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Titans (巨人 Kyojin?, lit. "Giant(s)") are a race of giant man-eating humanoids that serve as catalysts for the events in the series. The people inside the Walls are taught that they first appeared 107 years prior to year 850 and had rapidly exterminated humanity to the point of near-extinction.[1] In reality, they are transformed humans known as the Subjects of Ymir, and have existed for nearly 2,000 years.[2]

Appearance

CPAI6

A size comparison of various Titans against Humans

Titans greatly resemble nude humans. They are typically bipedal with the limbs and features one would expect in humans; however, they are all deformed to some extent in body proportions (enlarged head, small limbs, etc.). Many Titans have exceptionally wide mouths with an array of square teeth. The vast majority of Titans have a masculine body shape, although all of them lack reproductive organs.[3]

Behavior

Unlike other species, Titans do not mate, nor interact with organisms other than humans;[3] their sole purpose in life is to seek out and devour humans. They do not derive any real sustenance from humans either, as many of them did not taste human flesh for a century after the Walls were raised, but it did not affect their activity nor decrease their numbers.[4] One explanation for this is that they seek a human who possesses the power of the Titans, for if a Titan consumes a human with it, said Titan will become human again.[5]

Some Titans do not react to pain and all will move as long as there is sunlight.[6] Titans do not possess a complete, functioning digestive tract; they merely have a stomach-like cavity that eventually fills up with what they swallow.[7] After consuming a certain amount, they regurgitate the contents of the cavity before they continue eating more humans.[7]

Most Titans show no signs of intelligence and act like mindless beasts; easy to trick, distract, and deceive. The Nine Titans are the exception: They have human level intellect due to being piloted by a human. However, some Abnormals are also able to sustain some of their former intelligence, such as the Titan encountered by Ilse Langnar[8] and Connie's mother.[9] These Titans can form thoughts and even communicate with humans.

Creation

All Titans are originally humans of a race of people called the Subjects of Ymir.[10] Ymir was the first Titan, gaining the power of the Titans after touching the "source of all living matter,"[11] although Marley claims she made a contract with the Devil.[2]

Titan injection

Subjects of Ymir being injected with Titan spinal fluid

Subjects of Ymir become Titans after being injected with Titan spinal fluid, triggering a near-instantaneous transformation.[10] This is exploited by Marley after the Great Titan War, who turn undesirable Subjects of Ymir into Titans to use for war,[12] or at Paradis Island to roam aimlessly beyond the Walls.[13] Titans oftentimes bear strong resemblance to their original human bodies, though women who are turned into Titans lose most feminine body features.[3]

Zeke's scream

Zeke's scream ability

Although the organic materials that make up the Titans' bodies appears to be from nothing,[14] they are said to be sent from invisible "paths" that transcend time and space.[15] These "paths" connect all Subjects of Ymir to a single "Coordinate," the Founding Titan.[16]

The Founding Titan can personally turn Subjects of Ymir into Titans. Karl Fritz created the Colossus Titans that make up the Walls this way.[17] Zeke Yeager can mimic this ability due to his royal blood,[18] by screaming after administering his spinal fluid to his victims.[18] He does this to the villagers of Ragako for the Wall Rose invasion[19] and at the Battle at Fort Slava.[20]

Physiology

The body of Titans appears to violate several known laws of science, spontaneously generating both energy and mass. Their bodies are incredibly light,[21] allowing them to stand and walk despite their size. Their extremely high level of activity and body temperature indicates the need for a massive intake of energy to fuel them, yet they apparently never need to eat at all, though most Titans kill their victims by appearing to do so. They possess and use vocal organs, but they do not need to breathe for survival.[22]

Inside the Nape

The control center of Pure Titans

Titans draw their primary source of energy from the sun, as they become inactive when deprived of sunlight. The absence of sunlight affects individual Titans differently: During experimentation, the captured Titan "Sonny" became docile and nearly comatose after only an hour's deprivation, while fellow captive "Bean" maintained a high level of activity three hours after last seeing sunlight.[23] However, this only applies for the Pure Titans; the Nine Titans do not need sunlight to move, and neither do Titans controlled by Zeke Yeager's Beast Titan,[18] or presumably the Founding Titan.

Titans possess incredible regenerative abilities. Although it varies from Titan to Titan, they can regenerate lost body parts from seconds to minutes, even severed heads (unless the nape is severed with the head).[24] The only known sure-fire way to kill them is by slicing an area one meter long and 10 centimeters wide on their nape.[25] This is the location of the central nervous system of the Titan; in Pure Titans, it is only a spine of the human that got absorbed,[26] but in the Nine Titans, it is an entire human body.[27] Without a functioning nervous system to control it, the Titan dies. After death, Titan corpses rapidly evaporate to skeletal remains, then to nothing at all.

How Titans react to pain stimuli varies from one to another: Some Titans completely ignore agonizing injuries, even impalement through the heart, and attack nearby humans as normal.[28] Others scream seemingly in agony.[29] Humans with the power of the Titans have yet to show any signs of pain when their Titan form gets damaged.

Mike Zacharias was able to smell Titans, implying they have an odor.[30]

History

Ymir's Founding Titan

Ymir Fritz, the first Titan

Over 1,800 years ago, Ymir Fritz discovered the "source of all organic material,"[11] or made a deal with the Devil,[2] and gained the power of the Titans. The Eldia Restorationists believed that she used the Titans to build bridges, roads, and cultivate barren lands.[31] After she died 13 years later, her "soul" was split and passed down unto nine inheritors.[2]

Nine Titans

The Nine Titans

After Ymir's death, the Nine Titans conquered the nation of Marley and established the empire of Eldia.[2] The Nine Titans were split into Eldian noble houses. The Fritz family maintained order over the other eight houses, who were locked in constant conflict, using the Founding Titan.[32]

However, after 1,700 years, Karl Fritz inherited the Founding Titan and chose to abandon the conflicts of the mainland.[33] In his absence, the Great Titan War began.[34] The chaos caused by the Eldian noble families allowed the Marleyans to rebel and take over the continent.[35] The King and many Eldians fled to Paradis Island, where he used Colossus Titans to construct three Walls around his territory.[35] In years after, Marley would send undesirable citizens to Paradis Island as Pure Titans, doomed to wander the island.[36][13]

Types of Titans

Titans are classified according to their size and abilities. The following is a list of various known Titans so far.

Type Description Image

Pure Titans (無垢の巨人 Muku no Kyojin?)

Ranging from 3 - 15 m in height, these Titans compose the vast majority of observed Titans. They all resemble humans but with varying levels of deformity. Their only common feature is their mindless nature. They mindlessly attack nearby humans, making them easy to deceive. However, they are still dangerous due to their size, physical strength, and sheer numbers. They are often used as weapons of war, by Eldia in the past[2] and Marley in the present.[37]

Notable Titans of this type:

3-5 Meter Class

Abnormal Titans (奇行種 Kikō-shu no Kyojin?)

Pure Titans that display abnormal behavior or intelligence are classed as Abnormal. Abnormals often ignore nearby humans and charge to more important locations where they can do more damage. The Colossus Titans found inside the Walls are unusually large, similar to the actual Colossus Titan, and have hardening abilities.

Notable Titans of this type:

Rod Reiss character image (Titan)
Nine Titans (九つの巨人 Kokonotsu no Kyojin?)

The Nine Titans are fragments of Ymir Fritz's soul.[2] Humans who inherit them have the power of the Titans, which enables them to transform into their inherited Titan at will, gaining its special abilities while retaining their human body and intelligence. A human with the power of the Titans has access to advanced Titan abilities, such as focusing regeneration to specific parts of the body to increase the healing rate.[38]

Titans of this type:

Colossus Titan character image (Bertolt Hoover)

Trivia

  • Despite their English name originating from the Titans of Greek mythology, the Titans of Attack on Titan are much more influenced by the jötnar of Norse mythology. Most notably, both the Titans and the jötnar originated from an ancient being by the name of "Ymir."
  • Some Titans are modeled after friends and acquaintances of Hajime Isayama. Sometimes, he will even take requests.[39]
    • In Chapter 96, there are several Titans modeled after characters from HBO's popular Game of Thrones series, which Isayama is a fan of.
  • While most Titans have a masculine appearance, a few of them possess feminine facial features, while still retaining their masculine body shape.
  • Despite not being Subjects of Ymir, the Ackerman family gained abilities through "Titan science."[37]

References

  1. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 2 (p. 1)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 86 (p. 17)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 4 (p. 23)
  4. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 4 (p. 23 - 24)
  5. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 57 (p. 5 - 6)
  6. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 20 (p. 16 - 20)
  7. 7.0 7.1 Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 18 (p. 22)
  8. Attack on Titan manga: Side Story 2 (p. 8 - 11)
  9. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 38 (p. 6)
  10. 10.0 10.1 Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 87 (p. 36)
  11. 11.0 11.1 Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 88 (p. 27)
  12. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 92
  13. 13.0 13.1 Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 86 (p. 45)
  14. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 20 (p. 24)
  15. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 88 (p. 24)
  16. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 88 (p. 25)
  17. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 100 (p. 13)
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 93 (p. 11)
  19. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 46 (p. 38)
  20. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 92 (p. 18 - 19)
  21. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 20 (p. 23)
  22. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 20 (p. 17)
  23. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 20 (p. 16 - 17)
  24. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 4 (p. 24)
  25. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 4 (p. 25)
  26. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 51 (p. 37)
  27. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 13 (p. 30 - 34)
  28. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 20 (p. 20 - 21)
  29. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 20 (p. 18)
  30. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 35 (p. 4)
  31. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 86 (p. 27)
  32. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 86 (p. 32)
  33. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 86 (p. 31)
  34. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 86 (p. 31 - 33)
  35. 35.0 35.1 Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 86 (p. 19)
  36. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 86 (p. 27 - 35)
  37. 37.0 37.1 Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 93
  38. Attack on Titan manga: Chapter 28 (p. 38)
  39. Bessatsu Magazine 2014-08

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