Roland Durant

"You see, we wouldn't ask why the rose that grew from concrete had damaged petals. On the contrary, we would all celebrate its tenacity. We would all love its will to reach the sun. Well, we are the roses. They are the concrete. These are our damaged petals. Don't ask me why. Ask me how."

Roland Durant
Post-TimeskipPost-Timeskip | Pre-TimeskipPre-Timeskip
Name	Roland Durant
Kanji	ローランドデュラント
Biological Information
Gender	Male
Age	12
Height	174cm
Weight	65kg
Affiliates	Sophielle Starke
Affiliation	106th Military Trainee Squad
Grad Rank	N/A
Species	Human
Status	Alive
First Appearance
Wall of Origin	Wall of Anthe
District of Origin	Mimas

Roland Durant (ローランドデュラント, Roland Durant^?) is a young boy hailing from the Mimas District of Wall Anthe. His family, the Durants, are the most influential people in all of Wall Anthe. The French Mafia is ruled by Roland's family and controls all of the Mimas District. Certain connections and agreements with the Five Royal Houses allow them to maintain control over Mimas, although the nature of these connections are currently unknown.

Appearance

Being from a fairly prestigious family, looks are rather important to Roland. He maintains an athletic, svelte body that supports his Savate  fighting style.  He has black hair that cuts off just at the tips of his ears or is sometimes slicked back and deep blue eyes. In his casual attire, he dons a simple mahogany jersey jacket with a similarly colored scarf that he uses to hide his mouth along with a white T-shirt underneath and black pants or a black open coat and white gloves that he wears for no particular reason. Roland has a slight amount of facial hair that is kept trimmed neatly, something he and his father had in common. To complete his clothing set, he wears brown boots that use straps instead of laces. 

Updated Garrison uniforms

In his soldier attire, he consists of a faded dark grey shirt with string tassels at the collar and the updated Garrison uniforms that consist of black shirts with faded yellow outlines, string clips that line the torso from top of  the collar bone to the waist, fingerless gloves with cuffs that overlap the wrists along with special lightweight plate armor that covers the shoulders and also display the Garrison logo upon them, and the normal white pants and brown boots. He also wears ring on his right ring finger, given to him by his mother.

History

When Roland was seven years old, he had moved to the Teletos District of Wall Pallene as part of his family's goal to gain influence in all of Cronus. Upon taking residence in the Wall, his father and his mother adjusted to life quickly in Teletos. Each day there made the district feel more like home. Roland's mother, Genevieve Durant, stated that she felt as though she had never left Mimas. His father, César Durant, found it very similar to Mimas in that he maintained a steady work time with the Survey Corps. Roland was, surprisingly, the slowest to adapt since he had grown accustomed to life in Mimas, having made many friends there. 

One month later, during a trip to the market to buy food, Roland and his mother encountered Sophielle Starke, a street orphan abandoned by her parents and tried to steal from them. From what she told them, her parents had left for the Interior one night while she slept and left her alone. Roland, while originally indifferent to her, opened up to Sophielle when his mother, who was known for her bleeding heart, took Sophielle in. Soon, Roland and Sophielle became close. They were even considered actual siblings by César, who later found out about the adoption. Roland gave Sophielle a nickname after his laziness to utter her full name, shortening it to "Sophie". She was happy about this and gladly accepted the name.

Five years later, Roland had experienced a disturbing dream that involved him being led by a strange, ghostly woman into a room, given a ring and piece of paper, and finally attacked by a Titan. Roland stated that he had two other nightmares before that in that same week. After being called down for breakfast by Sophielle, Roland was pestered by his "sister" to do something other than stay inside all day. Reluctantly, he agreed and set out to fulfill her wish. As they left the house, Roland's mother requested that he retrieve some fish from the market, giving him both a pouch of coins and a burlap sack.

After a short walk down the street, Roland arrived at the local market and obtained the items that his mother asked for. As soon as he closed the bag, bells sounded and signaled the return of the Survey Corps expedition and more specifically, his father. Roland subsequently ran to see his father with Sophielle following closely. As the gates rose, soldiers on horseback came flying through. However, there were far fewer than normal. Naturally, Roland feverishly searched the remaining soldiers for his father. When he didn't locate him, Roland began to fear the worst. The soldiers that returned reported that Dione had fallen to the Titans and that many citizens and soldiers had died. With that, the soldiers ordered an evacuation for everyone in Mimas.

Personality

"You never feel more alive than when you're looking at death in the face"

Roland can be described as a serious individual, but can be playful and laid-back. As a soldier, no one can surpass his discipline and sense of duty. This was shown when he was able to keep a strict look when receiving verbal, and some physical, lashings from the Commandant of his Trainees Squad. He takes many of his responsibilities as a soldier extremely seriously, to the point that he may come off as crazy. He was once referred to by Marcel as "too disciplined". In his Maneuver Gear training, the Titan dummies that were set up were seen as actual threats to Roland and were treated as such. Unlike most other cadets, he even took the hand-to-hand combat seriously despite it not being entirely relevant to his future goal of being in the Garrison.

Outside of his soldier activities, Roland can seem almost the exact opposite of what he acts like as a cadet. His rigid, military hardware type shell sheds and he becomes the most friendly and relatable person anyone could ever meet. He has even openly admitted his fear of the Titans, something he'd never do as a soldier. The compassion of his non-soldier personality can almost be seen as fragile. The fear of Titans is so great within Roland that it's the only thing that keeps him fighting.

While still having agreed to the risks of being a soldier, the thought of death haunts Roland's mind to no end. Be it himself or his comrades, he is never emotionally prepared for death. Although he will never show it in front of others, Roland will often lock himself away in solitude and breakdown over the deaths that he witnesses. Roland personally states that no matter how many lives are taken by the Titans, he will never be used to it. In the field, he maintains a steel facade, albeit with a dark and horrified expression, but behind closed doors he crumbles mentally and laments over the unfairness of the world he must live in.

Skills

Fitness

Roland's physical condition is above average compared to most his age. His cardio is where most of his fitness lies as he is able to endure heavy physical stress for relatively long periods of time. His high stamina translates over to his Savate and mixed martial arts fighting style. During his cadet training, he outlasted many of the Trainees in the hand-to-hand combat practice.

Savate

As Roland's main combat form, savate is made extremely effective in his use. Unlike other forms such as muay thai and silat, Roland does not utilize the knees and shins while kicking. Instead, Roland uses only his feet when kicking. Roland's arsenal of techniques include fouetté (literally meaning "whip") where he roundhouse kicks his opponent in the head making contact with his toe, chassé (literally meaning "driven"; side ("chassé lateral") or front ("chassé frontal") a piston-action kick that aims for the body, and revers (literally meaning "reverse"); a hooking kick that can aim lateral or frontal and also can aim at the head, body, or legs.

Mixed Martial Arts

Roland has lesser specialized skill in other martial arts such as muay thai, escrima, and even pak mei. Each of these styles he can switch between and make himself all the more deadly. Even with these skills, however, Roland rarely ever uses them due to his profession in the military.

Roland's Statistics:

Battle Skill		8/10
Agility		9/10
Strategy		5/10
Intelligence		10/10
Teamwork		7/10
Discipline		10/10

Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear

Roland shows an excellent knack for utilizing the 3DMG. His ability to use very advanced techniques and maneuvers such as reeling himself in while upside down (e.g. when he moves in to strike a Titan's knees or lower) and spinning forward to cut out the nape of a Titan's neck make him a valuable asset for the Garrison. Sophielle has admitted to owing her life to Roland's skills, shown when she had been caught in the grasp of a Titan and Roland came to her rescue. Along with marvelous skill with the gear, Roland also has a great intuitive aptitude of the gear and is one the very few people outside of the Technology Division to know the inner workings of the Operating Device for the 3DMG.

Roland's skill with the 3DMG

Quotes

"The Titans are on our doorstep and you're bawling? We're soldiers. Hand picked to face these beasts. Only we can stop them. That's the whole reason you're here; the very reason you hold those blades. You, along with all of us, were thought to be skilled enough to kill these bastards. So stand up, wipe your tears away, and fight." — Roland to Zeke before entering battle

"What makes you think you can sit here and whine? If you're here, that means you've signed up with the military. Once you've done that, you've given up your humanity. Your right to complain no longer exists. You're a tool now. Something for the crown and all of humanity to use against the Titans. So I suggest you check your mouths and get set for a deployment!" — Roland to his squad