Frieda Reiss (Anime)

"The world is full of pain and suffering, so you should live in a way to be helpful and loved by everybody."

- Frieda to Historia

Frieda Reiss (フリーダ・レイス) was Rod Reiss's eldest daughter and Historia's oldest half-sister. She was the Queen of the Walls from 842 to 845 and the last of the Founding Titans, before it got merged with the Attack Titan. She is known to appear in Eren and Historia's obtained memories.

Human form
Frieda was tall and had long, smooth, dark hair; stopping well past her shoulders. Before eating her uncle Uri, she had her hair cut shoulder-length. Frieda had large blue eyes and a rounded face, and was usually seen in simple dresses and skirts despite being a noble. After receiving the Founding Titan, Frieda's eyes would differentiate between light and a dark vacant, a sign she had inherited the memories of the world as well as the will of the First King.

Founding Titan form
Frieda's Titan form had shoulder length black hair that hung loosely around her face. She had noticeably large purple eyes; as well as a somewhat skeletal nose. Her torso had a defined muscle lining and she had a feminine form much like the Female Titan's, unlike most Titans. Like others with the power of the Titans, she was physically fitter than Pure Titans.

Pure Titan form
Three years before, when Frieda first transformed into a Titan, she was much less muscular and had bony, stocky proportions, with a long torso that made her ribs and shoulder bones visibly apparent.

Personality
Frieda tended to be a good and caring person. She liked to walk and look after the peasants. She loved Historia to the point that she erased her memories in order to protect her. She was brave, as she believed she would not give in to her ancestor's ghosts. She cried during the succession ceremony, as it meant she had to eat her uncle.

After receiving the Founding Titan, her personality changed. Due to being a Reiss, she fell under the will of the First King and received his opinions and thoughts about conflict. She suffered from depression and sometimes her behavior changed from her regular self to another that was much more aggressive. She fought to the death against Grisha Jaeger in order to protect her family. Kenny Ackermann, a Reiss bodyguard, said that Frieda talked about the same things Uri did, like peace and love, but it is unknown if she actually believed in this or if she was saying what was expected of her.

When Grisha Jaeger arrived in the chapel, he begged her to end the invasion of the Titans, but she refused; this refusal would ultimately lead to her demise by Grisha's hands.

History
When she was 15, Frieda inherited her uncle Uri's power and became the Queen of the Walls. She received not only the Titan powers that Uri had inherited from his father, but also the memories of the world before the Walls.

Frieda would regularly visit her half-sister Historia on Historia's family farm, acting as a mother figure that the girl was lacking. She would play with Historia, teach her how to read and write, and would often teach Historia life lessons during her visits. However, she would end each of her visits by erasing Historia's memories of their time together in order to keep her safe.

During one of her visits, Frieda brought a storybook with her, which she read to Historia. After she had finished it, she encouraged Historia to emulate the book's heroine, Christa's, behavior by treating others kindly and living an upright life. Frieda was moved to tears of joy by Historia's desire to grow up to be like her instead, and adamantly insisted that Historia would be able to live like her too. She then used her power of the Titans to erase Historia's memory and left, saying that she would visit again.

The Fall of Shiganshina arc
On the day of Wall Maria's fall, Frieda and the rest of her family go to the Reiss family chapel, where they are attacked by Grisha Jaeger at night. She listens as Grisha pleads with the Reiss family to protect them against the Titan invasion. For a moment, Frieda appears willing to agree to Grisha's request, but then she seems to be forced to change her mind due to the First King's Will. She then argues with Grisha from the First King's position, stating that humanity within the Wall must perish to protect mankind beyond them. She attempts to deter Grisha by stating that he cannot wield the Founding Titan's power. Already aware of this, Grisha shares with Frieda his own Titan's ability to see its future inheritor's memories. He tells Frieda that the future set out for them determines that he will eat the Founder and end the royal bloodline, but hesitates due to his reservations in killing children. Frieda's family urge her to kill Grisha while he is vulnerable, however Grisha resolves to transform before this is possible. Frieda transforms into the Founding Titan, and battles Grisha's Attack Titan. However, she is not skilled enough to utilize her Titan's abilities to their full potential, and is swiftly defeated by Grisha and eaten. Grisha then proceeded to slaughter her mother and siblings, with only Rod Reiss escaping the massacre.

Royal Government arc
Frieda appears in Eren's dream as he awakes chained up at the Underground Chapel, with him seeing her from her own perspective while she looks into a mirror and brushes her hair. Rod's eldest daughter Frieda was loved by all in their village for her genuine character. She was even known to visit the fields to thank the farmers for their work.However, it is revealed through Eren's inherited memories—triggered by Rod and Historia placing their hands on his back while he is chained up in the cavern—that the murderer was actually Eren's father Grisha. When Eren later eats Grisha, Frieda's memories are transferred to him along with Grisha's. Rod later explains that Grisha entered the chapel seeking Frieda's Titan power, and they fought one another in their Titan forms. Rod says Frieda possessed an invincible power but did not have the experience to use it to its full potential. Therefore she lost to Grisha, who ate her and thus stole her power.

Rod tells Historia that Frieda is not really dead, as her memories are still alive, and he asks her if she wants to see her sister again. Before she is about to inject herself and eat Eren, Historia flashes back to the recovered memories of Frieda in her childhood again. Historia recalls that Frieda would sometimes seem possessed, ranting about "sinners," then become deeply depressed afterward. She wondered if Frieda was troubled by the burden of the world's memories. Rod tells Historia that yes, Frieda had also inherited the ideology of the first Reiss King, which is why she had never chosen to exterminate the Titans.

After Historia kills her father, she receives some memories from him. In one of them, Frieda was telling him that she will not give in to their ancestors' ghosts.

During Kenny Ackermann's final moments, he recalls Frieda's uncle Uri Reiss, whom he was very close with. Uri had been Frieda's predecessor as the holder of the Founding Titan. As his term had neared its end, Uri had his powers passed onto her in the Reiss succession ritual, which had Frieda transform into a Titan and eat him. Kenny noted that when he was at a hearing of the royal family and he first saw Frieda as the new leader, he could see Uri in her as soon as he saw her eyes and that she spoke of the same things he did such as love among mankind and peace.

Power of the Titans
Other than the regular abilities possessed by Titans and those with the power of the Titans, nothing especially notable was seen belonging to her Titan form as she was killed rather easily by Grisha's Titan form.
 * Founding Titan: Because of her royal blood, Frieda has the full abilities of the Founding Titan, but she was not experienced in using it. Using the Founding Titan, she was able to manipulate the memories of Subjects of Ymir, such as Historia Reiss. Rod calls this the "invincible power."
 * Regeneration: Like all Titans, she possessed healing abilities. When punched in the face by Grisha, she started emitting steam from her wounds.

Relationships

 * Historia Reiss - Historia was Frieda's younger half-sister, whom she loved and cared for when she was little. Frieda was the only member of Historia's family who treated her with love and kindness, teaching her to read and write, taking her horseback riding, etc. Though Historia would have no memory of these interactions with her sister, as she erased her memories in order to protect her. Frieda was also indirectly responsible for Historia's "Christa Lenz" persona, telling her to always be kind so she would have friends to help her since the world is full of hardships. When Historia told Frieda she wanted to be like her, the older sister hugged her little sister, while being visibly distressed. Frieda, after Historia's memories were recovered, was the reason Historia did not eat Eren, as she realized the Founding Titan made her lose her humanity.
 * Uri Reiss - Uri was Frieda's uncle, the previous Founding Titan. Not much interaction is shown between the two, but it can be assumed that Frieda had a close family bond with Uri, as she was crying before she injected herself with the needle, turning into a Titan for the first time and devouring Uri, showing that Frieda was saddened by the fact that she had to eat her uncle.
 * Rod Reiss - Rod was Frieda's father. Through his interactions with Historia and flashbacks, it is implied that he loved her above all things. After Frieda ate Uri, Rod rushed forward and pulled her out of her Titan's evaporating carcass. When Historia rejected Rod's plan, Rod was shocked since that meant Frieda's memories and powers would be wasted. Before transforming into a Titan, he said that he would be reunited with her, her grandfather, and her uncle. Historia obtained several of Rod's memories after beheading Rod. Among them was Frieda before and after inheriting the Founding Titan. She told him to leave it to her, for she would not give in to their ancestors' ghosts.
 * Grisha Jaeger - Frieda fought to the death against Grisha under the Reiss Chapel days after the fall of Wall Maria. She fought in vain, sadly, due to a lack of experience. This allowed Grisha to bite her out of her Titan's nape, eat her, absorb her power, and kill her family. This power was later passed onto Grisha's son, Eren, making him the new inheritor of the Founding Titan.

People killed

 * Uri Reiss (as a Pure Titan)

Failed attempts

 * Grisha Jaeger

Trivia

 * In mythology, the name Frieda is literally derived from the Goddess Freyja, a central character in many Nordic myths. Her name is likely one of many references to real-life Norse mythology alongside such "Ymir" and "Utgard."
 * It should be noted that Freyja is part of a saga involving a war between Vanir and Aesir, where the settlement of the latter is attacked by having their Walls destroyed, bearing several similarities to the world of Attack on Titan. The Aesir are the principal deities of the Nordic mythology, such as Tyr, Thor, and Odin. Whereas the Vanir are a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, nature, magic, and the ability to see the future. With Freyja being one of the principle Vanir in the conflict, and is traded in a hostage negotiation to become one of the Aesir. They collectively oppose the Frost Giants for the remainder of the Edda's.
 * Freyja is also a Goddess involving Shamanism, which allows transformation by having one's soul seethe out the neck. Freyja was also the Goddess of love.
 * Frieda is Old High German, (fridu), which stands for "peaceful ruler," its variant Frida meaning "peace."
 * Her name also has an Old English meaning, (þryð), which stands for "force" and "strength."
 * Another meaning derives from Old Norse (Fríða) which means "beautiful, beloved."
 * Frieda's Japanese voice actor, Yōko Hikasa, also sang the first ending theme of the Attack on Titan anime's first season.

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Frieda Reiss (Anime)