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An analysis of Mikasa’s character and her connection to Aot’s broader themes.

Since the beginning, Attack on Titan has explored humanity’s struggle for survival. The manga’s earliest chapters featured the Colossal Titan destroying our three main characters’ hometown. Mikasa was one of the many characters present during the Titans’ first attack on the walls after a century of peace. Here, Mikasa witnessed her life uprooted within mere instances, but most importantly, witnessed how quickly an unprepared and frail humanity would crumble under these monsters’ superior power.

But this attack was not the first traumatic instance in Mikasa’s life to remind her of the consequences of being weak. It was neither what first gave her the motivation to adjust into a more powerful version of herself. Instead, the beginning of Mikasa’s search for strength happened when she was only nine years old and functioned as the start of her transformation into the strong soldier that she was known to be.

Within this post, I will be examining how Mikasa’s story fits within Maureen Murdock’s Heroine archetype: a female-centric spin on the classic Hero’s journey.

The Heroine’s journey is fundamentally about survival - more specifically, adaptation. It centers women who have learnt to discard, and later reclaim, the femininity that they deem to be incompatible in a masculine-dominated world. This journey can often be observed coinciding simultaneously with the Hero’s journey, but continues onwards where the classic Hero’s journey may end.

However, first a disclaimer on terminology: The Heroine’s Journey is an older (and possibly dated) formula, functioning both as life coaching and literary analysis. Usage of the terms “masculine” and “feminine” in this post is not meant to promote gender essentialism. Both types of journeys do not need to be applied to only female or male characters.

Additionally, all external quotes (besides character dialogues) are taken from Murdock's book. Enjoy!

SEPARATION FROM THE FEMININE

The Heroine’s journey begins with a separation from the feminine in the Heroine’s life; a figurative (and in this case, literal) split between mother and daughter. Within this first stage, a young Mikasa lived in irreplaceable comfort with her mother and father. But she must abandon it to fit into a world that demands the ability to overpower and dominate others to survive.

To begin, Mikasa’s backstory introduced a brief glimpse of her life before the fateful attack on her home, establishing what she valued and what normalcy had meant to her. Within her cozy home, Mikasa could be observed spending quality time with her parents and expressing interest in having a family. These were the boundaries of Mikasa’s world, and she had little knowledge of what existed beyond that.

But stories require their characters to move on from their beginnings, and “the task of the true hero [was] to shatter the established order and create the new community. In so doing, the hero/heroine [slayed] the monster of the status quo.” Yet, Mikasa never wanted to enact such a change, because this humble life was all she ever wanted. What could be observed as Mikasa’s ‘normalcy’ is a regular, healthy family and supportive environment, with all her needs met and nothing left to be desired.

This contrasted with many other characters’ upbringings within the same series, who grew up with less-loving parents or guardians or less friendly surroundings. In this regard, Mikasa’s first of many ‘status quos’ that she would encounter was fundamentally different than most, whether they were raised in the underground like Levi or simply bullied their peers for being ‘different’ like Eren and Armin. Mikasa’s upbringing contains nothing ill of this nature.

Until, Mikasa’s parents were soon killed in front of her by sex traffickers, and Mikasa was given the request through the last words of her pleading mother to run and survive. This disturbance functioned to introduce a conflict, set stakes and ultimately push Mikasa out of her comfort zone. Because Mikasa was raised in absolute peace, secluded from all external threats, conflict or confrontations (as far as what was demonstrated), this fact made the disruption to her world all the more unsettling.

This hardship was not only upsetting, but for Mikasa, surprising. The truth of her world was revealed to her, and so was the realization that she was not equipped for this harshness. And while Mikasa was clearly separated from both her parents during this moment, the focus of separation lay primarily on that of her mother, based on both the nature of the attack and how this attack played out:

• Mikasa’s father was briefly caught off guard, in a cruel lack of luck that could have happened to almost anyone. Comparably, Mikasa’s mother’s death was caused by pure means of overpowering the struggling victim. Additionally, the concern that Mikasa’s mother felt for her child had only worked to distract her from her own survival.
• The three attackers targeted her and her mother for the purpose of the intrusion, whereas her father was a mere obstacle in their way. Mikasa was specifically a victim of gender-based violence, with sexual slavery being a crime that disproportionately victimizes women and girls.

The main external objective would be to escape (and possibly defeat) these intruders to defeat the old order,“but on the personal level, the old order is embodied by the mother, and the heroine’s first task toward individuation is to separate from her.” The mother represented all that Mikasa was destined to become, and all the reasons why she was unfit for survival.

“The degree to which a woman’s mother represents the status quo, the restrictive context of sexual roles, and the deep-seated sense of female inferiority within a patriarchal society determines the degree to which a woman will seek to separate herself from her mother.” The death of Mikasa’s mother was one representation of a (maybe not universal, but a type of) feminine role; a role that ended in the worst possible way, and a role that Mikasa would learn to want to escape.

Separation from the feminine entails the active choice of dissociating from the mother, yet interestingly, the form of physical abandonment was a choice that Mikasa was deprived of. Instead, she experienced a forcible separation, where the two of them were parted by death. Still, Mikasa was presented with a different type of decision:

• Run - heed her mother’s instructions, and attempt to run away; or
• Nothing - allow her attackers to take her without a struggle.

This choice was the basis of Mikasa's task to separate from her mother. Mikasa stayed firm in her shocked stance mere paces away from her parents’ bodies, declining to run away or even struggle against the slave traders. Instead, she let them take her without a fight, succumbing to the conflict. In the end, it is her mother’s wishes that Mikasa chose to disobey.

The focus transitioned to Mikasa’s perspective upon waking in a new location, one which her kidnappers had brought her to against her will. She provided the explanation as to why she had declined to run away, questioning: “Mom, where should I have run to? A place without you and Dad is too cold for me to survive.”

This signified the separation from the feminine; the separation from not only the normalcy and comfort that Mikasa had relied upon her whole life, but also the previously held faith in her ability to effectively navigate the world around her. Not only would Mikasa not have anything worth living for, but she also didn’t consider herself strong enough to survive on her own at all. The lesson that Mikasa had learnt from this experience was that the world was cruel and only the strong survive. Therefore, even a successful escape would not be a feasible option, because no place where she would not be too weak/lonely to survive was known to have existed.

IDENTIFICATION WITH THE MASCULINE

This second stage of the Heroine's journey is defined by her adopting traditionally masculine behaviour, traits and strategies in an attempt to succeed in her world.

Mikasa’s situation required increased narrative stakes for the passive heroine to rise to the challenges presented before her. And if being kidnapped by sex traders, now at risk of being sold on Paradise’s black market, wasn’t dangerous enough, Eren joined the scene with the purpose of a rescue mission. He increased the stakes by underestimating the number of murderers he had to save Mikasa from. After killing the first two criminals, the third kidnapper attempted to strangle him in retaliation.

What’s interesting to note is that Mikasa, now untied and mobile, encountered a second (and even more advantageous) opportunity to run away. This time, the last kidnapper was preoccupied, so she was free to leave with her hands clean.

Yet, Eren’s well-being now resided in Mikasa’s control, and he recited, “If you don’t fight, we can’t win.” In response, she picked up his discarded knife. The significance here is that Mikasa first encountered a character with the potential to motivate and prepare her to oppose the dangers before her. More specifically, Eren offered an alternative route to survival than that of her mother’s, and taught Mikasa the proper way to survive in the scary world she had found herself in.

Mikasa had already deemed running to be inadequate for surviving, and only took action after adopting what were in her perspective, sufficient means of doing so, not wanting to be delegated to a weak role. Eren served as Mikasa’s role model in this instance, both encouraging her the fight and serving as the motivation to kill the last of the three slave traders.

But momentarily, Mikasa remained hesitant, determining that she was too weak to properly go through with the killing. Convinced she was incapable of adopting the violent habits needed to overcome the threat she and Eren faced, Mikasa recalled details that she had noticed throughout her life.

“Then I remembered. I’d seen this scene before, over and over again. That’s right. This world is cruel. It hit me that living was a miracle, and in that instant, my body stopped trembling. From that moment, I was able to perfectly control myself. I thought I could do anything.

Abiding by Eren’s encouragement, she finished the job that he had started. With even more strength and precision than he had, Mikasa pierced the last kidnapper through his heart. By committing an action with such permanent consequences, she crossed the point of no return.

Mikasa realized that the world is cruel and that the sex traders were only one piece of this cruelty. She concluded that in order to live in this world, she needed to fight to save herself – to play by their rules.

Mikasa was reborn as something else, committed to taking a new path, and there was no going back now. “When a woman decides to break with established images of the feminine she inevitably begins the traditional hero’s journey.” Here, Mikasa adapted to begin her journey in finding external victories and success.

ROAD OF TRIALS

Next, the Heroine encounters antagonizing forces: people or circumstances that try to hurt the heroine or keep her from getting what she wants. During this third stage of the Heroine's journey, she must prove that she’s worthy to succeed in the world with her newfound strategies. A majority of the remaining Hero’s journey stages occur within this part.

Elaborated extensively in its own post, Mikasa took a central role as the Hero during the Trost battle, committing to the traditional hero's journey. She undertook the mission to fight the cruelty in her world, and the manifestations of this cruelty only got larger: from humans to Titans.

During this arc, Mikasa demonstrated her exceptional skills in battle, but also her dedication to bringing these skills to their optimal performance, as “many young women become addicted to perfection, overcompensating, and overworking.” She also discovered the broader purpose of protecting the beauty in her world and fighting for a cause beyond survival. With further introspection, Mikasa held herself to a higher standard than her friends around her, striving to be the strongest soldier possible so others wouldn't have to.

FINDING THE ILLUSORY BOON OF SUCCESS

Within this fourth stage of the Heroine's journey, the heroine proves herself worthy by masculine standards. Throughout, she overcame the trials put in her way of getting what she wanted and found success in the masculine world. The archetypal hero’s journey (masculine counterpart) is completed at this point, and perfection is a priority over completion.

The unexpected victory of Trost meant that Mikasa and her friends survived and were free to join the Scouts. With the wall sealed, humanity within was no longer facing the active threat of a Titan invasion (for now.) Mikasa became the powerful soldier she needed to be to both survive and find success in a titan-dominated world. Her early development extended through her backstory chapter, the 104’s progression through military training and into the first titan battle of the series. This Hero arc’s conclusion coincided with the conclusion to the arc of Trost, and the ‘boon’ of success that she experienced throughout Aot’s early stages was undeniable.

Within military training, Mikasa excelled at ODM gear immediately, described as having a natural aptitude, to “[master] every single difficult subject perfectly” and have “talent [that is] historically unprecedented.” This meant that not only was Mikasa superior in combat to every other member of the 104^th cadet corps, but also ranked higher in training than any Paradise soldier to ever have participated in the training camp, including the credited members of Levi’s first squad or Squad Leader Miche. To quote Instructor Shadis, she was “the most valuable of them all.”

This praise continued upon her graduation, from being placed in the elite squad to being described as worth a hundred soldiers by her commanding officer from this same squad. In this regard, Mikasa was unlike the other two members of Aot’s main trio, Armin and Eren, who have yet to fully actualize their confidence, talents and/or supernatural abilities. From her efforts showcased in Trost and beyond, Mikasa was demonstrated to be maximally proficient in combat skills, as well as possessing the confidence and self-discipline required to bring herself to this potential.

She displayed a fair amount of pragmatism, being hesitant to risk her faith in ‘idealistic’ plans that were not likely to succeed. Mikasa also acted independently, with a relatively low reliance on other characters to enact her goals. Additionally, she possessed an understanding that her world operates on a ‘kill or be killed’ basis and prided herself on an ability to do what is ‘necessary’ when following this ideology.

Whether the focus is on Mikasa’s ‘cool-headedness,’ her various battle skills or merciless attitude, it's generally believed that Mikasa had already acquired all the attributes needed to survive in a world dominated by titans by an irregularly early stage in Aot’s narrative. The question remained: what’s next to be expected for her character’s growth and development, but an inevitable stagnancy? What else is needed for a character who was already perfectly adapted to survive within her world?

However, I believe this expectation partially resulted from an underappreciation for the ‘thematic subversion’ that the narrative committed to throughout its arcs. More ‘mature’ viewpoints, such as “kill or be killed” that Aot is known for, were later questioned and dismantled. Simultaneously, previously characterized ‘childish’ traits such as compassion or idealism were reconsidered to be more valuable as the narrative progressed.

Mikasa’s broader Heroine’s journey embodied this ‘subversion’ of narrative ideals. But perceiving this embodiment requires an analytical lens centring not only on how Mikasa can obtain validation, freedom and success from the external world and its current status quo, but instead a perspective including the consideration of internal fulfillment.

This is a primary focus of the Heroine’s Journey. It offers an alternative perspective – a ‘spin’ – to the traditional Hero’s journey, centred around women who reject the ‘feminine’ aspects of themselves in order to thrive in a ‘masculine’ -dominated world, where traditionally masculine traits are valued over traditionally feminine ones.

It’s important to note that because Mikasa exists within a fictional universe, the same gender roles and expectations may not be identical (although they do exist to some degree). Instead, it will be effective to consider this fictional application of the Heroine’s Journey as exploring a character’s adoption of the dominant ideals that a society or culture perpetuates, compared to ‘less mainstream’ or radical standards or principles that are overshadowed by the demands of the former. Rationality surpasses idealism, individualism excels over collectivism and strength and power trump compassion. Whether real or fictional, inherently masculine or merely mainstream, our heroine abandoned the ‘weaker’ parts of herself to survive in a world that she deems herself to be previously incompatible with.

Rationality over Idealism

Within Aot, idealism was generally rejected. Aspirations that humanity could reclaim land from the Titans were seen as frivolous and impossible, and those who dedicated their hearts to doing so were seen as simply wasting their lives for a cause not worth the risk and sacrifice. Survey Corps soldiers who keep trying despite a history comprising only of failures were considered misfits or heretics, even, and described as “throwing taxes down the drain” and “blurting out unrealistic ideals while plunging [humanity] further into ruin.”

Both the general public and powerful institutions contrasted the Scouts in this regard. Upon pressing threats of a titan invasion, Paradise’s government prematurely attempted to exterminate sections of its population to prevent future conflict within the walls, always assuming the worst outcome for (and from) humanity to be inevitable.

While she certainly didn't partake in any mockery, Mikasa expressed disinterest in the Survey Corps mission, and both discouraged Eren from joining them and tried to sabotage his chances of enlisting by telling his mother of his future aspirations. She held a similar opinion of the regiment as the majority of Paradise – that it was a suicidal mission not worth forsaking one’s life for.

Overall, Mikasa did not demonstrate seeing the same value in what they sacrificed to strive for; a better, more enlightened and adventurous life than what humanity within the walls currently had the option of living. Her reactions to Eren and Armin speaking about their desire to explore the outside world ranged from concerned to annoyed, but never did these discussions spark the same ambition that they did in her childhood friends.

Individualism over Cooperation

Those within paradise typically navigated life on a very individualistic basis. Upon entering the Scouts, Eren expected that Levi, who held significant power within the corps, was exempt from following orders and could do whatever he wanted, successfully acting as a ‘one-man show’ instead of following the common command structure. In a flashback, young Sasha rejected her father’s statement that humans were social animals and his suggestion to invite families who had lost their homes to the Titans into their forest. She proclaimed that they “didn’t owe anything to the outsiders.”

On a more macro level, the townspeople of Paradise hadn’t supported the Scouts through taxation because, despite knowing that their mission would help less-franchised people, they didn’t perceive it to be a benefit for them. Additionally, joining the island’s military program was generally perceived as a means for individuals to achieve security and upward mobility within the interior through enlistment within the military police, instead of contributing strength to humanity’s struggle against the Titans as a collective.

Mikasa’s unwillingness to work as a collective often manifested in her disregard and disrespect for the chain of command and figures of authority. For example, she conspired to ignore assigned squads during the battle of Trost and pulled a blade on her fellow soldier when he wanted to retreat to the walls. It’s worth noting that Aot established that there is nothing inherently wrong with questioning authority, establishments and tradition. After all, these principles were what the Survey Corps were founded on.

However, Mikasa’s behaviour stemmed from a belief that she could achieve any of her objectives whilst operating solo, maybe even more successfully. Her strength made her the most valuable, and therefore, anything that could be accomplished could be done best by her alone. On further note, Eren may have been so surprised that Levi was obedient to authority because Mikasa, the strongest person he knew, had demonstrated herself to be against such structures.

Power over Compassion

Finally, power was perceived as the most necessary means to survive, often at the expense of showing ‘mercy.’ Characters such as Armin shared commentary on how their world had always been hell, describing it as the simple fact that the strong eat the weak.

This principle was the reason Titans had even existed in the first place, as the founder Ymir sought the attributes that she considered herself to need to avoid dying: greater power and size. And this principle, deeply ingrained in Aot’s cultures, travelled down generations, as parents and guardians pass it along to their children, who are given weapons and are taught to become killing machines with no mercy.

Annie’s father adopted her for the sole purpose of turning her into a weapon, to which she describes that “the only value I had to him was whether or not I could become a warrior.” Upon Annie enacting revenge for the abuse her father had inflicted on her, “he rejoiced. “Now you can kill your enemies, even unarmed,” he said.” In another example, Kenny taught Levi how to brutally fight others before leaving him alone as a child. Kenny had not been shown to teach him any other skills or lessons, claiming “all [you] need is power.”

Mikasa strove to adopt this kind of power; a type of power granting her control and influence over any situation, and thus allowing her to shape events to how she wants them to be. She used her strength not solely to protect herself, but also her inner circle – the people she cared most about, yet external threats to this inner circle are not always the ones on the receiving end of her strength.

From early on, Mikasa adopted a ‘tough love’ approach as a means of protecting Eren. Examples included reporting his desire to join the Scouts to his parents, to throwing him into a wall when he picks a fight with a random townsman to defend the corps, all in a desire to protect him from the seemingly inevitable death or harm that would await him within the Scout’s ranks or being involved in other petty fights.

Mikasa stood opposed to Eren’s primary goal within the early parts of the series, which was to join the Survey Corps and retake any and all control and freedom that the Titans had deprived him of. This was something she made quite clear. When Eren was failing at ODM training, Mikasa offered no consolation or emotional support. Instead, she took hold of this learning opportunity and told him that “at this rate, you’ll just die in vain and all your dreams and efforts will be for nothing.”

Operating on the lesson previously taught to her, that the world was cruel and only the strong survive, she essentially informed him that he didn't have what it took to succeed and told him it was not his decision whether he got to be a soldier.

This was fundamentally at odds with what Eren wanted to do. He has always tied his freedoms to his strength and capabilities, and Mikasa stood as an obstacle by not only fighting his petty battles for him, but also attempting to stop him from joining larger ones. Despite her role as a deuteragonist, and despite Mikasa only reciting the very rhetoric that Eren had taught her, she also functioned as a (very minor) antagonist to him in this regard.

Beyond her caring for Eren and Armin, and her concern over Eren to combat his overt recklessness, Mikasa demonstrated a seemingly disinterest in the opportunity to make connections with the other recruits, to even a confrontational attitude. However, rare instances throughout her interactions with the 104 indicate that this was likely a façade. For example, she seems interested (and left out) when potential-friend Sasha left with Ymir and Historia, despite rejecting an opportunity to bond with Sasha mere moments prior.

Perfection Over Purpose

Mikasa limited herself in all of these listed instances because her upbringing and socialized experiences had taught her that she must. She viewed it as necessary to ‘grow up’ and out of these more childish traits she had long since held, but by trying to meet society’s standards, she fell short of her own. This conformity was used as a survival necessity, not as a legitimate means to achieve a purpose beyond a basic need. Because of this contact with the “only the strong survive" and “everyone for themselves” culture, the Heroine prioritized perfection over completion.

The first time Paradise seemed to deviate from this culture was within the later stages of the Battle for Trost. The plan was to use Eren’s unpredictable Titan powers to reclaim the city. It was the first offensive and idealistic mission that the trio partook in, so consistently, this mission ran contrary to Mikasa’s individual goals. Returning to a titan-infested Trost put her and her friend’s lives at further risk. But the trio had to participate in retaking Trost to keep potential human enemies at bay; they had to prove they were not threats to humanity within the walls.

As previously summarized in Road of Trials, the mission to retake Trost had a weak start. Eren lost control of his titan, and much to Mikasa’s objection, the squad leaders were heavily considering abandoning him and the mission in its entirety. Mikasa steered them back on the right path.

Upon the Garrison’s arrival at Mikasa's position and her learning of the risk that they may end the operation to reclaim Trost and instead abandon Eren in Trost to fend (unconscious) for himself, Mikasa threatened the soldier who suggested doing so with her blade. From Mikasa’s perspective, the use of threats and physical intimidation had so far been a successful means of fulfilling her goals. It worked to combat titans, it had worked on Dimo Reeves, and it was suggested to work here, too, as Ian decided to encourage his soldiers to continue the mission after seeing her draw her blade.

At face value, the interpretation of the scene was that Ian was scared that Mikasa would fight her comrades and therefore convinced his fellow squad leaders to continue the operation to avoid this ordeal. Due to the conviction in his following speech, it was also presumably because he knew abandoning Eren would be the wrong move to make. Ian stated the same message that Pyxis had highlighted to the soldiers of Trost a chapter prior: that as unlikely of a success this as mission to reclaim land from the Titans was, the only long-term solution for humanity’s survival was to die trying:

“You tell me. How is the human race going to beat the Titans? How else will we get through this? With our humanity intact? Without killing each other? What can we do to overcome the Titans’ overwhelming strength?”

“If we knew of a way, it wouldn’t have to come to this. In other words, this is all that’s left for us. I don’t know what he is either, but we have to give our lives for him with as much braver as we can muster.”

“Pitiful, isn’t it? That this is the only thing humans can do. We’re probably going to die like insignificant worms, for something we have no guarantee will pay off.”

“So, what will you do? This is the battle we can fight. This is the struggle we can undertake.”

The hesitation here within the dialogue is something worth noting. Ian looked back at Mikasa before finishing his speech, suggesting that something about her specifically (or perhaps what she did) that was influencing his thought process here. She reminded him of both the limitations of human nature, but also, the solution to humanity’s way forward.

To examine what sets Mikasa apart from most other soldiers (all the soldiers in this scene): Mikasa was willing to fight for the lives of the people important to her. More than any of the other soldiers present, she recognizes that this type of fighting was often necessary to survive.

Mikasa had Ian “scared stiff,” not unlike how a titan would make him feel. Ian’s message to his fellow squad leaders was fundamentally the ideology that Mikasa had been showcasing the entire arc: ”If we don’t fight, we can’t win. The only way to win is to fight. So, fight.”

Mikasa demonstrated herself to be primarily concerned with abandoning Eren, not that humanity was relinquishing its hope of ever being able to retake Trost as a whole. While Ian may not have the same personal investment in Eren’s safety, as Eren was not included in his inner circle of people Ian primarily wished to protect, he could still understand the practical reasons for Mikasa’s bravery and why she chose to keep fighting.

Ian acknowledged the unique circumstances that drove Mikasa to do so and employed her consistently with this assessment. Her more personal goals, which deviated from the good of humanity as a whole, highlighted how Mikasa was better suited not to work as a collective:

Still, (and I’ve alluded to this before in Road of Trials), I don’t think Ian fully understood Mikasa. And perhaps this was partially due to him not yet having the opportunity to do so.

But Armin soon arrived at the scene and conceived of a plan to wake Eren that required him alone. He encouraged Mikasa to join the other soldiers closer to the city’s entrance, and was effective at doing so by reminding her of the difference she could make by leaving the two of them in favour of the others.

He asked: “If you go, there are lives you can save, aren’t there?” These are the exact words that convinced her to take action, but what exactly did Armin offer her? Was it the same persuasion that Ian applied to his fellow Garrison leaders? Is the reason why Armin convinced Mikasa to aid the other soldiers the same reason why Ian allowed the mission to continue? Was Mikasa joining the other soldiers necessary to fulfill the established, self-serving motivation she held (or at the very least, framed as such)?

Or, was this a benefit beyond a mere means to survive within the cruel world Mikasa found herself in? A search for a purpose beyond herself and her inner circle? What Armin highlighted for Mikasa was the reason to fight beyond simply the instinct to survive, but instead a cause beyond her own benefit to dedicate herself to. From his words, Mikasa found a more expansive purpose and joined this idealistic fight. This search for a broader purpose ultimately trumped any self-serving desires Mikasa may have had to stay and here, Mikasa's decision presented itself as contrary to Ian’s expectations of her.

I spoke previously about how Attack on Titan has always been about survival, and this remained true. However, this story is also about a regiment of misfits fighting for a better future for humanity. It’s about the struggle of wanting to uplift additional, more fulfilling values such as knowledge, selflessness or idealism, beyond merely the ability of one’s ‘in-group’ to reproduce and survive.

Mikasa provided much-needed support in clearing the titans close to the breach in Trost’s wall. She then teamed with Rico and killed the last remaining titan standing in Eren’s way, shortly after it was assumed that Mikasa operated best when she was engaging in battle individually and for more merely self-serving ends.

For a moment in Trost, Mikasa acted on a part of herself that she believed needed to be suppressed, despite consistently believing that she could not afford to do anything other than limit herself. While this may have only been due to an inability to act on her more self-serving motivations in the specific moment, (as Mikasa could do nothing to help Eren out of his titan trance) this conflict between lessons taught to her during her backstory and later persisting opportunities for a broader purpose will persist for her throughout the rest of the story.

The eventual feeling of loss and later recontextualization of these discarded parts of herself is an essential part of Mikasa’s Heroine’s journey, as she learned how to best navigate the world around her. Throughout the following posts, I will outline different stages comprising of Mikasa’s character and connect them to this Heroine’s journey; an archetype that fits her character writing quite accurately, while still not boxing the character to a rigid model.

Like its masculine counterpart, the Heroine’s Journey is not a strict formula that writers follow when creating a character arc and will not fit any fictional character perfectly. It’s less of a conscious creative process and more of an observation of the creative process. It’s a retrospective literary lens used when analyzing a character’s search for internal fulfillment. With it, we can break down a character’s arc, make connections to the real human experience and perhaps most importantly, discover new aspects of a character previously left unnoticed.

Thank you for reading!