@Al!naJames:
I feel neutral about Levi, I neither like him or dislike him, I don't care. But it's getting kind of annoying that he is present on ALL the merchandise instead of Armin or often even instead of Mikasa, like he's the main character, like him and Eren are the dynamic due of the show. But that's so misleading, he's not, he's pretty side. About 50% of his anime screen-time is filler to feed the fanbase. Yeah his fighting skills were praised, but did his actions really speak for it? Can you tell me what kind of plot-relevance does he have? I fail to see any, he's just there.
Plot relevance? He's the guiding light of the Survey Corps. He's said to be the strongest human alive. He is the certified master at using the 3D gear and is said to be worth at least an entire squad of soldiers. His experience and strength is needed for when they go on expeditions outside the walls. Before they met Annie in her intelligent Titan form, Levi and his squad underwent multiple successful tours outside of the walls and came back alive (Even going into Titan infested lands once and coming back is considered a great feat….) They came back as certified elite veterans, multiple times... why? Because Captain Levi was there to teach them his style and guide them. The only reason they got their asses whipped was because they underestimated Annie and Eren didn't transform.. oh and because LEVI wasn't there. PLUS he has a personal court ordered mandate to survey Eren and to keep him in check should he go berserk in Titan Mode. I'd say that's pretty damn "plot relevant". If it weren't for him saving Eren multiple times (during the court trial, and during the battle with Annie in the Giant Forest) in the series… Eren would either be dead by humanity's hands, or captured by Annie and the others (leading to humanity's utter and ultimate defeat). The power lies in the hands of a few… Literally (Eren, Levi, Erwin etc...) and Levi has proven to be an authority in humanity's ranks.
Plot relevance? LOL, he's quite relevant. Don't hate... Everyone else has proven to be pretty damn worthless when it comes to fighting titans... everyone either s***s themselves or cries and runs at the sight of Titans. Only those in the Survey Corps (Mikasa, Armin, Eren, Jean, and the rest of the 104th) are even worth mentioning.
And I don't know where you're pulling your stats from because I'm pretty sure all of his appearances correlate to the manga (the only scenes that were filler that had him were him cleaning? and the latter half of episode 22 when they were throwing the bodies off of the cart) , 50% filler? Not really...
Hell, did you hear? Levi is even getting his own manga spin off that will delve into his life and experiences before these events happened… so if you want to get technical, Levi is a main character and was kicking ass before Eren was even born.
And what do you expect? He's the most likeable character from the series! I expect more merchandise of him by far! And Mikasa is still uber badass too, don't worry her merchandise is coming. She's going to have the first Figma, Nendoroid, GSC AND Alter scaled releases plus Sega and Banpresto too… so like really? The merchandise isn't even out yet. The only stuff out right now is phone straps, bookmarks and keychains, so you're exaggerating a bit there... And Armin? Who the f**k cares about Armin? That's right, nobody.