Warhammer is easily the most versatile of the titans, unfortunately Eren isn't able to make full use of its abilities. Unfortunately we don't know much about its stats because of how quickly Isayama killed off Tyber. It had the least screen/panel time of any of the 8 Nonfounding Titans.
Annie's Female Titan was rarely shown outside her own Arc, so we don't really know what it can do, although it's strength seems about equal with The Attack Titan. Here's hoping her titan joins the fold again, although if Annie awakens, whose side will she end up joining?
Jaw is the 2nd Fastest of the Titans & it's speed makes it good for taking down titans. The Jaws bite being able to crack the titan crystal means The Armored Titan is probably no match for it. Then again Reiner has generally been a weak host for The Armor.
Beast was said to be the weakest titan by Marley before Zeke took control of it & he's exceptional thanks to being of royal blood. Cart Titan is the fastest, however is the weakest without weapons & soldiers on its back to make it a real threat.
Overall Founding > Colossal & War Hammer > Annie's Female & Attack > Jaw > Armored is my personal opinion on the rank of each of titan's shifter powers.
Yea I've always thought in a straight up brawl that the War Hammer might be the Colossal Titan's hard counter based on what kind of structures we know it can build (complex long ranged weapons like bows) but I think that in terms of sheer body count the Colossal is the most powerful considering it is basically a walking nuke that can cripple a opposing force in seconds. I think the Armoured is at least on par with the Attack Titan because of its absurd regenerative powers (Reiner can regenerate from a head apparently) and strong defensive abilities but it looks weak because Reiner is probably the fourth worst shifter in terms of combat in the series after Ms. Tybur, Ymir, & Frieda Reiss respectively. I think if the Armour was given to a prodigy it would be just as dangerous as the Attack & Female Titans. I think overall I would say based on the abilities I would say from strongest to weakest Founder, Colossal, War Hammer, Armoured/Female/Attack tied, Beast, Jaw, and Cart. Based on known holders Eren, Annie, Pieck, Zeke, and Bert are the strongest based on how well they use their Titans. To answer the question about Annie I think she would remain on team Marley as she values her father above anything else and Eren put his life in danger when he attacked Marley (I think he's fine but we haven't got confirmation yet) + the rumbling wouldn't be good for him so the Warriors would just need to use him as leverage and Annie would comply.
I would have to agree with Cart Titan representing loyalty, & Jaw being the titan of self-sacrifice, while the Founder (because of Karl Fritz) represents Apathy & Pacifism, which Eren is fortunately immune to. I personally believe that it wasn't that Frieda Reiss was a weak Titan Shifter, more that she was screwed over by the inherited will of her titan. It seems quite likely that the Founding Titan itself is weak in a 1 on 1 fight without relying its true power. The command over all titans & memory altering abilities are where the Founding Titan's true strength lies.
When it comes to raw power I agree with your ranking except for Founder for the reason listed above. Still you forget Speed is also a thing, which goes Cart > Jaw >>> Attack, Armor, & Female > Beast > Colossal. The Founding & War Hammer are more complicated to rank in terms of speed, although Warhammer seems about equal with Eren in terms of speed, however is limited in movement when using Tyber's technique of hiding underground. Founding Titan was only really seen in action once when Frieda & Grisha fought which makes it hard to rank. As well as that we may be giving Attack Titan too much credit as the only times we've seen it unfused with the Founder are during that fight & when Eren Kruger used it.
Bertolt was also not that skilled as a Titan Shifter much like Reiner, with Annie clearly being the most skilled of the Warrior Trio. Armin is probably more skilled than Bertolt when it comes to using the Colossal thanks to his intelligence. I will say that Eren is the most skilled user of the Attack Titan that we know of & the current most powerful titan shifter, however he doesn't really have much skill at utilizing the WarHammer Titan or the Founding Titan. I have to agree that Pieck is probably 1 of the 3 most skilled titan shifters we've seen in action so far alongside Annie & the prodigy Zeke. Fortunately the Beast that Zeke inherited was 1 of the weaker titans. Had he gotten the WarHammer or Colossal Titans instead he would have been unstoppable.
Annie's probably not getting out of that crystal except by means of The Rumbling. Personally I don't understand why it has to be all or nothing & can't just awaken some of the wall titans that are nearby to use them to defeat enemies. Back to the subject of Annie I would like to think it possible that Armin could have awakened her as a result of the memory sharing he did in Chapter 110 & that she could potentially arrive on Armin's side. There are currently 3 sides (Paradis, Yeagerists, & Marley) aren't there?
When it comes to raw power I agree with your ranking except for Founder for the reason listed above. Still you forget Speed is also a thing, which goes Cart > Jaw >>> Attack, Armor, & Female > Beast > Colossal. The Founding & War Hammer are more complicated to rank in terms of speed, although Warhammer seems about equal with Eren in terms of speed, however is limited in movement when using Tyber's technique of hiding underground. Founding Titan was only really seen in action once when Frieda & Grisha fought which makes it hard to rank. As well as that we may be giving Attack Titan too much credit as the only times we've seen it unfused with the Founder are during that fight & when Eren Kruger used it.
Bertolt was also not that skilled as a Titan Shifter much like Reiner, with Annie clearly being the most skilled of the Warrior Trio. Armin is probably more skilled than Bertolt when it comes to using the Colossal thanks to his intelligence. I will say that Eren is the most skilled user of the Attack Titan that we know of & the current most powerful titan shifter, however he doesn't really have much skill at utilizing the WarHammer Titan or the Founding Titan. I have to agree that Pieck is probably 1 of the 3 most skilled titan shifters we've seen in action so far alongside Annie & the prodigy Zeke. Fortunately the Beast that Zeke inherited was 1 of the weaker titans. Had he gotten the WarHammer or Colossal Titans instead he would have been unstoppable.
Annie's probably not getting out of that crystal except by means of The Rumbling. Personally I don't understand why it has to be all or nothing & can't just awaken some of the wall titans that are nearby to use them to defeat enemies. Back to the subject of Annie I would like to think it possible that Armin could have awakened her as a result of the memory sharing he did in Chapter 110 & that she could potentially arrive on Armin's side. There are currently 3 sides (Paradis, Yeagerists, & Marley) aren't there?
- Frieda is the weakest shifter as she would have lost against any of the other shifters seen in the series so far as the Founder is a incredible ability but with interference from Karl taking away that ability she was left with lacking combat abilities (Rod stated this as being the reason for her death).
- Bert was considered a prodigy with that Titan from my memory with Magath or Reiner stating that he had excellent control of it even at the beginning of his term despite the titan being the hardest to control and in the series he used it pretty well with a solid understanding of the Titans capabilities (disappearing on a moments notice, creating fires, going boom, keeping opponents off him etc.) and showed excellent control of his abilities (in the Clash Of Titans arc he was the reason they won against Eren) and I think if he had stronger mental fortitude he would have been even better. Armin has only been seen using the explosion so its hard to say how good he is but I assume he's solid.
- I think Zeke isn't let down by the Beast which is evidently still strong (long range artillery is always strong) but by how incredibly arrogant he is and how he refuses to evolve his tactics being caught off guard twice by Levi & Pieck and also failing to read or even comprehend Levi in that forest fight arrogantly thinking that using his troops against him would break Levi mentally when Levi sacrificed his best friend to defeat him the last time. Zeke pretty much embodies the idea of "Pride comes before the fall" (pretty interesting for a nihilist to also be prideful) and I think the War Hammer and Colossal would increase that problem tenfold as Zeke would probably end up expending his energy at a bad time (these titans require patience and strategy in my opinion).
- I always thought that Porco would have busted Annie out with the Jaw considering him and Pieck were spying around Paradis (with the chaos on the island it would be easy to find her) but since he's dead that would have to fall to the newly minted Falco. I think that Annie deeply respects Armin for his cunning nature but she wouldn't forsake her father for him and unless Paradis/Yeagerists convince her that her father will be protected she won't join them as she doesn't like Reiner or know Falco but Pieck is a pretty slick gal and I think if she survives the current fight she could easily re-recruit Annie to the Warrior's side (just mention the raid on liberio and jackpot). Of course the wildcard in this situation is whether Armin could leverage any potential Bert memories against her (Bert loved her and Annie seemed to have a better relationship with him than Reiner) but I think her father trumps all other relationships and feelings.
I thought it was said that Bertolt was able to make use of the Colossal Titan immediately after obtaining it, & was under the assumption it was more that the Colossal was powerful than Bertolt himself. Although yeah Bertolt's lack of mental fortitude really hurt him & is part of why I wouldn't consider him a prodigy. The Beast Titan was considered not useful for combat before Zeke took control of it. I believe he could have adapted to half of the titan powers exceptionally because of his royal blood as that's suggested as what allows him to create the Moonlight Titans.
If Zeke were the Colossal he would still be able to pitch the way he does as the Beast Titan ontop of smashing through the walls. He wouldn't need to disappear, he could just keep spreading chaos. My guess Zeke would be more likely to think the exploding & steam as powers he wouldn't really need to use much normally while in the form. Zeke would probably only explode if he was pissed. I admit you're correct about his arrogance holding him back more than The Beast Titan does. I'm just saying how much of a prodigy he is in general that he could have been a nearly unstoppable Colossal Titan. Maybe he wouldn't have been able to truly master the WarHammer because of his personality, although he still would have been able to use it better than Eren probably ever will & could have been better with it than the girl using it against Eren.
It goes without saying that Zeke would have been at least 10x better at using the Armor than Reiner ever was. I agree that the WarHammer is the perfect counter for the Colossal Titan ability wise. Still I probably didn't give Bertolt enough credit as a titan shifter in my last comment. Still I would have to say that he's more of an average ability Titan Shifter based on what we've seen in the series thus far. You don't seem to give Frieda Reiss enough credit as a Titan Shifter though, as her being weak wasn't the result of her lack of experience/capability as a shifter rather the result of her titan being useless. She was able to make use of the memory manipulation while not in her titan form in a fairly limited way on her half-sister Historia.
Annie always had a soft spot for Armin in the series, such as intentionally sparing him as the Female Titan. I agree that Pieck could rerecruit Annie easily enough if she mentions the raid on Liberio. That's why I asked what side she would be on earlier if she returned, although its obvious she wouldn't side with the Yeagerists, as she would probably see Eren & Zeke as her main enemies because of the rumbling. Supposedly the series is likely headed for 2 things, the use of the Founding Titan's power & all 9 Titan Powers being at the same location. The series only will last another 11 months at most I'm guessing at this point.
- The thing about Frieda is that she owned the strongest Titan but she was ultimately a sheltered noble rather than someone trained in the Warrior program or the military of the walls. I just think based on her losing to a relatively normal guy who barely used his powers she wouldn't stand a chance against any of the other shifters we've seen in action as Tybur would overwhelm her quickly (weak discipline but had some training it appears) and Ymir is fast enough to score a kill before Frieda could catch her and those are #3 and #2 weakest on the strength chart. At the end of the day without its special abilties the founder is just a normal titan and in that regard it comes down to the host to make the difference which Frieda didn't possess anything that could considered a difference maker (Eren beat Reiner for example by using grapples in Clash).
- What made Bert a strong shifter IMO is that he had A+ management skills (a big requirement for this Titan) as he managed to keep the Survey Corp pinned in RTS and Clash with his steam (even being smart enough to start an inferno to entrap them in the former) and also mastered the ability to form and dissolve his titan with sharp efficency (used to devasting effect in Clash to defeat Eren) that's just my interpretation though as to why he was good with the Colossal.
- I guess to expand on the Annie conversation if Armin turned on Eren I could see Annie joining with him simply to stop the rumbling but I think this late in the game Armin has to be firmly on team Eren as he doesn't really have any choice.
- I think Eren is a fine War Hammer user so far as he did use it pretty well in this fight (F for creativity, B+ for effectiveness) and he realistically won't be able to use all its abilities by the end of the series but I think if he had a few more years he would be better than Tybur as the man has improved spectacularly over the last 4 years with the relatively basic Attack Titan to the point that he has beaten nearly every titan at least once.
I'm saying the Founding Titan may very well be both the strongest & weakest of the 9 Titans. The inherited will in effect makes the Founding Titan the weakest, as the overpowered abilities that would make it the strongest titan are inaccessable. I would guess Frieda was probably the better shifter than Grisha, however she was stuck with a weak titan because of Karl Fritz vowing pacifism. I would list Frieda's ability as a Titan Shifter as likely surpassing Eren's during the Female Titan arc, although along with Uri Reiss she was screwed over.
War Hammer is pretty much the 2nd Strongest, of course Tybur would have won easily against Frieda. Uri wouldn't have done any better, & would have also been defeated by most titan shifters. I agree that Eren would be able to greatly surpass Tybur if given another year to get better with the WarHammer. Eren would probably be the 4th best Titan Shifter known to us in the series, although he's possibly managed to surpass Annie & Pieck in terms of shifter skills by now.
Bertolt in terms of shifter skill I would have to rank as at least 6th as Armin has surpassed him over the 4 years following eating him. As for Armin, I think he's on the side of Paradis rather than the Yeagerists, as he doesn't want the rumbling to happen, however he wants to help Eren as well. Annie probably isn't going to arrive until the wall titans are awake if she does arrive at the battlefield before this is all over.
War Hammer is pretty much the 2nd Strongest, of course Tybur would have won easily against Frieda. Uri wouldn't have done any better, & would have also been defeated by most titan shifters. I agree that Eren would be able to greatly surpass Tybur if given another year to get better with the WarHammer. Eren would probably be the 4th best Titan Shifter known to us in the series, although he's possibly managed to surpass Annie & Pieck in terms of shifter skills by now.
Bertolt in terms of shifter skill I would have to rank as at least 6th as Armin has surpassed him over the 4 years following eating him. As for Armin, I think he's on the side of Paradis rather than the Yeagerists, as he doesn't want the rumbling to happen, however he wants to help Eren as well. Annie probably isn't going to arrive until the wall titans are awake if she does arrive at the battlefield before this is all over.
I already feel like I said everything I wanted to say about the topic of Shifter strength so I'll leave it be as I think I'll just end up repeating myself. On the other hand I will talk a little about my feelings about the Yeagerists/Paradis. I don't think the Yeagerists are a real faction as they are more manipulated pawns meant to help the Yeager bros meet each other. I don't think the Yeagerists even know what Zeke or Eren wants and are just a easily manipulated group of ultra nationalists that are treated as disposable by both Zeke & Eren. I believe the real factions are Paradis, Marley, and Zeke (which includes Hizuru + Yelena and her partners) and Armin/Eren are firmly on the side of Paradis (Eren in a indirect and vague way). Armin realizes that with Marley's arrival (and soon the world) he has to help Eren/Zeke as he doesn't have much of a choice because these two are the only way to win the battle at hand. Its a tough choice for him as the rumbling could potentially cause mass devastation but survival trumps morality in conflicts like this and eventually every one has to pick a side which is something that Armin eventually came to terms with.
I realized that there are more than a few themes related to brothers and sacrifice in this chapter. Sorry if this was already mentioned above.
I realized that there are three pairs of brothers in this chapter: Marcel and Porco, Colt and Falco, and Eren and Zeke. First off, Colt holds Falco close to comfort him as he transforms into a Titan, knowing the explosive energy and shockwave will kill him. Porco sacrifices himself, having been injured so much that he can't regenerate, to save Falco, now knowing that his brother confirmed (via memories) that Porco was always better than Reiner. Finally, Zeke, who also seems to be mortally wounded, and Eren, who has been shot in the head (as a Titan) more than enough, risk it all for each other and the goddamn plan. In the process, he gets decapitated (and I'm pretty sure his brain is still conscious) by a high-powered rifle shot to the neck, sending his head hurtling towards Zeke's outstretched hand.
I don't know if there's a single word and precise theme that describes the pattern here, but there is a pattern, which I personally find interesting. One set of brothers clings to each other as another pair of brothers (I consider Eren more or less complicit in this act) sacrifices them, killing one in the process and turning the other into a monster. The surviving half of a third pair of brothers lays down his life to save the remaining half of the first set. Lastly, the second pair tries to fulfill their destiny before one brother is (more or less) fatally injured by plot armor (GABI!).
Putting Porco and Marcel aside, let's focus on the Yeagers and the Grices. The older brother of one duo (Zeke) who is responsible for the death of the other pair's older brother (Colt) and the transformation of the little brother (Falco). He pays for this by being crippled and quite possibly losing his younger brother (Eren) to decapitation. The older Yeager survives and the younger Grice survives.
One half pays the price for destroying the bond of a whole by losing his other half. It feels like some sort of massive metaphor to me. Maybe it's inspired from story in a religion or mythos.
Beats me!
I realized that there are three pairs of brothers in this chapter: Marcel and Porco, Colt and Falco, and Eren and Zeke. First off, Colt holds Falco close to comfort him as he transforms into a Titan, knowing the explosive energy and shockwave will kill him. Porco sacrifices himself, having been injured so much that he can't regenerate, to save Falco, now knowing that his brother confirmed (via memories) that Porco was always better than Reiner. Finally, Zeke, who also seems to be mortally wounded, and Eren, who has been shot in the head (as a Titan) more than enough, risk it all for each other and the goddamn plan. In the process, he gets decapitated (and I'm pretty sure his brain is still conscious) by a high-powered rifle shot to the neck, sending his head hurtling towards Zeke's outstretched hand.
I don't know if there's a single word and precise theme that describes the pattern here, but there is a pattern, which I personally find interesting. One set of brothers clings to each other as another pair of brothers (I consider Eren more or less complicit in this act) sacrifices them, killing one in the process and turning the other into a monster. The surviving half of a third pair of brothers lays down his life to save the remaining half of the first set. Lastly, the second pair tries to fulfill their destiny before one brother is (more or less) fatally injured by plot armor (GABI!).
Putting Porco and Marcel aside, let's focus on the Yeagers and the Grices. The older brother of one duo (Zeke) who is responsible for the death of the other pair's older brother (Colt) and the transformation of the little brother (Falco). He pays for this by being crippled and quite possibly losing his younger brother (Eren) to decapitation. The older Yeager survives and the younger Grice survives.
One half pays the price for destroying the bond of a whole by losing his other half. It feels like some sort of massive metaphor to me. Maybe it's inspired from story in a religion or mythos.
Beats me!
Interesting
The themes mentioned above can be from any number of religions or myths but after some thought they match Norse stylings the best as sacrifice (Ex. a recurring theme in this mythological set with sacrifices for love, knowledge, and duty all occuring), brotherhood (Ex. every god seems to have a equally important sibling), and fate (Ex. Ragnarok) are core tenets of that mythology and all these themes either appear in this chapter or in the series at large but I'm not a big enough buff on Norse mythology to say much else from a thematic point of view. To further back up the series nordic roots are visual identifiers like the Titans looking like trolls & Jotnar (giants) rather than Greek Titans, old Eldian woodcuts having them wearing Viking like armour vs Marley's Roman look (I have a creeping suspicion that Marley is a composite of Italy and Germany with the Italian side being dominant), and Paths looking visually similar to the Yggradsil. Of course the biggest hint though is that Ymir Fritz shares a name with the progenitor of the Jotnar, Ymir. I definitely feel comfortable in saying that the series traces back to Norse mythology but what story this chapter derives from is something I can't clarify and if someone has a answer feel free to answer.