Nine Titans

"After her death, Ymir's soul was split into nine Titans, who built the empire of Eldia."

- Mr. Yeager recounts the origins of the Nine to Grisha

The Nine Titans (九つの巨人) are nine Titan powers that have been passed down through the Eldian people for nearly 2,000 years after Ymir Fritz's death, each of them having their own name. They are the Founding Titan, the Attack Titan, the Colossus Titan, the Armored Titan, the Female Titan, the Beast Titan, the Jaw Titan, the Cart Titan, and the War Hammer Titan.

History
Around 2,000 years ago, Ymir Fritz obtained the power of the Titans and became the first Titan, the Founding Titan. Thirteen years later, she died from unkown causes and her soul was split into the Nine Titans, who were passed down to nine of her Subjects. The Nine Titans soon destroyed the ancient empire of Marley and conquered the entire continent to build the Eldian Empire. As family relations play a significant role in passing inheriting memories from the previous inheritors of the Titans, the Nine Titans normally resided within noble families during Eldia's reign. Examples include the Fritz family with the Founding Titan and Tybur family with the War Hammer Titan.

The noble families who held the Nine Titans, other than the Fritz family, were in a constant state of conflict with each other, known as the Great Titan War, but the Founding Titan had maintained the peace. When the 145th King, Karl Fritz, inherited the Founding Titan, he held great shame for the actions of his people and carried sympathy for Marley, a nation under constant tyranny. He conspired with the Tybur family as atonement for the actions of the kings and queens of old and fabricated the story of Helos, a Marleyan who defeated King Fritz. They succeeded in inciting civil war with the help of the people of Marley and while Eldia collapsed from the inside, Marley seized control over seven of the Nine Titans, with only the Founding and Attack Titans escaping their grasp. They distributed the Titans they had (except for the War Hammer Titan) among Eldians loyal to them known as Warriors. Karl Fritz then moved many Eldians onto the island of Paradis and built the Walls by transforming thousands of Subjects of Ymir into Colossus Titans, which hardened to form three concentric walls. The king then erased the memories of the Eldians on the island, except for a few immune minority races.

The Tybur family was allowed to keep their Titan because they were the first to fight for Marley, leaving them and the Reiss family (the Fritz family renamed) the only remaining Eldian houses left with their Titan after the war. The Reiss family later lost their Titan to Grisha Yeager in the year 845. After Grisha's Attack Titan ate Frieda Reiss' Founding Titan, the two Titans mixed into one. As a result, the number of Titans was reduced to eight.

Names and abilities

 * The Founding Titan (始祖の巨人) is able to turn Subjects of Ymir into Titans, manipulate the actions of Titans, and erase the memories of the Subjects of Ymir with its screams, but only while in contact with the royal family. It is connected to all the Subjects of Ymir via "paths".
 * The Attack Titan (進撃の巨人) is said to always move ahead seeking and fighting for freedom.
 * The Colossus Titan (超大型巨人) is enormous and can evaporate its body to release immense amounts of steam.
 * The Armored Titan (鎧の巨人) is particularly good at hardening and is covered by hardened armor-like skin, except in key areas necessary for movement.
 * The Female Titan (女型の巨人) is able in every field and can attract nearby Pure Titans by screaming.
 * The Beast Titan (獣の巨人) has incredible throwing capabilities and stands a little taller than the others (aside from the Colossus Titan).
 * The Jaw Titan (顎の巨人) is small and the swiftest of all the Nine Titans; it also has sharp teeth and claws capable of breaking almost anything.
 * The Cart Titan (車力の巨人) is quadrupedal, has great endurance, and can stay transformed for long periods of time. Its speed rivals the Jaw Titan's.
 * The War Hammer Titan (戦槌の巨人) can harden its flesh and shape it into various weapons. It can also be controlled by its operator from afar via a cable of Titan flesh.

Physiology
The height among the Nine Titans varies greatly, ranging from the 4 meters of Pieck's Cart Titan to the 60 meters of Bertolt's Colossus Titan. Many of them however range around 15 meters.

Age does not affect the appearance of the Nine Titans. After acquiring the Attack and Founding Titans, Eren's Titan form becomes much more mature in appearance and stays that way. The Warriors' Titan forms remains constant through their childhood and into early adulthood.

Some of the Titans have been shown to possess the ability to harden. The Armored Titan is particularly skilled at this, being able to naturally harden its entire body. It can also control the areas of hardening, removing armor for more mobility or creating claws on its fingertips. The Jaw Titan has naturally hard teeth and claws. The Female Titan is also capable of hardening. Annie is able to selectively harden regions of her Titan and even create a protective layer around her human body. The War Hammer Titan takes it a step further and can even make weapons out of hardening. The other Titans do not appear to have this as an innate ability, but it can be gained through specialized serums, such as the case with Eren's Attack Titan. Eren's Titan can harden its fists and areas around his body, which is used to seal Wall Maria. Zeke's Beast Titan can also harden, although it has not been shown.

Inheritance
The Nine Titans can be transferred to a new host, should they be devoured by a Titan. This allows an ordinary Titan to become a new human with the power of the Titans, and inherit one or more of the Nine Titan abilities as well as the memories of the previous inheritors. This has been the case with the Founding Titan for over a thousand years.

However, according to Rod Reiss, the power of the Titans resides within a human's spinal fluid, meaning that to gain the Titan's power, it is not necessary to eat the entire human, but rather a Titan can simply bite through the spine and ingest said fluid. Titan serums are, in fact, the spinal fluid of Titans, though study of the serums is difficult due to the serum's rapid rate of evaporation upon contact with air.

Inheritors of the Nine Titans do not adopt the appearance of the previous owners' Titans, as both Ymir and Frieda's Titans' appearances are vastly different from Marcel Galliard and Uri Reiss' Titans, respectively. Rod Reiss has claimed that humans can choose the serum that will give them a specific Titan form, meaning they are able to adopt the form given by the serum and not whatever form the Titan they eat possesses. However, the current inheritor's Titan form do experience certain changes depending on which of the Nine is received, as Ymir's Titan form gained sharp claws and teeth after acquiring the Jaw Titan and Armin's Titan form became much larger after acquiring the Colossus Titan. Eren's Pure Titan form was much smaller than his current form, and both Ymir's Titan form and Frieda's Titan form were noticeably more emaciated than their Titan bodies after inheriting their Titans.

If an individual with the Nine Titans dies before their Titan can be inherited by being devoured, that Titan will be passed on to the first baby among the Subjects of Ymir who is born directly after the said inheritor's death, regardless of distance or relation to the previous inheritor.

Curse of Ymir
Each person who inherits the Nine Titans is fated with the "Curse of Ymir", which limits their lifespan to only 13 years after first acquiring the power of the Titans. During the last years of their life, their body will weaken until they perish.

Trivia

 * Many transformed Titan forms are modeled after mixed martial artists. For instance, the Armored Titan is modeled after and the Attack Titan is modeled after.
 * Grisha Yeager consuming the Founding Titan is the only known case where a person inherits one of the Nine Titans while already having one. In all other known cases, the receiver has always been a Pure Titan.