Takanami

A cropped head of blond hair tops Takanami's severe features. His default expression is a glower or a grimly serious stare, and he almost never softens it.

Dread of the Titans shapes Takanami more than anything else. That dread pushes him to level accusations at Murakumo, and once he witnesses people turning into Titans he calls for a retreat, declaring victory over such monsters impossible for humanity. Seeing Murakumo stand his ground rewires him; newfound self-assurance takes hold and he steels himself for combat.

Takanami grows suspicious that Murakumo is hiding a Titan identity, so he tips off the 5th unit and arranges for the man to walk into an ambush in town. His effort to defuse the standoff collapses when Murakumo abruptly assaults one of the ambushers and unmasks him as a disguised Titan; the remaining unit members shed their human forms too, and Takanami looks on in horror.

The pair escape across the rooftops. There Takanami pleads for withdrawal from the town, certain that no human force can beat the Titans, but Murakumo dives back in alone to rescue a young girl. The memory of everyone the Titans have killed floods back as Takanami watches, and fury carries him into the battle. His first Titan falls, and the moment stuns him: all that brutal training finally means something, and these monsters can actually die. High on the victory, he jeers at a Titan bearing down on Murakumo, promising to slaughter every last one of them. The Titan simply vaults past Murakumo, pays the boast no attention, and swallows Takanami whole.