History of Attack on Titan
About
Attack on Titan (Japanese: 進撃の巨人, Hepburn: Shingeki no Kyojin, lit. 'The Advancing Giant') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to as Titans; the story follows Eren Yeager, who vows to exterminate the Titans after they bring about the destruction of his hometown and the death of his mother. It was serialized in Kodansha's monthly magazine Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine from September 2009 to April 2021, with its chapters collected in 34 tankōbon volumes.The story of Attack on Titan centers on a civilization inside three circular walls. According to the knowledge propagated locally, it is the last surviving vestige of human civilization. Its inhabitants, known as Eldians, have been led to believe that over one hundred years ago, humanity was driven to the brink of extinction after the emergence of humanoid giants called Titans, who attack and eat humans on sight.
Titans
There exist different types of Titans. Pure Titans are the weakest and most generic Titans, whose behavior is easy to predict, making them easy to kill. Abnormal Titans are Pure Titans whose behavior is more difficult to predict, making them far more dangerous. The Nine Titans, also known as Titan Shifters (Attack, Colossal, Armored, Female, Beast, Jaw, Cart, War Hammer, and Founding), are the strongest Titans; each is able to shift back and forth between human and Titan form to access their Titan's abilities. Many Titan Shifters also possess the ability to harden certain parts of their bodies at will, typically in order to make them virtually impenetrable, or to strengthen their blows during combat. Pure Titans are created by injecting Eldians with Pure Titan spinal fluid. If a Pure Titan eats the human body of a person who possesses one of the Nine Titans, said Eldian will revert to human form and gain that Shifter's powers, whereupon they are cursed to live only 13 more years. If their powers are not inherited by another Eldian before their death, their powers will be inherited by an Eldian baby born shortly thereafter, regardless of distance or blood-relations. As the story progresses, the true nature of the Titans and the existence of civilization outside the walls is revealed to the characters and the audience.
Plot
Eren Yeager is a boy who lives in the town of Shiganshina, located on the outermost of three circular walls protecting their inhabitants from Titans. In the year 845, the first wall (Wall Maria) is breached by two new types of Titans, the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan. During the incident, Eren's mother is eaten by a Smiling Titan while Eren escapes. He swears revenge on all Titans and enlists in the military along with his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman and his best friend Armin Arlert. Five years after Shiganshina's fall, the Colossal Titan attacks the city of Trost, located on the second innermost wall (Wall Rose). Eren helps to successfully defend the city after he discovers a mysterious ability to turn himself into a sentient Attack Titan. Additionally, he regains memories of his father giving him this ability shortly after the fall of Wall Maria, and telling him that the truth about their world can be found in their basement in Shiganshina. These events draw the attention of the Survey Corps and their commander, Erwin Smith, who intend to use his power to reclaim Wall Maria and reach the Yeagers' basement. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin are transferred to the Special Operations Squad, under the care of Levi Ackerman and Hange Zoë. During an expedition into the forest between the walls, Eren and his companions encounter a sentient Female Titan, whom they later expose as their fellow military comrade Annie Leonhart. With help from his friends, Eren fights and defeats Annie, who encases herself in crystal and is put in custody. After the fight, it is discovered that there are Titans lying dormant within the walls (known as Wall Titans). Shortly thereafter, Pure Titans mysteriously appear within Wall Rose with no evidence of how they got in, accompanied by the sentient Beast Titan. Ymir, one of the new Survey Corps graduates, reveals that she can also transform into the sentient Jaw Titan, while Ymir's close friend Krista Lenz reveals herself as Historia Reiss, a member of the royal family. Two other members of the Survey Corps, Reiner Braun and Bertholt Hoover, reveal themselves as the Armored and Colossal Titan respectively. They attempt to kidnap Eren and Ymir, but fail. In the ensuing battle, Eren discovers another power within himself called "the Coordinate", that allows him to control other Titans, which he uses to kill the Smiling Titan and send a horde of Pure Titans to attack Reiner and Bertholt. This forces the two to escape, whereupon Ymir willingly flees with them, offering herself as sacrifice to prevent Historia from being targeted by the enemy. In the aftermath of these events, it is determined that the Pure Titans who suddenly appeared within Wall Rose were the inhabitants of various villages within Wall Rose, who had in some way been transformed into Titans. This leads the characters to the conclusion that all Pure Titans are, in fact, transformed human beings.Eren and his friends join Levi Squad while the Survey Corps is targeted by the Military Police led by Kenny Ackerman, Levi's uncle. In the occasion, they discover that by transforming into a Pure Titan via a serum made of spinal fluid and eating another Titan shifter, a person can gain its abilities, and that Historia and her father, Rod Reiss, are the only surviving members of the royal bloodline. Rod kidnaps Eren because he is in possession of the Founding Titan, obtained by his father Grisha upon eating Frieda Reiss (Historia's half-sister), and by Eren through eating his father. Rod transforms into a monstrous Abnormal Titan, but is killed by Historia (with the help of the Survey Corps), who is thereafter declared Queen.