Overview[]
The Titanborn were created by Anicetus during the voyage from Earth to Acheron. They were selected by Anicetus while they were young to become "Titan Hosts". This augmentation killed them while in cyrosleep, only to be revived after Anicetus reached Acheron's orbit. There are ten Titanborn, as each Titan has a corresponding Titanborn, with Alithea, Amyntas and Hydrus among them.
When Anicetus first arrived at Acheron, everyone woke from cryosleep except the Titanborn. While waiting for Anicetus to finish terraforming Acheron, the surviving humans created a religion around the Titanborn, "those bound by frost"[1]. It was only when the terraforming finally completed that the first Titanborn, Amyntas, woke[2].
The Titanborn have near limitless lives and have direct control and communication with their Titans. All of the Titanborn, with the exception of Amyntas, are "proximity locked" to their Titans and need to be nearby them to control them[3][4]. Enyo extensively studied the life extension given to the Titanborn.
Details[]
From Joe:
The term Titan-Born, means two things. Firstly, in regards to the literal story, when humans left earth in search of a new planet [during the war on earth "Conqueror"], they entered a 100+ year cryosleep [exact length pending]. Anicetus itself has, what could be considered "Passive" A.I. [Simply put, to maintain the mission to travel and maintain the ship's systems and destination. During Cryosleep, this A.I. becomes "active", where it begins selecting certain humans, specifically the young, for what will be considered "Titan Hosts". This augmentation eventually kills them in cryosleep, only to be brought to life once Anicetus has reached Acheron orbit. Consider the analogy like "a hard restart" for these individuals. These Titan-Born we augmented to the point to where their lifespan is almost limitless and have, simply put, a rewired connection to directly control and communicate with Titan Terraform Machines. Alithea and Amyntas we among those chosen during cryosleep. Eight other characters are planned, hence the 10 Titans in the story.
In more of a abstract sense, Titan-Born also relates to one who strips themselves of all human superstitions and barbaric traits. One who understands that Gods are non existent simply due to the basic logic that Gods are man made. Therefore, man and god are the same and in the end, the enemy to "human evolution". This evolution requires the acceptance of machine augmentation. This also creates the dichotomy, of which I personally struggling with. Can something human still be salvaged once this evolution occurs?
Titanborn characters are divided into three abstractions. There is the physical person/character, the machine Titan connected to said characters and the atmospheric/elemental/natural allegory associated with both the Titanborn character and the machine Titan itself. Hydrus, for example, was the Titan/Titanborn, initially quested with bringing water to Acheron and Empyrean. Yet, Hydrus is also represented with a characteristic of a grand storm. Depicted on the Venator cover.
Sleeping Titanborn
Titan Integration - Hydrus
- ↑ We kneel before those bound by frost - Anagenesis
- ↑ Progenitor
- ↑ All titanborn characters are proximity locked to their physical Titan - notes from Purity Storm
- ↑ Consider, Amyntas is the only titanborn that is not proximity locked - notes from Siege