The Rumbling stands as one of the most terrifying aspects of Attack on Titan. Though it may boil down to Titans walking from one point to another, the sheer destructive force of their gargantuan forms moving across the world is enough to flatten civilizations and demolish entire populations in a matter of hours. While this apocalyptic event is stopped in the end, you and many other fans wouldn’t be blamed for wondering: How many people were killed in the Rumbling in Attack on Titan?
We had the same thought, and after doing some research, we’ve got an answer for you. Do be warned though: There are *Spoilers Ahead*.
How Many People Did the Rumbling Kill in Attack on Titan? Answered
Following the conclusion of the series’ final arc, it’s revealed that the Rumbling killed approximately 80 percent of the known human population in Attack on Titan.
This occurred within four days of the Rumbling reaching the continent of Marley, and nearly all of the clusters of civilization on the land mass were destroyed over the course of this event. The only survivors were those that managed to flee to the far end of the continent before the final battle, and those who were in far-flung parts of the world that the Rumbling wasn’t able to reach yet.
Given the Rumbling only impacted one continent of the world though, you might be wondering how it managed to wipe out such a large chunk of the global populace; especially since the circumference of the Earth is 40,075 km and the Rumbling Titans only managed to trample roughly 4,800 km.
The answer to this ties into Marley’s ongoing wars with the rest of the world, and the impact it had on the populations of other countries. As shown in the battle that kicks off the post-time skip arc, other nations were able to fight against Marley to an extent and could even defeat Titans with the right weaponry. The gap between their military might and that of Marley’s is still sizable though, and most were annihilated once the Titans were able to get past certain weapons and obstacles on the battlefield.
Given this fact and the amount of the global populace wiped out after Marley’s destruction, it’s safe to assume that the majority of the rest of the world had small or recovering populations due to their wars with Marley. This in turn means that the aggressor’s continent served as a more dense concentration of people due to their being largely untouched by catastrophic conflict, and thus were able to make up a larger concentration of the global population’s numbers.
It makes for some real grim mathematics but also hammers home how destructive Eren’s choice to retaliate against them truly was. It also goes to show just how evil Marley’s actions leading up to the Rumbling were, and put into focus the sorry state of the world Attack on Titan is set in.
But for now, you’ve learned everything you need to about how many people were killed in the Rumbling in Attack on Titan. For more on the series, check out any of the related articles down below.
