#snk zene yeager

[levmada]

finally, i'm going to do the thing i’ve always wanted to do in the back of my mind and make a post in defense of Zeke Jaeger—but this is primarily a character analysis. (politely, don’t send me a mean ask on anon without at least reading this all the way through first if you were thinking of doing that.)

i think that the best way to understand Zeke’s philosophy, morals, and behavior is through a general lens of NPD, or Narcissistic Personality Disorder. as someone approaching having a bachelors degree in psychology and personal experience with cluster b personality disorders (NPD, BPD, HPD).

first of all, i’m going to dispel some misconceptions. do i have experience with a narcissist in real life? yes. does NPD mean a person is evil? NO. are people born with NPD? biologics can make a person susceptible to it, but NO. the attributes of personality disorders are learned in childhood. are narcissists delusional? NOT ALWAYS (i won’t get into narcissistic injury here though).

the cause of NPD in a person originates—like all personality disorders—in childhood trauma (think CPTSD, ACEs, general neglect and instability). specifically, a child whose every need is met and receives (whether earned or NOT, which is very important in zeke’s case) a large amount of praise and admiration, in conjunction with prestige and special treatment. all of this, and yet WITHOUT a secure bond with a main caregiver/family member because of neglect or abuse in any form. the narcissist therefore develops low or in some cases (especially when comorbid with ASPD (anti-social personality disorder)) no empathy. the narcissist is so chronically abused or mistreated that in order to survive, they learn that their ultimate goal is self-preservation, mentally, emotionally, physically, at any cost. some narcissists are aware of these feelings or abusive behavior being abnormal, but they can’t comprehend how their view of the world/people can be erroneous; how other people are as valuable as themselves, even loved ones—although cognitively a narcissist can care about someone.

these symptoms are extremely relevant to Zeke Jaeger, so much so that i just wrote a paragraph explaining it in a character analysis about Zeke Jaeger.

now that we understand a bit about NPD, we have a good basis to understand Zeke. from the beginning of his life, it was beaten into Zeke’s head that he is beyond important. Zeke has royal blood inside him, he will liberate the Eldians in Marley and beyond to create a more peaceful world, he will become the most important person in Marley’s military if necessary, he is destined for great things, and, most importantly, that is what he is going to do. said his mother and father.

[overall i suggest looking back at Zeke's backstory in ch114 for this analysis.]

how does this responsibility weigh on a young boy? in his most formative years, he’s being trained not only physically (and rigorously for the most prestigious area in the military (the Warriors)), but mentally into believing that Ymir blessed the Eldians with the ability to transform into Titans—while Zeke is also taught that it’s Ymir’s curse; his parents say that the Marleyans selfishly wanted Ymir’s power for themselves—while he’s also taught that the Eldians were disgusting imperialist monsters that pillaged and raped entire other peoples out of a sense of supremacy over others. hell, he’s being taught completely contradictory history—as specific as individual battles.

how does all this weigh mentally on a young boy?

exactly. Zeke is a child being brainwashed by both sides at the same time. what child has the maturity to process not only all of that, but what he wants to do about it?

it just doesn’t work that way. take this, and combine it with Zeke’s suffering. his father is emotionally distant, at times physically abusive, and both of his parents are neglectful emotionally. Zeke at ages 7-12 is being treated like a small HEIR to the throne of ultimate heroism.

+

meanwhile, he’s in training to become a Warrior. and he fucking sucks at it, and he’s not interested in it either.

(he's so cute bye)

but what does his primary caregivers do when he expresses his emotional distress? grisha shakes him and fucking yells at him!!

now we have the ingredients for the perfect storm. unearned praise and admiration, while in response to Zeke’s inferiority, shame, punishment, and degradation. high expectations given by caregivers who are hurting him. the missing secure emotional bonds. and all throughout his childhood.

then Zeke is granted the opportunity to be free of all these things. all he has to do is (for lack of a better word) tattle on his parents to the government, and he’ll be rewarded in the military.

not just randomly either! but by Tom Ksaver!! if Zeke reached adulthood from there with nothing changing, i believe he would’ve committed even bigger atrocities. maybe even sociopathy.

but while he’s an adolescent, Zeke makes a bond with a sort of surrogate father figure found in Tom Ksaver (the holder of the Beast Titan at that point).

Ksaver is a humble man, all in all a pacifist who has no interest in war, and above all else an intellectual. he would fight if he had to, but his Titan has no use in war, apparently.

anyway, Ksaver is the first figure in Zeke’s life who genuinely gave a damn about him. Ksaver is the person Zeke loves most in their world, and there is no way to argue less. Zeke wears Ksaver’s glasses, Ksaver is the person Zeke called out to while Levi was torturing him to the brink of death, Zeke tries to “save” Eren because Ksaver saved him, and MANGA SPOILER🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨Ksaver is the person Zeke saw in Paths first.🚨🚨🚨🚨

this is why i don’t understand one of the reasons people point at that they hate Zeke is because he turned his parents in to Marley. he’s a child who was emotionally neglected, emotionally abused, and physically abused, and what he is offered is a way out, and the person who gives him the opportunity shows him unconditional kindness for the first time in his life. this child doesn’t have the maturity at his age understand the ramifications of his actions to his parents’ cause, because it doesn’t affect him directly. this is how children behave.

this panel sums it up the best and dammit i love it so much

"They never loved you."

"Zeke, it's not your fault."

"You are a clever and good child."

moving on. feeling no attachment to his parents, and more than that, resentment, it makes perfect sense why he would turn them in with little to no regard to their cause.

as an adolescent, Zeke probably doesn’t believe in anything. he has no moral compass. he’s experienced discrimination and suffering at the hands of Marleyans, as well as his Restorationist parents. all he knows is his survival and way of life is guaranteed as a Warrior in training.

but without a doubt Ksaver affected Zeke’s values, personality, and future decisions. if you also roll with Eren’s theory that the past holder of a Titan affects the current one (see Armin’s attachment to Annie in season 4 versus Bert’s), some pieces of Ksaver’s warm personality, his dedication to intellect over violence, affected him too.

but Zeke is undeniably selfish and sadistic. the person Zeke loathes most in the world is his father. the actions of his father is perhaps the biggest reason for Zeke’s cruelty on Paradis. he thinks about him while taking pleasure in slaughtering the Scouts in season 3. he turned an entire village of people into Titans without a shred of remorse.

Zeke has a disregard for most human life outside of select people’s ability as a tool, but he does have the ability to care about others—he cares about Gabi and Falco at least. in his reaction to them appearing on the airship in season 4, and his remark to Levi later when they get to the forest when Zeke asks (in a half joking manner) if he can show them it. and more than that, his hesitance to kill Colt. Zeke cares about Ksaver, he even cares about the Eldians.

but you may wonder, what the fuck are you talking about gee? he wants to exterminate them.

"The only possible salvation is Eldia's euthanasia. I saved them. The lives of those children from this cruel world."

Zeke genuinely believes that the way that all of humanity can be benefited is if the Eldians simply. died. out. his philosophy is that living is suffering and death is freedom.

and we've known this since Zeke was still a teenager!! he tells Ksaver:

“If no more descendants of Ymir were to be born, after 100 years, Titans would have surely vanished from this world. The world wouldn’t have to be afraid of Titans or suffer because of them anymore.

"More than anything, if from the start we hadn’t been born, there would have been no suffering—it would have been better.”

and he promises Ksaver that he'll try to save this world. that's why he joined the Warriors.

from a solely objective standpoint, he isn’t even wrong. as a whole? just like Eren’s plan, it’s disgusting and unforgivable. Zeke’s version of genocide is just slower.

why does Zeke believe that though? remember his childhood. the reasons he was taught to believe that either the Eldians or Marleyans were correct contradicted each other at the same time, and so were his experiences of discrimination and pride, of pain and belonging. Zeke was never loyal to any one faction, ever. not when he reported his parents, not when he learned about the Scouts and Paradis from Mike or Annie/Reiner/Bert, NOT EVEN when he learned Eren existed.

Zeke learning Eren existed changed a lot for him.

did Zeke resent Eren as Grisha’s son? fuck no. not at all. Eren is the person Zeke was actually most amicable with, whom it seemed he was trying to form a connection with (over even Ksaver). Zeke’s understanding at the time was Grisha raised Eren the exact same way he did Zeke, through brainwashing with an iron hand. he wanted to sympathize with Eren. he believed he had one single person who could understand him, and that person was not just a friend, but his brother.

the biggest reason Zeke—in the last years of his life due to Ymir’s curse—pushed for a spontaneous invasion of Paradis for Eren’s plan. besides, arguably, that Zeke wanted to be alive at the moment he destroyed everything.

and then, in Paths after he and Eren touched, Zeke revealed that he was going to go forward with his own plan the whole time, using Eren as a key to do that. he's confident that he's "saving" Eren from his father like Tom saved Zeke. that Eren's plan of genocide was brainwashed into him by his father. and he promises he will never abandon him.

but then.

Zeke was betrayed. Zeke had been manipulated. he learned through Eren’s memories that Eren not only was raised lovingly by Grisha and Carla, but Grisha didn’t push for Eren to be the most important hero that ever lived, Eren is the one that wanted that. Grisha didn’t involve himself with Eren’s desire to join the Scouts. Grisha took care of his family. Grisha, for Eren, was a good, loving father. Eren was loved unconditionally, was given everything Zeke never got.

HELL, halfway through the memories, Zeke told Eren that he could stop the memories anytime he wanted, but he wasn't going to abandon him even though Eren was totally disinterested in the sentiment.

"I'm not going to abandon you. Just like Ksaver never abandoned me. Before saving this world, I want to save you."

the breaking point is learning his father didn’t crush the royal family’s children in his hands, he couldn’t do it. then he had a breakdown over his actions later after Eren pushed him to do it.

Zeke is in utter disbelief.

then Zeke even finds closure with Grisha after that scene. he found closure. they cried in each other’s arms.

Eren’s memories revealed that he is the monster. most relevant to Zeke, Eren betrayed him. in more ways than one.

…hence the following scene in Paths where Zeke imprisoned Eren and tried to go ahead with his own plan.

in order to transition forward, spoilers are necessary. if you have to stop here (and a kiss for you if you even read this far), then i hope my explanation at least helped Zeke be more understandable, and at best changed your opinion of him a little. or reinforced your opinion. whichever!

so in order to talk about the end of Zeke’s character arc, i need to talk about Levi and Zeke’s relationship. (without me commentating on Levi’s feelings because they’re not relevant and if i do i’ll inevitably get sidetracked).

🚨🚨🚨SPOILER TERRITORY AGAIN🚨🚨🚨

why does Zeke like to push Levi’s buttons so much? why is he mostly candid with him, and doesn’t insult him (except in the most shallow ways possible. ohhh levi you glare at me so much. ohhh i bet no one’s ever had a crush on you ohhhh.) most importantly, why does Zeke allow Levi to kill him? IT COULD’VE BEEN JUST AS EASY TO POP OUT OF THE FOUNDING TITAN NEAR ANY OF THE OTHERS AND LET HIMSELF BE KILLED. HE COULD’VE FALLEN TO HIS STUPID DEATH.

but no. he figures out where Levi is flying on Falco, and calls out to him.

does Zeke like Levi? no. he believes the exact opposite of what Levi believes too. does Zeke even really care about Levi? fuck no. i think the liking Zeke might’ve taken to Levi is that he sees right through all of Zeke’s “innocent” intentions, and to be succinct, all of his bullshit. Levi sees Zeke just as insignificant and worthless as Zeke really sees himself to be at his petulant and shame-filled core.

Zeke letting Levi get what he wanted in his final moments is his redeeming moment! it shows Zeke’s humanity, that for once he’s sincere and candid after his conversation with Armin in which he accepts that the meaning of life is just... to do what you love doing. he understands that he doesn’t deserve even to see what a beautiful day it is. all of his selfishness, his sadism, his narcissism—all unraveled in this final act. i want to jump off a building thinking about it /pos.

and you know what else. Zeke and Erwin’s characters are a beautiful foil of each other. but that’s an essay for another day.

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