Are you a human being or a Titan?

Kitts Woerman to Eren Yeager

Titan Shifter
Notable
Abilities

Titan Shifting,
Regeneration,
Hardening Skin,
Intelligence

Titan Shifters are specific humans in possession of the "Titan's power"( Kyojin no Chikara?),
which allows them to transform into Titans. Unlike regular Titans, they are able to control their regular
form and retain their human intelligence. It is often noted that Shifters are far more powerful than regular
Titans and sometimes display abilities unique only to them.

Contents
[show]

Description

Eren's transformation

Edit

To transform, they must suffer an injury that draws blood (often self-harm, as shown when Eren Yeager bit
his hand to protectMikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert, and when Annie Leonhartstabbed her finger with a
blade from the inside of her ring) while having a solid goal or belief in mind at the moment of injury.
However, being injured by another person is also sufficient, such as when Mikasa seriously
wounded Reiner and Bertolt. Once the transformation is initiated, a yellow bolt of lightning appears to
strike down the Shifter from the sky, followed by the generation of the Titan body and a release of steam.
After transformation, their human bodies appear to be in the Titan's nape of the neck, where they control
their Titan bodies. Their human bodies are also merged with the Titan's flesh inside, rendering them
immobile. It is also visible that their eyes are connected within the body of the Titan, presumably for optic
vision outside the body. An average height among the Titan forms is 15 meters, but this can vary, as
shown by the Colossal Titan, the tallest known Shifter, is 60 meters, the Beast Titan is 17 meters, the
Female Titan is 14 meters, and Ymir's form is 6-7 meters.
If a Shifter's Titan form is pushed to its limit, its human form will emerge from the nape of its neck in a
semi-conscious state. This is demonstrated separately by Eren, Ymir, and Annie when their Titan forms
suffer defeat. But if a Shifter's Titan form is not exhausted, then its human form can partially emerge from
the Titan form in full consciousness. Annie,Ymir, and even Eren have shown this ability on three separate
occasions.
When a Shifter emerges from their Titan body, the area around their eyes is burned from the hot muscle
of their Titan forms for a short time after. Every Shifter with a known Titan form has exhibited this at least
once, with the exception of Grisha Yeager. The time the burn lasts depends on the Shifter and possibly
how long, skilled or how overworked they used their Titan forms, ranging from several minutes to several
hours, as shown by how Ymir had the burns over her eyes for almost twelve hours, whereas Reiner and
Bertolt only had them for a little less than five hours.

Size comparison of various Titan Shifters with an average human (Mikasa)

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

been able to transform within minutes of recovering. Healing for a Titan Shifter's human form takes much
longer than their Titan form, as it took Eren 5 hours to regenerate both of his arms, whereas it would take
him minutes to do so in Titan form. The time it takes to regenerate appears to depend on the extent of the
injury and how focused a Shifter is on healing that area. The one thing they appear to be unable to
regenerate is their head, and the only surefire way to kill them appears to be decapitation, with the
exception of devouring them and absorbing their powers.
It is also shown that they are not safe from regular Titans, and will be attacked even while transformed.
Both Eren and Ymir were nearly devoured by hordes of Titans while transformed, and Reiner states that
traveling while in Titan-occupied territory is dangerous to any of them. During the battle of Trost, it was
shown that Titans seem to prefer attacking transformed Shifters. The human soldiers had great difficulty
drawing away the Titans, as they were somehow drawn to Eren's Titan form. This is because Titans are
regular humans transformed by unknown means and the only way to turn back is by eating a Shifter.
Reiner and Bertolt note that it was the same for them.
A notable trait of the three major antagonistic Shifters is their lack of skin, and special abilities unique only
to their Titans. For Bertolt's it is steam generation, for Reiner it is his hardened armor, and for Annie, it is a
variety of abilities, most notably the ability to harden select areas of her skin and call upon mindless
Titans. It is unknown how this relates to Eren and Ymir, who do not share their place of origin or purpose.
Ymir displays the ability to partially emerge from the nape of her Titan form, allowing her to interact with
others while still transformed. Uri also demonstrated this as well, once being almost completely out of his
Titan form with the exception of his right hand.[2] It is unknown whether this is unique to them or a feat
that any experienced Shifter can manage over time.
Revelations concerning Ymir's past also suggest several important possibilities concerning the nature of
Titans and Titan Shifters, as well as the existence of other Shifters. It is revealed that they do not age
while in their Titan form, as Ymir notes she spent at least 60 years in her Titan form but has the
appearance of a teenager.[3] Although Ymir lacks complete and clear memory of this period, she recalls
enough to describe it as an "endless nightmare." While trapped in her Titan form, she seems to have
been a regular Titan that mindlessly devoured humans. Reiner and Bertolt do not treat this as an unusual
case, and Bertolt notes that it was the same for them. This leads to the conclusion that the first time of
using their power they lack self-determination and have only a decided goal, devour humans. In the case
of all the currently known Titan Shifters, excluding Ymir, it appears that there was a Shifter present for
them to devour, with only Eren, Ymir, Frieda, and Uri having the Shifter they ate being shown or
mentioned.
Experiments performed on Eren suggest that Shifters are resistant, but not immune to the normal
absorption that creates mindless Titans if they stay transformed for a long time. After one hour to be
transformed, Eren entered in a state of pain and eventually left his Titan body. With the the two
subsequent transformations after short rests, the strength and quality of his Titan form degraded more
and more, becoming smaller and less controlled each time. On the third transformation, his lower body
remained free while his upper body began to merge with his Titan form. It became necessary to cut him
loose, removing most of the tissue from the front of his skull in the process. As such, it seems that there is
a limitation on how long a Shifter can remain in a transformed state before risking absorption. [4]Similarly,

it seems the longer or more often a Titan form is used and how exhausted the human within is, the more
difficult the form can be to consciously control. This may cause the Shifter's form to regress to typical
Titan behavior and can make them unpredictable if weaponized. The length of being transformed appears
to depend on how skilled a Shifter is at controlling their Titan form, as Annie was able to transform twice
into a fully formed Titan, in total altogether for almost a day minutes apart, without being absorbed, while
Eren nearly lost himself.
Their powers can be transferred to a new host, should they be devoured. This allows an ordinary Titan to
become a new Titan Shifter, should they succeed in devouring oneas was the case when Ymir
devoured Marcel and regained human form. Hange Zo theorizes other abilities, such as the Coordinate
possessed by Eren, could be transferred to a new host in the same fashion. The Reiss family has done
this method for years, by having one Reiss transform into a Titan and devour the previous Coordinate
holder, obtaining their powers and the memories of the world.
Grisha Yeager, a Shifter himself, was capable of using a syringe to turn a young Eren into a Titan which in
turn devoured most of his body. Similarly, Frieda Reiss became a Titan via syringe in order to consume
her uncle to become a Shifter and to obtain the Coordinate ability, as did Uri and Mr. Reiss. The serum
induced Titans resemble regular Titans but with a more or less resemblance to the human host, as Eren's
normal Titan form resembled him more than his Shifted form with short rugged hair and facial features
and Frieda's first transformation led to a skinny, boney female-like Titan with shoulder length light hair.
The first transformations are often less shorter than the Shifted forms, but this depends solely on the
Shifter, as Ymir's Titan form was 6-7 meters, and was near identical to her Shifter form, whereas Eren's
normal Titan was 3-5 meters, while his current Titan form is 15 meters. Rod Reiss revealed that Titan
Shifters, who have been given their abilities by having to devour someone, have a chosen Titan Shifter
form for them to take. Rod Reiss also reveals that certain serums can create a different type of Titan with
different abilities. For instance, Eren consumed a bottle from Rod's bag labeled "Braun" which gave his
Titan the power of skin hardening at will.[5]
According to Rod Reiss, a Shifter's power rests in their spinal cord, meaning that to gain the Titan powers,
it isn't necessary to eat the entire Shifter, more so just biting through the spine and ingesting their spinal
fluid. A serum recovered from Rod Reiss reveals that the Titan serums appear to be spinal fluid. However,
it is difficult to study, because once the liquid makes contact with the air, it evaporates.
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Titan Shifters
Names

Edit

Description

Titan Form

The first Titan Shifter to appear chronologically within the series, Bertolt
Hoover's Titan is of 60 m class. This grants him incredible strength like no
other, capable of causing monumental destruction with little effort or damage
sustained on his body. Due to this size its body temperature is extremely high,
to the point that it is constantly emitting steam. However, because this Titan is
so large, Bertolt can only move slowly while in its form.
It is the largest Titan Shifter seen so far in the series, the second largest Titan
of the series (coming second only to Rod Reiss's mindless Titan, which was
Bertolt

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

Hoover

class (15 m). This form has shown to be able to retain a degree of intelligence
and tactical planning to go with its sheer size and strength, despite its slow
movements. It is strong enough to break down the defensive walls
surrounding humankind with a single and very hard-focused kick to allow other
Titans to move inside the walls. It has a unique ability to "superheat" its body
to produce incredibly hot steam as a defense. This ability has only been seen
to be shared with Rod Reiss's Titan (except Rod Reiss's heat is even more
intense). The heat of this steam is so intense that it is able to keep dozens of
experienced soldiers at bay, lest they be cooked alive. [6]
Reiner Braun is capable of transforming himself into a 15 m class Titan with a
slight resemblance to his human form. Unlike the other Titan Shifters, his Titan
form has very thick, hardened plates of skin all over his body which serves as
his armor.

Reiner

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

Braun

weaknesses are the small areas on the backs of its joints where there is no
armor.[7] Though not particularly fast, this form is strong and agile, capable of
destroying a fortified wall after a sufficient running start. While he is able to
communicate through roars, it is unknown whether he shares Annie's ability to
summon other Titans.

Eren

Eren Yeager is the first Titan Shifter to be revealed in the series, his Titan

Yeager

being a 15 m class. Its most prominent characteristics are its elongated ears,
fleshless jaws and highly muscular build.
Eren's Titan form has so far been shown to have fairly substantial physical
strength, knowledge of martial arts techniques, and incredible endurance.
Prolonged and repeated use of this Titan form has allowed Eren to gradually
increase control over its initially unstable mental state. Its eyes are a piercing
grey in the manga, and emerald-green in the anime; wherein they are often

seen to be glowing bright green.

Eren eventually revealed the powers of "The Coordinate": A special ability
which allows him to take control of other Titans. In his blind state of rage, he
would subconsciously command them to relentlessly attack his chosen target
until they are dead.
This Titan has also recently gained the ability to harden after Eren has
consumed a jar labelled "Braun".

Annie Leonhart can transform into a 14 m class Titan with a distinctively

feminine build and short, blonde hair. Her transformation endows her with
immense strength and speed.
A Titan Shifter of athletic appearance with lean muscle and minimal skin, the
Female Titan is a Titan of unusual power and intellect. It has the stamina and
focus to maintain a running pace capable of keeping up with horses over a
Annie

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

Leonhart Maneuvering Gear attacks by prediction of the device's movements. This Titan
form also has the unique ability to harden its body parts by generating a
crystalline substance across chosen areas of its body; allowing it to
simultaneously protect its nape and fight.[9] Combined with refined martial arts
techniques, it can perform incredibly deadly and destructive attacks. When
cornered, the Female Titan's call has the ability to draw other Titans to it and
drive them into a feeding frenzy.[10]
Ymir

Ymir's Titan is a 7 m class Titan with long, black hair, very large irises and an
agile, chimpanzee-like body. This form grants Ymir rather long arms and sharp
claws. It provides her with such great agility that her Titan appears to be
"dancing".
The smallest Titan Shifter known yet, this Titan form has a mouth with all
pointed teeth, as well as sharp claws that can either be used to grasp on to
things or for combat. It's long arms and small, muscular body enable it to
maneuver itself around with great speed and agility in the same environments
as those with 3D Maneuvering Gear, making it a formidable foe in battle. [11]
Unlike the other shifters who apparently gained their powers under a
somewhat controlled process, Ymir wandered as a mindless Titan for 60 years
after stealing the power, and was only after she crossed paths with another

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

Frieda was able to transform herself into a 15 meter female-looking Titan with
white hair. She was said to have an "invincible power", but she died before
she could learn how to use it. She devoured her uncle below the Reiss chapel
Frieda

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

Reiss

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

allows the user to control Titans and potentially, humans. This however, was
stolen from her by Grisha Yeager, and is now in the possession of Eren
Yeager.

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

ears and long hair, except Grisha's Titan jaws have flesh and a beard. He has
a bulkier body built. Unlike most Titan Shifters shown so far in the series, his
body is very heavy-built. He used his Titan form to kill and devour Frieda
Reiss along with her family, excluding Rod and Historia Reiss. [13]

Having a distinct, ape-like appearance, his Titan's body structure and facial
features are like that of a human's, he walks upright like one also. He stands
at a previously unseen 17 meters in height. Dark fur covers the large majority
of his body, with the exception of his face, hands, feet, and torso. His arms are
also elongated, with long fingers and fully-functional thumbs. The proportions
of his upper body are similar to that of the Colossal Titan, possessing a
Beast

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

Titan
It is suggested that the Beast Titan contains massive strength, for it was able
to hurl chunks of the wall from very far and was able to accurately hit
members of the Scouting Legion. He was also able to defeat the Armored
Titan without seemingly any sustained damage. It has been noted that the
Beast Titan is the "strongest" Titan.

Notable Titan Shifters

Edit

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

Marcel

Uri Reiss

Mr. Reiss

The First King

Trivia

Edit

Many Titan Shifters are modeled after wrestlers. For instance, the Armored Titan is modeled after
Brock Lesnar and the Rogue Titan is modeled after Yshin Okami.

Annie Leonhart appears to be the most skilled living Titan Shifter, sporting a variety of learned
powers and moves. However, the holder of the Coordinate would often be the strongest Shifter, as
noted by Rod. The least skilled appears to be Eren, who is still learning how to use his powers.

It is possible that like normal Titans, a Shifter's remains evaporate when they perish as there was
no trace of Grisha after Keith Shadis found an unconscious Eren after the latter received the
Coordinate, even though in Eren's obtained memory, the remains of Grisha's lower body, arm, and
clothes were left behind.

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

ANIME CLOSE UP: THE TITAN SHIFTERS OF

SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN (ATTACK ON TITAN)
Published by Kitty Paws on 2013/09/08 | Leave a response

Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan) is indeed one of the most popular anime and
manga at the moment. The title itself already shows who the main antagonists are in the
anime and in the manga. The Kjoyin or Titans are a mysterious race of humanoid giants
which appeared roughly 107 years ago. They have rapidly increased and have
exterminated humanity to the point of near extinction. However, their origins, overall
population and how their body works still remains a mystery at the moment. Although
humans have tried to study them, there just seems to be too much information that

needs to be known about them. Although Titans greatly resemble human beings because
they are also bipedal and have the same number and arrangement of limbs and other
physical features, their proportions vary. Some of them have large heads, longer arms
and so on. Apart from that, there are other abnormalities like some lacking skin and
tissues however, they do not bleed from these deformities. Most Titans are also males
however, they lack gonads therefore, their method of reproduction is still unknown and
is yet to be discovered by the humans who study them. Titans have complete set of teeth
except that they do not have sharp fangs like canines and they also do not have a
complete and fully functional digestive tract. Their favorite activity is eating humans
however, when they cannot eat anymore of them, they throw them up or extract them
from inside their bodies to make room for more.
However, not all Titans are pure. Some Titans are actually humans who change into
Titan forms. This is actually a twist in the story which most people did not expect. Eren
emerging from the body of a Titan gave birth to the idea of Titan Shifters. Titan Shifters
are types of Titans that are controlled by humans. Somehow, some humans are capable
of transforming into Titans and they possess various unusual traits an skills that they
can hone and even direct with a purpose. Titan Shifters are unusually stronger and/or
faster than typical Titans and they can also retain their intelligence during controlled
transformation. However, this is not the case if the transformation is not controlled.
Ones intelligence depends on the capability and training received by the person who is
going to transform into a Titan. Luckily, Titan Shifters dont have any deformities that
hinder their skills and they often resemble their human drivers. Like Titans, Titan
Shifters can also regenerate parts of their body by focusing.
So far, there are five known Titan Shifters in the series. The first Titan Shifter known in
the series is Eren Jaegers Berserk Titan. Despite his substantial physical strength and
his use of martial arts techniques, his greatest disadvantage is that he doesnt know how
to control his transformation well yet. It is still unknown as to how far his abilities would
go but right now he is still pretty unstable which is why people still find it hard to trust
him. Other Titan Shifters include the Dancing Titan. Later on, it will be revealed that
Ymir transforms into the said monstrosity. Her Titan has sharp teeth and claws which
helps her easily hang on walls and are good for combat. She is the smallest Titan Shifter

at the moment. Next is the Colossal Titan which is the largest of all the Titan Shifters at
the moment. Although it moves slowly, it compensates it by its degree of intelligence
and tactical planning. It is also very strong as it can break down walls. Later on, it will be
discovered that Bertholdt is the said Titan Shifter. The Armored Titan is also another
example of a Titan Shifter. This Titan Shifter has hard skin all over its body, has
advanced strength and agility and is somehow well-built. Like the Colossal Titan, the
Armored Titan can also destroy walls. This Titan Shifter is actually Reiner. Lastly, we
have the Female Titan. She has already appeared in the series too and is currently the
Titan Shifter that everyone is looking for. She is the only Titan Shifter with a female
form. Out of all the Titan Shifters, she is the most agile and the most intelligent of them
all as she is not keen on eating any humans and would rather just kill those who are
considered a threat to her. Like the Armored Titan, she also has the ability to harden
parts of her body which allows her to protect certain body parts, most of all, her neck.
She can even call other Titans just by her loud call. Although, there have been
speculations only at the moment, later on, it will be revealed that the Female Titan is in
fact, Annie.
It is unknown if there will be more Titan Shifters that will be introduced in the series.
After all, it is still ongoing. There are many mysteries behind the walls and there are also
enemies inside the walls that people need to find out. As the series continues to
progress, more and more secrets will be revealed and more and more blood, violence
and gore will ensue. Death is inevitable at this point and somehow it is hard to say if
those who have lived and survived are considered lucky. To fall prey to flesh eating
giants isnt exactly any different from surviving a zombie apocalypse and trying to avoid
being consumed by them. The only good thing about being eaten by a Titan is that you
will never turn like them. Not like when you get bitten by a zombie, surely, you will
become one of the undead. But there are still so many things that needs to be revealed,
so many things that needs to be learned. Will the humans will the war against the
Titans? No one knows. Which side will the Titan Shifters choose? For now, it is safe to
say that Eren is on humanitys side but the rest are still on a different side. Will he be
able to persuade them to join his cause or will he have to defeat them and kill them all?
So many questions but hopefully they will be answered in the upcoming episodes of the
anime. We all have yet to find out.

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