Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) - World and Technology

[totoum]

Originally Posted by EssTEss

Spoiler for manga comparison:

It was cut from the anime, but in the manga it was said that the nape being the titan weakness was learned during a a large scale operation to take back Shiganshina. But operation failed, obviously.

Spoiler for manga comparison:

Are you sure about that?Just reread the chapter in question and nowhere is that said.

[Aesthetic Shampoo]

Spoiler for Comparison to the manga:

It's implied at the very least. There's probably a better scene out there but i cbb looking. I also went back to chapter 1 to look at the scene yankky specified; unlike the anime it's not explicitly shown that they were aiming directly for the nape. Anyway, that's how i put my two and two together Maybe i just missed something though.

[Jan-Poo]

Well I honestly don't think it'd makes sense if they didn't know about the Titan's weak spot before the last assault.

The whole equipment they use from the 3Dgear to the fact they wield two blades only make sense if they already knew about that.


Moreover the scene where Hannes tries to save Carla would make a completely different impression.


If no known weak point existed, then that was just Hannes making a reality check and stopping from trying something very stupid.

If titans were known to be killable and if soldiers were already trained to kill them, then that was Hannes chickening out and escaping rather than doing what was his duty.

[yankky5]

well It is said that after 100 years of the walls successfully holding the titans at bay that the garrison core became lax, undisciplined and unreliable so for hannes being only human and also believed that the wall was titan proof saw a 100 year wall get destroyed in 2 seconds then facing real combat for first time in his life would naturally make any rookie turn tail and run

[totoum]

Originally Posted by EssTEss

It's implied at the very least.

Spoiler for manga comparison:

To me he just means how they didn't know about the existance of the colossal titan and armured titan

And anyway this the anime we're talking about,the intro scene of the anime shows they know the weakspot,the manga isn't really relevant here.

[Claym0re]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Even if that were not the case, it's highly debatable that soldiers armed with twin blades could generate enough momentum to slash through titan flesh, even if they were swinging around on their 3DMG.

Not to mention Newton's third law of motion. Although the 3D maneuvering gear looks flashy and I love it but I find it hard to believe that instead of sticky bombs they use swords for the finishing blow.

I mean one wrong move and you break your wrists and arms for sure. Hell even doing everything properly seems self-destructive.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Well I honestly don't think it'd makes sense if they didn't know about the Titan's weak spot before the last assault.

The whole equipment they use from the 3Dgear to the fact they wield two blades only make sense if they already knew about that.


Moreover the scene where Hannes tries to save Carla would make a completely different impression.


If no known weak point existed, then that was just Hannes making a reality check and stopping from trying something very stupid.

If titans were known to be killable and if soldiers were already trained to kill them, then that was Hannes chickening out and escaping rather than doing what was his duty.

Let's not be too hard on the guy. "Titans are killable" isn't the same as "a drunkard who's only ever practiced on dummies years ago before can solo one".

[Jan-Poo]

Okay I've been too hard, but what I was pointing out is that in the first case Hannes' initial choice of fighting against the Titan wouldn't have been heroic but just stupid.

Without knowing that titans are killable and how he would have just wasted his live.

[NoemiChan]

Man.... spoiler tags and manga comparisons are here now....

[Iron Maw]

Originally Posted by Claym0re

Not to mention Newton's third law of motion. Although the 3D maneuvering gear looks flashy and I love it but I find it hard to believe that instead of sticky bombs they use swords for the finishing blow.

I mean one wrong move and you break your wrists and arms for sure. Hell even doing everything properly seems self-destructive.

Like with most conceptual sci-fi elements (mecha, time travel etc) you are gonna have to suspended your sense of disbelief in some of physics of the 3DM gear. Furthermore it's not as if the plot does not acknowledge dangers (accidents, strain and what not) of the equipment either, but that sort of thing is common with any real life weapon too. That's why rigorous training and maintenance is done to minimize such occurrences.

The important thing is how well it works in the context of the story and not necessary it's feasibly in RL (which is possible). This specialized equipment is designed to fight and strike a very specific and difficult area on a powerful enemy. It's made with best current technology in mind that this group is capable of to achieve that end without expending too many resources. It doesn't mean it can't be improved further down the line either.

[yankky5]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

As for the proposed Kamikaze tactic. The people that gets eaten should be cool and resolute enough to trigger their explosives while they are getting swallowed near the area of the Titan's nape. Not quite an easy thing to do, and there's no guarantee that the Titans will swallow you whole, in fact we have seen that they often don't, and sometimes they kill you before eating you.

So well for the most part even if you put a timer in the bombs, they will explode while inside the titans' stomachs, and that would only inconvenience them for a while before they regenerate.

I'm sorry I just noticed this

Well I must say ynow the flaws but naturally their are repercussion to this and also naturally like the idea itself they are completely merciless to human rights. One of many repercussions would be drugs first and for most these guys would barely feel a thing if they were bitten by a titan and enhanced strength to open the titans jaw if necessary, next would be hypnosis they will be completely brain washed with the soul determination to detonate themselves IN the neck area of the titan and if the titan does eat the bait to pieces.... well be assured theirs a safe gaurd for that as well one would be what I'd call a dead mans switch the idea is if the "bait" will hold onto two triggers one to intiate explosion the other a safety but unlike most triggers if you let go, the bomb automatically explodes but only if you let go say the triger finger and if the trigger in the middle finger is let go at the same time it will activate the timer same goes if the arm is biiten off a timer will activate and just in case an emergency self distruct device will be placed in the moler

note: these guys will not be considered human no more just mere bombs

[Newhope]

Originally Posted by EssTEss

Spoiler for Comparison to the manga:

It was cut from the anime, but in the manga it was said that the nape being the titan weakness was learned during a a large scale operation to take back Shiganshina. But operation failed, obviously.

Spoiler for Comparison to the manga:

Lol they already knew about the weakness, very frist chapter shows the scout legion fighting a Titan and aiming for the neck pre frist wall breach, pretty sure that the weakness was discovered before the walls where built and fairly sure it's mentioned in a history lession during their training which talked about cannons been more powerful than the one's they currently have, can't exactly remember which chapter it is though.

Originally Posted by Claym0re

Not to mention Newton's third law of motion. Although the 3D maneuvering gear looks flashy and I love it but I find it hard to believe that instead of sticky bombs they use swords for the finishing blow.

I mean one wrong move and you break your wrists and arms for sure. Hell even doing everything properly seems self-destructive.

The problem with "sticky bombs" is you'd need fairly powerful explosives to take down a Titan and with their technology they probably only have access to black power which to be frank would be impractical to use.

[Randrak42]

Originally Posted by Newhope

Spoiler for Comparison to the manga:

Lol they already knew about the weakness, very frist chapter shows the scout legion fighting a Titan and aiming for the neck pre frist wall breach, pretty sure that the weakness was discovered before the walls where built and fairly sure it's mentioned in a history lession during their training which talked about cannons been more powerful than the one's they currently have, can't exactly remember which chapter it is though.

Spoiler for Comparison to the manga:

While I agree that they should have already known about the weakness...the thing about the first chapter is that until the moment when Eren wakes up, it is implied that the attack on the first titan by the scouting legion may not have happened at that same time (as in, it could actually be in the future).

But yea, it should have been something humanity has probably known for a long time (maybe even before the 100 years of peace).

[Newhope]

Originally Posted by Randrak42

Spoiler for Comparison to the manga:

While I agree that they should have already known about the weakness...the thing about the first chapter is that until the moment when Eren wakes up, it is implied that the attack on the first titan by the scouting legion may not have happened at that same time (as in, it could actually be in the future).

But yea, it should have been something humanity has probably known for a long time (maybe even before the 100 years of peace).

Spoiler for Comparison to the manga:

Don't see where the confusion comes from, you see the scout legion start a fight switches to Mikasa waking Eren up, see's them talk to Hannes who is BTW wearing 3D gear(why even bother inventing that if you don't know about the weakness) bell rings and the beaten up Scout legion survivors return.

[relentlessflame]

I want to remind everyone to please use spoiler tags for all manga comparisons in this thread.

[SPARTAN 119]

Originally Posted by Newhope

Spoiler for Comparison to the manga:

Lol they already knew about the weakness, very frist chapter shows the scout legion fighting a Titan and aiming for the neck pre frist wall breach, pretty sure that the weakness was discovered before the walls where built and fairly sure it's mentioned in a history lession during their training which talked about cannons been more powerful than the one's they currently have, can't exactly remember which chapter it is though.

The problem with "sticky bombs" is you'd need fairly powerful explosives to take down a Titan and with their technology they probably only have access to black power which to be frank would be impractical to use.

That would be the main issue, however, if you used a spike filled with black powder about the length of a sword, it could be driven in before detonation, or attaching a powder charge to the top of the spike in a manner that it would be driven deeper into the neck upon detonation.

That said, as for the explosives, by the time they developed sufficiently powerful explosives, they probably have artillery of at least a late 19th-century standard- with rifling for accuracy, a recoil system and metal cartridges containing shell and powder, and more powerful explosives capable of destroying the weak point of a Titan easily with a hit from any direction (not just from behind). Indeed, a WWII-era armor piercing round from a tank gun, to say nothing of a modern discarding sabot round would probably blow right through a Titan's body, weak point and all.

Also, those natural gas-powered jet packs in the 3D maneuver gear got me thinking about whether it would be possible to create a sort of rocket launcher intended to be fired at a titan's weak-point, possibly with a warhead similar to the sticky bomb design mentioned above. That said, though, the weapon would probably be a lot less accurate than a modern RPG, and heavier, possibly not man-portable. However, it could be a useful wall-mounted weapon when fired in racks of about 30 rockets or so.

[Iron Maw]

Have I mentioned how much I love these eye catches?

Anyway here some info on the swords.

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[SagaraSouske]

Just seems to mean it's not producible by an ordinary black smith but require special forges and large scale factories to make. It's more of a tech level difference akin to making alloys or high quality steel from steel plants. I thought there was a special metal (from this world only), but just turned out they have even more advanced metallurgy tech then 18th century tech equivalent.

[Newhope]

Steel was actually discovered 3-4 thousand years ago it was just far to expensive to produce it large quantities and they didn't really know what they had, Romans used it so did the Chinese several thousand years ago.

Japan for example produced blades roughly comparable to those they use over a thousand years ago.

The only stand out thing about them using steel is the quantity they producing, but you can't really tell what tec level they're at unless you see the process itself they could be using old fashioned processes just on a massive scale.

[NoemiChan]

Ultra-hardened steel... LOls

I see Mikasa's blade already ruined after a few slashes... but still sharp to be fair... but sharp is different from tough