History Characters / FullmetalAlchemistMainCharacters

* TheAce: Zig-zagged. Easily the best State Alchemist in terms of power and combat ability, made colonel before 30, and he has the highest homunculus body count.

** His Flame Alchemy. While he's a talented alchemist (Talented enough to become a state alchemist long before he got his flame alchemy), he is so focused on said flame alchemy he's rarely seen using any other type of alchemy - you can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times he does on the show - and he's treated by most of the characters as severely weakened or nigh useless if he's wet and therefore denied his flame alchemy - despite the fact that by all right all that should do is make him even to any other alchemist that doesn't possess flame alchemy.

* TheAce: Zig-zagged. Easily the best State Alchemist in terms of power, a brilliant strategist, and well known and loved by many women (or so people think, they're actually informants) in addition to being a war hero and being the first character to kill a homunculus! By the end of the series, he has the highest homunculus body count.

* NothingButSkinAndBones: Inside the gate, his real body [[spoiler:is in pretty bad shape; poor hygiene, gaunt with emaciation, and too weak to even walk. Theorizing that his body may have been feeding off of his brother's nutrients, he probably would have died had Ed not been a natural SleepyHead and BigEater. Even still, he's happy to get it back at the end, though it probably took months (or even a year or two) to get healthy and back in shape.]]

* MagicKnight: Suit of armor? Check. Magic ([[MagicByAnyOtherName well, alchemy]])? Check. Although at first, he's more of a KungFuWizard due to lacking the ability to use Clapping Alchemy.

* KungFuWizard: Like Ed, Al can kick ass with alchemy or his bare hands. He's more Kung-Fu than Wizard, though, as he can't use alchemy without drawing a transmutation circle, and usually relies on his martial arts skills in combat, which have been even better than Ed's since they were kids.

* AxCrazy: PlayedForLaughs. His demeanor when fighting mooks is usually either dissonant glee or comical bloodlust. Even his allies comment on how scary he gets whrn he's worked up. Sometimes plays it up to [[TerrorHero demoralize his enemies]]. Completely averted in dramatic situations, where it's clear he doesn't actually want to hurt anyone if he can avoid it.

* BerserkButton:

** "I HATE MILK!"

* {{Tsundere}}: A male Type A; cannot spit his feelings out in standard ways.

%%* LivingEmotionalCrutch: For Riza.

* TheConscience: Despite Ling's shadier characteristics, he has a strong sense of morality and ends up serving this role to [[spoiler: Greed, after they end up sharing a body]]. While it is partly to gain an advantage over him, Ling makes commentary on his actions, chews him out when it's warranted, and eventually coaxes him into recognizing what he really wanted in life.

* TookALevelInKindness: In a big way. While Ed was never outwardly greedy or cruel, he is rather selfish and myopic at the beginning, and his more Jerkass moments are him fixedly ignoring or outright dismissing other peoples problems wile Al runs interference; as we learn through his development it's less because he's unable to empathize, and more because he's [[ItsAllMyFault so utterly horrified by what he's done]] that he believes that ''he'' has to fix his mistake, ''he'' has to deal with his own problem. But being forced by his own quest to acknowledge the suffering of others, as well as the other character's gentle (and [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan not so gentle]]) reminders that he's not alone in this fight, that he has other people who care about him and will help him, make him gradually a kinder and more open person- so much so that the same guy who coldly told Rosé to deal with her own problems early on has to be ''talked down'' from offering help to others. Perhaps that's the reason he grew taller.

* TookALevelInKindness: In a big way. While Ed was never outwardly greedy or cruel, he is rather selfish and myopic at the beginning, and his more Jerkass moments are him fixedly ignoring or outright dismissing other peoples problems wile Al runs interference; as we learn through his development it's less because he's unable to empathize, and more because he's [[ItsAllMyFault so utterly horrified by what he's done]] that he believes that ''he'' has to fix his mistake, ''he'' has to deal with his own problem. But being forced by his own quest to acknowledge the suffering of others, as well as the other character's gentle (and [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan not so gentle]]) reminders that he's not alone in this fight, that he has other people who care about him and will help him, make him gradually a kinder and more open person- so much so that the same guy who coldly told Rosa to deal with her own problems in the first episode has to be ''talked down'' from offering help to others. Perhaps that's the reason he grew taller.

* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: Thought not quite as, ah, ''vehement'' as Ed is about it, she is quick to tell Rose that Ed is her childhood friend when Rose looks as if she's about to assume something else.

->Voiced by: Creator/RomiPark (JP), Creator/VicMignogna (EN), José Manuel Vieira (Latin America/animated adaptations), Alan Velazquez (Latin America/live-action film)

->Voiced by: Creator/RieKugimiya (JP), Creator/MaxeyWhitehead (EN), Johnny Torres (Latin America)

->Voiced by: Creator/ShinichiroMiki (JP), Creator/TravisWillingham (EN), Rolman Bastidas (Latin America)

->Voiced by: Creator/RomiPark (JP), Creator/VicMignogna (EN), José Manuel Vieira (Latin America)

* WeaksauceWeakness: Repeatedly said to be totally ineffective if under rain or if wet. It's not entirely accurate; he just can't use his alchemy if his ''gloves'' get wet, as they're made of a special ignition cloth to create the necessary spark. However, if he has another source of fire available (not even fire, all he needs for his alchemy is the appropriate circle and a spark - such as from a lighter), pray for deliverance. We're looking at you, Lust.

* TerribleArtist: His attempt at drawing Shao May sucks (though it's probably his visualization based on his negative experience with Shao). Al even says it looks like an alien.

* AwesomeByAnalysis: Edward picks up several alchemical techniques simply by observing others and adopting their styles.

* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: When Winry picks up a gun and is on the verge of shooting him, Scar freely admits she has every right to do so and actually ''encourages'' her to do so, though he also warns her that the second she pulls the trigger, she will be his enemy. Ed and Al intervene, [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim not wanting Winry to become a murderer]].

Ling Yao is a member of the Xing Royal Family, and has the powers that come with it. His appearance marks the start of the large differences between the first anime and manga/''Brotherhood'' anime.

* BashBrothers: With Ed starting when they fight Envy and Gluttony together. [[spoiler:it even carries over to Greedling.]]

* {{Greed}}: He's a pretty greedy fellow, given that he a seeks immortality and the power to rule over his country. [[spoiler: It perhaps makes a bit too much sense that he becomes the second Greed.]] To his credit though the reason he even wants those things is so that he may provide for his people in return.

* TheIllegal: He's an illegal immigrant from a place called Xing. He's sent to jail, but breaks out later. Since he's a prince, he could probably be considered a diplomat or such, but he didn't have his papers ([[YoungerThanTheyLook and they wouldn't believe he was only 15]]) when he was arrested.

** PunnyName: Prince Ling? Princeling!

* SayMyName: ''LAN FAAAAAAAN!!!''

* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Averted, interestingly. Unlike Ed (who actively denies that he and Winry are romantically linked), Roy (who rarely talks about how deep his feelings for Riza are) and Alphonse (who doesn't yet know how he feels about Mei) Ling doesn't deny that he has feelings for Lan Fan when Greed brings up the possibility.

* ShipTease: With Lan Fan. More subtle than most of the other ShipTease's in the series but it's definitely there.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Ling/Lin/Rin, and some offbeat examples like Lynn. Ling seems to be the correct spelling, as his name tag bracelet when he gets put in jail has it written this way.
** Xingese people have proto-Chinese names, so "Ling" (spelled "Lin" in Chinese, and either "Lin" or "Rin" in Japanese) is the correct form.

* SuperPoweredEvilSide: [[spoiler:Acquires Greed as one.]]

* ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil

* WhatWereYouThinking: [[spoiler:After his DealWithTheDevil, of course.]]

* YoungerThanHeLooks: Is apparently 15 years old when introduced to the story (a bit younger than Ed), and thus technically a KidHero, although he looks like a fully grown adult and is [[WiseBeyondTheirYears mature beyond his age]].
** Lampshaded a bit when he gets arrested for being an illegal immigrant. The guard questions Ling's age and subsequently refuses to believe he's actually a minor.

* AnimalsHateHim: [[spoiler:A natural reaction when they can sense more than half a million people standing in front of them at once.]]

* ChekhovMIA: He left his family and went missing years ago. Once he appears, he becomes a major character for the entire plot.
* ChekhovsGunman: Twice! [[spoiler:The first time, Father/Homunculus needed him in assuming a physical form (that was an exact replica of his body). The second time, he needed him as a "sacrifice" required to absorb God.]]

* CruelToBeKind: During his first appearance, he coldly accuses Edward of running away and then knowingly lets him overhear a conversation with Pinako about the possibility that what he created wasn't even Trisha. The combination of these two events drives him to prove he isn't running away by checking the body only to find out that not only was it not Trisha, but it's little more than a crudely made jumble of random body parts that could never have been a functional human. By talking to it with Al, they realize it didn't even have a soul or consciousness of its own, so they didn't bring some poor freak into the world that could only suffer before it died either. This greatly eases the conscience of Ed, Al and Izumi because it means they didn't kill their loved ones a second time.

* GoodCounterpart: To Father; in a weird way they essentially created one another.

* GirlNextDoor: Was this to Ed and Al growing up.
* GreenEyedMonster: A very slight case, but she did seemed bothered by Rosé's desire to see Ed again and Al teases her for it.

* AntiHero: Eventually switches sides after [[ConflictKiller the Homunculi]] start moving openly.

* CharacterDevelopment: He cast aside his name to murder State Alchemist, and near the end realizes [[spoiler:he doesn't need one to rebuild his people.]]

* DeathSeeker: Implied, at least for a time. His goals seemed to be suicide by State Alchemist.
** More explicit in the manga when, after being saved by Olivier, he complains that she, like the Rockbells, didn't just let him die.

* EasilyForgiven: Averted. Winry is willing to help Scar by treating his life-threatening injuries because it's what her parents would have done, but that doesn't mean she's forgiven him. Also, Edward still wants to beat the crap out of him and make him pay his respects in front of the Rockbell graves one day. He also refuses to tell Winry why he killed her parents, not wanting to seek forgiveness for it (he killed them after regaining consciousness after his family was killed, discovering that his brothers arm was now attached where his own once was, and freaked out when he saw them and was reminded of the Amestrian soldiers.)
** Played straight in the end as [[spoiler: Olivier saves his life and Miles offers him the chance to help rebuild Ishbal. Olivier claims that she did it to scare Roy when it became obvious that saving him wouldn't benefit her.]]

* EverybodysDeadDave: His refugee party is wiped out by Kimble.

* HeelRealization: He knew he wasn't a ''good'' person for a while. But it wasn't until Winry agreed to heal his wounds despite her hatred for him (crystallizing a point his elders made about their decision to pursue nonviolence) that he comes to realize just where--and how grievously--he went wrong.
** The start of it was after Winry freaked out and tried to kill him after she discovered that he had killed her parents. Afterwards, Scar could only wonder if that was what he looked like.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: When May decides to start hanging around.

* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** His victims include [[spoiler:Shou Tucker and [[ColonelKilgore Giolo Comanche]] (an unrepentant State Alchemist who served in Ishbal). He also goes up against [[AxCrazy Kimblee]], who would have killed the Rockbells if he had not.]]
** Averted with his murder of [[spoiler:Basque Grand, who, through what little we gleam of his character, was a relatively decent person.]]

* NotSoDifferent: While he and Ed have several differences, signs point to them being incredibly similar.

** Scar actually lampshades this about himself and Edward. The fact that he did so to encourage Mustang not to become as bitter as them did not amuse Ed.

* OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank: After his CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

* PetTheDog: His kindness to May makes him a bit more likeable.

* {{Wrath}}: His big sin. He essentially views himself as the wrath of God personified, starting him down the deep end.
** Foreshadows [[spoiler:him being the one to finally kill Wrath the homunculus.]]

The protagonist of the series. Seeks the secret of the Philosopher's Stone so he can undo the mistakes of his past of trying to bring back his mother to life. The truth behind the Philosopher's Stone, and the connection to the secrets behind the country he lives in drives the story.

* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Young Ed. He more or less kept it when he grew up, only now it makes him seem high-strung and unpleasant.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: While he was born to a human mother, [[spoiler: his father is a walking, talking, immortal Philosopher's Stone]].
** Averted/jossed in-universe when Ed and [[spoiler: Hohenheim have a discussion late-on in the series, wherein Hohenheim confirms both Ed and Al are regular humans.]]

* BelligerentSexualTension: With Winry. [[spoiler:Eventually, TheyDo.]]

** "If you think I'll let you hurt A HAIR ON HER HEAD...!"

* {{Bishonen}}: Especially more so in May Chang's fantasies of him.

* ChekhovsGunman: One of the necessary "sacrifices" required for [[spoiler:Father to absorb God.]]

* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: His golden hair and eyes are inherited from his father.

* ExactEavesdropping: He learns that [[spoiler: what he created was not his mother]] by eavesdropping a conversation between Hohenheim and Pinako.

%%* ExpressiveHair: Not just when in SuperDeformed mode, either.

%%* GuiltComplex: Type 3.

* ILetGwenStacyDie: This occurs '''twice''' over the course of the series to poor Edward: [[spoiler:Nina's death, and then Hughes' death.]]

** He can't stand his dad for abandoning his family and yet he abandons what constitutes ''his family'' in the way he shuts Winry and Pinako out of his life.

-->"She's my mechanic! Nothing more!"

* YoureNotMyFather: Typically refers to his father as "Hohenheim," until the last chapter, [[spoiler:when he tells Hohenheim "Shut up, you rotten father!" in response to his offering to sacrifice himself to bring Al back.]]

* AmbiguouslyHuman: While he was born to a human mother, [[spoiler: his father is a walking, talking, immortal Philosopher's Stone]].

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Averted; due to the constant fighting, his armor gets thinned out to extend it (to fix his arm) and his "hair" gets torn.

* ChekhovsGunman: Like Ed, he was one of the necessary "sacrifices" required for [[spoiler:Father to absorb God.]]

* ExtraOreDinary: His and Ed's alchemy specialty is metal

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: His interactions with May would already be this if he were in his flesh-and-blood body, let alone a large suit of armor. She is that small.

A colonel in the military, stationed in East City at the start of the story. Known as the [[KillItWithFire Flame Alchemist]] he seeks to become the Fuhrer so he can fix the country, and spread his ideals to the people.

* TheAce: Zig-zagged. Easily the best State Alchemist in terms of power, a brilliant strategist (somewhat subverted), and well known and loved by many women (or so people think, they're actually informants) in addition to being a war hero and being the first character to kill a homunculus! By the end of the series, he has the highest homunculus body count.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: [[spoiler:Some fans took issue with Mustang only losing his sight after meeting Truth, rather than his actual eyes, accusing Arakawa of simply not wanting him to be ugly during the climax. However, he was truly forced to perform human transmutation (specifically, Pride used energy from his own Philosopher's Stone while using the Gold-Toothed Doctor's knowledge to more-or-less ''force'' Roy through the Gate). Him just losing his sight did teach him something valuable, but he didn't commit the hubris of transmutation to warrant losing his eyes; in a side story, there was an alchemist who lost his eyes trying to bring his friends' daughter back, reinforcing this notion.]]
* BerserkButton:
** He doesn't take kindly to being reminded that he's useless when wet.
** Don't imply that you're attracted to Riza Hawkeye, or mess with her in any way, shape or form. In the manga, Barry the Chopper declares that he's in love with Riza ([[AmazonChaser because she shot at him instead of screaming in terror]]). Then he makes the mistake of putting his hand on her waist, clearly against her wishes, in front of Roy.
-->'''Roy:''' ''[[CrazyJealousGuy *literally growling, eyes on fire*]]'' Stand aside, Lieutenant...there's going to be a ''fire'' tonight.
** Don't taunt him about [[spoiler: Hughes' death. Envy found this out the hard way when Roy almost ''killed'' him for it.]]

* ChekhovsGunman: While not quite obvious from the get-go, Father's been eyeing him as a "sacrifice" required to absorb God for some time. ''Almost'' failed, too. But alas, [[TheChessmaster Father is Father]].

* ColdBloodedTorture: Puts [[spoiler: Envy]] through this near the end of the series. He even lets [[spoiler: Envy]] [[HealingFactor regenerate themselves]], stating outright that they'll die a ''thousand'' deaths before he's done with them.

** In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]], he even beats the [[spoiler:[[PuttingOnTheReich Führer]], another example of him taking down a Homunculus]].

* CripplingOverspecialization: His Flame Alchemy. While he's a talented alchemist (Talented enough to become a state alchemist long before he got his flame alchemy), he is so focused on said flame alchemy he's rarely seen using any other type of alchemy - you can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times he does on the show - and he's treated by most of the characters as severely weakened or nigh useless if he's wet and therefore denied his flame alchemy - despite the fact that by all right all that should do is make him even to any other alchemist that doesn't possess flame alchemy.

-->"Hmm... This ''IS'' convenient."

* DudeWhereIsMyRespect: {{Inverted}}. After Isvalian war he is praised for his involvement it and commonly considered to be a war hero, but he would much rather [[TheAtoner get punished for it]]

* GoodEyesEvilEyes: If it wasn't apparent that Envy had just pressed Mustang's BerserkButton '''big time''', then his eyes narrowing to a slit makes it terrifyingly so. He's stopped right before he really goes off the deep end, though, then returns to normal.

* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Subverted. While Ed, Hawkeye, and Scar all step in to stop him from killing [[spoiler:Envy]], they do so to prevent him from [[HeWhoFightsMonsters losing himself in his hatred]], with all of them agreeing that [[spoiler:Envy]] deserves to die either way.

* MookHorrorShow: [[spoiler: Played straight in Mustang's "fight" against Envy. It was less of a fight and more of a hunt. Just like a classic slasher film, Envy is show frantically scrambling for his life, desperately trying ANYTHING to so much as phase Mustang. While Mustang [[TranquilFury calmly]] hunts him, his stride never breaking faster than [[TheSlowWalk a slow deliberate walk]] (yet he is always [[OffscreenTeleportation JUST behind Envy), all of Envy's attempts to attack him just managing to piss him off even more. Within minutes, Envy's expression when Mustang so much as gets him in line of sight is classic OhCrap. When Mustang finally cornered Envy, it was only Hawkeye begging Mustang to stop that prevented him from brutally murdering Envy (if only just).]]]]

* MookHorrorShow: [[spoiler: Played straight in Mustang's "fight" against Envy. It was less of a fight and more of a hunt. Just like a classic slasher film, Envy is show frantically scrambling for his life, desperately trying ANYTHING to so much as phase Mustang. While Mustang [[TranquilFury calmly]] hunts him, his stride never breaking faster than [[TheSlowWalk a slow deliberate walk]] (yet he is always [[OffscreenTeleportation JUST behind Envy), all of Envy's attempts to attack him just managing to piss him off even more. Within minutes, Envy's expression when Mustang so much as gets him in line of sight is classic OhCrap.]]