At the recent Anime NYC panel, Attack on Titan manga author Hajime Isayama revealed the inspiration behind two of his characters from the Marley arc.

Isayama was reportedly a fan of Breaking Bad & Game of Thrones at the time he was working on the Marley arc of the manga. This inspired him to base Falco on Jesse Pinkman and Gabi Braun on Arya Stark.

On the other hand, the character of Hange Zoe reminded Isayama of his male friend back in his hometown, Hayato. According to him, both Hayate and Hange are weird. It was normal how strange they both were and he used this as an inspiration for the character.

Not explored in the manga, he says Hange reminds him of a friend from his hometown, named Hayato. They are both very weird. It was normal how strange they were, and was an inspiration for the character.

— Lynzee Loveridge➵Anime NYC (@ANN_Lynzee) November 19, 2022

The author also talked about how he created his characters at the Anime NYC panel. He first draws a character which he has in his mind and based on how the character turns out, he creates a personality for them.

In addition to Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, Isayama revealed that he likes Better Call Saul, and that he enjoyed watching the science fiction horror film Nope.

Isayama also addressed the controversial ending on Attack on Titan at the panel, and almost cried, as fans showered him with support and encouragement.

Born in 1986 in Oita Prefecture, Isayama made his debut in 2008 and started his first serialization, Attack on Titan, in 2009. The manga was serialized in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. The chapters of the manga have been collected into 34 tankobon volumes, with the final 34th volume releasing on July 2021.

An anime television series was produced by Wit Studio (seasons 1–3) and MAPPA (season 4). A 25-episode first season was broadcast from April to September 2013, followed by a 12-episode second season broadcast from April to June 2017. A 22-episode third season was broadcast in two parts, with the first 12 episodes airing from July to October 2018 and the last 10 episodes airing from April to July 2019.

A fourth and final season premiered in December 2020, airing 16 episodes in its first part. A second part consisting of 12 episodes aired from January to April 2022, and a third and final part will premiere in 2023.

Source: Twitter