"The scariest monsters, are the ones that lurk within our souls."
Edgar Allen Poe
Chapter 2: Titans
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Titans: a subspecies of the ravenous, destructive force that covers the majority of Remnant's surface known as the Creatures of Grimm.
Unlike the rest of the subspecies of Grimm, which take the appearance similar to that of animals (Beowolf, Ursa, Centinal) and those that are regarded as mythological beasts (Manticore, Leviathan, Sea Feilong), Titans share the same appearance and characteristics of a human being. Specifically that of an average human male. After extensive research and probing through records, scientists and historians found that the only other Grimm that shared a human-like appearance was that of the Willpower-Draining Apathy.
But though it's uncanny appearance may unsettle and terrify them; the people of Remnant simply see the Titan as yet another Grimm for their Huntsman and Huntresses to kill…
…the truth is much, MUCH worse than they can imagine.
Titans are not in fact a creature native to Remnant. They existed on an entirely different world known as Earth. My world.
In fact, Titans were not even originally Grimm. The Creatures of Grimm did not exist on Earth. They instead were something… far more horrifying.
I remember the day when I first saw a Titan. When Shiganshina, the southern outlier district of the outer Wall Maria on the island of Paradis, was breached by the Colossus Titan in the year 845.
Unlike the Grimm variant, the Titans from Earth have a much closer resemblance to that of a human being. Meaning they have the same skin, hair, and eye color that a human possesses. However, unlike the Grimm variant, which all have the same physique, Titans on Earth have rather disproportionate bodies. Some are skinny to the point that their bones are visible against their skin, others were fat, while others had short limbs or enlarged heads. Nearly all Titans, with a few exceptions, had rather wide and unsettling grins frozen on their face.
In the Military we learned more about the Titans thanks to what surviving documents we had, as well as testimonies from soldiers of the Survey Corps. Titans were fundamentally different from other lifeforms. Because of the lack of reproductive organs, it was unknown exactly how more Titans were born. And apart from their ravenous hunger towards humans, they completely ignored animals. In regards to that same hunger, we get to a rather unsettling part of the Titans.
Titans do not eat humans for sustenance. Nor do they eat humans to survive, considering they lasted without access to their "food source" for a hundred years. Even if they consumed humans, they lack a digestive tract, so after eating enough humans they simply upchuck them like a cat does a hairball.
Titans also possessed the ability to heal from practically any injury they sustain to their bodies. Even with their limbs ripped off, their organs disemboweled, or even their heads completely destroyed through cannon fire, a Titan can simply regenerate the lost parts of their body and return back to their original state with no negative repercussions. It was this this same healing factor, along with them feeling no pain and with seemingly no way to kill them, that many believed the Titans were invincible.
However, that isn't the case. There is in fact a weak spot that every Titan possesses, regardless of what size and shape they may be: from the back of the head to the nape of the neck. 1m high, 10cm across. When this weak spot is struck, the Titan goes down and can no longer regenerate.
They die and they stay dead.
However, being able to target their napes was not an easy feat, as firearms were practically useless, while using conventional cannon technology simply wasn't effective. That is why the people of the Walls developed the vertical maneuvering equipment (also referred to as 3D-maneuver gear and omni-directional mobility/ODM gear), to allow a human being to move about in 3D space rather than 2D to get in position and strike the nape.
The equipment always got the job done. And for a time, all everybody knew about Titans was what they ate and how to kill them. It wasn't until we finally repelled their invasion and reclaimed the lost lands of Wall Maria that we truly learned what they were.
And who made them what they were.
Titans were not some monstrous species hellbent on humanities extinction.
Titans… were originally human.
Condemned to walk the Earth for all eternity, and never aware or in control of their actions as they're forced to consume other humans.
And the ones to turn these poor souls into Titans… were other humans.
Those that were turned into Titans are collectively known as Eldians, a race of humans who were descendants of a girl named Ymir Fritz, who was said to have been the very first Titan in existence. Eldians are the only race on Earth that are able to transform into Titans upon being exposed to Titan Spinal Fluid, with there also being nine special Titans that allow nine individuals to become Titan Shifters. Unfortunately in modern times, this has caused other humans to view Eldians with disgust and hatred, and I'd even go as far as to say that Eldians were treated worse than Faunus were treated on Remnant. They've also been used as weapons by the nation of Marley to conquer and annex other countries, which only further increased everyone's hatred of Eldians.
As for the Titans that roamed the lands of Paradis? They were Eldian citizens were sentenced to be turned into Titans and be sent to "Paradise" for their crimes… what a load of shit. Marleyans would look for any reason/excuse to punish Eldians. And they would take great pleasure in their suffering.
Though first impressions seem to view the Eldian Titans of Earth and the Grimm Titans of Remnant under the same scope, there are actually aspects that differ between the two.
The first, and rather obvious one, is purely in regards to their appearance. Eldian Titans are the closest in terms of looks to a regular human, bearing the same skin and hair color, as well as being varied in shape and height (big or small, skinny or fat). Grimm Titans on the other hand share the same characteristics as other Grimm. In their case being black skin, ashen white hair, and hate-filled red eyes. There also hasn't been any recorded instances of there being any differences in body type or height, as all Grimm Titans that have been seen stand at 15m tall and possessing a lean yet muscular build.
The second aspect that differs between variants is their behavior, specifically their behavior towards other lifeforms as well as their drive against humans. Eldian Titans are essentially hardwired to pursue and consume humans, and do so in the hopes that the human they consume is a Titan Shifter, which would allow the Titan to regain their humanity. Even if animals were in close proximity, a Titan will simply ignore them as if they don't even exist. Grimm Titans on the other hand, seek out humans and their creations purely to destroy them like other Grimm, as was their purpose as constructs of destruction. They will also acknowledge the presence of animals, and will even get into tussles with them in regards to territory.
The third is their intelligence and even biology. Like other Creatures of Grimm, should a Grimm Titan manage to survive conflict and escape, then they will adapt. They will learn and grow smarter from their failed attempt, and thus will be able to find a better way to kill their targets. They will also get physically stronger and more durable, with the possibility of them gaining bone growths from their body that could aid them offensively and defensively, much like how an Ursa and Centinal change to an Ursa Major and Cenitaur. Eldian Titans function purely on instinct instead of intelligence, and thus cannot adapt like a Grimm could. They also do not get stronger from surviving conflict like a Grimm can.
The only thing of note is the existence of Abnormal Titans, who might ignore a human right before them and target a group of humans a distance away. They also move in unusual and unpredictable manners compared to regular Titans, though this may be a case of instinctual actions rather than intellect.
Though despite these differences, Eldian Titans and Grimm Titans do share one thing in common, and that is the Nine Titans… though that is a story for another time.
When people speak of monsters, they usually picture different things in their mind. They can have horns and scales or a terrifying visage that frightens those who gaze at it, others can be a Grimm like a Nuckelavee and Cenitaur or even an Apathy. Even the people of Earth saw Eldians, and by extension the Titans, as monsters. Everyone has their own interpretation of what monsters are.
But true monsters, the WORST type of monsters… those monsters are men.
Eren Yeager
Citizen of Kuroyuri – Kingdom of Mistral
Hunt Inquisitorius – Inquisitor #1
Hey guys, The Avenging Titan here! Hope you're all doing alright and staying healthy, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Now this wouldn't be an Attack on Titan story if we didn't talk about, well, the Titans. So, it only made sense to make a chapter dedicated to Titans as well, along with explaining the key differences with the new Titans that me and Court have introduced to RWBY. And as this chapter has shown, there are definitely differences.
The Grimm Titans are… well, Grimm. So they will share the same unique characteristics that Grimm share, unlike the original AOT Titans which are basically like giant zombies, meaning they can't learn to think or adapt the way Grimm can through time and experience. The only way for AOT Titans to possible match that is through a Titan Shifter with royal blood, or the Founding Titan. But even then, it's only due to outside interference directing them to do so, unlike Grimm Titans who can learn and adapt on their own.
If you think about, that difference gives the Grimm Titans the chance to be even more dangerous than the original Titans… food for thought.
With all that said, thank you all for checking out this story as well as A New Path, and I hope you guys have a wonderful day! Take care!
Next Chapter: Kuroyuri and it's Advancements.