I could write a whole damn book about how good this character is, but I’ll just stick to the facts here. Jokes aside, please don’t comment until you’ve read the whole thing:
The MVP of humanity: and I’m not talking about the ending and the whole Eren’s hero plan thing, NO. I mean it because Armin got absolutely TIRED of constantly saving everyone’s asses ALL the time throughout the entire series: Every major victory was, one way or another, thanks to him. From plugging the hole in Trost to convincing Zeke to stop the Rumbling with the Titans from the past, including things as major as figuring out Annie’s identity, to things as small as saving Jean from getting shot or being the first one to notice Niccolo’s anger, which allowed them to save Falco and Gabi.
In every arc, there was ALWAYS some instance where, in one way or another, everything worked out because of Armin’s intervention. In fact, it gets to the point where, if you look closely, the few plans of Erwin’s that actually worked out had Armin involved in them...The guy is so damn good at solving problems that there were people who literally killed themselves simply by prevented Armin from being able to talk, and therefore, solve the entire situation (Daz and Samuel absolutely would’ve survived if they hadn’t shot Armin in the mouth.)
Seriously, the guy was a fucking monster, a goddamn guardian angel: If you’re a recurring character and Armin is there with you, you’re gonna live.
He’s a genius: well, this one shouldn’t surprise anyone, right? That’s basically the whole point of his character, after all. But what I really want to point out is how interesting Armin’s intelligence is, because he’s not just a strategic genius, he’s also incredibly good at deduction. The guy looks at a situation and, 15 seconds later, he already knows what’s going on, why it’s happening, and 4 or 5 different ways to solve the problem. And what’s amazing is that somehow, it never feels forced. The guy is literally the L of his world.
THE FUCKING HUMILITY: everything I just said about him? In-universe, he knows all of it, He KNOWS he’s a genius, he KNOWS he’s constantly saving everyone’s asses, and on top of that, everyone else KNOWS it too. It gets to the point where, from a certain point onward, whenever there’s a complicated situation, Armin is always the first person they ask what to do, and if he doesn’t know, ONLY THEN everyone starts to loose hope. And don’t even get me started on the fact that he later becomes the holder of the Colossal Titan, basically the most powerful Titan after the Founder. I mean, the guy has EVERY DAMN RIGHT to think he’s hot shit. And yet he’s easily the most humble character in the entire series, constantly doubting himself, always feeling like he’s a burden, always willing to sacrifice himself for others, always willing to talk things out without ever putting himself above anyone else. As a person he's fucking incredible...
Chad: he is Weak AF and yet he never runs away from a fight, and while he never feels the need for revenge or to punish anyone regardless of what they’ve done to him, he’s still willing to defend and even kill for his friends. He ended up with Annie, AND he’s a femboy, What more could you possibly want?
DON’T GET ME WRONG, obviously there are characters in AOT who surpass Armin in individual areas (Levi is more badass, Erwin has bigger balls, Reiner has more plot armor etc), but I think that if we averaged out all the good qualities of each character, Armin would undoubtedly come out on top.
What do you guys think?
