Shingeki No Kyojin - Titan theory

Jun 17, 2013 3:48 PM

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Jun 2013

We already know that to transform into a titan you've got to be injured to some degree, and that when you do transform, the exterior titan body comes out of nowhere.
Additionally, Hanji revealed that when a Titan dies, their corpse is extremely light. Combine all that information with the fact that titans need the Sun to stay active and we've got a recipe for a theory.
What if the titans don't need the sun for the light, but instead, for the heat? And what if the reason you need to be injured is so that your blood could interact with the heat and form a titan body, somewhat like a souffle? So to make a titan body, you'd need to use up a lot of your blood. And since Eren has a slow regeneration ability in his human body, it takes him quite a long time to regen his blood black, it would explain why Eren was knocked out cold the first time he was ejected from his Titan body. And for experienced shifters like Annie and Reiner, getting their blood back is an easy task.

And my last point is going to be about the Ape Titan. How does he do what he does? How does he manage to keep titans active during night time? How did he transform Connies village into titans? My guess is that his body is able to release abnormal amounts of heat to "feed" the titans around him, that's how he managed to transform the entire village, by releasing a lot of heat around the villagers, causing a massive heat wave, killing them all, leaving no trace, blood marks, etc. But I'm still unsure how they transformed into titans after that after getting killed.

Thoughts?

Jun 17, 2013 4:24 PM

rava

Offline

Dec 2010

It's as good a theory as any at the moment.

Plus the idea of a titan being a souffle is just funny to me. It makes me want to draw a picture of a bunch of them in a souffle pan.

I've always wondered why Eren only gained regeneration after his first transformation. You'd think people would have noticed if he was always smoking through his bandages and healing super quickly back when he was in training.

Jun 17, 2013 5:45 PM

vlasic

Offline

May 2010

125

SnazzyFapple said:
We already know that to transform into a titan you've got to be injured to some degree, and that when you do transform, the exterior titan body comes out of nowhere.
Additionally, Hanji revealed that when a Titan dies, their corpse is extremely light. Combine all that information with the fact that titans need the Sun to stay active and we've got a recipe for a theory.
What if the titans don't need the sun for the light, but instead, for the heat? And what if the reason you need to be injured is so that your blood could interact with the heat and form a titan body, somewhat like a souffle? So to make a titan body, you'd need to use up a lot of your blood. And since Eren has a slow regeneration ability in his human body, it takes him quite a long time to regen his blood black, it would explain why Eren was knocked out cold the first time he was ejected from his Titan body. And for experienced shifters like Annie and Reiner, getting their blood back is an easy task.

And my last point is going to be about the Ape Titan. How does he do what he does? How does he manage to keep titans active during night time? How did he transform Connies village into titans? My guess is that his body is able to release abnormal amounts of heat to "feed" the titans around him, that's how he managed to transform the entire village, by releasing a lot of heat around the villagers, causing a massive heat wave, killing them all, leaving no trace, blood marks, etc. But I'm still unsure how they transformed into titans after that after getting killed.

Thoughts?

This theory is a joke, right? I couldn't stop laughing at it so I apologize if you were trying to be serious.

I don't think heat has anything to do with this. The blood is interesting to think about but heat wouldn't be the issue. What about hot summer nights? Plus blood is at 98F and most days outside aren't that hot. It's usually hotter inside than out. Unless everyday in the universe is 100F +.

Jun 17, 2013 6:47 PM

SnazzyFapple

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Jun 2013

vlasic said:
This theory is a joke, right? I couldn't stop laughing at it so I apologize if you were trying to be serious.

I don't think heat has anything to do with this. The blood is interesting to think about but heat wouldn't be the issue. What about hot summer nights? Plus blood is at 98F and most days outside aren't that hot. It's usually hotter inside than out. Unless everyday in the universe is 100F +.

I don't see another way the Ape Titan could keep the titans around him active during nights, unless we're talking about magic ass pulls, which I doubt this manga is gonna go for. Heat is the most logical choice here, titan bodies are steaming hot, we aren't talking about 98F here, much hotter than that. I admit, the heat from the sun isn't the strongest point, but other than that it seems plausible. Colossal titans body is hot enough to release huge amounts of steam, so it definitely plays a big part in the biological structure of a titan.

Jun 17, 2013 8:54 PM

vlasic

Offline

May 2010

125

Didn't the manga say some titans are pretty active at night though? When they captured 2 titans, didn't one of them last a pretty long time? They release steam/heat regardless of time of day. and one of them was active at night when the ape wasn't there. I don't think heat is used to control titans. But yes heat is part of their physiology. They generate heat for centuries without any energy input except for the sun. Unless humans are a very rich long lasting source of energy, i'm not sure how titans can keep running forever and ever without drinking water or eating. It's why I feel the sunlight plays more a role than heat.
Was the moon out in the manga? I imagine there was a fair amount of moonlight in the manga, not sure if that has anything to do with it. Or perhaps titans have energy reserves to run thru the night like a battery.

Jun 17, 2013 9:30 PM

voll

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Apr 2013

544

vlasic said:
Was the moon out in the manga? I imagine there was a fair amount of moonlight in the manga, not sure if that has anything to do with it. Or perhaps titans have energy reserves to run thru the night like a battery.

Yes, the moon was out. It was a full moon too.

@OP: I love your souffle analogy. It definitely helped me visualize what you were trying to say lol

vollJun 17, 2013 9:43 PM

Oct 7, 2013 7:53 AM

jairam

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Oct 2013

Do you remember the plague that Hannes told to Eren, about his father saved them from this plague. I think that there was a potion that was maybe in their food supply or water supply, that made them consume this potion and can turn them into titans but was stopped because of the help of Eren's father.

WHY?

The thing that supports my theory is that, first of all, there was no breach in the wall, meaning there was someone that made all the people living within the walls as titans. I don't know if they are many, but I think they don't need to kill someone in order to make them a titan. If you think about it then maybe there was something, maybe an injection or some potion that made them consume it in their daily lives.

proof?

Connie's mother. Connie thought that the titan resembled her and the titan even said ''welcome back'' to Connie. Meaning that she actually turned into a titan.

WHO?

well, I think the ape was the mastermind of all of these. I think he was a person before and made himself/herself as a titan. Cause this titan problem has been going on for how long now? and the ape commented about the 3D Gear, and can speak fluently too which means that somehow, maybe he admired the invention that was invented this time they are now, than before his time. Maybe he was the one who created the potion. Cause as far as I know, some titans were scared of him. Maybe he was hiding on the walls all along, or he was a person who went inside the walls then injected or consume the potion he made and became a titan himself afterwards.

Maybe Eren's father know the mastermind and he wants to save humanity that's why he was desperate of Eren going to the basement where the antidote lies (maybe) because he knows that he's going to die soon.

I don't know why this ape had this potion but maybe because he had a past, and maybe he hated humanity after that, that is why he created a potion that can exterminate humanity.

If they can make a 3D Gear, then it's not impossible for them to make a potion.

Oct 7, 2013 2:04 PM

zellami

Offline

Dec 2012

2266

SnazzyFapple said:
We already know that to transform into a titan you've got to be injured to some degree, and that when you do transform, the exterior titan body comes out of nowhere.

It's only true for human-titans, and it is shown that injury is (at best) a co-trigger, based on pain.

Additionally, Hanji revealed that when a Titan dies, their corpse is extremely light.

No, she showed that severed parts of the titan's body are extremely light, compared to when the body is a whole. That is, a detached hand is light. A titan dying with all his limbs is the same power-house - they fall like trunks - squashing everything on their way. If the nape has been cut, then they simply evaporate and turn to steam and ash, those could gradually become lighter.

Combine all that information with the fact that titans need the Sun to stay active and we've got a recipe for a theory.
What if the titans don't need the sun for the light, but instead, for the heat?

What about cold rains and winter? Water should cool them off, but animanga shows them attacking during the forest mission (episode 1), later in Trost, when it was raining, and so on. Winter should put them to a halt for an entire season, which is not the case with them being around all year, a hundred years and more.

And what if the reason you need to be injured is so that your blood could interact with the heat and form a titan body, somewhat like a souffle?

I agree to an extent. They really look like souffle :D. How about ... light, instead of heat? Light doesn't pertain to sunlight only - could be moonlight or artificial light - but the light's nature itself. This could explain their differences. Sunlight however, powers them most.

I don't get the reasoning I put in spoiler tags, but I also think that there are several factors that lead to initial or stable transformation. As of now, we can only speculate what makes the various types of titans/human-titans ... be titans.

And my last point is going to be about the Ape Titan. How does he do what he does? How does he manage to keep titans active during night time? How did he transform Connies village into titans? My guess is that his body is able to release abnormal amounts of heat to "feed" the titans around him, that's how he managed to transform the entire village, by releasing a lot of heat around the villagers, causing a massive heat wave, killing them all, leaving no trace, blood marks, etc. But I'm still unsure how they transformed into titans after that after getting killed.

Thoughts?

Well, in my opinion is not the heat, but what's in the blood. It's enough Beastie to breath in the humans' faces or simply break the skin with a small scratch such that to open a transmission channel - if you have been ever tested for allergic reactions or drug tolerance, it would be pretty much the same. It's pretty troublesome to catch all people around, I think, so maybe he needs only one ("the zero patient"), who'd spread the infection among the others. From here, spread goes exponentially.
Curiously, the Utgardt chapters hint such a possibility - not only (supposedly, humans turned into titans), but Beastie's titans began biting the others. It's only me, but I think that b/w the fall of Shiganshina and the attack on Trost the mindless titan changed - they became more vicious. Perhaps multiple bites make for the abnormal type as well. They can't die, ofc, because they have regenerative abilities, so ... they might have been able to adapt to the virus (or whatever).
Again, this is could be not the only way the transformation occurs.

My 2 cents, anyway. I don't know better than you or anything.

zellamiOct 7, 2013 2:15 PM

Feb 10, 2014 6:53 AM

Blake69

Offline

Feb 2014

Well..How about this - MAJOR SPOLERS :

The titans were created over a hundred years ago as a weapon against humanity by, lets say Dr. X. His motivation was revenge for his murdered wife and son from religious zealots (this secret is passed down from generation to generation, and thats why the religious sect is so mysterious) that did not like the fact that Dr.X was conducting research that could be viewed as being sacrilegious. On the night of the murder, Dr. X's home was set on fire by a religious group in the hopes of killing him. Unfortunately for the zealots, Dr.X was still at his laboratory conducting research throughout the night. Upon returning home, Dr.X watched in horror as his house burnt to the ground with religious zealots surrounding it. He knew that if he approached them it would mean certain death and he could no longer obtain revenge for his murdered family.

He went into exile and constructed a hidden laboratory so that he could continue his research. He was able to develop a mutant potion that could be introduced into the water supply (reaching a vast number of people) so that it would turn humans into enormous, but mindless killers. His justification for his actions was that humanity was becoming too religious and needed to be exterminated. In place of humanity, the doctor created a new race with individuals who were not a part of any religious order and who did not believe in the existence of a god. To avoid being killed by the titans that he created, he gave his followers as well as himself (Ape Titan) a potion that would allow them to shift into titan form that was many times stronger than normal titans, hence the shape shifters.

These shape shifting titans built a base so that normal titans could not pose a danger to the shape shifting titans (the hometown Reiner and his bud B are constantly talking of). Their goal was to wait within the walls until humans were all eliminated by the titans. This plan would allow the shape shifting titans to avoid battle with humans and thus saving them from losing lives on their already low numbers. The problem was that their hidden location was discovered by a sizable human army which could have meant the total destruction of these shape shifting titans. To avoid this, it was agreed that the shape shifting titans should stay in human form and relocate to a new location.

At the time, these shape shifting titans could not destroy the humans completely because they had well equipped and highly skilled fighters within their army. As time passed, humans began to take their titan threat less seriously so that their defense force were smaller in number and were less skilled. Sensing this weakness, the shape shifting titans decided it was the right time to attack and make an entrance for the regular titans.

Dr. Grisha Yeager is a shape shifter himself who fell in love with a non-shape shifter. Although Dr. Yeager is a shape shifter, he did not share the hate that his fellow shape shifters had for humanity. This is evident when he cured a plague that was befalling humanity (he did actually cure people, not inject them). After the attacks on wall rose which he was not notified beforehand, he injected his son with the shape shifting potion so that he would not die as easily as his wife did.

After the initial attacks, Dr.X sent in spies into the human military to analyze human tactics, weapons, and military numbers. Feeling confident that humanity was still not prepared to engage the titans, a second and third attack were planned on walls maria and sina.

The attack on wall sina failed due to a change of heart from a handful of shape shifting spies who changed sides.

Eren Yeager discovered that his father, Dr. Grisha Yeager was murdered for aiding humanity and giving Eren along with others the shape shifting potion to defend against Dr.X.

The recipe to a vaccine was found inside the basement of Eren's old house to prevent further titan mutations during battle. Dr. Grisha Yeager was able to create the vaccine before losing his life to Dr. X.

The ending involves Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman, allied shape shifters, and the remaining human military destroying Dr.X and his followers."

Blake69Feb 10, 2014 7:50 AM

Mar 13, 2014 2:57 PM

#10

deccyb94

Offline

Mar 2014

I'm really interested to hear more about the Ape Titan, i really like the idea of the most advanced titan, able to communicate etc is based on an animal that humans are said to of evolved from, really cool idea turning that around. But with regards to the ape i really can't wait to find out if he's a shifter like the others or whether he's stuck in that form, everywhere else i see people going on about the Ape being involved in part of Reiner/Berolt/Annine's mission and the ape is one of the things they are looking for.

The fact he doesn't understand maneuver gear suggests to me that he's not ancient, he's just not been to the wall since 107 years before when the titans 'appeared'.

i do think he has something to do with turning people into titans but i have the weird feeling he's not the be all and end all of the transformations or that he's the only creature that can do it. I'm looking forward to seeing if the epidemic hannes talks about is something titan related, though he mentions it spread from his family, or not and about the location of Dr Jaeger and where hes been/why. Since the Ape seems oblivious to maneuver gear and the idea of him being a way for a while i don't feel as if the person (if it is a person) inside could of known Dr jaeger purely based on timings and age. If the Ape hadn't visited since the first titan appearance 107 years ago, i doubt Dr Jaeger would have been alive, unless he's hiding something more.

I'm seriously digging the manga/anime, one as much as the other! i only started watching a month ago and i've sat through it all 4 times and read the manga fully twice now owning all volumes out. But i'm so impatient waiting for more. It's gutting to think the next load of anime won't appear for sometime, hence why i'm looking about for places to discuss :)

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Shingeki No Kyojin - Titan theory

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