Rod Reiss - Attack on Titan
Rod Riess was formally the true king inside the Walls and was publicly referred to as Lord Reiss. He is the father of Historia Riess (Krista Lenz). Rod was the eldest son and was long ago said to be the inheritor of The Founding Titan which is now held by Eren Yeager. Within the series, Rod fought to reclaim the The Founding Titan to the Reiss family by having Historia eat Eren to obtain the power.
Rod Reiss had Eren tied up with the help of Kenny Ackermann to capture both Eren and Historia. His desire was to have Historia drink the serum which transforms her into a Titan and then get her to eat Eren to steal his Titan powers. But after Historia defies Rod and smashes the liquid form serum, he panics and goes onto desperately licking off the serum off the floor which transforms him into an abnormal Titan, which is a similar type to the Smiling Titan.
Being a major antagonist in the The Uprising Arc, he was the real reason Eren Yeager was targeted and wanted so much by the Military Police Brigade during the Female Titan arc which made him the antagonist of the arc working in the shade.
Profile
- Name: Rod Reiss
- Japanese name: ロッド レイス (Roddo Reisu)
- Gender: Male
- Height: 158(cm)
- Titan form height: 120m
- Weight 68kg
Family
- First Reiss King
- Uri Riess
- Frieda Riess
- Urklyn Riess
- Dirk Riess
- Abel Riess
- Florian Riess
- Historia Riess - Krista Lenz
- Alma (Historia’s Mother)
Appearance
Rod is a short person at 158cm tall, slightly overweight with a belly and a round face. He has short black hair with a light mustache. He is often wearing a black vest over a white button up shirt and black shoes, generally a wealthy looking outfit. Rod isn’t seen in many other outfits but in one of his flashbacks in the Attack on Titans Manga Chapter 66, we see him arguing with his brother Uri Riess during a ceremony and he is wearing a long-sleeved top with slightly longer but short black hair.
Personality
Rod Riess appears to have calm, and at times a worrying and unconfident nature. When Kenny Ackerman grabbed him and put a knife to his throat, Rod was able to keep level-headed. But in chapter 65 when Historia smashes the serum, he panics and desperately licks the liquid serum off the floor to transform himself into a Titan, a rather irrational decision made by him but in an attempt to devour and take Eren’s Titan powers, showing his passion towards godhood and being a surviving member of the Royal Reiss family getting the power back. Another reason brought up for Rod’s actions was his apparent love for his deceased daughter Frieda. When Historia rejects the serum, Rod was overrun by anger remembering the memories of his beloved daughter as she was the only child that was accepting to becoming the next inheritor. When licking the serum he was quoted saying that he would be reunited with his family and with Frieda.
Titan Power
Rod was transformed into a Pure Titan, which is different from a Titan shifter and does not have its own will or thought. Much like the typical mindless Titans but Rod would go under the Abnormal Titan type which is an uncommon type of Pure Titan which we see few of throughout the series.
The Rod Riess Titan form was the largest Titan ever known at 120m tall, although because it was dragging itself on its belly it was actually 40m in height, but being twice the size of the Colossus Titan which is the huge Titan poking its head above Wall Maria in the Fall of Shiganishima Arc. His body was totally out of proportion with his torso being very big but his limbs and head not following the size at all, resulting in the Rod Riess Titan unable to walk on its two feet and was needing to crawl and skid itself along on all four limbs. Because the Titan was dragging itself along the ground, the bones and inner muscles were visible and even his face was like a cross section (cut in half) due to the friction with the ground, making the brain and eye holes visible. Resulting in the Rod Riess Titan to be one of, if not the most gruesome Titan form in the series.
Similar to the Colossus Titan, the Rod Riess Titan generated a lot of heat due to his enormous size and constant regeneration, being covered by masses of steam. The soldiers were unable to get near him due to the steam he was producing a very high heat, as the trees near the Titan caught on fire instantly.
History
Rod was the eldest son of his family, having a younger brother Uri Riess. Rod and Uri wished and begged their father to set humanity free from the Titans, but their desire was always refused with Rod never knowing why.
Rod Riess initially had five children with an unnamed woman. The children were Frieda, Urklyn, Dirk, Abel, and Florian. Historia was the sixth child with his lover 'Alma' who was a maid and their relationship was kept a secret. Resulting in Alma and Historia being exiled to a farm leased by the royal family. Rods whole family was killed by Grisha Yeager with Rod being the only survivor, being able to successfully flee, and is why he turned to his secret daughter Historia to take the Titan powers of Eren Yeager.
Voice actors
- Japanese anime: Yusaku Yara
- English anime: Kenny Green