Hi, dearest curious soul. Are you here because you wanna know more about the armored titan? Well, you’re lucky you found me.
I have always been so fascinated by the world of Attack on Titan. Every character hits home to me and it’s almost like there’s no villain and no hero, everyone has a point, and everyone’s a victim at some point. That’s the beauty of Attack on Titan. Truthfully I don’t think any anime series can ever top this masterpiece written by Hajime Isayama. As I like to always mention, a person’s life is divided into two stages. first is before watching Attack on Titan and second is after watching it.
A particular character in AOT stands out for me as a powerful rival of Eren Yeager. The armored titan is one of the 9 titans and has the ability to form armed plates on its skin, making it unbeatable. In this article, we’re gonna find out how it works and how Eren fights it. Come with me and let’s dive.
Eren Yeager: The Heart of Every Battle
Attack on Titan‘s identity revolves around Eren. Eren is the symbol of freedom. He is not scared to fight to death for his beliefs and ideals. Throughout the series we watch him grow from being a passionate child in the Shiganshina district to becoming a titan himself and fighting other titans.
Eren as a titan shifter has the ability to shift from his human form to a titan body. His titan, the attack titan is also one of the 9 titans. His powers as the attack titan shined as a source of hope for humans, for humanity. He wasn’t shy to use his powers Therefore we see him in almost every battle between humans and titans. He eventually becomes the heart of humanity’s fights and the core of the attack of Titan series.
The Armored Titan
The armored titan who is later revealed to be Reiner Braun, holds a special kind of power within himself. The Reiner we once knew was a comrade to Eren and all the survey corps. He had helped the survey corps a lot, even sacrificing his life for them on multiple occasions. On one random night, he and Bertholdt reveal themselves as Titans who destroyed the walls in the first episodes of the series. This leads to the most mindblowing and perfect plot of AOT and also us realizing that there’s more to Reiner than we know.
Riener is not on the same side as Eren. As the series progresses, we follow his journey. His duties from his hometown and his struggles to bear this huge responsibility of the armored titan shifter. What amazes me is the fact that Reiner has always known himself to be in the survey corps. He thinks of Eren and his comrades as his dear friends, which is why he can’t handle the fact that they’re the enemy and eventually creates two personalities in his head. One being him on Eren’s side and one being the enemy. Sometimes he forgets what is his true identity and we see Bertholdt being concerned and often frustrated with him.
The armored Titan’s (aka Reiner‘s) battles with Eren aren’t just simple physical fights. They represent both of their duties and the pressure of their ideologies on their shoulders. Whenever each of them wins, it’s actually the ideology that won the battle.
Who would win in a fight, Eren or Reiner?
The armored titan beat Eren’s ass and sent him flying in season 2. In season 3 Eren punched Reiner with hardening, but even then the armored titan wasn’t knocked out, it just damaged his metallic armor. On top of that, The armored titan‘s defense is great, as he survived the colossal titan’s explosion perfectly, something that could destroy any titan in a second. So overall I strongly believe the armored titan is 10 times more powerful than Eren’s titan. I believe that had Reiner not had the mental conflicts he was experiencing and if he didn’t lack confidence, he would beat Eren a thousand times per second, but that’s just my take.
All Battles Between Eren and the Armored Titan
I’ve always found their battles to be much more than mere physical fights. Every interaction is a reflection of two enemies that could’ve easily been friends had the conditions been different. Allow me to share my thoughts on each battle:
Season 2, Episode 31: The Revelation Battle
This was where everyone’s feelings got involved. The revelation of Reiner and Bertholdt being Titan shifters was a punch in the gut, to the characters as well as viewers. It evidently showed Eren’s anger, his feelings of betrayal, his confusion, and more than anything his improved skills. He fought with nothing and yet used up a lot of strategy On the way. It goes to show he finally is starting to understand titan combat as he used the Guillotine choke. The whole battle was raw and fascinating to watch, no matter who won.
Season 3 Part 2, Episode 51: The Shiganshina Showdown
This battle was set in the remaining ruins of Shiganshina. Eren showed that he was not the same reckless angry kid. He’s grown up now and has become a calculated warrior. The survey corps using thunder spears was an innovative approach to their fight. It showed the upgrades in human technology over time.
Season 4 Part 1, Episode 67: The Quick Skirmish
My take: This battle was rather short but impressive. Eren who had just gotten the war hammer’s powers was feeling extra confident. On the other side Reiner was having a mild identity crisis, he appeared tired. Reiner still proved to be useful despite his inner conflicts and fought well. At the end of this war, it was Eren’s mentality that won over Reiner’s, nothing more than that.
Season 4 Part 2, Episode 76: The Climactic Clash
My Thoughts: This was a mirror of years of practice, strategy, and emotional pressures. In this particular battle with the help of outer forces like Pieck and the new anti-titan weapons they used, this escalated quickly. As I said The armored titan is more than able to take The attack titan down in a beat, but these battles rely more on strategy and calculation, even alliances than just physical skills and plain power.
It was a perfect last rival battle, Eren and Reiner had been friends first, then rivals for many years. It was nice to finally come to some sort of closure.
