Attack On Titan: The 5 Worst Things Grisha Ever Did (& 5 Best)

Despite not being present in many Attack On Titan scenes, Grisha Yeager’s influence on the storyline has been astronomical. For most of the series, the Survey Corps fought to retake Wall Maria (more specifically Shiganshina District) in order to learn the truth of the world outside the Walls, which lay in Grisha’s basement. Like many characters in this series, Grisha is a very complicated man with his own backstory and unique motivations that influenced every move he made.

While many of these moves weren’t the best, sometimes resulting in his friends and family being killed or even turned into Titans, he’s also done a lot of good, ensuring that the people of Paradis had a fighting chance against enemies that they were oblivious to.

10 Worst: Killed Innocent Reiss Family Members

After stealing the Founding Titan from Frieda Reiss, Grisha made sure to kill the remaining Reiss family members in his presence. Rod managed to escape, leaving him and Historia as the only royals within the Walls. It’s obvious that Grisha killed the remaining family members not only because they knew more about the true nature of the Titans than others in the Walls, but so that they wouldn’t one day seek to steal the Founding Titan back.

However necessary this might’ve been, there’s no getting around the fact that Grisha murdered several innocent children of the Reiss family who most likely didn’t understand the situation and definitely didn’t deserve such an untimely fate, thus perpetuating the cycle of violence that lent Grisha his hatred of Marley in the first place.

9 Best: Stole The Founding Titan From The Reiss Family

While Frieda Reiss was just as much of a victim as anyone else within the Walls, killing her and taking the Founding Titan was one of the best things Grisha had done.

If he never took this Titan from Frieda, the people of Paradis Island would’ve been stuck in the loop of fake peace that they had been in for nearly a century, and they would’ve been completely defenseless when Marley invaded them several years later, since Frieda, bound by the King Fritz’s oath of pacifism, wouldn’t have done a thing to help them.

8 Worst: Imposed His Beliefs And Agenda On Zeke

Since his first son, Zeke, had a mother of royal blood, the Eldian Restorationists of Liberio put their hopes on him to become one of Marley’s Warriors and infiltrate Paradis to retrieve the Founding Titan before Marley could. Similar to the way Grisha’s father did to him, Grisha imposed his own agenda on Zeke, shoving the beliefs of the Eldian Restorationists down the young boy’s throat, who was also simultaneously being bombarded by Marley’s anti-Eldian propaganda.

It’s understandable why Zeke ratted out his parents; even knowing about Grisha’s plot would’ve led to him being tortured and turned into a Pure Titan had the Eldian Restorationists been discovered some other way. Grisha’s hatred for Marley made him see his son only as a tool and not as an individual who should’ve been allowed to choose for himself.

7 Best: Taking Mikasa Into His Own Household

After Mikasa’s parents were murdered by a group of men who hoped to turn her and her mother into sex slaves, the young girl was suddenly an orphan. Grisha didn’t hesitate to take her in, treating her as his own daughter.

Not only did he help Mikasa get over the trauma of losing both parents, but he gave her a warm, loving home and a new group of people to live for.

6 Worst: Not Telling Anyone In The Walls The Truth Of The Outside World

While there were people in the Walls who knew the truth about the Titans and what lay waiting outside the Walls, Grisha knew more than any of them, having actually been a part of this world. He kept his true identity from everyone, even his family, to instead assimilate into the society within the Walls as though he were born there like everyone else.

If he started marching down the street blurting out facts about Marley, the Military Police would’ve definitely silenced him, but he could’ve found allies in the Survey Corps, who merely wanted to venture outside the Walls and learn the truth of the world to begin with. Telling the Survey Corps that certain Titans actually had people in them would’ve definitely changed the military’s approach. They would’ve been able to get the jump on Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt, and many of the lives that were lost due to these three would’ve been spared.

5 Best: Put Proof Of The Outside World In His Basement

Even though Grisha didn’t tell anyone about the truth of the outside world, he made sure to hide a diary detailing what lay outside along with a photograph of his family in his basement.

This ensured that the Scouts would have an easier time grasping their dire situation, and lent more realism to a story that many of them found hard to believe. Had he not left any physical evidence of a more technologically advanced world behind, the Scouts might’ve continued to doubt his story.

4 Worst: Left The Internment Zone Without Permission

Despite knowing that Eldians who left the internment zone of Liberio without official permission would be punished, Grisha decided to brazenly charge out of the zone, dragging his younger sister Faye with him.

In the end, he was left beaten while she was mauled by dogs, depriving her of the life she could’ve had as a law-abiding second-class citizen of Marley. Though this ignited Grisha’s hatred of his home country and set the events of the story in motion, it also meant that his younger sister never got the chance to grow old and live a humble existence.

3 Best: Cured Hundreds Of Eldians Within The Walls

When a plague broke out within the Walls, Grisha used his superior medical knowledge to single-handedly put an end to it.

There’s no question that the medical knowledge he brought over to Paradis kept many of the Eldians living there from dying out even before a single Titan got through their Walls.

2 Worst: Forced Eren To Become A Titan With No Explanation

Many fans were quick to point out that even with the Curse of Ymir shortening Grisha’s lifespan, he had a few more years left after stealing the Founding Titan from Frieda that he didn’t have to hand over the Attack and Founding Titan to Eren, although this was the most logical decision. For one thing, Eren was much younger than him, and could actually receive training that would enable him to use the Attack Titan’s power far better than Grisha could’ve.

Still, it was a bit wrong of him to drag Eren out into the middle of the forest and force these powers on him without giving him any sort of explanation. While this was similar to how he forced his agenda on Zeke, he actually did him a favor, making him more equipped to accomplish his goal of exterminating the Titans. Still, those early days where Eren was trying to figure out the origin of his powers and their limits would’ve been a lot easier had Grisha left behind some kind of instructional manual for the Attack Titan.

1 Best: Decided To Hear Kruger Out And Accept His Mission

When Grisha and the other Eldian Restorationists were brought to Paradis to be turned into Titans, Grisha was left wishing that he never decided to rebel against Marley in the first place. After enduring cruel sessions of torture that left him without any fingers and seeing his comrades and wife turned into Titans, Grisha was left completely broken. He didn’t have to accept the mission that Eren Kruger suddenly thrust onto him.

Even after inheriting the Attack Titan, he could’ve given up halfway through his trek to Wall Maria. Instead, he chose to hear Kruger out, understanding why Kruger chose to let things play out the way they did, and continued the fight for the freedom of all Eldians, prolonging his own individual suffering to help countless others who weren’t able to put up a fight for their own sakes.

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