Conny Springer (Anime)

Conny Springer is a member of the Scout Regiment, ranking 8th among the 104th Cadet Corps.

	It's all over... my hometown.... It's gone forever.
— Conny laments for his hometown[4]

Conny Springer (コニー・スプリンガー Konī Supuringā^?) is a graduate of 104th Cadet Corps, he was ranked 8th out of the top 10.^[5] He is a member of the Scout Regiment.^[6]

Appearance

Human form

Conny used to be one of the shorter members of the Scout Regiment, standing two centimetres shorter than Levi Ackermann. He has a slim build, with bright hazel eyes, and his gray hair is distinctively kept shaved. Conny is typically dressed in standard military garb, and dons the Scout Regiment cape when on missions.

His casual attire consists of a simple long-sleeve white shirt and shin-length brown slacks.

By the year 854, Conny has grown significantly taller, now standing slightly above average height. His hair has grown slightly longer, but stays in the same general style, and his facial features have sharpened. During the Raid on Liberio, he wears a black uniform, with belts and support rods for his anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear.

Pure Titan form

After transforming into a Pure Titan, Conny's Pure Titan grew tall enough to reach and attack the Armored Titan's head. It lacked proper flesh on its cheekbones, exposing its teeth. It lacked an upper lip or skin above it, exposing its gums up to its nose. It otherwise retained most of its human features.

Personality

Conny can be best described as outgoing and impetuous. He has an easy time expressing his opinions, and enjoys flaunting his skills, especially during his days as a cadet.^[7] Despite being in the military, Conny starts off as rather unfocused and enjoys goofing around and messing with his friends, but can also be a bit dense at times.^[5]

Later, Conny's naive enthusiasm falls away after multiple close encounters with the Titans. He never becomes more serious, though to his frustration, he still has some difficulty comprehending new developments as they appear. Conny also comes to terms with his own limits, disliking his lack of power, but eager to prove his worth. For a long time, Conny remained optimistic, consistently caring for the well-being of his friends, family and village, and being willing to help in any way he can.

However, this soft spot and the tragedies he goes through takes a toll on him. Initially reacting to those situations with denial, alarm and search for negotiation with those he was betrayed by, he becomes with each new grief more prompt to anger, irritation and hatred, losing his optimism and gaining in readiness to act against his opponents in order to protect the few selected friends he considers to be family.^[8]

His mother's transformation into a Titan appears to have had a big effect on his psyche, and combined with all of the tragedies and betrayals he witnessed and went through caused him to take drastic measures to ensure she became human again: this was primarily seen when Conny suggested feeding Falco to his mother.^[9] He left his friends and took Falco to his village, lying to him about taking him to a hospital and abusing his trust.^[10] This reached the breaking point when Conny tricked Falco into brushing his mother's teeth, with the intention of pushing him into his mother's mouth, and when Armin and Gabi arrived to stop him, he held a blade to Falco's neck. However, when Armin chose to jump into Mrs. Springer's mouth and allow himself to be eaten, Conny saved him at the last second, coming to the realization that his mother wanted him to be a good soldier, and knowing that having eaten Armin would just make her sad.^[8]

Story

Humanity's Comeback arc

Conny signs up as a new recruit in the 104th Cadet Corps with the goal of eventually joining the Military Police Regiment. His entry into the military is a clumsy one, and he winds up getting the military's salute wrong on the first day.^[7]

Later that day, Conny joins his fellow cadets in watching Sasha Braus complete her punishment for eating during initiation. After learning that Eren Jaeger is from Shiganshina District, he joins the other cadets in questioning Eren about his first-hand experiences with Titans.

During his omni-directional mobility gear training, Conny proves to be adept, and is one of the first people Eren asks for advice on how to operate it. Conny proves to be of no help, claiming that he is just naturally talented.

Like many of his fellow cadets, Conny gradually begins to slack off during training exercises that will not go towards helping him graduate in the top 10. However, after witnessing Eren thoroughly best Jean Kirschtein during a physical confrontation thanks to his training, Conny begins taking his training seriously as well.

For the remainder of his training, Conny can be seen practicing using ODM gear, which he is particularly proficient in, as well as messing with his fellow recruits, or goofing around with Sasha, whom he becomes fast friends with.^[7]

Distress

In the year 848, the 104th Cadet Corps is given a wilderness exercise, Conny is assigned to Marco Bodt's group. Later that night a group of thieves ambush and steal their omni-directional mobility gear, before taking Christa Lenz hostage. The group devises a plan to rescue Christa and get back the omni-directional mobility gear, Conny helps bring down the tree to prevent the thieves from taking the widest road. The group successfully rescues Christa and reacquires their omni-directional mobility gear.

A Sudden Visitor: The Torturous Curse of Adolescence

In the year 849, the 104th Cadet Corps head to Trost District for a Titan invasion drill. Conny states that he has never been in a walled city before, and Sasha Braus mentions that there are all sorts of tasty things here. Hearing this, Jean Kirschtein mocks Conny and Sasha for their comments.

During the drill, Jean has his Titan kill credit stolen by Conny, Sasha, and Reiner Braun. Afterwards, Jean accuses Conny and Sasha of cheating. Jean then insults Sasha by calling her Potato Girl, to which Conny tells Jean to apologize at once. When Jean challenges them to a fight, Commander Pyxis intervenes, telling them to settle the score in the kitchen. He announces a cooking competition between Jean and Sasha, with the winner determined by himself as the judge.

Conny and Reiner elect to help Sasha in the cooking competition, and agree to aid her in hunting down the colossal boar living in the woods outside of Trost. Their team finds the boar before the team that Jean assembles, and kill it so that its meat can be used in Sasha's dish.

The Struggle for Trost arc

Conny graduates ranked 8th among the 104th Cadet Corps. Afterwards, Eren and Jean get into a fight over Eren's decision to join the Scout Regiment and Jean's decision to join the Military Police. Eren's passionate words in favor of the Scout Regiment during the altercation inspire Conny to consider joining the regiment himself.

The following day, he is assigned to the same team as Eren and is sent to clean the cannons mounted along to the top of Wall Rose in Trost District. As they are cleaning, Conny reveals his intent to join the Scout Regiment, although he insists that Eren's words had nothing to do with the decision. Sasha arrives with meat that she has stolen from the officers' lounge, and although Conny insists that she return it, the squad is eventually convinced to partake.

Hopeful of the future, the group return to cleaning and repairing the cannons only to be stopped by the sudden appearance of the Colossal Titan. Taken by surprise, the entire group are blown from the Wall by a powerful wave of steam.

During the ensuing battle, he and his squad discover a catatonic Armin Arlelt, and try to question him about what happened to his squad. When Armin is unresponsive, Ymir suggests simply leaving him, leading to a heated argument between her and Conny, which Christa has to break up. Conny tries again to snap Armin out of his stupor, but Armin ignores him and departs to join the rear guard, and Conny's squad begins to advance toward the front.

Joining the front lines, Conny is among the cadets that are left stranded in the middle of Trost, low on gas, but unable to reach the Titan-infested headquarters to resupply. Conny suggests making a last ditch effort to break into the headquarters, as they are going to die anyway if they do nothing, but Jean points out that they have no one to take charge and lead them.

When Mikasa takes charge, Conny joins the cadets in making an attack on the headquarters. During the attack, Mikasa's equipment runs out of gas, and she is left stranded. Conny goes with Armin to retrieve her, warning them that they need to move before Titans arrive. They are shocked at the sight of an abnormal Titan fighting off approaching Titans, but Conny insists that it is just an abnormal and that they should avoid it. Mikasa trades equipment with Armin, and at Armin's suggestion, she and Conny kill the Titans surrounding the abnormal and lead it to the headquarters.

Successfully reaching the headquarters, Conny takes part in Armin's plan to clear out the smaller Titans inside of the building. He is among the seven cadets assigned to take down a Titan in the supply room with one strike. While he fails to kill his target with his first blow, he is rescued by Annie Leonhart. Upon resupplying, he and the other cadets leave the headquarters immediately.^[11]

He and his fellow cadets are placed on standby, and Conny takes the opportunity to tell his fellow soldiers about how he and the others managed to resupply. He is surprised to hear that Mikasa has not returned yet, but when he asks Jean what happened to her, Jean claims he was ordered not to tell.^[12]

Eve of the Counterattack arc

As ordered, in the aftermath of the battle of Trost District, he reports his omni-directional mobility gear to the Military Police Regiment for inspection as a part of the investigation over the deaths of the two captured Titans, presumed to have been killed by a soldier using ODM gear. Despite his fears in facing the Titans in combat again, he volunteers to become a member of the Scout Regiment.^[6]

The 57th Exterior Scouting Mission arc

He is one of the soldiers perched on top of one of the Giant Trees, waiting for word from Levi's Squad with the others.^[13] He is seen returning from the failed 57th Scouting Mission along with the others,^[14] and is later seen in the field riding a horse along with Sasha Braus, Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Hoover, Christa Lenz and Ymir.^[15]

Clash of the Titans arc

Conny is again seen with a group of Scout Regiment recruits being investigated by Miche Zacharius under suspicion of being one of Annie's accomplices. However, when Titans suddenly appear within Wall Rose, Miche sends them in groups to warn the surrounding villages.^[16]

Since Conny's village, Ragako, is in the path of the Titans, he receives permission to join the group heading in that direction. They find the village deserted, but there are no dead bodies and no sign that anybody has fled. Atop the ruins of his house, Conny finds an immobile Titan bearing some resemblance to his mother. The Titan welcomes him home, to his disbelief. He tries to tell the group but is quickly dismissed by Reiner, who tells him to focus on the mission. After the sun sets, Conny and the rest of his group take refuge in Utgard Castle, an abandoned structure, which eventually falls under attack by Titans which are mysteriously active at night.^[4]

During the siege, Conny is attacked by a smaller Titan, but Reiner rescues him, injuring his arm in the process. Conny expresses frustration at the fact that Reiner has always saved him, and promises to repay him back sometime in the future.^[17] Like all the others, he is shocked to see Ymir turn into a Titan, noting that while Eren at first had no idea of his Titan powers, Ymir seems to have been fully conscious of it the whole time. After Hange and their squad rescue them,^[18] Conny joins the group in returning to Wall Rose.^[19]

When a battle breaks out and the Armored and Colossal Titans appear, Conny is busy tending to the wounded and does not immediately understand what has happened. He fears for Bertholdt and Reiner, who he thinks are missing, unaware that they are the enemies being fought.^[20]

After the battle, Conny is in shock after being told that Reiner and Bertholdt are the Armored and Colossal Titans respectively. He joins the rescue mission to save Eren, but refuses to believe the claims about Reiner and Bertholdt until he hears it straight from their mouths. When the team finally makes it to the forest, where Hange suspects Reiner and Bertholdt are recuperating, he is among those who identify Ymir in her Titan form. He is confused and agitated at the fact that Ymir does not answer any questions. When Historia arrives, Ymir "eats" her and escapes. The soldiers follow them to the edge of the forest, but are unable to catch her before and Reiner transforms back into the Armored Titan and Ymir jumps on his shoulder to escape.^[21]

He catches up to the traitors and uses his omni-directional mobility gear to climb on to Reiner's shoulder. Together with Jean, Sasha, Mikasa and Armin, he confronts Bertholdt and Reiner, asking if they were ever true friends. He begins to reminisce about their time in the 104th Cadet Corps, and this, along with Jean's own questions, causes Bertholdt to have an emotional breakdown. Bertholdt says he considered them "true comrades," but before the group can react to his confession, Hannes warns them that Erwin Smith is leading a horde of Titans straight at them and the 104th jumps clear of the incoming onslaught. Conny is forced to watch in horror as his former friends charge straight into the horde of Titans. When Reiner is immobilized by the sheer number of Titans, Erwin orders the soldiers to attack and retrieve Eren. Conny follows the others into battle.^[22]

He later appears elsewhere on the battlefield, using the chaos to retrieve Historia. When she protests that he should leave her and that Ymir is going to be killed if she does not go with the traitors, Conny demands she rethink things. He asks if Ymir's claims are true, and states that even an idiot could figure out that Ymir only gets serious for Historia's sake. He advises them to follow him and retreat for now, or else they will all be killed. However, before they can escape, the Armored Titan begins throwing Titans at them.^[22]

As the battle gets worse, Conny begins fighting Titans alongside Historia, Ymir, and Sasha. In the middle of the chaos, a newly freed Eren punches a smiling Titan in a fit of rage, triggering something that causes all the other mindless Titans to devour it. When Reiner tries pursuing him, Eren screams at him and Bertholdt, telling them to get away, or he will kill them. The Titan horde then charges at the two. Erwin calls for a full retreat and when Ymir hesitates, Conny urges her to come along. Instead, she apologizes to Historia and heads back to help Reiner and Bertholdt. Before Historia can follow, Conny takes the reins of her horse and forces her to join the retreat.^[2]

Back at Trost District, Conny and Hange visit Levi, Erwin and Dot Pyxis. Hange theorizes that the recent Titans originated from Conny's village, and that Titans may very well be humans. Conny is there to confirm their findings, and he attends while holding his parents' portrait.^[2]

Royal Government arc

Some time later, Conny is selected to be a member of the new Squad Levi assigned to safeguard Eren and Historia in an isolated forest cabin.^[23]

Conny and his squad mates spend their time alternating between acting as lookouts on the perimeter of the cabin, and doing various chores. While he is helping with chores, Conny overhears Eren lamenting his lack of progress in hardening his Titan's skin means that they will not be able to reseal Wall Maria any time soon. Conny claims that all he cares about is getting his revenge against the Beast Titan, before excusing himself to go act as a lookout, frustrated with himself for getting caught up in his anger.

The squad receives a message from Erwin warning them that the government is freezing all Scout activity outside the Walls and is demanding that Eren and Historia be handed over. Levi and Hange abandon the cabin with their squads, and Conny goes with Levi and his squad to Trost District where they hope to avoid the Military Police. There, a carriage comes crashing through and seemingly kidnaps Jean and Armin, disguised as Eren and Historia.^[24]

The squad pursues the kidnappers to their hideout and apprehend them. Shortly after, Conny and the others hear the sound of gunshots and go to investigate. They spot the wagon carrying an unconscious Eren and Historia with Levi in pursuit. To Conny's shock, Levi kills a soldier following him and orders the squad to chase the wagon and kill their opponents, given the chance.

Following the battle, Dimo Reeves agrees to help Levi's squad and tricks two Military Policemen of the First Interior Squad to come with him to a remote cabin, where Conny and other members of Levi Squad take them hostage at gunpoint. Conny and the rest of the squad listen uncomfortably to the screams as Levi and Hange conduct their interrogation. When the two are through, Jean and the others are informed that Eren and Historia are likely being held near Rod Reiss.^[25]

After the Scout Regiment is accused of trying to monopolize Eren's Titan powers, the government begins arresting all members of the organization. Conny and the rest of Squad Levi avoid being captured, and camp out in the woods outside of Stohess.^[26] Marlo and Hitch lead them to a nearby MP checkpoint and Conny, Sasha, and Jean use a carriage to break down its roablocks. After attacking the compound, Squad Levi successfully captures a member of the Military Police and retreat to question him. Their interrogation is interrupted by Sasha, who sees someone approaching.^[27] To the entire squad's delight it is Hange, who informs them that the Scouts have been exonerated, and that they have a lead on Eren and Historia's whereabouts.^[28]

Conny participates in the attack on the cavern beneath the Reiss Chapel, firing signal flares to provide cover for Levi and Mikasa, before joining the fight with his ODM gear.^[29] However, they are unable to reach Eren and Historia in time, and are unable to stop Rod Reiss from using the Titan serum to turn himself into a Titan. Conny helps Jean and Levi unchain Eren, but is left trapped with his squad, with no way of escaping the collapsing cavern. With no other alternative, Conny and the rest of the squad watches as Eren attempts to save them, crushing a bottle labeled "Armor" in his mouth as he transforms into his Titan form.

Having survived thanks to Eren's new hardening ability, Conny starts looking for an exit, which he finds in the form of a hole in the roof of the cavern. After helping his teammates out of the cavern, Conny and the rest of Squad Levi follow Rod's Titan form to the Orvud District, where they plan to fight him.^[30] Once Rod's Titan arrives at the Wall, Squad Levi douse themselves in water to endure the extreme heat from the steam. Eren uses his Titan form to blow Rod's head apart with gunpowder-filled barrels, and Conny and his comrades use ODM gear to cut the flying pieces of Rod's head in order to destroy his nape and kill him.^[31]

After Historia is crowned as the new queen, Conny and Squad Levi accompany her as she goes to find Levi so she can punch him. The squad tries to talk her down, but she punches the captain as soon as she sees him. Expecting Levi to retaliate, the squad is surprised when he reacts by smiling and thanking them.^[32]

After Historia is crowned queen, she starts an orphanage with the Reiss family's funds, which Conny and the rest of Squad Levi begin working on in their spare time. Conny is seen eating with his fellow soldiers and new recruits of the Scout Regiment, but decides to go to sleep early, explaining that he plans to visit his home village the following day.^[33]

At night during dinner after Conny and Armin horsed around,^[34] when the squad leaders decide to serve meat to the scouts to celebrate their return to Shiganshina, a tearful Conny is forced to hold Sasha back as she attempts to devour as much of it as possible. After tying her up, Conny reminds Eren of the time Sasha actually offered to share meat with her comrades, right before the Colossal Titan appeared outside of Trost District. He and Eren are both left in awe at how much they have accomplished in the months since then.

The next day, as the Scout Regiment prepares to depart, they are surprised by the arrival of a large crowd of civilians who eagerly cheer them on. Conny and the rest of the recruits begin cheering along with them, but are left dumbfounded when the normally stoic Erwin begins cheering also, before beginning the expedition.^[35]

Return to Shiganshina arc

After arriving in Shiganshina, Conny takes his position atop Wall Maria and watches with his fellow scouts as Eren uses his hardening ability to fill the hole in the Wall. After Eren seals the hole, Conny and his squad go to meet up with the rest of the Scout Regiment, but stop and take up positions atop the Wall after Erwin shoots a signal flare into the air. From there they witness Reiner's emergence from within Wall Maria, and the appearance of the Beast Titan and his army.^[36]

As Eren and Reiner fight in their Titan forms, Conny and his squad surround the two and prepare to help Eren. After Hange and Mikasa manage to blind Reiner, Conny and the rest of the squad use their Thunder Spears to hit his Titan form's nape and expose his human body. Although he and Sasha find themselves unwilling to kill Reiner, Jean manages to convince them to carry on with their mission.^[37] Although they fire another round of Thunder Spears into Reiner, completely destroying his nape, Conny and Sasha are left devastated by the act. Their sorrow agitates Jean and though he tries to get them to accept what they have done, they do not stop crying until Reiner's inert form begins roaring.

Conny quickly evacuates the immediate area around Reiner with the rest of the soldiers as Hange announces that Bertholdt will be attacking them from above. After Armin unsuccessfully tries to negotiate with Bertholdt, Conny and his teammates use Eren's Titan form to shield themselves as Bertholdt transforms.^[38]

The sight of Bertholdt's Titan rampaging through Shiganshina briefly frightens Conny into hysterics, but Sasha manages to calm him down by hitting him on the head. Under Jean's order, Conny and the group get on Titan Eren's shoulders to move to the river while conserving gas. Conny gives Mikasa a Thunder Spear for her to penetrate the Colossal Titan's nape. When Titan Eren initiates his attack, Conny and the group scatter. When Eren is unable to hurt Bertholdt, and is instead kicked into the side of Wall Maria, Conny and the rest of the squad are forced to engage Bertholdt on their own. Although they try to distract Bertholdt long enough for Mikasa to destroy his nape with a Thunder Spear, they are unsuccessful.^[39]

After Reiner's return to the battle, Conny participates in Squad Levi's plan to keep him away from Eren and Armin. While Jean attempts to distract Reiner, Conny and Sasha attempt to use their Thunder Spears to blow his Titan's jaw apart, but are caught off guard when Reiner attacks them with debris from nearby houses. Although Conny manages to hit Reiner with his Thunder Spear, Sasha is severely injured and Conny is forced to carry her body to safety.^[40]

After Mikasa and Hange defeat Reiner, Conny continues to watch over Sasha's unconscious body while the rest of his teammates discuss with Hange what to do with Reiner. When Reiner is rescued by Zeke and the Cart Titan, Conny begins to pursue them but is stopped by Hange, who points out that his ODMG is almost out of gas. Conny comes to the rooftop with Sasha, Jean and Hange, who prevents Mikasa from hurting Levi. As his squad leaves the roof, Conny tearfully says goodbye to Armin. After Levi chooses to give the serum to Armin, Conny and his squad help Armin out of his new Titan body.^[41]

Conny helps search for more survivors following the battle, returning to the top of Wall Maria after seeing a smoke signal from Levi. While Armin is debriefed on what has happened while he was unconscious, Conny busies himself bringing Sasha water.^[42]

After returning home victorious, Conny attends a meeting with the rest of the survivors of the expedition where they are debriefed on the information they recovered from Eren's basement.^[43] An awards ceremony is later held for him and his fellow survivors.

After the Battle for Shiganshina, during the time when Titans are being eradicated from Paradis Island through the Executioner from Hell, Conny requests for Ragako to become a "Titan Observation Zone" and be left as-is.^[44] A year after the battle, Conny is among the Scouts to lead a scouting mission beyond Wall Maria, and finds a Titan whose limbs were so small that it could only crawl. He is among the Scouts to arrive at the sea.^[45]

Marley arc

Conny is a member of a group of Scouts sent to defend the Paradis coastline from ships sent from Marley. He witnesses Eren beaching a ship with his Titan form and the resulting exchange between Hange and Yelena.^[46]

Conny helps his friends work on a railroad track while they discuss opening diplomatic relations with other nations of the world. However, Hange arrives to inform the group that Hizuru did not gain them any allies. As the group departs by train, they discuss who should inherit Eren's Titan. After Jean volunteers himself, Conny says that Jean has the potential to be a leader and that him dying after 13 years would be a waste.

Conny subsequently volunteers himself, but Sasha argues that such a power is too important to be given to a fool like him and claims she will inherit it instead. Conny is confused by Sasha's argument, arguing that her own logic eliminates her as she is even dumber than he is. Eren interrupts the debate, stating that they are all too precious to him to receive a power that will end their lives in 13 years, and vows to choose someone else.^[47]

Eventually, Conny travels to Marley with the rest of the Special Operations Squad. He is amazed by the difference in lifestyle in Marley along with Jean and Sasha. Conny attends a meeting with Kiyomi Azumabito, but notices with Mikasa that Eren has disappeared. With the others, Conny finds him at a refugee camp. They all take part in celebrating with one of the families residing there and are found that morning by Levi, Hange and Onyankopon. Later, Conny attends a gathering to hear from the Association for the Protection of Ymir's Subjects and is dismayed to hear they are still viewed as devils by the majority of Marley and the other countries represented.^[34]

In the year 854, Conny is one of the Scouts who participate in the infiltration, and later the attack in Liberio. He is grouped with Sasha to pick off Marleyan soldiers and to block the street leading towards the internment zone. After succeeding, he plants beacons on a nearby rooftop, and leaves together with Sasha. Conny and Sasha regroup with Jean to figure out their next move.^[48]

As the Jaw, Cart and Beast Titans arrive to the battle, Sasha and her allies regroup and prepare to face off with their enemies. He tries to assist Jean in killing the Cart Titan's operator, but is forced to retreat by Theo Magath and other Marleyan soldiers. He later notices the arrival of an airship commanded by Hange Zoë and informs Jean, who is relieved to see that it has arrived on time.^[49]

Conny then retreats to the airship with the rest of the Scouts. When he sees Jean and Sasha are not cheering along with Floch and the other soldiers, he pulls both of them close and tells them that they are very special to him and he is glad they survived. He notices that Lobov has yet to join yet to return to the airship, but is cutoff by a girl rolling into the airship cabin. She fires her rifle, striking Sasha, to Conny's horror. He crouches by Sasha and calls for her to hold on until they get back to the island. However, Sasha does not make it and Conny tearfully goes to report to the others that she has passed away. He tells Eren that her last words were "meat".^[50]

After returning to Paradis, the soldiers who were killed in Liberio are buried. While visiting their graves, Conny and Jean are forced to defend Nicolo, a Marleyan prisoner-of-war, who is being harassed by another soldier. Learning that Nicolo had wanted to visit Sasha's grave, they lead him to where she was buried. Conny thanks Nicolo for cooking good food for Sasha when she was still alive, professing that he feels like a part of him is missing without her.^[46]

War for Paradis arc

Conny, Jean, Armin and Mikasa meet to discuss the recent occurrences in Paradis. As the other three discuss Pyxis's arrest of the Volunteers, Conny interrupts them, asking if Eren had seemed right in the head to them. Conny claims that Eren was not acting like himself, and declares that he will kill Eren himself if he has started cooperating with the enemy. Mikasa responds to Conny's threat in kind, and Conny asks her if she intends to join Eren in betraying them.

Mikasa protests that Eren still values them, but Conny reminds her that Sasha's death was a result of Eren's acting on his own and dragging the Scouts into his attack. He drives his point home by revealing to Mikasa that Eren did not cry when he received the news of Sasha's death, but laughed. Growing angry, Conny demands that Mikasa explain to him what could have possibly been funny about Sasha's death to cause Eren to laugh.^[47]

Conny is present when Hange questions a group of four Scouts led by Floch who leaked the news of Eren's arrest to the public. He, Jean, and Mikasa help escort the four soldiers to cells after they are sentenced to imprisonment.^[51]

After they arrive at a restaurant, Jean tries to take a sip of wine with Conny, suggesting it is fine since they are officers as well. However, Nicolo snatches the bottle away with Conny confused by his sudden outbursts. Afterward, Conny is called into the other room to find Nicolo threatening to kill two Marleyan Warrior cadets with a knife. After Nicolo surrenders his weapon, Conny assists in restraining him with Nicolo admitting the wine likely contains Zeke's spinal fluid.

As Conny and Hange rinse Falco Grice's mouth, Nicolo reveals that he was instructed to serve the wine to the military higher-ups. On hearing this, Conny argues that an Eldian freezes up on consuming the spinal fluid as seen in Ragako; Hange reminds him that this information is unreliable, coming from Zeke. Soon, Conny is captured by the Jaegerists and taken away, along with Hange, Onyankopon and Jean. He and the other captives are later seen in a holding cell in Shiganshina.^[52]

While imprisoned, he questions Armin's capability to use his power to escape but is rejected due to the Colossal Titan's destructive power. As Jean questions Armin about Eren, Conny is shocked to learn how he beat Armin to a pulp and hurt Mikasa with his words. He then harshly addresses Eren's behavior before they are interrupted by Yelena and is angered to see that Onyankopon is with her. Yelena explains Zeke's true motives to the prisoners before they are interrupted by a soldier informing them of infiltrators. As the fight on the rooftop ensues, Conny and the other prisoners wonder what the sound overhead them was about.^[53]

Onyankopon arrives and frees them from their cell, begging them to help defend Eren. Conny flies into a rage at the thought of helping the people who betrayed him, and has to be talked down by Armin. Onyankopon claims to have had no knowledge of Yelena and Zeke's euthanasia plan and although Jean claims to believe him, he points out that helping Eren will only help them bring their plan to fruition. Armin argues that Eren will activate the Rumbling instead of going through with Zeke's euthanasia plan and despite his reservations, Conny agrees to help.^[54]

After freeing the other prisoners, Conny and his comrades equip themselves with ODMG and weapons and proceed to the top of the headquarters to enter the battle.^[55] During the battle, the group splits up and Conny and Jean go to aid Eren in his fight against Reiner and the Jaw Titan. They arrive in time to save Eren from being grabbed by Reiner, but are unable to stop Gabi from shooting him with an anti-Titan rifle.^[56]

Eren makes contact with Zeke, activating the Founding Titan and beginning the Rumbling. As Wall Maria begins to crumble, Jean and Conny retrieve Falco from his Titan and retreat to meet up with Armin and Mikasa. Jean suggests feeding Falco to one of the Titans which was transformed by Zeke, which prompts Conny to argue that he should be allowed to give Falco to his mother.

Armin tries to argue against feeding Falco to anyone, arguing that it will only create more conflict with the Warriors. Conny is enraged and reminds Armin that he himself was saved by eating one of the Warriors, pointing out his hypocrisy in not allowing Conny's mother to be saved the same way he was. They are interrupted by a Pure Titan, allowing Conny to take Falco and flee while his comrades are distracted.^[9]

Falco wakes up en route to Ragako and Conny claims to have saved the boy from the fighting in Shiganshina. As the two ride on horseback, Falco notes how far north they have traveled and Conny claims that he is taking Falco to a hospital which can help with his short-term memory loss.^[10] The pair stop to rest overnight and Conny spends the night grappling with the morality of what he is trying to do, wondering if Sasha would agree with his decision.

When the pair arrive in Ragako, Conny is startled to learn that Falco knows the village and Falco reveals that he overheard Conny talking to himself the night before. Falco asks if Conny plans to try to avenge Sasha's death, but Conny assures the boy that he understands Sasha's death was a result of a military engagement. He brings Falco to his mother and attempts to trick the boy into getting eaten by telling him that they are going to brush the Titan's teeth, but Gabi and Armin arrive before they can begin.

Conny threatens to kill Falco if Armin approaches them and begins to try to feed the boy to his mother. Armin surprises him by using his gear to fly to a beam suspended above the Titan. To Conny's horror Armin tries to feed himself to the Titan and Conny is forced to save him before he can be eaten. As Gabi and Falco reunite, Conny admits to Armin that he has come to understand that his mom would not want someone else to be sacrificed for her life. Lamenting that he almost murdered an innocent child, Conny resolves to save the people outside of the Walls so that he can be a soldier his mother would be proud of.

After returning to Shiganshina, the four take time to rest and eat. As they are eating, Conny and Armin discuss the possibility of Annie having escaped her crystal. As they are speaking, they realize that Annie is sitting next to them.

The group and Annie make a plan with Jean, Mikasa and Pieck Finger to escape Shiganshina. After receiving a signal from Jean to leave the military headquarters, Conny departs with his comrades. On their way out of Shiganshina, they pick up Reiner.^[8]

The group travels to Paradis' harbor with the intention of using the Azumabito clan's airship to pursue Eren, but find that it is already occupied by Jaegerists. The group gears up for a possible engagement, but Conny and his friends are reluctant to fight their former comrades. Their discussion is interrupted by Hange who announces to everyone's horror that Eren has apparently already reached Marley. A desperate Magath apologizes to the Eldians for how he and the rest of Marley treated them and begs them to cooperate with him.

As part of a plan to trick Floch into turning over the Azumabito mechanics, Conny and Armin ride into the harbor and tell Floch that they have been pursuing the Cart Titan ever since it devoured Jean and Onyankopon. They tell Floch to send the Azumabito mechanics to help them start the ship so they can continue their pursuit and proceed to the ship without waiting for his response. They are stopped by Daz and Samuel and, seeing that the plane has been rigged to explode, demand that they disarm it. Daz and Samuel question them about their allegiance and Conny and Armin manage to convince them to begin disarming the bombs on the plane.

As they are waiting for the mechanics, Conny and Armin are horrified to hear gunshots, followed by an announcement from Floch that they and Mikasa are traitors. Daz begins rewiring the bombs on the plane and Armin is shot by Samuel for trying to stop him, to Conny's horror. Samuel holds Conny at gunpoint but is distracted by Reiner and Annie transforming, allowing Conny to tackle him. As he grapples with Samuel, Conny sees Daz preparing to kill Armin and, in desperation, takes Samuel's gun and uses it to kill him and Daz.^[57]

Conny carries Armin's injured form to the ship and passes him off to Magath, insisting that he is going to help defend the ship. Conny saves Reiner and Annie from being killed by Jaegerists and helps hold off the enemies' forces until the ship is ready to leave. He and Jean then help carry Reiner into the ship.^[58]

At some point, Eren pulls Conny and the rest of his friends into Paths individually in order to speak with each of them. He reveals his true intentions, to have his friends kill him so that the outside world will be indebted to them, and wipes their memories so that they will not remember anything he has revealed until after his death.^[59]

Upon arriving in Odiha, Conny helps move the flying boat into a hangar to be worked on. He tries to help remove the explosives on the boat, but Armin recommends keeping them in case they are needed later. As preparations on the flying boat near completion, the soldiers equip their maneuvering gear. Floch appears and damages the ship's fuel tank, necessitating repairs. However, Eren's Titans begin to arrive before repairs are completed and Hange is forced to stay behind to hold them off long enough for Conny and the rest of the group to depart.

En route to Eren, Conny participates in a meeting to discuss the best plan to stop him. During the meeting, Conny apologizes to Reiner for the way he has treated him, admitting that helping kill the Jaegerists has helped him understand how Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie felt during their time in the 104th.

The meeting is interrupted when the group is pulled into Paths by Eren. As his comrades try to talk Eren down, Conny apologizes for blaming Eren for Sasha's death and for never assuming that it must have caused Eren just as much sorrow as the rest of them. Seeing Eren in the distance Conny, Armin, Mikasa, and Jean try to reach him but are unable to get any closer. Eren tells them that he called them to Paths to let them know that they will have to kill him to stop the Rumbling, before sending them back to the flying boat.

As the flying boat reaches Eren it comes under fire from the Beast Titan. Conny and his comrades jump from the boat and use their maneuvering gear to evade the Beast's projectiles before engaging it directly.^[60]

The group makes short work of the Beast Titan, but finds that Zeke is not present in its nape. On Armin's orders they retreat so that he will be able to transform and use the resulting explosion to try to uncover Zeke. However, before Armin can transform an army of Titans begins materializing and abducts him. The group is swarmed by the Titans and Conny begins to panic, pointing out that they are running out of Thunder Spears. His worries are compounded when it is discovered that the Titans attacking are reincarnated forms of past Nine Titans. Levi orders the squad to focus their efforts on saving Armin.

They do not get far before Bertholdt Hoover's Colossal Titan appears. The Colossal disables Reiner's Titan and then throws it at the group, knocking them off Eren's Titan. Conny is knocked unconscious by the impact, and is only stopped from falling to his death by his maneuvering equipment's anchors. He regains consciousness just in time to save Levi from falling to his death after losing consciousness. The Titans begin surrounding the group, but they are saved by the arrival of Falco, who has learned to fly with his Jaw Titan.

Atop Falco, Levi decides to have the group split up and try to simultaneously retrieve Armin and detonate the bombs on Eren's nape. Mikasa resists, but Conny desperately points out that they were nearly killed by Eren moments before. Jean and Reiner are sent to attack Eren's nape while Conny accompanies Mikasa and Annie to rescue Armin. Unfortunately, the three do not get very far before they are surrounded and forced to stop their pursuit of Armin to focus on defending themselves. Just as they are about to be overwhelmed, Bertholdt's Titan intervenes and begins fighting alongside them. Mikasa and Gabi manage to free Armin from the okapi-like Titan and Conny saves him when the Titan tries to grab him again. Jean manages to detonate Eren's nape thanks to the help of their new allies and Conny joins his friends in evacuating atop Falco's Titan so that Armin can transform.

Returning to Fort Salta, Conny and the other soldiers are able to watch as the Warriors are reunited with their families. The group is relieved to see that Reiner has survived Armin's transformation and they are unsurprised to see that Eren and the centipede are also alive. Conny suggests focusing their efforts on the centipede, but Levi insists that their only option is to focus on killing Eren.

Before they can depart, however the centipede starts emitting smoke into the fort. Realizing that that the smoke is going to turn the Eldians in the fort into Titans, Conny and Jean are forced to stay behind while Falco, Pieck and the Ackermanns depart to fight Eren. As they watch their comrades depart, Conny jokingly muses that he would not be stuck saving the world if Jean had not convinced him to join the Scout Regiment.

The Eldians in Salta all transform and immediately being defending the centipede as it attempts to return to Eren.

Following Eren's death, the Power of the Titans is eliminated from the world and all of the Eldians return to their human forms. Recovering his memories of his final conversation with Eren, Conny is relieved at the realization that even his mother will be returned to her human form. As the Eldians regroup, the surviving Marleyan soldiers from Salta come out to confront them. The Marleyans threaten to kill them if they cannot prove that they are no longer Titans, and only Armin is able to talk them down.

In the three years following Eren's death, the survivors of the "Battle of Heaven and Earth" at Fort Salta are made peace ambassadors between the remnants of the outside world and Paradis. As the ambassadors sail to Paradis to begin peace talks in the year 857, Annie points out that the odds of them successfully negotiating with Paradis are low. Conny argues that they can trust Historia, as she chose to give protection to his and Jean's families despite their decision to stop Eren. Armin shares Conny's optimism, confident that the sight of the Warriors and the Scout Regiment, former enemies, working together will be enough to get the Eldians of Paradis to listen.^[59]

Abilities

Conny's abilities put him in the top 10 of the graduated cadets. He is said to be "slow on the uptake but makes very sharp turns."^[5] Conny's combat skills were shown to be quite advanced against fellow soldiers too, as he was able to hold his own against several Jaegerists while defending Annie and Reiner, as well as evading multiple titans conjured by Ymir Fritz in the Battle of Heaven and Earth.

Relationships

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• Sasha Braus and Jean Kirschtein - Conny, Sasha and Jean are very close friends and are always seen working alongside each other as members of the Survey Corps. Conny and Sasha, often get into trouble together and provide much of the comic relief of the series whereas Jean serves as the serious type among the trio.
• Reiner Braun - Conny greatly admires Reiner, and looks up to him as a big brother. The two were often seen together during their cadet days, and Conny notes that Reiner has protected him on multiple occasions. After realizing that he is one of the traitors, he is in shock and begins to grow resentment at this, but also disbelief. When he believed he had helped kill Reiner in Shiganshina, Conny broke down into tears, showing he still looks back on Reiner as a good friend.^[38] After having killed Samuel and Daz, Conny empathizes with Reiner, gaining a better understanding of his pain being forced to kill comrades.^[60]
• Ymir - Their relationship is often tense, and they are prone to taking verbal shots at one another. Most of their interactions devolve into arguments, Ymir generally looking down on Conny, and Conny having no patience for Ymir's tactlessness. While in her Titan form, Conny gave her the nickname "ugly" and ordered her around, even kicking her head, indicating that he trusted her enough to feel safe around her and was not intimidated by her Titan form.^[21]
• Eren Jaeger - Conny and Eren are on good terms. Conny initially found amusement in Eren's difficulty as a cadet, but their relationship eventually turns friendly, and Conny is later inspired to join the Scout Regiment partially because of Eren. After Sasha's death however, Conny begins viewing Eren with contempt, thinking he is a different person to the man he used to be close with. Now, he says he is readily prepared to cut Eren down should the need arise.^[47] Though later on in the Paths, Conny renounced his hatred for Eren after realizing his intentions with the Rumbling were partly done for his safety. He tearfully apologized to Eren recognizing he must have been hurt by Sasha's death as well.^[60]

People killed

• Daz^[57]
• Samuel Linke-Jackson^[57]
• One member of the Anti-Personnel Control Squad^[29]
• Two Marleyan soldiers^[56]
• Six members of the Jaegerists^[58]

Failed attempts

• Reiner Braun^[38]

Trivia

• Hajime Isayama has stated that his idea behind Conny's character is that he is "like a kid on summer break." He originally only created the character in order to fill out the 104th's top 10 graduates.^[61]
• Conny's name may have multiple meanings, either from the Celtic name "Connor," meaning "son of the wolf," or "Constantia," meaning "conviction.". "Springer" is also the German equivalent of the "Knight" figure in Chess.
• Isayama chose the name "Conny" because he felt it has "a friendly and familiar ring to it." He gave the character the surname "Springer" to reference the fact that he is fast.^[61]
• Conny cuts his own hair.^[62]

References

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