The Titans thread

[benelori]

In the world of this manga, the titans are pretty much an unknown entity...

But it seems that there are some rough guidelines, so I think we can go on and speculate:

1. Size matters....while the general instincts are the same, we've been shown the difference between "Bean" and "Sonny"...if we create an analogy between humans and titans I guess both "Bean" and "Sonny" could be considered as human babies, just with an age difference...

2. Along with the size, we can notice that the body buildup is of great significance as well...I noticed that the less grotesque Titans are more a bit tougher to take down...please correct me if I'm wrong though

3. This last one is fairly obvious...special abilities and/or intelligence...however it's still vague for me whether this is the result of Titan evolution, or this is where hybrids like Eren come into play

That's why I think the first and foremost question is...are the Titans part of nature? Because if they are then the previous points I mentioned make sense, if not then they still might make sense.

Another question which is bothering me...why are they humanoids?

Anyways...this thread isn't just about the points or questions that I posted...so feel free to direct the convo in another direction.

PS: if you think you have a great idea about the Titans, a theory maybe, then feel free to start a new thread about it.

[Iluvatar3]

(sorry english isnt my first language) My theory about titans is a bit loose, at first sight it looks a bit stupid or obvious, but if you think about it thoroughly you see that it makes alot sense ! I think the King is envolved with the titans for some reason, maybe to keep everyone inside his kingdom and being the only king, or some economic reason i dunno.. and some "organization" of human who turn into titans like Eren and Annie is trying to overthrow the system. At the latest cap we see a talk about the system that need to be changed, and along the storie we see some people talking that the titans have NO APPARENT REASONS to kill people! They dont need to eat, but they crush the walls to kill everyone they see.
Another good part to take a look is the scout girl lost outside, she found a titan and he call her "Ymir people", take a look at nordic mythology about Ymir, he is envolved with the creation of everything: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ymir

The Giant Ymir



And the girl

And, just to finish, only i think that the colossal titan looks like the officer that wanted eren to move the giant rock? i forget his name now, but he is bald and calm (lol <<<)

[Franckie]

The Titans are one of the most unnerving, intimidating, and memorable monsters/antagonists I've ever seen from a fictional series. This example scene still creeps me out:

The Titans are genius character designs. I also enjoy how the author plays on primal fears such as the fear of being devoured, which is made far more creepier when you toss in the Titans human-like designs, and the fear of the unknown, such as how the Titans are shrouded in myth and unconvering the mysteries surrounding them is one of the biggest mysteries of the story.

[haegar]

Somtimes I feel the issue with the faces is not that the mangaka has a bit of a struggle with the proportions but that some heads have been switched around between humans and titans. that is to say, that typical titan diabolical smile, it is so... dehumanising ... but you know, there are a couple of humans around who would deserv a titan's face rather than a human's.

That being said, the two different sorts of titans (weak vs strong and intelligent) lead me into two different lines of thought:

The titan monsters often make me think of sort of backward evolution. They make me think of man degrading to baseness in light of a crisis. So they kinda have a metephorical function, but it might also be quite literal:

The second sort of titans, the human ones, make me think of humans turning into titans to become weapons. Many mentioned they suspect these to be some sort of rebel against the leading humans in the city. It is at least possible that this process is not always successful and the animalistic titans were the result of failed experiments (against that you can hold the fact that the "human" titans seem to have control over the lesser ones though)

Anyways, it is all still very vague but the general gist for me is that at some point it probably will be revealed that human's brought this onto themselves somehow. The lack of history benelori mentioned elsewhere, it does point to burried secrets in the past and it is highly likely that those in power do know "something" they keep hidden from the public. So I wouldn't be too suprised if we learn that the ruling class of the city waged war on other human communities in the past, destroyed them and enslaved them. Some few human survivors of attrocities commited by the city folks might have encountered a new race and interacted/mingled with them, and couple of decades later they came back out of the woods the eat everybody up.

Another one that would make sense: The mindless titan type was actually created by the cities rulers to keep people inside and control them with the external threat. That worked beautifully as long as the tians styed OUTSIDE the wall. People could feel safe inside and trust the rulers while they keep fearing the outside. Now the society makeup could actually be specifically structured for crowd control in such a scheme: Those guys who are strong warriors, and capable, and smart and upstanding, in short those that if left alone might band together to call for change - well, those shrubs you send out against the titans: As the elite scouting unit they will feel needed and think they do something useful - at the same time, bit by bit, they will die, and loose their spirit in light of the grueling reality outside the wall so they cease being a threat to the status quo by their own doing. Those that are totally scrupolous opportunists, well, those you can use, you can mold, they are assets, so you give them a bit of the real power, keep em close, make them the secret police. As for the rest of able bodied man, not all are as enthusiastic about being revolutionaries, those who dont cause trouble you let be as normal citzens and soldiers. This system, once established has the potential to go on endlessly as it cultivates the "types of people" it needs for the next generation thoroughly. It won't end with whoever is on top, there will always be somebody just like him to step on and continue things as they were.

UNLESS you disrupt the balance. This all hinges on the majority of citizens inside being afraid of outside and feeling inside is safe. Enter the wall breaking super giant: OUPS. So maybe Eren's dad happened to find out the truth, deemed it not feasible to make it public and instead used the knowledge he found about titans to make new ones, better ones, to actually also control the midnless ones and direct them all against the city in an effort to disrupt the balance so that maybe something happens on the inside...

[aeruz]

well they look like humans soo in other words maybe the source is humans after all, maybe its a disease ,maybe long ago some humans became titans

[Knifeshade]

I wonder what differentiates one titan from another. Namely the human-titans we know (Eren, Ymir, colossal titan, and Annie), and the run-of-the-mill-slash-fodder titan.

If somebody were to get at the nape of Eren in his titan form. Will he die or will it just strip him of his titan body.
In the same vein, we know Connie's village were more or less turned into titans, if somebody were to get at their nape, will they just die (similar to a fodder titan) or will it be similar to Eren and Annie.

It's getting harder to tell what the difference is between one titan and the other. With the revelation that humans can be turned into titans on a whim, it makes you question if all titans were humans to begin with or are there "pure-blooded" titans. I hope the mangaka sheds some light in the future otherwise it feels inconsistent.

[Reclaimer]

If somebody were to get at the nape of Eren in his titan form. Will he die or will it just strip him of his titan body.

You mean like how Annie ripped Eren's human body from his titan body?

I hope the mangaka sheds some light in the future otherwise it feels inconsistent.

It can't be inconsistent if it never explains the issue.

[Knifeshade]

You mean like how Annie ripped Eren's human body from his titan body?

Yeah something like that. So does slicing the nape just expose his human body and it doesn't outright kill him?

How come the usual titans just evaporate when they get their nape sliced.

It's been revealed that titans can be transformed from humans (talking about Connie's village here), how come they don't get the "Eren treatment". Of course, it's difficult to say which titans are human-transformed, and which aren't at this stage, so I'm hoping the mangaka will explain in the future what the difference between Eren/Annie/Ymir and inhabitants of Connie's village are. Or what the difference between Eren/Annie/Ymir and the usual mindless titan are.

[Reclaimer]

It's been revealed that titans can be transformed from humans (talking about Connie's village here)

It has been insinuated.

There is also a huge practical issue with that: you need a delivery system that simultaneously converted every single member of that village at once. Unless it is possible to "infect" people but it lay dormant until a set time or some other catalyst, that isn't possible with air born agent, water born agent, sound stimulant, visual stimulus, or pretty much anything. About the only explanation I can think of that works is magic and that is the cop out answer.

edit: I understand that the author has a less than friendly relationship with science (See titans being super light yet able to smash things. Someone needs to remind him that force= mass x velocity), but that doesn't mean I'm going to come up with or accept bad explanations.

[Knifeshade]

It has been insinuated.

Haha, I was going to use that word, but I'm personally 90% convinced. I remember making a poll for that one chapter and putting a comedy option that the titans fell out of the sky. You can't be telling me the ape titan threw every single titan over like he threw those boulders at the tower. Anyway, I can't think of any other explanation under the current situation. The missing puzzle is really just how it happened.

There are more inconsistencies regarding the titans the more you think about it. Like how were they able to move in the pitch black darkness, when we were originally told they were unable to move without light.

(This makes me start to think that titans don't move by their sight but their sense of smell. Just throwing a wild hypothesis out there.)

[Reclaimer]

Haha, I was going to use that word, but I'm personally 90% convinced. I remember making a poll for that one chapter and putting a comedy option that the titans fell out of the sky. You can't be telling me the ape titan threw every single titan over like he threw those boulders at the tower. Anyway, I can't think of any other explanation under the current situation. The missing puzzle is really just how it happened.

Yeah, it seems likely that they were transformed, but Connie thinking that a titan reminded him of his mother is not 100% definitive proof. The fact that no one was killed and the wall was not apparently breached are other huge indicators, but the problem of the delivery system is massive.

There are more inconsistencies regarding the titans the more you think about it. Like how were they able to move in the pitch black darkness, when we were originally told they were unable to move without light.

I don't have time to look for the link right now, but I seem to recall the members of the scouting legion being surprised by it.

That can possibly be explained by the fact that the titans might have just been converted from people. Normal titans are solar powered, so can only operate while there is sunlight, but these titans still have the energy from a human digestive system which allows them to work at night, at least until said energy runs out. They would then be normal titans from then on.

That could possibly also explain why titans try to eat when they don't need to: they understand on some level that solar power is not enough to sustain them, at least at a high level. (If as their energy decreases to the baseline titan level, their intelligence could decrease which might explain why Eren/Annie/Ymir can retain control as titans. They still have an outside energy source) Of course, that wouldn't explain why they only eat people and ignore animals, but that might be something akin to the human digestive system which when a person is lacking in some vital nutrient, your body starts to crave eating foods with that nutrient.

[Laif]

I know it's a bit off topic but the first impression on the titans reminded me of playing Heroes of Might and Magic IV. Everytime i see one reading i reminiscence about how mighty they were in game.. and so they are in manga. Sorry for that