Fullmetal Alchemist begins with a sin. Two young brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, use alchemy to try to bring their dead mother back to life. The attempt fails, and the price is brutal: Ed loses a leg and an arm, and Al loses his whole body, his soul now fixed to an empty suit of armour. The rest of the story is their search for the Philosopher's Stone, a shortcut that seems to break the law of equivalent exchange, and the conspiracy they uncover when they find out what it's made of.
Hiromu Arakawa's manga ran in Monthly Shōnen Gangan from 2001 to 2010. Studio Bones adapted it twice: the 2003 anime, which became its own story, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009–2010), which follows the manga to the end. This guide follows Brotherhood and the manga, with notes where the 2003 version differs. The cast is big but very well organised, and almost every character mirrors someone else in a way that matters by the finale.
- Creator
- Hiromu Arakawa
- Manga
- Monthly Shōnen Gangan, 2001–2010 (27 volumes)
- Anime
- Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), Brotherhood (2009–2010), both by Bones
- Setting
- Amestris, a military state in an early-1900s industrial world
- Japanese title
- Hagane no Renkinjutsushi
The Elric brothers, family and teachers
The emotional centre of the series is small: two brothers, the childhood friend who keeps them in working order, a terrifying teacher and an absent father. Almost every big choice Ed and Al make is about protecting this circle.
Edward Elric
The Fullmetal Alchemist · Protagonist
Ed passed the State Alchemist exam at twelve, which makes him the youngest ever, and he's around fifteen when the story starts. His right arm and left leg are automail prostheses. He can transmute without drawing a circle, a side effect of having seen the Gate of Truth. He's brilliant, short-tempered and extremely sensitive about his height. Under the jokes, he carries the guilt of the transmutation that cost Al his body, and almost every risk he takes is an attempt to pay that debt back.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Romi Park / Vic Mignogna
Alphonse Elric
Ed's younger brother · Soul bound to armour
Al is a gentle fourteen-year-old living inside a towering suit of armour, which means strangers constantly mistake him for the Fullmetal Alchemist. He can't eat, sleep or feel anything, and part of his arc is a frightening question: is the boy in the armour a real person, or a memory Ed made up? He's calmer and kinder than his brother, and in a fight he's often the more careful thinker. The story treats him as a full co-lead, not a sidekick.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Rie Kugimiya / Maxey Whitehead
Winry Rockbell
Automail engineer · Childhood friend
Winry builds and repairs Ed's automail, and she's the person the brothers keep secrets from to protect, usually unsuccessfully. Her parents were doctors who were killed during the Ishval war, and when she learns who killed them, she has to decide whether to take revenge. Her choice in that moment is one of the series' quiet turning points. She's warm, stubborn and far more than a love interest.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Megumi Takamoto / Caitlin Glass
Pinako Rockbell
Winry's grandmother · Automail mechanic
Pinako is a tiny, pipe-smoking veteran mechanic who raised Winry and took in the Elric boys after their mother died. She has a sharp tongue and a long memory, including an old friendship with Van Hohenheim. Resembool feels like home largely because she's there.
Van Hohenheim
The brothers' father · Immortal alchemist
Hohenheim walked out when the boys were small, and Ed has never forgiven him. He's actually several centuries old: a former slave from the lost city of Xerxes whose blood was used to create Father, and who was given half the souls of his people when Xerxes was destroyed. He has spent that time trying to undo what he helped start. He's awkward, patient and quietly devastating, and his story with his sons is one of the most moving in the series.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Unshō Ishizuka / John Swasey
Izumi Curtis
The brothers' alchemy teacher
Izumi introduces herself as "just a housewife" and then throws grown men across rooms. She trained the Elrics on an island survival test built around the phrase "all is one, one is all." She also once attempted human transmutation herself, for her stillborn child, and her chronic illness is the price. That shared sin makes her the one adult who truly understands them.
Trisha Elric
The brothers' mother
Trisha died of illness while the boys were small, still waiting for Hohenheim to come home. Her death and the boys' attempt to reverse it set the whole story in motion, and the thing they made in her place is one of the series' most disturbing images.
The State Military and Mustang's team
Amestris is run by its army, and State Alchemists are its weapons. They're licensed, paid and sent to war. Roy Mustang's small, loyal unit is the series' second family, and their plot to reform the military from the inside runs alongside the Elrics' quest until the two collide.
Roy Mustang
The Flame Alchemist · Colonel
Mustang creates fire by snapping gloves that make sparks, and he can burn a room full of enemies in seconds. He plays a lazy, ambitious flirt, but he's a veteran of the Ishval war who hates what he did there and plans to become Führer so no soldier has to do it again. He's Ed's superior, sparring partner and reluctant protector. His hunt for Hughes's killer shows how dangerous he becomes once he stops pretending.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Shinichirō Miki / Travis Willingham
Riza Hawkeye
First Lieutenant · Mustang's adjutant
Riza is the best shot in the army and the person who keeps Mustang honest. Her father was Mustang's alchemy teacher, and the secret of flame alchemy is tattooed on her back. She has promised to follow Mustang into hell, and to shoot him herself if he ever loses his way. Their partnership is built on trust and shared guilt, not romance on screen, and it's one of the best things in the series.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Michiko Neya / Colleen Clinkenbeard
Maes Hughes
Lieutenant Colonel · Investigations
Hughes is Mustang's best friend and the series' proudest dad. He shows pictures of his daughter Elicia to anyone who stands still long enough. He's also a sharp investigator, and that's what gets him killed: he gets too close to the truth about the country's design. His death early in the story is the moment Fullmetal Alchemist stops being an adventure.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Keiji Fujiwara / Sonny Strait
Alex Louis Armstrong
The Strong Arm Alchemist · Major
Armstrong is enormous, sentimental and prone to tearing his shirt off and sparkling. He's the comic relief with a serious backstory: he left the Ishval front because he couldn't stomach the killing. He's a reliable ally to the brothers and a tender heart inside a family of iron-willed soldiers.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Kenji Utsumi / Christopher Sabat
Olivier Mira Armstrong
Major General · Commander of Fort Briggs
Alex's older sister runs the northern fortress of Briggs on a rule of pure survival of the strongest. She's cold, brilliant and contemptuous of Central's politics. She takes no side but her soldiers', which makes her an unpredictable and very welcome force in the final act.
Jean Havoc
Second Lieutenant · Mustang's team
A chain-smoking, unlucky-in-love soldier who suffers one of the series' hardest injuries in a fight with Lust. His friends refuse to leave him behind.
Heymans Breda, Kain Fuery and Vato Falman
Mustang's team
A strategist who's afraid of dogs, a radio expert, and a soldier with a near-photographic memory. When Mustang's people are split up and sent away, each turns out to matter.
Maria Ross and Denny Brosh
Military police
The officers assigned to guard the Elrics. Ross is framed for Hughes's murder, and her escape is one of the early signs of how far Mustang will go for the people under him.
Tim Marcoh
The Crystal Alchemist · Former researcher
A former State Alchemist who worked on Philosopher's Stone research during Ishval and fled in shame. His hidden notes point the brothers to the truth.
Shou Tucker
The Sewing-Life Alchemist
A chimera researcher who commits one of the cruellest acts in anime to keep his licence. The Nina episode is where many viewers realise how dark the series will get.
Ishval, Xing and allies outside Amestris
Two groups from outside the military reshape the story: the survivors of Ishval, a people Amestris tried to wipe out, and travellers from the eastern empire of Xing, whose alkahestry works on very different principles from Amestrian alchemy.
Scar
Ishvalan avenger
Scar is a former warrior monk who survived the extermination of his people and now hunts State Alchemists. His right arm carries his brother's research tattoos, which let him break matter down. He starts out as the series' most frightening threat. As he learns what his brother's work was really for, he becomes one of its key allies. His arc asks whether revenge can ever be turned into something useful, and it doesn't pretend the answer is easy.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Kenta Miyake / J. Michael Tatum
Ling Yao
Twelfth prince of Xing
Ling comes to Amestris to find the secret of immortality, which would let him win his father's throne and protect his clan. He's cheerful, always hungry and smarter than he looks. He makes a reckless deal that turns him into the new vessel for the Homunculus Greed. The two personalities sharing one body is one of the series' strangest and best partnerships.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Mamoru Miyano / Todd Haberkorn
Lan Fan and Fu
Ling's bodyguards
A granddaughter and grandfather from a clan sworn to protect the Yao family. Lan Fan's sacrifice to save Ling during a fight with Wrath leaves her fitted with automail. Fu's devotion carries him into the final battles.
Mei Chang
Princess of the Chang clan · Alkahestrist
Mei is a young alkahestrist travelling with her tiny panda, Xiao Mei, who imagines Ed as a dashing hero until she actually meets him. Her healing-focused alkahestry, which draws on the flow of the earth, turns out to be crucial against Father's plan.
Yoki
Disgraced ex-officer
A pompous former lieutenant who keeps crawling back into the story. He's played for laughs, but he gets an unexpectedly decent moment near the end.
Darius, Heinkel, Zampano and Jerso
Escaped chimeras
Soldiers fused with animals in the military's labs. After they break free, they throw their lot in with the brothers.
Father and the seven Homunculi
The villains of the manga and Brotherhood are artificial humans, each named for one of the seven deadly sins and powered by a Philosopher's Stone. Each one is a piece of their creator that he cut away and gave a body. Most of them have settled into high-ranking places in Amestris without anyone noticing.
Father
The first Homunculus · The dwarf in the flask
Father began as a tiny being in a flask, made from Hohenheim's blood in ancient Xerxes. He tricked the city into a transmutation that killed everyone and gave him a body. Since then he has built Amestris as a country-sized transmutation circle. His goal is to absorb the being he calls God and become perfect. He has cut out his own sins to get there, and the series' answer to him is that what he threw away was the point of being human.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Iemasa Kayumi / Kent Williams
Lust
Homunculus
Lust is elegant and contemptuous, and her fingers stretch into blades that cut through almost anything. She's the Homunculi's field coordinator in the early story, and her fight with Mustang and Havoc is one of the series' most memorable.
Gluttony
Homunculus
Gluttony is a childlike, always-hungry Homunculus devoted to Lust. Inside him is a failed attempt to recreate the Gate of Truth, which turns out to matter a great deal.
Envy
Homunculus · Shapeshifter
Envy takes any form, usually a sneering teenager, and loves causing suffering. They fired the shot that started the Ishval war and killed Hughes. Their final scene reveals what they've been jealous of all along, and Ed's response to it is surprising.
- Voice (JP)
- Minami Takayama
Greed
Homunculus
Greed walked out on Father long ago and openly admits he wants everything: money, power, women, the world. Rebuilt inside Ling's body, he finally works out what he actually wanted. His last scenes rank among the best in the series.
Sloth
Homunculus
Sloth is a giant who finds everything "a pain" and has spent centuries digging a tunnel under the whole country. He's slow to start and, when he finally moves, frighteningly fast.
Wrath (King Bradley)
Homunculus · Führer of Amestris
Bradley is a human man made into a Homunculus, raised to rule the country Father designed. He has no alchemy, only a pair of swords and an eye that sees attacks before they land, and he's one of the most dangerous fighters in the series. He's also the only Homunculus who ages, and he chose his own wife.
- Voice (JP / EN)
- Hidekatsu Shibata / Ed Blaylock
Pride (Selim Bradley)
The first-made Homunculus
Pride poses as Bradley's sweet adopted son. In reality he's the eldest of the seven: a living shadow that can't go anywhere without light, and the most dangerous of Father's children.
Solf J. Kimblee
The Crimson Alchemist
A human ally of the Homunculi who turns people into bombs and has no regrets about Ishval. His twisted sense of consistency makes him unsettling right to the end.
Barry the Chopper
A soul in armour
A former butcher-murderer whose soul was bound to armour like Al's. He's funny and grotesque, and he's the one who forces Al to doubt whether he's real.
Brotherhood voice cast
Several Japanese leads carried over from the 2003 series, including Romi Park as Ed and Rie Kugimiya as Al. The English dub was produced by Funimation; Vic Mignogna voiced Ed in both versions, while Al was recast from Aaron Dismuke (2003) to Maxey Whitehead because Dismuke's voice had changed.
| Character | Japanese | English |
|---|---|---|
| Edward Elric | Romi Park | Vic Mignogna |
| Alphonse Elric | Rie Kugimiya | Maxey Whitehead |
| Roy Mustang | Shinichirō Miki | Travis Willingham |
| Riza Hawkeye | Michiko Neya | Colleen Clinkenbeard |
| Winry Rockbell | Megumi Takamoto | Caitlin Glass |
| Maes Hughes | Keiji Fujiwara | Sonny Strait |
| Alex Louis Armstrong | Kenji Utsumi | Christopher Sabat |
| Scar | Kenta Miyake | J. Michael Tatum |
| Ling Yao | Mamoru Miyano | Todd Haberkorn |
| Van Hohenheim | Unshō Ishizuka | John Swasey |
| King Bradley | Hidekatsu Shibata | Ed Blaylock |
| Father | Iemasa Kayumi | Kent Williams |
For more on how dubs are cast and why the same role can sound so different in two languages, see our voice acting guide.
Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) vs Brotherhood
This is the question new fans ask most, and Fullmetal Alchemist is the classic example in our manga vs anime guide. The two series share early episodes and then go their separate ways.
Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)
- 51 episodes, plus the film Conqueror of Shamballa (2005).
- Made while the manga was still early, so it writes its own second half.
- Different Homunculi with different origins, led by an anime-only villain called Dante.
- Darker, slower and more melancholy, with an ending that leaves the brothers apart.
Brotherhood (2009–2010)
- 64 episodes that follow the manga from start to finish.
- Moves quickly through the early story the 2003 version already told.
- Introduces Father, Ling, Mei, Olivier and the Promised Day.
- A complete, carefully planned ending that pays off almost every character.
What the characters are really about
Fullmetal Alchemist is built around one idea, equivalent exchange: you can't get something without giving up something of equal value. The characters test that rule from every side.
- Ed and Al learn that the rule isn't a punishment. It's a way of living: you take responsibility for what you've done and give something back.
- Mustang, Hawkeye and Armstrong carry Ishval with them. Their arcs ask what soldiers owe the people they hurt, which links them to our guide on redemption arcs.
- Scar and Winry each have a chance at revenge and each decide what to do with it.
- Father and the Homunculi want power without a price. Each Homunculus ends up undone by the thing they lacked.
The story balances shonen action with a war story and a political thriller. If you enjoyed it, try Hunter x Hunter for another tightly plotted brotherhood story, or Attack on Titan for military conspiracy at a much darker pitch. Ed's rivalry with Mustang and his bond with Al also show up in our guide to anime archetypes.
All Fullmetal Alchemist character names A–Z
A–B
- Alex Louis Armstrong — Military
- Alphonse Elric — Elric family
- Barry the Chopper — Soul in armour
- Basque Grand — Iron Blood Alchemist
- Buccaneer — Briggs
D–F
- Darius — Chimera
- Denny Brosh — Military
- Edward Elric — Fullmetal Alchemist
- Elicia Hughes — Hughes's daughter
- Envy — Homunculus
- Father — Homunculus
- Fu — Xing
G–J
- Gluttony — Homunculus
- Gracia Hughes — Hughes's wife
- Greed — Homunculus
- Heinkel — Chimera
- Heymans Breda — Military
- Izumi Curtis — Teacher
- Jean Havoc — Military
- Jerso — Chimera
K–L
- Kain Fuery — Military
- King Bradley — Wrath
- Lan Fan — Xing
- Ling Yao — Xing
- Lust — Homunculus
M–O
- Maes Hughes — Military
- Maria Ross — Military
- Mei Chang — Xing
- Miles — Briggs
- Nina Tucker — Tucker's daughter
- Olivier Mira Armstrong — Briggs
P–S
- Pinako Rockbell — Resembool
- Pride (Selim Bradley) — Homunculus
- Riza Hawkeye — Military
- Roy Mustang — Flame Alchemist
- Scar — Ishval
- Shou Tucker — Sewing-Life Alchemist
- Sig Curtis — Izumi's husband
- Sloth — Homunculus
- Solf J. Kimblee — Crimson Alchemist
T–Z
- Tim Marcoh — Crystal Alchemist
- Trisha Elric — Elric family
- Van Hohenheim — Elric family
- Vato Falman — Military
- Winry Rockbell — Resembool
- Wrath — Homunculus
- Yoki — Ex-officer
- Zampano — Chimera
Frequently asked questions
Who is the main character of Fullmetal Alchemist?
Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. He's the youngest State Alchemist in the history of Amestris, and the story follows him and his younger brother Alphonse as they search for a way to restore the bodies they lost in a failed attempt to bring their mother back to life.
Why is Alphonse Elric a suit of armour?
When the brothers tried to resurrect their mother with human transmutation, the alchemy rebounded. Ed lost his left leg and Al lost his entire body. Ed then gave up his right arm to pull Al's soul back and bind it to a suit of armour using a blood seal. Al can't eat, sleep or feel touch while he's in it.
Who is the strongest character in Fullmetal Alchemist?
Father, by a wide margin, especially after the eclipse on the Promised Day, when he absorbs the power of the being he calls God. Among everyone else, Van Hohenheim (a walking Philosopher's Stone), Pride and King Bradley are usually ranked at the top. Bradley has no alchemy at all; his Ultimate Eye and swordsmanship are enough.
Who killed Maes Hughes?
Envy. Hughes worked out that the country itself was a giant transmutation circle, and Envy shot him in a phone booth while disguised as Hughes's wife, Gracia. Roy Mustang's hunt for the truth behind that murder drives much of his story.
What's the difference between Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) and Brotherhood?
The 2003 anime began before the manga was far along, so it splits off around its midpoint into an original story with its own villain (Dante) and different Homunculi. Brotherhood (2009–2010) adapts the whole manga faithfully, including Father, Ling and the Promised Day. Most new viewers start with Brotherhood.
Do Edward and Winry end up together?
Yes. Ed proposes to Winry in his own clumsy, equivalent-exchange way near the end of the story, and the closing photographs show them married with children.