Levi Ackermann (リヴァイ・アッカーマン Rivai Akkāman?), often formally referred to as Captain Levi (リヴァイ兵長 Rivai Heichō?), is the squad captain (兵士長 Heishichō?, lit. "leader of the soldiers") of the Special Operations Squad within the Scout Regiment, and is said to be humanity's strongest soldier.[1]

Levi has short, straight black hair styled in an undercut, as well as narrow, intimidating steel blue eyes with dark circles under them and a deceptively youthful face. He is quite short, but his physique is well-developed in musculature from extensive omni-directional mobility gear usage. He is usually either frowning or expressionless; that, plus his extremely calm demeanor, often makes it difficult for others to guess what he is thinking.

He is most often seen in his Scout Regiment uniform, with a light gray button-up shirt underneath along with his trademark white ascot, though since the coup d'etat, he has left it off. When embarking on expeditions outside the Walls, he also wears the Scout Regiment's green-hooded cloak; like the rest of the Scouts who traveled and fought against the Marleyan troops, Levi wore the new all-black variant of the Scout Regiment's uniform. When forced to take leave from his duties due to injury, Levi was seen in a black suit, plain white shirt, ascot, and dress shoes.

After a close-encounter explosion from a Thunder Spear set off by Zeke Jaeger, Levi now has several scars across his face including one across his right eye and is missing both the index and middle fingers on his right hand. [15] Following an incident during the Battle of Heaven and Earth, Levi has been confined to a wheelchair

Levi is described as a "clean freak" by those who know him personally, as he prefers his environment and himself to be spotlessly clean. He is averse to having either himself or his equipment soiled, and he has been known to wipe down his blood-smeared blades while still on the battlefield. However, he will not hesitate to touch filth if he deems it necessary.[6]

Despite his preoccupation with cleanliness, Levi is abrasive and not very approachable. He rarely shows emotion, giving a cold impression to others. His manner of speaking tends to be blunt and insulting, his comments are frequently coarse or otherwise inappropriate, and he is not above provoking or belittling those who oppose or irritate him. His sense of humor tends toward the vulgar, insulting, and morbid. All of this makes him unsettling to a great number of people.

In his pre-Scout Regiment criminal life, when he lived in the Underground City, Levi refused to take orders from anyone (as Petra Rall tells Eren Jaeger).[17] However, after he joined the Scout Regiment, he came to greatly respect Commander Erwin Smith, whose orders he follows willingly because he strongly believes in Erwin's vision for the Scouts. He also places great trust in his subordinates.

However, Levi's obedience is strictly limited to individuals he respects, and he has no problem showing open disdain for authority from anyone outside of this circle. At Eren's tribunal, he insulted the merchants by calling them "pigs" and told the Military Police that they were not competent enough to handle Eren.[18] He even sardonically suggests that they join the Scout Regiment, which caused them to back off. He openly resents most of the MPs for their continual attempts to undermine the Scouts, and also presumably because of the criminal life he led before he joined the Scouts.

Although he rarely shows it, Levi does have a sense of morality and empathy. One of his most defining characteristics is the great value he places on preserving human life: this is especially shown when it was revealed that all Titans might have once been human themselves. The thought that he had unknowingly been killing humans all this time disturbs him greatly. He himself has stated that he hates unnecessary casualties, and he tells his subordinates to use their judgment so that they can avoid blunders that may cost them their lives.