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Upon her death, Ymir's spirit was split into the Nine Titans who formed the Eldian Empire. | ![]() |
— Jaeger explains the history of the Nine Titans to his son[3] |
The Nine Titans (九つの巨人 Kokonotsu no Kyojin?) 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.[4] They are called the Founding Titan, the Colossal Titan, the Female Titan, the Beast Titan, the Armored Titan, the Attack Titan, the Jaw Titan, the Cart Titan and the War Hammer Titan.
Contents
History

The Nine Titans built the Eldian Empire
Around 1,820 years ago, Ymir Fritz obtained the Power of the Titans and became the first Titan, the Founding Titan.[3] Thirteen years later, she died and her power was then divided between her three daughters who had been forced by their father to consume her remains.[5] Eventually, the powers would split further into the individual Nine Titans, which were subsequently inherited by nine of her descendants.[4] The Nine Titans soon destroyed the ancient nation of Marley and conquered the entire continent to build the Eldian Empire.[3]

The Nine Titans fought each other in the Great Titan War
When the 145th King inherited the Founding Titan, he abandoned his duties of balancing the continent's powers, leading to the Great Titan War between the other eight Titans. The King fled and moved many Eldians onto Paradis Island, where he erected three, central Walls.[3] He erased the memories of the Eldians on the island, except for a few minority races which were immune.[6] Marley seized control over seven of the Nine Titans during the war, with only the Founding and Attack Titans escaping their grasp. They distributed the Titans they had among Eldians loyal to them known as warriors.[3]
The Reiss family would later lose their Titan to Grisha Jaeger; after Grisha's Attack Titan ate Frieda Reiss's Founding Titan, the two Titans mixed into one. This resulted in the number of Titans being reduced from nine to eight.[6] The number was reduced again years later when Eren Jaeger's Attack Titan consumed Lara Tybur's War Hammer Titan, bringing the number of Titans down to seven.[7]
Description
Abilities
- The Founding Titan (始祖の巨人 Shiso no Kyojin?) has the ability to control Titans with its screams.[8] Its screams can affect humans as well, altering their memories, but certain bloodlines are unaffected.[6] Only Eldians containing royal blood are able to use its abilities; however, as shown when Eren screamed and punched Dina Fritz's Titan, a member of non-royal blood is capable of using the Founding Titan's ability via physical contact with a member of the royal family.[9]
- The Armored Titan (鎧の巨人 Yoroi no Kyojin?) is covered by hardened armor-like skin, except in key areas necessary for movement.[10] It also possesses the ability to harden its arms and feet into sharper claws which could be used to climb structures such as the Walls.
- The Attack Titan (進撃の巨人 Shingeki no Kyojin?) has the power to view memories from its future inheritors.[11] It would later acquire hardening after Eren bit down a "armor" serum in the Underground Chapel.
- The Beast Titan (獣の巨人 Kemono no Kyojin?) has a unique bestial appearance, devastating throwing capabilities, and is able to turn humans into Titans and can control them to a rough extent.[12][8]
- The Cart Titan (車力の巨人 Shariki no Kyojin?) is quadrupedal, allowing for cargo and equipment to be carried on its back.[13] It also possesses remarkable speed similar to the Jaw Titan.
- The Colossal Titan (超大型巨人 Chō ōgata Kyojin?) is enormous and can evaporate its body to release immense amounts of steam. The user is able to control the Titan's transformation power and blast radius.[14][10]
- The Female Titan (女型の巨人 Megata no Kyojin?) has significant fighting potential and can attract nearby Pure Titans by screaming.[15]
- The Jaw Titan (顎の巨人 Agito no Kyojin?) is fast, and agile; while small in size, it is also equipped with strong teeth and claws capable of dealing great damage.[16]
- The War Hammer Titan (戦鎚の巨人 Sentsui no Kyojin?) can materialize various weapons and structures from its own hardened flesh. It can be controlled from afar through a cable of Titan flesh while the user remains hidden within a hardened crystal casing.[17]
Physiology

Size comparison of Titans to the Walls
The heights of the Nine Titans vary greatly: the Cart and Jaw Titans are small at 4 and 5 m, respectively,[18] and the Colossal Titan is enormous at 60 m.[19] The rest hover around 15 m, with the Founding and Female Titan being slightly smaller at 13 and 14 m, respectively;[20][21] the Beast Titan being slightly larger at 17 m;[22] and the Armored and Attack Titan being exactly 15 m.[23][24] The War Hammer Titan is also around 15 m.[17]
These heights are definite and it does not matter what the height of the Pure Titan was before inheriting the power of the Titans. For instance, Eren's Pure Titan was originally 4 m,[25] but grew to 15 m after inheriting the Attack Titan, and Armin's Pure Titan form grew from barely being tall enough to look over the buildings in Shiganshina District to the immense 60 m size of the Colossal Titan. The opposite was also known to occur; the Pure Titan form of Falco Grice was approximately the same size of the Armored Titan,[26] but shrank down to 5 m upon receiving the power of the Jaw Titan.[27]
If an inheritor possesses two or more Titan powers, it appears that one of them would take precedence over the others. Eren Jaeger has both the 13 m Founding Titan and the 15 m Attack Titan, but his Titan form is 15 m. Even once Eren took the War Hammer Titan, and it merged with his Attack Titan, his Titan's form did not increase in height or take on any other visual aspects of the War Hammer.
Age does not affect the appearance of the Nine Titans. The Warriors' Titan forms remain constant through their childhood and into early adulthood. The only thing that may change is the hair, for example, Reiner Braun's Armored Titan's hair changed as he aged.[28] This is also shown by how, as Eren's hair grew longer, the hair of his Attack Titan also grew longer.
Some Intelligent Titans can talk while others cannot. Those who cannot talk have mouths that physically prevent them from proper speech, such as Eren's. The ones that can talk include Ymir, Zeke, Pieck Finger, and Lara. Speech is not defined by the Nine Titans, as Ymir could talk in her Titan form while Porco Galliard could not, despite them both having the Jaw Titan. The fact that even some Abnormal Pure Titans are capable of speech implies that the ability to speak is completely arbitrary.

Eren's Pure Titan
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's Titans, respectively.[29][30][31][32] The current inheritor's Titan form does 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 Colossal Titan. Eren's Pure Titan form was much smaller than his current form,[6] and both Ymir's Titan form and Frieda's Titan form were noticeably more emaciated than their Titan bodies after inheriting their Titans.[33][30][34][32]

The Female Titan's nape hardens to block an attack

Eren's hardened Titan
Some 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 additional mobility.[10] The Jaw Titan has naturally hard teeth and claws;[28] this hardening is much stronger than normal hardening, with its claws and teeth being able to even pierce the crystalline levels of hardening.[7] 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.[15][35] The War Hammer Titan takes it a step further and can make structures and even weapons out of hardening.[17] The Attack Titan does not have this as an innate ability, but it can still be gained through specialized serums, such as the case with Eren. Zeke's Beast Titan can also harden parts of itself.
Inheritors and their Titan forms
Current
Name | Titans Inherited | Description | Titan Form |
---|---|---|---|
843 - present |
Reiner Braun is capable of transforming into a 15 m class Titan with a slight resemblance to his human form. This Titan possess thick, hardened plates of skin all over its body which serve as armor. This Titan is well-built and has a slightly hunched profile. Its only visible weaknesses are the small areas on the backs of its joints where there is no armor. Though not particularly fast or agile, this form is very strong, capable of destroying a fortified Wall after a sufficient running start. It can also break off portions of the armor around the legs to allow it to move more swiftly. Due to the "Curse of Ymir", Reiner only has two years left to live. |
||
845 - present (Attack, Founding) 854 - present (War Hammer) |
Founding Titan Later: War Hammer Titan |
Eren Jaeger is the first human with the power of the Titans to be revealed in the series, with his Titan being a 15 m class. Its most prominent characteristics are its elongated ears, fleshless jaws and highly muscular build. Eren's Titan form has so far been shown to have substantial physical strength, knowledge of martial arts techniques, and incredible endurance. After ingesting a bottle labeled "Armor" from Rod Reiss's bag, Eren's Titan gains the ability to harden, allowing him to seal the hole in Wall Maria. Prolonged and repeated use of this Titan form has allowed Eren to gradually increase control over its initially unstable mental state. Its eyes are emerald-green (occasionally appearing as gray); wherein they are often seen to be glowing bright green. Eren also has the power of the Founding Titan that he inherited from his father, which allows him to control Pure Titans by screaming.[8] However, due to not having royal blood, he is unable to use this ability freely and fully, though it is shown that he can temporarily use its abilities if he comes in contact with a Pure or Intelligent Titan with royal blood, such as Dina Fritz or Zeke Jaeger. During the Raid on Liberio, Eren kills and consumes Lara Tybur, inheriting her War Hammer Titan. Due to the "Curse of Ymir", Eren only has another four years left to live. |
|
843 - present |
Annie Leonhart can transform into a 14 m class Titan with a distinctively feminine build and short, blonde hair. Her transformation endows her with immense strength and speed. A Titan of athletic appearance with lean muscle and minimal skin, the Female Titan is a Titan of unusual power and intellect. It has the stamina and focus to maintain a running pace capable of keeping up with horses over a long distance;[36] as well as the intelligence to defend itself from multiple omni-directional mobility gear attacks by prediction of the device's movements. This Titan form also has the unique ability to harden its body parts by generating a crystalline substance across chosen areas of its body; allowing it to simultaneously protect its nape and fight.[37] Combined with Annie's refined martial arts techniques, it can perform incredibly deadly and destructive attacks. When cornered, the Female Titan's call has the ability to draw other Titans to it and drive them into a feeding frenzy, though its range is limited.[38] Due to the "Curse of Ymir," Annie only has two years left to live. |
||
842 - present |
Zeke Jaeger's Beast Titan is an extremely unusual specimen, having a distinct, ape-like appearance. Its body structure and facial features are like that of a human's and it walks upright like one as well. It stands at 17 meters in height. Brown fur covers the large majority of its body, with the exception of its face, hands, feet, and torso. It has extremely elongated, thin arms with long fingers, hardened nails that he could use to crush rocks and parts of the Wall, and fully-functional thumbs and short (and somewhat stocky) legs. The proportions of its upper body are similar to those of the Colossal Titan, possessing a massive torso and small head, as well as disproportionately long and slim arms. Zeke's Titan possesses massive physical strength and incredible precision; he accurately hits members of the Scout Regiment by hurling chunks of the Wall from far away. He is also able to defeat the Armored Titan without any visible sustained damage.[39] Furthermore, Zeke possessed the unique ability to create Pure Titans by screaming after administrating his spinal fluid into Subjects of Ymir; These Titans can then be controlled to some extent by the Beast Titan through vocal commands or roars, though these orders are not always followed precisely.[12][40] Previous Beast Titans did not have this ability due to Zeke possessing royal blood from his mother, Dina Fritz. Due to the "Curse of Ymir", Zeke only has another year left to live. |
||
843 - present |
The Cart Titan is a 4 m class Titan with a short black hair and a long mouth resembling a canine snout. The smallest Titan form known yet, this Titan's quadrupedal stance allows for large amounts of cargo and equipment to be carried on its back.[13] This Titan has shown to be extremely fast and agile, due to its small size. Additionally, this Titan is capable of fluent speech.[2] Due to the "Curse of Ymir", Pieck only has around two years left to live. |
||
850 - present |
Armin's Colossal Titan takes on similarities as his predecessor, Bertholdt, namely the long arms, 60 m tall height, lack of cheeks, muscular torso and elephant feet.) His Titan form, however, lacks skin, ears, a nose, has lips and his spine being exposed at the neck along with other exposed bones. Due to the "Curse of Ymir", Armin only has another nine years left to live. |
||
854 - present |
Falco gained the power of the Jaw Titan by inadvertently eating the previous holder, Porco Galliard. His Titan has shaggy light-colored hair with a second armored set of jaws. His Titan can harden his arms and legs, which take on a slight avian appearance, along with having a layer of feathers covering his arms. Due to the "Curse of Ymir", Falco only has another thirteen years left to live. |
Former
Name | Titans Inherited | Description | Titan Form |
---|---|---|---|
1003 B1 - 990 B1 |
Ymir Fritz's Titan form was enormous in size with blonde hair, a feminine figure, and long protruding ribs. Her Titan's face possessed no apparent skin, musculature, or eyes, leaving only a skull visible.
Ymir Fritz was the first individual to receive the power of the Titans, making her the true Founder of all Titans. She used her powers to make great advancements for her subjects, such as cultivating barren lands, building roads across the world, and building bridges between the mountains.[5] After 13 years, she died, and her powers were split between the Nine Titans; her power as the Founding Titan would be passed down through the Fritz family (later the Reiss family) over the next two millennia.[3] |
||
Karl Fritz' Titan is depicted with long, shaggy hair, long arms, and a skinny physique. He used his Titan power to create the Walls and alter humanity's memories. His refusal to fight the Titans outside the Walls has been passed down to his descendants that inherit the Founding Titan. | |||
819 - 832 |
Kruger's Titan face is very similar to his human form and has long blond hair. His body is very muscular and he appears to have great strength, as he was able to crush a boat.[4] | ||
c. 829 - 842 |
Though his full Titan form is never shown, Uri possessed the same regular abilities as Titans and others with the power of the Titans. | ||
843 - 845 |
His Titan form was shown to be similar to his brother's, as both were shown to have long hair, a thick beard at its chin, sunken eyes, and a small, agile body. However, unlike Porco, his Titan was shown to have long dark hair and beard, and visible sharp teeth with no visible lips. |
||
842 - 845 |
Frieda was able to transform herself into a female-looking Titan with dark hair. She devoured her uncle in the Underground Chapel when she was 15 in order to receive his Titan abilities and secrets of the world.[9] She had the powers of the Founding Titan, but she died before she could learn how to fully use them.[6] | ||
832 - 845 (Attack Titan) 845 (Founding) |
Later: Founding Titan |
Grisha's Titan form shared similarities with Eren's, such as their elongated ears and long hair, except Grisha's Titan had facial hair and bulkier physique.
He used his Titan form to kill and devour Frieda Reiss along with most of her family, gaining the Founding Titan.[6] However, due to not having royal blood, Grisha would not have been able to use it. |
|
845 - c. 850 |
Ymir's Titan is a 5 m class Titan with long, black hair, very large irises, and an agile, chimpanzee-like body. This form grants Ymir rather long arms and sharp claws that provide her with great speed and agility. This Titan form has a mouth with all pointed teeth, as well as sharp claws that can either be used to grasp on to things or for combat. Its long arms and small, muscular body enables it to maneuver itself around with great speed and agility in the same environments as those with omni-directional mobility gear, making it a formidable foe in battle. Unlike the others who gained their powers under a controlled process, Ymir gained her powers unexpectedly by eating Marcel while roaming Paradis Island. |
||
843 - 850 |
The first Titan to appear chronologically within the series, the Colossal Titan is of 60 m class. This grants it incredible strength like no other, capable of causing monumental destruction with little effort or damage sustained on its body. Due to this size, its body temperature is extremely high to the point that it is constantly emitting steam. However, because it is so large, the Colossal Titan can only move slowly. It is the largest Titan form of the Nine Titans seen so far in the series, being four times the height of the regular Titans of the tallest class (15 m). It is the second largest Titan overall (coming second only to Rod Reiss' abnormal Titan, although it cannot stand). Strong enough to break down the Walls surrounding humankind with a single and very hard-focused kick. It has a unique ability to "superheat" its body to produce incredibly hot steam as a defense. The heat of this steam is intense enough to keep dozens of experienced soldiers at bay, lest they be cooked alive.[14] When transforming, Bertholdt had the potential to release an explosive amount of energy during Titan transformation, leveling buildings in a significant radius of his transformation, and generating a massive mushroom cloud of steam and dust.[2] |
||
unknown - 854 |
Lara's Titan form was around 15 m. Her Titan has no hair and her skin jails the exposed areas near her eyes and mouth. She was capable of hardening her Titan form into various weapons and structures. She was skilled with the hammer and was able to defeat Eren Jaeger with a single blow from it. Unlike the other intelligent Titans, she controls her Titan from far away instead of from inside the nape, with her human body, encased in hardened flesh, connected to her Titan body by a kind of "flesh cord." [17] |
||
c. 850 - 854 |
Galliard received his Titan from Ymir after she decided to return the Titan to Marley.[8] Galliard's Titan possessed long, light hair and a thick beard at the chin. However, the face above the jawline was hairless, and his Titan's mouth took a cog-like appearance in place of lips or cheeks. The fingers of Galliard's Titan possessed segments of hardened skin sharp enough to sever limbs.[41] |
Full list of inheritors
Founding Titan
- Ymir Fritz
- [Numerous inheritors] - Most from the Fritz family.
- Karl Fritz
- [Numerous inheritors] - All from the Reiss family.
- Rod and Uri's father
- Uri Reiss
- Frieda Reiss
- Grisha Jaeger - Mixed with the Attack Titan.
- Eren Jaeger - Current inheritor. Mixed with the Attack and War Hammer Titans.
Attack Titan
- [Numerous inheritors]
- Eren Kruger
- Grisha Jaeger - Mixed with the Founding Titan.
- Eren Jaeger - Current inheritor. Mixed with the Founding and War Hammer Titans.
Colossal Titan
- [Numerous inheritors]
- Bertholdt Hoover
- Armin Arlelt - Current inheritor.
Female Titan
- [Numerous inheritors]
- Annie Leonhart - Current inheritor.
Armored Titan
- [Numerous inheritors]
- Reiner Braun - Current inheritor.
Beast Titan
- [Numerous inheritors]
- Tom Xaver
- Zeke Jaeger - Current inheritor.
Jaw Titan
- [Numerous inheritors]
- Marcel Galliard
- Ymir
- Porco Galliard
- Falco Grice - Current inheritor.
Cart Titan
- [Numerous inheritors]
- Pieck Finger - Current inheritor.
War Hammer Titan
- [Numerous inheritors] - Many from the Tybur family.
- Lara Tybur
- Eren Jaeger - Current inheritor. Mixed with the Attack and Founding Titans.
Trivia
- Many transformed Titan forms are modeled after mixed martial artists. For instance, the Armored Titan is modeled after Brock Lesnar and Eren's Titan is modeled after Yūshin Okami.
- Grisha Jaeger consuming the Founding Titan and Eren Jaeger consuming the War Hammer Titan are the only known cases where a person inherits one of the Nine Titans while already having one. As a result, the number of Titans available are seven.
- When inheriting the War Hammer Titan, Eren's pupils expanded then later gained it's color back.[7][42] Interestingly, a purple light is shown in Frieda's eyes when she was influenced by Karl Fritz's vow of renouncing war.[4] This purple light was shown in Uri Reiss as well.
- A blue light was shown for Rod and Uri's dad.
- Grisha's Titan form used to possess green eyes, but after eating Frieda, it transformed to purple.
- Inheritors of the Nine Titans retain some traits in terms of appearance to their Pure Titan forms. For example, Eren's Attack Titan has a jagged jawline which resembles his Pure Titan form's jaw and Armin's Colossal Titan form shares his Pure Titan's lack of a nose.
- Blood relations can also play a role in a Intelligent Titan's appearance. The most notable examples would be the Jaw Titan inherited by the Galliard brothers; both had the same armored face and small, agile body, though the jaws were different; in Marcel's, his were sharp and had lips, while in Porco's, his were cog-like and lacked lips.
- Grisha and his sons share similar traits in having pointed ears, though there are differences between his, Zeke, and Eren's Titans in physical appearance.
- Inheritors typically tend to lose control of themselves during their first transformation into a Titan.
- A example was when Eren attempted to attack Mikasa in his Titan form during the defense of Trost.[43] Another example is Falco, as while he was initially in control during his first transformation, he lost control and attacked his allies.
- Bertholdt was able to take control of his Titan almost immediately.[44]
References
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 40
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 52
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 57
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 58
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 80
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 43
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 66
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 37
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 44
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 32
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 79
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 26
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 51
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 5
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 21
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 30
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 65
- ↑ Attack on Titan Character Encyclopedia (p. 146)
- ↑ Attack on Titan Character Encyclopedia (p. 143)
- ↑ Attack on Titan Character Encyclopedia (p. 141)
- ↑ Attack on Titan Character Encyclopedia (p. 145)
- ↑ Attack on Titan Character Encyclopedia (p. 147)
- ↑ Attack on Titan Character Encyclopedia (p. 144)
- ↑ Attack on Titan Character Encyclopedia (p. 142)
- ↑ Attack on Titan ANSWERS (p. 114)
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 78
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 86
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 60
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 47 — Uri's Titan.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 43 — Frieda as the Founding Titan.
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 63 — Marcel as the Jaw Titan.
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Attack on Titan anime: Episode 30 — Ymir as the Jaw Titan.
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 44 — Frieda as a Pure Titan.
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 30 — Ymir as the Warriors first encounter her.
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 25
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 17
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 19
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 20
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 47
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 29
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 76
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 68
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 12
- ↑ Attack on Titan anime: Episode 62