Lurking in the shadows behind the de jure King of the Walls while masquerading as an ordinary noble family, the Reiss family are the true descendants of Karl Fritz — the 145th Fritz King who led the Subjects of Ymir to Paradis. With ancestry that traces back to Ymir Fritz herself — the mother of all Titans — the Reiss family are the latest branch of this once revered bloodline, the only ones capable of harnessing thefull power of the Founding Titan. First introduced in the Uprising Arc ofAttack on Titan, the family has contributed to a considerable number of major plot points in the narrative, most notably, in Eren’s inheritance of the Founder from his father Grisha.
For nearly a century,the Reiss family were contentas a minor noble family residing within Wall Sheena, distancing themselves from the political strife and limelight they would have to endure in the capital. In their place, they instituted a false king who acted as a puppet ruler, with the most recent individual to occupy this position also being named Fritz, despite having little connection the original Fritz bloodline or perhaps even the Subjects of Ymir. The known members of the Reiss family who have been introduced throughoutAttack on Titaninclude Rod Reiss, his brother Uri, and their father, Historia Reiss (Rod’s illegitimate daughter), Rod’s wife, and Rod’s other children: Urklyn, Florian, Abel, Dirk and Frieda. Over the course of the Uprising Arc, the Reiss family and their history were important factors in the unraveling of the governmental structure inside the Walls, resulting in the coup d’etat which was led by the Survey Corps. The Reiss family has a dark, tragic, and gruesome story, and the actions of its members have exerted a massive impact on those residing in the Walls for over a century.
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The Real Rulers Of The Walls
After Karl Fritz’s migration from the continental mainland to Paradis Island along with some of the Subjects of Ymir, he built three massive Walls out of Colossal Titan, each among the trio named for Ymir Fritz’s three daughters. He then proceeded to wipe out the memories of the Eldians who accompanied him to Paradis, making them believe that they were the last remnants of humanity and erasing any knowledge of the world beyond the Walls or about Titans themselves. This set the stage for the status quo at the start ofAttack on Titan, where theinhabitants of Paradis inside the Wallsbelieved themselves to be stranded in a world where Titans reigned supreme. Unfortunately for Karl Fritz and the Reiss family, certain ethnic groups such as the Ackerman clan and the Asian clan displayed a resistance to the Founding Titan’s ability to rewrite memories, and many expressed their dissent against the actions of the first King of the Walls. Hence, they were hunted and persecuted to prevent the truth from coming out.
Karl Fritz also issued an ultimatum to the rest of world, stating that he wouldunleash the Colossal Titans inside the Wallsif there was any external aggression against the Subjects of Ymir on Paradis Island. However, this was no more than an empty threat as he had taken a vow of pacifism, and believed that the crimes of the Eldian Empire of the past were entirely irredeemable. This extended to his successors who inherited the Founding Titan, who were bound to stand idle in case any invasion of Paradis ever took place. With the false King of the Walls as their figurehead, Karl Fritz’s successors shed their family name, taking the one of Reiss instead, and proceeded to act in secret, manipulating all that went on inside the Walls. They settled down in Orvud District in Wall Sheena, and passed down the Founding Titan for several generations.
Inheriting The Founder
Every 13 years, the Reiss family held a special ceremony in which the Founding Titan would be passed down to the next inheritor, ensuring that its power would remain within their bloodline, one of the few remaining ones capable of using the Coordinate. As no Titan shifter could hold on to their powers for more than 13 years — as per the Curse of Ymir — the periodic conduction of this ceremony was an important yet closely guarded secret in the family. The ritual took place in a cavern beneath the family chapel. Here the previous holder of the Founding Titan would be chained, while their successor was made to inject themselves with Titan serum and then consume their predecessor. Those who inherited the Founding Titan would learn of the true history of humanityinside the Walls through the Pathsand become subject to Karl Fritz’s ideology. As a result, they would lose any desire they may have harbored of freeing the Subjects of Ymir on Paradis and continue with the first king’s plan of isolating them from the rest of the world.
The reason behind this change in personality was never fully revealed to their families, but those who gained the power of the Founder would essentially be the true King of the Walls, but remain shackled by the vow renouncing war. This became evident through a darkening of the irises, as seen in the cases of Rod and Uri’s father, Uri, and Frieda. In fact, Frieda Reiss grew prone to bouts of depression and maniaafter inheriting the Founding Titanfrom her uncle Uri at the tender age of fifteen. Rod and Uri’s father also underwent a similar change, where he refused to exterminate the Titans as per his sons' wishes, a behavioral pattern that he passed on to Uri.
Discord Among Paradis' Royalty
In the aftermath of this sequence of events, Alma, Rod’s mistress, bore him a child named Historia, who was raised on the Reiss family estate and never told about her true heritage. At the time of the Fall of Wall Maria, Grisha Yeager journeyed to the Reiss chapel and pleaded with Frieda to save the Eldians inside the Walls only to be met with the first king’s ideology. Grisha then slaughtered all the Reiss children, took the Founder from Frieda and spared only Rod, after being told to do so by Eren’s memoriesfrom the Attack Titan’s future. Years later, Rod would seek out Historiain order to feed Eren to her, only for her to betray him and kill him after he ingested the Titan serum and attempted to take the Founder. This act cemented her place as the true Queen of the Walls at the end ofAttack on Titan’sUprising Arc.
