Subjects of Ymir (Anime)

"According to these, we're a special race called the Subjects of Ymir who can turn into Titans. There's also a belief that we may rule the world again. That's why the world wishes to eradicate us Subjects of Ymir for good."

- Hange Zoë relays the truth found in Grisha's basement

The Subjects of Ymir (ユミルの民) are an ethnic group descended from Ymir Fritz and the only race capable of becoming Titans. They are the majority race of a nation called Eldia, and are often called Eldians (エルディア人). Many Subjects of Ymir live on Paradis Island, behind the three Walls; however, outside the Walls, Subjects of Ymir live inside internment zones such as Liberio's.

The Subjects of Ymir believe that they are the "chosen children of God"; however, the rest of the world views them as an "evil" race of devils, the "spawn of the Devil" (悪魔の末裔).

History
The Subjects of Ymir claim descent from Ymir Fritz herself, the first human to acquire the Power of the Titans over 1,800 years ago. After Ymir's demise, her daughters Maria, Rose, and Sina Fritz devoured her corpse and gained her ability to turn into a Titan. As per their father's commands, Ymir's daughters reproduced to expand the bloodline and continue the race of humans who can turn into Titans. The Subjects of Ymir conquered the old nation of Marley using the Nine Titans and established the Eldian Empire, which over the centuries would come to rule the mainland continent of its origin.

About 600 years ago, an epidemic plagued much of the world; killing so many that the population plummeted. The King at the time used the power of the Founding Titan to rewrite how the bodies of the Subjects of Ymir were designed to overcome and survive the pandemic.

The rule of the Eldian Empire lasted until the end of the Great Titan War, which resulted in Marley's resurrection as a nation and Eldia's capital being moved to Paradis Island. The land surrounding the new capital of Eldia would later be surrounded by three concentric Walls raised through the guidance of the Founding Titan. On the mainland, Marley gathered the Eldians, and placed them into internment zones such as the one within Liberio. On the island, the Subjects of Ymir had their memories of the world outside the Walls erased by the Founding Titan.The Eldians of other races were unaffected by the Founding Titan, so the royal family either granted them nobility in exchange for silence, or persecuted them as in the case of the Ackermann and Oriental clans.

Titans and Paths
The Subjects of Ymir are the only living beings capable of transforming into Titans. Some of them will also inherit the Nine Titans. If one of the Nine Titans is not transferred before dying, the Titan will be sent to a random baby among the Subjects of Ymir, with distance and blood relation playing no factor. This led to the discovery that all Subjects of Ymir are connected by paths, and these paths connect all Subjects of Ymir to the Founding Titan.

Race
According to Marley, the Eldian Empire had forced other races to have their children, to produce more Subjects of Ymir. This implies that if a Subject of Ymir reproduces with an individual of another ethnicity, the offspring will be a Subject of Ymir. Reiner Braun was a byproduct of this situation, being born from an unlawful relationship between his Eldian mother and his Marleyan biological father. Annie Leonhart was abandonned as a new born child after it was discovered that her biological mother had an affair with an Eldian. Her adoptive father brought her to Liberio's internment zone from a foreign country after himself having been put there by the authorities after his status as a Subject of Ymir was discovered. Marley, and most likely other nations around the world prohibit relationships between Subjects of Ymir and non-Subjects of Ymir. For this reason, Reiner's father didn't want to acknowledge his son for fear of being executed by the Marleyan authorities.

Subjects of Ymir can be identified through blood testing. In recent years, blood test technology has drastically improved, leading to more and more Subjects of Ymir who escaped internment being discovered worldwide.

The world's opinion regarding Subjects of Ymir varied throughout history. When the Eldian Empire was at the height of its power and glory, being born as a Subject of Ymir meant automatically receiving nobility status in non-Eldians countries around the world, which resulted from the belief that Subjects of Ymir were the superior race. After the Great Titan War, their situation radically changed : those nobilities who fawned upon Eldia were chased from their countries and Subjects of Ymir all around the globe were gathered and placed in internment camps throughout the multiple newly freed countries.

In the nation of Marley, the Subjects of Ymir who stayed on the mainland and didn't flee with Karl Fritz suffered the same fate, which started a century-long terrible oppression. The Marleyan government quickly demonized the Eldian Empire and the nature of the Subjects of Ymir in their history books, describing them as a demonic people deserving of extermination. For multiple generations, the Subjects of Ymir would be forced to live in absolute humiliation, forced to live in what was described by Grisha Jaeger as "birdcages", where they would face constant oppression from local authorities. The Marleyan government would force Subjects of Ymir to wear armbands whenever they go outside their homes, who are of different colours depending on their status in society, so that they are easily recognizable in public. In the follow decades, countless Subjects of Ymir in Marley who were convicted of a crime or treason against the Marleyan state would be arrested and transformed into Titan in order to either wander the territories beyond the Walls in Paradis Island, or to destroy ennemy soldiers, military facilities, or cities in foreign countries around the world for the benefit of Marley's imperialistic ambitions. Countless Subjects of Ymir were also used by Marley's military as cannon fodder in their expansionist wars beyond its borders through forced conscription, where they would be sent on the frontlines and be used as cheap expendable soldiers by their superior officers. Their sacrifices are completely ignored by the military and even the public, who take their sacrifices for Marley as something that is their duty in order to atone for their ancestors' crimes.

In school, Marley's Subjects of Ymir learn to despise themselves for the simple fact of being the offspring of their ancestors who have committed innumerable crimes against the world under the banner of the Eldian Empire, and also despise their fellow Eldians on Paradis Island, widely known as "island devils", who supposedly are at fault for the daily oppression they endure and are planning to destroy the entire world. From their point of view, this narrative has been validated as of the year 854, because Eren Jaeger started the Rumbling and is currently slaughtering even the Subjects of Ymir who aren't from his native island. The Marleyan population are also indoctrinated into considering the Subjects of Ymir as nothing more than a filthy race deserving of extermination, who should be grateful for even living after having slaughtered so many peoples during the Eldian Empire's reign. The general population totally supports the systematic and structural oppression their government has put in place to treat the Subjects of Ymir from their lands as second-class citizens. Any Subject of Ymir who walk around in areas beyond their internment zones are met with constant death stares, racial slurs and physical agression from Marleyan citizens. The fear and hatred towards Subjects of Ymir from the Marleyan population is so intense that the vast majority of the populace wish nothing but to see them wiped out entirely, considering the fact that they're still able to live and have children dangerous to their livelihoods.

The daily life of Subjects of Ymir in other countries is even worse, who are said to be even more fanatical than Marley in terms of anti-Eldian treatment. The world unanimously agrees on the fact that Subjects of Ymir are better off exterminated, and that human rights doesn't apply to them, meaning that if a massive international cooperation is formed in order to completely exterminate all Subjects of Ymir worldwide, it would be met with applauds from the majority of the world's nations and peoples. Marley's continuously extensive use of Subjects of Ymir for the past century by using the same methods as the Eldian Empire has had a significant impact on the world's opinions regarding their race, wanting to end the Titan threat once and for all. In recent years, as stated by Zeke Jaeger, more and more important personnalities around the world openly state their desire to see the Subjects of Ymir completely eradicated from the face of the Earth, and those types of declarations are spread around in the front page of newspapers in Marley.

Etymology
The term Subjects of Ymir originates from the fact that Ymir Fritz is the common ancestor of every single human that is capable of transforming into a Titan. In modern times, Subjects of Ymir are often called Eldians, and the two terms are used interchangeably all around the world. While it is true that most Eldians are Subjects of Ymir, the two terms are not entirely synonymous.

In fact, Eldia predates Ymir Fritz, who was not an Eldian, and originally saw her native tribe be enslaved by them under the orders of her then future husband. Even in modern times, there are Eldians inside Paradis Island who are not Subjects of Ymir, whose ancestors followed Karl Fritz during his exile and were offered nobility status in the new society inside the Walls in exchange for their silence about the outside world, since he couldn't alter their memories. The former regime before the coup d'Etat orchestrated by the military was ruled by those Eldians.

The Subjects of Ymir Protection Group believes that Subjects of Ymir who live in the nations beyond Paradis Island deserve empathy and protection because they are not Eldians, have never been Eldians, and are only the victims of the Eldian Empire's forced interbreeding policies. This also means that not all Subjects of Ymir are Eldians, even though that opinion is an extremely unpopular one in the outside world.

When Pieck asks Gabi Braun if they are Eldians or Marleyans before answering that it does not matter which because the bottom line is that they are "Subjects of Ymir," a race who can turn into Titans. This suggests that "Subjects of Ymir" is their race whereas "Eldian" is their ethnicity or nationality. This is further emphasized when Mikasa Ackerman reminds Kiyomi Azumabito that she is an Eldian, regardless of her Asian blood.

The Ackermann family is the byproduct of the old Eldian Empire's fiddling with the Subjects of Ymir. Although the Ackerman clan are Subjects of Ymir, they are somehow unaffected by the Founding Titan's memory altering power. For this reason, Kenny's grandfather mistakenly believed that they are not Subjects of Ymir. They are also not able to transform into Pure Titans.

Ilse's Notebook: Notes from a Scout Regiment Member
In the year 849, Ilse Langnar of the Scout Regiment's 34th Exterior Scouting Mission encountered a Titan who called itself a "Subject of Ymir." The Titan spoke to her, believing her to be "Lady Ymir," and Ilse attempted to question it. After Ilse panics when the Titan gives no answers, the Titan kills Ilse bitterly before storing her corpse in a nearby tree.

One year later, Ilse's notebook recounting her time in the scouting mission is found by Section Commander Hange Zoë and Captain Levi on the 49th Exterior Scouting Mission. The findings in Ilse's notebook convince Hange and Commander Erwin Smith that attempted Titan capture should be resumed as a Scout Regiment practice.

Return to Shiganshina arc
Upon uncovering the secrets of Grisha Jaeger's basement following the Battle of Shiganshina District, the surviving members of the Scout Regiment learn of their ethnic identity as Eldians and as Subjects of Ymir, a race despised and feared by all peoples of the world. This news, along with the many remarkable truths found in the basement, become a much-discussed topic among people of varying opinions within the Walls.

Marley arc


In the year 854, as blood testing is becoming increasingly more precise, multiple Subjects of Ymir who escaped internment have been discovered by authorities accross the globe, leading to many being chased out from their countries. This leads to governments around the world zealously conducting blood tests on their populations in order to find Subjects of Ymir who have managed to hide their identities, and the general populations around the world to grow concerned about having to deal with "devil blood" tainting their communities. A worldwide refugee crisis then ensues, with Subjects of Ymir who have been expulsed from their native lands being scattered throughout the different nations and experiencing severe oppression, forcing organizations such as the Subjects of Ymir Protection Group openly calling for the international community to recognize their sufferings and come to their aid. Following the Marley Mid-East War, the Warriors of Marley begin to grow urgently concerned over the fate of the Eldians, and by extension the Subjects of Ymir, particularly in the world's growing desire to see them exterminated in order to end the Titan threat. Capturing the Founding Titan remains in high priority, though Pieck acknowledges that this alone will not save the reputation of the Eldians. In an effort to shed a positive light on the Eldians and to do away with the threat posed by the people of Paradis Island, Zeke Jaeger collaborates with the Tybur family, who agree to make a public announcement in favor of the Eldians during a festival in Liberio. At this time, they will convince the nations of the world that Paradis Island will be conquered within a year.

Soon afterward, the Tybur family comes to Liberio. As Commander Theo Magath and Lord Willy Tybur discuss the affairs of their nation, Lord Tybur expresses the regret he and his ancestors have felt for the fate the Eldians have been burdened with in the past century. Desiring to set things right for his nation, Lord Tybur offers to work with Magath towards the betterment of Marley.

One month later, the time of the festival approaches. On the eve of the festival, Willy acknowledges the world's shared hatred for the Eldian people, announcing that by the end of the festival he will announce his plan to solve the crisis posed by the Eldians and the Titans.

War for Paradis arc
About one month later, back on Paradis Island and following Marley's surprise attack on the island for the raid on Liberio, Eren Jaeger manages to come into physical contact with his royal-blooded half-brother, Zeke Jaeger, allowing him access to the Founding Titan's powers. Eren uses them to unleash the countless Colossal Titans within the Walls to destroy the outside world, telepathically addressing all Subjects of Ymir using the Founding Titan to declare his intentions.

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