Attack on Titan is a tragic story, which, although highly action-packed, is woven with sad backstories that make every viewer question what’s right and wrong.
With the anime finally concluding, fans are left with many questions, including the fact that Ymir Fritz has become the first Titan. So, how did she become a Titan?
As revealed in Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 80, Ymir was a kind slave but was later hunted by the tribe chief, Fritz, for releasing a Pig. While running, she falls into the chasm of a large tree where a worm-like creature fuses with her spine, providing her with the powers of the First Titan in existence.
Who Is Ymir Fritz in Attack on Titan?
Ymir Fritz is the progenitor of all the Eldians in Attack on Titan, but she was just a kind girl before all that. Her story dates back to 2000 years when her village was attacked by invaders, and everyone alive was turned into slaves.
As a young slave, she was incredibly kind to everyone, but that’s what caused her life to turn into a tragic path since it was precisely that personality that made her become a Titan, starting the never-ending cycle of war.
She was initially introduced in the series during the Shiganshina arc when the Scout Regiments discovered the journals written by Eren’s father, Grisha Jaeger, where they learned of the existence of Titans.
However, she was not shown in the third season but rather introduced when Eren finally started his plan of possessing the power of the Founding Titan, granting Ymir her own free will rather than being under someone’s control.
How Did Ymir Fritz Become a Titan?
Following the invasion of her homeland, everyone in her village was turned into slaves, with most being murdered. Nonetheless, she kept her kind nature intact and helped everyone she could.
One night, Ymir finds a pig in the barn, and knowing that it will be killed the next morning, she releases it, hoping it will survive somehow.
The following day, the tribe chief, Fritz, gathers all the slaves and questions about the pig, and if no one answers, he threatens to gouge their eyes out.
Out of fear, everyone points at Ymir, knowing she would never brush away the responsibility out of kindness, even though they didn’t know that Ymir was the one who freed the pig.
Fritz frees Ymir not to let her live a peaceful life but rather to treat their men to a hunting sport, during which she almost dies. But as fate deems it, she survives and falls into the chasm of a tree.
As she falls to the bottom of this unknown sinkhole, she finds a pool of water, in which a worm-like creature fuses with her spine, granting her powers to turn into a giant, which we call a Titan.
Despite attaining such an almighty power, Ymir doesn’t seek revenge but rather helps Fritz build bridges and walls and amass a fortune. She is eventually made a concubine of King Fritz and has three children: Rose, Maria, and Sina.
However, Ymir dies thirteen years later while taking a spear for Fritz, but the latter forces his daughters to eat her mother’s corpse to preserve the power of her Titan, which, across the generations, is split into nine Titans.
In the end, it is revealed that Ymir loved King Fritz and never had her own free will until she met Eren in the Coordinate, leading to the Rumbling.
So, what do you think about Ymir Fritz in Attack on Titan? Does she have the most tragic backstory?
