The True Horror of Attack On Titan

The Titans Themselves

The external threat of the series, the Titans are terrifying not simply because they are attempting to chow down on their victims, but because the vast majority of them are grinning while they do so. With their origins being mysterious at the start of the series and their threat resulting in large percentages of the population being devoured, the Titans could clearly be compared to George Romero's zombies, though they are obviously far stronger. The Titan represents not only death, but a mysterious death wherein characters can't wrap their head around what is attacking them, and even with the maneuver gear, it feels as if the Survey Corps is fighting against a force of nature and has little success for victory.

The population of humanity on the island stands on the precipice of extinction thanks to the Titans, which unleashes a whole bevy of new problems as the series continues.

Humanity

As is told in the first episodes of the series, humanity's response to the Titans themselves made for an environment where starvation, a loss of trust, and terrible hierarchy becoming a regular part of society as the walls literally fell around Eren and his friends. With little recourse other than violence, the trio joins the Survey Corps but they still find themselves more often than not butting heads with other members of humanity. Whether it be the malevolent commanders of the military who are pulling the puppet strings of the king or members of humanity who are attempting to save their own skin, the threats are numerous and non-stop.

Who Can You Trust?

When it was revealed in the first season that human beings actually had the power to transform into Titans, a whole new ball game was introduced to the members of the Survey Corps when it came to fear. Taking a page from the likes of John Carpenter's The Thing, Eren, Armin, and Mikasa began to understand that they could not trust anyone, as anyone could be a Titan in disguise. On top of the terror of the unknown of who they could trust, they were also now presented with the concept of "Smart Titans" that could use logic to overcome challenges that would stump their brethren.

Nihilism

As more secrets were revealed about the world outside of the walls of Paradis, things only got worse for the Survey Corps as it was revealed that the entire world was against them. It was in learning the secrets of Marley and the other nations of the world that Eren and his friends realized that they were now forced to square off against what was essentially everything. With peace seemingly being an impossibility at this point, it was clear that nihilism was a problem that was sinking into the hearts and minds of each of the heroes we came to know over the course of the series.

The Sins of the Past

One of the biggest aspects of Attack On Titan, since more secrets were revealed about the anime franchise, was that past of humanity that had been blocked from the denizens of Paradis. With both Marley and the Eldians attempting to make sure that the past didn't take place once again, they each take terrifying measures in an attempt to not repeat the sins of their ancestors. In trying to avoid the fate of their "forefathers", all the citizens of the world find themselves practically making similar mistakes and falling into a path where they might become worse than their ancestors once the story wraps.

Ourselves

Diving deeper into the previous idea of not being able to trust humanity, the final episodes of Attack On Titan's first half of its fourth season show that Mikasa and Armin couldn't trust in their best friend, Eren. As long as they had known Eren, they weren't able to see the cracks in his psyche that had been forming for oh so long. On top of this, Armin is now wielding the awesome power of the Colossal Titan, but in using it, murders countless innocent citizens of Marley. The threats of Attack On Titan are both internal and external, and the dynamics that Hajime Isayama has created across the board has made the anime quite a thought-provoking exercise.