What Is the Centipede in Attack on Titan? (& Where Did It Come From?)

One of the things that we know about Attack on Titan is that the Power of the Titans was derived from Ymir Fritz, who was the Founding Titan and the one that had all of the powers of the different titan shifters before her powers split up upon her death. Of course, we saw in the story of Ymir and Eren’s transformation into the massive titan that a parasite-like centipede was involved. So, what is the centipede in Attack on Titan?

Called the Source of All Living Matter, this centipede is actually the one responsible for granting Ymir her titan powers. She made contact with this centipede 2,000 years before the events of the series when she fell under a gigantic tree. After making contact with it, she transformed into the Founding Titan.

The truth is that there has never been an exact explanation as to what this centipede creature is and why it was able to grant Ymir her powers. That is something that is still hidden deep in the mythology of Attack on Titan. Nevertheless, we will try to explain what this mysterious creature is and what its purpose is so that we can make sense of what the centipede could be.

What Is The Centipede In Attack On Titan?

If there was something that the storyline took time to explain, it’s the history of the titans in Attack on Titan and where the Power of the Titan came from. Basically, only the Eldians, also called the Subjects of Ymir, have the ability to turn into both mindless titans and titan shifters. And the reason was explained in the episode “From You, 2,000 Years Ago,” which focuses on Ymir Fritz and her story 2,000 years before the main storyline’s events.

Back then, the Eldians were a race of barbaric people that went around the world to kill and enslave other nations. Ymir was a girl from a village of people that the Eldians enslaved, and she became a slave girl that the Eldians chose to hunt for the fun of it.

While Ymir was running away from the Eldians, all battered, bruised, and wounded, she fell into a body of liquid in a cavern found under a massive tree in the forest. That was when she encountered a centipede-like creature that made contact with her. This creature swam up and crawled into her spinal cord, turning Ymir into a gigantic creature that became the first titan. 

But because Ymir never knew what it was like to be free her entire life, she still served King Fritz as a slave. The Eldians used her as a way to conquer entire nations, especially Marley, which was able to put up a fight against the Eldians. The king even married her so that they could have children together. 

Ymir’s death 13 years after she made contact with the centipede forced King Fritz to make her children eat their mother’s corpse so that they would acquire her powers. This was what allowed all of the Eldians to have the capacity to become titans, as the future generations of Eldians shared her blood through her three daughters. Meanwhile, the power of the Founding Titan split into nine titan shifters.

After Eren saw all of this in that episode, we saw that Zeke successfully made contact with his severed head in the real world, as a translucent centipede came out of his neck to reassemble his body and turn it into the supermassive titan that ended up terrorizing the entire world with the help of the Wall Titans. So, what was this centipede?

There was never a true explanation as to what this centipede was. However, as Eren Kruger said, it is believed to be the “Source of All Living Matter.” That means this creature has supernatural powers that allow it to give the Power of the Titans to anyone it contacts. And the person that it made contact with happened to be an ordinary slave girl who was never special at all before she stumbled upon this centipede.

Of course, as the source of the Power of the Titans, the death of this creature was what eventually eradicated all of the titans on the planet, as that was what happened when Mikasa killed Eren and ended up killing the centipede as well. In that regard, it is a source of living matter was true as it was what was the source of the Power of the Titans.

Where Did This “Centipede” Come From?

Based on what we saw in Ymir’s flashback, it was clear that this centipede came from the caverns under an incredibly old yet large tree that could have existed for thousands of years already. However, no one knew exactly what this centipede was, as the Eldians believed that it was a gift from god, whereas those who hated the Eldians thought that Ymir made a pact with the devil to obtain these powers. In that regard, the exact history of this centipede is unknown.

Still, we know that pseudoscience is prevalent in Attack on Titan, which means that there could be somewhat scientific explanations that could give us an answer regarding the exact nature of this creature and where it came from. Of course, we know that this creature is biologically impossible to exist in the real world, so let’s try to restrict ourselves to the science within the universe of Attack on Titan.

As mentioned, the centipede was found in the caverns under a massive tree that could have been around for a very long time already. This means that this centipede could be prehistoric in terms of its origins, as we know that trees never stop growing, no matter how old they get. And the fact that this creature was found under an old tree means that it is just as old or even older than the tree itself.

That means there’s a good chance that this creature is prehistoric in nature and could have been a primordial entity long before humans walked the planet. There’s also a good chance that it could even be extraterrestrial in nature and probably found itself on the planet long ago before it ended up living in the waters in the cavern under the massive tree.

So, if it is a prehistoric creature that is primordial in nature, it could even be the precursor of all life on the planet as it exhibits qualities similar to humans and plants. As mentioned, the anatomy of the titans is similar to humans, except for the fact that they are larger. However, titans need the sun for energy as they are capable of photosynthesis, which is an ability that plants are capable of. This could mean that whatever the centipede could be, it is primordial in nature and was one of the first creatures to ever live on the planet, as it probably ended up being one of the long-lost ancestors of both animal life and plant life on the planet.

We also know that the centipede is some sort of a parasite that latched itself onto Ymir and bonded with her even after her death. The centipede continued to exist within the Subjects of Ymir, who share Ymir’s blood and her titan properties. And that means there’s a supernatural element in our pseudoscience explanation of this creature.

Of course, there’s also a mythological explanation for this. As mentioned, the centipede came from a subterranean pool of water under the massive tree, which means that it could be the “primordial soup” responsible for giving life to everything on the planet. And this is something that was touched on by Norse mythology, which serves as a minor inspiration for the story of Attack on Titan.

In Norse mythology, Ymir is a gigantic being that became the progenitor of all life on the planet. however, he also came from an arcane liquid called the ether, which is the source of life. This explains why Ymir in Attack on Titan is the progenitor of all the titans after she ended up in this “primordial soup.” And this centipede found in the subterranean waters of the massive tree could be a mythological creature that is tied up with the origin of life on the planet.