"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

Isaac Newton

Chapter 4: The Eldian Nine Titans

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For the longest time, the people of Paradis believed that regular Titans were the biggest threat they had to face for the last hundred years. Myself, Armin, Mikasa and the others were of the same mindset. It wasn't hard to understand why, as they caused such a large death toll on those who tried to fight against them.

But in the year 845, humanity within the Walls received a shocking revelation and grim reminder regarding the Titans, on the very day that Wall Maria fell.

There were different types of Titans. Each with their own unique abilities and characteristics that set them apart from the norm. Abilities and characteristics that made them very dangerous. Abilities and characteristics that changed everything we thought we knew, and made the Titans even more of a threat and mystery.

Upon the recovery of the lost territory of Wall Maria, and reaching my father's basement, were we able to properly learn more about these monsters. They all were referred to collectively as…

…the Nine Titans.

Roughly 2,000 years ago, during Earth's ancient times, lived a girl by the name of Ymir. When she was still just a young girl, her village was pillaged and raided by a primitive tribe that went by the name of Eldia, and her parents killed. Upon the orders of the tribe's leader, Fritz, all of the villagers, even Ymir herself, were all enslaved by the Eldians and their tongues cut out. After all… slaves didn't speak to their masters.

But then one day, a seemingly insignificant action had happened that would go on to change the very history of Earth and its inhabitants. Pigs from the livestock pens, possibly another source of food for the tribe, had been let loose by one of the slaves. Fritz called for all the slaves to be gathered before him, and demanded to know who among them had set them loose, or else he would gouge out one eye from every slave… as slaves only need one.

Moments later, every single slave that was gathered before him began to point to a single slave as the culprit.

Ymir.

After being brought forward, Fritz declared to the kneeling Ymir that she was "free" and was released from the tribe.

Free…

…what a joke.

The so-called "freedom" that was gifted to Ymir was a lie. She had an eye gouged out and was let loose into the forest, only to soon by pursued by dogs and hunters on horseback, as if she was nothing but an animal to be hunted and killed. Marleyans always spouted on and on about the sins committed by Eldians long ago… and as much as I hate to even say this, but they were right.

Wounded and desperate, Ymir soon came across found an unusually large tree in the forest with an opening at its base. Desperately seeking shelter from her pursuers, she stepped inside and, unbeknownst to her, slipped and fell into a sinkhole beneath her, before finding herself submerged into a pool of liquid.

But this didn't spell the end for Ymir… it marked the beginning of a new era.

As Ymir continued to sink down further into the pool, she came across a strange… organism. A glowing spine/centipede-like creature that aimlessly drifted along the water.

Upon Ymir reaching it, the creature approached her, and as its limbs brushed up against the back of her body, it and Ymir both began to glow. Moments later, a pillar of golden light erupted from the ground, reaching up into the sky and bathing surrounding area in its glow. The hunters that were in pursuit of Ymir froze, stunned not only at the phenomenon that they were witnessing, but also at what came next.

Rising up from the light, a massive form began to take shape. Bone, muscle, tendons, organs, and skin began forming, resulting in a creature that would change the very landscape of the world. This creature was human in shape with a female figure, possessed flowing light hair, and ribs that protruded and extended from its body. Its face was the most haunting as it had no apparent skin, eyes or musculature, leaving only a skull.

The was progenitor. The first ever Titan. The one that would bring about the age of Titans.

Ymir was this Titan.

Despite having this incredible power though, and despite the torture she endured by Fritz, Ymir returned to once again serve him. The mentality of an obedient slave dominant in her psyche. With this new Titan, Ymir would use it to cultivate the lands so that it may bring forth great harvest, bridges were built to cross difficult terrain such as the mountains, and amass a great wealth for the Eldians. Fritz would also order Ymir to use this power to vanquish the armies of its rival tribe of Marley.

As a "reward" to Ymir for destroying his enemies, and for bringing such prosperity to his people, he decided to gift "his seed" to her. From this came the birth of Ymir's 3 Daughters: Maria, Rose, and Sina.

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Just thinking about it is absolutely revolting. It makes me want to puke.

13 years after Ymir obtained the power of the Titans, Eldia went from simply a tribe, to becoming an empire. One day, a group of surrendering Marleyan soldiers were brought to bow before him. One of them took out a hidden spear from the ground and attempted to assassinate Fritz. Instead, it was Ymir who took the spear instead and the Marleyans were swiftly executed for their actions.

Fritz did not believe that a spear could kill Ymir, so he told her to get back up while insisting she was born to serve him, but Ymir truly did die from the spear. Fearful that the power of the Titans might be gone forever with her death, Fritz ordered something… horrific and disgusting to be done.

Ymir's corpse was to be butchered and served to his daughters, Fritz forcibly ordering them to consume their mother in a bid to for the Titan power to be preserved and passed down. On his deathbed, he commanded his daughters to continuously reproduce, to have their children eat their spines upon their deaths and perpetuate this ritual from child to child, so that Ymir's blood would never die out, and that Eldia and the Titans would rule for all eternity.

I still remember his words…

"My daughters. Give birth and multiply. The blood of Ymir must not perish. If you die, my daughters, have my grandchildren eat your spines. If my grandchildren die, pass their spines from child to child. Even after I die... my Eldians will rule the great lands of this world with their enormity. And my Titans shall reign forever and ever."

But as insane as Fritz was, as disgusting and horrific as this action was… it worked.

Ymir's power was successfully passed down to her 3 children, and their Titan powers were eventually passed down to their children, and their children and so on. This however resulted in Ymir's full power being divided amongst her Eldian descendants, also called the Subjects of Ymir.

This division created what we all know today as the Nine Titans. Each Titan gaining an ability that Ymir's Titan once possessed, and were originally held by the prominent families of the Eldian Empire, before that coward Karl Fritz conspired with Marley to take them for themselves following the Great Titan War.

Each Titan has their own unique name identifying them and their abilities:

The Colossus Titan
The Armored Titan
The Female Titan
The Jaw Titan
The Beast Titan
The Cart Titan
The War Hammer Titan
The Attack Titan
The Founding Titan

Now nine may seem like an insignificant number compared to the near endless hordes that the people of Paradis and around the world have faced, but I guarantee that even the smallest/weakest of these Titans are in a league of their own.

The first of the Nine Titan's that Paradis ever encountered was the Colossus Titan, also referred as the Colossal Titan in certain circles of the Island and the rest of the world. As its name implies, the Colossus Titans defining trait is its sheer size in relation to Pure Titans or any of the other Nine Titans. Compared to the 3 Walls of Paradis, which stand at 50m in height, the Colossus Titan stands at 60m, tall enough for its head to pear over and gaze down at the district inside. It's size also grants it great strength, capable of destroying the outer gates of the Walls in a single kick, ripping up and launching houses in the air, and also launching me from the ground straight into the top of Shiganshina's wall… not my best moment. The con to all of this is that its size makes it very slow.

Armin's Titan was also able to destroy Marley's ships and Naval Port simply from stepping over them.

One of the capabilities that users of the Colossus Titan have is a significant amount of control over the steam emitted from its body. Normally, Titans emit steam from regenerating wounds inflicted upon them, and their bodies would evaporate completely into steam after death. The Colossus Titan however, was capable of emitting large quantities of steam at will. This power serves a variety of purposes. By emitting great amounts of steam at once, the sudden rise in heat as well as pressure and force would burn and repel any individuals in close proximity that were not fixed in place; in addition, if anyone was affixed to it, they would be at the Titan's mercy and constantly roasted by the heat.

…Armin had to suffer through that in order for us to win.

However, this ability is not without its cons, as frequent or constant usage rendered the Titan's muscles immobile. In addition, prolonged and continuous use of this ability also takes a toll on the Titan, burning away and decreasing its muscle mass gradually until only the skeletal structure remains. If the situation calls for it, the Colossus Titan is capable of evaporating its entire body at once, leaving nothing behind like it wasn't ever there. Doing so would place the user in a greatly vulnerable state, but previous Titan Shifter Bertolt Hoover circumvented that using vertical maneuvering equipment.

But the most the dangerous ability the Colossus Titan has at its disposal is related to its transformation. Titan Shifters release enormous amount of energy and heat when transforming into their Titan, but Titan Shifters who are in possession of the Colossus Titan can control the energy they create at will, and can use this for different effects. When Bertolt initiated the Battle for Trost, his transformers merely generated a force and wind merely capable of knocking myself and the other trainees off the top of the Wall. However, in the Battle of Shiganshina and the reclamation of Wall Maria, Bertolt's transformation resulted in a massive explosion that ravaged part of the district, killed off a majority of the Survey Corps, and kicked up a large mushroom cloud of dust and rubble. Armin also used this same ability to destroy the ships and Naval Port in Liberio.

This ability, on top of all its other abilities, christened the Colossus Titan the "god of destruction" all over the world.

The last user of the Colossus Titan was my old friend, Armin Arlet.

The second Titan that Paradis had encountered for the first time since losing their memory is the Armored Titan. This Titan stood at around 15m, roughly the same height as the standard Pure Titan, but no less daunting. Much like the Colossus Titan, the key traits of the Armored Titan lie in its very name. Its body was protected from all sides by an all-encompassing layer of plated, armor-like segments of hardened rock/crystal-like skin. This armor was capable of shielding the Titan from significant amounts of damage. Soldiers that survived the Fall of Shiganshina spoke of how the charging Titan tanked a direct hit from a cannon ball and continued on as if it were a fly, while the Ultrahard Steel blades of vertical maneuvering equipment shattered to pieces trying to strike it. The armor was even capable of withstanding the devastation of the Colossus Titan's explosive transformation, that should tell you a lot about its defense.

The armor wasn't just for physical protection either, as the user can utilize it offensively, as attacks dealt by the Armored Titan would inflict great damage upon impact on anything the Titan charges or strikes. The inner wall of Shiganshina was completely destroyed by its ramming charge, and early fights with the Armored Titan sent me flying into the ground stunned.

However, the armor did have limitations. Thanks to the clever mind of Hange Zoe, the Survey Corps head of Titan research, Paradis was able to develop the explosive Thunder Spears for the vertical maneuvering equipment, enabling us the ability to compromise the Armored Titans defenses. The rest of the world would follow suit with the development of the high-powered anti-Titan artillery by the Mid-East Allied Forces.

Although the armor of the Armored Titan is quite formidable, it does have its own disadvantages. Unlike other Titans, the Armored Titan was shown to be much slower in speed in comparison, most likely due to either the weight of the armor or because of any restrictions in movement that came with its protection. This could be rectified if the user sheds off segments of the armor to help increase movement capability, such as the armor behind the knees, enabling the Titan to move with incredible speed. But doing so would also sacrifice defense as this would leave parts of its body, like the aforementioned behind the knees, vulnerable to attack.

Another, albeit minor, disadvantage of the Armored Titan was revealed in regards to the Founding Titan. Users of the Founding Titan were able to cause the hardened skin of the Armored Titan to crumble away to nothing; this left the Titan prone and extremely vulnerable to damage. However, this only seemed to apply to the current body being piloted by a Titan Shifter, as transforming again into a new Titan body would recreate the armor once again.

The Armored Titan was also capable of using Titan Hardening to some degree, such as forming crystalized claws on its feet and hands in order to scale the top of Shiganshina during the operation to reclaim Wall Maria. Whether a user can use Hardening to further increase the armors durability is debatable.

The last user of the Armored Titan was Reiner Braun. A man I considered a friend and ally, before the revelation of him being a Warrior of Marley came to light. It wasn't until my own infiltration of Marley did I finally understand the position he was in.

The third of the Nine Titans that Paradis encountered, during the 57th Expedition Outside the Walls, was the Female Titan. The Female Titan possesses various traits that make it stand out amongst both Pure and the other Nine Titans for several reasons. The first, and most obvious, trait is its body. Unlike Pure Titans and the rest of the Nine, with the exception of the Founding Titan, this Titan possesses a feminine figure, with curves, breasts, etc. For the longest time, only females ever inherited this Titan.

Nora once brought up the question of whether a not a man could inherit the Female Titan, and if they could inherit it, would the Titan Shifter be affected? Would they turn from male into a female? Or would they stay the same?

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Nora asks questions that probably shouldn't be asked.

The other trait that makes the Female Titan stand out lies with its abilities. Adaptation and mimicry, Pure Titan attraction, versatility, and even Hardening, making the Female Titan an all-purpose jack of all trades, master of none.

For its adaptation and mimicry ability, users of the Female Titan are able to copy traits from other Titans if they consume a piece of said. Thanks to this, Annie was able to encase her human body in a crystal shell just like the War Hammer Titan for 4 whole years. The full extent of this ability is unclear.

The next ability the Female Titan was some degree of influence or control over Pure Titans, similar to how Zeke was able to with his Titan. By screaming, the Female Titan is able to attract Pure Titans towards her location. This was how the Titans were able to quickly overrun the territories within Wall Maria after the Fall of Shiganshina at the hands of Reiner and Bertolt.

However, there is a downside to this. Although it can call upon Pure Titans, it isn't proper control like the Founding Titan or a Royal Blood Titan, so once the Titans following them arrive at her location, they would attack the Female Titan and consume its body. If this was any other user in normal circumstances then this would spell disaster, and would be the end of them. But Annie was able to overcome this problem due to her being equipped with vertical maneuvering equipment, and was able to cover her escape from her Female Titan with the other Titans consuming its body, combined with the steam from both her and the decaying Titan.

Although more this was more of a passive trait than a proper ability, the Female Titan possessed a great amount of mobility and endurance. This combined with both its Hardening, as well as knowledge in hand-to-hand combat, makes the Female Titan a very deadly opponent to face. Its endurance was also demonstrated by Annie, as was able to make the trip from the coastline of Paradis Island to Wall Maria. Though afterwards she was left exhausted and bed ridden for hours.

The last ability in the Female Titans arsenal is its Hardening ability. Users of the Female Titan selectively encase parts of their body in a crystalline structure that was incredibly hard, such as Hardening its nape to protect against those with vertical maneuvering equipment, completely shattering Ultrahard Steel blades. Besides being used defensively, this could also be used offensively in combat as well. The activation of Hardening along with a well-timed punch or kick, can result in some serious damage to a target, such as dismembering or decapitating a Titan.

I unfortunately experienced that one in the 57th Expedition. All of these abilities, combined with a competent Titan Shifter, make the Female Titan a dangerous and destructive force that should never be underestimated.

The last user of the Female Titan was Annie Leonhart. Although not as close to everyone like Reiner and Bertolt, her betrayal still hit me hard. While others were able to accept it, I was still in denial, to the point where I was unable to transform. But like Reiner, I was able to understand her better, and she even joined the others in trying to stop me in the end.

The fourth Titan Paradis had an encounter with was the Jaw Titan. Out of all the Nine Titans, the Jaw Titan is the second smallest at around 5m. But it is due to this small size that makes the Jaw Titan the swiftest and fastest out of the Nine.

Those in possession of the Jaw Titan showcase significant amounts of speed and agility in their Titan form. They could even move fast enough that they would be able to catch most of the other Nine Titans off guard, and in a fight that would make all the difference. Though relatively small and weak, the great mobility of the Jaw Titan means that it excels in terrain such as the Titan Forests of Paradis, and urban environments such as Liberio and Shiganshina.

As made clear by its name, the Jaw Titans main trait centers around it's… well, it's jaws. The Jaw Titan possesses tremendous biting and crushing strength in both its jaws and claws which could be used with devastating efficiency against both Titans and man-made structures. In the Marley Mid-East War, the Jaw Titan's claws were strong enough to cause severe damage to armored opponents such as turrets, and was able to use its jaws to tear apart train track from the ground. During the attack on Liberio, the claws of the Jaw Titan were also able to leave deep gashes in the hardened crystal shell surrounding the War Hammer Titan user Lara, and its jaws were able to completely crush it and her. I wasn't able to damage it, and I doubt any other Titan besides the Jaw Titan would be able to either.

One important fact to note is that the powers of the Jaw Titan manifested in different ways among Titan Shifters, with some like Ymir only having hardened teeth while looking like a regular Titan, while Titan Shifters in the Warrior Unit of Marley possessed hardened, armored masks, jaw plating and hardened fingers that could withstand gunfire.

Falco's Titan also possessed some unique birdlike characteristics due to being affected by Zeke's spinal fluid, which manifested as him sprouting wings and a tail that allowed it to take flight while carrying multiple people on its body. This is similar to past incarnations of the Beast Titan.

There were several Titan Shifters in recent years that were in possession of the Jaw Titan. In 845, when the Paradis Island Operation commenced, the one who had the Jaw Titan was a young man named Marcel Galliard. Before they could reach Wall Maria, a Pure Titan that was buried in the ground emerged and ambushed the Warriors, devouring Marcel who sacrificed himself to save Reiner.

That Pure Titan was Ymir, who returned back to human and became the new Jaw Titan. Following Reiner and Bertolts failure to capture me and bring me back to Marley, Ymir went with them so they do not return empty-handed. In Ymir's words, if they had not come to break the Wall, she would never have woken from her nightmare, so she is going to return what she borrowed. She was later eaten by Marcel's brother Porco Galliard. Honestly, Ymir's sacrifice feels like a waste going to a guy like this.

After Marley's retaliation following the attack on Liberio, an injured Galliard allowed himself to be eaten so that a young kid named Falco Grice, who turned into a Pure Titan due to Zeke's spinal fluid, would become the new Jaw Titan. From what I gather, seeing the memories of his brother helped him make this choice. I guess that's one thing I can praise him for, Falco truly didn't deserve that fate.

The next Titan that Paradis squared off against, and suffered greatly from, was the Beast Titan.

This is a unique Titan. While Pure Titans, and even the other Nine Titans, all retain a human-like appearance, the Beast Titan exhibited animal-like traits, which greatly varied depending on the Titan Shifter who possesses it. Monkeys, birds, elk, wolves, snakes, even rabbits. You name an animal, and most likely the Beast Titan has a variant that is like said animal. When my brother Zeke was in possession of the Beast Titan, his resembled that of an ape, while his mentor before him Tom Ksaver resembled a bighorn sheep. Falco's Jaw Titan, whose falcon-like traits was made possible by Zeke's spinal fluid carrying the power of the Beast Titan, was also proof that there were Beast Titans that manifested wings for those that were birdlike Titans.

The abilities of Zeke's Beast Titan however, was unique from other Beasts due to him being descendant of Eldian Royal Blood. While unclear if any other Beast Titan was capable of this, Zeke's Beast Titan was able to use a devastating ability to throw objects with great accuracy and immense destructive capability. This was notably used during the Battle of Shiganshina District to wipe out the vast majority of the Survey Corps with a concentrated barrage of high-speed crushed rocks. During closing days of the Marley Mid-East War, Zeke was able to annihilate the entire naval fleet of the Mid-East Allied Forces stationed at Fort Slava, using artillery shells in place of rocks.

Under the Founding Titans control, Zeke's throwing ability was able to destroy the airships stationed at Fort Salta, as they attempted an aerial bombardment against me and the Rumbling.

As a result of Royal Blood, Zeke's Titan, and possibly anyone else with Royal Blood in any of the Nine, the ability to turn Subjects of Ymir into Titans. If a person was given Zeke's spinal fluid, Zeke would then be able to transform him/her with a roar, much like the scream-based abilities of the Founding Titan and the Female Titan. This power of Zeke's was used to a rather devastating success against enemies and unsuspecting, as proven during the Wall Rose invasion after the citizens of Connie's village Ragako were turned into Pure Titans, as well as the time when the Marleyan military made use of this power to drop Titans onto Fort Slava from above via an airstrike. In Niccolo's words, it was a common tactic for Marley to cause Pure Titans to overrun an area by sneaking in a few hundred specially prepared Eldians and having Zeke use this power to transform them, annihilating and conquering an enemy nation in no time at all.

However, Zeke's ability to transform Eldians into Titans with his scream has a definitive range. Meaning that if you were contaminated with Zeke's spinal fluid, and you were beyond the affected range, you would feel a sign that he activated his ability but wouldn't transform. Falco's brother pleaded with Zeke to let him take Falco away from the battle and out of range before he screamed… but he refused.

As a result of creating Titans via his spinal fluid and scream, Zeke's Beast Titan was able to showcase some command and control over Pure Titans. He was able to direct the actions of Pure Titans and could command them to either move, resist their instinctual urge to eat humans, and also commanded them to remain in place. Titans under Zeke's control could even function at night by using only moonlight without them falling into a fatigue state like they normally would. This ability however isn't a perfect one; some Titans could somewhat ignore Zeke's Beast Titan's orders. I later found out that this was, before he died, how Mike Zacharias was gravely injured before Zeke crushed the disobedient Titans head.

The last user of the Beast Titan was Zeke Yeager… my older half-brother. My father Grisha Yeager was originally born in the internment zone of Liberio in Marley. When his little Faye Yeager was cruelly and unjustly fed to dogs by a Marleyan Sergeant Major in Public Security named Gross, father would later be recruited by the Eldian Restorationists to help bring back the Eldian Empire. It was here that he met and fell in love with Dina Fritz, who was also a descendant of Royal Blood, and together they had Zeke.

However, father and Dina were to engrossed in trying to restore Eldia, and even enrolled Zeke in the Warriors Unit in order to further their goals, rather than be parents to a young child. This greatly affected a young Zeke, and after talking with the previous Beast Titan holder Ksaver, he turned his parents and the rest of the Restorationists over to Marley. It was also thanks to his time was Ksaver, as well as witnessing countless suffering and atrocities, that lead Zeke to creating that disgusting Eldian euthanasia plan.

That plan died with him and the power of the Titans.

The next of the Nine that was under Marley's command is the Cart Titan.

The Cart Titan is… unique to say the least. It isn't the strongest, nor is it the most durable, so it was more likely to be taken down by a critical or severe blow. Its regeneration was also much slower than other Titans, meaning that any wounds it and the user suffered would take much longer to heal. These factors contribute to the Cart Titan leaning more towards a support role rather than a primary combatant like the other Nine Titans. It is also the smallest of all the Nine Titans, maxing out at around 4m which is smaller than even the Jaw Titan.

Unlike the other Nine Titans, or even Pure Titans for that matter, the Cart Titan possesses a quadrupedal form rather than I bipedal, probably one of the reasons behind its name. It's quadrupedal nature also means that the inheritor was prone to forgetting how to walk normally and would instead crawl like the Cart Titan. My observations and Zeke's commentary about the Warrior Pieck prove this, as she would sometimes crawl on all fours and would also use crutches when walking.

Being a Titan on all fours like a horse, the Cart Titan was also used for carrying supplies or troops of soldiers in times of conflict. Cart Titan users did this during the Great Titan War thousands of years ago, and it was also seen carrying supplies as well as a hidden Bertolt during the Battle of Shiganshina District and the Marley Mid-East War in present times. Besides carrying supplies, Marley was able to outfit the Cart Titan with a harness that comprised of metal armor and weaponry, making it a mobile gunnery platform. The most common weapons mounted on the Cart Titan were 4 machine gun turrets manned by a unit of soldiers, and was later upgraded to an anti-Titan cannon during Marley's revenge for Liberio.

Much like the Jaw Titan, the Cart Titan also possesses great speed. Its speed was proven at the end of the Battle for Shiganshina District, when the Warrior Pieck was able to retrieve both a wounded Zeke Yeager and Reiner Braun right from under Levi Ackerman and Hange Zoe, catching both of Paradis best and talented soldiers off guard.

But although it may not be great in a straight up fight, what makes the Cart Titan superior to any other combatant is its endurance. The Cart Titan singlehandedly possesses the greatest endurance out of any Titan barring the Founding Titan. With this, Titan Shifters can partake in long missions without needing rest, and are also capable of staying within its Titan for much longer durations than any other Shifter, sometimes for months on end. This makes the Cart Titan an ideal candidate for a variety of purposes, including the clearing of trenches as well as long-term operations deep into enemy territory. Users of the Cart Titan are theoretically capable of hundreds of back-to-back transformations before they start to feel fatigue setting in.

Reiner, Bertolt, and Zeke were able to use the Cart Titan as a scout and early warning signal whilst camping out at Shiganshina District, which is how they were able to prepare for the Survey Corps.

The last user of the Cart Titan was another one of Marley's Warriors by the name of Pieck Finger. Unlike other Eldians on the continent or even other Warrior candidates, Pieck held no delusions or belief regarding the "honorary Marleyan" bullshit like the kid who killed Sasha, Gabi Braun, had. She knew exactly what she was, and nothing would change that. She also held no real loyalty to Marley, only to her friends and those she called her comrades like the soldiers who manned the Cart Titans guns. She was also critical of Marley's stupidity in sending 4 children to reclaim the Founding Titan.

She also held no friendship or any other connection to me compared to Armin and the others, which allowed her to go straight in for the kill without hesitation.

The next of the Nine Titans, which arguably can be called one of the most powerful and versatile behind the Founding Titan, is the War Hammer Titan.

While this Titan was in Marley's possession, it wasn't held or used by the military. Instead, the War Hammer Titan remained with the Tybur Family, one of the Nine Eldian Families from the old Eldian Empire, and the ones who conspired along with the 145th King Karl Fritz to bring down the Empire in the Great Titan War, and give 7 of the Nine Titans to Marley. Since then, they've lived the last century as honorary Marleyan aristocrats who swore to defend Marley. Despite this, the War Hammer Titan was never used in military operations.

Filthy traitors all of them. They were Eldian, yet they lived in luxury in lush manors and dined on exquisite food and drink, wearing fine clothing, while the rest of the Eldians lived in ghettos and internment zones being fed their leftovers. All made possible on the blood of countless Eldians.

While the abilities of the War Hammer Titan are related to Titan Hardening, unlike the other Nine Titans like the Female Titan, the War Hammer Titan could take it to another level. With its power, the War Hammer Titan was capable of producing structures and constructs made from hardened Titan flesh. These creations could be weaponized, such as forming pikes large enough to impale and lift a 15m Titan high into the air, or flood areas with a forest of protrusions such as spikes sprouting from the ground, as well as manifest the Titan's signature war hammer. The hammer isn't the only weapon that the Titan could create in combat, as users of the Titan can also form bladed weaponry such as a sickle, a battle axe or a broadsword.

Even more impressive, the War Hammer Titan was capable of manifesting flexible components for weapons it creates, such as the string of a crossbow or even a longbow, on top of whips of a cat-o'-nine-tails. This makes the War Hammer Titans Hardening a far superior brand of Hardening compared to any other of the Nine Titans.

Much like the Female Titan, Titan Shifters of the War Hammer Titan can encase themselves inside a crystal casing. However, unlike the Female Titan, the user retains their consciousness and awareness while encased inside the crystal, allowing them to continue to control the Titan body.

Despite the power and versatility of its Structural Hardening abilities making the War Hammer Titan an incredible asset to possess, it was to be used sparingly; otherwise, continuous usage in a short span of time could quickly deplete the user's stamina.

Unlike the other Nine Titans, whose Titan Shifter was always positioned in the Titans nape, it was possible for the War Hammer Titan to be piloted by the user from outside the nape. The body of the War Hammer Titan would be connected to its Titan Shifter by a long cable of flesh, while the human body of the user was encased in a hardened crystal and connected to said cable. In the attack on Liberio, we initially believed the user to be located in the nape, which was why Mikasa was shocked when the Titan didn't go down after being struck by multiple Thunder Spears in the nape, or from being crushed by me.

During the Rumbling, I used the War Hammer Titan in conjunction with the Founding Titan to create a remotely operated version of Zeke's Beast Titan, as well as using its Structural Hardening abilities to create chunks of hardened Titan flesh to utilize its deadly throw at the airships attempting to bomb us from above.

Even in the event the cable was severed, and the War Hammer Titan's body would fall, a new Titan body could still be made. Plus, due to not being needed in the nape, the War Hammer Titan was able to emerge from various locations upon transformation. In Liberio, the manifestation of the War Hammer Titan started from the feet upwards, rather than the nape outwards.

Initially I believed that Willy Tybur, the head of the Tybur Family, was the inheritor of the War Hammer Titan. That was why I had to quickly kill and devour him. In actuality, it was his sister Lara Tybur who was in possession of the War Hammer Titan, and Willy was just a decoy. Under normal circumstances that would work, but in the end, I claimed and was the last user of the War Hammer Titan.

The eighth of the Nine Titans, and one that was allied with Eldia/Paradis rather than against it, is the Attack Titan.

Physically the Attack Titan doesn't have any unique appearance or traits, resembling a regular Pure Titan more than any of the other Nine Titans. Unlike Pure Titans however, who are rather deformed and either fat or skin and bones, the Attack Titan was perfectly muscular and perfectly suited towards combat. Those knowledgeable in hand-to-hand combat can utilize the Attack Titan to a rather deadly effect, and can take down even those seemingly invincible or just really tough.

During my first against Reiner, I was unable to beat him with brute force due to his armor and the strength it gave his attacks, but I was able to get him into joint locks to immobilize him as well rip his limbs off.

At first glance, compared to the rest of the Nine Titans, the Attack Titan doesn't seem all too impressive… but you would be wrong. The Attack Titan does possess a unique ability, one that can shake the world.

It can see glimpses into the future.

While all of the Nine Titans could receive memories of past inheritors, the Attack Titan could also receive memories of inheritors yet to come. This power is best described it as "the power to transcend time." It is thanks to these memories of the future that led those with the Attack Titan to always keep moving forward, fighting for freedom and against the self-righteousness of others like the King. The previous Titan Shifter before my father, and my name's sake, Eren Kruger, had received memories of him telling him to protect both my friends Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlet. Although when asked about who he was talking about, he did not know whose memories he was seeing.

It was also due to seeing the future from my memories that my father learned about the restrictions imposed on the Founding Titan, due to the 145th Kings vow of renouncing war. He also glimpsed the Rumbling as well. I was even able to see myself reaching the Coordinate thanks to seeing the future memories. It is also possible for users of the Attack Titan to also sense the presence of the future inheritors, such as when father could sometimes catch glimpses of both myself and Zeke right there with him.

But it isn't perfect. Much like how past memories are often fragmented and hard to follow, so too were memories of the future fragmented and incomplete. Because of this, I was caught unaware by the knowledge that the Founder Ymir would only obey those with Royal Blood.

This power is curse. Can you imagine what it is like? Being able to see these events play out, but be unable to actually change anything? Despite me being able to influence my father into stealing the Founding Titan from Frieda Reiss, it was only so that things would play out as it already happened. It's all a loop. It wasn't changing the past; it was causing the present.

Prior to my father, the one who held the Attack Titan was an Eldian known as Eren Kruger, who served as an informant known as the Owl from within Public Security. It was he who saved my father from being turned into or being devoured by a Pure Titan, and transferred the power to him after being devoured. After successfully stealing the Founding Titan and the Fall of Shiganshina and Wall Maria, my father would be eaten by me as a Pure Titan. The last user of the Attack Titan was me, Eren Yeager.

The ninth and final of the Nine Titans, the most powerful and godlike Titan of them all, is the Founding Titan.

Untold death and suffering. Countless awe-inspiring wonders and horrifying atrocities. The greed of an entire nation willing to wipe us all out, just so they could claim this power to maintain their own status in the world. That right there should tell you exactly what type of power the Founding Titan is, and just how far people would go for it.

Although it split from Ymir and became one of the Nine Titans, the Founding Titan is still considered the very first of all the Titans. It is the apex of Titans, an alpha, a king, a god. It's abilities easily dwarf those of the other Nine Titans, and can alter the very fate of the Eldian people.

The Founding Titan possesses several abilities that could be activated via screaming. The inheritors of the Founding Titan didn't even need to transform in order for them to make use of these abilities; human screams would suffice. Hell, screaming isn't even necessary. A mere thought could easily activate these abilities and unleash their effects on the world around them. This is due to all Edlians being connected to one other by invisible ties. One Eldian is said to have seen Paths, stretching far and wide and converging to a single Coordinate: the Founding Titan.

The Founding Titan is capable of modifying and manipulating the memories of the Eldians, even affecting entire populations instantly. After all, Titans were originally human, so the Founding Titan is able to affect them even as humans. The 145th King Karl Fritz had used this power to completely steal the memories of every single Eldian within the Walls, making them forget the history of the entire world, and making them believe that they were the last of humanity in a world overrun by Titans. Frieda Reiss, who was the last of the Royal Family to possess the Founding Titan, would use this power to remove the memories of her visits from the mind of her sister Historia Reiss.

However, there are exceptions to this power. Those from the Ackerman Family were immune to the effects of memory manipulation and modification, as they were the product of Eldian research to give them the power of a Titan whilst still in human form. This also prevents them from turning into Titans themselves. Also, this power only affects Eldians, meaning other races of people also can't be affected by this power.

The Founding Titan is also capable of altering the very biology of an Eldian. 600 years ago, a rampant pandemic began to sweep through the populous. The Eldian King at the time used the Founding Titan to alter the composition of the people, thereby making everyone immune to the plague. It was this aspect of the Founding Titan that Zeke wished to use to render every single Eldian in the world sterile, thereby making them unable to have children, and the Eldian race and Titan power with them would all die out in time.

This biological manipulation isn't just used on Eldians. Unlike the other Nine Titans, who all have a definitive height that they fall into, the Founding Titan is capable of altering its size at will. Normally they would start off as 13m tall, but Ymir Fritz's Titan was estimated to be around 200-250m tall. When I had unlocked the full power of the Founding Titan, I was able to achieve a height roughly around 220m to over 400m tall. Maybe even bigger.

The Founding Titan is also capable of telepathic communication to all Eldians by way of the Paths.

As the pinnacle of the power of the Titans within the Eldian people, the Founding Titan is capable of changing a Subject of Ymir into Titans. Transforming an Eldian into a Titan isn't just limited to basic Pure Titans either, as the Founding Titan can also change them into Abnormal Titans that are the same look and size as the Colossus Titan. When the coward Karl Fritz fled the continent to the island of Paradis, he used the power of the Founding Titan to transform his subjects into "tens of millions" of Colossus Titans.

Through its thoughts and scream, the Founding Titan bestows upon its user the ability to control Titans at will and make them follow virtually any order without question. When I first accidentally activated this power, I had commanded all of the Titans around us to ignore all of the soldiers and go straight for Dina Fritz's Pure Titan, tearing it apart and devouring it. I then sent them all charging towards Reiner in a fit of rage when he tried to come after us. After creating all of the Colossus Titans from his own people, Karl Fritz then commanded them all to use Titan Hardening to create the 3 Walls of Paradis: Wall Maria, Wall Rose, and Wall Sina. In ancient times, the Eldian Empire used this ability to command entire armies of Titans in times of war; however, once set loose, these Titans became indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction that would slaughter Eldia's enemies. This ability has no known range.

But this Titan creation doesn't just stem from creating Pure Titans from Subjects of Ymir. The very pinnacle of this ability allows users of the Founding Titan to materialize the past incarnations of the Nine Titans. 2,000 years' worth of the Nine, all throughout different periods in history, all summoned and commanded by the Founding Titan. Legions of Armored, Attack, and Beast Titans, firing squads of War Hammer Titans unleashing a storm of projectiles such as arrows, and countless Jaw, Female and Colossus Titans. And this ability had no limits, meaning that if the user wanted to, then the Founding Titan could summon them as many times as they wanted.

You would think that it would be impossible to overcome something like this, but Armin had certainly found a way. Both him and Zeke were able to reawaken the minds of past Titan Shifters within the Paths, and then send them into the bodies of their Titans to fight. The chance of this was slim and minuscule, but the chance was definitely there.

Much like the Attack Titan, the Founding Titan also allowed the Titan Shifter to get glimpses of memories of future inheritors. However, the scale of which the Founding Titan could see was much greater, and directly influence things in the past, although only to preserve history as it has already played out. Being able to see into the past, present, and future also affected how the user would see things, seeing time in a more non-linear state due to being able to view it all simultaneously. As a consequence of this, users begin to think more incoherently, and start to just go with the flow of events they have already witnessed, even if it is something they are against doing…

…I was exactly like that. As much as it hurt me, as much as it made me want to puke, I had gone through with it. I used this ability to influence Dina Fritz's Pure Titan to completely ignore and bypass Bertolt, who had only just left his Titan after kicking in the outer gate of Shiganshina, and had her instead go into the district. This ultimately culminated in my mother, Carla Yeager, being devoured.

I was the cause of my own mother's death…

…

…

Even with all of this incredible power, the Founding Titan had restrictions to it. Throughout history, only the Royal Family and those with Royal Blood were able to use the powers of the Founding Titan, meaning that anyone who isn't of royal descendant can't use the power. There was however a way to bypass this restriction if the person who isn't of Royal Blood makes contact with a Titan with Royal Blood, such as Dina Fritz, or Zeke Yeager who possessed one of the Nine Titans. This damned restriction is also what caused military to essentially make Historia into a breeding stock so that they could push all of the problems and responsibilities onto. Another reason I went along with the Rumbling.

All of this is due to the Founding Titan's power being used by commanding the soul of Ymir Fritz the Founder, whose slave mentality continued to persist even after she had long since died. As the First Fritz King was both her master as well as the father of her children, she remained in submission for the Royal Family for 2,000 tears, until I finally got through to her.

Another restriction that was placed on the Founding Titan was the vow renouncing war. This was implemented by Karl Fritz after the creation of the Walls of Paradis, to ensure that no future Royal would be able to undo all that was put in place. So even if an inheritor of the Founding Titan expressed a desire to do more, the vow would completely overwrite their minds and personality, making them into someone else.

Frieda Reiss would suffer fits of depression and madness due to this, and the vow would always have her believe that all those in the Walls were "sinners" to be punished.

The vow would also prevent a user from using the Founding Titan to fight, even if it was in self-defense. Karl Fritz knew that his so called "paradise" would never last, and that one-day Marley and the rest of the world would come for them. So, he instead chose to simply lie down and let it happen, and accept whatever retribution the world called for the Eldians sins that happened long ago. Even if it was complete and utter genocide of the Eldian race, they wouldn't do a damned thing. The vow would force all of Royal Blood to obey.

The one thing I can thank Zeke for is removing that disgusting vow.

Throughout history, only the Royal Family of the Eldian Empire were in possession of the Founding Titan. For 2,000 this was how things were, until Karl Fritz destroyed everything due to his own feelings of guilt about the past. After relocating to Paradis, the Royal Family would later change their name from Fritz to Reiss, and place a fake king in order to hide in the shadows.

Frieda Reiss was the most recent member of the Royal Family to inherit the Founding Titan, after devouring her uncle Uri Reiss. After the Fall of Shiganshina, my father Grisha Yeager devoured Frieda Reiss, who was completely inexperienced and unable to use any of her Titan abilities due to the vow, and then proceeded to kill the entire Reiss Family except for the patriarch, Rod Reiss. This meant that father held 2 of the Nine Titans within him, the Attack Titan and the Founding Titan, and would later pass both on to me.

The Nine Titans, the power of the Titans in general, shaped the history my entire world. For better and certainly for worse. I guess it was for the best that the power of the Titans disappeared forever from the world, following my "death" and the death of the Source of All Living Matter.

But the funny thing about history, is that history sometimes has a way of repeating itself in certain ways.

Earth had the Titans and the Eldian Nine Titans… while Remnant has the Grimm and the Grimm Nine Titans.

Eren Yeager
Citizen of Kuroyuri – Kingdom of Mistral
Hunt Inquisitorious – Inquisitor #1
The Devil of All Earth

Hey guys! The Avenging Titan here! Sorry for taking a while, I have been busy as of late.

My family and I recently moved houses, so we've been going back and forth packing and moving stuff and getting all set up in our new house, so it's been quite busy and exhausting. I was only able to just get started on this chapter a few days ago.

Speaking of which, holy crap, is this chapter a LONG one! To clarify what I mean exactly, Chapter 1 is around 1,871 words all together, Chapter 2 is 1,777 words, and Chapter 3 was originally the longest at 2,118 words. How many words all together is this chapter? Well… around 9,011 WORDS! Nearly reaching 10,000! Wow…

The reason it's so long is because, well… it's the Nine Titans, one of if not THE biggest plot points of Atack on Titan. Like with the "Titans" chapter, you can't have an Attack on Titan story without them, and there was a LOT to talk about in this chapter. From the origins to what they were all capable of and who held the power, so I figured it was going to be a long chapter. I just underestimated exactly how long it was going to turn out exactly.

I doubt there will be another chapter that's the same length as this one. If another one does turn out to be long, it will probably be around half the size of this one at least.

Any how I hop you all are doing alright and staying healthy. This is the Avenging Titan, signing off!