How does ODM gear work in Attack on Titan?

Attack on Titan has quite a few things going for it, from its massive Titans, interesting characters, and, strangely enough, the ODM gear. This nifty piece of equipment lets users zip around like Spider-Man, and serves as the main tool of the series.

Of course, using this tool requires more than just strapping it around the waist, as it is remarkably dangerous to the user since it involves zipping around the city at high speeds, with plenty of things to run into face-first.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Attack on Titan, so please read at your own risk.

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Attack on Titan’s ODM gear and how it works

The ODM (Omni-Directional Maneuvering) gear, or 3DM gear, depending on the Attack on Titan translation, is a series of wires and grappling hooks powered by gas. It was created to fight the Titans by allowing the user to slip out of its grasp, zip around it, and get to the critical weak point on its neck.

The ODM gear comprises multiple parts, such as the wires, the gas, and the controls. The latter consists of a simple handguard with two triggers and serves as the base of a sword. One trigger operates the gas, which fuels the wires and lets them reel the user in, while the other can detach the blades to the handle.

Training with ODM in Attack on Titan follows a brutal regime that focuses on core training. For operating in crowded forests, they use fake training dummies to strike at the nape of a bogus Titan’s neck.

As an Attack on Titan reader might imagine, using an ODM is absurdly dangerous. It requires staying upright, even when flying, and being completely aware of their surroundings.

A given, as the user has to zip around urban cities, with buildings everywhere, to forests, which have their own dangers.

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ODM’s history

The ODM gear was designed by Angel Aaltonen, a man with a brilliant mind and a drive for vengeance. He would be a bit like Eren Yeager if he decided to focus more on inventing tools to kill Titans instead of trying to kill them all himself.

The ODM gear has its predecessor in the form of VMG, or Vertical Maneuvering Gear, as seen in the Before the Fall manga. It was strapped to the user’s back and was designed to carry them up with a grappling pistol. It could only carry a user up or down, lacking the versatility of later gears.

Basically, the wires, gas, engine, and more were stuffed into that one backpack. As a result, it was near unless in combat, as expected for a prototype.

The second version of VMG was closer to the final design. It separated the multiple components into different areas, such as separating the gas and wire functions and angling them so the user could fire the wires one-handed. But it still could only fire vertically.

The third version finally allowed users to move vertically and horizontally and was designed by Angel’s close friend, Xenophon Harkimo. He is basically the Armin Arlet to Angel’s Eren but far more confident and just as skilled in creating new ways to kill Titans.

Each design had various problems, such as being too heavy to be used and that the human mind isn’t geared to using multiple anchor points.

But, these were prototypes, not meant to be used in combat until all of the flaws were ironed out. The fourth and final version is the one seen in the show, which was then improved upon by Kenny’s squad and later by the Survey Corps itself.