Fullmetal Alchemist : 10 Reasons Why Greed and Pride Is The Best Part Of The Franchise

Fullmetal Alchemist have 7 deadly homunculi, but the best are definitely Greed & Pride. Here is why

One of the most popular manga/anime shonen stories out there is Fullmetal Alchemist, a story of pride and tragic hubris, the light and darkness of humanity, redemption, and much more. Good villains can make a story far more compelling, and Fullmetal Alchemist has plenty of those. Seven deadly homunculi represent the major sins, and the two best are Greed and Pride.

Each of them embodies major themes of this show, and they also have all kinds of cool action scenes and smart dialogue with the rest of the cast. Between Pride and Greed, which one of them best represents Fullmetal Alchemist and brings the story to life in a memorable way?

10. Greed: Redemption

In a sense, each of the deadly sins homunculi died in a manner that contradicts the sins they represent. Sloth died fighting, and Gluttony was devoured by Pride. Greed, meanwhile, died in a way worthy of any shonen protagonist: fighting for others.

By the end of the story, Greed had learned the value of humanity and the real worth of good friends, so he bravely risked himself to confront Father and take him down. It was inspiring to see Greed do a total 180 like that and give his life for others.

9. Pride: All-Powerful

The best villains are the most powerful, those that hold all the cards and force the hero to run away or find a creative solution to win the day. Pride the homunculus is exactly that villain, and not even the ultra-powerful Van Hohenheim can defeat him.

Pride embodies powers from the other six homunculi, and his true body is an enormous mass of shadows, eyes, and mouths that can destroy or devour everything in their path. For the longest time, it seemed like nothing could stop him, and that made all of his scenes tense and scary.

8. Greed: Theme Of Immortality

Why did Greed send his minions to capture Alphonse and drag him back to the Devil’s Nest? Despite being over 200 years old, Greed feared death, and he wanted to become truly immortal (like Father does).

He couldn’t crack the code just by studying Alphonse’s body, so he lured Edward into the Devil’s Nest and offered a deal. If the Elrics gave him the secret to immortality like Al’s, he’d give them leads on the Philosopher’s Stone. Though the deal was rejected, it nicely played into the themes of the entire franchise.

7. Pride: Inner Evil

Who is Selim Bradley? He seems to be King Bradley’s young son, but that body is just a hollow container for the monster within. Ed once met “Selim” and had no idea that he was face to face with none other than Pride.

This is symbolic of humanity’s darker half, where some individuals, groups, or causes appear benign or ordinary on the outside, and are horrific on the inside. Fullmetal Alchemist isn’t cynical, nor does it wear rose-tinted glasses; it sees both halves of human nature, and Pride stands for the darker one.

6. Greed: Cool Powers

All of the homunculi have supernatural powers, like Envy’ shapeshifting and Lust’s spear-like fingers, but perhaps none of them are more eye-catching than Greed’s armored form. He will use it against only the strongest of foes.

He can rearrange the carbon in his body to form a diamond-hard outer skin, and very few attacks can breach it. Greed can use this on just his hands, but if need be, he can cover his whole body, and he looks like an awesome comic book villain in the process. In some screenshots or manga panels, he looks downright terrifying.

5. Pride: Mirrors Father

Pride is symbolic not just of humanity’s darker inner half, but also of the Father homunculus that created him in the first place. He truly is Father’s son: he looks like Father’s original body with his shadowy form, and his life is similar, too.

Despite purging himself of sinful pride, Father’s plans and dialogue are still quite prideful, and they match Pride’s ideas of homunculus superiority. Both of them died in a fit of hubris, such as “how can mere mortal humans defeat me?!” This symbolizes any number of real-life empires or dictators who were taken down by the very people they looked down upon.

4. Greed: Good Sense Of Humor

The best characters are the most well-rounded ones. Whether a hero or a villain, a character shouldn’t be defined by just one trait or goal, or they end up shallow. Fortunately, Greed is quite a complex fellow.

He is vicious and ambitious, but he also learns to have a heart, and he’s a bit funny, too. He goofed off a bit during his first arc, and he’s a good sport when other people get angry at him. During the final battle against Father, Greed had a relaxed, cool, punkish attitude that totally contrasted with Pride or Wrath.

3. Pride: Sinister

Those little tendrils on Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye’s neck are Pride’s, and he sure knows how to intimidate people. Many of the coolest villains are also the most chilling or menacing, from Hannibal Lecter to Darth Vader.

Pride is like that too, being able to stalk anyone and intimidate them into seeing things his way. He was also chillingly relaxed and casual as he prepared to eat Solf J. Kimblee alive to steal his powers.

2. Greed: Humble Homunculus

Despite being selfish and sometimes arrogant, Greed does have his humble side, and this also helps make him a well-rounded character, aside from his humor. He proves that even the mighty have a few things to learn.

He was perfectly willing to share a body with Prince Ling, and he listened to Ling in order to learn how to better fight Wrath. He even refers to Ling as a friend, and he openly admitted that Pride is a “monster,” even for him.

1. Pride: Undying Evil?

Pride has an open ending, as opposed to Father’s more conclusive final fate. He was beaten into submission when Edward converted himself into a Philosopher’s Stone, and his homunculus body dissolved away.

But he appears again in an epilogue scene, as an even younger boy who doesn’t recall his life as Pride. Is Pride truly gone, or is he just biding his time until he’s reborn? It’s ambiguous in the anime, and it tantalizes the viewer. Sometimes, evil never seems to die.

10 Times Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Made Us Cry

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood may be filled with a lot of exciting action, but it is also equally filled with truly sad moments.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a rollercoaster of emotions. In just one episode, this amazing anime can make you cry tears of joy one moment and sob uncontrollably the next. Over the course of sixty-four episodes, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood tugged at our heartstrings more times than we can count. Aside from the fact that almost every character has a depressing backstory, tons of moments made us bawl our eyes out.

Brotherhood is a highly emotional story at its core and does an excellent job of hitting the audience right in the feels. Here are some honorable mentions: Ed and Al coming home, Riza’s throat cut, Roy losing his sight, the nation-wide transmutation circle activated, Hawkeye talks down Mustang, Ed and Al leaving the Portal of Truth, etc. It would be virtually impossible to list every single moment that has made us tear up, so here are the ten that stand out.

10. ED AND AL ATTEMPT HUMAN TRANSMUTATION

Human transmutation. A taboo among alchemists. Strictly forbidden. And impossible because the souls that have left this world can never be called back. Unfortunately, the young Elric brothers who lost their mother couldn’t comprehend this at the time they attempted it. They were just kids. They were alone and scared, and they just wanted to see their mom again.

The brothers researched human transmutation and attempted to bring their mom back to life only to pay the ultimate price for their transgression. Alphonse lost his whole body, while Ed lost his left leg. Watching this scene is crushing. Hearing the boys’ cries and seeing their bodies disintegrate is heart-rending. But, the moment that utterly destroys us is Ed yelling: “Give him back, he’s my brother! Take my leg! Take my arm! Take my heart! Anything! You can have it! Just give him back! He’s my little brother! He’s all I have left!” Yet, Ed musters whatever strength he has left to draw the transmutation circle with his blood and bind Al’s soul to a suit of armor. It’s too much for anyone with a heart to bear.

9. Shou Tucker turns his daughter into a chimera

The fourth episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is depressing, disturbing, and then some. The brothers meet a State Alchemist named Shou Tucker, known for transmuting a talking chimera. They spend some time at his house, conducting research, and playing with his daughter Nina and her dog Alexander.

Though it all seems harmless and sweet in the beginning, it soon becomes glaringly obvious that there’s something amiss with Tucker. With his assessment day coming up, Tucker, having nothing to show for his work, grows desperate. In the show’s most shocking and traumatizing moment, this piece of excrement father actually uses his daughter and her dog to create a chimera. This is an irreversible process, a fact that has haunted the brothers ever since. The Elrics never forgot about Nina, and neither did anyone who’s seen this anime. To say that this episode made us cry would be an understatement. Just talking about it now has our eyes filling up with tears.

8. AL QUESTIONING WHETHER HE’S A REAL BOY

In the show’s eighth episode, Alphonse Elric encounters a hollow suit of armor, proving he’s not the only one whose soul had been bound to an object. The soul bound to the armor is none other than the convicted serial killer, Barry the Chopper. In order to gain the upper hand in their fight, Barry plants a seed of doubt in Alphonse’s mind, making Al question whether he is a real person at all.

The dilemma eats at him as he suffers in silence until he finally confronts Ed about it. Seeing a wonderful, kind-hearted, and too-good-for-this-world boy like Al go through something like this breaks our hearts just as much as seeing a devoted, loving, and brave brother like Ed deal with such insinuations. It’s easy to break down into tears as these scenes play out, especially once we see that the brothers’ fight is having a huge effect on Winry.

7. The death of Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes

The death of Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes is a pivotal moment in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood as it serves as the incentive for Roy Mustang to set his coup d’etat plans into motion. While the scene in which Envy kills Hughes was certainly sad, the real tearjerker came at Hughes’s funeral. Watching Hughes’s daughter Elicia crying, while everyone else attempts to keep their emotions at bay was heartbreaking.

But, the moments that gets us every single time is when Mustang and Hawkeye are standing by Hughes’s grave alone and Mustang says “it’s a terrible day for rain” while tears start streaming down his face. It’s literally the last straw. If we weren’t crying already, this is the moment that is sure to get us bawling our eyes out.

6. HAWKEYE BREAKS DOWN

There’s something unsettling and excruciatingly painful about watching badass characters have a complete breakdown. Hawkeye is simply the kind of person you’d think can’t ever be broken, and when she finally hit her breaking point it’s all that more poignant to watch her crumble and give up.

That is what happened in “Death of the Undying” when we watched in disbelief as Hawkeye literally lost the will to live believing Lust had killed Mustang. Watching the seemingly unbreakable, stoic, and reserved Lieutenant Hawkeye get so emotional, break into tears, screaming and sobbing uncontrollably while firing god knows how many bullets at the monster hits us right in the feels. If Al hadn’t been there to protect her, Riza would have let herself get killed and that thought is terrifying.

5. ED CONVINCES WINRY NOT TO KILL SCAR

In the twenty-second episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Hiromu Arakawa pulls off something pretty damn impressive by crafting a moment that’s heartwarming, a tearjerker, and a moment of awesome all at once. When Winry overhears Elric’s conversation with Scar and finds out that the Ishvalan was the one who killed her parents, her reaction is gut-wrenching.

In a state of despair and deep sadness, she picks up a gun and points it at Scar, prompting Ed to shield her with his own body to stop Scar’s incoming attack. Ed then comforts a sobbing Winry and tells her that she couldn’t shoot Scar because her hands weren’t meant to take lives, but to save them, just as she saved him by giving him an arm and a leg. If that speech doesn’t melt your heart we don’t know what will.

4. ED PUNCHING OPEN THE PORTAL OF TRUTH

For the entirety of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, we all lived and breathed for the moment when Al would finally get his original body back so that he can be a normal teenage boy, eat all the food on his list, and live a happy life. Every time the boys would inch closer to their goal our hearts would fill with hope.

In the twenty-sixth episode, Ed opens the Portal of Truth once again and finds Al’s body there. Even though the cruel hands of Truth pull him back, Ed manages to punch open the portal and let his brother know that he is coming back for him. When Ed yells out his message and the door finally starts closing we hear the“Let it All Out” ending start to play it becomes virtually impossible to hold back tears.

3. AL TRADES HIS SOUL FOR ED’S ARM

In the final fight against father, nearly everyone the Elric brothers met on their arduous journey landed a hand in an effort to stop father from achieving his goals. With one of his attacks, father managed to destroy Ed’s automail arm, so when another attack pinned his other hand to a piece of concrete, Ed was helpless. Luckily for him, his brother Alphonse, with some help from May, transmuted his soul back to his body that was stuck in the Portal of Truth, giving Ed his right arm back.

The horror and pain in Ed’s eyes as he realizes what’s happening is absolutely soul-crushing. And Al’s subsequent reunion with his body is just as emotional. At this point, we’re crying happy tears, sad tears, we don’t even know what we’re crying for.

2. GREED’S DEATH

The most surprising hero of the Promised Day was the homunculus Greed, who not only joined the fight on the side of the humans, or as he put it – the underdog, he literally laid his life on the line to help the heroes defeat father. In a heart-crushing scene, Greed tricks Ling into thinking they’re gonna fight father together and just when Ling lets his guard down, Greed surrenders himself to father.

In his dying moments, Greed admits that all his life what he really wanted, what he was truly greedy for were friends. Ling breaks down into tears, devastated as father destroys Greed and it’s hard not to shed a tear for this unwitting hero that only wanted to have friends. Of course, the entire time this is happening “Lapis Philosophorum” tugs at our heartstrings.

1. JOURNEY’S END

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has a happy ending. While there’s certainly a lot of work to be done in order to make everything less wrong with Amestris, our heroes are, for the most part, living happier lives. Yet, when that final episode “Journey’s End” starts playing we can’t help but shed a few happy tears here and there.

The scene that truly gets us going comes at the very end when Ed narrates that iconic closing line: “There’s no such thing as a painless lesson. They just don’t exist. Sacrifices are necessary; you can’t gain anything without losing something first. Although, if you can endure that pain, and walk away from it, you’ll have a heart that’s strong enough to overcome any obstacle. Yea, a heart made fullmetal.” Shut up. We’re not crying. You are.