Elric Brothers | Team Mustang | Main Supporting Cast | Military | Homunculi (Father, Envy, Affiliates) | Xing | Others | 2003 Anime (Main Characters) (Homunculi)
Main Characters
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Edward "Ed" Elric
Click here to see his appearance in Conqueror of Shamballa
The protagonist of the series. Ed seeks the secret of the Philosopher's Stone so he can undo the mistakes of his past of trying to bring back his mother to life. The truth behind the Philosopher's Stone, and the connection to the secrets behind the country he lives in drives the story.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- Ed is a more brooding character than in the manga. This is because the writing focuses more on current events, rather than dwelling on the mistakes in his backstory — this version of Edward is faced with problems that require imperfect, morally questionable solutions, and he is frequently confronted with the consequences of his decisions.
- In the manga, Ed moves past a lot of his guilt when he discovers what he and Al created in their human transmutation wasn't their mother, and he, in turn, deduces a way to restore Al's body from this revelation. This doesn't happen in this version of the story because human transmutation works differently and results in the birth of a homunculus — instead of an immobile freak who instantly died, Ed and Al created Sloth, who looks identical to their mother. So when Ed comes face-to-face with his original mistake, it's in a much more violent, tragic way. Even the context of Ed exhuming a grave illustrates this contrast; in the manga he digs up the transmuted body to verify it isn't his mother, while here he unearths Trisha's own grave to get a part of her body so he can use it to weaken and kill Sloth.
- His adherence to Thou Shalt Not Kill breaks down painfully over the course of the story, starting with him accidentally killing Greed. This action drives him into hysterics and serves as the first step towards him taking a darker path than his manga counterpart, which culminates in him killing the homunculus of his own mother with cold precision.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Both versions of Ed are quite attractive but in subtly different ways. Manga and Brotherhood Ed is more muscular and toned while this Ed is more slender in physique with his features overall less broad, giving him a look more fitting of a Bishōnen.
- Adaptational Badass: In the manga, "Fullmetal vs Flame" ends in outright victory for Mustang. Here, Ed fights the Colonel to a draw.
- Adaptational Intelligence: While the manga version of him is plenty smart already, this version of Ed is shown to be much better at deductive reasoning, able to pick out small clues around him and put them together into a solid conclusion. An early example is with Nina, where he was able to figure out what was going on before the reveal even if it was too late to stop it from happening, whereas in the manga, he only figured it out when he was nothing short of told the truth.
- Adaptational Slimness: While he still has noticeable muscle definition, he's not as muscular as he is in the manga, having a more slender physique and looking more like a Bishōnen.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: In the manga he's noted for having golden, not blonde, hair as a racial trait related to his heritage. This is absent in the 2003 anime and thus Edward is just a normal blonde.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In the sense that he's more of an All-Loving Hero than he is in the manga. The 2003 anime also greatly tones down his mischievous and vindictive tendencies; while he still has a temper, he's also more of a straightforwardly nice person.
- Afraid of Needles: Hates them.
- Alliterative Name: Ed's full name is Edward Elric.
- All-Loving Hero: Of the Jerk with a Heart of Gold variety. Initially, Edward was unwilling to fight with lethal force against sentient beings, including criminals whose souls were trapped in armor, human-chimeras, or homunculi, considering them human like him or his brother. His pacifism stopped when he unintentionally killed Greed, but even after getting mentally prepared to slaughter the homunculi, he couldn't bring himself to hate or kill Lust, Wrath, Gluttony, or even Envy and spent a good amount of Sympathy for the Devil for them.
- Artificial Limbs: After losing an arm and a leg during the failed attempt at human transmutation in the backstory of the series, Ed had them replaced with highly sophisticated prostheses called "automail" which are almost perfect replacements of normal limbs, having only slightly worse fine motor control — albeit being made of metal, they come with certain drawbacks and benefits of their own, such as being very sturdy, but also requiring constant maintenance.
- Arch-Enemy: Envy and Sloth are his greatest enemies among the homunculi, the former because he's technically Ed's older brother and hates their father, the latter because she's the homunculus who Ed and Al created when they tried to revive their mother.
- The Atoner: Wants to make up for Al losing his body. Later, he wants to make up for his part in the Lior debacle.
- Author Appeal: A carry-over from the manga. Hiromu Arakawa likes muscular men, which should come as no surprise seeing how extremely ripped Ed is for a too-short-for-his-age teen. However, this version of Ed is more of a Bishōnen than he is in the manga, having a slightly slenderer build and a younger-looking face.
- Back from the Dead: It's debatable whether he was completely dead after being stabbed by Envy, but Al's human transmutation of him in the finale has this effect.
- Badass Bookworm: It comes with being an alchemist. While he's mostly a fighter, it's been shown time and time again he's foremost a scientist- and a damn good one.
- Badass Longcoat: His signature red longcoat.
- Badass Transplant: His automail limbs. He can even turn his arm into a sword!
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: He and Winry give off this vibe. However, Ed's choices, enemies and outlook slowly push them apart.
- Berserk Button:
- Don't bring up his below-average height.
WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TINY LITTLE BEAN SPROUT THE SIZE OF A GRAIN OF RICE!?!- Averted with Nina as she calls him "little big brother" and it doesn't annoy him once, and also Izumi.
- Big Brother Instinct: His mission in life is to get his little brother's body back.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: When he transmutes a blade to his automail arm.
- Bleed 'Em and Weep: He has a screaming breakdown upon killing Greed before finally accepting that killing is something he's going to have to learn to tolerate if he wants to actually defeat the homunculi.
- Braids of Action: Only one braid, throughout this anime and the manga.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Sometimes comes off as this.
- Bring My Red Jacket: He's got a red jacket, and he gets injured a lot.
- Brought Down to Badass: During Conqueror of Shamballa, Ed is stuck in a universe where he can't use alchemy and his automail limbs have been replaced with inferior versions which are made of cheaper materials and require the pulling of a starter cord to function. Doesn't slow him down a bit.
- Butt-Monkey: First it was Played for Laughs, and then it wasn't...
- Byronic Hero: Something of a younger version of this trope. He frequently considers morally dubious solutions to his problems, though he rarely carries them out.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Initially, Ed only calls Hohenheim by his name, but after he explains why he left his family he seems to forgive him and starts calling him 'Dad'.
- Celibate Hero: This or Chaste Hero, but considering how obvious Rosé's attraction is at certain points, it's more likely he's ignoring his admirers than completely unaware.
- Character Development: Ed's arc is about him learning that there is a world outside of his own goals and that he does not in fact have the answers to everything.
- Characterization Marches On: It becomes a character trait that Ed doesn't like killing people. For much of the series he avoids it whenever he can. Yet in the 4th episode of the series, he accidentally kills the Filler Villain and doesn't show any sadness over what he's done. Contrast this to when he accidentally kills Greed, which horrifies him so much that he breaks down sobbing.
- Chick Magnet: Very much downplayed, but considering how much Ed has Ship Tease moments with Winry, Rosé and Noah, it becomes apparent. Psiren also admits he's attractive when she is arrested, saying Ed will become a fine man when grown-up. In addition, a nameless Romani woman flirts with him in Conqueror of Shamballa.
- Childhood Friends: With Winry.
- Child Mage: Alchemy is not an easy thing to learn. Especially alchemy needed to perform human transmutation.
- Child Soldier: Edward received a State Alchemist's certification at the age of 12. As such, he is a part of the military, and although he is given a lot of leeway in what he does, every so often he will be called in for a mission. Though he is noted to be a very special case. Roy says the military doesn't accept children as soldiers. It is only due to Ed's extreme talent and Roy's behind the scenes manipulations that Ed managed to get certified so young.
- Code Name: Upon being inducted into the State Alchemists, Edward was given the title of "Fullmetal", ostensibly referring both to his obstinate personality and his metallic limbs, although it is likely also a joke on his expense by the Fuhrer, as his brother (who is encased in a full suit of armor) fits the title much better at first glance.
- Combat Pragmatist: "All's fair in war, pal. Everyone knows that."
- Cosmic Play Thing: He just barely manages to eke out a Bittersweet Ending after everything he and Alphonse went through.
- Cursed with Awesome: Even Ed admits his automail has come in handy in saving his life on many occasions.
- Curtains Match the Window: Blonde hair and gold eyes.
- Cynicism Catalyst: The whole human transmutation experience, followed by the Nina incident, left him gloomy and cynical, though still heroic.
- Crush Blush: Played with. While he blushes at both Winry a couple times and Rosé when she confesses her love to him, his relationship toward the former is left somewhere between Like Brother and Sister and very ambiguous by the movie (which also includes a blush), and his relationship with the latter is, in the end, never explored in depth. Even a possible crush on Noah (with at least one accompanied blush) is lightly touched on in the "Chibi Party" OVA.
- Dark and Troubled Past: The series starts with a flashback showing the most significant part of it.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of Thou Shalt Not Kill protagonists. In a way, he can be considered a deconstruction of his manga/Brotherhood counterpart, as while in that continuity he's able to accomplish his goals while still holding to his ideals of solving problems without killing, this Ed eventually comes to view killing his enemies as a necessary evil that he has to accept if he wants to succeed.
- Determinator: He was a Determinator when he was ten, and he hasn't changed since. This tends to cause him about as many problems as it solves.
- Déjà Vu: In the movie, Edward is often shown subtly or outright haunted when he sees the "same" people living totally different lives in early 1920's Germany. Particularly notable is his reaction to the Earth counterpart of Pride, and at times, Alfons. Even the environment can come back to haunt him, such as his automail needing to be replaced with ordinary, earthly prosthetics. He muses to Noah at one point that "maybe this world is all my dream."
- Disabled in the Adaptation: He has more PTSD symptoms than his manga counterpart, and he doesn't regain his arm in the end.
- Doesn't Like Guns: At first. In later episodes, however, he uses firearms a couple of times (at one point he even transmuted a machine gun onto his automail arm), and by the time of the movie, he keeps a pistol stashed in his belongings; perhaps representative of the loss of his innocence. He's a lousy shot, however, and still prefers good ol' hand-to-hand over sharpshooting.
- Does Not Like Spam: Edward absolutely loathes milk, and others' tendency to blame his diminutive stature (a particular sore spot of his) on his refusal to drink it does not help matters.
- Extra-ore-dinary: Though he can work with most any inorganic substance, Edward is especially skilled at transmuting metals, a skill that synergizes well with his two metal prosthetics.
- Gaining the Will to Kill Greed teaches him this when he tricks Ed into killing him during a duel, explaining that he has to grow past his Martial Pacifist philosophy if he wants to stand a chance at beating the homunculi.
- Grasp the Sun: Reaches for the sun a few times in various opening credits and in the very last scene of this series.
- Handicapped Badass: He has automail prosthetics in place of the right arm and left leg he lost during his human transmutation attempt. If anything, the prosthetics make him even more dangerous.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Ed is short-fused, and this trait is played for both comedy (his outbursts about his height) and drama (whenever he flips out at Mustang).
- Heroic BSoD: Might as well be the patron saint of this, and understandably so, given what he goes through. One of the most prominent examples is after seeing Nina's exploded remains over a wall.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Edward is introduced offering up any part of himself he can to bring Al back, even his heart, and therefore obviously his own life. This ends up being something of a pattern, as Ed is consistently willing to put his own life and happiness on the chopping block for the sake of his loved ones, or even the world, such as when he tries to destroy the Gate on Earth's side on his own in the movie.
- Hero Insurance: After a particularly destructive duel with Mustang, the two are forced to repair everything alone without alchemy.
- Howl of Sorrow: When he realizes he killed Greed.
- I Choose to Stay: In Conqueror of Shamballa, Edward chooses to stay on the other side of the Gate out of a desire to permanently seal Germany away from Amestris, knowing he can never return.
- Idiot Hair: His antenna, which is part of his character design.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: The poor guy is a bit of a magnet for this sort of thing. Not being able to help his mother and Al losing his body, for starters, followed up by not being able to protect Nina and Hughes dying while trying to help him.
- In the Blood: His father was a great alchemist as well.
- It Gets Easier: Ed at first refuses to kill anybody. Then he fights and regrets killing Greed, but later kills Sloth with cold precision. By the time he gets to fighting Envy, he has no qualms whatsoever about killing him.
Ed: (to Envy) If you've forgotten what I did to your friend Sloth, I killed her while she was wearing the face of my own mother!
- It's All My Fault:
- Believes he's responsible for Al losing his body, as well as for the deaths of Nina and Hughes.
- Envy exploits these feelings in his fight with Ed, shapeshifting into people who Ed believes he failed to save, like Hughes, Dr. Marcoh, and Trisha.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: This trope more or less defines Ed. Although it seems like a lot of the "jerk" part is a combination of Ed's idea of how to put on a brave face and simple adolescent belligerence.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Sourer and sourer as the series goes on. Ed sees more and more terrible things and performs amoral deeds in turn, which shapes him into a cynical, but persistently goodhearted, hero.
- Kung-Fu Wizard: Ed flips between alchemy and martial arts on the fly when engaged in a fight (usually for his life, but sometimes just to practice with Al or bury him when they're squabbling).
- Life-or-Limb Decision: In the brothers' backstory, when the attempted resurrection of their mother turned out to require another life to balance the act and Al was chosen as the sacrifice, Ed sacrificed his right arm to pull back Al's soul before it was pulled into the Gate (a mysterious metaphysical object that is encountered by alchemists who perform human transmutations) and then affixed it to a suit of armor.
- Long-Lived: If one takes the "Kids" OVA as canon, then Ed lives to be at least a century old and celebrates his 100th birthday in 2005.
- Majorly Awesome: He's a State Alchemist, which means he holds the rank of Major in the military.
- Men Don't Cry: His attitude, though he does cry in moments of extreme emotional vulnerability a handful of times throughout the series. Nina's death in particular hits him really, really hard.
- Mr. Fanservice: His shower scene and the various scenes where he's shirtless. Especially the one at the end of the series when he has his limbs back.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- The result of trying, and failing, to resurrect his mother.
- Also Edward's response to seeing the graves of people in Lior and when he realizes he killed Greed.
- The Napoleon: He really dislikes being reminded of his short height.
- Nay-Theist: Despite initially seeming atheistic, there are occasional implications that Ed does believe in a god of some sort. He simply has no interest in worshipping it.
- Noble Male, Roguish Male: The Roguish Male to Mustang's Noble Male.
- Non-Idle Rich: He makes quite a lot of money being a State Alchemist. He's also quite generous with it too.
- "Not So Different" Remark: When Ed meets Rose, he scolds her for her blind faith in Cornello and the Letoist religion. Dante later delivers a Breaking Speech to Ed, pointing out the faults in Equivalent Exchange as a world view and that his belief in it isn't much different from Rose's in her religion.
- Oblivious to Love: Gets told to his face that Rosé loves him and he still doesn't get it. Granted, she is clearly out of it at the time, so...
- Older and Wiser: By the time of The Movie he's 18 years old, much more mellow, and one of the few characters who recognizes that messing around with the Gate between our world and Amestris is going to have consequences.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Just don't say it to his face.
- Poor Communication Kills: Nearly all of his conflicts with Al come about as the result of him hiding information from his brother, attempting to protect him from multiple awful truths.
- Rank Up: As a State Alchemist, he became the equivalent of a Major at age 12.
- Redemption Quest: Ed's mission in life is to get Al's body back, which was lost when they tried to bring their mother back to life. Although the blame for this falls on both boys, Ed blames only himself, and is consumed with guilt.
- Related in the Adaptation: In this continuity, it’s revealed that Hohenheim had a child before he and Alphonse... and Envy was the homunculus born of Hohenheim's attempt to human-transmute his mercury-poisoned firstborn son back to life.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Al's Blue and Roy's Blue.
- Self-Made Orphan: Played with. He kills Sloth, the homunculus with his mother's appearance and memories, by turning her water-based powers against her and evaporating her. Ed is finally able to make himself go through with it by deciding that she isn't really a version of his beloved mother, just a dangerous creature that got her face and memories from the failed transmutation. Still, there are some hints from her and the other homunculi that the truth isn't so clear cut.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Al's Sensitive Guy... although Ed is still plenty sensitive himself, in his own ways.
- Shadow Archetype: Tucker is a very dark one for Ed, having similarly broken a taboo and sacrificed a family member out of hubris, mangled his own body as an unintentional mark of his transgression, and being similarly obsessed with finding a way to undo his mistakes.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: In regard to Winry, complete with Luminescent Blush. Unlike the manga/Brotherhood, it stays that way.
- Ship Tease:
- Gets some with Winry, such as when he goes shopping with her.
- Also has some with Rosé, including him blushing when she confesses her love.
- Shirtless Scene: Has quite a few.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: With Al: Ed's a prideful, hot-blooded Jerk with a Heart of Gold, Al's a polite peacemaker.
- Stock Shōnen Hero: Averted. Manga Ed was already a departure from this archetype and, since this series deconstructs his ideals and motivations more, anime Ed ends up even more of a subversively written Anti-Hero.
- Strong Family Resemblance: In the "Kids" OVA, Ed is shown elderly and he looks identical to Hohenheim. The same OVA shows that one of Ed's grandkids looks just like Ed when he was younger.
- Teen Genius: He's the youngest known State Alchemist, and he was skilled enough to at least attempt to perform Human Transmutation at a young age. And in the epilogue in pre-WW2 Germany, he has taken to studying rocket science, and has studied Einstein's theories, though Ed thinks nobody buys them.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
- Often with Mustang.
- Even after Lust's Heel–Face Turn, Edward trusts her just about the bare minimum amount required to motivate him to work with her.
- The Trickster: Especially when he fools Cornello into publicly revealing his plans or when he tricks Yoki into giving him the Youswell deed in exchange for false gold.
- Thou Shall Not Kill: Refuses to take a life, even when absolutely necessary. As he is quite a skilled fighter, this is not actually a very big problem for him. He'd even try to stop a convicted serial killer soul transferred to a suit of armor like Al from killing himself. This attitude ends when he is forced to kill Greed.
- Troubled, but Cute: Edward is generally considered the most attractive person in the series, but he has one of the harshest backstories of the cast.
- Tsurime Eyes: In contrast to Al's Tareme Eyes. This reflects their personalities, as Ed is harsher and rougher than Al.
- The Unfettered: After accidentally killing Greed, he abandons his original Thou Shall Not Kill philosophy and affirms that he has to be willing to get his hands dirty if he plans on actually defeating his enemies.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: More than once — his and Al's attempt to revive their mother is what damaged their bodies and created Sloth, while their actions in Lior only led to further devastation of the city after they left. Part of Ed's arc is learning how his actions have consequences.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Edward is a friend to Colonel Roy Mustang, but the two are fighting as often as not.
- You Can't Go Home Again: First burning down his and Al's home in Resembool. Then choosing to stay on the other side of the Gate in the movie in order to prevent others from invading Amestris.
Alphonse "Al" Elric
Click here to see his appearance in Conqueror of Shamballa
Edward's younger brother, he lost his body during an experiment that went horribly wrong. He survives in the form of a suit of armour, his soul joined to it through the use of a blood seal.
- The Ace: In Conqueror of Shamballa he's become a State Alchemist just like Edward had and possesses unique abilities even amongst other alchemists due to having looked into The Gate.
- Achilles' Heel: It's pretty much impossible to do any permanent harm to him, since his metal body can just be transmuted back together after sustaining any damage. The only way to kill him is to damage the blood seal binding his soul to his suit-of-armor body... at least, until he becomes a Philosopher’s Stone, at which point even falling into a river doesn’t erase it. In exchange, however, exhausting the Philosopher's Stone's power will exhaust Al's own life force, as well.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: His hair changes from blonde like his brother's to dark blonde. His eyes are also hazel here as opposed to gold in the manga.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In particular, his dilemma over whether his memories are real lasts longer and is explored a lot more here.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: Al never gains the ability to transmute without a circle here, meaning he has to rely on chalk-drawn circles. He also gets turned into a living Philosopher's Stone in the final arc, giving him abilities/properties he doesn't have in the manga.
- Animated Armor: Alphonse's soul was bound to a suit of armor by Edward in order to save his life. The binding seal keeping Alphonse tied to the armor is painted in blood on the inside of the breastplate.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Subverted. There are hints throughout the series that Alphonse has underlying rage issues, and would go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge if anything ever happened to Edward. In fact, this is the main reason why he empathizes so much with Scar. After Character Development, however, he resolves to make sure that nobody else will be able to carry out their revenge. This turns out to be his main motivation for going to Ishbal, since he's no longer certain about whether or not he should try to get his body back.
- Big Little Brother: Even before the transmutation, he was about the same size as Edward. This is emphasized in the movie where, despite having a body six years younger than Ed's at this point, he is still about the same height. In a post-series OVA, Alphonse is a head taller than adult Ed.
- Blessed with Suck: Since Al's soul is bound to a suit of armor, he is effectively immortal unless his blood seal is destroyed. However, he can't do normal things that regular humans can, such as eat or sleep, and he can't interact with the regular world outside of his friends and family without the risk of someone finding out his secret, which leaves him depressed.
- Blood Magic: The seal that keeps Al's soul tethered to his armor body is drawn in Edward's blood. Should the blood ever get washed off, Al's soul would leave.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Al's voiceover narration in the "Chibi Wrap Party" OVA has him complimenting his Alternate Self and spiraling off into a long jab about finally having the spotlight over Ed. Ed breaks the routine when he snaps that he can very clearly hear Al narrating.Al, narrating: It was true. [Alfons] was a good actor. He was also more handsome than Brother. And taller, too. What did that mean when he was supposed to be an older version of me? How must Brother have felt, knowing I'd surpass him one day? Oh, the irony. After spending the whole series with second billing, was this equivalent exchange?Ed: Al...I can hear your voiceover!
- Cast from Lifespan: After Scar turns Alphonse's body into a Philosopher's Stone, Al gains all the alchemic power that comes with the territory... in exchange for his own life force becoming tied to the energy in the stone, which is consumed with every transmutation he performs.
- Childhood Friends: With Winry.
- Child Mage: Alchemy is not an easy thing to learn. Especially alchemy needed to perform human transmutation.
- Child Prodigy: Although not as knowledgeable as Ed, he is still extremely skilled at alchemy as a whole.
- Corner of Woe: His version of Ed's Berserk Button. Calling him a "tin can" pretty much results in this.
- Composite Character: For the last part of the series Al becomes a Living Philosopher's Stone like Hohenheim did in the original and has a similar role, while also gaining Scar's arm tattoo.
- Cuteness Proximity: Can we blame him for wanting to keep that kitty?
- Dark and Troubled Past: Same as Edward.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: In The Movie, twice. At first he grows his hair out like Ed, but at the end, we see him with his hair cut to the same length it used to be.
- Extra-ore-dinary: Like Ed, his alchemy is specialized on this.
- Genius Bruiser: Not as intelligent as his brother, but Al is quite studious nonetheless and will wipe the floor with baddies.
- Gentle Giant: The armor he's bound to is definitely not small. Although he really tries his best to be friendly, the size can be intimidating.
- Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: When his helmet is on, he has two glowing dots in the helmet's eyes.
- Heroic BSoD: He falls into one in Conqueror of Shamballa upon seeing Amestris in ruins following the Nazi invasion through the Gate. Thankfully, Ed quickly snaps him out of it.
- I Choose to Stay: He chooses to go back to Germany with Edward at the end of Conqueror of Shamballa.
- Idiot Ball: Mainly during Martel's unneeded death.
- Innocent Prodigy: Alphonse was this before his soul was placed in a suit of armor and then again at the end of the series.
- I Will Find You: Determined to reunite with Ed at the end of the series. In the movie, his travels were due to his search for Ed, whose whereabouts are unknown.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Once found a kitten out in the rain and let it stay inside his armor.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: His fate at the end of the series. Ed inadvertently traded Al's memories of their experiences for his body, returning him to life at the cost of a memory wipe.
- Made of Iron: Literally. His soul is encased in a suit of full body armour.
- Martial Pacifist: Alphonse is the far more peaceful brother of the two, opposing violence multiple times (though he will defend people if necessary) and refusing to take anyone's life. This puts him in great danger over the course of the story.
- Marionette Master: He can take over the armored suits that come through the Gate in Conqueror of Shamballa via inserting a fragment of his soul into them.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He's horrified upon seeing that he accidentally brought a Nazi war blimp through the Gate in Conqueror of Shamballa.
- Parental Abandonment: He takes it much better than Ed does.
- Ping Pong Naïveté: Alphonse's emotions definitely get the better of him more often in this version of the story. He starts off as an intelligent, insightful young boy who was the sensible one compared to Ed. Later on, he makes many very poor, and arguably stupid, choices, like taking Barry the Chopper's mind games to heart while distrusting people who he's known all his life (though Ed does not help his case by constantly keeping secrets from him). He runs off every time he gets upset, even though the homunculi and Dante are looking for and trying to kill them, going along with Shou Tucker's plans and not telling Ed (even though Tucker made his daughter into a chimera, resulting in her death, and letting Sloth convince him that she's his mother, even though she is a homunculus when Ed is trying to remind him that they're fighting for their lives, immediately running towards Envy disguised as Winry, and barely putting up a fight. He arguably became more impulsive than his brother, whereas earlier in the show it was the other way around. This could be interpreted as the writers having Al act more like how a real little boy would if he was put in such a situation, but he becomes more competent again in the finale.
- Related in the Adaptation: In this continuity, it’s revealed that Hohenheim had a child before he and Ed, and said child is Envy.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Alphonse is the calm blue to Edward's fiery red.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Alphonse's sensitive demeanor is usually used as a contrast to Edward's more reserved, if surly, attitude.
- Ship Tease: Has some with Winry. He and Ed argued as children over who would marry her, suggesting he had a crush on her. When Envy disguised as Winry confesses she always loved Alphonse, he's stunned by the declaration long enough for Envy to incapacitate him.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: With Ed.
- Soul Fragment: In the movie, Al's soul has become a bit "loose" due all the body-hopping he was subject to, granting him the ability to split his soul into pieces and insert them into inanimate objects to act as golems. It allows him to reunite with Ed midway through the film, and he later uses it to turn the Big Bad's minions against her.
- Stupid Good: Al's belief in Rousseau Was Right and not wanting others to dirty their hands often results in him helping the villains more than he helps Edward.
- Tareme Eyes: In contrast to Ed's Tsurime Eyes. This reflects their personalities, as Ed is harsher and rougher than Al.
- Took a Level in Badass Becomes a State Alchemist when he's human again and the movie shows how much his alchemy powers have grown.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Al appears to be a guy walking around in a giant suit of armor while everyone else wears actual clothes, yet rarely does anyone actually comment on it.
- Why Am I Ticking?: Kimblee does this to him near the end.
- You Can't Go Home Again: First after burning down his home in Resembool with Edward. Then in the movie when he chooses to join Edward on the other side of the Gate, knowing they can never return to Amestris.
Winry Rockbell
The Elrics' childhood friend, and Ed's automail mechanic.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Her bandanna is red, whereas it's green in the manga and Brotherhood. However, Winry does get a green bandanna in the tail-end of the anime.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: She becomes friends with Scheska, a character she never directly meets in the Manga/Brotherhood.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In both the manga and 2003 anime, Winry comes face to face with her parents' killer. In the manga she tries to kill him but is stopped and comes to terms with it all. In the anime, Winry holds a lot of anger towards Roy after learning he killed her parents. She calls him out on it, but is never shown actually reconciling with him.
- Adapted Out: The storyline of her becoming an apprentice in Rush Valley doesn't happen here; instead, she continues on to Dublith with the Elrics and meets Izumi and co.
- Berserk Button: Don't insult or ruin her automail.
- Bound and Gagged: As a prisoner of Barry the Chopper.
- Broken Pedestal: To Roy Mustang when she learns that he executed her parents. She even admits that she can't reconcile her previous respect for Roy with the knowledge of what he did.
- Childhood Friends: With Ed and Al.
- Child Prodigy: Built sophisticated automail at a young age.
- Dark and Troubled Past: When she was a young child her parents, both doctors, were executed for treating Ishbalans in the war. Not long after that, her two best friends were crippled in a failed human transmutation.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: She tends to throw wrenches at Ed.
- Girl Next Door: The Elric brothers argued over who would marry her as children.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She has blonde hair, and is generally a nice girl (unless you hit her Berserk Button).
- He Will Not Cry, so I Cry for Him: Winry pulls this for the Elric brothers a couple of times.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: A generally nice girl with blue eyes.
- Like Brother and Sister: Her relationship with the Elrics is a lot more platonic here.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The Light to Lust's Dark, even though they've never met.
- Lovely Angels: With Scheska, as the two naturally click with their intelligent interests and klutzy tendencies. They even bug the Fuhrer's secretary's phone together.
- Mr. Fixit: She especially fixes Ed's automail whenever she's available.
- Ms. Fanservice: Much like her Brotherhood counterpart, Winry spends most of the series dressed in tank tops and short skirts that show off her legs. There are also frequent shots where camera pans up her body and shows how she physically matures as the series progress. The third ending best emphasizes how much fanservice she gets.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: Winry doesn't get a proper goodbye to either Ed or Al before they leave Amestris forever.
- Nice Girl: Mostly, so long as you don't destroy her automail.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Inverted; in the manga/Brotherhood, Winry & Ed have consistent Belligerent Sexual Tension and Will They or Won't They? teasing, and they end up becoming an Official Couple with Babies Ever After. In the 2003 series, it's hinted they may have had childhood crushes on each other, but time spent apart turns their relationship into more of a brother/sister one.
- Raised by Grandparents: Her parents were killed in a war, leaving her grandmother to raise her alone.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Sheska's Blue. While Winry is much more adventurous and loud-spoken, Scheska is spooked easily and keeps to herself.
- Ship Tease: Gets a little with both brothers.
- Squee: Her reaction to any other automail. Especially Rush Valley's.
- Tsundere: Similar to Brotherhood. She's sweet and friendly, but once Ed sets her off...
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Ed.
- Wrench Wench: As a woman who makes lots of automail as well as other mechanical works, she naturally fits this trope.
Scar
A mysterious Ishbalan in a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the State Alchemists that annihilated his people.
Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (JP), Dameon Clarke (EN, TV series, Conqueror of Shamballa, and video games), J. Michael Tatum (EN, OVAs)Other Languages
- Adaptation Dye-Job: His white hair here is portrayed not as an ethnic trait note but instead as premature stress-induced greying.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: He's younger than his Brotherhood and manga incarnation, and has notably much smoother features.
- Adaptational Heroism: He’s not the one who killed Winry’s parents in this continuity.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Unlike in the manga and Brotherhood, Scar never pulls an outright Heel–Face Turn or renounces his vengeance, and his teamwork with the Elrics is more uneasy.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- He has a much deeper connection to Lust in this version, since she's the homunculus of his late brother's fiancée. Fittingly, their counterparts on the other side of the Gate are implied to be together in Conqueror of Shamballa. In Brotherhood, their only interaction was when Lust attacked him in the sewers of East city.
- He also never meets Yoki in this version, thanks to the latter's Death by Adaptation.
- Adaptational Slimness: He's leaner and has less pronounced cheekbones than he does in the manga, though he's still visibly fit.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: Scar's arm is a full on Philosopher's Stone in the anime. Unfortunately, as he isn't a trained alchemist, he's unable to use its full potential until he grafts it onto Al.
- Adaptational Wimp: Scar in the manga was part of a sect of warrior monks, and it's shown that he was already a highly skilled fighter well before gaining his arm of destruction. In the '03 anime, he was just a normal Ishbalan citizen (indeed, Ishbal seems be far more pacifistic than its manga counterpart, lacking any warrior priests whatsoever) who just happened to have his abilities grafted onto him by his brother to save his life. Thus, all this version really has going for him is his empowered arm, though that alone makes him still very deadly. He also doesn't learn how to apply construction alchemy to combat like his manga counterpart, though his arm is an incomplete Philosopher's Stone as opposed to just having a deconstruction array.
- Age Lift: He's visibly younger than his manga counterpart and was shown to be a teenager during the Ishbalan war, whereas in the manga he was already a grown man.
- Anti-Villain: Like in Brotherhood/the manga, he ends up straddling the line between this and Anti-Hero. The things he did were bad, but he still had very sympathetic motives and tries only to attack those that were responsible for the Ishbal massacre. His final act is undoubtedly a dark one, sacrificing 7000 soldiers. However, the leader of those 7000 soldiers was planning on massacring the people of Lior, essentially turning the city into Ishbal 2.0. On the other hand, the series has spent a great deal of time humanizing rank and file members of the military. It's ultimately left up to the viewer where Scar lands on the scale between Anti-Hero and Anti-Villain.
- Badass Transplant: Scar's arm was blown off by a State Alchemist. His brother saved Scar's life by sacrificing his own right arm, which contained alchemical inscriptions.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: He creates the much sought after Philospher's Stone by taking the lives of countless soldiers.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: He clearly feels uncomfortable around Lust. It doesn't help that she's the homunculus of his brother's fiancee, who he had a crush on when she was still alive.
- Bookends: Scar gains his arm and its powers when his brother grafts his own arm onto Scar along with its powers after Kimblee blows Scar's arm off. He then loses that arm and its powers when he transfers the powers to Alphonse's body to save him after Kimblee primes him to explode.
- Cynicism Catalyst: His brother's death appears to have been the final straw, but the injustice done to his people did the bulk of it.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Holy shit. Like everyone (except Kimblee) involved in the Ishbalan War, he has heaps of it. Bonus points for realizing his brother was going to sacrifice a lot of his fellow countrymen to create a Philosopher's Stone.
- Dark Messiah: To the people of Lior, along with Rosé. Subverted since his main motive is creating a Philosopher's Stone.
- Death by Adaptation: Scar's story culminates in him turning Lior into a giant transmutation circle and then using himself and the invading Amestrian soldiers to create a Philosopher's Stone. In the manga and Brotherhood, he survives the series and gets a much happier ending, going back to Ishval to help rebuild his homeland.
- Facepalm Of Doom: His preferred method to kill.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: Scar more or less makes peace with the Elrics halfway through the series, but remains at best an Anti-Hero.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He ultimately chooses to give his life (and the lives of 7000 other people) to save Alphonse's.
- Hero Killer: Subverted. While he is a State Alchemist killer, he never actually kills any noteworthy protagonists. Likewise, his first on-screen victim, Basque Grand, was a serious asshole and a recurring antagonist early on.
- He Who Fights Monsters: His vengeance towards state alchemists has caused Scar to become almost as bad as them.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Despite killing several people and going on to sacrifice many soldiers to create the Philosopher's Stone, he gradually came to care for the Elric brothers and the homunculus Lust.
- Mercy Kill: The catalyst that pushes him to begin murdering State Alchemists is killing the Nina-Alexander chimera whose body is in constant pain.
- Mr. Fanservice: Especially notable due to his radically changed design, and the fact that he's at least 8 years younger than he is in the manga and Brotherhood.
- One-Hit Kill: He can touch your head and make your brain explode. He still has to touch flesh, however, a fact that Ed capitalizes on. When touching materials such as metal, it has to be the kind of matter he thinks it is, or else his ability will not work (Ed changes the metal of his automail arm in his last encounter).
- Odd Friendship: Establishes a strange sort of affinity with Alphonse.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Like in the manga, his name is never revealed.
- Person of Mass Destruction: His powers can cause objects and people to disassemble molecule by molecule.
- Power Tattoo: His main method of fighting is the alchemical tattoo on his right arm, which allows him to deconstruct matter without reconstructing it after. Boom. In an interesting twist the arm, a transplant from his brother, is also a Philosopher's Stone.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted, in this case his eye color indicates his belonging to an ethnic group that was nearly wiped out.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Targets state alchemists for the Ishbalan War.
- Shadow Archetype: Scar is very similar to Alphonse. They both suffered deep trauma and ended having a brother sacrifice an arm to save them. One of the main differences is Scar lost his brother, while Alphonse still has Ed. As such Scar devoted his life to revenge, and after seeing how it consumes him, Alphonse decided not to go down that path. Unusually for Shadow Archetypes they end up bonding with another. This is one of the reasons Scar again has the arm sacrificed, this time to save Alphonse.
- Strong, but Unskilled: Scar's arm naturally gives him the ability to destroy materials he comes in contact with, but he lacks any actual understanding of how alchemy works. Thus Ed is able to defeat him in combat by constantly changing the chemical composition of his metal arm and leg, preventing Scar from destroying them.
- Sunglasses at Night: He always wears them to hide the fact he is an Ishbalan.
- Survivor Guilt: After Kimblee blew off his arm, Scar's brother used his own arm as a transplant and died as a result. Scar had to live with that ever since.
- Taking the Bullet: Impulsively throws himself in front of Lust when a group of soldiers open fire on her. This leads to his death.
- That Man Is Dead: When Lust asks for his real name he states that he once had one, but "that person died years ago from a life of sin, malice and retribution."
- The Unfettered: He will kill off Central's army for bringing war to Ishbal, no matter what. He manages to kill quite a lot of them up to his death.
- The Unreveal: His name is never revealed, much like the manga; he believes that by using alchemy, he has renounced his name.
- Tragic Villain: Especially with a much more painful past and his brother going crazy.
- Villain Protagonist: Later on, of the Anti-Villain variety.
- Withholding Their Name: Scar's name is never given, even when he's about to die. When Lust asks him his name, he answers that his body once had one, but "that person died a long time ago." Lust, who'd only called him "scarred man" up to this point, finally uses the "name" Scar as he dies: "Goodbye... Scar."
- Would Hurt a Child: Not intentionally, but he still kills Nina, a little girl, out of mercy after she's turned into a chimera.
- Your Head Asplode: He generally fights by trying to grab someone's head and activating the alchemical circle inside to violently deconstruct everything in the area of effect, resulting in most of the skull being blown away.
