Hange Zoe - Attack on Titan
Hange Zoe is a long standing member of the Survey Corps, being appointed as the 14th commander by Erwin Smith before his death in Chapter 57 of the manga. She also led the Fourth Squad of the Survey Corps in the past who played a significant part in The Female Titan Arc in the mission to capture the Female Titan
Hange is deeply active in the research on the Titan race and innovative scientific experiments. She shows huge interest for Eren Yeager after finding out he is able to transform into a Titan and plays a big role in gaining further knowledge on Titans and helping Eren understand his abilities as a Titan Shifter.
As the current commander of the Survey Corps, Hange has taken on the responsibilities previously operated by Erwin Smith such as the execution, planning and management of the Survey Corps.
Profile
- Name: Hange Zoe
- Japanese Name: ハンジ・ゾエ (Hanji Zoe)
- Gender: Female
- Height: 170cm
- Weight: 60kg
- Birthday: September 5th
Appearance
Hange is always wearing square glasses with an elastic band strapping the head, but outside missions she is wearing oval-shaped glasses. She is quite tall for a woman in the series, has brown eyes and hair which is medium-long length but is always tied up as a ponytail with bangs and is quite messy showing her busy personality. Most of the time, Hange is wearing the Scout Regiment uniform with a shirt underneath and the green regiment cloak overtop.
Suffering an eye injury in the Return to Shiganshina Arc from the explosion caused by Bertold Hoover who is the former holder of the Colossal Titan before Armin Arlelt, Hange now wears a black eye patch on her left eye.
Personality
Hange Zoe is known for her “Mad Scientist” like personality and is often portrayed as a Titan Freak. She is emotionally intense and energetic, often called out by Levi for her oddness. But at the same time she is able to make rational, quick and solid decisions in serious situations with her ability to keep level headed and calm, and is therefore why she was a suitable candidate to be the commander following Erwin.
Hange is a protagonist in the inventions and explanations of the unfolded mysteries throughout the series. With her intelligence and knowledge, she is able to solve complex problems and is great at masterminding a plan for the unit to carry out. But due to her being emotionally intense, she is very scary when she is angry. We can see this when she is trying to get Pastor Nick to spit out information by threatening to push him off Wall Sina where he is inches off falling down but she also shows her happy and cheerful nature when she is excited.
Hange was driven to curiosity for the Titans after seeing the abnormality of them after joining the Scout Regiment. Initially having hatred for the Titans, she later becomes extreme to Titan research showing compassion to the Titans at times. In episode 15 of the Attack on Titans anime, when the captured Titans named Sawney and Beane for experimentations were killed, Hange was brought to tears and had a meltdown with disappointment.
Activity
How Eren transforms into a Titan
Hange was the one to solve the mystery behind the ignition of Eren transforming into a Titan, Eren himself was not aware of what the trigger was in order for him to transform into a Titan. During her experiments on Eren she is unable to figure out the trigger for him to transform into a Titan for a while and the Special Operations Squad who is also with Hange and Eren did not have a solid trust for Eren, being on guard at all times and even ready to take out Eren at the drop of a coin. After Eren picked up a spoon with a wounded hand, his arm transformed into a Titan form, Hange who is full of excitement touches the transformed arm which then burns her. The rest of the squad is on alert and in position to guard themselves, Hange on the other hand is full of joy and excitement despite being burnt just by touching the arm. She concluded from seeing the spoon clutched by Eren’s Titan arm that Eren’s Titan form is triggered when he has a clear objective in mind. Which makes sense of his transformations prior to this experiment, previously he was able to transform with the clear objective of trying to protect Mikasa and Armin.
Abilities
Intelligence - The experience, mindset and ability Hange holds make her a veteran soldier within the Survey Corps. The intelligence Hange has to analyze and research Titans, with an immense drive for further knowledge brings her to become a huge asset for humanity, which is seen by the likes of Erwin Smith who appoints her as his successor.
Vertical Maneuvering equipment - With Hange’s long years of experience in the Survey Corps, she has total control over her maneuvering equipment, displaying superior technique when operating the equipment. She has no problem getting right up close to the Titans as she has a very impressive reaction time to dodge them with ease.
Voice actor
- Japanese anime: Romi Park
- English anime: Jessica Calvello