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| “ | I'm certain that Eldians are the descendants of devils. And I'm certain … that we too are devils. | „ |
| ~ Theo Magath referring to himself and Willy Tybur, as well as reflecting on Marley's status in the world. |
| “ | Marley, oppressed more than any other by those devils … then used them to oppress other nations … only repeating the tragedies of the past. | „ |
| ~ Willy Tybur points out modern Marley's hypocrisy. |
| “ | We exploited hatred. We kept feeding our resentment. We even thought our hate would save us … We dumped every problem caused by our shortcomings onto an 'island of devils'. And the result … was the birth of that monster … which has now come to return our hatred upon our own heads. If it's possible … for us to have a future again … I will not make the same mistakes … I swear it. If we see … another tomorrow… | „ |
| ~ Muller's regretful speech to the Marleyan military about the misdeeds of their nation. |
Marley, also known by its inhabitants as the Motherland, are some of the main antagonists of the Attack on Titan franchise.
It is a sovereign imperialistic nation and continental mainland in the Attack on Titan universe. A large multi-ethnic colonial empire and the world's top global superpower, Marley's system of government is a military dictatorship, and its national language is Eldian. Following the Raid on Liberio, Marley becomes the leading member nation of the Global Alliance, a federation of countries rallying together to eliminate Eldia.
Overview[]
Having once been conquered slaves and victims to the Eldian Empire, with no ways of fighting back due to the power of the Titans, Marley eventually broke free by initiating the Great Titan War in which they managed to obtain seven of the Nine Titans from Eldia, roughly over 107 years prior the beginning of the story. The 145th Eldian King—who felt that Marley was in the right due to the cruel ways they were treated by the Eldians—did not interfere and instead brought as many of his people as he could to Paradis Island, where he planned to keep them within walls made of Titans until Marley would decide to annihilate them all. After defeating Eldia, Marley was able to become the dominant power of the entire continent. They also swiftly rounded up all the Eldians in their territory and secluded them in ghettos, the internment zones, treating them as second class citizens. The rest of the world followed the same policy to deal with the Eldians, instead of exterminating them.
The Marleyans, however, ended up becoming the next oppressors, replacing their predecessors and becoming an expansionist state with colonial policies, utilizing six of their seven Titans as war weapons which caused their nation to rise as the world's dominant and major superpower. With the power of the Titans possessed by the Marleyan Military's Warrior Unit, Marley won numerous wars and invaded various neighboring countries, colonizing and annexing them into the nation. By the time of the main series, Marley expanded throughout the entire continent and rules over the world as a large colonial empire. Marley sustained its global power using the power of the Titans, but eventually began to lose its status due to lagging behind other nations in technological military progress.
Marley and the majority of the world view the Eldians, the Subjects of Ymir, as nothing but devils. Despite the fact that Marley is widely hated by the rest of the world, they are seen as a lesser evil than the Eldians, whose ability to turn into Titans continues to torment and terrorize the world in wars. Also, in Marley some citizens referred to refugees from Mid-Eastern nations as "aliens", displaying tribal mistrust, hostility and xenophobic behavior towards other cultures and rival nations. Despite having issues of unity and mutual discriminations, Marley is a multi-ethnic nation, focusing on wiping out other nations and making their conquered citizens into Marleyans.
Marley's Global Alliance[]
The Global Alliance, or Allied Nations, is a military union of multiple nations, including most, if not all the major ones, which was founded in 854. Marley serves as the Alliance's leading nation, being its founder and the largest one in the world. They were originally united in a collective effort to prevent the world's destruction at the hands of Eren Yeager. The primary objetives of the Global Alliance are to seek world peace and stability between cultures for a better future and oppose the Eldians of Paradis Island.
The foundation of this alliance was initially instigated by Willy Tybur in the Marleyan city of Liberio, although what really caused its foundation was Eren Yeager and the Survey Corps' Raid on Liberio, which led to the deaths of Willy and many international ambassadors and VIPs caught in the attack, as well as the deaths of General Calvi, multiple Marleyan military executives, and numerous military and civilian casualties, the latter caught up in the chaos of battle. In addition, in this attack Marley lost its primary military ports and fleets, as well as the War Hammer Titan. The whole operation was masterminded by the traitor Zeke Yeager, the secret leader of the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers, traitors from Marley, and also the one responsible for successfully instigating the Marleyan government to declare war on the remnants of Eldia on Paradis. This act of war served as the catalyst which outraged many other nations of the world, seeing Lord Tybur as a hero and martyr, Eldia as a still-active threat and Marley as the lesser evil of the two, and thereby uniting with the latter nation against Paradis Island as the Global Alliance.
Following the Raid on Liberio, the Global Alliance's main purposes were to oppose Zeke and Eren Yeager's plans, prevent the activation of the Rumbling, and wipe out all Eldians of Paradis Island in a scorched-earth operation within the Walls, due to the fear that the whole population shared sympathy for Eren's cause, which was in the Alliance's eyes proved by their military's attack on Liberio and apparent disregard for the lives of other Subjects of Ymir in Liberio's internment zone. Due to the destruction of Marley's primary military ports in Liberio, the Global Alliance began assembling their military and naval forces at the military facilities and ports around the Marleyan city of Karifa.
The attack on Paradis was scheduled to take place in six months. In the meantime, Marley launched a surprise attack on Paradis, a month after the Raid on Liberio, with the purpose of reclaiming the Founding Titan, killing Eren Yeager and weakening the enemy's military within the Walls. However, the main reason of this attack was the soldier and Warrior candidate Gabi Braun, who ended up making herself a captive of Eldia, leading her cousin, Warrior Vice Captain Reiner Braun, to urge General Magath to have Marley attack Paradis, although he still genuinely felt the necessity of having to launch an unexpected surprise attack due to Zeke Yeager's ability for long-term planning (especially after Eren also personally and bluntly told Reiner that he was probably planning to destroy the world).
The Rumbling, caused by Eren Yeager, killed about 80% of the human global population outside Paradis and trampled and burned many parts of the world. The Rumbling was halted by a collective effort between Marleyan Warriors and Survey Corps defectors from Paradis, who stopped and killed Eren in the Battle of Heaven and Earth at Fort Salta, in southern Marley.
The surviving 20% of humanity, including the remnants of the nation of Marley, all went to unite together under the Global Alliance and began to recover from the cataclysm, working to repair the environment and rebuild the devastated lands. At this point, the Global Alliance's primary objectives remained the same: to protect global peace and stability and to oppose the Eldians of Paradis Island, who at this point feared the world retaliation for the Rumbling, and ended up falling under the rule of an ultra-nationalist dictatorship, which kept calling for the rebirth of the historically infamous Eldian Empire. Because of the Rumbling, the Global Alliance's first objective and priority became bring the world back to its original state.
In 857, three years after the end of the Rumbling, the leaders of the Global Alliance select multiple diplomats, including the Warriors and Survey Corps defectors responsible for Eren Yeager's death, to serve as ambassadors for Paradis Island in order to negotiate peace talks between the world and Eldia.
Members[]
Tybur Family[]
- Lord Willy Tybur †
- Lara Tybur † (former War Hammer Titan)
- Willy's wife
- Elderly male Tybur
- Elderly female Tybur
- Fine Tybur
- Bruno Tybur
- Rico Tybur
- Alois Tybur
- Unnamed Tybur little girl
- Tybur's army of personal guard
Military Brass and Government[]
- General Calvi †
- General Theo Magath †
- Secretary Muller
- Other top members of the party and commanders of various military branches and units
- Unnamed Army Leader †
- Unnamed Navy Leader †
- Admiral of the Global Allied Fleet †
- Politicians not involved with the military
- Unnamed ambassador
- Nobility and dignitaries
Public Security Authorities[]
- Sergeant Major Gross †
- Eren Kruger † (defector, double agent, former Attack Titan)
- Torturer with the glasses †
- Liberio internment zone's tall gatekeeper †
- Liberio internment zone's short gatekeeper †
- Liberio internment zone's hostile gatekeeper (presumed deceased)
Marleyan soldiers from main branches[]
- Commander of the Paratrooper Unit
- Koslow † (officer)
- Navy's primary fleet commanding sailor †
- Captain of the first survey fleet for Paradis †
- Second survey fleet landing party commander
- Yelena (formerly, defected)
- Panzer Unit †
- Carlo †
- Niccolo (formerly, retired)
- Griez † (formerly, joined the Volunteers)
- Escape train conductor
- Karifa Artillery Soldier †
- Gas weaponry soldiers
- Fort Salta artillery soldier
- Second survey fleet telegraphist
- Unnamed engineer soldier
- Some Anti-Marleyan Volunteers (formerly, some defected the military and some double agents working against the Volunteers)
Marleyan soldiers from conquered and dissolved nations[]
- Onyankopon (formerly, defected)
- Most Anti-Marleyan Volunteers (formerly, all defected)
Warrior and Eldian Unit[]
- Commander Theo Magath † (former top Commander of the Eldian Unit, before promotion)
- War Chief Zeke Yeager † (last Beast Titan, defected)
- Vice Chief Reiner Braun (last Armored Titan)
- Bertolt Hoover † (former Colossal Titan)
- Annie Leonhart (last Female Titan)
- Marcel Galliard † (former Jaw Titan)
- Pieck Finger (last Cart Titan)
- Porco Galliard † (former Jaw Titan)
- Colt Grice † (Warrior candidate, chosen successor of the Beast Titan)
- Gabi Braun (Warrior candidate)
- Falco Grice (Warrior candidate, last Jaw Titan)
- Udo † (Warrior candidate)
- Zofia † (Warrior candidate)
- Tom Ksaver † (former Beast Titan and member of the Titan Biology Research Society)
- Mr. Kruger † (double agent, last Attack, Founding, and War Hammer Titan)
Global Alliance[]
- Armies, navies, leaders, politicians, and VIPS of numerous nations across the world, including most or all of the major ones
- Marley (lead nation):
- Lord Willy Tybur † (posthumous founder)
- General Theo Magath † (General of all the Marleyan forces)
- Secretary Muller
- Global Allied Fleet †
- Armin Arlert (former 15th and last commander of the Survey Corps, ambassador of Marley)
- Reiner Braun (former Warrior, ambassador of Marley)
- Annie Leonhart (former Warrior, ambassador of Marley)
- Pieck Finger (former Warrior, ambassador of Marley)
- Jean Kirstein (former Scout, ambassador of Marley)
- Connie Springer (former Scout, ambassador of Marley)
- Porco Galliard † (Warrior)
- Colt Grice † (Warrior candidate)
- Gabi Braun (former Warrior candidate and member, still affiliated)
- Falco Grice (former Warrior candidate and member, still affiliated)
- The entire Marleyan military
- Unnamed nation:
- Ambassador Ogweno
- Unnamed nation:
- Ambassador Nambia
- Hizuru:
- Lady Kiyomi Azumabito (ambassador of Hizuru, head of her clan, and politician of foreign affairs)
- Marley (lead nation):
Trivia[]
- Marley resembles Nazi Germany, Great Britain, and Fascist Italy in both its general aesthetics and politics, but its technological development is slightly less advanced, being at around early 20th century level.
- Marley's policy of segregating Eldians into ghettos and mandatory armbands in public to identify their race parallels the Nazi anti-Jewish policy.
- Marley's main policies, however, differ from Nazi Germany's, as Marley works more as a typical imperialistic state with expansionist policies, annexing foreign lands and their inhabitants, rather than believing in a superior human race meant to rule over others. Marley's way is more similar to Ancient Rome and the British Empire.
- Names like Niccolo, Carlo, Theo and Calvi are Mediterranean in origin, adding to the Italian aesthetic.
- "Marley" is also the name of entire continent where the nation originates from, as said by Onyankopon when he welcomes the Survey Corps on the mainland. Prior the Marleyan uprising in the Great Titan War, it's possible the continent was named "Eldia". By the time of the main story, the whole continent is the nation of Marley, being a huge empire.
- When not talking about people by nationalities, the "Marleyan" identity is also used to refer to all the peoples originating from this continent, where most dissolved nations lost sovereignity to the Marleyan state, and their previous identities are mentioned to be "dead countries".
- In the manga, Marley's specific system of government is unknown, and it is only known that its ruling party is heavily influenced by the Military.
- In the anime version—which is supervisioned by manga author Hajime Isayama—the information card of episode 60 states that Marley is a Stratocracy, meaning it is a military dictatorship, which might indicate that a general might serve as the leader of the nation (at least as a public figurehead).
- Not much detail was given about the Marleyan government and its power structure. The governing body was simply referred to as "the party", and it is known the top General of all the Marleyan forces is a member of said party (as shown with Calvi and his successor Magath), though it's not mentioned whether the General is the party's leader and the head of state.
- In both manga and anime, Willy Tybur and the Marleyan military have so much control and influence over the nation that Tybur easily arranges for the entire governmental party to accomodate and follow anything General Magath says and wants. In the manga, Tybur also states that he entrusted Marley to Magath's leadership, making him the de-facto leader of the party and nation.
- High-ranking officers of the Military's Public Security branch are also known to be part of the government and be heavily involved with the government's private affairs and intel.
- Marley's flag's emblem is a seashell with seven sections, just like the number of Titans Marley gained during the Great Titan War. This is a coincidence, as the flag had this emblem since before the Power of the Titans existed, as shown in Ymir Fritz's memories. Also Marley would not base its flag on anything related to Eldia and the Power of the Titans.
- Marley draws on Latin and Italian inspiration for much of its naming and culture:
- The original Japanese name for Marley is Māre (マーレ), which strongly resembles the Latin/Italian word "mare," meaning "sea." This nomenclature matches with Marley's seashell emblem. A main purpose of the Survey Corps during a large portion of the story is to reach the sea, which in the end becomes Marley, the other side of the sea.
- Ancient Marley appears to be inspired by the Roman Empire, as it heavily resembles Roman aesthetics. Since Rome was the precursor to Italy, this makes Marley’s resemblance to Italy even more apparent.
- The ancient conflict between ancient Marley and the tribe of Eldia mirrors the real-world conflicts between Romans and the various Germanic tribes. As Marley is based on Italy (and Rome) and Eldia being based on Germany, they appear to be the AoT world’s equivalent of those groups.
- Marley shares some similarities with the Roman Empire with their language as well, such as the names for historical events such as "The Tragic Fall of Lago," "The Devastation of Monte," and "The Ravaging of Valle," which all three are names from the Latin family of languages. The names of Lago, Monte, and Valle are derived from the Italian words for "lake," "mountain," and "valley," respectively. Marley’s name itself in Japanese, translated as Mare, is also the Italian word for sea.
- Marleyan cuisine includes pasta, pizza, and seafood.
- Many Marleyans have Italian names such as Niccolo, Carlo, and Calvi.
- Although originally a noble family of Eldia, the name of the Marleyan noble Tybur family appears to be a variant spelling of the name "Tiber," which is itself a variant of the Latin name "Tiberius." "Tiber" is also the Latin and English name of Italy's third largest river ("Tevere" in Italian), which runs through Rome.
- In the additional "alternate universe" (see Attack on School Castes) post-credits scene of Attack on Titan: THE LAST ATTACK, Niccolo, who is a Marleyan former soldier and chef in the canon universe, is shown owning an Italian restaurant named "Niccolo's Trattoria".
- Marley's wine is famous and loved by the world, including the people of Paradis Island. The Marleyans pride themselves with the quality of their wine.
- Marley's very first appearance in the series is in chapter 33 of the manga and episode 25 of the anime adaptation in its first season. Only Mr. Leonhart's house and a bit of its outdoors in the Liberio internment zone can be seen. Marley's second more detailed appearance in the anime is during season 2's first episode, in the end credits in which Titans emerging from the sea are shown to invade the Marleyan city of Lago during the Dark Ages. The second time Marley is shown in the anime story is during the tenth episode of season 2, during the flashbacks of Ymir's past in Marley.
- Willy Tybur claims that Marley always had a traditional culture centered around war and militarism, even before its rebirth after the Great Titan War. This is based on the fact that the old Marleyan culture is based on Ancient Rome.
- Known "native/ethnic" Marleyans (Marleyans who are neither Subjects of Ymir nor originate from conquered nations) who fight as members of the Eldian Unit are the commanding officers Theo Magath and Koslow, and the five soldiers of the Panzer Unit (one of them named Carlo).
- The Panzer Unit serve as a subdivision of the Warrior Unit, as the users of the Cart Titan's gear.
- The Commander of the Airborne Unit is also a commanding officer of the Eldian Unit members during the Battle of Fort Slava.
- In the manga, the Marleyan family held hostage by Leonhart to ensure safe transport via train during the Rumbling includes five members, being the train conductor soldier, his wife, his son, his daughter, and another older woman. In the anime version, the older woman is removed from any scene. In both versions, the family is spared from the destruction of Liberio as they reach Fort Salta with the other refugees.
- If it wasn't for Marley, the Subjects of Ymir would have already been exterminated a long time ago by the other nations of the world.
- It is mentioned by Udo that the treatment of Eldians of Marley is a lot tamer compared to that from many other countries and the rest of the world. Since the end of the Great Titan War, humanity wanted the Subjects of Ymir all wiped out and their reputation has not improved since then, due to Marley still using Titans as war weapons throughout most of the past century. As a result, most of humanity still wish for the extermination of all Subjects of Ymir to happen, but Marley convinced the other nations to keep them alive in internment zones.
- Annie also states the common knowledge that the Marleyan state is the only thing protecting the Subjects of Ymir living in the internment zones, especially those of Marley itself, and if Marley vanishes, there will be nothing left to prevent the other nations from choosing extermination, despite the Tybur family's attempts to improve the status of Eldians.
- Still, most of the other countries treat Eldian residents so badly that many of them relocate to Marley's internment zones for better life conditions and treatment, like Udo's family. Due to Udo's ability to translate the language of a soldier from one of the nations of the Mid-East Allied Forces, Udo's family likely came from one of said nations, and relocated from there to Marley. Annie’s father is also known to be from an unnamed foreign nation equivalent to Thailand (based on his knowledge of Muay Thai and his appearance), but it is unknown whether he already lived in the Marleyan continent before he found out he was a Subject of Ymir, or if he moved from his homeland to Marley's mainland territory.
- While it is mentioned that the nation of Hizuru has also more tolerance for Eldians, its government and people do not take any stance in the Subjects of Ymir's controversy and maintain neutrality, presumably most of the population still looking down on them, disliking them. As Hizuru was never conquered by Eldia, there are either no internment zones there, or there's at least one or very few, depending on whether Eldians are allowed to live there or not. Nevertheless, the majority of the world, most of Hizuru's people included, support the extermination of the Subjects of Ymir due to their infected blood type and ability to become Titans, which is a source of fear even for those who don't necessarily feel hate for them. The citizens of the internment zones also still favor moving to Marley and consider it the better place for least awful life conditions and treatment.
- Marley's reason to desire for the annihilation of Eldia may go beyond revenge or conquest. Since modern Marley uses Titans to conquer other countries, they are as hated as Eldia was and if they did not ally with the rest of the world first, other major nations may ally against them as soon as the Titans became obsolete, as theorized by Theo Magath. The only reason the world rallied with them in the first place was because they saw Marley as the lesser of two evils.
External Link[]
- Marley on the Attack on Titan Wiki
