Ymir Fritz

Ymir Fritz (ユミル・フリッツ) was the first person to obtain the power of the Titans. She was a slave of the Eldian king who abused her power to bring prosperity to Eldia and devastation to Marley and the rest of the world. Thirteen years after awakening her power, she died protecting the king, and her corpse was cannibalized by their daughters, Maria, Rose, and Sheena. Her powers then split into eventually what is known as the Nine Titans.

Upon her death, Ymir was transported to the Coordinate, where she molded Titans out of the sands, and obeyed the royal family whenever they sought the Founder's power.

Human
Ymir Fritz was small in stature with light hair. As a slave, she wore simple clothing with a cloth headband, sash belt, and leather sandals laced above her ankles. After entering the favor of the king of Eldia in adulthood, Ymir wore a sleeveless dress with thin bands around each arm.

In posthumous illustrations depicting Ymir Fritz, she is shown as a young girl wearing white robes. In the book Frieda Reiss reads to Historia, Ymir is dark-haired, whereas in the book Mr. Yeager reads to Grisha, she is fair-haired.

Titan
Ymir Fritz's Titan form was enormous in size with light hair, a feminine figure, and long protruding ribs. Her Titan's face possessed no apparent skin, musculature, or eyes, leaving only a skull visible.

In posthumous illustrations, Ymir's Titan form is highly romanticized with more human features.

Personality
Frieda Reiss described Ymir as a kind girl who was always thinking of others. In reality, she was a slave with no will of her own. She submitted to the Eldian king in life, building him his empire, destroying his enemies, and bearing his children. She even sacrificed her own life for him. After she died, she remained obedient to the Eldian royal family.

History
Around 2,000 years ago, Ymir's village was attacked and enslaved by the Eldians, who then cut off their tongues. One day after a pig was released, the tribe's ruler, Fritz, called all of the slaves and asked for the culprit. The slaves all began to point at Ymir, who was then "freed" only to be hunted by dogs and men.

Wounded and desperate, Ymir took shelter in a nearby tree, but as soon as she stepped in, she slipped and fell into an underground body of water. There, she came into contact with a mysterious spine-like creature which attached to her back and triggered the first Titan transformation.

With her newfound power, Ymir returned to serve Fritz and used her Titan to cultivate land, build bridges, and amass wealth for the Eldians. Under his command, she also destroyed the forces of Eldia's rival, Marley. To "reward" Ymir for her service, Fritz gave her his name, took her as his concubine, and together the two had three children: Maria, Rose, and Sheena.

After serving the king for 13 years, Ymir died while thwarting an assassination attempt on his life. After her death, Ymir found herself inside a mysterious land, meanwhile the king forced his daughters to eat Ymir's corpse in an attempt to preserve the power of the Titans. He commanded the daughters to continue to reproduce and cannibalize each other so that Ymir's blood does not run out and Eldia could rule forever with its Titans. Ymir's powers became the Nine Titans and she continued to serve her descendants, building them Titans whenever they invoked the power of the Titans.

Mythology
By the Eldians, Ymir's existence is hailed as a god-given miracle. The Restorationists claimed that she and all Subjects of Ymir are "the chosen children of God," and that any atrocities Marley claims Eldia had committed could not have been possible because Ymir would not have allowed it. There was even an Eldian cult that worshiped Ymir as a goddess. On the other hand, the Marleyans believe she received her powers from a deal with the "Devil of All Earth." There are also those who believe that Ymir touched the "source of all living matter" to gain her power.

Many centuries later, Frieda Reiss, a descendant of Ymir, would visit her half-sister Historia on the farm where she was raised. During some of her visits, Frieda told Historia the story of Ymir's deal with the Devil; however, in this book, Ymir was named "Krista." Frieda advised Historia that she must be lady-like, as "Krista" was. She spoke of "Krista" as being an altruistic girl, and urged Historia to be loving and beloved like her when she is grown. However, Historia did not remember these visits, since Frieda always used the Founding Titan to erase her memories after every encounter. Historia would only recall vague images of "Krista"'s story in the years to come.

Return to Shiganshina arc
Some years later, when the Survey Corps discovers Grisha Yeager's basement, they find three journals. Within Grisha's writings, he recounts his childhood when he was told the story of Ymir and her people by his father. Grisha writes of joining the Eldian Restorationists in the nation of Marley several years afterward, learning of the supposed great accomplishments achieved in Ymir's time. Together with the resistance, Grisha declares that they must venture to Paradis Island, where Ymir's descendants had fled eighty years ago, in order to retrieve the Founding Titan and bring back the nation of Eldia.

Unnamed final arc
While on the verge of death, Zeke Yeager would awaken in an unknown land to discover Ymir molding his damaged body with earth.

During the assault on Shiganshina, Zeke and his younger half-brother Eren Yeager are able to make contact with each other before awakening in the path. As Ymir approaches, Eren demands she lend him her strength but his pleas are ignored. Zeke subsequently reveals he has nullified the vow to renounce war through Ymir who only obeys her own descendants before using her to restrain Eren. After Zeke shows Eren the memories of their father Grisha, Zeke realizes that Eren was responsible for Grisha's actions against the Reiss family and that his ultimate goal is inevitable. In a desperate panic, Zeke orders Ymir to sterilize the Subjects of Ymir, and Ymir approaches the Coordinate of converging paths to fulfill Zeke's will. Eren reaches Ymir, and he embraces her and begs that she give him her power so that he can "end this world." However, he assures her that he is not going to force her to help him. He recognizes that she is not a slave or a deity, she is only a human being and she has the right to choose if she wants to remain in the Coordinate forever or help him. As Zeke desperately tries to stop him, Eren asks Ymir if she was the one who called him to the Coordinate, musing that she has been waiting 2000 years for him to arrive.

In Shiganshina, Eren's head forms a new spine that reconnects itself to his body. He then transforms into a Titan as Shiganshina's wall begins to crumble and a tempest of Colossus Titans are released, signifying that Ymir has chosen to help Eren.

Trivia

 * is a primeval being in Norse mythology who is the progenitor of all jötnar (giants). "Ymir" also means "the scream." Both are appropriate to Ymir Fritz, as she was the progenitor of all Titans ("giants" in the original Japanese) and possessed the power of the Founding Titan, which is used by screaming.
 * One of the theories on how Ymir gained her powers is that she touched the "source of all living matter." In Norse mythology, Ymir was born from, a poisonous liquid that ends life but is also the source of all life.
 * In Frieda's storybook, Ymir is named "Krista."
 * The summary at the beginning of Volume 22 claims that Ymir Fritz is the "progenitor of the Eldians." However, this is untrue as Eldia existed before Ymir, and Ymir herself was not even an Eldian.

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