were old enough to listen. Gabi, like Reiner, believes with all her heart in the ideas of the Eldian devils and Marely heroes and this is seen during her dedication in the war against the Middle east union, once again similar to Reiner’s dedication to his mission even after losing Marcel. But it is Falco who, I think, best shows us what Bertholdt was like.

From the moment we see him and learn about Falco asks questions. He asks questions about why he is doing what he is doing it and this curious nature would likely mean he either wonders about or has some understanding of the brutal situation he, as an Elidian, is in. Similar to Bertholdt who recognised the “Tragic history” of the world he lives in and the fact that he doesn’t hate his comrades in the 104th but he needs them to die. He understands what is wrong with the world he lives in but he can’t change it. Falco even comments about the stupidity of inheriting the Titan powers, showing that he is intelligent enough to see the stupidity but can’t do anything about it. Like big old Bertholdt.

That might be a bit of stretch but thankfully chapter 99 was a goldmine for people who LOVE to analyse characters. For those who don’t know I’m referring to the ‘Hanged man.’ The man who allegedly left behind three kids when he ran away when the Titan’s invaded Wall Maria. Bertholdt, Reiner and Annie comment on his story and his end in a way that says a lot about their character. Bertholdt says he thinks the man wanted “Someone to judge him.” And this says SO much about him and I love it!

Judgment is about determining guilt and as we know Bertholdt struggled greatly with guilt in the past, particularly during the Clash of the Titans arc, so when he says the man wanted to be judged he is likely saying how he wants to be judged. Bertholdt always knew what he and the others did, but especially him, were guilty. All that he didn’t know was what should happen to him after committing these crimes. Hence the judgment. He wants to be judged and since he can’t do it himself he needs people to judge him, the events of chapter 48 where he is judged by the members of the 104th is probably what allowed Bertholdt to change so drastically from what we saw of him crying on top of Wall Maria with Ymir and Reiner to when he talked to Armin in Shingashina. Now that he has been judged he can embrace the fact that he will die fighting, that he won’t be forgiven, that he will die. And that is what happens. Bertholdt is judged and he is dealt punishment.

In conclusion, Bertholdt’s arc represents that of a criminal reflecting on their crimes while awaiting punishment. He enters the story as a child following his orders, after breaking down Wall Maria he spends time with the people he attacked and in doing so he learns about those people and in doing he releases that at some point he will have to be judged for his crimes, that realisation nearly breaks him in chapter 48 when he snaps and cries out that he understands that he has to be judged but he still wants to “Be found.” Which I’ve always read as. “Save us.” Because at the end of it all, at the end of all the hate RBA have had thrown at them… THEY WERE KIDS! And that is what makes them so interesting as characters. The fact that they were Kids who matured emotionally in such warped and varied ways is so interesting and I love them all.

Stay tuned for my take on Reiner and Annie when I get round to writing them.

Also once again any ideas for headcanons revolving around Bertholdt x Annie or Eren x Annie send them my way. I’m hungry for writing some ficlets!

Thanks for reading this and let me know what you think. I’d love to hear if you agree or if you disagree and give me your own thoughts.

#snk #bertholdt hoover #Annie Leonhardt #reiner braun #meta #character analysis

38 notes · View notes