Gourt Home::Gourt :: Main characters of Fullmetal Alchemist
This page lists the main characters from the anime series and manga Fullmetal Alchemist, covering the characters who are widely considered to be "primary" to the plot of the story; while the Elric Brothers are the heroes of the story, there are also those who are greatly affected by their adventures and vice versa. All characters are mostly listed by their debut in the storyline (anime, manga, video games). Other characters from the series can be found on the their respective group pages. Due to irregularities in translations some names may have multiple spellings.
Edward Elric
| Japanese Cast | English Cast | Portuguese Cast | French Cast | Spanish Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romi Paku | Vic Mignogna | Marcelo Campos | Arthur Pestel | Jose Manuel Vieira |
Ed is short and slender, but compactly muscled. While his automail limbs are considerably strong and heavy, he remains extremely agile and flexible. He is able to think quickly, even in desparate situations. These qualities, combined with his alchemic powers, make him a formidable fighter. He has golden-blond hair and gold eyes. It is believed he is left handed, as he is often seen writing with his left hand, however, this remains contested as in early episodes he is seen predominantly using the right-hand. Some fans theorize that he was right-handed until he lost his right arm and had to replace it with automail.
Ed is intolerant towards jokes regarding his height and as shown throughout the manga, anime, and videogames. Ed is very laid back when he's not working and kind, although he can hold a grudge for a long time and go to extreme lengths to get an apology. He regards religion and superstition cynically and believes alchemy and science are the true saviours of humanity. He thus shows little remorse in defeating the false prophet Cornello in Liore and "taking away the hope of the people."
Ed's story begins in February 1910, when he and Alphonse, his younger brother, attempt to revive their mother using forbidden alchemy: human transmutation. The attempt backfires with Al's losing his body and Ed his left leg. In order to save Al's soul, Ed sacrificed his right arm to bind Al's soul to a nearby suit of armor using knowledge he attained from this glimpse into the Gate. Unbeknownst to Ed at the time, he also gained the rare ability to perform transmutations without a transmutation circle.
In order to regain what they had lost, Ed and Al decide to search of the legendary Philosopher's Stone, which allows an alchemist to perform transmutations that violate the Law of Equivalent Exchange (in order to gain, something of equal value must be lost). To gain access to the vast amount of research and information on alchemy available to State Alchemists, Ed and Al decide to take the notoriously difficult State Alchemist entrance exam. They stay for a year in Central with Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist, while studying for the exam.
Note: This is in the anime only. The stay with Tucker came after the incident in Liore in the manga. In the manga, the brothers went to Mustang once Ed had finished his rehab, who took them to Central and only Ed took the test. He passed, and they returned to Risembool and burned their home down. In the anime, they stayed with Tucker while studying for the exam, and had burned their house down before they left. That explains why the date on the inside of Ed's watch is different between the two canons- in the anime, it's "3 Oct 10" and the manga is "3 Oct 11".
However, because the brothers feared that their secret (that they had performed forbidden alchemy) would be exposed during the physical phase of the exam if Al were to take it, they decide that only Ed should take the test alone. Ed easily passes, and, at the age of 12, becomes the youngest State Alchemist that the State has ever certified. (Note: Had Al not been forced to drop from the Exam due to his "condition" and passed it, he might have been the youngest State Alchemist ever certified -at age 11- instead of his brother, Ed. Al's selection, though, is not a given. The state only takes one or two alchemists a year, so presumably even some alchemists that pass are not selected. However, there is a chance that even if Al had made it to the final stage of the exam Edward would have been selected over Alphonse because of Ed's ability to perform transmutations without a circle.)
Despite his diminutive height, Edward is a very powerful alchemist who, unlike most practitioners, can perform alchemy without the use of a transmutation circle, also known as an array. In the anime, he first discovered this ability when he accidentally transmuted a bowl of water, thus boiling it, while Gracia Hughes was giving birth. In the manga, however, Edward's first transmutation done without the use of a circle involved his automail blade in Risembool after sparring with Al at the end of his automail rehab.
Note: Edward's ignorance of this ability in the anime version constitutes a continuity error to some fans, in that the Gate is supposed to give knowledge of alchemy rather than unexplained special abilities.
Alternate Edward
Only happens in the Anime.Our world's analog of Edward Elric, this Ed was a resident of World War I-era London. When Dante sends Edward into the gate, Ed's body remains trapped in the Gate but his mind and soul end up at the other side and instantly enter the Edward of that world. However, this alternate version of Edward dies during the aerial bombing of London when a zeppelin crashes onto him. His death enables Ed to escape back to his own side of the Gate to face Dante (and Envy) once more.
In the Anime
At the end of the series when Edward is fatally wounded by Envy, Al uses the power of the Philosopher's Stone to heal Ed's body and to reattach his soul. The revival, however, uses up the all of the Stone (Al's own body). Al appears briefly at the gate and then disappears. After being revived, and whole (missing arm and leg back), Ed decides to risk everything to bring back his little brother by pulling Alphonse's soul and original body out of the Gate and reassembling them, in exchange for his own life if necessary. As a result, Ed ends up in a version of our world living in Post WWI Munich with Hohenheim (it's possible that he landed in London and they later moved to Munich, but we're never told, merely given a caption that says "Munich 1921").Hohenheim later offers the theory that the four years the brothers spent on their quest served as the Equivalent Exchange in the transmutation (rather than Ed's life, as he intended). Hohenheim also says in an earlier episode, one way for the Elrics to reclaim what they lost is to give up what they had gained. The death of Sloth had given back a portion of what they had gained. In Al's case he loses all the memories in his armored form and reverted to exactly how he was before the failed transmutation of their mother. Ed, on the other hand, could not keep his arm because he exchanged it for the soul of Alphonse.
Determined to retrieve Al, Edward becomes involved in rocketry research in the country of Translyvania, with the intention use that technology to try and get back to his home world. Sometime between the end of the series and the movie, he moves back to Munich and lived with Alphonse's parallel, Alfons Heiderich.
During that time, Edward matures emotionally and seems slightly cold and distant like his father. It would seem that after he got caught up in this world's plots of the Thule Society surrounding the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, Ed was able to make his way back to his world. There, back in Amestris, he aided to defeat the Thule Society's invasion of his world. After which, in the end of the invasion, Edward and Alphonse cross over to Other World in order to seal and make sure the physical Gateway between both worlds was closed off forever. Edward and Alphonse then decide to go on a quest to recover a nuclear bomb created in Amestris which had been sent over into the Other World.
In the OVA "Hagaren Kids", Ed is shown to still be alive in the other world by the year 2005, on his 106th birthday. He has grown very old and sports a beard, but his hair (which now resembles his father's) is still blonde, and he still has his automail arm (which is smaller than his real left arm). He apparently has 3 grandchildren, if they are Al's childrens children or Ed's is still not known seeing that in Japan, Great Uncles and Grandfathers are both called "Grandfather". The three children in question have an uncanny resemblance to Edward, Alphonse, and Winry. Though it is often questioned if this OVA actually ties in with the series as Ed's birthday is supposed to be in the winter.
In the Manga
Ed goes home to Rizembol to find Hohenheim, his father, standing at his mother's grave. After a brief argument, Hohenheim and Ed walk to Pinako's with Ed hostile and belligerent towards his father. While Ed pretends to be asleep, he overhears his father questioning Pinako on whether the body Ed and Al created by transmutation was Trisha revived. This question spurs Ed's curiosity, and after Hohenheim leaves the next day, Ed asks Pinako to go with him to the graveyard to dig up the body he and Al created so many years ago. He starts throwing up and has to take several breaks while digging, but eventually pulls up a lock of hair; black hair instead of brown. Pinako also points out that the bones aren't the same length as Trisha's were. So Ed learns that they didn't even bring back their mother, but brought back something entirely different.Ed goes to central to find Al is missing his lower "jaw" and his right arm of his suit of armor. After Ed repairs Al, he finds out Al had a run in with Barry the Chopper and the homonculi, but also finds out that Al learned that the soul, when not placed in its original body, can reject the substitute body, just as the human body can reject organ transplants. This rejection may occur within seconds of the soul being placed on a new body, or may not occur for hundreds of years, but rejection is inevitable.
He tells Al and Winry, after asking about an incident when they were five, that he is confirming the memories Ed has that Al doesn't have. Al and Winry allude to a moment when Ed was unconscious and fighting a fever after surgery when Winry walked in on Al, who was "resting," and they talk. Only, when Al and Winry allude to the conversation, it sounds almost like they played multiple pranks on Ed, causing Ed to become irritated and ask them to stop talking.
When they get back to the conversation at hand, Ed theorizes that Al's body is with Truth inside the gate and that it's still alive and possibly connected through Ed and Al's blood to Ed. (That he is sleeping, eating, etc. for the both of them.) Al's brain is still alive inside a body that's still alive and it is collecting the memories since Ed transferred Al's soul to the suit of armor. At this point, Al also remembers when he opened the Gate of Truth, he found himself in there, rather than his mother, as he expected. He also realized that his soul was placed on the body that he and Ed had transmuted, and even saw Ed from the body's eyes. However, rejection took place almost immediately after his soul was placed onto the body. As a sidenote, because Al's body is biologically connected to Ed, Ed has enthusiastically hypothosized that he may grow taller once Al's body is recovered since he won't have to eat for both bodies.
Ed and Al eventually figure the only way they're going to catch a Homunculus (and the philosopher's stone within them) is to let Scar attack them, and tries to attract Scar's attention. Ed does a series of do-gooding around town (while showing off as much and as loudly as possible to get Scar to notice him) and eventually succeeds. A fight between Scar, Ed and Al ensues, with Mustang and Hawkeye diverting attention from them by redirecting the military vehicles to different places away from where the real fight is happening. Winry goes looking for them and ends up overhearing Ed accusing Scar of killing Winry's parents. She picks up the gun an officer dropped and points it at Scar, only to have Ed jump in front of her and tell her to drop the gun while Scar descends on him from the front. When Scar sees this, he hesitates, remembering his own brother protecting him from Kimblee's attack during the Eastern War. Seeing his hesitation, Al attacks Scar, driving him away from the two. Ed then gently pries Winry's hands from the gun while telling her that her hands "are not hands that kill people. They're hands that let people live."
After that, when Ling ties up Gluttony and Winry is going to Rush Valley once more, Ed yells a promise to her that when she sees them next he will "make her cry tears of joy." Gluttony escapes his bonds and tries to suck up Roy and everyone else into his "gate" for a stomach. He ends up sucking up Envy, Ling and Ed, instead, and Al's left hand. Ling and Ed find Envy eventually and Envy actually tries to be nice to Ed, however, it all backfires and Envy turns into his true form.
The tortured souls in Envy's natural form cause Ed to have a semi-nervous breakdown (he cannot bear to hurt them and flashes back to Nina for an instant). Envy then swallows him. However, after seeing the philosopher's stone that is Envy's center, he kicks out one of Envy's teeth and tells Envy and Ling that he knows a way that they can escape from Gluttony's stomach.
In the recent chapters, Ed realized that while human revival is impossible, since equivalent exchange requires the existence of the soul in question, it is possible to open the Gate of Truth by transmuting existing humans using themselves as the starting materials. This does not violate the rule of equivalent exchange, but still is a form of human transmutation, and so is a way of opening the Gate of Truth. Using the souls inside Envy as the "Toll," Ed successfuly transmuted himself, Envy, and Ling, and opened the Gate once more. This time, he sees a second Gate, as well as an emaciated Alphonse sitting in front of the second gate. Ed yells for Al's body to come with him. However, Al's body told Ed that he could not go with Ed back to the real world because Ed had a different soul (as in Al's soul must be there for the body to return from the gate). Ed is then swallowed by the hands reaching out from the Gate of Truth, and he, Envy, and Ling fall out of Gluttony's stomach, and in front of the Homunculi's "Father," who bears a startling resemblance to their own.
Unable to fight "Father", because somehow their alchemy was sealed, Ed and Al helped Scar and Mei Chang to escape but stayed behind, knowing they wouldn't be harmed by him or the Homunculi because they are still useful to them. They were sent to meet King Bradley, who told them to stay out of their affairs, if they wanted to guarantee Winry's safety, but also agreed to let them continue their search for a way to restore their bodies.
Intrigued by the fact of his alchemy was nullified by "Father", but Scar and Mei Chang's was not, Ed concludes that it could be because their alchemy had a different origin than his, thus he decides to look for a way to obtain knowledge about foreign alchemy in order to be able to fight him someday.
In Chapter 58, Riza guesses that Ed loves Winry. Ed denies it, but he does it very weakly and says he doesn't want her to be hurt because of him.
Trivia
- Both the manga and the anime show a clear progression of Ed's age in his design, which seems somewhat rare in anime/manga series.
- Edward was 150 cm in the beginning of the series. In a manga omake, he claims to be 165 cm, which includes his 'antenna' and platform boots, but an official height chart shows him at 150 cm. That converts to approximately 4'9'. It is unknown if he has actually gotten taller since then because in the anime he does get taller in the movie (the hieght of a normal person).
- Despite his short stature, Ed is actually quite heavy. Fan theory puts him at about 176 pounds, due to the weight of the automail.
- It's theorized that Ed's belt is so wide because it possibly doubles as a back brace to help prevent back strain from the weight of his automail arm. Whether this is canonically true or not remains to be seen.
- It seems hinted in the manga that there will be a future relationship between Ed and Winry. It's less clear in the anime whether this is true or not (and rendered a moot point when Ed disappears to the other side of the Gate). In the manga, it is directly revealed that Winry has 'fallen' for Ed in chapter 48, an chapter 58, Riza figures out Ed loves Winry. Ed reacts to her statement with a 'spittake' and some half-hearted protests.
- In the "Hagaren Kids" OVA, Edward has three grandchildren (or nephews and a niece- the word for 'grandfather' and 'great-uncle' are the same in Japanese, so it's unclear which it is) who are the spitting images of Alphonse, Winry, and himself. It's speculative where the genetics to produce a Winry look-alike came from given that Winry was left behind in Amestris and the Gate was permanently closed. It is possible that Ed or Al met the alternate version of Winry.
- Ed can't swim due to the weight of his automail- he sinks. Neither can Al, but he briefly seems to almost learn after becoming the Philosopher's Stone (and immediately sinks again).
- Ed is ambidextrous. In the manga, when he was younger, he use his right hand the most, but is later seen using his left hand more often. In the anime, he uses his right hand as a child (seen while drawing the human transmutation circle), and continues to do so after getting automail (in episode five, we see him drawing the circle for the canon on the train car with his right hand, despite having to write at an awkward angle while hanging from a ladder to do it). He apparently later teaches himself to use his left hand as well, as the letter he writes home to Winry is done with his left hand.
- In the Japanese fan polls, Edward is constantly the most popular character in the series.
External links
- Transmute Edward Elric shrine with information, media, downloads, and more.
Alphonse Elric
| Japanese Cast | English Cast | Portuguese Cast | French Cast | Spanish Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rie Kugimiya | Aaron Dismuke | Rodrigo Andreatto | Audrey Pic | Johnny Torres |
Al, with his calm and optimistic personality, usually acts as a foil for the fiery, excitable, easily discouraged Ed. But during his fight with Barry the Chopper at Laboratory 5, Al was troubled by the fact that he could possibly be a fabrication of Ed's and may not have truly ever existed, since he was unable to remember some things from when he was human and thought Edward was keeping something from him. As a result, Al left to find the truth for himself. But by helping Scar deal with mercenaries and Barry, Al comes to realize that he did in fact exist, and rejoined his brother in their search for the Philosopher's Stone.
After Kimblee uses alchemy to transform Al's armor into explosive material, Scar transferred all of his incomplete Philosopher's Stone into Al to save his life. As a result, Al became the Philosopher's Stone. Shortly after, Alphonse learns his body became lighter and his blood-seal could endure contact with water. He also gained the ability to perform alchemy without a circle. He only uses alchemy once after he becomes the stone because any alchemy he or anyone near him uses activates the stone and destroys a part of Al's body. Because he houses the Stone in his body, he becomes the primary target of Dante's attempt to cheat death, but not before he becomes a pawn in Shou Tucker's plot to resurrect Nina. Once captured by the homunculi for Dante, Al was to be devoured by Gluttony to complete the Stone inside Gluttony's body. But when he saw his brother killed by Envy, Al uses the stone's power to restore Edward's body (including his missing limbs) and re-bind his soul to it. This destroys his own body as he used up the whole of the Philosopher's Stone in the transmutations.
Ed, who could not accept his little brother sacrificing himself for him, resurrected Al by using himself as the equivalent exchange in a transmutation and fully expecting to die. Al came back in his original 10 year-old body with no memory of his life since the night they tried to revive their mother. He became Izumi's student again to study alchemy so that he could be reunited with Ed again someday. During that, Al became as childish as his older brother, donning attire similar to Ed's, equipped with gloves that have transmutation circles on both of them so he can merely clap his hands together to perform alchemy. However, Alphonse's alchemy is unique as he can now transmute a piece of his soul into inanimate objects (thus controlling them). After stopping an attack by the Thule Society on Liore, he meets Wrath and together they open a physical gateway between worlds through which the army of the Thule Society attacks Central. After helping to defeat the invasion, he follows Edward back to the Other World to help him close the physical gate. He then sets out with Edward to recover a nuclear bomb brought into our world. Alphonse, after going through the physical gateway, appears to have recovered all of his lost memories. Those memories may or may not include the ability to perform alchemy without circles.
Alphonse did not appear physically in the Hagaren Kids OVA, although it is hoped that he is alive and well; Ed or Al's great-grandchildren were wishing Ed happy birthday in celebration of Ed's 100th birthday.
Al is taller than his brother even in his human form, much to Ed's chagrin. Al has golden-blond hair and gold eyes like his brother and father in the manga, but caramel-blond hair and eyes that are an unusual sort of gray-gold-olive green color in the anime. It is believed that he is the more skilled martial artist of the brothers, as Ed states during his battle with Number 48 that he has never been able to beat Alphonse while sparring (although the fact that he is a huge metal suit with far above average strength might have something to do with that).
In the Manga
In the manga Al eventually develops the ability to perform alchemy without a transmutation circle, the same as Ed can. In the manga, when King Bradley impales Martel while she is inside Al's armored body, her blood spills onto his blood seal. This gives him a near-death experience, recalling to his mind his experience at the Gate of Alchemy. He realizes that he can transmute without a transmutation circle shortly thereafter. It is also believed by some that he is able to perform alchemy better than his brother after having seen more of the gate than Ed, albeit at the cost of his body. Also, in the manga, Alphonse is afraid that his armor will eventually reject his soul, which would mean his death.A recent chapter proved the theory that Al's body was still in existence, as Ed finds it on a return trip to the Gate, malnourished and unkempt, but very much alive. Unfortunately, Ed could not bring it back because Al's body said that Al's soul needed to be at the gate for the body to come back.
Trivia
- According to Japanese fan polls, he is constantly one of the top five most popular characters.
- His name is spelled as "Alfonse Elric" in the Gameboy Advance game "Fullmetal Alchemist: Sonata of Memory".
Winry Rockbell
| Japanese Cast | English Cast | Portuguese Cast | French Cast | Spanish Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Megumi Toyoguchi | Caitlin Glass | Andressa Andreatto | Lucille Boulanger | Yensi Rivero |
Winry is a very optimistic person and loves working on automail. She likes to do things her way and has a tendency to disobey the rules such as sneaking into central or (as in the anime) opening Ed's watch when he told her not to. Winry's love for her friends (especially Ed) is only matched or supassed by her love of technology. She will absolutely lose herself finding a new piece of technology or tools. This often leads to some interesting scenes or situations, one extreme example is when she got kidnapped by Barry the Chopper when he was human and almost got killed. She is obviously in love with Ed but is much harder to see in the anime as it is in the manga. Just like Ed, it seems Winry has a separate personality almost where she will become upset or cry which goes against what most of her personality shows. Usually these moments happen when she is asking Ed something or she just found out that the brothers were just returning from a dangerous mission. She constantly shows the fact that she worry's about Ed and Al when they are gone.
Throughout the series, in order to get Ed's attention, she'll hit him with a wrench.
The granddaughter of Edward appears in the "Kids" OVA with a stunning resemblance to Winry.
In the Manga
In the manga, in which the plot diverges from the anime considerably, she goes with Ed and Al to Rush Valley where she becomes an apprentice to a mechanic named Garfield. She spends most of her time there until Ed goes through Rush Valley once more. Wanting to visit the Hughes family again (she met them during her first trip to Central after Ed's 5th Laboratory adventure), she tags along with the Elrics and the Xingese to help fix his automail on demand. Traumatized when she discovers that Hughes is dead, Winry became very worried that the Elrics may meet the same fate as her parents and Hughes. The fact that Ling can't comprehend why Al would want his human body back only adds to the strain. When she hears people on the street talking about a big fight involving the Elrics and the "state alchemist killer"(Scar), she has a flashback of her parents leaving for the war, walking away from her. She panics because she thinks that the way she had seen the Elrics from the back the night before was prophetically similar to the way she saw her parents leave. Not knowing that Winry is present, Ed accuses Scar of killing Winry's parents in Ishbal, though Scar simply remains silent. When Winry hears this, she has a mental breakdown and tries to shoot Scar with a handgun which was on the ground. Unwilling to let Winry become a killer, Ed strafes over Scar and shields him from Winry. (and also gives up a golden opportunity to disable Scar's destroyer-arm). Al then leads Scar away from her while Ed tells Winry, "Your hands are not those that kill people. They're hands that help people live." Winry then breaks down completely as Ed has to leave to help Al. Upon returning to her hotel in chapter 48, she gets a phone call from Garfield, who informs her that many customers are waiting for her to return to Rush Valley. Winry finally realizes that she should not live in the past and that she needs to move forward, because there are people waiting for her as well. As Ed and Al send her off at the train station, Winry realized she has "fallen" for Ed a long time ago. Winry's relationship with the Elric brothers is now being exploited by Wrath, as the Homunculi have opted to use her safety as leverage to keep Ed and Al in place.
Winry has blonde hair and blue eyes. She is tall in the anime, but about Ed's height in the manga.
Trivia
- Winry has a temper not unlike Ed's. During the episode when Ed challenges the man with humongous metal arms in an arm wrestling match, Winry loses her temper when Ed's automail is called "half-rate", and behaves similarly to Ed. This doesn't appear in the manga since this chapter is much different than the episode.
- At the beginning Winry wasn't a very popular character, but as the Manga series continued her popularity grew. Now, she is usually one of the top ten most popular characters.
Rosé Thomas
| Japanese Cast | English Cast | Portuguese Cast | French Cast | Spanish Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houko Kuwashima | Colleen Clinkenbeard | Fernanda Bulara | Léa Gabrielle | Maite Guedes |
In the manga, Rosé hasn't been mentioned again in the storyline ever since. In fact, she would have been put in the sub-character category if not for her extensive role in the anime adaptation.
In an omake by Hiromu Arakawa, Rosé decides to use her own two feet by becoming the leader of a bandit horde. Whether this was just made for comedic value or if it actually will manifest itself in the manga remains to be seen.
In the Anime
After Cornello's plan had been exposed and with her hope shattered, Rosé was forced to start over and persevere through hard times when the military intervened in Lior. Rosé was imprisoned by the military. Though not said directly, it is assumed by many that Rosé was raped repeatedly and that the trauma of her ordeal left her mute. When she is next shown, she is free and has a child. (Other theories pretaining to the muteness include depression, and other theories pretaining to the baby's origin include the baby being Cain's and the baby being an orphan that Rosé adopted, though unlikely as she is seen breastfeeding the child.) Scar uses her as the symbol of hope for the people of Lior, referred to as the Holy Mother. Later, seeing Edward paralyzed at the sight of Sloth, Rosé gets her voice back and uses what he told her before to snap him out of it. She became targeted as Dante's next vessel with the new Philosopher's Stone. Rosé was kept in some sort of sedation, and her baby was used by Dante to open the Gate. During this time, when Ed arrived at the ballroom, she danced with him briefly, saying that she loved him. Ed pulled away, asking if she knows what she's saying and stating in a rather tennative tone that they're just friends. Whether or not this is true is never told. She escapes from Dante's sedation after Edward dies. The sedation may have been caused by Dante's continuous telling Rosé of Edward's "love" for her, and she thus only thought of that, and she snaps out of the sedation upon his death.At the end of the anime, Rosé and her child appear to have moved to Risembool, living happily with Winry and Pinako.
In the Conqueror of Shamballa she is seen in Liore and in Risembool. Her presence in Lior might have only been a visit to her reconstructed home town. She is seen in many scenes with five children, of which at least three seem to be adopted (as they referred to her as Ms. Rosé).
Early material had written her name with no French accent, but the BONES staffer who helped develop the Roman character spellings of the major characters has stated it should have. (Many fonts in Japan that were developed before Unicode was widely adopted do not include Roman accented characters.) Also, in the Japanese version her name is pronounced Ro-zay. The English anime pronounces it like the flower.
Scar
| Japanese Cast | English Cast | Portuguese Cast | French Cast | Spanish Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryotaro Okiayu | Dameon Clarke | Afonso Amajones | Antoine Tome | Adolfo Nittoli |
Scar has a grave personality and although he is not heartless, (he gives his victim's time to pray, and at one point promises Ed that he has no intention of harming Al, since Al is not a State Alchemist), he is quite ruthless and determined to carry out his revenge on State Alchemists. Even though he acknowledges that he is on the wrong path, and that what he is doing is an affront to his own god, he does not waver from it.
Due to Scar's vendetta against State Alchemists, Edward found himself a target of the Ishbalan. When they encountered one another sometime after the library incident, Scar noticed that Edward no longer had his silver pocket watch - the trademark item of the State Alchemist. Edward mentioned that he had given up being a State Alchemist. Scar told Edward that he was better off and they parted ways. When he latter encountered Edward with his watch again, he put the Full Metal Alchemist back on his target list. When Edward learned of Scar's part in Nina's death, it made their relationship a very personal grudge. Scar nearly killed Edward on a couple of occasions, most notably in Episodes 14 and 15. In 14, he battled the two Elric brothers briefly, until Major Armstrong interfered and gave the Elrics time to escape. Despite the fact that the battle did not conclude, Scar obviously had the advantage. When they met again in Episode 15, Scar easily beat both the Elrics, and would have killed Ed if not for the arrival of a number of military personnel.
But Scar's relationship with the Elric brothers, particularly Alphonse, changes as the story progresses. Touched by their brotherly love, Scar promises Alphonse that he would not kill Edward. Later, in the 5th Laboratory, Scar again refrains from trying to kill Edward when Edward chooses not to sacrifice prisoners to create the Philosopher's Stone. After working together to save the young Ishbalan refugee Rick from mercenaries posing as the state military, Edward and Scar reach an uneasy détente until they met again in Liore.
Scar later learned what Dr. Marcoh realized earlier - that his arm is actually an incomplete Philosopher's Stone itself, created from the transmutation of countless Ishbalans who died in the war; it causes Scar intense pain when it absorbs another incomplete Philosopher's Stone. Scar's brother, Mattias, gave him the arm to save his life after he had been gravely wounded by Kimblee. Although his brother sacrificed himself, Scar still harbored for him a deep hatred. His brother's practicing of the alchemic arts - even if it was to find a way to bring back the woman both he and Scar had loved - was forbidden, a sin never to be forgiven.
Scar concluded that he needed the Philosopher's Stone to stop the actions of the state military, and decided to finish what Mattias started: creating a complete Philosopher's Stone. To that end, he learned the necessary alchemy from the Ishbalan exile who had taught his brother and became an exile himself. He goes to Lior, and he is briefly seen in several episodes dragging a rock around the city, though at the time it is not known why. The military eventually gets word that he is in Lior, and goes there in force. The Elrics were also headed to Lior and meet up with Mustang at the military's camp.
There, the Elrics figure out what Scar was shown doing with the rock he was dragging; he was making a transmutation circle through out all of Lior. Ed figures out that its purpose is to create the Philosopher's Stone by sacrificing thousands of people, such as the population of Lior. Ed goes into Lior and confronts Scar, where he demonstrates that he can counter Scar's alchemy by continually changing the composition of his automail so Scar can't decompose it. The fight is decidedly one sided until Ed lets his guard down and Scar grabs his real arm. With Scar threatening to destroy Ed's real arm, Ed appears ready to kill him when Lust intervenes. Scar recognizes her as his brother’s fiancé and brandishes a locket at her that makes her collapse.
After Gluttony rescues her, Scar and Ed reach another truce when Lyra(Dante), and Rose come upon them. Scar recounts his history to Ed and explains how he knew the woman that became Lust, and Ed reveals that the locket had a strand of hair from Lust's human form. "Lyra" then reveals that Scar does not intend to destroy the city's inhabitants, but instead is using Lior as bait so that the military will send in his "ingredients" while the townspeople escape. Ed sends a warning letter to Mustang detailing Scar's entire plan, and King Bradley decides to wait to invade.
However, Kimblee had already been ordered in and told to preemptively kill in order to stir up the rebels. In addition, Colonel Archer decides that he doesn't want to wait, and sends 7,000 troops to the boundaries of Liore. Scar learns that Kimblee is in Lior, and with the evacuation nearly finished, goes to confront him. While Scar recognizes Kimblee instantly, Kimblee can't remember who Scar is until he sees the scar in Scar's forehead, which he recognizes as his handiwork. He also rather nonchalantly notes that he remembered blowing Scar's arm off, but that Scar seemed to have gotten another one. Kimblee and Scar engage in combat, but as Kimblee reveals his Red Stone amplifier, it is absorbed into Scars arm, and Kimblee realizes that the new arm had come from Scar's brother.
Al talks for a few seconds to Scar before Kimblee shoves Al at Scar. In an unfortunate turn of events, Ed's pocket watch, which is in Al's possession at the time, had been packed with Red Stones without Ed's knowledge. Scar inadvertently absorbs them upon contact with Al, and the pain of absorbing them distracts him enough that Kimblee is able to grab Scar's left arm and turn it into a bomb. Scar however, decomposes his arm to keep it from exploding, and decomposes a large portion of Kimblee's chest all in short order. Kimblee however, manages to hold onto life long enough to transmute Al into a time bomb. Lust ends up arriving a few moments after Kimblee's death to see if being with Scar can cause some of the memories of her previous life to resurface.
She sees Al, and tells Scar that he should leave Al and go make the stone. However, Scar then transfers his incomplete Stone into Al in order to save him from Kimblee's alchemy. Scar explains to Lust that he would do this because the Elrics had helped him to reconcile his feelings for his own brother. A while later from his position outside Lior, Archer sees Scar dumping Kimblee's body over a wall. This gives him an excuse to attack, and he sends his troops in. Ed, who had evacuated Lior after confronting Wrath and Sloth, circles back around and joins the last group of soldiers going into Liore. He tells them to stop, explaining what Scar has done and furious because he thinks that the military ignored his warning. The soldiers don't understand, and they argue with him that they were ordered to go in.
Scar then suffered injuries from bullet wounds incurred from shielding Lust from soldiers who fired on her (out of reflex, he says), even though the bullets could not harm her. Just before he left to activate the transmutation circle in Liore, Lust asked Scar what his real name was. Scar replied that he once had a name, but felt that, because his sins had transformed him from the man he once was, the name no longer held meaning for him. Shortly thereafter, Scar used the last of his strength to activate the giant transmutation circle covering the city of Liore, resulting in Al becoming the Philosopher's Stone. Scar perished from his wounds just before his transmutation took him, mentally reconciling with his brother. The reaction kills everyone in Liore, save Archer,(severely maimed) and the troops that Ed managed to stall.
In the anime, his arm glowed when he touched the chimera that was once Nina Tucker and became suddenly aware of her situation. He was also able to transmute the words in Marcoh's notes into an orb of energy and was able to decode and understand in a matter of seconds.
In Conqueror of Shamballa, an alternate version of Scar is seen near the end driving a truck with gypsies next to an alternate version of Lust.
In the Manga
In the manga, he shares many attributes with the anime version, except that he was the person who killed Winry's parents in cold blood, not Roy Mustang. He is portrayed as more relentless and ruthless in his vengeance, while the anime had him as a good man who was consumed by revenge for his people. Scar was almost caught by the military after fighting the Elrics (Riza shot him in the leg), but Mei Chang, a girl from the country of Xing, saved him and uses alchemy to heal his wound. In Chapter 51, Scar agreed to help Mei find her pet panda out of pity because Mei's clan was also under threat of extinction as the Ishbalans were. Scar is also considered a major threat by the Homunculi, as his relentless quest threatens to destroy all of their precious alchemist human sacrifices. As such, they have made many attempts to kill him, albeit unsuccessfuly. In a recent chapter, Scar and Mei Chang stumbled upon the Elric Brothers and Ling/Greed in the Homunculi lair, where Ed revealed to him the fact that Envy sparked the Ishbal rebellion. Scar then demanded an explanation for the act, vowing to send the Homunculi to Ishbala before declaring they deserve even less. Unlike the Elrics, Scar and Mei Chang were able to use their alchemy when in the lair, and Scar makes use of this to create a dustbomb to cover his handing over of Mei to Alphonse while he escapes on his own. Scar hears Dr. Marcoh's voice while he was escaping Father's hideout. In chapter 57, he found Marcoh who asked Scar to kill him. Scar agreed to fullfill Marcoh's wish in return for the true story behind the Ishbal Massacre.Scar's religion, homeland and culture is possibly linked to a Hindu concept known as Ishvara. In addition, Scar's religion, homeland, and culture may well be an allusion to Islam . (The series often mixes religious concepts quite freely.)
The words on Scar's arm are:
- dopo la terra sic ca a ndan, colia
The exact ordering of the words can be disputed. Some animation and even some books incorrectly show the second word as "aa" rather than "la". Terra is another, lesser known name for the Earth. Of the words, "colia" is probably from the Greek "Kolia" and means "voice of god" which may be a religious allusion to the Philosopher's Stone. The word "ndan" may or may not be the biblical Adam. The word "ca" is a Latin abbreviation of "Circa" The phrase may not seem correct when translated into English because it was translated into Latin from Japanese. A potential translation is "after the land around the time of Adam, the voice of God".
In chapter 60, the flashback of the Ishbalan extermination campaign finally revealed a secret to Scar's arm. His brother, who had been doing research on Rentanjutsu (alchemy from Xing) and Renkinjutsu (alchemy from Amestris) in order to help Ishbalans win against the Amestris army, showed Scar and other men the products of his work: two tattooed arms. He explained to Scar the three parts of alchemy (understanding, deconstruction, and reconstruction), and that the tattoos on the right arm cause deconstruction while the left arm causes reconstruction. The significance of this innovation was that Scar's brother could bypass the need for a transmutation circle, and that even if Scar wanted to finally break Ishbalan teaching and perform transmutation alchemy, he cannot because the right arm (which is assumed to originally belong to his brother) is only designed for destroying. This was notably not mentioned in the anime.
Izumi Curtis
| Japanese Cast | English Cast | Portuguese Cast | French Cast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shoko Tsuda | Christine Auten | Tânia Gaidarji | Helene Bizot |
Izumi is an extremely strong woman, both emotionally and physically: along with her talent for alchemy, Izumi is also an accomplished martial artist. The Elric brothers are taught with her own unique form of sparring combined with philosophy to gain a fuller understanding of alchemy. Unfortunately, she will snap at anyone at any given time, making her downright scary. She is married to Sieg Curtis, a husky and well-built butcher of few words. Like many others in the series, she despises the military and particularly State Alchemists, so when she encounters Edward "Fullmetal Alchemist" Elric again, she scolds (beats) him for his becoming a "dog of the military." Alphonse is scolded as well for helping. Like Edward, Izumi is capable of alchemy without a transmutation circle. Izumi gained this ability from seeing the inside of the mysterious "Gate" while attempting to revive her stillborn son with alchemy. This attempt not only created the Homunculus, Wrath, but cost Izumi all the organs in her abdominopelvic cavity. Her incredible strength of will allowed her to miraculously survive, with her remaining organs picking up the slack. Her body is failing, which leaves her physically weak and drained, and causes her to cough up blood at inopportune moments, often while attempting a transmutation. She dies between the series' end and Conqueror of Shamballa, only making a cameo as a spirit to receive Wrath at the Gate when he sacrifices himself to open a physical gateway to the Other World for Al. How exactly her spirit lingered in the gateway after death for so long is left unexplained, but perhaps it is thanks to the same strength of spirit that allowed her to survive the failed attempt to resurrect her child.
In the manga, Izumi takes Edward and Alphonse Elric as her apprentices in alchemy, and has a personality just like her counterpart in the anime. However, she suffers tremendous guilt believing that she had killed her son twice, once at birth, and once on the transmutation circle (Remember that human transmutation in original Manga doesn't result as Homunculi, but a corpse-like being which have no connection at all with the human that alchemist intended to transmute). Later, Edward learns that revival of the dead is impossible, and informs Izumi that what she created on the trasmutation circle could not have been her son. Izumi, after verifying this fact, is very grateful to Edward for relieving her of the guilt of her son's death.
The fact that Izumi opened the Gate is of great interest to King Bradley, as it means that she is a qualified "human sacrifice" like Edward and Alphonse. However, she isn't a State Alchemist and is therefore beyond the Homunculi's control. It is unknown as to whether Father and the Homunculi will take any action regarding Izumi in the future.
According to the Gaiden "The Tales of Master" her name before she married was Izumi Harnet. When she was 18, she traveled to the north of Amestris to became an apperentice of famous alchemist Silver Steiner. However, because Silver Steiner had died some time ago, she met with his elder brother (who was famous for his Hand fighting technique) Gold Steiner. Izumi received a test for appenticeship, which intailed surviving in the Briggs mountain for one month with only a knife. During this time, she discovered the philosophy of "One is All, All is One", which she later passed on to the Elrics brothers.
Note: It has been speculated by fans as to whether or not Izumi has dreadlocks, but they have been confirmed to be small "micro-braids."
"Truth"
Exclusive to the manga, the enigmatic being usually known as the "Truth" (or alternatively, depending on the translation, as God and the World) is the humanlike form of the Gate of Alchemy. It is only shown as an short, childlike outline, implying that it possesses a physical figure, though none is ever visible. The Truth appears to those who have attempted a human transmutation in some form and shows them to the Gate of Alchemy. The Gate opens and drags the alchemist in, while the Truth looks on in the greatest amusement. It then accepts a "toll" (a body part) for looking into the Gate, and takes that toll for its own body. His right arm and left leg(at least to Ed), are his arm and leg specifically. An interesting incongruency is that Ed passed through the gate on his way out of Gluttony by preforming human transmutation on himself; he saw the gate, encounterd Truth(who asked him if he had come for his limbs) and was not maimed in any way. This may be explained, however not confirmed, that in accordance with Equivalent Exchange, because Ed didn't appear to gain anything during that trip to the gate, he didn't have to give anything up.
"Truth" has an enormous crazed grin similar to Gluttony's -- an interesting similarity, as the two are also alike in that Truth resides in the Gate of Alchemy and Gluttony holds a false Gate at the core of his body. It is noticed in the Manga that Gluttony's false Gate is modelled after the real one; his creator had obviously seen the gate multiple times, or at least enough to know what the other side of it was like.
Ling Yao
Exclusive to the manga, he is the 12th son of the Xingese Emperor. He is 15 years old, although he looks older because he is very tall for his age (much to the dismay of Edward). He is the Yao clan's heir to the throne. Due to the fatal illness of his father, he left his country to find the Philosopher's Stone so it could be used to stablize Xing, as well as to obtain the key to immortality. Although at first Ling is regarded as an annoyance by Edward (due to his habit of always making Ed pay for his meals and following him around), he shows his worth as a very skilled fighter. Despite his seeming indifference and even annoyance towards his servants, he actually does care about them, or at least Ran Fan (he sends Fu back to Xing with Maria Ross). This is also seen when he throws his sword into Envy's torso after Envy grabs Ran Fan's belt, and when he refuses to leave Ran Fan behind after she is injured by Wrath (Bradley). A deeper relationship is also hinted by the fact that Ed and other characters such as Greed has said that she is "waiting" for him when he goes into a dangerous situation (getting swallowed by Gluttony or being posessed by Greed), just like Winry is said to be "waiting" for Ed.
Afterward, Ling devises a plan with the Elrics whereby Ed and Al would lure Scar out to a battle, thus drawing out the Homonculi, who also wish to destroy Scar. Then Ling and Ran Fan would capture one and dissect it, as Ling assumes the regenerative powers of the Homoncunli is pretty close to immortality. They manage to capture Gluttony, but Ran Fan loses her arm in a losing fight against Bradley. They bring Gluttony to a house on the outskirts of town, but when Gluttony sees Mustang (who killed Lust), he assumes his true form and destroys everything in his path to get Roy. Ling and the Elrics stay behind to fight Gluttony while Envy also finds his way into the fray. In the ensuing battle, Gluttony swallows Ling. However, he also swallows Ed and Envy by accident and the three are forced to declare a cease-fire in order to escape the bowels of Gluttony's stomach.
In chapter 54, the Homunculi's father, noticed Ling's remarkable bringing-up, strength and intelligence, infuses the same Philosopher's Stone he drank from Greed's remains into Ling's body, causing Ling to become the second Greed. Ling is shown to be accepting of Greed in order to transform his body into an immortal vessel, and the two are currently co-existing in Ling's body. Greed even asked Ed to deliver a note to Ran Fan at Ling's request. However, Greed presently appears to be fully in control of Ling's body. It has been confirmed that Ling's soul is still present in his body, and is waiting for an opportunity to take over. The first time is when Ed mentions Ran Fan, and the second time is when Führer Bradley (Wrath) insults humans, and Ling says "Shut up. Don't make light of humans." This phrase is the same phrase Ling spoke while fighting Envy before. However, it's not known if Ling will eventually regain control.
Dante
FMADanteLyra.png
| Dante in | Japanese Cast | English Cast | Portuguese Cast | Spanish Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old body | Kazuko Sugiyama | Cindee Mayfield | ||
| Lyra's body | Yumi Kakazu | Monica Rial | Angelica Santos | Rebeca Aponte |
Dante is ruthless, destructive, and evil. She feels no remorse in taking lives and has no problem starting wars. During Dante's fights with Hohenheim and Ed, Lyra's body is revealed to be visibly decayed already, although it has only been a short time since Dante transferred her soul into Lyra's body (just before Ed's battle with Greed). With a new Philosopher's Stone, she planned to transfer into Rosé's body and win the heart of Hohenheim's son, Edward Elric, since Hohenheim himself no longer loves her. (Since in Episode 47, Dante found Sloth and said: "After I heard she died I knew this would happen, after all they are the sons of Hohenheim". This raises the probability that Dante knew Alphonse was bound to a suit of armor and was incapable of sexual activity, or that she learned it when the Elrics came to visit her).
She can perform alchemy without a transmutation circle, an ability she gained at an unknown time in the past (possibly while trying to resurrect someone, which resulted in Greed's creation). She uses the symbol of a winged snake fixed on a cross, which is passed on to Izumi, and then to the Elric brothers. It is meaningful that the symbol is the opposite of the Ouroboros worn by the Homunculi. It represents a fixation on the volatile principle in alchemy, as opposed to the endless cycle represented by Ouroboros. In Dante's case, the symbol likely represents her belief that she is immortal and has conquered the cycle of birth and death represented by the Ouroboros.
Dante is the leader of the Homunculi. For centuries, she used Envy to find and recruit new Homunculi whenever one of her previous agents died. She used them to spark wars, to create both the motivation and raw ingredients (human lives) for a Philosopher's Stone. However, she has never actually created a Philosopher's Stone on her own, as she did not know exactly how to do so. She created several stones together with Hohenheim, including the first one, made four hundred years ago using those condemned as witches and those dying of the plague; one made using the people of the city now buried beneath Central; and one associated with a "fabled lost city in the East" that apparently disappeared long ago.
She acts motherly toward the Homunculi and promises to make them human, but in reality she sees them merely as means to an end and she has no qualms about punishing or even killing them if they start exhibiting human-like emotions and are therefore no longer useful to her. For example, she imprisons Greed in Laboratory Five and later seals him in a transmutation circle so that Ed could kill him for disobeying her, has the Gate rip Wrath's human limbs off for his pleading to bring back Sloth with the Stone, and transmutes Gluttony to feel only insatiable hunger, to stop his inconsolable grieving for Lust so he could devour Al and create the completed Stone inside his body for her to use.
It is unknown what becomes of Dante, but it is assumed that she is dead: she was last seen fighting off a crazed, mindless Gluttony while attempting to return above ground in the elevator to Pride's office. When the elevator reached its final destination, neither she nor Gluttony is inside. Moreover, since her body was rapidly decaying at the time, even if she managed to fend off Gluttony, her remaining life would be limited since she would be unable to transfer her soul into a new body without a new Philosopher's Stone. It is possible, however, that she kept a spare Philosopher's Stone in dire emergences, so she could remain alive. But even so, her ability to switch bodies was almost at its limit (Lyras had begun to decay within days of the transfer).
In addition to her ability to perform alchemy without a circle, Dante possesses the unique ability to summon the Gate by using babies, whose bodies, minds and souls have a loose connection compared to older people. This ability involves a transmutation circle on the child. This ability is curious in two ways: first, Dante is able to activate the circle without physical contact, and second, when she summons the Gate to take away Wrath's human limbs, it does not seem to have the effects that a transmutation near the activated Philosopher's Stone should have. Due to these two inconsistancies, something else unknown may be going on beyond traditional alchemy but the story offers no further explanation.
Before Hohenheim created the Philosopher's Stone, Dante looked very much like Lyra except with wavier hair that went down to her shoulders. She was also considerably more loving back then, judging by the amount of concern she had for Hohenheim after he nearly died completing the Stone.
The name Dante is likely derived from Dante Alighieri, considering the Homunculi's association with the Seven Deadly Sins which are prominent in the Divine Comedy. Dante does not exist in the manga, as the creator and leader of the Homunculi in the manga is an enigmatic being simply called "Father".
Hohenheim of Light (Hohenheim Elric)
| Japanese Cast | English Cast | Portuguese Cast |
|---|---|---|
| Masashi Ebara | Scott McNeil | Guilherme Lopes |
In the anime
He was introduced as "Hohenheim of Light" by the time he resurfaces to face Dante, he is over 400 years old. At some point in the past, Dante and Hohenheim had a relationship, which resulted in one child. This child died due to mercury poisoning, but was resurrected as a Homunculus: Envy. However, Hohenheim eventually left Dante, and he later stated that Trisha Elric was the only woman he ever truly loved.
He created one or more Philosopher's Stones and, like Dante, used it to transfer his soul into a new body to live perpetually. But as with Dante, Hohenheim's vessels decay over time since after each transfer the soul rots and becomes more inadequate to sustain a body, which is the true reason why he left his family in the first place. However, unlike Dante, Hohenheim had no real intention to live forever. Originally he intended to live long enough until Dante had used up the last of her Philosopher's Stone. But Hohenheim had no idea that she was using the Homunculi to set up wars that would drive other alchemists to create a Philosopher's Stone for her to take in the aftermath. He appears as a rather world weary, soft spoken man because he has lived for so long, even allowing Ed to punch him quite hard in the face with his automail arm upon their reunion.
He appears in episode 43 on a train platform with Winry and Sczieska. Winry comments to Sczieska that he had been looking at her(Winry)for the whole train ride, and subsequently freaks out when confronted by him, thinking he is a pervert. However, when he goes to Winry's home and reveals that he knows her grandmother on a first name basis, she askes who he is, and her grandmother tells her that he is Ed and Al's father. Later that same day, when Ed, Al, Mustang and his entorage get to Winry's home, Al comments that Hohenheim looks familiar to Ed, only to look over and see him racing at top speed at their father and then punching him in the face. With Ed, Mustang, Al, Winry, and Mustang's group inside talking about what to do, Hohenheim sits on the porch petting Winry's dog when he starts at the mention by Ed of the name Dante. Upon finding out that his sons are involved in Dante's plans, he decides to confront her. In the confrontation, he is shown to be a phenominally powerful alchemist, perhaps the most powerful in the series. He, like Ed and Izumi, can use alchemy without a transmutation circle. Not only that, he can also apparently use alchemy without the traditional clap used by other alchemists who have seen the gate. When Dante orders Gluttony to attack him, he simply motions gently in Gluttony's direction and large ice spikes appear in front of Gluttony, who leaps back saying "scary" in a heartfelt tone. Dante then transmutes a group of large rock monsters out of the floor, and Hohenheim, without even twitching, transmutes the spikes into ice scuptures that resemble Al's armor, and they proceed to rip Dante's mosters to pieces. After overpowering Dante's creatures, he flicks a finger towards her, creating something that rips a gash in her dress, revealing the rotting body underneath. He initially has no intention of stopping her in any way beyond the protection of his sons. He says that in exchange for leaving Ed and Al alone, he would tell her why her new body was rotting so quickly. She fails to understand that she can't live forever, and he then asks how she was going to transmute her soul, because he suspects that the stone fragment he gave her had been used up when she transferred her soul to Lyra's body. She then tells him that Al recently has become the stone, which Hohenheim didn't know. Upon his realization that she intended to use Al to get a new body, he seems to become angry. He disdainfully growls "you just don"t understand", and begins to walk towards her, seemingly with the intention of stopping her for good. However, he sees Sloth and freezes up, having numerous flashbacks of Trisha and his sons. Sloth then rushes at him and wraps her liquid body around him. At this point, seemingly because of the flashbacks, he reverts to his world weary persona and takes no action as Dante sends him into the Gate, where his mind, body and soul are separated. But Hohenheim manages to recreate himself and escape to the other side of the Gate, ending up in London in 1916, during WWI. He served as an advisor to Winston Churchill around the time Edward's mind and soul passed through the gate. After WWI, Hohenheim moved to Germany where he sees Edward off on the boy's trip to Romania, in the final episode. Hohenheim allies himself with the Thule Society, so as to help open a gate for Edward to return to his world. In the movie, as a final act of redemption for his sins, he commits suicide by pulling Envy's jaws through his body, thus providing a means to open a stable physical gate to the Other World, thus satisfying both his desire to help Edward and Envy's wish for vengeance.
Before creating the first Philosopher's Stone and transferring bodies, Hohenheim was a tall, well-built, more rugged-looking man with a beard and longer hair that looked remarkably like his present body.
In the Manga
In the manga, he is introduced as "Van Hohenheim" when he returns to Resembool. Before leaving, he warned Pinako Rockbell to leave the country. After leaving Resembool, his carriage is held up by bandits, who promptly retreat after shooting Hohenheim multiple times, with no effect. This may mean Hohenheim is immortal, or has a Philosopher's Stone. It is more likely however, that he has a body similar to "Father's"(the creator of the seven Homunculi) body, as both Hohenheim and "Father" seem to have very durable bodies. They also look very much alike. However, Hiromu Arakawa, the creator of FMA, had for a long time been very ambiguous about whether Hohenheim is "Father." Recently, in chapter 54, it was revealed that "Father" is not Hohenheim - the manga shows Hohenheim in a completely different place during Ed and Al's encounter with "Father." However, it seems as though the two are at least connected somehow, considering how "Father" frantically asks Edward about what had become of Hohenheim. "Father"'s reference to Hohenhiem as "it" seems to intense the fact Hohenhiem is no mere human.
It is also a possibility that Hohenheim is the soul of the creature, "Father" is the mind, and there is a decaying Hohenheim-like body somewhere in Amestris. Hohenheim seems to have no reaction to being shot, thus his mind or soul is attached to that body (He doesn't feel anything, same as Alphonse). He may have picked a body to transplant his soul into that looked very much like his own so that Trisha wouldn't be alarmed when he magically changed skin colours or caused some other dramatic instance. It could even be his own brother or relative. Because of this, there is a possibility of Hohenheim reappearing in the storyline, but without any memory of his meetings with Ed. This would be the 'mind' part of him. His mind, soul, and body could have been separated while trying to create the Philosopher's stone or any other insane Alchemic action. This is all mearly speculation however, as Hohenhiem has never mentioned that he has any vital relation to "Father", although he does seem to know what "Father" is up to.
Hohenheim is named after Theophrast von Hohenheim (a.k.a. Paracelsus), a famous, real-life 16th-century alchemist who claimed to have created an artificial human he called a homunculus, which supposedly turned on him and ran away. This is mirrored in the anime's storyline, in which Hohenheim creates the homunculus known as Envy, who runs away and seeks revenge on his creator.
"Father"
An enigmatic being with no known name, "Father" is the central antagonist of the manga, and is responsible for the creation of the seven homunculi, his children with which he "shares his soul" (thus explaining his title). "Father" is seemingly rather old in appearance, but it is suggested that he is even older than he appears - at least two or three centuries, if not more. He is a cold and pragmatic person who loathes treachery of his plans, and he may be responsible for the very creation of Amestris itself, as well as for the provocation of every war relating to it. He considers himself an existence far beyond human, comparing them to insects, and anyone who isn't useful in his plans is considered dispensable. He also has an unexplained connection with Hohenheim, whose face resembles his and to whom he refers as "it" rather than "he." It appears that whatever connection he has with Hohenheim is not antagonistic, as it appears that Hohenheim knows what "Father" is doing, but has made no attempt to stop him. Also, when he learns that Hohenheim is alive and has had children, he seems to react with excitement.
"Father" has the extremely useful power to nullify all alchemic processes within a specific but large radius of himself, rendering any and all alchemic attacks - no matter how lethal, powerful, or proficient - to be completely null and void against him. He is apparently vulnerable, however, to Xingese and Ishbalan alchemy (a mix between Xing and Amestris alchemy used by Warrior monks), for reasons unknown. It would also seem that he can perform alchemy purely through thought, with no movement whatsoever, and that he can transmute with any part of his body, not merely his hands as with most other alchemists. He has a third eye, hidden in his forehead, which dispatches Greed's incomplete Philosopher's Stone (which he drank after punishing Greed for his transgressions). In addition, he is apparently capable of violating the law of Equivalent Exchange, as demonstrated when he replaces Al's missing hand without any visible raw material to use - though he may hold extra materials within his body, using them for such transmutations. His body is not that of a human, as shown in a scene where Scar grabs his face and attempts to decompose it, However, this ability only works if Scar knows what he is decomposing, and it didnt work on Father, which means that his body is not composed of the elements that form a human body. His third eye and the fact that he can create bodies for the Homunculi out of his own body further support this theory. The full extent and source of his abilities are both unknown. At this point in the manga, his goal appears to be this: he wishes to create an enormous Philosopher's Stone, even larger than the one he used to animate Envy, to use as a passage fee to the gate. Once he has the stone, he will then proceed to open the gate either by performing human transmutation on himself, or by some unknown process possibly relating to his need for "human sacrifices". The entire thought behind this is probably to see the entire "Truth", which would enable him to become a god. He appears to have tried this process in Xerxes, but somehow failed.
Alfons Heiderich
| Japanese Cast | English Cast |
|---|---|
| Shun Oguri | Jason Liebrecht |
Contrary to popular belief, his name is spelled "Alfons" which is the old German spelling, as opposed to "Alphonse" like Alphonse Elric. Their seiyū (voice actors) are also different because of the physical age difference of the characters.
Noah
| Japanese Cast | English Cast |
|---|---|
| Miyu Sawai | Leah Clark |
A Roma girl whom Ed befriends in the Conqueror of Shamballa movie. Edward helps her escape after she is sold to the Thule Society by her fellow Roma. The Society is actually after her power to read a person's mind just by touching them. After living for a while with Ed and Alphose Heiderich, she is found by the Thules and convinced to work for them - she thinks that maybe in Shamballa she would finally find a place to call home. Thus she uses her gift to obtain from Edward knowledge of alchemy and his world, but it isn't enough to help them open a stable portal to Ed's world. When the Thules finally succeed in their objective, Dietlinde tries to dispose of Edward, despite Noah's plead to spare him, and she realizes her mistake in trusting them. Some fans believe that she is their world's version of Rosé Thomas, due to the girls' similar appearances, personalities, and interest in Ed, but the slightly different style of art used on her character model makes it nearly impossible to say for certain. It should be noted, however, that Rosé appears in the movie with a slightly different voice actor than Noah. Also, in Episode 36 - The Sinner Within, when the water tower breaks a girl very similar-looking to Noah comes out of the train holding the Ishbalans.
Dietlinde Eckart
| Japanese Cast | English Cast |
|---|---|
| Kazuko Katou | Kelly Manison |
Notes
- Original Japanese cast for the TV series/movie.
- Funimation's dub cast for English speaking nations, originally broadcasted in Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in the United States of America, also broadcasted in Canada, United Kingdom and Australia.
- Álamo's dub cast in Portuguese for broadcasting in Brazil, at Animax channel and Rede TV!.
- Estudios Lain's dub cast for broadcasting in Spanish speaking Latin American countries, at Animax channel.
"Main characters of Fullmetal Alchemist"