Manga → Anime · Direct adaptation

Attack on Titan (2013–2023)

Two studios, one nine-arc spine kept almost intact; the finale's extra runtime goes to an epilogue the manga only implies.

Source

Attack on Titan · Manga · 2009–2021 · 139 chapters, 34 collected volumes

Hajime Isayama (writer and artist)

Kodansha (serialized in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine)

Adaptation

Attack on Titan · Anime · 2013–2023 · 94 episodes across 4 seasons (89 counting the 2023 specials once each)

Tetsurō Araki (director, Seasons 1–3), Masashi Koizuka (co-director, Seasons 2–3), Yuichirō Hayashi (director, The Final Season), Hiroshi Seko (series composition)

Wit Studio (Seasons 1–3); MAPPA (The Final Season)

TrueToPage 87 · Attack on Titan (2013–2023 Broadcast series) · v0.2frozen inventorycatalog score

The anime aired across two studios — Wit Studio for Seasons 1–3, MAPPA for The Final Season — but was sold, marketed, and watched as one continuous series. This page treats it as a single adaptation node rather than splitting it by studio.

Season and part numbering is inconsistent across markets. What fans call 'Season 4' is officially 'The Final Season,' released in four parts; the last two parts first aired as hour-plus TV specials (March and November 2023) and were only later re-cut into episodes 88–94 for streaming. Total episode counts of 89 (specials counted once each) and 94 (specials split for streaming) both circulate; this record uses the 94-episode streaming count.

The anime's true finale (THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 2, November 2023) aired more than two years after the manga's last chapter (April 2021) and about a year after the final collected volume (October 2021). A reader who stopped at the manga has already seen an ending the anime had not yet caught up to.

Two Isayama-adjacent side stories — the Ilse's Notebook bonus chapter and the Lost Girls novellas — were never aired as TV episodes. They exist only as separate bundled OVAs and are not folded into this cut's coverage number.

Fidelity

Higher = more of the source is still true. Fidelity is not quality.

Plot structure88The nine-arc spine survives intact from Shiganshina's fall to the Rumbling, and every load-bearing causal link — Eren's Titan reveal, the Uprising coup, Erwin's sacrifice at Shiganshina, the Marley reveal, the Rumbling — lands in the same order it does on the page. The visible seams are sequencing choices, not rewrites: the 104th Training Corps flashback (manga chapters 15–18) is pulled forward into episodes 3–4, ahead of the Trost chapters (3–14) it is interleaved with on the page, and Ymir's Titan-shifter backstory surfaces earlier in the broadcast than its manga placement. Season-to-season pacing is uneven — Season 2 compresses roughly seventeen chapters into twelve episodes — but nothing plot-critical is dropped in the process.strong evidence

Character93All nine tracked leads and supporting characters keep their vocation, core relationships, and defining moral choices. Isayama's own instruction to leave Hange's gender unconfirmed is carried into the broadcast rather than resolved, and Reiner's manga-chapter-100 suicide attempt is animated without softening. The two documented misses both sit at the finale: Eren is denied any clear win over Annie on the page but 'slowly gets the upper hand' over her in the anime, and Armin's line thanking Eren for the Rumbling is reframed from conciliatory gratitude into explicit disapproval of genocide as a solution. Both are attested, localized changes rather than a redrawn character, which keeps the axis high without reaching a perfect score.partial evidenceN = 14 people

Dialogue & voice76Each character's diction and several iconic lines survive — Erwin's rallying speeches, Levi's clipped commands, Armin's analytical cadence — and Annie's manic laugh on exposure, sketched by Isayama but cut from the published manga, was reinserted in the anime specifically at his request rather than as a studio liberty. Against that, the finale rewrites voice-defining dialogue at a load-bearing moment: Armin's 'thank you' to Eren is changed from an ambiguous, partly conciliatory line about the Rumbling into an explicit rejection of genocide layered onto gratitude for a broadened worldview. That is a change to what a named character says, not just how a scene is paced, which keeps this axis in the 'notable misses, same work' band rather than higher.partial evidence

Theme & tone80The manga's central argument — that ending a cycle of violence with more violence does not obviously end it — survives into the anime's ending, including its deliberately unresolved final images. The anime does spell that argument out more bluntly than the page does: it adds an explicit anti-genocide line for Armin, extends Levi's and Mikasa's postwar grief into scenes with no manga source, and closes on an original time-skip coda (a boy and his dog finding Eren's tree in a world that has re-armed itself) that states the 'has anything really changed' thesis more literally than the manga's own closing pages. The thesis is preserved; how directly it is stated is not.partial evidence

Coverage94All 139 chapters across all nine arcs, from the Fall of Shiganshina through the Rumbling to the Chapter 139 epilogue, appear in the broadcast in some form, per independent chapter-by-chapter breakdowns of what each season and part adapts. The only manga-adjacent material left out of the TV run is the Ilse's Notebook bonus chapter and the Lost Girls spin-off novellas, both of which exist only as separate bundled OVAs rather than as TV episodes, so neither lowers this cut's number.strong evidence

Additions restraint90The series adds comparatively little on top of the manga's own beats: a recurring rage-triggered 'Berserker Titan' burst of strength for Eren with no named manga equivalent, some connective original scenes (Falco's dream of flight, an extended Eren–Mikasa cabin farewell), and, most visibly, a post-chapter-139 epilogue coda covering Levi's postwar life, Mikasa's full lifespan and burial, and the boy-and-dog time skip. None of these open a new plot thread of their own, and the largest addition is epilogue material Isayama says he helped write rather than an unsupervised studio invention, which is why this scores high rather than merely middling.partial evidence

Ending

Side by side, in our words.

On the page · Attack on Titan

Chapter 139, 'Toward the Tree on That Hill': Eren is dead and most of the world's Titan power is gone with him. The surviving alliance mourns and starts rebuilding under Historia and Armin's incoming leadership. Isayama's own extra pages after the chapter show a distant city being bombed, implying the peace may not hold.

On the screen · Attack on Titan

THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 2 (November 2023) plays out the same funeral, farewell, and rebuilding beats from chapter 139, then keeps going: it lingers on Levi's postwar life, follows Mikasa into old age and her burial beside Eren's tree, and closes on a boy and his dog finding that tree centuries later in a world that has rebuilt itself — and re-armed itself.

Same core event and the same 'has the cycle really ended' thesis, but the anime spends its extra runtime dramatizing an implication the manga only gestures at in its closing pages. Isayama has said he supplied some of that added material himself, including new dialogue for part of the finale's Armin–Eren conversation, rather than MAPPA inventing the coda unsupervised.

Mapping

17 rows. Every source unit, including the ones that never appear.

Source unit	What happens there	On screen	Notes	Tag	Evidence
Chapters 1–4 (Vol. 1) — Fall of Shiganshina	The Colossal Titan breaches Wall Maria at Shiganshina; Eren loses his mother and vows to wipe out every Titan.	Episodes 1–2	Kept in full and in order.	canon	strong
Chapters 15–18 (Vol. 4) — 104th Training Corps	A flashback to Eren, Mikasa, and Armin's three years of cadet training and graduation, interleaved on the page with the ongoing Trost fighting.	Episodes 3–4	Reordered: the anime pulls this flashback forward into episodes 3–4, ahead of the Trost episodes it is interwoven with in the manga, so new viewers meet the cadets' backstory before the siege resumes.	mixed	partial
Chapters 3–14 — Battle of Trost District	The 104th Corps' first battle: the Colossal and Armored Titans breach Trost, Eren is swallowed and re-emerges in Titan form, and a military tribunal debates his fate.	Episodes 5–13	Kept in full; resumes directly after the reordered training-corps episodes.	canon	strong
Chapters 19–34 (Vols. 5–8) — The Female Titan	Survey Corps expeditions beyond the walls are stalked by a Female Titan; Annie Leonhart is exposed as its pilot and encases herself in hardened crystal.	Episodes 14–25, continuing into Season 2	Kept. Annie's manic laugh on exposure — sketched by Isayama, cut from the manga — is restored here at his request.	mixed	strong
Chapters 35–50 (Vols. 9–12) — Clash of the Titans	The Beast Titan orchestrates the Utgard Castle assault; Reiner and Bertolt are exposed as the Armored and Colossal Titans and abduct Eren and Ymir.	Episodes 26–37 (Season 2)	Kept in full and in order.	canon	strong
Chapters 51–62 (Vols. 13–15) — Uprising	Erwin and the Survey Corps expose a conspiracy inside the Military Police and Interior, racing the Reiss family to the truth about the Founding Titan.	Episodes 38–44 (Season 3 Part 1)	Kept in sequence. The exact episode split against the following coronation row is our own division of the confirmed 38–49 Season 3 Part 1 block, not an independently sourced arc boundary.	canon	partial
Chapters 63–72 (Vols. 16–17) — Royal Government / Historia's coronation	Rod Reiss transforms into a mindless Titan and is put down; Historia accepts the crown and the Founding Titan bloodline claim.	Episodes 45–49 (Season 3 Part 1)	Kept. See the preceding row's note on the episode split.	canon	partial
Chapters 73–90 (Vols. 18–20) — Return to Shiganshina	The Survey Corps retakes Wall Maria and breaches Shiganshina; Erwin sacrifices the regiment's veterans so Levi can reach and kill the Beast Titan, and Eren recovers his father's basement key.	Episodes 50–59 (Season 3 Part 2)	Kept, including Erwin's death. Ymir's Titan-shifter backstory is surfaced earlier in this run than its manga placement.	mixed	partial
Ilse's Notebook: Notes from a Scout Regiment Member (bonus chapter, bundled with the Vol. 12 special edition)	A found-notebook interlude: a dead scout's journal records an encounter with a talking Titan.	omitted	Never part of any TV season. Adapted only as a standalone 2013 OVA bundled with the manga; a separate work, not a cut.		strong
Attack on Titan: Lost Girls (spin-off novellas, not the main 139-chapter manga)	Two prose side-stories exploring Mikasa's and Annie's interiority around the Female Titan arc.	omitted	Spin-off prose outside the 139-chapter manga, adapted only as a 2017–2018 OVA trilogy. Listed so the omission is visible; excluded from this edge's coverage.		strong
Chapters 91–114 (Vols. 22–24) — Marley, four-year time skip to the Liberio coup	A time-skip reveal that the story's Titan shifters have been Eldians of Marley all along, told through young Warrior candidates Gabi and Falco; Eren, Reiner, and the Warriors clash at Fort Slava and again at the Liberio Titan-inheritance ceremony, ending with Eren seizing the Founding Titan from Zeke.	Episodes 60–75 (The Final Season Part 1)	Kept. The anime adds a short original scene of Falco dreaming of flight and animates Reiner's chapter-100 suicide attempt in full rather than trimming it.	mixed	strong
Chapters 115–130 (Vols. 25–30) — War for Paradis	Willy Tybur's Liberio speech, Eren's coup against the Paradis government, the Yeagerist takeover, and Zeke and Eren's shared vision in the Paths that sets off the Rumbling.	Episodes 76–87 (The Final Season Part 2)	Kept in sequence, ending on Eren's Founding Titan activation.	canon	strong
Chapters 131–134 (Vol. 33) — The Rumbling advances	Wall Titans march on the mainland; the Survey Corps and allied Warriors regroup to stop Eren, and Hange holds off pursuers and dies so the others can fly ahead.	THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 1 (aired March 4, 2023; streamed as episodes 88–90)	Kept, including Hange's death.	canon	strong
Chapters 135–138 (Vol. 34) — the final battle	The alliance confronts Eren inside the Paths; Armin and Mikasa talk him down, and Mikasa kills him and carries his head from the battlefield.	THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 2 (aired November 4–5, 2023; streamed within episodes 91–94)	Kept. Isayama supplied new dialogue for part of the Armin–Eren Paths conversation used in this version, reframing Armin's line of thanks.	mixed	strong
Chapter 139 — Toward the Tree on That Hill	The epilogue chapter: Paradis buries its dead and begins rebuilding under Historia and Armin's incoming leadership, closing on an image that implies the Titans' cycle of violence may not be fully over.	THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 2, closing minutes	The chapter's own beats — the funeral, Historia and Armin's futures, the tree — are kept.	canon	strong
No manga equivalent (past chapter 139)	Anime-original: Levi distributing aid in Marley, Mikasa's remaining life and burial beside Eren's tree, and a closing time-skip to a boy and his dog finding the tree in a re-armed future.	THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 2, post-chapter-139 coda	Anime-original material added past the manga's ending, with Isayama credited for supplying some of it himself rather than the studio inventing it unsupervised.	filler	partial
No manga equivalent (Berserker Titan)	Anime-original: a rage-triggered burst of strength for Eren's Titan with no named manga mechanic.	Season 1 onward, recurring	A rage-triggered strength boost added on top of Eren's attested Titan powers, with no equivalent term or mechanic in the manga.	filler	partial

Change log

The argument. The mapping above is the evidence.

Reordered
The 104th Training Corps flashback is moved to episodes 3–4, ahead of the Trost fighting it is interwoven with on the page.
Chapters 15–18 → Episodes 3–4
Restructures the audience's first exposure to the main cast, trading the manga's in-media-res-then-flashback structure for a linear one.
Attribution: unknown / production decision
Reordered
Ymir's Titan-shifter backstory surfaces earlier in the Season 3 Part 2 broadcast than its manga chapter placement.
Ymir backstory chapters, placed later in the manga → Season 3 Part 2 episodes
Changes when the audience learns Ymir's motive, softening a later reveal into earlier sympathy.
Attribution: unknown / production decision
Invented
Annie's manic laugh on being exposed as the Female Titan, sketched by Isayama but cut from the published manga, was restored for the anime.
Unused manga sketch, per Isayama → Female Titan exposure sequence, Season 1 into Season 2
An author-approved restoration rather than a studio invention; it turns Annie's exposure from ambiguous into overtly unsettling.
Attribution: Hajime Isayama
Kept, unflinching
Reiner's suicide attempt in Marley, gun raised to his own mouth, is animated in full rather than softened or implied.
Chapter 100 → The Final Season Part 1, Episode 3 ('The Door of Hope')
A softer adaptation could have cut or only implied this beat; the anime keeps it explicit.
Attribution: unknown / production decision
Tonal shift
Armin's 'thank you' to Eren after the Rumbling is reframed from gratitude that reads as conciliatory toward the genocide itself into gratitude for a broadened worldview plus an explicit line rejecting genocide as a solution.
Chapter 139 dialogue → THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 2
Softens a reading many manga readers found troubling, without changing the plot outcome of Eren's death.
Attribution: Credited by the director to new material Isayama supplied for the special.
Invented
The finale adds a post-chapter-139 epilogue: Levi, now using a wheelchair, distributing aid in Marley; an extended coda on Mikasa's remaining lifespan and burial beside Eren's tree; and a closing time-skip shot of a boy and his dog finding the tree in a re-armed future.
No direct equivalent past chapter 139's own extra pages → THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 2, closing minutes
Extends the manga's already-ambiguous 'has the cycle really ended' thesis into an explicit visual coda.
Attribution: Hajime Isayama, per his November 2023 statement, working with MAPPA
Condensed
Season 2's twelve episodes compress roughly seventeen manga chapters (34–50) covering the Beast Titan's Utgard Castle attack and the Armored/Colossal reveal.
Chapters 34–50 → Episodes 26–37
Trims connective material without cutting a plot-critical beat.
Attribution: unknown / production decision
Omitted
Ilse's Notebook and Attack on Titan: Lost Girls, both official Isayama-adjacent side stories, are excluded from the TV broadcast and exist only as separate bundled OVAs.
Ilse's Notebook bonus chapter; Lost Girls novellas → Not present in any TV season
A viewer following only the broadcast series never sees this material; it is not folded into a mapped episode.
Attribution: unknown / production decision
Merged
The tail end of the Royal Government fallout is folded directly into the start of the Return to Shiganshina push rather than pausing between them at the volume break.
Chapters approximately 70–73 → Episodes 49–50
Keeps momentum across what was a natural volume break on the page.
Attribution: unknown / production decision
Tonal shift
MAPPA's Final Season uses a colder, more subdued color palette and pacing than Wit Studio's earlier seasons, especially from the Marley arc onward.
n/a — a visual and production register shift, not tied to one chapter → The Final Season, all parts
A studio-level tonal choice layered on top of an otherwise chapter-faithful adaptation.
Attribution: unknown / production decision
Invented
A rage-triggered 'Berserker Titan' burst of strength for Eren recurs across the anime without a named equivalent mechanic in the manga.
No manga equivalent → Introduced Season 1, recurs in later seasons
A visual and mechanical addition on top of Eren's attested powers, counted against additions_restraint rather than against any character trait, since the manga is simply silent on it.
Attribution: unknown / production decision

People

Trait score = attested traits kept ÷ attested traits shown. Unstated traits are not rows.

Eren YeagerleadAltered13/16 attested traits kept81

Isayama has said anime-Eren, especially Kaji's performance, diverged from 'his' Eren and that he treats them as different versions (ANN, Anime NYC 2022). He also said Kaji's more 'good guy' Eren forced him to steer the manga so the later turn would still convince. Finale: anime Eren is more openly pathetic/self-accusing than manga Eren (CBR).

Appearance	Dark-haired boy of Shiganshina; later adult with longer hair, missing left leg after Liberio, later missing left eye.Ch. 1; Ch. 105; Ch. 130	preservedstrong
Identity	Eren Yeager, son of Grisha and Carla; Subject of Ymir / Eldian of Paradis.Ch. 1–2; Ch. 85–87	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Shifts into the Attack Titan after eating his father.Ch. 10–14; Ch. 62	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Holds the Founding Titan (Coordinate) and later the War Hammer Titan.Ch. 50; Ch. 101–104	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Bound by the Curse of Ymir (~13 years after inheriting a Titan).Ch. 88	preservedstrong
Personality	Early: loud, angry, wants Titans gone and the world beyond the Walls.Ch. 1–2	preservedstrong
Personality	Later: colder, secretive, isolates friends to carry a hidden plan.Ch. 106–123	preservedstrong
Moral code	Chooses the Rumbling over Zeke's sterilization or Paradis's destruction.Ch. 122–123	preservedstrong
Relationships	Childhood trio with Mikasa and Armin.Ch. 1	preservedstrong
Relationships	Half-brother of Zeke Yeager.Ch. 93; Ch. 107	preservedstrong
Vocation / role	104th graduate; Survey Corps soldier; later the Yeagerists' center.Ch. 18; Ch. 107–112	preservedstrong
Voice	Written speech moves from shouted idealism to clipped late-arc talk.Ch. 1 vs Ch. 112	alteredstrong
Arc	Vengeance-child to Rumbling initiator to death that ends Titan power.Ch. 1–139	preservedstrong
Plot function	Protagonist whose death stops the Rumbling and recasts his friends as heroes.Ch. 138–139	preservedstrong
Appearance	Stohess Attack Titan is the usual muscular humanoid under strain, not a distinct flaming body.Ch. 32–33	alteredstrong
Voice	Final Paths talk states the 80% plan, feelings about Mikasa, and refusal to stop.Ch. 139	alteredstrong

Mikasa AckermanleadAltered10/11 attested traits kept91

Lost Girls OAD gives her an extra 'Lost in the Cruel World' what-if that is not in the main TV spine. Scarf motif and final killing blow match the manga.

Appearance	Black hair; scarf from Eren; of the Asian clan inside the Walls.Ch. 1; Ch. 6; Ch. 107	preservedstrong
Identity	Mikasa Ackerman; Ackerman bloodline.Ch. 6; Ch. 107	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Ackerman combat ability; elite ODM fighter.Ch. 6; Survey Corps battles	preservedstrong
Personality	Reserved, hyper-protective of Eren after her parents' murder.Ch. 6	preservedstrong
Moral code	Loves Eren and still beheads him to stop the Rumbling.Ch. 138	preservedstrong
Relationships	Adopted into the Yeager house; bond with Eren and Armin.Ch. 1; Ch. 6	preservedstrong
Vocation / role	Top 104th graduate; Survey Corps soldier.Ch. 18	preservedstrong
Voice	Few words except when Eren is threatened.throughout	preservedpartial
Arc	Devotion, then killing Eren, then a long life visiting the grave (Vol. 34 extras).Ch. 6; 138–139; Vol. 34 extras	preservedstrong
Plot function	The person who kills Eren and ends the Titan curse.Ch. 138	preservedstrong
Relationships	Final farewell with Eren is relatively extended on the page.Ch. 138–139	alteredpartial

Armin ArlertleadAltered10/11 attested traits kept91

Manga Ch. 139 has Armin thank Eren for becoming a mass murderer for their sake — a line that drew backlash. Anime Armin is shocked/angry at the 80% figure, thanks Eren for the world beyond the walls, and shares blame. Same plot job, different moral diction.

Appearance	Slight blond; least imposing of the trio.Ch. 1	preservedstrong
Identity	Armin Arlert; childhood friend of Eren and Mikasa.Ch. 1	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Inherits Colossal Titan by eating Bertholdt after serum revival.Ch. 83–84	preservedstrong
Personality	Timid/bookish, then the group's strategist.Ch. 1; Ch. 11	preservedstrong
Moral code	Prefers plans to slaughter; still joins raids and the final battle.Liberio Ch. 100–105	preservedstrong
Moral code	In Paths, thanks Eren for becoming a mass killer for their sake.Ch. 139	alteredstrong
Relationships	Eren's closest male friend; commander after Hange.Ch. 1; Ch. 132	preservedstrong
Vocation / role	Survey Corps soldier, then 15th commander.Ch. 21; Ch. 132	preservedstrong
Voice	Analytical; talks Eren down in Trost.Ch. 13–14	preservedstrong
Arc	Weakest trainee to Colossal Titan and commander who helps stop the Rumbling.Ch. 15–84; 132–139	preservedstrong
Plot function	Paths interlocutor; public hero who takes credit for killing Eren.Ch. 139	preservedstrong

Levi AckermansupportingSame10/10 attested traits kept100

Backstory is in the No Regrets spin-off/OAD, not the main manga serial (main manga gives Kenny/underground in Uprising). Postwar staging in the anime finale differs (aid/farm vs manga city walk). Isayama asked the anime team to improve ODM design, then felt bad about how hard that request was (ANN 2022).

Appearance	Short adult, undercut, often cleaning.Ch. 10	preservedstrong
Identity	Levi Ackerman; Kenny's nephew; called humanity's strongest inside the Walls.Ch. 10; Ch. 69	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Peak Ackerman combat; kills Titans and later Zeke.Ch. 81; Ch. 137	preservedstrong
Personality	Blunt; violent toward allies when needed (court beating of Eren).Ch. 19	preservedstrong
Moral code	Uses the one serum on Armin, letting Erwin die.Ch. 83–84	preservedstrong
Relationships	Erwin's captain; later Zeke's captor; Eren's squad leader.Ch. 21; Ch. 107	preservedstrong
Vocation / role	Survey Corps Special Operations Squad captain.Ch. 20–21	preservedstrong
Voice	Flat, insulting, short sentences.throughout	preservedpartial
Arc	Eren's handler to the soldier who kills Zeke and survives injured.Ch. 21; 137–139	preservedstrong
Plot function	Kills Zeke, cutting the Rumbling's royal-blood link.Ch. 137	preservedstrong

Historia Reiss (Krista Lenz)supportingAltered8/11 attested traits kept73

Uprising's Historia/Rod cave is in the restructured S3P1. CBR: manga ending speech leans 'maybe Eren was right that the fight continues until one side is gone'; anime: 'this isn't the life he wished for us.'

Appearance	Small blond; Krista cadet look; later queen.Ch. 16–17; Ch. 70	preservedstrong
Identity	Historia Reiss, Rod's illegitimate daughter; alias Krista Lenz.Ch. 40; Ch. 52	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Royal blood required to fully use the Founding Titan; she does not become a Titan.Ch. 62–66	preservedstrong
Personality	Krista 'kind girl' act versus a self-directed Historia.Ch. 40–41; Ch. 66	alteredstrong
Moral code	Refuses to eat Eren / rejects the First King's vow of non-resistance.Ch. 66	preservedstrong
Relationships	Close to Ymir; daughter of Rod; queen working with the military.Ch. 40–50; Ch. 70	preservedstrong
Vocation / role	Crowned after killing Titan-form Rod.Ch. 69–70	preservedstrong
Arc	Hidden child to queen; later pregnant, delaying the 50-year royal-Titan plan.Ch. 70; Ch. 107–108	preservedstrong
Plot function	Royal-blood key to Founding politics; public face after the coup.Ch. 54–70	preservedstrong
Appearance	Childhood isolation; grandparents' cruelty; children throw rocks.Royal Government backstory ~Ch. 52–56	omittedpartial
Voice	Closing speech leans toward Eren perhaps being right that conflict continues until one side is gone.Ch. 139	alteredpartial

Reiner BraunsupportingSame9/9 attested traits kept100

The Marley arc's Reiner-as-protagonist shift is the manga's own structural trick, which MAPPA follows rather than invents.

Appearance	Large blond soldier; Armored Titan is plated.Ch. 16; Ch. 42–43	preservedstrong
Identity	Reiner Braun of Liberio; Warrior with the Armored Titan; Gabi's cousin.Ch. 42; Ch. 91–94	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Armored Titan; hardening; later broken will.Ch. 42–45	preservedstrong
Personality	Split 'soldier' big-brother vs 'warrior' destroyer of Paradis.Ch. 42; Ch. 46–47	preservedstrong
Moral code	Guilt; suicide ideation; still fights, then joins the alliance against Eren.Ch. 93; Ch. 127–138	preservedstrong
Relationships	Warrior with Bertholdt and Annie; 104th surrogate brother.Ch. 42	preservedstrong
Vocation / role	Marley Warrior infiltrating the 104th and Survey Corps.Ch. 16–18; Ch. 42	preservedstrong
Arc	Infiltrator to broken veteran to alliance member.Ch. 42–138	preservedstrong
Plot function	Armored antagonist of S1–S3; Marley viewpoint in the final season (manga's own POV shift).Ch. 42; Ch. 91	preservedstrong

Hange ZoësupportingSame8/8 attested traits kept100

Japanese given name is gender-ambiguous; English manga later used they/them. Anime performance is female-voiced. Not a plot change.

Appearance	Bespectacled squad leader, later commander; eyepatch after Shiganshina.Ch. 20; Ch. 90+	preservedstrong
Identity	Hange Zoë; section commander then 14th commander. Japanese given name is gender-ambiguous.Ch. 20; Ch. 85	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Ordinary human scientist-soldier; dies holding Wall Titans.Ch. 132	preservedstrong
Personality	Obsessive curiosity about Titans.Ch. 20	preservedstrong
Moral code	Chooses to stop the Rumbling even at cost of Paradis deterrence.Ch. 126–132	preservedstrong
Vocation / role	Titan researcher; 14th commander after Erwin.Ch. 20; Ch. 85	preservedstrong
Arc	Eccentric researcher to commander who dies against the Rumbling.Ch. 20; Ch. 132	preservedstrong
Plot function	Science exposition and later moral counterweight to Eren.Clash–War	preservedstrong

Jean KirsteinsupportingSame6/6 attested traits kept100

Primary source for the 'anime 120/100' quote is the Jean interview in Gekkan Shingeki no Kyojin vol. 4 (fan translation by yusenki). Treat that interview as mid-S1-era praise, not a finale verdict.

Identity	Jean Kirstein of Trost; 104th cadet who joins the Survey Corps.Ch. 15–18	preservedstrong
Personality	Self-interested rival to Eren who still chooses the Scouts.Ch. 15–18	preservedstrong
Vocation / role	Survey Corps soldier; survives into the alliance.Return–finale	preservedstrong
Relationships	Rivalry/friendship with Eren; later leadership among survivors.Ch. 18; finale	preservedstrong
Arc	Coward-coded cadet to surviving officer.Ch. 15–139	preservedstrong
Plot function	Everyman of the 104th; Isayama's stated representative of ordinary humans (Gekkan vol. 4, fan translation).Gekkan SnK vol. 4 via yusenki; main serial	preservedstrong

Sasha BrauscameoSame4/4 attested traits kept100

English recast is a dub production fact, not a character change.

Identity	Sasha Braus of Dauper; 104th marksman.Ch. 15–18	preservedstrong
Personality	Food-obsessed; skilled hunter.Ch. 15–18; Clash	preservedstrong
Plot function	Killed by Gabi during the Liberio retreat.Ch. 105	preservedstrong
Arc	Comic relief cadet to casualty that binds Gabi to the 104th's losses.Ch. 105	preservedstrong

Annie LeonhartsupportingSame9/9 attested traits kept100

Lost Girls OADs expand her interiority off the main spine.

Appearance	Small blond fighter; Female Titan can crystallize.Ch. 23; Ch. 31–33	preservedstrong
Identity	Annie Leonhart; Marleyan Warrior with the Female Titan.Ch. 31–33; Ch. 96	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Female Titan; crystal stasis in Stohess for years.Ch. 31–33; Ch. 124	preservedstrong
Personality	Aloof; wants to finish the mission and see her father.Ch. 17; Ch. 31	preservedstrong
Moral code	Kills scouts on the 57th expedition; later joins the alliance.Ch. 22–30; Ch. 125+	preservedstrong
Relationships	Warrior with Reiner and Bertholdt; father in Marley.Ch. 31; Ch. 97	preservedstrong
Vocation / role	MP infiltrator after graduation.Ch. 18; Ch. 22–33	preservedstrong
Arc	Mission, exposure, crystal, reluctant ally.Ch. 22–33; 124–138	preservedstrong
Plot function	First named shifter antagonist after Eren.Ch. 23–33	preservedstrong

Zeke YeagersupportingSame9/9 attested traits kept100

Appearance	Bearded blond; Beast Titan is ape-like and throws.Ch. 35	preservedstrong
Identity	Zeke Yeager; son of Grisha and Dina; royal blood; Marley's Beast Warrior.Ch. 86–93	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Beast Titan; royal blood; scream that titanizes spiked Eldians.Ch. 35; Ch. 114–119	preservedstrong
Personality	Cynical chess-player hiding the euthanasia plan.Ch. 93; Ch. 114	preservedstrong
Moral code	Wants to sterilize Subjects of Ymir to end the curse.Ch. 114	preservedstrong
Relationships	Eren's half-brother; Levi's prisoner.Ch. 107–120	preservedstrong
Vocation / role	Marley Warrior; then co-conspirator then Paths opponent.Ch. 91–123	preservedstrong
Arc	Beast antagonist to euthanasia ideologue to death by Levi after Armin convinces him.Ch. 35; 114; 137	preservedstrong
Plot function	Royal-blood key; his death stops Founder control of the Rumbling.Ch. 120–137	preservedstrong

Ymir (Jaw Titan, 104th)cameoSame4/4 attested traits kept100

Not Ymir Fritz. Utgard reveal is S2, matching Clash of the Titans.

Identity	Ymir of the 104th (not Ymir Fritz); later revealed as Jaw Titan.Ch. 40–41	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Jaw Titan shifter.Utgard Ch. 40	preservedstrong
Relationships	Protective of Historia; leaves with Reiner/Bertholdt.Ch. 50	preservedstrong
Plot function	Utgard reveal; later eaten so Porco inherits Jaw (off-screen relative to 104th).Ch. 40; later Marley	preservedstrong

Erwin SmithsupportingAltered7/9 attested traits kept78

Appearance	Tall blond commander; later missing an arm.Ch. 18; Ch. 28	preservedstrong
Identity	Erwin Smith, 13th commander of the Survey Corps.Ch. 18–21	preservedstrong
Body / ability	Ordinary human; loses an arm to the Female Titan; dies at Shiganshina.Ch. 28; Ch. 80–84	preservedstrong
Personality	Charismatic gambler hiding a basement obsession.Ch. 72; Ch. 80–84	preservedstrong
Moral code	Willing to send soldiers, including himself, to die for a bet on knowledge.Ch. 80–84	preservedstrong
Vocation / role	Survey Corps commander until death.Ch. 21–84	preservedstrong
Arc	Titan-hunter to coup architect to suicide charge.Ch. 51–84	preservedstrong
Plot function	Political brain of Uprising; sacrificial leader of Return to Shiganshina.Ch. 51–84	alteredstrong
Voice	Speeches that move soldiers and, in the manga, help move civilians against the crown.Royal Government	alteredpartial

Gabi Braun / Falco GricecameoSame4/4 attested traits kept100

Isayama has said Gabi was inspired by Arya Stark and Falco by Jesse Pinkman (ANN 2022) — a creation note, not an adaptation change.

Identity	Warrior candidates in Liberio; Gabi is Reiner's cousin.Ch. 91–94	preservedstrong
Plot function	Gabi kills Sasha; Falco inherits Jaw; both survive.Ch. 105; later War	preservedstrong
Arc	Enemy children who become part of the alliance generation.Marley–finale	preservedstrong
Relationships	Gabi/Falco pair; Gabi's hatred of 'island devils' then reversal.Ch. 91–125	preservedstrong

Creator stance

Time-stamped. Co-creators are never collapsed.

Hajime Isayama

writer and artist of the source manga

November 1, 2023

Participating adapter

Ahead of the finale special, Isayama thanked fans and MAPPA, said that at his own request he got to draw some of the rough pages used near the end of the anime, and apologized to the studio for how hard he knew the climax was to adapt.

About:fidelityqualitysource ↗

Hajime Isayama

writer and artist of the source manga

2011–2014, ongoing policy

Consulted, mixed

Isayama declined in a 2011 reader Q&A to state Hange's gender ('better if I don't say either way'), and Kodansha's own Tumblr later said he instructed the publisher to avoid gendered pronouns for the character or use both with equal frequency.

A design/identity instruction rather than a complaint about the anime; the broadcast carries the same ambiguity forward.

About:fidelitysource ↗

Tetsurō Araki

director, Seasons 1–3 (Wit Studio)

2023 interview, reflecting on his Seasons 1–3 work

Participating adapter

Araki describes his approach as communicating his own impressions as a reader rather than reproducing the manga line for line, while trying to keep its mix of horror and dark comedy intact.

About:fidelityqualitysource ↗

Yuichirō Hayashi

director, The Final Season (MAPPA)

November 1, 2023

Participating adapter

Hayashi credited the finale's quality to 'a new script from Isayama-sensei' alongside the cast's performances and the score, describing four years of production as a compilation of the staff's passion.

About:qualitysource ↗

George Wada

CEO, Wit Studio (produced Seasons 1–3)

August 2026

Consulted, mixed

Wada said the demands of the production, and the team's (including Araki's) wish to move on to original projects, drove Wit Studio's decision to hand the Final Season to MAPPA, and credited the two-studio combination with letting the TV series actually reach completion.

About:ownershipqualitysource ↗

No other adaptation of this source is catalogued.

Sources

Every score note points here. Wikipedia is a lead, not an authority.

productionAttack on Titan, Vol. 34 — Kinokuniya USA
Confirms Volume 34 as the manga's final collected volume.
referenceList of Attack on Titan chapters — Wikipedia
Chapter ranges per volume, used to build the mapping table; total of 139 chapters across 34 volumes.
referenceList of Attack on Titan episodes — Wikipedia
Per-season episode counts and air dates, and the redistribution of the two 2023 specials into streaming episodes 88–94.
secondaryAOT Manga Guide: Exact Chapters After Every Anime Season — MangaShed
Chapter range adapted by each season/part, used for the mapping table's chapter-to-episode correspondences.
productionAttack on Titan Producers Discuss Reason Behind Studio Change to MAPPA — Anime News Network
Producers' account of why the anime moved from Wit Studio to MAPPA for The Final Season.
secondary6 Years Later, WIT Studio CEO Breaks Silence on Handing Over Attack on Titan to MAPPA — ComicBook.com
Wit Studio CEO George Wada's statement on the studio handover.
primaryAttack on Titan Creator Hajime Isayama Addresses the Anime's Upcoming End — ComicBook.com
Isayama's November 1, 2023 statement about drawing rough pages for the finale and apologizing to MAPPA.
primaryAttack on Titan Director Breaks Silence on the Anime's Big Finale — ComicBook.com
Director Yuichiro Hayashi's finale statement referencing 'a new script from Isayama-sensei.'
primaryColors and cinematography in anime — Interview with Tetsuro Araki — fullfrontal.moe
Araki's stated approach to adapting the manga's tone.
secondaryAttack On Titan: 10 Things About The Female Titan Arc That Are Different In The Manga — CBR
Annie's laugh was cut from the manga and restored in the anime at Isayama's request.
secondaryAttack on Titan Creator on Character's Gender — The Mary Sue
Isayama and Kodansha's stance that Hange's gender is intentionally left unconfirmed.
secondaryAttack On Titan Just Shared Reiner's Darkest Moment — ComicBook.com
Reiner's suicide-attempt scene, manga chapter 100, and its adaptation into Season 4, Episode 3.
secondaryAttack On Titan Finale Includes Some Major Original Scenes — ComicBook.com
Anime-original epilogue material added beyond manga chapter 139.
secondaryAttack On Titan: 10 Differences Between The Anime And The Manga — CBR
The training-corps arc's linear reordering, Ymir's earlier reveal, and the anime-original Berserker Titan ability.
secondaryAttack On Titan: The Biggest Differences Between The Anime And The Manga Ending Explained — Looper
The specific rewrite of Armin's 'thank you' line to Eren in the anime finale versus the manga.

Record attack-on-titan-manga-to-anime · schema 0.2 · scoring 0.2-inventory · frozen seed inventory. Fidelity is not quality; the score is not a review.

Fidelity

Ending

Mapping

Change log

People

Creator stance

Other adaptations of the same source

Sources