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is a Fictional Character and main Protagonist in the Anime and Manga series '' Fullmetal Alchemist '' created by Hiromu Arakawa in 2001. CHARACTER DESCRIPTION Edward "Fullmetal Alchemist" Elric is a young Alchemical prodigy. He is the youngest State Alchemist ever to be recognized by the Amestris State Military, having received the title at the age of 12. Ed's primary motivation throughout the series is to return his younger brother, Alphonse , to his original body, which was lost in a failed human transmutation. Edward, despite his occasional bouts of immaturity, is a selfless boy who gains a reputation as a "hero of the people" throughout his youth. Notably, he doesn't seem concerned about returning his own arm and leg, instead focusing entirely on Al's suffering. His State Alchemist codename, "Fullmetal," was given to him by Fuhrer Bradley, upon passing the State Alchemist certification. He refused to allow his brother to complete the test, fearing it would endanger Al, and also because he believes he is the only one who should have to bear the title of a "dog of the military." Bradley thought it was an appropriate title considering his Automail arm and leg. This could also be seen as a playful knock on the boy, seeing that his brother Alphonse is the one who is truly "full metal," and the name would thus cause many cases of mistaken identity. State Alchemists are not always named for what they are, but usually for outstanding achievements in alchemy and any special alchemical traits. Ed is short and slender, but compactly muscular. He has golden-blond hair and gold eyes. His body is that of an experienced martial artist, with noticeable muscles and a wealth of agility. Although he lacks both his right arm and left leg, Ed's ability to fight is not impaired, and is in fact improved, as he will often use alchemy to cause his metal arm to partly transform into a blade or shield. His heavy automail limbs are considered by him to be the very best in Amestris. They were made by his childhood friend, Winry Rockbell , and she is constantly working on them. He is able to think quickly, even in desperate situations, though can still be frightened into paralysis. These qualities, combined with his alchemical powers and physical strength, make him a formidable fighter. Ed is sensitive about his height, and overreacts to even innocent comments about it. When Ed is not out on a mission for the Philosopher's Stone or an odd job for Roy Mustang, he is a kind, laid-back person. However, regardless of whether or not he is on the job, Ed can hold a grudge for an eternity, and will go to extreme lengths to get an apology. Ed is extremely idealistic -almost to a fault- and strongly believes in the theory of "equivalent exchange." He doesn't believe in God, and he thinks that alchemists are the closest things to gods. He shows little remorse in defeating the false prophet Cornello in Lior and "taking away the hope of the people," although he does show more compassion when dealing with the religious Ishbalans. Ed inherited his hot temper from his father, because Hohenheim (in manga volume 11, chapter 42, the father standing before a grave) says that "He's exactly like me when I was his age," referring to Edward after he got mad at his father and stomped off. His teacher, ( Izumi Curtis ), and his grudge about their father forever leaving their mother may also contribute in his hot temper, especially about his father. Edward is a very powerful alchemist who, unlike most practitioners, can perform alchemy without the use of a Transmutation Circle , also known as an Array . In the anime, he first discovered this skill when taking the state entrance exam, saving a man's life by turning a falling hot air balloon into a shower of cherry blossom petals (he did, however, once do it by accident when Gracia was giving birth and he boiled a pot of water without a transmutation circle), In the manga, however, Edward's first transmutation done without the use of a circle was when he just finished sparring with his brother (when he was finally able to fight with his automail) and he said that he hadn't used alchemy since the day he transmuted Al's soul. He then clapped his hands and he turned his automail into his famous blade. Whenever an alchemist is seen doing a transmutation without a circle in the anime, the transmutation starts by clapping his or her hands together (except in the case of Wrath , who fuses with the object being transmuted). Alchemists with this ability includes Edward, Izumi Curtis , Wrath, Dante and Hohenheim . Edward does this in such a way that his arms form a circle, effectively making his body the missing transmutation circle. History Edward Elric's story began in February 1910, when he and Alphonse Elric , his younger brother, attempted to resurrect their dead mother by a forbidden act of alchemy: human transmutation. The process requires the correct proportion of elements that constitute a human body, (according to the dialogue, this includes 35 liters of water, 20 kilograms of Carbon , four liters of Ammonia , 1.5 kilograms of Lime , 800 grams of Phosphorus , 250 grams of Sodium , 100 grams of Saltpeter , 80 grams of Sulfur , 7.5 grams of Fluorine , five grams of iron, three grams of Silicon , and trace amounts of fifteen other elements), as well as the more metaphysical element of a human soul, which is rendered by Ed and Al through a drop of one another's blood (the same blood as that of Trisha Elric). The attempt backfires, resulting in Al losing his body, and Ed his left leg, as well as bringing to life an inhuman monster. In order to save Al's soul, Ed sacrificed his right arm to bind Al's soul to a nearby suit of armor, using knowledge he attained from this glimpse into the Gate Truth . Unbeknownst to Ed at the time, he also gained the rare ability to perform transmutations without a circle. In order to regain what they had lost, Ed and Al decided to search for the legendary Philosopher's Stone, which allows an alchemist to perform transmutations that violate the Law of Equivalent Exchange (which states that in order to gain, something of equal value must be lost). To gain access to the vast amount of research and information on alchemy, available only to State Alchemists, Ed and Al decided to take the notoriously difficult State Alchemist entrance exam. They stayed for a year in Central with Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist, while studying for the exam. Note: This is in the anime only. The stay with Tucker came after the incident in Liore in the manga. In the manga, the brothers went to Mustang after Ed got his automail. Mustang took them to Central, and only Ed took the test. He passed, and they returned to Resembool and burned their home down. In the anime, they stayed with Tucker while studying for the exam, and had burned their house down before they left. That explains why the date on the inside of Ed's watch is different between the two canons: in the anime, it's "3 Oct 10" and in the manga is "3 Oct 11." However, because the brothers feared that their secret, the performance of human transmutation, would be exposed during the physical phase of the exam if Al were to take it, they decided that only Ed would take it. Ed easily passed, and, at the age of 12, became the youngest State Alchemist that the State has ever certified. After passing the alchemy exam, Edward and Alphonse set out to look for the Philosopher's Stone. Since the Stone allows the owner to bypass the laws of equivalent exchange, Ed and Al believe that locating the stone will enable them to regain what they have lost in their failed attempt to resurrect their mother. In an effort to help the Elric Brothers in this quest, Mustang (Ed's superior officer) issued orders to Edward to conduct an alchemical investigation into the Philosopher's Stone. This allowed Ed to use his military position to legitimately search for the stone without raising suspicion among other officers in the military. Edward Elric was born in the winter, as stated by Hiromu Arakawa, at the end of manga volume 12. She also says that it is normal for winter to last up to six months in Japan. Many people think that he was born in the year 1899; it is never stated if that is true or not. Ed's parents are Hohenheim Of Light, Known In The Manga As Van Hohenheim, and Trisha Elric . His birthday has never been specifically stated in either the manga or the anime. Hohenheim left the family while Ed was very young, for reasons later revealed in the series. In the anime At the end of the series, when Edward is killed by Envy, who was a Homunculus who was created by Hohenheim of Light, Al uses the power of the Philosopher's Stone (contained within himself) to heal Ed's body and to reattach his soul. The revival, however, uses up the all of the Stone's (Al's own body) power. Al appears briefly at the gate and then disappears. After being revived, Ed discovers that he had regained his arm and leg, but decides to risk everything to bring back his brother. He then pulled Alphonse's soul and original body out of the Gate and reassembled them in exchange for his own life if necessary. As a result, Ed ends up on the other side of the gate, which is our world. He is living in Pre World War II Munich with Hohenheim. Hohenheim appeared to have been in London for some time, despite a relatively short passage of time between his being sent there by Dante in the anime, and Edward's arrival there. Hohenheim later offers the theory that the bonds formed in the four years the brothers spent on their quest for the stone served as the equivalent exchange in the transmutation (rather than Ed's life, as he intended). Hohenheim also said, in an earlier episode, that one way for the Elrics to reclaim what they lost is to give up what they had gained. The death of Sloth, the Homunculus born when they attempted to transmute their mother, had given back a portion of what they had gained. In Al's case, he loses all the memories he had of the time he spent in his armored form and reverted to exactly how he was, body and all, before the failed transmutation of their mother. Ed, on the other hand, could not keep his arm and leg because he gave them up in exchange for the soul of Alphonse. In the manga Ed goes home to Resembool to find Hohenheim, his father, standing at his mother's grave. After a brief argument, Hohenheim and Ed walk to Pinako's with Ed hostile and belligerent towards his father. While Ed pretends to be asleep, he overhears his father questioning Pinako on whether the body Ed and Al created by transmutation was Trisha revived. This question spurs Ed's curiosity, and after Hohenheim leaves the next day, Ed asks Pinako to go with him to where Pinako buried the failed Trisha, to dig up the body he and Al created so many years ago. He starts throwing up and has to take several breaks while digging, but eventually pulls up a lock of hair; black hair instead of brown. Pinako also points out that the bones aren't the same length as Trisha's were. So Ed learns that they didn't even bring back their mother, but brought back something entirely different. Ed goes to central to find Al is missing his lower "jaw" and his right arm of his suit of armor. After Ed repairs Al, he finds out Al had a run in with Barry the Chopper and the Homunculi, but also finds out that Al learned that the soul, when not placed in its original body, can reject the substitute body, just as the human body can reject organ transplants. This rejection may occur within seconds of the soul being placed on a new body, or may not occur for hundreds of years, but rejection is inevitable. He tells Al and Winry, after asking about an incident when they were five, that he is confirming the memories Al has that Ed doesn't have. Al and Winry allude to a moment when Ed was unconscious and fighting a fever after surgery when Winry walked in on Al, who was "resting," and they talk. Only, when Al and Winry allude to the conversation, it sounds almost like they played multiple pranks on Ed, causing Ed to become irritated and ask them to stop talking. When they get back to the conversation at hand, Ed theorizes that Al's body is with Truth inside the gate and that it's still alive and possibly connected through Ed and Al's blood to Ed. (That he is sleeping, eating, etc. for the both of them.) Al's brain is still alive inside a body that's still alive and it is collecting the memories since Ed transferred Al's soul to the suit of armor. At this point, Al also remembers when he opened the Gate of Truth, he found himself in there, rather than his mother, as he expected. He also realized that his soul was placed on the body that he and Ed had transmuted, and even saw Ed from the body's eyes. However, rejection took place almost immediately after his soul was placed onto the body. As a side note, because Al's body is biologically connected to Ed, Ed has enthusiastically hypothesized that he may grow taller once Al's body is recovered since he won't have to eat (or grow) for both bodies. Ed and Al eventually figure the only way they're going to catch a Homunculus (and the Philosopher's Stone within them) is to let Scar attack them, and tries to attract Scar's attention. While, planning this, Ling overhears them and volunteers to help. Ed does a series of do-gooding around town (while showing off as much and as loudly as possible to get Scar to notice him) and eventually succeeds. A fight between Scar, Ed and Al ensues, with Mustang and Hawkeye diverting attention from them by redirecting the military vehicles to different places away from where the real fight is happening. In the meantime, though, Ling has found Gluttony, and is fighting off King Bradley, who severely damaged Lan Fan's arm. Ling finds out the King is a Homunculus and starts too run. Bradley then sends Gluttony off to catch Scar. Winry goes looking for them and ends up overhearing Ed accusing Scar of killing Winry's parents. She picks up the gun an officer dropped and points it at Scar, only to have Ed jump in front of her and tell her to drop the gun while Scar descends on him from the front. When Scar sees this, he hesitates, remembering his own brother protecting him from Kimblee's attack during the Eastern War. Seeing his hesitation, Al attacks Scar, driving him away from the two. Ed puts Winry in protective custody and leaves to help Al. Just as Gluttony appears, Ling sticks a grenade in his mouth. Scar, who is confused from this bloody mess, is shot by Hawkeye. Then, Ling ties up Gluttony and jumps into a car that Riza Hawkeye is driving. Ed and Al decide to finish Scar off, but Mei Chan comes to the rescue, dazing Ed and Al and escaping with Scar. Bradley sees Ling with Hawkeye and sends Envy to retrieve Gluttony. Winry is going back to Rush Valley once more. Mustang recruits the help of an old friend Dr. Knox and goes to a refuge house where Gluttony is being held. Gluttony escapes his bonds and tries to suck up Roy and everyone else into his "gate" of a stomach. Dr. Knox, Lan Fan (who cut off her arm to get away), and Mustang escape while Ed, Ling an Al try to calm Gluttony down. Envy appears on the scene and orders Gluttony to suck up Ling. He ends up sucking up Envy, Ling and Ed, instead, and Al's left hand. Ling and Ed find Envy eventually and Envy actually tries to be nice to Ed, however, it all backfires and Envy turns into his true form. The tortured souls in Envy's natural form cause Ed to have a semi-nervous breakdown (he cannot bear to hurt them and flashes back to Nina for an instant). Envy then attempts to swallow him. However, after seeing pieces of the Cselkcess ruins in Gluttony's stomach and the Philosopher's Stone that is Envy's center, Ed kicks out one of Envy's teeth and tells Envy and Ling that he knows a way they can escape from Gluttony's stomach. In the recent chapters, Ed realizes that while human transmutation is impossible since equivalent exchange requires the existence of the soul in question, it is possible to open the Gate of Truth by transmuting existing humans using themselves as the starting materials. This does not violate the rule of equivalent exchange, but is still a form of human transmutation, and so can open the Gate of Truth. Using the Philosopher's Stone inside Envy as the "Toll," Ed successfully transmutes himself, Envy, and Ling, and opens the Gate once more. This time, he sees a second Gate, as well as an emaciated Alphonse sitting in front of the second gate. Ed yells for Al's body to come with him. However, Al's body tells Ed that he cannot go back to the real world with Ed. Al's soul must be present at the Gate in order for Al's body to return. Ed is then swallowed by the hands reaching out from the Gate of Truth, and he, Envy, and Ling fall out of Gluttony's stomach, and in front of the Homunculus' "Father," who bears a startling resemblance to their own father, Hohenheim. They were unable to fight "Father", because somehow their alchemy was sealed. In the meantime, Ling is turned into the Homunculus Greed. Ed and Al help Mei Chang to escape but Scar stays behind. He wanders around, while Father doesn't know where he is or if he was still there. Later, the brothers are sent to meet King Bradley, who tells them to stay out of their affairs, if they want to guarantee Winry's safety, but he also agreed to let them continue their search for a way to restore their bodies. Intrigued by the fact that his alchemy was nullified by "Father", but Scar's and Mei Chang's were not, Ed concludes that it must be because their alchemy has a different origin than his. He decides to look for a way to obtain knowledge about foreign alchemy. In a later chapter, in manga 16, the Brothers travel to Briggs to search for Mei Chan, and after being caught and investigated by Major General Olivia Armstrong , they speak about their circumstances to her, without letting on about the condition of the top military ranks. At the end of manga 16, Sloth makes a crack in the lower floor, while he was digging an underground tunnel that enveloped Amestris' border. This caused him to unintentionally appear in the base lower level, causing huge panic. When the Elric brothers saw him, they thought at first that Sloth was there to watch them, but it's revealed that he was there simply by coincidence, and that he had no knowledge of the Elrics. Incidentally, Major General Armstrong is the only person apart from Izumi Curtis that the Elrics actually fear - when she calls Ed a "red shrimp", in chapter 66, he makes no protests whatsoever. Then again, in that situation, the Major General was approaching him and Alphonse in a tank, which may have provoked the show of fear, but in chapter 65, the Major General threatens to "tear off that stupid antenna", where Ed is shown to picture himself as a rabbit and the Major General as a bear. Unfortunately for the Elrics, because of their "friendly" conversation with Sloth, they were thought to be spy by the troops in Briggs and were nearly killed. However, after Edward saved one soldier from being crushed by debris, Olivia chose to trust him, even though she knew that Ed didn't tell her everything. She even asked the Elrics to help her troops defeat the Homunculi. While investigating the tunnel he created after they subdued Sloth, the Major General finally manage to coerce the Elrics to speak about everything they knew. Ed and Al explained everything, including the fact that King Bradley was actually a Homunculus. She also managed to find out from them that Amestris was surrounded by a huge transmutation circle, with major bloodshed and war located at the major pints of the circle, similar to the human transmutation circle in Laboratory 5. Only one point wasn't "stained" yet: the northern territory, especially Briggs. Surprisingly, not long after, Lt. General Raven arrives in Briggs, bringing along Zolf J. Kimblee who was released from jail. Edward suggested to divulge information from him, a risky feat that could only have been done by Olivia. After that, they were "put into custody" for "treasoning and suspicion of spy activity", to conceal their status, but not before Ed created a secret passage to the tunnel, just in case the main hole got sealed. In chapter 69-70, it was shown that Winry, by military request, was asked to help fit Ed into cold-weather his automail. She apparently doesn't seem to know anything about her being used as an unwitting hostage. In this chapter, it is also shown that Raven is try to makes the brother cooperates, by telling that Olivia is agreed to working with Central. In chapter 70-71, Kimblee is passed orders from the Fuhrer, as a state alchemist, to hunt down Marcoh and Scar, and to "''Carve a bloody crest upon Briggs''" with Ed, but he refused to do it. He said to Kimblee that, even though he's a military dog, he had resolved NOT to kill. However, when Kimblee shows that he will reward Ed with a philosopher stone (the one he used in Ishbal, and the one he stored for long), Ed finally agrees, with one condition: he'll going hunt Scar first, to "avenge Winry's parents", and that Winry will be informed about her current status as hostage. However, it is revealed that the brothers never wanted to have the stone that had been made from innocent lives. Instead, they used this chance to run away from both Briggs' authority and Kimblee's party, together with Winry, who forced herself to going together with the brothers, ("just in case if Ed's automail got broken"). In short time, and with some luck, they managed to meet Dr. Marcoh and Mei Chan. In chapter 72, the brothers then found Scar when he was cornered by two Central Army's chimeras. However, when the chimera's ask for their help, the Elric brothers simply just beat them, "falsely accused" them as "ugly monsters". During this fight, Ed managed to find that the automail he received had been reduced in weight, enables him to move very swiftly ("It's like my hand and legs had wings attached! Frigid-custom automail is so sweet!") much to his joy, however, the chimera beings excreting a glue-like mucas, in an attempt to trip him up. Ed then figures out the mucas's make up, he dives under the chimera, and transmutes the mucas to water. Because the chimera is covered with access mucas, and being that mucas is made mostly of water, the water begins to stick to his body, Ed then pushes Al against the chimera gluing them both together, unabling them to move. Another chimera then attempts to convince Edward that are indeed with the military, nonetheless, Ed knocks him out as he lowers his guard. However, Scar still fights the Elric brothers, but before he manages to take them down, he sees Winry, throwing him off guard, the brothers take advantage of this, and manage to capture him. After the battle, Miles manages to find them, telling them that Brigg's authority fully supports them, and the General Raven is "currently missing in action". During this, its revealed that Winry finally can settle some of her feelings toward Scar (even though she states that she hasn't forgiven him yet), Miles talks about why he joined the military despite his Ishbalan bloodline. In the last panels, Scar is seen escaping with Winry, when Ed is scolds Kimblee (who already arrived on the scene) about letting Winry go. In chapter 73, it was revealed that Winry is offering herself to be Scar "hostages", to release her from Kimblee's grasp and to cover Briggs party tracks. Ed furiously rejected this idea, but when Kimblee came near, and Winry wouldn't budge from her determination, Ed finally grudgingly agreed, stating Fu that "to gain your target, ones must not bothered by other small things". Before parting, Winry leaves her earrings to Ed. In chapter 74, Ed is seen explaining about the Crimson alchemist ability toward briggs troops. He ascertain that eventhough his alchemy can only function when he clapped his palm, but the fact that Kimbley had philosopher stone is bothered him (since it might possible for him to do alchemy without creating transmutation circle first, like Cornello). Powers and abilities Ed has the ability to create alchemical currents in his body when he connects his hands, because he saw the Gate, the source of all alchemical knowledge (and apparently, all knowledge that exist). With this, he can perform alchemy without the use of transmutation circles traditionally used by other alchemists. He commonly uses this power to change the shape of his metal arm into a blade or to make weapons from the areas around him. Along with Ed's Alchemical powers, he is also a very skilled hand-to-hand combatant, often sparring with his brother to hone his skills. TRIVIA
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