Happy Pride and welcome to Anime Rants! Last year, I wrote about a certain LGBT+ anime character for Pride month. This year, I’ve picked a different character and will spend some time analyzing their queer identity.

Zoe Hange is a character from Attack on Titan who is sometimes considered non-binary. Though English translations give Hange feminine pronouns, those used in the series were gender neutral. Thus, to be as faithful as possible to Hange’s identity, I will refer to the character using “they/them.”

Link: LGBT Character Spotlight 2024: Utena Tenjou

Contents

1. Hange’s Background and Personality
2. Hange’s Non-Binary Gender Identity
3. Why I chose Hange for Pride 2025

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Hange’s Background and Personality

The details of their past are unknown, but Hange worked under Levi and Erwin in the Survey Corps for a long while. In addition to fighting Titans, they developed a passion for studying the monsters. By the time Eren met the talkative Titan researcher, Hange was already an experienced soldier and a close friend to Captain Levi. Furthermore, they were making breakthroughs on Titan research that had never been seen before.

Throughout the several seasons of Attack on Titan, Hange continued to play a huge role in the story. After Commander Erwin’s death, for example, Hange became the new leader of the Survey Corps. They were also instrumental during the final arc, when they died bravely holding off the wall titans so the others could escape.

While Hange was alive, they were often the life of the party, being highly extraverted and eager to share their ideas. Hange’s imagination was wild and they were never very practical. Hange was highly intelligent and analytical, with a hearty sense of humor and a tendency to play-it-by-ear. Though capable of strategic thinking, they preferred to charge right into things, whether we’re talking about Titans or dinner conversation.

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Hange’s Non-Binary Gender Identity

Now that we know about Hange as a character, let’s discuss their gender identity. The majority of people who watched Attack on Titan in English probably assumed Hange was a woman because the translation referred to them as “she.” In the original Japanese audio, however, gender neutral pronouns were used for Hange, and no claims were made about their sex at birth. Furthermore, the author of the manga is on record saying that Hange’s gender was supposed to be ambiguous.

Most people agree that Hange was assigned female at birth (AFAB), but this isn’t important to their character. For Hange, it is more accurate to use “they/them” pronouns. That being said, if it’s too hard for you to remember the pronouns of a character you supposedly like, then I guess keep using the inaccurate pronouns. If you choose to interpret Hange as a gender-nonconforming woman, which isn’t canon, that’s also fine. I personally think that would be inaccurate, but there is room for interpretation.

Queer and allied audiences generally consider Hange to be somewhere under the non-binary umbrella. Some interpret them as gender-fluid, while others classify them as agender. I’m in the second camp, perhaps because it’s closer to where I am on my own gender identity journey. There are numerous ways to interpret their gender, but Hange can definitely be considered an LGBT+ anime character.

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Why I chose Hange for Pride 2025

At the time of writing this post, I’m not terribly interested in Attack on Titan. It’s a masterpiece and has climbed into my top ten favorite anime series, but that doesn’t mean I’m always thinking about it. As such, it was a bit tough to get motivated to write about Zoe Hange. In the end, I kept trying to crank out words because there’s something important I want to communicate. Hange was my choice for Pride 2025 because of their fighting spirit.

I currently live in the US and don’t have the kind of money it takes to move elsewhere any time soon. Things in the US have gone to shit since the country elected a dementia-ridden felon and sexual predator as President. In this environment, as more and more legislature targets us, it becomes increasingly difficult to be openly queer. But that’s why it’s more important than ever to fight back.

This is not me saying that everyone has to be “out.” By all means, if your safety or living situation is at risk, then it’s understandable to remain under the radar. This is also not me saying that queer people should cause literal violence. I’m saying we need to fight back politically and personally in terms of our mental health.

To anyone else who is stuck in the US and queer, and to the trans children who are being ruthlessly targeted by right-wing adults who only want to get in their pants, I want to say this. Keep fighting! I see you. I’m here, too. Let’s fight the Titans of bigotry and hate together. We will not be silenced. We’ll scream our battle-cries and fight tooth-and-claw for our rights, even as others try to trample us. Just like Hange against the Titans, let’s fight onward.

~Thank you for reading~

Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants

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