History Fridge / FullMetalAlchemist

** Whenever the Truth takes something from someone, it takes the entire body part: Ed's leg, Al's body, Izumi's organs. On the other hand, [[spoiler:Roy]] only lost his eye''sight'', not an actual organ. [[spoiler:Since he didn't really commit the taboo, he got a lighter version.]] Crosses into FridgeHorror once you realize that [[spoiler:had he actually performed human transmutation, he would have likely lost his eyes.]] Which is exactly what happened to Jude in the OVA ''The Blind Alchemist''

*** It goes even further than that, upon further evaluation: [[spoiler: What Ed offers isn't just his ability to do alchemy, but his Gate, his connection with Truth/God/All/One. He isn't just sacrificing his ability to do alchemy, but severing his link with the Truth. He literally agrees to cut himself off from the rest of the universe, and even "God" himself, to bring his brother back. He has given up a fundamental part of his humanity, something of infinite value, in exchange for something else of infinite value, the life and soul of his brother.]]

* Fuhrer President King Bradley:

** Bradley's name is redundant on several counts. His first name is ''literally'' "King", [[spoiler:and as he explains, this is because he was chosen as the ruler of Amesteris]]. However, his actual title also doubles up, being "Fuhrer President". [[spoiler:This double-up also reinforces that he wasn't simply elected into office, but there's another detail too. ''Fuhrer'' is a homophone for ''furor'', which itself is another word for ''[[MeaningfulName Wrath]]'']].

** When you meet Selim for the first time pay attention to the conversation he has with Ed and Al, about how he calls Xing's alchemy the alchemy of an inferior country and how he wants to be useful to his father. This isn't anything out of the ordinary seeing how he is the son of the Fuhrer and would be taught this mindset. However, later it makes sense when you think about it when [[spoiler:he is revealed to be Pride]].

** During his fight with Bradley, Ling says that Bradley is no true king to which Bradley retorts that "There are no true kings in this world!" At first it seems odd for him to say that, being that is Fuhrer KING Bradley. However, it makes sense as the series goes on because [[spoiler: Bradley is the ruler of the country yes, but he's just a servant of Father, and 'King' is merely his first name, not one of his titles. Thus, to him there is no real kings or rulers because every ruler will have someone controlling them]].

** In ''Brotherhood'', [[spoiler:Gluttony and The Truth both share a large smile with big, square teeth.]] While this may seem coincidental, they are the only characters to hold the said attribute, perhaps {{foreshadowing}} that the two are connected through [[spoiler:Gluttony being Father's failed attempt to synthesize The Gate, technically making Gluttony a gatekeeper like The Truth.]]

*** It goes even deeper than that. [[spoiler:Mustang has, both figuratively and (as the final battle demonstrates) literally, a spare set of eyes. One might say he has a [[MeaningfulName hawk's eyes]]. What makes it more ironic is that both pride and Father were bragging when they saw his condition how he would be of no use in a hypothetical fight, despite how dangerous and powerful his alchemy is. Neither of them thought that someone else would be able to see for him. Although The Truth might have...]]

* The whole sequence where Mustang and his crew are staging a coup in Central? It's [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Operation Valkyrie!]] Or rather, it's Operation Valkyrie if Colonel von Stauffenberg had succeeded. The conspirators use an explosion to kill the Fuhrer, then systematically take control of the capital while pretending to be suppressing a (nonexistent) coup by those closest to the Fuhrer (the generals in FMA, the Schutzstaffel in RealLife). All signs suggest that they will succeed, but then comes an unforeseen complication: the Fuhrer comes onto the radio saying "Hi guys, I'm not dead. My, my, some people have been naughty." (In ''FMA'', it's because [[spoiler: Bradley is Wrath]] and in real life they didn't use a big enough bomb.) Of course, throw alchemy, homunculi, and the Briggs Bears into the mix and the game changes entirely.

* With human sacrifices being so important to their plan, it seems strange that the homunculi allow Ed, someone who they know opened the gate and is a perfect candidate, to just wander the country and land himself in danger. After all, he did fake an attack on the Fuhrer so they could have used that as an excuse to imprison him somewhere and then discretely move him to where they need him. But alchemists on the needed level don't pop up every day. On the actual day, they still needed to force someone to perform human transmutation. So by letting Ed wander around, there was a chance that he would lead them to another potential human sacrifice. Which is how they found Izumi.

** Why did [[spoiler: King Bradley]] lose the ability to regenerate when he was turned into a Homunculus, and [[spoiler: Ling]] didn't? Because [[spoiler: Ling]] didn't really "fight back". Bradley explains, when he revealed his backstory to Roy, that after the experiment he only had one soul left in him, as opposed to other Homunculus who have multiple souls. Their regeneration and long lives are due to them consuming multiple life forces. This also explains why Bradley ages.
** The method that they became homunculi reflects their own principles. [[spoiler: King Bradley]] was created to stand on the top, both among the other fuhrer candidates, and the country. He became a homunculus by supressing and destroying every other soul in the Philosopher's stone until his was the only soul left. On the other hand, [[spoiler: Ling]] believes that a king should live for his people, and would be nothing without them. He becomes a homunculus by accepting and coexisting alongside every soul in his Philosopher's stone.
** During his fight with Bradley, Ling says that Bradley is no true king to which Bradley retorts that "There are no true kings in this world!" At first it seems odd for him to say that, being that is Fuhrer KING Bradley. However, it makes sense as the series goes on because [[spoiler: Bradley is the ruler of the country yes, but he's just a servant of Father, and 'King' is merely his first name, not one of his titles. Thus, to him there is no real kings or rulers because every ruler will have someone controlling them.]]

* Pride, being the most powerful homunculus, has powers of all the other homunculi:
** His shadows can pierce anything like Lust's spear and [[spoiler:Wrath's sword]].
** He can eat things much larger than his entire body like Gluttony.
** He can [[spoiler:hide inconspicuously amongst the public and control a person’s body]] similar to Envy, although Pride is much more limited in this regard.
** Like Sloth, he can lift heavy objects with no effort, as seen when lifting Al, and can move quickly. Unlike Sloth, Pride can only do this in the darkness.
** At first it appears he doesn't have Greed's Ultimate Shield…except if you watch when Heinkel is trying to kill him, even though his clothes are repeatedly torn by lion's claws, ''he never once bleeds''. Heinkel was explicitly not holding back and even said as much. Pride has Greed's Ultimate Shield on constantly, without ever looking less than human.
** After [[spoiler:having his container and powers destroyed]], we see Pride's true form: a tiny, unassuming infant. What was Father's true form: a tiny, unassuming shadow ball. Like father like son, huh?

* To be a soul inside a philosopher's stone. Specifically, to be a soul inside Hohenheim as he transmutes. As we know with Ed, one doesn't need to spend the full power of a single soul for transmutation but it shortens ones lifespan. Hohenheim knows all of his souls by name. It is probably a delicate balancing act to never use enough power of a single soul to destroy it (Father and Homunculi just don't care and their souls are in eternal torment anyway). Then you realize that Hohenheim put hundreds if not thousands of his souls into the soil over several years, to countermand Father's transmutation circle. Imagine being that soul, fully sentient, spending years unmoving in the dirt and waiting for The Promised Day.

* To be a soul inside a philosopher's stone. Specifically, to be a soul inside Hohenheim as he transmutes. As we know with Ed, one doesn't need to spend the full power of a single soul for transmutation but it shortens ones lifespan. Hohenheim knows all of his souls by name. It is probably a delicate balancing act to never use enough power of a single soul to destroy it (Father and Homunculi just don't care and their souls are in eternal torment anyway). Then you realize that Hohenheim put hundreds if not thousands oof his souls into the soil over several years, to countermand Father's transmutation circle. Imagine being that soul, fully sentient, spending years unmoving in the dirt and waiting for The Promised Day.

* To be a soul inside a philosopher's stone. Specifically, to be a soul inside Hohenheim as he transmutes. As we know with Ed, one doesn't need to spend the full power of a single soul for transmutation but it shorten's a lifespan. Hohenheim knows all of his souls by name. It is probably a delicate balancing act to never use enough power of a single soul to destroy it (Father and Homunculi just don't care and their souls are in eternal torment anyway). Then you realize that Hohenheim put hundreds if not thousands oof his souls into the soil over several years, to countermand Father's transmutation circle. Imagine being that soul, fully sentient, spending years unmoving in the dirt and waiting for The Promised Day.