polly-chan:

The theology of Attack on Titan

Iam not a theologian, so my knowledge may be wrong and are based on the books I have read so far. Please don’t blame me.

I have already written two posts on possible theological reasons for Attack on Titan. Continuing to read I found several other issues that seem interesting to me. It will certainly not be my last destination in this regard, but I like this topic too much and I wanted to introduce it anyway. 

First of all, Ymir Fritz is introduced as a mythical ancestor similar to the one of the Abrahamic religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Despite her design, which recalls Norse mythology, her place in the three monotheistic religions is indisputable because the ethnicity to which she refers. Eldians are an allegory of the Jews and not only under a theological point of view, as Paradis is an allegory of the State of Israel from a political point of view. King Fritz seems to be the bearer of a Zionist-like ideology, since he took a land for his own needs but with other ethnic groups present on it: this is because the Eldians – like Jews – evidently felt they could not live with other populations and the need to take refuge in a part of the world to live in peace. The power of the Giants in Marley’s vision (placed in a WWII setting is a bearer of Nazi ideology) could symbolize the great Jewish financial power of those years. 

Eldians also call themselves “the people of Ymir”, as Jews define themselves as God’s people. The Eldia restoration movement is convinced that it is chosen by the forefather Ymir. In the biblical tradition the giants are called “Nephilim” and are the consequence of a carnal relationship between fallen angels (i.e. the legions of the devil) and mortal women. There is no need to specify that from a religious point of view, the carnally union between the spiritual world and the physical world is considered blasphemous and can only generate curses. Other theories see giants as historically existent people with an extraordinary strength, just as Ymir is experienced both as a spiritual and mythological being and as a historical figure. Her being the Abrahamic progenitor is based on her historical dating in the universe of Shinjeki no Kyojin, i.e. 2000 years before the events narrated and the birth of Eren (which in the series represents the messiah), exactly as the figure of Abraham is dated 2000 years before Christ. 

 The various depictions of Ymir see her entertain some kind of relationship with a demonic figure and her name varies in the literature from Ymir to Krista. Therefore, it is not to be excluded that the monster and Ymir had some relationship, from which the curse of the giants was generated and that, therefore, according to the biblical tradition, it was a relationship between a demon and a mortal. There is no doubt, in fact, that the giants are a curse and is confirmed by the testimonies of different characters in the series. Even Frieda is described as “possessed” in some moments, as if she suffers a demonic possession: whoever is possessed by the power of the giant lives a state of such profound desperation (which someone in theology defines as “the dark night of the soul”) that does not leave other solution but suicide. 

In almost all the confessions of Christianity, original sin is the one that Adam and Eve, forefathers of humanity according to the biblical tradition, would have committed against God, as described in the book of Genesis. This is in fact the genesis of the Jewish religion and its people, such as the relationship with the demon of the earth and the sin committed by Ymir (of which the apple is a symbol in rock painting). In any case, Jews do not believe they have inherited the “guilt” from Adam, but only the consequences of his reckless choice. In the same way Eldians do not have a real fault for the sins of Ymir (even if they have decided to expiate it), but they suffer the consequences. In any case, Adam is recognized by some currents as the one who brought death into the world through his disobedience. Another issue is the concept of expiation proper of the Marley’s Eldians, who pretend to take on their shoulders the sins of their predecessors in order to extinguish them definitively. In the Jewish doctrine, unlike the Christian one, there are no sins that can not be expelled and everything can be extinguished through repentance and sacrifice. This is what Marley’s eldians do and in particular we are made clear by Gabi in her speech with Kaya. In this sense also the number 13, which are the years of life remaining to those who inherit the power of the giant: the number 13 is the number of death and rebirth and who lives under the number 13 has the possibility to conclude what is left unfinished by its predecessors. 

Ymir, however, is used by the peoples according to the cause and nothing is actually known about her and her truths. It could also be considered a founder really existed, unlike Abraham which is part of the myth and not historically proven. Unfortunately nobody knows the truth and probably nobody will ever know it. I have already mentioned in a previous post that for me Attack on Titan is the story of a people passing from the Old Testament to the New Testament. This is based on the religious vision within the walls, which is much more similar to the old beliefs than to the new ones. At the beginning of the series, when the giants break through the walls, a man makes a speech about how they are deserved, because they have sinned in different ways. The concept of “bad people happen bad things and good people happen good things” is a custom, probably dating back to a pagan period, in which if a lightning struck your home was because you had sinned against the gods and were punishing you. This concept is discussed in the book of Job, in which this upright man is struck by one misfortune after another and not because he has sinned against God; rather, he is described as his most faithful servant. Representing Eren a messianic archetype, and being the protagonist and therefore the one who is destined to resolve the story, the idea is about a travel from from the ancient testament of Abraham (Ymir) to the new testament of Eren. The division of the world of Eren in black and white, as a matter of fact, is continually discussed and criticized and must learn to love his enemy and understand it, and this is the supreme teaching of Jesus Christ himself. Eren, however, is a bridge between the religious vision of Christianity of Messiah chosen by God (since it would seem that all events are controlled by Ymir or a higher spiritual force) and the atheist one of Buddhism, in which through its path will ascend how to be perfect (eliminating its narrative flows). Moreover, it would also seem to be in common with the Davidic messiah, who opposes and defeats the opponents and even the first King presents similarities with the figure of David (David fought against the giant Goliath, but he was a man like Marley’s men): the final Jewish goal is realized in a Davidic monarchy that the messianic advent should restore. The oppression of the giants settled on their land deprives the liberals of the eldians of Paradis like Roman people settled Palestine in the times of Christ. The Jewish messiah refers to a human leader, a physical descendant of the lineage of King David, who will rule and unite the people of Israel and lead him to a messianic era of global peace, and this is also what Grisha and Dina saw in Zeke. The Jewish messiah, unlike the Christian one, is not considered divine. 

 The departure of the Eldian people as people of the Old Testament is also underlined by the original Nine giants: as the Jews originate themselves from the twelve tribes of Israel, it seems plausible that the Eldians originated from the nine giants. The third ending, then, represents a mass exodus (where the diaspora is the symbol of the Jewish people and its sufferings) in the desert and towards a light. The desert is a place of expiation. The end of the ending shows a painting by Ymir with the Giant Nine, but there is a fracture on her face. Giants are considered chaotic beings, but the term “chaos” has not always meant disorder and originally meant fracture. 

About a possible conclusion of the series, I like hazard a theory. According to some biblicists, the struggle between Gog and Magog described in Ezekiel should take place at the end of the days, where this term means an event with catastrophic consequences at the global level, such as to cause the destruction of the earth and the human species. The threat of the giants inside the walls that will devastate the world can not be left to a mere quotation, but given the cumbersome presence in the series it is highly probable that this will actually happen at the end (moreover the walls will somehow have to be turn down). Gog and Magog up to the legendary populations of Asia, cited first in the biblical tradition and then in the Koranic tradition as wild and bloody people, source of looming and terrible threat or however identifiable as negative entities. These are the two mutually contrasting factions, as Marley describes eldian people with millennia of rapes and devastation behind them and which threatens the world with the giants, while eldia from Paradis sees the Marleyans as people without hearts and bloodthirsty who unleash on the island giants without brains and really violent. 

The assumptions are those for an apocalypse, in what was initially presented as a post-apocalyptic manga