The Attack on Titan anime is nearing the end of its run after delivering a decade of excellence across the board. The series was destined for success from the very first episode, drawing a massive audience that has just kept growing ever since. The plot, setting, and animation of the show are undoubtedly in a class of their own, with the characters being perfect in their own way as well. A character like Armin could've just been the cliched shit genius character that's present across most anime, but his arc is so amazing that he frees himself from this tired notion!
Of course, Armin is far from being a perfect character. He's made his fair share of errors throughout the series that have been quite egregious in their own right, although his intellect definitely prevents him from making truly horrible mistakes in the series. As a result, his most notable mistakes aren't all that high in number, but they're still worth discussing regardless. Keeping this in mind, here are some of the worst failures that Armin has been front and center of in Attack on Titan.
4 Hesitating To Take Charge During The Battle To Retake Shiganshina
The battle to retake Shiganshina was one of the most brutal battles that the Survey Corps had to deal with. The battle involved a bunch of new recruits and experienced soldiers, but only a mere handful actually managed to survive by the end of this vicious ordeal. This was mainly because of the impressive offense of the Marleyan Warriors, who formulated a great pincer attack and blocked the Survey Corps from escaping.
While Erwin managed to take charge right outside of the district, the major decisions needed to be taken inside the walls to deal with the threat of the Armored and Colossus Titan. Armin was extremely scared after the assault of the Colossus Titan and refused to take charge since he was panicking. However, after getting back to his senses, he ended up devising a careful plan that took care of both Titans, albeit at the cost of his own life.
3 Trying To Be The Distraction Or Sacrifice All The Time
To say that Armin has a savior complex would be a pretty major statement. However, fans of the series can't deny that Armin has a habit of sacrificing himself or putting himself in danger so that the people around him can get another chance. The biggest example of this was during the battle for Shiganshina, where Armin decided to act as a distraction and almost burnt to a crisp in a bid to stop the Colossal Titan in its tracks.
While his plan definitely worked, it came at the cost of his own life, leading to a tough choice as Levi let Erwin die in favor of the young genius getting a second shot at life. Perhaps there was no other way to abduct Bertholdt, but if Armin had just kept himself alive somehow then Erwin would be leading the Survey Corps even now.
2 Constantly Doubting Himself
Armin is easily one of the smartest people on the show. This is a fact that pretty much everyone acknowledges, with the sole exception of Armin himself. For some reason, the man who has bailed out the Survey Corps time and time again with his brilliant tactics doubts himself all the time to make the correct decisions.
There's a reason why some people actually agree with the notion of Armin being saved over Erwin. The young genius has made some valuable contributions to turn the tide of battle favorably and has consistently proven why he's one of the most intelligent characters on the entire show.
1 Failing To Convince Eren To Mend His Ways
After the third season, the show goes through a major time skip where Eren pretty much turns into a completely different character and completely discards his past attachments. It's one of the most jarring and exciting moments in the entire show that has left people waiting with bated breath for the final season to air its remaining episodes. However, regardless of the exciting nature of this change, there's no denying the fact that Eren is going down a dark path from where there's no coming back.
While it's understandable for Eren to develop such an extreme mindset due to his isolation, it must be wondered why his closest friend didn't try and make him see the light. After all, Eren has shared a tight bond with Armin for the longest time, and it would only make sense for these two to look out for each other and prevent anybody from steering too much into the dark. Unfortunately, Eren isn't swayed by the presence and words of Armin in the slightest. In fact, he even loses it and beats Armin to a pulp, right after berating Mikasa with some hard-hitting words!