Zeke Yeager (extreme antinatalist character from Attack On Titan)
Spoilers for Attack On Titan
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Zeke Yeager embodies antinatalism (and nihilism) and takes it to the extreme like every villain does with their philosophies. His plan to end the Eldian bloodline, while morally wrong, stems from this conviction while he was speaking with Armin Artlert in the Paths.
“The purpose of life is to multiply.”
Zeke rejects this, seeing reproduction as a meaningless biological cycle.
Armin, however, responds with an absurdist outlook, finding meaning in small joys.
“When I would read inside on rainy days... when I fed acorns to a squirrel... when we ran around the market together... I had the feeling these insignificant moments were incredibly precious.”
Zeke begins to soften, momentarily embracing absurdism.
“There was no point to it... I would have been happy just playing catch forever.”
Yet he remains torn between intellect and emotion.
“I still believe the euthanization plan was right. But if it meant I could play catch with you, I wouldn’t mind being born again.”
For a long time, I had both an Absurdist and Antinatalist outlook on life (without realizing these philosophies actually had names or were widely discussed). But that last quote from Zeke confused me — he insists the antinatalist view is correct, yet says he wouldn’t mind living another absurd life.
I don’t know if I’m just a bit of a melon, but I’m genuinely curious what other people think about this.
Posted Oct 10, 2025, 7:23 PM UTC