Titan

Biodata

Origins and Transformation

Doctor Grisha Jaeger’s books reveal that his comrades were transformed into Pure Titans after their attempt to restore their homeland failed. Grisha instead inherited the Attack Titan and entered the Walls to seize the Founding Titan’s power 34.

Titan spinal fluid can induce transformation and cause the recipient to lose a short stretch of memory. Bai Yu uses this information to suggest that Eren may have become a Pure Titan and subsequently obtained his father’s Attack Titan power without remembering it 38.

In Paths, Bai Yu sees sand Titans and encounters the Founder, Ymir. She continues constructing Titan bodies despite his attempts to speak with her 38 39 40.

Types and Named Powers

• Bai Yu recognizes Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhart, Bertholdt Hoover, and the freckled cadet Ymir as Titans concealed among the recruits. He initially postpones acting against them 18 31.
• Erwin suspects that the Colossal and Armored Titans are transformed humans infiltrating from Marley to obtain the Founding Titan 35.
• An inheritor of a Titan power has a thirteen-year lifespan. Bai Yu uses this limit to argue that the long-reigning king cannot be the true holder they are seeking 35.

Appearance

Titans have humanoid bodies, enormous mouths, and frequently grotesque smiles. Their expressions can remain fixed even while they pursue or devour people 3 6.

• Variable size: Real-world encounters include Titans approximately four, five, seven, ten, and fifteen meters tall 6 7 8 10.
• Training replicas: Bai Yu’s simulated Titans range from roughly two to sixteen meters tall 3.
• Exposed flesh: The giant appearing above Shiganshina’s wall has visible red flesh 6.
• Armor: The Armored Titan’s body is covered in protective armor, with white steam drifting from it 8.
• Unusual posture: Some Titans move on all fours rather than walking upright 22 29 30.

Behavior

• Human-directed pursuit: Titans move toward approaching Scouts and converge on large gatherings of civilians 15 17.
• Predation: A four-meter Titan tears Yishi’s father in half and eats him before reaching for her 6 7.
• Ambushes: An Abnormal Titan waits prone at an intersection before lunging at Bai Yu; another attacks the Scouts from above 21 22.
• Limited ordinary awareness: A passing ten-meter Titan fails to notice Bai Yu and Yishi because of their position relative to it 7.
• Possible changes: Ming senses that Titans have changed but cannot identify how. Later, the Titan attacking the Training Corps appears to Ming and Xiate to be struggling to survive like a wounded beast 19 30.

Abilities & Skills

Physical Strength and Mobility

Titans can grab people, destroy their bodies, and threaten mounted soldiers with sudden attacks 6 21.

• Some leap upward to intercept people using Omni-Directional Mobility Gear 3 50.
• Fast-moving Abnormal Titans can rapidly close the distance to Scout formations 22.
• Ordinary Titans cannot scale the fifty-meter wall in Bai Yu’s Training Ground; Titans clawing at the real wall likewise fail to move it 3 50.

Regeneration

Severed or damaged body parts can regenerate, producing white steam 3 30.

• The Training Ground’s intelligent Titan slowly regrows both hands and damaged joints 3.
• The Titan near the Training Corps recovers its arms after Ming and Xiate initially disable them 30.
• Limb wounds create openings for attackers but do not necessarily kill the Titan 7 30.

Sunlight Dependence

Titans rely on sunlight for the energy needed to move. At night, they become much less active and may remain motionless 23 32.

• Some retain sluggish movement after dark, so nighttime encounters are not completely safe 32.
• Reduced resistance allows the Scouts to clear Shiganshina’s remaining Titans before searching the Jaeger basement 33.

Specialized Titan Powers

• Armored defenses: Armor and hardening are obstacles that Bai Yu believes require explosive weapons such as Thunder Spears to penetrate 31 36.
• Colossal steam: Bai Yu considers the Colossal Titan’s steam beyond his ability to withstand during his early assessment of the cadets 18.
• Memory transmission: Attack Titan inheritors exchange memories across time and space 36.
• Memory alteration and control: The Founding Titan can alter Eldian memories; Eren’s use of its power can also control Titans beyond the constraints of time 34 36.

Weaknesses and Countermeasures

• Titans can grab mobility-gear cables. Bai Yu trains Ming and Xiate to retract their cables once they have gained momentum 30.
• Even skilled Titan fighters are limited by stamina, gas supplies, and blade durability. Bai Yu cannot fight the mass entering Shiganshina indefinitely despite being capable of killing most individual Titans 8.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Relationships

• Ymir, the Founder — Constructs Titans in Paths; distinct from the freckled cadet whom Bai Yu also identifies as a Titan 18 38 39 40.
• Bai Yu — Fights Titans in both reality and his System Training Ground. His custom intelligent Titan copies his attributes and techniques and repeatedly defeats him; its human-like agility is deliberately greater than he expects from real intelligent Titans 3 49.
• Survey Corps — Battles Titans to establish routes, protect expeditions, and investigate the world beyond the Walls 15 16 33.
• Hange Zoë — Leads Titan research within the Survey Corps and displays an unusually strong fascination with them 33.
• Eren Yeager — Possesses the Founding Titan according to Bai Yu’s knowledge; Bai Yu also tells Erwin that Eren likely inherited Grisha’s Attack Titan without remembering the transformation 35 38.