Summary
The Ackerman Clan in Attack on Titan doesn’t need to change the Titans’ powers, making them formidable fighting machines. Ackermans have access to the military knowledge and experience of their ancestors, which gives them an advantage in war. Despite their powerful abilities, the Ackerman clan are immune to the orders of the founding Titans, leading to their banishment and a decades-long conspiracy against them.
The basic truth of Attack on Titan states that all titans are not created equal. Joining this variation of monster titans is the Ackerman Clan, who have the power of the titans without the need to transform into titan form.
Many years before the events of the main story, unlike in the manga, in Eldia, the Fritz royal family enjoyed being the most powerful nation on earth. Always looking to modernize their approach, they began experimenting on humans and Titans to see if they could gain the Titan’s abilities without first becoming “Ymir’s subjects”. The Ackerman tribe is the result of this experiment.
Ackermans – The Eldian version of the Clone Troopers
Attack on Titan Season 3 (2018).
As a result of the experiments, Eldian scientists were able to bioengineer the ultimate fighting machines. In fact, Ackermans were physically stronger than the average human and were able to achieve the equivalent strength of a Titan without having to transform into one. Additionally, as revealed in chapter 112 of the Attack on Titan manga, they had the ability to gain the military knowledge and experience of every Ackerman before them. One of the family’s weaknesses was that they had suffered some kind of major trauma, in order to make the most of their potential.
“Wake up” Ackerman – like Kenny – was the ultimate fighting machine. Before long, the royal family put the members of the Ackerman clan to good use, assigning them the sole responsibility of providing security for the king and the royal family. Their patriarchs, often referred to as the “right hand of the king,” served as “palace guards” for centuries. This gave Ackerman an influential presence in Eldian society.
Titan strong, but independent minded
Despite their abilities, the experiment led to a behavior that they later regretted. Unlike other Eldians, most of whom were “subjects of Ymir” and bound by the order of the Founding Titan, Ackerman was exempt from this power. For most of Eldean history, this was not a problem for the royal family. The 145th King decided to end the centuries of war with the Marleys and other nations and isolated Eldean on Paradise Island. To achieve this, the king used the founder Titan to erase the mind of the Titans of Eldea and their horrific past. However, this did not work against the Ackermans.
Afraid of betraying the tribe, and annoyed by the family’s disapproval of the plan, the king orders them to be banished from any security role and authorizes a method of ruthlessly hunting them down and eliminating them. A decades-long anti-Ackerman conspiracy leads to the extinction of the Ackerman clan in Attack on Titan, but for Levi and Mikasa, they are once again called upon to “safe and protect” like their ancestors.
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