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The foremost player in the story and the likely source of the series' name itself, the Attack Titan is perhaps the most enigmatic of the Nine Titans featured in Hajime Isayama's renowned manga Attack on Titan, as well as its highly successful anime adaptation. First introduced as the titan held by the series' protagonist Eren Yeager, this emblem of the franchise was eventually revealed to be an enduring symbol of Eldian freedom and resistance. In fact, over innumerable generations of holders, the Attack Titan is said to have never once fallen into enemy hands, constantly moving forward in the face of any challenge while looking out for the interests of the Subjects of Ymir in the world of Attack on Titan.
Despite not having any identifying abilities as in the case of the Armored Titan, Colossal Titan, Female Titan, Beast Titan, or even the Warhammer, Jaw, and Cart Titans — whose underlying traits remain relatively similar between users over generations — the Attack Titan is primarily renowned for its raw strength. Seasoned users such as Eren Yeager, his father Grisha, and even Eren Kruger were able to match other Titans in hand-to-hand combat quite effectively, despite lacking the armor or tactical advantages possessed by others among the nine. Over time, with the grand reveal of its true purpose in the story, that of transcending time itself, the Attack Titan grows to become an even more indispensable facet of Paradis Island's struggle against persecution by the rest of the world.
Design And Influences
Boasting a well-defined musculature and a decent stature of 15 meters, the Attack Titan is reportedly based on Japanese mixed martial artist Yushin Okami. Although there are variations between users, as seen in the case of Eren's and Grisha's Attack Titans, the base character designs are quite similar in most respects. However, while Grisha's Titan had a much burlier physique and considerably more facial hair — to better align with its holder — Eren Kruger and Eren Yeager's Attack Titans had much more slim and toned builds, owing to their years spent in the military undergoing intensive training. The fighting style of the Attack Titan is based on another Japanese mixed martial artist, Akiyo Nishiura. Initially, the Attack Titan's facial features were quite humanoid, except for the absence of any skin covering the Titan's mouth, exposing all its teeth. After the timeskip, Eren's Titan form begin to take on a far more demonic appearance, signifying Eren's more twisted worldview, and his association with the Devil of all Earth.
As far as defining features go, the Attack Titan is somewhat of an outlier in that it does not possess any means of distinguishing itself from standard Pure Titans. It has neither armor, enhanced stature, elongated arms, nor any other qualities that set it apart from its peers among the nine. Where it lacks in tactical advantage though, the Attack Titan's brute strength and unarmed fighting capabilities more than makeup for any deficiency in the hands of a capable user. For instance, Eren's triumphs in hand-to-hand combat against the likes of the Armored Titan and the Warhammer Titan during the Clash of the Titans and the Marley arc bear testament to this, although it is worth noting that he was aided by his Survey Corps comrades in the first case, and had the added trump card of armor serum during the second confrontation.
Origins And History
Like the rest of the nine, the Attack Titan's existence stemmed from a branching of the paths following the death of the first Founding Titan Ymir Fritz. As one of the titan powers held by the noble houses of the Eldian Empire throughout its nearly 2,000-year history, it was also likely part of the Great Titan War, which saw the empire crumble as a result of extended infighting between the aristocracy for supreme control over Eldia's territories and its titan powers. What is interesting to note during this conflict is that while seven of the other nine titans, only barring the Founder, fell into Marleyan hands over the course of the civil war, the Attack Titan remained steadfastly allied to Eldian forces, never once compromising on its intended purpose — that of always fighting for Eldian freedom.
Even with the 145th Fritz King's retreat behind the walls of Paradis Island, the Attack Titan remained on the mainland, biding its time to mount a counter-offensive against Marley and restore Eldia to its former glory. This is quite impressive when considering how each successive holder of the Attack Titan had to avoid capture or any revelation of their identity while living among the full might of the Marleyan military. Covertly guiding the course of the Eldian Restorationist movement shortly before the start of the story, the last holder of this titan power is revealed to be none other than Eren Kruger, a spy in the Marleyan Public Security Authorities, who was present during the death of Grisha Yeager's sister Faye in the year 817. After inheriting the titan two years later, Kruger supplied the Restorationists with valuable intel as "the Owl." Alas, when this radical group of Eldians, with Grisha and Dina Yeager among their number, was discovered and sentenced to death as mindless titans on Paradis, Kruger himself was called to carry out the sentence.
While escorting Grisha to his demise, Kruger violently silenced him as the former saw his wife transformed into a titan and thrown off the wall. As the time came for Grisha's own turn, Kruger subtly intervened and pushed his comrade, Sergeant Major Gross off the wall in the Grisha's stead, revealing himself to be none other than the holder of the Attack Titan. On destroying the Marleyan battleships harbored on the shores of Paradis and taking care of the soldiers supporting them, Kruger disclosed his actions as the Owl to Grisha, convinced him of his mission to retake the Founding Titan inside the walls, and finally, allowed himself to be eaten in order to pass on the Attack Titan.
The Symbol Of Freedom
From the time of its first appearance at the Battle of Trost, when Eren's titan-killing rampage effectively turned the tide of the fight in favour of humanity inside the walls, the Attack Titan has always been portrayed as an emblem of hope. Initially seen as the savior of humanity that would one day lead them to freedom from the threat of the titans, the revelation of the world outside the walls transformed this image to one where Eren, and the Attack Titan were seen by the Eldians of Paradis as their main countermeasure against the hatred directed towards them for almost a century. Another intriguing parallel lies in the similarities between this vision of the Attack Titan compared to Eren's own dreams of freedom, beginning with his desire to se the world outside the walls for himself.
The raid on Liberio cements this perception even further, with Paradis Island's first triumph against the allied forces of the world, who were gathering to plot an offensive against the perceived threat of the emerging Eldian civilization inside the walls. From the sheer grit, unbridled rage, and intense perseverance seen in the character of its holder, Eren, the Attack Titan grew into more than just a military power. Over the course of the story, it gradually became a symbol of the islanders' defiance in the face of an infinitely more powerful enemy, symbolizing their hunger for freedom, much like the tiny sliver of hope felt by all caged birds.
Memories Of The Future
While the Attack Titan lacks in distinguished fighting advantage, its main abillity, that of allowing holders to access memories from the future, is vital to the course of the narrative of Attack on Titan, and its central theme of Paradis Island's struggle for survival. Although there have been some speculations about the source of this ability — most notably stemming from Grisha Yeager's seizure of the Founding Titan as the holder of the Attack Titan, merging the two powers into one — the true cause still remains unexplained in its entirety. This foresight supersedes the memory inheritance seen in the other Nine Titans, barring the Founder, who perceives, past present, and future all at once.
Described by Zeke Yeager as "the power to transcend time," this method of future memory inheritance is not without flaws of its own. In fact, most memories transferred from future holders to their predecessors were incomplete. For instance, Eren Kruger new the names of Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert, the closest friends of Eren Yeager, a future holder of the Attack Titan, but was unaware of who they were. His successor, Grisha, had foreseen the Rumbling and urged his son Zeke to prevent it. Furthermore, Grisha also knew of the royal bloodline restriction on the use of the Founding Titan when he took the power from himself, and was even goaded by Eren into carrying out the deed of eliminating most of the Reiss family.
Additionally, Eren Yeager himself was not aware of how his actions during the Rumbling would pan out to the last detail and only foresaw his journey to the Paths. He also had little to no information regarding Ymir Fritz's presence in the Coordinate, and her own policy to only obey members of the royal family. Hence, even though the ability does possess considerable power and influence on the story, its imperfections do complicate the actions of certain characters, who had to rely on incomplete bits of information to carry out their roles.