Attack on Titan - Spoilers & Speculation (for experienced Titan Attackers only)

[Preciize]

Hey guys, I just started reading the manga b/c I didn't feel like waiting on the anime to find out what's going to happen and I honestly have a ton of questions. I know some of the answers haven't even been revealed in the manga yet but I just wanted to leave them down. If anyone has any theories or answers to these, it would be much appreciated!

Is there some sort of catalyst that can cause humans to transform into titans or vice versa? Are there humans who've joined the side of the titans?

Where are Reiner and Bertolt really from (and Annie)? Are they actually titans or humans? Does their village consist of titans like them or is there a human village outside the walls? Possibly some kind of hybrid beings?

What's the whole thing behind titans being trapped inside the walls?

How are some titans able to speak English or the human language like the monkey-like one?

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by Preciize

Is there some sort of catalyst that can cause humans to transform into titans or vice versa?

Nobody knows for sure, but it is hinted that at the very least Grisha (Eren's father) found a way to cause normal humans to become human-titan.
Also the Ape titan is heavily hinted to be able to cause humans to become mindless titans.
Recent manga chapters suggest that at least some mindless titans can regain consciousness and become human-titans over time.

Originally Posted by Preciize

Are there humans who've joined the side of the titans?

It isn't even certain that titans and humans are two distinct species to begin with.
-It is possible that they are and that some humans engineered a way to become titans or somewhat like them.
-It is possible that the current titans were all at one point in time humans like everyone else.
-It is even possible that all those who are shown as being humans are actually titans that mimicked the true humans (after their total extinction).

We simply don't know. It could be that there just several humans factions at war, or even several titan factions, or who knows what else.

Originally Posted by Preciize

Where are Reiner and Bertolt really from (and Annie)? Are they actually titans or humans? Does their village consist of titans like them or is there a human village outside the walls? Possibly some kind of hybrid beings?

The flashback is most likely true which means that they at least lived in human form among other humans like them at one point in time and only later developed (or regained) the ability to turn into titans. It is likely that their village is (or was) somewhere outside the walls.

Originally Posted by Preciize

What's the whole thing behind titans being trapped inside the walls?

It is logical to assume that the walls were created by "people" who had a very high degree of control over titan powers. A huge number of them used those powers to create the walls for the purpose of sheltering a large number of humans (which are hinted to come from oversea, fleeing from their original country).

The reason for them to remain trapped inside is unclear but possibly they knew that they were bound to lose their humanity and they willingly chose to remain into a deep slumber for eternity or a given amount of time. That or someone somehow could completely dominate them.

Originally Posted by Preciize

How are some titans able to speak English or the human language like the monkey-like one?

We don't know what language they speak, the few writings we have seen do not seem to be English at all and they aren't Latin characters either. It is also interesting to note that we haven't seen any numerals either.
It seems that titans generally are not equipped with vocal chords that can be used to talk. Some titans seem to be better at that than others but they still talk with difficulty or with a strange voice.

The fact that the Ape titan knows the language of the people of the walled country while not being completely sure they speak that language suggest that there is some kind of history that he is aware of. In other words he knew those people from a distant past (before they fled to the walls most likely) and he had an idea of the kind of language that they were supposed to speak.

[Preciize]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Nobody knows for sure, but it is hinted that at the very least Grisha (Eren's father) found a way to cause normal humans to become human-titan.
Also the Ape titan is heavily hinted to be able to cause humans to become mindless titans.
Recent manga chapters suggest that at least some mindless titans can regain consciousness and become human-titans over time.

Yeah, I guess the question is how much can Eren's father do and how does he have so knowledge about the titans.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

It isn't even certain that titans and humans are two distinct species to begin with.
-It is possible that they are and that some humans engineered a way to become titans or somewhat like them.
-It is possible that the current titans were all at one point in time humans like everyone else.
-It is even possible that all those who are shown as being humans are actually titans that mimicked the true humans (after their total extinction).

We simply don't know. It could be that there just several humans factions at war, or even several titan factions, or who knows what else.

Perhaps humans are behind the appearance of the titans. Or maybe there was some kind of disease where people lost their minds and turned into titans?

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

The flashback is most likely true which means that they at least lived in human form among other humans like them at one point in time and only later developed (or regained) the ability to turn into titans. It is likely that their village is (or was) somewhere outside the walls.

Personally I think they were human, or at least Annie was, due to her fighting skills and the conversations about her father. Though why would she want to destroy humanity?

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

It is logical to assume that the walls were created by "people" who had a very high degree of control over titan powers. A huge number of them used those powers to create the walls for the purpose of sheltering a large number of humans (which are hinted to come from oversea, fleeing from their original country).

The reason for them to remain trapped inside is unclear but possibly they knew that they were bound to lose their humanity and they willingly chose to remain into a deep slumber for eternity or a given amount of time. That or someone somehow could completely dominate them.

Yeah, just what is the connection between them and the cult?

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

We don't know what language they speak, the few writings we have seen do not seem to be English at all and they aren't Latin characters either. It is also interesting to note that we haven't seen any numerals either.
It seems that titans generally are not equipped with vocal chords that can be used to talk. Some titans seem to be better at that than others but they still talk with difficulty or with a strange voice.

The fact that the Ape titan knows the language of the people of the walled country while not being completely sure they speak that language suggest that there is some kind of history that he is aware of. In other words he knew those people from a distant past (before they fled to the walls most likely) and he had an idea of the kind of language that they were supposed to speak.

So you're suggesting he had always been a titan and somehow came in contact with humans? Anyways, thanks for taking the time to reply ^^

A few more questions that popped into my head. Just going to leave them out here: What are Reiner's and Bertolt's true objectives for going inside the walls? If it was to destroy humanity, I'd like to think they could've gone it a while ago. And is Eren just like Reiner and Bertolt? In one of the chapters, Bertolt says Eren can't remember his transformation into a human? Plus, why do the titans attack Reiner and Bertolt? Makes me think they are human after all.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by Preciize

Perhaps humans are behind the appearance of the titans. Or maybe there was some kind of disease where people lost their minds and turned into titans?

Disease, quite possibly, but I tend more toward the hypothesis of a bio-engineered disease if that's the case. In other words I envision some kind of biological warfare that went terribly out of control.

Originally Posted by Preciize

Though why would she want to destroy humanity?

We can't be sure that the people inside the walled country are actually all that's left of humanity. And even if they are, the ape titan suggests that there is some kind of titan civilization or human-titan civilization, else why would he need to bring the 3Dgear to whatever is his home if not to study it?

Perhaps she or whoever is behind her believes that humanity or at least the humans who still refuse to become titans are a relic of the past and should just go extinct.

Originally Posted by Preciize

So you're suggesting he had always been a titan and somehow came in contact with humans?

No I actually think that there was some kind of war in the past among human factions which probably entailed the use of titans as weapons.

We know that the people of the walled country fled from their original country so they likely lost the war or the titans went completely out of control.

Somehow whoever was left survived, perhaps just like Ymir some titans regained consciousness and rebuilt a civilization, or maybe the ape titan is a descendant of a faction that controlled titans and thus won the war. It's hard to say.

It is also possible that there are innate titans that were never humans and the ape titan is one, but I think it's less likely.

Originally Posted by Preciize

A few more questions that popped into my head. Just going to leave them out here: What are Reiner's and Bertolt's true objectives for going inside the walls?

The BRA trio's purpose is very hard to understand. Specifically I still don't understand why they decided to launch a second attack after 5 years of silent infiltration.

If they wanted to completely wipe out the walled country they could have done that easily, if their purpose entailed a covert operation then why launching a second attack?

And why didn't they join the scout legion earlier since they are older than Eren and his friends?

A lot of things would make sense if they were looking for Eren even before he awakened, but then many facts seem to suggest they weren't aware of him.

Originally Posted by Preciize

In one of the chapters, Bertolt says Eren can't remember his transformation into a human? Plus, why do the titans attack Reiner and Bertolt? Makes me think they are human after all.

It is possible that Berthold is making a wrong assumption regarding Eren, perhaps he doesn't know about Grisha's experiments.

As for them being humans, at the very least the mindless titans recognize them as humans. Or it is possible that they are attracted to higher brain activity similarly to the BETA of Muv Luv.

[Preciize]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Disease, quite possibly, but I tend more toward the hypothesis of a bio-engineered disease if that's the case. In other words I envision some kind of biological warfare that went terribly out of control.

Yeah, that's what I think.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

We can't be sure that the people inside the walled country are actually all that's left of humanity. And even if they are, the ape titan suggests that there is some kind of titan civilization or human-titan civilization, else why would he need to bring the 3Dgear to whatever is his home if not to study it?

It seems like Reiner and Bertolt have no relationship with him since he has no idea about the 3D gear. But at the same time Ymir made the assumption that the titan is their path to returning home. Or maybe they just haven't been in contact with the titan since they infiltrated the wall. But I do think there are some kind of civilizations outside of the walls that consist of creatures with consciousness.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Perhaps she or whoever is behind her believes that humanity or at least the humans who still refuse to become titans are a relic of the past and should just go extinct.

Interesting.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

No I actually think that there was some kind of war in the past among human factions which probably entailed the use of titans as weapons.

We know that the people of the walled country fled from their original country so they likely lost the war or the titans went completely out of control.

Somehow whoever was left survived, perhaps just like Ymir some titans regained consciousness and rebuilt a civilization, or maybe the ape titan is a descendant of a faction that controlled titans and thus won the war. It's hard to say.

It is also possible that there are innate titans that were never humans and the ape titan is one, but I think it's less likely.

I find the way that Ymir regained consciousness pretty intriguing. Makes me think that the titans and humans are really connected with one another. There's also the fact that some humans changed into titans somehow like Connie's village and his mom.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

The BRA trio's purpose is very hard to understand. Specifically I still don't understand why they decided to launch a second attack after 5 years of silent infiltration.

If they wanted to completely wipe out the walled country they could have done that easily, if their purpose entailed a covert operation then why launching a second attack?

And why didn't they join the scout legion earlier since they are older than Eren and his friends?

A lot of things would make sense if they were looking for Eren even before he awakened, but then many facts seem to suggest they weren't aware of him.

Yeah, maybe they're also searching for the secrets of the cult since they want to bring Krista along. Makes me think that the cult are possible villains.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

It is possible that Berthold is making a wrong assumption regarding Eren, perhaps he doesn't know about Grisha's experiments.

Very possible, if Eren gained his titan shifting powers through some kind of vaccine I wonder how the others gained their abilities if they are in fact human.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

As for them being humans, at the very least the mindless titans recognize them as humans. Or it is possible that they are attracted to higher brain activity similarly to the BETA of Muv Luv.

Annie seems to be different since she was able to lead a group of titans against the Scouting Legion during their expedition.

[Breimoon]

Originally Posted by Preciize

Annie seems to be different since she was able to lead a group of titans against the Scouting Legion during their expedition.

We have arleady discussed about that and the chances are that the normal titans do not treat annie differently but they just get distracted by the humans in front of them( like when eren was carryng the stone to seal the gate)

[normp571]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Nobody knows for sure, but it is hinted that at the very least Grisha (Eren's father) found a way to cause normal humans to become human-titan.
Also the Ape titan is heavily hinted to be able to cause humans to become mindless titans.
Recent manga chapters suggest that at least some mindless titans can regain consciousness and become human-titans over time.



It isn't even certain that titans and humans are two distinct species to begin with.
-It is possible that they are and that some humans engineered a way to become titans or somewhat like them.
-It is possible that the current titans were all at one point in time humans like everyone else.
-It is even possible that all those who are shown as being humans are actually titans that mimicked the true humans (after their total extinction).

We simply don't know. It could be that there just several humans factions at war, or even several titan factions, or who knows what else.



The flashback is most likely true which means that they at least lived in human form among other humans like them at one point in time and only later developed (or regained) the ability to turn into titans. It is likely that their village is (or was) somewhere outside the walls.



It is logical to assume that the walls were created by "people" who had a very high degree of control over titan powers. A huge number of them used those powers to create the walls for the purpose of sheltering a large number of humans (which are hinted to come from oversea, fleeing from their original country).

The reason for them to remain trapped inside is unclear but possibly they knew that they were bound to lose their humanity and they willingly chose to remain into a deep slumber for eternity or a given amount of time. That or someone somehow could completely dominate them.




We don't know what language they speak, the few writings we have seen do not seem to be English at all and they aren't Latin characters either. It is also interesting to note that we haven't seen any numerals either.
It seems that titans generally are not equipped with vocal chords that can be used to talk. Some titans seem to be better at that than others but they still talk with difficulty or with a strange voice.

The fact that the Ape titan knows the language of the people of the walled country while not being completely sure they speak that language suggest that there is some kind of history that he is aware of. In other words he knew those people from a distant past (before they fled to the walls most likely) and he had an idea of the kind of language that they were supposed to speak.

Actually, Hanji said that the titans have vocal cords, but don't seem to use them. Also, besides the ape titan their was the titan who bowed before Illise(I think I spelled it right) in the Illise's notebook. It said "Ymir-sama" and "Ymir's-people."

[normp571]

What if the the ruined Castle Utgard is where the titans from inside the walls came from? What if there were some "hoodlums that made it their base"? Then, the ape titan came along and turned them into titans along with those from Connie's village?

[normp571]

Also, something else I noticed was that in chapter 39 there seemed to be titans that were attacking each other. Maybe the the titans created by the ape-titan were being attacked by "normal titans"? Or, what if the titan that was being attacked is actually a human-titan that is confused by its new form. I mean if you were suddenly a titan wouldn't you be confused? That would explain why it was being attacked.

[Preciize]

Originally Posted by normp571

What if the the ruined Castle Utgard is where the titans from inside the walls came from? What if there were some "hoodlums that made it their base"? Then, the ape titan came along and turned them into titans along with those from Connie's village?

I don't think the castle has any significance unless maybe there's a secret tunnel that the titans came from. But like you said, I believe the ape titan has something to do with humans shifting into titans.

Originally Posted by normp571

Also, something else I noticed was that in chapter 39 there seemed to be titans that were attacking each other. Maybe the the titans created by the ape-titan were being attacked by "normal titans"? Or, what if the titan that was being attacked is actually a human-titan that is confused by its new form. I mean if you were suddenly a titan wouldn't you be confused? That would explain why it was being attacked.

I wonder if the humans that were shifted into titans still retained their consciousness. It seems like many of the titans were human since there was no wall breach yet they attacked fellow humans. Eren did lose control of himself once. But I do agree that for whatever reason normal titans attack human titans.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by normp571

Actually, Hanji said that the titans have vocal cords, but don't seem to use them. Also, besides the ape titan their was the titan who bowed before Illise(I think I spelled it right) in the Illise's notebook. It said "Ymir-sama" and "Ymir's-people."

There's also Ymir who talked as a titan, but what I said is that they talk with difficulty and ape titan apart we never saw a titan speaking in a very articulated manner.

I don't think it makes sense if the titans' vocal cords were perfectly functioning, because that wouldn't explain why perfectly intelligent titans such as Eren Annie Berthold and Reiner do not use them.

Moreover when Ymir talked it was very awkward "wanna live? grab on" That's not the way an intelligent person speaks so it's either that she can't use her vocal cords efficiently or she becomes dumb in titan form, but the latter hypothesis doesn't mesh up with the fact that she and other titans still act as intelligent creatures.

Lately Ymir even temporarily disconnected herself from her titan body in order to talk with Christa and why would she do that if she could talk as a titan?

[kitten320]

Duno where ask this so...

Spoiler for novel spoiler?:

Is it true that Levi joined Survey corps to kill Erwin?

[Haigon]

Originally Posted by kitten320

Duno where ask this so...

Spoiler for novel spoiler?:

Is it true that Levi joined Survey corps to kill Erwin?

Spoiler for VN:

Do you intend to kill me, Levi?
Yeah, that was the only reason I joined the Survey Corps
Just to kill you, Erwin.

[kitten320]

Oh wow, things sure escalated quickly...

[Preciize]

Originally Posted by Haigon

Spoiler for VN:

Do you intend to kill me, Levi?
Yeah, that was the only reason I joined the Survey Corps
Just to kill you, Erwin.

Is that really true? If so, what a twist xD

[lateraldeath]

Originally Posted by Haigon

Spoiler for VN:

Do you intend to kill me, Levi?
Yeah, that was the only reason I joined the Survey Corps
Just to kill you, Erwin.

F* me, I clicked on it out of habit assuming it's just a manga spoiler and now I can't unsee.

[Destined_Fate]

So... Levi did all that for... That?

Petra died for nothing!

[kitten320]

As far as I understand, that's the past. So technically she didn't since his motives have changed for whatever reason.

[chaos_alfa]

Originally Posted by Destined_Fate

So... Levi did all that for... That?

Petra died for nothing!

Why did she die for nothing? The visual novel is probably about the past rather than the future.

[DarkLordOfkichiku]

Indeed, both Erwin & Levi look rather younger in those pics than they do now, so it indeed seems to be in the past...