Attack on Titan: All Nine Titans and Characters That Inherited Them

We've come a long way from Season 1 of Attack on Titan, where Titans seemed as simple as giant humanoid creatures who wanted to destroy humanity within the walls. That's right, compared to where we are in the series today, the initial concept of Titans seems pretty straightforward. However, 70+ episodes later, we know more about these creatures and their origins.

As we all know now, Titans are... humans. One of the most shocking revelations of the series was when fans found out that Titans are a 2,000-year old race of humans known as the subjects of Ymir who can transform into Titans. So all the people living within the walls of Maria, Rose, and Sina, that we've been seeing since season 1 are essentially Titans or at least have the ability to become one.

Now that we know all about the Titans, we also know that there are nine Titans with abilities, like the Armored Titan, Colossal Titan, Beast Titan, etc., and can only be inherited by the Subjects of Ymir. In addition, the subject of Ymir, who wishes to possess one of the Nine Titans, must become a Pure Titan and eat the person who currently holds the power of one of the nine. Gruesome, right? So let's take a look at all Nine Titans and the characters that presently have their ability.

All Nine Titans and Their Holders

1) Armored Titan

• Current Inheritor - Reiner Braun
• Predecessors - Unknown

The Armored Titan is easily one of the strongest Titans in the series. It possesses armored plates of skin across its body, which can protect the Titan from significant amounts of damage, even a direct hit from a cannon or the "ultrahard steel blades" of ODM gear. However, the Armor does have its limits and is vulnerable to Thunder Spears, Anti-Titan artillery, and Titan hardening.

In addition, the Armored Titan is incapable of moving at high speeds when completely armored. The Titan is currently in possession of Marleyan Soldier Reiner Braun, who was chosen to inherit it two years before the Fall of Shiganshina. In the year 845, Reiner, along with fellow warrior candidates Bertholdt Hoover and Annie Leonhart, breached Wall Maria, which led to the fall of Shiganshina.

2) Colossal Titan

• Current Inheritor - Armin Arlelt
• Predecessors - Bertholdt Hoover

The first Titan to be shown in the series, the Colossal Titan, is the most destructive of any of the Nine Titans so far. The Colossal is the most massive Titan of them all, except Rod Reiss' abnormal Titan, twice its size. In addition to its enormous size, the Colossal Titan can also control the steam emitted from its body.

The anime series shows that Titans usually emit steam from wounds, and their bodies evaporate completely into steam after receiving a killing blow. However, the Colossal can emit tremendous amounts of steam at will, burning and repelling any person nearby. However, while the Colossal Titan is the biggest, it's also the slowest. Due to its large size and ability to exert a tremendous wave of energy upon transformation, it is hardly ever used by its inheritors.

In Season 3, Bertholdt's Colossal Titan was defeated by Armin and Eren, and they successfully managed to separate him from his Titan body. After the battle of Shiganshina, the surviving members of the Scout Regiment were left with the choice of using the "Titan serum" to save either Armin or Commander Erwin Smith, both of whom were on the brink of death.

However, Levi injects Armin with the serum, seeing Eren and Mikasa begging for their friend's life and the desire to free Erwin from his duties. In Pure Titan form, Armin then eats Bertholdt and inherits the Colossal Titan.

3) Female Titan

• Current Inheritor - Annie Leonhart
• Predecessors - Unknown

While the female Titan's identity was one of the first to be revealed in the series, fans haven't gotten to see much of her since season 1. From what little we've seen of the Female Titan so far, it possesses the ability to attract Pure Titans with its screams and also selectively harden parts of its skin. In addition, the Female Titan also seems to have high endurance and mobility.

Annie Leonhart, who possesses the powers of the Female Titan, was better at hand-to-hand combat than almost anyone else, except a few exceptions like Mikasa Ackerman. Due to the Titan's high mobility and Annie's skills, the Female Titan was exceptional at hand-to-hand combat.

However, while the Female Titan can attract "Pure Titans" with its screams, the downside is that once the Titans following the Female arrive at her location, they will attack the Female Titan and eat its body. After getting caught during the 'Assault on Stohess arc,' Annie crystallizes in human form and has since been comatose. Fans hope to see the Female Titan finally awaken in the ongoing final battle between Marley and Paradis.

4) Beast Titan

• Current Inheritor - Zeke Yeager
• Predecessors - Tom Ksaver

The Beast Titan is where things get a little confusing for anime-only watchers since not much is explained about the Titan itself. Fans have only been told Zeke Yeager's story and his connection with the previous holder of the Beast Titan, Tom Ksaver. However, there is a little more to the Beast Titan than simply Zeke's ape-like Titan form.

According to the manga, the Beast Titan was always different than any of the other eight "intelligent" titans since it did not retain a "human" appearance. The manga has also revealed that while the Beast Titan exhibits "animal-like" traits, the animal whose features it takes on depends on its holders. For example, Zeke Yeager's mentor Tom Ksaver's Beast was a bighorn sheep with pair of dark curved horns on its head. However, like most Titans, it stood bipedal.

Before Zeke, Tom Ksaver inherited the Beast Titan to research the Titan's memories. The Beast Titan would often stay in Marley during his tenure, as Tom claimed he was not too valuable for war. It has also been revealed that prior forms of the Beast Titan have included monkeys, birds, crocodiles, elk, bulls, wolves, snakes, rabbits, dinosaurs, and more.

Once his term was up, his protegee Zeke Yeager inherited the Beast Titan, gaining a unique ape-like form. Due to Zeke's skills, the Beast Titan possesses the devastating ability to throw objects with great accuracy and immense destructive capability. However, like his predecessor, the Beast Titan is not good at combat and has been defeated 1v1 several times by Captain of the Survey Corps, Levi Ackerman.

Interestingly, Zeke's Beast Titan can also turn Subjects of Ymir into Pure Titans. In addition, he can also control their actions and use them to his advantage. It is unknown whether this is because of the Beast Titan's powers or Zeke's Royal Blood.

5) Cart Titan

• Current Inheritor - Pieck Finger
• Predecessors - Unknown

The Cart Titan is different from the other intelligent Titans in more ways than one. Firstly, the Cart Titan has a quadrupedal form with incredible speed and endurance. Unlike the other Titans, large and generally meant for combat, the Cart Titan mainly acts as a scout and mule. It also possesses excellent speed, similar to the Jaw Titan, and is the only one apart from the Beast Titan capable of intelligible speech.

While the Titan does not have physical prowess, its ability to act as a mule allows Marley to equip its back with an armored tank and fully functional battle armor and four machine gun turrets manned by Marleyan soldiers. In addition, the Cart Titan possesses a level of endurance far greater than the other "intelligent" Titans, allowing the inheritor to partake in missions for months at a time without the need for rest. However, this Titan is not very useful for combat, primarily acting as a supporting member in a battle.

In the current War for Paradis Arc, the Cart Titan has been equipped with an anti-Titan artillery cannon to pierce even Titan hardening. When the time came for the Paradis Island Operation, Pieck's Cart Titan stayed behind in Marley. The Cart Titan's identity wasn't revealed until the Final Season of AOT.

6) Jaw Titan

• Current Inheritor - Falco Grice
• Predecessors - Porco Galliard (previous user), Ymir, Marcel Galliard

The Jaw Titan possesses an incredibly powerful set of jaws and claws that can tear through almost anything. Its claws are strong enough to cause severe damage to armored opponents such as turrets. It is also the second-fastest Titan of all due to its small size and can even move fast enough to catch another one of the Nine Titans off guard. Out of all of the Nine Titans, the Jaw Titan has seen the most number of inheritors so far, leaving several fans confused over its history.

As seen in the anime, the Jaw Titan was initially inherited by Marcel Galliard, who, along with fellow candidates Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt, was a part of Marley's 'Paradis Island Operation.' However, before the four could reach the Walls of Paradis, Marcel was eaten by Ymir, a Pure Titan, for decades before coming across the group.

Ymir then made her way into Paradis and joined the military, becoming a part of the 104th Cadet Corps and eventually a member of the Scout Regiment. Ymir then fell in love with Christa and agreed to return to Marley with Reiner and Bertholdt on the condition that they would protect Christa. She willingly gave up the Jaw Titan in Marley to Porco Galliard, the younger brother of her predecessor, Marcel Galliard.

During the War for Paradis arc, Porco's Jaw Titan was severely injured by Eren in his Attack Titan form. In addition, Zeke screamed at the last minute, turning Falco Grice into a Pure Titan and commanded him to attack and eat Reiner, presumably to have him inherit the Armor. However, because Porco cannot heal fast enough after his fight with Eren, he sacrifices himself to save Reiner and is eaten by Falco, who then inherits the Jaw Titan. Fans have yet to see Falco in Jaw Titan form.

7) War-Hammer Titan

• Current Inheritor - Eren Yeager
• Predecessors - Lara Tybur (previous user), Tybur family members

Introduced in the Final Season, the War Hammer Titan can create any structure out of hardened Titan flesh. It can also form pikes large enough to impale and lift a 15m Titan and cover entire areas with spikes. Unlike any other Titan so far, the War Hammer Titan can survive its nape's destruction due to its body being elsewhere.

Eren begins to track where the inheritor (Lara Tybur) could be hiding in the Marley arc and eventually notices a long cable stemming from the Titan's left heel. Following it and transforming into the Attack Titan once more, Eren finds Lara underground, encased within a crystal and attached to the end of the cable.

Until Eren attacked Marley, the War Hammer Titan was kept in possession of the Tybur family for generations. However, after Eren finds Lara's body underground, he uses the Jaw Titan to break through her crystallized form, crushing her. Eren also consumes Lara's spinal fluid in the process, inheriting the War Hammer Titan.

8) Attack Titan

• Current Inheritor - Eren Yeager
• Predecessors - Grisha Yeager (previous user), Eren Kruger

"No matter which era this Titan has found itself in, it has pushed ever forward, seeking out freedom. For the sake of freedom, it fights."

These were the words of Eren Kruger when he passed on the Attack Titan to Grisha Yeager. While the Attack Titan does not possess any special physical abilities aside from the usual Titan strength and hardening, it does include a unique ability. The inheritor of the Attack Titan can not only see memories of its past inheritor but also memories from its future inheritors.

Eldian spy, Eren Kruger, more commonly known as "The Owl," infiltrated the Marley Public Security and inherited it from an unknown predecessor. When Grisha Yeager was caught with other "Eldian Restorationists" and was about to be turned into a pure Titan, The Owl used his powers to destroy the Public Security and their ship before disposing of all evidence of the event.

He then passed on the Titan to Grisha Yeager after telling him to obtain the Founding Titan from the King of the Walls. After infiltrating the Walls, Grisha used the Attack Titan's powers to kill the Royal family and stole the Founding Titan after eating Freida Reiss. After the fall of Shiganshina, Grisha finds Eren and passes on the power of the Attack Titan to his son. The Attack Titan's powers have been held by Eren Yeager ever since.

9) Founding Titan

• Current Inheritor - Eren Yeager
• Predecessors - Grisha Yeager (previous user), The Reiss Family (including Uri Reiss & Frieda Reiss), Ymir Fritz, Karl Fritz

Perhaps the most important Titan of all, The Founding Titan is one of the Nine Titans whose screams can alter the minds of all subjects of Ymir in any form. It can even modify the memories of any subject of Ymir, seeing as King Fritz made everyone forget that humanity beyond the walls even existed. However, while the Founding Titan can alter memories of any subject of Ymir, some bloodlines are exempt from its power.

In addition, to use the Founding Titan's power, its inheritor must be of royal blood. While the founding Titan can make the inheritor invincible, there's also a catch. When King Fritz decided to settle down within the walls of Paradis Island with the subjects of Ymir, he made a vow renouncing war. The vow "possesses" the King's successors and changes their personalities.

Any person of royal blood who possesses the founder becomes compassionate and shows a desire to create a "paradise" inside the Walls, often preaching about peace and love among humankind. However, the vow only applies to the royal family. In addition, if a person without royal blood inherits the founder and wishes to use its powers, they must come in physical contact with a Titan of royal blood.

Eren tries to defend Mikasa from the Pure Titan who ate his mom during the Clash of the Titans arc. However, the pure Titan was originally his father's first wife and a woman of royal blood, Dina Fritz. When Eren, in human form, comes in contact with Titan Dina, he unwittingly unleashes the founder's powers and has all the other titans eat her.

In addition, Marley also desires to recover the Founding Titan's power to gain control of all subjects of Ymir. They call it the "Coordinate" because it is the point where all paths intersect.