Summary

• Fans speculate on the father of Historia's child: some believe it is the unnamed farmer, while others think it is Eren Yeager.
• The anime and manga provide evidence that supports the farmer as the father, as Historia is shown in a seemingly ordinary relationship with him.
• Historia's happiness and choices should be the focus, rather than the identity of the father, as she made the decision for her own reasons.

Now that Attack on Titan finally ended, fans still wonder who was the father of Historia’s child. A lot has been said about how important Historia's child was and would be, but she barely showed up in Attack on Titan: The Final Season and The Final Chapters. Ironically, the same fate befell her mother. Because of Historia's absence and lack of resolution in the anime's final arc, many fans continue to wonder if Historia's child had any impact on the story, or if she even had a reason to exist.

Two factions formed within the Attack on Titan fandom, each supporting a different theory about the origin and reasons for Historia’s pregnancy. One group believes that the origin of Historia's child has already been confirmed, being the unnamed and faceless farmer. Meanwhile, others hypothesized that Eren Yaeger was the true father of Historia’s child.

Updated on January 9, 2024 by Angelo Delos Trinos: Attack on Titan finally ended last year, but it still left some glaring mysteries unsolved. One of the landmark anime's most enduring questions was who fathered Historia's child. This article was updated to finally put this longstanding mystery to rest, now with evidence from the anime, the manga, and countless fan theories.

Historia’s Pregnancy Was Supposed to Be Linked to the Beast Titan

In Episode 69, “A Sound Argument," viewers were informed that, two years ago, with the help of Zeke Yaeger and the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers, Eldia (formerly Paradis Island) reconnected with its historical ally: the nation of Hizuru. This country's envoy, Kiyomi Azumabito, met with Eldia’s leaders in an effort to begin negotiations on their renewed relationship. While Azumabito initially stated that her desire to visit stemmed from wanting to meet Mikasa Ackerman (who later freed Ymir), who was revealed to be related to the long-lost child of Hizuru's shogunate, it was later assumed that this was a pretext for Hizuru to ask for resources from Eldia. In return, Hizuru would offer their material and political support to initiate Zeke’s three-point plan to protect Eldia.

The first part of this arrangement was for Eldia to test run the Rumbling in order to exhibit a small fragment of their power, thus frightening the citizens of the world and establishing control over them. Following this, Hizuru would offer its cooperation to strengthen the island nation’s military, so that the threat of the Rumbling was no longer necessary. Lastly, Azumabito outlined that the Founding Titan and a Titan of royal blood would have to be passed down. On this third and final point, Azumabito clarified that Zeke will pass on the Beast Titan to someone of royal blood. Until their 13-year term ended, whoever Zeke chose must bear as many children with royal Titan blood as possible. Since Historia is the only known person to have royal blood who has not yet inherited a Titan, the burden of this duty was to be placed on her alone. Historia recognized that if Eldia was to be protected, she must be the one to make this sacrifice. Consequently, she agreed to take on the Beast Titan and begin bearing children.

Is the Farmer the Father of Historia’s Child?

After a time skip, Historia was shown in a rocking chair and pregnant. This insinuated that this was months after the negotiations took place. The only other person who was with her was a young man who wore indistinct clothing. He requested that Historia come back inside the house. Later, several officers of the Military Police were seen discussing Historia’s pregnancy. Roeg, a high-ranking officer, spoke negatively about Historia. He insulted her by calling her a "low-bred girl who is Queen in name only." While this comment can be perceived to simply demonstrate Roeg's unflattering opinion of Historia, it seemed more like a reflection on her chosen partner and his lack of royalty.

Military Police commander Nile Dawk explained the nature of Historia’s relationship with this unnamed man, who Attack on Titan fans dubbed "Farmer-kun." Historia grew up in the same area as he did. Initially, he would bully her by throwing rocks to get her attention. However, he would later attempt to redeem himself by offering support at Historia's orphanage. It was implied that this act of kindness was what led to their relationship and the love between them. Throughout this conversation, Dawk was adamant that it was Historia’s choice to start this relationship, and that the military had done a background check on him to make sure he wasn't anyone’s lackey. This suggested that the story Dawk is telling has been verified through several sources, and isn’t simply a cover-up.

Is Eren Yeager the Father of Historia’s Child?

Many fans were not satisfied with the aforementioned explanation. The farmer was never seen or discussed outside a few specific episodes. It seemed strange that the father of Historia's child, who was incredibly important to Eldia's lore and future, was so ordinary and underwhelming. The fact that the farmer wasn't officially named or even shown to audiences without being obscured in some way didn't help his case at all. This led fans to speculate that there was much more to Historia's child than what met the eye.

The first point of contention these fans had with the farmer being the father was related to Historia’s expression upon seeing her newfound partner. Historia was completely stoic and in a state of apparent depression while staying at the ranch. This wasn't what one would typically expect to see from an expecting mother who was in a happy and loving relationship. As such, some fans hypothesized that the story Dawk told members of Eldia’s military about Historia's relationship was untrue. Perhaps the farmer was simply acting as a decoy in an effort to protect Historia's child, herself, and whoever the real father was. In this case, fans were sure that Eren was the father. Bolstering this belief was the established history between Eren and Historia, and the fact that Historia seemingly had a crush on an oblivious Eren when they were younger.

If either Eldia's military or that of a foreign power were to discover that Eren was the father, then they would likely attempt to capture Historia's child or Historia herself and hold her ransom to either prevent Eren from initiating The Rumbling, or to steal his powers. This would explain the couple’s lack of chemistry, and why they haven't married. While it may initially appear difficult to reason why the farmer might take part in this conspiracy, the argument for him doing so may be contained within Dawk’s story. Rather than being with Historia because he loves her, the farmer is instead doing so simply for his own redemption. By protecting Historia in her greatest moment of need, the bullying that he inflicted during her childhood will be forgiven. Another factor that led fans to believe Eren was the father was the timeline between his mission to Marley and the start of Historia’s pregnancy. Eren would leave for Marley shortly after Historia got pregnant. Ten months later, she would give birth during The Rumbling. While this could just be a coincidence, many argued it was anything but.

Lastly, it was revealed that Floch was not the only person to be aware of Eren’s real plan and that Historia had prior knowledge of it as well. This might mean that having a baby was part of Eren’s overarching scheme to protect Eldia and revive its former glory by killing more than 80% of the world through The Rumbling. While Floch’s part in Eren’s operation were made clear, Historia’s has not. If Eren were to risk telling Historia about his plan, then it makes sense that this would have been for a good reason. Fans suggested that this demonstrated the closeness of their relationship, particularly since Eren couldn’t even tell Armin Arlet and Mikasa about his actual goals for The Rumbling. Eren and Historia also had some scenes and entire episodes from earlier seasons that developed their friendship and potential attraction to each other. For those who believed that Eren was the father of Historia's child, this strengthened the possibility that Eren and Historia secretly had an affair as opposed to a farmer who was barely a character at all.

Who Is the Real Father of Historia’s Child & Does He Matter?

While the idea that Eren was the father of Historia's child was certainly interesting and has many compelling arguments to support it, it was still largely based on assumptions. It was understandable that fans, considering Hajime Isayama's consistent use of big reveals, believed that Historia’s child was part of a bigger purpose for both Eldia's fate and the characters' personal arcs. However, it might just be that Historia’s child, personal relationships, and overall arc ended in a simpler fashion than fans expected or wanted.

Although the timing of Historia’s pregnancy in relation to Eren’s departure from Eldia was strangely convenient, it would be just as odd for Eren's plans to include conceiving a child with Historia. After all, Eren was understandably enraged that his friend would become a vessel for the political purposes of Hizuru, and be reduced to yet another pawn for Zeke to use then cast aside later. For Eren to then devise his own utilitarian scheme that would use Historia as a mere stepping stone to a grander goal rather than treat her as a person with her own agency and desires would be hypocritical of him. Eren himself was put in a similar position as Historia before. For him to conceive a child with her not out of love but for the sake of another "bigger picture" that valued abstracts like countries and patriotism over individual lives would betray the humanity that informed his darkest actions, and the bonds he and Historia forged.

Ultimately, the simplest solution to the mystery behind the father of Historia's child was likely the most obvious answer: as both the manga and anime showed, the father is most likely the farmer. Historia’s relationship with him is both completely ordinary, yet complicated. Whether Historia was in love with the farmer or if she simply married him out of self-preservation to buy herself more time and not have to inherit the Beast Titan as originally planned is the question that should be asked, not whether Eren was the father of Historia's child or not. More importantly, fans are better off wondering if Historia is happy with the choices she made.