Summary
Historia Reiss, is a primary character inAttack on Titan, as she’s the heir to the true royal family, albeit an illegitimate child. According to Hajime Isayama, she was originally conceived as thetoken “moe” character, that most manga and anime tend to have - as her original name was Krista.
She was also the most popular girl among her male classmates due to her attractive appearance and cute personality. Though as the story progressed, Isayama decided to give her more of a dominant role and subvert the tropes she was modeled after. This included adding Ymir (another girl) as her love interest early on.
From Moe To Model
Historia’s most iconic line among fans is when she declared herself “the worst girl in the world”, out of frustration when Eren insisted that she eat him to save humanity. This quote was frequently repeated by her fanbase to describe her growing independence throughout the series. Historia began her life reading books as a child, and heeding her older sister’s advice to be a “kind and reliable” person, similar to the main character in her favorite book who was named, “Krista”, who would later on be revealed to be the Founder Ymir. A commonfan theoryis that Krista was her real name.
When her mother was killed on the night Wall Maria fell, Historia was given a new identity as “Krista Lenz”, and from then on she searched for meaning despite her self-hatred and played the role of the quiet, cute, and nice girl. It was only then that she met another girl, Ymir, who she developed a relationship with, who saw she was putting on a facade. Going by the “Krista was Founder Ymir’s real name” theory, Historia was close to going down the same path, but it wasYmir who broke her out of that.
Historia was sacrificial, but that doesn’t equate to “kindness”. Shortly before she bears witness to Ymir’s titan form, the latter tells her to take back her name and live a life she’s proud of. From there,Historia experiences being her “true self”, which she herself considers boring and bland, but ironically, Historia’s true self is anything but a horrible person.
A “Good” Person or a Good Person?
Historia herself is, in fact, a good person. She recognizes her own worth and isn’t afraid to speak out, but heractions display genuine kindness. Once she took up the throne as queen, she elected to open up an orphanage for kids to call home, as well as increase welfare for those who live underground and with struggling families. At her core, she’s empathetic, and it was her “Krista” persona that got in the way of that. Moreover, she’s a good friend and puts those she cares about in high regard.
Historia’s character is a prime example of someone who calls themselves a good person, as opposed to someone who actuallyisa good person. Come theend ofAttack on Titan, Historia grants Jean and Connie’s families special protection from the Jaegerists, and encourages peace talks between them and the Alliance, while giving her daughter the family life she never had.
InSchool Castes, Historia has a different persona, this time more stuck-up and stand-offish. While she embodies the stereotypical “mean girl”, as opposed to her “good girl” persona as Krista, it’s revealed in the officialDrama CD forSchool Castesthat this is another act she puts up. Historia’s a rich girl with an absent family and has no real identity. She doesn’t know what it’s like to have a loving family, or true friends, yet is expected to keep a flawless facade around her family.
As a result of this, she acts out and becomes jealous ofErenwhen she sees him making new friends. It’s only when Eren takes responsibility for her actions (courtesy of Armin), is she caught off guard. Additionally, in the Drama CD, we find out that she’s a fan of anime and manga, like Armin is, and wants to relate to and befriend him, but believes that she can’t. In theSchool Castesmanga, she comes to Eren’s rescue when he’s kidnapped by a cult, but brushes it off as her returning the favor - but it should be noted, that she, the popular girl, still went out of her way to risk her reputation to save a “loser”.
A Heartbreaker
In 2008,Hajime Isayamamade two one-shots to submit toWeekly Shounen Jump,orzandHeart Break One.Orzwas an action-centric comedy about a superhero. The name “orz”, visually referencing a person on their hands and knees, is most used in internet slang, and also relates to the protagonist being an otaku.Heart Break Oneis about a cyborg and loosely inspired byAce Combat 5. The main character, who leads a squadron, bears a striking resemblance to Historia herself, and is confirmed to be her original design by Isayama in a blog post from 2014. Her name origin is also debated to be taken from the lyrics of “The Unsung War”, a song fromAce Combat 5’s soundtrack, which is sung in Latin.
While she began as a side character tofit a criterion, she developed into her own person, and became a deconstruction of one of the most common anime tropes in history.
Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan is a post apocalyptic themed anime where the world is plagued by monstrous creatures called titans. People live in walled cities to avoid the danger of the man eating titans. After they destroy his home, main character Eren Yeager swears to exterminate all titans off the face of the earth.
