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□ Name: Ymir
□ Journal: unwahr @ dreamwidth
□ Series: Attack on Titan
□ Canon point: Chapter 50
□ History: http://shingekinokyojin.wikia.com/wiki/Ymir#History ) She features more prominently in the manga than it does within the current anime of Attack on Titan. However, she was not given a canon explanation of her history, so a lot of it largely remains unknown.
□ Personality:
On the surface, Ymir is unsympathetic, callous, and more than a little tactless in her manner, which shows up in sharp contrast to the reactions of other characters. The earliest example of this is during the battle of Trost, where she does not show any sympathy or affection for Armin who is in a state of shock after seeing Eren and other members of his squad die - if anything she goes even further than that, calling him an incompetent burden who is needlessly alive while other, more competent people who might have been useful, are dead. In short, Ymir puts on a detached and disinterested attitude towards the stress and horrors that occur within the series and does not lose her head to any unnecessary emotions, which comes across as heartless on many occasions. Of course, some of the characters does not take much offence at this cold demeanour and simply refers to it as "bullshitting" - however, this passive and unconcerned air of hers does seem pretty out of place, compared to the obvious distress, grief and anger expressed by many of the others.
But this trait is not just hers alone - or rather, more specifically, this maturity of mind and ability to deal with the situation in the spur of the moment and not letting the emotions and stress gain the upper hand. In the beginning of the military training, she is ignored by the instructor in his drilling of the newbies. The reason for this is that she already has the "degree of self-denial" that is part of the "necessary qualities of a soldier" - a trait that, notably, she shares with the rest of the titan shifters. Similarly, she displays none of the distressed or conflicted emotions like the others when they volunteer to join the Survey Corps; it is interesting to see that Mikasa is the only other person who appears to be unfazed, as she joins the Corps for the sake of protecting Eren.
Ymir prefers to go directly to the point in stating the failures and faults that she sees in others, and does not mince her words in favour of being "nice". This is shown prominently in her interactions with Christa Renz, where it is shown that Ymir continuously and repeatedly points out the ulterior (and perhaps unconscious) motives behind Christa's actions in helping other people. When she aids Christa in helping to carry Sasha back to the bunks, Ymir states that her reason for helping is not because she wants to do the "right" thing, but to make Sasha feel like she is indebted to her so that she could exploit it. The admission is honest and direct without any frills or elaboration - and true to her word, later she is shown to use this influence to get Sasha to do her menial duty of water-drawing instead.
People being true and honest with themselves is a Big Thing with Ymir. Apart from her picking apart Christa's so-called "good deeds" as ultimately being derived of selfish need to be recognized as being "good" and not necessarily to help people without expectations, Ymir is seen confronting Sasha about hiding her village dialect from others and masking it by deliberately using unnecessarily polite language, to the point where she uses it even with her equals. Even in this occasion (where merely a simple admonition might have done the trick) Ymir intentionally pushes the boundaries of what Sasha is comfortable with, picking on her reason for becoming a soldier and hinting as much that she only joined for "pathetic and stupid" reasons, as well as basically reducing her identity into a few harshly-chosen words -- "(you know) nothing besides how to hunt and are afraid of the world and the people around (you)". This is, in reality, not too far from the truth as it is revealed in Sasha's own flashback later. It really doesn't seem necessary for her to deliberately hurt others like this -- however, behind the rough and insensitive words is Ymir's true intention, which is that Sasha should not hide her real self behind some mask for the sake of others and act according to her own nature and judgements without being constrained. She may not sugar-coat her words, preferring to be "blunt and inconsiderate", to quote Christa, but her advice is more than sincere.
"You're you! And nothing wrong with that!"
With how outspoken and direct to the point she is in regards to others, and the importance she attaches to being honest, it is a little ironic to note how cagey and close-mouthed Ymir becomes when it comes down to her own motives and intentions for doing the things she does. Her skills in 3D Manoeuvre Gear was actually said to have been enough to get her into the top 10 candidates who could apply for the Military Police in the central district - however, she chose to give up her place to Christa instead, and also repeatedly urges her to join the Police in lieu of the Survey Corps. It is clear that whatever her ulterior motives are, it lay in Christa being safe and out of danger in the Inner Wall - but even when called out on this by Christa herself, Ymir chooses not to reveal her secrets, merely replying that while it does have to do with the secret of her family that Christa is keeping, it is "for her own sake" as well; basically, don't ask, don't tell.
The same thing happens when the trainees regroup together at Castle Utgard; when Connie talks about his village and the strange titan that he found in his house, we can see that Ymir is obviously affected by the news, and she apologises with what looks like a genuine concern on her face. But since it's Ymir we're talking about here, the compassion doesn't last for long - almost immediately after that, we see her laughing hysterically at Connie's comment about the titan resembling his mother, and proceeds to mock him and make sexual and insensitive jokes about his parents. This callous behaviour does have an effect of making Connie mad and induces him to drop the subject, which is probably her intention, as Reiner indicates as such later when he confronts Ymir. With this incident, we can assume that the way she deals with situations that are uncomfortable and/or potentially awkward for her is to "bullshit" and mock it in an attempt to lighten the mood or tension, and be brushed off by others as "just being her usual self" - that of an inconsiderate bitch. Or else, she pretends to know nothing or simply avoids the issue by saying off-hand comments such as "what are you talking about", and refuses to face the situations head-on.
Her relationship with Christa is a little complicated, to say the least - but it is undeniable that whatever it might be, it is one that is ultimately built out of mutual trust and affection. Throughout the series we are shown their interactions plenty of times - indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to say that if you see one, you should expect the other. Despite the harsh, almost unforgiving ways that Ymir points out Christa's shortcomings as a "good girl" and questions her motives for such acts, it is clear that Ymir cares for Christa in a way that is more than just casual flirting and off-handed comments such as "marry me". The biggest examples for this comes from the chapters dealing with Castle Utgard, when they are besieged by the titans invading the tower they are hiding in. Ymir pushes Christa back behind her when one of them breaks through their flimsy line of defence, obviously intending to protect her from the titans. Later on, it is a comical moment when she displays some jealousy over Christa tending to Reiner's wounds (by ripping her skirt up and using it as makeshift bandage) by claiming that she has a wound on her finger - this is shot down pretty quickly by Connie, who tells her to just spit on it and deal with it.
The most important thing about the relationship between Ymir and Christa is that Ymir is not deceived by this "good" girl who is called a goddess by many members of the trainees. She sees right through her actions, every act of good that Christa performs as what they really are, merely an excuse for Christa to be "seen" as a good person, and ultimately to convince herself that she is good using the established perception of others. In short, she is using people and the deaths and sacrifices that people make around her to convince herself that committing suicide is the right option, the easier option for her. For Ymir, who constantly stresses that one must live solely for themselves and not be influenced by the opinions of others, this aspect of Christa must be a particular and continuous annoyance, and true enough she makes herself and her annoyance of it felt every single time.
"It's not like you really want to not die.. You always think in what ways you could die so you get praised for it. Am I wrong?"
Not to mention she holds an important secret of Christa's ... that of her real identity. During her time before joining the military, Ymir was living by scavenging and "going around borrowing money" in the Inner Walls - and that is where she overheard some priests talking about Christa, as an illegitimate child of an important family, and how she was forced to change her name and volunteer to go into the military. Now, we don't know much about Ymir's past except for what she hints at during her conversations with Christa, but Ymir feels strongly for Christa's situation and therefore the girl herself because they both have gone through a similar experience; to borrow her words, it is a "second chance in life" that they both ended up here and joined the military. However, while Christa hid her real identity from others, Ymir kept her real name and continued to live as herself and left the past behind to start her life anew, as a form of revenge to those who have hated her and possibly contributed to her "death".
In a strange way, this firm, simple, non-compromising way of thinking suits Ymir; she is not an open door through which you could see what is behind - she is merely someone who shut the door and wiped the slate clean. The past is past and she cannot undo anything, and Ymir accepts that it is something that one must do without question. What she does instead is to not rely on something as unreliable and depressing as "fate" and simply resort to relying only on herself. Ymir does not reveal everything about her past but she is still herself, still true to her convictions and her creed, and she sticks to them no matter what. She does not reject her past at all, because that's what shaped her into who she is - and also because to change herself completely would mean "losing" in some way.
"There was one thing I wished for with all my heart; if I'm ever given a second chance in life, I wanna be able to live only for myself. This was my sincere wish."
She can be straight and upfront when the situation calls for it, like when Bertolt and Reiner confronts her about eating their companion years ago while still in titan form - she apologises and admits that she cannot remember much of it, referring to those sixty-odd years as a titan as a "neverending nightmare". She is also logical and keeps her cool in stressful situations such as getting kidnapped by Reiner and Bertolt while still unconscious and waking up later in a forest of giant trees with her limbs half-regenerated; Ymir points out various drawbacks of trying to escape to Eren when he regains consciousness, telling him of the things that she had observed of their surroundings, and their general situation and lack of equipment or ways to conveniently escape from both those two titan shifters and the titans who are surrounding them. Later when Eren is threatening them, Ymir interrupts to tell him to stop saying "childish things", pointing out that the two titan shifters are mere "small fry" and brings his attention to the mysterious ape-like titan.
This is the first time we see her being so honest and open with someone other than Christa, and moreover, without acting emotionally agitated to prompt such a response. Even in this disadvantageous situation, her acerbic side shows through in verbally pushing Reiner to the limit, picking at the momentary gap in his mental defences in the shape of personality disassociation. That doesn't last for long though, as she is in a particularly difficult situation for having "stolen" the titan power from Bertolt and Reiner's people and therefore must be punished by them - and considering that she is currently their hostage and unable to escape, it is a pretty hopeless situation. So much so that when Reiner loses his temper Ymir backs down immediately, admitting that she "guess(es) (she) said too much" - even when Eren tries to question her more about the ape-like titan and the identity of the "enemy", a word from Reiner is enough to bring her to heel and fall back on her normal, flippant and vague answer of "who knows?" even though it is clear that she does indeed know. In the situation, she is in a difficult position of who to bet her money on - Eren's newer, more unreliable power as a titan shifter or Bertolt and Reiner.
"Your own little life ... or Christa's future ... it's up to you."
This vague and secretive nature of hers that make it difficult for others to know what her true intentions are ends up posing a problem when she reveals herself to be a titan shifter, in order to save all of them from the titans that are now surrounding the tower. This happens again when she kidnaps Christa in turn and return to Reiner and Bertolt as per their agreement later, with the other trainees saying such things as "I never really thought she was on our side to begin with", and that they were "taken in by her". In short, All of them, to a degree, doubt her "loyalty" to the group and wonder which side she is on. Connie puts this the best into words, giving his reason as being that Ymir always looked disinterested no matter the situation, "like it never had anything to do with her at all", and that he could "never tell what she was thinking". This stoic air of detachment which goes undoubted and even respected in Mikasa's case is seen as a troubling sign of not being an ally of humankind in Ymir, even when she comes close to sacrificing herself by getting devoured by the titans to save them - because if she had wanted, "she could have easily escaped alone using that titan power" - or maybe it was just to save Christa.
As the story progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that whatever Ymir does to "save her own ass", a big part of why and how she acts the way she does is to keep Christa safe. She is willing to let go of the tower and fall to her probable and horrible death by getting eaten alive by the titans; she is willing to let herself be taken back to their "hometown" by Reiner and Bertolt even when her safety cannot be guaranteed because of the nature of her crime, just by Reiner claiming that there is a potential for them to save Christa. For a character who is mainly portrayed as self-serving and disinterested in others' business or affairs as Ymir, this is a very important distinction that marks her feelings towards Christa apart from all the others.
"She met someone she considered more important than herself ... enough to go flying into a swarm of titans for her sake."
Her previously submissive attitude does a complete turn when she realises that Christa is probably among the search and rescue party sent after her and Eren; she verbally and physically threatens both Reiner and Bertolt even while being restrained and carried on Bertolt's back, pointing out that she has the advantage in the terrain in her titan form. Even when she knows that she hasn't got a lot of cards (if any) in her hands to persuade them into granting her wish, Ymir nevertheless tries her best to convince them, even if she has to resort to suicidal threats such as grabbing onto Bertolt and nearly causing them to fall, saying that she will "fight you guys here and get in your way" if they don't take Christa along with them right now.
Ymir is full of contradictions, for a character as fatalistically outspoken about everything in this universe. She admits that they might have something in common, then denies it vehemently. She berates the others' shortcomings and calls them names such as "stupid" and "blockhead", yet fragments of her actions and speeches show that she does care about them at least to a degree. She always looks disinterested like what is happening has got nothing to do with her, but when the situation is desperate, Ymir is willing even to sacrifice herself to save the others, almost meeting her end by getting devoured by the titans. While Connie says that the only one Ymir ever makes an effort for is Christa, it may not be true - behind her disinterested and cold facade, Ymir may perhaps care for those she admonishes and bullies the most. Every heated interactions and reactions by Ymir to those such as Connie and Sasha are ultimately to make them a little better, either emotionally in the case of Connie and his village or mentally as in the case of Sasha about being a soldier. It is not derived of simple one-dimensional need to mock and berate everyone - it is sincere advice given without grace or tact, medicine without any honey.
It is true what Christa says about Ymir - she is, despite her vague answers and veiled unfathomable actions, a "simple" person. No matter how she denies it and tries to cover up her thoughts and emotions by saying mean things and that this is all for her own sake, most of the things that Ymir actively participates in are situations that are crucial to Christa's survival or protection from harm. Time and again we see other characters using this weakness of hers for their own advantage, mainly Reiner and Bertolt who convinces her to be on their side for the sake of Christa. Despite her self-proclaimed motto of living just for herself and lecturing others to do so, she does not follow through with her own advice and instead throws her life away for the sake of Christa. She is both her weakness and her strength, and while the rest of her seems to be all mysteries and unconfirmed theories, her dedication for Christa is obvious, and this helps us to see through her actions.
□ Age: Unknown; physically appears to be 17 , but it has been stated that she spent at least sixty years previous to the start of the series wandering outside the walls in her titan form. therefore, her actual age is unknown beyond that it must be more than 65 years.
□ Gender: Female
□ Appearance: http://i.imgur.com/QH9uQBI.jpg : Her official anime art; her manga counterpart is much the same, (except for the lack of gratuitous lipgloss). She is fairly tall for a girl, standing at 172cm in the canonically-given height charts of the 104th trainee squad, and has a lean build. Her civilian clothes are just simple dark trousers and long sleeved shirt (presumably the same as the top she wears in the picture given, with her uniform), unlike the long skirt that other girls are shown wearing.
□ Abilities/Powers: Ymir, apart from possessing sufficient physical aptitude to be a soldier (which includes 3D Manoeuvre Gear, hand-to-hand combat and basic artillery skills) possess another unique ability - that of a Titan Shifter. This means that she is able to transform herself into a titan but maintain her human intelligence, and therefore is able to act with logic and specific purpose. This ability to shift is triggered by an injury that draws blood, probably self-inflicted as we see from examples given by Eren Jaeger and others as well as Ymir. Additionally, it was revealed that they need to have a solid goal in mind at the time of injury as well, in order to transform. Basically you must have a trigger and a strong will. Their human body is preserved at the nape of the titan's neck, precisely the same spot as a normal titan's 'weak spot', and they will emerge from this place upon exhaustion. Though Ymir has shown that they can also partially emerge at will and maintain their consciousness and carry out conversation while still partially controlling their titan form, it is unclear if this is a skill shared by the other titan shifters. Titan shifters also gain some abilities to regenerate, healing wounds faster and even growing back limbs after they'd been cut/devoured by titans. Ymir's titan form is approximately 7 metre tall (tiny compared to the rest of the titan shifters' forms that range from 14~60 metre), but the small and long-armed simian build enables her to have massive advantage in terms of speed and agility in combat. Additionally, Ymir's titan form has a lot of sharp, pointed teeth and long claws, both of which are useful in the sort of sharp, quick attacks that would put her at an advantage.
□ Personal Items:
-Her military uniform (grey v-neck shirt, white pants, boots, belts for 3D Manoeuvre Gear, tan jacket bearing the Scouting Legion crest at back, front and arms, green cloak bearing the Scouting Legion crest at the back)
-Her 3D Manoeuvre Gear (one set aka a pair of blade holders, 2x gas tanks, 2x holster for the blade handles. the holders hold six blades)
-Hairband (lacquered red/brown oval with some sort of clip to hold her hair back)
□ Name: Ymir
□ Journal: unwahr @ dreamwidth
□ Series: Attack on Titan
□ Canon point: Chapter 50
□ History: http://shingekinokyojin.wikia.com/wiki/Ymir#History ) She features more prominently in the manga than it does within the current anime of Attack on Titan. However, she was not given a canon explanation of her history, so a lot of it largely remains unknown.
□ Personality:
On the surface, Ymir is unsympathetic, callous, and more than a little tactless in her manner, which shows up in sharp contrast to the reactions of other characters. The earliest example of this is during the battle of Trost, where she does not show any sympathy or affection for Armin who is in a state of shock after seeing Eren and other members of his squad die - if anything she goes even further than that, calling him an incompetent burden who is needlessly alive while other, more competent people who might have been useful, are dead. In short, Ymir puts on a detached and disinterested attitude towards the stress and horrors that occur within the series and does not lose her head to any unnecessary emotions, which comes across as heartless on many occasions. Of course, some of the characters does not take much offence at this cold demeanour and simply refers to it as "bullshitting" - however, this passive and unconcerned air of hers does seem pretty out of place, compared to the obvious distress, grief and anger expressed by many of the others.
But this trait is not just hers alone - or rather, more specifically, this maturity of mind and ability to deal with the situation in the spur of the moment and not letting the emotions and stress gain the upper hand. In the beginning of the military training, she is ignored by the instructor in his drilling of the newbies. The reason for this is that she already has the "degree of self-denial" that is part of the "necessary qualities of a soldier" - a trait that, notably, she shares with the rest of the titan shifters. Similarly, she displays none of the distressed or conflicted emotions like the others when they volunteer to join the Survey Corps; it is interesting to see that Mikasa is the only other person who appears to be unfazed, as she joins the Corps for the sake of protecting Eren.
Ymir prefers to go directly to the point in stating the failures and faults that she sees in others, and does not mince her words in favour of being "nice". This is shown prominently in her interactions with Christa Renz, where it is shown that Ymir continuously and repeatedly points out the ulterior (and perhaps unconscious) motives behind Christa's actions in helping other people. When she aids Christa in helping to carry Sasha back to the bunks, Ymir states that her reason for helping is not because she wants to do the "right" thing, but to make Sasha feel like she is indebted to her so that she could exploit it. The admission is honest and direct without any frills or elaboration - and true to her word, later she is shown to use this influence to get Sasha to do her menial duty of water-drawing instead.
People being true and honest with themselves is a Big Thing with Ymir. Apart from her picking apart Christa's so-called "good deeds" as ultimately being derived of selfish need to be recognized as being "good" and not necessarily to help people without expectations, Ymir is seen confronting Sasha about hiding her village dialect from others and masking it by deliberately using unnecessarily polite language, to the point where she uses it even with her equals. Even in this occasion (where merely a simple admonition might have done the trick) Ymir intentionally pushes the boundaries of what Sasha is comfortable with, picking on her reason for becoming a soldier and hinting as much that she only joined for "pathetic and stupid" reasons, as well as basically reducing her identity into a few harshly-chosen words -- "(you know) nothing besides how to hunt and are afraid of the world and the people around (you)". This is, in reality, not too far from the truth as it is revealed in Sasha's own flashback later. It really doesn't seem necessary for her to deliberately hurt others like this -- however, behind the rough and insensitive words is Ymir's true intention, which is that Sasha should not hide her real self behind some mask for the sake of others and act according to her own nature and judgements without being constrained. She may not sugar-coat her words, preferring to be "blunt and inconsiderate", to quote Christa, but her advice is more than sincere.
With how outspoken and direct to the point she is in regards to others, and the importance she attaches to being honest, it is a little ironic to note how cagey and close-mouthed Ymir becomes when it comes down to her own motives and intentions for doing the things she does. Her skills in 3D Manoeuvre Gear was actually said to have been enough to get her into the top 10 candidates who could apply for the Military Police in the central district - however, she chose to give up her place to Christa instead, and also repeatedly urges her to join the Police in lieu of the Survey Corps. It is clear that whatever her ulterior motives are, it lay in Christa being safe and out of danger in the Inner Wall - but even when called out on this by Christa herself, Ymir chooses not to reveal her secrets, merely replying that while it does have to do with the secret of her family that Christa is keeping, it is "for her own sake" as well; basically, don't ask, don't tell.
The same thing happens when the trainees regroup together at Castle Utgard; when Connie talks about his village and the strange titan that he found in his house, we can see that Ymir is obviously affected by the news, and she apologises with what looks like a genuine concern on her face. But since it's Ymir we're talking about here, the compassion doesn't last for long - almost immediately after that, we see her laughing hysterically at Connie's comment about the titan resembling his mother, and proceeds to mock him and make sexual and insensitive jokes about his parents. This callous behaviour does have an effect of making Connie mad and induces him to drop the subject, which is probably her intention, as Reiner indicates as such later when he confronts Ymir. With this incident, we can assume that the way she deals with situations that are uncomfortable and/or potentially awkward for her is to "bullshit" and mock it in an attempt to lighten the mood or tension, and be brushed off by others as "just being her usual self" - that of an inconsiderate bitch. Or else, she pretends to know nothing or simply avoids the issue by saying off-hand comments such as "what are you talking about", and refuses to face the situations head-on.
Her relationship with Christa is a little complicated, to say the least - but it is undeniable that whatever it might be, it is one that is ultimately built out of mutual trust and affection. Throughout the series we are shown their interactions plenty of times - indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to say that if you see one, you should expect the other. Despite the harsh, almost unforgiving ways that Ymir points out Christa's shortcomings as a "good girl" and questions her motives for such acts, it is clear that Ymir cares for Christa in a way that is more than just casual flirting and off-handed comments such as "marry me". The biggest examples for this comes from the chapters dealing with Castle Utgard, when they are besieged by the titans invading the tower they are hiding in. Ymir pushes Christa back behind her when one of them breaks through their flimsy line of defence, obviously intending to protect her from the titans. Later on, it is a comical moment when she displays some jealousy over Christa tending to Reiner's wounds (by ripping her skirt up and using it as makeshift bandage) by claiming that she has a wound on her finger - this is shot down pretty quickly by Connie, who tells her to just spit on it and deal with it.
The most important thing about the relationship between Ymir and Christa is that Ymir is not deceived by this "good" girl who is called a goddess by many members of the trainees. She sees right through her actions, every act of good that Christa performs as what they really are, merely an excuse for Christa to be "seen" as a good person, and ultimately to convince herself that she is good using the established perception of others. In short, she is using people and the deaths and sacrifices that people make around her to convince herself that committing suicide is the right option, the easier option for her. For Ymir, who constantly stresses that one must live solely for themselves and not be influenced by the opinions of others, this aspect of Christa must be a particular and continuous annoyance, and true enough she makes herself and her annoyance of it felt every single time.
Not to mention she holds an important secret of Christa's ... that of her real identity. During her time before joining the military, Ymir was living by scavenging and "going around borrowing money" in the Inner Walls - and that is where she overheard some priests talking about Christa, as an illegitimate child of an important family, and how she was forced to change her name and volunteer to go into the military. Now, we don't know much about Ymir's past except for what she hints at during her conversations with Christa, but Ymir feels strongly for Christa's situation and therefore the girl herself because they both have gone through a similar experience; to borrow her words, it is a "second chance in life" that they both ended up here and joined the military. However, while Christa hid her real identity from others, Ymir kept her real name and continued to live as herself and left the past behind to start her life anew, as a form of revenge to those who have hated her and possibly contributed to her "death".
In a strange way, this firm, simple, non-compromising way of thinking suits Ymir; she is not an open door through which you could see what is behind - she is merely someone who shut the door and wiped the slate clean. The past is past and she cannot undo anything, and Ymir accepts that it is something that one must do without question. What she does instead is to not rely on something as unreliable and depressing as "fate" and simply resort to relying only on herself. Ymir does not reveal everything about her past but she is still herself, still true to her convictions and her creed, and she sticks to them no matter what. She does not reject her past at all, because that's what shaped her into who she is - and also because to change herself completely would mean "losing" in some way.
She can be straight and upfront when the situation calls for it, like when Bertolt and Reiner confronts her about eating their companion years ago while still in titan form - she apologises and admits that she cannot remember much of it, referring to those sixty-odd years as a titan as a "neverending nightmare". She is also logical and keeps her cool in stressful situations such as getting kidnapped by Reiner and Bertolt while still unconscious and waking up later in a forest of giant trees with her limbs half-regenerated; Ymir points out various drawbacks of trying to escape to Eren when he regains consciousness, telling him of the things that she had observed of their surroundings, and their general situation and lack of equipment or ways to conveniently escape from both those two titan shifters and the titans who are surrounding them. Later when Eren is threatening them, Ymir interrupts to tell him to stop saying "childish things", pointing out that the two titan shifters are mere "small fry" and brings his attention to the mysterious ape-like titan.
This is the first time we see her being so honest and open with someone other than Christa, and moreover, without acting emotionally agitated to prompt such a response. Even in this disadvantageous situation, her acerbic side shows through in verbally pushing Reiner to the limit, picking at the momentary gap in his mental defences in the shape of personality disassociation. That doesn't last for long though, as she is in a particularly difficult situation for having "stolen" the titan power from Bertolt and Reiner's people and therefore must be punished by them - and considering that she is currently their hostage and unable to escape, it is a pretty hopeless situation. So much so that when Reiner loses his temper Ymir backs down immediately, admitting that she "guess(es) (she) said too much" - even when Eren tries to question her more about the ape-like titan and the identity of the "enemy", a word from Reiner is enough to bring her to heel and fall back on her normal, flippant and vague answer of "who knows?" even though it is clear that she does indeed know. In the situation, she is in a difficult position of who to bet her money on - Eren's newer, more unreliable power as a titan shifter or Bertolt and Reiner.
This vague and secretive nature of hers that make it difficult for others to know what her true intentions are ends up posing a problem when she reveals herself to be a titan shifter, in order to save all of them from the titans that are now surrounding the tower. This happens again when she kidnaps Christa in turn and return to Reiner and Bertolt as per their agreement later, with the other trainees saying such things as "I never really thought she was on our side to begin with", and that they were "taken in by her". In short, All of them, to a degree, doubt her "loyalty" to the group and wonder which side she is on. Connie puts this the best into words, giving his reason as being that Ymir always looked disinterested no matter the situation, "like it never had anything to do with her at all", and that he could "never tell what she was thinking". This stoic air of detachment which goes undoubted and even respected in Mikasa's case is seen as a troubling sign of not being an ally of humankind in Ymir, even when she comes close to sacrificing herself by getting devoured by the titans to save them - because if she had wanted, "she could have easily escaped alone using that titan power" - or maybe it was just to save Christa.
As the story progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that whatever Ymir does to "save her own ass", a big part of why and how she acts the way she does is to keep Christa safe. She is willing to let go of the tower and fall to her probable and horrible death by getting eaten alive by the titans; she is willing to let herself be taken back to their "hometown" by Reiner and Bertolt even when her safety cannot be guaranteed because of the nature of her crime, just by Reiner claiming that there is a potential for them to save Christa. For a character who is mainly portrayed as self-serving and disinterested in others' business or affairs as Ymir, this is a very important distinction that marks her feelings towards Christa apart from all the others.
Her previously submissive attitude does a complete turn when she realises that Christa is probably among the search and rescue party sent after her and Eren; she verbally and physically threatens both Reiner and Bertolt even while being restrained and carried on Bertolt's back, pointing out that she has the advantage in the terrain in her titan form. Even when she knows that she hasn't got a lot of cards (if any) in her hands to persuade them into granting her wish, Ymir nevertheless tries her best to convince them, even if she has to resort to suicidal threats such as grabbing onto Bertolt and nearly causing them to fall, saying that she will "fight you guys here and get in your way" if they don't take Christa along with them right now.
Ymir is full of contradictions, for a character as fatalistically outspoken about everything in this universe. She admits that they might have something in common, then denies it vehemently. She berates the others' shortcomings and calls them names such as "stupid" and "blockhead", yet fragments of her actions and speeches show that she does care about them at least to a degree. She always looks disinterested like what is happening has got nothing to do with her, but when the situation is desperate, Ymir is willing even to sacrifice herself to save the others, almost meeting her end by getting devoured by the titans. While Connie says that the only one Ymir ever makes an effort for is Christa, it may not be true - behind her disinterested and cold facade, Ymir may perhaps care for those she admonishes and bullies the most. Every heated interactions and reactions by Ymir to those such as Connie and Sasha are ultimately to make them a little better, either emotionally in the case of Connie and his village or mentally as in the case of Sasha about being a soldier. It is not derived of simple one-dimensional need to mock and berate everyone - it is sincere advice given without grace or tact, medicine without any honey.
It is true what Christa says about Ymir - she is, despite her vague answers and veiled unfathomable actions, a "simple" person. No matter how she denies it and tries to cover up her thoughts and emotions by saying mean things and that this is all for her own sake, most of the things that Ymir actively participates in are situations that are crucial to Christa's survival or protection from harm. Time and again we see other characters using this weakness of hers for their own advantage, mainly Reiner and Bertolt who convinces her to be on their side for the sake of Christa. Despite her self-proclaimed motto of living just for herself and lecturing others to do so, she does not follow through with her own advice and instead throws her life away for the sake of Christa. She is both her weakness and her strength, and while the rest of her seems to be all mysteries and unconfirmed theories, her dedication for Christa is obvious, and this helps us to see through her actions.
□ Age: Unknown; physically appears to be 17 , but it has been stated that she spent at least sixty years previous to the start of the series wandering outside the walls in her titan form. therefore, her actual age is unknown beyond that it must be more than 65 years.
□ Gender: Female
□ Appearance: http://i.imgur.com/QH9uQBI.jpg : Her official anime art; her manga counterpart is much the same, (except for the lack of gratuitous lipgloss). She is fairly tall for a girl, standing at 172cm in the canonically-given height charts of the 104th trainee squad, and has a lean build. Her civilian clothes are just simple dark trousers and long sleeved shirt (presumably the same as the top she wears in the picture given, with her uniform), unlike the long skirt that other girls are shown wearing.
□ Abilities/Powers: Ymir, apart from possessing sufficient physical aptitude to be a soldier (which includes 3D Manoeuvre Gear, hand-to-hand combat and basic artillery skills) possess another unique ability - that of a Titan Shifter. This means that she is able to transform herself into a titan but maintain her human intelligence, and therefore is able to act with logic and specific purpose. This ability to shift is triggered by an injury that draws blood, probably self-inflicted as we see from examples given by Eren Jaeger and others as well as Ymir. Additionally, it was revealed that they need to have a solid goal in mind at the time of injury as well, in order to transform. Basically you must have a trigger and a strong will. Their human body is preserved at the nape of the titan's neck, precisely the same spot as a normal titan's 'weak spot', and they will emerge from this place upon exhaustion. Though Ymir has shown that they can also partially emerge at will and maintain their consciousness and carry out conversation while still partially controlling their titan form, it is unclear if this is a skill shared by the other titan shifters. Titan shifters also gain some abilities to regenerate, healing wounds faster and even growing back limbs after they'd been cut/devoured by titans. Ymir's titan form is approximately 7 metre tall (tiny compared to the rest of the titan shifters' forms that range from 14~60 metre), but the small and long-armed simian build enables her to have massive advantage in terms of speed and agility in combat. Additionally, Ymir's titan form has a lot of sharp, pointed teeth and long claws, both of which are useful in the sort of sharp, quick attacks that would put her at an advantage.
□ Personal Items:
-Her military uniform (grey v-neck shirt, white pants, boots, belts for 3D Manoeuvre Gear, tan jacket bearing the Scouting Legion crest at back, front and arms, green cloak bearing the Scouting Legion crest at the back)
-Her 3D Manoeuvre Gear (one set aka a pair of blade holders, 2x gas tanks, 2x holster for the blade handles. the holders hold six blades)
-Hairband (lacquered red/brown oval with some sort of clip to hold her hair back)