How powerful was she really?
Summary:
- Ymir Fritz was the first Titan Shifter ever.
- Her power was later divided into nine Shifters.
- Ymir was the strongest Shifter, but she didn’t have all the abilities.
Even after the finale of Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) and more insight into the past, Ymir Fritz remains one of the most mysterious characters in the series.
Ymir was the Founder, the first ever existing Titan Shifter. She is the girl that stumbled across the tree where an enigmatic being gifted the power of Titan to her. Ymir was later eaten by her own daughters, which allowed Eldians to preserve the powers and pass it down to next generations.
How Strong Was Ymir?
Ymir was the only one to possess the complete power of the Titans. She was the first one, the Founder. This power was later divided into three parts, one for each of her daughters. And with time, it was divided into more pieces, leaving nine Titan Shifters in the world.
That means Ymir was the strongest Titan in Attack on Titan, even though we never saw her full power in the series. There was never anyone like her, and if you think that Eren was frighteningly strong, we might have a surprise for you: Ymir had even more potential.
But Ymir never had the will to live or to fight. All she did, she did to please the King, since she was in love with him. That’s why she died after getting wounded by the spear. She just gave up.
And the will to live is very important for Shifters, as the series tells us. As long as they’re ready to fight, they will regenerate and keep living. And no one wanted to fight as much as Eren, which makes him potentially stronger than Ymir.
Did She Have All Nine Abilities?
The manga doesn’t answer this question directly, but we never saw Ymir do any hardening or summoning Pure Titans like the Female Titan could do. She had no Beast Titan features, and definitely couldn’t fly like Falco’s Titan. There was no armor on her, and she didn’t resemble the Cart Titan in the slightest.
Which makes us think that all these features are unique to the Nine Shifters. Ymir didn’t have them. Her power was divided and mutated with time and wasn’t inherited by other Shifters in exactly the same form she had it. In other words, Shifters inherited pieces of Ymir’s power, but not her features or abilities.