Highlights
- Reiner Braun's Armored Titan is a major player in Attack on Titan, with a rivalry with Eren's Attack Titan and involvement in major conflicts.
- The Armored Titan's appearance is influenced by the wrestler Brock Lesnar, with a hulking frame and hardened armor plates.
- The armor is impervious to blades and bullets, but can be pierced by powerful weaponry. It can also be used for offensive attacks, but reduces mobility and can be undone by the holder of the Founding Titan.
Potentially the most durable of the Nine Titans, Reiner Braun's Armored Titan is a significant player in the plot of Attack on Titan, especially due to the rivalry it shares with Eren Yeager's Attack Titan. Introduced as early as the second chapter and episode of the manga and anime respectively, the Armored Titan was partly responsible for the Fall of Wall Maria — an event that served as a catalyst for the events of the series' main storyline. Later down the line, its involvement in major conflicts throughout Attack on Titan grew even more pronounced, especially after the time skip.
This was primarily due to Reiner being cast as the series' protagonist from the Marleyan side, as he dealt with the fallout of his failed mission to recover the Founding Titan from Paradis. As the War for Paradis approached a point of no return, Reiner struggled to prevent Eren from triggering the Rumbling, but his efforts were to no avail. Finally, Reiner's Armored Titan was instrumental in the Scouts and Warriors' combined effort to take down Eren's Founding Titan and end the march of Wall Titans, saving the world from further ruin in the process. Considering its pivotal role in the franchise, here is a look into what makes this Titan unique.
Design And Influences
Much like the other Titans in the series, the Armored Titan's appearance bore a strong resemblance to its holder Reiner Braun, which is especially evident in the short blonde hair it sports. According to Hajime Isayama, the Armored Titan's physique was distinctly inspired by the American professional wrestler Brock Lesnar. This influence is easy to perceive in the Titan's hulking frame, broad shoulders, and toned upper body.
Befitting its name, the Armored Titan is clad almost entirely in plates of hardened armor, with their design varying greatly as the story progressed. Initially, the plating was somewhat reminiscent of a modified suit of battle armor that accentuated the Titan's powerful physique, which featured little to no skin, and had its musculature almost entirely exposed. Later variations took on a less refined aesthetic, to a point where the plating seemed far more organic.
Past incarnations of the Armored Titan displayed considerable differences in the pattern of their plating — ranging from a Titan that resembled The Thing from Marvel's Fantastic Four franchise, to one clad in actual medieval style battle armor. In Reiner's case, his Titan had a face that was covered in hardened plating, with a prominent mouth guard which concealed its teeth.
On occasions where he opened his mouth, his Armored Titan was prone to exhaling large volumes of steam in a menacing manner. This could be attributed to its inability to emit steam from all over its body like other Titan forms, due to its plating. Reiner's Armored Titan also had plating across a large portion of its upper body, with the only exceptions being small sections of its abdomen, chest, legs, and forearms. One exception to this was observed in the Raid on Liberio, when Reiner transformed with an incomplete version of his armor, as a consequence of his diminishing will to live.
Stronger Than Steel
The armor itself is completely impervious to the ultra-hard steel blades of the ODM gear used by the Eldians of Paradis. Moreover, it can even withstand bullets and cannon fire. However, the plating can be pierced by powerful weaponry such as the anti-Titan artillery used by the Mid-East Allied Forces, as shown during the Marley Mid-East War that took place during the time skip. At Fort Slava, Reiner's Armored Titan endured considerable damage when it was forced to face these shells head on, in order to protect Zeke's Beast Titan.
In offensive applications, the plating can be used to deliver devastating blows that leave the user's body unscathed, as seen when Reiner broke through Wall Maria at the start of the series. Besides this, Reiner's Armored Titan could also make use of the crystallized hardening employed by other Titan shifters to create claws on its hands and feet, which allowed it to scale the Walls of Shiganshina District. Like most other Titans, it allowed the user to regenerate damaged limbs if they possessed the will to survive, and any broken plating sustained in an earlier transformation would be rejuvenated in a successive transformation.
The Drawbacks Of Armored Plating
In effect, the Armored Titan's plating is also one of its biggest weaknesses, despite its incredible durability. As the hardening reduces mobility and flexibility while also adding excess weight to the Titan's body, the Armored Titan sprints relatively slowly when compared to the rest of the Nine Titans. Reiner can undo the hardening at will on certain parts of his body, to overcome the main weakness of this Titan form. By doing so at certain specific points — usually behind the knees — he can help speed up the Titan's movement to some degree.
Beyond this, the Armored Titan is also susceptible to having all of its hardening undone if the holder of the Founding Titan at the time wills it — which was what happened when Eren triggered the Rumbling. This leaves it extremely vulnerable to attacks, but if the user exits their Titan form and transforms again, they will once again, regain all of their plating. Over the course of its existence, the Armored Titan was often referred to as "Marley's Shield," due to its endurance and durability. In a way, this title tied into Reiner's own character quite well, as his tendency to take on inhuman burdens to protect those around him, reflected its self-sacrificial underpinnings.
Attack on Titan is available to stream on Amazon Prime.