Are you a human being or a Titan?

— Kitts Woerman to Eren Yeager

Titan Shifter

Notable Abilities

Titan Shifting, Regeneration, Hardening Skin, Intelligence

Titan Shifters are specific humans in possession of the "Titan's power"(巨人の力 Kyojin no Chikara?),

which allows them to transform into Titans. Unlike regular Titans, they are able to control their regular

form and retain their human intelligence. It is often noted that Shifters are far more powerful than regular

Titans and sometimes display abilities unique only to them.

Contents[show]

Description Edit

Eren's transformation

To transform, they must suffer an injury that draws blood (often self-harm, as shown when Eren

Yeager bit his hand to protectMikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert, and when Annie Leonhartstabbed her

finger with a blade from the inside of her ring) while having a solid goal or belief in mind at the moment of

injury. However, being injured by another person is also sufficient, such as when Mikasa seriously

wounded Reiner and Bertolt. Once the transformation is initiated, a yellow bolt of lightning appears to

strike down the Shifter from the sky, followed by the generation of the Titan body and a release of steam.

After transformation, their human bodies appear to be in the Titan's nape of the neck, where they control

their Titan bodies. Their human bodies are also merged with the Titan's flesh inside, rendering them

immobile. It is also visible that their eyes are connected within the body of the Titan, presumably for optic

vision outside the body. An average height among the Titan forms is 15 meters, but this can vary, as

shown by the Colossal Titan, the tallest known Shifter, is 60 meters, the Beast Titan is 17 meters, the

Female Titan is 14 meters, and Ymir's form is 6-7 meters.

If a Shifter's Titan form is pushed to its limit, its human form will emerge from the nape of its neck in a

semi-conscious state. This is demonstrated separately by Eren, Ymir, and Annie when their Titan forms

suffer defeat. But if a Shifter's Titan form is not exhausted, then its human form can partially emerge from

the Titan form in full consciousness. Annie,Ymir, and even Eren have shown this ability on three separate

occasions.

When a Shifter emerges from their Titan body, the area around their eyes is burned from the hot muscle

of their Titan forms for a short time after. Every Shifter with a known Titan form has exhibited this at least

once, with the exception of Grisha Yeager. The time the burn lasts depends on the Shifter and possibly

how long, skilled or how overworked they used their Titan forms, ranging from several minutes to several

hours, as shown by how Ymir had the burns over her eyes for almost twelve hours, whereas Reiner and

Bertolt only had them for a little less than five hours.

Size comparison of various Titan Shifters with an average human (Mikasa)The Titan Shifters also gain the Titan's ability to regenerate, capable of vastly improved healing abilities and regenerating lost limbs even in their human forms. However, regeneration from severe injuries such as lost limbs can strain their powers and prevent them from transforming for a period of time.[1] Both Eren and Ymir were unable to transform while recovering from their injuries, though Ymir is shown to have

been able to transform within minutes of recovering. Healing for a Titan Shifter's human form takes much longer than their Titan form, as it took Eren 5 hours to regenerate both of his arms, whereas it would take him minutes to do so in Titan form. The time it takes to regenerate appears to depend on the extent of the injury and how focused a Shifter is on healing that area. The one thing they appear to be unable to regenerate is their head, and the only surefire way to kill them appears to be decapitation, with the exception of devouring them and absorbing their powers.

It is also shown that they are not safe from regular Titans, and will be attacked even while transformed.

Both Eren and Ymir were nearly devoured by hordes of Titans while transformed, and Reiner states that

traveling while in Titan-occupied territory is dangerous to any of them. During the battle of Trost, it was

shown that Titans seem to prefer attacking transformed Shifters. The human soldiers had great difficulty

drawing away the Titans, as they were somehow drawn to Eren's Titan form. This is because Titans are

regular humans transformed by unknown means and the only way to turn back is by eating a Shifter.

Reiner and Bertolt note that it was the same for them.

A notable trait of the three major antagonistic Shifters is their lack of skin, and special abilities unique only

to their Titans. For Bertolt's it is steam generation, for Reiner it is his hardened armor, and for Annie, it is

a variety of abilities, most notably the ability to harden select areas of her skin and call upon mindless

Titans. It is unknown how this relates to Eren and Ymir, who do not share their place of origin or purpose.

Ymir displays the ability to partially emerge from the nape of her Titan form, allowing her to interact with

others while still transformed. Uri also demonstrated this as well, once being almost completely out of his

Titan form with the exception of his right hand.[2] It is unknown whether this is unique to them or a feat

that any experienced Shifter can manage over time.

Revelations concerning Ymir's past also suggest several important possibilities concerning the nature of

Titans and Titan Shifters, as well as the existence of other Shifters. It is revealed that they do not age

while in their Titan form, as Ymir notes she spent at least 60 years in her Titan form but has the

appearance of a teenager.[3] Although Ymir lacks complete and clear memory of this period, she recalls

enough to describe it as an "endless nightmare." While trapped in her Titan form, she seems to have

been a regular Titan that mindlessly devoured humans. Reiner and Bertolt do not treat this as an unusual

case, and Bertolt notes that it was the same for them. This leads to the conclusion that the first time of

using their power they lack self-determination and have only a decided goal, devour humans. In the case

of all the currently known Titan Shifters, excluding Ymir, it appears that there was a Shifter present for

them to devour, with only Eren, Ymir, Frieda, and Uri having the Shifter they ate being shown or

mentioned.

Experiments performed on Eren suggest that Shifters are resistant, but not immune to the normal

absorption that creates mindless Titans if they stay transformed for a long time. After one hour to be

transformed, Eren entered in a state of pain and eventually left his Titan body. With the the two

subsequent transformations after short rests, the strength and quality of his Titan form degraded more

and more, becoming smaller and less controlled each time. On the third transformation, his lower body

remained free while his upper body began to merge with his Titan form. It became necessary to cut him

loose, removing most of the tissue from the front of his skull in the process. As such, it seems that there is

a limitation on how long a Shifter can remain in a transformed state before risking absorption.[4]Similarly,

it seems the longer or more often a Titan form is used and how exhausted the human within is, the more

difficult the form can be to consciously control. This may cause the Shifter's form to regress to typical

Titan behavior and can make them unpredictable if weaponized. The length of being transformed appears

to depend on how skilled a Shifter is at controlling their Titan form, as Annie was able to transform twice

into a fully formed Titan, in total altogether for almost a day minutes apart, without being absorbed, while

Eren nearly lost himself.

Their powers can be transferred to a new host, should they be devoured. This allows an ordinary Titan to

become a new Titan Shifter, should they succeed in devouring one—as was the case when Ymir

devoured Marcel and regained human form. Hange Zoë theorizes other abilities, such as the Coordinate

possessed by Eren, could be transferred to a new host in the same fashion. The Reiss family has done

this method for years, by having one Reiss transform into a Titan and devour the previous Coordinate

holder, obtaining their powers and the memories of the world.

Grisha Yeager, a Shifter himself, was capable of using a syringe to turn a young Eren into a Titan which

in turn devoured most of his body. Similarly, Frieda Reiss became a Titan via syringe in order to consume

her uncle to become a Shifter and to obtain the Coordinate ability, as did Uri and Mr. Reiss. The serum

induced Titans resemble regular Titans but with a more or less resemblance to the human host, as Eren's

normal Titan form resembled him more than his Shifted form with short rugged hair and facial features

and Frieda's first transformation led to a skinny, boney female-like Titan with shoulder length light hair.

The first transformations are often less shorter than the Shifted forms, but this depends solely on the

Shifter, as Ymir's Titan form was 6-7 meters, and was near identical to her Shifter form, whereas Eren's

normal Titan was 3-5 meters, while his current Titan form is 15 meters. Rod Reiss revealed that Titan

Shifters, who have been given their abilities by having to devour someone, have a chosen Titan Shifter

form for them to take. Rod Reiss also reveals that certain serums can create a different type of Titan with

different abilities. For instance, Eren consumed a bottle from Rod's bag labeled "Braun" which gave his

Titan the power of skin hardening at will.[5]

According to Rod Reiss, a Shifter's power rests in their spinal cord, meaning that to gain the Titan

powers, it isn't necessary to eat the entire Shifter, more so just biting through the spine and ingesting their

spinal fluid. A serum recovered from Rod Reiss reveals that the Titan serums appear to be spinal fluid.

However, it is difficult to study, because once the liquid makes contact with the air, it evaporates.

ADVERTISEMENT

Titan Shifters Edit

Names Description Titan Form

Bertolt

Hoover

The first Titan Shifter to appear chronologically within the series, Bertolt

Hoover's Titan is of 60 m class. This grants him incredible strength like no

other, capable of causing monumental destruction with little effort or damage

sustained on his body. Due to this size its body temperature is extremely high,

to the point that it is constantly emitting steam. However, because this Titan is

so large, Bertolt can only move slowly while in its form.

It is the largest Titan Shifter seen so far in the series, the second largest Titan

of the series (coming second only to Rod Reiss's mindless Titan, which was

twice his size), and four times the height of the regular Titans of the tallest

class (15 m). This form has shown to be able to retain a degree of intelligence

and tactical planning to go with its sheer size and strength, despite its slow

movements. It is strong enough to break down the defensive walls

surrounding humankind with a single and very hard-focused kick to allow other

Titans to move inside the walls. It has a unique ability to "superheat" its body

to produce incredibly hot steam as a defense. This ability has only been seen

to be shared with Rod Reiss's Titan (except Rod Reiss's heat is even more

intense). The heat of this steam is so intense that it is able to keep dozens of

experienced soldiers at bay, lest they be cooked alive.[6]

Reiner

Braun

Reiner Braun is capable of transforming himself into a 15 m class Titan with a

slight resemblance to his human form. Unlike the other Titan Shifters, his Titan

form has very thick, hardened plates of skin all over his body which serves as

his armor.

This type of Titan is well-built and has a hunched profile. Its only visible

weaknesses are the small areas on the backs of its joints where there is no

armor.[7] Though not particularly fast, this form is strong and agile, capable of

destroying a fortified wall after a sufficient running start. While he is able to

communicate through roars, it is unknown whether he shares Annie's ability to

summon other Titans.

Eren

Yeager

Eren Yeager is the first Titan Shifter to be revealed in the series, 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 fairly substantial physical

strength, knowledge of martial arts techniques, and incredible endurance.

Prolonged and repeated use of this Titan form has allowed Eren to gradually

increase control over its initially unstable mental state. Its eyes are a piercing

grey in the manga, and emerald-green in the anime; wherein they are often

seen to be glowing bright green.

Eren eventually revealed the powers of "The Coordinate": A special ability

which allows him to take control of other Titans. In his blind state of rage, he

would subconsciously command them to relentlessly attack his chosen target

until they are dead.

This Titan has also recently gained the ability to harden after Eren has

consumed a jar labelled "Braun".

Annie

Leonhart

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 Shifter 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;[8] as well as the intelligence to defend itself from multiple 3D

Maneuvering 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.[9] Combined with 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.[10]

Ymir Ymir's Titan is a 7 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. It provides her with such great agility that her Titan appears to be

"dancing".

The smallest Titan Shifter known yet, 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. It's long arms and small, muscular body enable it to

maneuver itself around with great speed and agility in the same environments

as those with 3D Maneuvering Gear, making it a formidable foe in battle.[11]

Unlike the other shifters who apparently gained their powers under a

somewhat controlled process, Ymir wandered as a mindless Titan for 60 years

after stealing the power, and was only after she crossed paths with another

shifter (Marcel) and ate them when she regained her humanity.

Frieda

Reiss

Frieda was able to transform herself into a 15 meter female-looking Titan with

white hair. She was said to have an "invincible power", but she died before

she could learn how to use it. She devoured her uncle below the Reiss chapel

when she was fifteen in order to receive his Titan abilities and secrets of the

world.[12] The "invincible power" is now known as the "Coordinate", which

allows the user to control Titans and potentially, humans. This however, was

stolen from her by Grisha Yeager, and is now in the possession of Eren

Yeager.

Grisha

Yeager

Grisha's Titan form shares similarities with Eren's, such as their elongated

ears and long hair, except Grisha's Titan jaws have flesh and a beard. He has

a bulkier body built. Unlike most Titan Shifters shown so far in the series, his

body is very heavy-built. He used his Titan form to kill and devour Frieda

Reiss along with her family, excluding Rod and Historia Reiss.[13]

Beast

Titan

Having a distinct, ape-like appearance, his Titan's body structure and facial

features are like that of a human's, he walks upright like one also. He stands

at a previously unseen 17 meters in height. Dark fur covers the large majority

of his body, with the exception of his face, hands, feet, and torso. His arms are

also elongated, with long fingers and fully-functional thumbs. The proportions

of his upper body are similar to that of the Colossal Titan, possessing a

massive chest and small head, as well as unusually slim arms.[14]

It is suggested that the Beast Titan contains massive strength, for it was able

to hurl chunks of the wall from very far and was able to accurately hit

members of the Scouting Legion. He was also able to defeat the Armored

Titan without seemingly any sustained damage. It has been noted that the

Beast Titan is the "strongest" Titan.

Notable Titan Shifters Edit

This is a list of known Titan Shifters who's Titan form has yet to be shown in detail:

Marcel

Uri Reiss

Mr. Reiss

The First King

Trivia  Edit

Many Titan Shifters are modeled after wrestlers. For instance, the Armored Titan is modeled after

Brock Lesnar and the Rogue Titan is modeled after Yūshin Okami.

Annie Leonhart appears to be the most skilled living Titan Shifter, sporting a variety of learned

powers and moves. However, the holder of the Coordinate would often be the strongest Shifter, as

noted by Rod. The least skilled appears to be Eren, who is still learning how to use his powers.

It is possible that like normal Titans, a Shifter's remains evaporate when they perish as there was

no trace of Grisha after Keith Shadis found an unconscious Eren after the latter received the

Coordinate, even though in Eren's obtained memory, the remains of Grisha's lower body, arm, and

clothes were left behind.

You are here: Home / ANIME CLOSE UP: THE TITAN SHIFTERS OF SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN (ATTACK ON TITAN)

ANIME CLOSE UP: THE TITAN SHIFTERS OF SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN (ATTACK ON TITAN)

Published by Kitty Paws on 2013/09/08 | Leave a response

Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan) is indeed one of the most popular

anime and manga at the moment. The title itself already shows who the

main antagonists are in the anime and in the manga. The Kjoyin or Titans

are a mysterious race of humanoid giants which appeared roughly 107

years ago. They have rapidly increased and have exterminated humanity to

the point of near extinction. However, their origins, overall population and

how their body works still remains a mystery at the moment. Although

humans have tried to study them, there just seems to be too much

information that needs to be known about them. Although Titans greatly

resemble human beings because they are also bipedal and have the same

number and arrangement of limbs and other physical features, their

proportions vary. Some of them have large heads, longer arms and so on.

Apart from that, there are other abnormalities like some lacking skin and

tissues however, they do not bleed from these deformities. Most Titans are

also males however, they lack gonads therefore, their method of

reproduction is still unknown and is yet to be discovered by the humans

who study them. Titans have complete set of teeth except that they do not

have sharp fangs like canines and they also do not have a complete and fully

functional digestive tract. Their favorite activity is eating humans however,

when they cannot eat anymore of them, they throw them up or extract them

from inside their bodies to make room for more.

However, not all Titans are pure. Some Titans are actually humans who

change into Titan forms. This is actually a twist in the story which most

people did not expect. Eren emerging from the body of a Titan gave birth to

the idea of Titan Shifters. Titan Shifters are types of Titans that are

controlled by humans. Somehow, some humans are capable of transforming

into Titans and they possess various unusual traits an skills that they can

hone and even direct with a purpose. Titan Shifters are unusually stronger

and/or faster than typical Titans and they can also retain their intelligence

during controlled transformation. However, this is not the case if the

transformation is not controlled. One’s intelligence depends on the

capability and training received by the person who is going to transform

into a Titan. Luckily, Titan Shifters don’t have any deformities that hinder

their skills and they often resemble their human drivers. Like Titans, Titan

Shifters can also regenerate parts of their body by focusing.

So far, there are five known Titan Shifters in the series. The first Titan

Shifter known in the series is Eren Jaeger’s Berserk Titan. Despite his

substantial physical strength and his use of martial arts techniques, his

greatest disadvantage is that he doesn’t know how to control his

transformation well yet. It is still unknown as to how far his abilities would

go but right now he is still pretty unstable which is why people still find it

hard to trust him. Other Titan Shifters include the Dancing Titan. Later on,

it will be revealed that Ymir transforms into the said monstrosity. Her Titan

has sharp teeth and claws which helps her easily hang on walls and are

good for combat. She is the smallest Titan Shifter at the moment. Next is

the Colossal Titan which is the largest of all the Titan Shifters at the

moment. Although it moves slowly, it compensates it by its degree of

intelligence and tactical planning. It is also very strong as it can break down

walls. Later on, it will be discovered that Bertholdt is the said Titan Shifter.

The Armored Titan is also another example of a Titan Shifter. This Titan

Shifter has hard skin all over its body, has advanced strength and agility

and is somehow well-built. Like the Colossal Titan, the Armored Titan can

also destroy walls. This Titan Shifter is actually Reiner. Lastly, we have the

Female Titan. She has already appeared in the series too and is currently

the Titan Shifter that everyone is looking for. She is the only Titan Shifter

with a female form. Out of all the Titan Shifters, she is the most agile and

the most intelligent of them all as she is not keen on eating any humans and

would rather just kill those who are considered a threat to her. Like the

Armored Titan, she also has the ability to harden parts of her body which

allows her to protect certain body parts, most of all, her neck. She can even

call other Titans just by her loud call. Although, there have been

speculations only at the moment, later on, it will be revealed that the

Female Titan is in fact, Annie.

It is unknown if there will be more Titan Shifters that will be introduced in

the series. After all, it is still ongoing. There are many mysteries behind the

walls and there are also enemies inside the walls that people need to find

out. As the series continues to progress, more and more secrets will be

revealed and more and more blood, violence and gore will ensue. Death is

inevitable at this point and somehow it is hard to say if those who have lived

and survived are considered lucky. To fall prey to flesh eating giants isn’t

exactly any different from surviving a zombie apocalypse and trying to avoid

being consumed by them. The only good thing about being eaten by a Titan

is that you will never turn like them. Not like when you get bitten by a

zombie, surely, you will become one of the undead. But there are still so

many things that needs to be revealed, so many things that needs to be

learned. Will the humans will the war against the Titans? No one knows.

Which side will the Titan Shifters choose? For now, it is safe to say that

Eren is on humanity’s side but the rest are still on a different side. Will he

be able to persuade them to join his cause or will he have to defeat them

and kill them all? So many questions but hopefully they will be answered in

the upcoming episodes of the anime. We all have yet to find out.

The Titan Shifters: (Left – Right) Ymir & her Dancing Titan, Bertholdt & his Colossal Titan, Eren & his Berserk Titan, Reiner & his Armored Titan and Annie & her Female Titan