Why did eren's founding titan look like that ?

Have you ever wondered why Eren's Founding Titan form looks like that? The answer is very simple: because of the decapitation he suffered at the hands of Gabi. Eren had to transform, and for that, he had to reattach his head to his body, and it was his spine that had to do the job.

A rather simple explanation, right? But there are other theories—this one is just the main one! In this article, I will present my three favorite theories that explain why did Eren's Founding Titan look like that?

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The theory of head reattachment to the body

This theory is probably the most likely! In Chapter 119, or Episode 2 of Season 4, when Eren tries to reach his older brother Zeke to execute their plan of Eldian euthanasia, he is blocked by several of his former comrades and friends.

When the two were finally about to meet, Gabi emerged from the shadows with a rifle and shot Eren precisely in the neck, instantly making his head fall off, and sending him into the hands of Zeke Jaeger.

It is at that moment that Zeke's royal blood comes into contact with Eren's Founding Titan power, leading to a flashback of Eren's history, as well as Ymir Fritz's (the First Titan). At the end of this flashback, Eren begins his unique transformation into the Founding Titan.

Since his head was decapitated, it is his spine that reconnects his head to the rest of his body, transforming him into an immense Titan composed of 90% bones. Only the head and legs make up the 10% of flesh present on this particularly unusual Founding Titan.

A Titan designed for the final battle

Imagine if Eren’s final form had been like Ymir Fritz’s—wouldn't it have been easier to stop the Rumbling?

Indeed, if Eren had a vertical Titan over 300 meters tall, he would never have been able to summon Titans onto himself to help protect him from attackers.

Thus, when Ymir summons the Nine Titans over the course of 2000 years, they are much more able to inhabit the Founding Titan and keep the Alliance away from Eren’s head. If Eren had been vertical, it would have been much harder to summon the Titans, and the Alliance would have had much easier access to his head.

Moreover, it’s about incorporating the creature that caused all of this in the first place. It’s Ymir’s attempt to escape this hell and gain freedom, so she puts everything into these efforts..

A Titan representing his desire for freedom

We know in Attack on Titan that the physical appearance of shifter Titans is often determined by the deep desires of their users.

When you look at Eren from the front, doesn't something strike you as odd? It does for me! Look closely—his bones seem to form an aviary! He, who has always wanted to be free, now has a body that strangely resembles a cage for birds.

Furthermore, “cables” connect the upper part of his body (thorax, head, arms) to this skeletal structure, reinforcing the idea that his body is simply the opposite of his ideology of freedom.

Why didn't Eren have a Founding Titan form like Ymir?

Attack on Titan has already shown that different incarnations of the same Titan-shifter can be completely different, Eren's Attack Titan compared to his father’s, for example.

However, Eren's Founding Titan looks nothing like Ymir's. Eren's Founding Titan body is different for two reasons.

First of all, Ymir's Founding Titan is a composite of all the other Titans: the size of the Colossal, the claws of the Jaw, the form of the Female, etc. While Eren possesses the Founding Titan's power, his Titan cocktail is not quite the same.

What’s more important to his final transformation's appearance is that Eren was decapitated by Gabi. The Founding Titan is characterized by an insect-like rib cage that extends from the spine and wraps around the body, as seen in Ymir Fritz’s monstrous form.

Eren has the same bone structure, but since his head was cut off at the neck, his bizarre Titan spine grew uncontrollably before reconnecting his torso and head, forming almost the entire body of Eren's Founding Titan.

If Eren had spoken with Ymir before Gabi came along with a huge rifle, he might have transformed into something closer to Ymir Fritz's Founding Titan (but without the Female, Jaw, etc. aspects).

The insect that inspired Eren's final Titan form

Did you know? Among the many inspirations that shaped the rich and complex world of Attack on Titan, one of the most surprising is the final form of Eren's Titan.

To design this particularly frightening and unique appearance, Hajime Isayama, the creator of the manga, was inspired by a real creature from a distant past: a prehistoric insect known as Hallucigenia.

This small animal, which lived about 500 million years ago during the Cambrian era, has a very strange, almost surreal silhouette. Hallucigenia was characterized by an elongated body, long slender legs, and a series of spikes on its back, giving it a nightmarish appearance (doesn't that remind you of something?).

Its very name evokes confusion and strangeness, as when it was first discovered, scientists had trouble understanding which side of its body was the top or the bottom!

Isayama found in this creature the perfect inspiration to illustrate Eren's extreme evolution, both in his oversized physique and in the horror he embodies at this stage of the story. Eren's final Titan form is meant to be not only terrifying in its size and power but also in its skeletal, almost inhuman appearance.

By drawing inspiration from Hallucigenia, Isayama succeeded in creating a silhouette that seems to defy anatomical logic, much like the prehistoric insect, and which symbolizes Eren's growing monstrosity as he moves further away from his humanity.

This choice of inspiration demonstrates Isayama's ability to combine elements of science and fiction to create deeply striking visuals, enriching his work with unexpected symbolic and visual depth.