Here Is How Long Titan Shifters Live in Attack on Titan

With the rising popularity of the ongoing dark fantasy seinen anime series that is Attack on Titan, many questions arise regarding the logic and science behind the Titan Shifters. Titans are a repeated concept we see throughout the seasons that grows more and more important, especially with most of the main characters being Titan Shifters themselves. It used to be a mystery how long Titan Shifters in Attack on Titan lived, but the creator has confirmed this piece of lore very explicitly.

Titan Shifters only live for 13 years after obtaining the power of the founding Titan. This is due to the curse of Ymir. Ymir died 13 years after obtaining the Titan powers, after which her powers were split into the nine Titans.

However, there is an even more interesting history behind the reason for Titan Shifters’ lifespan that makes Attack on Titan even more interesting to both new and old viewers. The story of how this curse came to be and the differences between Titan Shifters and regular human-turned-Titans.

The curse of Ymir

Before the nine Titans were created, they all came from one power source: Ymir’s Titan powers. Ymir Fritz was a slave to the Eldian King Karl Fritz, who used her powers to advance Eldia and brought a lot of misfortune upon Marley. She obtained her power while he was being chased by the people King Karl sent to hunt her down as punishment for letting the gate of a pig pen open, causing one of the pigs to escape.

Running as fast as she could, she tried hiding inside a large, tall tree, only to fall into a sinkhole she was not aware of, into a pool of liquid. Inside this pool of liquid lay a spine−looking creature that merged with her and turned her into the first Titan. After returning to him, she continued to use her powers in serving Karl Fritz for the remainder of her life and up until her sudden and unexpected death. Not only did she use her powers to build, but she also beat the enemies of Eldia in battle, Marley.

Wanting to keep this power close to him, King Fritz made Ymir part of his concubines and had three children: Maria, Rose, and Sheena. They would later consume her remains by their father’s commands. Consuming their mother’s remains was the only way for her daughters to preserve her Titan powers. Ymir was killed because she jumped in front of a spear to protect Karl Fritz from an assassination attempt.

After this, Ymir’s powers were divided into the nine Titans of Old. After her death, she was transported into the Coordinate; she continued to serve her descendants, molding Titans out of sand whenever they needed The Coordinate is known as where the paths of all Ymir subjects pass. The coordinate not only can change the body composition of Ymir subjects but also alter the memories of the subjects of Ymir and command all Titans.

Ymir died 13 years after acquiring her Titan powers. It is said that nobody can surpass the Founder, aka Ymir, which is why no Titan Shifters can live past the 13-year mark either. This became the curse of Ymir; any person that would inherit a Titan power by consuming the previous owner would only live for 13 years before passing. That is why it became a ritual for one member to eat the other once their year span was close to over. This way, the powers of the Titans would live on.

A good example of this is Grisha Yeager. After he stole two of the founding Titan powers later and had Eren, it’s estimated he only had one year left. He made Eren obtain the Attack Titan by injecting him with the spinal fluid, turning him into a pure Titan so he would eat his father and become a Titan Shifter. Now Eren−like his father− he became a Titan Shifter and had 13 years to live. By the end of season 4, he only has four years left.

The subjects of Ymir

Although Titan Shifters are under the curse of Ymir and can only live for as long as 13 years, your regular normal Titans aren’t the same. They live far longer than Titan Shifters can because they’re not under the same curse. They haven’t consumed a founding Titan.

“Pure Titans” are called “Subjects of Ymir,” Unlike Titans Shifters, they are normal people who were injected with the Titan spinal fluid. They live much longer than Titan Shifters and have no relation to the curse that chains the Titan Shifters. Dina Fritz, Grisha’s first wife, is a great example of a person who turned into a regular Titan.

In the latest season, Dina Fritz, who was Zeke’s late mother, makes an appearance. From her meeting with Grisha to Zeke’s birth, after her husband tortures her she is placed near the order of Marley and is injected with the Titan spinal fluid. Right after, she is turned into a Titan.

It is later discovered that this was the same Titan that ate Eren’s mother, Carla. This would mean that even though years passed, she did not die. Even though she has royal blood and was a descendant of Ymir, because she was injected with the spinal fluid instead of consuming someone that possessed the founding Titan, she became a “pure Titan.”