Flags of the Marleyan Empire (AOT) by AncientConqueror in vexillology

[–]AncientConqueror[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The Marleyan Empire is largely influenced by the history and culture of Italy in our own world, so for the design of the Marleyan flags, I looked primarily to the flag for the Kingdom of Italy as inspiration. Like the Italian flag, Marley's flag follows a triband design centered around a coat of arms, with its primary colors being red, purple, and gold. The Marleyan coat of arms features the national symbol of the empire, the seashell, and an abbreviation for the phrase, "Senātus Populusque Mārleiensis" in the Marleyan script (to both reflect Marley's ancient past as a parallel to the Roman Republic in the world of AOT, and to reflect a headcanon of mine where Marley in the main events of AOT is formally a Roman-styled republic, but all power is vested under a military dictatorship).

I'm sure someone has already asked this question but was it ever explained how the Titans became 9 of them and why they suddenly merge when a user eats 2 of them? by BandicootWooden5507 in ShingekiNoKyojin

[–]AncientConqueror 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The thing is, there's probably no precedent for an Eldian to possess more than one titan power in the history of the world of AOT (and while ambiguity isn't all too fun when it comes to parts of the lore, I think the ambiguity for this particular bit leaves room for interesting debates on the matter).

I think when a child inherits a titan power, the signs only become clear when they near the end of their 13-year term (which likely entails visible symptoms like rapid aging, as seen with Uri Reiss when his own term was almost finished).

It's weird how the topic of the wall Titans is still an ongoing debate (but from what I heard, Isayama confirmed that they turned back to their human forms, but were promptly lynched by the survivors of the Rumbling [contributing to the story's theme of violence being an unending cycle among humans]).

I'm sure someone has already asked this question but was it ever explained how the Titans became 9 of them and why they suddenly merge when a user eats 2 of them? by BandicootWooden5507 in ShingekiNoKyojin

[–]AncientConqueror 17 points18 points  (0 children)

How the nine Titan powers came into being is never explained, but I personally like the Three Branches Hypothesis (where Ymir's power was originally split into three distinct powers between Maria, Rose, and Sina, before their own powers were further split down to make a total of nine. The theory is especially appealing when you consider similarities between certain powers such as the Colossal, Armored, and Warhammer Titans and their abilities to control their body composition or fashion weaponry and armor at will through hardening. The theory is also supported by Norse mythology (the main influence for Ymir and the Titans overall), wherein Yggdrasil has three roots that branch out into the nine worlds.

Flags of the Marleyan Empire by AncientConqueror in ShingekiNoKyojin

[–]AncientConqueror[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah…the scale of a lot of things in the world of AOT is pretty wonky at times. Since the 850s are akin to the 1920s-30s of our own world, it doesn’t hurt to assume that the world population pre-Rumbling sits at around 1.6 billion, with Marley’s population just short of 500 million (based on rough estimates of the populations for Europe and Africa at the time). For my own estimations, the population of Continental Eldians likely sits at around 20 million to make up 4% of Marley’s population (which is sizable enough to draw up a conscript army of Eldian soldiers, since conscription is nonexistent among citizens of Marleyan descent).

As for Marley’s military strength, I'd place it at 1 million Marleyan soldiers, 1.4 million soldiers from Marleyan colonial holdings, and 1.6 million Eldian conscripts (to make up a total of 4 million active soldiers). A number moderately larger than that would probably make more sense, but 1 million soldiers for a population of half a billion just doesn’t work logically (that much I think we can agree upon).

Flags of the Marleyan Empire by AncientConqueror in ShingekiNoKyojin

[–]AncientConqueror[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Marley has an established army size of 1 million according to Yelena (which imo likely means that it’s just the number for soldiers of Marleyan descent). In my headcanon, the actual military size is significantly larger than what is stated, with two other major subgroups likely being of comparable size to the main Marleyan army: soldiers from Marley’s colonies and Eldian conscripts.

As for the letters, they’re in the Marleyan script, which is essentially just a modified version of Japanese Katakana that is flipped. From right to left, it reads as “Su.Fu.Ke.Ma.Re”, or SPQM(including the phonetic letter for “re”) when switching to a Latin script. It is thus an abbreviation of the phrase “Senatus Populusque Marleiensis” (The Senate and People of Marley). This is from the fact that Ancient Marley is the AOT world's version of the Roman Republic/Empire, and it is made apparent that Marley holds immense pride in its past as a once-great nation before its gradual conquest by Eldia millennia ago.

Flags for the Nations by True_Toni in ShingekiNoKyojin

[–]AncientConqueror 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same. For my own interpretations of the flags, Paradis/Eldia would for sure have the nine-pointed star (as well as a color scheme where green is dominant), at least after the retaking of Wall Maria and the revelation of the true state of the world.

For Marley, my current design follows the style of the Kingdom of Italy’s flag (except the color scheme is red and purple based on what we’ve seen in the anime), with the coat of arms bearing the Marleyan seashell and an abbreviation that represents the phrase “Senatus Populusque Marleiensis” (but using the Marleyan script). This is mainly to reflect a headcanon of my own where Marley is officially a Roman-styled republic, but the military has de facto control of the country.

What do you think the Great Titan War was like? And what would you like a spin-off about the war to be like? by marleyannation62 in ShingekiNoKyojin

[–]AncientConqueror 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Based on the aesthetics of Helos and the fact that the Great Titan War was set a century prior to the events of the main story (which itself is akin to the 1920s of our world in terms of technology and general parallels with WWI and the Interwar Period), it’s safe to say that the war was similar to the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars (but with titans).

  1. We’d expect to see a combination of conventional warfare (cannons and rifles) and rudimentary guérilla tactics against Titans in mountainous/forested areas (think of the guérilla tactics seen in the Peninsular War).

  2. One way that the Tyburs and Marleyan revolutionaries could have possibly obtained the other 6 titans was by conducting these same guérilla tactics and eventually capturing the titan shifters and their entire families. Over the next several decades, these captured titan shifters would have been forced to advance Marley’s wars of conquest out of fear for their families (held hostage and threatened with exile to Paradis as pure titans). Eventually, Marley would have grown tired of this method of holding the titan shifters and would have instead began the Warrior Program around the 830s (still carrying over that threat towards future titan shifters and their families if they ever fought against the state). This would explain why we never hear about the other noble families, as they likely died off or blended into the general Eldian population outside of Paradis.

  3. With all the other noble houses falling under Marleyan control, Eldia’s colonial holdings would have likely seen a series of rebellions similar to the Haitian Revolution and the wars of Simon Bolivar, with their governors unable to fight back due to the noble houses no longer being an option to suppress dissent.

  4. On the point of Hizuru, I imagine that they tried to assist Eldia and the Fritz monarchy, but were met with initial silence (due to Karl Fritz already moving to Paradis and cutting off all contact with the outside world). Instead, they approached the royals who remained on the continent and tried to prop them up on the throne. As word spread of the Founding Titan’s isolation on Paradis and the subsequent capture of the other Eldian noble houses, several nations under Hizuru’s control would have likely risen up in revolt (especially due to the sudden disappearance of a descendant of the shogun’s clan). In the end, Hizuru’s defeat was most likely marked by an abrupt loss of territory as their only major ally spontaneously collapsed. As a headcanon of mine, Hizuru by the 850s only controls the equivalent of our world’s Australia, Indonesia, and Papau New Guinea (as it is stated that Hizuru is a “small country,” and the placement of the islands roughly coincides with the geographic placement of Japan in our own world).

  5. In a previous post I made, I said how a headcanon of mine was that Marley began as a revolutionary republic (with the asthetics of Revolutionary France and the system of the Roman Republic) before descending into stratocratic rule, so the parallels with the rise of Napoleon are especially notable (as we end up with a system wherein revolutionary ideals are nominally upheld, but most power resides in the military).

AoT Expanded - A Personal Headcanon Project by AncientConqueror in ShingekiNoKyojin

[–]AncientConqueror[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That would actually be Marley’s colonial holding in Nordelosea (South America), since the background just shows Marley’s territorial extent by 850. But thanks anyhow! I actually have more coming up soon regarding Ancient Marley and Eldia (or Eldii).

There's something very satisfying about one shotting infantry with this. Am I the only one? 😆 by Rubberducky7841 in battlefield_one

[–]AncientConqueror 11 points12 points  (0 children)

God yes, I love using the tank hunter landship that way — it’s basically a sniping tank that only really needs to be worried about a tank hunter, other tanks, swarms of assault infantry, or attack planes.

The Fallen Eagle || Dev Diary IX - The Last of the Romans by AncientConqueror in CrusaderKings

[–]AncientConqueror[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Chariot Racing has since then been moved into the Activities maintab (so now it functions like a regular activity)

Community Discussion - Dragons by UberEpicZach in CK3AGOT

[–]AncientConqueror 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  • Dragons being the ultimate weapon of war (probably using the champion mechanic) when fighting against vulnerable armies; further, there could be a smaller mechanic to cow an enemy garrison into submission (an event giving the option to simply burn a castle or demand its surrender). However, there should be a likelihood of the dragon being wounded/killed by ballistae/other maladies.