OVA
Description
Petra Ral is a soldier of the Survey Corps who serves as the sole female member of the Special Operations Squad, an elite unit personally selected by Captain Levi Ackerman. She is a relatively short young woman with light ginger hair and brown eyes, and she wears the standard uniform of the Survey Corps, which includes a white button-up shirt beneath her jacket. As a hand-picked veteran of expeditions beyond the walls, she is one of the more accomplished soldiers in the unit.
Petra's personality blends the professionalism of a soldier with a warm and earnest nature. She is kind, caring, and empathetic, and she shows genuine concern for the well-being of her teammates. She deeply admires Levi as a captain and mentor and wishes that he would trust his squad more, and she is known for worrying excessively about the people she cares for, especially him. She also has a notable and frequently quarrelsome dynamic with fellow squad member Oluo Bozado, with the two often bickering like a long-standing pair of rivals. When Eren Yeager is placed under the squad's protection, Petra takes on the role of guiding and looking after him, demonstrating her protective and mentoring instincts. It is largely through her encouragement that Eren comes to trust the squad, and her words leave a lasting impression on him.
Petra is motivated by a strong sense of duty to her comrades, her captain, and her mission. She values teamwork and believes that the squad can accomplish its goals only by trusting one another. Her commitment is reflected in her combat record, which includes ten solo Titan kills and forty-eight assisted kills, marking her as a highly capable fighter.
Her role in the story centers on her service in the Special Operations Squad during the 57th expedition outside the walls, when the unit is tasked with protecting Eren from the Female Titan. During the battle in the forest of giant trees, the squad coordinates an attack to blind the Female Titan by destroying both of its eyes. The plan initially succeeds, but the Titan regenerates one eye and counterattacks, killing her squadmate Eld Gin. Shaken by the loss of her comrade, Petra fails to recover her position in time and is killed when she is crushed against a tree by the Female Titan. She dies alongside Oluo, Eld, and Gunther Schultz, leaving only Levi and Eren from the original squad. During the retreat toward the walls, the squad's bodies are thrown from the wagon to escape a pursuing abnormal Titan, and Levi watches silently as her body is discarded. Later, Petra's father visits Levi and speaks of a letter Petra had written; the letter's contents and her father's remarks suggest that Petra harbored deep feelings for Levi, possibly romantic ones, though the series leaves the exact nature of those feelings open to interpretation.
In terms of development, Petra is presented as a capable and compassionate soldier whose belief in trust and teamwork has a lasting effect on Eren's growth. Her death, along with those of her squadmates, underscores the heavy human cost of the Survey Corps' mission and stands as one of the story's most tragic moments. Her memory lingers later in the narrative, as she appears among the fallen comrades remembered by Commander Erwin Smith during the battle of Shiganshina, raising the question of whether their sacrifices held meaning.
Her notable abilities lie in her mastery of vertical maneuvering equipment, her agility, and her precision in combat. She fights strategically, working in close coordination with her squad to flank and disable Titans, and she is able to hold her own against the Female Titan alongside her teammates. Like all human soldiers in the story, however, she remains limited by her physical endurance and the constant danger posed by Titans, and her death reflects those limitations.
Petra's personality blends the professionalism of a soldier with a warm and earnest nature. She is kind, caring, and empathetic, and she shows genuine concern for the well-being of her teammates. She deeply admires Levi as a captain and mentor and wishes that he would trust his squad more, and she is known for worrying excessively about the people she cares for, especially him. She also has a notable and frequently quarrelsome dynamic with fellow squad member Oluo Bozado, with the two often bickering like a long-standing pair of rivals. When Eren Yeager is placed under the squad's protection, Petra takes on the role of guiding and looking after him, demonstrating her protective and mentoring instincts. It is largely through her encouragement that Eren comes to trust the squad, and her words leave a lasting impression on him.
Petra is motivated by a strong sense of duty to her comrades, her captain, and her mission. She values teamwork and believes that the squad can accomplish its goals only by trusting one another. Her commitment is reflected in her combat record, which includes ten solo Titan kills and forty-eight assisted kills, marking her as a highly capable fighter.
Her role in the story centers on her service in the Special Operations Squad during the 57th expedition outside the walls, when the unit is tasked with protecting Eren from the Female Titan. During the battle in the forest of giant trees, the squad coordinates an attack to blind the Female Titan by destroying both of its eyes. The plan initially succeeds, but the Titan regenerates one eye and counterattacks, killing her squadmate Eld Gin. Shaken by the loss of her comrade, Petra fails to recover her position in time and is killed when she is crushed against a tree by the Female Titan. She dies alongside Oluo, Eld, and Gunther Schultz, leaving only Levi and Eren from the original squad. During the retreat toward the walls, the squad's bodies are thrown from the wagon to escape a pursuing abnormal Titan, and Levi watches silently as her body is discarded. Later, Petra's father visits Levi and speaks of a letter Petra had written; the letter's contents and her father's remarks suggest that Petra harbored deep feelings for Levi, possibly romantic ones, though the series leaves the exact nature of those feelings open to interpretation.
In terms of development, Petra is presented as a capable and compassionate soldier whose belief in trust and teamwork has a lasting effect on Eren's growth. Her death, along with those of her squadmates, underscores the heavy human cost of the Survey Corps' mission and stands as one of the story's most tragic moments. Her memory lingers later in the narrative, as she appears among the fallen comrades remembered by Commander Erwin Smith during the battle of Shiganshina, raising the question of whether their sacrifices held meaning.
Her notable abilities lie in her mastery of vertical maneuvering equipment, her agility, and her precision in combat. She fights strategically, working in close coordination with her squad to flank and disable Titans, and she is able to hold her own against the Female Titan alongside her teammates. Like all human soldiers in the story, however, she remains limited by her physical endurance and the constant danger posed by Titans, and her death reflects those limitations.