After Eren survives the Battle For Trost District by discovering his titan shifting ability, it becomes clear that fans will have to reconsider their original assumptions about the titans. If Eren managed to hold onto his intelligence while becoming a titan, couldn't others do the same?
The reveal of the Female Titan in the latter half of the first season of AoT proved that Eren was not the only intelligent Titan. The moment the Female Titan appeared on-screen also gave intelligent viewers the chance to flex their fan theory muscles by guessing at the human intelligence behind the Female Titan. Here are ten dead giveaways that showed Annie was the Female Titan all along.
10 Annie Keeps Herself At The Fringes Of The 104th Class Of Cadets
The Battle For Trost District Arc introduces the idea of Titan Shifters to Attack on Titan through Eren. After this, fans surely began searching through the ranks of the 104th cadet class for characters that resemble all the other titans that have made an impact on screen.
Though Annie doesn't look anything like the Colossal Titan or Armored Titan, she does bear a resemblance to the Smiling Titan when her hair is down. Furthermore, Annie acts suspiciously distant from the rest of the 104th cadets whenever she is onscreen. The only person she opens up to is Reiner, Bertholdt, and Eren.
9 Erwin Predicted The Female Titan's Attack, Suggesting That Whoever Controlled It Came From Inside The Walls
When it is finally revealed that the entire purpose of the 57th expedition beyond the walls is to spring a trap for the female titan it becomes clear that Erwin not only predicted but planned for an attack from another intelligent titan.
For Erwin to plan for this attack, he had to be making the assumption that other intelligent titans existed within the walls and they knew Eren was a member of the scouts. With this in mind, fans could have begun sweeping through the cast of characters for any suspicious blonde-haired characters.
8 The Female Titan Was A Master Of The ODM Gear
After the scouts trapped the Female Titan, Annie was forced to escape using the ODM gear she had trained with as a member of the 104th cadet corp. When Annie throws up her disguise Levi's elite squad of scouts even confuses Annie for their leader. If Levi's elite group could make this mistake, whoever was piloting the Female Titan must be pretty incredible with the ODM gear.
The fact that the Female Titan was piloted by someone who has mastered the ODM gear helps narrow down the possible culprits. The fact that Annie finished in the top five of the 104th cadet class only makes her look more suspicious.
7 The Female Titan Looks And Moves Like Annie
The biggest giveaway that pointed fans toward connecting Annie to the Female Titans was the way the new Titan looked. Eren's transformation proved that Titans can share physical attributes with the titan shifter behind them.
The Female Titan's short blonde hair is a dead giveaway and narrows the culprits down to either Annie or Historia. Once the Female Titan squares up to fight Eren the jig is up. Only one blonde-haired scout was ever shown taking up this stance in battle, and it wasn't Historia.
6 Historia Cleared Her Name By Showing Up To Save Jean And Armin After The Female Titan Attacked
The Female Titan isn't intimidating simply because it has the power of a titan. What makes this threat a true menace is the way it is able to intelligently read the battlefield.
After watching the Female Titan's movements fans were surely sweeping through the 104th cadet corp. to accuse any blonde-haired recruit of betrayal. The list of blonde-haired recruits is smaller than fans might think. Armin, Historia, and Annie. If the Female Titan was a member of the 104th, it had to be one of these three characters. Once Historia and Armin were cleared, fans should have realized the Female Titan was Annie.
5 The Female Titan Recognized Armin And Reiner
Another dead giveaway that linked the Female Titan to Annie was the way the Intelligent Titan treated Armin and Reiner. It was clear as soon as the Female Titan removed Armin's green hood that she recognized him.
After recognizing Armin, Annie disables his ODM gear then tracks him and Reiner until she finds out Eren's location. The Female Titan could have defeated both Armin and Reiner a number of different times but chose to show them mercy instead.
4 Reiner Escaped A Death Trap That No One Should Have Been Able To Exit
Fans may have managed to make the connection between Reiner and the Armored Titan before they connected Annie to the Female Titan. After Eren's reveal pushed viewers to link characters to Titans, Reiner stuck out as the best match for the Armored.
Annie isn't close to many members of the 104th, but Reiner is one of the people that she spends time with. The way he escaped the Female Titan's grip should have been impossible. In fact, it was impossible, which makes this moment a dead giveaway linking Annie to the Female Titan.
3 After Shifting Back Into Human Form, The Female Titan Is Confused For Levi
When the scouts fail to capture Annie in their trap they decide to fall back to the wall in order to keep Eren and everyone else out of harm's way. When this happens, the members of Levi's elite squad invite the Female Titan into their ranks under the assumption that the hooded scout is actually Levi.
Despite Levi's incredible skill as a fighter, he is a notoriously small man. For the Female Titan to be confused with Levi would mean the titan shifter behind the Female Titan must be roughly the same build as Levi. It turns out Annie and Levi have more in common than their stoic personalities.
2 The Anime Follows Annie With The Military Police Right After The Female Titan Attacks The Scouts
Immediately after the scouts return from the 57th expedition outside the wall, Attack on Titan refocuses on the newest members of the military police. Hitch, Marlo, and Annie are all being prepped by their superior officer when Marlo notices that Annie is acting tired.
This comment was obviously meant to hint viewers in on the fact that Annie was out and about while the rest of the new recruits were sleeping. Shifting to Annie's perspective immediately after the Female Titan's attack, is the definition of a dead giveaway.
1 Annie Wears A Ring That Activates Her Titan Ability
The final hint anime fans were given before Annie was revealed as the Female Titan is the reveal of a ring. As soon as Annie used this Ring, she gave up her identity as the Female Titan. Eren's experiments with Hange revealed that Titan shifters can activate their Titan abilities by inflicting pain upon themselves. A ring that allows the user to hurt themselves is a dead giveaway.
Those who are manga readers with access to the "Lost Girls" chapter know that Mikasa knew about Annie's ring well before the scout's 57th expedition. Does it count as a dead giveaway if Mikasa wasn't even able to connect the dots?