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Talking Titan

A Subject… of… Ymir… […] Lady Ymir… well… met… The Talking Titan to Ilse Langnar, mistaking her for Ymir.

The Talking Titan is a minor antagonist in the manga and anime Attack on Titan.

She was an Eldian of Marley and a dedicated worshipper of the “cult of Ymir” when she was still a human, until the cult was discovered by the country's Public Security Authorities. The woman was arrested and deported to Paradis Island, where she was turned into a Pure Titan by the soldiers as punishment. She would then wander the lands of Paradis Island for over 60 years, meeting during her last years a young female Survey Corps soldier whom she thought was the same woman she used to worship back in Marley, causing a strange interchange to occur.

Appearance

Human form

She was a younger woman of average height with a short crop of blonde hair and greyish blue eyes, as well as having a rather slim face. She used to wear long white robes that were the standard clothing for the cultists.

Pure Titan

As a Pure Titan, she lost all of its feminine features. The face was very broad and had prominent facial features, such as its large eyes and having a wide mouth. The body was quite muscular, although with disproportionate limbs that were noticeably smaller than the rest of her body, while the head was fairly large.

Personality

Human

While still being a human, she was noted to be very fanatical, reverently praising Ymir as she believed her blood had a special power. She was so loyally devoted to Ymir, that even after turning into a Pure Titan would continue to think about and try to worship Ymir.

Pure Titan

She was one of the very few Titans that showed personality traits from her previous life, even when she was classified as “Abnormal” it was noticed that her behavior was stranger than even that. As a Titan she was noticeably emotional, angrily attacking Hange Zoe in a fit of rage when she got too closely to Ilse’s corpse that the Titan thought was Ymir. It also showed other emotions such as, frustration, confusion, and even sorrow.

Story

Past

The "Talking Titan" was born as an Eldian woman in the nation of Marley, presumably around a few decades after the Great Titan War and the resurrection of Marley. Because she was an Eldian, the woman was forced to live in what is thought to be an internment camp, which was noticeably harshly impoverished. She would likely suffer discrimination from the Marleyan population for her race, being a Subject of Ymir.

One day she would eventually become a member of the “cult of Ymir”, which worshipped the Founder Ymir Fritz. Said cult was started by a man who around 780 claimed to have found a young girl that was one of the few remaining members of the Fritz royal family of Eldia that was still on the mainland. The woman was unaware however that the Cult Leader was scamming his followers, and that the girl was just a street beggar he found, thus she excitedly applauded Ymir with the other cultists. The woman became a very loyal member of the cult, strongly devoting her way of life towards Ymir and the movement, even personally taking care of the girl.

On one day around 785, five years since Ymir was brought, the cult was discovered and raided by the Marleyan Public Security Authorities. After the Cult Leader claimed that he and his followers had been deceived by the fraud Ymir, one of the soldiers pointed a gun at Ymir and asked her if she truly was a member of the royal family. The woman would look at her and shake her head, silently prompting her to deny it. Ymir, not knowing anything else in her life, decided to tell the soldiers that she was as a matter of fact royal-blooded, shocking the woman and the other cultists for her fidelity (although Ymir knew she told a lie, but hoped to save her people). Yet it didn’t save them from being arrested by the Marleyans for their crimes. The cultists were all sentenced to exile for life in their "Heaven".

The woman was chained together with Ymir and all the other cultists, while being paraded throughout the streets of a Marleyan city. The civilians angrily threw rocks at them to express their hatred, shouting curses. The woman and the others were then transported via ship to be deported to the southern borderline of Paradis Island, where they would receive their injections. As they were lined up atop the wall of Marley's wharf to become Pure Titans, the woman screamed out in terror before she was quickly injected by a soldier and kicked down the wall she was kneeling on. As she transformed, Ymir would become a Titan alongside her. At this point a Pure Titan, the woman would continue walking to the inner lands of the island.

The Talking Titan kept roaming around the inhabitated wildlands of Paradis for about 60 years, until one day, either during 845 or sometime between said year and 848, was drawn further north to the Walls, where she entered its territories from Shiganshina District's destroyed gates, which were brought down by the attacks of the Colossal Titan and Armored Titan as part of Marley's invasion.

104th Training Corps Arc

During the year 848 (around early 849 in the anime version), about 64 years since her transformation - the Talking Titan is wandering around in Wall Maria's lands. A few days after the Survey Corps's 34th expedition beyond the Walls, the Titan stumbles upon a running Ilse Langnar, who fell behind unnoticed by living soldiers after losing her horse and broke her vertical maneuvering equipment, and has been struggling afoot for days to return back to human territory alive. Whilst running through the woods, Ilse comes across the Titan, who begins to chase her until it corners her to a tree.

The Titan bows to Ilse
The Talking Titan mistakes Ilse for Ymir.

The Titan approaches her with its face very close to her. Ilse becomes emotional knowing that it’s the end, but still writes down in her notebook everything that is happening to her. She then notices that the Titan isn’t eating her yet, instead simply staring at her intensely. Ilse classifies it as an Abnormal Titan, but is already resigned to her fate. As she is tearfully writing down her will and regrets, the Titan begins speaking words of meaning to her, telling her “a Subject… of… Ymir”, much to her amazement, shock, and disbelief. The Titan then proceeds to respectfully bow before stating the words “Lady Ymir… well met.” A confused Ilse writes down the words and concludes that this is probably the first time a human communicated with a Titan. She asks the Titan about who it is in an attempt learn more about its nature. The Titan however, doesn’t give an answer and begins moaning uncomfortably. Ilse then asks where the Titan came from, so she can get an explanation for its origin. But the Titan proceeds to put its hands on its cheeks whilst continuing to moan.

Ilse then asks it why the Titans eat humans, but when the Talking Titan still keeps its silence, she stops writing and loses her composure, angrily screaming that the Titans are nothing more than mindless, worthless lumps of meat that need to disappear from this world. The Titan looks up at her and begins to tear the skin of its own face apart, appearing very emotional, which causes Ilse to become terrified and run away. As she flees, the Titan goes after her, quickly catching up to her and grabbing her. It starts biting Ilse's head between its jaws as she is still writing down her own demise on her notebook, until it crushes her head. When Ilse's dies, the Titan begins to weep whilst still eating her head.

The Talking Titan maintains the rest of Ilse's body intact and places it within a hollowed tree, seemingly as a sign of respect and as a burial or shrine, or both. The Titan kneels before her, and it is implied it will keep doing so more times.

A year later, in 849 (either 849 or 850 in the anime version), during the Survey Corps' 49th expedition beyond the Walls, the Talking Titan is spotted by soldiers, who signal its presence. Shortly afterwards, the Titan is met by Team Leader Hange Zoë, who is riding a horse and attempts to lure the Titan towards her to bring it to the other soldiers and make them capture it alive and bring it back to Wall Rose as a test subject. The Titan visibly grows angered, desperate, and frustrated with chasing Hange, until it notices smoke signal flares, indicating the arrival of more Corps soldiers. The confused Titan shows signs of hesitation and suddenly turns around and runs back into the forest, much to the surprise of Captain Levi's Special Operations Squad, who chase it ahorse.

The Talking Titan hurriedly reaches its familiar spot with the tree containing the body of "Lady Ymir", and repeatedly bumps its own head against the tree, exposing Ilse's headless remains, possibly intending to run away with the body. The Titan is approached by Hange, who has been chasing it and is fascinated by its behavior that is even strange by Abnormal standards. As Hange asks the Titan what is wrong, the Titan grows visibly angry and aggressive and tries to eat her, only to be attacked from behind by Oluo Bozado, whose attempt to kill it is ruined by Hange herself who makes him hesitate when she tells him to stop. The brief moment of confusion causes Oluo to be grabbed by the Talking Titan, who tries to kill him the same way it did with Ilse. Oluo is saved by Levi's timely arrival, who instantly kills the Titan by slashing its nape. Hange expresses deep disappointment and sadness, stating that such Titan could have made a great test subject for humanity.

After reading Ilse's notebook, the Talking Titan's Abnormal behavior is noted by the Survey Corps, who realize that humanity still knows nothing about the Titans. They begin capture operations, after the military designs the special _target restraining weapon, in order to bring captive Titans back to Wall Rose and study them as test subjects. Any attempts of communications with the Titans will never be successful, however.

Trivia

  • The Talking Titan is the first Pure Titan ever shown to speak words with meaning, the second being Connie Springer's mother, who greets her son when she meets him as a Titan for the first time.
  • It is also the only Pure Titan ever seen displaying a varied range of emotions, whilst the others mostly have none or have only one.
  • Although the manga's special chapter with the Talking Titan's first appearance was released in 2011 after the end of the Battle of Trost District arc and the flashback chapters of the 104th Training Corps arc, and prior the start of The Female Titan arc, the anime episode of Ilse's notebook was never released as part of any season. Instead it was released in December 9 2013 as the anime's first OVA episode, over two months after the end of the first season. It was not officially released in English until December 1 2015, which was only subbed. It was officially released in English dub in May 8 2022, nine years since the Japanese release.
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