Characters / Fullmetal Alchemist: Brothers

aka: Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric

Fullmetal Alchemist Main Character Index
Elric Brothers | Team Mustang | Main Supporting Cast | Military | Homunculi (Father, Envy, Affiliates) | Xing | Others | 2003 Anime (Main Characters) (Homunculi)

This is a short summary page for characters from the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series and its anime adaptation Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Note: For the page about the characters from the 2003 anime, see here.

This page deals with Edward and Alphonse Elric, The Protagonist and Deuteragonist of the series.

Warning: Spoilers are below.

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Both

A duo of brothers whose main goal is to find the Philosopher's Stone to get their bodies back.

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• Ambiguously Human: Subverted. Their mother Trisha was human, but they do question their own humanity after finding out that their father is a walking, talking, immortal Philosopher's Stone. Hohenheim does confirm that both of them are human.
• Badass Family: They are a duo of badass and talented alchemists who are brothers.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: They agree to let Roy Mustang introduce them to Shou Tucker after expressing interest in bioalchemy and chimera transmutation. They find out how a chimera that understands human speech is transmuted, and Ed comes dangerously close to killing the insane man in his fury.
• Berserk Button: Do NOT bring up the human transmutation incident (the Elrics' attempt to bring back their mom that landed them on the wrong side of Equivalent Exchange) to either of the brothers. What made things worse was that Shou Tucker (the aforementioned madman) brought it up just after revealing the horrible way he'd made his latest chimera as a "Not So Different" Remark, resulting in Ed beating the bastard to within an inch of his life.
• Childhood Friends: The Elric brothers have known Winry all of their life. In Ed's case, his and Winry's relationship developed further.
• Child Prodigy:
  • Ed — Gets admitted into the military as a State Alchemist at the age of twelve. At the age of ten he managed to perform a perfect human transmutation, bonding Al's soul into a suit of armor after reading it in a book. He also, over the course of the series, increases his skillset through Power Copying by simply watching others perform alchemy and duplicating their technique.
  • Al — Might be even better than his brother at alchemy, at least when it comes to fine tuning things. Which makes sense, given their personalities.
• Childish Older Sibling: Edward Elric is hot-headed, rude, and mischievous while his younger brother Alphonse is calm and polite.
• Curtains Match the Windows: Both have yellow hair and eyes. It's not evident with Al since he's in a suit of armor, but they are his natural hair and eye colors. They both inherited them from their father. A minor plot point, as they mark them as being descended from the lost civilization of Xerxes.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Their father seemingly abandoned them, mother died of an illness when they were young, and they tried to revive her via human transmutation... The results were not pretty; Ed lost his arm and leg, and Al lost his entire body.
• Dumb Blonde: Inverted. Both are blondes but are former child prodigies and alchemy geniuses.
• Experienced Protagonist: They are already experienced alchemists who, mainly Ed, have been working for the Amestris military for three years when the story begins. The anime provides several episodes worth of flashback.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Averted. Both of them have their fair share of being the logical or rash one at different times. However, most of the time, the brothers are competent and level-headed.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Both of them are blondes, and while Ed may be more jerkish than Al, they are both selfless, brave, and overall friendly individuals.
• Heroic Bastard: Despite living with their mom for years, Hohenheim never actually married Trisha.
• Hypocrite: Both believe that Scar should be punished for the murders that he committed against Amestrians, but they are more hesitant to believe that Mustang, Hawkeye, and the rest of the Amestrian soldiers should be punished for doing the same thing to Ishvalans, a view they share with Winry. Most of Scar's victims were State Alchemists, some that participated on his race's genocide, but the Amestrian soldiers killed thousands of Ishvalans, women and children included. Granted, they believe that the Amestrian soldiers were Just Following Orders and being manipulated by the homunculi, but Hawkeye, who participated in the genocide, outright states that's no excuse for their actions. That being said, Ed never denies that Scar is right in being angry over what happened to his people, he just hates that Scar is basically killing people regardless of what attachment to the state they have nor how they truly felt about it. It also doesn't help that Scar tried to murder him, but Roy and Riza risked their lives to save the brothers.
• In-Series Nickname: Both are mainly referred to as "Ed" and "Al" instead of "Edward" and "Alphonse", respectively.
• Jack of All Trades: Unlike most other State Alchemists in the setting, the Elrics don't specialize in any specific style, instead relying on basic transmutative alchemy. They can't perform mass-scale devastation like Mustang or Kimblee or deliver artillery-grade shots like Armstrong, but their alchemy is definitely the most flexible and adaptive compared to others, especially since they can perform circleless alchemy.
• Kung-Fu Wizard:
  • Ed's an accomplished state alchemist who can complete complex transmutations instantly with a clap of his hands, and often uses this ability to create melee weapons or alter the environment in close-quarters combat. He also has martial arts training, which complement his automail limbs.
  • Like Ed, Al can kick ass with alchemy or his bare hands. He's more Kung-Fu than Wizard, though, as he can't use alchemy without drawing a transmutation circle (although this restriction is lifted once he regains his memories of the Gate of Truth, thus evening the alchemical playing field), and usually relies on his martial arts skills in combat, which have been even better than Ed's since they were kids.
• Last of Their Kind: Along with their father, they are the last people with Xerxian descent in the world.
• Momma's Boy: This is what kicks off most of the plot; the brothers attempted to bring their mother back to life because they deeply missed her.
• Nom de Mom: They are registered under their mother's last name, Elric. This is because their father Van Hohenheim doesn't actually have a last name, as the Homunculus gave his name to him hundreds of years ago when he was previously named Slave Number 23. Using Trisha's surname as their own also ends up being a plot point, as the Homunculi don't initially realize the Elrics are actually their 'cousins' (in a sense) until Ed and Al first encounter Father beneath Central and they mistake him for Hohenheim.
• Orphan's Ordeal: The main catalyst for their whole arch is that their father disappeared and then their mom died, thus provoking drastic action.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Ed's the red — being more outwardly passionate, hotblooded, short tempered, he is also the more active and more ambitious of the two. Al's The blue — has greater patience and politeness than Ed but is also meeker and less willing to stand up for himself. The brothers' designs complement this; Ed wears a red duster while Al's armored body has a blue tint.
• Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick: Ed is bad-tempered, rash and ill-mannered, while his sidekick and younger brother Alphonse is kind, patient and polite.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Ed's the blunt, insensitive Manly Man to Alphonse's thoughtful, quiet Sensitive Guy.
• Shared Unusual Trait: The gold eyes and gold hair they got from their father are an important plot point, as they mark them as ethnic members of the lost Xerxes civilization.
• Sibling Team: Two alchemist brothers who travel the world together.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: While Ed is short, short tempered and passionate, Al is taller (because of the armor), more patient, and more methodical. On the other hand Ed tends to be the one who pushes both brothers forward and comes up with the solutions more often while Al tends to get caught up in the process and isn't quite willing to cut to the heart of the matter in fear of offending who he's talking to.

Edward "Ed" Elric

Edward "Ed" Elric

Voiced by: Romi Park (JP), Vic Mignogna (EN, Funimation), Muriel Hofmann (EN, Animax)^{Other Languages} José Manuel Vieira (Latin America/Venezuelan-dubbed animated adaptations), Alan Fernando Velazquez (Latin America/live-action film), Marcelo Campos (BR), Ma Zink (BR, child [IST dub only]), Renato Novara (IT), Patrizia Scianca (IT, child)

Affiliation: Amestris Military/Greed's Gang
Rank: Major
Speciality: Martial-Arts/Weapon Alchemy/Alchemy Without an Array

"Give him back! He's my brother! Take my leg! Take my arm! TAKE MY HEART! ANYTHING! YOU CAN HAVE IT! Just give him back! HE'S MY LITTLE BROTHER, HE'S ALL I HAVE LEFT!"

The protagonist of the series and the titular "Fullmetal Alchemist". Along with his brother Al, he committed the mistake of attempting to bring his mother back to life, and lost an arm and a leg in the process. He became Amestris's youngest ever State Alchemist in order to seek the secret of the Philosopher's Stone so he can regain his limbs and Al's body. The truth behind the Philosopher's Stone, and the connection to the secrets behind the country he lives in, drives the story.

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• Accidental Pervert: He once goes into Winry's room, thinking it will be a quiet place to eat his sandwich while he's in hiding as a fugitive. The result is that he almost sees her naked when she enters the room later and starts undressing, without realizing Ed is in the room with her.
• Actually, That's My Assistant: A constant thorn in his side is that people are more willing to believe that Al is the infamous "Fullmetal Alchemist" rather than him. Ed is the current trope image.
• Adorably Precocious Child: Young Ed managed to be an alchemy whiz who was wiser than his years. He more or less kept it when he grew up, only now it makes him seem high-strung and unpleasant.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Scar destroys his arm so he can't perform alchemy, and prepares to kill Ed, Ed doesn't beg for his life. He instead says he'll Face Death with Dignity if Scar will spare Al. Scar agrees, since Al is incapacitated and wasn't the target. Fortunately, Roy appears in the nick of time to save both brothers.
• Alliterative Name: Edward Elric.
• Always Second Best: Ed's brother Al always wins their sparring matches. Makes sense 'cause Al is, ya know, a living suit of armor. It’s indicated, during their reminiscing of past spats at the hospital, that Al was winning quarrels between the two even before he was a suit of armor or was under Izumi’s tutelage.
• An Arm and a Leg: Lost his left leg attempting human transmutation, sacrificed his right arm to retrieve Al's soul. He eventually gets the arm back but the leg stays gone.
• Anger Born of Worry: Ed's anguished scream when Al transmutes his soul to restore Ed's arm in the final battle.
  Edward:"AL, YOU DUMBASS!!!!!"
• The Atoner: Ed and Al's quest is as much about making up for their mistake as it is getting their bodies back. Deconstructed when Hohenheim tells Ed that burning down their home and running around the country is them trying to avoid owning up to what they did wrong.
• Artificial Limbs: His automail, replacing the arm and leg he lost during his attempt at human transmutation.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: His black clothes, white gloves, gold hair and eyes and red overcoat reference the four colors of the Magnum Opus in classical alchemy.
• Author Appeal: Hiromu Arakawa likes muscular men, which should come as no surprise seeing how extremely ripped Ed is for a too-short-for-his-age teen. And his remarkable tendency to rip off his clothing to show off his bare torso. Lugging around all of that auto-mail which probably helps with his physique, along with all of the fighting he does.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Edward's rather observant; he's able to pick up several alchemical techniques simply by observing others and adopting their styles. This trait also gets him out of a jam several times, such as when he deduces how to escape Gluttony's stomach via human transmutation.
• Ax-Crazy: Downplayed and Played for Laughs. His demeanor when fighting mooks is usually either dissonant glee or comical bloodlust. Even his allies comment on how scary he gets when he's worked up. Sometimes plays it up to demoralize his enemies. However, in dramatic situations, this trait disappears, and it's clear he doesn't actually want to hurt anyone if he can avoid it.
• Babies Ever After: At the end of the story, we see a picture of Ed and Winry with their children.
• Badass Boast: Extremely satisfying example in the last battle against Father. ^note  and one that calls back to his original boast against Father Cornello that ended the manga's first chapter .
  Edward: GET UP, YOU NOVICE! I'M ABOUT TO SHOW YOU HOW OUTCLASSED YOU REALLY ARE! THIS FIGHT YOU LOSE!
• Badass Bookworm: You can't exactly practice alchemy without hitting the books, and State Alchemists are supposed to hit lots of other things, too.
• Badass Longcoat: If (well, more like when) it gets shredded, fixing it is high on Ed's priority list.
• Badass Transplant: An arm and a leg are made out of auto-mail.
• Bash Brothers: With his actual brother Al, as well as Ling later on.
• Bat Deduction: After seeing Shou Tucker's talking chimera and hearing it speak, Ed quickly deduces its nature, as well as the nature of his first, based on the knowledge that Tucker's wife died around the same time as the creation of the first chimera, and the fact that Nina and Alexander are missing.
  Tucker: Damn brat, figuring it out so quickly...
• Be All My Sins Remembered: When he has the opportunity to regain his lost leg, he decides against it, to remind him of his journey and the consequences of his actions.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Winry, whom he quarrels with often but cares deeply about.
• Berserk Button: He provides the trope image. He has A LOT of them due to his Hair-Trigger Temper. For example:
  • He hates being called short, to the point where even off-hand mentions of his size will cause him to interpret as a long string of slights.
    Ed: WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TINY LITTLE BEAN SPROUT THE SIZE OF A GRAIN OF RICE!?!
  • He doesn't like milk, both because he hates the taste of it and because others, especially Winry, use his refusal to drink it as the reason why he's short.
  • He doesn't like when people suggest that Winry is his girlfriend.
• Big Brother Bully: He used to pick on Al when they were little out of jealousy, but after a little talk with Hohenheim he started to be a nicer brother.
• Big Brother Instinct: Everywhere, all the time and always. His mission in life is to get his little brother's body back. He is also willing to die for Al (as seen against Scar) and gives up his ability to ever do alchemy again to get Al back.
  • Worth noting, the only two times Vic Mignogna's voice as Edward breaks in Brotherhood are ENTIRELY related to Alphonse and the Gate of Truth. Once to Al's body, promising to come back to the Gate to save him, the other to Al's soul, crying out in fury that he sacrificed himself to get Ed his arm back during the fight against Father.
• Big Eater: Not really given much focus, but Ed eats a lot. Later on, he theorizes that this is because he's actually connected to Al's missing body and keeping it alive by providing extra nutrients.
• A Birthday, Not a Break: When Ed and Al have just gone through a traumatic experience at Laboratory 5 and are both still injured, Ed remembers that it's his birthday.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: As shown in the picture above, he frequently uses his alchemy to extend the vambrace of his automail arm into a blade. It serves as his standard Emergency Weapon when he doesn't have the time or space to craft something more impressive.
• Blemished Beauty: Downplayed. After the events of the Promised Day, he winds up with a considerably large scar over part of his chest and shoulder where his automail used to be before regaining the arm. His looks aren't especially commented on, though at that point he's grown enough that he doesn't look like a small child anymore and is taller than Winry.
• Blood Knight: He sometimes has a rather nasty lust for violence when fighting baddies.
• Braids of Action: He usually ties his hair in a braid and is quite the badass.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Easily the living embodiment of this trope in the male perspective. But don't let him catch you calling him "half pint" or you will get plenty of bratty.
• Broken Pedestal: May Chang imagines him to be a tall, handsome, princely figure, and spends half of her time daydreaming about him. When she actually meets him and finds that he's a short snarker with a bad temper, she just about flips her lid, accusing him of toying with her heart.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Ed is a brilliant alchemist with a hair-trigger temper who flies into a rage when people call him short.
• Butt-Monkey: Hero. Protagonist. Amusing (and not-so-amusing) injury magnet.
• Byronic Hero: Edward has the less destructive traits of this. As cheery as he may seem, he is rigidly stubborn and spends a good amount of time brooding over the terrible things that have happened to him. His Byronic aspects are more emphasized in the 2003 anime.
• Calling Parents by Their Name: Typically refers to his father as "Hohenheim," until the last chapter, when he tells Hohenheim "Shut up, you rotten father!" in response to his offering to sacrifice himself to bring Al back.
• Calling the Old Man Out: The first time he sees his father in the main narrative, he punches the guy in the face, and with his metal arm too. This is because he stayed away from home while Trisha wasted away and died waiting for him.
• Cannot Spit It Out:
  • He'd rather recite the periodic table of elements at top speed or spit other things (like his drink all over poor Black Hayate) out than admit his feelings for Winry.
  • There's his fear that Alphonse secretly blamed and hated him for getting Al de-bodied. He never could bring himself to ask Al about it and it almost came back to bite him (for more on that see Poor Communication Kills under Al's section).
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Since Ed has seen the Gate of Truth, he's a candidate for Father's human sacrifice, meaning the Homunculi aren't allowed to kill him even as he becomes a big thorn in their sides.
• Cast from Lifespan: To keep from bleeding to death, Ed uses his own soul as a Philosopher's stone and shortens his lifespan by a few years to close a wound.
• Celibate Hero: A mild case of "Love is a distraction". He has to get Al's body back before even thinking about Winry and... HydrogenHeliumLithiumBeryllium...
• Character Development: Edward begins the series dependent on alchemy and doing everything himself. By the end of the series, he has learned to depend more on his friends and share his burdens.
  • Ed slowly begins to grow out of his Hot-Blooded ways at the story progresses. Notably, this also coincides with Edward slowly physically maturing over the course of the series. By the last third, Ed is actually taller than Winry, and it's difficult to pinpoint the exact time the story stops drawing him with childish features and begins portraying him as a young adult.
• Childhood Friend Romance: With Winry. At that age, he and Al used to fight over who would get to marry her (Al won those fights).
• Child Mage: Started alchemy at a very young age.
• Child Soldier: Received a State Alchemist's certification at the age of twelve, which also gives him a rank equivalent to Major.
• Clark Kent Outfit: He is a short, intellectual teenager, but so incredibly buff under his jacket that he ends up shirtless, like, almost every other fight scene. It's also initially done to hide his automail arm and leg. By the way he runs around before it's revealed, you'd never guess he was a double amputee.
• The Coats Are Off: He doesn't take off his jacket, he rips it off.
• Code Name: Fullmetal Alchemist.
• Combat Breakdown: One-sided on Edward's end. He goes from using all his alchemy on Father to simply beating him down with his fists.
• Combat Pragmatist: Although he can fight straight unlike Envy, Ed will more often than not use every dirty trick or underhanded tactic to win his battles. When he's called out for this at one point, he rationalizes all bets are off in a fight and what's "fair" is meaningless.
• Condescending Compassion: A weird accidental example. When Ed realizes Envy's true Freudian Excuse, namely envying humans for their ability to steel through hardships by forming strong bonds with each other, he treats it and by extension Envy with sympathy and pity. Envy immediately views it as this trope and is so humiliated and insulted that they commit suicide.
• Cosmic Plaything: Is he ever; one might think the Truth gets some sick pleasure in watching him struggle. Though this does lead to a rather satisfying Call-Back by Ed at the end of the series, "There's no such thing as a painless lesson."
• Cruel to Be Kind: He harshly tells Rose to stand on her own feet after she learns that her faith in Father Cornello was betrayed and her boyfriend is never coming back. Winry's shocked by how harsh he is, but Rose tells her that was what she needed to hear.
• Cursed with Awesome: His artificial limbs have saved his life a lot. And we can't forget anchoring his brother's soul let him transmute with just clapping his hands.
• Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Played for Laughs, as this happens whenever somebody calls him short.
• The Cynic: Ed's idealism got well and truly sliced to ribbons upon his mother's death and what came after it. Even though he tries his level best not to let it hold him back. Later experiences just jumped on the remains and called it a day.
• Cynicism Catalyst: The whole human transmutation experience and what happened to Nina made him far more cynical and bitter, though he still strives to be heroic.
• Deadpan Snarker: Appropriately enough for a teenager, Ed gives plenty of bored-sounding backtalk to the cast.
• De-power: He willingly sacrifices his ability to use alchemy to get back Alphonse.
• Destructive Savior: He once remarked "(doing) good goes on a side bar on a military report next to 'collateral damage'."
• Determinator: He was a Determinator when he was ten, and he hasn't changed since. His sheer stubbornness and determination are what gave him the epithet of the Fullmetal Alchemist, along with the automail.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Frequently insults and backtalks almost every superpowered being he comes across in the story, such as Father, Envy, and the Homunculi in general.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Twice. First against Pride, then against Father. The second one counts as punching out two deities at once.
• Disabled Snarker: Has a missing right arm and a missing left leg, and has a snarky attitude to go along with it.
• Disappointed by the Motive: He attacked Shou Tucker upon realizing that the talking chimera from two years ago was Tucker's wife, and that the new chimera was fused from Tucker's dog and child. To further Ed's disappointment, Shou did that in an attempt to remain a state alchemist. Tucker not only thought that what he did to his family was acceptable, but also expected it to be rewarding. Shou tries to give him a "Not So Different" Remark, but Ed counters that while Ed and Al attempted human transfiguration out of a misguided attempt to save their mother, Tucker did it because he didn't want to lose a steady paycheck.
• Dishing Out Dirt: One of Ed's go-to alchemic moves is to create pillars or barriers from stone and/or earth.
• Does Not Like Guns: Strangely enough; they make killing without consequence too easy for his liking.
• Does Not Like Spam: He absolutely loathes drinking milk. It's all the more frustrating for him when people tell him he should drink it anyway, since it reminds him how short he is.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: He gets his arm back, Al gets his body back, and he starts a family with his Victorious Childhood Friend, but WOW did he go through hell and back to get it. Which makes the happy ending all the more spectacular.
• Exact Eavesdropping: He learns that what he created was not his mother by eavesdropping a conversation between Hohenheim and Pinako. Invoked as Hohenheim knew Ed wouldn't be up for talking with him.
• Expecting Someone Taller: Everyone assumes Al the tall person in armor is the Full Metal Alchemist. This is not a good thing with his... vertical deficiency complex.
• Expository Hairstyle Change:
  • He's seen with his trademark braid after he recovers from his automail.
  • Later in the story, he switches it to a high ponytail while he's in hiding to recuperate from an injury. He does this because the military's hunting him, and their description of him mentions that he wears his hair in a braid.
  • The ponytail also further parallels his likeness to his father, who looked just like him when he was younger. When Hohenheim mentions this, Ed changes his hair back.
  • The last chapter shows an image of him with the ponytail again. It's possible Hohenheim's death had something to do with it.
• Expressive Hair: Not just when in Super-Deformed mode, either. His Idiot Hair spikes up when his emotions are heightened.
• Extra-ore-dinary: His and Al's alchemy specialty is with metal.
• Foil: To Shou Tucker. Tucker isn't wrong about their ambition leading them both to perform a forbidden branch of alchemy despite knowing that human transmutation is, well, forbidden, but his claim that they are the same fails miserably. Ed was motivated to try to resurrect his dead mother by his love for her and loneliness of not having her by his side, Tucker was motivated to turn his own wife and daughter into chimeras by his desire to keep his job and income. Even more importantly, Ed was able to recognize from his experience that playing god with other people's lives is wrong and deeply regrets his actions, while Tucker fails to comprehend that he did anything wrong and feels no remorse for his actions.
• Fragile Speedster: He's very fast and quite strong for his size, but can't take that much punishment. He keeps fighting anyway. Later becomes a Lightning Bruiser.
• Freaky Is Cool: He appears to have a taste for gothic and macabre fixtures and will usually transmute decorations filled with monstrous or demonic imagery and unnecessarily gaudy details.
• Generation Xerox: As flashback episodes ultimately show, he looks exactly like his father as a teenager, who was also an alchemical prodigy traumatized by human transmutation.
• Genius Bruiser: A brilliant alchemist (he achieved State Alchemist status at the age of twelve) and a formidable fighter.
• Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: He does this many times over the course of the series. The most memorable has to be when he did this while trying (and failing) to propose to Winry.
• Grasp the Sun: Used as a shot in two of the opening credits, which parallels his Shout-Out speech to the myth of Icarus early on in the series.
• Guile Hero: Though it can be hard to tell with how reckless and aggressive he becomes when excited, Ed is actually something of a tactical genius. Outside of clocking badguys with his automail fist or sending them flying with a pillar of raised earth, the crux of Ed's fighting style is discerning the composition of an opponent's equipment or surroundings and manipulating said materials with alchemy. When fighting a tougher foe, he often leads them into elaborate alchemical or even mundane traps, commonly feigning weakness or employing decoys to draw them in. He manipulates false prophet Cornello into blowing his own cover in front of his loyal following, and reclaims Youswell's mine for the people with an illegal gambit exploiting a corrupt official's greed. He also shows an almost frightening political savvy and an instinctive grasp of human psychology, helping him face more nebulous threats like the state.
• Guilt Complex: His entire motivation is to get Al's body back after their attempt at human transmutation.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: You could say he has a very... short temper. Considering his height insecurity, he might be trying to make up for it.
• Handicapped Badass: Technically, but his automail usually more than compensates. At the end of the story he is still handicapped, but has both arms.
• Height Angst: He is so insecure about his short height that it is by far his most well-known Berserk Button, often to the point that he'll assume any "insults" regarding it aimed in his direction are far worse than they really are.
• He Is All Grown Up: Winry notes to herself that Ed's back/shoulders are broader now, and Ed is becoming a man and is no longer a child.
  • Played more subtly in a later scene between the two of them - their arguing puts them both in the same frame, and Ed is taller than Winry.
• Heroic BSoD: His major BSOD happens in his backstory after his and Al's attempt at Human Transmutation goes horribly wrong, luckily Mustang showed up and offered him a chance to become a State Alchemist. He also goes into one after Nina's death. So much so that he almost lets Scar kill him during their first encounter.
• Honor Before Reason: Edward follows a Thou Shalt Not Kill principal to a T. This puts him at a major disadvantage during his fight with Kimblee.
• Humble Hero: Despite his occasional Insufferable Genius antics, Edward rarely puts that much stock into his military rank or even just how talented at alchemy he is.
• Hunk: Despite his short stature, overall he's handsome, muscular and manly.
• Idiot Hair: He might not be an idiot, but Ed has a small "antenna" of hair which he intentionally sticks up, probably to make himself appear taller.
• I Got Bigger: Goes from roughly 4'10" when shown in the very beginning to about 5'4" in the final battle a year later. Then once again to around 5'9" in the epilogue, which is several years after that. A rare case in fiction of a teenager growing slowly in real time, slow enough in fact that you don't notice until you compare the differences over the course of thirty or so chapters. Amusingly enough, he only starts to grow once he stops complaining about how short he is.
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: This occurs twice over the course of the series to poor Edward: Nina's death, and then Hughes' death. These deaths stay with him all the way until the end.
• Infant Sibling Jealousy: A manga-only omake reveals that Ed used to be jealous of how Al seemingly got more attention than him when they were toddlers, and was something of a Big Brother Bully to him as a result. Hohenheim convinced him that Trisha loved them both equally, and he became a much better brother towards Al from that point on.
• Insufferable Genius: Part of Edward's Character Arc is a conflicting confidence in his own ability. At the beginning of the story, he was convinced that he can solve all of his problems through Alchemy. Edward's growth was his learning to accept that he could rely on others around him.
• Iron Butt Monkey: With everything he goes through, does he really need Winry along with half his friends comically abusing him?
• It's All My Fault:
  • Ed tends to shoulder the guilt when anything bad happens to his loved ones. He even blamed himself for the loss of Alphonse's body to the point he feared that Al hated him for it.
  • Even by the end, Ed still isn't over what happened to Nina. This is what inspires his and Al's next quest: finding a way to undo chimeric transmutations.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He acts like a jerk to many characters - including his younger brother, Alphonse, who constantly has to apologize for him in the trend of "Don't take it personally, he's like that with everybody and he's actually nice deep inside". Despite how short-tempered and abrasive he can be, his heart is ultimately in the right place and he cares a lot about those who are close to him.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Ed starts out as, to be blunt, an arrogant little shit who has a lot of Character Development on the way, but he nonetheless makes good points:
  • For starters, as blunt and cruel as it is, he makes a damn good point when he tells Rose that she needs to get up and move on, rather than spending her entire life chasing the futile dream of bringing her boyfriend Back from the Dead.
  • He also has No Sympathy for Scar despite his tragic past, rebuking Mustang's claims that Scar's Roaring Rampage of Revenge is justified; as Ed puts it, he's still involving innocent people for the sake of his revenge and that he's just candy-coating it by acting self-righteous and calling himself "an instrument of God". Considering Scar's very first victims were Winry's parents, who saved his life, and what Scar did to Nina and tried to do to both him and Al, Ed's claim is far from invalid; in fact, it's vindicated when several of the surviving Ishvalans, including his former master, tell Scar outright that while what happened to their people is wrong, what he's doing is just as bad.
  • When Major Miles reminds Ed that the Amestrians killed many Ishbalans, Ed fires back that the Ishbalans were responsible for destroying parts of the East, and that Scar, an Ishbalan, killed Winry's parents. Miles is amused, and appreciates that Ed doesn't pity him.
• Keeping the Handicap: At one point, he has a chance to get his leg back, but decides against it, feeling that he needs a constant reminder of his journey and, most importantly, the consequences of his actions.
• Knight in Sour Armour: He is ill-tempered and cynical about the world, but still fighting to do the right thing.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: When Scar succeeds in destroying Ed's arm and prepares to kill him, with an injured Al being Forced to Watch, Ed can barely move and stops trying to fight or run. He merely asks that Scar spare Al. Al, after the battle, smacks his brother around for giving up on life so easily.
• Large Ham: When annoyed. Minus the "large" part. Also, in a gambit to lure out Scar to kill him, and by extension the Homunculi to protect him, Edward puts on a rather theatrical display of his Alchemy.
• Last of His Kind: By descent, he and Al are the last two ethnic Xerxians.
• Laughing Mad: Does this briefly when he realizes trying to bring his mother back was a Senseless Sacrifice after digging up the remains of what he and Al created during the failed human transmutation.
• Life-or-Limb Decision: He saved Al's soul from crossing over by trading his arm to be able to keep his brother's soul in a suit of armor.
• Lightning Bruiser: Once he was outfitted with cold-weather automail, he truly became a force to be reckoned with due to heavier hits from sturdier automail.
• Like Father, Like Son:
  • He can't stand his dad for abandoning his family and yet he abandons what constitutes his family in the way he shuts Winry and Pinako out of his life. He gets better in this regard.
  • Hohenheim is also quick to pick up on the fact that Ed has the same brash attitude he once had at his age.
• Little Big Brother: Al had been taller than Ed since childhood, but when he loses his body and is bound into a seven-foot-suit of armor, he towers over Ed, who is a hair under five feet (and very defensive when this is pointed out).
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Starting around the time of his state alchemist exam. Ed usually keeps it braided or in a ponytail, but as seen when he's sleeping and after he recovers from the girder through his stomach, his hair is very long
• Love Epiphany: Whilst Winry's in the midst of upgrading his automail to cope with the cold weather, Ed laments to himself that Hawkeye was convinced that he was in love with Winry, before realising that she was right.
• Magic Knight: A very skilled alchemist whose mentor put him in Training from Hell to make him good at fighting as well. Some of his go-to transmutations for combat include converting his automail arm into weapons or pulling a metal spear out of the earth.
• Majorly Awesome: State Alchemists have a rank equivalent to Major, so it somewhat counts.
• Mangst: He carries on his shoulders the guilt of resurrecting his mother as a horrific THING and believing he killed her again, and damning his brother to life as an animate suit of armor in the process. He bottles this up for years and never once asks his brother if he blames him for this, all the while blaming himself, though he also never asked his brother because he fears the answer. He even carved the date they burned down their home on the inside of his pocket watch so he'll be reminded whenever he checks the time. Note that this started when he was eleven. He deals with further tragedy with the death of Nina and Maes Hughes, something he carries with him. Near the end, after years of bottling it up, Ed finally cries when his father not only offers his last bit of energy to bring back Al but also apologizes for not being there when his sons needed him. It becomes a Discussed Trope in an early episode; Winry Rockbell is talking with Maes Hughes about how she feels Ed keeps her at a distance and tries not to let her see past his facade of blithe confidence, and Hughes explains this trope to her. He specifically cites it as the way men tend to deal with their pain, in contrast to the openness of Winry's own emotions, and that she shouldn't assume he doesn't appreciate or care for her just because he doesn't show it. It ends up being Defied when Winry makes Ed and Al talk about their feelings, which leads to their reconciliation.
• Meaningful Echo: Of a sorts. The positions in the family photo of Hohenheim, Trisha, Ed, and Al are roughly repeated in the finale photo with Ed, Winry, and their two children. Well, except for Daddy Ed looking far more ecstatic than Hohenheim did.
• Men Don't Cry: Excluding his backstory, Edward only ever cries once in the entire series, and those were Berserker Tears over Hohenheim trying to convince Ed to sacrifice him to bring Al back to life.
• Mildly Military: Though having the rank equivalent of a Major as a State Alchemist and apparently being paid handsomely for that position, Ed doesn't do much that would indicate he's part of Amestris' military complex and chain of command aside from grudgingly listening to Mustang. It can be assumed his superiors are fine with him doing this since he keeps proving his potential value as a combatant in yearly examinations to keep his State Alchemist license yet they lack sufficiently pressing engagements for him utilized for them. It might also be on account of how it's later shown the antagonists want him kept alive as a sacrifice.
• Moral Myopia: Possibly due to him still being a teenager, Ed never really seems to come to terms with the gravity of the Ishvalan genocide; while he's certainly upset about the loss of life, he never seems to view it as anything more than your ordinary military exercise and he gives No Sympathy to Scar while being shocked that Mustang and Hawkeye consider themselves war criminals for participating in the massacre of innocent civilians.
• Mouthy Kid: "Cranky" seems to be his default mood. Somewhat justified when he theorizes that his body is sustaining Al's, meaning that Ed is constantly both sleep and nutrient deprived due to the resources Al's body is taking.
• Mr. Fanservice: Spends large amounts of time without a shirt on, usually because he keeps ripping it off. And don't forget his shower scene. Not bad for a vertically-challenged double-amputee.
• My Greatest Failure: Two equally gut wrenching things hang on his shoulders during the course of the anime: Costing Al his humanity by failing the human transmutation and not being able to save little Nina from her father.
• Named After Somebody Famous: He's named after a real-life medieval alchemist.
• The Napoleon: See Berserk Button...Do not mention his height. However, after he gets Al's body back, he eventually gets a growth spurt down the line! Even a little before the Promised Day, there was already an instance of him being noticeably taller than Winry. Yet Al is still taller than him in the Babies Ever After photo, despite his body spending several years in an emaciated state. Ed just can't win...
• Nay-Theist: Not only does he know for fact that God/Truth/Whatever-He-Calls-Himself exists, his leg was stolen by it. That's the reason why his opinion of the guy is so low. Alternatively, Ed is not convinced that the Truth is God. Either way, it fits.
  • Just for reference; how low is Edward's opinion of God/Truth? It's so low that, despite having literally met it, he describes himself as an agnostic and thus claims that he isn't certain or can't know that God exists.
• No Indoor Voice: Honestly, it's surprising that he hasn't given himself an anger-induced heart attack from all the yelling he does.
• No Sympathy: Despite hearing of the Ishvalan genocide at the hands of the state military, and Mustang insisting Scar's quest for vengeance is justified, Ed blows it off and has no sympathy to spare for him; as far as he's concerned, Scar just likes attacking people because he's a bully that is masking his pain, stating outright that his quest is far from justified because he's still involving innocent people for the sake of his revenge and that he's just candy-coating it by acting self-righteous and calling himself "an instrument of God". Considering the facts that Scar tried to kill Ed and Al, who were young children at the time of the massacre and had nothing to do with it, as well as the fact that his very first victims were Winry's parents, who saved his life, and what he did to Nina, Ed's far from wrong.
• Non-Idle Rich: He makes quite a lot of money being a State Alchemist. He's also quite generous with it too.
• No One Else Is That Dumb: A variation - when he and Ling end up in Gluttony's stomach, the latter asks him if he is the little runt to make sure he's not Envy in disguise. Ed reacts promptly.
  Ed: [royally pissed] WHO YOU CALLIN' A LITTLE RUNT, YOU JEEEEERK?!?!
• "Not So Different" Remark: Multiple villains throughout the series try to pull this card on Ed. It's to the point that when Scar declares them as such, pointing out that both of them use their arms for destruction, Ed responds with a Shut Up, Hannibal!, telling Scar outright that the two of them are nothing alike.
  Ed: It's funny. Every crook I meet wants to tell me how much I'm just like them.
• Oblivious to Love: In a bizarre twist on this trope, Ed's obviously in love with Winry, but he can't seem to see that Winry returns his affections.
• Oh, Crap!: Has this expression when he hears Winry's voice as she returns to Atelier Garfiel following Ed's fight with Lan Fan where his automail arm fell off. He's about to receive a severe beating for damaging the arm she made him, and he knows it's coming.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Whenever you see someone pressing Ed's Berserk Button (specifically calling his height to attention) yet Ed didn't blow his top and instead cowering in fear, that someone instantly gets The Dreaded status.
  • Ed follows a strict Thou Shalt Not Kill code and resolutely refuses to take another's life, but Shou Tucker came extremely close to driving him to break his code when he coldly confirmed that he had fused his own daughter with her Big Friendly Dog into a talking chimera in constant pain, expressed absolutely no remorse for what he'd done, and had the audacity to say that Ed trying to bring his dead mother back to life and him experimenting on his family made them the same. Al had to physically restrain him and Nina/Alexander had to plead with him to let her daddy go to keep him from beating the deranged man to death in his rage.
• Pay Evil unto Evil:
  • Gets a moment in Brotherhood. After brutalizing Shou Tucker for turning Nina into a chimera, Tucker crawls up to his nearly-broken State Alchemist pocket watch on the floor and happily declares that he'll get to keep his job, having made the deadline. Ed immediately kicks the watch out of Tucker's hands, breaking it completely, and tells him point-blank that after what he did, there's no way in hell the military will continue employing him.
  • Ed's refusal to take a life is steadfast, but in the final battle, he doesn't hesitate to punch a hole through Father's chest and coldly watches as he's absorbed by the Truth.
  Ed: Go back to where you were born. Go back to nothing, Homunculus!
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Less than 5 feet at the beginning of the series, Ed can handle fighting many opponents larger than him.
• Plot Pants: Edward Elric wears different clothes on occasion when he's not running around being the Fullmetal Alchemist, but when something important happens he's usually wearing his customary black clothing and red jacket.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Ed calls Ling's closed eyes "freaky" in the latter's debut episode, and has a well-intentioned comment to Miles about how people should "ignore race" in Briggs. However, Ling's eyes aren't narrow because he's from China's Fantasy Counterpart Culture; he has an ability that lets him function without needing to see, so he keeps his eyes closed most of the time.
• Power Copying: The true genius of Ed's combat Alchemy lies in his aptitude for incorporating the Alchemy styles of others into his own after merely having once seen them in action, which makes him very adaptable to various situations. He has adapted Scar's destruction Alchemy, Alex Louis Armstrong's gauntlets and stone spikes as well as Greed's carbon armor hardening into his combat repertoire. He reversed Pride's attempt to possess him. He has also shown that he's capable of copying the Homunculus' technique to turn his soul into a Philosopher's Stone. As Pride painfully found out.
• Pretty Boy: May Chang's fantasies about Ed depict him as a dashing, slender Prince Charming. He's otherwise a more downplayed example, as he has long hair and a good-looking face but his body is more on the muscular side, being designed to look more handsome than pretty.
• The Protagonist: He's the "Fullmetal Alchemist" from the title.
• Rank Up: Upon passing the State Alchemist exam. He is still called Mister Elric instead of Major Elric, however, because according to Maria Ross, State Alchemists possess a rank equivalent to a major. Most characters in the military call him by his first name or "Fullmetal".
• Red Baron: The Fullmetal Alchemist. Interesting enough, Edward actually does have a reputation that precedes him, to the point where May Chang even traveled all the way from Xing to learn from him. Due to Edward's typical attitude ^note Edward only treats his rank and title as a means to an end to research more into the Philosopher's Stone., most people that know him well, save for Mustang, don't actually address him by the title.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Inverted. Ed's main outfit consists of an all black jacket, shirt, pants, and boots along with a red duster. However, he's the heroic, Jerk with a Heart of Gold protagonist.
• Redemption Quest: "I'm sorry, Al. This is all my fault. So I promise that no matter what, I'll get you your body back."
• Red Is Heroic: His red duster, although he denies being a hero. More or less an Invoked Trope aside from that as he wears the red duster because he thinks the colour is badass.
• Retired Badass: In the Distant Finale, he's understandably no longer a State Alchemist and is living with Winry in Risembool. Downplayed, since he and Al are still working on new forms of alchemy and Ed travels to countries West of Amestris to learn more.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • Ed lost his left leg trying to revive Trisha because his mother was foundation, then lost his right arm because his little brother is his right hand (in the metaphoric sense).
  • Ed begins the series confident that alchemy holds the answer to everything and arrogant enough to believe he can reverse the course of life and death. He ends the series a more humble man, content with his place in the world and his relationships. So it makes total sense that along the way, he was the one who defeated the personification of Pride.
• Scars Are Forever: Decides against regaining his leg as a reminder of his journey and the consequences of his actions. Even after he gets his right arm back, he retains the brutal-looking scars from his automail surgery, as well as a couple of metal bits sticking out of his skin and presumably more inside him.
• Shared Family Quirks: When Hohenheim was young, he seemed to have being called stupid as his Berserk Button just as Ed's is being called short.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: He says this a lot about Winry. Nobody buys it. Since they later end up married and have children together, it's no wonder they don't buy it.
  Ed: She's my mechanic! Nothing more!
• Shipper on Deck: You know it's sad when Ed can see it.
  • Has been playing matchmaker to Ling and Lan Fan.
  • Like the above pairing, Ed plays matchmaker for Roy and Riza as well.
  • He did this to Al and May (although it might have been unintentional) in chapter 104.
• Shirtless Scene: He loses his shirt so much that it's a wonder he bothers to wear one at all.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Scar tries to pull the "Not So Different" Remark card on Ed, remarking that both of them use their arms for destruction. Having heard that from several villains he's faced already, Ed will have none of it.
  Ed: Don't even start! We're nothing alike!
• Single-Target Sexuality: Apparently decided he wanted to marry Winry at a young age, goes through a long period of Cannot Spit It Out during which he never shows the slightest interest in another girl, and eventually marries Winry.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Especially when insulted about his height.
• Situational Hand Switch: He was originally right-handed, but writes with his left hand after he lost his right arm. Presumably, automail doesn't have the same kind of dexterity as a real arm and hand.
• Sleepyhead: Ed tends to fall asleep a lot during the day. Like Big Eater above, he theorizes that this is because he's actually connected to Al's missing body and keeping it alive by providing rest.
• Slasher Smile: Played entirely for laughs. Ed commonly sports one of these, complete with Glowing Eyes of Doom and/or ominous facial shading, when he's feeling vindictive or mischievous. Al usually steps in to try and hold him back or talk him down when this happens.
• So Proud of You: The Truth congratulates Ed for offering his ability to use alchemy in exchange for bringing his brother's body back from The Gate, saying it is the correct decision. It also showcases his Character Development; he went from somebody who thought he could solve all his problems with his alchemical abilities to realising he still had people around him who would help and support him in his journey.
• Spit Take: Delivers a spectacular one when Hawkeye asks him if he loves Winry.
• Stock Shōnen Hero: Surprisingly averted, despite being the hero of a shonen series.
  • Ed fits some of this trope's more superficial traits ^note  he's a Kid Hero, Hot-Blooded, a Big Eater, and Oblivious to Love even though Everyone Can See It with him and Winry , but he lacks many others too. Rather than a blind optimist, he's more cynical and weighed down by his past sins. Instead of a Book Dumb Idiot Hero, he's a Badass Bookworm (since being good at alchemy requires a lot of study). He isn't on a quest To Be a Master, but for more personal reasons: restoring his and Al's bodies.
  • The trope is lampshaded in an omake, where Ed and Al discuss how the former doesn't have many of the typical tropes of his shonen demographic contemporaries at the time (aside from the aforementioned differences, he's rich and well-connected due to being a State Alchemist, somewhat uncool, doesn't have many close friends to draw motivation from, and was already a powerful alchemist from the start of the story) and wonder how he still managed to become popular despite that.
• Stress Vomit: Occurs when digging up the monstrous being that wasn't really his mother.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Flashbacks to about 400 years ago reveal that when Hohenheim was younger, he looked almost exactly like Ed does now. According to a series of sketches of Ed aging done by Arakawa, he will look even more like his father by the time he gets to 40 or so.
• Suddenly Always Knew That: Averted. The ability to turn himself into a philosopher's stone was foreshadowed after his battle against Kimblee.
• Suddenly Shouting: Quite often, especially when someone calls him short.
• Sweet and Sour Grapes: He starts becoming noticeably taller after he finally starts mellowing out about being short.
• Sympathy for the Devil: After Envy's defeat, Ed realizes that Envy is actually envious of humanity's ability to form friendships and support each other. Just the knowledge that Ed pities it is part of the reason why Envy commits suicide shortly after.
• Take Me Instead: He is willing to offer his life in exchange for his brother, Alphonse, whose body was obliterated in their failed attempt to use alchemy to bring back their mother.
  Edward: No, dammit. You won't take him too. Give him back! He's my brother! Take my leg. Take my arm! Take my heart, ANYTHING, YOU CAN HAVE IT! Just give him back! HE'S MY LITTLE BROTHER! HE'S ALL I HAVE LEFT!
• Technical Pacifist: In contrast to his portrayal in the 2003 anime, Edward refuses to take a life, human and homunculus alike. Ed makes a sole exception for Father, fighting to kill in the climax of the story. Even then, Ed still didn't actually kill him; Father was Hoist by His Own Petard. Though considering Father gets sucked into the Gate by the Truth, Father probably wishes Ed had killed him.
• Terrible Artist: His attempt at drawing Shao May sucks (though it's probably his visualization based on his negative experience with Shao). Al even says it looks like an alien. That said, his technical drawing skills are excellent, as being able to draw precise diagrams is a prerequisite for learning alchemy. He just can't do portraiture.
• Testosterone Poisoning: Most of what he makes through alchemy could look good in a Death Metal concert. It's justified because he's a kid.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Ed absolutely refuses to kill people, and generally forces all his companions around him to follow this standard as well.
  • Subverted with Shou Tucker; after realising he forcibly mutated his own daughter Nina into a chimera to keep his State Alchemist Certification, Ed is so overcome with rage that it took Al physically restraining him and Nina pleading with him not to hurt her daddy to keep him from murdering the deranged man.
• Token Human: The only known full-on human character in the history of Greed's gang.
• Took a Level in Badass: As if he already wasn't badass enough, Ed getting his right arm back leads to Father getting a complete No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In a big way. While Ed was never outwardly greedy or cruel, he is rather selfish and myopic at the beginning, and his more Jerkass moments are him fixedly ignoring or outright dismissing other peoples' problems while Al runs interference; as we learn through his development it's less because he's unable to empathize, and more because he's so utterly horrified by what he's done that he believes that he has to fix his mistake, he has to deal with his own problem. But being forced by his own quest to acknowledge the suffering of others, as well as the other character's gentle (and not so gentle) reminders that he's not alone in this fight, that he has other people who care about him and will help him, make him gradually a kinder and more open person- so much so that the same guy who coldly told Rosé to deal with her own problems early on has to be talked down from offering help to others. Perhaps that's the reason he grew taller.
• Tragic Keepsake: Edward's pocketwatch is engraved with 'Never Forget' and the date he and Al burned their house down to prevent themselves from returning home.
• The Trickster: On occasion, most notably when he tricked Yoki into signing over the deed to Youswell with falsely-transmuted gold.
• Troll: He quizzed Darius and Heinkel about the chemical composition of dynamite at one point, who were rather confused until they realized that Ed was about to deconstruct the explosives behind him and gas them with ammonia. His smug, shit-eating grin before the transmutation makes it clear he was fishing for an Oh, Crap! on purpose.
• Troubled, but Cute: Traumatized by his father's disappearance, his mother's death, his failed attempt at resurrection of said mother taking his leg and brother's body, and trading his arm to anchor his brother's soul in a suit of armor. And you've read his Mr. Fanservice entry already, right?
• Tsundere: A male Type A; he's got a harsh personality and a hot temper, and cannot spit his feelings out in standard ways. However, he softens up notably around those he cares about, like Al and Winry.
• Tsurime Eyes: To emphasize both cynicism and determination in this case.
• Twisting the Words: Taken up to eleven whenever someone makes even the slightest comment about his height; for example, he interprets "small" as "so-tiny-that-he-need-not-fear-being-crushed-by-a-boot-because-he-fits-so-easily-between-the-grooves-of-the-sole."
• Unexplained Recovery: Zigzagged. Since Winry's violence towards him when he damages the automail she makes him is Played for Laughs, he'll be seen with serious injuries after one of her rages, but by the first or second time the camera cuts back to him he'll be more or less completely okay. On the other hand, he does not get Unexplained Recoveries from fights that are played straight.
• Unstoppable Rage: He goes completely berserk against Father after Al's Heroic Sacrifice. It's the one time he's clearly showing killing intent.
  • The other time he possibly shows killing intent is with Shou Tucker. Ed attacks him when the latter coldly confirms the chimera in front of them is Nina and her dog, Alexander. When Tucker expresses no remorse for his crimes and taunts Ed for being like him (which falls flat because Ed and Al had performed human transmutation because they were intensely lonely and wanted their beloved mother Back from the Dead, whereas Tucker mutated his family into chimeras because he wanted to keep a steady income), Ed is sent into a blind fury and relentlessly beats him with his metal arm. If Al hadn't physically restrained him and Nina hadn't pleaded with him to let her daddy go, he would very likely have beat him to death.
• Visual Development: Becomes taller and more muscular as the series progresses. However, it's not until he stops complaining about his height that it's noticeable.
• Virtuous Character Copy: Ed could be considered one to Victor Frankenstein, each having a fascination with alchemy and an obsession with reviving the dead after losing a mother, leading to disastrous results with the 2003 anime having Ed confront his creation like Victor did with his monster. But Ed grew out of his arrogance and become a stronger person, unlike Victor whose path led him on a downward spiral.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Mustang, Ling, and Scar, after the latter's Heel–Face Turn. Let's just say anyone Ed befriends are likely to become quite dependable while also giving him grief. Even Julia Crichton from The Movie forms this with Ed.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: To Winry. "Equivalent Exchange! I'll give half of my life to you, if you give half of yours to me!"
• Walking the Earth: At the end, he goes west for more research and create a replacement rule for alchemy that can return chimeras back to their original forms.
• What the Hell, Hero?: During Roy's, for lack of a better word, Cold-Blooded Torture of Envy, Ed pulls this on Roy. Well, Scar and Riza got into the act too, but Ed was the one who really called him out (in Riza's case, it was more Get A Hold Of Yourself Man).
  Roy: Give him to me or I'll burn your hand along with him!
  Ed: TRY IT THEN! If it's a fight you want it's a fight you'll get! But before you do, I think you should take a good look at your face! Is that the face you plan to wear when you're leading this country!? Well, is it!? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANNA BE, MUSTANG!? ANOTHER MONSTER!?
• Wise Beyond His Years: While not as often as Alphonse, Ed does have tendency to display a high level of wisdom for someone his age.
• The Worf Barrage: He has on several occasions conjured an elaborate-looking spear from the ground. Until the fight with the Cyclops Army it would always be cut apart in moments to show off the ability of his opponents. He's a much better fighter barehanded or with a blade transmuted from his automail's casing.
• Would Hit a Girl: He claims that "I'm not sexist!" when it comes to battles. Since the homunculi are just as dangerous - male, female, or otherwise - it's a good thing he is.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: He pretends to be chased by Scar to distract a trio of guards before knocking them out so he and his gang can sneak into the Third Laboratory (complete with a hilarious Slasher Smile). Hoenheim can't help pointing out how mean that was.
• Wowing Cthulhu: When he offers to exchange his own personal Gate of Truth in order to restore Al's body at the end of the series (thus denying him the ability to ever perform alchemy again), Truth is taken completely off guard and expresses genuine pride in his actions.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: To Scar regarding a relatively minor matter, "Hearing you agree with me makes me mad for some reason..."

Alphonse "Al" Elric

Alphonse "Al" Elric

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (JP), Maxey Whitehead (EN, Funimation), Lily Truncale (EN, Animax)^{Other Languages}Johnny Torres (Latin America/animated series and live-action film), Rodrigo Andreatto (BR), Marina Santana (BR, child [IST dub only]), Benedetta Ponticelli (IT), István Baráth (HUN)

^{Click here} to see his human body.

Affiliation: None
Rank: None
Speciality: Martial-Arts/Balanced Alchemy/Trap Alchemy/Alchemy without an Array

"You know, I didn't ask to be this big."

Edward's younger brother. He lost his body during an experiment that went horribly wrong and survives in the form of a suit of armour, his soul joined to it through the use of a blood seal.

---

• Achilles' Heel: His blood seal is his one real weakness; if that gets damaged, he's in real trouble.
• All-Loving Hero: He always looks on the bright side of life. He has also converted two chimera soldiers to his cause just by showing them that they are still human.
• Animated Armor: His soul is bonded to the armor by a circle made from his brother's blood.
• Badass Adorable: A sweet boy with a soft spot for kittens who is a living armor alchemist.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Unlike state alchemists with special tattoos and gloves or those who have seen the Truth, Al needs time to draw transmutation circles in order to do alchemy at least at first, so he often fights enemies with brute strength and martial arts alone. It helps that he can't feel pain, has metal limbs and is too heavy for most opponents to knock over. He can keep master fighters like Scar and Armstrong on their toes, and Ed mentions that even before he had the advantage of an armored body, Al always won their sparring bouts.
• Berserk Button: Not even close to as bad as Ed, but it still upsets him when people talk about how awesome it would be to have armor as a body, since he clearly isn't very happy about it. His typical reaction is telling them "Be Careful What You Wish For".
• Beware the Nice Ones: Yes, he's a sweet-natured young boy. He's also a living suit of armor with greater than average strength, and is perfectly willing to use it if necessary. He never lost his temper, but has come close...
• Big Little Brother: He may be the younger of the two protagonists, but his armor body makes him taller and more impressive than his older brother. Despite getting a growth spurt, Ed is still shorter than him, even after Al gets his body back.
• Blessed with Suck: Several characters, namely Ling and Greed, think it's a case of Cursed with Awesome. Alphonse though, doesn't agree because it means he can't eat, can't sleep or even feel the air around him.
• Bulletproof Vest: It's impressive how a 20th century suit of armor can bounce bullets off it without so much as a scratch.
• Cheerful Child: A subversion. He and his brother were in a horrific accident and to make a long story short, his soul is now in a 7 foot tall suit of armor. Nevertheless, he remains mostly cheerful.
• Child-Like Voice: Alphonse Elric is defined by child-like naivete and an endearing disposition. Fittingly enough, he has a notably boyish voice in the anime, both in Japanese and in the English dub.
• Child Mage: The mind of a young boy with incredible alchemy powers.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: After blaming himself for the deaths of Nina, Hughes and Martel, he seems unable to let anyone die, even if they're possible enemies. For this reason, he adamantly refuses to leave a heartbroken Lt. Hawkeye behind to die at Lust's hands and shields her with his own body. Giving Col. Mustang enough time to catch up and ambush Lust, scorching her to death
• Corner of Woe: In contrast to his brother, making fun of Al's size or armor results in sulking,not screaming.
• Cursed with Awesome: Like Ed, he really hates how his "body" is a suit of armor, but it's saved his life and the lives of others many times over.
• Cuteness Proximity: He's a Kindhearted Cat Lover, and wanted to keep Shao May when he found her alone.
• Deuteragonist: The second main character after Edward (The Protagonist proper).
• Dark Is Not Evil: After being bound to armor, he looks pretty scary, but actually is a very nice and kind boy.
• Extra-ore-dinary: His and Ed's alchemy specialty is metal.
• Expressive Mask: Generally averted. Alphonse's expressions are usually limited to the intensity of his eye-lights and shadows on his helmet being shown from different angles. In more comedic moments, he'll take on deliberately exaggrated expressions.
• Eye Lights Out: Whenever Alphonse's soul is unconscious, or being pulled over to the Gate, his eye-lights go out. This seems to be for the audience only, since none of the characters including Ed seem to be able to tell the difference.
• Full-Conversion Cyborg: While he's not this — he's a soul inhabiting a suit of armor — he's often mistaken for someone with a full-body automail prosthetic.
• Genius Bruiser: His metal body grants him greater than average strength which he uses in combo with his impressive alchemy. Even when they were kids, Al would win most sparring bouts with Ed, who himself is quite a badass.
• Gentle Giant: He looks intimidating, but he's much nicer than his brother.
• Glowing Mechanical Eyes: It's not clear whether this is for the audience's benefit or not, but his eyes always appear to be glowing.
• He Will Come for Me: After trading his soul to Truth to get Ed's arm back so he won't be killed, Al is stuck beyond the gate and confronted by Truth, who asks him whether he really thinks Ed will come to save him.
  Truth: You really think he'll come back for you?
  Al: He will. I know it!
• Heroic BSoD: He falls on it when King Bradley kills Martel and regains his memories of the gate.
• Heroic Resolve:
  Al: I won't leave you! I'm sick of watching people die, and I can't just sit back and take it anymore! I won't let anyone else get killed! Not when I can protect them!
• Heroic Sacrifice: During the Final Battle, he refuses to get his body back, since he can't properly use it for combat, despite the fact that he desperately wanted that proper flesh and blood body for years. Then after his blood seal was cracked, Ed had lost his automail arm and was pinned against a rock and about to have his life force drained by the Father, he gives back his soul so that Ed could have his original arm back. Thankfully he gets better, body back and all, when Ed comes back to save him.
• Hiding Behind Your Bangs: His hairstyle while trapped behind the Gate.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: His interactions with May would already be this if he were in his flesh-and-blood body, let alone a large suit of armor. She is that small. Subverted eventually; she grows much taller by the end, when they are teacher-and-student and maybe more than that.
• Hunk: He becomes big-time handsome after he gets his body back and heals up.
• Identity Breakdown: He experiences a short one after his encounter with Barry the Chopper, who attempts Break Them by Talking by insinuating that Al has never been real and is just an artificial soul created by Ed, bounded to a suit of armor, and given Fake Memories to hide that truth. He uncharacteristically blows up at Ed and accuses him of lying to him. Ed is so shaken by the exchange he has to leave the room. Luckily, Winry was witness to the entire exchange and sets Al straight right then and there and Al talks it out with Ed.
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Feels responsible for the deaths of Nina, Martel and Hughes.
• Iron Butt-Monkey : A mild example. His gentle nature sees him walked all over, and when played for laughs this often leads to abuse exploiting his immortal body. Ed is fond of using his detachable head as a projectile or flail and his heavy body as a battering ram or shield, without permission or remorse. In one fight Ed transmutes a chimera's thick saliva into water, which quickly freezes in the cold climate, then dropkicks poor Al into him, sticking the two together.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: He hides them in his armor so Ed won't insist he abandon them.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Literally, given his situation and his nobler outward bearing than his brother. May also thinks of him as this.
• Last of His Kind: By descent, he and Ed are the last two ethnic Xerxians.
• Loss of Identity: He begins to fear his life is a lie after facing the possibility of being an artificial soul created by Ed.
• Meaningful Name: Alphonse means "noble brave" or "ready brave," which describe Al's willingness to help others no matter what perfectly.
• Made of Iron: Averted. Even armor that can stop bullets cold still readily gets sliced up by super-powered beings later in the series, to demonstrate how lethal they are.
• Magic Knight: Suit of armor? Check. Magic (well, alchemy)? Check. Although at first, he's more of a Kung-Fu Wizard due to lacking the ability to use Clapping Alchemy, but he eventually acquires this ability after regaining memories of losing his body, due to passing through the Gate of Truth..
• Mature Younger Sibling: Al is far more level-headed than his older brother Edward despite being one year younger than him.
• Maybe Ever After: It's implied that he hooked up with May since she appears in the new Elric Family Photo in the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue.
• Mighty Glacier: Downplayed. Being a heavy suit of armor, he's not as nimble as Ed, but he's much stronger, and can tank hits that would kill regular humans.
• Named After Somebody Famous: Like Ed, he's named after a real-life medieval alchemist.
• The Needless: He cannot eat or sleep and it brings him much sadness and frustration on his quest to get his body back, especially because he essentially spends his nights awake alone while his brother and everyone else close to him sleeps.
• Nice Guy: In contrast to his brother, Al is unflinchingly nice and sweet, and does not enjoy seeing others in pain.
• No Face Under the Mask: He appears to be a large man wearing a medieval suit of plate armor, unless his faceplate is lifted or his helmet is knocked off, revealing empty space. (Technically it's his soul, as it was bound to the armor when his body was consumed by a failed transmutation spell, but souls are invisible.)
• Nothing but Skin and Bones: Inside the gate, his real body is in pretty bad shape; poor hygiene, gaunt with emaciation, and too weak to even walk. Theorizing that his body may have been feeding off of his brother's nutrients, he probably would have died had Ed not been a natural Sleepy Head and Big Eater. Even still, he's happy to get it back at the end, though it probably took months (or even a year or two) to get healthy and back in shape. It is stated that it took 2 months for him to get healthy enough to walk again, and even then he still needs a crutch and lacks the stamina to walk from the train station to Winry's house without a rest.
• Not So Above It All: He acts more mature than his brother, but he does tend to make mistakes too and often times can't help but be distracted by cute things like cats.
  • A hilarious example was when he talked to May for the first time and she learned he was Ed's brother. Her tone indicated her new distaste for him (as a result of her delusion of him). Rather than take it calmly or even defend him, he becomes really annoyed before ranting in an Ed-like manner (albeit more subdued) about his qualities, saying he's taller, has neat hair, being the better fighter and being a gentleman. Quite out of character and hilarious (furthermore is that this speech was helped kickstart May's infatuation of him.)
  • At one point, after Winry explodes at someone for being insensitive to Alphonse, he mentions that she and Edward get angry so quickly he never gets a chance to be mad on his own behalf.
• Poor Communication Kills: Barry the Chopper screwing with him about whether he is really alive or just a puppet made by his brother actually rents space in his head because of something that Ed tried to talk to him about once but couldn't. He flips out on Ed as a result and accuses him of creating him so he could control him. True to the trope, this gets solved within a minute of Winry confronting him about this, as she knows what's really going on—turns out Ed wants to know if Al hates him for dragging him into his plans to transmute Trisha back to life and thus causing Al to lose his human body, but he can't bring himself to actually ask about this. Sure enough, Al doesn't hate Ed, in fact he feels responsible as well for Ed's missing limbs as he could've refused or talked Ed out of the plan but instead helped him carry it out. Thus, once it's clear Al's memories truly are his own, the brothers make peace.
• Punny Name: The Japanese transliteration and pronunciation of "Al" is "Aru". This is also a homophone for the Japanese verb "to be" that is used when referring to inanimate objects (with humans and animals, the verb "iru" is used). Suddenly, Barry the Chopper screwing with him about whether he is really alive or just a puppet made by his brother makes a bit more sense.
• Sense Loss Sadness: He misses being able to do basic human things, but tries to remain optimistic by keeping a notepad of things he will do when he gets his body back (like trying Winry's pie).
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: He denies that he has any feelings for May when Ed asks him about it in the final chapter/episode, but unlike most examples, he says it as if he was correcting Ed about a math problem and doesn't get flustered at all. They are still implied to get together in the Distant Finale.
• Shipper on Deck: For Edward and Winry. "Brother is so youthful!"
• Shrinking Violet: Al spends a lot of time in a Corner of Woe or otherwise shrinking away from someone else.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Whereas Ed looks like Hohenheim, Al looks like a blonde, male version of Trisha.
• Stronger Sibling: Ed is the superior alchemist, but Al was always the better fighter. Even before his soul was bound to a steel suit of armor, but especially after.
• Tareme Eyes: His human body has them as a contrast with his sharp eyed brother but the "eyes" of his metal body are different.
• Teacher/Student Romance: May teaches him about alkahestry, making it a variant where the teacher is younger by a few years.
• Took a Level in Badass: To a point that he's just as badass as Ed!
• Tranquil Fury: Towards Shou Tucker, after the latter turned Nina into a talking chimera. Ed flies into an Unstoppable Rage and has to be physically restrained by Al to stop him from beating Tucker to death... before making it clear that even if he is calm, he's just as outraged as Ed is, and just as close to beating the crap out of them himself.
• Traumatic Haircut: Played for Laughs; He has the long "hair" (actually tassels) from his helmet torn off after being tangled up to Buccaneer's Automail during their first fight. Alphonse becomes distressed of that and comments how horrible his "hair" looks now.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Okay, he doesn't exactly go unnoticed, but you would think people would be more baffled to talk casually with a 7-foot-tall suit of armor which has the voice of a child to boot. No one ever seems to question why someone would need to wear the armor around all the time, even while (pretending) to eat.
• Vocal Dissonance: The voice of a child isn't what one would expect from a huge armor, even if it's just the soul. It seems even more out of place, for some reason, coming from an older, giant-sized man after getting his body back.
• Walking the Earth: At the end he goes east to Xing to learn under May, which Ed teases him for. He ends up returning (her following no less) back to his hometown.
• Wise Beyond His Years: A good example is how he figures out that he can trade his soul for Edward's arm, since the opposite happened.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Later in the series, it's revealed that souls cannot properly bond to incompatible bodies permanently. No matter how well the binding is made, the soul will eventually reject the body and spontaneously die. Knowing that Al is on an unpredictable time limit only makes Ed more motivated to restore Alphonse's body before it's too late.

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