Frieda Reiss

"Leave it to me, father. [. . .] I won't let the ghosts of our ancestors get the better of me."

- Frieda to Rod Reiss before and after receiving the Founding Titan

Frieda Reiss (フリーダ・レイス) was Rod Reiss' eldest daughter and Historia's oldest half-sister. She was the true queen of humanity from 842 to 845 and the last of the Founding Titans. She is known to appear in Eren and Historia's obtained memories.

Human form
When Eren dreams of her, he first mistakes Frieda for Historia, highlighting the sisters' physical similarity. Frieda was tall and had long, smooth, dark hair; stopping well past her shoulders but she later cut it shoulder length before eating her uncle Uri and prior to her death her hair had grown back about half its original length. Frieda had large blue eyes and a rounded face, and she appeared to be well dressed, given that she was a member of the royal family, but was usually seen in simple dresses or skirts. 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.

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

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 possibly volunteered to become the next holder of the Founding Titan. She was brave, as she believed she could not give into 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. She suffered from depression and sometimes her behavior changed from her regular self to another much more aggressive. She also thought that humans were all sinners. However she fought to the death against Grisha Yeager in order to protect her family. Kenny Ackerman, 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.

From devouring her uncle, she also received the First King's thoughts about conflict. When Grisha Yeager arrived in the chapel, he begged her to end the invasion of the Titans, but she refused, thus Grisha attacked her in an attempt to gain the Founding Titan's power and save the people himself, leading to her demise.

The Uprising arc
She appears in Eren's dream, with him seeing her from her own perspective while she looks into a mirror and brushes her hair. However, in Historia's dreams she actually interacts with Historia. She teaches her how to read and tells her to grow up to be "ladylike" and a kind person. Frieda appears moved when Historia claims that she wants to be like her, then proceeds to manipulate Historia's memory, telling her to forget about her until they see each other again.

While Hange and the new Levi squad attempt to search for Eren and Historia, Hange reads a report commissioned by Erwin on the Reiss family grounds. 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. A tragedy struck the Reiss family the night Wall Maria fell. Bandits supposedly raided a chapel in the village, and killed the entire Reiss family save for Rod and Historia.

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. In his Titan form, Grisha invaded an underground cavern under the Reiss family chapel, where the family had gathered to pray. He battled Frieda and consumed her, thus gaining her powers and memories. He then slaughtered her mother and siblings, and finally destroyed the chapel. 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.

According to Rod, when Frieda was 15, she injected herself with the Titan serum and transformed for the first time in the same cavern below the chapel. Her uncle Uri Reiss, was chained up so she could devour his upper body. She received not only the Titan powers that Uri had inherited from his father, Frieda's grandfather, but the memories of the world before the Walls. She essentially became the "living book" of humanity and had the power to spread the information if she chose. But like all the others before her, she chose not to.

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. Frieda plucked a splinter out of her palm that Historia had gotten while trying to climb over a fence, then screamed at her for trying to do so. Historia recalls that Frieda would sometimes seem possessed, ranting about "sinners", then become deeply depressed afterwards. 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. As he continues to press Historia to inject herself, she remembers Ymir telling her to live for herself. And she gains the strength to throw Rod to the ground and rush to Eren's rescue.

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 Ackerman's final moments, he recalled after Frieda's uncle Uri, whom he was very close with, had been eaten and had his powers passed onto her. 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.
 * "Invincible Power": Briefly mentioned by Rod. He said her Titan form held an invincible power, but she was not experienced enough to control it. Rod also goes on to mention it had the potential to exterminate all the Titans.
 * Memory Manipulation: She is shown to be able to manipulate the memories of a person, she uses it to have Historia forget about her. This is related to 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.
 * Enhanced Strength: She was briefly capable of withstanding Grisha's attacks.

Relationships

 * Historia Reiss - Historia is 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 "Krista 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 became distressed (as she was the holder of the Founding Titan and the memories of the world and did not want to put Historia through that) and hugged her little sister, while emotionally telling her she is fine the way she is. 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 she 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 into their ancestors' ghosts.
 * Grisha Yeager - 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 holder of the Founding Titan.

People Killed

 * Uri Reiss (as a mindless Titan)

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 of 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 principle deities of the Nordic mythology, such as Tyr, Thor, & 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.
 * Frieda is Old High German, (fridu), which stands for "peace".
 * Her name also has an Old English meaning, (þryð), which stands for "force" and "strength".
 * She used to bite her hand in order to trigger the transformation. This same method would later be used by Eren Yeager, learned through the memories he subconsciously inherited.

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