The Contradictions of Zeke Yeager (Attack on Titan Character Analysis)
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- Опубліковано 21 гру 2023
- #attackontitan #shingekinokyojin #zekeyeager #grishayeager #erenyeager #erenjaeger #grishajaeger #zekejaeger #manga #anime
Thumbnail Art by: / aot_theories
Zeke Yeager is a character who has fascinated me and many others ever since he was first introduced as the enigmatic, intimidating, and slightly playful Beast Titan in the early arcs of the Attack on Titan Manga and Anime franchise. And now that said Anime has finally concluded, I decided it would be fitting to finally make a character analysis focusing on my favorite character in the entire series, and one of my favorites in any Anime and Manga.
I've been a fan of Zeke ever since he was first introduced and I've watched him grow and evolve from just a mysterious antagonistic force of nature to a genuinely complex and deep Human being whose arc is filled with many philosophical ideas and principles, which all come together to create a fascinating conclusion on the meaning of life and Humanity itself. I think that many misunderstand the true depth and complexity of Zeke's character, and that's a shame because he is arguably the most consistent and tightly written character in the story, even surpassing Eren in some areas.
Exploring the journey and mentality of Zeke Yeager is no easy feat. He is one of the most complex, mysterious, and overall intriguing characters Isayama has ever put on the page, and therefore to truly understand how he thinks and what his character is about thematically, a keen eye and a willingness to dive into the psychology of this broken, young man who has been treated like dirt his whole life, are required.
I have been wanting to do this video for a long time but I held off on it due to the Anime not being complete. Now I have no reason to delay it. I want everyone in this fandom to see this video so if you enjoy it, please share it with others and spread it across the fandom so more people see it. Zeke is a character that has many subtle and unclear nuances to him that I would like to explain and analyze in this video, so I hope you guys like it and support it, as it is one of the videos I've put the most passion into making...so, without further ado, let's explore the contradictions of Zeke Yeager...
Part 1- Birth: 03:20
Part 2- Death: 13:12
Part 3- Life: 20:40
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I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE ANIME CLIPS OR MUSIC USED IN THIS VIDEO, ALL RIGHTS TO THOSE ASPECTS BELONG TO WIT, MAPPA, BONES, AND MADHOUSE, THE STUDIOS BEHIND THE ANIME ADAPTATIONS OF ATTACK ON TITAN, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, DEATH NOTE, AND MONSTER. HIROYUKI SAWANO, THE COMPOSER OF ATTACK ON TITAN SEASONS 1, 2, AND 3, KOHTA YAMAMOTO, WHO COMPOSED ATTACK ON TITAN SEASON 4 ALONGSIDE SAWANO, MICHIRU OSHIMA, COMPOSER OF FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST 2003, HIDEKI TANIUCHI WHO COMPOSED DEATH NOTE, AND KUNIAKI HAISHIMA, COMPOSER OF MONSTER. THANK YOU ALL FOR BRINGING THESE FANTASTIC SERIES TO LIFE!
Copyright Disclaimer! Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. - Розваги
Monke
Zeke left this world with his ass out, balls flapping in the wind. My hero.
Sole salvation is the most underrated episode of attack on titan and was by far the best episode of s4 pt 1
I 100% agree
Idk if it was the best of that part, but it's easily top 10 episodes in the show
Top 5 but I think declaration of war assault savagery children of the forest are better
I went from being very indifferent to his character to him being my favorite in the series - all from a twenty-minute episode. That's how well-written he is.
Just like bystander is the most underrated s3p1, the exact opposite to this episode, which is quite poetic.
Man Zeke ha always been one of my favorite characters he was so compelling, I was so angry when he died 😭😭😭
Zeke’s definitely one of the best characters in the show by far.
He's my favourite
I love how when you put a panel or page on screen you also have the scene playing in the background
I also love your OST choices as usual
Over all this analysis was peak I wish you covered the dialog Pieck says to Eren about Zekes lying (or Colt saying something similar) but you broke down Zekes irony perfectly
Also the ending was fantastic
Great vid per usual, Zeke is my third favorite character in aot
I never knew this about Zeke before, great analysis.
Zeke is my favorite character in the whole series. Thank you for putting it! People hate zeke without understanding him a bit
Zeke's first appearance was scary, very scary. A huge hairy monster with the intelligence of a human being. He could take you in his hands and crush you, something like that was the first thing we saw him do, he unleashed titans on the second strongest soldier of mankind, from here on it was clear that he was not to be trifled with. As the story progresses we hate him more and more, he has fun killing people and even sees killing as a game. But then it is revealed that he is Eren's brother, his own flesh and blood has killed his friends, our hatred for him grows, but the hatred blinds us. Deep down we knew that Zeke was something more than just the cruel beast he pretended to be. What was his mission? How could he be Eren's brother? Why did he enjoy killing? All these questions make his character even better. And then we learn his backstory, we learn about his motivations and somehow we end up liking him (or not).
Exactly, I love how the story humanises him more and more throughout.
Also I hope you enjoyed the vid👍
@@quickbinger1058 ye i did, great analysis
Video was cool, made me learn a whole lot about Zeke. Hope Mirror doesn't find out 😈
lmao
Best Zeke video out there, you’ve got a new subscriber!
Thank you so much for the kind words!
ZEKE IS MY FAVORITE ❤
Same
Fantastic video essay! Consider me a new subscriber! I really enjoyed your analysis. Good editing, good narration, and a really solid deep dive into Zeke. He’s really grown on me after watching the show. It was the moment that Eren “betrayed” him that it really clicked for me how lost he was. When he appreciated the view from the sky before accepting his fate, it dwelled on me for a bit. A man so wrapped up in the wants and affairs of others, that by the time he finally realised he could’ve enjoyed life for himself, the consequences of his actions finally caught up with him in the form of Levi.
Looking forward to any new videos!
Thank you so much for the glowing review, I'm glad you found my video insightful. Consider checking out my previous videos on other characters, like Bertholdt, Annie, and Levi, as well as my deep dive into the theme of love throughout the story. Right now I'm on a break from making videos, but I will get back to editing soon, right now my two main projects are an analysis of Gon from Hunter x Hunter and a giant 40+ minute review of Vinland Saga. I hope you look forward to those and once again, thank you for the feedback.
Great to see a fellow Zeke fan
Sorry for a second post but may I make a request? You make a compelling case for Zeke being a more complex and compelling/interesting character than people give him credit for. I especially appreciate the reminder on his gradual introduction to us as an adversary before gradually showing us his perspective/backstory. One of Isayama's main theses is that in war/conflict whom the "bad guys" are is usually just a matter of perspective. And while obviously his philosophy (at least right before the end) is flawed I think Isayama does a wonderful job allowing us to empathize with him. (Notice he tries to do the same with almost everyone? Gabby/Reiner/Ymir.) in fact, Initially It took me a long time to find fault with his euthanization plan. But aside from Jean's obvious comment on an "island of only old fogeys" not allowing an entire generation to be born to save them the pain of living in such a cruel world is almost worse than killing everyone - he would be depriving even the possibility of existence before it even began! I'm glad Armin convinced him to reach the same conclusions on the meaning of life as the movie "Soul."
Anyway speaking of Armin- *he* has always been my own favorite character. His [better] philosophy and positive outlook on life is only one part of why I love him so much. (I'm sure I am not as smart as him but I still prefer to think through my problems in life.) I am extremely curious on any insight into him that you may have. So any chance you would consider doing a character study on Armin?
Unfortunately, I have no plans to do a character study of Armin. I think many other UA-camrs have already delved into Armin plenty, and I'm also very tired of making videos right now since I've been pumping them out pretty often these days. I'm also kinda done with AOT videos for now, after this Zeke video ill release my final character tierlist, I will talk a bit about Armin there, but after that, I want to focus on other Anime. I hope you understand.
@@quickbinger1058 I absolutely understand and that's totally cool . I seem like I'm apologizing to you a lot, but again I'm sorry, I saw you say something along those lines only after I wrote this. I wouldn't have posted this had I known. Sorry too for overthinking everything and talking myself into a corner/trying to take back what I wrote (lol again 🤗😇)...I'm just happy I don't seem to be frustrating or annoying you, which would have been understandable. But you certainly don't need to apologize.
I just finished rewatching AoT, you have a good point it is probably best to move onto something else. (I have a bad habit of finding something I love and obsessing over it too much.) Do you have any recommendations on something else to check out? I also have a bad habit of finding the best example in a given form of art, obsessing over it, then unfairly comparing everything else to it. But most artists have something worthwhile to say if we are open to listening. That said it is rare for popularity and greatness to overlap like in AoT. I have yet to find a reliable way to find animes that I love. But I think I would trust your opinion much more than, for example, a random sampling of MYL rankings/reviews or UA-cam ratings...
@yurkdawg My other favourite Anime/Manga are Neon Genesis Evangelion, Fullmetal Alchemist, Vinland Saga, and Death Note. These four series are just as near and dear to me as AOT and I highly recommend checking them out as I will be making content on them next year too.
I’ve loved Zeke’s character and even more after the events of S4, but I really wished we got to see more of him during the Rumbling. His convo with Armin was a nice callback to his time with Xavier but I wish we got to see him struggling with apathetic view on humanity and his acknowledgement of how our lives can be sustained by simplistic sources of joy
I agree I wish he didn't just disappear for most of the final arc then come back suddenly, that's just a small gripe though.
Zeke is not my favorite character but he's definitely up there, amazing video as always keep going Goat!
Thanks bro
"Life is a game and games are meant to be enjoyed"
Great work
Zeke’s never been my favourite character but I’ve always liked him, and he’s climbed to 4th place in my favourite characters list, but also I never saw him as being top 1 potential. His placement in my ranking hasn’t changed but I understand why he’s your favourite now. Great video, definitely your best one yet
Sole salvation is top 5 in the series for me. It’s the reason I consider zeke an S tier character and one of the best written antagonists, I loved this video Binger you go above and beyond for every video you make keep it up bro
Thanks man, my next few vids will be even better.
God we learnt about this project long before it's creation. And we waited patiently. Now the time has come when this masterpiece is finally released for all of us to enjoy . Thanks binge you da goat
Thanks, friend, I hope you enjoyed the video. After this ill release my final AOT video ever, my character tierlist, then ill make content on other Anime, I hope you stick around.
Nice. I like your video essay format and the topics of the videos. How can I put it? It is peaceful and relaxing
Nice work on another great video. A few weeks ago I remember commenting on how AoT's seems to have a philosophical motif of exploring truth via contradictions. (e.g. Eren is a slave to freedom, Bertolt with the strongest titan having a weaker personality, Levi, the strongest soldier has the biggest heart etc.) It goes much deeper than that but that was the gist of it.
I guess this doesn't matter but did I make that comment (or one like it) on one of your videos? Is there any chance it had any influence on you? I ask not to ask for attention or gratitude or anything but I wonder if you came upon this similar idea independently or did I have an impact? While I would be honored to have helped to inspire such a wonderful video, if you came upon the same conclusion on your own it actually more strongly demonstrates the strength of the concept.
Either way once again I appreciate your insightful analysis.
PS- Small point, but literally immediately before watching this I rewatched the return to Shiganshina arc and for some reason this time I also took special note on how Zeke commented on the hot coffee. Sure it's an trivial point but I appreciate the small synchronicity (lol contradiction? Naw just an oxymoron) that shows how we think so alike... thanks again and I look forward to more from you!
Oh hey I found my comment - it was in fact on one of your videos! I'm only bringing this up to be clear- while I thought about it for a long time and made several examples, I did NOT even mention Zeke. So I realize that my contribution was infinitesimal at best, and I'm not writing any of this trying to be vainly requesting attention or anything. It's frankly not deserved. But tbh I wouldn't have it any other way and I couldn't be happier or more impressed. You took a small nugget of my concept and found a much better example and elaborated it more eloquently than I could ever have imagined. Unlike Shaddis, I'm happy to be a "bystander" in this situation. I'm just truly honored and humbled if I might have helped inspire you in any way.
(Lol sorry I realize the lengths of my responses are contradicting my assertations of minimizing any influences, but at least another contradiction is thematically apt. 😜)
I came to this conclusion on my own yes, but I did appreciate your comment nonetheless.
Great analysis my friend. I actually like zeke's character
I wish we got a zeke spin-off, about is childhood or whatever. What an interesting character man
I don't think a spinoff would be necessary, we got enough of his childhood in the actual Manga. I hope you enjoyed my video.
Btw is that a Griffith profile picture? I've been reading Berserk for the first time on Chapter 110 Griffith is my favourite character, W pfp.
Very good video I wonder if Beluga the doxxerist will react to it?
Let me say this now before anyone reads, I finished typing my comment and right when I was about to click send, I accidentally clicked on the next video and lost the big ass essay I typed 😭. But then again, that’s not stopping me from typing another essay.
1. Let me say this now. One of the aspects of your videos that keep me always coming back to it Binger is how you balance the emotional and logical sides of explanations. You will build up the video in an ASMR-like way with cinematic value stacked upon music that sinks the viewer into the moment, making your videos feel like documentary series. And honestly, when you do that, I get incredibly impressived because I like it when people logically explain the character’s mind in a way that makes the audience sink into that character’s mind-which is what you did. I appreciate your content style and I look forward for more videos of this type. The amount of effort you put into it is just aesthetically pleasing to binge and has potential to be peak in editing quality, and mainly only just has flaws like the clips you take having dialogue in it when you’re talking. You’re getting better and better like I keep saying. Keep it up.
2. The moment in the video that caught my eye the most is when you acknowledged the scene of Ksaver saying to Zeke that he would make a good pitcher due to being a natural at it. One of my favorite things of Attack on Titan is how simple statements can have incredible complex context behind them-a simple yet complex statement. Breaking down the scene as Zeke couldn’t pursue a talent he would have aspired to aim towards because if the situation he was in with his father and eldian restorationist, even just relationship wise is pretty damn smart way to put it. Pretty small statements that have so much value like that just keeps you thinking about the situation the character is in and how they feel about it deep down. I appreciate you for talking about it that way to everyone.
3. The beast titan introduction scene with your interpretation made the scene upgraded for me to look at on an emotional sense because it made me think about how Yelena saw the Beast Titan vs how Miche saw the Beast Titan. In a way, they both parallel incredibly. And when you just merge those two sides together, the scene comes off even better than I ever thought it could be despite liking it enough already. Gives me more to think about.
4. Despite being trivial like you said, after watching the Zeke and Armin conversation about life and meaning, seeing moments like the coffee scene with Zeke in shiganshina comes off as a new light. It makes you really pay attention to the small things Zeke does just based on that being apart Armin’s point. Nothing big at all but it’s interesting like I said.
Overrall Binger, you made a fascinating video and wait to see what we’ll cook up next for 2024. Merry Christmas 🎁
Damm you went all-out with this lmao. You don't have to glaze me that hard but it's appreciated nonetheless. I'm glad you found some of the stuff I said enlightening, and ill try my best to provide quality content like this next year too.
@@quickbinger1058 I had to glaze you this hard bro. It’s Christmas therefore I am more happy than usual
@mirrorpre-determinism6076 lmao I hope you liked the video on it's own as well
Zeke ended up in Helheim after his death
Levi certainly "freed" his head from his body
hey good video just wish that some manga panels were a little bigger.
Ah sorry I wanted to fit the subtitles of the Anime scenes and the panels in at the same time.
@@quickbinger1058 thats ok but great video 👍
You deleted the aot tier list video ?
You will make a new one?
No I don't plan to make a new one, and the old one was outdated and shitty anyways.
i dont really get how ksavers influence was all so negative on zeke, in the sense that he in a way manipulated zeke into thinking like that. because by the end, after the talk with armin, zeke specifically says that he still doesnt regret the euthanasia plan. so in my opinon, he still agrees with ksaver and in that way, its shown that even after the realization that life isnt meaningless, zeke still agrees that euthanasia is right, the exact idea that ksaver talked about. if we're talking abt the general nihilism that zeke follows, i dont think its that ksaver full on influenced zeke into thinking this way. if your friend tells you about an idea, and you end up agreeing with that idea, i wouldnt call that manipulation or influence to that negative sense. zeke only realizes what his philosophy is, his life views and what he's going through because of ksaver. ksaver wraps it all up so zeke can summarize it all, in my opinion
Great character, too bad he got ruined at the end. Armin went full Naruto with him which was saddening.
👍
Zeke is the representation of projection and “daddy issues”
In my opinion, zeke was in my top 3 characters and he, eren and Reiner carried the plot post time skip. It was very sad when isayama just went back the ema dynamics even tho the show matured past their relationship.
For me, zeke was ruined in chapter 137. he was already determined to save the world once he had his final closure with his father which gave him salvation too. It made no sense for him to be pessimistic after failing in 122 and waiting for Armin to teach him about the small things in life so he can kill hinself.
1. zeke already appreciated the small things back in RtS. He never saw life not being valuable but that Eldians live in a hell and should be sacrificed for the world.
2. geishas words should be enough for him, not aruhmin uzumaki.
3. armin never cared for the small things, he was a globalist with big dreams like the ocean.
Either end zekes arc in 122 or let the conclusion be different. Giving a theme about „killing each other won’t bring you something good“ but then killing off zeke for a Levi fanservice moment was stupid and Levi should’ve been dead or at least not able to fight after chapter 115.
Still, a very good video Binger and even tho it took me long to watch it (I’m not so invested in AoT anymore) I really enjoyed hearing your take
Regarding your point about Zeke already appreciating small things back in RTS, I address that in the video itself and say that Zeke always had the capacity and desire to embrace life, but was held down by his subconscious desire to deny Grisha of his dream, he was blinded his whole life and Armin opened his eyes.
Rest of what you said I don't feel like debating I'm glad you liked the vid, I'm tired af.
@@quickbinger1058 yeah I know you pointed that out, it’s just that his conclusion makes no sense to me and ruined him but I’m glad that you enjoy his character
Down vote for using the sub clips. 90% of people listen to UA-cam videos. I’m not gonna sit here for 30 minutes in case I have to read captions
Fair enough
@@quickbinger1058 I’m removing my downvote. I was having a bad day. God bless
Never liked the character
Monke