Homunculi of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime

This page describes the Fullmetal Alchemist Homunculi as they appear in the anime; for information on their appearances in the manga, see Homunculi of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga.

In the Fullmetal Alchemist anime series, Homunculi are artificially generated beings, retaining human physical form and mental capabilities. However, they lack a soul, and their existence is replaced and replicated, to some slight degree, with the material created from an innumerable amount of souls called "Philosopher's Stones". Ruthless and determined, these beings serve as the principal villains of the Fullmetal Alchemist series. They are manipulative, pulling the strings from behind the scenes for much of history, and cutting them when they no longer serve a purpose.

General characteristics

Each of the seven Homunculi present in the series is named after one of the seven deadly sins of Gregory the Great: Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Pride, Sloth, Greed, and Wrath. As such, some of their personality and/or character traits are defined by the sin of which they are the embodiment. They are cruel sociopaths, as one would expect of incarnations of sin, although not incapable of questioning their nature or the validity of their existence. All Homunculi bear the mark of the Ouroboros, though the location of the tattoo varies.

Homunculi are the product of attempted human transmutation. On initial creation, Homunculi do not possess human features, but rather resemble beings of decay; for example, organ piles and bones jutting out at odd angles. By feeding on Philosopher's Stones, complete or otherwise, they gain human shape, specifically the appearance of the human who they are an attempted resurrection of, as well as regenerative and other special abilities. By consuming still more Philosopher's Stones, they can extend their lives indefinitely, though they are by no means immortal.

Due to their diet of the healing Philosopher's Stone, Homunculi are endowed with amazing regenerative abilities, to the point of allowing them to return from utter annihilation. Apart from their healing power, each Homunculus is gifted with a paranormal power, which manifests itself uniquely for each of the Homunculi.

Because they serve as an imitation of life, they are weakened by the presence of the real thing. When brought into close proximity with the remains of the person that was supposed to be resurrected, they are weakened (to the point of paralysis if too close). Homunculi are also unable to perform alchemy, as they come from the other side of the Gate, where the truth behind alchemy lies.

Due to the realization that they are mere imitations of human life, most Homunculi pursue the dream of attaining a soul. To this end, they incessantly seek to create the Philosopher's Stone. As they are powered by incomplete Philosopher's Stones, they seek the power of the complete stone, and one who would grant them their one wish.

Dialogue among some of the Homunculi also indicate that there were previous incarnations of such Homunculi as Lust, Wrath and Sloth. For example, Envy tells Greed that the seven Homunculi have finally assembled "for the first time in a long time" - meaning that those Homunculi, all of whom have been created within the last ten years or so, must be new incarnations of previously created Homunculi with those names. Also, Lust tells Greed that she is the "new Lust".

Lust

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Lust, in "Marcoh's Notes".

Lust (ラスト, Rasuto) is the first Homunculus formally introduced in the series and is frequently seen dealing with various individuals to create the Philosopher's Stone. Gaining true humanity is the focal point of her ambition, arguably much more so than the rest of the Homunculi. Lust's Japanese voice actor is Yuko Sato, while her English voice actor is Laura Bailey.

Lust's Homunculus power allows her to turn her fingertips into razor sharp blades which can seemingly pierce through anything, which is why she is called "the Ultimate Lance". Her Ouroboros tattoo is located in the center of her chest.

Lust claims to have first observed the Elrics while she was evaluating the potential of the alchemist Majhal to create a Philosopher's Stone. While she was always in the background, using those like Cornello or Mugear, Lust only revealed herself to the Elrics years later during the events of the 5th Laboratory, where she attempted to convince Ed to create a true Philosopher's Stone. Lust doesn't introduce herself or Gluttony by name to Edward until they meet face to face again in Lior. Even then, she only introduces herself intending to kill Edward immediately after.

She is often directly involved in encouraging humans to seek out the Philosopher's Stone, using their desire for the stone to her advantage. Once baited, the alchemists are molded into following whatever path that best suits Lust and the other Homunculi's designs. Lust was created by Scar's brother, when he attempted to use alchemy to bring his lover back from the dead. After he was cast out from Ishbalan society as a heretic, Envy visited the wretched creature and fed it red stones, giving her human shape, and her new name. She was not the first Homunculus to bear the name of Lust, and is the third youngest Homunculus, with only Wrath and Sloth being younger.

While ruthless throughout most of the series, she changes near the end during the Lior incident as she begins to recover some memories of her life as a human, and she softens particularly towards Scar and the Elrics. But her involvement is reckless, and allowing the Elrics' escape (a locket containing strands of hair from Scar's brother's lover prevented her from acting) raised doubts about her loyalty. Lust was taken to Dante, who gave her a chance to redeem herself by helping Wrath take out Edward while Sloth abducted Al. Realizing Dante's true intentions were never to make the Homunculi human, Lust betrays Wrath and forms an alliance with Edward, under the condition that he and Alphonse use the Philosopher's Stone to help her achieve her goal of becoming human. In return, she would reveal to the Elrics the identity of her master. Her desire was never fulfilled, however, as she battled Wrath when he arrived to save Sloth from the ambush Edward and Lust set up for her. Using the locket and the transmutation circle that Lust made for Edward to use on Sloth, Wrath first immobilizes, then kills her by transmuting his arm temporarily into a blade. Before her death, Lust wonders where she will go when she dies, and if the sole reason she wanted to become a human was to die.

Gluttony

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Gluttony, in "Death".

Gluttony (グラト二ー, Guratonī) is the second Homunculus introduced in the anime, and is always eager to eat anything, or anyone, living or dead. The muscles in his jaws are very powerful and his saliva is acidic, dissolving even the toughest metals to feed his ravenous appetite. He has the mentality of a child and has a very dependent nature, and has emotionally latched onto Lust and takes directions from her. Gluttony's Ouroboros tattoo is located on his tongue. Gluttony's Japanese voice is by Yasuhiro Takato, and his English voice is Chris Cason.

Gluttony is old enough to have been familiar to Greed but young enough that he doesn't recognize Hohenheim. He is also physically very strong, with an agility disproportionate to his size, and is a powerful enough fighter to subdue a proficient martial artist like Al in seconds. Little is known of his past, though Dante said that Gluttony was created solely to make a Philosopher's Stone from those he consumed. After learning that Lust died, Gluttony is traumatized. Tired of hearing him cry over the fallen Lust, Dante transformed Gluttony into a mindless monster by transmuting the Ouroboros mark from his tongue.

Now devoted only to his boundless appetite, Dante directed him to eat Al to ensure the perfection of the Philosopher's Stone in his stomach. However, Gluttony fell victim to Al's alchemy, and his lower jaw dissolved. In the series, he is last seen trying to devour his master as she made a last-ditch effort to destroy her crazed creation, but Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa shows he survived Dante's alchemy attacks and had lived in the underground city ever since.

When first encountered in the film, Gluttony has grown nearly ten times his original size and transformed into a hideous beast. Instead of blood, Gluttony bled red water that would harden into incomplete Philosopher's Stones. Gluttony solely attacks and tries to devour Wrath when he and Al enter the city to open the Gate to the other world, but is trapped inside the Gate when Wrath sacrifices himself so that Al can transmute both him and Gluttony to open the portal.

Envy

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Envy, in "Human Transmutation," seen in his preferred form.

An effeminate figure with a dry wit, Envy (エンヴィー, Enbī) has the ability to shapeshift. Normally, he uses this power to assume the form of any person and copy their voice, but he has also shown the ability to transform into non-humanoid shapes and change his limbs into blades. Like most other Homunculi, he has strength and agility beyond what his body should be capable of. He uses attacks ranging from simple punches and kicks to capoeira-like techniques. Envy is most comfortable in the "adorable" form of a young androgynous human. Envy usually serves as an imposter who gathers information unnoticed, using his shapeshifting ability to carry out efficient assassinations. Envy's favored technique for murdering humans is to impersonate someone the target cares deeply for, and use their natural hesitation as the opportunity to kill them. His Ouroboros tattoo is located on his left thigh. His English voice actor is Wendy Powell, and the original Japanese voice actor is Mayumi Yamaguchi.

As the oldest Homunculus, Envy claims that he has forgotten what he originally looked like; this is a lie stemming out hatred for his "father", Hohenheim, whom he resembled. He hates all humans and follows Dante mostly for the opportunity of killing as many people as he can. This is what drives Envy in all that he does; unlike other Homunculi, Envy does not care about the Philosopher's Stone, nor about becoming human. His most prominent murder was that of Mäes Hughes: after his cover was blown while he impersonated Second Lieutenant Ross, Envy transformed into Hughes' wife Gracia, using Hughes' hesitation to fatally shoot him. Envy was also key in imprisoning Greed, against whom he had a long-standing grudge, within the 5th Laboratory.

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Envy's original human face, from "Death".

It is revealed in the penultimate episode that Envy was created four hundred years ago by Hohenheim in an attempt to resurrect the son he and Dante had, who had died from mercury poisoning when he was eighteen years old. Envy holds a great hatred toward Hohenheim for never being acknowledged as his son and for abandoning him and Dante. As a result, he also hates his younger "half-brothers" Edward and Alphonse as they obtained the fatherly love that Envy himself never received. When learning from Dante that Hohenheim is gone, Envy snaps at being denied his wish to kill him. The fact that the Elrics possessed the stone and would gain back all that they had lost makes Envy more bent on making them suffer as he had. However, Edward manages to see through Envy's disguises and tricks until the Homunculus reveals his true form (an imitation of Hohenheim's deceased son with Dante) and his connection to Hohenheim. That stunt is all it takes for Envy to successfully kill Ed. Upon learning Hohenheim was still alive on the other side of the Gate, Envy is able to successfully open and make his way through the doors. When inside the gate, the creatures attack him, but he fights them off by transforming into Edward, and the person he was based on. By the time he makes his way through to the other side, Envy becomes a serpentine dragon in the process.

During the two year gap between the end of the TV show and the movie, Envy is captured by the Thule Society. With Envy in his massive serpent form, the Society intends to use Envy as a literal Ourobouros to open a physical Gate and transfer their soldiers to the other side, to "Shamballa". Hohenheim is imprisoned and offered to Envy as a sacrifice; a human chew-toy to keep the "Great Snake" calm as they formulate their plans. Around the time of Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, Envy escapes, and takes shelter in an abandoned castle only to cross paths with Edward once again. In their ensuing fight, Envy is attacked on all sides by the Thule Society, who recapture him and manage to get a small regiment of soldiers to the other side for a short time. In the end, it is Hohenheim who takes his own life using Envy as his means, enabling Ed to return to his own world in a final act of redemption for his sins, sending Envy into the Gate.

Sloth

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Sloth, in "Sealing the Homunculus".

Sloth (スロウス, Surousu) is the most recently created Homunculus in the anime. She assumed the identity of Colonel Juliet Douglas, a soldier who was said to have sparked the Ishbal War by killing an unarmed Ishbal child. Through manipulation and plotting with Pride, she became his secretary, serving as his emissary/executive assistant. Sloth is hydro-kinetic and is watery in composition. This allows her to travel rapidly through water and use water-based techniques, such as drowning her victims with her limbs and making a spinning waterspout to attack. Sloth bears the tattoo of Ouroboros above her left breast. Her Japanese voice actor is Yoshino Takamori, and the English voice actor is Lydia Mackay.

Sloth was created by the Elric brothers when they tried to resurrect their mother, Trisha Elric, and is the first of the Homunculi encountered in the series, albeit in an unrecognizable form. Because of her origins, she looks exactly like Trisha, which triggers painful memories for the Elric Brothers and Hohenheim. While abducting Al, Sloth revealed how she suffers from being haunted by the memories of her "life" as Trisha, revealing that she believed killing the Elric Brothers would stop the pain and reassure Sloth that she was more than a shadow of the woman in whose image she had been created. However, she became a motherly figure toward Wrath, whose love for her was Sloth's downfall.

After taking Al away from Shou Tucker, Sloth is fatally weakened by a small container of Trisha's remains, along with a transmutation circle Lust makes for Edward that causes Sloth to regurgitate the incomplete Philosopher's Stones within her. But it is Alphonse's hesitation (throwing the remains out the window) and Wrath's intervention (in which he absorbed Trisha's remains and physically battled Lust and the Elrics) that allowed her to survive, despite being severely weakened from the loss of her incomplete Philosopher's Stones. Sloth takes over Al's body briefly, until he and Ed were able to use another circle and freeze her solid. She manages to vibrate her molecules, thawing herself from her ice form, and leaves Al's armor behind. She reveals her intention to kill them, fighting Edward until Wrath arrives after killing Lust, refusing to let the Elrics kill her and choosing instead to use alchemy to combine with his "mother" despite her order to leave.

However, as Sloth and Edward explain, Wrath has forgotten that he'd absorbed the packet of Trisha's remains, thus immobilizing Sloth as well as himself. Taking advantage of this, Edward uses the knowledge gained from his earlier battle with Greed and causes a chain reaction that converts her body into ethanol, which then evaporates into the atmosphere.

Greed

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Greed, in "Theory of Avarice ".

Calling himself the "Ultimate Shield", Greed (グリード, Gurīdo) is able to make himself impervious to harm by rearranging the bonds between the carbon atoms in his body and changing his skin into an unnamed carbon-based substance, giving him the appearance of a black-skinned demon while using his power. In terms of attitude, Greed carries himself as a rather slick character, a ladies' man and all-around arrogant fellow. His Ouroboros crest is on the back of his left hand. He is voiced by Junichi Suwabe in the original version of the anime, and by Chris Patton in the English dubbing.

Greed is the second oldest of the Homunculi at the time of the story, younger than Envy. He was created by Dante through attempted human transmutation. Greed and Envy became bitter rivals aftwerwards. At some point, he disobeyed and betrayed Dante and the other Homunculi; for this, Greed was sealed away in the 5th Laboratory by Envy. The seal that imprisoned Greed was maintained by the skull of the man Greed himself was created from.

Eventually, that skull was jarred loose by a explosion caused by Barry the Chopper in his attempt to escape from Al and Scar. The seal was further broken in a fight between Scar and Gluttony. Free, Greed attempted to recruit Wrath as an ally, but failed. He then abducted Al so he could gain more knowledge on soul transmutation; he claimed he wanted to be immortal so that he could enjoy the fruits of his avarice.

The abduction occurred in front of Dante, who was held at knifepoint by Greed's followers, who probably did not know who she was. Greed continued to operate with his followers until Kimblee betrayed them, handing over the skull previously used to imprison him to the State Military officer Frank Archer. With two of his closest friends (Loa and Dorchette) killed by Lust and Gluttony during his escape, and seeing his chances for freedom slipping away, Greed decided to wager all he had left and confront Dante. Dante, however, had made it appear that Lyra had killed her, stunning Greed long enough for Dante (now incarnated in Lyra) to activate a Flamel array to seal Greed away for good. Dante was in possession of Greed's remains besides the skull, which had their characteristic effect on Greed. Greed somehow gathered the strength to escape but he had already vomited out all the incomplete Philosopher's Stones inside his body, further weakening him for the ensuing fight with Edward.

Knowing that the only possible outcome was to be captured and sealed once more, Greed chose instead to die fighting Edward, confiding in him the secret to defeating Homunculi.

Greed's history with Dante is revealed in the Fullmetal Alchemist OVA Reflections. In a narration-form conversation that Envy and Greed have in regards to their past with Dante, Envy reveals that Greed, in his human life, was in love with her. Greed denies such a thing, having been purged of his human memories long ago, to which Envy responds with implications that Dante murdered Greed's human self and brought him back as a Homunculus for the sole purpose of testing whether his human love, and perhaps resentment, towards her would have an effect on whether or not she could control him as a Homunculus. Greed's fervent rejection of this idea reflects upon how true a story it must be: Envy adds that this is the true reason why Greed rebelled against Dante and threw himself into personifying his own sin; subconsciously, he can't handle the fact of Dante's betrayal.

Wrath

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Wrath, in "Sealing the Homunculus".

In the anime, Wrath (ラース, Rāsu) is the second youngest Homunculus. With the appearance of a seven to eleven year-old child, he has the ability to fuse his body's form with other objects, whether or not the objects are organic. He possesses the exceptional ability to perform alchemy (unlike the other Homunculi), and is unusual even among most alchemists in that he can transmute without a transmutation circle. He can do this because his right arm and left leg originally belonged to Edward Elric. He also has the ability to stretch his Homunculus limbs to great lengths, at which time his limbs take on a blue color, and appear similar to a large mass of muscle fibers. Wrath is also one of the few Homunculi who is able to age. Wrath's Ouroboros tattoo is on the sole of his right foot. His Japanese voice actor is Nana Mizuki, whereas his English voice actor is Luci Christian.

Wrath was created when Izumi Curtis attempted to transmute her dead child on Yock Island. The result was a Homunculus with its typical inhuman appearance when immature; disgusted, Izumi sent it back into the Gate where Wrath remained, aging there in the process. When Edward attempted to revive his mother, Wrath took possession of his lost limbs within the gate. The limbs eventually gave Wrath the power to force open the gate and come back to Yock Island where he lived until he was discovered. After being discovered by the Elrics on the island, he was taken to the house of Izumi Curtis. He eventually ran away and his existence became known to Envy, the military, and Greed.

Envy eventually made contact with Wrath and provided him with incomplete philosopher’s stones. On consuming the stones, Wrath became a mature Homunculus. The stones' power and Envy's words changed his demeanor from that of an innocent child's to the total incarnation of his cardinal sin, full of raw hatred and anger, especially at Izumi for creating him. Wrath was encouraged by Envy to hate Edward and attempted to take his body, so that he could supposedly absorb it and become completely human.

Unlike the other Homunculi, Wrath was created directly from the materials of the human that was being transmuted. Because of this, Wrath does not share the weakness of the other Homunculi because the remains of the original body no longer exists. However, Wrath has other weaknesses: a deep and paralyzing phobia at the sound of a wailing baby and that of the Gate itself. The human nature of his arm and leg were also a weakness. Although Wrath was affectionate towards Izumi at first, after meeting Envy, and typical of the other Homunculi, Wrath rejected his creator. He eventually adopted Sloth as his mother, probably as part of a delusion that he could become Edward by taking things that belonged to him. After Sloth's death, Wrath was inconsolable, and started talking about using the Philosopher's Stone to revive her.

However, Dante had Envy beat Wrath for it and the fearful child finally came to understand the truth about his relations to them. Wrath then attempted to revive Sloth himself, forcing Dante to summon the Gate, which dragged in the human parts of Wrath. As a replacement for Wrath's limbs, Winry fits him with automail similar to Edward's.

His whereabouts for the next two years are unknown, though he did resurface to visit his creator's grave, but appears as a shell of his former self: likely because he has no red stones to consume and accepting who he was after the events of the finale. He guides Alphonse Elric through the underground city to find and open the Gate. Gluttony, now a huge and mindless monster ravenous with hunger, attacked, attempting to devour Wrath. After Gluttony expels some red stone material, Wrath consumes it and regains considerable strength. With his new power, Wrath is able to hold Gluttony off for a short while, but then purposefully smashes his own automail in the center of a Gate opening transmutation circle, allowing Gluttony to take him into his jaws. Gluttony proceeds to bite Wrath in half. He then screams for Al to use both he and Gluttony as Equivalent Exchange to open the gate.

Al is wary of sacrificing Wrath, but is assured by the Homunculus that this was the very reason he brought Al there in the first place. Al forcefully carries out his request and transmutes the Gate, destroying both Wrath and Gluttony in the process. After his death, Wrath is seen standing in front of the doors of the Gate, which open with Izumi there to greet him. Reunited at last, the two disappear into the gate together.

Pride

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Pride, as revealed in "The Scar".

Created by Dante, Pride (プライド, Puraido) is secretly King Bradley, the political and military ruler of Amestris holding the official title of President, also called "Führer" ("King" is Pride's human first name, President or Führer are his titles). He controls the country and directs its military in secret to further Dante's ends. His true identity was discovered when Martel tore off his eyepatch after listening to his plans to start a war with Lior, revealing his Ouroboros tattoo on his left eye, which Pride covers with his eye patch. This "Ultimate Eye" gives him the foresight to see all possible outcomes of a given situation, allowing him to predict the moves of any opponent before they happen. His favored mode of attack is with his court sword, which he wields with alarming accuracy thanks to his unique gifts. Dante considers Pride her finest creation, a Homunculus who could appear to age like a normal human. His Japanese voice actor is Hidekatsu Shibata, while his English voice actor is Ed Blaylock.

Physically aging enables Pride to live among humans and even start a family of his own, with an adopted son named Selim, whose windpipe he crushes when the boy inadvertently gave Roy Mustang an advantage against him: what Selim thought to be his father's most prized possession was actually the skull of the man Pride was created from, and thus Pride's weakness. With the skull in hand Roy was able to repeatedly incinerate Pride with his alchemic flames, until at length Pride's regenerative powers were depleted and he died.

As head of the Military, Pride (under the alias of King Bradley) ruled Amestris with absolute power, though just what kind of ruler he was differs depending on the translation. In the English dub Pride appears relatively benign (in public) and seems to have the people's general support. This is supported by a conversation between Edward Elric and Roy Mustang in the episode "Goodbye", in which Ed states that if Mustang killed Bradley the people would hate him and he'd never become Führer himself. In the original Japanese, Ed says that if Mustang had stayed obedient and eventually became Führer in a more orthodox way the people would hate him, and he would never be able to use his power for reform.

References

1. ^ Original Japanese cast for the TV series/movie.
2. ^ Funimation's dub cast for English speaking nations, originally broadcasted in Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in the United States of America, also broadcasted in Canada, United Kingdom and Australia.