Episode 86 of Attack on Titan recently aired, giving fans of the series plenty to talk about. The most exciting event in the episode might very well be the debut of Falco Grice's Jaw Titan. Falco has never activated his Titan powers before, so it was a mystery as to when and how he would utilize its abilities.
In actual fact, this episode never quite revealed the extent of Falco's Jaw abilities and with the anime one episode away from its finale, anime fans might need to wait a little while longer before they can see how impactful Falco's Titan can be. So what exactly can Falco's Jaw Titan do?
WARNING: This contains spoilers for the Attack on Titan manga
The Jaw Titan Throughout Attack on Titan
The Jaw Titan is one of nine unique titans descended from the Founding Titan. Its small size, claws, speed, and agility make it hard to approach in battle. Its sharp teeth and powerful jaw stand out as its most significant features. The combination of the two gives this Titan the power to crush anything with its bite. The first known wielder of the Jaw was Marcel Galliard, a Warrior candidate from Marley who was sent to Paradis with Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover, and Annie Leonhart to locate the Founding Titan. While en route to the island, the group was intercepted by Ymir in her pure Titan form, who lunged to eat Reiner. In an attempt to save his life, Marcel pushed Reiner out of the way and in turn was devoured by Ymir. After being trapped in her pure titan form for 60 years, Ymir returned to her human body with the powers of the Jaw Titan.
Ymir joined the 104th Training Corps along with Eren and the others, concealing her Jaw abilities. When Titans overtook Utgard Castle, Ymir transforms into her Jaw form to save her fellow rookie cadets. Eventually, Ymir agrees to return to Marley with Reiner and Bertolt because they cannot return empty-handed, and she has "had enough". In Marley, she was voluntarily consumed by Porco Galliard who then became the new Jaw Titan.
Porco's Jaw is first seen in the Fort Slava battle four years after the surviving Warriors' return to Marley. His titan form bears resemblance to Marcel's, this may be because they are brothers. During the War for Paradis, Porco's last battle leaves him severely wounded by Eren and unable to regenerate. Accepting that he can no longer fight and seeing his brother's memories, he allows Falco in pure titan form to eat him, thus passing on his Jaw to him. Up till recently, Falco never transformed into this form. According to the manga, Falco's Jaw is significantly different from previous iterations.
Falco's Jaw continues to bear the standard traits of previous Jaw Titans. He is fast, agile, and small. These features, however, take a different form with Falco. All the current Jaw Titan's physical features appear to be bird-inspired. Instead of claws, Falco has talons. The titular jaw looks to resemble a beak. He also has hair or fur on the arms that somewhat resemble wings. It is possible that fans were supposed to associate birds with Falco, as his name is akin to the word "falcon" and there are birds circling him in the first episode of season 4.
The Standout Feature
Before diving into this one-of-a-kind characteristic, it is worth noting events leading up to Falco becoming the Jaw in the first place. As a sneaky ploy by Zeke, his spinal fluid was concealed in bottles of wine. When Gabi and Falco go to Niccolo's restaurant for dinner with Sasha's family, Gabi comes clean about shooting Sasha. Out of rage, Niccolo swings the bottle at Gabi when Falco jumps to her defense, getting the bottle smashed on his head in the process. Consequently, the wine drips into his mouth. Zeke possesses the Beast Titan, a titan who has the ability to summon pure titans with its scream. Zeke's spinal fluid, now in Falco, is what turns him into a pure titan when Zeke screams in Episode 78 of the anime.
All of this culminates in Falco's unusual ability: flight. Falco's Jaw has the ability to fly. This has not been seen in the anime yet. In the manga, Falco tells Annie that he had a memory of a past Beast Titan that could fly and guesses that perhaps he would be able to do the same given the bird-like appearance of his Jaw. Beast Titans are typically modeled after a particular animal, in Zeke's case, a monkey. Therefore, Falco's Jaw also looks like a bird, as an effect from Zeke's Beast Titan, as theorized by Falco.
In Chapter 135, Falco's theory is proven right as he successfully flies to Fort Salta with Gabi and Annie. He manages to fly close to Eren in his Founding form and transport the Scouts safely during this attack and retreat. In the penultimate chapter of the manga, he flies Levi and Mikasa to Eren where Mikasa breaks into Eren's mouth and decapitates him.