Tropes O to S for The Flower Princess and the Alchemist.
- Oblivious to Love: Orihime doesn't realize Ed's growing feelings toward her. She eventually becomes oblivious of her own growing affections for Ed, once stating she has a strong desire to see him, but doesn't know why.
- Official Couple: Edward/Orihime.
- Official Kiss: Played With. As of Chapter 47 and according to the author, Ed and Orihime's second kiss at the end of the chapter marks their Relationship Upgrade. For now, they are still testing the waters, but they have hit the "more than friends" stage of their relationship.
- One Head Taller: Lampshaded by Edward. Orihime is at least a few inches taller than Edward. As usual, he was initially irritated by this. This is sort of downplayed in that Orihime isn't that much taller than Ed. Based on their canon characters' profiles, there's only a height difference of about two to three inches. It's just Ed exaggerating about being short in comparison. This is later and gradually becoming reversed as Ed keeps growing taller as the story progresses while Orihime's growth stopped.
- Only Sane Man: Between Orihime's Cloud Cuckoo Lander tendecies, Ed's short fuse, and Winry's obsession with automail, Al seems to be the most normal person among the group. Well, most of the time anyway. This is ironic considering he's just a suit of armor.
- Opposites Attract: Invoked. Edward is short-tempered, cynical, immature, and impulsive. Contrasted to Orihime's mild mannered, optimistic, happy, cheerful, and ditzy demeanor. Even more of a contrast is that Ed is an egotistical hero and Orihime is a Humble Heroine. Even Edward's and Orihime's fighting styles are comparably different. Though, Ed is shockingly surprised and comically dumbfounded when he learns that Orihime knows martial arts, and beats him and Al in a sparing match. She hasn't shown any skill in hand-to-hand combat up until then. And she still rarely does.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Despite all her adventures with Ed and Al, Orihime is still a high schooler trapped in a world not her own.
- Original Character: Quite common from one-shots to minor and to major characters.
- Our Souls Are Different: Ritsuko, Morgan, Kyuko, and Eria are all mod souls.
- Parental Substitute: Lust becomes like a second mom to Chloe.
- Past Experience Nightmare: It's been implied that Orihime has been plagued with nightmares ever since she got back from Hueco Mundo. She starts to recover.
- That is until Amelia's machinations. Then it gets worse from there.
- Pet the Dog: Ritsuko has a few moments.
- The first of the moments that show that she isn't as evil as she appears to be is when she plays soccer with a bunch kids, and Morgan comments that he is always surprised that she gets along so well with children. This is subverted as Kyuko states that she trains kids to become potential Worthy Opponents for her in the future. Ritsuko is also the one who found Kyuko when she was nothing more than a simple green pill just wanting to die.
- Eria herself. She isn't as much of a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing as she makes herself out to be when she quickly changes her objective from killing Orihime and regaining the rest of her soul to helping her clear her sickness the minute she realizes her love for Ichigo derives from Orihime's love for him.
- Lust has a moment to when she takes in a homeless child.
- Plucky Girl:
- Orihime.
- Nina as well after she overcomes the tragedies of her past.
- The Pollyanna: Subverted and somewhat deconstructed with Orihime. Although, she tries to be this, it becomes quite apparent later on that she's a Stepford Smiler who uses this as a mask to hid her low self-esteem and self-hate issues. Made worse when you realize she kinda invokes this trope because she believes people would find her to be "an annoying burden", if they witness the "broken" parts of her. The final arc of The Flower Princess of the Alchemist is series of Break the Cutie ordeals that threathens to break this mask further. Ultimately, this trope serves more as a coping mechanism than anything else.
- Poor Communication Kills: Defied, thanks to Orihime. Even though she is in the midst of her own personal crisis, Orihime still manages to convince Al to talk to Ed about his identity issues in a less aggressive way than in Brotherhood. She tells him a story of how she and her brother fought the day before he died, and that she has regretted it ever since. She feverishly and calmly explains to Al since she doesn't know how his human form really looks, she can't judge whether he is artificial or not. But, overall, whether he's real or not doesn't matter, and that he shouldn't leave things on such a sour note. All that matters are his true feelings for Ed.
- Poor Man's Porn: In Chapter 34 Morgan masturbates to Orihime's fashion magazine.(Morgan at the height of his ecstasy): "SO BEAUTIFUL!"
- Post-Kiss Catatonia: Happens in Chapter 43. After Orihime delivers an impulsive kiss on the cheek to Edward, he's virtually left in mindless, stunned speechless daze for several seconds. It takes Orihime, a few moments after realizing what she just did, slamming the door for him to snap of his stupor.
- Primal Fear: Orihime reveals in her monolgue that, after her rescue from Hueco Mundo, she had crippling fear of the dark and sleep with night light for a few months.
- The Promise: Realizing how ecstatic and proud she was to have met the brothers, Orihime makes a promise to Ed that she would stay by their side until they get their bodies back because it was Ed's voice that awakened her from her illusion.
- Promotion to Parent: Orihime explains to Ed and Al that her brother was the one who took care of her up until he died in a car accident.
- The Protagonist: Orihime is the main protagonist of the story, helping Edward and Alphonse search for the Philosopher's Stone and ways to get their bodies back to normal while also trying to keep them oblivious and out of danger to Hollow attacks.
- Supporting Protagonist: Actually Orihime comes across more as this. She is the protagonist of the story, but the story is mainly centered around Ed and Al trying to get their original bodies back.
- Psychosomatic Superpower Outage: Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka is a reflection of her personality, so naturally the strength of her powers depends on her emotional state. Two examples best demonstrates this. Her healing powers are the strongest due to her kind-hearted, compassionate, and forgiving nature while her attack power is the weakest because she's an Actual Pacifist who lacks Killing Intent or any feelings of anger or resentment. She compromises for this and has an Attack Reflector to symbloize that people should Beware the Nice Ones when it comes to her. Another instance is that when she was having a Heroic BSoD, she was unable to heal Ed's wounds, initially.
- Psycho for Hire: The mod souls are this for the homunculi.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: Played for Laughs. Orihime gives Edward these for some donuts. Ed, tries to remain unaffected, but quickly caves in.
- Questionable Consent: Amelia gleefully comments how she has helped dozens of men get the affections of their Love Interests. Edward is repulsed and livid by this because the women in question were more or less drugged for it to be considered a proper consent, especially when she tries to make the same offer to him.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: It is implied that Chloe's mother was raped and killed by three men when they broke into their house one day. This is what made Chloe develop a fear of men.
- Really Gets Around: Morgan, lampshade by Ritsuko. This trait of his is what she finds to be the most disgusting about him.
- Red Baron: After Orihime's modeling, she gains the nickname "the Princess of Central". Not hard to see why. This nickname may be a hint to something else...
- Red Oni, Blue Oni:
- Edward's the determined, boisterous, and snarky Red to Orihime's optimistic, bubbly, and compassionate Blue.
- Orihime's Blue to Winry's Red.
- Orihime's Red to Alphonse's Blue.
- Orihime's the Red to Eria's Blue. However, this is how it's perceived on the surface level. If you look beneath both of their respective masks, upon closer inspection, you would discover that Orihime is actually the Blue to Eria's Red.
- Red String of Fate: As stated by Word of God, Ed's signature red coat will become his and Orihime's own personal red string of fate later down the line.
- Reincarnation Romance: Five Lives, One Love. By Word of God, Eria is a character based off of Orihime's Love Confession.
- Replacement Goldfish: Deconstructed. It becomes very apparent that Edward and Orihime have feelings for each other. However, Orihime is still in love with Ichigo, which causes a rift in their relationship with Orihime sometimes seeing Ichigo in Ed. Orihime is afraid of betraying her feelings for Ichigo and feels extremely guilty and upset when she commits an act, which she constitutes as "cheating". Orihime thinking about Ichigo makes Ed feel hurt, jealous, and insecure that he won't be able to live up to the expectations of her First Love. Overall, her indecisiveness causes both her and Ed plenty of heartbreak. Orihime needs to sort out her feelings for both Ichigo and Edward before she can properly pursue a relationship with the latter.
- Rescue Romance: Chapter 15. A rare male example. Edward started falling for Orihime when she protected him and Al from Scar. Cue Declaration of Protection. Bonus points in that they just had a horrible fight hours earlier, and Orihime still chooses to risk her life for his without hesitation. Is it any wonder why Ed starts to fall for her?
- Revenge: Scar's main motivation for killing state alchemists.
- Sammy's reason for his inability to pass on. He wants to kill the Hollow that killed his sister.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: Orihime's hair is more auburn/red, but other than that she definitely fits this.
- Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick:
- Edward and Alphonse, obviously.
- Orihime could also be included in the nice sidekick part.
- Weak Hero Strong Sidekick: Orihime and Edward could also be interpreted this way if you consider her to be the main heroine and Edward to be her sidekick. Downplayed in that Orihime isn't necessarily weak. She just lacks the ability to willfully do harm to others.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: This is what happens when you pair an airheaded Cloud Cuckoo Lander with a serious Deadpan Snarker. It's one of the major reasons why the author adores Edward/Orihime so much.
- Say My Name: Chapter 27.
- ORIHIME!
- EDDIE!
- School Uniforms are the New Black: Although Orihime does tend to travel in different outfits on occasions, her main one is her Karakura uniform.
- Schrödinger's Cat: Riku references this when describing Orihime's situation in Chapters 28 and 29.
- Second Love: Edward is slowly growing into this for Orihime. Although, she remains oblivious to his and her own feelings, she's often shown to feel "something" for Ed, even blushing sometimes. At first Orihime's subtle and almost nonexistent attraction to Edward could be because he reminds her of Ichigo, but later on Orihime starts to distinguish Ed from Ichigo.
- Secret Diary: Orihime carries around a diary in her bag. When Ed tries to investigate all the secrets behind Orihime's powers after she saves Nina's life, he reads her diary, only to find out it's written in a different language.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Orihime was well aware about the conditions of Ed and Al's bodies from the very moment they met, however, she decided to keep it to herself until the boys were fully ready and comfortable with telling her. Ed eventually does after they return to Resembool, so that he could get his automail repaired by Winry. He is momentarily stunned and caught of guard when she reveals that she already knew how their bodies are they way they are. She just doesn't know why, which prompts Ed to explain his and his brother's Dark and Troubled Past.
- Security Blanket: Ever since her Freak Out, Edward's red coat has been something that keeps Orihime safe and comforted whenever her Trauma Button is pushed.
- Self-Made Orphan: Zero kills his parents in a fit of blind rage when he discovers, after escaping from Dr. Styles's lab, that his parents showed absolutely zero remorse for selling him, going as far as to gloat about it and being extremely thankful to having another child on the way that wouldn't possibly develop the same creepy powers its older sibling has. In the end, while their deaths are well deserved, Zero does show some regret for murdering his unborn sibling. The whole ordeal eventually leads to him becoming an Enfant Terrible in the present.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Al is the Sensitive Guy to Ed's Manly Man.
- Serial Killer: Scar. He targets State Alchemists as revenge for what happened to his family and friends during the Ishavalan Civil War. Orihime suspects that he might really being trying to do Suicide by Cop.
- This is what establishes Zero as an Enfant Terrible during his proper introduction.
- Seven Deadly Sins: What the homunculi are based off of.
- Sex for Services: While they stay in Central, Ritsuko orders Morgan to secure them some rooms. Not that he's complaining because he was able to charm and seduce the hotel receptionist into giving him two rooms for free in exchange for sex.
- Shadow Archetype: The fact that Eria is, technically in some way, just a bitter, angry version of Orihime says a lot. As stated by Word of God, Eria is a representation of Orihime's pain and her love for Ichigo. In short, she's basically a lesser version of Orihime, a Broken Bird version of her with Jade-Colored Glasses.
- Shameful Strip: In Chapter 34. The reason why Orihime mistakenly asks if Ed is an exhibitionist.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Edward has the tendency to become flustered and spit this out every time someone teases him about his obvious feelings for Orihime. No surprise.
- Shipper on Deck: Some characters seem to support Edward and Orihime, most notably Alphonse and Winry, even teasing Ed for his crush on her. Although, Orihime remains oblivious to all of it, and often questions why Ed's face is red.
- Winry has evolved into The Matchmaker territory.
- One of Hughes's few regrets is not being able to see Edward and Orihime getting married.
- Shipping: There are some readers that ship Edward/Orihime, and others that still ship Edward/Winry and Ichigo/Orihime. By Word of God, Edward and Winry will not end up together.
- Ship Tease: There's been quite a few romantic moments between Edward and Orihime.
- Shoot the Dog: Eria is prone to this, which Edward greatly disapproves of. A prime example is when she, without hesitation, breaks a Philosopher's Stone right in front of him knowing full well that it comprises of human souls. She coldly and resolutely argues that it was a Mercy Kill.
- Shown Their Work: The author has made it known that they research what technologies may or may not be available in Fullmetal Alchemist since FMA and Bleach are a few decades apart.
- Shrinking Violet: Orihime tends to become incredibly embarrassed, flustered, and shy in romantic situations or whenever Winry teases her about her crush on Ichigo.
- Shy Finger-Twiddling: Orihime sometimes has a habit of playing with her hands and fingers when she's nervous or embarrassed.
- Sick Episode: Chapters 31 and 32 becomes one for Orihime. It starts off with a Vomit Discretion Shot.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Ritsuko.
- Silly Love Song: In universe, Chapter 30. When Ed, Al, Orihime, and Winry enters a cafe to grab a bite to eat, a radio begins to play a song. Much to Orihime's embarrassment, it's a song based on her feelings for Ichigo. It’s even titled "Five Lives, One Love".
- Single-Target Sexuality: This is a sort of a zigzagged trope. Orihime is wholeheartedly and madly in love with Ichigo. Five Lives, One Love, anyone? But later on she begins to subtly feel "something" for Edward. There have been quite a few Ship Tease moments between the two of them. Eria, a mod soul who carries a piece of Orihime's soul inside her, is also in love with Ichigo (even though they have never met) because Orihime's love for him is just that strong. It is because of Eria and Orihime's mutually devoted love for Ichigo that causes the former to spare the latter's life as it's the one good thing she inherited from her. Bonus points by Word of God entertaining the fact that Eria is supposed to act as a Reincarnation of sorts based off of Orihime's Love Confession in Bleach, and what if she did have multiple lives but only ever loved Ichigo in every single one of them.
- Later becomes subverted when Orihime starts to grow feelings for Edward.
- Completely subverted when Ed and Orihime have their Official Kiss that marks their Relationship Upgrade.
- Throughout the story, Orihime is the only girl Ed had ever shown to have any sort of attraction or romantic feelings for. And it's not that girls don't hit on him as shown by a Monster of the Week villainess who plants a Forceful Kiss on him, leaving him rather disgusted, lamenting that the kiss was "cold and unfeeling", unlike Orihime's "warming and inviting" kiss.
- Later becomes subverted when Orihime starts to grow feelings for Edward.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Gender inverted. Over the course of the story, Edward slowly starts grow feelings for Orihime due to her kind and gentle nature. Bonus points in that she's the only one, besides Al, who has enough patience to deal with his hotheaded and brash demeanor. Not even Winry has that kind of tolerance. Unsurprisingly, in a typical Ed fashion, he either remains oblivious or in denial of his newfound feelings toward her. But Edward does get a little bit jealous when other guys try to get too close to Orihime. However, Orihime remains ignorant of Ed's growing affections towards her. Plus, she's a damn good chef as Ed repeatedly points out.
- A straight example. This is the reason why Orihime is so wholeheartedly devoted to and in love with Ichigo.
- Even Eria is in love with Ichigo because Orihime's love for him is just that strong. According to Word of God, she even wears jasmines in her hair as a symbol of her love, because jasmines are supposed to symbolize unconditional and everlasting love.
Eria (referring to herself and Orihime): "We both have... similar desires. We both desire the heart of the same man."
- A straight example. This is the reason why Orihime is so wholeheartedly devoted to and in love with Ichigo.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: The author said they wanted to make the story slightly darker than Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, but lighter than the 2003 anime series with a theme on Humans Are Flawed.
- Slut-Shaming: Chapter 39. Averted, obviously. Some jealous and petty women at the party accuse Orihime of being this behind her back and make false accusations that the only reason she was on the cover of the magazine was probably because she had sex with as many guys as she possibly could. Ed, who personally knows Orihime and knows that this is far from the truth and that she is not that type of person, is far from amused. He is downright furious, and tells the first woman, who was trying to seduce him at the time, to go fuck off. In his inner thoughts he even incandescently lampshades the fact that women who accuses Orihime of being a slut are probably the ones who slept with plenty of men themselves to get where they are today since they know the idea of sleeping with men will boost their chances, especially considering how the first one tried to seduce him.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Reo may have been a minor character in a mini arc, but without his machinations, The Promise between Orihime and Edward would not have happened. Orihime would still have a desperate desire to return home, and would never start to realize her feelings (although a slow process) for Ed.
- Smarter Than You Look: Some people tend to have this sort of impression when it comes to Orihime, most notably Ed in their first meeting. It often takes them by surprise when she's actually more perceptive and observant than she lets on.
- Smells Sexy: Edward's scent is one of the few things that is able to calm Orihime down from her PTSD because she recgonizes that it's him.
- Soul Fragment: Eria carries a part of Orihime's soul inside her.
- The Soulsaver: This is basically what Orihime does to prevent lost souls from turning into Hollows by helping them realize their Ghostly Goals.
- Spaghetti Kiss: A waiter at a small, local restaurant flirts with Orihime and suggests that she shares a plate of spaghetti with him after he gets off work with this intent obviously in mind. A jealous and annoyed Edward practically tells him to fuck off.
- Spared By Adaptation: Nina is saved from her tragic fate, thanks to Orihime.
- Alexander is also spared by extension. He stays in Resembool with Den.
- Speak Ill of the Dead: Chapter 29. Not in a malicious way. Edward, unintentionally, attempts to do this when he believes that Orihime is quiet saddened by her recent troubles. She, uncharacteristically, snaps at him, but quickly apologizes. Granted, he wasn't aware of what went on in her dreamworld, only that Reo kidnapped her, so it's understandable why he doesn't think so highly of him. It does lead to one of the most heartwarming moments between them. See Umbrella of Togetherness.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: The author has heavily implied that this may be one of the end possibilties of the relationship between Edward and Orihime.
- Start of Darkness: Zero's parents selling him to a Mad Scientist starts his, and only because they found his powers creepy and unnatural.
- The Stations of the Canon: As the story progress, it starts to diverge more and more from the original story line, but the significant points of the anime remain, more or less, the same.
- Stepford Smiler: It's hinted that Orihime is a Type 1 case. Perhaps even worse than canon. Makes sense since the start of the story takes place about half a year after her rescue from Hueco Mundo. She probably hasn't gotten over all her trauma. Reo even notes behind her cheerful facade, she's "broken" on the inside. He describes her as "a wilted flower that has lost its petals".
- Becomes even worse after Chapter 41 when her bubbly, cheerful masks cracks more frequently, revealing a massively guilt-stricken girl with nonexistent self-esteem, severe depression, and agonizing self-loathing issues. As explicitly stated by Word of God, Orihime is suffering from PTSD and possibly clinical depression. She consciously tries to hide this part of herself, so people won't see and witness the "ugly and broken" parts of her, especially from Ed. She thinks nobody would like that side of her and find her to be a weak, pathetic burden.
- Hughes correctly suspects that Orihime is this, and warns her of the consequences. If she keeps on focusing on other people's happiness while neglecting her own, she would just end up being broken and miserable by the end. His last words to her is to encourage her to break out of this habit.
- Becomes even worse after Chapter 41 when her bubbly, cheerful masks cracks more frequently, revealing a massively guilt-stricken girl with nonexistent self-esteem, severe depression, and agonizing self-loathing issues. As explicitly stated by Word of God, Orihime is suffering from PTSD and possibly clinical depression. She consciously tries to hide this part of herself, so people won't see and witness the "ugly and broken" parts of her, especially from Ed. She thinks nobody would like that side of her and find her to be a weak, pathetic burden.
- Story-Breaker Power: Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka, since it defies the Laws of Equivalent Exchange. Edward understandably questions why that is.
- Street Urchin: Chloe. Before Lust picked her up.
- Supernatural Sensitivity: Anyone who becomes spiritually aware could do this to detect others.
- Survivor's Guilt: An uncommon example. This along with intense feelings of depression and self-loathing is Orihime's driving motivation in the final arc of the first series. Although, Ichigo didn't die, she feel excessive guilty for the lost of his powers, lamenting that it should've her who lost her spiritual powers instead of him.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: You can count the number of times that Orihime compares Edward's personality to Ichigo's. Becomes even more prominent when she starts to have... conflicting feelings. Word of God states this one of the internal conflicts Orihime has to resolve when deciding if she wants to be with Ichigo or Edward.
