What is the gender of Armin in Shingeki no Kyojin?


One of my friends read an article which claimed that [Armin
Arlert](http://shingekinokyojin.wikia.com/wiki/Armin_Arlert) of Attack on
Titan is female. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

[This article](http://sunrisingblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/shingeki-no-
kyojin-armin-is-a-girl/) included the following statement:

> **Q** : _Out of the group of female characters in the 104th Trainee Squad,
> who did Mikasa get along with the most?_
>
> **A** : _Armin_

[This related article](http://zakitakubu.com/2014/10/09/shingeki-no-kyojin-
armin-is-a-girl/) further states the following:

> _Isayama has revealed that Armin is a female character. Now this is a huge
> surprise for Shingeki no Kyojin fans. Everyone thought that Armin was always
> a boy but it looks like she was a girl._

Finally, [here's another
article](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2014-10-10/attack-on-titan-
creator-isayama-totally-called-armin-a-girl/.79797) discussing the possibility
of Armin being female.




Armin is a boy.

There are some reasons worth consideration:

  1. His appearance is male. This isn't always telltale, due to [traps](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/3520/274).
  2. Armin uses distinctly male language in Japanese. (He refers to himself as 僕【ぼく】 ( _boku_ ), which is a male pronoun, fairly rarely used by females unless they are traps.)
  3. The [_Shingeki no Kyojin_](http://shingekinokyojin.wikia.com/wiki/Armin_Arlert) Wiki refers to him as male.
  4. Armin is a boy's name. ([One source](http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Armin), but there's many.)
  5. He is voiced by a male in the English dub. Though he is voiced by a female in Japanese, this is common for young or weak boys (Shinji Ikari, Edward Elric, etc.). However, a male voicing a female character is exceedingly rare, and I doubt the mangaka would have allowed it.

In [the article you are referring
to](http://zakitakubu.com/2014/10/09/shingeki-no-kyojin-armin-is-a-girl/), the
answers to the questions are actually just for humorous purposes, and should
_not_ be regarded canonically. For example:

> Q: Mike smells all kinds of stuff, how does a titan smell?  
>  A: They smell like a spa-town.

After this article, Armin was later **confirmed to be male** by the mangaka
himself at a public event found in [this Japanese
video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guuyZxqGNi8) at 3:09 (thanks
[@OshinoShinobu](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/2869/oshino-shinobu)):

> Q: アルミンの性別はどっちですか？  
>  What is Armin's sex?
>
> A: 男です。  
>  Male.




Armin is a boy.

There are some reasons worth consideration:

  1. His appearance is male. This isn't always telltale, due to [traps](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/3520/274).
  2. Armin uses distinctly male language in Japanese. (He refers to himself as 僕【ぼく】 ( _boku_ ), which is a male pronoun, fairly rarely used by females unless they are traps.)
  3. The [_Shingeki no Kyojin_](http://shingekinokyojin.wikia.com/wiki/Armin_Arlert) Wiki refers to him as male.
  4. Armin is a boy's name. ([One source](http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Armin), but there's many.)
  5. He is voiced by a male in the English dub. Though he is voiced by a female in Japanese, this is common for young or weak boys (Shinji Ikari, Edward Elric, etc.). However, a male voicing a female character is exceedingly rare, and I doubt the mangaka would have allowed it.

In [the article you are referring
to](http://zakitakubu.com/2014/10/09/shingeki-no-kyojin-armin-is-a-girl/), the
answers to the questions are actually just for humorous purposes, and should
_not_ be regarded canonically. For example:

> Q: Mike smells all kinds of stuff, how does a titan smell?  
>  A: They smell like a spa-town.

After this article, Armin was later **confirmed to be male** by the mangaka
himself at a public event found in [this Japanese
video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guuyZxqGNi8) at 3:09 (thanks
[@OshinoShinobu](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/2869/oshino-shinobu)):

> Q: アルミンの性別はどっちですか？  
>  What is Armin's sex?
>
> A: 男です。  
>  Male.

