Zeke Yeager is one of Attack on Titan’s most complex and enigmatic figures—equal parts cold strategist, tragic product of war, and walking weapon of mass destruction. As the Beast Titan, his power is terrifying. As a tactician, he’s merciless. And as a brother to Eren, his choices redefine what it means to manipulate, betray, and dominate. Whether hurling boulders that wipe out battalions or turning entire cities into Titans with a scream, Zeke’s presence is a game-changer. These are the ten most ruthless moments that showed Zeke wasn’t just powerful—he was absolutely unforgiving.
#10: Zeke Betrays His Parents to Marley
Long before Zeke was the Beast Titan, he was a child soldier in Marley’s warrior program, groomed by his Eldian restorationist parents, Grisha and Dina Yeager, to be a double agent. But Zeke, overwhelmed by the pressure and terrified of their plan, made a choice that still stings: he turned them in to Marley’s authorities. That betrayal wasn’t just an act of self-preservation—it was a cold, calculated move made with total clarity. He did what no child should have to do—and did it without flinching. What makes this moment especially ruthless is how Zeke weaponized his role as a son to ensure their downfall. It set the tone for the manipulator he would become. Later, he defends his actions as a way to stop suffering before it started, saying he wanted to “save” his parents. But the emotionless efficiency of it all proves just how early his ruthlessness began. This betrayal wasn’t just personal—it was the beginning of a monstrous legacy.
#9: Zeke Annihilates the Survey Corps with Rocks
In one of the most shocking and brutal scenes in Attack on Titan, Zeke stands atop a pile of debris during the Battle of Shiganshina and turns the battlefield into a graveyard with nothing but his arms and a pile of stones. As the Beast Titan, he hurls massive chunks of rock at high velocity, slicing through rows of Survey Corps soldiers like paper. It’s a massacre. Dozens die instantly, limbs fly, and the once-strategic assault is reduced to blood-soaked chaos. What makes it so devastating is the calm expression on Zeke’s face. He’s not frenzied. He’s not even angry. He’s methodical. He doesn’t see soldiers—he sees targets. The mechanical way he throws, evaluates, and corrects his aim is like watching a pitcher at practice. The precision. The control. The total lack of empathy. This moment cements Zeke as a new kind of villain—one who slaughters not out of rage, but out of necessity. And that’s what makes him truly terrifying.
#8: Zeke Tricks Levi with the Titan Fluid Wine
Zeke’s psychological warfare reaches a peak during his infiltration of Paradis Island, where he secretly has his spinal fluid mixed into the wine served to key members of the military. What looks like a peace offering is actually a hidden time bomb. With one scream, Zeke can turn every person who drank it into a Titan. The betrayal is diabolical. Zeke plays the long game, knowing exactly how to manipulate trust and routine. Even Levi—who keeps a wary eye on him—is blindsided by the sheer scale of the betrayal. What makes this moment so ruthless is that Zeke doesn’t just use this tactic on strangers—he uses it on people trying to give him a second chance. And he doesn’t feel a shred of remorse. It’s a move that costs lives, shatters trust and solidifies Zeke as a master of deception and biological warfare. He’s not just a Titan shifter. He’s a walking doomsday device.
#7: Zeke Turns Levi’s Squad into Titans
Just when you think Zeke couldn’t go lower, he activates the true horror behind the wine trick—he screams. Surrounded by Levi’s trusted soldiers, Zeke unleashes his Titan command, and in an instant, all of them transform. The moment is horrifying. These aren’t nameless victims—these are men Levi trained with, ate with, fought beside. Zeke doesn’t just kill them. He forces Levi to do it. That’s the twisted genius of this move—it’s not just about numbers. It’s about psychological warfare. Levi is forced to slaughter his own friends while Zeke escapes. The scream echoes through the forest, not just as a call to action, but as a war cry soaked in betrayal. The emotional manipulation here is staggering. Zeke knows exactly how much Levi values his comrades—and he uses that loyalty as a weapon. This is Zeke at his cruelest. Not content with winning—he wants Levi broken.
#6: Zeke Uses a Child as a Pawn—Falco’s Infection
In one of the most stomach-churning moments of Season 4, Zeke knowingly allows Falco Grice—a child he knows and fought beside—to drink tainted wine containing his spinal fluid. This isn’t collateral damage. It’s a test. Zeke allows it to happen, then later confirms it with eerie calmness. He uses Falco as a bargaining chip, knowing that the mere threat of turning him into a Titan will paralyze the others. The coldness in Zeke’s voice when he confirms Falco’s infection is jarring. He never breaks eye contact. Never softens his tone. To him, Falco isn’t a child anymore—he’s leverage. It’s a tactic straight from the worst kind of warfare: using innocents as shields and threats. This isn’t power in the traditional sense—it’s a terrifying manipulation of morality. And Zeke doesn’t flinch.
#5: Zeke Outsmarts Marley and Fakes His Own Death
Zeke doesn’t just dominate in battle—he dominates in strategy. One of his most cunning moves is during the ambush in Liberio, when he conspires with Eren and the anti-Marleyan Volunteers to fake his own death in order to escape Marley’s control. After appearing to be killed by Levi and the Survey Corps, Zeke reemerges later, perfectly positioned to align himself with Eren and push forward the Euthanasia Plan. The level of coordination and deception involved in this act is staggering. He lies not only to his enemies but also to his comrades, allies, and even his own government.
What makes this move so ruthless is that Zeke is willing to burn every bridge to further his vision. He doesn’t care about Marley’s military, the lives lost in the crossfire, or even the psychological damage caused to people who believed he had died. His only concern is enacting his will. The idea that someone could manipulate two warring nations, flip alliances in secret, and die only to reappear with even more power? That’s not just dangerous—that’s diabolical. Zeke’s betrayal of Marley shows that he isn’t loyal to anyone—not family, not nation, not even ideology. He’s loyal only to his vision.
#4: Zeke’s Founding Titan Power Play
When Zeke finally gains access to the mysterious “Paths” dimension and reaches Ymir Fritz—the origin of all Titans—he reveals his trump card. While everyone believed Eren would be the one to take control of the Founding Titan’s power, Zeke had a backup plan: he’s of royal blood. That means he can command Ymir. And when Eren hesitates, Zeke quickly seizes control. His plan? To use the Founding Titan’s abilities to sterilize all Eldians—ending their bloodline and ultimately eliminating Titans from the world forever.
This moment is Zeke at his most godlike—and his most chilling. His ruthless desire to “save” the world by erasing an entire people’s ability to reproduce isn’t just extreme—it’s genocidal in slow motion. He frames it as compassion, but its ultimately domination masked as mercy. He’s not just trying to rewrite the future—he’s trying to end it. The cold calculation behind his plan, his calm voice as he lays it all out, and his readiness to override Eren’s will show how deeply committed he is to a plan that no one asked for. In his mind, this isn’t madness—it’s salvation. And that makes it all the more terrifying.
#3: Zeke Brutally Kills Ragako Village
In one of his earliest displays of Titan control, Zeke decimates the quiet village of Ragako—Connie Springer’s hometown. Though it’s revealed much later in the series, this act remains one of the most haunting pieces of Zeke’s legacy. He infiltrates the village, injects its residents with his spinal fluid, and transforms them all into Titans with a single scream. No warning. No mercy. Men, women, children—entire families—turned into mindless monsters to serve as pawns in his war. When confronted about it, Zeke doesn’t show regret. Instead, he refers to it as a necessary experiment. A test to perfect his control over Titans.
This is where Zeke crosses the line from military strategist to full-blown war criminal. There’s no immediate gain to be had—just knowledge. Just proof that he can control the power of the Beast Titan beyond anyone’s expectations. And it works. But at what cost? Connie’s grief. The desecration of innocent lives. The trauma it inflicts on the Survey Corps. All of it? Collateral to Zeke. That’s the level of ruthlessness we’re dealing with here—a man who views entire communities as test subjects.
#2: Zeke Blows Himself Up to Escape Levi
Cornered by Levi in the aftermath of their forest confrontation, Zeke, bloodied and beaten, makes one of the most savage decisions in the series. Rather than accept capture or execution, he pulls the pin on a Thunder Spear embedded in his own chest—triggered deliberately to kill them both. The explosion is violent, sending Levi flying and leaving Zeke near death. But in a twisted act of irony, Zeke survives thanks to the miraculous intervention of a Titan that encases him in a protective shell and regenerates his body from near disintegration.
This act is peak Zeke. He knows Levi wants him alive. He knows he’s more valuable as a bargaining chip. So, he denies them that. He’d rather blow off half his body than be used. It’s bold, brilliant, and psychotic all at once. And even in the midst of pain and gore, Zeke remains focused on the long game. He doesn’t fear death. He fears failure. And in this moment, he sacrifices flesh for freedom—without hesitation.
#1: Zeke Manipulates Eren—and the World
Perhaps Zeke’s most ruthless moment isn’t a physical act of violence, but an intellectual one: his long-con manipulation of his own brother, Eren Yeager. From the moment they reunite, Zeke plays the role of the sympathetic older sibling. He talks of saving the world, of ending the Titans, of freedom. He earns Eren’s trust—or so it seems. But in truth, Zeke believes he’s the only one fit to wield the Founding Titan’s power. He never sees Eren as an equal—only as a vessel.
Once they enter the Paths, Zeke reveals that he’s been playing chess all along. He tries to use his royal blood to override Eren’s choices, believing he alone has the wisdom to sterilize the Eldian race. What makes this betrayal so gut-wrenching is that it’s personal. He invokes their father’s abuse, their shared trauma, and weaponizes those memories to gain leverage. He isn’t trying to kill his brother. He’s trying to break him. To mold him into a tool. To hijack his free will in the name of a warped peace.
That blend of manipulation, betrayal, and complete ideological conviction. That’s Zeke Yeager at his most dangerous. A man who sees people as puzzle pieces in a grand plan of his own making—and who will stop at nothing, not even love, to complete the picture.
Zeke Yeager is one of Attack on Titan’s most ruthlessly effective and ideologically chilling characters. Whether shattering armies with boulders or twisting emotions with surgical precision, Zeke proves that power isn’t just about brute force—it’s about control. Control of Titans. Control of minds. Control of destiny. His most ruthless moments aren’t just about death—they’re about dominion. And that’s what makes him one of the most fearsome figures in the entire saga.
