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alt title(s): Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood 
"A painless lesson is one without any meaning. One who does not sacrifice anything cannot achieve anything either."
— Edward Elric
Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (or Fullmetal Alchemist) is the story of the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse, who set out to find the legendary philosopher's stone after a failed attempt to transmute their mother back to life using alchemy — an attempt that cost Ed part of his body and left Al alive only through his soul being affixed to a suit of armor.
Since knowledge about such a powerful object as the philosopher's stone is tightly controlled by the State, the only way for the brothers to gain access to it is to take and pass the State Alchemist Examination and become, as Ed disparagingly calls it, a dog of the military. So, in addition to their own search, the two brothers also do the government's work, solving problems where they are sent... though, just as often, the trouble finds them before the orders to correct it.
This page deals with the manga, and its direct anime adaptation entitled Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Japanese title Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Fullmetal Alchemist). The latter has has just premiered in Japan and subtitled episodes are available on FUNimation's video site as well as Madman's shortly within a few days of broadcast. Panini has acquired distribution rights for most of Europe, and for the moment it's available with subtitles in several languages on Youtube.
This page has a character sheet.
For the first anime series, please see Anime/FullmetalAlchemist.
Not to be confused with Full Metal Jacket or Full Metal Panic.
This series provides examples of:
- Achilles Heel: Alphonse's blood seal.
- Action Girl: Hawkeye, Olivia, Lan Fan.
- Action Mom: Izumi.
- Actually That's My Assistant: Al is not the Fullmetal Alchemist, despite what people may think upon meeting him and Ed.
- Adaptation Distillation / Expansion / Compression: Brotherhood changes the actions of certain characters in a way that, arguably, makes a bit more sense, often due to simplification. It also cuts out a fair amount of scenes such that characterizations are changed or scenes make considerably less sense if one hasn't read the manga.
- For example, in the anime, Rose makes the point that even if the Elric Brothers had failed to resurrect their mother, Father Cornello still could. Cornello makes this same point in the original anime.
- Most of Roy's scenes were cut or dialogue changed to move the story quickly rather than linger on characterization.
- this may be due in part to the fact the other anime covers essentially everything up to and to the end of laboratory nine almost exactly as the manga does. because the other anime is still relative fresh in many minds, the idea of essentially redoing exactly what it did probably wouldn't go over any better. The animators/writers/directors may have simple decided (this is conjecture) that it would be easier to move along to all the stuff the previous anime didn't cover in regards to the manga. as one gets farther into the story, towards and past episode 20, the pacing slows somewhat, and more characterization is performed.
- Aerith And Bob
- A Father To His Men: Mustang. Olivia also counts, if not for the fact that "Briggs Bears" can hold up on their own. But when they really need her assistance, Olivia can be a really terrifying Mama Bear To Her Men.
- A Glass Of Chianti: Not wine, but this trope seems to be invoked when Father drinks the Philosopher's Stone residue after melting down Greed out of a fancy-looking chalice.
- Alas Poor Villain: First Greed, Number 48, Barry the Chopper, Gluttony, Kimblee and Envy
- A Nazi By Any Other Name: Amestris itself, one General makes it clear his feelings on the Ishval massacre.
- Ancient Conspiracy: Oh So Much.
- Animated Armor: Al, of course.
- Barry The Chopper and Killer Brother from warehouse #5 also count.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: The homunculi each personify one of the Seven Deadly Sins. It's eventually revealed that Father created them by giving them a portion of his personality, and that they are named after the "sin" they are created from.
- Anti Hero: Arguably Scar.
- Anti Villain: Greed, who has headed in the direction of Anti Hero as well (or at least sort of a Lovable Traitor in an Enemy Mine situation)
- The Freezing Alchemist in Brotherhood is an unhinged Shellshocked Senior who kills multiple soldiers. He's motivated by disgust over the genocide in Ishbal. Anyone who's read the manga can easily see where he's coming from.
- Greed also doubles as a Noble Demon. He's going to treat his henchmen well because, afterall, when word gets out that he's good to them more people will want to work for him.
- The Aragorn: Mustang
- Armor Piercing Slap: Subverted. Denny slaps Al, and gets a sore hand for his trouble.
- Played straight in the same incident with Maria Ross and Ed, whose face is not made of metal, and she successfully calls him out on his reckless charge into the 5th Lab.
- Art Evolution: The art style in Brotherhood has noticeably more detail and more realistic coloring than that of the original anime.
- Artificial Human: The Homunculi.
- Artificial Limbs: Ed, of course. Also Paninya and later, Lan Fan.
- You forgot Buccaneer.
- Also Bald, that one-time character on the train...
- The Atoner: Dr. Marcoh, Mustang, Hawkeye... in fact, many of the characters who were part of the Ishval war. Also Ed and Al, after their attempt of the taboo. Redemption is a major theme of the story.
- Author Appeal: Hiromu Arakawa thinks men should be muscular and big, and women should be bosomy and curvy. That probably won't surprise anyone.
- The Armstrong Siblings were probably born from that concept alone.
- Ax Crazy: Barry the Chopper, though he prefers meat cleavers. Envy gets like this whenever he loses restraint. Then, of course, there's the psychopath Solf J. Kimblee.
- And in chapter 95, Mustang was going BOOM-crazy against Envy. He calmed down, though.
- Badass: Ed, Al, Scar, Roy, Riza, Greed, Izumi, Olivia...
- Chapter 96 confirms that the Curtis couple is the most badass of all. Including Olivia. Watch.
- Bradley gets a special mention, in chapter 97 he effortlessly destroys a tank while armed with only a sword and a single grenade.
- And then proceeds to one-shot Buccaneer and his Chainsaw Automail. Yes, that Buccaneer, one of the most badass in an ARMY of badasses. Bradley is my new hero... Despite being a Genocidal bastard.
- The fact that it took 99 chapters for someone to wound Bradley, despite him being in more battles than most other villains, is also a testament to his badassness. Not to mention how many characters died to make that wound possible.
- Not to mention that as of chapter 101 he still lives despite being stabbed, having an eye gouged out, being shot and falling a great distance into a moat. And he doesn't even seem to have even slowed down at all. And he's over 60! Also he may even count as a Badass Normal ever since his ultimate eye was scratched out
- Bad Ass Army: Briggs army.
- Badass Bookworm: The whole point of being an Alchemist.
- Badass Mustache: Alex Louis Armstrong and Fuhrer Bradley.
- Buccaneer has a badass fu-manchu.
- Badass Normal: Hughes, Olivia, Riza, Havoc, Fu, Ling before he becomes possessed by Greed. Also, Lan Fan used to be one, but now she has an automail arm so she can't really count as "normal" anymore.
- If warrior monks count as normal, then Scar used to be one before he was given his Red Right Hand.
- Bad Guy Bar: The Devils' Nest
- Bait And Switch Credits: The second opening, "Hologram", shows Ling, Ran Fan, and Fuu holding their ground (and even wounding) Wrath/King Bradley. Well, let's just say it didn't happen quite that way in the manga...
- As of episode 21, that scene isn't possible anymore.
- Told you... As of the latest manga chapters, though...
- The appearance of a young Hohenheim in the first opening. He looks incredibly like Ed, most people don't pick it up.
- The credits from both seasons also show a number of fight scenes with Edward against Envy, Lust and Gluttony (all at once), which are patently impossible by this point. In fact, while most of the scenes are or can be taken as symbolic, the only scene in either season's credits that even resembles something that happens on-camera is Ed and Scar clashing in the second season's credits—and that scene takes place at night in a ruined city in the credits but in broad daylight in a normal city when it actually happens.
- Bare Your Midriff: Envy. Winry's work clothes.
- Battle Couple: Izumi and Sig Curtis.
- Berserk Button: Ed if you insult his height; Winry whenever Ed damages his automail.
- Harming Mustang's subordinates is a very, very bad idea. Or maybe the worst idea ever.
- Specifically never, ever, ever touch Hawkeye or Hughes, his best friend. Just fair warning.
- You must wonder what's gonna happen in ch. 101 considering the above fact...
- I don't wonder. Someone. Is going. To die.
- But, luckily, it wasn't Riza.
- Harming Olivia's subordinates is an even worse idea.
- Harming Hohenheim's kids is the worst idea, ever. Hell, just insulting his kids is sending you straight into an asskicking.
- Don't call Envy "Ugly". You'll just make him angry, and you won't like him when he's angry.
- ENVY SMASH!!! *Is boo'd* Aw, look! I had to, I HAD TO!
- 'Don't look at me!'
- Izumi Curtis will murder you multiple times if you dare to call her "old", "hag", or anything of the sort.
- Don't harm Lust, lest you want to get eaten by Gluttony
- If you took part in the Ishbal Massacre, be expecting a beatdown - if not bloody murder - by Scar. Also if you're a State Alchemist, or get in between him and a State Alchemist, or get in his way at all...
- When Dr. Marcoh admitted to Scar that he not only helped in the Massacre but also experimented on Ishballan/Amestrian soldiers he promptly asked Scar to kill him. Scar didn't because his knowledge of Alchemy would be useful, but did beat him up and then melt his face. So...don't push Scar's Berserk Button.
- He's been getting slightly better about that lately...
- Berserker Tears: Oh, Ling. T_T
- Beyond The Impossible: The Final arc keeps on upping the battles, and keeps upping the drama
- Bicep Polishing Gesture: Armstrong, constantly. Sig Curtis joins in occassionally.
- Big Bad: Father. Which is ironic, considering his name...
- Big Damn Heroes: Multiple times, especially in the most recent chapters. Hohenheim even lampshades it.
- Big Eater: Ling Yao and possibly Ran Fan. However, Gluttony tops them.
- Big Friendly Dog: Alexander
- Big No: Hohenheim, when he realizes he has become immortal. Greed after killing Bido and getting his memories back. Scar on waking up with his brother's arm.
- Bishie Sparkle: The entire Armstrong family.
- "These sparkles have been passed down the Armstrong line for GENERATIONS!"
- Bishonen: Parodied when May Chang imagines what the Elrics must look like.
- The Blank: The Truth/The World/God (what Ed meets behind The Doors) is pretty literally a blank.
- Bloody Murder: The Freezing Alchemist transmutes blood from his wounds into spears.
- Blessed With Suck: Sure she's easily one of the most powerful alchemists ever, she can transmute without a circle, and kick the bad guy's ass in a heartbeat, but in gaining these Izumi lost most of her organs!!
- Just her uterus and a bit of her intestines actually. But it does give her a weakness.
- Hohenheim has healed some of that though, or so it is hinted.
- Board To Death: An event during the Ishval war described in flashback by both Barry the Chopper and Dr. Marcoh. A group of members working for the Evil Army were involved in the operation to make a miniature philosopher's stone for combat use. When they went to the meeting to set this plan into operation, they provided the ingredients for the stone. Dr. Marcoh was the one who carried this out
- Bodyguard Crush: Pretty much outright stated with Lan Fan and Ling. Strongly hinted at with Roy and Riza.
- Also pretty damn obvious for the latter.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Barry is the dark side of this in the manga, along with Ax Crazy and a dose of Heroic Sociopath.
- Brains And Brawn: Ed and Al, respectively. Although Al isn't stupid and Ed isn't weak. It can perhaps be said that Ed and Al alternate in these roles.
- Bratty Half Pint: "WHO DID YOU CALL A SUPER MINI SHRIMP YOU'D NEED A MICROSCOPE TO SEE!??!!?!?"
- Break The Cutie: The Elric brothers most prominently, with Winry trailing not far behind.
- Riza's in there somewhere too, if you take the time to think about her Back Story.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer: Maes Hughes is either this or Obfuscating Stupidity.
- Butt Monkey: Yoki.
- Calling The Old Man Out: Ed to Hohenheim.
- Canon Foreigner: Isaac McDougall, the Freezing Alchemist.
- Came Back Wrong: The Elrics' mother, Trisha. Until it turns out it wasn't actually her.
- Camp Gay: Garfiel.
- Catchphrase: One that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations.
- Also, whenever Ed is insulted (or when he thinks he is being insulted): Who are you calling a ___ smaller than a ___!
- Izumi "Just a housewife"-replies could count.
- Chainsaw Good: Buccaneer, a lieutenant in the Briggs brigade.
- Character Development: The Elric brothers mature a lot in the story. Ed even looks older and tougher as the story goes on. Winry, Scar, Hohenheim, Roy, Ling and a few others also get a lot of development.
- Charles Atlas Super Power: The animation in Brotherhood really helps drives these examples home. Let's see, in a series where the actual weapon-to-weapon, fist-to-fist fighting is done very realistically, there's the Silver Alchemist. Just before Scar gets his hands on him, he manages to do this weird, non-alchemic attack that lets him spin around like a top and defy gravity. He has full control over this move as shown when he hovers in place for several seconds. Next, all you have to do to give a rotting human body the ability to dodge hails of bullets is jam an animal mind into it. Barry the Chopper's body is the example here.
- Armstrong deserves mention for being able to take hits from Sloth, a homunculus who is strong enough to lift tanks and can charge in straight lines faster than the eye can follow. Not to mention when a human/bull hybrid scrapes him along a wall for twenty feet with enough force to crack stone but only manages to give him a minor cut above his eye. Or the fact that he seems to have no maximum carry limit. It's worth noting that his whole family is like this to a greater or lesser extent which may make this an example of extremely good eugenics. Put's a whole new spin on the whole "This method of ______ has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" thing...
- Cheerful Child: Nina Tucker and Elicia Hughes.
- Chekhovs Gunman: In Brotherhood, the events of chapter 3 are only given a very brief mention in episode 4.
- In the manga: an unnamed alchemist with a gold tooth who was skilled at using Philosopher's Stones to heal,and was employed by Central to patch up Kimblee appeared in one panel of a chapter,halfway through the story. Then he was found sitting right at the centre of the labyrinth at HQ,about to "get this show on the road" in chapter 98,roughly two real-life years later.
- Said unnamed alchemist is also the one who oversaw the creation of King Bradley, and in fact was the very person injecting the Philosopher's Stone into the young man. This happened back in chapter 53.
- Remember the candidates who didn't get a chance to be injected with the Philosopher Stone in an effort to create Wrath? You didn't think they'd disappeared, did you?
- Chekhov MIA: Hohenheim.
- Chess Motifs: "My pawn, my knight, my rook, my bishop and my queen..."
- Child Soldiers: Ed became a "dog of the military" at age 12 and could be sent to the front any time. Later on, he's called out to "do his duty" by Kimblee. He doesn't take it well.
- Chinese Girl: May.
- Chinese People: The characters from Xing.
- Clothing Damage: Ed seems to project an aura that causes his shirts to dissolve. Armstrong, on the other hand, just goes bare-chested all the time because he's weird.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Hohenheim is not like us; neither is his mirror image, foil, Pygmalion figure, metaphorical son and brother, caricature, and Shadow Archetype all in one, Father.
- Code Name: Every state alchemist gets one. It's where the series gets its title. The homonculi also have code names of sorts, but not all of them are revealed (Wrath is the Ultimate Eye, Greed is the Ultimate Shield, and Lust is the Ultimate Lance)
- Colonel Badass: Roy Mustang is the god of this trope.
- Complete Monster: Shou Tucker and Solf J. Kimblee are the most clear-cut examples. Most of the homunculi, too; especially Envy. Also, whoever that scientist beneath Central is HAS to count as well. When Mustang refuses to try to resurrect someone, he gets one of his goons TO SLIT HAWKEYE'S THROAT and says "How about now?"
- Conspicuous CG: Used liberally; especially noticeable in Envy's true form.
- Couldnt Find A Pen: Used as a gag in an omake.
- Creepy Child: Pride, who is also an Enfant Terrible.
- Cross Dressing Voices: Ed and Al in Brotherhood.
- Unlike the first anime, Al's going to be playing it straight in Brotherhood's dub.
- Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: Hughes, Ling Yao, Hohenheim, Havoc
- Crowning Moment Of Awesome: Just see the page. Lately, with the climax of the book well underway, you'll see them several times a chapter.
- Crowning Moment Of Funny:
TINY MINISKIRTS! That's on the omake, dude. Every time Ed hears anything about small.
- Every time Izumi got ticked off.
- Times when Ed goes to Winry with trashed automail.
- Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming: "Winry... Did you forget that you helped a mother deliver her baby in Rush Valley.... Did you forget that your hand also gave me this arm and leg to walk my path.... Your hand is not a hand that kills, it is the hand of a healer... so please, don't...!"
- "My eye signal...you recognized it well." "We've been together for a long time, after all."
- Crowning Music Of Awesome: The show's 6 themes (ending and opening) are all considered quite amazing.
- Crucified Hero Shot: Greed — censored in the English version of the manga, and in Brotherhood.
- Cry Cute: Roy lampshades the trope, telling Riza he'd like to see her cry again, as she had such 'pure tears'.
- Crystal Dragon Jesus: Father Cornello's cult has their clothing based off of Catholic priests, but with a Greek god and a secret army plan added.
- Curb Stomp Battle: The fight between Mustang and Envy in Chapter 94 is basically just 20 solid pages of Envy getting set on fire, interspersed with brief intervals during which Envy tries to think up ways to not get set on fire. None of them work, and some of them lead to him getting shot.
- Cursed With Awesome: If Ed's arm wasn't mechanical, he'd have lost it several times over by now. Although you could argue that he wouldn't be in a position where he could lose his arm so much if he didn't have a mechanical one to begin with.
- Brought up in one chapter. Two chimera wanted to use the Philosopher's Stone to make themselves human again, but after their cool powers help save their lives, they start to rethink their situation.
- Cute Bruiser: May, master of alkahestry (Xingese alchemy).
- Cute Shotaro Boy: Alphonse was this before his soul was placed in a suit of armor.
- Cuteness Proximity: Al loves cats. Scar loves cats.
- Cycle Of Revenge: Examined through Scar's character.
- Darker And Edgier: The Brotherhood Adaptation of the Manga, when compared to the original anime, is a descent into madness. Maria Ross gets flame broiled by Mustang in episode 17, and her burned corpse is very graphically displayed. Greed is melted alive (slowly), and then drunk by Father.
- Dark Skinned Blond: Most Ishvalans, it would seem.
- Death By Origin Story: Trisha Elric, Mr. Hawkeye
- Death Glare: The Fuhrer, Alex Armstrong, and Mustang.
- Determinator: Edward to the extreme.
- Devour The Dragon: Pride devours Gluttony to replenish his philosopher stone and gain Gluttony's ability to follow others by smell, though that may have been simply an added bonus.
- Die For Our Ship: I dare you to say Rose's name in an EdWin forum. C'mon. I'll pay for the funeral, promise.
- Disappeared Father: Hohenheim
- The Dog Bites Back Literally, as Kimblee gets his throat ripped out by one of the Chimeras who was previously forced to work for him
- Doesnt Like Guns: Ed.
- Does This Remind You Of Anything: The author has commented that the whole Ishval situation was inspired by the plight of the Ainu people, which is unsurprising given that she's from Hokkaido.
- She has also said she gets ideas from befriending people in complicated personal situations, like disabled people, war refugees, and (wait for it) a former Yakuza. The similarity between Riza's concern for hiding her tattoo and the social stigma a bearer of Yakuza tattoos has to endure in Japan is actually made fun of in a yonkoma.
- Double Entendre: The homunculus named Lust is also referred to as the Ultimate Lance. (She's a woman, but I mean come on!)
- Draco In Leather Pants: Envy and Kimblee in particular.
- Dude Looks Like A Lady: One can make a strong case about Envy, whose usual form looks perfectly female but for its obvious booblessness (Pettanko?)
- In a troubling scene in a recent chapter, Envy does a Gracia impression to taunt Roy about how he killed Maes and, with his usual body language... looks like a male transvestite.
- The Dumbledore: Hohenheim, maybe. Except he's not killed...so far.
- Early Bird Cameo: Father, Solf J. Kimblee, Hughes and Armstrong all pop up in the first episode of Brotherhood. Slave Hohenheim is in the first shot of the opening.
- Note that that last one can very easily be mistaken for an older Ed with his arm intact. Family resemblance is a wonderful thing.
- Izumi and Sig can be seen in the background fairly early in the manga.
- Engineered Public Confession: Used to take down Cornello.
- Ensemble Dark Horse: Though the series is full of likeable people, Ran Fan is very popular among the new Brotherhood fandom, despite only being a secondary character.
- Equivalent Exchange: Trope Namer and the foundation of Alchemy.
- Esoteric Motifs: All the homunculi have Ouroboros tattoos. We still haven't seen where Pride's is, though. Ed, Al and Izumi sport the Flamel.
- Estrogen Brigade Bait: Roy is proof that God loves fangirls and wants us to be happy. Ed comes in a close-ish second.
- Everythings Cuter With Kittens: A Running Gag in the omakes.
- Evil Eye: King Bradley
- Evil Is Cool: Envy is a Complete Monster in every sense. He's just so damn awesome at it that the fans tend to find him amusing anyway. Kimblee also fits. Greed also seems to Lamp Shade this trope as he alternates between Cool Evil and Cool good at massive Face Heel Turn and Heel Face Turn speed.
- And of course, there's Wrath. A guy who can do all those feats of implausible awesome should have been here by default. He took down a tank. With a sword.''
- Heck, most of the Homunculus, then.
- Evil Twin: Hohenheim and Father play with this trope, though not quite literally.
- Evil Costume Switch: After Ling becomes Greed, he drops his Xinguese-styled clothes in favor of an all-black suit and a Badass Longcoat. Subverted in that it didn't stay as "Evil Costume Switch" for long.
- Expressive Mask: Played with a bit. Al's face doesn't move, of course (outside of humorous moments), but things like rain, light and shadow are often used to give emotion to his face. Also when drawn in "chibi" style his face can be more flexible.
- Expy: Jean Havoc's characterization and design originates from an earlier Arakawa manga Shanghai Youma Kikai, along with Lust.
- Dorchet/Dolcetto/what have you is a human/dog hybrid with a ring around his pupil, and he's loyal to his master to a fault. These traits come from the Military Dogs (sound familiar?) from Arakawa's first professional manga, Stray Dog.
- Extreme Omnivore: Gluttony.
- Eyepatch Of Power: King Bradley.
- Eyes Always Shut: Falman, Dr. Marcoh, and Ling. Later, when Ling is possessed by Greed, the eye he has opened shows who's in control. A related convention is used with King Bradley: when one eye is open, he's getting serious. When BOTH eyes are open, he's about to freakin' kill you.
- Eyes Of Gold: Ed, and also Al before he got stuck in his Animated Armor. They got it from their dad, and it's a sign that they're ethnically Xerxesian.
- Fandom Nod: Ed's height.
- Fan Nickname: Hoho and Hohopapa for Hohenheim, Scarbro for Scar's brother, Sexyhobo for Scar (No, really!), Shinri-kun or Truth-kun for the guardian of the Doors of Truth, Greedling or GreedLin for Greed once he takes over Lin/Ling's body (which is used by Ed as a Shout Out to the fanbase at one point), etc.
- Fake Memories: Barry the Chopper suggests to Al that his memories aren't real, that Ed created him himself, and the human boy Al never existed. He's just screwing with him for giggles, but Al believes him until Ed and Winry set him straight.
- Fan Service: Lust and Winry's skimpy outfits, Ed, Ling and Armstrong's constant shirtlessness. Several gratuitous bath/shower scenes, for Riza, Winry and Ed.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Xing with China and Amestris as a mix of Industrial Revolution and World War era Europe.
- Far East: Xing
- Fatal Family Photo: Explicity pointed out by Roy, who uses it to warn Hughes against talking about his girlfriend on the battlefield. However, a photo of Hughes' family actually plays a direct role in his death.
- Also played with with Hohenheim, who gets shot repeatedly just after showing his family picture to a young mother but is near-invincible and technically immortal.
- Feed Me: Ed, whenever called "small", Olivia when she feels the need to assert herself, Armstrong constantly.
- Femme Fatale: Lust.
- Femme Fatalons: Ditto.
- Fighting From The Inside: Ling, once he's possessed by Greed.
- First Episode Spoiler
- Foreshadowing: Lots. Especially prevalent in the first episode of Brotherhood.
- An especially chilling example appears in Episode 9's Post Episode Trailer, featuring a 3-second shot of a certain phone booth...
- Also one that's basically an inseries Funny Aneurysm Moment. During his fight with Ran Fan, Ed defeats her by leaving his automail arm as a decoy/booby trap. He explains that he got the idea from a common trick in hunting. Later on, Ran Fan eludes Wrath whose trying to kill her by chopping off her own arm as a decoy.
- Four Star Badass: Olivia, Bradley.
- Functional Magic: Alchemy
- Funny Money: The Amestrian Cen's value is apparently roughly equivalent to the Yen.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Winry Rockbell
- Gag Penis: If you read the caption under the fourth panel of this strip, you'll notice Arakawa less-than-subtlety implies this about Edward Elric.
- Gainaxing: In the episode where Lust reveals herself to Roy and Havoc (although Havoc already knows her as his girlfriend, Solaris) the camera zooms to the tattoo on her chest as they gasp, "the Ouroborous!" The camera stays on her chest for a beat, and then her breasts suddenly go 'Boing!' Literally. That's the sound they make. Then we see Roy and Havoc, with Lust in the background, still boing-ing, as Roy says, "I can see why you were decieved by her..."
- Gallows Humour: It goes so far that deceased characters appear on the flap of the manga and in Omakes. Hilarity Ensues. Ed and Al's mutilation and their resulting anguish is played for fun more than a few times too. It's just a bit less extreme than the humour in Saikano, but it tries hard.
- General Ripper: Many of the top military brass, most prominently General Raven. Possibly Grumman.
- Olivia Mira Armstrong also looks like this, but since her original position is actually border patrol with a hostile nation, it's kinda justified.
- Genius Ditz: Sheska; arguably Hohenheim.
- Geometric Magic: Again, Alchemy.
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Maes Hughes is very popular with the American fanbase, much to the surprise of the Japanese creators.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Ross does this to Ed for his recklesness in Warehouse #5 incident.
- Glory Hound
- Glowing Eyes Of Doom: Mustang. Oh, God, Mustang.
- Go Out With A Smile: Sloth. "Living is too much effort", indeed."
- Also Buccaneer, who died along with Fuu to finally wound King Bradley. Manly Tears were shed. And some not-so-manly ones.
- Good Looking Privates: Most, if not all, of the military characters.
- Good Scars Evil Scars: Wrath has an evil scar over his Evil Eye. Scar (heh) has an antiheroic scar.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: How the Elrics got in their current condition.
- Government Conspiracy: The homunculi and all the upper echelons of the military are in on a plan to create a utopia.
- Green Rocks: Philosopher's Stones basically allow you to do anything with alchemy.
- Guinea Pig Family: Shou Tucker and his wife, daughter, and dog.
- Guns Are Worthless: Used and Subverted. The Houmunculi can be slain by them if killed enough times, though alchemy is much more effective. The super, zombie soldiers released by Central can only be killed by destroying the crown of their heads, something that is nearly impossible to do with bullets alone. Hawkeye lampshades this trope in one chapter...
Riza: They don't work on anything these days.
- Handicapped Bad Ass: Havoc during his "pension", who changed from paraplegic ex-soldier into civilian smuggler who can smuggle artillery and such from a remote country into a militaristic country
- Hands Off My Fluffy
- Hannibal Lecture: The Homunculi positively love doing this, especially Envy, Lust, and Wrath.
"Poor, confused humans: feel this suffering, for it is proof that you are alive. Then, with both hands on the ground, kneel before me."
- Harmless Freezing: Averted. The whole Briggs episodes shows what could happen if you walks around with regular metals making contact with your skin or walking in snowstorm unprepared. Then there's Sloth, but this is Sloth we're talking about....
- The Heartless: Possibly Father, at a metaphorical level, at least.
- Heel Face Turn: Scar, almost all the Chimera, Greed
- Hellish Pupils: The homunculi.
- Hermetic Magic: Yet again, Alchemy.
- Heroic Bastard: Ed and Al, as Trisha and Van Hohenheim never married. They are given their mother's surname. Mustang as well.
- Heroic Sacrifice: More than once.
- Heroic Sociopath: Barry the Chopper. Arguably Scar, Slicer.
- In Scar's case, slowly working his way from just sociopathic to heroic as well.
- Hero Killer: Scar and the Homonculi.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Scar went from a victim of genocide by alchemy to hunting down and killing every state alchemist he could find... with alchemy. Later on, Ed, Al, and Winry pretty much call him out on this.
- He Will Not Cry So I Cry For Him: Winry does this for Ed and Al at first, until Ed asks her to stop as it only makes things hader for him. The next time she cries for him they'll be tears of joy.
- High Octane Nightmare Fuel: Envy's true form, the making of the Philosopher's Stones, the Cyclops Army.
- The true form is Upped To Eleven in the anime. This Troper tried, but he couldn't even blink.
- Don't forget Pride, what with all the giant mouths and eyes. And the anthropophagy. And the bromunculus cannibalism.
- Not to mention when Envy uses the Cyclops Army to make his new form.
- Father's 'true' form in chapter 97. Dear god! The black thing with huge eyes all over of his 'body', the mouth, and how the black goo-thingy came out of his body (dear god!)
- What happened to Nina. "Edward, why does it hurt here?" High Octane Nightmare Fuel, to put it mildly.
- Or the Cyclops soldiers, which look like the unholy spawn of the Mass-Produced Evas and an especially ugly zombie?
- Hollywood Healing: Pretty much avoided. One notable instance is Mustang and Havoc's encounter with Lust. Roy takes many chapters to heal, and the scar from cutting a sigil into his hand can be seen in much later chapters. Havoc is, of course, paralyzed.
- Hostage Situation: To keep Ed and Mustang in line, Fuhrer Bradley subtly threatens the safety of Winry and Hawkeye (also transferring Roy's other subordinates to distant places, but specifically transferring Hawkeye to be his personal assistant) effectively making both alchemists unable to visibly go against him.
- Bastard-doctor-with-the-gold tooth had one of his zombies injure Hawkeye on the throat to get Roy to do a human transmutation- he said to Mustang, in short "You leave her like this and she'll bleed to death, but do a human transmutation and I'll cure her.". This was actually pretty popular with fans in fanfics, but no one really thought Arakawa would go and do it so it was more like a slap in the face than anything.
- Hot Shounen Dad: Hohenheim has quite a bunch of fangirls.
- Hohenheim? He is...HOHO PAPA!!!
- Hot Mom: Trisha was quite the looker back when she was... Ya know... Alive.
- Housewife: And God knows Izumi won't let you forget it!
- Huge Guy Tiny Girl: Sig and Izumi
- I Am Not Weasel: Xiao Mei is constantly referred to as a black and white cat rather than a tiny panda.
- Iconic Item: Ed's watch and red coat, Roy's gloves. Ed's armblade transmutation seems to be used a lot within fanon and artwork, but doesn't really depend on it that much within the series.
- Lampshaded slightly in the manga when Ed enthusiastically buys a length of red fabric to remake his coat, saying he 'needs all the luck and morale he can get'.
- Idiot Hair: Ed, who tries using it to cheat on his height! Especially hilarious when Olivia threatens to "cut off that ridiculous antenna."
- If I Do Not Return: When Ed prepares to transmute himself to bust out of Gluttony's stomach. Ling gives the standard response.
- If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him: Scar is actually aware of this, and goes on killing State Alchemists anyway, believing that he's already beyond redemption, after killing Winry's parents during his huge Freak Out. In the manga, he, Ed and Hawkeye stop Mustang from completely going batshit in killing Envy, even though Envy really deserves it.
- Not really an example of this trope, as they never intended to let Envy live, but rather, they were just trying to convince Mustang that he can't be a good leader if he lets people get to him like that.
- I Have Your Wife: Used several times by villains who keep the heroes on good behavior by threatening their loved ones Eventually turned back at them by Mustang's rebellion, which kidnaps Mrs. Bradley and shows her that her husband and his supporters are the bad guys, winning her over and helping them win support from the populace
- The Illegal: Played for laughs with Ling, although it later serves the plot when Ling is in the right place at the right time I.E., in prison.
- I Know You Are In There Somewhere Fight Ed to Ling when he gets turned into the new Greed. The latter shows signs of snapping out of it when Ed mentions Lan Fan.
- Immortality Immorality: Father
and Hohenheim. Plus the homunculi.
- Immune To Bullets: Lampshaded
- Implacable Man: Sloth
- Improbable Age: Much is done to justify twelve-year-old Ed being accepted into the military.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Riza Hawkeye
- Incurable Cough Of Death: Trisha
- Infant Immortality: Subverted with Nina.
- Instant Runes: Averted. You have to draw them or already have one ready.
- I Was Quite A Looker: Pinako, apparently, was pretty hot back in the day.
- She was — there's a picture of her drinking with Hohenheim. She looks kinda like Izumi.
- We get to see more of young Pinako in episode 27, one of the few high points of the Recap Episode.
- Iron Woobie: Alphonse, Edward, Izumi, Ran Fan, Alex Armstrong, Hawkeye, Mustang.... Oh well, almost every good guy.
- Jerk With A Heart Of Gold: Edward and Roy. Also Olivia and Izumi.
- Jerk Ass Facade: Mustang's an expert. And his teacher was Grumman.
- Just Between You And Me: Causes Cornello's downfall. Averted with the homunculi, who never share just what their plan is. Although Envy enjoys dropping hints.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Noticeably subverted with Dorochette, who looks like he'll be something of a Bad Ass when he shows up with a katana, but gets quickly trounced by everyone he ends up fighting. When he goes toe to toe with the cavalry saber wielding Bradley, he is swiftly and fatally bisected.
- Kick The Son Of A Bitch Rather than using some alchemical trick to kill Envy the way Marcoh did, Mustang just torches him over and over again, making sure to do so in the most painful ways possible. (such as making the liquid in his eyes boil and explode...twice) Against anyone else, this would be Moral Dissonance, but it's freaking Envy...the guy who killed Maes Hughes while shapeshifted to look like his wife and went after Marcoh just to screw with his head.
- Kill It With Fire: What the aptly named Flame Alchemist does to people who really piss him off.
- Kill It With Water: The Freezing Alchemist from episode one of Brotherhood uses water, ice, and steam.
- Kill The Cutie: Nina Tucker, poor Nina....
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Al, perhaps a bit too much...
- Knife Nut: Hughes
- Kuudere: Riza Hawkeye.
- A Lady On Each Arm: Greed is introduced this way.
- Lantern Jaw Of Justice: Armstrong is a straight example but Al has one built right into his armor for some reason.
- Large Ham: Armstrong. Oh, dear God Armstrong...
- The Last DJ: Roy appears to be an inversion at first (has no morals and is only after promotions) but we eventually learn that he's a straight example, since part of his plan for what to do after taking over the country include ending the military dictatorship, which would strip away his own immunity from being charged with the war crimes he committed while "Just following orders". There's also Armstrong, who refuses to follow orders and kill indiscriminately in favor of his own sense of honor and justice, and he flat out gets told that's why he is never promoted.
- Life Energy: Souls have power, quite literally. In fact they're what a philosopher's stone's made of.
- Life Or Limb Decision: Lan Fan cuts off her own arm, attached it to a dog, and wandered around in the sewers for a few hours to lure away the two Homunculi chasing after her and Ling
- And, of course, Ed sacrificing his right arm for Al.
- Lightning Bruiser: the gigantic, slow-witted Sloth is the fastest of the Homunculi. As in, you won't even see him move.
- Also, Scar's biggest asset is his speed. He literally dodges bullets.
- Literal Split Personality: Father has this down to a science.
- Loads And Loads Of Characters
- Love Hurts: Riza Hawkeye and Roy Mustang, of course. Just give a little thought as to why both got in/are in the military.
- Light Is Not Good: The very first villain faced is a megalomaniac priest who pretends to be a kind mesiah like figure. There's also The Man in White, Scar (though he becomes a Anti Hero) and Father though his real form is an Eldritch Abomination. Then there's also The Truth. That said, the opposite is absolutely not true.
- Also Dorochet/Dolocetto. True, he's just extremely loyal to the homunculus Greed (since he's a dog chimeara), but he's still on the bad guys side, and he wears white and never seems to be dark looking at all.
- The Little Black Dress: Lust
- Luke I Am Your Father: Jossed. When Father was first introduced, fans initially thought he was Hohenheim. This was later subverted in the scene where Ed and Al meet him for the first time.
- Made Of Iron: Al, in a quite literal sense. This depresses him somewhat. Largely averted though, as noted under Hollywood Healing, above. One battle leaves both Ed and Ling with broken ribs and limbs. Al himself has also partially fallen apart several times in the manga.
- Magic A Is Magic A: This trope lies at the very core of alchemy.
- Magic From Technology: Alchemy is used as an explanation for the Steam Punk setting.
- Manly Tears: Armstrong does it a lot. Roy, once. Ed, on occasion. Al has many moments where he would cry, but can't, due to his "condition". Hohenheim had a pretty spectacular Manly Tears moment when Ed told him Trisha's last words. Ed was actually very weirded out at this reaction. Recently, Ling after Fuu's Heroic Sacrifice.
- Mauve Shirt: Jerun, Zanpano, Heinkel, and Darius.
- Meaningful Funeral: Hughes
- Roy and Riza have their own private one for her father, Roy's alchemy teacher.
- Meaningful Name: The Fuhrer is named King Bradley although in his case it was on purpose. There's also sharpshooter Riza Hawkeye, (it's even lampshaded a couple of times, especially in the manga where Roy is said to have 'the Eye of the Hawk' protecting him). Everyone in the Armstrong family seems to be ridiculously strong, and on a subtler level, Roy (Roi means King in French. Guess who wants to replace King as Fuhrer?). "Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim" is the real name of the real world's most famous alchemist, Paracelsus. Amestris was the consort of the Persian king Xerxes. Riesenburg was the home of the historical van Hohenheim.
- Meganekko: Sheska.
- Mes A Crowd: The Father created all the homunculi this way, although Pride is the only one who looks like a clone.
- Miniature Senior Citizens: Pinako.
- Moral Dissonance: Mustang conducts himself as cool, calculating, and somewhat of a Magnificent Bastard... until he finds out Envy was the one who killed Hughes. Let's just say that the "fight" that resulted between them was more a slow, lingering, torture session, involving boiling the liquid in Envy's eyes so they explode... multiple times, among other things.
- Considering that it is Envy, who practically lives across the Moral Event Horizon, you can't exactly say that you weren't cheering for Roy even when what he's doing is basically torturing the bastard. Except maybe for the being consumed by his revenge part.
- Morality Pet: Both King Bradley and Selim have a soft spot for Mrs Bradley, despite being heartless homonculi and, at times, complete bastards.
- Mood Whiplash: Brotherhood. And how!.
- Mook Face Turn: All four of the Chimeras that were with Kimblee, after being saved by Ed and Al on different occasions. Not one of them had a name until they turned.
- The soldiers that were sent to capture Olivia and Alex Armstrong, after the Armstrongs saved them from the Cyclops Soldiers and Sloth.
- More Dakka: Basque Grand's favored strategy.
- Murdered In A Phone Booth: Hughes.
- Mysterious Parent: Hohenheim.
- Nakama: Roy Mustang and his subordinates are this.
- Heck, most of the military is this. Well, the good guys, that is.
- The Napoleon: Ed, and he is not happy about it. Apart from played for laughs in the manga though, it is now directly linked to Al's possible recovery of his body, which is still alive and mooching off Ed's at the Gate of Truth.
- Narm: The Eye Catches in Brotherhood. A dramatic scene has just come to its climax, you're soaking in the emotion, and WHAM: "Fullmetal Alchemist!" in Gratuitous English in a weird tone of voice. Really kills the mood.
- Necromantic: Trying to bring back the dead with alchemy is a bad idea.
- Never Trust A Trailer: In the English, at least, the "next volume" previews always seem to take panels out of context, or translate certain sentances in such a way as to change the meaning of what is being said to make it mor dramatic or to give it different implications entirely.
- Nigh Invulnerability: Homunculi, and Hohenheim and Father. Tied right into their immortality.
- Night Of The Living Mooks: Cyclops soldier. It doesn't end well.
- Ninja: Lan Fan and Fuu are as close as it's gonna get...
- No Loves Intersect: If you live in the world of Full Metal Alchemist you may have to accept Ship Tease, Love Hurts, Unequal Pairing, and Cannot Spit It Out getting in the way of your potential relationships, but you'll never have to deal with a viable Love Triangle. Especially remarkable since this is a land where almost Everyone Is Single and heavily populated by Good Looking Privates.
- There was an element of a love triangle when Ling is first introduced to Winry, but this was dropped almost as soon as it was started.
- No Name Given: Scar and his brother.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Mustang (with Havoc and Hawkeye), Ling (with Lan Fan) and Olivia (her scout team on underground tunnel).
- Nosebleed: In an omake Roy:"When I become Fuhrer, all female officers will be required to wear... TINY MINISKIRTS!"
- Not So Stoic: Riza, when she thought someone killed Roy. It was... impressive.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Hughes. King Bradley, oh so much. To a certain extent, Roy and Hohenheim.
- Odd Friendship: Mei, cute little princess with the pet panda, and Scar, alchemist-hunting serial killer, get along surprisingly well.
- Ocular Gushers: Al... despite not having any tear ducts. Also Armstrong, whenever he sheds his Manly Tears. May can put out fires with her tears. Denny when he finally sees Maria again.
- Omake: Hiromu Arakawa has one mean sense of humor and it shows in the "extras" pages in the back of every manga volume.
- Looks like they'll be getting animated as DVD extras.
- One Winged Angel: Envy has a rather monstrous true form. Gluttony, too. Not to mention Pride, whom Father modeled after his original form.
- In the new anime, Father Cornello gets this during a fight, in true Batman Beyond fashion.
- Cornello SMASH! That scene was asking for it...
- In chapter ninety-seven of the manga, Father reveals his true form to be a humanoid shadow covered in eyes and mouths, just like the shadows Pride uses to attack.
- The Other Darrin: Brotherhood replaced a good deal of the seiyuu from the first anime. Two who returned ended up playing a different character.
- The dub will be doing the opposite, with only Al and Scar's voices confirmed to be replaced.
- Over Enthusiastic Parents: Hughes, oh so much.
- Overprotective Dad: Hughes confronts a trio of three-year-olds who want to play with his daughter with a gun. Complete with Scary Shiny Glasses.
- The Paid For Harem: Greed's girls.
- Pale Skinned Brunette: Lust and Izumi. There's a good reason in both cases: Lust is an artificial human and Izumi is deathly ill from losing some internal organs.
- Papa Wolf: Hohenheim is one absurdly powerful and protective case of this, even if he doesn't act like it the first time we see him. Also Fuu to Ran Fan, which makes him a Granpapa Wolf.
Fuu: "''So, who is this man who remains uninjured despite both our best efforts?"
Lin/Greed: "That'd be King Bradley."
Fuu: "Oh ho! I've never seen him with my own eyes...So this is the man who severed my grandaughter's arm!!! "
- Path Of Inspiration: Cornello's cult.
- Parental Abandonment: Poor Elrics.
- Patrick Stewart Speech: Multiple characters deliver these to the homunculi.
- Pec Flex: Armstrong's manly physique has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations! (Looking at some of his sisters, it has)
- Person Of Mass Destruction: Mustang, Kimblee, Basque Grand. Arguably, every State Alchemist can considered this, Mustang even commented that their job is like an "Artillery person who gets sent in when everything else fails". Father and Hohenheim also counts.
- Pet The Dog: Hawkeye with Black Hayate, and a partial subversion with Mustang. Plus, Scar really likes cats◊.
- It's hinted by Bradley that he chose to marry his current wife.
- Phlebotinum Breakdown: If you don't know your stuff, alchemic reactions can backfire on you pretty spectacularly.
- Photographic Memory: Sheshka
- Playing With Fire: Roy Mustang, code-name: "Flame Alchemist"
- Please Wake Up: Hughes, spoken by his daughter.
- Plot-Based Photograph Obfuscation: Hohenheim's face is obscured on the only family picture the Elrics have. It's to hide the fact that he looks exactly like the Big Bad, also that he cries.
- Post Dramatic Stress Disorder: all the dang time.
- Portmanteau Couple Name: Royai for Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye, Edwin for Edward/Winry, LingFan for Ling/Lan Fan and AruMei or AluMei for Alphonse/May Chang in the manga.
- Portmanteau Series Nickname: Hagaren for "Hagane no Renkijutsushi," meaning "The Alchemist of Steel".
- Powered By A Forsaken Child: Used as The Reveal twice so far.
- The Power Of Blood: Used in Ed and Al's attempt to bring their mother back.
- Psycho For Hire: Kimblee and Envy
- Psychopathic Manchild: Gluttony
- Public Service Announcement: Don't get into cars with strangers. Really
- Puss In Boots: Hughes, Hawkeye
- Put On A Bus: Maria Ross, until recently.
- Putting On The Reich: The Fuhrer.
- Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Hohenheim
- Recap Episode: One of these kicks off Brotherhood's third season.
- Red Eyes Take Warning: Played with; while Scar is definitely no one to mess with, the red eyes are an ethnic trait, not Uh Oh Eyes.
- Further played with in one episode of the anime. During Scar's Flashback of the Ishvalian Rebellion, everything's black and white except for the Amestrian soldiers' blue eyes and the Ishvalans' red eyes. Later in the same episode, Scar mistakingly takes warning on them and kills the Rockbells after recognizing them as Amestrians by the eyes.
- And an anime-exclusive scene has the soldier Envy turned into change from blue eyes to red just before shooting a little kid and starting the war.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: May Chang's dwarf panda, Xiao May, is adorable, and you know it. Also, Black Hayate.
- Roaring Rampageof Revenge: Mustang after Envy reveals he killed Hughes himself.
- While it wasn't as awesome as Roy's, Gluttony kind of freaked when Lust got charbroiled.
- Sand In My Eyes: Or rather, "It's raining."
- Also an Ironic Echo to earlier in the series, when Riza points out that "You're useless when it's raining."
- Say My Name: Hilariously subverted ("Father!" "My vintage suit of armour!")
- Subverted with Roy and Riza. "Colonel!" "Lieutenant!!!" Honestly, you'd think it was their catchphrase to yell each other's rank- especially in ch. 101 where Roy seemed almost incapable of yelling anything but 'Lieutenant' at first...
- "Aluphonsu!!"
- "EDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
- Scary Shiny Glasses: Tucker, Hohenheim when he's feeling dangerous. Mustang had Scary Shiny Eyes for a few panels during his recent absolute wreckage of Envy.
- Schizo Tech: The world mixes 1920s tech with alchemy and cybernetic limbs.
- Screwy Squirrel: Barry the Chopper messes with Al's head pretty much just For The Evulz.
- Serial Killer: Played for laughs, if you can believe that.
- Servile Snarker: Variation with Riza's occasional tendency to yell at her 'boss'. "WHY DID YOU SHOW UP?!"
- Seven Deadly Sins: The homunculi.
- Shadow Archetype: Possibly Father to Hohenheim. Selim/Pride is a literal shadow and obviously meant to evoke primal fears and the 'dark' side of the human soul. OM NOM NOM NOM.
- Shame If Something Happened: Bradley does this to Ed, concerning Winry, after he tried to quit the military.
- Also Kimbley, who practically waves Winry's life in front of Ed's face simply because he felt like being an asshole that day.
- Shapeshifter Guilt Trip: Envy loves this tactic.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Ed does this so vehemently that he literally busts his gut! And gives poor Hayate a tea-bath with an impressive Spit Take. It Makes Sense In Context.
- Ship Tease: Winry and Ed, as well as Ling and Lan Fan.
- And Al and May. Just sayin'.
- Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye
- Royai is pretty much canon now, considering ch. 101.
- Shipper On Deck: Just how many times does Ed shout to Ling and later, Greedling that he's got someone waiting for him?
- Shirtless Scene: Armstrong is a mobile Shirtless Scene. Ed has a tendency to tear his shirt in order to show off his arm (and his abs). Ling loses his jacket-thing and goes around shirtless for a while (yay!).
- Shooting Superman: Although shooting homunculi isn't completely useless, since they do have a limited amount of times they can regenerate, most of the people shooting them have no idea of this. So, from their perspective, it may just be better to run away.
- The Short Guy With Glasses: Fuery.
- Shorttank: Winry.
- Shout Out: To ''The Fly".
- Shut Up Hannibal: Ed chewing up Envy's final rant and firing it back in his face.
- Sibling Team: Ed and Al
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Hughes for his daughter.
- Slasher Smile: Envy and Kimblee do this a lot. Riza, in chapter 94, to great effect. Also [ Roy came pretty close on one panel in ch. 95.
- Son Of A Whore: Mustang. Technically foster son, but whatever.
- The Soulless: Homunculi.
- Spell My Name With An S: Lior/Liore/Reole, Resembool/Risembul/Riesenburgh/Liesenburgh, Olivia/Olivier Miller/Milla/Mira Armstrong, Solf/Zolf/Zolof J. Kimble/Kimblee/Kimbley/Kimbly, Hohenheim/Hoenheim/Hoheneim/misspelt dude, Fuu/Who Xerxes/Cselksess (!), Lin/Rin/Ling, Mei/May Chan/Chang, Riza/Liza/Lisa/Risa, Ishval/Ishbal, Scieszka/Sheska/Scieska, Ranfun/Ran Fan/RanFan/Lan Fan/too tempting to write "l'enfant", Rose with or without an acute accent, Xing/Shing/Shin ... etc.
- See Meaningful Name above for the truth behind "Resembool."
- This is not helped by the manga and anime using different official spelling: Lin (manga)/Ling (anime), Ranfan(manga)/Lan Fan (anime), Who (manga)/Fu (anime), Reole (Manga)/ Liore (anime).
- Different translators give different names as well. Madman Entertainment, the Australian distributor of the manga, does a very good job, with Ling, Lan Fan, Fuu and Xerxes all being translated 'correctly'.
- The new anime finally pins down the correct name for Xerxes with the picture of a map.
- Spit Take: Ed does a pretty spectacular one after Hawkeye suggests that he's in love with Winry. And poor Hayate gets soaked too.
Riza: Amusing. He's weak to direct hits.
- Spotting The Thread: Envy often falls victim to this trope, first when he's impersonating Maria and Hughes notices a lack of a mole. Secondly when he impersonates Roy and panics when Riza suggests they are on a first name basis, turns out she was lying and managed to smoke Envy out.
- Steampunk
- Subordinate Excuse: Riza Hawkeye and Roy Mustang. 'Nuff said.
- The Stoic: Hawkeye.
- Talking The Monster To Death: Envy got one.
- Talk To The Fist: Ed does not appreciate listening to Tucker. The only reason he didn't beat him to death was because Al snapped him out of it.
- Takahashi Couple: Ed and Winry.
- Averted with Roy and Riza who are nearly always respectful, professional and conscientious towards one another, with the occasonial very small, very subtle nod to their past.
- Take That: Someone really likes making fun of Shojo manga, unless it's an AffectionateParody.
- Tear Jerker: The entire flashback about the war in Ishval is a Tear Jerker marathon that lasts a whole collected volume of the manga. Also, Ed digging up the body they transmuted when trying to bring back their mother to see if it was really her, and Hohopapa's Manly Tears when Ed tells him his mother's last words.
- Ted Baxter: Havoc
- Not really, from all of Mustangs's subordinates, he's the one who had combat experience (albeit short) besides Hawkeye. He did thinks of Mustang, before really knows him, as such.
- Tempting Fate: "It's not like they have tanks."
- That Man Is Dead: Scar threw away his name after survivng the genocide of Ishval and declaring himself on a personal war against state alchemists
- Also comes up with the two homonculi who were once human the second Greed (Ling) and Wrath (Bradley). Several times Ed calls out "Ling" when encountering "Greed" and Greed answers back "It's Greed". Bradley was actually a Tykebomb who doesn't even remember his real name, and stopped being human a long time ago
- The thing with Greed and Ling has more to do with the fact that they have two personalties with one controlling the body. It takes a while for Ling and Greed to start working together.
- "HUGHES IS DEAD!! DEAD AND LONG GONE!!!"
- Theme Naming: The homunculi are each named after one of the seven deadly sins. Most of the military characters are named after weapons, vehicles, and companies from World War II.
- There Are No Therapists: Well, considering the time period...
- Thirty Xanatos Pile Up: In recent chapters, with Roy, Olivia, and even Grumman's plans set in motion, it's hard to tell who's manipulating whom.
- Time Skip: a few months over winter, between chapters 83 and 84, giving the heroes a chance to plot offscreen.
- Took A Level In Badass: Al, once he gains the same transmutation ability as Ed.
- Also, we get to see Riza, and to a lesser extent Roy way back before they took theirs.
- Falman, despite being on the verge of wetting himself, refused to get out of King Bradley's way during the battle at Central HQ. Now put yourself in his shoes and dare say you wouldn't get out of there screaming like an infant child.
- Training From Hell: Ed and Al during their training with Isumi, and Isumi herself, when she was left to survive by herself at Briggs for six months.
- Transgender: Envy is sexless and easily switches between male, female, animal, inanimate...
- Trickster: The homunculi, especially Envy. Father was one back when he was confined to a test tube.
- Try Not To Die: Mustang gives this as his only order to his subordinates before they storm the Capitol.
- Tsundere: Winry and Izumi.
- Unfortunate Implications: Garfiel, just... Garfiel.
- Unstoppable Rage: You almost feel sorry for Envy when Roy finds out he killed Hughes. Almost. But the bastard deserved it, dammit, and sweet mother of GAR was it totally awesome.
- Utopia Justifies The Means: The cornerstone of the Government Conspiracy.
- Values Dissonance: Izumi's domestic violence against the Elric brothers; Ed and Al basically abusing each other.
- Viewer Gender Confusion: Envy.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Ed is overcome with emotion and vomits (twice) when he has to dig up the thing he and Al created when trying to resurrect their mother.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Alex Armstrong, with the added bonus of being so cartoonishly overmuscled that it's practically Fan Disservice.
- Wham Episode: Warning, Chapter 100 may cause screaming, ranting, stress, crying, irritation, shock, headaches, nausea and lack of sleep. Read at your own risk/discretion. You have been warned.
- What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Several Christianity references in the manga, most obviously the names of the homunculi. There's even a crucifixion (censored in the English release), to boot.
- Even so, Arakawa says that "Christianity doesn't exist in that world", so who knows?
- I mean, if it did, think how messed up it would be for the Big Bad to be called 'Father'.
- What Measure Is A Non Human: Explored through the homunculi, chimera, and Animated Armor.
- When All You Have Is A Hammer: Mustang's way of killing Lust was to simply apply more and more fire until she finally stopped regenerating.
- White Haired Pretty Boy: Scar. Note that Ishvalans seem to be an ethnic group of White Haired Pretty Boys.
- I don't know if you could call Scar pretty. Ruggedly handsome, maybe...
- Whole Volume Flashback: Volume 15
- Who Wants To Live Forever: Hohenheim decides to find a way to become a normal human again once he has a family.
- The Woobie: Winry's probably the biggest woobie here, though a lot of other characters have plenty to make you feel sorry for them.
- Wrench Wench: Winry
- Wouldnt Hit A Girl: Subverted with Edward.
Edward: I'm gonna kick her butt!!
Alphonse: Kick her butt? I mean, if it was a guy that would be one thing, but...You're gonna beat up a girl?
Edward: I'm not sexist!
- Xanatos Roulette: Father's plan involves the creation of a whole empire from scratch!
- Also seems to be slightly hinted to be Grumman's plan in the manga.
- More of a gambit. Either he becomes Fuhrer, or his granddaughter's future husband becomes Fuhrer.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Trisha might fit the bill.
- You Cant Go Home Again: Played with: Ed and Al could always come back to their home village, but they wouldn't be living in their own house. Why? Because they burned it down, specifically so that they wouldn't be able to go home again.
- You Killed My
Father Best Friend: After Hughes' death, every time Roy has the chance to talk with a villain or a potential bad guy, he coldly asks them whether they killed Hughes, alternatively if they know who did it. When he does get a "yes" out of someone, all hell breaks loose.
- World Of Badass
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