Dita Ness

A white bandana wrapped around his head was Ness's most recognizable trait; it covered the bald patch on his crown while light brown hair still showed along the sides and back. Facial hair softened his friendly features, a mustache paired with a beard tracing the jawline. Neither tall nor short, he carried an unremarkable build and was almost never seen out of standard Survey Corps gear, adding the green cloak whenever the regiment rode into Titan territory.

Ness treated leadership as a duty he could not afford to take lightly, yet the recruits under him never found him cold. He personally walked the newest soldiers through the scouting system Erwin Smith devised so their first venture outside the Walls would be as survivable as possible. Combat with Titans held little appeal for him; evasion was his preferred doctrine in open country, though he struck without hesitation once a fight became unavoidable. A warmer streak surfaced in small moments, such as thanking his horse Charlotte for circling back to him mid-mission.

Ahead of the Survey Corps's 57th expedition, Ness lectures the incoming class on the Long-Distance Enemy Scouting Formation, then rides out as one of its team leaders. Early in the operation he brings down an abnormal Titan by slicing through its ankles, letting his squadmate Luke Siss finish the nape, and is delighted when Charlotte trots back to retrieve him.

The reprieve is brief. The Female Titan bursts onto their position at a speed neither man can answer. Ness barely avoids being trampled, then realizes the Titan is bearing down on Armin Arlert and joins Siss in striking at its neck. It swats Siss out of the air, snags Ness's wire, and cracks him against the ground, ending his life on the spot.

His memory lingers across the final arcs: Armin recalls his warm introduction alongside Charlotte, he stands among the dead who haunt Erwin's doubts at Shiganshina, and his spirit appears with the fallen scouts who greet Hange in death and who salute Levi one last time after Eren's defeat.