This article uses material from the “Jean Kirstein” article on the Attack on Titan Wiki at FANDOM is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
Jean Kirstein is a character from the Attack on Titans anime and manga.
A cynical and hot-headed young man, he comes into constant conflict with Eren over their differing ideals. He declares his intention to join the Military Police Brigade, wanting only to live a comfortable and safe life. After the battle of Trost, he abandons his selfish ways, enlisting in the Survey Corps and growing into a capable young leader.
In the AWA fics, Jean is a student at the AWA Academy and is part of Class 3.
In the XP4 fics, Jean debuted in the XP4 Heroes Coalition - AKB0048.
Appearance[]
Jean is a young man with spiky, light-brown hair shaved into an undercut style, with the shaved portion being black. He has small, intense brown eyes, and is said to have the same vicious look in them as Eren does. Jean is of average height and muscular build, and has a scowl similar to Eren's but is said to have a long face (a "horse face"). He is often seen wearing the typical uniform of the Survey Corps worn with an olive-gray button-up shirt. After overthrowing the government, his hair appears slightly longer than before.
His casual attire mostly consists of a white button-up shirt, dark pants, and a dark-brown vest. When concealing his identity, he also fashions a cloak and fedora.
Four years later, he has grown a goatee and his hair is now longer. Jean wears the new black Survey Corps uniform with anti-personnel vertical maneuvering equipment.
Personality[]
Jean has a blunt personality. He holds no restraint when it comes to speaking his mind, even when he knows it would not be wise to do so or when it could spark conflict. Jean is also pragmatic: he has a strong aversion to exposing himself to dangerous situations, and has openly admitted his desire to join the Military Police is due to wanting an easy and safe life.
During his time as a trainee, Jean was extremely hot-headed, easily becoming frustrated and quick to resort to violence when pushed. Jean was also very cynical about defeating the Titans, believing that humanity has no chance against them. He openly mocked more idealistic individuals like Eren, and saw resisting the Titans as a hopeless cause.
Despite his shortcomings, Marco describes Jean as a natural leader, being able to understand others and assess situations well because of his flaws. Indeed, during the Battle of Trost, Jean proves capable of leading his fellow soldiers when they are left confused and leaderless, and rallies Armin and Reiner in an attack on the Female Titan, knowing that not fighting her would endanger the rest of the Survey Corps. His awareness and leadership capabilities were further displayed during the Battle of Shiganshina, when he took command of Armin's squad, and Liberio when he led many of the 104th graduates to attack the Marleyan military.
Although he presents himself as self-centered, Jean places high value on the lives of his comrades, and is ashamed and horrified when he must leave helpless allies behind to save himself and others. He was also willing to risk his life even if just to slow down the Female Titan, as refusing to do so would have certainly resulted in countless more deaths. Jean later criticized Erwin's plan of withholding information from his subordinates out fear that there was a spy among them, feeling that the plan did not justify the lives lost because of it. In addition, Jean is greatly averse to taking human lives. Jean's moral principles initially prevented him from killing enemy soldiers, but he would reluctantly set aside his conscience for the sake of his friends and allies.
Jean's first instinct is to always see life through cautious and doubtful eyes. He was hesitant to accept Armin and Reiner's plan of having the Attack Titan fight for them, and immediately admitted to never having trusted Ymir when she seemingly kidnapped Krista. Despite this, following the second appearance of the Armored Titan, Jean was also the one to motivate Eren to continue fighting for humanity's victory, showing that he is slowly adopting the same idealistic outlooks he once criticized.
XP4 Fanfic[]
Jean is a member of the Heroes Coalitions and is part of the Full Force Guerrilla. He also attends the Vanguard Academy as a student.
XP4 Heroes Coalition - AKB0048[]
In Chapter 10, Jean, alongside the rest of his team are seen in a snowy forest somewhere in Tundrastar, and is annoyed on how Narcisco Va Vergeblich made his report. They then made their way on their designated post.
In Chapter 12, Jean took part in the battle against the DES during AKB0048's guerrilla concert and is later present at the aftermath, and alongside everyone, they discovered dead bodies of DES soldiers before coming across with Mace Wyndu, Abdul Hakim and Tamina Sixx.
In Chapter 15, Jean is seen playing video games with Nagisa Shiota, Konata Izumi and Dan Kusou on a green couch at the lounge area inside the Great White Shark while PaRappa the Rapper and Tsumiki Miniwa watches them from the back. He is later present in the living area of the dormitory where Tsubasa Katagiri announced the mission at Lancastar.
In Chapter 20, Jean is present during a meeting instigated by Kazeyoshi Imai and Tsubasa Katagiri.
In Chapter 24, Jean witnessed Kazeyoshi Imai's announcement all across the universe.
In Chapter 28, Jean, alongside everyone, are seen approaching Kasumigastar and upon arriving at one city, they were confronted by Noboru Takizawa and his cohorts, demanding them to leave but they refuse. They then later witnessed the arrival of thousand of AKB-fans, much to their shock and awe.
In Chapter 29, Jean, alongside everyone, are seen backstage of the concert hall in a city somewhere Kasumigastar with a look of awe at the large number of crowd gathered for the concert and later witnessed the return of Atsuko Katagiri and the rest of the missing idols, and had a great time watching the performances afterwards. They then learned that Noboru Takizawa escaped which prompted Kazeyoshi Imai and Mace Wyndu to go after him.
In Chapter 32, Jean took part of paying respects for Mace Wyndu's death by attending his funeral via burial at sea in Atamistar before witnessing the arrival of a fleet of Dimensional Defense Union ships whom paid their respects for Mace by gifting him with a Heroes' Tribute.
In the Epilogue, Jean, alongside the heroes and the idols, is present in the AKB-exclusive space terminal in Akibastar where they said their goodbyes to the members of Unit W and Alpha Squadron. Afterwards, everyone decided to take a break for the rest of the day.
XP4 Heroes Coalition - Neo-City Diaries[]
In Chapter 95, Jean, alongside a number of people, are seen inside the training area where Eddward "Double D, Edd" Marion Smith and Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke introduced the Mississippi Four to them and is later seen having a meal inside the cafeteria of the Training Camp.
In Chapter 144, Jean is declared as an official member of the Full Force Guerilla.
Abilities[]
Vertical Maneuvering Equipment[]
Jean is highly adept at using vertical maneuvering equipment, being able to maneuver well even on open terrain, which is considered extremely difficult and not many people can do so. He has also shown his capability in being able to attack and slay Titans efficiently even without his proper equipment and can successfully maneuver around them in order to directly attack their nape or simply avoid them. Four years after Wall Maria was reclaimed, his skill on maneuvering equipment has not changed. Jean has proven to be highly proficient in using anti-personnel vertical maneuvering equipment; ambushing Marleyan infantry from rooftops and even using his equipment's hooks to fling an enemy soldier off a building. Using maneuvering equipment is his greatest strength.
Thunder Spears []
Jean is highly skilled in the usage of Thunder Spears, enough to ambush the Cart Titan and shoot a spear through one of the eye slots of its helmet, effectively blowing up the helmet and leaving its head vulnerable to attacks.
Other []
Jean is also an exceptionally level-headed individual, able to see the big picture and make tactically wise decisions when it counts. It was these traits that earned Jean his rank as 6th best among the 104th squad.
He also seems to be proficient with firearms, as he is seen using one during the persecution of the Survey Corps. He is capable of shooting people with no intention to kill them, just to incapacitate them, with great accuracy.
Trivia[]
- Hajime Isayama has said his favorite character is Jean.
- In a more recent interview, Isayama revealed that Reiner Braun had replaced Jean as his favorite character.
- According to Isayama, if the 104th Training Corps had an arm wrestling competition, Jean would be evenly matched with Eren Yeager.
- "Jean" is the French variant of "John," meaning "Blessed by God."
- When feeling great confliction, Jean has a habit of tightly clenching his fist and staring at it intently.
- In a fake preview for Volume 19, Jean can be seen being devoured by the Gluttonous Titan.
- Additionally, in the fake preview, Jean can be seen as a Titan. The Titan was around 7 meters and retained his facial features while having a slight limp.
Gallery[]
