Attack on Titan is one of the most popular anime and manga series out there right now. The series takes place in an alternate reality where monstrous creatures known as titans exist. The titans conquered the Marley nation and the last survivors were forced to live behind massive walls.

The Eldians lived in an uneasy peace for many years, having never seen a titan, until one day the Colossal and Armored titans broke down the wall and changed their world forever. The Survey Corps is part of an elite military team sent out on expeditions to learn more about the titans and fight them off, reclaiming the lands they have taken. Here are some weird rules they must follow.

10 Be ready to die

Survey Corps Special Operations Squad Levi Riding Horse

Living in a world where, at any moment, giant titans could reach down, scoop you up, and devour you alive means that everyone is constantly on edge worrying about their safety. But for Survey Corps, that rule gets taken to an extreme. In the beginning, they were literally treated like cannon fodder.

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The members of the Survey Corps must always be ready to give up their lives to die and for the greater good. It's pretty depressing to think about. Especially because, at the end of the day, death is never easy and their death scenes are just traumatic as any others on the series.

9 Be An Expert Horseback Rider

If you plan on becoming a member of the Survey Corps you better ensure that you're an expert on the back of a horse. Often times the speed with which you can gallop is the only thing that stands between you and being devoured by an angry titan.

There have been many times in the series where Survey Corps have had to outpace a giant titan by galloping at full speed, unflagged. Have you ever been in a situation where your prowess at horseback riding could mean the difference between life and death? That's a daily challenge for the Survey Corps.

8 Accept Grey morality

Obviously, as part of the Survey Corps, they are enlisted by the military. It's kind of weird to consider the fact that the Survey Corps was created as a way to quell curiosity beyond the wall and are treated like natural sacrifices with a high mortality rate, and yet they are still expected to do anything their government requires of them.

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The Survey Corps have to accept being morally gray as people. They are sometimes required to do things they might not want to. Remember, they're the ones who were responsible for setting up the fight between Eren and Annie in the early days of the series. They do what must be done.

7 Prepare For Death Immediately

You might ask why anyone would want to become a member of the Survey Corps, after all, many of them don't even make it past their first mission. That's right, many of the recruits don't even get to come close to being inducted into the official ranks.

We already mentioned that joining the Survey Corps gives you a high probability of dying, but even the young members have to prepare for death! They might die before even getting on the field. It makes you wonder why anyone would become one, to begin with. It's also why many of them have nothing left to lose and no family to return to.

6 Accept The Survey Corps dark origins

Even though now the Survey Corps are looked upon as some of the most elite soldiers and warriors in the series, that wasn't their original purpose. We've alluded to this above when talking about how frequently these members die but did you know that was actually the entire purpose of the Survey Corps at first?

It was devised as a way to keep the citizens terrified of what lay beyond the walls and to quell curiosity. If they saw soldiers constantly going on expeditions and not returning alive, it showed that what was out there was too scary to consider. They were devised as sacrificial lambs until Erwin came on board.

5 Be A Good Fighter Without A Gun

Anime Fighting scene in Attack on Titan

When you consider what weapons you might want most when fighting against any kind of monster, most people would consider guns. They're a weapon of choice in plenty of other monster-fighting movies and television shows, so why not in Attack on Titan? Well, basically, guns just don't do the trick most of the time.

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Instead, the Survey Corps is equipped with special equipment that puts them in the skies. They have to learn how to fight aerially to keep up with the titans, who tower over them by several hundred feet. Not only do they use harnesses to fly through the air but they get dual swords to slice the back of the titan's neck, their weak point.

4 Don The Cape To Prove They Are Worthy

The important members of the Survey Corps are recognizable because they get to wear their long awesome capes. But they don't get a cape of their own until they prove themselves worthy of wearing one. The capes are green and have the insignia of the team emblazoned on them.

The wings are representative of freedom. To get honored with one of the capes is a big deal but when you think about it, it just means your death could be even more imminent considering the higher-ranked you are the more dangerous the missions will be.

3 Be willing to be part of Suicide Attacks

Again, being in the Survey Corps is one of the most dangerous places you could be in the entirety of the series. However, it's one thing to die in battle because you've been killed by a titan, and another thing to intentionally allow yourself to die in a suicide attack but sadly, suicide combat is part of the gig.

There is one notable instance in the series where a legion of new recruits is lead on a suicide attack to distract the beast titan. You don't have a choice. You have to let yourself die for the greater good.

2 Accept that they probably won't get to go home

Most members of the Survey Corps don't have much to go home to anyways but if you're fighting for a family or to make a place safe again, don't anticipate getting much time off, or even any at all. Even if you just want a vacation, it's not really something that is done as part of the Survey Corps.

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The members spend all of their time training and preparing for the upcoming expeditions. They may, on occasion, be permitted time to go home or take a break, but it is incredibly rare. When they aren't training they may also be attending meetings or strategizing.

1 Know how to bird run

Have you ever seen people who run with their arms outstretched to their sides? It's kind of a silly way to run but it is a necessity if you're in the Survey Corps. It's not totally dissimilar to the infamous Naruto run. Although their arms are more to the side than behind them.

The reason that the members run like this is because of all of their bulky equipment, the harnesses and swords make it difficult to run in a traditional way so its easier to keep their arms outwards to the sides so they don't obstruct their distance or speed.

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