History for Characters/FullmetalAlchemistMainSupportingCast

[[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistBrothers Elric Brothers]] ([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistEdwardElric Edward Elric]]) | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistTeamMustang Team Mustang]] ([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistRoyMustang Roy Mustang]]) | '''Main Supporting Cast''' ([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistScar Scar]]) | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistMilitary Military]] | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistHomunculi Homunculi]] ([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistFather Father]], [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistEnvy Envy]]) | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistXing Xing]] | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistOthers Others]] | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemist2003 2003 Anime]] ([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemist2003MainCharacters Main Characters]]) ([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemist2003Homunculi Homunculi]])-]]]]]

to:

[[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistBrothers Elric Brothers]] ~~([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistEdwardElric Edward Elric]])~~ | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistTeamMustang Team Mustang]] ~~([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistRoyMustang Roy Mustang]])~~ | '''Main Supporting Cast''' ~~([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistScar Scar]])~~ | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistMilitary Military]] | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistHomunculi Homunculi]] ([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistFather Father]], [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistEnvy ~~Envy]])~~ Envy]], [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistHomunculiAffiliates Affiliates]]) | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistXing Xing]] | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistOthers Others]] | [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemist2003 2003 Anime]] ([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemist2003MainCharacters Main Characters]]) ([[Characters/FullmetalAlchemist2003Homunculi Homunculi]])-]]]]]

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-> [[Characters/FullmetalAlchemistScar See his page for tropes about him]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Izumi Curtis]]
!!Izumi Curtis
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Shoko Tsuda (JP), Creator/ChristineAuten (EN, Funimation), Muriel Hofmann (EN, Animax)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Cittlali Godoy (Latin America), Tânia Gaidarji (BR), Creator/DonatellaFanfani (IT)[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/izumi_curtis_4.png]]
->'''Affiliation:''' None\\
'''Rank:''' A housewife!\\
'''Speciality:''' Martial-Arts/Alchemy without an Array

Mentor to the Elric brothers, she taught them both alchemy and martial arts, both of which she is very much a master of. Despises State Alchemists. Believes in physical honing over focus in alchemy as a balance. Also, ''scary as hell'', especially when coercing her apprentices.

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* ~~ActionGirl: One~~ AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler:He killed the Rockbells after regaining consciousness after his family was killed, discovering that his brother's arm was now attached where his own once was and freaked out when he saw them and was reminded of the ~~most action packed women~~ Amestrian soldiers]].
* AloofBigBrother: Non-blood-related example, but Scar and May have a dynamic similar to this. Though the 'aloof' is a vast improvement over Scar's previous SerialKillerKiller occupation.
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: InUniverse, Roy and Ed argue about what kind of man Scar is. Roy says he's a genocide survivor with a good reason to avenge his people. A chagrined Ed believes that Scar just likes attacking people because he's a bully that is masking his pain. Given that Ed was too young to possibly participate in the Ishvalan massacre and Scar attacked him and Al anyway, it may explain his point of view.
* AntiHero: Eventually switches sides after [[ConflictKiller the Homunculi]] start moving openly, but stays gruff and closed-off.
* AntiVillain: [[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains Type II]]. He just wanted revenge on those who have killed his people.
* BackToBackBadasses: With Al when escaping Father's lair.
* BadassAndChildDuo: The Badass (mysterious, powerful grown man) to May's Child (perky preteen princess), although May herself is no slouch in combat.
* BadassBoast: "Your only solace from my wrath will be '''[[PrepareToDie damnation!]]'''"
* BadassPreacher: A former warrior-priest. The guy killed about 20 State Alchemists before the start of the series ~~to the point Ed~~ and Al fear her wrath. She also survived the cold winters near Fort Briggs for a month, taking out several soldiers and a giant bear in the process.
* ActionMom: She taught Ed and Al advanced alchemy and how to kick ass while also serving as their surrogate mother.
* AdaptationalJerkass: In the manga, Izumi sent Mason to the island while Ed and Al were there to make sure they survived. This was left out of ''Brotherhood'', meaning Izumi left the Elrics entirely on their own in the wilderness for a month.
* AerithAndBob: Her Japanese given name stands out a bit since Japan has no (known) direct counterpart in this universe, unlike Amestris which is based on a mix of Germany and England, and Xing which is based on China. [[note]]Japan does have a presence in Xingese culture in terms of some clothing, weaponry, and fighting styles, particularly those of the bodyguards Lan Fan and Fu. However, given that their names are still Chinese-esque, the origins of Izumi's name remains a mystery.[[/note]]
* AlmightyJanitor: Izumi loves able to announce her status as a lowly housewife before laying into her enemies.
* ApronMatron: Izumi will proudly proclaim herself a HouseWife while simultaneously [[MamaBear kicking the ass of every single person/chimera/immortal who dares to hurt her surrogate kids.]] Then she beats said surrogate kids up herself!
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Even if she roughs up Ed and Al more than necessary, it's very clear that she loves the two like they were her own children.
* BadassBookworm: When she started training the Elrics, she effortlessly dodged everything they threw at her ''while'' reciting the first lesson of alchemy from memory ''and'' reading from a cookbook simultaneously.
* BadassBystander: Her skills in alchemy and unarmed combat are both high enough to fight homunculi, but she's more interested in running her shop with her husband than saving the day for the state. When she does get dragged into conflict, it's usually personal, and the results aren't pretty.
* BadassTeacher: She's the one who taught defeat Ed and Al alchemy, after all.
* BarefootSage: She always goes around in open-toed sandals, which may be because she doesn't care much about conventions due to being Al. He even killed [[spoiler: Bradley]], a powerful and experienced Alchemist.
* BattleCouple: With Sig, her husband. They are HappilyMarried and were part of the FinalBattle together.
* BerserkButton: Two.
** The military, albeit to an extent. She does not approve of their actions (or at least the State Alchemists) though she does get along guy who went 1-0 with ~~and respect individuals such~~ ''a tank''.
* BadassTransplant: [[spoiler:He has his brother's arm, tattooed with alchemical markings that allow him to destroy anything with a touch]].
* BareFistedMonk: Literally, as Colonel Mustang and General Olivier Armstrong.
** '''Never''' call her "old".
* BloodFromTheMouth: Tends to happen at random, completely freaking out everyone around her. Which, [[BlackComedy in a very rare form of he was an Ishvalan warrior monk. Later upgraded this trope]], is usually PlayedForLaughs, including one moment when, mid-interrogation, a perp cracks when she starts vomiting blood all over him. It stops after [[spoiler:Hohenheim rearranges her organs to compensate for her damage]].
status with his added FacePalmOfDoom.
* BraidsOfAction: She wears her hair in multiple braids. She also taught Ed and Al both to fight and to use alchemy.
* CharacterCatchphrase:
** "''I'm a housewife!''"
** Near BatmanGrabsAGun: During his showdown with [[spoiler:King Bradley]] near the end of the ~~series she deliberately changes it~~ series, he [[spoiler:breaks his code as an Ishvalan and uses Alchemy to ~~"I'm an ALCHEMIST!" indicating her intention of giving a good asskicking for~~ reconstruct matter, thus regaining the final battle.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Quite possibly one of the strongest characters in the ''[=FMA=]'' universe. She can ''aikido'' you in the air with little effort even if you're stronger than her. Just ask Sloth.
* ChekhovsGunman: While revealed a little late, she is a necessary "sacrifice" required for Father to absorb God.
* ChubbyChaser: She absolutely adores her husband and fell in love soon after meeting him, Sig, who is a BigBeautifulMan.
* ContraltoOfStrength: Like Major General Armstrong, Izumi's voice is the deepest among the entire female cast and she's certainly one of the most dangerous.
* DisabledSnarker
* TheDreaded: Given the TrainingFromHell they endured while under her tutelage, combined with her HairTriggerTemper, the Elric brothers are understandably ''terrified'' of her and make it a point to avoid making her mad. In fact, they often use this as a motivator, saying they can beat a villain because said villain isn't as scary as Izumi.
** During her own TrainingFromHell in the past, she had to survive the frozen wilderness alone and frequently fought off Fort Briggs soldiers and preyed upon their rations. In one month, she knocked out so many armed patrols and stole so many supplies upper hand. Up until that the notoriously competent and fearless soldiers of Fort Briggs thought they were dealing with an entire elite infiltration unit and had to issue an official report to top brass in Central. The military never officially resolved the incident and still speak of that month like a terrifying urban legend, to the point even Olivier Mira Armstrong notes its significance when asked if anyone had ever infiltrated Fort Briggs.
** She is one of point, he only ~~two characters in~~ used his abilities to destroy things and so remained technically within the ~~entire series who is able to get away with pressing Ed's BerserkButton (i.e. drawing attention to~~ bounds of his height), due to Ed being so afraid of her. The other is Olivier Armstrong.
* DreadlockRasta: WordOfGod says they're actually microbraids.
* DreadlockWarrior: She is the Elric Brothers' teacher of both alchemy and the martial arts. In fact, she is one of, if not THE only person that they are afraid of. Albeit, as mentioned above, they aren't dreadlocks, but microbraids.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Her TrainingFromHell is only the start. She continually berates and abuses the Elrics throughout their training and well into their journey for the Philosopher's Stone. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold She really does mean well]], and much of her anger in the present is due to concern and disappointment over some of the brothers' unwise decisions, like attempting human transmutation and enlisting in the state military.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Izumi and her husband get a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in episode 9 of ''Brotherhood''.
* ExcuseMeWhileIMultitask: She is shown fending off the Elric brothers during their training with her while reading from her notes (encoded in a cookbook) as she lectures.
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Winry was expecting someone huge and terrifying from the brothers' description of their teacher.
* GeniusBruiser: She'll just pummel you without breaking a sweat normally, so pray she doesn't decide to break out the alchemy too.
* GoodIsNotNice: She does not believe that painless lessons are worthwhile lessons, to put it mildly. But she is undoubtedly one of the good guys.
* HandicappedBadass: She's missing several of her internal organs and randomly coughs up BloodFromTheMouth. She is also one of the most frakkin' epic characters in the entire series. Later on, she is no longer as inhibited by her loss thanks to [[spoiler: Hohenheim's alchemy rearranging her innards.code against it.]]
* ~~HappilyMarried: To Sig. They run their business together, he takes care of her when her illness starts up,~~ TheBigGuy: Scar's an extremely effective martial artist with considerable durability and there are frequent lovey-dovey backgrounds when they're both on screen.
* HeroicNeutral: She discourages her pupils from mixing the strength to take down anyone hand to hand. However, because of his history as one of Ishval's more conservative priests, he is (by choice) unfamiliar with the rest of the setting's combat tools and is quite unimaginative in a fight unless someone gives him some ideas. Ed almost got killed in his first fight with Scar by trying to fight him hand-to-hand; in his next fight, he stressed his alchemy and world affairs and largely keeps out of the events that drive the plot until they directly affect or interest her. Her only desire is to be a happy housewife.
* HiddenDepths: Despite being introduced as TheDreaded badass who scares Ed and Al to death, when she learns they did Human Transmutation to bring their mother back to life, she hugs them and tells them it's okay, showing us that Izumi is more ~~complex then first thought.~~ and had Scar locked down. It's ~~later discovered~~ also telling that ~~she made the same error when she tried~~ Scar was only able to bring back her stillborn child.
* {{Housewife}}: Emphatically declares herself one, though the closest we see deconstruct Jerso's saliva to escape ''after'' Ed mentioned that it ~~has her working in a butcher shop with her husband.~~was mostly water.
* ~~HugeGuyTinyGirl: Her husband~~ BigLittleBrother: He is ~~easily twice her size~~ way bigger and ~~can match muscles~~ stronger than his older brother was. Possibly justified with ~~Major Armstrong. NiceGuy for~~ his training to be a warrior monk while his brother became a scholar.
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: His FatalFlaw during the ~~most~~ first half of the series. He believes every single State Alchemist is evil regardless of their motives or history, and sees it as a god given duty to hunt them down. The problem with this is that he doesn't care or make a distinction between those who actually were part ~~[[TheButcher~~ of the Ishvalan Civil War and those who were not, so he tries to kill Edward because Edward is a State Alchemist, even though Ed was only a child during the conflict and had ''literally'' no part in the war. It takes a while for him to get over this and realize he was creating a CycleOfRevenge.
* BloodbathVillainOrigin: He began his serial-killing career by killing any and all available Amestrians [[spoiler:after waking up in a hospital to find that Kimblee has killed his entire family and that his [[BadassTransplant brother's arm has been grafted onto his body]] in the place of his own severed arm]]. He flipped out and started his rampage with [[spoiler:the Rockbells]], two Amestrian doctors who saved his life, in front of numerous other Ishvalans. While the slaughter is indeed his StartOfDarkness and he ~~runs~~ becomes an unrepentant murderer afterward, he does actually regret this particular action even before [[spoiler:his HeelFaceTurn]] and acknowledges that the two doctors did not meet even his warped definition of guilty.
* BookEnds: His story of revenge begins when he wakes up after being saved by the Rockbells and discovers that his country has been destroyed, and ends when he wakes up in the Armstrong mansion and is offered the chance to rebuild his people. [[spoiler: A key difference is that in the first one, he suffers a ~~butcher shop]], [[BewareTheNiceOnes but~~ FreakOut and kills the Rockbells, having connected them with the Amestrians who killed his people, while in the second he doesn't do any of that, despite being greeted by the similarly blonde haired and blue eyed Olivier.]]
* BreakThemByTalking: "Just don't forget, it was ''you Amestrians'' who started the Ishvalan War!"
* BrokenBird: He is tough, self-reliant and ''cold''. He has a very DarkAndTroubledPast as a survivor of a brutal genocide, which has left him seeking revenge against the State Alchemists who annihilated his people. He also takes a younger person under his wing like many other BB's do, this person being May Chang.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Scar is an angry ByronicHero who develops an IntergenerationalFriendship with May Chang, a perky, kind-hearted young princess.
* BruiserWithASoftCenter: He is a [[TheStoic stoic]] ChurchMilitant, but has a [[CutenessProximity love of cute things]], namely [[KindHeartedCatLover cats]], [[AnimeChineseGirl May Chang]], and her pet panda, Xiao May, the last of which everyone in the show thinks is a cat.
* ByronicHero: Morally neutral? He develops from an AntiVillain to an AntiHero. Largely concerned with personal interests? He's driven only by his feelings and his quest for vengeance, at least for a time. DarkAndTroubledPast? He lost his arm, his brother, most of his people, and his country in a brutal genocide. Defined by conflict, inner and outer? He has his moments. Introspective loner? Definitely so. Guilty of horrible crimes? He is responsible for dozens of murders, including the Rockbells, who were in no way responsible for the Ishvalan massacre. An exile? He's a wandering VigilanteMan. Cynical and self-destructive? He doesn't even care about ''his own'' life.
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: When he's captured by the heroes mid-way through his HeelFaceTurn, they still would like to kill him. However, they really need to be able to read the Alkahestry notes his brother made and they are written in an ancient Ishvallan language that only a former priest like Scar can translate.
* CharacterDevelopment: Scar starts out the series [[HeWhoFightsMonsters hell-bent on getting revenge]] on the State Alchemists for the genocide of his people, and is willing even to kill children for that purpose. Towards the end of the series, he's grown so much that he ends up [[spoiler:helping to talk down one of the State Alchemists he was hell-bent on killing from losing himself to blind hatred and vengeance -- exactly what Scar was at the start of the series.]]
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In his debut, he murders the two guards at Tucker's house without hesitation. However, in his later appearances, he just beats the guards in Briggs unconscious.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Mostly his ludicrous speed, but he is also [[MadeOfIron extremely tough]] and strong as well. Scar is able to semi-successfully [[DodgeTheBullet dodge bullets]], literally throw his opponents around, and keep on fighting despite having lost ridiculous amounts of blood. The only explanation for that is him being an Ishvalan monk -- one of those is supposedly worth ten regular soldiers in combat.
* ChurchgoingVillain: Scar filled this role early on, even going so far as to pray for God to bless the souls of Nina and Alexander whom he {{Mercy Kill}}ed. As time passed and he moved into a protagonist role, the conflict between his religious beliefs and his chosen path were brought into focus.
* TheComicallySerious: First seen in chapter 26. When a young Ishvalan refugee yells at him to clean up before ''throwing a washcloth at his face'', Scar's expression doesn't waver one bit. However, the most famous example is probably [[CutenessProximity his reaction to Shao May]].
* ContinuityCameo: Seems to make one in a crowd scene in season three of Manga/MyHeroAcademia. Fitting, considering both anime were adapted by Creator/StudioBONES
* CoolBigBro: May looks up to him ~~angry]].~~
as one.
* ~~IncurableCoughOfDeath: Due~~ CoolShades: He wears a pair to ~~her failed attempt at human transmutation, she lost some of her internal organs (enough~~ hide his red eyes.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: His trademark FacepalmOfDoom is this. He uses alchemy to ~~where she could never give birth~~ "deconstruct" a person's body, causing wounds to ~~a child again.) Partially fixed later, thanks to [[spoiler:an alchemical punch to~~ open up all over the ~~gut from Hohenheim, who cannot give her organs back but ''can'' nullify~~ body, followed by part of the ~~effects~~ body bloodily bursting. A few of such a loss by restructuring her innards around]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Her training methods his victims are ~~''harsh''~~ described as being "in pieces, or getting that way."
* CutenessProximity: He loves kittens and ~~she will utterly eviscerate the Elric brothers should they anger her, but she ultimately means well and cares for them like her own sons.~~had an urge to pet Shao May.
* ~~KillerRabbit: At~~ DarkAndTroubledPast: The extermination of his people, his brother dying to save him, the scar on his face etc.
* DeathSeeker: {{Implied}}, at least ~~when compared to~~ for a time. When [[spoiler:Winry]] hates him for [[spoiler:killing her GentleGiant FaceOfAThug husband.
* KungFuWizard: In a series full parents after they helped him due to his confusion at the time]] and considers whether or not to kill him, he understands and seems at peace with the idea of ~~[[MagicKnight Magic Knights]], she trained two~~ her getting her revenge on him and dying as a result. More explicit in the manga when, after being saved by Olivier, he complains that she, like the Rockbells, didn't just let him die.
* DespairEventHorizon: He crossed it in his backstory after his friends and family were blown up by Kimblee, his brother sacrificed himself to make sure Scar lived, having a FreakOut and murdering the Rockbells in a blind rage, and then seeing his home having been reduced to rubble. The only thing keeping him going is his hatred for Amestrians, but he grows out of it eventually.
* TheDreaded: For a good long while, he was the boogie man that had the entire military on edge.
* EasilyForgiven: PlayedWith. 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 ~~best. Her alchemic knowledge~~ 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 brother's arm was now attached where his own once was and ~~abilities are easily on par with State Alchemists,~~ freaked out when he saw them and ~~her skill with martial arts is so high~~ was reminded of the Amestrian soldiers.) On the other hand, [[spoiler: Olivier saves his life near the end and Miles offers him the chance to help rebuild Ishval. Olivier claims that she ~~can trounce both Elrics at once, go toe~~ did it to ~~toe~~ scare Roy when it became obvious that saving him wouldn't benefit her.]]
* EleventhHourSuperpower: He eventually comes to terms with ~~Homunculi~~ the fact that he's basically doing alchemy and ~~dispatch~~ it's the ~~notoriously tough~~ only way to complete his task, and gets the creation markings tattoed on his other arm for a complete power set. he then [[IAmNotLeftHanded surprises Bradley with it in their climactic clash]].
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Even before he got any alchemical abilities, he was capable of defeating multiple armed Amestrian soldiers ~~of Fort Briggs~~ with just his bare hands. The manga even states that the average Ishvalan warrior-priest was equal to 10 standard soldiers in a fight.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When he meets Shou and Nina Tucker he describes himself as God's retribution and brutally murders Shou but he takes a moment to pray for Nina's soul and makes it clear he considers killing her a MercyKill. This establishes his religious fervor and ruthlessness, but also shows he's not without ~~alchemy. Her philosophy~~ a conscience or mercy.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: His plan is to get revenge on the State Alchemists that ~~alchemy shouldn't be wasted on tasks humans can handle by natural means, so she~~ annihilated his people. Once he meets his master and other surviving Ishvalans, it's clear that he still cares about his people.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** After he incapacitates Al, who isn't a State Alchemist, he gives his word to not kill Al while preparing to execute a helpless Ed, who ''is'' one.
** He is quite horrified when he realizes that Nina was fused with her dog Alexander into a chimera, and puts plenty of emphasis on training and conditioning.
* LawOfInverseFertility: She and Sig had difficulty conceiving a child, and when they lost that baby, she was desperate enough to try human transmutation to revive it. She's then left completely incapable of bearing kids after Truth took them out ~~some~~ of ~~her organs.~~their (ambiguous) misery.
** He admits that he feels horribly guilty for [[spoiler:killing Winry's parents, because they were innocents and had saved him]].
* ~~LoveAtFirstSight: With~~ EverybodysDeadDave: His refugee party is wiped out by Kimblee.
* EveryoneHasStandards: As a man who is devoted to avenging his people, he acknowledges that it's only fair for Winry to try to kill him to take revenge for her ~~husband~~ parents' deaths at his hands. However, that doesn't mean he's going to lie down and accept that revenge and if she chooses to attack him he'll respond in kind.
* FacePalmOfDoom: His signature attack, he's also the page image.
* FallenHero: He was once a warrior-priest who dedicated himself to his god Ishvala. However, the Ishvalan Massacre took his family and the most of his people away from him, leading to him turning his back on his people, his culture and religion's principals and values in favor of his quest for vengeance.
* TheFarmerAndTheViper: During the war, [[spoiler:Winry's parents gave him medical treatment, saving his life. Scar thanked them by flipping out and killing them both. It's a bit of [[PlayedWith unusual variation]], as this murder was a result of confusion and rage on his part, rather than being an UngratefulBastard like in most examples]].
* {{Foil}}: He has one in Kimblee. Both men took part in the Ishvalan War and use alchemy to murder others because they enjoy it. But while Kimblee is quite open about how he does it ForTheEvulz, Scar presents his actions as a moral crusade despite them being aimed as satisfying his anger. This applies in-universe as well; part of Scar's HeelRealization is him noticing the similarities between himself and Kimblee.
* FreakOut: He's usually quite cool and collected, but when [[spoiler:he wakes up to find his brother [[SurvivorGuilt has sacrificed himself to save him he loses it completely and undeservedly kills Winry's parents]].]]
* FreudianExcuse: Scar's turn to evil started after the Amestrian military launched a CrashIntoHello.
* MamaBear: Her own child war of extermination against his people, the Ishvalans. The soldiers who caused the most casualties in the war were the State Alchemists. Scar himself was ~~stillborn~~ mortally wounded by the State Alchemist Kimblee, and ~~her alchemical attempts~~ his brother was only able to bring it back robbed her of her organs to where she could never give birth again. Through a strange exchange of fate, ended up taking Ed and Al as students who just lost their mother. As such, she more or less save Scar's life by sacrificing his own. Following this, Scar became a SerialKiller of State Alchemists, particularly targeting those who participated in the Ishvalan War of Extermination, in an attempt to avenge his brother and his people.
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: He becomes a VigilanteMan who targets State Alchemists because many of them had to do with the genocide of his people. When Roy Mustang (a State Alchemist himself) tells Ed that his quest for vengeance is justified, the latter rebukes it, claiming that he's still involving innocent people for the sake of his revenge and that he's just candy-coating it by acting self-righteous and calling himself "an instrument of God". Several other Ishvalans he meets also outright tell him that what happened to their ~~second mother. They are very competent fighters,~~ people is wrong, but ~~hurting them will bring her wrath~~ that going around and ~~she will show you why she~~ killing people doesn't make the system better. It's this and meeting Winry that Scar begins to reconsider his approach.
* FriendToAllChildren: Children who aren't certified State Alchemists at least, since he tries to kill Ed as soon as he finds him. May Chang is the first one to try to reach out to him, and he also sympathized with [[TragicMonster Nina Tucker]], albeit in a [[MercyKill twisted way]]. [[DownplayedTrope In a way]], him promising not to kill Al could also be seen as an example of this.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: {{Downplayed}}. He was always a badass, but he went from a young warrior-priest to TheDreaded GenocideBackfire.
* TheFundamentalist: He tries to pass off his murderous revenge against State Alchemists as a religious crusade, saying that their alchemy is an affront to his god Ishval. [[SubvertedTrope However]], Ed later points out that Scar is deceiving everyone with this excuse, including himself; his real motive is nothing more than simple revenge for the genocide of his people. [[spoiler:After this, Scar starts his transformation into TheAtoner, fully admitting the crimes he's committed without using his religion as an excuse.]] It helps that his old master (presumably the guy who trained him as a priest) survived the genocide and when Scar runs into him, he takes the Ishvala Is Love approach -- or more like, the Revenge Helps Nothing approach. This is one of the few ~~people whom~~ instances of religion having a positive impact in the ~~brothers fear.~~setting.
* GenocideBackfire: Unfortunately for the Amestris military, one of the survivors of the massacre happened to be a [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge vengeful]] Badass monk with a penchant for doing YourHeadAsplode to State Alchemists. It ''really'' backfires in the end, doesn't it Bradley?
* GenocideSurvivor: Scar is the most prominent survivor of the Ishvalan Civil War, a massacre committed against his people.
* ~~MeaningfulName: Her given name, Izumi, means flood~~ GetOutOfJailFreeCard: While he does go through a genuine HeelFaceTurn, Scar is still responsible for dozens of murders, including the Rockbells', who were in ~~Japanese. Guess during~~ no way responsible for the Ishvalan massacre. He doesn't suffer any official punishment for any of them.
* GroundPound: When outmatched, Scar tends to shatter the ground around him with his alchemy, throwing off his foes and giving himself a chance to escape if necessary. He does this often enough that when Kimblee's chimera corner him, they refer to this tendency and stop him from doing it.
* HairContrastDuo: Inverted. Scar is an angry ByronicHero with white hair. May is a perky, kind-hearted young princess with black hair.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: His entire family was killed by alchemists and his brother gave up his life (and arm) to save him, since his people have a quasi-religious reason to hate alchemy, he goes out hunting, "In God's Name". Especially ironic since he uses a form of alchemy to destroy his targets: State Alchemists. This is spelled out to Scar himself when Ed throws himself in front of Winry to protect her from Scar. Scar flashes back to Ishval, where Ed is in his brother's place, and Scar himself is in ''[[YouAreWhatYouHate Kimblee's]]''.
* HeelFaceTurn: He wasn't super ''evil'' to begin with, but he grew less violent and radical over time. Even Envy [[BreakThemByTalking pointed out to him that he was teaming with a State Alchemist; Scar basically told Envy he knew and just didn't care anymore]].
* 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 ~~event Edward and Alphonse~~ he looked like.
* HeroKiller: His first encounter ~~Izumi?~~
with Ed and Al ends with Ed's automail being shattered, and Al unable to move. Ed was saved only by Riza Hawkeye and Alex Armstrong's BigDamnHeroes. Mustang also tried to pull this along with them, but failed because [[WeaksauceWeakness it was raining]].
* ~~MentorInSourArmor: No matter how hard~~ HidingYourHeritage: Due to the persecution that the Ishvalans face, Scar, on a journey of vengeance to kill as many State Alchemists in the country of Amestris following their committing of the Ishval Massacre, hides his heritage by way of wearing sunglasses to avoid revealing the distinctive red irises that Ishvalans have.
* HisStoryRepeatsItself: He starts out as a member of an oppressed group fighting to take Amestris down, and winds up [[spoiler:saving it]].
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: A platonic example with May when she ~~is on~~ decides to start hanging around. She's around his waist in height.
* {{Hypocrite}}: He, an Ishvalan, hates alchemy, but uses the ~~Elrics, she loves them as~~ deconstruction part of it to kill his targets. [[spoiler:When he comes to terms with himself and realizes what he's doing is wrong, he gets a tattoo on his other arm and starts using alchemy]].
* HypocrisyNod: When Mustang is about to kill off Envy out of hate, Scar lectures him because he meant to become a ruler. However, he also made it clear that he won't stop him from taking vengeance because it would be hypocritical with Scar's history. Perhaps he wouldn't have judged Mustang so harshly, and instead just wanted to help him.
* IAmNotLeftHanded: Shows Bradley that [[spoiler:he has managed to make a reconstruction tattoo on his left arm]] in their final fight.
* IgnoredEpiphany: He seems to have had a HeelRealization when he wonders if his face looks like [[spoiler:Winry after the revelation that he killed her ~~own sons.~~
parents even though they saved his life]]. However, it doesn't stop him from killing people until [[spoiler:she]] meets him the second time, making it a subversion.
* ~~{{Mukokuseki}}: Inverted. In a cast where genetics clearly plays a role in determining physical appearance, Izumi's ethnic background is a mystery. Her hair is in microbraids~~ ImperfectRitual: His tattooed right arm allows him to perform 2 out of 3 steps of basic alchemy. Considering those steps are understanding and ~~her name and physical features are asiatic, but her maiden name, Harnet, is European.~~''[[MakeThemRot decomposition]]'', you do ''not'' want him to [[TouchOfDeath touch]] you with that right hand of his.
* MustNotDieAVirgin: Part of what kept her alive when she was training on Mount Briggs.
* OlderThanSheLooks: She's revealed {{Irony}}: Scar's quest for vengeance started because Amestrians slaughtered Scar's people. That quest ended with his working with Amestrians to ~~be around ''thirty-eight'' throughout~~ save both peoples. Also, he's the ~~course~~ man who ends up killing Führer Bradley, the man who ordered the Ishvalan genocide, AKA Wrath, the sin he prescribed to the most in his original [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge roaring rampage of revenge]]. By the end of the ~~series (she was eighteen when training in Mt. Briggs, which~~ story, he's over his anger and bitter hatred and is ~~stated by soldiers about 3/4 into~~ instead helping Major Miles promote a new age of peace and understanding between his people and the ~~series to~~ people of Amestris, as should have been ~~twenty years ago),~~ done all along.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He's driven only by his feelings and doesn't look much older than thirty, if that. That being said, [[BerserkButton calling her "old" is]] ''[[BerserkButton not]]'' [[BerserkButton a good idea]].
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Her and Sig's biological son was stillborn.
* ParentalSubstitute: Both played straight and inverted. While she primarily served as their teacher, it's pretty evident that she also serves as a strict but his quest for vengeance, not caring ~~mother~~ about what other people think of him (including his master) or the consequences of his actions. Subverted eventually because he learns to care about things other than himself or his quest for ~~them (especially given~~ vengeance.
* IveComeTooFar: He's a WarriorMonk turned VigilanteMan who hunts the ~~recent~~ State Alchemists in his quest to avenge the genocide of the Ishvalans. He rejects his master's plea for him to stop his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, saying that he's gone too far to turn back. [[spoiler:Subverted when he has a HeelFaceTurn and later is there to stop Mustang from passing the MoralEventHorizon.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: When Ed and Al confront him for killing the chimera made out of ~~Trisha Elric). Appropriately enough,~~ Nina and Alexander, he retorts that if they had lived, the poor creature would have spent the rest of their life in agony as a laboratory experiment. The brothers silently acknowledge that they ''knew'' Nina and Alexander could never have been separated and returned to normal.
* KarmicNod: When Winry confronts him at gunpoint for the murder of her parents, he owns up to it, accepts her hatred and encourages her to pull the trigger. However, he warns her that if she fires, he will treat her as his enemy and try to kill her as well, reasoning that one of them must die one way or the other to sever the chain of vengeance that connects them.
* LifeOrLimbDecision: When Scar lost his arm in a bomb attack, his brother replaced it with his own arm, and apparently bled to death in his place.
* LightIsNotGood: He often wears white or other lively colors and had a religious affiliation attached to him at one time.
* LightningBruiser: His weapons are his [[BareFistedMonk fists]] (well, his [[RightHandOfDoom fist o' destruction]]) so in order to do much damage he has to get close enough to touch his opponent. Pair that with fighting mostly long-range opponents, and you either get really quick or really dead. He's probably the fastest human in the series, barring perhaps Major Armstrong, and Ed when he had his Briggs automail.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With May.
* LogicalWeakness: He might be able to destroy everything his right arm touches, but it operates under the same premise as normal alchemy - he requires a knowledge of ''what'' he's transmuting before he can do it. He's failed to destroy Ed's automail arm twice due to this; the first time was because he didn't realize right away that it was automail, the second because he didn't know that it was no longer composed of steel.
* LoopholeAbuse: Abhors alchemy as part of his religion and for the State Alchemists' role in his people's massacre, but he considers it not-alchemy to use steps 1 and 2 (identify and deconstruct) so long as he stops before step 3 (reconstruct). He gets called out for using alchemy in all but name and he eventually gets over his hatred of it, getting a left-side tattoo that lets him fully perform alchemy.
* MageKiller: Of a "fight fire with fire" type which would make him a HunterOfHisOwnKind since he uses alchemy to kill Alchemists. He targets State Alchemists to punish them for the massacre of his people, while breaking an Ishvalan taboo against the use of alchemy. He has killed at least twenty-one people, which is considerably impressive considering State Alchemists are feared as Human Weapons, each capable of being a PersonOfMassDestruction in their own right. As a testament to his skill, he killed Basque Grand and Comanche and nearly killed notable State Alchemists such Mustang, Armstrong, Kimblee, and the Elric brothers in their encounters.
* {{Mangst}}: He is one of those very people targeted in the Ishvalan Civil War. He lived through a genocide campaign that left his country erased, his people nearly extinguished, his family dead, and his brother's arm grafted to his shoulder. Just as an insult to injury, the arm also ~~become~~ means he can use alchemy with ease; an act that as a former monk he views as sinful. He embarks on a ferocious RoaringRampageOfRevenge that he implies is supposed to end with suicide by State Alchemist. Some monologuing reveals that he's insane with grief for his people and family, and after encountering the ~~sons~~ daughter of a pair of doctors he murdered, he begins to change because she cuts close to home for him. Notably, his backstory is never ~~got~~ divulged by him: [[MoralityPet May Chang]] has to ~~raise (as~~ learn of the Ishvalan genocide by a disenfranchised officer to realize why Scar pities her.
* MercyKill: His reasoning behind killing the Nina-Alexander chimera is that there's no way to safely undo the transmutation and it will spend the rest of its life locked up in a military laboratory, though it's ambiguous how much it was really suffering.
* MisplacedRetribution: He tries to kill the Elric brothers shortly after he's introduced. He is one of the few surviving members of a genocide perpetrated by the Amestrian government, and so has good reason to be angry, but he chooses to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge exact revenge]] for the deaths of his people by killing State Alchemists, and ''all'' State Alchemists, regardless of whether or not they were involved in the Ishvalan conflict. Ed and Al in particular were small children when the genocide took place and had absolutely nothing to do with it. He murdered [[spoiler:Winry's parents, who [[TheFarmerAndTheViper saved his life as doctors]]]], when it seemed like they were Amestrian scientists who were conducting experiments on Ishvalan survivors. Basque Grand, an early victim of his crusade, is revealed in a flashback to have vehemently opposed the genocide and even put Logue Lowe under his protection when escorting the Ishvalan elder in an attempt to save as many Ishvalans as they could. As a bonus, it turns out that the people responsible for the whole war were [[spoiler:Father and Envy]], who treat their Amestrian minions like fish food. Whoops.
* MoralMyopia: He is [[FreudianExcuse angry at the genocide of his people]], but he rarely cares about the people he has killed and the consequences of his murderous actions. [[spoiler:It's subverted in regards to his {{accidental murder}} of Winry's parents, who [[TheFarmerAndTheViper saved his life]], in that he feels guilt and remorse over it.]]
* MrFanservice: He gets a few shirtless scenes and many, many shots that pan down his arms. His good physical shape's justified in that he's an Ishvalan warrior-priest, and he gets yelled at for maintaining his workout regiment even while recovering.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Among his murders, Winry's parents are the only ones he feels genuine guilt and remorse over, as he knows they were unjustified. And unlike the others, they also weren't planned and were carried out in the middle of a freak out. When Winry confronts him and demands to know why he killed them, he admits that any potential reason he could give would only be an excuse.]]
* NamedAfterTheInjury: Got his nickname from his distinctive X-shaped scar on his forehead.
* NamedByDemocracy: His real Ishvalan name was never told and they went with Scar since it was one of the few particular characteristics they could obtain from witnesses at first. He seems to have adopted it to a some degree since he has done many things that go against the Ishval Teachings (mainly murder).
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: He is only known as ''Scar'' for his facial scar.
* NeverHurtAnInnocent: PlayedWith. He usually targets State Alchemists, but he has his moments where he kills or targets innocents, such as [[spoiler:the Rockbells,]] the guards at Tucker's house, and Ed. But then played straight when he just beats the guards in Briggs unconscious.
* NobleDemon: He may be a terroristic serial killer who indiscriminately hunts down State Alchemists, but he does have his principles. He avoids harming innocents and even minimizes damage to soldiers and police, saving his wrath for assassinating State Alchemists and self defense against homunculi. He kills Nina to spare her from a living hell as an abomination and experiment, honors Ed's "last" request to spare Alphonse, and takes full responsibility for killing Winry's parents in cold blood.
* NoNameGiven: More like he [[ThatManIsDead forsook his own ~~child she gave birth~~ name]].
* NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow: Survives killing Wrath (no easy task) and even gives us [[MrExposition some exposition]] in 106. While dripping blood out of... everything. He's not that impressed when he wakes up later to find that he did survive.
* OddFriendship: May and Scar develop an IntergenerationalFriendship. She's a cute little princess with an adorable pet panda and he's a SerialKiller out on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
* OhCrap: Usually on the giving end of this but also not above having a few of those moments himself. Most notable was ~~stillborn~~ when he tried to use his TouchOfDeath on [[EldritchAbomination Father]] to no effect (Father could reconstruct himself simultaneously as fast as Scar's tattoo could deconstruct him). Scar immediately panicked and ~~her attempts to bringing them~~ leapt back ~~resulting~~ before Father's lethal retaliation.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: He's only known by Scar. He refuses to tell anyone what his real name is because he doesn't feel he deserves it anymore.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: A subtle version post-reform. When helping to [[spoiler:talk Roy down from his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Envy]], he concedes he has no moral high ground to condemn [[spoiler:Roy's vengeance]] but admits he shudders to think what someone consumed with hate like he once was could do as the leader of a country. Up to that point there's never been a hint that anything following the Ishval Massacre could actually scare Scar.
* OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank: Bleeding out a ''lot'', but survives.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Discussed; Scar's mission upon gaining his alchemic right arm from his brother is to use alchemy itself ([[LoopholeAbuse stopping at the second out of the three stages, Destroy, so as to not go against his religious beliefs]]) to kill all the State Alchemists in ~~her losing certain parts~~ vengeance for the mass genocide they committed against the Ishvalan people. Roy, who witnessed the horrors of ~~her body~~ Ishval firsthand, thinks that Scar's campaign against State Alchemists is not unfounded. After all, they were, regardless of their feelings on the matter, willing participants in a genocidal purge of Scar's people. However, Scar is targeting all State Alchemists, even ones that had nothing to do with Ishval and ~~leaving her unable to give birth ever again.)~~also kills other people like security guards who get in his way.
* PerpetualFrowner: The number of times he has smiled in the entire series can be counted on one hand. But given all the pain, horror, and anguish he has gone through and seen, it's very, ''very'' much [[JustifiedTrope justified]].
* PersonalityPowers: A violent revenge seeker fittingly has destructive alchemy.

Changed line(s) 168,187 (click to see context) from:

** She's far from villainous or malicious, but most of our perspective of her comes from her interactions with the Elrics, where she seems harsh, violent and furious. But if you pay attention, she has a few moments of genuine tenderness with her beloved husband and the Elric brothers, for whom she has a sincerely maternal love and teacher's affection. And even then, her harsh interactions are out of concern for them.
** She's also shown to regularly fix the neighborhood kids' broken toys, though she insists on fixing them by hand no matter how much they bug her to use alchemy. When a little girl asks her to "fix" her dead kitten, however, Izumi explains as gently as possible that she can't since [[DeathIsASadThing death isn't something anyone can fix]]. She does help the girl come to terms with it and give her kitten a funeral, though.
* PluckyGirl: A grown-up version, but she still qualifies.
* ProverbialWisdom: Well, she doesn't speak in proverbs all the time, but when she left the brothers on the island to survive on their own, she also gave them a cryptic {{koan}}-like saying ("All is one, one is all") so they could find out its meaning.
* SexyMentor: Winry even remarks that's she's surprised at Izumi's looks, since she got the impression from the Elrics that their mentor was an evil old hag.
* ShroudedInMyth: Twenty years before the start of the series, she trained in the Briggs mountains, which included - and was not limited to - wrestling with a bear, and continually beating the crap out of and stealing rations from the soldiers stationed there, a story she told to the Elrics at one point. Twenty years later, her tale is ''still'' known among the Briggs men with a myth-like reverence, as she was the only person who repeatedly screwed with them and was never caught, as Olivier recounts. [[OhCrap Only the Elrics ever put the pieces together.]]
* ShoeSlap: Hits people with her sandals several times throughout the series.
* SickeninglySweethearts: With Sig.
* SinkOrSwimMentor: How she trains the Elric brothers: abandoning them on a mostly-deserted island with little equipment. Either they die of starvation, or learn to survive. Even that isn't enough though, as they have to understand Alchemy and its fundamental concepts or else she'll kick them out. Mind, she ''also'' made sure that they'd be okay by leaving someone else on the island to check up on them, which is more than ''she'' got while undergoing the same "training" in the frozen mountains of Briggs.
* SternTeacher: She's very strict, and doesn't pull any punches, literally or figuratively, when it comes to disciplining her students.
* SuperStrength: She effortlessly judo-throws ''Sloth''. If any unaugmented human in this series qualifies, it's Izumi.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: When she learns the Elric Brothers did Human Transmutation, she expels them, stating that she cannot forgive them for such a thing. In reality, it's much more complicated [[spoiler: namely in that it reminds of her own attempt to bring back her stillborn child the same way they would try to bring back their mother.]]
* ToughLove: She's hard on Ed and Al ''because'' she loves and cares for them, [[spoiler: and empathizes with their pain since she ''also'' tried to use alchemy to bring a loved one back.]]
* TrainingFromHell: She subjects the Elric brothers to this, to the extent that the very mention of her name makes them tremble with fear. Which is nothing next to the training she endured. It involved Mt. Briggs and [[BearsAreBadNews fighting bears]], which we get to see more of in the 3rd OVA. Some of her exploits surviving out there include pilfering military bases for supplies -- read that again, ''she stole from [[BadassArmy Briggs]] and got away with it.''
* {{Tsundere}}: Type A as she seems to be 'tsun' when not putting up a "sweet housewife" front, but is unbelievably 'dere' with her husband.
* TwoFirstNames: "Curtis" can also be used as a first name.
* UtilityMagic: She is critical of people too liberally treating alchemy as this. When a local boy brings her a broken toy, she fixes it with tools. He thought she would use alchemy, but she says that no alchemists should become too dependent on alchemy solving all their problems, especially ones they can fix themselves. This attitude may be born of [[spoiler: her traumatic attempt to resurrect her baby instead of accepting his death, creating an abomination and costing her some pieces of her organs.]]
* WaifFu: Looks like a typical {{housewife}}, but manage to to set off her HairTriggerTemper and you're in for a pretty solid ass beating. And you better pray you don't make her angry enough to use her alchemy. [[spoiler:She tosses ''Sloth'', the fastest homunculus and who's built like a tank to boot, like he weighed ''nothing.'' This move completely floored the Armstrong siblings, who had been on the ropes after fighting Sloth.]]
* WomenPreferStrongMen: If her relationship with Sig implies anything about her taste in men, it's this. In a humorous flashback, it's revealed that she was attracted to Sig at first sight, and fell head over heels when he effortlessly picked up the bear corpse she had dropped.
** During the final battle, she remarks to Alex Armstrong that he's a "fine man." But of course, she tells him she already has a man "100 times finer than you."

to:

** ~~She's far from villainous or malicious, but most~~ His mercy-killing of ~~our perspective of her comes from her interactions~~ chimeric Nina, grim as it may be. The pity with which he finishes her is one of his first on-screen instances of humanity.
---> '''Scar:''' At least your passing will be in peace.
** His kindness to May makes him a bit more likeable.
** According to the ~~Elrics, where she seems harsh, violent~~ Omakes, he also likes kitty cats. Awww.
** Being fond of Shao May is an almost literal example, as he tries to pet her at one point.
** Unlike his hatred for alchemists and ~~furious. But if you pay attention,~~ apparent indifference or distaste for Amestrians, he is gentle and respectful to the Ishvalan refugees he meets, especially children and his elders.
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: When Winry picks up a gun and is on the verge of shooting him, Scar freely admits she has a few moments of genuine tenderness with her beloved husband and the Elric brothers, for whom she has a sincerely maternal love and teacher's affection. And even then, her harsh interactions are out of concern for them.
** She's also shown every right to ~~regularly fix the neighborhood kids' broken toys,~~ do so, though ~~she insists on fixing them by hand no matter how much they bug~~ he also warns her ~~to use alchemy. When a little girl asks her to "fix" her dead kitten, however, Izumi explains as gently as possible~~ that the second she ~~can't since [[DeathIsASadThing death isn't something anyone can fix]]. She does help~~ pulls the ~~girl come to terms with it~~ trigger, she will be his enemy. Ed and give her kitten a funeral, though.
* PluckyGirl: A grown-up version, but she still qualifies.
* ProverbialWisdom: Well, she doesn't speak in proverbs all the time, but when she left the brothers on the island to survive on their own, she also gave them a cryptic {{koan}}-like saying ("All is one, one is all") so they could find out its meaning.
* SexyMentor: Al intervene, [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim not wanting Winry ~~even remarks that's she's surprised at Izumi's looks, since she got the impression from the Elrics that their mentor~~ to become a murderer]].
* PowerNullifier:
** He ignores Father's PowerNullifier and absolutely wastes Gluttony with his destructive touch after Ed and Al's alchemy had been rendered useless. [[spoiler:This was an evil old hag.
* ShroudedInMyth: Twenty years before the start of the series, she trained in the Briggs mountains, because his right arm, which ~~included - and was not limited to - wrestling with a bear, and continually beating the crap out of and stealing rations~~ he'd received from ~~the soldiers stationed there, a story she told to the Elrics at one point. Twenty years later, her tale is ''still'' known among the Briggs men with a myth-like reverence, as she~~ his brother, was ~~the only person who repeatedly screwed with them~~ based in Xingese alkahestry and ~~was never caught, as Olivier recounts. [[OhCrap Only the Elrics ever put the pieces together.~~not Amestrian alchemy.]]
* ShoeSlap: Hits people ** [[spoiler:In the story's climax, Scar is responsible for carrying out the plan to nullify Father's PowerNullifier by activating a reverse transmutation circle in coordination with ~~her sandals~~ several ~~times throughout~~ Ishvalans. Not only does this make it impossible for Father to shut off alchemy any further, but it also gave Amestrian alchemists full access to the series.
* SickeninglySweethearts: With Sig.
* SinkOrSwimMentor: How she trains raw power of the Elric brothers: abandoning them on a mostly-deserted island with little equipment. Either they die of starvation, or learn to survive. Even that isn't enough though, as they have to understand Alchemy and its fundamental concepts or else she'll kick them out. Mind, she ''also'' made sure that they'd be okay by leaving someone else on the island to check earth, something Ed picks up on them, which is more than ''she'' got while undergoing the same "training" in the frozen mountains of Briggs.
* SternTeacher: She's very strict, and ~~doesn't pull any punches, literally or figuratively, when it comes~~ uses to disciplining her students.
* SuperStrength: She effortlessly judo-throws ''Sloth''. If any unaugmented human in this series qualifies, it's Izumi.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: When she learns the Elric Brothers did Human Transmutation, she expels them, stating that she cannot forgive them for such a thing. In reality, it's much more complicated [[spoiler: namely in that it reminds of her own attempt to bring back her stillborn child the same way they would try to bring back their mother.his advantage.]]
* ~~ToughLove: She's hard on Ed and Al ''because'' she loves and cares for them, [[spoiler: and empathizes with their pain since she ''also'' tried to use~~ PowerTattoo: The source of his alchemy is the network of tatoos on his arm.
* RedemptionEarnsLife: He becomes a priest in the reforming Ishval, teaching the new generation about their people's culture alongside Miles.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Zigzagged. [[InvokedTrope His red eyes identify him as an Ishvalan -- something which would get the average Amestrian up in arms immediately.]] [[SubvertedTrope However,]] the Ishvalans are a needlessly persecuted ethnic group [[LastOfHisKind that was nearly wiped out in a civil war]]. Compared to ~~bring a loved~~ the average Ishvalan, though, Scar is an extremely dangerous individual, especially to State Alchemists, yet through his CharacterDevelopment, he's less caustic and more antiheroic by the end of the series.
* {{Revenge}}: Wrath is his big sin, to the point that he essentially views himself as the wrath of God personified, starting him down the deep end. It foreshadows [[spoiler:him being the one ~~back.~~to finally kill Wrath the homunculus.]]
* ~~TrainingFromHell: She subjects the Elric brothers~~ RevengeBeforeReason: He hates State Alchemists enough to ~~this,~~ try to ~~the extent that the very mention of her name makes them tremble with fear. Which is~~ kill Ed, who had absolutely nothing ~~next~~ to do with the ~~training she endured. It involved Mt. Briggs and [[BearsAreBadNews fighting bears]], which we get~~ genocide of his people, just for being one of them. Even after finding out that some of his people survived, it takes time for him to ~~see more~~ give up his quest for vengeance to join them.
* RevengeIsNotJustice: When the series starts out, he's is a VigilanteMan[=/=]SerialKiller who targets State Alchemists because many of them participated in the ~~3rd OVA. Some~~ genocide of ~~her exploits~~ his people. While Roy Mustang, one of the participants in said genocide, views it as justice that one of the surviving ~~out there include pilfering military bases for supplies -- read~~ Ishvalans would seek revenge, Ed rebukes it, stating outright that ~~again, ''she stole from [[BadassArmy Briggs]]~~ regardless of his reasons, Scar is still involving innocent people in his rampage and got away with it.''
* {{Tsundere}}: Type A as she seems candy-coating it by acting self-righteous and calling himself "an instrument of God". Several of Scar's fellow Ishvalan survivors, including his master, also tell Scar point-blank that no matter what happened to ~~be 'tsun'~~ their people, what he's doing is wrong.
* RiddleForTheAges: His real name is never given and Scar refuses to provide it several times when ~~not putting up a "sweet housewife" front, but is unbelievably 'dere' with her husband.~~asked.
* TwoFirstNames: "Curtis" can also be used as a first name.
* UtilityMagic: She is critical of people too liberally treating alchemy as this. When a local boy brings her a broken toy, she fixes it RightHandOfDoom: Can only perform his deconstructions with tools. He thought she would use alchemy, but she says that no alchemists should become too dependent on alchemy solving all their problems, especially ones they can fix themselves. This attitude may be born one hand.
* RuleOfSymbolism: Scar, a VigilanteMan whose arc is about letting go of his anger and breaking the cycle of vengeance, [[spoiler: ~~her traumatic attempt to resurrect her baby instead~~ defeats the personification of ~~accepting his death, creating an abomination and costing her some pieces of her organs.~~Wrath.]]
* ~~WaifFu: Looks like a typical {{housewife}},~~ RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Scar goes on one of these when nearly his entire people, including all of his family, are killed during the Ishval Massacre. His plan is to kill every State Alchemist he meets, including those not involved in the Ishval massacre. He eventually sees that what he is doing is wrong, and becomes something of TheAtoner.
* SayMyName: "KIIIIIIIIMBLEEEEEE!!!"
* ScaryBlackMan: Well, Scary ''Ishvalan'' Man, but ~~manage~~ close enough. This guy becomes the State Alchemists' bogeyman! Although it's averted with May, who doesn't find him scary at all, even after being informed that he kills people.
* SerialKiller: Of the Mission-Based and Revenge variety; he targets State Alchemists to punish them for the massacre of his people and breaking an Ishvalan taboo against the use of alchemy. He has killed at least twenty-one people.
* SerialKillerKiller: Replace "serial killer" with "war criminal" and yeah, that's Scar. Indeed, he assassinates his targets with the same power that they use to ~~set off~~ commit their war crimes.
* ShootTheDog: Upon finding Nina transformed into a horrific dog-creature, Scar recognizes that she's suffering and mercy-kills her ~~HairTriggerTemper~~ with his alchemy.
* SinisterMinister: He is a former warrior-priest and ~~you're~~ a ruthless SerialKiller in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, though was originally a good man before the Ishvalan Massacre took his family and the most of his people away from him.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Father's alchemy-cancelling abilities have absolutely no effect on him. Compounded with the moment he and May first gatecrashed into his lair, he's been derailing his plans bit after bit.
* StrawNihilist: Implied, at least for a ~~pretty solid ass beating. And you~~ time. While he's not vocal about it, he doesn't even care about ''his own'' life and at one point, he claims to have decided to abandon everything his God gave him.
* TheStoic: He's a man of few moods. The most common is "solemn religious judgement".
* SuicideByCop: [[ImpliedTrope Seems to be]] [[DeathSeeker his life's goal]]. He doesn't succeed, much to his irritation.
* SurvivorGuilt: He's extremely distressed that his brother, who he considers a better ~~pray you don't make her angry~~ person than himself, died ''and'' saved Scar's life with his own arm. He deals with it by killing State Alchemists.
* SympatheticMurderer: Even being a ruthless SerialKiller who attempted to kill TheProtagonist isn't enough to ~~use her alchemy. [[spoiler:She tosses ''Sloth'',~~ keep him from sympathetic, given that as a genocide survivor he had lost everything he held dear. He also admits that he feels horribly guilty for [[spoiler:killing Winry's parents, because they were innocents and had saved him]].
* TameHisAnger: Probably the ~~fastest homunculus and who's built like a tank to boot, like he weighed ''nothing.'' This move completely floored~~ most noticeable one in the ~~Armstrong siblings, who had been on the ropes~~ series.
* TeamDad: He becomes one after ~~fighting Sloth.~~Yoki and May become his TrueCompanions.
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Twice]]. He uses this as his reason why he abandoned his real name. In the last chapter, [[spoiler:when Olivier asks him what she should call him, he tells her to call him whatever she wants to, since he's died twice.]]
* ~~WomenPreferStrongMen: If her relationship~~ TeethClenchedTeamwork: With everyone after his HeelFaceTurn, especially Ed.
* TragicBigot: His hatred of all Amestrians, including and especially State Alchemists, stems from what the Amestrian military did during the Ishvalan Massacre.
* TragicVillain: Scar [[UsedToBeASweetKid used to be a kind and caring man]] before the Ishvalan Massacre took his family and the most of his people away from him. He does make a HeelFaceTurn, though.
* TranquilFury: In his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, he is, save for a few moments, very calm throughout the entire deal. He even goes toe to toe with ~~Sig implies anything~~ [[spoiler: Wrath]] with only a DeathGlare to show his utter hatred of the [[spoiler: man who slaughtered his people.]]
* TraumaButton: When Ed throws himself in front of Winry to protect her, Scar flashes back to the moment his brother threw himself in front of him to protect him from Kimblee and freezes up; Al takes advantage of it to attack Scar and drive him off.
* TraumaCongaLine: It all [[StartOfDarkness started when Kimblee attacked him and Scar's brother gave up his arm to save his life. When he woke up and thought his brother was with him only to find out about his arm and the fate of his brother]], [[FreakOut he freaked out]], killed the Rockbells [[AccidentalMurder in a berserk rage]], and went outside [[FromBadToWorse only to find]] [[DespairEventHorizon Ishval destroyed]].
* TrueCompanions: With Yoki and May.
* TheUnapologetic: Deconstructed. When Winry questions why he [[spoiler:killed her ~~taste in men, it's this. In a humorous flashback, it's revealed~~ parents]], Scar tells her that ~~she~~ there can be no excuse for it instead of apologizing for it.
* TheUnfettered: He will stop at nothing to destroy those who killed the most of his people.
* TheUnreveal: He doesn't reveal his real name.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: An older example; in the flashbacks, he is shown to be once a good if very strict person who genuinely cares about his family and people. Having lost everything he held dear, he became a ruthless SerialKiller in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge we know today.
* VigilanteExecution: His standard MO, assassinating State Alchemists for their war crimes during the Ishvalan Massacre. [[spoiler:He stops doing this after his HeelFaceTurn]].
* VigilanteMan: He is trying to punish State Alchemists for their war crimes during the Ishvalan Massacre. {{Deconstructed}} as he tries to kill Ed, who had absolutely nothing to do with the genocide of his people, just for being one of them.
* WarriorMonk: He was ~~attracted to Sig at first sight,~~ a warrior-priest of Ishval during the war, and ~~fell head over heels when he effortlessly picked up~~ tried to do penance afterward through becoming a death-seeking avenger of God.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Zigzagged. [[InvokedTrope His white hair identify him as an Ishvalan.]] [[SubvertedTrope However]], the bear corpse she had dropped.
** During the final battle, she remarks to Alex Armstrong Ishvalans are a needlessly persecuted ethnic group [[LastOfHisKind that was nearly wiped out in a civil war]]. Compared to the average Ishvalan, though, Scar is an extremely dangerous individual, especially to State Alchemists, yet through his CharacterDevelopment, he's less caustic and more antiheroic by the end of the series.
* WithholdingTheirName: The Ishvalan known as Scar underwent a ~~"fine man.~~MeaningfulRename, and tossed away his old name in his quest for revenge. During ''Brotherhood'', Yoki asks Scar's name. Scar responds that to Ishvalans, a person's name is the most important thing; the name is regarded as a gift from God. So Yoki asks again, and Scar's response is "I threw it away. I threw away my own ''name''." ~~But of course, she tells~~ Yoki doesn't dare ask him ~~she already has~~ again. At the end of the series, [[spoiler:he ''still'' refuses to give his name and says [[NoNeedForNames you can just call him whatever you want to.]]]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: He's one of the few survivors of a ~~man "100 times finer than you."~~ brutal genocide which killed almost all his loved ones. As revenge against the government who massacred his people, he becomes a SerialKiller who exclusively targets state alchemists. Fortunately, he gets much better over time.
* WorldsBestWarrior: Scar is the best hand-to-hand fighter in the cast thanks to his martial arts prowess and his destruction technique. He is, however, held back by his poor range and lack of alchemical skill, [[spoiler:at least until he battles with Wrath and decides to give reconstruction a shot]].
* WouldHurtAChild: At first. He gives a [[spoiler:MercyKill to Nina after he murders her father in front of her. Then he attacks Ed and Al, who only put up a fight when cornered, despite the fact that both of them were too young to have participated in the Ishvalan massacre.]]
* XMarksTheHero: DoubleSubverted. He starts out as a HeWhoFightsMonsters-style AntiVillain, but the ensuing CharacterDevelopment slowly turns him into an AntiHero instead.
* YouMonster: Called this by [[spoiler:Winry after finding out that he killed her parents even though they saved his life.]]
-->'''[[spoiler:Winry]]:''' [[spoiler:GIVE ME BACK MY MOM AND DAD, YOU MONSTER!]]

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[[folder:Van Hohenheim]]
!!Van Hohenheim
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/UnshoIshizuka (JP, series), Creator/KenyuuHoriuchi (JP, ''FMA Mobile''), Creator/JohnSwasey (EN), Creator/DaisukeNamikawa (JP - Young), Creator/AaronDismuke (EN - Young)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Héctor Indriago (Latin America), Leonardo Camilo (BR), Vagner Fagundes (BR - Young), Raffaele Farina (IT)[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/van_hohenheim_2.png]]

to:

[[folder:Van Hohenheim]]
!!Van Hohenheim
[[folder:Izumi Curtis]]
!!Izumi Curtis
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/UnshoIshizuka (JP, series), Creator/KenyuuHoriuchi (JP, ''FMA Mobile''), Creator/JohnSwasey (EN), Creator/DaisukeNamikawa (JP - Young), Creator/AaronDismuke (EN - Young)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Héctor Indriago Shoko Tsuda (JP), Creator/ChristineAuten (EN, Funimation), Muriel Hofmann (EN, Animax)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Cittlali Godoy (Latin America), ~~Leonardo Camilo~~ Tânia Gaidarji (BR), ~~Vagner Fagundes (BR - Young), Raffaele Farina~~ Creator/DonatellaFanfani (IT)[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.~~org/pmwiki/pub/images/van_hohenheim_2.png]]~~
org/pmwiki/pub/images/izumi_curtis_4.png]]

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'''Rank:''' None\\
'''Speciality:''' Perfect Alchemy/Trap Alchemy/Immortality

The Elrics' father, a renowned alchemist who left them and their mother when they were little.

to:

'''Rank:''' ~~None\\~~
A housewife!\\
'''Speciality:''' Perfect Alchemy/Trap Alchemy/Immortality

The Elrics' father, a renowned alchemist who left Martial-Arts/Alchemy without an Array

Mentor to the Elric brothers, she taught them both alchemy and ~~their mother~~ martial arts, both of which she is very much a master of. Despises State Alchemists. Believes in physical honing over focus in alchemy as a balance. Also, ''scary as hell'', especially when ~~they were little.~~coercing her apprentices.

Added DiffLines:

* ActionGirl: One of the most action packed women in the series to the point Ed and Al fear her wrath. She also survived the cold winters near Fort Briggs for a month, taking out several soldiers and a giant bear in the process.
* ActionMom: She taught Ed and Al advanced alchemy and how to kick ass while also serving as their surrogate mother.
* AdaptationalJerkass: In the manga, Izumi sent Mason to the island while Ed and Al were there to make sure they survived. This was left out of ''Brotherhood'', meaning Izumi left the Elrics entirely on their own in the wilderness for a month.
* AerithAndBob: Her Japanese given name stands out a bit since Japan has no (known) direct counterpart in this universe, unlike Amestris which is based on a mix of Germany and England, and Xing which is based on China. [[note]]Japan does have a presence in Xingese culture in terms of some clothing, weaponry, and fighting styles, particularly those of the bodyguards Lan Fan and Fu. However, given that their names are still Chinese-esque, the origins of Izumi's name remains a mystery.[[/note]]
* AlmightyJanitor: Izumi loves to announce her status as a lowly housewife before laying into her enemies.
* ApronMatron: Izumi will proudly proclaim herself a HouseWife while simultaneously [[MamaBear kicking the ass of every single person/chimera/immortal who dares to hurt her surrogate kids.]] Then she beats said surrogate kids up herself!
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Even if she roughs up Ed and Al more than necessary, it's very clear that she loves the two like they were her own children.
* BadassBookworm: When she started training the Elrics, she effortlessly dodged everything they threw at her ''while'' reciting the first lesson of alchemy from memory ''and'' reading from a cookbook simultaneously.
* BadassBystander: Her skills in alchemy and unarmed combat are both high enough to fight homunculi, but she's more interested in running her shop with her husband than saving the day for the state. When she does get dragged into conflict, it's usually personal, and the results aren't pretty.
* BadassTeacher: She's the one who taught Ed and Al alchemy, after all.
* BarefootSage: She always goes around in open-toed sandals, which may be because she doesn't care much about conventions due to being a powerful and experienced Alchemist.
* BattleCouple: With Sig, her husband. They are HappilyMarried and were part of the FinalBattle together.
* BerserkButton: Two.
** The military, albeit to an extent. She does not approve of their actions (or at least the State Alchemists) though she does get along with and respect individuals such as Colonel Mustang and General Olivier Armstrong.
** '''Never''' call her "old".
* BloodFromTheMouth: Tends to happen at random, completely freaking out everyone around her. Which, [[BlackComedy in a very rare form of this trope]], is usually PlayedForLaughs, including one moment when, mid-interrogation, a perp cracks when she starts vomiting blood all over him. It stops after [[spoiler:Hohenheim rearranges her organs to compensate for her damage]].
* BraidsOfAction: She wears her hair in multiple braids. She also taught Ed and Al both to fight and to use alchemy.
* CharacterCatchphrase:
** "''I'm a housewife!''"
** Near the end of the series she deliberately changes it to "I'm an ALCHEMIST!" indicating her intention of giving a good asskicking for the final battle.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Quite possibly one of the strongest characters in the ''[=FMA=]'' universe. She can ''aikido'' you in the air with little effort even if you're stronger than her. Just ask Sloth.
* ChekhovsGunman: While revealed a little late, she is a necessary "sacrifice" required for Father to absorb God.
* ChubbyChaser: She absolutely adores her husband and fell in love soon after meeting him, Sig, who is a BigBeautifulMan.
* ContraltoOfStrength: Like Major General Armstrong, Izumi's voice is the deepest among the entire female cast and she's certainly one of the most dangerous.
* DisabledSnarker
* TheDreaded: Given the TrainingFromHell they endured while under her tutelage, combined with her HairTriggerTemper, the Elric brothers are understandably ''terrified'' of her and make it a point to avoid making her mad. In fact, they often use this as a motivator, saying they can beat a villain because said villain isn't as scary as Izumi.
** During her own TrainingFromHell in the past, she had to survive the frozen wilderness alone and frequently fought off Fort Briggs soldiers and preyed upon their rations. In one month, she knocked out so many armed patrols and stole so many supplies that the notoriously competent and fearless soldiers of Fort Briggs thought they were dealing with an entire elite infiltration unit and had to issue an official report to top brass in Central. The military never officially resolved the incident and still speak of that month like a terrifying urban legend, to the point even Olivier Mira Armstrong notes its significance when asked if anyone had ever infiltrated Fort Briggs.
** She is one of only two characters in the entire series who is able to get away with pressing Ed's BerserkButton (i.e. drawing attention to his height), due to Ed being so afraid of her. The other is Olivier Armstrong.
* DreadlockRasta: WordOfGod says they're actually microbraids.
* DreadlockWarrior: She is the Elric Brothers' teacher of both alchemy and the martial arts. In fact, she is one of, if not THE only person that they are afraid of. Albeit, as mentioned above, they aren't dreadlocks, but microbraids.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Her TrainingFromHell is only the start. She continually berates and abuses the Elrics throughout their training and well into their journey for the Philosopher's Stone. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold She really does mean well]], and much of her anger in the present is due to concern and disappointment over some of the brothers' unwise decisions, like attempting human transmutation and enlisting in the state military.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Izumi and her husband get a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in episode 9 of ''Brotherhood''.
* ExcuseMeWhileIMultitask: She is shown fending off the Elric brothers during their training with her while reading from her notes (encoded in a cookbook) as she lectures.
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Winry was expecting someone huge and terrifying from the brothers' description of their teacher.
* GeniusBruiser: She'll just pummel you without breaking a sweat normally, so pray she doesn't decide to break out the alchemy too.
* GoodIsNotNice: She does not believe that painless lessons are worthwhile lessons, to put it mildly. But she is undoubtedly one of the good guys.
* HandicappedBadass: She's missing several of her internal organs and randomly coughs up BloodFromTheMouth. She is also one of the most frakkin' epic characters in the entire series. Later on, she is no longer as inhibited by her loss thanks to [[spoiler: Hohenheim's alchemy rearranging her innards.]]
* HappilyMarried: To Sig. They run their business together, he takes care of her when her illness starts up, and there are frequent lovey-dovey backgrounds when they're both on screen.
* HeroicNeutral: She discourages her pupils from mixing alchemy and world affairs and largely keeps out of the events that drive the plot until they directly affect or interest her. Her only desire is to be a happy housewife.
* HiddenDepths: Despite being introduced as TheDreaded badass who scares Ed and Al to death, when she learns they did Human Transmutation to bring their mother back to life, she hugs them and tells them it's okay, showing us that Izumi is more complex then first thought. It's later discovered that she made the same error when she tried to bring back her stillborn child.
* {{Housewife}}: Emphatically declares herself one, though the closest we see to it has her working in a butcher shop with her husband.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Her husband is easily twice her size and can match muscles with Major Armstrong. NiceGuy for the most part [[TheButcher and he runs a butcher shop]], [[BewareTheNiceOnes but don't make him angry]].
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Due to her failed attempt at human transmutation, she lost some of her internal organs (enough to where she could never give birth to a child again.) Partially fixed later, thanks to [[spoiler:an alchemical punch to the gut from Hohenheim, who cannot give her organs back but ''can'' nullify the effects of such a loss by restructuring her innards around]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Her training methods are ''harsh'' and she will utterly eviscerate the Elric brothers should they anger her, but she ultimately means well and cares for them like her own sons.
* KillerRabbit: At least when compared to her GentleGiant FaceOfAThug husband.
* KungFuWizard: In a series full of [[MagicKnight Magic Knights]], she trained two of the best. Her alchemic knowledge and abilities are easily on par with State Alchemists, and her skill with martial arts is so high that she can trounce both Elrics at once, go toe to toe with Homunculi and dispatch the notoriously tough soldiers of Fort Briggs without alchemy. Her philosophy is that alchemy shouldn't be wasted on tasks humans can handle by natural means, so she puts plenty of emphasis on training and conditioning.
* LawOfInverseFertility: She and Sig had difficulty conceiving a child, and when they lost that baby, she was desperate enough to try human transmutation to revive it. She's then left completely incapable of bearing kids after Truth took out some of her organs.
* LoveAtFirstSight: With her husband after a CrashIntoHello.
* MamaBear: Her own child was stillborn and her alchemical attempts to bring it back robbed her of her organs to where she could never give birth again. Through a strange exchange of fate, ended up taking Ed and Al as students who just lost their mother. As such, she more or less became their second mother. They are very competent fighters, but hurting them will bring her wrath and she will show you why she is one of the few people whom the brothers fear.
* MeaningfulName: Her given name, Izumi, means flood in Japanese. Guess during what event Edward and Alphonse first encounter Izumi?
* MentorInSourArmor: No matter how hard she is on the Elrics, she loves them as her own sons.
* {{Mukokuseki}}: Inverted. In a cast where genetics clearly plays a role in determining physical appearance, Izumi's ethnic background is a mystery. Her hair is in microbraids and her name and physical features are asiatic, but her maiden name, Harnet, is European.
* MustNotDieAVirgin: Part of what kept her alive when she was training on Mount Briggs.
* OlderThanSheLooks: She's revealed to be around ''thirty-eight'' throughout the course of the series (she was eighteen when training in Mt. Briggs, which is stated by soldiers about 3/4 into the series to have been twenty years ago), and doesn't look much older than thirty, if that. That being said, [[BerserkButton calling her "old" is]] ''[[BerserkButton not]]'' [[BerserkButton a good idea]].
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Her and Sig's biological son was stillborn.
* ParentalSubstitute: Both played straight and inverted. While she primarily served as their teacher, it's pretty evident that she also serves as a strict but caring mother for them (especially given the recent passing of Trisha Elric). Appropriately enough, the Elric brothers also become the sons she never got to raise (as her own child she gave birth to was stillborn and her attempts to bringing them back resulting in her losing certain parts of her body and leaving her unable to give birth ever again.)
* PetTheDog:
** She's far from villainous or malicious, but most of our perspective of her comes from her interactions with the Elrics, where she seems harsh, violent and furious. But if you pay attention, she has a few moments of genuine tenderness with her beloved husband and the Elric brothers, for whom she has a sincerely maternal love and teacher's affection. And even then, her harsh interactions are out of concern for them.
** She's also shown to regularly fix the neighborhood kids' broken toys, though she insists on fixing them by hand no matter how much they bug her to use alchemy. When a little girl asks her to "fix" her dead kitten, however, Izumi explains as gently as possible that she can't since [[DeathIsASadThing death isn't something anyone can fix]]. She does help the girl come to terms with it and give her kitten a funeral, though.
* PluckyGirl: A grown-up version, but she still qualifies.
* ProverbialWisdom: Well, she doesn't speak in proverbs all the time, but when she left the brothers on the island to survive on their own, she also gave them a cryptic {{koan}}-like saying ("All is one, one is all") so they could find out its meaning.
* SexyMentor: Winry even remarks that's she's surprised at Izumi's looks, since she got the impression from the Elrics that their mentor was an evil old hag.
* ShroudedInMyth: Twenty years before the start of the series, she trained in the Briggs mountains, which included - and was not limited to - wrestling with a bear, and continually beating the crap out of and stealing rations from the soldiers stationed there, a story she told to the Elrics at one point. Twenty years later, her tale is ''still'' known among the Briggs men with a myth-like reverence, as she was the only person who repeatedly screwed with them and was never caught, as Olivier recounts. [[OhCrap Only the Elrics ever put the pieces together.]]
* ShoeSlap: Hits people with her sandals several times throughout the series.
* SickeninglySweethearts: With Sig.
* SinkOrSwimMentor: How she trains the Elric brothers: abandoning them on a mostly-deserted island with little equipment. Either they die of starvation, or learn to survive. Even that isn't enough though, as they have to understand Alchemy and its fundamental concepts or else she'll kick them out. Mind, she ''also'' made sure that they'd be okay by leaving someone else on the island to check up on them, which is more than ''she'' got while undergoing the same "training" in the frozen mountains of Briggs.
* SternTeacher: She's very strict, and doesn't pull any punches, literally or figuratively, when it comes to disciplining her students.
* SuperStrength: She effortlessly judo-throws ''Sloth''. If any unaugmented human in this series qualifies, it's Izumi.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: When she learns the Elric Brothers did Human Transmutation, she expels them, stating that she cannot forgive them for such a thing. In reality, it's much more complicated [[spoiler: namely in that it reminds of her own attempt to bring back her stillborn child the same way they would try to bring back their mother.]]
* ToughLove: She's hard on Ed and Al ''because'' she loves and cares for them, [[spoiler: and empathizes with their pain since she ''also'' tried to use alchemy to bring a loved one back.]]
* TrainingFromHell: She subjects the Elric brothers to this, to the extent that the very mention of her name makes them tremble with fear. Which is nothing next to the training she endured. It involved Mt. Briggs and [[BearsAreBadNews fighting bears]], which we get to see more of in the 3rd OVA. Some of her exploits surviving out there include pilfering military bases for supplies -- read that again, ''she stole from [[BadassArmy Briggs]] and got away with it.''
* {{Tsundere}}: Type A as she seems to be 'tsun' when not putting up a "sweet housewife" front, but is unbelievably 'dere' with her husband.
* TwoFirstNames: "Curtis" can also be used as a first name.
* UtilityMagic: She is critical of people too liberally treating alchemy as this. When a local boy brings her a broken toy, she fixes it with tools. He thought she would use alchemy, but she says that no alchemists should become too dependent on alchemy solving all their problems, especially ones they can fix themselves. This attitude may be born of [[spoiler: her traumatic attempt to resurrect her baby instead of accepting his death, creating an abomination and costing her some pieces of her organs.]]
* WaifFu: Looks like a typical {{housewife}}, but manage to to set off her HairTriggerTemper and you're in for a pretty solid ass beating. And you better pray you don't make her angry enough to use her alchemy. [[spoiler:She tosses ''Sloth'', the fastest homunculus and who's built like a tank to boot, like he weighed ''nothing.'' This move completely floored the Armstrong siblings, who had been on the ropes after fighting Sloth.]]
* WomenPreferStrongMen: If her relationship with Sig implies anything about her taste in men, it's this. In a humorous flashback, it's revealed that she was attracted to Sig at first sight, and fell head over heels when he effortlessly picked up the bear corpse she had dropped.
** During the final battle, she remarks to Alex Armstrong that he's a "fine man." But of course, she tells him she already has a man "100 times finer than you."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Van Hohenheim]]
!!Van Hohenheim
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/UnshoIshizuka (JP, series), Creator/KenyuuHoriuchi (JP, ''FMA Mobile''), Creator/JohnSwasey (EN), Creator/DaisukeNamikawa (JP - Young), Creator/AaronDismuke (EN - Young)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Héctor Indriago (Latin America), Leonardo Camilo (BR), Vagner Fagundes (BR - Young), Raffaele Farina (IT)[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/van_hohenheim_2.png]]

->'''Affiliation:''' None\\
'''Rank:''' None\\
'''Speciality:''' Perfect Alchemy/Trap Alchemy/Immortality

The Elrics' father, a renowned alchemist who left them and their mother when they were little.
-----

number9robotic

Removed: 79

Mar 30th 2024 at 6:08:18 PM

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Example does not sufficiently explain how it applies, Trope was cut/disambiguated due to cleanup

Deleted line(s) 135 (click to see context) :

* DisabledLoveInterest: For Sig, her husband, as she is missing several organs.

Only1Khaleesi

Added: 237

Feb 23rd 2024 at 8:58:00 PM

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None

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* HasAType: Inverted: Winry has an anti-type, not being interested in men who are shorter than her (much to [[TheNapoleon Ed's]] horror). Notably, she starts to realize that she's in love with him not long after he starts growing taller.

illyricus

Changed: -1

Jan 27th 2024 at 2:34:30 PM

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!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/UnshoIshizuka (JP, series), Creator/KenyuuHoriuchi (JP, ''FMA Mobile'') Creator/JohnSwasey (EN), Creator/DaisukeNamikawa (JP - Young), Creator/AaronDismuke (EN - Young)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Héctor Indriago (Latin America), Leonardo Camilo (BR), Vagner Fagundes (BR - Young), Raffaele Farina (IT)[[/labelnote]]

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!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/UnshoIshizuka (JP, series), Creator/KenyuuHoriuchi (JP, ''FMA ~~Mobile'')~~ Mobile''), Creator/JohnSwasey (EN), Creator/DaisukeNamikawa (JP - Young), Creator/AaronDismuke (EN - Young)[[labelnote:Other Languages]]Héctor Indriago (Latin America), Leonardo Camilo (BR), Vagner Fagundes (BR - Young), Raffaele Farina (IT)[[/labelnote]]

IMDCombee

Changed: 32

Nov 21st 2023 at 11:57:20 AM

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None

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* DeathSeeker: On first meeting Scar, he begs the Ishvalan to kill him.

to:

* DeathSeeker: On first meeting Scar, he begs the Ishvalan to [[KarmicDeath kill ~~him.~~him]].

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* LikeAGodToMe: Tim Marcoh, being largely responsible for the near extermination of the Ishvalan race, ends up saying this to Scar, one of the surviving Ishvalans. This is a sign of his own humility, but it only serves to piss Scar off (which Marcoh was ''trying'' to do).

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ChaoticNovelist

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Nov 19th 2023 at 7:21:57 AM

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"Most shown with Kimblee." is not context.

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* NaiveEverygirl: Most shown with Kimblee.

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* %%%%* NaiveEverygirl: ~~Most shown with Kimblee.~~

GenuineLove19

Changed: 66

Oct 29th 2023 at 6:14:07 PM

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* AffablyEvil: He's genuinely polite and forward towards just about anyone. He also appears when you use human transmutation.

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* AffablyEvil: He's genuinely polite and forward towards just about ~~anyone. He also appears~~ anyone, even when ~~you use human transmutation.~~they're on their way to being crippled somehow.

GenuineLove19

Added: 125

Oct 29th 2023 at 2:35:56 PM

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* AffablyEvil: He's genuinely polite and forward towards just about anyone. He also appears when you use human transmutation.

sudrictoon

Added: 25

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Oct 22nd 2023 at 6:45:53 AM

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* {{Catchphrase}}: "''I'm a housewife!''"

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* ~~{{Catchphrase}}:~~ CharacterCatchphrase:
** "''I'm a housewife!''"

Quanyails

Changed: 1

Oct 19th 2023 at 9:24:59 AM

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Fixing grammar ("May" is used as an auxilliary verb here).

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** May genuinely respects Al, after [[spoiler:Al gives up getting back his body to help save Amestris.]]

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** May genuinely ~~respects~~ respect Al, after [[spoiler:Al gives up getting back his body to help save Amestris.]]

Quanyails

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Oct 19th 2023 at 9:21:47 AM

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* FirstNameBasis: A variant. Hohenhiem solely addresses Father by his original name, Homunculus (Dwarf in the Flask in the dub) both because of their history and because he's not impressed with the grandiose station Father has given himself. He also refers to himself by his original name, rather than the name Father gave him, when issuing a challenge.

to:

* FirstNameBasis: A variant. ~~Hohenhiem~~ Hohenheim solely addresses Father by his original name, Homunculus (Dwarf in the Flask in the dub) both because of their history and because he's not impressed with the grandiose station Father has given himself. He also refers to himself by his original name, rather than the name Father gave him, when issuing a challenge.

History Characters / FullmetalAlchemistMainSupportingCast