The Shocking Inspiration Behind The Titans In Attack On Titan

Of all the terrifying monsters, demons, and villains in the thousands of beloved anime shows out there for fans to dive into — the titans on "Attack on Titan" are easily the scariest. Their sheer size causes mass destruction in towns and cities, and let's not forget the chilling way they snatch people up and eat them alive. They don't actually need to eat humans for food, because they don't have a digestive system. Season 3 reveals the Titans instinctively munch on people to try to regain their humanity — how ironic. The towering beasts are subconsciously aware that if they eat one of the Titan Shifters (people who can control their transformations) they'll revert back to their normal selves.

Even if the Titans are completely terrifying, they're a fascinating race of creatures. There are several different types of Titans, including the Nine Titans, who are much bigger than the typical mindless brutes who wander through Paradis Island (where most of the series takes place). The Colossal Titan is the most infamous of the bunch since its appearance kicks off the adventure in Season 1 when it breaks through Wall Maria. There's the speedy Female Titan, who causes plenty of devastation when she shows up in Season 1, Episode 17, "The 57th Exterior Scouting Mission, Part 1."

There are other terrifying monsters that show up throughout the show and the manga of the same name, like the Beast Titan, the Jaw Titan, and the War Hammer Titan. The story gets pretty inventive with what each Titan can do, but you'll be surprised by the shocking inspiration behind the iconic creatures.

Both the "Attack on Titan" anime and the manga series deal with humanity's failure to look out for another — as well as the political fallout from something as devastating as gigantic monsters rampaging through the world. Basically, the Titans are scary, but the human race can be scarier at times. It's not a subtle theme, but it doesn't need to be. When asked about what inspired the series, manga creator Hajime Isayama told Nihon TV in 2013 (via Anime News Network) that he came up with the idea for the Titans after meeting a drunk person at an internet cafe.

According to the publication, Isayama was inspired "by the lack of the ability to communicate even though the person was of the same species." He also thought that out of every creature in the animal kingdom, humans had become not only the most ubiquitous but also the scariest species. Well, the thought of giant drunk people rampaging through the streets is definitely terrifying. Still, it'd be interesting to see where Isayama got the inspiration for the Nine Titans since they all feel pretty unique next to the others.