Edward Elric (エドワード・エルリック Edowādo Erurikku?), the "Fullmetal Alchemist" (鋼の錬金術師 Hagane no Renkinjutsushi?), is the youngest State Alchemist in history. He and his younger brother, Alphonse Elric, scour the world in search of the Philosopher's Stone (賢者の石 Kenja no Ishi?), in the hopes of restoring their bodies. Edward lost his left leg in a failed attempt to revive his mother, Trisha Elric using Alchemy, and lost his right arm in exchange for attaching Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor. Edward now employs the use of metal prosthetics, known as automail (機械鎧(オートメイル) ōtomeiru?), as replacement limbs. Edward harbors a sharp sensitivity to his short height; a recurring gag in both anime series and the manga is for Edward to overly react to people that call him short.[ch. 2] Romi Park and Vic Mignogna voice him in the Japanese and English versions, respectively.
Alphonse Elric (アルフォンス・エルリック Arufonsu Erurikku?), is the younger brother of Edward Elric. Together, he and Ed scour the country in search of the Philosopher's Stone in the hopes of restoring their bodies. Unlike Edward, who lost one of his legs in the failed attempt to revive the brothers' mother, Al lost his entire body. At the last moment, and at the cost of one of his arms, Ed sealed Al's soul in a giant suit of armor, making Al almost invulnerable.[ch. 2] Rie Kugimiya voices him in the Japanese series, Aaron Dismuke in the first English series ep.1ep.1, and Maxey Whitehead in the second English series.
Father (お父様 Otō-sama?) is the creator of all homunculi using flawed aspects of his personality, serving as the main antagonist in the series.[ch. 31] He was originally known as "Dwarf in the Flask" (フラスコの中の小人 Furasuko no Naka no Kobito?) or "Homunculus"(ホムンクルス Homunkurusu?), a shadow-like creature created eight centuries ago in Xerxes under the commission of its king to obtain the knowledge of cheating death.[ch. 74] Confined within a flask where it can thrive, Homunculus formed an attachment to the young slave boy whose blood had been used in his creation, naming the lad Van Hohenheim and enabling him to rise up the social hierarchy. However, playing on King Xerxes' desire, Homunculus tricked the king into creating a country-wide transmutation circle. Once activated, Homunculus ensured that he and the unaware Hohenheim were in the center, absorbing the souls of the population from Xerxes between them. During the process, Homunculus used Hohenheim's blood within him to create a husk body to serve as his mobile vessel before parting ways.
Solf J. Kimblee (ゾルフ・J・キンブリー Zorufu Jei Kinburī?) — the "Crimson Lotus Alchemist" or "Crimson Alchemist" (紅蓮の錬金術師 Guren no Renkinjutsushi?) — is a psychopath who delights in, what he considers, "artful destruction." He earned fame during the Ishbalan Civil War for his ruthless commitment to the Ishbalan Extermination, killing thousands of people without remorse through his unique brand of explosive alchemy. Using transmutation circles tattooed into the palms of his hands, Kimblee can make a bomb out of anything he comes into contact with after clapping his hands. Because of his effectiveness in wiping out the Ishbalans, Kimblee was given an imperfect Philosopher's Stone in order to increase his alchemical abilities. With it, he killed Scar's family. After the war ended, Kimblee, wishing to keep the Stone for himself, killed the superior officers who had given it to him, and was thus sentenced to prison for his crimes.
Dante (ダンテ?) is the main antagonist of the first anime adaptation. She is the former lover of Hohenheim, and has used Philosopher's Stones to transfer her soul to new bodies for around four hundred years. She leads the homunculi, either creating them herself, or finding them after they are created, and uses them to create conflicts in the hope of having a desperate alchemist create a new stone for her. She first appears as an elderly woman, who is the former alchemy teacher of Izumi Curtis. She fakes her death at the hands of Greed, and later reveals herself to have transferred her soul to the body of her student Lyra (ライラ Raira?), a young girl who had wished to become a State Alchemist.ep.45ep.32 She is eventually killed by Gluttony, whom she reduced to a feral state to further her own purposes.ep.51 She is voiced by Kazuko Sugiyama in the Japanese series, and by Cindee Mayfield in the English series. As Lyra, she is voiced by Yumi Kakazu in the Japanese series, and by Monica Rial in the English series.
Homunculi (ホムンクルス Homunkurusu?) serve as the main antagonists inFullmetal Alchemist. They are a group of artificially created humans who seek to fulfill their leader's goals of creating a Philosopher's Stone. Each homunculus is named after one of the seven deadly sins, and can be identified by their bearing of the mark of the Ouroboros somewhere on their body. They also possess a heightened regenerative ability, rendering them nigh indestructible, though not invincible. Aside from this, the concept of the homunculi varies drastically between the manga and first anime series.
Lust (ラスト Rasuto?), the "Ultimate Spear" (最強の矛 Saikyō no Hoko),[ch. 31] appears as the first homunculus in the series as a shapely woman who primarily works in the shadows, acts as envoy for her leader in both iterations, and encourages humans down her desired path. She can extend her fingers to great lengths, which are capable of cutting through virtually any substance.[ch. 2] In the manga, after leading an effort to capture Barry the Chopper, her plans backfire when Roy Mustang infiltrates the homunculi's secret lair.[ch. 38] Mustang repeatedly blasts Lust with flames, ultimately killing her after depleting the power of her Philosopher's Stone.[ch. 39]
In the first anime, Lust was created when Scar's brother tried to revive his deceased lover.ep.40 Though originally largely the same as her manga counterpart, Lust begins to develop a strong desire to regain her humanity as the series progresses. This ultimately leads to her defection from the homunculi, and to her aiding Edward Elric if he promises to help make her human. Wrath eventually catches up to them before he paralyzes her using a locket filled with the hair from her original form and kills her.ep.47 In Japanese, she is voiced by Yūko Satō in the first series and by Kikuko Inoue in the second.ep.1ep.3 She is voiced by Laura Bailey in English.ep.1
Gluttony (グラト二ー Guratonī?), the second homunculus introduced in the series, typically appears in the company of Lust. He is an obese, simple-minded homunculus whose thoughts rarely stray far from eating. He has powerful jaws and acidic saliva, can and will eat almost anything. He particularly likes eating people, and the only way he can find enjoyment in a battle is if he can eat his opponent afterward.[ch. 2]
In the manga, Gluttony is the failed product of Father's attempts to create a Gate of Truth. When activating this portal, Gluttony's stomach opens up, revealing a large eye at its center. His ribs spread out to act as a border for the gate and double as large extensible teeth that can consume everything in his eye's field of vision in an instant.[ch. 49] Anything Gluttony consumes is transported to a realm within himself, which is littered with artifacts from centuries before the start of the series.[ch. 51] In the ensuing battles, the energy in Gluttony's Philosopher's Stone is exhausted, leaving him unable to revive himself.[ch. 56] Father later restores him and sends him and Pride to capture the Elrics.[ch. 86]When his Philosopher's Stone nears depletion in the attempt, Pride eats Gluttony to gain his abilities.[ch. 87]
The first anime explains Gluttony's origins as a way to produce imperfect Philosopher's Stones, the souls of the people he eats being condensed into red stones. After learning of Lust's death, Gluttony becomes deeply depressed. To stop his incessant crying, Dante transforms him into a mindless eating machine, an act that ultimately backfires when he eats her.ep.51 He appears again in Conqueror of Shamballa, having transformed into a large, multi-limbed monster since his appearance in the first anime. He exclusively attacks Wrath during the movie, the battle leading to Alphonse Elric sacrificing the two upon Wrath's demand, in order to open the Gate to Earth so that Edward can return home.[8]Yasuhiro Takato voices him in the first Japanese series, and Tetsu Shiratori in the second.ep.22ep.3Chris Cason is his English voice actor.ep.22
Envy (エンヴィー Envī?) is the third homunculus to appear in the series. Envy is a homunculus who can change into any being at will. When not in disguise, Envy prefers the form of an androgynous young teenager. Because of his ability, Envy usually acts as infiltrator for the other homunculi, often assuming another's identity in order to gain sensitive intelligence.[ch. 6] Envy enjoys violence between humans, having shot an Ishbalan child, sparking the resulting civil war.[ch. 51]
In the manga, Envy's natural form resembles that of an enormous demonic creature, composed of citizens of Xerxes.[ch. 53] After Lust's death, Envy replaces her as the homunculi's messenger. While on a mission to personally captureDr. Marcoh, all of the souls composing Envy's true form are destroyed in the ensuing battle, reducing Envy to a tiny parasitic creature that is revealed to be Envy's actual original form.[ch. 79] Envy is then handed over to May Chang in a mason jar for her to take back to Xing, but Envy instead convinces her to return to Central,[ch. 80] allowing Envy to recreate its body by absorbing several super-soldiers powered by Philosopher's Stones. Soon after, Mustang confronts Envy and, upon learning that Envy was Maes Hughes' murderer, incinerates Envy until it is rendered to its parasitic form once more.[ch. 94] After Edward sympathizes with Envy over the jealousy it feels towards the strength of humans, Envy commits suicide by tearing out the Philosopher's Stone at its core.[ch. 95]