The origin of the Titans in the Attack on Titan universe has been a major mystery that has slowly unraveled over the course of the story. While the identity and motivations of the Titans was unclear at first, it has been revealed that the vast majority of Titans were created by Ymir Fritz, the original Titan.
The Origins of Titan Powers
In the Attack on Titan world, Titan powers originated from Ymir Fritz after she came into contact with the “source of all organic material” when she fell into a tree. This gave her the ability to transform into a Titan, as well as create more Titan bodies and pass her powers on to others by allowing them to consume her spinal fluid.
After her death, Ymir’s powers were passed on to her daughters Maria, Rose, and Sina. Her descendants continued passing on her Titan abilities, leading to the emergence of the nine Titan powers – the Founding Titan, Attack Titan, Colossal Titan, Armored Titan, Female Titan, Beast Titan, Cart Titan, Jaw Titan, and War Hammer Titan.
YMIR Creates the Titans
It was revealed that after her death, Ymir Fritz’s soul became bound to the Paths dimension, where the paths of all Subjects of Ymir intersect. In this realm, Ymir would follow the orders of the Founding Titan and use her powers to create Titans for them.
When King Fritz, the Founding Titan, threatened war on the rival Marley nation, Ymir was forced to create countless Colossal Titans. These Colossal Titans formed the walls on Paradis Island. She also created tens of millions of Titans that formed the hordes that would attack Marley if war broke out.
For nearly 2000 years after her death, Ymir continued to follow the royal family’s orders, creating Titans for them to use in war or to threaten other nations with the Rumbling. This included Pure Titans as well as the intelligent Titan Shifters.
The Process of Titan Creation
The exact process by which Ymir creates Titans is unknown. However, it is thought that Ymir manifests Titan bodies in the Paths realm using the source of all organic material that gave her powers. These Titan bodies are connected to her subjects through unseen “paths.”
When a Subject of Ymir is transformed into a Titan, their body merges with the Titan form in Paths that Ymir has created for them. This allows them to manifest as a Titan in the physical world.
Injecting Spinal Fluid
While Ymir does the work of actually forming the Titans, the way humans turn into Titans in the physical world is by injecting Ymir’s spinal fluid into their bodies. As her subjects, they are connected to Ymir’s power through paths.
When her spinal fluid enters them, it triggers their transformation into their designated Titan body residing in the Paths dimension.
The exceptions
However, there are a few exceptional cases where Titans were created through different means than Ymir:
- Eren Kruger was able to transform into a Titan and pass his Titan powers on to Grisha Yeager without Ymir’s involvement, as he had the Founding Titan.
- Zeke Yeager’s Beast Titan has abilities to create Titans by screaming. This bypasses Ymir’s power. However, those Titans are imperfect and defective.
- The Titans created by the Marleyans and fed to Armin and other Titan shifters were created artificially without Ymir.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while there were a few exceptional cases, the vast majority of Titans seen in Attack on Titan were created by Ymir Fritz using her unique powers as the original Titan. This includes the millions of Colossal Wall Titans, the mindless Pure Titans, and the intelligent Titan Shifters.
Ymir served as a Titan-creating factory for the Eldian Empire and obeyed the royal family for nearly 2000 years after her death. Only towards the end of the story does Ymir finally defy King Fritz and regain her free will, leading to the end of the Titans.