Homunculi of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime
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- This page describes the Fullmetal Alchemist Homunculi as they appear in the anime; for information on their appearances in the manga, see Homunculi of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga.
In the Fullmetal Alchemist anime series, Homunculi are artificially generated beings, retaining human physical form and mental capabilities. However, they lack a soul, and their existence is replaced and replicated, to some slight degree, with the material created from an innumerable amount of souls called "Philosopher's Stones". Ruthless and determined, these beings serve as the principal villains of the Fullmetal Alchemist series. They are manipulative, pulling the strings from behind the scenes for much of history, and cutting them when they no longer serve a purpose.
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[edit] General characteristics
Each of the seven Homunculi present in the series is named after one of the seven deadly sins of Gregory the Great. As such, some of their personality and/or character traits are defined by the sin of which they are the embodiment. They are cruel sociopaths, as one would expect of incarnations of sin, although not incapable of questioning their nature or the validity of their existence. All Homunculi bear the mark of the Ouroboros. Although the location of the mark varies, it usually has something to do with their sin and their minds. For Lust, on the front of her upper chest. For Gluttony, on his tongue. For Envy, on his upper left thigh.
Each Homunculus is the product of a failed human transmutation attempt. On initial creation, Homunculi do not possess human features, but rather resemble beings of decay; for example, organ piles and bones jutting out at odd angles. By feeding on Red Stones (incomplete Philosopher's Stones), they gain human shape, specifically the appearance of the human who they are an attempted resurrection of, as well as regenerative and other special abilities. By consuming still more Red Stones, they can extend their lives indefinitely, though they are by no means immortal.
Due to their diet of the healing Red Stone, all Homunculi possess amazing regenerative abilities,allowing them to return from utter annihilation. In addition to having monstrous strength and agility, each Homunculus is "gifted" with a paranormal power which manifests itself uniquely for each one of them.
Because they serve as an imitation of life, they are weakened by the presence of the real thing. When brought into close proximity with the remains of the person that was supposed to be resurrected, they are weakened (to the point of paralysis if too close). A homunculus can only be truly destroyed by killing them while they have no red stone in them, which can be induced by a Flamel array or performed naturally by killing the homunculus until it has exhausted its Red Stone and thus can no longer regenerate. Homunculi are also unable to perform alchemy (with the exception of Wrath), as they lack souls which are the source of a persons ability to perform alchemy (a human soul contains part of the gate, and thus a source of personal alchemic power).
Due to the realization that they are mere imitations of human life, most Homunculi pursue the dream of obtaining a soul. To this end, they incessantly seek to create the Philosopher's Stone. As they are powered by incomplete Philosopher's Stones, they seek the power of the complete stone, and one who would grant them their one wish.
A homunculi's personality is not contained in its brain or even its absent soul but rather in its Ouroboros tattoo. If the tattoo is tampered with the homunculus can lose its personality and be reprogrammed.
Dialogue among some of the Homunculi also indicate that there were previous incarnations of such Homunculi as Lust, Wrath and Sloth. For example, Envy tells Greed that the seven Homunculi have finally assembled "for the first time in a long time" - meaning that those Homunculi, all of whom have been created within the last ten years or so, must be new incarnations of previously created Homunculi with those names- relating to the fact in one of the episodes where Lust tells Greed that she is the "new Lust".
As the series progresses, the Homunculi's motivations are further explored. While the explanation throughout the series is that the Homunculi were created or indoctrinated with the purpose of manipulating alchemists to seek the Philosopher's Stone, several of the Homunculi sporadically express differing motivations. For example, in the final fight between Brigadier General Mustang and Fuhrer Bradley / Pride, Bradley tells Mustang that he views himself as a sort of guardian angel. In Pride's eyes, his manipulation of human desires of the Philosopher's Stone is performed with the intent of scaring humans away from the legend, and thus keeping humanity safe from its own destructive desires. While sentiments like this may seem contradictory to the Homunculi's reason for existing, they need not be so. Earlier in the series during flashbacks of Dante and Izumi while the latter was still an alchemy student, Dante reveals her contempt for humanity, considering herself above them in terms of morality and desires. However, her dialogue with Hohenheim and her final fight with Edward confirm that her former reason was simply a rationalization for her desire for immortality. Because of her two main reasons that she gives for practicing alchemy, it is possible that comments like Pride's "guardian angel" speech are an incomplete repetition of their master, Dante's, reasoning.
Although Homunculi fulfill similar roles in the anime and the manga, several anime Homunculi, such as Lust, are given more character development and backstory, as well as slightly different motivations.
[edit] Lust
Lust (ラスト Rasuto?) is the first Homunculus formally introduced in the series and is frequently seen dealing with various individuals, attempting to convince them to create the Philosopher's Stone for her master. Gaining true humanity is the focal point of her ambition, arguably much more so than the rest of the Homunculi. Lust's Japanese voice actor is Yūko Satō,[1] while her English voice actor is Laura Bailey.[2]
Lust's Homunculus power allows her to turn her fingertips into razor sharp blades which can seemingly pierce through anything , earning her the title of "the Ultimate Lance". Either inspired by her name, "Lust" or because Dante foresaw her role and named her thus, her character often seduces people like Leijon, an alchemical doctor from a town that was stricken with a petrification plague in "Reunion of the Fallen".
Lust claims to have first observed the Elrics while she was evaluating the potential of the alchemist Majhal to create a Philosopher's Stone. While she is always in the background, using those like Cornello or Mugear, Lust only reveals herself to the Elrics years later during the events of the 5th Laboratory, where she attempts to convince Ed to create a true Philosopher's Stone. Lust doesn't introduce herself or Gluttony by name to Edward until they meet face to face again in Lior during the episode titled "The Scar". Even then, she only introduces herself, intending to kill Edward immediately after.
She is often directly involved in encouraging humans to seek out the Philosopher's Stone, using their desire for the stone to her advantage. Once baited, the alchemists are molded into following whatever path that best suits Lust and the other Homunculi's designs.
Lust is created by Scar's brother when he attempts to use alchemy to bring his lover back from the dead. After he is cast out from Ishbalan society as a heretic, Envy visits the creature that resulted from the failed human transmutation. After feeding on some red stones given to her by Envy, the creature took human shape and is given her name. She is not the first Homunculus to bear the name of Lust, and is the third youngest Homunculus, with only Wrath and Sloth being younger.
While ruthless throughout most of the series, she changes near the end during the Lior incident as she began to recover some memories of her life as a human; she softened particularly towards Scar and the Elrics. Her loyalty is brought into question after she allows the Elrics to escape, although she was paralyzed by a locket containing a few strands of hair from her previous life. Lust is taken to Dante, who gives her a chance to redeem herself by helping Wrath kill Edward while Sloth abducts Al. Realizing Dante's true intentions are never to make the Homunculi human, Lust betrays Wrath and forms an alliance with Edward under the condition that he and Alphonse use the Philosopher's Stone to help her achieve her goal of gaining humanity. In return, she would reveal to the Elrics the identity of her master. Her desire is never fulfilled; she battles Wrath when he arrives to save Sloth from the ambush Edward and Lust set up for her. Using the locket and the transmutation circle that Lust made for Edward to use on Sloth, Wrath first immobilizes Lust- and make her vomiting her Red Stones- before transmuting his arm into a blade, killing her. Before her death, Lust had wondered where she would go when she died, as if the sole reason she wanted to become a human was to die.
An alternate reality version of Lust later appears in the Conqueror of Shamballa, side by side with Scar's counterpart, driving a truck of Romani.
[edit] Gluttony
Gluttony (グラト二ー Guratonī?) is the second Homunculus introduced in the anime, and is always eager to eat anything or anyone, living or non-living. The muscles in his jaws are very powerful and his saliva is acidic, dissolving even the toughest metals to feed his ravenous appetite. He has the mentality of a child, having a very dependent nature, and is emotionally latched onto Lust, taking directions from her. Gluttony's Ouroboros tattoo is located on his tongue. He also has the ability to regenerate from even the most gruesome wounds dealt to him, everything from having his head sliced off and Scar's alchemy to being blown apart after having a bomb pushed into his mouth. Gluttony's Japanese voice is by Yasuhiro Takato,[1] and his English voice is Chris Cason.[2]
He lives out his name through his power. In the anime his character is rather shallow. The only other thought pattern aside from eating is his affection for Lust. As mentioned before his distinguishing power is his ability to eat anything. His catchphrase is: Can I eat him/her/them?
Gluttony is old enough to recognize Greed but young enough to not recognize Hohenheim. He is physically very strong (enough to subdue a proficient martial artist like Al in seconds), with agility disproportionate to his size. Little is known of his past, though Dante said that Gluttony was created solely to make a Philosopher's Stone from those he consumes[citation needed]. After learning form Edward that Lust died, Gluttony is traumatized, allthrough he does not want to believe that. Tired of hearing him cry over Lust, Dante transforms Gluttony into a mindless monster by erasing the Ouroboros mark from his tongue.
Now devoted to his boundless appetite, Gluttony is directed by Dante to eat Al to ensure the perfection of the Philosopher's Stone in his stomach. However, Gluttony falls victim to Al's alchemy, which dissolves Gluttony's lower jaw. In the series, he is last seen trying to devour Dante, as she made a last-ditch effort to destroy her crazed creation. In Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa it is shown that he survived Dante's alchemy attacks and has lived in the underground city.
Gluttony has grown to several times his original size, now a hideous beast with two large arms, numerous legs, and three tails, each with a head and a pair of legs. It is implied that Gluttony's new form is the result of Dante's two transformations on his limited psyche; when she removed his Ouroboros tattoo, and transmuted him as an attempt to escape, he literally became his own sin. However in the official movie guidebook provided by Funimation Entertainment in the first US released DVD it is indicated that his transformation is a result of him eating dirt over the last 2 years, which seems unlikely and is in fact a result of him devouring part of the Ishbalan Philosopher's Stone (Alphonse Elric's transmuted body) and Dante's failed attempts to transmuting Gluttony to save herself. Instead of blood, Gluttony bleeds liquid-incomplete Philosopher's Stones that would harden. When Wrath and Al enter the city to open the Gate to the other world, Gluttony solely attacks Wrath and tries to devour him. It is never said why he did this, but it could due to subconscious hatred of him for killing his beloved Lust. Gluttony eventually succeeded in capturing Wrath in his jaws after being lured into a transmutation circle. He became trapped inside the Gate when Wrath sacrifices himself so that Al can transmute both him and Gluttony to open the portal.
[edit] Envy
An androgynous figure with a dry wit, Envy (エンヴィー Envī?) is a shape-shifter capable of molding his body into any form.Due to this ability, is hard to define his gender at first. His English voice actor is Wendy Powell,[2] and the Japanese voice actor is Mayumi Yamaguchi.[1] Envy was the first Homunculi to be created over four hundred years ago by Hohenheim in an attempt to resurrect the son he and Dante had.
Normally, he uses his power to assume other people's identities and copy their voices. However, he has also shown the ability to transform into non-humanoid shapes and change his limbs into blades. Like most other Homunculi, he has enormous strength and agility thanks to the red stones. He uses attacks ranging from simple punches and kicks to capoeira-like techniques. Envy was most comfortable in the "adorable" form of a young androgynous boy. Envy usually serves as an impostor who gathered information unnoticed, using his shape shifting ability to carry out efficient assassinations. Envy's favored technique for murdering humans is to impersonate someone the target cared deeply for, and use their natural hesitation as an opportunity to kill them. He used this technique to murder Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes.
Envy is by far the cruelest and most devious of the Homonculi. As his name implies, he frequently lashes out in furious jealousy towards other people's happiness. While he despises any and all humans, he has a particular hatred towards Hohenheim for never acknowledging him as his son and abandoning him. As a result, he also hates his younger "half-brothers" Edward and Alphonse as they obtained the fatherly love that Envy himself never received. It is worth noting that Envy has no love for his Homunculi brethren. He is shown antagonizing his first "brother," Greed, and quickly turning upon Gluttony, Wrath, and even the higher ranked Pride.
There are strong indications throughout the series that Envy is one of the strongest homunculi in Dante's service. He is a skilled physical fighter with incredible brute strength as shown when he subdues and brutalizes his comrade, Wrath, with ease. With the exception of Pride, all of the Homonculi seem afraid of him. The physically imposing Gluttony is shown nervously asking his comrade Lust about how they are going to explain their actions to Envy when they take a detour. " He's scary ", he shudders.
Envy is first seen at the end of episode 2, where he starts to impersonate the tarnished Father Cornello. Envy is not seen in his preferred form until the beginning of episode 14, and he does not reveal his original form until episode 50. As the oldest Homunculus, Envy claims that he has forgotten what he originally looked like. His true form resembles a younger version of Hohenheim, the man who Envy hated above all others. Unlike other Homunculi, Envy does not care about the Philosopher's Stone, nor about becoming human. Envy played a key role in imprisoning Greed, against whom he had a long-standing grudge, within the 5th Laboratory.
After learning that Hohenheim is gone, Envy lashes out at Dante for ruining his vengeful ambitions. However, Dante reminds him that the Elric brothers have successfully obtained the Philosopher's Stone. Dante told Envy that the Elrics would gain back all that they had lost and live happily ever after... unless he intervened. As a result, Envy grew more "envious" of them and became bent on making them suffer as he had.
In the final battle, Edward manages to outmaneuver Envy's deceitful tactics until the Homunculus reveals his true form (an imitation of Hohenheim's deceased son with Dante). This revelation about his father distracts Edward long enough for Envy to impale him.
Upon learning Hohenheim is still alive on the other side of the Gate, Envy is able to successfully make his way through the doors. He is forced to shift to numerous forms while traveling. He is eventually trapped in the form of a literal 'Oroborus' - a giant serpentine dragon (and possibly a reference to snakes and the Leviathan, two creatures said to personify the sin of envy).
During the two year gap between the end of the TV show and the movie, Envy is captured by the Thule Society. With Envy in his massive serpent form, the Society intends to use Envy to open a physical Gate and transfer their soldiers to the other side, to "Shamballa". Hohenheim is imprisoned and offered to Envy as a sacrifice; a human chew-toy to keep the "Great Snake" calm as they formulate their plans. Around the time of Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, Envy escapes and takes shelter in an abandoned castle, only to cross paths with Edward once again. In their ensuing fight, Envy is attacked on all sides by the Thule Society, who recaptures him and manages to get a small regiment of soldiers to the other side for a short time. In a final act of redemption for his sins, Hohenheim uses Envy to sacrifice himself so that Ed will be able to return to his own world. Envy's current fate is unknown, although it is logical, given the fact that Wrath returned to the gate with Izumi once he was transmuted, there is no reason to suggest the same did no occure with Envy returning to the gate.
[edit] Sloth
Sloth (スロウス Surōsu?) was the most recently created Homunculus in the anime. She assumed the identity of Colonel Juliet Douglas, a soldier who was said to have sparked the Ishbal War by killing an unarmed Ishbal child. Through manipulation and plotting with Pride, she became his secretary, serving as his emissary/executive assistant.
Sloth was hydrokinetic and was watery in composition, taking advantage of the human body's high percentage of water. This allowed her to travel rapidly through water and use water-based techniques, such as drowning her victims with her limbs and making a spinning waterspout to attack. Her Japanese voice actor was Yoshino Takamori,[1] and the English voice actor was Lydia Mackay.[2]
Sloth was created by the Elric brothers when they tried to resurrect their mother, Trisha Elric, and was the first of the Homunculi encountered in the series, albeit in an unrecognizable form. Because of her origins, she looked exactly like Trisha, which triggered painful memories for the Elric brothers and Hohenheim. While abducting Al, Sloth revealed how she suffered from being haunted by the memories of her "life" as Trisha, revealing that she believed killing the Elric brothers would prove to herself that these memories were not truly hers, since a mother would never kill her children, and that this proof would stop the pain and reassure Sloth that she was more than a shadow of the woman in whose image she had been created. However, she became a motherly figure toward Wrath, whose love for her was eventually Sloth's downfall.
After taking Al away from Shou Tucker, Sloth was fatally weakened by a small container of Trisha's remains, along with a transmutation circle Lust makes for Edward that caused Sloth to regurgitate the Red Stones within her. However, it was Alphonse's hesitation (throwing the remains out the window) and Wrath's intervention (in which he absorbed Trisha's remains and physically battled Lust and the Elrics) that allowed her to survive, despite being severely weakened from the loss of her Red Stones. Sloth took over Al's body briefly until he and Ed were able to use another transmutation circle to freeze her solid. She managed to vibrate her molecules, thawing herself from her ice form, and left Al's armor behind. She revealed her intention to kill them, fighting Edward until Wrath arrived after killing Lust, refusing to let the Elrics kill Sloth, choosing instead to use alchemy to combine with his "mother" despite her order to leave.
However, as Sloth and Edward explained, Wrath had forgotten that he'd absorbed the packet of Trisha's remains, thus immobilizing Sloth as well as himself. Taking advantage of this, Edward used the knowledge gained from his earlier battle with Greed and caused a chain reaction that converted Sloth's body into ethanol, which then evaporated into the atmosphere. Before she evaporated into thin air, she told Edward and Alphonse to take care of each other. Sloth's Ouroboros tattoo was located in her chest, directly above her heart.
[edit] Greed
Greed (グリード Gurīdo?) was the second oldest Homunculus. He proclaimed himself to be the "Ultimate Shield", as he was able to make himself impervious to harm by rearranging the bonds between the carbon atoms in his body to make his skin into an unnamed carbon substance, taking advantage of his carbon-based human body. He acquired the appearance of a black skinned demon when he hardened his skin, though he is usually seen in his concealed human form. He lived up to his namesake by "selfishly" seeking his own ideals rather than the selfish ideals of Dante, his master, which was explained in the episode "Theory of Avarice". In terms of attitude, Greed carried himself as a rather slick character, a ladies' man and all-around arrogant fellow. His Ouroboros mark was on the back of his left hand. He was voiced by Junichi Suwabe in the Japanese version of the anime,[1] and by Chris Patton in the English version.[2]
He was created by Dante through attempted human transmutation. Greed and Envy became bitter rivals afterwards. At some point, he disobeyed and betrayed Dante and the other Homunculi. Captured approximately 140 years before the start of the story, Greed was sealed away in Laboratory 5 by Envy, Pride and Dante. The seal that imprisoned Greed was maintained by the skull of the man Greed himself was created from.
Eventually, the skull was jarred loose by an explosion caused by Barry the Chopper in his attempt to escape from Al and Scar. The seal was further broken in a fight between Scar and Gluttony. Free, Greed attempted to re-establish himself as a rival power to Dante, fighting her over resources and subordinates. In order to protect himself against the overwhelming odds of Dante's six (though Greed may have thought it to be three) remaining sins, Greed recruited the chimera test subjects being held in the 5th Lab. He also tried to recruit Wrath as an ally, but failed when Dante secured him by manipulating the Amestris military. Greed then abducted Alphonse Elric so he could gain more knowledge on soul transmutation; he claimed he wanted to be immortal so that he could enjoy the fruits of his avarice.
The abduction occurred in front of Dante, who was held at knife-point by Greed's followers, who probably did not know who she was. Greed continued to operate with his followers until Kimblee betrayed them, handing over the skull previously used to imprison him to the State Military officer Frank Archer. With two of his closest friends (Loa and Dorchette) killed by Lust and Gluttony during his escape, and seeing his chances for freedom slipping away, Greed decided to wager all he had left and confront Dante. Dante, however, had made it appear that Lyra had killed her, stunning Greed long enough for Dante (now incarnated in Lyra) to activate a Flamel array to seal Greed away for good. Dante was in possession of Greed's remains besides the skull, which had their characteristic effect on Greed. Greed somehow gathered the strength to escape but he had already vomited out all the Red Stones inside his body, further weakening him for the ensuing fight with Edward.
Knowing that the only possible outcome was to be captured and sealed once more, Greed chose instead to die fighting Edward, confiding in him the secret to defeating Homunculi.
Greed's history with Dante was revealed in the Fullmetal Alchemist OVA Reflections. In a narration-form conversation that Envy and Greed had in regards to their past with Dante, Envy revealed that Greed, in his human life, had been in love with her. Greed denied such a thing, having been purged of his human memories long ago, to which Envy responded with implications that Dante murdered Greed's human self and brought him back as a Homunculus for the sole purpose of testing her ability to create a homunculus and the effectiveness of her red stones. While Envy's own connections to Dante and his antagonistic relationship with Greed made him by no means a reliable source, Greed's fervent rejection of this idea reflects upon how true a story it must be. Envy added that this was the true reason why Greed rebelled against Dante and threw himself into personifying his own sin; subconsciously, he couldn't handle the fact of Dante's betrayal.
Upon hearing the story of his birth, Greed gave his side of the story: he claimed that he was not any human man but Greed, a homunculus, and that he betrayed Dante because he desired to live as his own master, and for no other reason. Greed's argument was feeble at best, his confidence was clearly wounded, but it did indicate that he had some validity. While the other homunculi, save Envy, sought to become human, Greed took great offense to the idea that he was the same as the human man Envy mentioned. While Greed's betrayal was obviously based in his love/hate relationship with Dante, he, in doing so, unraveled the source of her power over him, the promise to become human. In summary, Greed was trying to separate himself from the man that he once was, a man that was fooled and used by Dante.
Greed bore the mark of the Ouroboros on his left hand, symbolizing the need to take things.
[edit] Wrath
In the anime, Wrath (ラース Rāsu?) was the second youngest Homunculus. With the appearance of a twelve year-old child, he had the ability to fuse his body's form with other objects, whether or not the objects were organic. He possessed the exceptional ability to perform alchemy (unlike the other Homunculi), and was unusual even among most alchemists in that he could transmute without a transmutation circle. Strangely, in order to use Alchemy he had to simultaneously absorb material. When he activated the transmutation circle to seal Lust, he sank slightly into the ground ("Sealing of the Homonculi"). He could do this because his right arm and left leg originally belonged to Edward Elric. He also had the ability to stretch his Homunculus limbs to great lengths, at which time his limbs took on a blue color, and appeared similar to a large mass of muscle fibers (this, however is only seen in the intro, and it could be because he absorbed a material similar to when he absorbed Izumi's clothes and turned his arms into sashes at the beginning of the episode "Dante of the Deep Forest"). His Japanese voice actor was Nana Mizuki,[1] whereas his English voice actor was Luci Christian.[2]
Wrath was created when Izumi Curtis attempted to transmute her dead baby on Yock Island. She transmitted her inner organs (just below the heart to the end of her small intestine) to her child so that he would live. The result was a Homunculus with its typical inhuman appearance when immature. Horrified, Izumi sent it back into the Gate where Wrath remained, aging there in the process. When Edward attempted to revive his mother, Wrath took possession of his lost limbs within the gate. The limbs eventually gave Wrath the power to force open the gate and come back to Yock Island where he lived until he was discovered. After being discovered by the Elrics on the island, he was taken to the house of Izumi Curtis. He eventually ran away and his existence became known to Envy, the military, and Greed.
Envy eventually made contact with Wrath and provided him with Red Stones. On consuming the stones, Wrath became a mature Homunculus. The stones' power and Envy's words changed his demeanor from that of an innocent child's to the total incarnation of his cardinal sin, full of raw hatred and anger, especially towards Izumi for creating him. Wrath was encouraged by Envy to hate Edward and attempted to take his body so that he could supposedly absorb it and become completely human.
Unlike the other Homunculi, Wrath was created directly from the materials of the human that was being transmuted. Because of this, Wrath did not share the weakness of the other Homunculi because the remains of the original body no longer existed. However, Wrath had other weaknesses: a deep and paralyzing phobia at the sound of a wailing baby and that of the Gate itself. The human nature of his arm and leg were also a weakness. Although Wrath was affectionate towards Izumi at first, after meeting Envy, and typical of the other Homunculi, Wrath rejected his creator. He eventually adopted Sloth as his mother, probably as part of a delusion that he could become Edward by taking things that belonged to him. After Sloth's death, Wrath was inconsolable, and started talking about using the Philosopher's Stone to revive her.
However, Dante had Envy beat Wrath for it and the fearful child finally came to understand the truth about his relations to them. Wrath then attempted to revive Sloth himself, forcing Dante to summon the Gate, which forcefully tore off the human parts of Wrath. He was left lying on the floor after the gate disappeared, seemingly forgotten about, until the final fight between Ed and Envy. After punching and kicking Ed, Envy leapt away from him to avoid Ed's attacks. Before he could launch another attack,a sprawled Wrath grabs hold of Envy's ankle in a failed attempt to insure his defeat. Before he transmutes himself to bring back Al, Ed asked Rose to take Wrath back up to the surface. As a replacement for Wrath's limbs, Winry fitted him with automail similar to Edward's.Since he lost his human limbs he now has no unique ability other than standard homunculus abilities such as enhanced strength,stamina and speed.
His whereabouts for the next two years are unknown, though he did resurface to visit his creator's grave, but appeared as a shell of his former self, likely because he had no red stones to consume and accepted who he was after the events of the finale. He guided Alphonse Elric through the underground city to find and open the Gate. Gluttony, now a huge and mindless monster ravenous with hunger, attacked, attempting to devour Wrath. After Gluttony expelled some red stone material, Wrath consumed it and regained considerable strength. With his new power, Wrath was able to hold Gluttony off for a short while, but then purposefully smashed his own automail into the center of a transmutation circle, allowing Gluttony to take him into his jaws. Gluttony proceeded to bite Wrath in half. He then screamed for Al to use both him and Gluttony as Equivalent Exchange to open the gate.
Al was wary of sacrificing Wrath, but was assured by the Homunculus that this was the very reason he brought Al there in the first place. Al forcefully carried out his request and transmuted the Gate, using both Wrath and Gluttony as the alchemic material in the process (due to the fact that human transmutation was the price of opening the Gate). After his death, Wrath (in his untainted form with all original limbs) was seen standing in front of the doors of the Gate, which opened with Izumi there to greet him. Reunited at last, the two disappeared into the gate together.
[edit] Pride
King Bradley is the political and military ruler of Amestris ("King" is Pride's human first name, President or Führer are his titles). His true identity is Pride, a powerful homunculus who served as Dante's right hand man. He controlled the country and directed its military in secret to further Dante's ends. His true identity was discovered at the end of episode "The scar", when Marta tore off his eyepatch to reveal the Ouroboros tattoo on his left eye.
This "Ultimate Eye" gave him the ability to see everything, such as Marta when she hid in Al, or the air currents within the wine cellar as he was fighting Mustang. His favored mode of attack was with his court sword, which he wielded with alarming accuracy thanks to his unique gift. As a result of his ability to age like a normal human, Dante considers Pride to be her finest creation and favors him over all the other Homunculi. This is seen when she scolds Envy for calling him a "humanoid doll" and when she accedes to his suggestion to station Sloth in his office instead of his home out of consideration for his "dear wife". Furthermore, he is the only Homunculus to be entrusted with his host's remains. His Japanese voice actor was Hidekatsu Shibata,[1] while his English voice actor was Ed Blaylock.
He lives up to his namesake by being a megalomaniacal dictator. He also has a beautiful family to boost his ego. Like the other Homonculi, he is a cruel sadist who has no regard for anyone other than himself. This is shown when he brutally murders his own son for accidentally revealing his weakness to Mustang. Like Envy, he seems to have no interest in using the Stone to become human and seems aware of Dante's true objectives. Content with his ability to age like a normal human, he considers waging war on Dante's behalf a fair trade for the prestige and power that he wields as Fuhrer. Like Dante herself , he has quite a God complex. In his last stand he told Mustang that he is one of God's Guardian angels and calls alchemists "demons" , further aluding to his prideful personality.
Physically aging enabled Pride to live among humans and even start a family of his own with an adopted son named Selim. The boy inadvertently gave Roy Mustang an advantage against him by bringing Pride's skull to the battle. In a rage, Pride crushed the boy's windpipe. With the skull in hand, Roy was able to repeatedly incinerate Pride with his alchemic flames until Pride's regenerative powers were depleted, at which point he died.
As head of the military, Pride (under the alias of King Bradley) ruled Amestris with absolute power, though just what kind of ruler he was differs depending on the translation. In the English dub, Pride appears relatively benign (in public) and seemed to have the people's general support. This is supported by a conversation between Edward Elric and Roy Mustang in the episode "Goodbye", in which Ed stated that if Mustang killed Bradley the people would hate him and he'd never become Führer himself. In the original Japanese, Ed says that if Mustang had stayed obedient and eventually became Führer in a more orthodox way the people would hate him, and he would never be able to use his power for reform.
On the other side of the gate, Ed confused Fritz Lang with Pride, not knowing that the real Pride had already been killed by Roy Mustang.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g Original Japanese cast for the TV series/movie.
- ^ a b c d e f Funimation's dub cast for English speaking nations, originally broadcasted in Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in the United States of America, also broadcasted in Canada, United Kingdom and Australia.
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