Thug Trio

Thug Trio is the friendship ship between Levi Ackerman, Farlan Church and Isabel Magnolia from the Attack on Titan fandom.

Canon
Prior to Isabel joining the trio, the first one to meet each other are Levi and Farlan. Prior to the fall of Wall Maria, Farlan was a delinquent roaming the capital's Underground District. Having heard rumors of Levi's strength, Farlan originally set up a test to see how strong he was, by having him fight a group of thugs. Farlan's plan was to see if Levi was worth recruiting into his group of thugs or not, and he was surprised to see Levi beat them all single-handedly. He was amazed at Levi's skill and hoped he could convince him to join his gang. After Levi refused, he joined up with Levi instead. The two became close friends, with Levi greatly valuing Farlan's opinions and strategies. Later on, Levi found Isabel among some garbage in the underground. After that, the two grew so close that Isabel saw Levi as a brother figure, often calling him 'aniki' or 'Levi-aniki,' meaning older brother.

Prior to the fall of Wall Maria, Levi, Farlan and Isabel were delinquents, roaming the Underground City of the capital, being notorious for having a strong reputation due to Levi's strength. Levi, together with his friends Farlan and Isabel, is recruited by a corrupt noble to kill Survey Corps Squad Leader Erwin Smith and recover some incriminating documents he has in his possession. During their first encounter in the Underground when “the two who met with freedom in their hearts”, Erwin is visibly impressed by Levi’s skill with 3DM gear and resolves to recruit him to the Survey Corps. Erwin returns to the Underground to capture Levi, Farlan and Isabel, offering them a deal that their crimes will go unpunished if they join the Survey Corps. Levi agrees to join, intending to kill Erwin at the first opportunity and recover the documents.

The trio arrive at the Survey Corps Headquarters, and Levi tells Farlan that he does not actually plan on enlisting, but simply wants to get closer to Erwin so he can follow his objective. Farlan tells him that it is pointless to kill Erwin, and that Levi needs to trust him on that. Later, Isabel and Farlan find Levi sitting out on the roof of headquarters. The two join him, and they all admire the sky together. Levi is seen visibly relaxed and happy near his friends, to the point of even smiling, something he rarely does. Farlan asks Levi if the sky is as beautiful as it was where he used to live, and Levi says maybe. Levi then tells Farlan that he has decided to trust him, and not kill Erwin for now, to which Farlan responds with a smile.

Flagon Turret takes Levi, Isabel, and Farlan to the men's barracks, and Levi immediately notices how dirty it is. Isabel gets excited at the thought of the three of them living together only to be disappointed by the fact that women lived separately. Levi confronts Flagon for telling them that though they came from trash, they have to keep the place clean. Farlan pulls Levi back and quickly apologizes. Once Flagon is gone, the trio discusses a plan to steal some documents. Farlan advises that it would be best if they remain there quietly. Annoyed, Isabel asks if he thinks that she is stupid. Farlan asks her what 18 + 22 is and before she can give an answer by counting on her fingers Levi tells her that it is 40, calling her stupid and punching her on the head. Isabel says that everyone calls her stupid and Levi tells her not to talk nonsense, calling her stupid again, this time, ruffling her hair. Isabel then says that it was more important to fill your stomach than to learn how to count underground as Levi pushes her head away. The conversation reverts back to the plan to steal the documents. Levi then declares that they would clean until not a speck of dust was present.

At the training yard, Isabel is seen using her vertical maneuvering equipment with a horse much to a fellow soldier's shock. She talks about how Levi saved her underground and she became better as a person. Farlan is then shown telling another soldier how Levi was their group's unspoken leader because they did not want to burden him.

As the Survey Corps exit the wall on their first expedition, Levi, Farlan and Isabel see the outside world for the first time. Levi stares up at the sky in awe and says that it is not bad. Farlan says that they should have completed the mission without having to go outside the Walls. Levi assures Farlan that he will take care of the Titans, but is reminded that fighting real Titans is nothing like training. Shortly after watching two soldiers die at the hands of a Titan, Levi orders for Isabel and Farlan to help him kill it, though Flagon does not approve. Levi distracts the Titan as Isabel and Farlan take out its knees to immobilize it. The Titan falls to the ground, and Levi takes the opportunity to slice its nape and kill it.

The Survey Corps arrive at an old abandoned castle to rest for the night. Levi, Farlan and Isabel talk a bit about how they took down the Titan, before Levi asks Farlan if he really thinks Erwin brought the documents. Farlan tells Levi that he knows for sure Erwin has the documents, because he had searched Erwin's room and found nothing. Later, while Farlan searches Erwin’s office for the documents, Levi keeps watch in the corridor where he encounters Erwin. They stare at each other intensely before Erwin praises Levi’s fighting skill and acknowledges the sacrifice of all those soldiers who died having dedicated their hearts to save humanity. They are stopped when Isabel shows up and drags Levi away, teasing Levi saying: “you guys were just glaring at each other silently and it was creeping me out”.

The next day of the expedition, the three plan to kill Erwin, but when the weather closes in, Levi resolves to go after Erwin alone, leaving Farlan and Isabel behind. After Levi rides off to find Erwin, five Titans, having just devoured another squad, attack the squad Isabel and Farlan are a part of. As they attempt to flee, a Titan jumps out of the fog, causing Farlan's horse to fall back onto his leg, pinning him to the ground. As Isabel tries to assist Farlan in his escape, she deflects the attack of one Titan. She swings around it in an attempt to cut its nape but misses. She gives it a second try, but slips face-first onto the Titan's back, knocking her off balance. Hanging by one wire and barely coming to her senses, she sees a second Titan. She is gripped by fear as it smiles at her and prepares to attack. The Titan launches itself straight at her, killing her on the back of the Titan she was still attached to. Before being crushed between the two Titans, she had been calling out to Levi for help. Her death causes Farlan to turn around and confront the Titans, but he realizes too late that his fall had badly damaged his equipment, so he gets devoured.

Meanwhile, Levi is on his horse searching for Erwin. He finds a squad that has been wiped out by titans. Levi sees the footprints of multiple Titans, before realizing they are headed back towards his friends. He forgets his mission to go after Erwin and follows the Titan's footprints. Levi's horse becomes unusable after tripping and falling, so he is forced to run. Levi is unable to make it in time to save Isabel from being eaten. Farlan is in danger as well, but once again Levi does not arrive quick enough to save him. Levi slices open the Titan's stomach and pulls what is left of Farlan out, but he is already dead. Blind with rage, Levi ruthlessly kills the four remaining Titans in an instant. Levi is horrified upon finding Isabel's decapitated head, and closes her eyes.

When Erwin and Mike Zacharius find him kneeling among the remains, Levi attacks Erwin, knocks him to the ground and threatens to kill him by holding his blade to his throat. Erwin reveals that he knew all along about Levi’s plan, and that the documents were fake, part of a counter-plan to force the corrupt noble to reveal himself. Levi blames himself for needlessly causing his friends death but Erwin grabs Levi’s blade in his hand and reminds him that it is the Titans who are responsible for all their suffering, not him. Erwin offers Levi a choice, asking if he will kill him and return to the darkness of the Underground or to fight with the Survey Corps and use his strength to save humanity. Levi ends up choosing the latter, choosing to follow Erwin, not regretting his decision for as long as he lives.

The next day, Levi returns to the walls again with the rest of the Survey Corps. When he's going under the roof of the wall, he imagines the Underground City Roof. After he got out the walls, two birds are seen flying next to him, representing that Isabel and Farlan are always going to be present in his memories and their legacy will always accompany him.

Fanon
Thug Trio is a very beloved and popular platonic ship within the Attack on Titan fandom, specially for Levi fans. In relation to Attack on Titan trios in general, it's overshadowed by more popular ships, like EreMikaAru. Most of the fans of the Thug Trio recall the moment where Levi loses his friends as one of the most heartbreaking of the whole series, as well as a very important moment for Levi's character development. And the sheer pain this caused to Levi, as he cried while slaying the titans that took his friends away from him, just makes their relationship all the more tragic. Although both Isabel and Farlan have died a long time ago in the canon manga, Levi keeps remembering them alongside his dead comrades.

At first, some fans of Attack on Titan didn't consider "A Choice With No Regrets" (ACWNR), the series where this relationship got introduced and developed, as canon. But overtime the only thing they could do was accept the fact it was canon, since it was introduced as part of the canon plot of the Shingeki no Kyojin manga (in chapter 76). And, on top of that, Isayama himself worked alongside both Hikaru Suruga (illustrator of ACWNR) and Gun Snark (writer of ACWNR) on the development of this part of Levi's earlier story, how he and Erwin Smith met, and getting to see his backstory with Farlan and Isabel.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Variations

 * LeviFar refers to the ship between Levi Ackerman and Farlan Church
 * LevIsa refers to the ship between Levi Ackerman and Isabel Magnolia
 * FarIsa refers to the ship between Farlan Church and Isabel Magnolia