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Characters / Fullmetal Alchemist: Military

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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 page for characters in the Amestris military 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.

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    Führer King Bradley 

King Bradley

Voiced by: Hidekatsu Shibata (JP), Hidenobu Kiuchi (JP - young), Ed Blaylock (EN), Christopher Bevins (EN - young)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/king_bradley.jpg
Affiliation: Amestris Military
Rank: Führer
Specialty: Swordsmanship/Military Tactics

President Führer King Bradleynote  is Amestris's well-loved head of state. A formidable fighter, he came to rule Amestris after leading his nation out of a bloody civil war and setting up a military dictatorship.

  • Absurdly Sharp Blade: Played with. His swords are standard-issue military sabers, but he swings them so hard and fast that he cuts straight through other weapons, walls and even tank armor. This usually leads to a Wrecked Weapon, which is why Bradley carries anywhere from two, four all the way up to eight swords on his person at a time.
  • Badass Boast: When he returns safe and sound from his train getting blown up to find the rebels having taken over his stronghold, he addresses the situation with a professional calm and balls of steel.
    Bradley: "What need is there for a king to enter his own castle through the back door?"
  • Badass Normal: He's not an alchemist, but can still kick plenty of ass. Then subverted. He's actually a homunculus. though his only real powers besides The Gift for being a warrior and being incredibly skilled (some of the few things he can pride himself on belonging to himself) are his Ultimate Eye and a case of Super-Toughness that's very mild compared to the other Homunculi, who were shown able to withstand Alchemy-induced No Holds Barred Beatdowns for quite a while. He's more like a mildly Enhanced Badass Normal than anything.
  • Bait the Dog: Even when there are a lot of hints to his sinister motives, his seemingly quirky personality (i.e. giving people melons, dressing as a Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist, etc.) makes him seem like a nice guy at first.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: A Downplayed version. Bradley has his odder moments, such as the Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist incident and keeping his Eyes Always Shut, but once it's revealed that he's Wrath, he gets to show off just how threatening he really is.
  • Blood Knight: He often hides it, but he enjoys a challenging opponent and complimented Ling for his battle strategy and Fu for his superb skill. During his battle with Scar, he remarked that fighting to the death brought him immeasurable comfort.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: Ultra-proficiency at swordsmanship to the point where he can draw and strike in the space of someone blinking. He apparently worked at this for sixty long years, not only surviving the selection process but coming out on top.
  • Cool Old Guy: Sixty years old, and one of the strongest characters in the series. To cite, he destroyed a tank with a sword and a grenade. Seriously, Until it turns out he's on the evil team, he takes on Fu, 2nd Greed and Buccaneer at the same time with paper-cutters and wins until they must stab through Fu to even land a hit.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: ANY fight he participates in turns into this, with him doing the curb stomping. There is a reason why most characters fear him. He easily stomped the first Greed and the chimeras, he even took care of Mustang in the blink of an eye. In fact, for him to be defeated, he had to be half dead.
  • Cutlass Between the Teeth: Does this when both his arms are cut off before being defeated by Scar.
  • Death by Irony: After saying several times that there is no such thing as God, the solar eclipse, the symbol of God in alchemy, plays an instrumental role in his defeat. Who defeats him makes it even better. During the Ishval Genocide, an Ishvalan priest had proclaimed that God's wrath would befall him for what he'd done, but he'd laughed it off. In the end, he was killed by an Ishvalan former monk who'd repeatedly proclaimed himself to be the messenger of God.
  • Deep Cover Agent: Set up and molded by Father's conspiracy into the seeming savior of Amestris.
  • Determinator: If stabbing the man who dealt you a killing blow with a blade held in your mouth even as you're dying doesn't count, nothing will.
  • Defiant to the End: Just as he has his arms blown off, courtesy of Scar, and his sword split in two, the last thing Bradley does before finally succumbing to his wounds is to grab the blade with his teeth, and drive it into Scar's lower midsection, a wound that almost kills Scar.
  • Dirty Old Man: An omake in one of the manga volumes has him proudly proclaiming to like women with "junk in the trunk!", and having a face off with Mustang over the importance of which female anatomy is better.
  • Drama-Preserving Handicap: Bradley can still kick serious ass despite being out of his prime by a good degree. None of the other characters could beat him at his best. In order for Scar to even be on equal footing, Bradley had to be half dead. Also, it's not exactly a "handicap", but unlike the other homunculi, he doesn't have a Healing Factor.
  • The Dreaded: Practically everyone's reaction to fighting him is an immediate Oh, Crap!, even if he's outnumbered.
  • Dual Wielding: He often dual-wields and has been seen carrying up to four spare swords.
  • Eyepatch of Power: Just one of the many signs of his formidability is the eyepatch. It's hiding his Ouroborous tattoo.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Part of his kooky, more comical image, but it disappears quickly when he's being completely serious.
  • Fights Like a Normal: Aside from the Combat Clairvoyance granted by his Ultimate Eye, Bradley uses nothing other than his prodigious swordsmanship in combat. It’s all he needs.
  • Four-Star Badass: In the backstory and still as Commander-in-Chief of the Amestrian military.
  • The Gadfly: Ed's "Fullmetal" Codename was his idea. He also likes to ditch his bodyguards and surprise his subordinates with unannounced visits (a particularly memorable scene in the manga is when he followed Ed by posing as a tourist in an obnoxious Hawaiian shirt). Though with The Reveal, this becomes less good humor and more akin to a predator playing with its prey.
  • General Ripper: There's a scene in the flashback to the Ishval war in which an Ishvalan leader offered his life in exchange for ending the Amestrian genocide. Bradley mocks him for thinking he can set his life equal to those of everyone in his country (not wrong, given the prevalence of equivalent exchange in Amestris) and orders that the genocide resume. His tenure as Führer also involved Bradley instigating hostile confrontations with neighboring countries, putting Amestris in constant warfare to keep himself in power.
  • Genius Bruiser: One of the wisest people in the setting, and by far one of the most dangerous.
  • Happily Married: To Mrs. Bradley. Their marriage was not mandated by Father; it was one of the few choices he was allowed to make on his own. His dying thoughts suggest that he genuinely cared about her.
  • Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: He dresses as one in Dublith.
  • The Heavy: He and Pride both take on this role after Lust, Gluttony and Envy are taken out.
  • Hero Killer: He's the reason for Fu and Buccaneer's deaths, and would have killed Scar if not for the Eclipse blinding him at the last second.
  • His Name Really Is "Barkeep": His title isn't "Führer King", it's actually just "Führer." "King" is his actual first name! Of course, this name was chosen for him by the Gold-Toothed Doctor, and by extension Father, in a display of irony rivaling Bradley's decision to give Ed the codename "Fullmetal."
  • Historical Hero Upgrade: In-Universe. After his death, the heroes can't risk exposing his crimes or true nature, as doing so could cause a war due to Bradley's good reputation. They're forced to do this to him.
  • Hollywood Atheist: His rants about how the Ishvalan genocide should have shown Scar that "there is no God in this world!"
  • Humans Are Special: Despite often espousing how Humans Are Morons and his superiority as a Homunculus, he secretly enjoys humanity for its Determinator drive and dedication to Screw Destiny, the latter which he believes he could not do due to being raised from birth as a pawn.
  • Iaijutsu Practitioner: Bradley is REALLY fast with a sword; his opponents may not even realize he's drawn it before he does his thing.
  • Implacable Man: Trying to stop him is a very good way to get killed. At one point, he's outnumbered 5 to 1, and the group of five warriors feel they have no chance to win.
  • Implausible Fencing Powers: Although it does help to be a Homunculus with superhuman abilities. He takes out a tank (!) armed only with a saber and a grenade and later disarms Fu's suicide bombs by slicing off the lit fuses.
  • Ironic Name: For all his talents, "King" Bradley is nothing more than a puppet to his Father and is fully aware of it.
  • Is That the Best You Can Do?: To Scar in their battle.
    King Bradley: WHAT'S WRONG!? DON'T TELL ME THAT'S ALL YOU GOT! IS IT!? 'CAUSE THAT'S NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH!
  • I Was Quite a Looker: Not that he's bad-looking now, but in his younger years he was a rather muscular Bishōnen. Yes, really.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: During Maes Hughes' funeral, he's shown trembling when Elicia breaks down and pleads for her father to come back. While initially believed to be sadness, Bradley confesses to Mustang that his trembling was actually Suppressed Rage at Elicia for making a scene.
  • Karmic Death: During the Ishvalan Civil War, Bradley issued Order 3066, mobilizing State Alchemists to the frontlines to exterminate the Ishvalans. So it's only fitting that during The Promised Day, his final opponent is the Ishvalan Scar, and Bradley meets his end during said fight.
  • Kick the Dog:
    • During the Ishval incident, he gets a couple of these moments. First is the order to execute all Ishvalans, and then he mocks the Ishval leader Logue Lowe for thinking that he could exchange his life for his people's escape and says their god doesn't exist.
    • Another notable moment is during Maes Hughes's Funeral. His hand shaking during Elicia's Please Wake Up moment? It wasn't sympathy. It was Suppressed Rage for her being "noisy" while crying.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He moves so fast his deadly sword swings can't be seen.
  • Love at First Punch: He met his wife when she slapped him. Rather than kill her, Bradley apparently started courting her instead. Maybe he appreciated her capacity for wrath?
  • Master Swordsman: Compared to him, every other sword-user in the series can only claim to be "good" at it. Again: he took out a tank.
  • Meaningful Name: More than justified by his Backstory. King is his actual first name, and he was essentially created to take over Amestris.
  • Named After Somebody Famous: Arakawa's stated that the series' military characters were all named after real-world war vehicles, and while quite a few bear the name "Bradley", the führer was most likely named after the M2 Bradley, which boasted high mobility, the ability to fire in multiple directions at once, and tank-killing power. As for his own combat skill, well...
  • No-Nonsense Nemesis: Unlike his superior, Father, or the other homunculi, when in battle, he won't yammer on about his own species' superiority, hint to their villainous plan, or needlessly torture his opponents. If he sees you as a threat, he will make sure to dispose of you as quickly as possible, or at least incapacitate you, so you're easier to use for Father's plan, like threatening to kill your childhood friend if you resign from the military.
  • No-Sell: He manages to do this when faced with a flashbang of all things. Because he has two functioning eyes but wears an Eyepatch of Power for appearances, he can regain his vision by pulling off the eyepatch and closing the flashbanged eye.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: First appears as a rather outlandish old kook who acts very loosely and informal, especially toward the Elric brothers. But he's also one of the most sharp-minded characters and can be very cold-blooded. This is without even taking into account his true identity.
  • Old Master: The deadliest fighter in the series, and a majority of it comes from experience, Training from Hell and his Terminator-like persistence despite being one of the oldest characters.
  • Older Than He Looks: He's sixty years old, but he could easily pass for a rugged military man in his early 40's.
  • One-Man Army: Bradley is an unstoppable angel of death who will plow through anything in his path, including a tank. Yes that's right, he takes out a tank by himself, with nothing but a sword and a grenade.
  • Our Presidents Are Different: A mix of President Action and President Evil, though he at first appears to be President Personable.
  • Person of Mass Destruction: One-Man Army variant. He can't blow you up the way most State Alchemists can, but that won't stop him from slaughtering all of you individually.
  • Pet the Dog: In the manga, he passes Ed on his annual State Alchemist exam, no questions asked. Subverted when it turns out he's Wrath and he did it because the Homunculi need Ed under their watch/control for Father's plan to come to fruition.
  • Putting on the Reich: He's a genocidal dictator called the Führer with a prominent moustache.
  • Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's the leader of Amestris and he's incredibly deadly in combat. We first see his swordsmanship skill when he and Ed first meet: Ed creates a spear with his alchemy and feints attacking him. Bradley pulls out his sword and does a Diagonal Cut on the spear so fast that no one in the room was able to notice. Justified by the fact that he's actually the homunculus Wrath, and was literally raised to be that way since birth.
  • Rasputinian Death: Stabbed, shot, eye clawed out, half-drowned, and had both arms blown off before bleeding out from the last one. The killing blow was only possible because a timely flash of light from the ending eclipse temporarily blinded him for a moment, and the killer admitted that had Bradley not been worn down by all the other wounds, he wouldn't have lasted long enough to get that opening.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: He's commander in chief, not a monarch, despite his first name, but it still applies. He's the head of a nation, but when things get serious he has no problem suiting up and stepping into the fray himself.
  • Shadow Archetype: To no less than three characters: Ling (authority figures), Greed (humans who were turned into homunculi), and Scar (warriors without names). And to a lesser extent, Roy.
  • Shame If Something Happened: He uses this on Ed, subtly threatening Winry's life unless Ed remains with the military.
  • Single-Stroke Battle: He can effortlessly kill people with one swipe of his sword.
  • The Stoic: Even when he's ready to blow his top... he really has to tell you for you to be entirely sure. And, even then, it's hard to tell because his secret is that he's always ready, so has had a lot of practice disguising it.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: As a child, he looked a lot like his adoptive son, Selim◊. This gets kind of confusing when you consider the fact that Selim is not only not his son, but he was born hundreds of years before him. Somewhat justified by the fact that Pride was chosen to pose as his son to make him look more realistic, so they may have chosen men who looked similar to Selim's human form.
  • Suave Sabre: He is a dignified, respected official who carries a set of sabres as his weapons.
  • Supersoldier: He was raised to be an excellent fighter and leader so that he could become a homoculi warrior king for Father.
  • Super-Speed: He can blitz through entire platoons of soldiers and cut through them as if a Razor Wind just passed, despite being well past his prime. He can even dodge gunfire from near point blank and slice opponents in the time it takes for them to blink.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: During his final battle with Scar, he accuses the latter (who spent most of the show killing State Alchemists in the name of his God Ishvala) about hypocritically violating his religious principles by practicing alchemy (forbidden by the Ishvalan religion) and chastises him on losing faith in his principles. He then concludes that Ishvala never existed, before Scar gains an upper hand.
  • Training from Hell: The road to becoming Führer isn't a bed of roses. Almost every other would-be Führer died during the selection process.
  • Tranquil Fury: Looks extremely calm when killing and is ruthlessly efficient in slaughtering his enemies. When a fight wears on for too long, he loses control of his rage and becomes a Screaming Warrior.
  • Tyke Bomb: He was raised from birth as a candidate for the Führership. King Bradley may or may not be the same person as the boy who was raised for that candidacy. He doesn't know whether his soul was the original or if it came from the Philosopher's Stone.
  • Universally Beloved Leader: Bradley is a very popular guy, so much that at the end of the series, the heroes realize that exposing his numerous crimes to the world would result in mass panic. Instead, they pawn them off onto the last two survivors of Central Command and say Bradley was an innocent victim of a coup attempt by them.
  • Villainous Breakdown: In the middle of the fight between himself and Scar, he begins to lose his composure through the fight until he is ultimately screaming in fury, although he manages to regain his self control as he lays dying.
  • Villainous Friendship: With Pride, funnily enough, who is posing as his son.
  • Walking Spoiler: It's hard to avoid being spoiled about his true identity as Wrath.
  • Worf Had the Flu: His fight against Scar is nearly even, despite Scar now having the ability to create as well as destroy, with Scar having a bit of a disadvantage against him. Keep in mind however, that Bradley was both half dead during this fight and without his Ultimate Eye, and he still nearly won.
  • World's Strongest Man: While his abilities sans his Ultimate Eye are within human capability for the series, Bradley is such a powerful warrior that it requires a small army, two doses of a Heroic Sacrifice, dueling to a draw with another homunculus, being Brought Down to Badass, being shot, and nearly drowned to even slow him down. And then, he's still able to defeat Roy in seconds. There's a reason he is considered to be the most dangerous homunculus by the heroes and resort to assassinating him rather than take him head on.

    Basque Grand 

Brigadier General Basque Grand

Voiced by: Shin Aomori (JP), R. Bruce Elliott (EN)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/basque_grand_9.jpg
Affiliation: Amestris Military
Rank: Brigadier General
Specialty: Combat Alchemy/Weapon Alchemy

A Colonel Badass who served as Mustang's commander towards the end of the Ishval War.

  • Adaptational Badass: In the manga, it's implied he loses to Scar quite easily due to being drunk and a shadow of his former self. In Brotherhood, he is still quickly defeated, but this is due to Scar's skill, not his own failings. He gave Scar as good a fight as any state alchemist.
  • Adaptation Expansion: He's a Posthumous Character in the manga, and a questionably canonical omake reveals he was just drunk when he met Scar, who killed him quickly. Brotherhood gives him a (albeit still short) fight with Scar, to firmly establish the latter's threat.
  • Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed. It's not to the extent of the 2003 anime, but the 2009 anime removes his more humanizing scenes like when he attempts to aid in the peace talks during the Ishval war. While he's not as bad as Comanche or Fessler he also doesn't come across as anything more than a standard soldier.
  • Bald of Authority: He is the bald, Brigadier General during the Ishval War. He's shown to be a Reasonable Authority Figure, killing the former Brigadier General Fessler and taking his spot when it became clear Fessler was a General Ripper who didn't care about the high deaths of his own men and was about to call for the slaughter of surrendering Ishvallan civilians.
  • Can't Hold His Liquor: In the prequel gaiden released to promote the 2017 live-action movie, Grand is shown having a drink with Mustang and Armstrong to celebrate Ed passing the State Alchemist exam. It doesn't take much to turn Grand from a somewhat stern man to a raving drunk who literally rivals Armstrong in over-the-top hamminess.
  • Chewing the Scenery: His introduction in the manga is almost Armstrong worthy.
  • Colonel Badass: Clearly the man Roy and Hughes learned it from. Grand leads his troops from the front and believes in setting an example for the men to follow.
  • The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much: Shoots Brigadier Fessler dead at point-blank range due to Fessler's order to gun down fleeing Ishval refugees. None of his men protest, and agree that he was killed by a "stray bullet."
  • Extra-ore-dinary: His preferred attack is to transmute a ton of metal weapons out of the ground or walls, including chains, flails, and metal spikes. It's even in his title: he's the Iron Blood Alchemist.
  • A Father to His Men: If the clips of him that we see in the Ishval flashbacks are indicative, then absolutely. How much his men like him isn't really demonstrated, but he has their respect and they his. Years later Hughes and Mustang still refer to him as "Old Man Grand". A prequel gaiden released by Arakawa showed that Grand was on good enough terms with Mustang and Armstrong that they had a ritual of commemorating the certification of new State Alchemist with a celebratory drink, as shown when Ed passed his exam.
  • Four-Star Badass: He's a Brigadier-General at the time of his death, and judging from his attempt at taking on Scar in Brotherhood (a fight he lost due to a lack of information more than anything else) he's still got it.
  • Genius Bruiser: In typical State Alchemist fashion. Emphasis on bruiser — the man's around seven-feet tall, and is a master of hand-to-hand combat as well as his trademark alchemy.
  • Incoming Ham: "I am the Ironblood Alchemist, Basque Grand! Iron & blood, might & manpower! If I do not lead the charge, who will?!"
  • Irony: He vehemently opposed the Ishvalan war of extermination and even put Logue Lowe under his protection when escorting the Ishvalan elder in an attempt to save as many Ishvalans as they could. That didn't save him from Scar, the most prominent Genocide Survivor, who had been on a crusade against State Alchemists.
  • Klingon Promotion: He killed Brigadier Fessler and took his position during the Ishvallan war. Unlike with most examples of the trope, your sympathies are entirely with Grand, as Fessler had been wildly dismissive of the sheer number of soldier deaths and was about to also order the death of a surrendering Ishvallan elder. Grand's fellow soldiers were in agreement of his actions and chose to look the other way.
  • Large and in Charge: The colonel is twice as tall as a normal person!
  • Lightning Bruiser: From what little we see of his combat style in Ishval, he's both incredibly fast and incredibly strong.
  • Meaningful Name: His last name means "tall" in French.
  • More Dakka: His signature attack generates chains, spikes, flails, and primitive cannons which he fires en masse at his targets.
  • Not So Above It All: He comes off as a reserved, serious member of the military, but once he gets a little alcohol in him, he becomes much more wild and uninhibited to the point where he and Armstrong start drunkenly ranting at one another.
  • Person of Mass Destruction: Turns entire buildings into weapons.
  • Posthumous Character: In the manga only, where he is said to have been a victim of Scar's by the time we first hear of him. In Brotherhood, his final battle and death against Scar is shown. Ten years after the manga ended, he gets a cameo in a prequel gaiden released by Arakawa.
  • Power Fist: His massive, steel-wrapped gauntlets, which extend all the way up to his forearms and help him produce his weapons.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: In a major contrast to the first anime adaptation, in which he's a quite villainous character. Grand in the manga protects his men at significant risk to himself and accepts the surrender of Ishval's high cleric despite the protestations of Brigadier Fiessler.
  • Spell My Name With An S: The "d" in "Grand" is often overlooked.
  • Unfriendly Fire: Non-evil, sympathetic variant. When of the Ishvalan leaders and group of accompainying civilians offer a termless surrender, Grand's superior officer, Brigadier Fiessler, orders Grand to tell the men to gun them down in cold blood. Grand reacts to the order by laconically informing Fiessler of an interesting statistic he came across; namely that 60% of all Amestrian officer deaths are at the hands of their own soldiers. He then proceeds to nonchalantly shoot Fiessler at point-blank range in the chest with his rifle. Grand then takes command of unit, with the full acceptance of the other soldiers, who are all extremely relieved that no one else has to die today, and accepts the Ishvalans' surrender.
  • Universally Beloved Leader: He was a hard man, but he was regardless respected and held in high regard by everyone who served with him. While it's downplayed in the anime save for a single scene, the manga makes it quite clear that he was one of the good ones.
  • The Worf Effect:
    • Scar kills him off-screen with seeming ease, showing us how dangerous Scar is. The Brotherhood anime does this on-screen, but still pretty quickly. It can be justified by the fact that Basque Grand wouldn't expect an Ishvalan to use alchemy, so Scar merely baited him in for the kill.
    • According to Word of God in the manga, Grand was drunk when Scar ambushed him.
  • Worf Had the Flu: If he really was inebriated during his fight with Scar, then he wasn't at his best at the time.

    Maria Ross 

Maria Ross

Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka (JP), Meridith McCoy (EN)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maria_ross_3.png
Affiliation: Amestris Military
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant
Specialty: None

Armstrong's subordinate. She serves as one of Edward and Alphonse's bodyguards during their investigations in Central.

  • Back for the Finale: Comes back to help out Mustang on the Promised Day.
  • The Bus Came Back: Returns from Xing just in time to help during the Promised Day.
  • Bifauxnen: In the manga, at least.
  • Big Damn Heroes: When ammo is running low during the assault on Central, Maria Ross arrives driving a truck full of it.
  • Death Faked for You: After she's accused of murdering Hughes, Mustang fakes her death and makes it look like he killed her.
  • Frame-Up: She gets blamed for the death of Maes Hughes.
  • Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: To Ed for his recklessness in Warehouse #5 incident.
  • Mauve Shirt: Subverted. She's a lower-ranked officer given spotlight in the early part of the story, and Mustang deliberately makes it look like he murdered her, but the audience knows she survived.
  • Not So Above It All: She's normally pretty serious and dedicated, but Maria gets a few more comedic/light-hearted moments, such as running away from Armstrong's hugs, or defending her "justice" speech on the Promised Day by saying it sounded cool.
  • Put on a Bus: After Mustang helped her fake her death, she escapes the country, though she comes back later.
  • Those Two Guys: With Denny, in earlier chapters. They tag-team as Ed's bodyguards, comment on his affairs, and clearly care a lot about each other.

    Denny Brosh 

Denny Brosh

Voiced by: Yuuki Hayashi (JP), Jim Foronda (EN)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/denny_7.png
Affiliation: Amestris Military
Rank: Sergeant
Specialty: None

Another of Armstrong's subordinates, and Maria's more carefree partner. He is assigned as Ed and Al's other bodyguard during their investigations in Central.

  • Bad Liar: At least, according to Maria, who says that Denny can't hide things to save his life.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Literally, as he lives with his younger brothers and sisters (and may be raising them, since no parents are shown). When things start going down on the Promised Day, he makes them swear they won't leave the house so he knows they're safe.
  • Demoted to Extra: Vanishes from the story after Maria's faked death, outside of a few cameo scenes in the final battle.
  • Idiot Hair: Not as prominent as some other examples, but he's got one.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: He's not let in on the fact that Maria is alive and has been smuggled out of the country to avoid execution until almost the very end.
  • Massive Numbered Siblings: Appears to be the oldest out of six.
  • Practically Different Generations: He is a young adult man serving in the military, living at home with his younger brother and sister, who are both implied to be under the age of twelve. No parents are seen, which may mean that Denny is raising his siblings.
  • Promotion to Parent: Implied; his younger siblings are all shown, but their parents aren't, and they seem to come to him for permission on things.
  • Ocular Gushers: When he finds out his partner's alive.
  • Spell My Name With An S: His last name can be alternatively be spelled Brosch. In the first anime it was "Bloch," but that also requires a different pronunciation.
  • Those Two Guys: With Maria, when assigned to watch over Ed. They tag-team as Ed's bodyguards, comment on his affairs, and clearly care a lot about each other.

    Sheska 

Sheska

Voiced by: Chika Fujimura (JP), Gwendolyn Lau (EN)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sheska.png
Affiliation: Amestris Military
Rank: Private
Specialty: Photographic Memory

A mousy haired bookworm with a photographic memory who is mostly used for comic relief. She's something of a coward and cries a lot. Most of the other characters refer to her as "bookworm." She gets a job at the military working under Hughes copying down the books that burned in the military library in a fire and proves instrumental in the Elrics' search for the Philosopher's Stone.

  • Bespectacled Cutie: Has big round glasses that make her all the more adorable while emphasizing her status as a bookworm
  • Brainy Brunette: For all her mousiness, she is genuinely smart. Her Photographic Memory comes off as very useful regarding the brothers' research.
  • Butt-Monkey: She's first shown in a library, from which she's promptly fired. Then next she's shown buried under a ton of books which she apparently collects. After copying down the book she's rehired (read: dragged off by Hughes) into the military copying all the files that got burned up in the fire at central library. And that's just for starters...
    • Not everything goes against her, though; Ed's payment for her work allowed her to give her mother the best medical care money can buy and then some, and as much as Hughes overworks her, he also sees to it that she receives a ridiculous salary for her skills.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She seems to have disappeared from the story after chapter 34.
  • Cute Bookworm: It's in her nickname!
  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: She's extremely hard on herself, often calling herself a "useless human being" in her first couple of chapters, despite how useful her memory was to the Elric brothers. Sheska does seem to get slightly better later on, though.
  • Loony Librarian: While we don't get to see her actually working as a librarian (courtesy of her quirks having gotten her fired), she definitely counts: not only is she an obsessive bookworm (to the point that when Ed and Al go to her home, she has been buried for a couple of days under an avalanche of books) who has read all of the Central library's books, but she also has a perfect Photographic Memory. After she helps the Elrics by transcribing the book they were seeking (which got burned alongside an entire wing of the library courtesy of the Homunculi trying to keep information away from the brothers), Major Hughes hires her to copy all of the other burnt literature and from what little we see of her afterwards she spends the rest of the series in this role.
  • Meaningful Name: One of the alternate spellings is Polish for path.
  • Photographic Memory: She can reproduce exactly anything she's ever read.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: Despite being somewhat important due to helping with the research of the Philosopher's Stone, she's mostly used for comic relief due to her Butt-Monkey status.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Usually used for comic relief, but her Photographic Memory helped the Elric brothers conduct research into the Philosopher's Stone after the Homunculi burned down Marcoh's library.
  • Smart People Wear Glasses: She wears glasses and has a photographic memory.
  • Spanner in the Works: The homunculi burned the library in an attempt to ensure all of Marcoh’s research notes were lost forever. And they would have been too, if it hadn’t been for Sheska’s Photographic memory.
  • Spell My Name With An S: Alternately Schieska, Scheska, Ścieżka.
  • Trash of the Titans: She is not a slob, but her room is absolutely full of unsorted books. So much that's she introduced needing rescue from being buried under a pile of them that fell over.

Bradley's Family

    Selim Bradley 

Selim Bradley

Voiced by: Yuko Sanpei (JP), Brittney Karbowski (EN)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/selim_bradley_8.png
Affiliation: None
Rank: None
Specialty: None

All right, this guy isn't actually in the military, but his status means he's pretty well-connected with them.

The adopted son of King Bradley, he studies hard in order to help his father rule the country. He's also a big fan of the Elric Brothers, especially Edward.

  • Cheerful Child: He's a cheerful, upbeat child who adores his father and hero-worships strong alchemists like Ed. Subverted when it turns out he's the Homunculus Pride and it's an act, then double subverted when Pride is reborn as an innocent, kind child.
  • Happily Adopted: It's mentioned early on that he was adopted. He's also happy to be by King Bradley's side.
  • Hero-Worshipper: He's an Ed fanboy, much to the latter's discomfort.
  • Morality Pet: To King Bradley. It's subverted much later, however.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Looks a lot like how his father looked when he was young. Both his biological father and his fake father.
  • Tareme Eyes: Has large, downward sloping eyes that make him look cute and innocent.
  • Theme Naming: He shares his name with an Ottoman sultan famed for his conquests; a namesake befitting a Führer's son.

    Mrs. Bradley 

Mrs. Bradley

Voiced by: Ai Satou (JP), Dana Schultes (EN)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mrs_bradley_1.png
Affiliation: None
Rank: None
Specialty: None

As with Selim, not exactly in the military, but in that category nonetheless. The wife of Führer President King Bradley and adopted mother to Selim. Serves as a Morality Pet to Bradley. Her abduction by Mustang's crew serves to kick off the final arc of the story.

  • Adaptational Attractiveness: Downplayed. She's still the same in the anime as she was in the manga, but she has fewer wrinkles in the former than she had in the latter.
  • Badass Normal: Downplayed and Played For Laughs. Upon meeting Bradley for the first time, she slapped him, completely dumbfounding everyone who knows his true identity. Extras also add that the slap was so strong not even Wrath's Ultimate Eye saw it coming.
  • Determinator: Not the usual kind, but she made the first moves on her husband and won her man by impressing him with her underlying steel. And, at the close, despite knowing full well what and who the much-reduced Pride has always been, she's going to raise him to be the Selim he pretended to be, both to give him a second chance and as an ironic punishment/shot at redemption. Despite the misgivings of others, it seems to be working. That's some hard-core mothering.
  • Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: When she tells the story of how she slapped Bradley for being rude when they first met, the other characters—who all know his true identity—are left speechless rather than amused.
  • Did You Just Romance Cthulhu?: Not that she's aware of it; however, their relationship still counts.
  • Foreshadowing: An unintentional, ironic example. When talking to Hawkeye, she refers to Selim as her "pride and joy." Not long afterward, he reveals himself as Pride.
  • Good Parents: She is a loving, caring, and doting mother to Selim.
  • Graceful Ladies Like Purple: The country's dignified First Lady, and usually seen in a purple suit.
  • Happily Married: To King Bradley. As far as she knows, he's a great man, not one of the Homunculi. And as he dies, he admits that his marriage was his choice, not some kind of plan by Father.
  • Hostage Situation: Subverted; Mustang's group technically kidnaps her, but it's to show her that the military Central Command couldn't care less about her well-being. Mustang vows to protect her at any cost, thus gaining her trust and, through her, the public.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Is completely unaware of King Bradley's and Selim's true identities, until the post-climactic wrap-up at least.
  • Love at First Punch: Her courtship with Bradley began with her slapping him.
  • Mama Bear: She once jumped in front of a car to keep Selim from being run over. This convinced Selim that maybe having a mother would be a good experience.
  • Morality Pet: To Bradley and Selim. While both villainous, they independently admit to loving her.
  • Nice Girl: She's a kind and loving person. Nice enough to move Pride, even.
  • No Name Given: Her first name is unknown; she's just referred to as Mrs. Bradley or Ma'am.
  • Parental Obliviousness: Until the end, she remains full unaware that her son (and husband) are Homunculi.
  • Satellite Character: Isn't seen away from her family much to get individual characterization, only being around to accompany either her husband or son.
  • Trauma Conga Line: Really gets out through the wringer in the final arc: She’s seized by the rebellion (though they take good care of her), has to learn the truth about her husband and son, temporarily gets her soul stolen by Father and loses her husband for good. The only good thing she had for her in that time was that she doesn’t lose Selim as well, thanks to Ed defeating his Homoculous self (turning him into a baby as a result) and returning him to her.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Averted. Continues to love Selim, despite knowing now he's a Homunculus. It's not entirely clear, but the same seems to hold true for her attitude towards her husband.

Briggs Brigade

    General 

The hardened border guard forces under Major General Olivier M. Armstrong. They are stationed at Briggs, a fortress in the snowy northern mountain range that divides Drachma and Amestris. They include Captain Buccaneer, a hulk of a man with a variety of deadly automail prostheses; Major Miles, a mixed race quarter-Ishvalan who wants to change the perception of his people; and Lieutenant Henschel, General Armstrong's steadfast assistant.

    Olivier Mira Armstrong 

Olivier Mira Armstrong

Voiced by: Yoko Soumi (JP), Stephanie Young (EN)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/olivier_armstrong_5.png
Affiliation: Amestris Military
Rank: Major General
Specialty: Swordsmanship/Military Tactics

Major General Armstrong is Alex Armstrong's older sister and the eldest of the Armstrong siblings. She governs Briggs, the country's northernmost base, and commands Amestris's first line of defense against Drachma, its northern neighbor.

  • Action Girl: She defeats her younger brother, Alex, in a fight and takes on a homunculus in a tank. She's one of the most fierce and pragmatic fighters in the series, absolutely unafraid to get dirty if it means she can get an upper hand.
  • Aloof Big Sister: She acts like she can't stand him, and apparently beat him up a lot when they were kids, but her little brother Alex nevertheless seems to adore her. And when the chips are down, the siblings stand together.
  • Ancestral Weapon: Her sword that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!
  • Anti-Hero: She's ready and willing to go to more drastic measures than the other heroes, and her intention isn't as noble as that of her rival, Mustang.
  • Badass Normal: When pitted against her younger brother, she wipes the floor with him despite not having any alchemic or superhuman powers herself. Also, she is also one of onely two people able to get away with calling Ed short because he is too busy being afraid of her.
  • The Baroness: Olivier is very much a Sexpot Rosa Klebb, being the iron-fisted queen of the Briggs fortress, a young, nice-looking lady with immunity to Mustang's charms (deeming him weak and foolish), and not a single instance of using her looks to get what she wants. Subverted in that she is, at her worst, a Neutral Hero Antagonist. She cares about her men and, unlike most of the military leaders, isn't tempted by promises of immortality. While ominously ambitious, she readily lays her own plans aside to save her country from Father.
  • Big Eater: When Mustang cordially offers to take her to dinner sometime, Armstrong informs him that she could eat him into bankruptcy.
  • Big Little Sister: Despite being the eldest of the Armstrong children, she's the second shortest compared to her two immediate younger sisters and her brother, who tower over her by more than a head and are mountains of muscle. Only their youngest sister is smaller than her.
  • Bishie Sparkle: Apparently the Bishie Sparkle has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations.
  • The Brigadier: Quickly adapts to the appearance of weirder opponents in the Homunculi (though her rank is Major General, not Brigadier General).
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: The Super-Strength has been passed down the Armstrong family line for generations!!
  • The Chessmaster: Like Roy, she's a lot sneakier than she looks.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Despite her skill with a sword, her first response against Sloth is to sack him with an anti-tank recoilless rifle. And when that failed, with Ed's information, she opts to freeze him.
  • Cool Sword: Her Cool Sword has been passed down the Armstrong family line for generations!
  • Decapitated Army: The Central Army allowed her into their inner circle so she can be their hostage against the Northern army. Unfortunately for them, she defied this trope.
    Olivier: Don't take my notion as superficial. They can act with or without me, and that's what makes a Briggs soldier.
  • The Dreaded: The Briggs soldiers follow her by a mix of awe, respect and fear. Miles recounted that when she's about to duel him, she's really ready to cut him down. And she's one of the only two people (the other being Izumi) able to push Ed's Berserk Button yet send him cowering in fear.
  • Fake Defector: She pretends to join the corrupt higher ups in order to learn more about their Evil Plan.
  • Femme Fatale: Although her internal dialogue shows she hates doing so, she pulls this playing on her feminine wiles and faked maternal instinct to get General Raven to reveal his plans.
  • Four-Star Badass: She is a Major General, and has the combat prowess, leadership skill, and reputation to match. She is the highest ranked female soldier featured in the series.
  • General Ripper: Having Drachma as your neighbor causes this.
  • Good is Not Nice: She's 100% on the side of humanity and helps out immensely during the battle against Father, she's also extremely ruthless in her tactics and is cold and ill-tempered on a good day, but deep down she does have a heart and ultimately will fight for the right cause. Also crosses over with Good Is Not Soft as she's easily one of the toughest characters in the show, if not media in general.
  • Gun And Sword: She can use both simultaniously and uses it to great effect in the Promised Day part of the story.
  • Ham-to-Ham Combat: With her brother Alex. It must run through the Armstrong family for generations.
  • Hidden Buxom: According to a gag panel, her chest is so large that she can't button her shirt all the way (and that this is something she has in common with her brother). She's never seen outside of her unflattering military uniform, so we never see this.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: She'll always be callous and rude, but very deep down, cares about her brother. And despite following a Social Darwinist philosophy, she still has standards about soldier morale and responsibility and doesn't mind sacrificing herself if she thinks it would be worth it. This general trait is shown when she makes a visit to her family's estate and essentially bullies her father into retiring and handing over the family fortune. He accepts this fairly calmly, taking his wife and at least one of his younger daughters on an extended trip to Xing and letting Olivier do as she pleases in his absence. Alex, initially distressed by her actions, shortly realizes that Olivier just wanted them safely out of the country before Father's plan went down.
  • Hiding Behind Your Bangs: She has her right eye covered by part of her long blonde hair, in representation of hiding her true, kinder feelings underneath a hard exterior image, and the exposed eye represents how those feelings can "peek" through, especially for her men.
  • Honorary Princess: In the manga, the men of Briggs sometimes refer to her as "the Princess." It's a sign of their respect and adoration, not sarcasm, although it may also be a nod to the fact that the Armstrongs used to be part of the nobility of the country.
  • Hot-Blooded: Instead of the wild boiling of her brother, hers is more of a slow simmer.
  • Icy Blue Eyes: Fitting for her Grim Up North posting and Iron Lady image, her blue eyes hold a piercing coldness to them.
  • Iron Lady: Strong, aggressive, harsh; when she says 'jump' her subordinates ask 'how high'?
  • It Amused Me: Decides to let Scar go free just to scare Roy.
  • It Runs in the Family: The fringe, the sparkles, the immense strength, and the hamminess has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!
  • Klingon Promotion: Kills Lt. General Raven and takes his place.
  • Lady of War: She is a Four-Star Badass whose fighting style focuses on using her sword with speed and grace. She's cool, powerful, incredibly competent, and an Ice Queen. As a testament of her Badass cred, she's one of the only 2 people who can press Ed's Berserk Button, and leave him cowering in fear instead of raging.
  • Large Ham: Despite the apparent differences with her brother Alex, deep down, she still has the hereditary hammish qualities passed down the Armstrong line for generations.
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The dark to Riza's and her little sister Katherine's light, being more aggressive than them and acting seductive towards Raven to make him believe her.
  • Lightning Bruiser: For a person she's very fast and very strong, and can even take blows from her bodybuilder sized brother without slowing down much.
  • Machiavelli Was Wrong: Played with. Her troops are scared of her, but it's a more "reverent fear" than a "You Have Failed Me fear". In other words, exactly the kind of fear that Machiavelli recommended, but it might not work as well with common civilians.
  • Made of Iron: There is no reason why Olivier should even be standing, let alone fighting after taking that first hit from Sloth.
  • Magnetic Hero: Downplayed, but during the conflict within Central on The Promised Day when the Immortal Legion is unleashed and are slowly eating everyone within Central Command and pose a threat to the civilians should they get outside, The Central Soldiers who were given orders to kill Olivier put aside their orders to help her out in killing the artificial humans.
  • Mama Bear: In her own very twisted way. It's one of the reasons she killed General Raven. You could say she's the matriarch of Briggs' Bears.
  • Massive Numbered Siblings: She's the eldest of the five Armstrong children.
  • Master Swordsman: She prefers a sword for close combat because she is that good with one, though it fails against Sloth.
  • Military Brat: Born into a military family.
  • A Mother to Her Men: Although she will be the first to deny it, she's very much this: she kills General Raven for leaving her men to their deaths, and when she tells the rescue party they have twenty-four hours to find them and return, she gives the soldier keeping track a broken watch so she can say the party was back within twenty-four hours on that watch.
  • The Mole: She joins Central Command's conspiracy, but only to get an inside look so she can plot against them.
  • More Deadly Than the Male: She is harsher and more ruthless than either her brother, Alexander, or her primary rival, Roy. Incidentally, she also scares Edward more than any of the actual villains, such as Father.
  • My Biological Clock Is Ticking: Alludes to this as part of her ruse against General Raven and make it seem she'd be interested in immortality, by saying that she's unlikely to have children of her own at this point due to her intimidating reputation frightening off any suitors.
  • My Friends... and Zoidberg: Two shits couldn't be spared regarding anything about Mustang.
  • No Guy Wants an Amazon: Winry's departure from Briggs has its men saddened at the loss of the fort's fount of femininity. When someone suggests Major General Armstrong's a woman, they get answered that someone so scary doesn't count as a woman.
  • Pin-Pulling Teeth: Does this when fighting Sloth. We'd imagine the grenade's pin was scared of offending her should it break her teeth and failed to come out.
  • Power Hair: Inverted; instead of having short hair, the manga's most exemplary Iron Lady has long, flowing blonde locks, and keeps it down while she fights, too.
  • Rank Scales with Asskicking: She offers to personally fight new recruits (such as Miles) one-on-one. They're all too scared of her asskicking to take her up on it. Her Establishing Character Moment consists of becoming the only person apart from Ed's teacher to be able to scare him instead of pissing him off when calling him short.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Quickly decides to let Ed and Al help her troops after they save some of her soldiers from being killed by falling debris.
  • Red Baron: The Northern Wall of Briggs.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Alex's red. She is stoic and focused, while he is constantly posing and spouting hammy declarations.
  • Refuge in Audacity: When Bradley asks what happened to General Raven, Olivier decides that the best course is to admit that she killed him without apology. Then she admonishes Bradley for appointing such an obvious incompetent to the inner circle in the first place! It works, and Bradley even seems to find it amusing!
  • Riddle for the Ages: When she interrogates Ed and Al, Ed responds to her questioning by saying that if the information he knew were to get out, he could be court-martialed. General Armstrong's response is to tell him that even she has secrets like that. We never learn what she did that could lead to her being court-martialed and the subject is never brought up again.
  • Sibling Team: Against Sloth, she and Alex make a damn effective combo.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: The slim, collected, wily Social Darwinist Lady of War contrasts quite a bit with her Boisterous Bruiser Large Ham brother. Of course, a quick read of their pages will quickly underscore certain similarities.
  • The Smurfette Principle: She is the only female soldier in the entire Briggs fortress. Hilariously, the Men of Briggs don't consider her female because of how frigid and scary she is. When she kills Lt. General Raven and takes his place, she becomes the only female member of the upper echelons ever shown.
  • Spell My Name With An S: To a hilarious extent. It could be either Olivia, Olivie or Olivier, Mira, Mila or Milla, and the nine possible combinations of the two. (The third guidebook and Brotherhood have confirmed Olivier Mira◊ as the official spelling.)
  • Social Darwinist: A minor example, but still the official Briggs policy. She even considers herself expendable if she can't fulfill her own expectation.
  • The Squadette: Major General who commands Briggs with an iron fist.
  • Sword Plant: She's usually seen holding her saber with the blade downward, typically when she is giving orders.
  • Tomboyish Name:
    • Her first name, Olivier, is the French version of Oliver. If there wasn't an "r," it'd be the completely obsolete French for Olivia.
    • Ironically, the French translation of the manga uses Olivia, probably because a woman named Olivier sounds really weird to French readers.
    • The English dub also averts it, keeping the spelling, but pronouncing it "Oh-LIV-ee-ay" (i.e. the same as "Olivia" in French).
  • Tsurime Eyes: She has narrow, upwards arching eyes. Fitting, considering she is the resident Iron Lady of War in Briggs.
  • The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Luckily for her, since two of her sisters are real eyesores (they look like Alex with long hair and without the mustache), while Olivier is definitively a looker.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Roy Mustang. They drive each other nuts, but also (mostly) respect each other.
  • Winter Royal Lady: Of a sort. It's always winter in Briggs, and in addition to the 'Princess' nickname, Buccaneer in the manga occasionally refers to her as "our Queen."
  • The Worf Effect: After subjecting her brother to a curb-stomp battle and scaring Ed into obedience, she herself gets in trouble battling Sloth to remind the readers that she is still human and Sloth is a monster.

    Miles 

Miles

Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (JP), Jason Douglas (EN)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/major_miles.png
Affiliation: Amestris Military
Rank: Major
Specialty: Military Tactics/Intelligence

General Armstrong's second-in-command. He is a quarter-Ishvalan from his grandfather's side, and he's striving to change Amestris from the inside so they will acknowledge the massacre they committed.

  • All of the Other Reindeer: Miles often feels like this, thanks to his Ishvalan blood, but Armstrong gets rid of it quickly. In fact, she praises his mixed heritage, claiming that it gives him a more varied view on life.
  • Cool Shades: Miles wears these to hide his Ishvalan ethnicity.
  • Death Glare: Commenced with The Glasses Come Off, he gives a pretty epic one to an injured Kimblee, which is made even scarier given his Ishvalan eyes.
  • Foil: To Scar, the series' primary Ishvalan character. While both of them resent the military's treatment of Ishval, Scar deals with it by attempting to cause chaos from the outside, while Miles wants to change how people see Ishvalans from the inside.
  • Implied Death Threat: Apparently something he picked up from Olivier. Even better, he delivers it to Solf J. Kimblee, of all people.
    Miles: Here in the north, the law is the survival of the fittest. You get careless, and you get dead, understand? You tell me what to do again, and you'll never leave this hospital.
  • Internal Reformist: He has Ishavalan heritage and despite the atrocities committed by the military in Ishval he still joined them. He strives to change the Amestrian perception of himself and his people by working alongside them every day, knowing he's just one man but hoping the ripples he makes might be able to change hearts and minds. And it's shown to be working, even in unexpected ways, such as being a major factor in getting Scar to re-evaluate his own response to the Ishvalan war.
  • Majorly Awesome: Holds the rank of Major, is Armstrong's right-hand-man and keeps his cool the entire time Kimblee is at Briggs.
  • Meaningful Name: Miles means "soldier."
  • Non-Action Guy: Miles never engages in direct combat despite his rank, squarely staying in the field of intelligence and logistics. Though given how seriously Kimblee takes his threat, it's assumed he is every bit as dangerous as a Briggs soldier is expected to be.
  • Not So Stoic: Even Miles has his limits when having to hear Kimblee's boasting from the war.
  • One-Drop Rule: Despite only being one-quarter Ishvalan, he was a potential target of Executive Order Number 3066, which stripped any soldiers of Ishvalan ancestry of their ranks and imprisoned them. Olivier, however, refused to hand him over.
  • Pass Fail: He typically wears his glasses to hide his red eyes and his ancestry.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Zig-zagged. While he's on the serious side and delivers the Death Glare to Kimblee, he's usually a nice enough guy.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Buccaneer's red. Unlike the more emotional and boisterous Buccaneer, Miles is stoic and unflappable.
  • Scary Black Man: Yes, but not that scary. He's actually a pretty swell guy. More like an intimidating black man.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: He has a fairly moderately sized role in the plot but mainly acts as Olivier's aide and the Elrics main guide at Fort Briggs. However, his presence as an man with Ishvalan heritage and role as an Internal Reformist there does a lot to help push Scar towards his Heel–Face Turn.
  • The Stoic: Very coolheaded and rarely shows his emotions outwardly.

    Buccaneer 

Buccaneer

Voiced by: Ryūzaburō Ōtomo (JP), Phil Parsons (EN)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buccanear.png
Affiliation: Amestris Military
Rank: Captain
Specialty: Weapons Expert

General Armstrong's third-in-command and field commander. A big guy with a pretty hot temper, he is regardless extremely devoted and will fight for his comrades.

  • Animal-Themed Fighting Style: We're introduced to Buccaneer of the Briggs Mountain Soldiers when he erupts from the snow to ambush the Elric brothers. The weapon he uses is an automail arm equipped with a giant pincer and motorized teeth inlaid with which he tries to grab the boys. The model name of the automail? The Crocodile.
  • Artificial Limbs: The artificial limbs! Even Winry falls in love with them at first sight.
  • Berserk Button: He's got a few of them, but a big one definitely appears to be jealousy that Edward has such a cute automail mechanic.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Several times, though the fact that he was the one who seriously wounded Bradley counts.
  • The Big Guy: Buccaneer is huge, to the point where both Edward and Central Command soldiers initially mistake him for a "bear with a mohawk."
  • The Brute: Stop just shy of being this. He's big, boisterous, and his first course of action when he perceives a threat is instant violence. However, he's an excellent soldier who follows orders to a T and never lets personal feelings interfere.
  • Chainsaw Good: And not just a chainsaw, Buccaneer's "Crocodile" automail arm is a combination of a chainsaw and something akin to a crab pincer. In addition to clamping down on a target, it can tear anything it catches to shreds.
  • Chaste Hero: The OVA series implies despite all his machismo, he completely averted Must Not Die a Virgin and didn't have any romantic conquests in his life despite his interests.
  • Go Out with a Smile: Olivier comments that since he died with pride and a smile, mourning isn't needed.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: Make no mistake, Buccaneer is a hard man in a hard land whose first course of action is immediate suspicion of everything. That said, he is deeply loyal to his comrades and to General Armstrong, and personally leads the rescue mission in Pride's tunnel. He is also the first Briggs soldier to empathize with Edward and Alphonse after hearing their story and even urges a little compassion from Armstrong, despite still suspecting him of being a Drachman spy at that point in time.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: His ultimate cause of death, though it's a bit more complicated. It turned out that gutting Buccaneer served to significantly disadvantage Bradley for a good while as he trapped his saber between his abs, robbing Bradley of his favored weapon, but in order to get a clean hit on Bradley, Buccaneer had no choice but to remove it in a sneak attack and bled out as a result.
  • Last Request: He asks Ling/Greed to help him defend the main gate at Central. With Bradley out of the way, he manages to wipe the floor with all the Central soldiers, so Buccaneer claims he can kick the bucket in peace.
  • Lodged-Blade Recycling: After successfully disarming Bradley with his abs, his soldiers remind him not to take the sword out, lest he bleed to death. But in the eve of Fu's Senseless Sacrifice, he uses said blade to impale through Fu and lands a crippling blow on Bradley, who has otherwise avoided any injury at all.
  • Made of Iron: Manages to survive, and even continue fighting, after being slashed and then impaled by Bradley.
  • Muscles Are Meaningful: Quite! While nowhere near as built as Armstrong, Buccaneer nevertheless has a legitimately impressive build from head to toe. In his fight with Bradley, he caught his sword using his abs after the Führer impaled him in the stomach. Even Bradley admits those are some seriously impressive abs.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Miles' blue.
  • Shipper on Deck: More of the beat-up-Ed-when-he-says-Winry's-his-mechanic-instead-of-his-girlfriend variation than the standard type.
  • Spell My Name With An S: Buccaneer/Baccania.
  • Twinkle Smile: He's probably got the biggest smile in the series, shown after Olivier extends their time limit in the tunnel to save who they can.
  • Undying Loyalty: To Olivier, even more so than the rest of the Briggs troops. After the fight with Bradley, Buccaneer—who has a sword sticking out of his gut—is solely concerned with making sure that her orders to hold the capitol are carried out.

Former Military

    Giolio Comanche 

Giolio Comanche

Voiced by: Tadashi Miyazawa (JP), Charlie Campbell (EN)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/giolio_comanche.png
Affiliation: Amestris Military (formerly)
Rank: Major (formerly)
Specialty: Weapons Alchemy

A retired State Alchemist known as the Silver Alchemist of Battle. He retired after having his leg chopped off in the Ishvalan Civil War. He is killed by Scar in his only present-day appearance.

  • Artificial Limbs: Has a peg-leg.
  • Blood Knight: When order 3066 was given before the War Of Ishval, Comanche is the only one among them shown smiling in anticipation. Even after he retired he has some level of this; rather than shrink from the Scarred Man's presence, Comanche prepares to combat him with a rather large grin on his face.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: His spin attack, which has nothing to do with his alchemy.
  • Colonel Kilgore: Like Kimblee, Comanche thoroughly enjoyed the Ishvalan Civil War, grinning in anticipation before battles, and reminiscing throughout his fight with Scar.
  • Dead Hat Shot: His hat floats in the water after Scar kills him.
  • Handicapped Badass: Lost his leg in the Ishvalan Civil War much to his displeasure. Even in the modern day, he still despises Ishvalans for "taking his leg".
  • Power Tattoo: His hands and palms are covered in the alchemy tatts that allow him to create weapons just by touching a solid object or surface, bypassing the need to clap his hands beforehand.
  • Retired Badass: He's old, a retired State Alchemist and manages to wound Scar in his fight.
  • Retired Monster: Comanche hasn't been a state alchemist in years, but he's never said sorry either—because at the end of the day, he isn't.
  • Slasher Smile: Cracks one after being sent into Ishval and again at the thought of facing Scar.
  • Sociopathic Soldier: Type II, going off the little we know.
  • Vehicular Theme Naming: Keeping with the running theme of military characters both active and retired being named for war machines, Giolio is named for the RAH-66 Comanche, an attack helicopter program that only saw two prototypes before being cancelled; his Spin Attack references this, and presumably, so does his sudden death.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: He's killed in his first appearance. In an omake, Arakawa admits she enjoyed his design and wished she was able to do more with the character, which is why he gets a brief cameo during the Ishvalan War flashback chapters (incidentally showing why he’s got a peg leg in the present day).

    Isaac McDougal 

Isaac McDougal

Voiced by: Kōichi Yamadera (JP), Bryan Massey (EN)Other Languages

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/isaac_mcdougal.png
Affiliation: Amestris Military (formerly)
Rank: Major (formerly)
Specialty: Water Alchemy

The Freezing Alchemist. A former State Alchemist who participated in the Ishval Massacre, McDougal went AWOL after the war and, years later, resurfaced as a madman trying to destroy Central City. His plan was foiled by the Elric Brothers and he was murdered by Führer Bradley.

  • The Atoner: Not the most sympathetic of the type but he regrets what he did in Ishval, which partly motivates his actions.
  • Anti-Villain: He believes he's doing the right thing by trying to freeze Central City, which would kill a lot of people. He was trying to stop the big conspiracy in Central though. It's even possible that it could've worked; McDougal's ability to activate transmutation circles remotely implies that he had some knowledge of alkahestry, which Father can't shut down like normal alchemy. So if Father got caught up in the ice, it might have trapped him indefinitely.
  • Ax-Crazy: Uncomfortably close to it at times.
  • Bloody Murder: When Ed and Al corner him and Ed points out Isaac doesn't have a water source, he says "do you know what a human body is made of?!" and uses his own blood to attack them. He attempts to kill King Bradley with a large spear made of blood, to no avail.
  • Canon Foreigner: Exclusive to the 2009 Brotherhood anime, for which his assault on Central serves as an Action Prologue and a boatload of foreshadowing.
  • Cassandra Truth: You probably thought he was just some rambling nutcase when he was asking Ed if he knows the ones he serves or what shape the country's in, and telling him "I'm just trying to save this country", right? 30 episodes later, he doesn't seem so nuts anymore, does he?
  • Cast from Hit Points: His blood alchemy. He can continue fighting when deprived of water, but he's only got so much blood to spare.
  • Dangerous Deserter: After the Ishval Extermination, he quit the military and went into hiding and resurfaced later as a member of anti-government resistance movements. Despite trying to stop Bradley and the other Homunculi in their plans to use the nation as a transmutation circle, he had no qualms about killing whoever got in his way and murdered a number of security guards in his crusade to freeze Central.
  • Doomed Moral Victor: He even tries to make a last stand against Führer Bradley despite knowing he's pretty much finished.
  • Exact Words: One of his statements to Ed has an entirely different meaning than he (and the audience) initially believe. It seems that he's simply referring to corruption in the government, but he actually means it quite literally. Unfortunately, he doesn’t bother to elaborate, leaving the figurative meaning as the one most thought he was pointing toward.
    McDougal: Do you know what shape this country is in?
  • Faux Affably Evil: Well-intentioned though he may be, he seems to be having a pretty good time wreaking havoc and has little qualms on killing anyone who tries to stop him with a degree of enjoyment. Particularly noticeable in the English dub where he's voiced by the same actor who does Ladd Russo and displays a similar glee in this role. Of course, there is the matter of him being justifiably unstable.
  • Foil: To both Mustang, Kimblee, and Hughes.
    • To Mustang: Fire vs. Ice, both are mentally scarred by the Ishval War into defying the Government/Central Command, both want to overthrow the HC — Isaac from the outside, Roy from the inside. Both can kill enemies with heat, either burning or boiling, and both of them can resort to emergency alchemy when their opponents think they're disabled.
    • To Kimblee: Both use alchemy to transmute the opponent's body, experience the same war, etc., with Ishval as victim, Isaac as a victimizer with regrets, and Kimblee as a victimizer who thoroughly enjoyed himself. In fact, he tries to spring Kimblee and have the man join him, not quite realizing at the time that Kimblee enjoyed the killing far more than he did, and he blows a few people up (by flash-steaming the water in their bodies).
    • To Hughes: Both men figured out the evil conspiracy long before anyone else and ended up getting killed for it. However, while Hughes actually provided the first shot in the low key subversion of the conspiracy even though he died before being able to say anything, McDougal's approach was to quit the military, bide his time, and then go straight for the jugular in bombastic fashion in a direct attack on Central Command, and while he did pass along his thoughts to the Elric brothers, they were summarily dismissed right until Ed figured out exactly what he meant.
  • Foreshadowing: He creates one big transmutation circle in Central. Later, we find out that the entire country is an even bigger transmutation circle.
  • Genius Bruiser: As a certified ex-State Alchemist he covers the genius portion considering he could instantly recognize that Edward attempted human transmutation by observing that he could use alchemy without an alchemic circle and Alphonse's status as a disembodied suit of armor. He covers the bruiser portion by being able to stand his own against the Elric Brothers and Major Armstrong in succession.
  • Good All Along: Dangerous anarchist he may be, Isaac was only trying to achieve justice for the lives lost in Ishval and save Amestris from destruction. The Elrics don't realize this until long after he's dead.
  • Ham-to-Ham Combat: With Armstrong.
  • Harmless Freezing: Nope. When he uses his alchemy to freeze Mooks solid, it's just as fatal as that would be in real life. Some of them even shatter upon falling to the ground. He can also pull the reverse and flash-boil people alive, with similarly lethal results.
  • He Knows Too Much: Part of why Bradley kills him rather than captures him.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: He tries to convince Kimblee to join him against Bradley by citing the atrocities the brass had made them commit and Kimblee killing several of them in response. Kimblee informs him that had nothing to do with it; he had killed them because he wanted to.
  • Majorly Awesome: Pre-breakdown, he held the rank of Major.
  • Making a Splash: The Freezing Alchemist specializes in transmuting water—mainly to turn it into ice, which he uses as a weapon, but he can also create scalding steam.
  • No-Sell: His attempts to flash-boil the water in Ed's automail arm fail because it only works on things with water, an arm made of metal has no liquid in it to flash-boil.
  • Person of Mass Destruction: Nearly buried Central in ice.
  • Power Tattoo: One of his palms has his freezing alchemy tattooed on it.
  • Required Secondary Powers: Nope. His blood alchemy does not create more blood to replace what he's using up. After attacking a few times and making a spear, he's barely able to walk from his injuries and blood loss, let alone fight.
  • The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: He wants to topple the government, and is doing it as violently as possible.
  • Sacrificial Lamb: Created to foreshadow the corruption in the military and to show just how dangerous Bradley is.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: Like Mustang, the Ishvalan Civil war left him a broken man. Unlike Mustang, though, he crossed the Despair Event Horizon and became a deranged Well-Intentioned Extremist.
  • Slasher Smile: When he's about to attack Bradley, he sports a massive, deranged grin.
  • Sociopathic Soldier: Type IV, after the war. He's totally cracked.
  • Starter Villain: His attempt to destroy the capital city drives the plot of the first episode, and he's killed by Bradley at the end.
  • Still Wearing the Old Colors: He's wearing his uniform from the military, probably because he wants to save the country despite abandoning the military he deemed as corrupt.
  • Taking You with Me: Knowing he's heavily wounded and surrounded, he decides to use his remaining blood to make a suicidal attack on Bradley. It doesn't succeed.
  • Tragic Ice Character: His Alchemy manipulates the temperature of liquids, mainly ice. Isaac himself is a Shell-Shocked Veteran forced into a war where he witnessed his country perform unspeakable atrocities, and is wracked with remorse for his part in it. As such he wages a one-man war against Führer Bradley to atone, even if he has to die to achieve it. Alas he fails miserably, and is only remembered as a dangerous lunatic.
  • Unscrupulous Hero: He's selflessly willing to freeze the entirety of Central City in ice to prevent the world from being destroyed.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: If he had gone about his methods more subtly and actually went to Mustang right off the bat with the information he found, and y'know, not tried to kill everyone in Central, he could've been a valuable asset in fighting Father. Alas, he just had to Go Mad from the Revelation and trust absolutely no one.
  • The Worf Effect: Bradley killing him is a pretty good indicator as to just what the Führer is capable of.

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