The 9 Titans in Attack on Titan are the most mysterious and powerful beings in the story. Their origins, abilities, and connections to the Eldians have been slowly revealed throughout the manga and anime series. One lingering question fans have is – can the Titans actually talk?
Quick Answers
The quick answer is no, the regular mindless Titans cannot talk or communicate. They simply act on primal instinct to consume humans. However, some intelligent Titans like the Beast Titan and Female Titan have demonstrated the ability to understand and follow commands to some degree.
Mindless Titans
The vast majority of Titans encountered are mindless Titans. They vary greatly in size and appearance, but share common traits. Mindless Titans have no intelligence and act only on the instinct to seek out and eat humans. They are not capable of speech or rational thinking. Some key facts about mindless Titans:
- They do not need food or sleep, only sunlight
- They are not capable of reproduction
- They show no recognition of their past human selves or others
- They demonstrate no ability to communicate
- They have limited reactions and senses beyond detecting humans
Mindless Titans only focus on consuming humans and lack any ability to talk, understand language, or rationally think. They have no interest in communication and would lack the mental capacity for it if they tried.
Intelligent Titans
While most Titans are mindless, some display intelligent thought and behavior. They show the ability to understand orders, communicate nonverbally, and make conscious decisions in combat. The two main intelligent Titans are:
Beast Titan
The Beast Titan is manned by Zeke Yeager. In Titan form, he demonstrates the ability to speak the human language. He can direct and command other Titans verbally with speech. However, the Beast Titan has only been shown speaking while in human form before transforming.
Female Titan
The Female Titan is controlled by Annie Leonhart. While the Female Titan cannot talk, she can understand human speech and follow complex instructions. She can mimic fighting techniques and respond to changes on the battlefield adaptively. This shows high intelligence compared to mindless Titans.
Speech Capabilities
So why can the Beast Titan talk while other intelligent Titans cannot? It seems to depend on two factors:
- Mental abilities – The Beast Titan retains Zeke’s human intelligence and consciousness, allowing speech.
- Physical vocal structure – Other Titans may lack the proper mouth, tongue, and vocal cord anatomy needed to literally talk.
The Beast Titan inherits Zeke’s mental abilities as well as a physical mouth and face closely matching a human’s. This grants the anatomical structures for speech. In contrast, Titans like the Female Titan lack proper lips, tongue, teeth, and vocal cords to physically form words.
Communication Methods
While most Titans cannot talk, some intelligent Titans have demonstrated other means of communication:
| Titan | Communication Method |
|---|---|
| Beast Titan | Speech |
| Female Titan | Written Messages |
| Cart Titan | Expressions |
The Cart Titan controlled by Pieck Finger cannot speak but makes use of a range of facial expressions to convey emotions and reactions.
Ymir’s Titans
The 9 Titans originated from the original Ymir Fritz after she obtained the Titan’s power. It is likely none of the original 9 Titans could talk except perhaps the Beast Titan. They were simply unintelligent Pure Titans that could take human form.
After Ymir’s death, her daughters Maria, Rose, and Sina inherited her Titans. They were the first Shifters who could control their powers in human form. Whether they could talk in Titan form is unknown. But they still may have lacked proper anatomy for speech.
Founding Titan
The Founding Titan held by the Reiss royal family has immense powers, but no accounts mention Titans spawned from it talking. Those Founding Titans were unintelligent Pure Titans under the whim of the Founder.
However, when Eren Yeager gained the Founder, he was able to command a horde of Colossal Titans verbally to trample the earth. But Eren talked in human form – his Titan form has not demonstrated speech ability.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the vast majority of mindless Titans cannot talk at all. Their mental limits prevent communication or understanding language. However, a few intelligent Titans controlled by Shifters have shown some capacity for following orders, expressing themselves nonverbally, and in Zeke’s case – actual speech.
But full vocalized speech seems to require a combination of human-level intelligence from the Shifter, plus a properly adapted Titan mouth and vocal cords. Only the Beast Titan has met those physical requirements to talk out loud in the Attack on Titan story thus far.