Envy is actually a very straightforward character. He’s a hateful creature who enjoys tormenting humans and has absolutely no morals. He regularly goes around causing discord and ruining people’s lives even though he’s one of the few characters who is aware of the futility of seeking out the philosopher’s stone because he is really 400 years old.
And he doesn’t care. This guy was bothering him so Envy casually killed him without so much as sparing him a glance. That’s just how Envy is. If he’s bored, maybe he’ll shapeshift into a loved one before killing someone to cause maximum devastation.
Unlike Lust, who’s also an unrepentant killer, Envy realises that Dante is just manipulating them and so there’s no real point to their actions, whereas Lust at least believes in achieving her goal at the end – she has reasons for her deplorable acts. She’s a relatively rational creature who is rarely cruel for the sake of it. Envy, in contrast, is driven more by his emotions. His primary reason for his actions is sheer pleasure with his loyalty to Dante being a secondary reason. Dante is more than willing to use Envy for her schemes and knows how to take advantage of his emotions.
“It’s unfair, isn’t it? Those boys getting everything back while you, who should be his dearest, are unable to obtain anything.
Envy’s single other motivation is to destroy Hohenheim – the person who created and abandoned him. (Some parallel with the Elric brothers there as Ed also carries some resentment for his father for abandoning them.) Envy is full of hate for all humans as an extension of the hatred he feels for Hohenheim. Time hasn’t cooled his anger, thanks to Dante’s influence, but it’s grown such that it’s basically consumed him. He finds joy in things like destroying loving fathers such as Hughes, in sowing hatred between mother and son like with Wrath and Izumi and in being superior to humans – especially alchemists, and especially alchemists who have performed human transmutations, and especially alchemists who created and then abandoned their homunculi creations…
Despite everything, Envy seems to get on well with the other homunculi, most of whom were also abandoned by their creators, (though he can’t stand Pride, who is both Dante’s loyal puppet and a pretend father himself.), and acts a bit like an older brother when he’s in a good mood. He’s more than happy to tag along with their schemes and even takes orders from them – at least until he’s properly enraged.
Envy is straightforwardly evil but he’s mostly just a giant evil ball of terrible emotions funneled in the worst way possible with a dash of apathy and distancing himself from any underlying humanity the other homunculi cling to. He’s both competent, an excellent fighter with an incredibly useful ability, and yet chaotic and unpredictable. In particular, I absolutely adore his end scene. Mostly I wish we’d gotten to see more of him. I feel like the final arc of FMA 03 was very rushed and I think it’s a shame as I’d have loved to witness more of Envy. He’s my favourite antagonist in this series.
I got asked this question the other day. I think this blog in general should make it clear that I have an obsession with it and don’t have nearly so much love for Brotherhood but… here’s what I wrote in response:
Primarily, it would be its characterisation of Edward Elric. In Brotherhood, Ed is more frequently used for comic relief and seems to be an observer to many of the important plots rather than a participant. He gets challenged a little here and there and goes through some development but it’s nothing compared to his 03 counterpart.
Ed in 03 is almost always at the centre of the narrative and he’s always being challenged on his viewpoints and struggles to do the right thing. His entire worldview basically gets overturned and he frequently has to face the results of his wll-intentioned but short-sighted actions. He goes through moral dilemmas and the struggle between him and the various homunculi feels really personal. We see him at his best and at his darkest and we see more of him at a young age and growing up and becoming better. And Ed may be just one character but as a result of this exploration of him we get a deeper look at his relationship with his brother which is absolutely wonderful. And so many other characters can be compared to or challenge Ed. Like when he faces Tucker in this version, Tucker really challenges him on the idea that they’re not so different with how he’s also toyed with people’s lives in his attempt to bring his mother back and he’s left his brother in a twisted form – asking is it so different from what he’s done to Nina and whether part of it was not his own arrogance in believing he can do the impossible. The Tringham brothers are trying to obtain a philosopher’s stone through dubious methods and unintentionally causing terrible side effects, following in their father’s footsteps. Scar and Scar’s older brother echo them in how they elder one tried to perform human transmutation and gave up his right arm to save his younger brother and also seeked the philosopher’s stone. The homunculi seek the philosopher’s stone in order to become human – just like how they want the stone to restore Al to his body. Yeah, all in all 03 really keeps the focus on Ed and every enemy they meet makes every conflict feel very personal or challenges Ed in a different way. He slowly turns from someone who gets angry very easily – and is especially angry at the world itself- to someone who forgives his enemies and accepts the unfairness of the world and still feels a sense of responsibility for trying to be better and more selfless.
A lot of this is why I still get so much of out of 03 on every rewatch as there’s so much there! But even from the outset, the shows a lot of fun and I find its humour a lot less obnoxious, its villains in general more menacing, atmosphere and tone a lot more to my taste.
Brotherhood is a big story with a big plot and lots of characters but 03 is an emotional character-study of Edward Elric that really makes me feel.
I’ve already discussed Ed’s character development here and I’m probably just covering most of the same points again. But I wrote another piece on Ed’s growth so here you go. I believe it was in response to some sort of query and I wrote quite a bit.
Early FMA feels like a light action adventure story where Ed and Al go places and solve problems and play the part of heroes. They’re independent, pursuing their own goals. The rest of the world has nothing to with them even as they travel round fixing problems. They’ve even tried to burn all bridges with their past. The world is straightforward. There’s evil villains and lots of little girls to save.
However, this childish mindset also gets tested. First with Nina, Ed starts reading warning signs that things aren’t okay but by the time he reacts, it is already too late. If he hadn’t been so distracted maybe he could have prevented this tragedy (this is Ed’s guilty mindset and you can see some of it manifesting in the next episode where he so desperately wants to do something to make things right that he ends up chasing down a serial killer who clearly has nothing to do with Nina’s death.)
Then with Marcoh, Ed just wanted to chase down a lead on the philosopher’s stone. When he arrives, Marcoh tries to tell him all about the horrors of the Ishvalan war, but Ed isn’t interested, demanding to know more about the stone. Basque Grand arrives, having followed Ed and Al there, meaning their actions directly led to putting Marcoh in danger. Ed doesn’t cotton on to this fact until Marcoh is being arrested and he even gets a flashback to Nina being dragged away by the military and he finally realises he’s in the middle of another mistake. His innocent actions have consequences.
When he goes to Central for more on the Stone he’s again attached to his mission and basically gives up when he realises the answers are more death. He is galvanised into continuing when Maria Ross reminds him that he should look into the truth of the Stone, that is, outside his own selfish interests.
When the younger Slicer brother kills himself, Ed is horrified and wonders aloud what he could have done to have saved him and the older slicer brother coldly tells him that there wasn’t anything he could have done and that even his kindness can be a cruelty sometimes. He meets the homunculi in lab 5 who tell him that he isn’t as free as he thought as they’ve been manipulating his journey. Ed gets tempted to make a Philosopher’s stone at the cost of other people’s lives and barely manages to refuse. Afterwards he initially feels like he’s failed Al, showing how he’s struggling with the needs of others versus his own desires.
At this point, he’s a little shaken on his views and shares what he knows with Hughes rather than holding onto information so tightly. Still, when he goes to Dublith, he and Al mishandle the Wrath situation completely, being harsh and demanding and ultimately alienating the homunculus boy. Ed’s experiences in lab 5 gave him the idea that all homunculi are evil and he distrusts Wrath because of what he is. He’s also very reluctant to confront the idea that homunculi could have been made by humans at all, preferring the idea that they’re just wholly evil monsters.
But the story isn’t so black and white. Again with Greed, Ed views him as an evil villain and he kills him (shocking himself). Only as Greed is dying, Ed realises he was being manipulated, that Greed wasn’t the real enemy and that there are greater things happening outside his own narrow sphere of fighting the bad homunculus who kidnapped Al. He’s learning that not all homunculi are necessarily evil and that he has a greater responsibility to fight the ones holding the strings as Greed uses his dying words to help Ed with how to defeat them.
Ed’s still struggling but he’s coming to accept the greyness of the world. Next, he witnesses the discrimination facing the Ishvalans, and faces some hard truths as he tries to explain how he held prejudices, being scared of Scar’s red eyes and how he was wrong and he’s learning to look past that sort of thing and find his own truths about the world, not just the one’s he’s always assumed or been told. This is important as Ed’s starting to learn the more about the homunculi and the true depravity of the Military even as there’s good people involved in them too.
He learns about what he did in Liore, and how his well-intentioned actions in the very first episode have only lead to death and destruction. In particular, there’s a scene where Edward stands amidst the hundreds of graves against a red sky whilst Scar speaks about how all these lives have been lost in the conflict that began with Ed’s first two episodes where he overthrew Cornello. Ed collapses on to his knees in response. Now, he clearly feels immense guilt for his actions.
In Liore he also finally faces Sloth, who Ed is also responsible for creating, and up to this point he’s been in denial about, facing her represents his growing acceptance of the consequences of his actions. During the fight against her, he’s very close to giving up until Rose gives him some encouragement. (Rose is one of the people who have been most hurt from the consequences of his actions but she still respects him and is able to tell him what he needs to hear.)
The Philosopher’s stone is made, in spite of Ed’s best efforts to stop it and now he’s fully fighting for the greater good. He has a stone now but he doesn’t use it – like he would have earlier in the series, instead he prioritises facing the homunculi, going to fetch Sloth’s weakness. He runs into Mustang and tells him the truth about the Fuhrer, provoking him into direct action too. This is also where he learns about Hughes; initially he’s furious but he begins to respect Mustang’s decision not to seek revenge but continue working on his goals of fixing the military to prevent another Ishval.
He faces Sloth again and killing her is dramatic but it also represents Ed taking responsibility for his mistakes and his acceptance that there’s a world outside his dreams that he is willing to fight for. (That’s my interpretation anyway.) Then we get his conversation with Mustang. He reflects on wars, stating that there’s no war that has nothing to do them and the dangers of their own selfish desires. It also contains the aforementioned part about the world outside his own dreams.
So, he challenges Dante and the other homunculi in her lair, fighting to stop her cruel selfishness. She who cares nought for any but herself and her own desires, willing to let thousands die in order to extend her own life. She who hoards knowledge, believing she alone knows better, looking down on other humans.
Hey guys, I couldn’t resist a bit of critique of this memorable scene from FMAB. Sorry! Purely from a logistical standpoint – any character issues would be a separate issue. So, episode 24-25 of Brotherhood has Ed and Al decide to attack Scar in order to lure the homunculi out and Ling volunteers to help them with capturing a homunculus. It’s a fun sequence but it’s also one I have a few issues with. This is only based on the anime adaptation so if the Manga fills in these plot holes, feel free to tell me! I’m going to be more detailed than I probably really need to be.
Their plan works in that they attract the attention of Wrath and Gluttony (Not Envy for some unknown reason.) So while Ed and Al are busy with Scar, Ling and Lan Fan fight Wrath and Gluttony.
Their first exchange goes interestingly, as we briefly see more of Lan Fan’s impressive fighting tactics where she’s willing to take an injury in order to deal damage, as she breaks one of Wrath’s swords with her kunai but he strikes her and she falls down and can’t fight anymore – her left arm is badly injured.
Ling grabs her and picks her up over the shoulder, unwilling to leave her behind and… here’s where my issues start to arise. Alright, Ling has two powerful bodyguards who generally fight for him but it turns out he’s also a really impressive fighter in his own right – not too surprising but his skills in this encounter suggest he’s just as good or better than them as he fends off Wrath while holding Lan Fan over one shoulder.
This annoys me as Lan Fan is the trained professional where Ling is a prince. Granted Wrath has only one and a half swords now – (though sidenote I can’t believe one broke at all given how unbreakable they’ve been until now – they didn’t break inside first Greed’s death scene with the magma and they can cut through bones with ease.) and Gluttony doesn’t actually contribute too much, with Ling easily slashing him up. Ling isn’t winning but it’s still pretty ridiculous to me – especially when juxtaposed with how easily Lan Fan was taken out.
Either way, Ling gets punched into a nearby house and gets followed by Wrath and he looks to be cornered – Wrath taunts him a bit suggesting he could get away if he dropped Lan Fan whom he is still carrying over one shoulder. (See my Ling rant for how much the dialogue between him and Wrath irritated me). Lan Fan intervenes though by letting off a flash bomb to blind Wrath and Ling takes this chance to try and escape the room.
…But then Wrath reveals he can still see fine as he unveils his other eye beneath his eye patch and Ling’s hopes are dashed. How will he get out of this one???
…There’s another explosion and he jumps out the window. Ling has escaped the building and is running away, still carrying Lan Fan over one shoulder. We only get an outsider perspective so we don’t see the details.
Wrath just watches before giving chase. So I have to imagine what happened a bit – obviously Lan Fan let off another bomb and they really got past Wrath while cornered that easily? Oh well. And just another reminder that Wrath is extremely fast and Ling is carrying Lan Fan so he must be slowed down. And he’s literally just jumped out of a building. There are people about but Wrath was fighting them right outside a few minutes before so why would he suddenly care about appearances now? If jumping out of a building is unnatural then I’ll remind you that Ling just jumped out of the building with little problem.
He even runs into a dead end before forced to turn around with Wrath still tracking him. (and he deliberately went to a deserted part of town for some reason) Wrath isn’t exactly hurrying now though, I suppose. Anyway, so Lan Fan’s asking him to leave her so he can get away and Ling’s refusing, still running away and so Lan Fan grabs another kunai…
We get another cut away here. Next time we’re in Wrath’s perspective and he follows the blood and… it’s a decoy! Lan Fan has cut off her arm and used it as false bait allowing them both to escape.
That super cool but- you’re seriously telling me that Ling got far enough away that they had time to tie up a bloody arm to a random dog and then run away before Wrath caught them? And it all happened off-screen? (Gosh that would have been such a cool and emotional scene to see too. Far better than the reveal without the how.)
…
I cannot imagine this.
…
I’ll try though: Lan Fan cuts her arm off, and presumably Ling freezes in horror briefly and I’d imagine they might have made some noise as she slices her own arm off. And then Lan Fan is bleeding like crazy and I don’t know – would Ling rip off his shirt to use to bandage the wound first or would he pick up the freshly severed arm first and start attempting to tie it to a dog that just happens to be there? A very cooperative dog. So, he ties the arm on and convinces the dog to start running before picking up Lan Fan and heading directly into the sewer to hide.
Frankly, I bet they could have hid in the sewer without Lan fan needing to cut off her arm – Wrath was following their blood trail which will still be visible and lead straight to their sewer entrance if he backtracks just a little. (And she just cut off her arm and Ling tied it in a hurry – I think she’d still be dripping blood – see how much blood she dripped when it was a more minor injury… actually why didn’t they just tie that injury better in the first place if all they really need to do to hide is stop dripping blood. The false trail wastes way more time -and blood- than just hiding better!)
All the while Wrath is giving chase but was apparently far enough away that they had time to do this. It’s just I can’t imagine this would be that fast – they shouldn’t be more than a minute ahead of Wrath and even that’s a stretch – it’s a stretch that they escaped from his immediate vicinity in the first place. At the start of this sequence Ling was literally in viewing range of him and was burdened by carrying Lan Fan.
After this, Ling leaves Lan Fan in the sewers and jumps out to help Ed and Al capture Gluttony. At this point, Ling’s feats seem OP to me but anyway we get to see him obliterate Gluttony while shirtless. (And, wow, he can jump high.)
Wrath chuckles about how he’s been outsmarted by this clever girl, having taken great enjoyment in this fight. And it’s thankfully over so I don’t have to think about it any more.
If I’ve missed anything or got it wrong, please tell me! This is a very important sequence both for plot and character and if there’s something I’m missing, I’d love to know. I love Lan Fan in this part and think she’s great but basically everything else annoys me.
Hey, so in my recent fma survey, I asked people for FMA fanfiction! And they delivered, yay! Thank you. I decided to make them into a nice list for all to see.
You’re very sweet, Anon but I’m afraid it’s already too late. This ended up quite, quite long. And I’m amazed at how long some of these stories are – if you’re looking for stuff to read, hopefully this list will occupy you for a while, (especially if you check some of the author’s other works).
Most of these I have not read, but hey, they were recced so they’ve got to be good, right? Range of ships and stories from both canons. I’ve included the ships but haven’t included ratings so be warned that some of these may be explicit. (The author will probably indicate it themselves though.)
Again this is just a list of responses I received and I included everyone so can’t comment on the quality or content of them myself.
Full list under cut!
–Fullmetal’s Company by Roseveare | 18434 words | Gen, takes place pre-series. | Ed should have never flashed the silver pocketwatch in a warzone.
–A Wicked Game by Tierfal | 59921 words | RoyEd, Modern!AU | Roy has lucked into the all-expenses-paid vacation of his dreams – all he has to do is convince a bunch of happy couples that he’s head-over-heels in love with Ed Elric. What could possibly go wrong?
–Be light from now onby Merel | 2363 words | GreedLing, Modern!AU | “Let’s go inside, sweetheart.” Cat café
–Number 28 by Sevlow | 63347 words | Gen, Parental RoyEd, divergence | As of today, Edward Elric had been missing for four months, two weeks, and five days. Warnings for angst, some gore, and Chimera!Ed.
–In the Gaslight by UnorthodoxCreativity |13542 words | RoyEd | Ed hates military parties. This is no surprise. But when a certain bastard of a colonel takes it into his head to make Ed’s night a happier one, well. Ed’s not complaining.
–Through the Gate by PreelikesWriting | 3 part series totalling 252736 words | Harry Potter crossover with BH Ed Pre-promised day covering books 5-7 of the HP books. Last part is still incomplete. | Edward is transported to the Wizarding world and must fight his way back home.
–Playing God by the Flamel Cult | 44445 words | Harry Potter crossover | I thought the dull aching was something other than my demise. As it turned out, I was sorely mistaken. Perhaps I should listen to Alphonse more; maybe then there wouldn’t be another bloody tragedy that would, inevitably, end it all. For good.
–snipers solve 99% of all problems by silentwalrus | 134066 words | Harry Potter crossover, incomplete post-Promised day | Ed had thought, after the whole Promised Day, homunculus, entire country harvested for alchemical batteries thing, the batshit quotient of his life would have settled down some. He really ought to have topped out the meter with that one. But no. The bullshit is just getting started.“Are you fucking kidding me,” Ed demands. “The wizards?”
–Harry Potter and the Eastern Sage by LiteratureWork | 141609 words | Harry Potter Crossover Brotherhood incomplete | Nicholas Flamel was famous for creating the philosopher’s stone, but like Lockhart’s smile it was all a lie. Flamel stole a part of the stone and it took Edward 642 years to get it back along with the souls inside of it, one which was his brother. But after traveling to Hogwarts to retrieve it, Dumbledore has other plans for the ancient hero.
–Reversed by Autzulfrost | 162206 words | Harry Potter crossover post 03 anime | At the end of the first anime, Ed is sent back to London. But he’s a kid again and through a twist of fate gets involved with the wizarding world. Will the alchemist help save wizarding Britain? Will he find a way to return to his home and true family?
–Stray Hayate by Famousfault | 3436 words| Harry Potter crossover | Hayate had no idea how he had ended up there, but he had no other choice but to accept the situation. Harry at the other hand is not quite as satisfied with it.
–Demon Alchemist by Metisket | Series, 88462 words | What if divergence covers whole series | Al died in the transmutation, In which Ed becomes Central’s local vigilante, thereby becoming Maes’s problem. Roy finds something poetic in this.
–No Crueler Punishment by Gomboc123 | 2504 words | Post-promised day humour | Instead of taking away Roy’s vision, Truth decides to take something much more precious from Roy, and defaces him in the worst way possible.
–The Bond we Share by DiaHonkers | 23750 words | What if where Ed and Al share a body incomplete | The Fullmetal Alchemist was a weird person. He joined the military at only 12 years old. But the weirder thing about him was that he changed personalities in the blink of an eye. One moment he could be screaming his head off at you and the other he would be profusely apologizing. He would constantly talk to himself, and his commanding officer didn’t bat an eye. But what they didn’t know that it wasn’t just one person. It was two.
–Another Journey by Isil’zha BLZ | 254486 words | Whole series rewrite. | The Elric brothers embark on another journey, but this time it’s different than the ones they’ve been through before. A reimagining of the FMA story that combines elements from both anime to create what is (hopefully) the best of both worlds.
–A boy named Ed by BelloftheSea | 302732 words | Post-canon but Ed is young again without memories of his old life. Incomplete | Ed knew he was different. It wasn’t just that he was smarter than the other kids or even that he had automail. No, it had more to do with the way people would occasionally look at him, like they were expecting somebody else. It was the way his mechanic cried the day she met him. It was the way his dad would sometimes slip – and call him Fullmetal.
–Nothing Gold by Rydia Highwind | 23230 words | EdLing Post-canon, AU ending | Ling has gained immortality. Ed has not.
–Unto the Shores of Acheron by LAXgirl | 99904 words | Gen, post 03 AU | Everyone thought Edward was dead. But when someone tries to resurrect him, no one’s prepared to deal with the soulless look alike that’s created instead, or its hurt and anger when his original half unexpectedly returns from the other side of the Gate.
–Nequitia Est Manus by Azei | 103304 words | Divergence story incomplete | Madame Christmas meets a blonde brat with a fondness for drinking all her whiskey and giving her more headaches than Roy ever did. AU in which Ed fakes his death at the end of episode 26 and uses it as a means to stop Father’s plans from the sidelines.
–Beast of a Burden by Shoulderpads | 66416 words | Diverges Pre-canon, BH incomplete | Alternate universe where Ed and Al don’t get the chance to try and bring their mom back before they’re taken to the labs as subjects for chimera experimentation.
–The Colours of the Worldby MaiKusakabe | 114228 words | Harry Potter crossover Post Promised day, incomplete | When Roy Mustang went to retrieve his eyesight from Truth, he wasn’t expecting to end up doing a job in exchange. It couldn’t even be an easy job, of course, because Edward’s assessment of Truth was a pretty accurate one.
–Confirmation Bias by Cryogenia | 3327 words | RoyEd vague timeline. | (No summary)
–Phylactery by Shade40 | 250666 words | Post-Promised day AU, incomplete | Six years after the Promised Day, Selim is Homunculus and child. As he studies alchemy, Selim realizes it is possible to resurrect his family. The Homunculi deserve the same second chance that he was given, but while they struggle to embrace their newfound humanity, an unknown player comes with a deal that divides them. Post-FMAB with bits from 2003 series.
–Inhuman Beings by wllw | 3173 words | Mid BH, Pride + Kimblee centric | At the edges of his vision, the shadows followed him.
–The Twelve Days of Disaster by MEOW-I’m-A-Dog | 47932 words | A series of oneshots about Christmas that go from crack to full cocaine. Written on a whim, not to be taken seriously unless you want to. Characters: Breda, Ed, Al, Havoc, Fuery, Hawkeye, Falman, Mustang, Hughes and the occasional Armstrong
–At Gate’s Edge by Winds of Water | 455478 words | RoyEd 03 AU where human transmutation went awry and Ed is a ghost. Incomplete | Love’s never easy as it is, but it’s twice as hard when you’re separated by life and death.
–Grand Arcanum by The-Immortal-Moon | 343781 words | Series AU and roleswap blending 03 and BH. Incomplete | Brothers Edward and Alphonse tragically lose their bodies in a failed attempt at human transmutation. Now, they partner with their childhood friend, Winry, and scour Amestris in search of the Philosopher’s Stone.
–Abandon All Hope, Ye who enter here by Anonymous | 17171 words | Dark! Au from end of 03. Ed being held by Dante. NonCon. | Everything went wrong. Al is gone, Dante has the Stone, and Ed is a prisoner to the fanciful whims of his new captor.
–Love Can Melt the Ice by Winryofresembool | 63640 words | EdWin Modern!Au | Edward Elric, a hockey player from Amestris, participates in his first ever Olympics. The only thing he’s planning to get from there is a gold medal. However, when he accidentally bumps into a childhood friend, a talented figure skater Winry Rockbell, he learns there are things bigger than hockey.
–Our Embalmed hearts, our desolate kingdoms by spooky_bee | 155853 words | Neon Genesis Evangelion fusion with FMAB RoyAi | “He leans back, palms connecting with the concrete, and looks up over their city, their desolate kingdom. In the rain, Central City might as well be the ruins of Xerxes, empty and grey, and he and she may as well be the last two people on earth.“Or, Love in the Time of Giant Robots
–Talking With Ghosts by em-witchwood | 2801 words | EdRiza, Post FMA 03 | Out of all of them, she was probably the only one that didn’t regret all the things she had never said to him, because she’d said all that she wanted.
–We That Are Young by Stoplight Delight | 277131 words | Pre-canon | It’s a well-known fact that innocents make poor soldiers. Fortunately, Riza Hawkeye’s childhood was not entirely innocent. She had to grow up fast… though she wasn’t the only one. The early years of the Colonel and his First Lieutenant.
–Tempest by Bookwrm389 | 16810 words | Gen, vaguely mid-series Parental RoyEd | Ed is adamant that he doesn’t need a father. And it’s only when he’s about to lose the closest thing he has to one that he understands how very wrong he is.
–Flames of Consequence by EnviousMonster | 67018 words | Gen, Envy lives AU post BH. Incomplete | Where Envy survives and is given a second chance to become something more than they were made to be. Will contain depictions of violence, emotional and mental duress, etc.
–Stock Market Crash by VIKAN | 29301 words | Gen, vaguely canon timeline | Stranded in the middle of the Eastern Desert, Roy Mustang must try to get himself and a concussed Edward across it safely before he completely loses his mind.
–Mendacium by ChaoticClueless | 15558 words | My Hero Academia crossover with BH Ed. Incomplete | Edward didn’t want to help Truth. He didn’t want to go to a different world to defeat yet another Father. He didn’t want to become a vigilante there.He also wanted his brother back. The choice was obvious, even if Truth is a massive asshole.
–Reverti Ad Praeteritum by Batsutousai | 288908 words | EdRoy Timetravel story, BH | Unwillingly forced to serve as a human trial for a crazy alchemist experimenting with time travel, Edward Elric finds himself standing across from Truth in the moment it takes his leg from him. Armed with the knowledge of what’s to come and burdened with guilt for the choices he’d made as an adult, Ed sets out to fix every mistake he ever made and save every life they ever lost, no matter what it takes.
–Best Kept Secret by MoonStarDutchess | 523815 words | RoyAi BH canon-compliant incomplete | What if Roy and Riza were secretly married through the entire series? This story tells you that.
–Ash Like Snow by Laora | 6723 words | Harry Potter Crossover | His sanity is crumbling away, but then, so is the entire wizarding world.
–Penance by Laora | 125965 words | Harry Potter Crossover around Promised Day | The Gate was opening; the black arms stretched toward him and Pride. Ed knew he had no say in the matter. He would be pulled to this parallel dimension, alternate universe—whatever it was—and Amestris would be left to die. Truth merely grinned.
–Jiǔ by agentcalliope | 3131 words | Roy-centric piece, RoyAi | the nine steps Roy Mustang takes towards acceptance
–Homefront by hlwim | 50895 words | BH AU, some RoyAi | Miss Riza’s arrival in Resembool has the potential to ruin everything.
–Infernia by mitsys | 3899 words | Royai, Pacific Rim AU | Some stories aren’t told in headlines or newspapers, but in the touch of hands and minds. They linger together in the Drift, lines melting together into the seams, and they don’t mourn the lost letters. They’ve been writing their story long enough to do it without words.
–Wooden by tobu_ishi | 1928 words | Gen, Post 03 anime, Ed in other world | He never realized how useful automail could be until he was an entire world away from it, or what a pain simple daily tasks could become.
–Mirrorworld by Tramontana Keeper | 305134 words | EdHei, Pre-CoS AU | Ed managed to prove that he was truly from a different world, and Alfons finds himself captive in Ed’s dream of opening the Gate.
–Fragile Worlds by The Prettiest Frog in the Pond | 5635 words | Gen, 03 anime AU | He’d been stuck in this place for months now, but no matter what he says, nothing changes. He’s Edward Elric. He’s been Edward Elric all his life. So why won’t they believe him?
–One Foot in by Firewind | 7008 words | Gen, 03 anime AU | Envy shows Ed why it’s unwise to break a deal with homunculi.
–The Circle by Elfpen | 3007 words | Gen, promised day | Edward Elric teaches alchemy at Central University. A particularly horrible student leads them down a path of dark discussion, which somehow, leads Edward back full circle.
–Ignis Fatuus by Mikkeneko | 5787 words | Gen. | Edward attempts to break apart a chimera made from an animal and a child.
–Abstention by Asidian | 11117 words | Vague timeline | An assignment to snow country under Colonel Mustang is bad enough for the damper it puts on the Elrics’ search for the Stone, but downed supply lines lead to cut rations, and Ed discovers that he can’t take the deprivation as well as he’d like to pretend.
–Never break the chain by haganenobeato | 4199 words | RoyAi BH, vague timeline | The nights were not kind to Riza Hawkeye. Sleep felt elusive following the failed operative to capture a homunculus after Gluttony swallowed the Colonel whole with Edward alongside him. Before she could gather her bearings and make sense of what was happening, Mustang’s men were transferred at different cardinal points in Amestris with herself at the center as Bradley’s assistant.As for him… he had been changed.
–Men and Angels by Laora | 56333 words | Timetravel AU | Trisha can’t understand; she’s terrified, but she has to stay calm. Her boys are gone, replaced by her sons from the future…and something, she knows, is terribly wrong.
–The Really Ridiculously Good Looking Summer Festivalby VerboseWordsmith | 45594 words | Modern!Band!AU RoyEd | Quasi-indie newcomers, Fullmetal Alchemist, just hit number one with their second single on the Amestris Hot 100 Rock chart and they’ve been added to the lineup of this summer’s Transmuted Tour.
–To Love is to Sacrificeby Konfessor2U | 6372 words | Edvy, BH | Edward is held captive as a human sacrifice and Envy is set to watch over him.
–Not in His Job Description by alightintheshadows | 1331 words | Gen, BH Post-promised day, Parental Roy | General Mustang receives visitor much too early on a Sunday morning, but he doesn’t mind in the slightest.
–Aftermath by Asidian | 32148 words | Elricest, vaguely post-series | Not even a year after Al receives his new body, Ed requests a mission that will take him far from his brother’s side. When things go terribly wrong, they must pick up the pieces together.
–Ignis Aurum Probat by writing_addict | 34827 words | How to train your dragon AU, FMAB, incomplete | Edward Elric is born early into the dead of winter, on an island twelve days North of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing-To-Death. He comes into the world sickly and small–and endlessly defiant, burning with the kind of rage that can shake the foundations of the universe. The gods themselves hear that scream, that roar of fury and thunder promising to remake the world as they know it, and wonder. Fifteen years later, Ed brings down the Night Fury that’s been plaguing his people for generations, stands over it with the perfect opportunity to make the kill…and spares it.
–Satellite by SpicyReyes | 103170 words | EdRoy, Timetravel, BH incomplete | A rogue alchemist, desperate to restore the alchemy of the famous Fullmetal Alchemist, pushes Truth into playing a new game – one that has Edward Elric waking up on the floor of his house where a transmuted abomination should have been, just in time to save his younger self and brother. He might have a chance to do everything again, now, though…He would never hold anything but bitterness for the title of ‘dad,’ but maybe an older brother could make things better.
–With Eyes Anew by Rider_of_Spades | 500 words | LustScar FMA 03 | “She’s not your second chance– she’s your first.” On the implications of being in love with a Homunculus.
–Son of the Desert by ShanaStoryteller | 10445 words | Ishvalan!Ed AU, BH EdRoy | Every time Edward sees the circle on the back Mustang’s hand, he wants to scream, wants to reach across the desk and shake him, wants to wrap his hands around the older man’s throat and ask if it was worth it, if this desk and his rank is worth the screaming, crying, writhing, burning bodies of his people-
–Tears and Rain by BeautifulFiction_FMA | 196772 words | RoyEd FMA 03 vague timeline | When Ed stops an assassination attempt on Roy’s life, he foils one of the opening moves in a massive military intrigue. Can he and Roy stay one step ahead of those who want them dead, or will they both lose the fight to survive?
–The Lost Language of Swans by Mirabella | 2258 words | Elricest, Wingfic Post-series | They smuggled Al out of Central and back to Rizembul, where they rented a small house with room for Ed’s books and Al’s wings.
–For the night has been unkind by CoolJellyBean25 | 159980 words | RoyEd PostBH AU, Incomplete | Even with the straitjacket off, Ed never feels like it’s really gone.
–conflicted by the very air i breathe by writing_addict | 149707 words | some RoyAi, BH AU, incomplete | Edward Elric vanishes after what was supposed to be an ordinary mission. A year later, Roy Mustang gets a call that changes everything.
–World without Roy by Manalfedz | 41482 words | Gen, BH AU, incomplete | Wherein…Roy tries not to freak out in an alternate world where everything has gone horribly wrong.
–A sudden alchemy by LadyMerlin | 5388 words | RoyEd Modern!Au | The one in which Roy is a Knight in Shining Armour
–A Pyramid Scheme by PhantomRose96 | 1662 words | Gen, immediately Post!BH | “Why didn’t you run?” “Sorry?” “Why didn’t you run away, Fullmetal?”
–From Ashes by JordannaMorgan | 22864 words | Gen, canon-compliant set right after the human transmutation attempt. | Edward and Alphonse had a long journey to make before they ever left home.
–Babylon by BeautifulFiction_FMA | 261096 words | RoyEd, post FMA 03 AU | Two years after retrieving his brother’s body from the Gate of Truth Edward Elric is still paying the price. Will his debt ever be repaid, or will it finally cost him everything?
–Havoc’s Foolproof Plan by 1stTimeCaller | 9187 words | vague timeline, some RoyAi shiptease. | Havoc’s love life is constantly interrupted by his womanizing boss. So he decides to try it on with the one woman who is immune to Mustang’s charm.
–The Ordeal of Being Known by budgeWrites | 20254 words | FMA 03 AU LustScar Lust and Scar both live, Incomplete | On conquering demons, remembering how to live, and coming home.
–Focus by Sevlow | 37665 words | Gen, vague timeline | Mustang, Edward, and all the other Alchemists of fair Amestris are starting to lose their grip on their own minds and bodies. The Amestrian military is in chaos as dozens of its higher-ranking officers start losing their minds to an unknown sickness.
Hey, I’ve decided to make another FMA official art collection to go with my one for FMA 03 art which I’m pretty happy about. However, I don’t have as much Brotherhood stuff saved, so this one is going to be a bit shorter. (If you have anything or have any comments for improvements. please let me know – here or on my tumblr.)
Again, I grabbed stuff from all over so I don’t have any sources saved for this – sorry! Quality of the images may be a little variable as well. I do try to only have one version of each image. And I don’t own any physical copies of anything myself either, this is all stuff I found scans of online. That said, please enjoy! Again, some notes from me in sets I’ve arbitrarily arranged for your viewing pleasure.
Click on images to view them more fully. Official art, merch, etc. Enjoy!
These are all the original DVD covers, in order. They’re all pretty lovely of course. (okay that one with Riza on her own is a little boring but the rest are great.) Hard to choose a favourite.
These are the OST (Original Sound Track) covers. Aren’t they gorgeous? I especially love the one with Ed playing the piano. I’m not actually sure what’s on that one as the full OST is covered in the first 3 CDs.
More music. Chraracter theme covers, I guess. Nice, if pretty simple.
All part of the 2010 calendar, I believe. Really likeable images here!
Awesome set, right? These are all scenes, big horizontal images with backgrounds and something going on. I just arranged them myself so it’s not an official grouping. Some of the images aren’t clean, sadly but they’re still pretty awesome and many feel like shots from a particular episode. (Though one looks suspiciously like Fullmetal versus Flame, as if there wasn’t already plenty of 03 art on that fight. Seriously there’s loads of Ed and Roy fighting in 03 official art.) My favourite is probably the one with Young Hohenheim and Ed.
Like the previous set, in that they feel like awesome scenes except that these images don’t have backgrounds. Still pretty great though. My favourite is probably the very simple Hughes/Roy image.
More images of scenes, this time in portrait orientation. I adore the one with Ed fighting Father while human!Al watches from the gate.
So, these are collectable cards from a complete set of 55, I believe. The majority of the other images from this collection are actually already in other sets (the images I have saved of them are just versions without numbers.) Some official art pieces are just used for a lot of stuff so you get a lot of versions of them. Anyway, these are very pretty, I quite like the one with Mei.
A few more cards, this time all landscape. Err, I feel like I should have all these images at a normal angle, but apparently not? Definitely some of the other images from other sets also exist in this tilted angle set.
Bizarre images that don’t seem like they’re in the canon world, but some sort of Modern!AU or something. Yeah, I love them. Especially that water gun one.
More from a modern!AU or something – this time portrait – only have a few of these. All the bizarre stuff you love from official art, that wedding one with the bouquet is gorgeous.
Some character cards, I guess. I only have four so that’s probably not all of them? Who knows. Ed’s my favourite here anyway.
Hey here’s some sacred star of Milos art! I think it has the cutest art style! Ed’s hair is spiky. I think I definitely prefer it to Brotherhood’s art style. Whereas I found tons of art for Conqueror of Shamballa in the 03 collection, I’ve seen only a little for Sacred Star of Milos which is such a shame when visually its so appealing.
Quality of images her is definitely variable.
These are a few really cool posters, each one for a specific episode. (I hope they are in fact official art – I’m not compltely certain). They’re great though I’m sure there must be more out there.
Just some main characters against a white background. Winry looks so nice when she’s laughing.
More cards. I think this is a complete set with 15 common cards and six special. I really like this set, the Lust is great and also the Ed showing off his back just looks majestic.
A different set of collectable cards and this one might actually be my bane… there’s two sets of them. As you can see on the latter half, it looks like I only have 4-8 but 1-3 don’t really match with the rest of the set. 1 and 3 are images of Edward without the words and in different style so they’re with the other Edward images further below. 2 is an image of Roy and Ed together, also somewhere below. Anyway, I can’t help but really like the Lust card. Maes is also pretty nice!
Just some other set of cards of some sort, sorry about the variable quality – I really struggled to find these! They’re clearly a set anyway. I might be missing some…
Here’s this set of extremely narrow official art posters. Don’t have a good better version of the Envy one, sadly. Ed and Al together is lovely as always.
The columns aren’t related to each other here – these are some pairs of images that go together. The Winry/Riza ones are the same, just flipped upside down. The bottom two, the silhouettes are just the backs of some of the collectable cards above. There’s actually a lot more, but they’re not too interesting so I’ve only saved the Ed and Al ones.
So, these images are all very square and I’m going to assume they’re all song covers. I know the last one is the image cover for Again, by Yui for instance. Err some other images might be for music as well mixed in with other groups, sorry.
Just images of Ed on his own. (That’s not already part of another set!) Some of them are a bit heavyhanded with fanservice…. My favourite is Ed holding an Al trophy.
These are images of Ed and Al together! There’s quite a few but I love the one with Ed with his hair in a ponytail – it just looks really nice.
Some chibi-style badge pins!!!!! They’re really cute, especially Envy. (I love when he’s drawn with greenish hair).
(Sorry they don’t all match…)Here’s some really cute merch made for a Fullmetal alchemist café. As you can see all the characters are dressed up like they’re running some sort of Café in a delightful chibi style. I adore the smiling Envy and Lust. (And this makes me imagine there’s some rival cafés all competing with each other.)
More merch. Some pretty nice Badges, hard to choose a favourite – maybe Greed?
These are just images with a pair of characters in it (and that don’t clearly belong in another set.) Lots of Roy. Okay, one is just two forms of Envy but whatever!
I like this set, it’s pretty nice. Olivier Armstrong is my favourite here.
I think these might be from a game or something like that? They all look pretty cool but especially Lan Fan, I think.
Again these cards seem like they’re part of some sort of game. Very nice with the backgrounds and everything. It’s hard to choose a favourite but I’ll go for the Ed and Al one – I can’t get enough of them even when there’s loads of it.
More collectible cards. Why do they all seem to have different backgrounds and styles? I don’t know. Roy’s got his glove in his mouth again!
Characters on their own, who aren’t Ed. Ling looks pretty cool dressed up as an emperor.
Here’s some group shots of exactly 3 people (though that one with Ed, Ling and Roy holding little pictures is kind of crossing the line…) Briggs group is my favourite here.
And now here’s group shots of more than 3 people – sometimes quite a bit more. My favourite is the one with the girls. Love how they’re holding a mini-Ed and Roy, while looking grumpy. Plus Lust looks great.
And these are all from the Prince of Dawn and Daughter of Dusk games. Both promo art and some screenshots from the actual game, I believe. There’s many more bizarre screenshots originating from these! Yeah, just imagine all the silly fanservicey stuff from typical anime injected into these games.
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And that’s the end of my collection. Thanks for viewing! As you can see, it’s still pretty incomplete but there’s a decent amount of nice art here too. If you know of any more official art pieces, do tell me! I’d love to add to this. That said, I don’t think I’ll add any stuff from anymore mobile games that may materialise. It’s not really Brotherhood.
And, feel completely free to make use of any of this art for your own purposes – it’s all official art so obviously there’s no need to credit me, I merely compiled it.
Wrath is neither my favourite or least favourite. He’s an odd character as he can be kind of annoying and I can see why a lot of fans don’t really like him. I’d rate the Untainted Child, Wrath’s introductory episode, as one of the weaker episodes in fma 03 (though the gate scene is good.)
But I also really appreciate Wrath as he is kind of powerless and didn’t exactly choose to be a villain – it was forced on him. That’s true to a lesser extent with the other homunculi but it’s especially true with poor Wrath, the titular untainted child.
Wrath’s only real memory is of his creation where Izumi creates him using her dead child’s remains and upon seeing her monstrous creation, throws him back into the gate where he is trapped within the dark abyss for years before stealing Ed’s limbs and gaining enough power to finally escape.
Harrowing as that is, Wrath intially can’t remember and is an innocent creature who just wants to have fun and doesn’t really understand humans. However, he immediately faces rejection from Ed and Al, then gets attacked by the military before finally regaining his memories just in time for Izumi to take him to the island and choke him to death (though she does change her mind).
It’s Envy who offers him acceptance and a real identity, then Sloth who takes care of him, giving him some level of motherly affection. Yeah, It’s no wonder that he chooses to stay with the other homunculi.
So Wrath poses the question of whether the homunculi are evil, if it’s just in their nature. And the answer isn’t quite straightforward. Wrath isn’t really evil so much as confused, and yet he craves red stones, which are made of human lives. At one point, Hohenheim speaks to Al, saying something along the lines of how the homunculi may start off like innocent children but overtime their desires inevitably corrrupt them. He’s not quite an unbiased speaker, of course, but the idea that their existence is literally a crime against nature, much like human chimeras are abominations, is certainly there. Nina’s existence seemed so hopeless to Scar that he considered destroying her to be a mercy kill, no act of cruelty. Indeed, Wrath’s death scene in CoS suggests he was somewhat suicidal. (I won’t discuss that any further now.)
Mostly though, Wrath’s actions are borne of rage and frustration and a desire for attention, not malice, (though he does seem to enjoy fighting Ed and Al). Izumi is a confusing mess of conflicting emotions for Wrath. Let’s say there’s a great amount of anger and hurt from her abandonment, hatred for how he was created mixed with a craving for affection and fear of her. And some jealousy over her relationship with Ed and Al. He doesn’t know how to deal with his feelings and literally just runs away when she confronts him.
I described Envy as a ball of emotion but I really should have reserved that description for Wrath because oh my this kid will fight anything. He’s like a wrecking ball that somehow manages to mess with everyone’s plans, causing everyone trouble – including himself.
When Lust decides to ally herself with the Elrics, Wrath takes it upon himself to fight her and ends up killing her. Then he is reckless enough to merge himself with Sloth – leading to her demise. Then he’s annoying Dante and Envy beats him up and then he actually ends up helping Ed while he’s fighting Envy. At no point does he consciously consider switching sides or anything, he’s always reacting in the moment.
The sheer number of characters he manages to upset just by existing and acting on his emotions is actually impressive. It’s seriously a wonder that he ends up as practically the lone survivor who gets the fairytale ending of going to Risembool to reunite with Al where Winry makes a pair of automail limbs for him.
He was forced into the role of villain but by the end, he doesn’t want to have the role anymore and becomes just a loose end.
All in all, Wrath’s story is not a satisfying one, it’s a messy kind of story that this anime seems to specialise in where not everything ties off nicely at the end. Wrath lives though. He’s lost interest in being a monster with all the other homunculi dead and he gets to continue living. It’s an optimistic end.
Wrath, like the other homunculi, was not evil, but continually manipulated and used because he was unnaturally powerful but emotionally vulnerable as a result of his creation. I like how CoS shows him having mellowed out, he’s not really happy but he’s now nice to Al and it’s implied he gets a happy end with Izumi, which is nice. He’s one of the good guys in CoS.
Death is a pretty large theme in FMA 03. Ed and Al both see a lot of death – they see their mother die, they see Nina’s remains, they get captured by a serial killer who just enjoys killing for the sheer pleasure, they almost get killed by Scar, etc.
We first see Ed tempted to take a life in Lab 5 – the Slicer brothers tried to kill him and succeed in seriously injuring him in a brutal fight. Ed emphasises with them instead, refusing their requests to ‘destroy them’ saying he sees value in human life and couldn’t abide taking a life as it’s against his moral code.
It’s the reminder of how the Slicer brothers are like Al that gets Ed to feel this empathy – it’s also what encouraged him to get serious enough to win the fight – not letting himself lose when he feels like Al is counting on him – and Al is also what prevents him from taking a life. (Contrast someone like Envy, he doesn’t have an Al – it’s one of the key things that keep Ed good and unlike the hateful, bitter Envy despite all he’s seen.)
But then Ed gets tempted to take a life if it’s Al on the line. The Homunculi threaten Al and so Ed is seriously tempted to make a stone for them, even if it means killing a group of prisoners. His love for Al is what helps him to care but his devotion is also a bit dangerous.
Ultimately Ed can’t go through with killing at Lab 5 and he later confesses to Winry that he couldn’t bring himself to do it, not while Al was watching him. (At least in the dub, I haven’t checked the sub).
But later, when Al has been kidnapped by Greed (or so Ed believes) he decides to use lethal force and ends up killing Greed to save his brother. This time, no one was watching him. When he realises what he’s done, he’s really broken up about it and it takes him some time to come to terms with it.
That said, it’s not the last time Ed kills someone. He kills Sloth, who did push him towards it with her commitment to killing the both of them. Ed’s remarkably in control about it though – it seems that killing has gotten easier for him after he’s prepared himself for it.
It an interesting development, he feels that destroying Sloth is ultimately his responsibility and accepts that, rather than running from his problems. We see him becoming a hero who can kill if circumstances demand it. He still values human life a great deal. See how he chooses to let Shou Tucker live, after observing that he’s unlikely to do much more damage. Edward is not someone who ever enjoys taking a life and he’s never done it out of anger or revenge. Mostly, he is willing to kill to protect Al.
I adore Edward’s character. He’s complex and I feel that how much he struggles really serves to humanise him. He has his flaws and I like how even his biggest strengths – such as how much he cares about Al – can also be his greatest weakness. FMA 03 in general has a lot of moral ambiguity so Edward’s actions can’t easily be placed into right or wrong but I find it encouraging how Edward always tries to be the best possible person, if only for his brother.
Roy serves as a deuteragonist to Ed and Al, being the other main viewpoint in the series. Roy is part of the military, part of the system – which is evil because the homunculi have been secretly pulling the strings and using the military state as a way to cause wars in order to sow as much despair as possible in order to obtain a Philosopher’s stone.
Roy is a man who intends to do good, as do all of his team who are very loyal to him. Unfortunately, his choices, to join the military to make a difference, led him to Ishval where he participated in a genocide.
It’s interesting to think how Ishval was presented to people such as Roy – early in the series we hear Ed’s beliefs about the Ishval massacre just being a riot which the Ishvalan people started and the Military responded. What Ed doesn’t realise is that he was being fed military propaganda. Roy would’ve been receiving lies as well to motivate his actions.
It’s perhaps a bit telling that it’s the murder of a pair of Amestrian doctors that were so clearly not monstrous enemies that really shook Roy. He has nightmares about the Ishvalans he’s killed as well but he was able to justify all his actions up to that point as just being in service to a greater cause and making a positive difference by quelling the rebellion. This act against two Amestrians helps him to realise that the whole thing was wrong and he couldn’t justify his actions any longer.
So he wants to make changes but and he believes that comes from remaining in the military to change it from within. But ultimately, he can’t make real change – the Ishvalans continue to be mistreated by the military and he’s forced to continue quelling their attempts at resistance. The situation in Liore really highlights how little has changed despite Roy’s great efforts.
Learning that the Fuhrer is a homunculus only confirms everything he feared – about how little power he has in his position despite the rank and respect. So he tries something new.
Armstrong, Fuery, Havoc, his whole team are happy to help him stage a coup while his most trusted companion Riza joins him to take on the Fuhrer directly. They are all loyal soldiers who believe in doing the right thing and they believe in Roy. That’s the one thing he has truly gained. And it makes all the difference.
Hey there, I’ve always considered this scene to be great but it seems like it’s something of an underrated gem.
(Wrath does not yet have his name at this point in the series, but I’ll still refer to him as such for clarity).
In southern HQ, a range of different groups are all after the same thing: this strange new homunculus kid. Ed and Al want to interrogate him and find out more about how he acquired Ed’s missing limbs, Izumi wants to take care of the boy she believes is her son, Archer wants to use Wrath to advance his military career, Greed wants to use Wrath as an ally against Dante and the other homunculi but it’s Envy who wins the kid over.
The reason Envy wants Wrath is because he’s a homunculus, like him. I suppose you could suggest he wants to use Wrath for his powers so Dante has another willing minion (and I believe that’s certainly a significant factor) but truthfully I’ve always preferred a different interpretation. That Envy genuinely wants to help the kid because he feels a sort of kinship with him.
The homunculi are already in a position of power, we see them dealing with Greed without too much trouble and Wrath is honestly a burden to their group with how emotional and unreliable he ends up being. Dante doesn’t take all that long to become impatient with him and rip off his human limbs, rendering him practically useless. They can’t know what Wrath will be like, but he’s nevertheless a real spanner in the works they really didn’t need. And Envy freely offers him some red stones, despite their value. Beyond that though, the homunculi are a group who have all experienced abandonment from their creators and Wrath is practically screaming for attention. It’s so easy for them to emphasise with him.
But I digress. This episode (31) is known as Sin and this scene is quite a dark one. We see Envy’s confident yet patient smile as he talks down to the lost boy, feeding him information he’s been lacking as he offers him a sort of forbidden fruit. Envy is very much like a snake, isn’t he? Well if he’s the serpent then Wrath is being offered the knowledge of good and evil. Wrath reluctantly takes them and finds they taste good. As Envy reveals their cursed properties – that they’re made of human lives, he spits them out, knowing they must be Wrong.
But as Envy begins to withdraw the offer, Wrath becomes desperate and strikes out.
Even Envy seems a bit surprised, though he’s quickly back to smirking as Wrath grimly eats them:
He calmly tells Wrath that he (Envy) is not human; he is a homunculus and reveals to Wrath that he’s the same (and for the first time in this scene, Wrath’s Ouroboros can be seen while Envy’s has been prominently visible for the entire scene. We also get a close up shot of Envy’s face with his slitted purple eyes. I adore the atmosphere and lighting and cinematography of this scene.)
Wrath collapses and he starts to go through some sort of transformation; we see his eyes changing shape and memories of the Gateway resurfacing in his mind. He starting to remember who and what he is. And then the scene shifts.
I’ll touch on the next part as well. It really completes it.
Izumi is leaning against the wall, exhausted from fighting but still looking for her child. Last she saw, he was taken by the Fuhrer. Suddenly, Wrath runs out of the room and immediately clings to Izumi, though we don’t get to see his face. What soon becomes apparent is how his clothes have changed as well – now they bear a large resemblance to Envy’s outfit.
Izumi ever so cautiously hugs him before picking him up – noting the changes and looking saddened and thoughtful. Then she looks into the room Wrath’s emerged from.
Death. It looks like Wrath has murdered the Fuhrer and revealed his true nature.
Zetalial 