Do Reiner Braun, Roy Mustang, and Stark Reflect Parts of Me?

Some of my favorite anime characters are Reiner Braun, Roy Mustang, and Stark.

A lot of times, we like characters for genuinely no reason at all. Jake Peralta is funny, Venom is menacing, and Odysseus was kind of cool because his dog remembered him after he was chilling on an island. The point is, when someone asks who your favorite character is and you say something like Walter White, it doesn't need to have some deep meaning to it. Breaking Bad is one of the best shows of all time, and liking Walter White isn't deep… or is it?

1) Reiner Braun

Reiner Braun from Attack on Titan is one of the most complicated characters I've ever watched.

At first, he's just presented as this strong, reliable soldier. He's the big brother figure. He protects people. He seems calm, confident, and stable. But then you realize his entire identity is built on a lie. He is not just a soldier. He is a warrior from Marley, sent to destroy the people inside the walls.

But the more tragic part is that Reiner eventually learns the Eldians inside the walls aren't devils. They are just people.

He eats with them, trains with them, laughs with them, protects them, and becomes friends with them. He sees their humanity directly. He understands that the story he was told as a child was wrong. But even after realizing that, he still carries out the mission. He is not evil in a simple way. He is weak, broken, manipulated, guilty, and desperate to prove himself. He wanted to be chosen. He wanted to matter. He wanted to be seen as strong. And because of that, he kept moving forward even when he knew what he was doing was wrong.

When Eren confronts him in Marley, Reiner finally admits the truth. He says he just wanted to be a hero. He wanted to protect people.

This changed the perspective. Reiner wasn't some monster who enjoyed violence. He was a kid who wanted to be special, and that desire ruined him. He wanted to become a hero so badly that he became the villain in someone else's life. He wanted to prove to his parents that they could be proud of their son and live better lives in Marley. The propaganda pushed onto him made him believe that if you were chosen to be a Titan, you were honorable.

How many people do things not because they are purely evil, but because they want to be seen as valuable? How many people betray themselves because they want approval? How many people keep walking down the wrong path because admitting the truth would mean admitting they were weak?

Reiner represents the burden of wanting to prove yourself, but in the most extreme way possible.

He is what happens when your need to be respected becomes stronger than your ability to be honest with yourself. He knew the Eldians weren't bad people, but turning back would mean facing the truth: that everything he had done was for nothing. So he kept going. Not because he was brave, but because he was too broken to stop.

The interesting thing is that Reiner becomes the hero. He actually stops Eren's plan of committing mass genocide. Was that his way of washing his sins away, or was it because deep down, he's a kindhearted hero who was clouded?

But again, he feels guilt. He feels guilt when he removes Marco's ODM gear. He feels guilt when Marcel is eaten by a Titan and he has to continue the mission. He feels guilt about every horrible thing he's done. If he were a monster, he would've enjoyed doing it, not felt guilty.

And maybe that's why I like him.

Not because I relate to the horrible things he did, obviously. But because I understand the feeling of wanting to be more than what you think you are. Wanting to prove that you're not weak. Wanting to be seen as capable, strong, important, and heroic. Most people want to exceed expectations, but a lot of times, people say they're doing something for themselves when secretly, subconsciously, they want validation.

Reiner is the dark version of that desire.

2) Roy Mustang

Then there's Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Roy Mustang is one of those characters who has an insane aura from the second he appears. He's smart, controlled, ambitious, and powerful. He wants to become Führer not because he wants status, but because he wants to change the country from the top. He carries guilt from the Ishvalan War because he followed orders and complied, and he tries to turn that guilt into responsibility.

But the scene that really shows who Roy is happens when he burns Envy.

That scene is terrifying because Roy is completely justified emotionally, but still wrong morally. Envy killed Hughes. Hughes was his best friend. Envy started the Ishvalan Civil War. So when Roy finally gets the chance to punish Envy, he doesn't hesitate. He keeps burning him again and again. The scary part is that Roy is calm while doing it. He isn't just angry. He is consumed.

That's what makes the scene so eye-opening. You want Envy to suffer because Envy deserves it. But then you realize Roy is losing himself in the process. He is not fighting for justice anymore. He is enjoying revenge. He is letting hatred take over.

And then Hawkeye stops him.

That moment is important because Roy needed someone to remind him of who he was trying to become. His dream was to build a better country. But if he let revenge define him, he would become the exact type of person who should never hold power. That is the danger of righteous anger. Sometimes you can be right and still become wrong.

That's why Roy is interesting. He has ambition, intelligence, power, and a strong moral goal. But he also has darkness. He has the capacity to become brutal if he lets pain control him. Hawkeye stopping him isn't just about saving Envy. It's about saving Roy from becoming someone he can't come back from.

Because anger can feel productive. It gives you energy. It makes you feel focused. It makes you feel like you finally know what matters. But if you let anger become your main fuel, eventually it stops serving you and starts owning you.

It kind of reminds me of Batman not killing the Joker after what he did to Robin, because he feels like if he crosses the line, the city becomes more dangerous. People think doing one thing one time feels morally correct, until it becomes a pattern.

Roy wants power, but he needs people around him to keep him human. That's probably the most realistic version of ambition. Not this fake idea where a person is perfectly disciplined, perfectly good, and perfectly in control. Roy is strong because he knows he needs others. He knows the mission is bigger than his emotions.

But in that Envy scene, he almost forgets.

3) Stark

Then there's Stark from Frieren.

Stark is probably the most human out of these three.

He is strong, but he doesn't feel strong. He is brave, but he doesn't see himself as brave. He is constantly scared, insecure, and unsure if he deserves anything good. Which is funny because from the outside, he is clearly capable. He fought a dragon with zero difficulty and was scared for no reason. He fights demons. He protects people. He does the right thing when it matters.

But internally, he still sees himself as the kid who ran away.

His backstory explains a lot. When demons attacked his village, Stark ran away while his brother stayed to fight. That moment stayed with him. It became the thing he couldn't forgive himself for. Even though he was a child, even though fear is normal, he still judged himself like he had committed some unforgivable sin. Stark running away was completely justified. His family valued warriors, and he was labeled as the outcast because even though he was a kid, he had no combat skills. His brother always looked out for him, taught him, and never disparaged him like his dad did.

Fern wants to buy him something for his birthday, and Stark doesn't really know how to accept it. He thinks he doesn't deserve anything, but also because he never got anything without earning it. He is so used to seeing himself through guilt that kindness feels uncomfortable.

Sometimes people don't reject love because they don't want it. They reject it because they don't think they've earned it. They think they need to become stronger, better, more useful, more impressive, or less flawed before they deserve good things.

Stark, in my opinion, is a unique character. He is flawed, but everyone can see he is capable. It's not like he thinks he is weak and is actually weak. He thinks he is weak and is actually strong. Which is completely justified given his backstory of his family belittling him and seeing his brother succeed, or even listening to stories of Himmel the Hero, a perfect warrior who wouldn't run away from anything.

It could represent a lot of people. Tons of people say that you have to be this tall, this strong, have this IQ, this skill, or the sales gene. There is always something you need in order to be someone special. How many people actually do have that potential and ambition, but think they are weak because of their past, because people previously told them they sucked?

Some people could be ignorant because of the past, and Stark is the best reflection of that.

I'm not sure if Roy, Reiner, and Stark represent something in me. But they all hold valuable lessons. While writing this blog and thinking about these characters, I realized that they are broken in ways that don't make them inhuman. I understand Reiner's complicated backstory, Roy wanting revenge for Hughes and atoning for his sins in the Ishvalan Civil War, and Stark acting like a coward when he was forced to fight for his survival at such a young age.