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1'''This page is full of unmarked HEAVY SPOILERS, being speculation about a story with many mysteries.'''
2-->''Please place theories in appropriate folders and pages, if they apply!''
3
4%%If Jossed or Confirmed, please move that theory to the appropriate folder. For Jossed Theories, please include a brief summary of how it was Jossed.
5
6%%Please note theories about the Beast Titan being any member of the Military or Grisha Yeager are already Jossed. Please refrain from adding further Jossed Theories.
7
8[[foldercontrol]]
9
10
11* WMG/AttackOnTitanTheGrandListOfThingsWeKnowForCertain
12
13[[folder: Things We're Pretty Sure About, But Can't Confirm:]]
14'''Theories that have not yet been explicitly confirmed, but are heavily implied.'''
15* Titans were artificially created as an external threat that would force humanity to unite. This implies that, at minimum, someone was pulling the strings to begin with.
16* Much like how Frieda isn't dead because her memories live on within Eren, so is Grisha not dead, as Eren possesses his memories as well.
17* The speculated "Invisible Paths" which transcend time and space connecting all Subjects of Ymir are what triggered Eren Yeager's "dream" at the beginning of the series.
18[[/folder]]
19[[folder: Jossed Theories]]
20'''Theories that have been proven false. '''
21
22[[WMG: All of the Titan Shifters grew up inside the Walls, but were subverted and turned against humanity or were raised by human factions to unknown ends]]
23* Jossed, as their homeland is explicitly stated to be somewhere beyond the Walls. Their mission required them to get inside.
24[[WMG: The purpose of breaching Wall Maria in 845 isn't just to retrieve Eren, but rather to expand Titan territory.]]
25* Jossed. Reiner and Bertolt discuss having to enter human territory in order to search for the "coordinate", which they believe might be Eren. Bertolt also explicitly states that once they have those things, they intend to leave and never return.
26[[WMG: Titan reproduction.]]
27Maybe they eat humans to chemically modify them in their stomachs, and after regurgitating the dead, they turn into more titans?
28* Jossed: People eaten by Titans are just dead, as proven by the clean-up in Trost.
29[[WMG: Dr. Jaeger is responsible for Reiner's, Annie's, Bertolt's, and Ymir's status as Titan Shifters]]
30* Jossed: Ymir spent 60 years trapped in her Titan form. Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie could also be older than they look, and only consider Eren to be a ''possible'' LivingMacGuffin.
31[[WMG: Titans' eating habits are actually attempts to replace a dead pilot]]
32* Jossed: Ymir reveals she used to be a regular Titan, and remained in that state for 60 years without aging. It was only once she regained her human form and consciousness that she resumed aging and needed to eat, drink, and sleep.
33[[WMG: Sasquatch Titans were what the Titans were originally designed by humanity to fight]]
34* Jossed: Reiner and Bertolt discuss the Beast Titan in a manner that suggests it may be an ally to their group. At the very least, it is important to their overall goal.
35** The Beast Titan aka Zeke is their superior in whatever military or paramilitary organization of their "Hometown" they serve.
36[[WMG: The regular Titans are actually some form of plant life, and the Titan Shifters are made using their extracts.]]
37* Jossed: Ymir states she used to be an ordinary Titan, but eventually woke up and became a Shifter.
38[[WMG: The Titan Ilse met...]]
39...is going to appear again very soon. All the Titans in the forest are running after the Squad towards Reiner, Berthold, Ymir and Eren, so this one will be among them and this time will finally find the Ymir-sama it's been looking for. After which something may or may no become clearer.
40* Jossed with the Episode 3.5 OVA. Levi ends up killing the Talking Titan when it tries to eat Oluo, despite Hanji wanting to keep the Titan alive.
41[[WMG:The unintelligent Titans are infants.]]
42* Jossed. Regular Titans can result from anyone, of any age.
43[[WMG: Titans are "born" from the vomited human remains they leave behind.]]
44* Jossed. They don't digest, so Titan vomit is just piles of gore.
45[[WMG: All Titans are capable of speech.]]
46* Jossed. Eren is incapable of human speech in his Titan form (due to the jagged structure of his jaw).
47[[WMG: The Smiling Titan is a Titan Shifter.]]
48* Jossed: It seems to have been an mindless Titan.
49[[WMG: The Smiling Titan is Hitch. ]]
50* Jossed.
51[[WMG: The Smiling Titan is Moses. ]]
52* Jossed.
53[[WMG: The next arc will be Bert and Reiner trying to rescue Annie]]
54* Jossed. They are shown preparing to head home.
55[[WMG: Sooner or later, Eren's going to confront the Titan that ate his mother...]]
56..but only after s/he's turned back into a human.
57* Half and Half: Eren and Mikasa do indeed come face to face with the Titan that ate their mother, but the part about regaining human form seems to be Jossed.
58[[WMG: There will be an attack on the human settlement area while Eren is taken away.]]
59* Jossed.
60[[WMG: Levi had a role in Mikasa's parents death]]
61* Jossed. He was a member of the Survey Corps around the same time Mikasa's parents were killed.
62[[WMG: Irvin Smith is the King]]
63* Jossed: The King is shown in Chapter 54.
64[[WMG:The Beast Titan is Eren's father]]
65* Jossed. [[spoiler:Zeke is Eren's half-brother from Dina Fritz/the Smiling Titan.]]
66
67** Completely Jossed. Grisha Yeager has been DeadAllAlong. He turned Eren into a titan then let himself be devoured so his son would gain his(Grisha's) shifter abilities and the Coordinate power that he stole from the royal family.
68[[WMG: the Captain ackmern introduced in Chapter 56 is the Beast Titan, which would mean that the goverment are the real bad guys in the story]]
69* Jossed. Captain Ackerman is familiar with common military equipment and tactics, ruling this out.
70[[WMG: The girl in Eren's memory is his mother, Carla]]
71* Jossed: The woman is an unnamed character who befriended a young Historia. Specifically, her half-sister, Frieda.
72[[WMG: Eren is not the "Coordinate".]]
73* Jossed. Eren has the power of the Coordinate, though there appear to be multiple people that possess this ability.
74** Half and half. The "Coordinate" isn't a person, it's a power that can control titans and people's memories. Eren has the power but it was not something he was born with; it originally belonged to the royal family but was stolen by Geshia Yeagar. Eren is basically a container for the power or, as he puts it, a "placeholder".
75[[WMG: The girl in Eren's memory is Eren HER self]]
76* Jossed. The woman is a separate character.
77[[WMG: Annie and Bertolt are related (her father)]]
78* Jossed. We've already seen Mr. Leonhart in flashbacks.
79[[WMG: Ymir's People know how Titans are made, and may be able to turn them back into humans.]]
80* Jossed. Ymir stole the Titan's power, and only became a Shifter by accident when she devoured Marcel and stole his powers.
81** Or not because now we know that by eating a titan shifter, you also get their memories. So by eating Marcel, she may know how titans are made if it's something RBA were told.
82[[WMG: Titans become Titan-Shifters by eating humans who share their blood.]]
83* Jossed: Titans become Shifters by eating ''any'' Shifter.
84** What about Eren and the God Titan? Plot armor?
85*** The God Titan didn't become a shifter because either Eren's spine fluid was not outside of his body or because he wasn't dead.
86*** The titans have to bite through their spine and drink their spinal fluid to become titan shifters.
87[[WMG: Historia's dad or kaney ackerman is the beast titan]]
88* Jossed: Lord Reiss and Captain Ackerman have full knowledge of -- and access to -- regular Maneuver Gear.
89[[WMG: Annie was Berrick's replacement]]
90* Jossed: ''Goodbye, Wall Sina'' reveals she was always part of the mission, which is why her father trained her.
91[[WMG: Annie won in the spar between her and Mikasa]]
92* Jossed: WordOfGod states the fight was interrupted by the instructors, leaving it a draw.
93[[WMG: Before he lived with Kaney Ackerman, Levi's parents/ family were nobles]]
94* Jossed: WordOfGod confirms Levi grew up in extreme poverty. His manner of dress and love of tea developed out of a fascination with the nobility and their comfortable lives. [[Ir's later confirmed in flashback that his mother was a prostitute who he lived with up until she died from a disease]].
95[[WMG:Rod Reiss will eat Eren in chapter 67 and become the BigBad]]
96* Jossed: Eren was able to save his friends thanks to a bottle marked "armor" (giving him the ability to generate armor like the other titan-shifters) while Titanized(?) Rod Reiss [[spoiler: was subdued by the Survay Coprs and finished off by Historia.]]
97[[WMG: Eren originally came from the same place outside the walls as the other Titan shifters.]]
98* Jossed: Eren's ''father'' came from the same place the other Titan Shifters did, but Eren himself was born within the walls.
99[[WMG: Eren is an original Titan]]
100* Jossed: [[spoiler:It ''is'' possible for someone to be born with Titan powers - should one fail to transfer them to another host, they'll manifest in a random unborn Eldian child somewhere. However, Eren was not one of these children - he got his powers when Grisha turned him into a titan via titanizing serum, than Grisha let Eren eat him to let Eren claim the Coordinate and Rogue Titan powers from him]].
101[[WMG: Eren accidentally brainwashed Mikasa into being the perfect fighter with the Coordinate.]]
102* Jossed: Her fighting ability has nothing to do with the Coordinate and everything to do with being an Ackerman.
103[[WMG: Ymir is Titan royalty, or what passes for it.]]
104* Jossed: Ymir ''posed'' as Titan royalty (reincarnated founding royalty to be precise), as part of a con-man's scam to get money with her as a tool, but Ymir herself was a StreetUrchin.
105[[WMG: Annie was not the one responsible for Marco's death.]]
106* Jossed: [[spoiler:All three of the Warriors[[note]]Annie, Reiner & Bertolt[[/note]] had a hand in it, but Annie was the one who stripped Marco of his 3DMG, directly resulting in his death - even if it was on Reiner's orders and she herself didn't ''want'' to do it, Annie's still the one that carried the act out.]]
107[[WMG: Sexuality is meaningless among Titan Shifters, and Reiner isn't bisexual at all.]]
108* Jossed: [[spoiler:Grisha Yeager was a Titan Shifter at the time he conceived Eren with Carla]], so there's no reason why other shifters can't reproduce - especially since all titans, Shifters included, are fundamentally human; the only difference is that the latter can ''retain'' their human bodies, while the former can't.
109
110[[WMG: both Armin and Erwin will die because Eren and Levi waste too much time debating on who to save]]
111
112Or Levi will somehow drop the serum either by a titan attack or Eren shoving him for changing his mind on who to save.
113* [[spoiler: Jossed. Armin was given the serum.]]
114
115[[WMG: Levi will use the titan serum...on HIMSELF ]]
116because lets face it hes too far away to know about Armin to rush into save him and he might not know where Erwin is....and he needs to deal with all the titans ....solution ? take the serum himself , eat Zeke and fight his way out as a titan
117* [[spoiler:Jossed, he used it on Armin]].
118
119[[WMG: The Titans aren't just keeping the humans in.]]
120They're keeping the Shifters ''out''.
121* Jossed: [[spoiler: Bertholdt, Reiner, and Annie's homeland is outside the walls, side with the Titans, and were tasked with infiltrating the walls to find the Coordinate. They are also able to return home once their mission is completed.]]
122
123[[WMG: As of Chapter 51, any PlotArmor previously owned by the characters are now gone.]]
124''Attack on Titan'' has never been merciful to its characters, but now, with Jean, Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, Historia, and Connie ''directly'' in charge of Eren's safety, any hint of immunity to death they once had is now gone. As of Chapter 51, all of their backstories and motives have been revealed, making them all ripe for the killing. God speed.
125** Jossed. The plot is still protecting certain characters as far as chapter 84. Armin in particular should definitely be dead, yet some DeusExMachina saves him yet again.
126
127[[WMG: Geographia is Eren and Historia's daughter from the future.]]
128somehow she manages to find a way to travel back in time.
129* Jossed. Geographia's name is Frieda Reiss, and she is Historia's older half-sister.
130
131[[WMG: The Beast Titan is humanity's harvester, and enemy of the Shifters]]
132The Beast Titan is responsible for harvesting human beings (provided to him by the conspiracy within the government), transforming them into Titans as weapons against the Shifters' faction. This fits in with the whole "humans as livestock" theme. The reason the Shifters sent three kids in to destroy the Wall is because they're on the losing side, short on manpower, and need to cut off the Beast's source of Titans, then win by attrition with their ability to reproduce naturally. Reiner and Bertholdt were trying to capture him as an alternate way to eliminate Titan production, since if it was on their side, trying to capture it makes no sense. BT's test of humanity's strength was really just to see if the people within the Walls are a credible threat compared to the Shifters. They aren't. To fill in the rest of the gaps, I'm betting "Ymir's people" are a group she shared the "Titan's Power" with after stealing it from the Shifters, and Grisha was a part of the conspiracy working to undermine it by obtaining Titan Shifting for the people within the Walls to protect themselves.
133* Unlikely that it is the Shifters' enemy. Bertolt explicitly mentions that if Eren turned out to be a dead-end, they would have to return with Annie, Krista, and "that thing" (referring to the Beast Titan).
134** Jossed.
135
136[[WMG: The Beast Titan used the 3DMG to design the Anti-Human 3DMG, seen in Chapters 57 and 58, as he is allied with the Wall Cult and the corrupt Military Police.]]
137The Beast Titan encountered Mike, and after some chatter, removed a piece of his gear, and left him to be eaten, correct? We already know that the Beast Titan is intelligent, and is (presumably) capable of creating plans. He took the piece of the 3DMG, and came up with a design to use it's mobility and weaponry against humans. Because humans are constantly trying to keep distance unless necessary, he used the idea of guns, which he likely has witnessed at some point in his life. He then chose to put the grappling hook mechanism on the arms, for more accurate mobility. He gave this design to the Military Police, who then actually began mass producing them to combat '''their''' threat: the Scouting Legion.
138* Two major problems that make this almost impossible. First and foremost, it's only been ''two weeks'' since the Beast Titan appeared. That isn't enough time to reverse engineer, work on a completely new concept, create prototypes, and then have a fully-functional and mass produced version. It takes 3 years of training for recruits to use the standard gear, learning a whole new system would take much longer than two weeks. The second issue, obviously, is that it headed ''out'' to the Titan lands.
139** Jossed.
140
141[[WMG: The Beast Titan was the first Shifter.]]
142
143Animal motifs are a big deal in this story; the beast titan looks an awful lot like a gigantic ape, so it might be a hint that he is an early "ancestor" of modern Titans. It would also explain how he's so knowledgeable about Titan behavior (he may have been a scientist who helped create them) but completely ignorant of human technological advancement, and why he knows how to turn humans into Titans. Annie, Reiner and Bertholdt were looking for him because they come from a Titan-shifter-friendly place that presumably has more Titan-shifters, and if the Beast Titan were to find it, he'd feed the entire population of shifters to his own pet Titans. Considering one of Bertholdt's childhood flashbacks, the Beast Titan may have already done it once before.
144* Jossed. Ymir Fritz was the first bearer of all the powers.
145
146[[WMG: The Beast Titan is Grisha's brother]]
147There's a visible resemblance between the two of them, both as humans and in the proportions of their Titan forms.
148* Jossed. Grisha's son, Eren's half-brother.
149
150[[WMG: The Beast Titan is a Coordinate]]
151It would explain how he was able to control the Titans he created [[spoiler:from the villagers]]. The reason he's after other Coordinates is simply to remove any competition.
152* Jossed. His abilities are because of his royal blood.
153
154[[WMG: The Beast Titan is a natural Titan, distinct from the rest.]]
155We now know of the Beast Titan, it looks like a massive ape with long arms and is incredibly strong, eloquent to the point of understanding and speaking human speech, and even gives lesser Titans orders. But it isn't a Titan Shifter.
156It is a genuine Titan.
157The Beast Titan might be the remnant (or vanguard) of a natural born race of Titans, which Humanity discovered shortly before their near-extinction living in remote areas. They may have experimented on them,drawing plasma from them and testing its capabilities in humans, possibly in the hopes of creating a super-soldier or virus.
158From there, the first batch of subjects exposed to the serum would have malformed horribly, to the point of their limbs becoming disproportionate and their size increasing, all the while their mental faculties are completely erased except for their desire to kill the enemy. They spread, able to expand their numbers by eating enough people to form a new Titan, causing the near-extinction of mankind and making them flee across to sea to presumably Europe, and discover the Walled City.
159The Beast Titan may have resurfaced as the last of its kind to enact its retribution on Humanity.
160* Jossed. He is a Titan Shifter, Bertolt, Reiner, and Annie's senior officer.
161
162[[WMG: The Beast Titan(s) will come back with a counter-measure to the 3DMG.]]
163That bit about humans needing a common enemy to unite against isn't just flavor-text for the setting; it's ''foreshadowing''. The Titan Shifters and the Humans will be forced to unite against the Sasquatch Titans.
164* Jossed. The Beast Titan is one of the Marleyan Titan Shifters.
165
166[[WMG: The Sasquatch Titan is humanity's true enemy and can turn normal humans into titans:]]
167Judging by Chapter 46, it seems Reiner and Bertholdt true objective was related to the Sasquatch Titan. When Reiner told Eren about their identity, he said they wanted to destroy every human living inside the Walls, but now everything changed and they are willing to let them live, as long as Eren goes with them. The reason everything changed is because they saw the Sasquatch Titan, which was their primary objective.
168See, normal Titans are dangerous to Titan Shifters as well. And judging by Connie's village, it's safe to assume normal Titans used to be normal humans. It would be a problem to the Titan Shifters kind if every human alive turned into a Titan, something the Sasquatch Titan could do. They knew he could do it, as he was the one who created the first Titans, but didn't know where he was to hunt him down, since he was probably hibernating or something like this, as he was not aware of mankind's 3D maneuver gear.
169As they couldn't kill the Titan who could create more Titans, they decided to kill every human being instead, preventing them from ever transforming. But now that he is awaken and started the cycle again, their objective changed.
170* Jossed. He comes from beyond the sea.
171* Wait, so Reiner and Bertholdt's story about their village being attacked could be true, and they are of the few survivors? That could be why Reiner is so torn over guilt, maybe they had a logical reason so get inside of the Walls, maybe related to Sasquash Titan or the Wall Cult/Titans in the Walls thing, an option to a FinalSolution. But they were young, naive and uncaring about humans, so they did what the first thing that crossed their minds and the one that was the simplest, kill all humans. But then they got in, started to interact with humans and understood how horrible were their actions (at least Reiner and a bit Annie, as Bertholdt has LackOfEmpathy as big as the Colossal Titan). That could explain why Ymir is actually hairy compared to the other three, she is (or [[HeelFaceTurn wa]][[LoveRedeems s]]) part of Sasquash's faction and did attack Reiner's village. Reiner and Bertholdt's surprise is not about being attacked by a Titan Shifter, but about Ymir being that one.
172** Jossed. The story about their village was stolen word for word from a survivor they met after infiltrating, who later committed suicide.
173
174[[WMG: Theories on Beast Titan.]]
175It probably experiments on humans because reasons unknown to reach some unknown goal. Maybe to restore his own kind since it is the only one of such type we saw by far.
176* Jossed. The Beast Titan is a human, one of the Titan Shifters
177
178[[WMG: The Beast Titan is the BigBad behind everything.]]
179This is linked with the supposedly leaked story behind SNK, which ''(MAJOR SPOILER)'' [[spoiler: talks about a professor creating Titans to exterminate humanity because he thought they had become too religious (a group of religious zealots were against his researches and tried to kill him, but ended up killing his family instead). [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds As a result]], he created the mindless Titans, but also gave himself and a group of chosen followers the ability to become intelligent Titans. Going out from this, the Beast Titan is the professor in his Titan form, which explains why he talks, can create other Titans, and has an intelligence rating of 11/10. The spoiler also mentions that he's unaware of how humanity managed to secure themselves somewhere, so it makes sense that he didn't know about the 3D maneuver gear.]] This is all based on whether or not the leaked story is true, however.
180** Jossed. The Beast Titan is a Titan Shifter working for Marley
181
182[[WMG: The Beast Titan is GaiasRevenge.]]
183It is in fact humanity's true enemy, but it doesn't want to wipe them out, per se. It's a being that knows that humans could potentially overwhelmingly overtake the planet if not kept under control, so it has the ability to turn humans into the ultimate population control mechanism, as well as something completely harmless to the environment: a creature that does not care about attacking animals, needs only sunlight to survive, and will only consume humans. It decided to sneak into the Walled City when it looked like the Titan Shifters, who lacked their protection, were going to allow humanity to spill into the world be destroying the Walls.
184** Jossed.
185
186[[WMG: The Humans that can turn into Titans were intended to be weapons against that "Thing"]]
187In Chapter 35, a Sasquatch like creature appears. It is nothing like the Titans seen in the series thus far, and it even defies the standard height limits of normal Titans by being 17 meters tall. Given its command over the Titans, it is still affiliated to them, but '''not''' them. To top it off, it '''KILLS''' a Titan that does not listen to him. Perhaps that "Thing" is one of the creators of the Titans, and possibly one of "Ymir's People".
188* The Sasquach Titan is confirmed to have been their original goal. Why they'd be willing to abandon it in favor of making off with Eren is still up in the air, though.
189*** Jossed. Beast Titan was their superior. They wanted to capture Eren because he was a potential ally, otherwise it was another Shifter power in Marley's possession. Only later was it confirmed that Eren also had the coordinate all along.
190
191[[WMG: Grisha made Eren a Shifter in an effort to TakeAThirdOption.]]
192
193He was supposed to find and obtain the Coordinate ability and give it to the Shifters, whether by giving it to a liaison or just leaving the Walls altogether. However, when he ate Frieda, he was also subject to the will of the first king: he understood what made the Titans a necessary evil, and it forced him to turn traitor. Having the Coordinate ability made it impossible for him to act freely because he couldn't actually pick a side to be on anymore, but he also knew that the Shifters would eventually send more people if he failed.
194
195When the Shifters breached Wall Maria and killed Carla, he knew he'd get killed over it one way or another; he gave it to Eren in the hopes that Eren could keep it safe while still having the fortitude to resist the will of the first king.
196* First part's been jossed. It's been confirmed that Grisha is ''NOT'', and never has been, aligned with the Shifters [[spoiler: or rather, the Marleyan government]].
197* Additionally, the Will of the First King only effects members of the Royal Family. Grisha gave it to Eren because Grisha's 13 year Shifter period was running out.
198
199[[WMG: Eren is a Titan because his dad is too.]]
200* While the "Mr. Jaeger made his own son a Titan through science" theory seems more plausible, I believe that the creation of Titans may be more of a biological thing; i.e. "THIS POWER HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION" kind of thing. [[spoiler: Bertholt, Reiner, Ymir, and Annie]] were shown to be able to transform, the former two especially, at such a young age, so for it to be passed down from birth could be possible. Problem with this though, is that if it were the case, there would be a good chance that [[spoiler: Connie would be a Titan too, based on the attack on his village.]]
201* Assuming that the second ending of the anime is as big of a spoiler as we think, there is a history of Titans attack as such against something other than humans. But that's not the important part; what's important is how long ago does the history predate to and whether or not the Titans existed before the creation of Mr. Jaeger's injections.
202** Grisha Jaeger's injections couldn't possibly have predated the Titans (if only because there's no way he's over 100 years old, even Titan Shifters age normally), unless they aren't his to begin with, in which case Titan-ism wouldn't be a hereditary trait at all because the formula would have to have come first. Being children after becoming Titan Shifters doesn't lend any evidence either way, it just means they were Titan Shifters as children (like Eren could easily have been, if he'd had the right trigger).
203** [[spoiler:Jossed; while it's true that Eren inherited his Titan Shifter from his father Grisha, it was because he ''ate'' Grisha while mindless rather than being something passed down through blood/genetics]].
204
205[[WMG: Grisha was studying memories, not Titans, and discovered the concept of Titan Shifters by accident.]]
206The concept of memory seems to come up a lot: Eren "remembers" Mikasa's hair being short, he knows how to trigger his Titan transformation but doesn't know how he learned, he gets lost in his dream of home and has to remember the real world to get out, Grisha even talks about "their memories" when he injects Eren. It's possible that he found a way to take memories from people, and just happened to get a sample from a Wall Cultist or Titan Shifter, learning about the possibility of humans that become Titans. Injecting Eren with literal memories of that concept gave him the necessary knowledge of how to change back and forth.
207* Jossed. Grisha knew about Titan Shifters as an Eldian living in Marley, and the memory transfer he knew about because of the Owl.
208
209[[WMG: The injection Eren's father gave him is not what gives Eren the ability to Titan-shift, but what lets him keep his wits when he does so.]]
210All humans (or some humans for some other reason) are able to Titan shift, which is hinted at by Connie's "mother" he found in his "destroyed" village.
211* Jossed.
212
213[[WMG: Titan!Historia will end up not eating Eren in Chapter 66.]]
214Rather, she will break free, go on a rampage, and eventually, find and eat Ymir instead. Don't ask how she'll find her, though it's not impossible for Ymir, Reiner, and Bertolt to be hiding out inside the walls. Regaining her human form, Historia will fall into a depression, then become angry at her father for causing this. What happens next is up to them, though this troper is starting to support Eren x Historia...
215* [[spoiler: Just jossed myself. Historia doesn't end up transforming AT ALL. Her father transforms instead, Historia pulls a Main/BigDamnHeroes moment, and Eren apparently becomes a new Armored Titan.]]
216
217[[WMG: The Shifters have taken whatever is in the basement.]]
218Last we saw them, Bertholt, Reiner, and Ymir had made it to the Shiganshina district. They were desperate to bring back ''something'' to prove they had achieved at least partial success, and since the 57th expedition had the explicit goal of reaching the basement, the three know something is in there. They may not have the key, but I doubt the Armored Titan would have trouble ripping the place out of the ground if necessary. Plus, if it prevents the audience from finding out what's in there, the author will probably do it.
219* [[http://motorcyclles.tumblr.com/post/89886089605/they-probably-spent-the-whole-night-trying-to-find Here's]] an artist's rendition of this scenario.
220** Jossed. Eren and co. finally make it to the basement in chapter 85 and find it untouched. There would have been signs had someone been in there before them since Levi had to bust down door to get in.
221
222[[WMG: The "Hometown" is located in a forest of giant trees.]]
223The is based on the "Chapter Zero", in which the human city is surrounded by massive trees the Titans won't break. The Shifters must protect themselves somehow, and all we see of the terrain in Annie's flashback is the thick foliage.
224* Jossed. Their Hometown is on the mainland, separate from the island the Wall Kingdom is on.
225
226[[WMG: Annie, Reiner and Bertolt are not their real names and they have Norse Giant names like Ymir.]]
227Bertolt could be Bolthorn (frost giant and grandfather of Odin in Norse mythology) for example.
228* Unlikely, as they never refer to each other by different names even in private or when doing so would be useful -- such as Bertolt snapping Reiner out of his delusional "Soldier" state.
229* Jossed; it's confirmed in Chapter 94 that these are very much the names they were all born with. In fact, ''Ymir'' is actually the one who's name is false/adopted - [[spoiler:she was given it as part of a con to portray her as the reincarnated Messiah-figure Ymir Fritz, which made her feel special and resulted in her abandoning her original name]].
230
231[[WMG: Titans and Titan Shifters are the curse/reward of the God(s) of their world.]]
232Using the anime for reference, every Titan-shift is represented by a Shazam! styled lightning bolt, all followed by one common element -- a blood sacrifice. Taking it literally, it would mean that the person who can Titan shift would need to give up blood in order to transform, but let's take a look at this a little deeper.
233
234Eren, being the protagonist, is the face of the whole theme of the story: stop being complacent. Although his Titan shifting abilities *may* be artificial, the underlying principle is the same -- he is willing to pay, to give up something, to use the Titans' power. The problem he had when he tried to transform against Annie the second time was that he refused to accept that Annie was the enemy -- he refused to give her up, thus he could not 'pay' the price to the gods.
235
236The blood sacrifice is symbolic in the fact that the Titan Shifters are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals.
237
238Ymir claimed she stole the Titans' power, she took it without paying for it. She had not 'earned' it, thus the mindless Titan she was for at least 60 years. Ymir thought she was being clever, yet whoever was watching over the world caught onto this and, like all humans who are not willing to pay for something, Ymir was punished for her hubris. During her endless nightmare, she would eventually find a way to prove she was finally worthy -- finally willing to give up everything just to get what she wanted. Thus, the curse was lifted and she was given the blessing.
239
240* Jossed;[[spoiler:While the power of the Titans ''is'' seen as a curse by many, it's reasons for such are far different than what was theorized here]].
241
242[[WMG: Reiner lied when he claimed that exterminating humanity was their original goal.]]
243The destruction of Wall Maria and the attack on Trost were merely a means to an end, not the actual goal. The original attack was merely a diversion, to allow the trio to infiltrate without trouble. It may have also been done in an effort to bring the Beast Titan out of hiding or awaken him, accomplishing one portion of their mission. Since they seem to believe the "Coordinate" is a person, or a person will help them find it, exterminating humanity completely would be detrimental to their goal since they risked killing the very person they were looking for in the first place. Of course, there's always the possibility that the trio were unaware of the full nature of their superiors' plan, considering Ymir calls them "small fries" and suggests killing them won't accomplish a thing.
244** The Titan Shifters may be just as in the dark as the Survey Corps.
245** Jossed; while it turns out that the Wall inhabitants don't represent ''all'' of humanity, the Shifters were in fact tasked with completely wiping out the human population of the walls; Reiner really ''was'' trying to avoid their original goal on the hope that taking Eren back would mean they didn't have to carry out the original planned genocide.
246
247[[WMG: The village the Titan Shifters come from is a village populated...]]
248... by former Titans. Chapter 47 shows that Titan Shifters happen when a Titan comes out of the dreamlike state and becomes human again. It's happened more than just with the Shifters we've seen, and so they have a refugee village out there somewhere.
249* Jossed: [[spoiler:They come from the Eldian race, which is the only race with the ability to become Titans. Said race is oppressed/enslaved by the Marlayens, who use them as disposable weapons - so it's more accurate to say their home is populated by potential future Titans rather than former ones]].
250
251[[WMG: Annie and Reiner are artificially-made Titans; Ymir and Bertolt are not.]]
252Bertholdt doesn't seem to be unique in his Titan form, if all the other Titans in the Walls are also Colossal Titans like he is, and Ymir is apparently a member of her own Titan shifting people, but Annie and Reiner are fairly singular: for one thing, they both have strongly gendered appearances, they're both blonde, and generally resemble their Titan forms much more than the other two do. It may also explain Bertholdt's coldness where Annie and Reiner show some care for their fellow soldiers; going by Ymir's conversation with Christa about not being what others want, she may be rejecting the same approach Bertholdt is taking on principle.
253* It should also be noted their appearances and abilities are closer to Eren's than any other Titans, and we know that Eren's powers are artificial in origin. Considering how they function, it's possible Reiner's powers were tailored so that he could serve as a bodyguard and partner to Bertolt.
254** Jossed, at least for Ymir. She stole the Titan's Power, and only regained control of her powers 5 years ago.
255*** In fact it is proved for Ymir and Bertholdt. She was a normal Titan and then she became a Shifter and, according to her dialog with Bertholdt, so did he. But we know neither abour Reiner's nor Annie's past before they became Shifters. However, I suppose all the Titans are artificial, but ERA are simply a second, improved generation.
256* Jossed. All Titans Shifters are created the same way - consuming a previous Titan Shifter. The only difference between Ymir and the others is that Ymir stole her transformation, it wasn't willingly passed down.
257
258[[WMG: Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt are not the only agents living within the Walls.]]
259Regardless of how powerful they are, it seems unwise to leave three children to their own devices for five years. Reiner also sounds pretty confident that Eren agreeing to come with them will end the attacks, something he probably wouldn't be able to decide completely on his own. Beyond that, Annie was living in the Inner Districts as a member of the Military Police, while the other two were living near the edge of civilization with the Scouting Legion. Coordinating their plans would be much easier if they had others to serve as messengers between them, never-mind that their orders changing would require them to have someone with authority acting as their handler.
260* Jossed, although ''some'' parts of it were on to something;[[spoiler:It's revealed that the Beast Titan [[spoiler:("Warchief" Zeke Yeager)]] and [[spoiler:Quadrupedal/"Mule" Titan (Pieck)]] are the leader and logistics of the Warriors respectively, with the former being the one that leads them. However, they operate within the boundaries of the fallen Wall Maria and observe from ''outside'' the territory humanity fell back into, with Reiner, Annie and Bertolt having to work on their own for the most part and only doing otherwise after the Beast Titan comes to ''them'' rather than the other way around.
261
262[[WMG: How Titans Shifters form Titans out of nowhere.]]
263* They use the elements from their surroundings, or they use the Digimon Tamers Realization (Bio-emergence) theory. False proteins are used to build up their Titan forms minus the blue cards and the portal from another world.
264* Jossed. The biomass for Titan bodies comes from invisible 'Pathways of Ymir' that connect all Eldians.
265
266[[WMG: There is a flying Titan]]
267Not an original theory but something I found online yasminozrose of tumblr found a moment from the manga chapter 95 about the Teiber family and the 9th titan and came to realize that "WAR HAMMER >>> THOR >>> AND THOR CAN FLY" and earlier in the manga when the Marley officials were having their meeting one of them said if only one the titan can grow wings and fly. Zeke in his own meeting said that they were going to recruit that family and since the 9th titan isn't revealed yet, the 9th one could be a flying titan so they could use it to take over the Marley government.
268** Jossed.
269
270[[WMG: Normal Titans were a failed experiment to create Titan Shifters]]
271Yes, the First King most probably wanted to use Titans to unite humanity (under his/his descendants' rule), but it is possible that the Titans' creators had wanted something else from them.
272
273Normal Titans were formerly humans, and they eat people in the subconscious hope of regaining their humanity; they don't seem designed to be like that indefinitely. So, what if Titan Shifters had a different origin and normal Titans were a failed experiment to create more of them? ''Something'' went terribly wrong and, though close to finishing the process (they only need to eat a Titan Shifter), until achieving it they are trapped in a unnatural state of being that they want to end.
274* Jossed. Ymir Fritz, the first Titan Shifter, could turn her people into Titans. Mindless Titans are a byproduct of Shifters.
275
276[[WMG: The Titans are an Environmental Response to Humans.]]
277When you look at them, the Titans seem perfect for the purpose of [[GaiasVengeance protecting nature from humans]]. They don't die, they don't devour other animals or plant life, they can't accidentally overpopulate and once the last human was gone they wouldn't do any damage to anything else.
278** Jossed.
279
280[[WMG: The Coordinate was used to make the mindless Titans into man-eaters. It was stolen from the Shifters' home town.]]
281The Titans eat humans out of impulse rather then a desire to. The titan that killed Ilse looked like it was trying to restrain itself from eating her. I believe that when the Titans were created they didn't have this impulse. Like when Eren overuses his transformation, they were always fused to the bodies and would become violent but didn't eat people. When the impulse is not presented (either not added or there are no humans nearby) they act more reasonable, such as the talking Titan calming down after eating Ilse. The people who hadn't been transformed recreated the process that heals the Titan's body and applied it to humans. They used the Coordinate to make the Titans eat those people to regain their human bodies and become "warriors".
282
283However humanity was fighting along itself. A portion stole the Coordinate and granted it to two people. One created the Walls and modified the memories of the people who went inside the Walls. The others is the Beast Titan who made the Titans all into man-eaters to make them become a single common enemy for humanity. The remaining people who created the Coordinate was almost completely destroyed by the Beast Titan. They sent out bra to reclaim the Coordinate by letting the titans into the wall. If the Titans eat the person with the Coordinate they would either see an intelligent Titan like the Beast or a Titan Shifter. When they saw Eren they thought he was outside and had regained humanity inside the wall. Once they found him they no longer needed to destroy the walls and changed the plan to capturing him.
284** Jossed: The Coordinate was always held by the King; each titan power can only be held by one person at a time. The titan that killed Ilse was a former member of the cult Ymir was a figurehead of, sentenced at the same time, and mistook her for Ymir after all those years.
285
286[[WMG: Eren was originally going to be kicked out of the Trainee Corps.]]
287 He's completely useless and can't get the simplest things done, even when everyone around him is perfectly capable of doing them, and yet somehow he was ranked #5 in the entire Trainee Corps. This obviously happened by Mikasa helping pull some strings to keep him from getting kicked out, and even raise his terrible score monumentally. How did she do this? Well, let's just say she received a more thorough explanation of where babies come from in the process.
288* Jossed; Eren being both skilled and determined enough to get into the corps was proven in how he was one of the top-ranked in hand-to-hand skills besides Mikasa and Annie - and that's impressive considering [[spoiler:the former comes from a line of gene-modded superhumans and the latter already underwent years of TrainingFromHell from both her father and an entirely different military well before this point]]. In fact, if one were to base judgement purely off of rookie status, that would [[spoiler:automatically eliminate Reiner from #2, Bertholt from #3 and Annie from #4 since they all had years of soldier training as Titan Warriors prior to joining the 104th and therefore aren't rookies, whereas Mikasa's #1 status comes from, again, her being part of a clan of superhumans resulted in better agility and endurance than is normal. So out of all the actual rookies with zero prior combat training (Armin, Jean, Marco, Sasha, Connie, Krista and so-on), Eren could actually be considered the ''best'' of the rookies with the possible exception of Ymir, who purposefully underscored so that Krista would get in the top 10]]. To make a long story short, Eren's hardly useless in a fight - he just doesn't tend get an actual chance in many cases, or gets OvershadowedByAwesome whenever Mikasa, Annie or Levi are in the mix.
289
290[[WMG: Eren's titan form is a combination of Grisha's and Frieda's, and he has Frieda's "invincible" power, which is crystallizing, like Annie's power.]]
291* Jossed; While it's true that Eren's Titan form is a mix of Grisha's Attack Titan and Frida's Founding Titam, Eren only gained a crystalizing power only after ingesting a vial of "armor" fluid; the power he gained from Frieda is the Coordinate, not crystallization.
292
293[[WMG: Eren was injected ''before'' the series started.]]
294Something is not jiving with the scene where Grisha injects his son. One of the things that Eren says to Grisha is "you haven't been the same since Mom died!" This implies that Eren has been around his dad long enough to notice changes, which couldn't have been after Shiganshina fell. It's clear from the scene that Eren and Grisha are alone; if this took place after the first episode, there's just no way in hell Mikasa would ''ever'' let Eren out of her sight, considering how protective she is of him and how close they've brushed death. So, the conclusions:
295
2961. Carla Jaeger was not Eren's biological mother, but was rather a woman who Grisha married some time after the injection. The serum erased Eren's memories of his original mother so he quickly accepted Carla as his mom.
2972. The serum's side-effect also gave Eren a viciously sociopathic HairTriggerTemper, which explains how he could [[TheUnfettered kill three criminals]] at the age of 9 without blinking an eye or suffering any kind of trauma over it.
298* Then how do you explain Eren's resemblance to his mother?
299** Or how Eren was the same age in the flashback as he is after the Wall falls?
300*** New chapters provide evidence. The woman from Eren's dreams has an insane resemblance to her, due to the eye motif. Said woman is nearly identical to Eren, as opposed to Carla who had less of a resemblance. Perhaps that woman is an illegitimate child, much like Historia, of the woman and is thus connected to the nobility in that way. Isayama loves to put irony in Eren's lap; he hates Titans with a passion *BOOM* he's a Titan himself AND has the capacity to control them; thus, he can treat them like livestock. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that his resentment for the nobility ''simply because of their cowardice'' would have him be connected to them to further do the YouAreWhatYouHate thing.
301* Jossed; Grisha really did inject Eren during the series; [[spoiler:it's revealed he gave Eren the injection the night after Shiganshina fell, by which time Mikasa was already part of the family - and since Shiganshina falling is the first scene of the series, it means the injection took place after the series starts. Furthermore, Carla Yeager is proven to be Eren's biological mother via flashbacks showing Grisha marrying her before Eren was born. The Mysterious Woman turns out to have been Frida Reiss - another Titan Shifter and the original holder of the Coordinate]].
302
303[[WMG: Eren's difficulties with his Titan form are a result of being the Coordinate]]
304 When one thinks about it, Eren has the most difficulties with his Titan form of all the Shifters we've seen so far. He doesn't have any special powers like Annie's specialized hardening, Bertolt's heat-shield, Reiner's body armor or Ymir's insane agility, and he's almost lost his humanity twice, once while just training. Plot-wise it makes sense that the main character wouldn't have perfect control, but perhaps the in-story reason is because he is both the Coordinate and a Titan Shifter, and the two powers are either incompatible or simply interfere with one another. Grisha made Eren a Shifter in order to protect him -- and possibly the Coordinate ability but he didn't, ''couldn't'' forsee how the two would adversely react. The argument could be made that the Shifter trio had [[TykeBomb been trained in the use of their powers for their mission]] thus, their superior abilities, but what about Ymir? She may have knowledge of the AncientConspiracy and history of the world, but she outright states that she barely knows anything about her own Titan powers. Yet she was able to harness her Titan form easily when it's implied the only other time she shifted since regaining human form was rescuing [[ButtMonkey Daz]].
305** I disagree. While we can't rule out the Coordinate theory yet, but it seems more likely that Eren has problems with Shifting because he doesn't know what he's doing. It's been confirmed that Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt underwent training before their mission, so that's probably how they gained their unique abilities. Of course, that Training may not have been related to their powers at all, but for now it's a more plausible explanation.
306** Additionally, the reason Eren has little knowledge of how to use his Titan form may be because the line of people who have passed it down have never really known how to use it -- it's specifically said that his father was able to steal it because the previous holder wasn't able to fight effectively as a Titan, and there was little reason (or opportunity) for the royal family to practice with it. Ymir, on the other hand, stole her Titan Shifter abilities from someone with Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt's background, who probably had a lot of training that she was able to access (since we've seen that Titan Shifters can access the memories of others who have held the ability they cannibalized.)
307** This has been more or less jossed. It's been proven that Shifters do not have an unlimited amount of stamina. Powerful as they are, they still get tired like normal humans. [[spoiler: this is the reason The Female Titan/Annie was not seen during the Shinganshina attack. She was out cold on The Armored Titan's/Reiner's shoulder, having acted as transport for the other two.]] A good portion of a Shifters training is building up their endurance, and ''discipline'', so they can fight for longer periods of time. Eren's having to learn on the fly, which is why we see him burn out so often.
308
309[[WMG: Eren devoured the Mysterious Woman and ''that'' is how he gained the Coordinate.]]
310Chapter 53 has Eren stating "Father...had me..." before it trails off. Many think this means Grisha had Eren eat ''him''...but that would require Grisha to be both a Titan Shifter and the Coordinate. While he is mysterious and certainly possesses knowledge of whatever is going on, Grisha seemed very much an ordinary human and he certainly had lived in Shiganshina long enough to start a family. It's more likely that Grisha injected Eren with the Titan serum, transformed him into a mindless Titan and goaded him into eating the Mysterious Woman, thus gaining the Coordinate power. For all we know, she could have been a Shifter too. The Shifter Trio targeting Eren the moment his Titan powers were revealed hints that it might be something only a Shifter could successfully wield.
311* Jossed; the "that would require Grisha to be both a Titan Shifter" thing is actually true. While it's true that the Mysterious Woman, Frieda Reiss, was the Coordinate Shifter, it was Grisha who ate her rather than having Eren eat her.
312
313[[/folder]]
314
315[[folder: Theories about Eren]]
316'''Theories concerning Eren Yeager, his origins, powers, and the Coordinate.'''
317
318[[WMG: Eren has been the GreaterScopeVillain ''all along'']]
319Rod says in chapter 66 that the first Reiss Coordinate wanted humanity to be ruled by the Titans, and that every Coordinate after that inherited the First King's will. Eren can't seem to access the Coordinate memories for whatever reason, but eventually the dam will break... and the boy who spent the entire first two-thirds of the series striving for humanity's freedom will find himself with the personality of the one who locked humanity inside these walls to begin with... The question is, will he become the BigBad or will he manage to fight it off, leading to AmnesiacDissonance and a ''severe'' HeroicBSOD?
320Or...
321* Confirmed. Chapter 121 reveals that Eren [[spoiler:used the Paths to influence past Attack Titan holders into doing his bidding, pushed his own father into slaughtering the Reiss family]], and his ultimate goal is to [[spoiler:exterminate all life outside the walls]]. At this point there's no contention that he's the BigBad.
322
323[[WMG: Eren's regeneration "burnt out" during the Raid on Stohess District]]
324
325During his fight with Annie, Eren starts burning after she knocks him into the house and bashes his face in. It's been shown that, compared to other Titans of his size, Eren's regeneration is slow - this may be because of his youth or because he's not as physically strong in human form as the other Shifters are. This suggests that Titans have a regeneration limit, possibly based on how much sunlight they've absorbed and how much they can store; if forced to their limit they have to slow down or they'll catch fire because of their extremely high internal temperature. Note that, after he catches fire, none of his limbs regenerate for the rest of the fight. It's possible that other Titans simply *can't* continue fighting past the point that they can't regenerate, or perhaps that they simply don't, being more disciplined and experienced in their Titan forms -- Eren's Titan Form is simply too bloodthirsty to slow down and consider tactics.
326** Confirmed. As mentioned above, Shifters can get tired like anybody else. During Trost, Eren was so hopped up on rage that he eventually [[HeroicRROD hit his limit and started breaking down]]. As the series goes on, he learns to how to be a better fighter by pacing himself and using tactics.
327
328[[WMG: All of Eren's dreams are prophetic in some way, but not the same way every time.]]
329He has the foreshadowing dream in the first chapter, and later dreams of his father injecting him with something, and he's dreaming of being home with his parents while he's in his Titan form. It's possible that every dream he has is connected to either an event that hasn't happened yet, or one that only happened in another timeline.
330* This actually does have some backing to it; [[spoiler: Eren Kruger, the holder of the Rogue/Assault Titan before Grisha and Eren's seeming namesake, tells the latter what he has to do to save ''Mikasa and Armin'' even though neither were even born by that point. When Grisha naturally expresses confusion at the unfamiliar names, Kruger admits he doesn't know either and asks "who's memories are these?". It's later confirmed that this is the unique power of the Rogue/Assault Titan: sharing memories with the past and future selves of the wielder, as well as with past and future wielders.]].
331
332[[WMG: Eren is headed for a major emotional crisis, as a direct result of his BlackAndWhiteMorality.]]
333Eren has a very stark view of the world, with little room for moral grey areas or sympathy for anyone he considers evil. As a child, his viewpoint resulted in him brutally murdering criminals with the justification that they weren't human. In his confrontation with Reiner and Bertolt, he echoes this opinion that they aren't human and expresses anger over the very idea that Reiner might be guilty over his actions, accusing him of playing the victim. Ymir even criticizes him for how simplified and immature his worldview is, making it clear she cannot trust him when he has those sorts of attitudes. Considering the dark nature of the series, and the many harsh lessons Eren has already gone through, it's unlikely his black-and-white attitude will be changed in a way that won't involve him suffering a major blow.
334* It's happened.
335
336[[WMG: Eren will learn to use multiple Titan forms, aside from his usual 15-meter class Titan. ]]
337Eren's ability to form partial-Titans may be allusion to this, allowing him to adopt multiple Titan forms later as the series progresses. This might come in handy if, say, Eren needs to fight in a large building without destroying its roof in the process.
338* Sort of confirmed. He's shown to generate two smaller forms during experiments, though each is progressively less controlled due to degradation and overexertion of his power.
339
340
341[[WMG: The "Coordinate" is located in the Yeager basement.]]
342The coordinate is not a person/Titan, but rather the stash of info on Titans. Coordinates typically refers to locations rather than objects, and it is a location that everyone on humanity's side wants to get to- save for possibly the Wall Cult, who will want to destroy it. It would be a matter of who gets there first- the 'liberated' titans or humanity.
343* Half-and-Half? The Coordinate refers to a special power [[spoiler:that Eren's father Grisha took from the Reiss Family]]. There is however ''information'' on it in the Yeager basement, [[spoiler:explaining how it functions across the Eldian people through a network of invisible connections]].
344
345
346[[WMG: One of Eren's parents is a Titan]]
347* The injection given by Grisha didn't give him power, it gave him the potential to control this power, instead of being controlled by it. Ymir used to be a regular Titan, but somehow turned back. Who is to say one of Eren's parents didn't do the same thing, and then Grisha figured out how to ensure that Eren would always be in control of himself, and never have to suffer like his mom/dad? This can go three ways:
348* His Dad; well, obviously this would explain how Grisha knew so much about medicine, it's possible that before the Titans came, humans were much more medically advanced, but they lost this information fleeing for their lives to get to the city. He wouldn't even have to be a scientist to figure out how to create whatever he gave to Eren to give him self-control, just the knowledge an everyday doctor has about DNA and cells and vaccines could be monumental, because that gives someone whole new approaches towards problems and would make Grisha consider possible causes of the Titan issue that those inside the city never dreamed of. Also, if Grisha had lived through the slow transformation of humans-into-Titans, he'd know at least a little more than those inside the city since he'd experienced transformation into a Titan.
349* His mother. Not much, all I can say is that it might be possible for Grisha to figure out a "cure" using Carla's blood, and that mention that he saved the entire town from a plague could be foreshadowing that Grisha is a genius, capable of such feats.
350* Both: No evidence yet (that I can think of). Really, I'm just covering all the bases, in case someone else finds evidence towards any of the less-proven options.
351* Confirmed that Grisha was a titan shifter. However, [[spoiler:it was by Grisha allowing a mindless Titanized Eren to eat him that Eren got his powers, and the injection he gave him was the titan serum rather than the means to control the titan power]].
352
353[[WMG:The nature of the Coordinate]]
354So far, the three Teen Titans' mission to discover "The Coordinate." The audience doesn't really know what that is; However, as in all things Shingeki, Isamiya might have other plans as to what the Coordinate really is.
355** Its actually a place in the world that they have to find which will help humanity in the fight against the Titans...or completely backfire in their faces.
356** In line with the Time Travel theory, it's not a place, but rather a point in history wherein the fate of the world rests. This could explain the dream Eren had in the beginning: he was ready to "jump" back in time, so that's why Mikasa said "See you later, Eren."
357** It could also be a code name for a person. It could be Historia, or at least Historia knows what the Coordinate really is.
358** It could be a [[ShaggyDogStory huge Nothing]], a false hope given to everyone. This could also go with the whole grimdark aspect of the story.
359** Given TheReveal in 50, [[spoiler: it could be [[StealthPun short for]] [[HiveQueen Coordinator,]] since Eren has somehow managed to control several Titans.]]
360** The last of these proves to be the truth; [[spoiler:it can offer a measure of control over anyone with Eldian blood, able to rewrite memories for the humans and exert full control with the mindless Titans]].
361
362[[WMG: Eren isn't the coordinate they were looking for... ''this'' time around.]]
363The reason Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt spent so long looking for him without finding him is because the Coordinate was supposed to meet them as soon as they got into the city when they were kids. Eren wakes up on the first page, knowing that the Titans are going to break the Wall... but that's all he remembers. ''THAT'' is why he's crying for no reason: subconsciously, he knows he's forgotten everything he was supposed to remember, and he's just started the loop over again, all for nothing.
364Sending his consciousness back in time was supposed to send him back with all his knowledge, so that he could intercept the Titan-Spies, explain everything he'd already gone through in the future and all the knowledge that came with it in order to change the path of history. This has been the plan all along! How different would it all have turned out if someone Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt's own age found them in the crowd and said, "I know who you are, I'm the one you're looking for, here's everything I know, everything you've done hasn't been in vain: let's grow up and save the world"?
365* There's actually a bit of merit to this; [[spoiler:Eren Kruger - Eren and Grisha's predecessor with the Rogue/Assault Titan - tells Grisha to ''"Save Mikasa and Armin"'' despite neither being born yet, seems to realize that his knowing them makes no sense and even seems to recognize he's remembering people from someone else's life. This implies that Eren Kruger was actually reincarnated into Eren Yeager and that the memories of Titan Shifters ''can'' in fact transcend time, via the "web of life" or so-on that connects all Eldians]].
366* There's also some discrediting bits of this idea too, though. [[spoiler:Annie, Reiner and Bertolt invaded the walls on the assumption the Coordinate was with the Royal Family, either in the current king or someone related to them, and planned to take it from them. They weren't looking for it in Eren because they didn't expect some random nobody who survived Shiganshina purely by chance to be the one to have it - they figured whoever had it was in the capital]].
367** [[spoiler: That's true, but Eren ''is'' connected to the royal family, if indirectly, and now that we know that everyone living within the walls is Eldian and a potential shifter, it's a meaningless distinction anyway. They didn't know that, of course, but they were also children who had no way of knowing what was happening on the island at all. The entire plot hinges on a horrible misunderstanding, exacerbated by people who are too dedicated to the conflict to just let bygones be bygones and agree on peace, instead of holding a back-and-forth grudge against people who didn't even exist when it happened originally. The only way to truly resolve it would be to stop it before it even starts, and the series begins at exactly the right time for that to happen. If Eren had woken up and retained all his memories, he could have gone straight to his father with the whole thing and prevented everything that happened afterward.]]
368
369[[WMG: The girl in Eren's memory during Chapter 53 is...]]
370* A previous Coordinate, granted that the ability is somehow passed from person to person ala Avatar and that Eren retains memories of previous Coordinates
371* A relation of Historia's, as Eren mentions that she resembles her
372** The above two theories have gained some ground as Chapter 54 shows [[spoiler: the mysterious woman does know Historia, enough to have read to her and is implied to have been a person she knew very well. She also possess powers to control memories, as she was able to erase all of Historia's memories of her by merely performing a gentle HeadbuttOfLove.]]
373* Eren himself, being [=FtM=] transgender -- the scene is shown from his perspective, looking into a mirror, possibly suggesting that it is his own memory.
374** To check this one, try comparing it to the image of Eren as a girl on the main page (the rule 63 entry).
375*** Their faces look ''really'' similar...
376** This could be a bit hard to fit into the timeline though, she doesn't look much younger than Eren and we've never seen him with such long hair.
377** Unlikely; you need to take the room into account as well. Looks more like something you'd see in the wealthier parts of Sina, no? At any rate, it would be ''extremely'' out of place in the Jaeger household (and by extension anywhere in Shiganshina).
378* Alternatively. Eren dressed in women's clothing for some other reason.
379* Eren's long lost twin sister, due to the resemblance.
380* One of the people Dr. Jager was referring to when he told Eren "Their memories will help you."
381** Eren's actual mother (not Carla), who might have died for one reason or another -- remember "You haven't been the same since mom died!"
382* [[spoiler: With the reveal that the Reiss family, it's the real royal family, she might very well be Historia's (remember Eren mistook her for Historia) older half-sister -- the Princess. The interest they show in obtaining Eren as the ''Coordinate'' might also be related with her similar ''Coordinate'' ability.]]
383* [[spoiler: The first, second, and last three of these are true (minus the idea the woman was Eren's mother); the girl is Frida Reiss, Historia's elder half-sister and original bearer of the Coordinate power. Her memories are likewise part of guiding Eren to understand his father's actions and why he was given the Coordinate. Furthermore, Eren's resemblance is possibly just because he's already slightly effeminate in that regard compared to other guys - he takes heavily after his mother's facial structure]].
384
385
386[[WMG: Eren and Historia are related.]]
387Grisha was a doctor (well-to-do, educated) who had access to Titan knowledge, and we don't know anything about Carla. It seems like the natural thing to assume he discovered or stole his knowledge of Titans and Titan Shifters, but there's no reason he couldn't have had it all along, or that he couldn't have "married into" the knowledge by marrying a girl from a noble family. It's possible that Eren is ''also'' from a noble bloodline through one of his parents, and what Grisha was going to show him in the basement that day was his birthright all along. The reveal would also mark a third time that Eren, in a condition that shouldn't be any different from anyone else of his type, is suddenly shown to be special in some way (ordinary soldier to Titan Shifter, Titan Shifter to Coordinate, poor orphan to noble heir).
388* The general idea (but not the detailed notes) of this now has a greater possibility of being true, if one of two things isn't confirmed soon: 1) that Rod Reiss lied, and the power of the Coordinate can be used by anyone who eats the last Coordinate, or 2) the power of the Coordinate is ''not'' the ability to command Titans, it's something else entirely. Because otherwise, Eren shouldn't have been able to command titans in chapter 50, unless...
389* [[spoiler:Turns out it's at least ''half'' true, or rather that it's truthful in a roundabout way; Eren's father Grisha was married to Dina Fritz, who was part of the same Fritz/Reiss royal bloodline Historia hails from, and it turns out the only other living member of the royal family is Zeke Yeager - Grisha and Dina's first son and Eren's half-brother. In other words, Eren and Historia ''could'' at least be considered very, very distant cousins, but there's ultimately no blood relations and their being relatives would hinge entirely on (A) the technicality that Grisha's original marriage to Dina was never really annulled, and (B) that Eren's half-brother is also a Fritz/Reiss. However, the idea that Eren himself has any royal blood in him was soundly jossed - it's because the royal-blooded Dina was the Smiling Titan, whom he made contact with upon punching her, that the Coordinate powers activated.]].
390** [[spoiler: That's not strictly true. None of that would prevent Carla from being related to a bastard branch family of the Reiss/Fritz bloodline, and we have no way of knowing how pure his blood has to be to make it stick. Maybe Grisha just has a fetish for that face, but for an artist known for having plenty of unique appearances for a huge cast of characters, it seems asking a lot to write off a noted resemblance between Eren, Historia, Frieda, and Carla as coincidence. Not to mention Dina did ''eat'' Carla in a way that definitely involved her ingesting Carla's blood; if that contributed to Eren's use of the Coordinate ability in that scene, it would have been eclipsed by Dina being a known royal. For a more meta reason, Carla's death is a huge motivation for Eren's hatred of Titans; how heartwarming (or heartbreaking, or both) would it be for him to know that, in a way, she lived on and came to his and Mikasa's rescue when they needed it most? It would make the scene a reverse of the beginning of the series, where Hannes dies fighting the Smiling Titan while Carla remains to save them, rather than Hannes fleeing the Smiling Titan to save them while Carla remains and dies.]]
391
392[[WMG: Eren will end up eating Annie.]]
393If Hange is really right about a Titan Shifter being needed to be eaten in order for -- a) a Titan to return to normal -- or b) to gain the powers of said Shifter, then the only way for Eren to use the crystallization to seal the Wall up would be to eat Annie.
394* Expanding on that, Annie could tell Eren to eat her, whether for redemption or spite.
395* Expanding further, Levi and Hange will insist it's the only way, but Eren will struggle with the idea of eating someone, even Annie.
396
397[[WMG: The Coordinate power isn't unique to Eren.]]
398Anyone ''could'' do it, if they were as fearless, pissed off, and single-minded as he is. It's a [[PersonalityPower function of his deeper self]], activated by trying to punch and/or yell a Titan to death.
399* Half-truthful; the "anyone could do it" part is technically true in that anyone can take the Coordinate into themselves, but they'd need to, at the very least, have direct physical contact with someone who's got royal blood in them to use it - otherwise the Coordinate's useless.
400
401[[WMG: Eren will die near the end of the series or at the very end.]]
402After Eren has pretty much eradicated every single titan out there, in a cruel twist of fate, he will have to kill himself also since he too is a titan. Eren will have spent a good amount of his life fighting titans, and he will die as one.
403* [[spoiler:The writer apparently is that ''is'' that cruel it seems; between the Curse of Ymir fating all Titan Shifters to die thirteen years after they get their powers and his having already gone through nine of them following the time-skip, Eren's only got four more years to live barring an out-of-nowhere miracle]].
404** [[spoiler: Well, we learned due to something with Zeke that there is a little "out-of-nowhere miracle" that can change things]].
405[[WMG: Eren's Coordinate power created the Walls 100 years ago.]]
406* The Walls are composed of Titans who were ordered to form the three walls with their hardening ability. The Reiss family was originally possessing the power.
407* It's for this reason Bertold and Reiner don't need to wipe out the humans within the walls by themselves after learning that Eren is the Coordinate. It's because he has the power of "dismissing" the titans forming the Walls, and then the regular titans could devour the humans.
408* Confirmed. The First King used the Coordinate power to create the walls.
409
410[[WMG: (anime wmg) His rage mode against Annie is due to Grisha's memories influencing him to avenge his wife.]]
411
412[[WMG: Eating the "Armor" bottle caused Eren to temporarily begin the process of becoming a mindless Titan, and that is why he doesn't remember hardening.]]
413The "armor" bottle is still a serum created for making mindless Titans. Thus it's possible that eating it caused him to undergo the usual process of his body dissolving until only his brain and spine remained fused within his Titan. However Eren is a Shifter, so this quickly reversed, causing his body to reconstruct itself. The page of Eren's disembodied head, spine and rib-cage is him either undergoing this process or the beginning of the reversal.
414
415[[WMG:Rod Reiss altered Eren's memories, though wether or not this was to unlock them (which would mean he did eat his father) or to deceive him is unknown.]]
416
417[[WMG: Eren will lead the counterattack on Mare/Marley]]
418Precisely what the Titan Shifters were trying to avoid -- a war with an army of Colossal/Armored Titans under the control of a teen who as a child saw bad people as rabid dogs who needed to be put down ([[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior and he did]]) and could possibly hold a grudge against the government who locked his father's family in a ghetto for things their ''ancestors'' did, abused his father, killed his aunt for sport, turned his half brother and others into living weapons ''as children'' who subsequently killed or caused the deaths of his parents, friends, and countless civilians and terrified the Reiss family into fleeing to an island and giving the entire population amnesia and killing everyone who was immune or scientifically inclined so the city wouldn't be seen as a threat -- and were attacked anyway because evidently the Marians ''thought'' they ''might'' use the Titans within the walls ''eventually'' (thanks to that "eventually" became "ASAP").
419
420[[WMG: Alternately, Eren (and possibly Mikasa and Armin) will go with Zeke & Co. to see ([[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner judge]]) Mare/Marley for himself]]
421''And then'' lead the counterattack. But seriously, Eren will decide or be convinced that he only has one side of the story and it's a side that is weighed very heavily against the Marian government, who (in the form of Zeke & Co.) apparently sincerely believe the humans of the walled city are evil. He/They'll go to Mare/Marley and maybe try to convince them they don't want to reconquer their land or anyone else's and just want to live in peace. Considering Mare/Marley was already run by CommieNazis who knows what it's become in the ~15 years since Grisha left or if they'll be willing to trust or listen to anyone from there, let alone the Titan Shifter son of a revolutionary.
422
423[[WMG: Eren will eat Zeke]]
424In chapter 89, Eren guessed that by eating a member of the royal family, he could control the Coordinate. While he only thinks about Historia at the time, we know that she is not the last member of the royal family, since Zeke is one too.
425
426[[WMG: Eren find a way of utilizing The Coordinate simply by maintaining physical contact with someone of royal blood]]
427
428Note how Eren was able to tap into Grisha's memories just by holding Historia's hand.
429Likewise note how he was able to access the Coordiante just by punching the Smiling Titan/Dina Fritz's hand.
430
431[[WMG: Eren will "wipe out the titans" by eating the remaining Titan Shifters.]]
432
433[[WMG: That wasn't Eren talking.]]
434When Eren essentially betrayed Mikasa and Armin in chapter 112, that wasn't actually him talking. It was Grisha. What he said about doing it of his free will was true, but it wasn't ''his own'' will. Grisha has essentially bodyjacked Eren at this point, pretending to be him to further his own selfish agenda. [[Main/AndIMustScream Worst still is that the real Eren knows what's happening, but can't do anything while his own father turns him against his friends and allies.]]
435
436[[WMG: Eren is planning to betray Zeke]]
437Chapter 115 reveals that Eren does know about Zeke's euthanasia plan for the Eldians during their meeting in Marley. Eren seems to go along with it and tells Zeke about how he saw Grisha's memories of him slaughtering the Paradis royal family, which is what convinced him to join Zeke's side. However, Eren's story isn't consistent, because he claimed to Zeke he saw the memory when he touched Historia's hand at her coronation, when in reality he saw the memory in the secret cave under the Reiss estate. This means that Eren ''actively lied'' to Zeke, meaning that the entire conversation may very well be just Eren manipulating Zeke by telling him what he wants to hear (that his little half-brother has finally turned against Grisha), and suggesting that he has his own plans for Zeke.
438* Confirmed; fro m the beginning, Eren planned to steal the power of the Founding Titan in order to activate the Rumbling.
439
440[[WMG: Eren's decision to wipe out humanity is the will of Ymir]]
441The Attack Titan is unique in being able to resist the control of the Fritz family due apparently to Eren's ability to impose his desire for freedom on the previous Shifters. What if that was only part of the story and the Attack Titan in truth carried Ymir Fritz's deeply buried resentment towards those who oppressed her? She in turn forced that hatred on Eren who is carrying out Ymir's desire: To punish the world for what was done to her.
442
443
444[[/folder]]
445
446[[folder: Theories on the Titans' Origins]]
447
448'''Theories about the Titans, their origins, and their purpose.'''
449
450[[WMG: Titan shifters are actually still immortal, like a pure titan. The ‘shortened lifespan’ is a political mechanism for keeping any single shifter from growing too powerful.]]
451Pure titans... won’t die of old age and cannot actually starve. That’s an established fact. Why would a shifter’s body be strained anymore than a pure titan’s body? Its only after ‘they become a shifter’ that the clock ‘starts ticking’ on their mortality. There hasn’t been any mention of a titan shifter ‘letting the clock run out.’ Pretty much all shifters are eaten or killed in combat before their expiration date, so nobody seems to have actually tested it. Considering how powerful Eren became, if his immortality actually turned out to be true, especially after all the additional shifters he’s consumed, then he could technically become a dictator with no real limits.
452
453[[WMG: Building on the below WMG that built on the WMG below it, Titans are weapons made by humans and it was in a war, but instead of something malfunctioning or it being sabotaged the humans with the titans did win the war.]]
454Like is stated below the titans were organic weapons made in a war. Though this war was won, and what we are viewing is a futuristic version of reforming criminals. The original people inside the Walls were criminals that had dangerous personalities and so the government wiped their memories and implanted fake memories that the titans had chased them into the walls. All of these people, or their ancestors were convicted killers and so are all on Death Row, Deadman Wonderland style, where they can be killed at any moment, the mindless titans are the prisoners turned into titans, if your personality is seen to have changed they are required to remove them, so Grisha Jaeger was removed from the community even though he didn't want to because he was seen as reformed. the titans shifters are humans who broke in and are using modified titan technology to fight the system because they see it as wrong to hold humans in captivity like that. When Dr. Jaeger was told about this he escaped and got to the refuge camp, once there he was approached by one or more of the titan shifters and asked to be part of their resistance, he was given time to think about it and a vial of the titan technology, he injected it into his son as a last resort when the outside forces came for him. The coordinate power is knowing without specifically knowing it that the titans were made by humans and if told by someone who is perceived to have authority they are to obey, Eren knows this somewhat, like the same way he can turn into a titan by injuring himself, because Dr. Jaeger told him this when it happened and he still can't remember it all. The Beast titan is the Warden in his own personal titan suit and has no respect for the prisoners, even turning some of them into titans, like Connie's mom. He didn't expect them to speak so he thought about that, and he also didn't expect them to have created weapons to fight the titans, the 3DMG, it's why he didn't recognize it when he saw it. Ymir was one of the titan shifters who invaded the Walls, but she was captured and exposed to the Titan changing process, some leftover memory of her comrades brought her to Berwick, Bertoldt, and Reiner, but her titan instincts took over and she ate Berwick, this gave her the power again and she was able to turn human but she didn't have any of her memories (Why they didn't recognize her i have know idea, I'm hand waving/lamp shading it here, someone edit this and put in a reasonable idea of why they didn't recognize her). The reason of the whole fake king plot was due to the prison staff wanting to keep the people in the prison calm and orderly, so they removed the current king and put in a fake one, and since they were techniquely not allowed to kill any prisoners the staff just let Krista live. All the different people from different races and nationalities was due to this being an international prison, for any murderous, and insane people. This explains Eren's complete and utter insanity being accepted in the world, because just most people were like that, and it explains how Miksasa and Eren were able to kill a bunch of adults with no hesitation or remorse, because [[InTheBlood it's in their fucking blood]]. The titan shifters are looking for the coordinate and the Beast Titan, people with the knowledge of what titans are, and the warden of the prison. The only thing this can't explain are why their are only children titan shifters (maybe their are a lot of prisons and this is just a less important one so they sent less experienced soldiers) and why [[Manga/FutureDiary Yuno.]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Fucking.]] [[{{Yandere}} Gasai.]] Isn't in the prison.
455
456[[WMG: Building on the below WMG, Titans were specifically made an organic alternative to HumongousMecha suits by an advanced civilization due to resource shortages due to a war. That, and it was just better logistically.]]
457Titans are apparently powered by sunlight, are extremely light and possess no reproductive or digestive organs. All of that is odd for a living creature, but is perfectly understandable if they were created as weapons. The ''how'' is unclear but the ''why'' could simply be that there were no more resources left. A mechanized suit requires fuel of some kind which would be problematic if you are facing severe shortages due to wartime. However if you can create a means of attack that runs solely on the sun for power, it alleviates that problem. Again, it also deals with the shortage of resources by taking care of any biological needs of soldiers piloting the weapon, as [[spoiler: they don't need to eat, drink or sleep, and are even protected from ''aging'', apparently while the "suit" is active.]] Strategically speaking, enemies can see a huge mechanical battle-suit coming at them from miles away... but a soldier who can form a giant body around themselves from nothing after sneaking amongst you is far deadlier, as the Survey Corps found out the hard way. Somewhere along the line this program was either sabotaged, perhaps by the enemy, perhaps in protest or maybe [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom someone simply made a mistake]]. Either way, [[spoiler: the malfunction caused the pilots to be entirely absorbed into the "suit" until their central nervous system was all that remained, their brains either insensible or lost in a LotusEaterMachine]] while the suits ran on autopilot, attacking anything human.
458
459[[WMG: The Titans are scientific experiments on biological weapons of mass destruction.]]
460This is similar to how zombies are often used in movies, and it would explain how the Titans have so easily taken over as well as how Eren can transform into a Titan. This ties into how Eren's father could be involved in the plot overall.
461* Seems unlikely as of recent reveals; [[spoiler:it's implied Ymir Fritz, the original Coordinate, got the Titan powers from a magical or metaphysical means rather than scientific ones. However, it ''is'' suggested by Eren Kruger that the Eldians used the Titans as organic weapons much like the Marlayens use them for in modern times]].
462
463[[WMG: The Abnormal Titans have the same origin.]]
464This isn't necessarily surprising, since this has already been speculated in-story, but it would make sense if the formula that Eren's father used to turn Eren into a "Human able to don the flesh of a Titan", was the same formula that created the others, only from a different group of humans.
465* At least partially confirmed with the revelation of who the other Abnormal Titans aside from Eren are. Whether they were given the same formula or not has yet to be revealed.
466That sounds weird, but what else would be the reason that they continue to thrive, despite the fact that Titans don't have any sexual organs? The other Titans running around might be an imperfect process/procedure of what Eren and all the other Titan Shifter's might possess.
467* Confirmed; all Titans have the same origin as Eldian-humans. Whether or not they become an abnormal seems to depend on a mix of random chance and how much titan serum they were injected with. All Titan Shifters are likewise first created via injection with the same spinal-fluid-based titanizing serum as normal and abnormal Titans - the difference is that they're ones who had eaten another Titan Shifter, allowing them to either retain or regain their human forms.
468
469[[WMG:The Titans are the result of a disease or genetic mutation, artificially created to control the population.]]
470Eren's father was working on finding a cure when the Colossal Titan attacked. He was planning to show Eren what was in the basement because he knew it was almost ready.
471* Eren's father was getting too close to a cure so the Armored and Colossal Titans were dispatched to destroy his town.
472* The tribes/clans that the Titan Shifters are from are part of a shadow organization that wish to maintain the status quo, which may involve the king. They use the people's fear of Titans to stay in power, therefore knowledge of the outside world is forbidden.
473* Top recruits are pointed at the Military Police, so the Recon Corps is devoid of exceptional talent. The organization then sabotages the efforts of the Recon Corps so that inquisitive and capable leaders die in the line of duty and humankind neither gains nor loses ground.
474
475[[WMG: The Titans were made as an effort to unite humanity, and it backfired horribly.]]
476At one point, Pixis talks about how, once upon a time, humans squabbled over race and principles, and "someone" once said that if humanity had an enemy that wasn't human, they would have to band together and put aside their differences to succeed; Eren answers that he's familiar with that piece of folklore. It's more than just folklore; it's the explanation for why the Titans exist, warped by generations' worth of word-of-mouth into ordinary apocrypha. It may also explain the significance of the Walls: they represent strength through unity. Especially if the first Colossal Titans ''volunteered'' to serve as the foundation for the Walls, hoping that they could further humanity's goals by doing so; it fits in nicely with the conceit of self-sacrifice, because if the Titans hadn't been made at all, none of the atrocities in the story could have happened.
477* Although the author confirmed the Walls do ''not'' symbolize strength through unity -- the theme behind the Walls is the complacency in humanity -- as opposed to Eren's adventurous desire to see the outside world.
478** I meant more in-universe than an actual symbolic motif; ie, it's what the Wall Cult's religion is based on.
479* The GeniusBonus in the "runes" might support this: by the time the Titans came around, humanity had already come close to wiping itself out.
480
481[[WMG: There are multiple ways of creating Titans out of humans, but a specific way of creating Titan Shifters.]]
482Castle Litgard/Utgard for some reason showed recent signs of human habitation despite being close to the Wall. Considering that the lettering on the can of herring that Ymir found was of a different language and the Sasquatch Titan was concerned about language barriers, the food that Ymir found is likely to be a source from outside the Walls and contains a trigger to turn humans into Titans. Also, the recent inhabitants were from beyond the Wall.
483* In the case of Eren, it seems like to become a Titan Shifter, one must have to have the transforming serum injected directly, which is why when ingested as food, it only turns you into a normal Titan, not a Titan Shifter.
484* Confirmed; there's at least two ways of becoming a titan - either consuming or getting injected with Titan serum - but the only known way to create a Titan Shifter is to ingest the spinal fluid of another Titan Shifter.
485
486[[WMG: Titans are the inadvertent results of research into immortality.]]
487May have some evidence, with Ymir revealing that while transformed they do not age. She is over 70 years old.
488
489[[WMG: The purpose of the Titans]]
490Based on [[http://snkfan.tumblr.com/post/55838111389/guys-look-what-i-found-on-4chan-general these]] [[http://dotpixiv.tumblr.com/post/55847930922/major-spoilers-holy-shit two]] posts on tumblr, there might be some additional info on why/how the Titans were created. It does seem to be just a draft/prototype, but who knows, some of it may still apply to the manga in its current form.
491
492So, considering the information in here, the Titans ''were'' artificially created, in this case by some sort of cult (probably the progenitors of the Wall Cult) who was worried about the environment. The purpose of the Titans was to exterminate humanity and protect the environment, which is why the Titans ignore plants and animals. And, it seems that the Titans 'absorb' people, unless they have a 'pure heart', in which case they can become Titan Shifters. However, regular people without that pure heart are instead turned into Titans? This may be what happened to Connie's village
493** Admittedly, it makes sense to assume this has changed at least a little, given that while one could probably make an argument for the "pure-heartedness" of Eren (a pure heart for wiping out predators!) and Reiner (the pure heart of a big bro!), Annie thinks those with pure intentions are rare exceptions to the general conniving selfishness of humanity and explicitly identifies herself as being of the latter type, while Bertholdt's motivations remain opaque but merciless. And, most blatantly of all in the last few chapters, Ymir is pretty categorically ''not'' pure-hearted by any definition.
494
495[[WMG: Titans WERE created to unite humanity...]]
496... but not by giving them a common enemy, as the legends suggest. Rather, Titans were created in an effort to remove all sources of human conflict and thus end war forever.
497
498Remember that the Titans first appeared after humanity had already crippled itself by terrible wars, which decimated the population. Now consider the Titans. They need no food, no shelter, and no material goods or tools to survive. They don't age and as they can regenerate most wounds, we can assume they are immune to disease. They have no means of natural reproduction (that we know of), and they don't attack each other. And finally, they are, as far as we know, mindless, and have no society.
499
500Each of those traits is a direct counter to a common cause for human warfare. With no need for food or material goods, there is no need for war over lands to be used for raising crops or gaining valuable resources. With no need for reproduction, there is no need to fight over family rights and breeding ability (though that is admittedly more a thing that animals fight over, but humans can do it too). With no minds, they have no ideas, and thus can't fight each other over differing ideologies. Finally, with no social stuctures, there is no chance of war between different classes or between the oppressed and oppressors.
501
502As it is mostly accepted that the Titans are transformed humans, we can assume that whoever created them made them as a means to transform the human race into a population that was above warfare. Titans are essentially immortal, and at the same time, their "pilots" are either unconscious, or dreaming. They were created as [[LotusEaterMachine Lotus Eater Machines]] to simultaneously keep the humans alive (whoever created them was a WellIntentionedExtremist who still cared for the human race, in a way) and stop them from warring. The Titans' only real flaw, the fact that they attack other humans, is simply the means of tying up loose ends. The Titans seek to destroy all the humans who remain humans: that is, ''those who are still capable of committing warfare''. Once all of these who refuse to give up warfare are dead, the Titans will just sit around in peace, and humanity will be "preserved" without war. It's an AssimilationPlot writ large (and bloodily).
503
504As for where the Titan Shifters fit into this, either they are abnormalities that whoever started things didn't foresee, or they were created by a different process which other humans created separately in order to oppose the AssimilationPlot.
505
506** So the Titans are basically [[Franchise/MassEffect Reapers]] made out of flesh. Yipes.
507
508[[WMG: Titans were created to unify humanity but the plan was sabotaged.]]
509The Titans were an attempt at solving two big problems at the same time. First, they were/are an attempt to unify humanity peacefully. As stated in another WMG above, they have no need for food, no ability to reproduce, are nigh immortal, etc... Except in this case, they were always intended to keep their human sentience. The idea being that once the more basic needs and causes of conflict were removed from humanity the remaining ideological differences would be easier to solve.
510
511Also at the same time with the Titans were developed for interplanetary/interstellar exploration, as being solar powered they make good exo-planet exploration suits. As they need nothing but sunlight they have no real limitations on where they can go. I'd bet the Titans wouldn't even need to breath beyond the need to speak. Why send a rover unit only capable of mechanical analysis when one could send the scientist himself, capable of thought and making decisions on the ground? That was actually the first stage of the Titan shift program. A group of astronauts and scientists were shipped off to explore a likely habitable exo-planet (or possibly one of Jupiter's moons) and test the hardiness of the Titan transformation.
512
513So the humans of this time had the advanced technology to make the Titan bodies and at first they would be tested as a method of exploring other planets. This was successful and the early explorers being able to setup a colony on a more habitable planet (this being the origin of the Walled City.) Then once the technology was proved safe the general populace would be made into Shifters. However, before the Titan program was implemented among the general populace, it was sabotaged by a dissenting group of some sort who made a few changes. After the sabotage, rather than everyone maintaining self-consciousness when the Titan change was implemented only those with extreme will power or an immunity (natural or acquired) to the change made in the Titan shift could maintain their self-consciousness when shifted. Secondly as well as the loss of high consciousness there was programming put in that forces the mindless Titans to attack and kill those humans as of yet unchanged (or Titans unaffected by the sabotage) so as to prevent this sabotage from being undone and or to keep the chaos mounting to allow this extremist group more time to enact further plans. This modification explains the differences between the Shifters, the aberrants and normal Titans. Shifters are clearly those humans with an immunity to whatever change was put in the Titan program. Aberrants would be those people who had enough willpower/immunity to maintain partial control of themselves but not full consciousness, thus why their attack patterns are less predictable. But still so far gone that the aggressive human killing programming and general loss of consciousness to have effect. Whereas normal Titans are simply the majority of humans without the ability to resist the changes wrought in what was to be one of humanity's crowning achievements in bio-engineering. Though as seen it is possible with time for a person to gain the willpower needed to change from a normal Titan to a Shifter.
514
515So it was only after the Titan program was implemented on a wide scale that the changes were noticed. Humanity did its best to control the beasts they had made of themselves and when that failed attempted to eradicate those Titans that they could in an attempt to save those who had witnessed the changes and wisely decided to not titan shift until it could be fixed. Unfortunately, they were sabotaged again and this time were forced to leave Earth in favor of the colony that had managed to place. But the saboteur group that had made the initial changes to the Titan program had moles in place, too (the precursor to the Wall Cult). When they landed, the colonists decided that they would abandon Earth for the time being until they could fix the problems with the Titan change (the resetting of the calendar 850 years ago) as it would be a fairly simple matter to fix those already transformed once they had solved it. As the colony was started a large portion of those moles embedded in the colonist were discovered and either fled or were kicked out by the rest of the colonist (explaining our Shifters from beyond the Walls) with only a few of cleverest being able to maintain their cover. Those where were then cut off from the main group evolved into the Wall Cult on the inside, unable to maintain contact with their exiled kin until long after the colonies were founded. The reason this is unknown to present day inhabitants is centuries of cloak and dagger actions bent on hiding and destroying the truth. Humanity is now so far degraded in its scientific and technological prowess that it will be centuries if not millenia before it regains its abilities and can return to Earth which will by then be a long forgotten legend.
516
517[[WMG: Titans are dead people, brought back by a science project and resurrected.]]
518In the past, a great war was mentioned. The higher ups in that war tried to discover a way to bring their lost soldiers back to life and fight for them again. They succeeded but the result was the Titans, mindless creatures that didn´t saw the difference between friend or foe. To make sure that a injection would not be necessary the Titan shifting was turned into a added formula that spreads through the Titan's saliva and bites. They turned to their creators and forced mankind into the state we see them as now.
519Titan Shifters are a result where the dead person finally is fully resurrected and reverted to its human form.
520Doctor Jeager re-discovered the original forumla, tweaked it and injected it into his son as a last desperate effort. His basement contains the research notes and true history of the war. Also notes of how to produce the formula which he perfected in his occupation as a doctor.
521He entrusts Eren to give Humanity a chance to fight back against the flawed creations and the Higher ups that chose to Titanify and regained their senses that way. Beast Titan has the formula and is using it to create decoys for its true objective. He is an outsider who invades like a general of war, sacrificing his troops without any concern or remorse.
522He might be one of the original Shifters from a time before the Walls and have knowledge of the war.
523The BAR is working for the opposite side of the war, their higher ups are just as cruel as the Beast Titan. That´s why they are afraid of failing.
524All while the mindless Titans continue their war-programmed mission. "Kill all humans." Like a machine without any regard of what they are doing is right or wrong.
525
526[[WMG: The Titans were NOT created by humanity.]]
527At least, not entirely. Why? A couple reasons. A: It's just waaay too obvious. Sure, Annie being Titan Chick was obvious too, but this is Main/MythArc -level stuff we're talking about here. B: People are constantly talking about how Titans are humanity's "natural predators", and the narrative frequently seems to almost say that they're inherently superior to humans. None of that makes sense if they're just a [[GoneHorriblyWrong failed]] (or worse, [[GoneHorriblyRight successful]]) experiment. B: They're just ''wrong''. They feel so alien, particularly the furry guy. Something about their origin just pretty much ''has'' to be organic and otherworldly in nature, rather than just being some accident.
528
529In any case, this business of unity in the face of a common foe means that to some extent, humanity (or, actually, perhaps some alien force working toward human unity... actually that makes a whole lot of sense... okay, I'm continuing this down in the next one after I finish this WMG) probably was responsible for the current state of the world, perhaps causing the humanoid Titans, while the apes were the originals.
530
531[[WMG: The Titans were created to unite humanity, but not by humans.]]
532At least not the humans in the series. Given the confusing nature of the whole "in 2000 years" thing when it doesn't appear to be a post-apocalyptic Earth, it seems possible that the people behind the Titans are in fact ''future humans from Earth'', who created the Titans in an effort to force the presumably stagnant society to evolve. Eren and company, meanwhile, are either HumanAliens or the descendants of colonists or something. Of course this means that Future Us are either [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-intentioned extremists]] or the Titans don't actually kill anyone, but rather teleport people to Earth or something and replace them with dummies or holograms that are then messily torn apart.
533
534[[WMG: The Titan / Human livestock metaphor is backwards.]]
535The Titans were created out of humans to be the perfect livestock -- they require no food, are immortal, and any meat you slice off of them grows back. They are the perfect food and the solution to humanity's hunger. The reason for the Titan motivations is basically payback -- the people turned into giant buffets either consciously or subconsciously fought back against being turned into giant cows and fight back by attempting to eat humans in a bit of irony. Knowledge that this is how the world was "supposed to be" is also the motivation among the Titan Shifters attempting to end humanity.
536
537[[WMG: Titans are created by converting energy into mass.]]
538Titan shifters go into their titan form by somehow summoning what is basically a bolt of tremendous energy which then converts into mass when it makes contact with their body and whatever is in it (serum or whatnot).
539
540[[WMG: The Titans were created to unite humanity by the most literal definition: Everyone will be eaten.]]
541Memory seems to be inherited through Titan Shifters, or at least Eren and his father. The Coordinate not only controls Titans, it acts as storage for memory. The ultimate goal of the conspiracy in the Walls is to have the Coordinate be passed from person to person, eaten one by one, thus combining all of humanity's collective memories into one super Titan Shifter.
542
543[[WMG: Titan-Shifting is the ultimate form of abusive nobility.]]
544Think about it: if a Titan can only become a Shifter by eating another Shifter, that means there is only a set number of Shifters, and unless there is an artificial means of becoming a Shifter, that means humanity is divided into three groups: Titans (useless wild animals that exist to keep humans afraid), Humans (slaves, who work to provide for their superiors but have no means of escape because of the Titans), and Titan-Shifters (Masters, who are stronger than or able to control Titans but equally capable of eating disobedient humans). That means that Titan-Shifters are the most elite of the elite, whose power base depends on keeping humanity oppressed and ignorant. Their entire culture is built on the rich exploiting the poor, and it has been from the very beginning!
545
546The Reiss family built the Walls using the Coordinate ability and then installed themselves as the royalty, claiming they "found" the Walls and deserved to rule because they saved humanity from being eaten by Titans. But since they were Shifters, they had to have been connected to whatever caused the Titans to appear in the first place (maybe they were behind it? maybe they funded the experiments that led to it?).
547
548Which would suggest...
549
550[[WMG: The Titan-Shifters from outside the Walls are actually rebels.]]
551If Titan-Shifting can only be passed down one at a time and the number of Titan-Shifters can never increase (because a new one is made by killing one) that means the ones outside the Walls must be opposed to the Reiss family... which is why Annie focused on getting into the military police to be close to the King, ''and'' why the true royal family keeps their location secret, because they know that the other Titan Shifters know the truth and they can't risk exposing themselves to an assassination.
552** [[spoiler:Partially confirmed; they were rebels that won the war, and now the Eldians (the Walls-dwellers) are the rebels.]]
553
554[[WMG: The first Titans appeared in Asia.]]
555Asia is a pretty friggin' big place and it's got a whole friggin' lot of people. If Titans originated somewhere on the eastern end of the continent, that would give them a ready supply of humans to eat, ones that had no 3DMG and possibly, if the Titans were some kind of secret war project, no knowledge of them or their anatomy at all, leaving them completely invulnerable and free to glut themselves all they wanted. It might explain why Asian people are so rare even though they make up a large percentage of the Earth's population, and since we know how fond they are of inadvertently creating, discovering, or summoning dangerous gigantic monsters, it's very possible that the Titans actually come from Japan. Humanity did have to go across the ocean to get where they are, after all, and there's not a lot of reason to do that if they were all living in Europe anyway.
556
557[[WMG: The faction that produced Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt are, or are descended from, people who were denied access to the Walls when they were built.]]
558The culture within the Walls relies ''heavily'' on classism, and it becomes more and more obvious that the upper tiers of society are so focused on maintaining their own status that they're willing to wipe out entire cities' worth of people to do it. If the first humans to settle within the Walls really were the wealthiest and most powerful in the world at the time, that mentality has been part of their culture since the beginning. It's possible that those first people coming to the Walls didn't all make it inside, and were either driven out or just left behind to protect the interests of those who remained.
559* [[spoiler:Partially confirmed; The Walls' civilization was built by the deposed aristocrats of Eldian society clinging to power, and built the walls to keep out Marley - the country that the Warriors serve. However, it's the Eldians in the walls who are the exiles, terrified of the Marlayans destroying them and finishing the job they started ages ago]].
560
561[[WMG: Titans were initially designed as a means to purge widespread disease.]]
562Titan bodies evaporate when they die, they release huge amounts of steam, their body temperatures are extremely high, and the human body is 70% water. It may be that the creation of the Titans was meant to serve as giant fever-producing machines, nearly-indestructible human bodies whose intense heat and steam production could kill practically any form of bacteria or virus living inside them. This has the added side effect of releasing purified steam into the water cycle, and Attack on Titan does love to romanticize the purity and beauty of the outside world.
563
564[[WMG: There is no Ymir Fritz or Devil of the Earth.]]
565The Titan serum was actually the creation of WeirdScience just before the nukes were launched in WorldWarIII. Marley and Eldia are successor states to Germany, both holding to the ideals of various past German governments: Eldia to Prussia, and Marley to the Nazis. In those thousand years, technology was slowly redeveloped, eventually reaching WWI levels.
566
567The action is centered in the former German areas because Germany is the one who made the Titan serum in the first place. How it was developed, we'll never know. It's WeirdScience, after all. Germany wanted to create an army of Titans to stem the tide of Russia's advance into Western Europe, but the rest of the NATO and their allies objected, calling it "cruel and unusual" to use humans. Before any further arguments could occur, the missiles flew, and western civilization came to an abrupt end.
568
569In the final few chapters, the battle between the various factions will be interrupted by the Australian military, who will put down the remaining Pure Titans, save the remaining main characters, and commence a full invasion of not only Marley, but all of Europe to recolonize it, as well as tell the mains the true nature of the Titans.
570[[/folder]]
571
572[[WMG: The original King Fritz is the reason there are specifically nine titan shifters.]]
573Because of the curse of Ymir, he outlived many of his descendants. His daughters each had three children, and when they all died suddenly at the same time, he forced his grandchildren to eat their mothers just as he'd forced Maria, Rose and Sheena to eat Ymir thirteen years ago.
574
575However, upon seeing the third generation of shifters, he forbade the powers to be split anymore, as it was now clear the titans were becoming smaller and less powerful each time. He then began the practice of having shifters either be eaten alive, or killed seperately and consumed by individual humans, depending on whether or not pure titans existed yet at this time. If anyone in the future tried to split a titan power again, it wouldn't work because of Ymir's continuing loyalty to Fritz.
576** The manga shows what appears to be King Fritz on his death bed speaking to his daughter, which would seem to throw a wrench in this theory.
577** Alternatively, the daughters survived survived and it was the grandchildren themselves who made the decision.
578
579[[folder: Theories about the Titan Shifters]]
580'''Theories concerning Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, and Ymir.'''
581
582[[WMG: Ymir's "endless nightmare" has less to do with being a mindless Titan and everything to do with her past.]]
583From what Ymir told Bertholdt, it can be surmised that her dreamlike state was very similar to Eren's in Trost. His hallucination was anything ''but'' a nightmare; in fact it was a peaceful vision of being surrounded by those he loved, which makes sense. Eren's past was for the most part peaceful; he had a stable family who cared about him, he lived in a peaceful area, and his family was financially stable. From the few mentions of her past, Ymir's life was probably the exact opposite. At the very least, she was hated just for being born. It could be that her nightmare simply consisted of reliving her ugly past, unable to ever escape.
584
585
586[[WMG: Theories on the Titans' motivations.]]
587Yes, this includes the human Titans. Why do the giants feed off of humans when they clearly don't need to in order to survive? Why wipe out all humans, who've been living rather peacefully within the Walls? Because they were picking off weaker Titans outside of the Walls? It's been made clear that the human Titans see them as nothing more than tools for their goals to wipe out humanity and get Eren back.
588* The Titan Shifter trio (Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie) are {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, or at least started out as such. In particular, Reiner's VillainousBSOD and Annie's admiration of people with strong convictions both seem to suggest that they genuinely believe their actions are for the greater good and justify the horrible things that they have done. They also don't seem to be operating from a [[FantasticRacism hatred]] of humans, or any other sort of [[AbsoluteXenophobe malice]] and seem relieved when the discovery of Eren means they no longer have to continue the extermination. Beyond that, their most obvious goal of smashing a hole in each Wall could have been accomplished without joining the military. As refugees, they would have still been able to reach the Walls, smash them, and then blend back into the fleeing crowds of civilians. But instead, they spent two years apparently just blending in before joining the military, even though all three were already eligible for recruitment. They waited two years, and then spent another three in training, before making their move again. And all three had originally planned to join the Military Police, suggesting a goal beyond simple destruction of the Walls.
589* Another theory concerning the Trio and their motivations. Their village/people are a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race]], which explains all their discussion of themselves as warriors (as opposed to the human soldiers). Annie and Reiner both criticize themselves for [[BecomingTheMask failing]] as warriors, while Bertholdt passive aggressively states Reiner ''used to be'' a warrior after he risks his life to protect Conny. Considering the massive amount of DoubleMeaning going on with them, it's possible that when Reiner and Bertholdt discuss their motivations for enlisting... they're actually talking about the ideals of their ''own'' culture, not the one within the Walls. Reiner focuses on ideals of duty and personal effort, while Bertholdt focuses entirely on what society expects from the young.
590* There's another society comprised of Titan Shifters, and they're at war with the human settlement we see in the story.
591** But why would snagging Eren be enough for them to leave humanity in peace?
592** Two theories. A) The Titan Shifters feel it's better to get the super-weapon out of humanity's hands than just wiping out humanity. It's like leaving a warring faction so humiliated and disarmed that they can not fight. Second theory: They changed their goal -- seeing Eren as an alternative to wiping out humanity. To them, using Eren is the more expedient of the two options.
593* Going off the below guess that the Walls were meant to crumble and release a wave of giant Titans to devour all of humanity, the Shifters' goal is to stop that. They knock holes in each wall and let normal Titans in to cull off humanity's population, with the intent of keeping them from reaching numbers such that the Wall Titans will awake to feed on them. After all, if such massive Titans were released, the Shifters' own homeland would be in danger. However, Reiner and Bertolt believe they can bail that mission if they bring back Eren, Krista, or the Beast Titan. Those are the man suspected, and later confirmed, to have the Coordinate, the heir to all the Wall Cult's secrets, and an intelligent Titan who clearly dislikes humanity and has some ability to command Titans, although it seems it is less powerful or effective than the Coordinate.
594* Annie, Reiner, and Bert's hometown is at war with another village of titan shifters(possibly Ymir's people?) and they need the Coordinate and/or the beast titan to control mindless titans to attack the enemy and/or create new titans so they can win the war.
595* [[spoiler:Some of this was true, some of it wasn't; Marley - who conscripted most Eldians like the Warriors as shock-troopers as the Shifters or cannon fodder as mindless titans - has been decaying as a world power and needed the Coordinate to both take over Paradis Island's huge deposits of natural resources and reclaim the many Colossal Titans that were used to create the walls and were subsequently held over them as a doomsday threat]].
596
597[[WMG: On "Ymir-Sama"'s origins and the Talking Titan.]]
598Building on the theory that the Walled City was built as a compromise between the humans and the mysterious leaders of the Titans and that there have been multiple mass human sacrifices in the past, would explain some of their relation. Right before she turns into the Dancing Titan Ymir says/thinks that she "died for the happiness of a great number of people but was given a second chance" and that she was "hated simply because she was born". A large part of her attraction to Krista/[[spoiler: Historia]] is due to that shared trait. Ymir could have been the illegitimate daughter of a noble family offered up as part of a mass sacrifice to the Titans (or not even a noble family; an illegitimate child would be a shame for a commoner just as much as a aristocrat). By some lucky chance, she managed to steal and inject herself with whatever creates Titans. Unfortunately she bit off more than she could chew as she spent [[AndIMustScream sixty years as a mindless Titan]]. If she is from a noble family, it could be that she had a loyal retainer or butler of some kind who [[UndyingLoyalty volunteered to go with her to her death]] and she took the chance to "save" him as well by doing the only thing she could, injecting him with the same serum, making both of them mindless Titans. It would also explain why the Titan was tearing at its face; it was trying to resist the urge to eat what it thought was Ymir, thus its stricken expression as it chews on Illse. [[{{Tearjerker}} On some level it is aware that it is eating the person it was supposed to serve/take care of.]]
599
600[[WMG: Speaking of Ymir...]]
601There is one character named Ymir, and she turns out to be a more benevolent Titan Shifter. Is it a coincidence or is she the leader of some Titan-turned-human race or something?
602* Considering the author's use of {{Meaningful Name}}s (Jaeger, Historia), I'm pretty sure that he's giving us a clue that Ymir is a leader of some sort... In Norse Mythology, Ymir was said to have been the ancestor of all Titans.
603** Some bonus pages in volume 12 have Ymir say that "Being a goddess isn't such a bad feeling."
604*** Not necessarily in support of ymir=goddess/benevolent titan shifter idea- but Ymir may be older then the 60-70ish age people have concluded. Things to consider:
605*** 1. she knows how to read a dead language/different language then whatever is the common tongue. That can of herring that reiner couldn't read could be +100 years for all we know.
606*** 2. She doesn't have any titan training- meaning the in the time she was turned into a Titan, the idea of such a thing has not yet reached her or did not even exist.
607*** 3. Looking at connie's mom who got turned into a titan by the beast titan, we can conclude when humans are turned into Titans, they retain some of their original appearance (especially facially). Assuming that Ymir was 'turned' into one through some similar means, how old was she when she was turned into her 'dancing titan' form? Where as Annie, Reiner and Eren all have appearance semi-congruent with their human body 'age'. Ymir and Bertholdt do not- particularly, her titan form always reminded me of middle-aged witch-(Bert's being skinless and hairless is also difficult to judge age-wise).
608
609[[WMG: Reiner will end up either undergoing a HeelFaceTurn or RedemptionEqualsDeath]]
610When asked about what Reiner was like in the past, Bertholt is critical of how he's no longer a warrior. In fact, Bertholt makes suspicious or annoyed looks whenever he sees Reiner acting close to any of the humans. This is because Reiner is BecomingTheMask, and he's already admitted that his friendship with the others has left him deeply confused over his mission.
611* Related: Reiner sabotaged the attack on Wall Rose. Whether he did it consciously or not, he's pretty clearly hesitating to do his part and quite literally jumps at the first opportunity to get out of it. Mikasa and Jean leading the charge towards Headquarters simply gave him an easy out, with Annie and Bertholdt both visibly shocked when he joins the other trainees.
612** And now looking very uncertain, with the revelation that his behavior is the result of having [[MurderMakesYouCrazy gone mad]] from [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone guilt]]. He wasn't sabotaging their plans, or doubting his mission... he quite literally had moments where he thought he ''was'' human and didn't remember his true identity and mission. Based on him being driven that far over the edge because of guilt, RedemptionEqualsDeath is still a possible outcome.
613** Reiner will undergo a Heel Face Turn. Bertholt will not. The conflict will be milked for as much existential and emotional drama as realistically possible. Given Reiner's status as AmbiguouslyBi, it's possible that this will end in LoveRedeems for Bertholt.
614*** [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender "You miscalculated. I love Reiner more than I fear you."]]
615*** [[spoiler:Jossed; while Reiner's BrokenAce status from Chapter 92 onward seems to be breeding hints of a HeelFaceTurn in him now that he's gone back to Marley, Bertholt's dead and buried four years before that point]].
616** At some point, Reiner is going to have to face himself and decide if he's a "Soldier" or "Warrior". However, given what his mental state was like when the big secret came out, he may not have much time left before he completely snaps. And if that happens, well...
617** Not to say that there isn't hope for him either. Spending some time away from the others might give him a chance to get his head on strait. Considering that the Titians as a whole have been revealed to be [[TragicMonster Tragic Monsters]] as well as a government conspiracy possibly connected to their creation, there's a distinct possibility for an EnemyMine situation.
618
619[[WMG: One or more of the Titan shifters in general will undergo a RedemptionEqualsDeath]]
620Given how all of them show have shown various levels of guilt, at least one of them will end up switching sides and do their best in assisting Eren and co, though at the cost that they end up killed. Said outcome will also be due to YouHaveFailedMe by whoever their boss is.
621* Considering [[spoiler:Annie's captured in self-imposed crystal stasis and Bertholt is... well, ''dead'', it only leaves Reiner open to do this at the moment. Have to wait and see how that plays out...]]
622
623[[WMG: Reiner's dissociative episodes are the result of the Battle of Trost.]]
624During the battle, Annie and Bertholdt both follow his lead. Annie is an established lone wolf, and probably wouldn't have asked him what their next move would be if she had even suspected him of being psychologically compromised. But we see very clearly that the battle, and the cleanup afterwards deeply effected both Annie and Reiner. For the first time, he was forced to ''truly'' confront what their actions would cause, as they watched their classmates being EatenAlive and later had to gather up the remains for disposal. Such an experience would be traumatizing enough, as shown by Jean's CharacterDevelopment. But Reiner had the extra push of being partially responsible for all that suffering and death, to people he actually knew. Annie leaves within the next few days to join the Military Police, and continues to trust him to handle providing her with information and assistance. Again, I cannot see her relying on him if she'd suspected him of having bouts of crazy. Likewise, in the aftermath of their first battle, people probably wouldn't even notice if Reiner started behaving strangely or was having problems with his best friend. Anything unusual would be written off as him simply being a ShellShockedVeteran, as opposed to a villain being crushed by [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone guilt]].
625
626[[WMG: The story Bertolt tells Eren and Armin is mostly true.]]
627He merely lied about the when and where. And the reason that he states he doesn't remember what happened after seeing the Titan at his window is because he was telling them about the day his people were turned into Titans. The reason Reiner and Bertolt immediately recognize the Ape Titan is because he was there that day, and had a hand in their transformation.
628
629[[WMG: Why the Titan Shifters are also targeting normal humans.]]
630Given the practically-confirmed idea that normal humans can be transformed into mindless Titans, the goal of the Titan Shifters is to wipe out the source from whatever direction possible. Titan Shifters can be assumed to be immune to whatever the apelike Titan does to transform other humans into Titans, and they are still targeted by the mindless Titans. Somewhere there's a settlement consisting entirely of Titan Shifters, and their ultimate goal is to take out either the Beast Titan, the humans he's capable of transforming into mindless weapons, or both.
631
632[[WMG: Alternate reasons the Colossal Titan let the mindless Titans in...]]
633* Titans must consume a certain amount of humans before they're capable of regaining their own humanity as the assumed-to-be-natural Titan Shifters did. The goal of the Titan Shifters is to take out the apelike Titan so he can't make more Titans, and then make sure the Titans already existing have a chance of regaining who they were.
634* To lure out the Coordinate. Logically, if they were looking for someone in hiding who could control mindless Titans, the fastest way to expose that person would be to actually threaten their home with a whole bunch of them.
635** The above option makes a lot of sense, especially now that we know getting the Coordinate was their original goal.
636
637[[WMG: The Titan Shifters are out to destroy current humanity in order to protect the future of humanity that Titan-kind represents.]]
638As long as the Walled City exists in safety, there will always be humans to continue fighting the Titans; it's an extremely slow battle, but if Titans don't reproduce on their own until after they've changed back, and changing back could take centuries, they're eventually going to whittle the population down. People like Levi and Mikasa might only come around a few times in a generation, but that's still tens of Titan losses each, and those numbers don't get replenished. Since humanity has proven that it'll ''never'' completely give up the fight, wiping them out is the only way to ensure that the Titans will live long enough to become themselves again. Of course, the Titan Shifters would focus on saving the potentially ''billions'' of future Shifters, at the cost of comparatively few ordinary humans.
639
640It might also explain why the Walled City exists: to give the remaining humans a chance to keep interbreeding, to raise the chances of any Titan being able to eat any human and be able to change back.
641
642On top of ''that'', it might also give us an insight to who "Ymir's People" are. Maybe they're like the "universal donors" of the Titan world; eating one of them could turn any Titan back to normal, and finding out that Ilse wasn't one of them made that one particular Titan so disappointed, it lost its grip on what little sanity it had managed to grasp, inspiring it to tear into its own face and devour her anyway.
643
644[[WMG: Annie's father told her to hate the world before she ate him.]]
645Adding to the above: it's a cruel world indeed that would make a child eat their parent in order to become strong enough to change it.
646* Episode 25 shows some ''huge'' evidence for this. Annie's father tells her that even if she becomes the whole world's enemy, he will always be on her side... and that she "''must come back''", and he says all this while she's completely cold-shocked and he's all but in tears exactly like Grisha was when telling Eren that he has to make it back to the basement. Those were Annie's father's ''last words to her''.
647* Annie's Visual Novel seems to contradict this theory. Annie thinks of him in present tense, with the goal of seeing him again. His words are also explained to have been a coded message to her, asking her to abandon her mission and return home safely rather than risk her life.
648* Jossed. Annie's fater is still alive and eventually reunited at the ending.
649
650[[WMG: Bertolt has the greatest limitations on his Shifting abilities.]]
651While Eren's inexperience results in him being in a weakened state after transforming, he's still able to do it more than once per day. The only Shifter thus far to not be shown transforming more than once in a single day? Bertolt, the Colossal Titan. Even when he and Reiner are very possibly about to die, he makes no efforts to transform and instead relies upon Reiner's protection and his damaged 3D Maneuver Gear. More than likely, the Colossal Titan is such an extreme transformation that he has very limited ability to use it. When wounded and exhausted, he's only shown performing a partial transformation and he's never been shown to maintain it for more than a few minutes at a time. As such, it's possible that while he retains the stamina necessary to function after changing back, unlike the other Shifters he requires a much longer cool down period between transformations than any other Shifter.
652* The problem with Bertolt's titan form is that it's big, bulky, and (above all else) '''''slow'''''. It's been described by the fandom as a "Siege unit", capable of dealing lots of collateral damage and breaking through fortifications (such as The Walls and gun emplacements), but it's also an easy target for Soldiers armed with 3D-Maneuver gear (''especially'' the members of the Survey corps). In fact, the reason he disappeared after knocking down the gates of Trost was because he was ''Running away from Eren''; The Hothead came that close to killing him.
653* Confirmed in Chapter 80 by Armin; because of the aforementioned size problems, the Colossal Titan's form burns through it's energy faster than the other Shifters and ultimately deteriorates more rapidly, visibly losing muscle-mass at a comparatively rapid pace (just one chapter's passage) during the battle at Shiganshina.
654
655[[WMG: The Titan Shifter faction that Annie Bertolt and Reiner are a part of is in really bad shape.]]
656This is more me going off on a gut feeling, but considering how important it seemed to be that they find the Beast Titan and Eren, I find it odd that such important tasks were given to teenagers. Them being in really bad shape is the only explanation I can come up with.
657* Well, being teens also helps them to get close to Eren easily. Putting all 3 of them in one unit was a bad idea though.
658* [[spoiler:Partially confirmed; Though the country they come from, Marley, is very reminiscent of a Nazi-run Germany - very rich, powerful, populous and xenophobic among it's purist leaders - it's also fallen behind the times in terms of technological advancement, due to relying too heavily on the power of the Titans for supremacy, making them vulnerable in the eyes of other nations. To try and offset this, they need to take both the Coordinate and the natural resources of Paradis Island in order to revitalize their industry and reaffirm their supremacy. However, at the same time, none of this is the reason why the Titan Shifters are fighting - with the sole exception of the Beast Titan (who's basically their commanding officer and thus the only one to know the truth), their actions are because they were ''lied to'' and believe that the Wall's Royal Family is planning to wake up the Wall Titans and sick them on the rest of the world for mass genocide. Worse, the reason they chose kids for the mission is likely because they're presumably easier to brainwash with this false sob-story, plus they'd be beneath suspicion]].
659
660[[WMG: The Titan Shifters are [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]] and/or GoodAllAlong.]]
661Yup. The reason they wanted the "Coordinate" in the first place is to control the Titans and divert them away from humanity.
662** It is becoming apparent that there are more threats besides the Shifters, both outside and inside the Walls.
663
664[[WMG: Annie, Reiner and Bertolt are all completely in the dark about the Wall Cult and the Military Police's attempts to sabotage the Survey Corps.]]
665Something is just bugging me about this. When Reiner and Bertholdt were talking with Ymir, they pretty much spelled everything out. They talked about the Coordinate, their village, how their mission was to wipe all of Humanity out and how Eren's existence could change that mission. Not once did they ever bring up the Wall Cult or the Military Police. Even Annie, who was part of them, seemed unaware of what her superiors were up to. I mean, if she had known that the Wall Cult was gunning for Eren, wouldn't she had told Reiner and Bertholdt right away? And wouldn't the two of them saying that it wasn't safe for Eren inside the Walls BECAUSE of the Wall Cult be an excellent argument for why he should've gone with them? Just like how the Wall Cult is keeping the Survey Corps in the dark about the Titans in the Wall and so many other things, Annie, Reiner and Bertholdt's village could be keeping them in the dark about what's going on inside the Wall.
666
667[[WMG: Annie isn't a Titan who became a Titan Shifter; she is a girl who was selected to BECOME a Titan Shifter.]]
668The same may go for Bertholdt and Reiner, but it explains the similarities between Eren's transformation and her own (strongly gendered appearance, traumatic childhood scene with terrified father pleading as if he isn't going to be there much longer). The people of her hometown chose her to take the same injection (or a similar one) that Eren did, which would cause her to eat her father like he did, for the sake of the plan to infiltrate the Walls. It also makes sense, because Annie could summon normal Titans to come and eat her body. She's a ''failed Coordinator.''
669
670[[WMG: The Titan Shifters had to look for the Coordinate/Coordinator within the Walls because the materials that give the Coordination ability had been stolen from them.]]
671Grisha knew that the coming of the Colossal Titan and the breaking of the Walls to let the Titans in meant that there would be spies, because he knew what Titan Shifters are. He made Eren a Titan Shifter because he needed the Coordinate ability to go to someone he knew would use it for the sake of humanity.
672* Confirmed, though not completely accurate; the Titan Shifters ''did'' have to search for the Coordinate's owner and did so by way of infiltrators, and Grisha gave it to Eren because he believed (or at least hoped) his son would use it to benefit humanity. However, it turns out that [[spoiler:Grishia himself was the thief who took the Coordinate from the Reiss family, but it was because they'd just keep the Wall humans/Eldians in an eternal prison, the opposite extreme to the Shifters/Warriors' goal of wiping out the Wall's population. His hope to break the cycle was therefore placed in Eren]].
673
674[[WMG: Shifters don't have the ability to turn into Titans.]]
675They have the ability to turn into ''humans'', and this is what Ymir stole.
676More specifically, we've seen three things associated with a Shifter's transformation:
677* The Titan body appears out of nothing in a flash.
678* The human body gets very rapidly regenerated to full health (seen at Trost with Eren)
679* While there ''might'' be a reverse transformation (we didn't see corpses for the Colossal and Armored Titans), we've never seen anyone use it -- instead, they hack out like disposing of any normal Titan corpse
680What this potentially implies:
681* The Titan body is ''literally'' transformed from or otherwise destroys most of the pilot's human body (which explains why no pilots have ever been found and why Titans other than Eren don't much care about being stabbed in the wrong part of the neck)
682* Shifters can reverse the process simply because they have an advanced regenerative ability for their ''human'' parts as well, which lets them survive the process
683* Normal Titans are just a shattered brain and spinal cord slowly cooking from heatstroke acting as a control chip at the back of the Titan body's neck
684* The regenerative ability is a chemical compound that can either be injected (Eren) or eaten (Ymir)
685* Combine regeneration and transformation chemicals, and you get a Shifter.
686** The problem with this idea is that the only known way of creating Titans is by turning humans into them, and that the Titan's bodies ignore the laws of physics ''except'' where the human "pilot" goes. Both these suggest that a human form is the baseline.
687** '''Confirmed''' on all points as of chapter 57.
688
689[[WMG: The Shifters are [[HeroAntagonist HeroAntagonists]]]]
690I have a theory under the Beast Titan sections explaining that he's their enemy and the story's BigBad. Expanding on that, it appears they're only trying to destroy the Walled City to stop him from wiping out not only the humans within but every human on the planet, and to prevent the creation of more Titans. The reason Reiner is so worried that Eren can control Titans is because he knows Titans are really humans, and Eren's genocidal hatred will cause him to murder innocent people trapped in Titan form. They've also tried to get Historia to come with them, implying that they don't know the origins of the Walls, and need that information to stop the Beast Titan. Annie encouraged Eren to question the status quo because they're aware of the government conspiracy providing the Beast Titan with more humans.
691* A few nitpicks to your theory: The Beast Titan in unaligned with the (current) government, as it does not know anything about their equipment which has been in use for 50+ years and Ymir knew about the Beast Titan even though she'd been out of commission for 60 years. So while it may have had ties to humanity in the beginning of the Wall Society, it hasn't for several generations. Second issue is that Reiner and co. know about the origin of the Walls, as he explicitly mentions "the contents of the Walls" and states they need Historia because her family may know more about the Coordinate. He tells Bertolt they need her in case Eren turns out to be a false lead. We also currently don't know the Shifters' relationship with the Beast Titan, other than the fact they wanted it found. Reiner and Bertolt react to seeing it with excitement, and Ymir states they are after it. But other than that, we currently don't have enough information to decide if it is their enemy, ally, a tool, or what.
692* I've thought of a few of those points, and figured that the Titans we've seen were created over a hundred years ago by the Beast Titan. He's returned to the Walled City because many Titans have been lost in the intervening 50 odd years since his last visit due to the fight with the Shifters, and he needs more troops, supplied by the conspiracy. Ymir's past is unclear, and considering her involvement with the Shifters there are any number of ways she could have encountered the Beast Titan. I'm not sure how to respond to your comments about the lack on information; making deductions based on little information and troper Genre Savvyness is the whole point of WMG. Considering they need to locate BT at all implies they at least aren't on the same side, and since he has an intelligence of 11/10, I doubt he's working for anyone else.
693* Not sure if they even ''can'' qualify after all they've done. Even if their intentions turn out to be genuinely noble, they still are ''directly responsible'' for the brutal demise of a large portion of the human population, most of whom were just hapless civilians or well-intentioned soldiers. That may place them more into WellIntentionedExtremist territory.
694
695[[WMG: Annie's crystal prison.]]
696Is actually a form of Titan, with the same effect as the majority of Titans' forms. We know that Titans are a form of LotusEaterMachine that keeps their pilot trapped in a dream world. We saw Eren nearly get trapped in that fantasy of him in his house with his mother still alive. We also know the pilot doesn't age physically while a Titan. The crystal performs the same function of keeping Annie ageless (hence how she's alive ''at all''), and based on her flashbacks, she's retreated into a dream where she's with her father at their homeland.
697
698[[WMG: Annie's mother left her and her father.]]
699She probably strongly disagreed with what Annie's father wanted to train her for, and realizing it was impossible of her to talk him out of it, she refused to stay and watch her daughter be turned into an assassin, causing her to leave. It happened while Annie was very young, possibly a toddler, which is why she's only shown having memories of her father. It's also part of the reason Annie's last memory shows him in tears while apologizing to her, because his actions had caused him to lose his wife and now he was losing his daughter too.
700Jossed: Annie was adopted by her father, so there was never a mother to begin with.
701
702[[WMG: As an above WMG mentions, Eren will be asked to eat Annie, however...]]
703This will lead to Annie's HeelFaceTurn.
704
705Eren still respects Annie too much to actually ''eat'' her, and/or he will strongly oppose to the idea of eating someone in general. Because of this, he will ask Annie that she helps them out with her crystallization ability instead. Something like ''"There's no way you can be forgiven, but if you really feel sorry then prove it by helping us."'' This would be both an opportunity for Eren's CharacterDevelopment into getting over his black and white mentality and actually give an enemy a chance, should she express guilt (not to mention he already expressed a certain amount of compassion and desire to hear her reasons out), and for Annie to, for once in her life, "go against the flow" by defying her mission. The outcome of her being given the opportunity would lead to one of two scenarios:
706
7071. She indeed concedes thanks to her guilt and desire to become mentally strong, and we get our first HeelFaceTurn from one of the Shifter trio.
7082. She ''wants'' to redeem herself, however, feels it's impossible for her to join them after what she's done, and asks Eren that he eats her to redeem herself ''that'' way.
709
710(And I know those are similar to the above guesses, I merely wanted to expand on them a little.)
711
712Annie coming out of the crystal only to be killed without anyone wanting to give her a chance is a possibility too I guess, but in such case I think it would be an incredibly wasted opportunity in terms of both her character and the narrative. Imagine; having TWO Titans fight on the good side. It all depends on what message Isayama wants to get across though.
713
714[[WMG: Annie will be woken up by Eren's Coordinate abilities.]]
715With the implication/theory that the ability works on people as well as Titans, the others will suggest that Eren tests it out on Annie as a means of waking her.
716
717[[WMG: Annie will make a HeelFaceTurn]]
718There's a distinct possibility for this given her sympathetic characterization. A possible scenario is that she sides with the Survey Corps because [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe the were nice to her, and she came to care for them]], which would fit in to the "fight for what ''you'' love and believe in, not for what others tell you to" theme. Also, while all three infiltrators clearly hate their mission, she seems to be the most "detached" from it; as if she never believed in the cause behind it, and simply follows her orders because she feels there's no other choices for her. If true, than there is a possibility of her realizing that there ARE other choices available to her, leading to CharacterDevelopment.
719* With the Reveals that came in chapter 86, a HeelFaceTurn seems a lot more plausible. At least, her old friends might be willing to talk to her now that they know that [[spoiler: She and the other Shifters are Brainwashed Child Soldiers]].
720
721There are, however, several '''MAJOR''' Stumbling blocks
722* As the Female Titan, she has one of the highest ''direct'' kill count in the series.
723* she killed Levi's squad, and he is ''not'' likely to forgive that.
724* She and her cohorts were responsible for the wall breach 5 years ago, and the more recent events in Trost.
725* she betrayed them, and has been lying to them for years.
726* Annie herself; she may not even consider the possibility because she feels as if it's too late for her to turn back or start over.
727* [[spoiler: Bertolt's death]]. We don't know what their relationship was, but she will ''probably'' not take the news well.
728
729[[WMG: If Annie performs a HeelFaceTurn...]]
730She will be LettingHerHairDown as a means of symbolizing it.
731
732[[WMG: When the Titan Shifters return...]]
733It'll be because Ymir convinced Reiner and Bertholdt to have a HeelFaceTurn. Annie's conflicted enough that she'll likely turn along with them if she thinks she can get away from her orders, especially if they bring her father with them and he tells her she doesn't have to go on with the mission anymore.
734
735[[WMG: Ymir's "death".]]
736In chapter 63, it's made clear that people's memories a passed on when they're devoured by someone's Titan, and then in 64 we learn that a single Titan created the walls and protected humanity and using the power of the Coordinate to control people, effectively molding the known world into what it is in the series. What if that Titan's actions were a sacrifice to help many people, and the personality of whoever it was got passed on to another Titan who ate it, such as one of the shifters from the "hometown"? I think it's possible that Ymir's experience of self sacrifice and the "endless nightmare" weren't here own originally, but knowledge she gained whenever she stole power from the shifters that really did a number on her psychologically...or was a deliberate effort by that unique Titan to survive. After all, that thing's got more power than anything else in the series and Ymir is named for the progenitor of all giants, from whose flesh the world was made.
737
738[[WMG: Forcibly removing Annie from her crystal will make her insane]]
739If there somehow is a natural time limit for Annie's crystal to sustain her or there is a spesific "right" way to get her out, she can be retrieved safely. If the characters were to forcibly break apart her crystal and violently wake her that way however, the experience, along with suppressed guilt and memories of all the people's she killed, [[GoMadFromTheRevelation would cause trauma and make her insane.]] Similarly to Casca from ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', she would turn into TheOphelia.
740
741[[WMG: Annie is distantly related to the Reiss/Fritz/Royal Family]]
742This is based largely on the anime adaptation of the series, in which Eren's Titan form undergoes a rather drastic power-up - glowing blue eyes, cracked skin with flame leaking out, being able to melt the Female Titan's face, seemingly starting to fuse with her after a bit and an immense urge to try and devour her. One of the possible explanations for this is that, rather than Eren's normal Rogue Titan, he became an incomplete Founding Titan/Coordinate Titan, with the latter's powers being triggered by contact with someone who has Royal blood, [[spoiler:just like the Coordinate's "control all Titans" power was triggered from contact with Dina Fritz, AKA the Smiling Titan]]. In this case; Annie. This would also explain why the bizarre powers Eren demonstrated in his second fight with the Female Titan haven't surfaced again (they were triggered by contact with Annie).
743* Like [[spoiler:Dina Fritz and Historia Reiss/Krista Lenz]] - both members of the Royal Family - Annie has light-blonde hair, bright blue eyes and is somewhat on the short, slim side. Furthermore, similarly to the [[spoiler:royal-blooded Zeke Yeager and his Beast Titan]], Annie seemed capable of controlling - or at the very least semi-compelling - Titans to obey her with her scream, and likewise seems to share the Beast Titan's [[InformedAbility previously-mentioned hardening ability]]; something that apparently isn't natural to most Shifters, as Eren only unlocked the power when he drank an "armor" serum. She also seems to have far more control, endurance and proficiency with her Titan form compared to Eren's Rogue Titan, [[spoiler:Reiner's Armored Titan, Ymir's Jaws Titan or Bertholdt's Colossal Titan]], being able to maintain her form for far longer than any of them could and able to transform ''twice in roughly an hour'' - without any degradation or loss of control like when Eren transformed twice in a row - but yet ''still'' had enough energy left over to [[spoiler:take out Levi's team, defeat Eren's titan form and endure a beating from ''both Mikasa and Levi, one after the other'']].
744
745[[WMG: Bertolt's name foreshadows a further role in the story beyond the Colossal Titan]]
746Isayama is very fond of significant names, either as foreshadowing or telling something about the characters' personalities. Bertolt's name translates as either 'bright ruler' or 'bright strength', neither of which fit him, at least at the moment. If it's the first translation, my guess is that it ties into the other colossal Titans sealed in the walls, and maybe the First King himself. If it's the second translation, I lean more towards a boost in his courage and will via Heel-Face Turn.
747* Well, this ideas has mostly been nixed as of chapter 84 [[spoiler: as any sort of role Bertolt has in the future will be done posthumously; he's dead and Armin got his powers. ''However'', this doesn't mean that his part in this story is done, due to the [[CannibalismSuperpower way titan powers work in this series]]. Bertolt's essence (memories and everything that made him who he was) are now within Armin, and some scans from chapter 85 suggest that they're going to be having a big influence on Armin in the future.]]
748[[WMG: At least some of the protagonists will be made into Titans or Titan Shifters.]]
749An admittedly disturbing scenario to say the least, but one that's become a definite possibility as of the end of the ''Uprising'' arc (ch. 69). It's been shown with Ymir [[spoiler: and Eren]] that if a normal titan eats a Shifter, [[CannibalismSuperpower they gain the ability to turn back into humans, the Shifter's memories, and any other abilities the they might have had.]] Also, it's been confirmed that there is a serum that can turn a human into a Titan, and Levi now possesses a case containing an injector loaded with the concoction [[spoiler: a dying gift from his Uncle, Kenny Ackerman.]] Now that Eren's abilities are to damn valuable (the Coordiante and armor powers), having a few more Shifter's in the ranks would be a huge boon.
750
751The Beast Titan can also apparently turn normal humans into Titans, and sooner or later he'll have to be confronted.
752
753Add this all up, and there's a very real chance that someone in the cast might get turned into a titan. So who's that going to be?
754
755Levi and Mikasa are low on the list since they're both lethal enough on their own (and it's implied that the Ackerman line has some sort of resistance to whatever weird Hocus-Pocus drives the plot) but what about the rest of the crew? Even after all these horrible deaths, what could be worse than seeing Sasha, Connie, Jean, or even ''Armin'' becoming a mindless, ravenous eating machine, knowing that the only solution is to either kill them or feed them a Titan Shifter?
756
757Although... there ''is'' an awful lot of comparing people on either side of the Shifter conflict. If Sasha, Connie, Jean, and Armin became Titans, it'd set up a ''monstrously awful'' RedemptionEqualsDeath if Bertolt, Reiner, Annie, and Ymir step up to let themselves be eaten (since, of course, Mikasa won't let Eren do it). FourIsDeath, anyone?
758
759Though in Annie's case, they may use the threat to do so as a means to ensure her cooperation. That is, if they ever find a way to get her out of that darn crystal she sealed herself in.
760
761** [[spoiler: confirmed. Bertolt is dead and Armin is now a Titan Shifter. And it was defiantly wasn't a case of RedemptionEqualsDeath for Bertolt.]]
762
763[[WMG: The Titan Shifters' boss hates humans because they created normal Titans]]
764(This one ties into my Titans' Origins WMG "Normal Titans were a failed experiment to create Titan Shifters")
765
766Maybe the Titan Shifters' boss wants revenge because normal Titans, and by extension their creators (humanity), are responsible for the deaths of many Titan Shifters, and the "stealing" of their powers to boot. And it knows that the Titans are mindless aberrations, so it prefers to use them as tools whenever it can (including making more of them if inside the Walls, or recruiting the new Titan Shifters-from-Titans if young enough to easily brainwash them) and to focus its revenge on their creators, even if the latter no longer remember having created them.
767
768[[WMG: There's a "Horse" Titan shifter]]
769
770If you look a the drawing depicting the Titan wars, you can see the Female Titan, The "Mule" Titan and the Beast Titan fighting each other, in the background you can see a Titan Horse who's even more animalistic that the Beast Titan. Considering that there are 9 Titan powers of which 8 have been accounted for (Colossal Titan, Armored Titan, Female Titan, Beast Titan, Mule Titan, Dancing Titan, Founding Titan/"Coordinate" and Rogue/Attack Titan), there's at least one more Titan to be revealed.
771
772[[WMG: Nine of the main characters are direct descendents of the first nine shifters with individual abilities]]
773
774If you take out Mikasa and Levi, you're left with nine main characters - Eren, Armin, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Historia, Hanji, Erwin, and Ymir. Of them, [[spoiler: three]] of them ([[spoiler: Eren, Armin, and Ymir]] are already shifters, and we know that Historia belongs to one of the bloodlines that originally possessed one of the abilities. While [[spoiler: Erwin is dead]] he could easily be related to the unknown shifter that Grisha consumed in order to become a shifter rather than a mindless titan.
775* In that case, Jean will be revealed to be descended from the [[AscendedMeme Mule Titan]], since that's too good an opportunity for [[TrollingCreator Isayama]] to pass.
776
777[[WMG: Falco will obtain the Attack Titan.]]
778
779In Season 4, Episode 1 of the anime, [[spoiler: Falco is introduced suffering a concussion and mild memory loss. He mumbles, "Wasn't I flying around with a sword just now?" which seems like a good description of 3DM gear.]] Since he didn't have a titan during this time, him having a glimpse of memories like that implies that he was able to see memories from the past, like Eren was able to have dreams of the future prior to having Titan powers.
780
781
782Note that this wasn't in the manga, and we all know Isayama tends to add or edit things in the anime that makes sense further down the line.
783
784[[WMG: The female titan was not only inherited by men, but was ''primarily'' inherited by men before Annie.]]
785
786Each of the nine titans is named after their most iconic feature, but feminine titan forms- while rare- certainly aren't unheard of. A woman turning into a titan with a female appearance wouldn't really be significant enough to consider it a defining feature, while if the shifter was a man, it certainly would be. It makes sense that this titan's female appearance would be known to be a dominant trait through men consistantly exhibiting it.
787
788[[/folder]]
789
790[[folder: Theories about Grisha Yeager.]]
791'''Theories about Dr. Yeager and his research.'''
792
793[[WMG: Grisha and/or Frieda have been living inside Eren this whole time, and will perform a GrandTheftMe against the FinalBoss.]]
794Based off the ending to Manga/{{Claymore}}, where Teresa manifests in Clare's body to defeat Priscilla.
795
796[[WMG: Grisha was the Coordinate, and he got cold feet.]]
797Seeing the destruction of the Walls and what it cost him personally, he backed out of his role in the Titan Shifters' plan at the last minute, and may have injected Eren as a last-ditch effort at siding with Humanity.
798* Added possible evidence: Grisha wanted to show Eren what was in the basement after he expressed a desire to join the military. If what's in the basement is evidence of what Titans really are and the existence of Titan Shifters, he may have wanted to show Eren that killing Titans means killing innocent humans and the world isn't as black and white as he thought (and still thinks). Further, the Shifters haven't found their Coordinate, even after five years of infiltrating humanity: he's dead. Of course they wouldn't be able to have freedom to move around as trainees and look, so the coordinate would almost have to be someone who could come to them. Like a doctor.
799** Grisha stole his powers from the royal family, but never did anything with them except give them to Eren, who had never been told anything about it before that moment, but the Titan-Shifters had deliberately come to the Walls seeking someone who had that ability. It's also clear that Annie, Reiner, and Bertoldt don't actually have a solid plan beyond "get the Coordinate" (initially they even think Titan!Eren could be an ally of theirs, which means they don't have a way to communicate with their home base), but Annie tries to get close to the royal family, not realizing they're fakes. In other words, both Grisha and the Shifters had a similar knowledge base, but Grisha was on the ground and got further in his investigation than they did. His job was probably to steal the royal family's powers and get them into the Shifters' hands, but it all went tits-up.
800** Now we know for a fact that Titan-Shifting is conferred by eating a Titan-Shifter, but the Coordination ability could be, too. Which would suggest...
801
802[[WMG: Grisha was a Titan-Shifter, and he used the plague as an opportunity to get into the Walls.]]
803
804* Going with the above WMG, Grisha saved the people within the Walls from a plague and that's how he earned renown as a famous doctor. It would be easy for someone like Grisha (who, notably, chose to live right on the inside edge of the walls in the very same location the young Titan-Shifters would attack years later)to be the "only survivor" of a plague in a small settlement and "return" from outside the walls because he "went looking for a cure", or something similar.
805
806[[WMG: Grisha had a role in the conspiracy, but turned against it because Carla was killed.]]
807The basement is full of his collected knowledge of the conspiracy between the Wall Cult, the Royalty, and the Titan Shifters. He was aware of all of it and was either playing, or was meant to play, a role in the proceedings, possibly without his knowledge. His superiors called him away from his hometown because they ''knew'' it was going to be attacked when the Colossal Titan arrived, and something about the Shifter infiltration was too important to interrupt by leaving a man with the resources to route a Titan attack (the Coordinate/Coordination ability in a syringe) available to do so. In other words, he was called away for the same reason that the Scouting Legion was! He injected Eren to make him a Titan-destroying machine who could serve as an instrument not only of humanity's revenge against the Titans, but his own revenge against the puppetmasters who killed his wife.
808
809[[WMG: Eren ate his father, but doesn't remember doing so.]]
810In Chapter 53, Hange relates the experiment results to Eren. When Titan Eren was writing on the ground, he communicated something along the lines of "My father... to me." We know Eren has "episodes" when it comes to remembering his father, lending credence to the hardly-a-theory-at-this-point that Grisha has a MemoryGambit in the works (he does mention "their memories" will help you at one point). "My father injected the Coordinate to me? My father gave the Titan-shifting power to me?" Either way, something happened that night -- and after the initial injection, Eren is unable to control his Titan form and eats Grisha. It would explain why ''nobody'' seems to know where he is, despite him being a distinguished doctor, and why Hanji notes Titan Eren grieves immediately after writing about his father...because human!Eren repressed the memory, but not fast enough to repress titan!Eren.
811* Or Grisha just went off to the Titan Shifter's settlement?
812** That begs the question of why he would abandon his son and adopted daughter without explaining anything to them. If he was in on the conspiracy (and he would almost have to have been), what reason would he have to escape the conflict and leave his only family behind? Keep in mind, when he disappeared, Eren and Mikasa hadn't joined the army yet; if Mikasa had been able to talk Eren out of joining the army, they could have starved to death without ever finding out about Eren's Shifting ability.
813* [[spoiler: First part CONFIRMED.]]
814
815[[WMG: Eren is so important because his father ran off with all the research on Titan Shifters. Ymir and her people are the ''original'' Titans that all further research was based off.]]
816After the discovery of Titan Shifters, Dr Jaeger ran off with the remaining formula and all of his notes. Eren is so important since he's the latest "model" as it were and someone talked about the key around his neck. Many of the Titan Shifters were close friends and comrades of Eren and at the very least, they may have heard rumors that he knows how to access his father's work. The Titan Shifters also seem keen on acquiring Ymir who is patently unaffiliated with them, mainly because she may be a live sample of the original Titan or Titan Shifter line.
817
818
819[[WMG: The plague that Dr. Jaeger saved mankind from was the agent that makes Titans and/or Titan Shifters.]]
820The Titan Shifters either are, or are descended from, people who were exiled because they had or carried it. The Sasquatch Titan is basically spreading a disease, one that Grisha was able to identify, but not cure: the closest he could come was a ''vaccine'', which is what creates Titan Shifters. They're immune to becoming regular Titans because they can willingly become Titans! Grisha already knows that whatever Mikasa's got going for her will protect her, so his last act before fleeing the Walled City was to ''immunize his son''.
821
822[[WMG: The serum Eren's father injected him with is the perfected formula of what originally created the Titans.]]
823As the Rogue Titan, Eren is pretty much a unstoppable killing machine, utterly annihilating Titans left, right, and center, and not even slowing down when he loses a limb due to astoundingly fast regenerative capabilities. He can even match the Colossal, Armored and Female Titans blow for blow.
824So why does his form have absolutely perfect physique and performance?
825The serum his father injected him with is the perfected version of what created the Titans.
826Whatever the Titans, it is highly likely they were originally human at some point, further confirmed with Ymir and the titan in Connie's abandoned village. The malformed and mentally retarded Titans may have been test subjects for a serum designed to turn them into supersoldiers.
827
828[[WMG: Eren ate Grisha.]]
829Grisha was, presumably, alone with Eren when he injected him and turned him into a Titan, but what do Titans do on instinct? They eat humans, and Grisha would have been the only one around! Following that...
830* In Chapter 53, Eren shifts into his Titan form for experiments, and then grieves horribly after writing, "My father was _____ by me". ''Eaten'' would fit nicely.
831* The Chapter 53 line is a mistranslation. More accurately, it states that his father ''did'' something to him.
832* [[spoiler: Both confirmed.]]
833
834[[WMG: Grisha committed suicide-by-Eren.]]
835Grisha was a titan shifter all along (or at least for some amount of time before the fall of Zhiganshina), but was too overcome by grief after Carla died to continue doing... whatever he was doing. So he passed on the Shifter power to his son in the hope it would give him an edge, by turning him into a regular titan and letting it eat him.
836* [[spoiler:Mostly confirmed; Grisha was indeed a Titan Shifter and he indeed willingly let a Titanized Eren eat him, but whether or not it was because of grief over Carla's death or because he was nearing the end of his allotted 13 years to live as per the Curse of Ymir is unknown.]]
837
838[[WMG: The Central Brigade was after Grisha, and he is either dead or in custody.]]
839Grisha was a doctor living on the very edge of human territory, a place considered undesirable to live. But on the day that Shiganshina fell, he had been summoned ''to the Interior'' on some kind of important business and it seems as though this was not his first journey there. We know in the week following the loss of Wall Maria, the Reiss family was in a state of panic and the Central Brigade was doing damage-control and "clean up" operates such as the one that ended with Historia's mother being killed. During this same time, Grisha took his son out into the woods and gave him some of injection while behaving like he'd never see his son again. It was because he knew the Central Brigade was after him, and all he could do for Eren was give him the Titan's Power as protection and then get as far away from him as possible. Since then, Grisha has either been captured and held prisoner by them or was assassinated.
840
841[[WMG: Grisha was a member of the Reiss family or the Wall Cult.]]
842This explains how Grisha knew about the underground chapel and how he knew Frida was the current Coordinate. Assuming Lord Reiss was telling the truth about only members of the Reiss family being able to use the Coordinate power, if Grisha was a member of the Reiss family, this may explain how Eren could use that power to control titans. Alternatively, it's also possible that Carla was a member of the Reiss family or the cult, and simply told Grisha what she knew.
843* [[spoiler:''Technically'' confirmed; Chapter 86 reveals that Grisha had another wife before he met Carla - Dina Fritz, who was a member of the Fritz/Reiss royal family. So while he wasn't blood-related, Grishia ''was'' part of the Royal family by way of marriage.]]
844
845[[WMG: Whoever sent the Shifters into the Walls did so because Grisha never came back.]]
846
847Even for a ruthlessly evil group, sending three ''children'' into hostile territory is pretty drastic for a first attempt at espionage. What if they weren't, and ''Grisha'' was the first agent they sent?
848
849He goes in, steals the royal family's memory power and then.... what? Grisha never ''used'' what he had, and he only gave it to Eren after the Shifters had already broken through the Walls. It's possible that whatever he found in the memories of the Coordinate (the will of the king, possibly) either prevented him from following the orders given him by the Shifters' leaders, or made him hesitant about doing so (possibly because his wife had been killed by the Shifters and it destroyed whatever loyalty to them he had). When the Shifters broke into the Walls, Grisha knew they were coming for ''him'', so he hid it inside Eren, simultaneously hiding the Coordinate from the Shifters and erasing himself from the issue. He tells Eren to get back to the basement because he knew he couldn't explain anything to Eren without blowing the whole thing (and because Eren was a brash idiot as a child).
850
851[[WMG: Grisha stole the royal family's power when he left on his journey in the first chapter.]]
852
853ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Grisha tells Eren he'll show him what's in the basement when he gets back because he's on his way to go get definitive proof.
854
855[[WMG: Grisha married Carla as part of a long con, but fell in love with her.]]
856
857Carla is connected to the Reiss family, and he needed her information to find where the real royal family were hiding; he married her as a part of his infiltration/espionage of the Walls, but eventually he came to sincerely love her. However, he took too long in getting (or using) the information he wanted, and by the time he finally got what he was after, ERA had already let in the Titans and his wife was killed. He gave Eren the Coordinate ability and made him a Titan-Shifter both to keep it out of the Shifters' hands and to ease his guilt for Carla's death.
858
859[[WMG: Grisha found a way around Titan Shifter's[[spoiler: reduced lifespan.]]]]
860
861Think about it, would Grisha really inject [[spoiler: his own son]] with the titan serum if he knew those were the consequences? Grisha probably discovered a way to work around the serum's negative effects, or else believed that they didn't really exist.
862* Yes, he would. Grisha didn't have any other option. He didn't have any allies (at least it seems so) and he didn't have that much time 'till his own death. He had to inject Eren, only trustworthy person, or else all his effort would be wasted.
863
864[[/folder]]
865
866[[folder: Beast Titan Theories]]
867'''Theories about Monkey Trouble himself.'''
868-->Please Note: Theories about the Beast Titan being any particular person within the Walls have already been Jossed by its unfamiliarity with 3D Maneuver Gear.
869
870[[WMG: The Beast Titan is a Shifter, too.]]
871While it does seem impressed on how humans created the 3D Gear, he could still be human, just from another part of the world.
872* At least partially confirmed. It refers to itself as being "in the neck", confirming it has a pilot. Whether said pilot is ''human'' or not, now that's the question.
873* [[spoiler: Confirmed as of chapter 70.]]
874
875[[WMG: The Beast Titan is Grisha's first son and Eren's half brother]]
876After the reveal of picture in Chapter 85 and having a closer look at Zeke's introduction, we can make a strong assumption that he is the boy from Grisha's photograph. Zeke looks about 30. My guess about Grisha's timeline is:
877* At about age 19-20 he married (he looks pretty young on the picture) and conceived Zeke
878* He came near the walls when he was already in his 30's (Guess, 34?)That would put Zeke at about 15 yo. That's why he remembers his father pretty well
879* He married Carla soon after and conceived Eren.
880* So Zeke is twice as older as Eren now
881* Confirmed as of Chapter 86
882
883[[WMG: The Beast Titan was inherited by Historia's child]]
884But since the power of the titans was destroyed so soon after, no one ever knew. Had that not been the case, the child would probably have been the most powerful beast titan in history.
885
886[[/folder]]
887
888[[folder: Oddball/Crack Theories]]
889'''Unique theories! Crossovers, crack, and assorted other random stuff!'''
890
891[[WMG: ''Anime/AttackOnTitan'' is a DarkerAndEdgier remake of ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster''.]]
892The characters of the movie are similar to those in the anime. Levi is Kirby (NO NOT THAT ONE), Jean is Radio, Eren is Toaster, and Keith Shadis is definitely the Air Conditioner! Also, the scene where Hannes runs into the SlasherSmile Titan is almost exactly the same as Toaster's nightmare sequence. Also, "Worthless" gets even more dark and depressing when you replace the cars with severely injured soldiers, and the crusher with a Titan!
893
894[[WMG: Eren and the Coordinate]]
895It seems likely that the substance Eren was injected with was NOT the Coordinate. Rather, it was what made him a Shifter. Why? First of all, Mikasa. There's enough evidence to suggest that her abilities are tied to Eren's nature, given the constant brain flash montages during the fight with the kidnappers, as well as just before Titan Eren makes his debut. Remember, Mikasa's rescue took place before the injection. Presumably, anyway; it's hard to tie down the precise timing of these things since all we have is a dream sequence. Also, remember Grisha's words: "Get to the basement. This power will help you then [...] their memories will help you use it [either Coordination or Shifting]." Grisha just made him a Shifter to ensure he would survive long enough to be able to use his innate Coordination abilities. The bit about memories is a tad more ambiguous. It could mean that the memories of other Shifters somewhere, which he could access with his mental link due to being the Coordinate, would teach him how to Shift. This has some evidence backing it up, like Eren not understanding how he knows to bite his thumb...
896
897[[WMG: The nature of the Wall Cult]]
898It's been long assumed that the Wallists were part of the internal conspiracy, but I'd say that as of right now that's pretty well Jossed, given Nick's fate and how his character was generally portrayed. One possibility is this, going from the assumption that Shifters were created as a weapon by humanity: when the first war ended, humanity agreed to remain trapped within a prison, and to destroy their Shifter army by killing them and using them to create the Walls. But they lied. Instead, the Shifters were kept alive, but dormant, waiting for the time to come, and the Wallists were founded to watch over the army and keep it a secret from Sasquatch and co. That's why they're so terrified of "desecrating" the Wall, and why they refer to the Walls as a gift from God to save them from the Titans: they ARE humanity's saviors, just not in their current form as Walls. And if the Shifters were to wake up prematurely, the Titans would learn the truth and destroy humanity once and for all. The only remaining questions are A. who IS the enemy within the Walls, and B. what are the motivations of the Hometown Trio and their allies? They don't seem, as I once speculated, to be affiliated with the Wallists, or Annie would have been careful not to damage the Wall as she did. But their goal is clearly not to outright attack or destroy humanity, because that would have been trivially easy: destroy Shinganshina, destroy Trost, destroy Stohess, humanity's done.
899
900[[WMG: The Walls are a three-layered [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Transmutation Circle]]]]
901Weird cult, government conspiracy, super-powered humanoids... it all fits!
902
903[[WMG: Mikasa kicks so much ass because...]]
904We are told in the story that she is the last person with Oriental blood in the world. Her name is clearly Japanese. Her mother, in the brief time we knew her, told Mikasa that her family has skills that have been passed down for generations. Conclusion: Mikasa is a {{Ninja}} descendent. Therefore, she is the last ninja in the world, and thus, she is THE walking, talking incarnation of ConservationOfNinjutsu to the extreme.
905
906[[WMG: Mikasa is not a ninja, but...]]
907She is a descendant of [[Manga/FistoftheNorthStar Ryuu]] which would give her [[SuperpowerLottery blood of Hokuto and (possibly) Nanto]]
908
909[[WMG: Additionally, the reason why Asians such as Mikasa are valued so much by slave traders is...]]
910..that the ancient Asian race and arts of Ninjutsu were once considered by the Government to be the last hope against the Titans. The development of 3D Manoeuvre Gear and its arts of leaping around through the trees and rooftops were more clearly inspired by Ninjutsu, rather than the classical European style of building bigger cannons and bombs and winning through brute technological force instead. The original plan wasn't to sell Mikasa to just some rich perverts, but rather for a SuperBreedingProgram. The aristocracy took note of this and thought that the Asian {{Super soldier}}s are going to replace the old useless European race, and thus these "rich perverts" wanted to kidnap and breed with Asian women so that their aristocratic property is still preserved even when those bloodlines have Asians with them. Eren interfered with the kidnappers' plans, and the Titan Shifters provided an alternative to the supersoldier program.
911* Now imagine [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Titan Shifter Ninjas]]. The ultimate supersoldiers.
912
913[[WMG: Master Xehanort is the real villain]]
914He personally trained all the Titan Shifters. We see it happening first hand at the start of the series!
915
916[[WMG: The series takes place in the future of VideoGame/AoOni]]
917* People who die within the confines of the oni's house rise and become oni themselves, each having a misshapen and UncannyValley look that highly resembles most of the Titans. It's possible that the oni were the first proto-Titans, and they can define pieces of territory such that any human that dies there turns into an oni/Titan themselves. Any changes in size and pigmentation could be the result of the Titans being several generations removed from the original blue oni.
918** One 3M Class Titan in particular [[http://media.tumblr.com/a79937a576b660af03a2a9cc251f3024/tumblr_inline_mqf8mplPZB1re3zwl.png highly resembles]] the Ao Oni. Furthermore, author Hajime Isayama has linked a Japanese LetsPlay video on his blog in 2011.
919** This could explain why the Asian population has been heavily decimated, Japan was ground zero.
920
921[[WMG: This world is in the same universe as ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'']]
922* On another world, faced with the growing technology of spiral powers and waist mountain grappling hooks, the anti-spirals, or even a spiral warrior placed the Titans to contain their race in the three Walls. Whenever a spiral warrior, also known as a Titan Shifter, arises, the spiral king of this world sends his men to capture them.
923
924[[WMG: Titans are [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Witches/Warlocks]] and/or their Familiars.]]
925Surprised that one hasn't come up yet.
926* Unlikely, considering this is a somewhat sci-fi setting the injections being the lead on the whole biological weapon concept.
927** Not as unlikely as you might think (outside the meta, anyway). [[spoiler: Madoka's wish unmade and then remade the universe. There's nothing to suggest that another magical girl couldn't do the same, or that Madoka was the first magical girl to do it.]] For example, some particularly savvy one might have wished for humans to have a Barrier, too, and it resulted in the Walled City. The equivalent despair couldn't be contained by just one Soul Gem, so it was released into the universe as the Titans we know, and the Titan Shifters are the Puella Magi of that world.
928
929[[WMG:Mikasa and Levi will turn out to be human-sized Titan Shifters]]
930With miniature 'pilots' in their neck. And Eren will discover Mikasa's 'pilot' after she seemingly got eaten by a Titan and carry her in his pocket for a [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Crowning Moment Of Funny]].
931
932[[WMG: Shingeki no Kyojin is a sequel to Watchmen]]
933
934This is based on Isayama's statement that Erwin and Levi are inspired by Ozymandias and Rorschach, respectively. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he only meant in terms of character design, but stil, it's fun to speculate. Warning, spoilers for ''Watchmen'' abound.
935
936Ozymandias' plan with the squid failed to create world peace. People quickly forgot about it; the threat wasn't constant and deadly enough. Undeterred, Ozy created a new monster that would more actively attack humans, existed solely to attack humans, and could spread across the entire world. Thus the Titans were born The first Titans were more beast-like and intelligent, such as the Beast Titan, but eventually Ozy discovered a way to create Titans from human beings.
937
938The Titans were a resounding success -- too successful. The Beast Titans rebelled against their creator and began creating human Titans of their own, at a much faster rate than Ozy had intended. They decimated humanity before humans could get a chance to truly unite against them. Realizing he'd made a mess of things, Ozy used genetic engineering to keep himself young and immortal, and lived for centuries trying to come up with a solution to the Titan problem. In this current era, he is living as Commander Erwin Smith of the Survey Corps. And for help, since he can't do this alone, he created a clone of Rorschach using Rorschach's genetic material, and that clone is Levi. Levi doesn't remember being Rorschach and has no idea Ozy created him, which is all the better for Ozy/Erwin. He just needs Rorschach's skill at cutting things up and cold-blooded killing. I don't know if the Shifters are something Ozy/Erwin is responsible for, too.
939
940The series will end with Doctor Manhattan deigning to return to Earth and fixing the Titan problem with a deus ex machina.
941
942[[WMG:Instrumentality]]
943* The three Walls were created by the Wall Cult to form a massive [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Transmutation Circle]]...which will transform all the humans and Titans iunto a giant [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Rei Ayanami]]. Don't tell me I'm the only one who's thinking it.
944
945[[WMG: Heterosexual People Cannot Become Titan Shifters]]
946Ymir is a lesbian, Bertholdt and Reiner are bisexual, Eren is asexual, and Annie could be any of the above, considering her lack of romantic interest in anyone. This is why Dr. Jaeger didn't choose Mikasa to become a Titan Shifter, despite her being smarter and a better fighter than Eren; she's straight. Likewise, all of the normal Titans we see are straight people, who can never become Shifters.
947* That may lead to some UnfortunateImplications, considering four out of those five are trying to kill humanity.
948* Wait, when was it ever confirmed that Bertholdt was bisexual? He was never shown to be attracted to any men and Reiner teases him for having a crush on Annie. I know that Bertholdt/Reiner/Annie is a very popular pairing, but let's not jump to conclusions here. Also, a small nitpick, Ymir is less trying to kill humanity and more saving her own skin.
949** There's a particular scene where Reiner teases Bertholdt about how Bertholdt is always staring at Annie and so he knows Bertholdt has a crush... but when he says that, Bertholdt is very pointedly staring ''at Reiner'', and is often staring at Reiner whenever they share a scene. There's a lot of reasons for this, but saying that he's ''never'' been shown to have an attraction to a male character is a little bit of a stretch...
950
951
952[[WMG: Attack of Titan takes place in the same universe as Judge Dredd]]
953Everyone is living in the ruins of the old world after everything got nuked to hell in massive cities. The people in the Walls is another city except they forgot about the past and regressed technologically/or the government is lying and repressing them. The area the story takes place in was hit less hard by nuclear bombs and is thus able to support life again, compared to the wastelands of Mega City-One. The Titans are a new breed of mutants that have a hatred of regular humans from not letting them in hundreds of years ago.
954
955So everyone wants to leave the Walls of the city in ''Attack on Titan'' because it can actually support life, the order of the Wall though know the ugly truth though that although their area is nice the rest of the world is a wasteland.
956
957[[WMG: Armin is He-Man]]
958Possibly his parents returned back to their planet. When he was old enough his parents took him and raised him to be Prince Adam.
959
960[[WMG: The Titans have another weak spot besides the base of their necks]]
961In Chapter 9, Reiner makes a comment about shoving a sword up their asses, as it's the second of only 2 weaknesses they have. Of course, we haven't actually seen that happen, so for all we know it might actually work.
962
963[[WMG: Titan Shifters have no genitals in their human forms as well]]
964There are currently five Titan Shifters we know about. Four out of them prefer to hide their abilities, and therefore will not mention this fact. The fifth one is Eren, who is young enough (15) to have never seen a naked human before. This is also why Eren ignores Mikasa's advances, and why Ymir only expresses her feeling towards Historia by touching her cheek. Titan Shifer love is platonic, they can never get past innocent fondling. One problem with this theory though, in many armies, there are shared showers, which would have been a chance for Eren to see another naked male, or vice versa. It is however possible that customs are different on the SNK world.
965* So, since it's already pretty much established that (at least most) Shifters are regular Titans who regained their sense of self, and those regular Titans are in turn normal humans who were turned into them, it would mean that being turned into a Titan somehow vanishes your genitals even in your human form?
966** It could be quite poetic, to get your "second life" as a Titan, you must give up the ability to create life.
967*** Wouldn't Eren have noticed his junk went missing? He didn't start out as a Titan Shifter, after all.
968*** He would if it happened after his first transformation in the manga, but it's hinted that Eren has been a Shifter longer, after having been injected with something by Grisha, and his memories about it are unclear, so it is somehow possible he forgot how his body looked like before. The biggest problem with this theory is still the lack of privacy in the army. Even forgetting Eren,''someone'' should have noticed it. Wouldn't there be physical check-ups or the like?
969*** How do we know he didn't start as a Shifter? Maybe he did and was adopted. For all we know, his dad's injection could have delayed shifting, or given him his "coordinate" abilities.
970*** We know he didn't start as a Shifter and wasn't adopted because:
971*** He has a strong resemblance to his mother. Adoptive parents love their kids as much as any biological parent, but he looks ''exactly like her'', that's not a coincidence.
972*** His lack of interest in Mikasa (or her YMMV advances) simply boils down to her being his adoptive sister. It's made pretty clear that Eren views and treats her like a sister, and despite what some shows/books might portray, the ''vast'' majority of adoptive siblings look at each other the same way as regular blood siblings. He's just not sexually attracted to his ''sister''.
973*** If his father's injection delayed the shifting, Eren wouldn't have any reason to not remember it happening. Grisha wouldn't have had to tie him down or be insane if what he was giving Eren was treatment for a condition because he's a doctor, he does that kind of thing all the time. It wouldn't have been unusual enough for Eren to block out the memory and only half-remember it in a nightmare, and it wouldn't have called for Grisha completely disappearing from his life for no apparent reason.
974*** If he had been a Shifter when his mother was killed, he would have shifted to save her. He shifted the first time because he had a breakdown over realizing he had finally lost everything he'd gained since his mother had been killed. When Carla died, he had the same thing happen. Since we know the thumb biting/blood loss thing is instinctual, if he had been capable of it, he would have done it then.
975*** Some things in SNK army are very different from other armies, for example, the fact that the best troops can do police duty instead of combat/guard duty, in most armies this is the opposite, there are special high class combat units, not police ones. Maybe this is different as well? I admit this is beginning to look like a stretch, though.
976*** If nothing else I find it highly unlikely that Hange wouldn't have noticed this; we're never explicitly shown Hange's examinations of Eren, at least nothing to suggest she performed a strip search, but really, I think it would be out of character for her not to poke and prod Eren in every way she could to examine the full effects of his transformation, and she seems the type of person to have considered this WMG herself and saught to confirm it.
977
978[[WMG: Titan origins, most of the Humans outside the Walls didn't get killed by the Titans and were used to farm the Titans today, The three goddesses of the Walls are the villains and the Wall Cult is to keep this a secret, and Grisha Yeager is the Beast Titan]]
979* So, we know that when the Titans appeared, they started eating people. But you see, if the Beast Titan was able to turn humans into Titans, then where did the Titan shiftes come from? What if the three goddesses, Maria, Sheena, and Rose are the real villains and turned a select few people into Titan Shifters while turning a massive group of humans into Titans so they can eliminate humanity? If they're goddesses, then they should be able to break the laws of physics, because the properties of Titans go against the laws of physics, and in particular, mass-related laws and the SquareCubeLaw.
980** Maybe there were prototype Titans who were made so that they broke the laws of physics to be more dangerous.
981* What if Grisha Yeager, Eren's father, is the Beast Titan? The Beast Titan is the only Titan we know for sure that can turn other humans into Titans, and Grisha Yeager was the one who gave Eren the injection that turned him into a Titan Shifter.
982** He was "acting weird since mom died" according to Eren and was crying while he gave Eren the Titan injection, so maybe it was because he felt guilty that he's related to all this.
983* What if the humans that died when the Titans first showed up weren't actually killed, but used to give birth to more children for Titan farming?
984** It's a bit strange that all of Asia was eaten, but other races still exist.
985
986[[WMG: Sasha is Latvian]]
987{{Webcomic/Polandball In Latvia, no potato to give.}}
988
989[[WMG: The Titans are [[Literature/{{Mistborn}} koloss]]. ]]
990Albeit ones with the ability to [[Main/HealingFactor burn Feruchemical gold.]] Their spikes are clustered at the back of the neck. (Also they're made from the Hemalurgic essences of a lot more than...what was it, five humans? Either that or they're really, really old, at least for the big ones.) They eat humans because...I dunno. They're just like that. Oh, wait, no. There's a super-powerful Soother out there somewhere, probably affiliated with Mr. Sasquatch, controlling them all, which is why they never kill each other. And Titan Shifters have something to do with Feruchemy. The six-meter in the side story talking about Ymir, and some of the theories surrounding it, really reminded me of Human and his interactions with Vin.
991
992
993[[WMG: Marco is the real head villain]]
994Not particularly likely, but there are several things that are a little... strange. Though, if anything, he would be an extremely AffablyEvil villain.
995* Annie ''never'' elaborates on the circumstances of his death, only claiming to have "found" his gear somehow.
996* His death isn't shown on-screen.
997* His body isn't found until two days into the clean-up, and given its state, could have even been faked. Jean wouldn't want to look too closely, after all.
998* It's anime. It wouldn't be the first time that [[{{Manga/Naruto}} the harmless, nice background character that died to advance a more involved jerk's characterization ended up being the main villain.]]
999* There's been a lot time spent on him early on, but nearly none afterwards. Granted, this could just be for pacing, but it could also be to lull the readers into somewhat forgetting his importance.
1000* ...Yeah, I got nothing else. But it would be a rather big twist, especially after all the Titan Shifters that have been introduced.
1001** [[http://hatagay.tumblr.com/post/71989688062/gym-addict-597-captainarlert-ereminis You could well be onto something...]]
1002* [[http://zombiesandporn.tumblr.com/post/79128098005/okay-why-has-no-one-mentioned-this-yet Huh.]]
1003* This might be Jossed by Annie's visual novel, where she monologues that she caused Marco's death as well as the other Trost victims. For the theory to be correct it would mean his mission is unrelated to the Shifter trio's.
1004** She could be an UnreliableNarrator
1005*** The visual novel really shouldn't be considered reliable in terms of what it says about the manga and the anime. For one thing the corpse she apologizes to is stated to be some otherwise non-canon character named Ruth, when in the anime it isn't shown, and in the manga, it's Mina.
1006* Am I the only person who noticed that dead "Marco" ''doesn't have freckles''?
1007** He actually does have Freckles. The lighting just make them hard to see.
1008
1009[[WMG: Jean and Marco are both Titan Shifters not associated with Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie]]
1010Because it would be hilarious if it turns out that all of the very top students sans Mikasa were Titans. Also, of all the remaining human trainee soldiers, Jean and Marco are the only ones whose pasts have not been revealed or hinted at. This was why Jean was so surprised that Marco had died since he could have shifted into a Titan and saved himself. Or alternatively, he revealed his Titan self to Annie and she killed him, cutting off the side of him that had Titan markings to hide his secret.
1011
1012[[WMG: The Titans were created by whoever created [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion the Angels]]]]
1013You heard right. Whoever created the Angels eventually decided to create the Titans. This is assuming the events of Episodes 25 and 26 of ''Evangelion'' are the canon episodes in this series and not ''End of Evangelion''. The Titans were created as much more aggressive beings than the Angels, and gave them a taste for human flesh. The original Colossal Titan (before the DNA was forcibly injected into Bertolt) defeated the Eva units, killed yet another Rei clone, and forced Shinji and Asuka into hiding while Gendo hunted them down for their failure. This led to the two of them to send another Rei clone into an alternate dimension, a clone who adopted a new yet similar look and the alias [[Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya Yuki Nagato]]. This clone was meant to lead the last of humanity to a new home, but was sidetracked by Haruhi. Meanwhile, the world fell into ruin, and efforts by NERV and SEELE to stop the Titans were in vain. 800 years later, the Titans are now the dominant species, and this led to the events of ''Attack on Titan''.
1014
1015How does the Rei clone/Yuki fit into this? A small portion of the DNA used to create the Rei clones was stolen by the aliens and used to create the Titans. No one is sure how, not even Shinji and Asuka, but somehow, the aliens pulled it off.
1016
1017[[WMG: Isayama was inspired by a boxcutter]]
1018He was going to just make the iconic weapons a pair of katana but then he saw boxcutters on his table and decided to swing them both around in his room making "whoosh" noises as he pretends to kill titans. I'm just waiting for him to admit it on camera.
1019
1020[[WMG: Titans are an instance of SCP-3288.]]
1021Even before the serious mutations, SCP-3288s were very violent against humans. Now, they’ve mutated so much that they started growing. And growing…
1022
1023[[WMG: The leaders should've studied Sasha to understand the Titans]]
1024Sasha strikes one as a little odd with her fixation on food and eating. Not only is she a cloud-cuckolander she had a rather weird way of describing why she ate the potato, Providing the potato a safe shelter in her stomach. Perhaps if humanity studied her habits and psychology, they'd have a better time understanding the psychology of the Titans and why they behave the way they do.
1025
1026[[WMG: Once Eren learns to fully control his Titan form, he will get a set of giant 3D gear.]]
1027For no other reason than the fact that RuleOfCool demands it.
1028
1029[[WMG: The series takes place in the future of {{VideoGame/Prototype}} .]]
1030The Titans and Titan Shifters are just peoples infected by an upgraded version of the Blacklight virus.
1031
1032[[WMG: The series taes place in the future of TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}]]
1033Or, technically, in the vaperware Equinox series. Humans have colonized other planets(tying in with above theories regarding the series taking place somewhere other than earth. The human population slaughtered the metahumans and most magic users, who in retaliation, infected the human population with a mutated strain of HMHVV; the Titan strain. The Coordinate ability is the result of awakening, and Mikasa and Levi's incredible physical prowess is due to them being physical adepts.
1034
1035[[WMG: Eren is a transman]]
1036Eren looks almost exactly like his mother with short hair. This becomes even more true as he gets older and the art improves. In the manga he even has her eye colors. It seems unlikely that he would inherit his father sex and nothing else. Almost all of Grisha's genes are recessive and Eren is a trans boy and presents as such from a really young age. He is on hormones and that is why he has a deeper voice and broader shoulder. He still has his ovaries as his titan power would how prevent him from getting rid of them.
1037** ...Hormones? In a culture whose most advanced technology is steam-powered and their most important achievement in medicine is a spinal tap? Really?
1038
1039[[WMG: Attack on Titan takes place in the future of {{Creator/SNK}}'s universe.]]
1040Old school fighting game fans like me get confused whenever we see people calling Attack on Titan "SNK". So to put the confusion to rest, let's just say they actually take place in the same universe.
1041
1042[[WMG: Titans are a symbiotic life form]]
1043The "Earth Devil" encountered by Ymir Fritz was some kind of a shape-shifting etheral life form, which entered a symbiosis with human beings, using their cerebral cortex while providing immence power and regeneration abilities.
1044
1045[[WMG: Eren's ''ultimate'' ultimate goal is to fight Hajime Isayama.]]
1046It only makes sense. The Fighting Titan's only goal is to continue fighting for freedom, and what is the ultimate freedom but to pull a Deadpool and kill the person responsible for shackling your life to a plotline?
1047
1048[[/folder]]
1049
1050[[folder: Unsorted, For Everything Else]]
1051
1052[[WMG: The Mysterious Girl is Faye Yeager]]
1053All connected via the Paths that connect every Subject of Ymir, as well as the Attack Titan's ability to see past and future events, this mysterious girl actually met Eren -- likely the future, grown up Eren -- and they talked, with the [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble eventual meeting of them in the past]] occuring at the end of the series. Eren, having inherited his father's memories, knows what happened (and will happen) to her, and that's why the young Eren, even before getting the Attack Titan and its event-seeing ability, somehow recalls this girl and her tragic life. Because of those paths, and that's why he cried after waking up.
1054
1055[[WMG:Eren is the father of Historia's child]]
1056Recall what Eren talks about when contemplating is plan and future in a flashback. He notes that he only has about four more years left in his term, and actually talks about thinking of having a child of his own. And this was around the time when he revealed to Floch and Historia his ''true'' plan, ten months before the plan was fulfilled. And there is no direct indication that the man Historia chose as her consort is really the biological father of the baby.
1057
1058[[WMG: Marleyan history is actually a vision from the future.]]
1059In the 88th chapter Grisha Jaeger got a message to protect Armin and Mikasa, despite the fact that neither probably was born yet.
1060This means that paths can carry messages throughout time. It might be possible that seventeen centuries of ethnic cleansing are the worlds future, and there will not be a '''''single strain of non-eldian hair left.'''''
1061
1062[[WMG: Titans are plasma]]
1063Small quantity of water is extracted from the human "pilot" body to form a disperse plasma cloud shaped and propelled by electromagnetic field. It would explain the extraordinary light weight of titan body parts, instant creation and regeneration of titans, as well as arc discharge during transformation.
1064
1065[[WMG: The Coordinate ''can'' control other ethnic groups as long as the wielder is a member of that group]].
1066The people of the Walls all belong to a single race that is susceptible to the Coordinate, which is why other racial groups are frowned upon and actively prevented from thriving by the Reiss family conspiracy. However, while the race of the Walls citizens is mentioned, it is never mentioned what race the Reiss family is. It is possible that if someone from another group--say an Asian--obtained the Coordinate and was able to use it, that person would only be able to control Asians, and it applies to others too. Reiss is a European name--which is probably why they filled their territory with people of their matching race.
1067
1068[[WMG: The entire setting was all just a social experiment.]]
1069So, this is the far future. The people we see were sent down to a now-uninhabited Earth, cleared of their memories, and placed in a dire situation so others could study how they would react. The Titans were specifically created to serve as the main threat, thus why they only attack and affect humans; and the experimentees were given very specific tools to defeat them, thus the SchizoTech. Most of humanity actually just lives in space colonies orbiting the Earth. This is what the government conspiracy actually is.
1070
1071[[WMG: Becoming a Titan--at least by the injection route--is [[PainfulTransformation incredibly painful]].]]
1072Of the three non-Shifter transformations, Frieda and Eren's by injection are clearly unpleasant. Eren goes from sobbing in fear and confusion to outright screaming in what looks like terrible pain before he transforms. Frieda is even more blatant due to her hesitation and sobbing...and the fact that when she transforms, her Titan's face is contorted in a silent wail.
1073
1074[[WMG: Ymir was aware of the Coordinate and its connection to the Reiss family, and was hoping Historia would be made to eat Eren.]]
1075Ymir is willing to go to great lengths to protect Historia, and she takes Reiner's words about the Walls having no future to heart, sparking her attempt to take Historia over to the Warrior's territory. But upon seeing Eren's ability to control the Titans, she reacts with both shock and relief, and is willing to leave Historia within the Walls she said were doomed just minutes ago. Indeed, she declared that a future is possible...''while looking right at Historia''. With everything Ymir knows about the true state of affairs both within and outside the Walls, it's almost guaranteed she knew about the "Savior" Titan and its power over human minds--along with the method its descendants used to keep the power in the family. Knowing what she does about the Reiss family, Ymir most likely counted on them hunting down her and Eren and forcing her to eat him, allowing her to gain the Titan power and the Coordinate, which would keep her safe during whatever would come later. It's unlikely that she knew about the "possession" that the Coordinate wielders underwent as a result of gaining the power, although it's not impossible, since she has shown her desire to protect Historia and Historia's own wants and needs aren't always on the same page. It would amusingly ironic, since it was memories of Ymir that ''stopped'' Historia from doing just that.
1076[[WMG: The Titan that attacked and ate that other Titan in Chapter 39 did so because its victim's "pilot" was slightly more intact than your average Titan.]]
1077In the opening pages of Chapter 39 we clearly see a Titan shove another to the ground and then begin violently attempting to dismember it, ripping off its ear and pulling at is hair. [[spoiler: Now that we know Titans target Shifters as they primary prey, because eating them returns them to their human form]], it could be that the human inside the attacked Titan hadn't been completely absorbed yet, thus making it the closest thing to a Shifter the other Titan had encountered, and it went for it.
1078[[WMG: Rod Reiss isn't going to eat Eren himself. He's going to have ''Historia'' do it.]]
1079In order to gain Eren's Coordinate power, he would have to turn himself into a Titan and ''then'' eat Eren. If something went wrong (such as Eren escaping, Scouting Legion interference, etc), he would be faced with being a dangerous monster forever until someone [[MercyKill kills him]]. No matter how much one wants power, the risk is just too high. It makes more sense for Reiss to offer it to Historia so that she will become a Titan and devour Eren, gaining the Coordinate power. Then, he has the power contained in someone who is implicitly close to him -- his daughter. Her father could offer to recognize her as a legitimate heir or simply to provide the love and belonging she's been looking for her whole life if only she sacrifices her humanity and one of her friends. With the resources the Reiss faction has at their disposal, it's not unlikely that they have access to at ''least'' one sample of the Titan serum, or whatever it is that makes humans into Titans in the first place.
1080 *[[spoiler: Confirmed!!]]
1081[[WMG: Kaney Ackerman is a BoxedCrook.]]
1082Levi mentions that he was a notorious SerialKiller, and he seems to have specialized in military police, as he killed over a hundred of them and was never caught. However, ''something'' happened, causing him to act as an extremely deadly enforcer for the monarchist conspiracy. It could be that he ''was'' caught, but those pulling the strings behind the scenes saw a use for someone with his, er, skillset, and promised him a stay of execution if he joined their group. Whether or not he's come to believe in their cause like Sannes, or is just a PsychoForHire remains to be seen.
1083** Partially confirmed; he was a genuine serial killer before being asked to join them to fulfill a mysterious "dream" of his.
1084
1085[[WMG: Levi and Mikasa are related]]
1086The reason why they kick so much ass is that they're the last Asians on Earth who have inherited the Ninja gene. Therefore, they are THE walking, talking incarnations of ConservationOfNinjutsu to the extreme. They also have a striking resemblance, maybe it's just TheStoic demeanour, and the narrowed eyes characteristic on Asians are more apparent in him.
1087* Their being related to each other is strongly supported in Chapter 56 when we learn Levi's last name is Ackerman.
1088** But Levi may be only related to her via her paternal side. Her maternal side is the Asian one. I think he's Jewish-German or something.
1089* When Mikasa was younger, we see her mother bandage up her arm after tattooing the traditional symbol of their 'clan' onto it. The cover for "A Choice With No Regrets" shows Levi wearing a similar bandage on his arm...
1090* Confirmed. They are related by blood, somehow.
1091
1092[[WMG: Alternatively, some Japanese survived through the Titan crisis, and the characters never knew about it]]
1093Japan has ninjas (better suited for 3D Maneuvering) and it's on an island (less risk of being crossed by Titans), so why not? Also, the super-sharp blades used for cutting through Titan flesh? Clearly based on the [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]].
1094
1095[[WMG: The story doesn't actually place on Earth.]]
1096It takes on planet similar to Earth that was colonized by humans in the past since Earth was either getting destroyed or overpopulated.
1097
1098[[WMG: Other Humans may still exist]]
1099We know that they say most of humanity was eaten, but what about areas separated by oceans and seas? The idea of having other races seems to been forgotten, so most likely any kind of contact between nations separated by sea is gone and they simply forgot those countries existed. It is possible Titans did not appear there or they made Walls like the main series.
1100* Since it is 9th century Germany [Due to Eren Jaeger's name being derived from the German phrase [roughly translated in English: They are the prey, we are the hunters]. While Asia itself was established to have been wiped out in Mikasa's flashback, there is no reason to doubt the ability of the Native American tribes to actually transform into Titans.
1101** That's entirely speculation, there is no canon statement on when the series takes place, and even if it did, it's an ''alternate history''. And anyway, it's German. Do you really insist a manga should scour early (read: largely ''dead'') Germanic languages to find an authentic phrase to serve as the series' arc words, even if that would make it entirely inaccessible to its audience?
1102* Also, settlements in steep mountains. It's not impossible, and think about how narrow and steep some of those paths can get. Titans simply wouldn't be able to get up there, so the humans have another safe haven in that sense.
1103** The locations part of this is Jossed, they go over it in the manga. Titans don't need paths and most of them are pretty good climbers, if they can climb at all; the villages in the mountains were hit first, and the original humans to settle the Walls had to go across the sea to do it. Titans exist wherever there are humans.
1104* Well, in terms of mountains, if they were settlements on something like, say, the Anhui Province Mountains, then the cliffs ''would'' be completely sheer at points, and thus safe from Titans. We know that it's possible for primitive people to scale them, because people ''did'' scale them and carve statues into them.
1105** There is no place safe from Titans. Titans are people. If there are people, there are Titans.
1106* This is further supported by the fact that the First King altered humanity's memories in order to unite them. What better way to unite them than to convince them that they are the last remnants of the human race? There may be entire settlements similar to their own outside of their walls.
1107** The First King altered ''what was left of'' humanity's memories. Most of the world had been wiped out or turned into Titans by then. So far the only culture implied to exist outside the walls is whatever culture sent the Shifters.
1108* Confirmed, in fact the "titan apocalypse" is actually localized to Paradis Island. In fact the culture sent the Shifters, aka Marley, is shown to be struggling to maintain there dominance a world power. Finally Willy Tybur is seen meeting with numerous forgiegn representatives.
1109[[WMG: Mikasa will become a Titan]]
1110Not a Shifter, either. She's already tapped into her brain for absolute control. She's been getting head pains that may not have been from wounds (I can't see any). Something will happen that will trigger her transformation into a Titan. As suggested by the Beast Titan, they too have humans in the napes of their necks. Being enveloped too deep in emotions bonds you with your Titan (think back to Eren's smiling face as he recovered from his first Titan transformation), making you irretrievable and indistinguishable from the flesh in the neck. Mikasa freaking out about Eren will become a Titan this way.
1111* In Episode 2 of the anime (subbed), the observer notes that "there are some he doesn't say a word to. Those who already had their rite of passage do not need it." The camera then pans across 6 people: Annie, Mikasa, Bertholdt & Reiner, Eren, and Ymir. One of these things is not like the other...YET.
1112
1113
1114[[WMG: Ancient WMG -- Mikasa is somehow part Titan.]]
1115Concocted after reading the first few chapters, now completely defunct (maybe). It would've explain her bizarre strength (as it didn't seem to be "comedic anime girl strength"), plus her (at the time) unexplained parentage -- because no one is ever adopted in fiction unless they have a mysterious plot-relevant past. I held onto the theory even once her backstory was revealed, because honestly, who can break a floorboard just from the pressure of jumping off it? Maybe it was the result of some crazy science experiment, or maybe Titans actually had some way of reproducing, and she was half-Titan or Titan-in-human-form? Of course, now that [[spoiler:everyone and their mom is turning into Titans]], this may still come true in a round about sort of fashion.
1116* I've reread the chapters, and I'm inclined to agree. There was a panel which shows her brain doing...something, and she might actually be a perfected weapon of some sort. Also that number carved into her by her mother is very suspicious. At the very least, Mikasa has been genetically modified.
1117** It might also explain why Titan Eren attacked her the second time he changed, the same way the Titans tried to eat Eren even while he was in Titan form...
1118** It could also make sense if Grisha had something to do with it. There's no way Mikasa would ever allow Eren to be experimented on... but she might not interfere if she could be assured it would work by offering herself as a guinea pig first.
1119* Could also be why Dr. Jaeger visited Mikasa's residence when she was young.
1120** There's not a whole lot of proof to back this up, but I think it's weird that Mikasa and her mother were living in a place full of people with Germanic surnames but were still the last of their kind. The revelation that the Walls were found by a bunch of aristocratic refugees only makes it weirder that there aren't more "Oriental" people around. Could be she's not the victim of weird science, but descended from people that were?
1121* Something also bugs me. Looking back at the beginning of the manga, Mikasa gets some weird headache and then the same thing happens in Chapter 45. Perhaps this could be a memory block like how Eren forgot what his father did to him before his [[spoiler:Titan transformation]]? Maybe Mikasa was experimented on as a child and just doesn't remember.
1122* I'm going to have to chime in an agreement with this theory, having just skimmed through some of the earlier chapters of the manga. Note in part 15, [[http://www.mangahere.com/manga/shingeki_no_kyojin/c015/9.html pages 9]] and [[http://www.mangahere.com/manga/shingeki_no_kyojin/c015/10.html 10]], the trainer is giving everyone a hard time at the beginning of the training academy with the exception of those who have "already been through hell -- you can see it in their faces". Take a close look at exactly who he's ''not'' screaming at. With the exception of Mikasa (that we know of), [[spoiler: every single one of them is a Titan Shifter]].
1123** Whoops. Just pointed out this exact same thing on the trope immediately above this one, except my source was the anime. The fact that they went out of their way to reproduce that scene this exactly says something, I think.
1124* Also, when Eren couldn't control his Titan form, he inexplicably went out of his way to focus on Mikasa, ignoring every other human. Could it be possible that he can sense Mikasa being a Titan?
1125** I had always thought that he was annoyed at Mikasa being protective over him right before he transformed, and that affected his goal. Going from "Move the rock" to something along the lines of "Man, I want to smack Mikasa and shut her up."
1126
1127[[WMG: Mikasa isn't part-Titan, Titans are part-Mikasa.]]
1128
1129Something in Mikasa was triggered when Eren told her to fight when they were kids. Eren didn't have the Coordinate ability at the time, but she still had a physical reaction to his order and, given that her body moved involuntarily even when she was prepared to let herself be eaten and forced her to fight, it seems to have flipped that switch in her brain for good.
1130
1131It may be that Mikasa is descended from people who were involved with the creation of the Titans. That unique reactive quality was somehow incorporated into Titan biology, but modified so that they only respond to the Coordinate ability. It makes sense that, if you're gonna build a race of creepy, naked, stupid giants, you need a way to boss them around that doesn't make it easy for any random idiot to hijack them or give them counter-orders. If Japan really is the birthplace of Titan kind, Mikasa's ancestors may have been the ones who provided that component.
1132* The power Mikasa has was trigger what was going on at the time and had nothing to do with an order. It is also confirm to come from the Ackermans not the asian clan.
1133** The order ''was'' what was going on at the time. Eren told her to fight, and she did. The only thing we know about the Ackermans is that they are badass soldiers by nature, but that's not what this WMG is about, so that's not relevant. Mikasa is the only one of them we know of who physically ''can't'' force herself not to fight after being told to fight by Eren, this WMG speculates that she inherited ''that'' trait from her mother's lineage, not her combat aptitude.
1134
1135[[WMG: The purpose of the three Walls are not unlike that of the settlements in [[spoiler: {{Manga/Claymore}}]] ]]
1136The AnachronismStew that is the 3DMG and the blades used by the military hint that mankind either has or had a much higher level of technology than they do now. Combining several other theories, the humans living within the Walls are subjects of a biological war machine experiment not unlike that seen in [[spoiler: {{Manga/Claymore}}]]. There are other humans out there; these poor souls are actually an isolated community used to test and refine the Titans. The Titan Shifters are just the latest breakthrough.
1137
1138[[WMG: Time Travel is involved.]]
1139I have nothing to back this up, other than the fact that the author said Muv Luv Alternative was an inspiration. What if he didn't just get the grimdark hopeless aspect of it, but also got the idea of a protagonist going through the motions over and over again?
1140* Well, the very beginning of the manga (and subsequently anime) does provide sufficient bait for this, as Eren wakes up with the feeling of having had a long dream (the end of which is Mikasa saying "see you again, Eren"), tells Mikasa "your hair grew longer, didn't it?" (when in the 'future'/life or lives he'd lived previously, it'd be short), and crying for no reason (or so they think)... Maybe Eren being incredibly adamant right afterward that the soldiers be ready "WHEN ''THEY'' BREAK THE WALL!" comes from residual memories of that previous life or lives he's had to survive, and must come to survive again.
1141* To complicate matters further, Eren Kruger somehow manages to mutter the names of Armin and Mikasa to Grisha before he comes to the isolated island, even though his scenes clearly happen from the past.
1142* [[spoiler: Confirmed as of Chapter 121. The Attack Titan's unique power is the ability to peer to future events. While it seems like the person can only observe, Eren can somehow manipulate the past in order make events happen.]]
1143
1144[[WMG: Somewhere out there, there's a ResetButton, and Eren's been the one pushing it.]]
1145Going with the above theory, Eren wakes up in the first chapter the way he does (crying, wondering about Mikasa's hair length, etc) because he's just coming around into the new start of a StableTimeLoop, but can't hold on to those memories and is stuck going through the same loop. ''That's'' what's in the Jaeger house basement: not just the secret of Eren's [[spoiler: turning into a Titan]], but Grisha's collected knowledge of the loop: the nightmare Eren had about his father acting weird since his mom died and doing creepy science to him happened in a past loop, the same way his opening dream did. Grisha's become aware of his son's ability to carry himself through time, and has been gathering new resources for his son to save humanity every time Eren starts the loop over.
1146* Once again, this manga is inspired by VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative, so that's a distinct possibility.
1147
1148[[WMG: Instead of Time Travel or a Reset Button, there are SEVERAL massive Memory Gambits.]]
1149Alright, there are some inconsistencies in the timeline, and several people, even some in-universe(specifically I'm talking about Erwin and his father) have theorized that the memories of humanity have been altered, and the series has a minor theme about memories- especially inconsistent ones or ones that actually happened differently from how you remembered them, and there are some times where certain characters(Sasha, Armin, Mikasa, etc.) would remember something but not be sure why they remembered it in the first place. So, wouldn't it make more sense and fit in better with the series(meta-wise and in-universe) if the examples are caused by altered memories rather than time travel? Perhaps even Geographia/The Woman or someone connected to her(ancestor/previous co-ordinate, maybe?) was the one who started all the memory alteration and the mind tricks.
1150
1151[[WMG: Carla knew more than she let on.]]
1152Going with the above two theories: when Hannes shows up to rescue Carla, Eren, and Mikasa in the first episode, he first goes to face the approach the Titan, Carla says, "''You can't fight it.''", not "forget the Titan, save my kids". It could just be that she had no faith in the military (which is why she's so against the idea of Eren enlisting), but she's crushed under a building and can't actually ''see'' the Titan until it picks her out of the rubble; she would have had no way to gauge whether Hannes was up to the task. If there really is time travel or a reset button at work, Carla may have been aware of it from a previous iteration.
1153* Now that we know that Grisha was a titan shifter, it's entirely possible that she knew more than she let on. The time travel/reset button thing is still up in the air, though. And unlikely, in my opinion.
1154* With the revelation that [[spoiler:the Titan who ate Carla was originally Dina Fritz, along with Eren realizing that he was only able to activate the "Coordinate" ability and save himself and his friends from certain death in that moment was due to her Royal Blood]], this theory is given a lot more credibility at this point in time.
1155
1156[[WMG: Titans are essentially an organic alternative to HumongousMecha, and their concept was based on the [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelions]].]]
1157Mecha created with organic parts, piloted through a neural interface in the nape of the neck, and can occasionally go berserk against the will of its pilot if not controlled enough. The Titan Shifters are also, like Evangelion pilots, the only hope against the abominations that are invading the city (Titans[=/=]Angels). If the "Titans are {{Lotus Eater Machine}}s" theory is true, that makes their concept as Eva-lites even more apparent because [[spoiler:in the end, the Evangelions were the ones who eventually turn the world into a giant Lotus Eater Machine during [[AssimilationPlot Instrumentality]]]]
1158
1159[[WMG: The Walled City is a GeniusLoci, the Titans are TheCorruption, and there is no outside world.]]
1160It's held in place by the dreams of the Titans in the Wall. As long as the Walls stand, exposure to something in the outside world can't mutate normal humans into normal Titans, but the Walls are gradually coming down and allowing the Titans in, and they're carriers of whatever changed them. The world beyond the Walled City was destroyed long ago, and everything the characters can see of it is just the Wall Titans' memories made manifest.
1161* Partially Jossed - there is an outside world filled with many countries, and Marley in particular is their version of Naziland, while the Walled City, actually known as Eldania, is their targeted Poland.
1162
1163[[WMG: The Wall Cult is the real villain]]
1164As unlikely as it is, perhaps Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie know something that humans have kept secret from Eren. While the majority of humanity is blissfully unaware, the Wall Cult and the corruption within the Military Police shows that there is more to everything than face value. While King Kong (bad pun, I know) is causing trouble, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were trying to save Eren, a fellow Titan Shifter, before the Wall Cult could figure out a way to execute him or before Mr. Sasquatch could kill him -- as it seems that he is unaware of the Armored, Colossal, and Female Titans if he was unaware of the military tech of the time while the group had prior knowledge. The Wall Cult has been trying to control humanity, and while the Titans are indiscriminately killing, they are perhaps trying to take down the Wall Cult who have subjugated the colossal Wall Titans.
1165* Jossed, there are bigger fish to fry.
1166
1167[[WMG: The Walls were built in a compromise between humans and Titans, and the Wall Cult is tasked with keeping that knowledge from the public.]]
1168Continued from the above WMG (I promise I'll stop after this): The complacency of humans is a big thing in this series, along with the livestock metaphor. Humanity had already been mostly wiped out by the time they made it to the Walled City, and the Walls had been prepared ''in advance''. The human leaders who made it happen were basically making a deal with the devil: the Titans would provide humankind with a safe, secure place to live and assured survival of the species, and the humans would provide Titans with sacrifices. That's the AwfulTruth that the Wall Cult is hiding; the peace of the Walled City is literally paid for in blood, but when that arrangement was made, it was the best way to ensure that the human race wouldn't go ''extinct''. Historia's family was given the authority to release the truth in the event that someone finally finds a way to wipe Titankind off the face of the earth for good.
1169** ... suddenly the entire purpose of the Scouting Legion becomes more horrifying. If this is true, then they are the sacrifices and also serve as a method of removing people that are too curious, while creating a deterrent for everyone else. It would also raise more questions about the motivations behind the attack on humanity, since that would mean the Wallbreakers were breaking the agreement. Radical factions opposed to the deal, maybe?
1170*** I don't think so; if the Wall-breakers were opposed to the Walled City/humanity's existence, there wouldn't be any reason to infiltrate the military, they could have just kept up the assault on the Walls until the Titans swarmed the center. Bertholdt mentions that his plan was to join the Military Police, so maybe they're after something specific in the capital? Either way, yeah, the Scouts just got pretty damn creepy, and it means that the government has been using military operations as an excuse/euphemism for sending people to the slaughter. If all this actually does pan out? Armin's grandfather was probably exiled ''because'' he owned that book Armin treasures so much, and Grisha may not have been far behind him. The innocence/ignorance of the Walled City is ''that'' crucial to the upper class and the Wall Cult.
1171*** Wall breakers aren't opposed to humanity. They're opposed to the Walls. Feeding off the human livestock theory, imagine where Berthold and Reiner's village was. That's right. They got hit first. Now what if they discovered their villages were left so far on the outside to be sacrifices, while the corrupt inner Walled Cities got to live nice and comfy on their families and friends' blood. Now, breaking the Wall isn't so much of an act to exterminate humanity, as an act of putting everybody in the same frying pan. So why infiltrate the military? Why not keep up the assault? Because they're not natural Titans and the the natural ones would attack them too. It's known now that Titan Shifters get tired in their Titan forms as well. The best option for them is to break the Walls, return to human forms and travel to the next with the other humans, allowing them safe, rested passage right up to their next target. Now, starting from the inner most Wall and then moving outward is a different story. Their only opposition would be the soldiers(lol at that), which would make Berthold wanting to be MP make so much sense. So what went wrong? Reiner Went Mad From the Guilt and had a personality split. The Soldier who wanted to become a scout, protect his team, and defend against the Titans -- and the Warrior who set out to destroy the Walls. The Soldier in Reiner deviated from the plan and became a scout. Berthold(who never realized the split until later and began triggering switches by mentioning soldier/warrior) went along with it, because he's not only rather weak willed (as said in his aptitude test) but Reiner's best friend.
1172*** Do we know they're not natural Titans? It seems like the regular Titans just eat whatever they think is food, and Titan Shifters still ping as tasty humans to them. They also seem to know what's up with Christa and have reasons to want her kept safe; possibly what they wanted in becoming MP's was her, or someone in her family line, to get to the bottom of the Titan problem. They don't seem to have been in a different boat than humans were, what with a childhood friend being eaten and all, they were just dealing with Sasquatch Titans and Ymir's People.
1173** A separate theory for why the Wall-breakers would've gone against the agreement: Erwin Smith is considered to be an amazing commander because he invented a strategy that significantly dropped fatalities in the Survey Corp. Maybe whoever leads the Titans ordered the Wall attacked because they weren't getting all the sacrifices they were promised? No idea why discovering Eren would make them change their plans, tho...
1174*** Because the people the Shifters work for are separate from those who agreed to make the Wall for humanity in exchange for sacrifices. What if the group who wanted sacrifices in order to create Titans are Beast Titans, who are capable of turning people into Titans? Reiner's people are a group of people who were excluded from the nobility who first populated the Walled City, and somehow developed a means of giving people the power to turn into Titans as their only way of fighting back. The Walled City not only left them outside its safety, it also increased the number of Titans they had to fight due to the deal with the Ape Titans! It was after the city was attacked that the Beast Titan chose to came in and intervene--in order to preserve the steady supply of sacrifices. Perhaps what they use to create Shifters comes from the Beast Titan, which is why Reiner and co are after it, and also why they'll settle for Eren: He's not one of their kin, so he may be a potential source of a manufacturable shifting formula--the only weapon capable of giving them a fighting chance. It would also make Ymir's comment of having "stolen the Titan's power" from them make a lot more sense too.
1175
1176[[WMG: The giant trees are artificial.]]
1177They were genetically engineered to compensate for the massive damage done to the climate by the wars.
1178** This is unlikely, as trees such as these actually exist and are called Sequoia trees. Whether or not the trees depicted are Sequoia Redwoods is unknown, but if they are it would at least imply they were artificially planted since Sequoia are only found in one part of Earth.
1179*** It's almost impossible for the Giant Trees to be Sequoias. For one thing, they only grow around the west coast of the United States, and the story is almost certainly taking place somewhere in Europe (and even if it doesn't, you're definitely never going to find ruins of a Germanic stone castle in California). For another, it takes about fifty years for a single tree to reach its famous height, so there wouldn't be enough of them to call it "a forest of giant trees". And anyway, the wealthy who fled from a terrifying plague of man-eating gigantic monsters are probably not the kind of people who make sure they're packed their pinecone collection.
1180
1181[[WMG: The Walls aren't the only structures in the city that are filled with Titans.]]
1182Chapter 9 shows a Titan, apparently (and awkwardly) gnawing on a support pillar in what is implied to be one of the oldest buildings in the city. This is the same chapter that shows Titan Eren being eaten by other Titans, apparently being able to sense the tasty human meats inside him; maybe ALL the major architectural structures use Titan foundations. They do come in all shapes and sizes, after all...
1183
1184[[WMG: The regular Titans are deformed because whoever is changing them is getting sloppy with their work.]]
1185All the Titans are friggin' horrible anyway, but the further along the story goes, the Titans seem to get more and more deformed; the Sasquatch Titan in particular crushes one that has such a messed up face it looks like something out of Picasso's nightmares, and the one that is most likely Conny's mother can't even move itself because its limbs are too small. It may be because changing humans into Titans is ''supposed'' to be a delicate, careful process, but whoever's responsible for performing the "operation" is getting desperate and cutting corners.
1186* Partially Confirmed: various Titans are created under various conditions, except the Sasquatch Titan (Sir Zeke of Marley) is a soldier, not a scientist. He's creating makeshift titans from unfortunate human resources by poisoning random civilians with Titan mutagens, and activating those mutagens prematurely to suit his combat needs.
1187
1188[[WMG: The name is not gramatically incorrect in English]]
1189It takes place on Saturn's Largest Moon.
1190* That would explain the runes. The ships in question could be spaceships, and the "continent" could be Titan itself. The characters are the descendants of people who fled Earth for Titan, and most of their technology was destroyed in a war that occurred soon after they landed.
1191
1192[[WMG: Annie told Marco everything before she killed him.]]
1193I don't have a lot to base this on, except Marco looked peaceful and calm after he died. He may not have been a top-notch hand to hand combatant, but if Annie killed him suddenly or violently he would have been panicking and ended up looking more or less like the other Titan victims. She told him everything, knowing that it'd become a "Now I have to kill you" scenario... but Marco, being thoughtful and unusually good at seeing the best in people, understood, and didn't resist when Annie finally did kill him.
1194
1195[[WMG: Marco was killed by the Wall Cult, and ''they'' gave Annie his gear.]]
1196Something's been bugging me about Marco's death. Yeah, Annie took his 3DMG and the evidence points to her at least being the last person who saw him alive, but look a little closer at his body when they find it: he's been smashed through a fence, which has tucked (what's left of) his chin against his chest and probably broken his neck, but his hand is still making a fist and he's flat on his back. Now, imagine how he would have looked if a Titan had picked him up and bitten off his upper right side, then tossed him back on the ground: he'd just be flopped down like a rag doll, right? But he's not. It's because he'd been dead for some time and had already gone into ''rigor mortis'' when the Titan bit him. He had to have been laying flat on his back ''with his hands clasped together on his chest'' for him to land in that position! In other words, whoever killed him couldn't bury him, ''but still posed his body according to religious rites for the dead'', something that the Titan Shifters would probably have no idea how to do, much less be inclined to do it at all. Considering that the Shifters all know who Christa is and why she's important, and so does the Wall Cult, there's no reason that they ''couldn't'' all be part of the same conspiracy.
1197* I really like this theory, though admittedly it's mostly because I don't want Annie to have killed Marco herself.
1198
1199[[WMG: There will be more references/shoutouts to Mythological Giants]]
1200Assuming there are more Titan Shifters out there, and that they are probably going to be some unique things associated with them, there will be more characters and other stuff that will reference Mythological Giants. We already have Ymir and Utgard which reference Norse Mythology, and the Titans themselves, while some would argue is wrong, reference the pop culture view of the Titans from Classical Mythology.
1201* One of the Norse myths was that Loki made a deal with a mountain giant to construct a wall to protect Asgard, but the giant was tricked at the very end and pretty much built the wall and received nothing in return. It might shine some light on the origin of the Walls and why humanity is being attacked(?)
1202
1203[[WMG: Somehow, we'll have a Thor and Mjolnir reference]]
1204Considering Norse Mythology is a recurring source, it's likely.
1205
1206[[WMG: There's a massive MemoryGambit in the works.]]
1207And its possibly all because of Eren's dad, or at least the serum involved in Titan Shifting. In Chapter 46, Reiner also reveals that his memories are pretty faulty. This could mean its only for the people who became Titan Shifters through the serum, but throughout the chapters, there have been instances where many characters go into flashbacks wondering why they're remembering those memories in the first place. So far this includes Armin, Mikasa and Sasha. As a well regarded doctor, I don't find it too farfetched that Grisha could've given his patients something that could cause them lapses in memories. And its more than likely he was involved in treating people who suffered from the plagues in Sasha's village.
1208** Reiner's memory issues are his own doing, according to Ymir. But I definitely think it's possible that Dr. Yaeger did something to his various patients when he cured that plague. Memory seems to be a significant thing in the series, especially in terms of it being unreliable or spotty.
1209*** In the anime, at least, Eren's flashback to Grisha injecting him with Titan-juice has him talking about how he knows Eren won't remember it, but they're going to have to gamble on "their" memories. Maybe he meant it literally?
1210
1211[[WMG: The Titan that nearly swallowed Armin and actually did swallow Eren was Armin's grandfather.]]
1212Because now we know they're people, and Armin's grandfather was sent out to reclaim Trost and never returned. We never really get a good look at him, but it makes sense that a balding old man would be attached to his hat, and a smart guy like he probably was could probably get by pretty well out there in the wilderness for a little while. Not a very long time, mind, but maybe long enough to grow a beard out... It's also notable that although he picks up Armin and tries to eat him, he doesn't try to eat him again once he escapes, even though he was right there in front of him, traumatized and rendered a helpless sitting duck.
1213* [[http://www.mangahere.com/manga/shingeki_no_kyojin/c010/11.html Chapter 10 of the manga]] shows that the Titan didn't eat Armin because Eren burst out of him before he could (and I guess Armin was too traumatized to remember that part). I still like this theory though, since it maximizes potential angst.
1214** Not quite; between the moment it swallows Eren, and Eren finally transforms into a Titan after he despairs, it [[http://www.mangahere.com/manga/shingeki_no_kyojin/c010/7.html spends a panel]] ''just staring at Armin''. More possible evidence: knowing what we do now about Titans, there's a pretty good chance at least some of them were people sent outside the Walls...
1215
1216[[WMG: The Female Titan is Dot Pixis' bane.]]
1217What he said, that he wouldn't mind being eaten by a truly beautiful Titan woman, was a case of Foreshadowing. If/when Annie is broken out of her crystal, she will kill him.
1218
1219[[WMG: Perhaps the insides of the Titan necks where the pilot is hinted to be traps the pilot in a Lotus Eater Machine]]
1220Perhaps the pilot wakes up in a perfect world where everything they experienced was a dream. It's already hinted that Titans are really humans, so why not. Eren seemed to be in one anyways, where Armin had to talk some sense back into him to pick up that boulder and fix Wall Rose.
1221* Ymir may have confirmed this, at least in that the person is trapped in a dream-like state. Her experience was described as a nightmare, as opposed to Eren's peaceful dream. Bertolt states it was "the same for us", suggesting that the only difference between normal Titans and the Shifters is that the later managed to wake up eventually and return to their human forms.
1222
1223[[WMG: The settlers weren't the only humans left, and they screwed over the people outside of the Wall.]]
1224So we know that humanity is responsible for nearly wiping itself out, and then that the Titans came along at the worst possible time. The few surviving humans, when escaping the Titans, came across the Walled City and found asylum in there. So here's what I think: the settlers weren't the only surviving humans. There was another group fighting the Beast Titan, who could create Titans from people. By studying it, they created Titan Shifters. This is what allowed them to create enough Colossal Titans to create a safe haven. The settlers came in later, and were unable to fight as Titan Shifters, most likely because the method of creating Titan Shifters is imperfect and resulted in the first Titans we saw, which surrounded the city and could ''eventually'' become Shifters. So the settlers, who were all selfish nobles, screwed over the Titan Shifters and sealed them out. Ages passed until the Beast Titan somehow got in, and the outsiders were forced to risk everything by sending special Shifters into the city. However, around the same time, the genius Doctor Jaeger happened to come across evidence of the past and perfect the Titan shifting formula, giving it to Eren. This is why Reiner's group is willing to abandon their efforts to wipe out humanity and/or capture the Beast Titan for Eren: they know that there's a chance that he's got the secret to the perfect Titan shifting formula in him, and can finally end the war.
1225
1226[[WMG: Once they find the Jeager household, several members of the cast will become new Titan Shifters.]]
1227Whether it be some accidental explosion/spill (I should think that if you smash a house with a lab under it, things may have been broken inside, or scavenging around may trigger an explosion/spill), or they voluntarily decide to use it to gain an advantage (admit it -- new Titans may be awesome), the possibility of more Titan Shifters, be they from the cast, or someone recovered from the Titans, does exist.
1228* Semi-Confirmed: Armin turns into a Titan and eats Bertholt to survive fatal wounds while capturing the household. That's about it.
1229
1230[[WMG: Abnormal-class Titans are early bloomers, figuratively speaking.]]
1231We know the Titans are humans, trapped in a dreamlike/nightmare state, but that after a very long time, are capable of coming back to themselves in the form of Titan Shifters. But all the ones we've seen so far are classified as abnormal types rather than by their height: Reiner has armor plating, Bertholdt is huge, Annie's a babe, Ymir's a DanceBattler, Eren is some kind of violence elf. And there are a few abnormals running around in the show (that flying-leap one that eats Thomas, for instance) that have unusual capabilities; it could be that all the Titans will ''eventually'' come back to themselves, it's just a matter of time, but the abnormal ones just reach that stage earlier than typical. Ymir's the closest of the known Shifters to a normal Titan, and we see from the flashback that Reiner and Bertholdt had already regained their human forms as of sixty years ago when Ymir regained hers. It could be that the 100 years that Titans have been running around simply haven't had enough time, but they inevitably will. Which might mean that...
1232* You've got some details wrong. Ymir was a normal mindless Titan for 60 years, she hasn't been a Shifter for 60 years. She states that she was only able to recover her human form 5 years prior.
1233
1234[[WMG: Erwin is a bad guy.]]
1235* Well now we'll never really know, beyond his WeHaveReserves mentality to save humanity.
1236
1237[[WMG: Humans really ''did'' build the Walls.]]
1238The closing credits have a bunch of images painted on the Wall that divides the cast, including ships sailing across the ocean to reach the Walls, opposing groups on horseback apparently marching on each other, and a paper-doll-chain of huge figures that could easily represent the Colossal Titans that make up the core of the Walls. Among those images is a bunch of men on horseback, dragging a pallet with what looks like a Titan strapped to it by its wrists and neck...
1239
1240[[WMG: The lighting from Titan shifting are [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist transmutation sparks]]. ]]
1241They transmute the surrounding material to create their bodies. The injection Eren received gives the ability to perform this specialized alchemy.
1242
1243[[WMG: Titans eat people because that's how they change back into humans.]]
1244Going with the theory about the Walls being not a refuge but a breeding pen: Ymir says she "stole the Titan's power" from a childhood friend of Reiner and Bertholdt. If that kid was a normal human and not a Shifter (and since he didn't Shift to save himself, that may have been the case) it could be that something about the act of eating a human has a chance of triggering the change. They really ''do'' eat to survive, just not in a way that makes sense to humans.
1245* Overall a good theory, though one nitpick. Ymir states she stole the Titan's power "a long time ago" and references her crime as her motivation to seek out Krista. Since she didn't know about killing Berrik at the time, she's probably referring to how she became a Titan in the first place. But Berrik's death and Ymir's subsequent return to human form suggests there's a connection between eating people and becoming human again.
1246** I think that depends on how long "a long time ago" is, but Ymir does seem to be the odd man out among the Shifters so far. But, going on from there...
1247* Partially confirmed. Hange theorizes that Titans instinctively eat humans because they have a CannibalismSuperpower and eating a Shifter makes them one.
1248
1249[[WMG: "Offering up your heart for humanity" is more literal than it sounds.]]
1250We see a lot of people get bitten in half, and corpses with missing limbs and missing limbs without corpses... but never any ''organs''. It could just be because that's a little too much gore for a mainstream manga, but what if they don't eat humans as much as they eat human ''hearts'', and eating the right one, or enough of them, is somehow what turns them back? It would also lend a bit more meaning to the scene where Mikasa knows Eren because she can hear his heart beating...
1251
1252[[WMG: Historia has [[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependent_personality_disorder Dependent Personality Disorder]] ]]
1253She views herself as inadequate and worthless, depends strongly on other people to guide her life, puts on a kind and thoughtful mask so others will view her in a positive light... It all fits.
1254
1255[[WMG: Humanity's leaders betrayed the Titan Shifters.]]
1256Building somewhat on one of the other [=WMGs=] around here somewhere, with humanity warring against the Sasquatches before the Walls were built, the Shifters were probably created as weapons. But when the war ended in a tenuous peace treaty, the humans agreed to destroy most of them, probably with one of the leading Shifters talking a lot about self-sacrifice but secretly keeping himself alive and living in luxury, or something similar for the king or whoever. This left some of the other survivors rather [[JadeColoredGlasses jaded]] about the concept of self-sacrifice and doing things for others. Also I'm pretty sure the Wall Titans are actually ape-types, just big ones. They resemble Sasquatch a lot more than any of the others if you look closely. Then again, they might just be a type we haven't seen before.
1257
1258[[WMG: The series will have a BookEnds ending]]
1259It'll end with Eren sending his consciousness back in time to the day the Colossal Titan arrived.
1260* Alternatively, it opens up with Eren waking up similarly to how he did at the start of the series, but this time he's outside the Walls, the war has been won, and his tears are of joy.
1261
1262[[WMG: Four Factions theory]]
1263This is a theory based on some of what we've seen so far, detailing the possible entities in the world.
1264
1265Humans, or "Soldiers"
1266This faction consists of the Walls, including the royalty. Having originally lost a war with the Titans, despite developing Titan Shifters, they formed a peace treaty with the Titans, betraying their Shifter weapons, to be imprisoned within the Walls in return for peace. Their goal is to maintain the status quo, either permanently or until the Titans can be defeated.
1267
1268Titans, or "Them"
1269These are, of course, the Titans, led by high-ranking officers such as the Beast Titan, and presumably others of his kind. The actual leaders of this faction are currently unknown. During the original war, the Beasts, possibly an invading alien race, being a species with the unique physiology of a small vital pilot in a much larger but regenerating body, created an army of similar creatures with humans as the basis in order to ensure victory. They agreed to the peace treaty, allowing some humans to remain alive in a limited capacity to use for their unknown goals, whether that be breeding them as food or experiments of some sort in order to perhaps restore their dying race.
1270
1271Shifters, or "Warriors"
1272The Shifters are the descendants (or perhaps still the originals) of the weaponized Titan Shifters developed and deployed during the war to counter either the Beasts or their Titan minions. (If the former, the Titans may in fact have been created from a corruption of Shifter technology, which would itself be based on Ape physiology.) When the peace treaty was written, they were exiled or killed, but at least some of them survived. They have a tendency to be extremely jaded and cynical. In 845, they attacked the Walls in order to force humanity to fight once again, but abandoned this plan in 850 with the discovery of Eren Jaeger, who they hope will allow them to create a new army of Shifters to help defeat the Titan faction. It's likely that the methods used to create the Shifters to begin with were destroyed after the treaty was signed, but kept/rediscovered by Grisha Jaeger and used to change Eren.
1273
1274Liberated Titans, or "Ymir's People"
1275These people are Titans who have, by unknown means, regained human intelligence, becoming beings similar to Titan Shifters, but with more typical Titan forms. Trainee Corps member Ymir belongs to this group, and could be its founder, and the one with knowledge of the methods used to restore Titans to human status. They appear to be currently in hiding, with no particular ambitions other than survival. It's possible that their ranks consist solely of former Aberrants, with rank-and-file Titans being irretrievable, as Ymir's Titan form strongly resembles an Aberrant rather than a normal Titan.
1276
1277[[WMG: A Coordinate built the Walls]]
1278Once, long long ago, a coordinate was somehow found/born/reawakened by the humans, and this Coordinate also joined the human side. Eren can command Titans, right? So what if this Coordinate somehow commanded thousands of Colossal Titans to form the Walls? Now isn't it obvious why Bertholt thought that power was too strong for Eren to handle?
1279* Then this person had kids, who formed the church-nobility family Historia comes from. Reiner thought Historia could be useful, so unless she has some really valuable information they don't have, it's possible that they want her for her genetics. People have been suggesting Titan-shifting is genetically passed down. Well, what if that's true for the Coordinate, but the genes are recessive? Or partially recessive? Historia might not be a Coordinate, but she might have the potential to become one under certain circumstances, or to give birth to one.
1280* Alternatively, three members of the Reiss family named Sina, Rose and Maria had the Coordinate power, built the walls and if the Reiss family gets their way, Wall Maria is about to become Wall Historia.
1281* The Coordinate also tinkered with the minds of the people.
1282* Confirmed: The king of Eldania built the walls, messed with his peoples' heads, and let himself be eaten. All to preserve the Eldanians from all the other countries who hated Titan Shifters.
1283
1284[[WMG: Titans have always been around]]
1285Assuming the show does, in fact, take place on Earth, then they share our history. That means that there were many cultures with giants in their mythology and folklore. Maybe the Titans had always been around, but sleeping, until humanity did something stupid and woke them all up. Maybe mixing a little science with magic to try and make war machines.
1286
1287[[WMG: Titans can't see color.]]
1288Not even gradations of color; their vision isn't analogous to human sight at all.
1289* When Annie is looking for Eren, she needs to look at Armin's ''face'' to identify him -- even though it should be immediately obvious, since Armin is bright blonde, while Eren's hair is black. In fact, Titan vision in general is probably very poor, since there's a number of indicators that should have told her Armin wasn't Eren without needing to check, and she definitely shouldn't have been confused between Reiner, Jean, and Armin, none of whom are built remotely like each other, let alone like Eren.
1290* Doubt it. At that point, she may have gotten a glimpse and saw it was Armin and was just looking to make sure since she didn't want to kill him. Everything else we've seen about Titans indicate that they have a perfectly functional sense of vision. They see little humans running away from them all the time and give chase. Eren and Annie can accurately throw punches at each other when fighting. Eren, who's new to Titan-shifting and would probably say otherwise, never gives any indication that he's having trouble seeing or can't see in color.
1291
1292[[WMG: There is a Necromancer Titan.]]
1293So we have the Beast Titan who is all but stated at being able to turn living humans into Titans. So the logical extreme is one that repurposes the restless dead into new Titans. Possibly grafting the dead souls into new bodies using its own flesh so it always appears as a starved, near skeletal like corpse. Alive or dead the Titans will screw you over.
1294
1295[[WMG: Hard Steel is Titan Skin]]
1296The blades used with the 3DMG are noted as being incredibly light, and the only things capable of tearing Titan flesh without breaking. What else is described as being surprisingly light, and noted as being able to kill Titans? Other Titans. Titans have been shown to be capable of producing particularly hard skin, as evidenced by the Female Titan and the Wall Titans, and Hange gets a piece of the stuff which fails to disintegrate like normal Titan flesh, so it seems logical that people would use the stuff as a material for the swords.
1297
1298Also, the manufacturing process for creating hardened steel is said to be a trade secret, and the people running it probably wouldn't want the public to know that it's Titan skin.
1299* Those smokestacks shown on the visuals for Hardened Steel production? It's not Smoke. It's steam.
1300
1301[[WMG: The 3DMG runs on Titan blood vapor.]]
1302Expanding on the theory above, it seems a bit odd that gas compression would be possible in the setting, given that the level of technology is clearly close to that of the Renaissance, and gas compression wasn't widely implemented until the twentieth century or so.
1303
1304However, Titan blood has been shown to evaporate very, very quickly, and the vapor from it looks suspiciously similar to the gas that comes out of the 3DMG. Furthermore, the 3DMG gas also dispels very quickly upon being expelled. And Titan blood, wouldn't be hard to bottle up and distribute, given that it would do the compression by itself upon evaporation. The soldiers wouldn't suspect a thing, given that opening a canister of "compressed gas" would be sensibly dangerous to them and that Titan matter is very light.
1305
1306Combine this and the hardened steel with the conspiracy theory that the government is actively trying to maintain a breeding pen with the Walls, and suddenly things start making sense.
1307
1308[[WMG: The reason Titans are single purposed]]
1309Is because they are controlled by human brains. Most large animals have larger brains to maintain precision over movement and sensation. The human brain doesn't contain enough nerves to control and take in all perception from the Titan body. To get around this, only parts of the Titan's body are connect to the nervous system and the brain loses its general intelligence. This also explains why some Titans feel pain but others don't.
1310
1311[[WMG: Levi is secretly a woman]]
1312Because that would be the ultimate troll move towards fans and Isayama is fully capable of it.
1313
1314[[WMG: The Titans self-destruct upon death]]
1315When the Titans are killed, they seem to evaporate. Parts of their bodies that are removed do the same, even the smallest drops of blood. It also destroys the bodies of the people they have eaten. It seems likely that rather than burning up from the heat that they self-destruct producing a large amount of heat. The Colossal Titan can control this to destroy his body very quickly.
1316
1317[[WMG: The next Titans we see will be able to counter 3DMG]]
1318Since the Beast Titan took the 3DMG, it will probably alter new Titans to be able to nullify the at least standard tactics.
1319
1320[[WMG: The faction within the Walls.]]
1321They're talked about a lot in Chapter 52. All we know is that they [[spoiler: are frantically trying to track down Eren and Christa and murdered Pastor Nick after he wouldn't give in to their torture, and that they're connected to the military police and royal family.]] So, who are they? What do they really want?
1322
1323[[WMG: Historia is a ChildByRape.]]
1324Historia noted that her existence was painful to her family, and that her mother would go out every night to meet someone, earning income from an unknown source. She treated her daughter as something horrible, that she could not stand to associate with. The way Lord Reiss tossed her aside suggests he never cared about her to begin with, as he shows more compassion towards the daughter he's ''literally'' just met. As such, it's possible the relationship between Historia's parents was not consensual, but rather a nobleman forcing an attractive servant into sleeping with him.
1325** This troper always interpreted Alma and her parents ' dislike of Historia as fear of reprisal if it were discovered she were a bastard child of House Reiss, given their secretive nature. Considering what happened to Alma, it's not a far stretch.
1326
1327[[WMG: Historia's mother was a prostitute.]]
1328She's a beautiful farm girl who dresses up in fancy clothes and gets a ride to the city in a carriage to go and make money, with an illegitimate daughter but no apparent lover in her life. Given the nature of the setting, I don't think she was going there to sell insurance.
1329
1330[[WMG: Pastor Nick did break under torture.]]
1331In Chapter 52, Pastor Nick has been removed from the Survey Corps' care and seems to have withstood torture by nail-removal (i.e. all his nails were removed whereas the removal of just one would be sufficient for a normal person to crack) and Levi praises him on his strong will. That is just conjecture on Levi's part however, as his torturers could have just as easily been sadists who continued even after they got the information they wanted, or [[spoiler: they did it after they killed him]] to cover their tracks.
1332
1333[[WMG: There is a fourth Wall keeping the Titans in]]
1334The country that everything takes place in is actually a massive prison for the Titans, with humans stuck in the middle to serve as bait to keep them from breaking out. But after a hundred years of nothing to eat, they started attacking the fourth Wall. Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt came from the lands outside to break the inner Walls to cause the Titans to press inwards, away from the outer Walls. This would mean that much of the rest of the world is intact and safe, and would explain why Annie, Bertolt and Reiner continue to act on their mission despite being so traumatized by it, they're just trying to protect THEIR homes by sacrificing others! The Wall Cult could serve as Wardens in this sense, fully aware of the truth of their country, but complicit for the sake of the rest of the world, using religious dogma to motivate people to protect the Walls when the real Wall they care about is the one no one knows exists.
1335* [[spoiler: Partly confirmed, except the fourth wall is actually a natural ocean border. All three of the walls are based on an island that serves as a penal colony for Eldian prisoners who are turned into mindless Titans as punishment and are forced to roam the island until they die... [[AndIMustScream except they can't die naturally as Titans]]. Outside the island, everything's normal.]]
1336
1337[[WMG: There's a limit as to how much Titan Shifters can shift]]
1338Just as it says. Maybe once they've exceeded their limit, their bodies become too engrossed to their Titan forms that they just practically disappear. Which explains as to why the army couldn't find any human inside the nape of Regular Titans. The limit also varies from each individual. Also supports the theory that all regular Titans were once humans.
1339* Seems to be partially confirmed. After hours spent in Titan form and multiple transformations, Eren's body becomes partially fused to his Titan form.
1340
1341[[WMG: Annie will teach Eren how to use the hardening ability and possibly more]]
1342When Annie is released from the crystal she will offer the chance to live by teaching Eren what she knows about the Titan's powers including the hardening ability that she has made full use of.
1343* Jossed. Eren gains the hardening ability by ingesting a liquid labelled 'Armor'. [[spoiler:And Annie is released from her crystal in Chapter 123, when Eren's use of the Founding Titan powers results in all hardening to melt away.]]
1344
1345[[WMG: The Reiss family and the Wall Cult are responsible for sacrificing humans to try and appease the Titans.]]
1346The book Historia was reading in Chapter 54 shows an image of a girl, holding an object which looks like an apple (but could also be a heart) to a Titan with some resemblance to Ymir. The Reiss family and the Wall Cult are intrinsically connected, and the Wall Cult is somehow responsible for placing giant Titans inside the Walls. It's possible that other methods may have been use to protect humanity, including sacrificing specially picked young women. Which leads on to another theory�
1347
1348[[WMG: The girl shown in the book in Chapter 54 is Ymir.]]
1349Hair colour aside, Ymir mentions in an earlier chapter that she died for the happiness of a great many people, which suggests some kind of sacrifice. The book seems to show a young girl being sacrificed to a Titan who looks similar to Ymir's Titan form. If the theory of Titans somehow regaining humanity by eating people is true, Ymir may have become one with the Titan who ate her and returned.
1350
1351[[WMG: Nazis are involved? Some other form of eugenics? ]]
1352There are hints that SNK happens in a world related to ours. What if it occurs in some alternative universe, and it occurs after world war 2 (and not 3). It was mentioned explicitly that the concept of race is unknown to many people (see the talk between young Mikasa's kidnappers). Furthermore, ote the frequence occurence of german names. The SNK Walled City is some kind of an eugenic experiment designed to create a single race of human beings. A single race of human beings may also be the "solution to human wars" which was mentioned previously.
1353** After what we've seen in the two most recent chapters, this theory is very plausible. Though it may have more to do with xenophobia against other ethnicities than a eugenics experment. But yes, at this point, [[WebVideo/HellsingUltimateAbridged It's the fucking Nazis]].
1354
1355[[WMG: The Woman is Historia's sister]]
1356Based on her apparent resemblance to Historia and her father, the woman is the legitimate daughter of Reiss and a member of the Wall Cult. Her memory powers are a means for the conspiracy to control the population. Grisha also has ties to the Wall Cult and conspiracy, and transferred her memories to Eren. She was teaching her half sister how to read out of kindness and erasing her memories to prevent her from becoming involved in the cult. She was so horrified by Historia's desire to be like her because she knows how bad the cultists truly are, and worked with Grisha to undermine them.
1357* [[spoiler: Confirmed. Her name is Frida Reiss, Historia's half-sister.]]
1358
1359[[WMG: The Woman was the one from Eren's dream at the start of the manga]]
1360She's the one who gave him the scarf, which he then passed on to Mikasa, which is why he mistook the woman in the dream for her. This is important because it means that Grisha had already been screwing with his memories before the Colossal Titan attacked.
1361* He mistook the woman for Historia, not Mikasa.
1362** That doesn't mean that unclear memories + familiar object ≠ erroneous interpretation
1363*** I think he was talking about Eren's dream from the beginning of the manga.
1364
1365[[WMG: The history of Humanity is a lie.]]
1366Erwin states in ch. 55 that his father believed the government altered the memories of the people 107 years ago, around the exact time Titans supposedly appeared. This was done to control them (using the Coordinate), and we learn from Djel Sanes that the SecretPolice actively eliminate intellectuals, explorers, inventors, and anyone who gets too curious or rocks the boat in any way. We see that one inventor killed was building a revolver, fitting with prior hints at the government preventing technological advances. The soldiers are trained in various skills, but it is noted early on that things like ''self-defense'' are not prioritized and most simply go through the motions. The government does not want a population with the tools or skills necessary to fight ''other humans'', and the Survey Corps is their tool to help maintain the status quo in two ways: it eliminates the freethinking and curious via Titans, while also providing a constant reminder to the citizens that the outside world is ''bad''. The Walls and the Titans exist to keep humanity ''in'', to prevent the people of the Walled cities from attempting to leave. Eren's comparison of people to livestock is accurate, in that humanity is being kept in confinement and encouraged to not think for themselves or dream of leaving. Annie and Reiner both actively encourage not only honing fighting skills, but freethinking that questions the status quo because they are aware of the government's efforts to keep the population domesticated.
1367
1368[[WMG: There will be a pseudo industrial revolution following the conclusion of the revolution arc.]]
1369The reason there have been no major innovations for so long is because any and all intellectual thinkers and inventors who weren't completely dedicated to the royal family were assassinated. Who's to say they didn't keep some of their research and the like for themselves though? And who's to say that this stuff won't get out once the Central MP is out of the picture? Or that people who realized what was going on and chose to hide their work as a result won't come out of hiding?
1370* Confirmed. Some of the MP were smart enough to stash the technology for their own ends, and gave it to the Survey Corps after the coup as a plea bargain. Also, those shiny stones underground make for good lighting.
1371
1372[[WMG: Marlowe will prove to be a ChekhovsGunman.]]
1373Many seemingly minor characters have since reappeared and played unexpected roles in the story. Marlowe is one of the few soldiers from the Military Police to get any development, and he explicitly wants to change the system for the sake of the people. He will reappear during the revolution arc, possibly aiding in the efforts to overthrow the corrupt government. Hitch, the other [=MP=] given development, may also play a role in the upcoming revolution.
1374* Confirmed. [[TheBusCameBack Both Marlowe and Hitch have returned to the storyline]] [[spoiler: and joined the new Squad Levi.]]
1375
1376[[WMG: A Shifter's powers are activated by emotions.]]
1377The SelfHarm and pain triggers a fight or flight response, which combined with a conscious goal, creates the Titan body as a survival mechanism. The shrieks Annie and Reiner released were the result of fear of being captured...and possibly self-hatred since the Titans Annie called tried to eat her. Annie's crystal prison was created by sadness, combined with some symbolism in her SingleTear (blood=muscle, energy; tears=salt,clear crystal). Eren's VolcanicVeins and resulting strength were caused by rage.
1378
1379[[WMG: The couple getting into the hot air balloon while the Military Police opened fire on them in Chapter 55 were Armin's parents]]
1380Armin's parents wanted to go beyond the Walls and clearly never came back. What better way to get beyond the Walls with the technology available to civilians than building a hot air balloon to fly over them?
1381* It's a big possibility in the anime, which adds a special line from Armin in Episode 5 that his parents were sneaking outside the Walls while he and Eren were children. In the manga, his parents were vaguely killed thanks to the military, presumably as part of the suicide Wall Maria expedition, but the possibility still exists.
1382
1383[[WMG: It's not just the three Walls that are made out of Titans]]
1384Whenever we get an oversight of the Walls, it's not just the Walls themselves that get highlighted, but also the castle within the inner Walls. Stands to reason that that castle is part of the same system. In addition, in one story, a digger tries to go under the Wall, only to find the Wall going down all the way to the bedrock, which seemed to be made from the same material. Now that the Walls have turned out to be made from Titans, isn't it possible, if not probable, that that bedrock is also made from Titans?
1385
1386[[WMG: The memory alteration removed the language barrier]]
1387In Castle Utgard, there was a can of food with a language only Ymir could read. Indeed, the others didn't even seem to recognize the alphabet. However, if you look at the can, it appears to be german writing, with a z and a ß visible. Considering how prevalent german naming is throughout the series though, it seems odd that the alphabet wouldn't survive. However, it's been speculated by Erwin and his father that humanity has undergone a memory alteration when they moved into the Walls. Given the survival necessity of a unified society within the Walls, it's possible that whoever altered everyone's memories chose to teach them all the same language and remove the memory of all others, creating a society without language barriers.
1388
1389[[WMG: Levi is a member of Mikasa's family]]
1390Be it a long lost brother or a cousin, it makes sense that the two of them are related, given their similar appearances and their skills. While Mikasa takes more after her mother, Levi would have more of the Ackerman blood in him.
1391* We know that he at least has the surname Ackerman, though their exact connection remains unknown. However, it's unlikely for them to be siblings based on the large age difference compared with the apparent age of her parents.
1392
1393[[WMG: Mikasa's last name is meaningful, just not for her]]
1394It's been pointed out that everyone in ''Attak on Titan'' has a meaningful last name. Everyone but Mikasa, since Ackerman means farmer and she doesn't farm.
1395
1396Come Chapter 56, we learn she shares a last name with Levi and a man who's only referred to as "Captain Ackerman." Captain Ackermans is apparently part of a human-suppression force. Since Levi's last name wasn't revealed until this chapter, it's likely that the connection is significant to the plot. Most likely, Mikasa, Levi, and that man are all related -- thus, explaining the same last name. The fact that a seemingly human group calls themselves the human suppression group, it's likely that this group isn't made up of humans. So Captain Ackerman isn't human. Since we already know that the last name "Ackerman" is relevant to the plot, it's possible that there will be other non-humans with the last name "Ackerman" who show up, possibly as part of the human suppression force.
1397
1398What's the most obvious trait Mikasa and Levi share? They have amazing fighting skills. If one guy named Ackerman isn't human, perhaps Mikasa and Levi aren't human either- and that could be why they're so insanely powerful. If Isayama makes the last name Ackerman ''really'' plot relevant, it could even be that ''everyone'' who's a part of this particular family (barring people like Mikasa's mother who married into the last name "Ackerman") isn't human.
1399
1400Eren makes a lot of comments at the beginning of the manga/anime that human beings are no better then animals to be slaughtered by the Titans.
1401
1402Ackerman ''is'' a meaningful name, for any Ackermans in the human suppression force. If humans are animals, Ackermans are the farmers that watch over these animals until slaughter time.
1403** From the Fridge page: A farmer is one who harvests. In other words, ''a reaper''. Mikasa herself has a bit of a bonus when confronting the greedy merchant blocking the evacuation with all his stuff. The line is usually translated as her telling him she's only good at slicing flesh, but it'd be more accurate to translate it as having a knack for ''carving meat''. In other words: butchery, another farmer's skill.
1404
1405[[WMG: The Ackermans are anti-Titan Shifter weapons who serve Coordinates]]
1406The two Ackermans we've seen in combat so far, Levi and Mikasa, have also been the only people capable of effectively fighting a Titan Shifter (aside from another Shifter). This is because they've been modified by the conspiracy to be stronger and faster than normal humans to be more effective against Titans, specifically the Shifters, who are working to destroy the Walls. We know that Captain Ackerman, at least, serves the conspiracy, so obedience to those with Coordinate powers may be another part of their design. The reason Mikasa is so protective of Eren is because she's instinctively aware of what he is, and is compelled to protect him.
1407
1408Also, the Shifters are aware of what they are. When Mikasa asked Annie to teach her some moves in a flashback, Annie responded that those moves were for ''humans'' to use, not for someone like her, and then tried to see if they would work on a "beast".
1409
1410[[WMG: The reader/viewer is seeing false memories]]
1411During Eren's flashback to being injected with Dr. Jaeger's serum, there's a few timeline issues. Mikasa isn't present, and Eren seems to have spent at least some time with his father after the death of his mother, something which is impossible. However, there is really nowhere else in the timeline it could be placed. It isn't the past, because the mother is dead. It isn't the future, because Eren remembers. So, what if what we've been seeing is what was actually fake? We know there are techniques to alter memory, and we've seen incongruities. Eren is crying in the beginning, but has no idea why it happened anymore. In addition, his memory of Mikasa's hair is different. Is it possible that what we're seeing is just his mind filling in the holes? That he really did leave the city with his father, and without Mikasa?
1412
1413[[WMG: Eren will fight Mikasa next]]
1414Eren's victories over his fellow soldiers have been him gradually becoming stronger. First, he beat Jean, his rival, for fifth place in their year, then he fought Annie, then Bertholt and Reiner. He's been moving up the ranks of their group, and the only person left who's above him is Mikasa. Even more plausible now that we know the Ackerman family has some connection to the conspiracy.
1415* No. Eren fights for humanity's survival, not glory. And Mikasa would never try to kill Eren. She loves him too much. Even if the Ackerman family is connected to the conspiracy, Mikasa would likely disown her family name and change her last name to Jaeger, since she is not evil. Stoic and not one to show emotions easily, but not heartless or evil. Besides, she's the deuteragonist. No way they'd have her betray Eren.
1416** Mikasa is psychologically and biologically incapable of letting herself die, and Eren has the capacity to go berserk in his Titan form and he's already attacked her once. The story doesn't have to call for Mikasa to betray Eren to put them in conflict, especially now that we know the Ackermans served the royal family but were immune to the memory-wiping powers. If the Will of the King decides that Mikasa needs to be eliminated for some reason, Eren may not have a choice in the matter...
1417
1418[[WMG: Annie dislikes Reiner and Bertolt]]
1419Contrary to what seems to be popular belief, I never got the impression that Annie's secretly best buddies with Reiner and Bertolt. Rather, her disdain for her mission caused her to dislike them as well as herself. That, or she is indifferent towards them at most. Of course, Annie is hard to read and we don't have enough information to properly analyze the trio's relationship, (they might very well have been childhood friends) but anything after their mission went down seems to have rubbed badly off on Annie, given how she keeps her distance from them 95% of the time and looks annoyed whenever they try and talk to her, even though she's shown being open and interacting with people like Eren and Armin, meaning it's not just a "socializing" problem. Though, none of this is to say their relationship ''can't'' improve in the future.
1420
1421[[WMG: Mikasa's enhanced combat abilities are the result of Eren's Coordinate ability]]
1422It's been implied that the Coordinate ability that Eren possesses would also allow him to command normal humans. Indeed, during the incident where Mikasa's kidnappers were killed, she seems to have been affected by his order to "fight". However, one thing you'll also notice during that incident is that it's Mikasa's first display of her superior strength, shattering the knife in her hand and the floor beneath her feet. She herself says that she got full control over her body at that moment. What if she didn't just mean that she stopped shaking? What if it was Eren's order that allowed her to push her body to ridiculous lengths?
1423* Eren's Coordinate ability gave Mikasa a version of the Bene Gesserit powers (superhuman control over their metabolism).
1424* To throw another idea into the mix, what if Eren using his coordinate ability on her is also the reason why she is so devoted to protecting him throughout the story? After all, everyone notices and remarks on the fact that she seems to care more about protecting Eren than protecting all of the rest of humanity. Even Eren calls her on it at one point. If Eren did use his ability to make her fight in order to protect him, it is possible that her mind has been stuck carrying out that command ever since.
1425* Two problems. Firstly, Eren wasn't a coordinate yet, that didn't happen until after the attack on Wall Maria. Secondly, Ackermans and Asians are immune to the Coordinate, so Mikasa has double immunity.
1426
1427[[WMG: At least one of the human traffickers was under orders from the GovernmentConspiracy]]
1428The real reason they were there was to kill Mr. Ackerman for defiance, kill his wife to clean up loose ends, and bring the kid back into the program to study her.
1429** The lead trafficker is shown reprimanding his subordinate for killing Mrs. Ackerman because they could have gotten more money for selling a pure Asian. If he was in on the conspiracy, he clearly meant for her to live.
1430
1431
1432[[WMG: Levi's cleaning OCD was developed during his time living with Kaney]]
1433Levi has already stated that much of his rational was inspired by Kaney, so who's to say that his obsession with cleanliness didn't stem from him as well? Kaney could have had Levi actually get rid of the evidence of his kills and he developed the OCD as a way of coping with what he was doing. Levi had said he lived with Kaney when he was younger, but how young was he at the time?
1434** Levi stated outright that he lived with Kaney when he was a child; it's common for children to either pick up habits from their caretakers, or for them to develop habits on their own.
1435** And of course, the fact that Kenny is an infamous SerialKiller gives Levi's obsession with cleanliness some ''much'' darker connotations...
1436
1437[[WMG: Marco was a descendant of, or was himself one of "Ymir's People", and that's why he was killed.]]
1438The dark hair and freckles are the obvious connection, it's the only thing that Ymir, Ilse, and Marco have in common. We don't know what distinguishes Ymir's People from anyone else yet, but we do know that they have a significant connection to the Titans. It's possible that Marco was murdered not just because he was the most convenient person to kill to get a 3DMG, but because he represented a potential unknown variable in the situation and removing him was just another way to safeguard the shifters' plan.
1439
1440[[WMG: The Mysterious Woman from Eren's memories invented (or will invent) time travel, and somehow she was erased via time paradox.]]
1441
1442Going with the ResetButton theory, the mysterious dark-haired woman that looks like Historia no longer exists. She has a central role in Eren's time traveling ability but neither Eren nor Historia know who she is, despite the resemblance between the three of them. Eren, being a time traveler himself, is capable of recalling her from an alternate future.
1443
1444[[WMG: The 2000 years from chapter 1 are the same 2000 years mentioned in chapter 55 page 8 (in that chapter, this is claimed to be the lifetime of the monarchy)]]
1445* They're a lie implanted into the people using the Coordinate ability.
1446
1447[[WMG: The source of the titans is a flying fortress in the clouds]]
1448[[Literature/JackandtheBeanStalk And they'll have to climb a giant bean stalk to get there.]]
1449** What if that's what Isayama is actually planning to put out.
1450
1451
1452[[WMG: Mikasa's heritage is going to be a big deal later]]
1453* She might not literally be the last of her kind. Believing that Mikasa is the last of her kind means you accept what a bunch of human trafficking thugs said as truth. FridgeHorror when you realize Mikasa may not be the first target they encountered.
1454* It's a common cliche to have TheLastOfHisKind meet another person from his kind, we might see Mikasa going this route.
1455
1456[[WMG: Being a Titan is a disease.]]
1457* An artificially created one. Further, the thing in the Jaeger basement? It's Grisha's notes and scribbles analyzing the human body, which all point to the same conclusion: Titans are people, just infected. He was trying to work on an antidote, and when he finally finished the first attempt at it, he used it on Eren. You know, that injection that we don't know jackshit about? It was a half-assed vaccine made in desperation. It might not have even worked.
1458
1459[[WMG: The entire series takes place within closed space.]]
1460The Titans are Shinjin, and everyone is a portion of humanity who mysteriously disappeared. And it's all being caused by Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya.
1461
1462[[WMG: The human traffickers were hired by the conspiracy.]]
1463Their actual job was to retrieve the escaped Ackerman and bring her (them?) back under government control. The kidnappers would probably have met the same fate either way, but Mikasa might have forged her strong attachment to Kenny instead, which would have been handy indeed.
1464
1465[[WMG: Levi's realization of the outside world (whatever it might be) was similar to Literature/HaruhiSuzimiya's revelation about her being just another human among millions.]]
1466Whether it was a revelation of how the world worked or a great secret that could alter the Attack on Titan storyline has yet to be seen. Bonus if said revelation could also be the reason for much of his character being what it is.
1467
1468[[WMG: There will be some kind of conflict or battle at the 'Factory City...']]
1469The anime mentioned it twice by name (I believe) in the supplementary material. It's mentioned that it's the ''only'' place (for some reason) that can produce the hardened steel used to slay Titans. Not having that would put humanity in a rather dire circumstance considering how much of that the military is burning through nowadays, and it would be sort of weird to mention it at all, let alone more than once like that, for absolutely no reason... maybe it's a future Titan-Shifter target?
1470
1471[[WMG: The Mysterious Woman is a younger Carla Yeager]]
1472They both look relatively similar to each other, with the differences being explained by the first time we see the Mysterious Woman being some time before she met Grisha, and the scene with Historia a year or two before the fall of Wall Maria.
1473* That makes no sense, though. Eren and Historia are roughly the same age, and it's unlikely a homemaker with a son prone to getting into daily trouble would be sneaking off to the Interior to secretly tutor Historia. Remember that the Walls are roughly the size of a country like France, so travel between Wall Maria and the Interior took at least a day or two. Besides that, if it ''were'' Carla I think Eren would recognize his own mother.
1474
1475[[WMG: Levi asked Kenny to teach him how to kill]]
1476Just because of the possibility that Isayama just might throw this curve-ball. Basically, Levi witnesses Kenny killing the Military Police but instead of being scared, he is amazed at how easily Kenny did it. He has his own grudge against the MP because they wronged him in the past (whether beating him up, framing him for a crime and locking him away or killing someone he cares for for kicks or otherwise)- whichever way it falls, Levi wants to kill them, similar to how Eren wants to kill the titans. Kenny initially refuses because he REALLY didn't want to have to look over some mangy street kid as he had enough on his platter as a wanted serial killer but Levi keeps following him like a dog until he eventually relents.
1477
1478And makes Levi regret ever wanting to kill.
1479
1480[[WMG: The Walls were always meant to come down.]]
1481The Walls were made before humans reached them, and are filled with giant Titans. They are also full of resources needed for humans to defend themselves from lesser Titans. Every attempt to bring down the Walls has been done by the Shifters, who are enemies of normal Titans too. One of the few people in the know, Ymir, mentions how the interior is going to become a hell on earth and wants to take Krista outside the Walls before that happens, specifically noting that avoiding this is impossible. Later, upon seeing Eren has the Coordinate, Ymir says that there is a future within the Walls now. My guess? The Walls were built to corral humanity, give them a safe place to grow in numbers, and after a certain point they will collapse and the Titans within will devour everyone. This future can be averted by Eren, now that he has the Coordinate he could order the released Titans away from the humans and save them all.
1482* Assuming Grisha's diary is to be trusted, the Colossals within the walls were the Reiss family's trump cards (basically their nukes) in case the country of Marley wanted to attack them. Now that Eren's a Coordinate and knows what the Marlian government did to his family and his people (again assuming Grisha's diary is accurate) he can choose to use the Colossals against both the ordinary Titans to expand the Walls' territory and Marley for personal revenge and/or as a response to the Shifters' act of war when they attacked.
1483
1484[[WMG: Marco will be the unknown Titan Shifter that the King will send to eat Eren.]]
1485Forgive me if some one already made this guess but... consider the fact that the circumstances of his death were suspect, Annie "stole" his gear, when in reality he could of simply given it to her in exchange for her help in faking death, add things on like the fact he wanted to join the military police specifically to serve the king, it starts to fall into place.
1486** But he's dead. We get to see his body and everything.
1487
1488[[WMG: When Marco said he planned to join the Military Police and serve the king, the king he was referring to was Rod Reiss.]]
1489Basically, Marcos' family has been acting as bodyguards to the Reiss family for generations, even before the walls existed.
1490
1491[[WMG: Either Ymir or Historia will die]]
1492They're canon now, and as we all know, happiness cannot be allowed to exist in the Attack on Titan universe ([[BuryYourGays especially for a lesbian couple]]).
1493* [[Spoiler: Confirmed: Ymir]]
1494
1495[[WMG: The Titans in the Walls are Eren's (and possibly Historia's) ancestors, and they went willingly.]]
1496The Jaeger family is a branch of the Reiss family, which explains the uncanny resemblance between Eren, Carla, the Mysterious Woman, and Historia.
1497
1498We know that there are Titans in the walls, but how did they get in there? They were shepherded in by a Coordinate! When the Titans first started running amok and eating all the humans and the remaining human population escaped, the Reiss family realized that the only way to stop it was to build walls tough enough to keep them out. The Jaeger family volunteered to become the Walls, willingly becoming Titans so they could be used as the foundation for a sanctuary for the rest of humanity; that's why the Reiss family is now the ruling dynasty, because it was their family that saved humanity from being completely devoured.
1499* Confirmed, though it seems Grisha Jaeger came to the walls long after they were built.
1500
1501[[WMG: Being the "coordinate" has nothing to do with the ability to influence Titans.]]
1502
1503It refers to a ''time coordinate''. Eren's abilities are a coincidence, the important thing is that he is connected to a specific point in time that can be used in time travel somehow.
1504
1505[[WMG: Lord Reiss is NOT the true king.]]
1506I don't have much evidence for this, except that when Historia is explaining her past, her father tells her that she's going to come live with him and tries to take her to safety. He is then seemingly stopped by the group of men. If he is the real king and they are his servants, how did they have the authority to stop him from doing whatever he pleases? Perhaps Lord Reiss is a fake king as well, and there is a third king(or queen, perhaps even a group of people) who is really the one in charge, and Kenny the Ripper serves them.
1507
1508[[WMG: Kenny actually treated Levi decently when they lived together.]]
1509
1510Sans teaching him how to kick ass- that would definitely involve some manner of injuries.
1511
1512Hey, it's possible.
1513[[WMG: Ackerman is to the Walls as Freedman was to 1860's America.]]
1514In 1860's American freed slaves often had to choose a last name and often chose "Freedman" or "Freeman" to make it clear that they were free. This became a default name of sorts. What if Ackerman became a semi-default last name for orphans or those who did not have a known last name?
1515
1516[[WMG: The Memories Rod Reiss had Eren remember in Chapter 62 were fake]]
1517He wants the Co-ordinate ability and created those fake memories as a means of manipulating Eren into going along with his plan. Historia is unaware of this and believes they are just triggering a recollection of what he forgot. His daughter ''did'' have the ability to erase memories. The reason Rod doesn't use this Fake Memory Power frequently is because he can't erase memories meaning people will remember him and figure things out.
1518He has used this ability at times though. Remember, in Historia's story about her past, he told her that she's going to come live with him, tried to take her to safety but was stopped by a group of men even though he is the true king. As the true king, those men could not have stopped him. It never happened, he just met up with her and made her think that it did.
1519
1520[[WMG: The 2000-years monarchy is a lie]]
1521Planted by the mind-wipe during the creation of the city to manipulate the people into obedience.
1522
1523[[WMG: There are human settlements with an approximately 20th century-level of technological development]]
1524[[http://imgur.com/SWotc7k Sooner or later a titan will cough up a car]] or something similar and everyone from the Walled City will be totally baffled about what the devil they're seeing.
1525* Main issue with that being that a civilization with 20th century level weapons technology would curbstomp titans like nobody's business.
1526** According to chapter 85, [[spoiler:humanity outside of the walls is at least advanced enough to make photographs]].
1527** By chapter 85 [[spoiler: Marley is around UsefulNotes/WW1 in terms of technology]]
1528** Also, to the second post here, that's exactly correct. The Marleyans want the fossil fuels on Paradis Island to enhance their technology since they know Titans won't be a war game changer for much longer.
1529
1530[[WMG: The inhabitants of the city read and write a CypherLanguage]]
1531The excerpts of their script we see don't look like anything that matches the European style of everything else. The government outlawed the use and teaching of Roman letters and other existing writing systems in order to make sure that if anyone did find an old document (or... herring), they wouldn't be able to read it. They probably still speak whatever they did before, since replacing that would be significantly less practical and it likely doesn't matter so much.
1532* Or they were brainwashed into using this language at the beginning of the Walled City.
1533
1534[[WMG: The origins of the Wall Titans.]]
1535The Wall Titans, as we all know, use their crystallization powers to create the massive walls. The question is: why? Simple. They're all rebels. Every evil faction has a schism at one point or another. These Titans all had a conscious and created the walls to stop their former-comrades-turned-enemies from destroying humanity. One day, they will come out of hiding and there will be a massive Titan Civil War in which Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt pull [[HeelFaceTurn Heel-Face Turns]], Jean and/or Connie die, and Eren kicks ass.
1536
1537[[WMG: Darious Zackely will try to become some sort of evil dictator.]]
1538After chapter 63, you can't say that's not far-fetched.
1539
1540* I still have no idea why we had to see that.
1541
1542** Shock value is my guess- just to hammer in what's happening. So people are fine (to an extent) with watching battles that end with humans getting eating by giants but it's when torture is brought out that they say "too far". This troper understands that it was a lot to take in and undeniably disgusting but it gets the point across.
1543*** It falls in with the "humans are the real monsters" theme. The Titans have no idea what they're doing, they're more or less giant toddlers that will shove whatever they want into their mouths. Sure, what they do is horrible, but it's not malicious, or even intentional beyond wanting to become human again. It's shocking ''because'' we expect better of humanity, but the whole series has been hinting at humanity being the real villains in this whole mess, and that scene ''nails'' it. Torture, greed, corruption, theft, murder and worse... say what you will about the Titans, but at least they'll ''only'' kill you.
1544
1545[[WMG: The Walls and the Titans were made by the same faction.]]
1546
1547They needed somewhere to evacuate, after all. More to the point, if humanity really did just happen to find three walls built in just the right way to keep Titans out of a section of fertile land suitable for holding the rest of the world's wealthy elite... what about the ''gates''? What about all the little human touches that would be necessary for people to actually get into the Walls when the Titans couldn't break in? Someone had to have built them in advance with the anticipation of humanity needing a place to escape to when shit got real, and they wouldn't have any reason to do that unless they knew it was a possibility in advance.
1548
1549[[WMG: The Walls are named after women who agreed to be used in their construction; they may or may not have been connected to the Reiss family.]]
1550
1551Maria, Rose, and Sina were turned into Titans as part of a human sacrifice to build the Walls; they're also all depicted wearing tiaras/diadems, suggesting they were princesses.
1552
1553[[WMG: Rod isn't really a Reiss.]]
1554
1555He is his mother's eldest but his father wasn't a member of Reiss family, however this isn't know to the public because his mother and his step-father didn't want to admit that his 'father' had been cuckold and they didn't think Rod would be much of a threat since he didn't have any powers. Uri was his half brother who was kind to him (like Frieda to Historia) and he had a sister who mothered Frieda before vanishing. Rod managed to claim fathership over his niece and as long as he had her, he had control. Which is why he can't become a Titan. And why he couldn't just father more children to do so. He doesn't have the bloodline.
1556
1557[[WMG: Carla is a Reiss and Frieda's true mother]]
1558
1559Continuing from the theory above, Carla was convinced to disappear, maybe being told they only need one person to inherit the Co-ordinate ability and that Frieda could be disposed of if she stayed. So Carla went to Shinganshina and married Grisha. Carla managed to get in touch with Frieda and tell her everything. Frieda stayed with Rod, threatening to screw things up for him if he went after her mother.
1560
1561Then Grisha came and told her her mother was dead. That's why Frieda was so hostile to Grisha when he came to the Church. Grisha didn't transform first, Frieda did because she was blamed him for her death and wanted to punish him. The fact that he had the Titan Serum only made her angrier and provoked her more.
1562
1563
1564[[WMG: "Ymir's People" are the first generation of Titans: the ones in the Walls.]]
1565
1566Ymir is a figure from Norse myth, a giant who was killed and whose body parts were used to build Midgard, aka the realm where humans live. If what Dot Pixis says about humans fighting each other over petty differences is true, maybe whatever faction developed the Titan-transformations used a particular selection of people to use as a foundation for the Walls. If not that...
1567
1568[[WMG: "Ymir's People" were Ymir's friends from before she became a Titan, and the Titan in Ilse's Sidestory was one of them.]]
1569
1570I could easily see Ymir, being somewhat uniquely swarthy and freckled among a bunch of blondes, being asked about where her people are, only for her to respond that they ''are'' her people. The Titan who killed Ilse was obviously very distraught to realize it wasn't really Ymir and even enshrined her body; perhaps the remnant of someone who loved Ymir before this nightmare ever began.
1571
1572[[WMG: Titans have only existed for a little over 60 years, not 100.]]
1573
1574Human memory is messed up in a huge way, but Ymir seems to have a pretty solid idea of how long she was in the nightmare of being a Titan. If she became a Titan when the rest of humanity did, rather than being changed later on like the people of Conny's village, it hasn't been a full century yet. It might also explain how eager the people in charge would be to get rid of older people like Armin's grandparents, they might be old enough to remember further back than the MemoryGambit goes. Even Dot Pixis, probably the oldest dude in the army, doesn't look old enough to have been more than a very small child 60 years ago.
1575
1576
1577[[WMG: The titans in the walls are Hoovers.]]
1578
1579We have learn that the coordinate can only be used by the Reiss family to its full power. Given the bottle label "strongest armor Braun", It maybe that they are other bloodline abilities such as the Braun's armor titan ability. This could explain why Annie could only harden parts of her body and only for a short time. When Rod took the colossal titan serum that he said was the "strongest titan and well suited for combat" it may have failed because he isn't a Hoover. In other words the first king kidnapped over two hundred-thousand Hoovers to built the walls. This is backed up when Bertolt refers to the people who live in the wall country "the children of the devil".
1580
1581[[WMG: The culture within the Walls were the real villains all along.]]
1582
1583The real royalty and possibly the Wall Cult have had access to the knowledge and the means to turn Titans into Shifters the entire time, but they wouldn't gain anything by doing so:
1584** There are a finite number of Titans. They can't reproduce on their own, so sending the Scouting Legion to hunt and kill them will eventually eradicate them and leave humanity to spread out into the world freely. Since the Beast Titan doesn't recognize the 3DMG, it's likely that the culture within the Walls wasn't aware of him until recently.
1585** Turning the Titans into Shifters immediately grants the Shifters more power than they could ever hope to have. It took three ''kids'' next to no effort to completely disrupt life within the Walls and significantly reduce their territory. Creating an entire populace of Shifters would make normal human nobility and political power completely worthless.
1586** The upper nobility, the wealthy, and the top tiers of the military are all blisteringly corrupt. Most of the policies that are handed down from people in power involve throwing less-important people under the bus in order to spare the wealthy and noble.
1587
1588If this culture has built itself primarily on the preservation of the wealthiest and most influential citizens at the cost of all other life, creating a false scarcity (land and resources within the safety of the walls) and creating/allowing a dangerous element to make the scarce material extremely valuable (safety from Titan attacks) would not only be the logical thing for them to do to assure their own power. Their power base is ''extremely fragile'', and as we're seeing in the story even now? The only way to stop a rebellion is to make sure a rebellion never starts. Now that [[spoiler: Historia is the rightful Queen]], the only thing that can stop it is whatever logic the [[spoiler: first king]] used to justify it all in the first place.
1589
1590[[WMG: Armin's parents are still alive.]]
1591
1592Armin's smart, so his parents are probably pretty brainy too. His grandfather was sent outside the Walls to die with the rest of the exiles, but his parents apparently went of their own volition. If they're anything like Armin, they're good at planning and solving problems on the fly, and they must have had a reason to want to see the outside world so badly that they'd leave their son behind. They did seem to have access to "heretical" information, so it's possible that they left the Walls seeking something the Conspiracy didn't want them to find... the Titan-Shifter settlement, maybe?
1593
1594[[WMG: "[[Main/IntercontinuityCrossover Attack on]] [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]]" is canon]]
1595
1596Specifically, it depicts the beginning of humanity's war against the Titans. However, despite the efforts of [[ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} S.H.I.E.L.D.]], Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and the ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy, the Titans defeated them, [[EndOfAnAge ending the Age of Heroes]] and eventually prompting the remnants of humanity to seal itself inside the walled city. This also means that ''Attack on Titan'' takes place in a divergent Franchise/MarvelUniverse, though it may have been [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroyed by an Incursion]] before the events of "ComicBook/SecretWars2015".
1597* I have a hard time believing that Thor and Hulk could lose to the titans, even in great numbers. Those two alone are on such a completely different level than the titans that it would be like a pair of Abrams tanks mowing through a field of puppies, and that's not even including any of Marvel's other heavy hitters who could make even shorter work of the titans. Of course, I also have a hard time believing that Thor or Hulk could lose to Sentinels, either, and yet [[ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast somehow that happened]], so, sure, why not?
1598
1599[[WMG: There is no "Will of the First King", there's only an AwfulTruth.]]
1600The First King had access to the whole story, but the bottom line is that he knew that the people who became Titans were completely innocent and the people who fled to the Walls were only able to do so because they were the wealthy and privileged elite. That's why none of the royalty have ever gone against his "will", it's not a compulsion, it's just a reality so terrible that no one has been willing to disrupt the system! Yeah, it sucks that people are trapped within the humiliating cage created by the Walls and people are constantly dying in an unwinnable conflict both inside AND outside the walls, but ''it's still better than the alternative''. That may change, now that the royal family is fully aware that Shifters and the Beast Titan exist outside the Walls and must be dealt with.
1601
1602[[WMG: The Titan in Ilse's Notebook was trying to shed its body.]]
1603One of the creepiest things about that Titan isn't just that it talks and prostrates itself before Ilse, but that it seems to be trying to tear its own face off before it goes berserk and kills her. It may have known exactly what it was and was trying to pull off its Titan flesh to expose the human pilot, but didn't know, or couldn't risk, to try to tear into the nape of its own neck for fear of killing itself. Creepier still, those might have been its last sane moments.
1604
1605[[WMG: Ymir's People refers to Titankind in general.]]
1606"Ymir" is the progenitor of all giants in Norse mythology. It may be that Ymir took it as an assumed name, and rather than being the originator of all Titans or Titan royalty or whatnot, it's a shorthand for her being "one of Ymir's people" herself.
1607
1608[[WMG: Eren is a clone of his mother.]]
1609He seriously looks just like Carla when she was his age and doesn't look a thing like Grisha. He has her face. Her gold eyes. Her black hair. Her expressions...
1610
1611[[WMG: The Wall is a Vault Project.]]
1612The ruling nobility is like the vault Overseer, as a result the tech level is really fiddled with: no plastic explosive, cannon sighting is pathetic, underground architecture (Because seriously, when Titan breach the wall the evacuation method is to build a freaking cannal? Why not just dig a tunnel? Unless there is something below...). Like Vault project, Wall City's main purpose is not a safe haven, it is a genetic experiment to determine the Coordinate genome to fit make something like superior race. The homeland might be something like Enclave, just a couple of very twisted mind.
1613
1614Just something to increase the GrimDark tone:
1615You are not cattle, you are lab rats.
1616Home is not a pen, home is a petri dish.
1617
1618[[WMG: The world is set after Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion]]
1619The world is set right after the Third Impact, and the survivors rebuilt civilization with what they can salvage. The Titans are Eva's who hunt humans as they need a pilot to unlock their full potential.
1620
1621[[WMG: Ymir has some sort of mental control abilities]]
1622In chapter 37, Krista points out that it's only through Ymir's efforts that she made the top 10 of the class. Specifically, her words: "My abilities are not nearly enough to earn a place in the top 10 of the trainee ssquad". If Historia's abilities were that noticeably below Ymir's, there's she probably wouldn't have been eleventh out of the top 10 either, so it can't have been enough for Ymir to just perform just a bit subpar. Perhaps the shifter Ymir ate had some sort of weaker version of The Coordinate, and Ymir had now inherited it (This would also explain why Annie was apparently assigned to the shifter trio unexpectedly; Marcel was originally meant to call in the normal titans)
1623
1624[[WMG: The Titan Shifters have greater enemies]]
1625Why send only a handful of children to wipe out the last remnants of humanity? Why did it take a hundred years to kick down the walls? Why would the shifter warchief know not even basic strategic data about the people who live within the walls? The most likely explanation is that the walled city is only considered a minor issue, and the warchief and his other warriors are mostly focused on greater, more important things. All the death and suffering of our heroes is just regarded by the greater world as an unimportant sideshow to the true story.
1626* Confirmed: Marley is a land of Nazis, and they've been using Titan Shifters as expendable forces to bully the other countries for years. Except those same countries have developed technology to compensate, and now Marley needs the remaining Titan Shifters to stay afloat.
1627
1628[[WMG: Colossal Titans were Ackermans]]
1629Or alternatively, if an Ackerman is turned into a Titan s/he automatically becomes a Colossal Titan.
1630
1631Based on Bertholdt's behavior in chapter 78. We know that Ackerman's have amazing combat abilities and the ability to keep calm in almost every situation. The only times Levi and Mikasa have let their emotions control them is when their loved ones were/seemed to be dead. Furthermore Levi in particular approaches every situation in a calm factual way, is extremely blunt about his own less-than-moral actions, and Mikasa specifically says that "the world is a cruel place." Most importantly, Ackermans are and act like completely "normal" people until something happens that "triggers" their abilities.
1632
1633Look at the way Bertholdt behaves and thinks in chapter 78 and on. Factual, blunt, only letting emotion drive him when Reiner is in trouble, and suddenly he's strong enough to take on Mikasa one-on-one where before she nearly killed him. He even marvels at how he thinks differently now- and most people don't notice when their way of thinking changes unless they expected it to change. Armin and Mikasa even notice how he's like a completely different person, and Bertolt later thinks on how the world is unbearably cruel in a direct contrast to Mikasa.
1634
1635This implies that Bertholdt was born to the Ackerman clan and given titan powers before he was sent to the Walls. Awakened Ackermans act differently from other humans and Zeke might not have known how or if the people in the walls were looking for Ackermans, so Bertholdt made a better infiltrator if he wasn't "awoken" yet. Likewise he would have taken a fake last name while a cadet. However once his cover was blown there was no reason to keep him in a weaker state, and Zeke had him deliberately awoken.
1636
1637This would provide an additional reason as to why the Ackerman clan was persecuted and why Uri felt so bad about it when faced with Kenny- the walls were made with Ackermans, and surviving members of their family might still have this information passed down through the generations. It also explains why Kenny kept the Titan syrum with him and gave it to Levi- he knew that either one of them would be far more powerful then the average titan.
1638
1639[[WMG: Armin survives and becomes a history teacher]]
1640There are narrations that detail summaries of events and the anime has the narrations voiced by Armin's voice actor, implying the event have long since passed, the narrations could be Armin teaching the history of the war to his class.
1641
1642[[WMG: Levi will die saving the trio and Eren will start wearing his hair in Levis undercut style ]]
1643
1644[[WMG: The Titan Serum Kenny Ackerman gave to Levi will be used on [[spoiler: Armin]] to save his life after his HeroicSacrifice in Chapter 82.]]
1645The titan serum Kenny gave Levi still hasn't been used. So, it's possible Levi will use the serum on Armin just before he dies, and [[spoiler: Armin]] will eat either Reiner or Bertholdt, saving his life and transforming him into a titan shifter. Alternatively, it could be used on Erwin if he is still alive. Levi may even have to choose between them.
1646
1647[[WMG: Ymir belonged to an unknown third faction]]
1648* They secretly took over Utgard Castle and used it as a safe house for their spies. Ymir found some supplies with labels in a script and/or language only she could read. When the faction around Zeke the Beast Titan found out about them, they raided the place and turned anyone there into mindless titans. Ymir was, according to the "Talking Titan" that killed Ilse Langnar, an important person among them (maybe something similar as Zeke or even higher ranked), but either suffered amnesia or came with Reiner and Berthold to their mysterious "Hometown" to either negotiate with them, to spy on them or both.
1649* Ymir's people know how to turn people into titans like Zeke's people, but their method may be inferior (the "Talking Titan" mistook Ilse Langnar for Ymir's subject and even Ymir herself, was somehow affected by her yelling and killed her (but did not devour her as titans normally do)).
1650
1651[[WMG: The titans will be exterminated by using newly developed weapons after the innovation of technology isn't suppressed anymore]]
1652Someone will invent flying machines (was already done by some couple in chapter 55), advanced firerams (some guy in chapter 55 apparently developed a revolver), high explosives, fire bombs and other stuff and kill all the titans with them.
1653
1654[[WMG: Erwin will wake up and tell Levi to save Armin ]]
1655
1656Or on a darker note .....
1657
1658[[WMG: Levi will "threaten" Armin ]]
1659
1660As in tell him "don't make me regret saving you...." or something around those lines .
1661* Confirmed in chapter #85.
1662
1663[[WMG: The Eldians never actually ruled over the Marleyans or their land]]
1664Rather, this was a lie cooked up by the Marleyan government to justify their war and subsequent genocide of the Eldians. I think either the Eldians owned the southern part of the continent (which appears to be [[http://attackontitan.wikia.com/wiki/Paradis?file=Marley_and_Paradis_compared_to_Africa_and_Madagascar.png Africa in the far future]]) and the Marleyans owned the northern part; or, the Eldians owned Africa to themselves and the Marleyans originated from Europe. Either way, the Marleyans feared the Eldians ability to Titan-shift and ''they'' initiated the conflict by concocting a scheme to steal their Titan power as well as their land from them. The Marley invaded the Titan-led Eldian lands from the inside out with the use of [[TheMole moles]] for hundreds of years until they eventually outnumbered them. Then, they stole the Titan powers and began to wage war, which they won decisively. ''This'' is what caused the First King to flee to Paradis island rather than the official story that bickering among the Titan-houses caused him to leave. Basically, the Marleyans conquered Eldia before the King left, not after.
1665
1666[[WMG: The story takes place in the far future, after geomagnetic reversal]]
1667Geomagnetic reversal is when the North and South magnetic poles switch places. The map of Marleyan and Eldian territories shows what looks like upside-down Africa, but maps are usually drawn North-up. However, this is actually Africa, and it didn't turn around - it's just that magnetic South and North have been swapped, so now all maps are upside-down mirrors of old maps. As to why the civillization is, at most, at UsefulNotes/WW1 levels despite this being far-future Earth, the period of magnetic poles switching places could [[http://www.livescience.com/18426-earth-magnetic-poles-flip.html greatly weaken Earth's magnetic pole]], allowing various unsavoury stuff like higher amounts of radiation and solar flares to reach Earth, which might've crippled the old, more advanced society - on top of whatever other issues the old world might've been suffering.
1668* [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SqhhJb_P3Kk/TI_K6vuLoLI/AAAAAAAAM1U/enk4j7yNsL8/s1600/inverted+world+map.jpg Inverted maps]] are a thing today, if mainly as a novelty, and are just as accurate as normal maps. The whole North = Up thing is just a bias we humans seem to have. Anyway, s you'll note, "Africa" on the map of Marley isn't just upside down, its' also been mirrored, as a simple inversion of Africa would have Madagascar on the other side. Combine that with the fact that Madagascar isn't large enough to contain the Walls within it, I'd say that goes to show that it isn't Africa and Madagascar, just another planet with another continent and island that happen to look very similar. Then again, if the author decided to deliberately fudge the size of Madagascar, or otherwise was simply uninformed about how big the island is, I suppose it isn't just as likely that he fudged or got wrong which side it would be on.
1669
1670[[WMG: House Fritz is the actual royal house]]
1671* The issue is a simple matter of deception; The branch of House Fritz that fled to Paradis simply changed their names to Reiss and propped up another family as false Fritzs.
1672** Maybe, maybe not.The Co-ordinate can only be passed onto ''one'' person. It may be that the First King had a daughter who married into the Reiss family, and the Co-ordinate ability went with her. Hence, the daughter's bloodline had the Co-ordinate ability, which meant they were behind-the-scenes rulers due to the memory manipulation powers and the other child was the figurehead.
1673** Confirmed
1674
1675[[WMG: Levi and Hange will also die ]]
1676Since Armin more or less replaced Erwin, it makes sense that the creator will have the teens replace the rest of the adult trio...in typical AOT fashion.... they even mirror each other right down to hair color, Erwin and Armin are both smart, blond haired, blue eyed and have a very dangerous side to them when pushed, Levi and Mikasa are both black haired, grey eyed and have the same fighter ability, and Hange and Eren....both are brown haired and nuttier than rat crap in a pistachio factory.
1677** Hange does indeed die in the final arc, but Levi is still, though wheelchair bound and blind in one eye.
1678
1679[[WMG: killing Mike off was a scare tactic by the creator]]
1680Killing off someone who is said to be "second only to captain Levi" in one of the most horrible ways possible would make people sweat...Mike was (understandably) crying and scared when he died, but making such a large claim about him seems more like a warning...if someone as powerful as Mike can die....so can Levi.
1681
1682[[WMG: "Ymir's Curse" does not actually exist, and was just about keeping the shifters controlled]]
1683It's stated that "no titan will ever be more powerful than Ymir was in her lifetime" and she died after 13 years of unknown causes....they could have stated that the titan shifter ability would pass to random Eldian's and they "only 13 years" thing, so that no shifter WOULD become more powerful than her...if she only got 13 years..why should any of her shifters get more time? her cult could have a shifter eaten before they got too powerful and everyone thinks the whole thing is "controlled" with all the ins and outs of titan making and the ability to perhaps make more than just nine shifters ....something smells about the whole "curse" deal....
1684* It's also possible that the curse varies, so some shifters only last a few months while others last two lifetimes, but propaganda, mythology, and a general lack of evidence prevents proper long-term case studies.
1685
1686[[WMG: the court never planned on killing Mikasa...one of them (or perhaps more) were planning to make her a sex slave]]
1687
1688Someone had to be buying from the men who took her as a child, and the obvious suspects would be nobles and those who where at the court who had the money to do so and the power to shut witnesses up, Mikasa is beautiful and from a race that is rare in the walls (remember the men were disappointed about killing Mikasa's mom because she would have made them more money being full-blooded Asian) who is to say they did not just want to rid themselves of a threat (Eren ) and only brought up Mikasa so they could try to gain a pretty slave-girl in the process?
1689
1690[[WMG: in the "a choice with no regrets" OVA, Erwin did not say those mean things to Levi, it was all in Levi's head ]]
1691
1692it did strike me as odd that in "a choice with no regrets" that the Trio where a lot more bratty and Erwin was a bit nicer in the manga....well in the OVA it was flip flopped......
1693
1694then it hit me
1695
1696the OVA must be more from Levi's POV, so Farlan and Isabel would be more "rose colored glasses" covered
1697
1698not to mention when Erwin supposedly says those cruel thing to Levi ....Levi has just gotten done with turning a titan into burger meat and was still reeling from his friends demise,so his mind most likely was "bye bye" and wanted to still put his friends on a pedestal, well Erwin was a monster in his eyes
1699
1700somewhat like how Kevin saw old man Marley in ''Film/HomeAlone'' , he saw him as something scary when in fact he was just a normal guy warped by his mind to fit his viewpoint
1701
1702[[WMG: the Marleyans came up with "Ymir's Curse"]]
1703
1704According to the historical documents provided by "The Owl," the Eldians used their Titan power to bring all humanity to prosperity selflessly, and as thanks, the Marleyans betrayed them, stole their powers, accused them of ethic cleansing, and threw them into ghettos to be used as cannon fodder, so who is to say they did not come up with the "curse" just to be cruel? we have seen they are willing to torture and kill Eldian's for no reason, so why not come up with a "reason" to kill them once their titan powers are "used up"? who knows titan powers might MATURE after 13 years making them even more powerful and the Marleyans did not want the titans to have more power so they have them eaten just as their powers are about to grow?
1705
1706[[WMG: Zeke and Eren plan on overthrowing the Marleyans ]]
1707
1708Zeke did not tell them he had royal blood and seems to be plotting something, perhaps he found out the truth about the titans and how they were used for good and not bad like the Marleyans said and plans on overthrowing them and doing the same to them as what they did to the Eldians.
1709
1710The Eren angle comes into play in chapter 96 where Eren, disguised as an injured Eldian soldier with PTSD asks Falco to deliver mail to him to safe mailboxes that won't be checked for content. He says he is sending letters to his family, and during this exchange, we see a shot of Zeke (who is Eren's half brother) otherwise without context. The next chapter, we learn that Falco has helped Eren send and receive multiple letters. And we see a catchers mitt and baseball sitting on the bench next to Eren after seeing Zeke and Colt playing catch with them earlier in the chapter.
1711
1712[[WMG: the reason Eren can easily learn new skills with his titan is because he has a titan that was allowed to mature]]
1713
1714Grisha survived way past the 13 year mark..meaning something stinks about that Ymir's curse .....meaning Grishas titan was allowed to mature ...so Eren inherited an "older" and more advanced titan that is more suited to easily learning new skills
1715
1716[[WMG: the man we see I chapter 94 is NOT Eren...]]
1717
1718Instead it is Levi,he could have lost his leg somehow, and wants to go out fighting for freedom instead of sitting on the sidelines as a cripple (could also shed more light on his and Erwins relationship since they both lost limbs)
1719
1720[[WMG: Reiners mom will be turned into a titan by her Marley lover and Reiners father]]
1721
1722Because it would be the ultimate punishment for the woman who is okay with letting her kids die for the Marley cause, bonus points if she is all "but I thought you loved me!" and he says that she was nothing but a warm body for him or a womb to carry a hybrid warrior for Marley.
1723
1724[[WMG: The Devil Of All Earth will be the true BigBad]]
1725And will require all eight Titan Shifters to take down.
1726
1727[[WMG: The Marleyans are planning to throw ''every'' Eldian in their ghettos at Paradise Island in their final assault.]]
1728As the eldian bloodline usage has reached its end with the development of Anti-titan weaponry, what reason would they have to keep the eldians around any longer? Bonus points if the first shock-troops thrown in are the warriors' families shattering their psyches in the process once it is too late to turn back from the mission any longer.
1729
1730[[WMG: The true value of the Coordinate ability is not its control over all Titans]]
1731An army of regenerating giants that also provide infrastructure is just a perk which technology has outmoded. What truly makes Ymir's power formidable is that not only can the Coordinate take memories away from Eldians but can also share memories them between using the same invisible pathways. Knowledge, experience, and information can be transferred instantaneously regardless of distance and possibly even time. If Eren could gain even partial control over this power, he could quickly advance Paradise Island's military technology by sharing the Mainland Eldian knowledge and expertise with the Eldians.
1732
1733A fantastic point. Everyone seems to be hoping that the likely-to-be-Eren-infiltrator teased to us in chapters 93 and 94 will cause absolute havoc with the Coordinate or aim to be taking Reiner, Pieck, Galliard and Zeke's Titan Powers off the board in one fell-swoop. More likely, since the extent of the Marleyan brainwashing on the continent's Eldians has been delved into quite a lot recently; Eren may be aiming to wipe that garbage from their minds while sharing the memories of Kruger, Grisha and himself then deliver his people to Paradise for real. Of course, this would mean that he'd need an Armin-sized deterrent and a couple thousand of his gigantic Wall buddies to back him up and protect the exodus; proving that they are not the demons the world says they are. This would then allow the Warriors to join the protagonists once the threat to their families is nullified.
1734
1735[[WMG: The "Curse of Ymir" doesn't exist.]]
1736After 13 years, Titan Shifters don't die. They become [[Main/PhysicalGod Physical Gods]]. The Marleyans came up with the story to maintain balance; if one shifter got too powerful, they could possibly overthrow the Marleyan government.
1737
1738* Highly unlikely, we see both Uri and Kruger ageing at an accelerated rate when their time is almost up. Why hold a succession ritual for the royal family at all if the holders never died? The stress of psionically generating a Titan body would likely drive anyone's metabolism into extinction on one go! It's miraculous they can pull off that many years at all.
1739
1740[[WMG: Ymir Fritz's power comes from the Ymir of Norse mythology.]]
1741There are three known theories to where to where Ymir's power comes from.
1742
17431. source of organic matter, organic matter comes from the Earth which is made of Ymir's body.
17442. the devil, Ymir is evil
17453. god, the world is born from Ymir.
1746Frieda shares books with Historia about Ymir who in those books is called Krista. Likely she was given the name Ymir, either to refer to where her power comes from or they believe that she was the mythological Ymir.
1747
1748[[WMG: Zeke is up to something and Reiner is in on it (possibly Pieck too)]]
1749
1750As the title says, Zeke is currently in the midst of scheming something. Alongside the most obvious elements of keeping his royal heritage a secret and convincing his superiors to allow for another mission to Paradis Island, there are subtle hint from chapter 93 onwards:
1751
1752+ Mentioning to Colt that if he inherited the Beast Titan, the younger man would learn his secret before brushing off the comment with a toilet humour when Magrath arrives (Chapter 93)
1753
1754+ When his grandparents praise him for carrying out his duties he replies with an ambiguous "No... not yet, I haven't" (Chapter 94)
1755
1756+ As his conference with the other Warriors, he subtly warns them that they are being eavesdropped on by their superiors (something that is picked up by both Reiner and Pieck) before proceeding to couch his discussion in Pro-Marleyan rhetoric (Chapter 95)
1757
1758There are likewise hints that Reiner (and perhaps Pieck) may also be in on it. Aside from both picking up on Zeke's warning in Chapter 95, Reiner proceeds to cut Galliard off when the latter proceeds to express dissatisfaction with the plan.
1759Afterwards, Reiner proceeds to note to himself that before any major operation the Warriors are subjected to ideology checks in order to ensure their loyalty.
1760
1761
1762[[WMG: Zeke is planning to bring the remaining six Titan powers to Paradis]]
1763
1764[[WMG: Reiner will feed his parents to whatever mindless titans that are left]]
1765
1766Because it's pretty blatant that nether of Reiner's parents care about him or Gaby ....his mom just sees him as a meal ticket to Marleyian citizenship and a way to get back at Reiner's papa ....so what better revenge than to feed them to the same creatures they helped make and did not care if he was eaten by?
1767
1768[[WMG: The Eldians inside the walls are in part an analogy for North Korea]]
1769Let's see what we've got; a hermit kingdom sealed off from the outside world, a superweapon that makes reckoning with them potentially very costly (along with thousands of wall titans/ artillery pieces), a single ruling family with a cadre of supporters not subjected to mind washing nonsense or ethnically immune, an area off limits to all sides, ethnic group members who want the kingdom dissolved just as much as the superpower they serve, backwards technology. There are a lot of similarities, too many to be just coincidence.
1770
1771[[WMG: There is a way to get rid of the Titan Shifter power, and thus, the Curse of Ymir.]]
1772It involves some serum that the Marleyans are hiding because Shifters are their main instrument of war. After Marley's inevitable fall, Eren and Armin will be injected with the serum and made normal again, thus giving them back their natural lifespans. The remaining Shifters, meanwhile, will be denied the serum as punishment for crimes against humanity.
1773
1774[[WMG: the Eldians will gain the upper hand, and Marley (and the other countries that treat Eldian people badly ) will beg for mercy]]
1775
1776Because that is what people with that mindset do....they treat people badly, but the second they have to eat crow, they beg for mercy despite never giving it to others themselves, plus it would be so sweet seeing these oh-so-mighty leaders get knocked into the shitpile they created.
1777
1778[[WMG: The "Soldier" that lured Pieck and Galliard into a trap is...]]
1779
1780Couple of ideas:
1781* Jean: He's the prime candidate because he was one of the few survivors at Shinganshina that Pieck had a run in with (when she and Zeke were rescuing Reiner), meaning she would recognize him. He's also similar in height.
1782* Connie: Another popular choice due to having [[https://imgur.com/a/5gQLI similar facial features]] and also had a brief run in with Pieck [[https://imgur.com/a/vnWIF]]. But the "Soldier" in question is also much taller than Connie (unless Connie hit a growth spurt)
1783* Floch: Possible. Also looks similar. But as far as we know, Pieck never saw him during the battle.
1784* Annie: Actually a possibility. She could have knowledge about the titan pits in the city, and would be able to identify the Warriors. Furthermore, someone put straw at the bottom of the pit to cushion the fall and even left food, suggesting whoever set the trap had some sympathy for them. Since she's also wildly regarded as KIA, Pieck and Galliard probably wouldn't recognize her right away, especially if she was trying to avoid looking them in the face (like the "Soldier" was doing).
1785** Granted this is probably the most far-fetched out of the lot. It assumes that Annie was revived and switched sides during the time-skip. But even if that had happened, there are many other holes in the idea; like would the Corps actually trust her enough to let her get close to the Warriors; why did only Pieck say something; And how was she able to convincingly hide her gender? (Annie's got a lot of skills, but acting is not one of them) It's not impassible that Annie might have been ''involved'' in setting up the trap, but highly unlikely that she was the "Soldier".
1786
1787[[WMG: The First King's Will is slowly taking over Eren and always has been]]
1788
1789Just something that comes to mind when you think about all the teases we've heard from Isayama about Eren and his new personality, primarily that a key source of his change is a result of being influenced by the memories of his predecessors. And who are his predecessors? Grisha Yeagar, Eren Kruger...and Frieda Reiss, which means that the will of the First King that took her over is still around. We just thought that, because he's not royalty Eren couldn't be controlled. But when you think about it, King Fritz has actually tried to control him before. When? Simple.
1790* When Eren attacked Mikasa during the Battle for Trost. Or more accurately, when he passed out and we saw what was going on inside his head. He was resting in his home, unnaturally calm, and completely uninterested with the outside world. That alone, looking back, should throw up a red flag.
1791* Actually, going back to Eren attacking Mikasa, that also makes sense for one perfect reason: She's an Ackerman, a descendant of the family that flatout refused to hide away from their enemies. In the King's mind then, Mikasa is the Number 1 threat to his paradise and thus must be destroyed.
1792The only reason Eren hasn't succumbed is due to his sheer willpower, so strong that it actually challenges the King's own determination to the point that the supposedly 'invincible' Founding Titan has been usurped by Eren's freedom seeking Attack Titan. The only time the King can get even a bit of control is when Eren hesitates or has doubts about himself, thus denying him the ability to transform. It's a small win but at that point the King will take any victory he can against this dangerous rebel.
1793Four years later though, things have changed. Eren has learned how to access his predecessors' memories and in doing so has given the King another avenue to exude control over him. The reason Eren has a near blank expression after the timeskip isn't just a result of his experiences but also because he is constantly fighting for control of his mind.
1794
1795[[WMG: Zeke faked his death at the hands of Levi.]]
1796
1797In Chapter 103, Zeke is apparently killed when Levi ambushes the Beast Titan from behind. However, nobody actually saw Levi attack until it was too late, and none of the events leading up to the attack are shown. In addition, the same chapter also showed Eren easily ejecting out of his Attack Titan body to generate a new one. And finally, Zeke flat out says "Eren Jaeger is not my enemy" during the battle. Combine this with all of the previous hints that he's been collaborating with the Scouting Legion, and it's highly possible that Zeke ejected out of the Beast Titan while nobody was looking, and Levi came in to "kill" an empty titan body and tossed the grenade into the open nape to hide the evidence that Zeke was no longer inside.
1798
1799[[WMG: Eren does not have the Warhammer Titan.]]
1800
1801He was very eager to consume Porco. To obtain the Jaw Titan as well or because he still had not successfully obtained the Warhammer Titan? He has yet to use the Warhammer's abilities in combat, and she was actually in the Jaw Titan's mouth when she died.
1802
1803[[WMG: Historia is in league with Eren and Zeke.]]
1804
1805The well-timed "pregnancy" is a lie. Historia just claimed to be pregnant with an unknown party's baby to stave off being fed to a Titan as part of a plan by her and Eren to destroy Marley once and for all. Killing Zackley was part of a second, more silent uprising so Historia could take full control of the Paradis government. Remember: both she and Eren have access to the Coordinate power, and have the potential to control up to half a million 50 meter-class Titans at once. This is more than enough to destroy Marley ten times over.
1806
1807Why would she want to do this? She agrees with Eren that something needs to be done about Marley, but was strangled by government bureaucracy, not to mention the fact that Historia was a mere figurehead while Zackley held all the power. Getting Zackley out of the way allows Historia to take absolute power with the help of the Jaegerists, then use her new authority to commence an all-out invasion and genocide of Marley.
1808
1809And that's the whole theme of ''Attack on Titan'' right there: a never-ending cycle of revenge.
1810
1811[[WMG: The plot is a StableTimeLoop; the dominance of the Eldians via the Titans' power from ancient history is the revolution that Eren and Zeke are about to lead.]]
1812
1813Fits thematically with the "endless cycle of revenge": the Eldians oppress the world with Titan powers, the Marleyans get revenge on the Eldians through systematic oppression and the eventual establishment of Paradis, the Eldians of Paradis strike back against the Marleyans using Titan powers, which prompts Zeke and Eren to become Titan-wielding despots, which then leads to...
1814
1815[[WMG: There's a way for the Coordinate ability to set a coordinate for a point in ''time'', not space, as a vehicle for MentalTimeTravel]]
1816
1817...Eren regretting his actions and finally realizing the futility of the endless cycle, sending himself back to the day his mother was eaten in order to prevent it, either by saving Carla or intercepting the Titan shifters. The thing is, he'd be sending himself back in time to a point before Grisha gave him his Titan powers, which is why he forgets his mission as soon as he wakes up and goes through it all over again.
1818
1819Meanwhile, Zeke uses it to jump back to the high days of Eldian rule, becoming the world-conquering tyrant who started the whole mess in the first place.
1820
1821[[WMG: The Attack on Titan ending will be a happy one.]]
1822
1823Where it will show Grisha holding baby Eren and Grisha's sister Faye will be begging to hold her newborn nephew (bonus points if some of Erens friends are mentioned to be neighbors )
1824
1825[[WMG: The First Chapter Title "To You, Two Thousand Years in the Future" is More Significant Than ever after Chapter 121]]
1826
1827I think that the girl Eren mistakes Mikasa for in the first chapter is actually [[spoiler: The First Attack Titan.]] And with the reveal that [[spoiler: the Attack Titan is basically a NonLinearCharacter that can see events in the past and future Attack Titan holders, its possible that Future!Eren met the First Attack Titan who then managed to talk to Young!Eren.]]
1828
1829[[WMG: The original Attack Titan was made from Ymir's heart]]
1830
1831it is stated that the founder Ymir was eaten so that all her powers could be dispersed...and each part that was eaten offered a different titan ability ...but now we also know Ymir was a slave girl...so she more likely than not had a desperate desire to be free since if she was forced to become the power holder and was eaten against her will, that she would want freedom, and so whoever ate her heart and inherited the attack titan also gained her desire for freedom, or maybe her brain also was eaten by the same person which explains the ability to memory hop, maybe after eating her heart the person also wanted MORE power after getting a rush of desire for true freedom they ate the brain to gain another power.
1832
1833[[WMG: Attack on Titan will have a surprisingly bittersweet ending (With emphasis on sweet)]]
1834While the chances of [[spoiler:Eren dying tragically are incredibly high by now]], his death will usher a new era of peace with him taking all the blame of the Eldians upon him. Maybe some other main characters will die taking him down, with Reiner getting a [[DeathEqualsRedemption redemption for his actions]] by dealing the finishing blow at the cost of his life. The baby show at the leaked final page is a symbol of hope of humanity finally coming together.
1835
1836[[WMG: Attack on Titan ends as an inversion of a crapsaccharine world, as some humans gain tyrannical control of Titans (and are forced to run everything themselves like overworked deliverymen)]]
1837[[spoiler:With Eren and Ymir dealt with for good]], the power to control Titans becomes fractured and is randomly distributed across multiple (Eldian? Non-Eldian?) humans. At first, this is as horrible as it seems, with power-hungry/traumatized humans taking control of the very beings that destroyed civilization across the world, and the remaining humans are forced to scamper into mountains and caverns to survive... except said tyrants need to eat. And they need to keep the fields fresh and the supplies flowing. After a few decades, humankind is now split between the isolated communities that process resources for their titan-controlling overlords, and the titan-pilots who harvest and distribute resources while being cursed for doing their jobs. Individual control over Titans becomes a major boon in the post-apocalypse world, with mercenary towns built on the backs of Titans, plowing acres of land in a single scrape and transferring millions of tons of cargo across vast distances at speeds that would make a space shuttle blush. Unfortunately, everyone is still in constant stress and despair; the shelter humans are constantly in dread that one psychotic Titan-tyrant could crush their entire home on a whim, ignoring the sheer wealth and luxury (and immigrants) that they receive every month; the Titan-controllers are constantly shunned for doing their miserable, isolated duties, ignoring the sheer power and privilege they get from piloting a fifty-foot god.
1838Paradise is finally in the hands of humanity... and they're too scared of themselves and each other to savor it.
1839
1840[[WMG: The Azumabito prince Mikasa is descended from did not remain inside the walls alone.]]
1841Naturally, as a prince he must've had people with him, servants and the like. It wouldn't make sense for there to still be Asian people inside the walls after so much time, if they were all descended from only one man.
1842
1843[[WMG: Historia secretly [[HatesTheirParent hates her mother]].]]
1844She hides it ''really'' well considering her mother's [[AbusiveParents behavior]]. She tries hard to be a NiceGirl to everybody, but it's just too difficult to love a mother like that.
1845
1846[[/folder]]
1847

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