King Bradley/History

Background
Wrath is an exception among the Seven Homunculi as he was created from a human instead of being born directly from a Philosopher's Stone. Sixty years before the start of the story, Wrath was an orphan without known family or even a name, who was raised among many other abandoned children for the sole purpose of becoming Amestris' puppet-king. They were all taught the arts of politics, military strategy and swordplay. When they came of age, they were infused with a Philosopher's Stone so that Amestris' future ruler would be part of the Seven Homunculi.

The young, nameless man who would become Wrath was the twelfth candidate and the only one who survived the transformation. He was transformed into a human-based homunculus and enrolled in the army under the name of King Bradley. Everything was planned to make him rise in ranks until he would become the dictator of Amestris.

As King Bradley
Fuhrer King Bradley makes few appearances in the first chapters of the story and episodes of the 2009 anime. First when he visits the primary protagonists Edward and Alphonse Elric in a hospital, after they have met Lust and Envy in the Fifth Laboratory, and discovered that hidden researches on the Philosopher's Stone had been led there. He advises the protagonists to be careful and to avoid the secret organization behind all these experiments.

Bradley is later seen renewing Edward's license as a State Alchemist without any examination nor test, then accompanying him back to Dublith, hoping to meet the Elrics' master Izumi Curtis and appoint her State Alchemist. There, they learn that Alphonse got abducted by a homunculus named Greed, prompting Bradley to invade Greed's bar alongside a military squad to rescue the young armor-bound alchemist. He mercilessly slaughters almost all of Greed's chimera underlings and swiftly beats Greed himself into submission, revealing an Ouroboros mark on his left eye.

Real Identity revealed
Bradley then brings Greed to Father, revealing that he is Wrath, the last born of the Seven Homunculi. Before Father absorbs Greed back, Wrath reveals that Edward, Alphonse and Izumi have been through the Gate of Truth and are candidates for the sacrifice that Father needs.

Wrath later witnesses Lust's death at the hand of Colonel Roy Mustang, but instead of finishing him off he retreats unnoticed and calls an ambulance, seeing that Mustang could make a good candidate for the sacrifice if he were to open the Gate of Truth.

When the Elrics, the Xingese prince Ling Yao and his bodyguard Lan Fan team up to capture a homunculus, Wrath and Gluttony stumble upon them and he severely wounds Lan Fan. However they manage to escape through the sewers, after Lan Fan severs her left arm and binds it to a stray dog to serve as a distraction.

Gluttony eventually gets captured and Wrath reports it to Pride, before sending Envy to free their "sibling". A short while later, when Roy Mustang tries to leak among the military High Command that King Bradley is a homunculus; he discovers that they are already fully aware of both Bradley's true nature and of Father's plan. Wrath himself scatters his faithful crew of subordinates in different affectations all around the country (not counting Jean Havoc, as he had to retire due to the injuries he sustained from Lust) and takes Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, Mustang's most trusted subordinate, as his personal assistant to keep her hostage.

Wrath then informs the Elric brothers that their childhood friend Winry Rockbell is constantly watched over as an unsuspecting hostage, threatening to kill her personally if they leave the military or step out of line. Yet he allows them to continue their alchemic researches.

King Bradley holds Mustang at the Central Command for the night, stating that he will not kill the Colonel, but will not allow him to wander, either. To ensure Mustang's cooperation, Bradley reassigns his loyal subordinates; Falman is sent to the north, Fuery to the south, and Breda to the east. Havoc is already gone, having returned to his family's home. For Riza, however, Bradley has something else in mind.

Having deduced that she is the closest and most deeply trusted of Mustang's subordinates, as well as possessing superlative skills, Bradley has decided to make her his own personal assistant. In simplest terms, she is being held as a hostage for Mustang's good behavior, meaning that the Colonel cannot make a move to defy Bradley or defeat the Homunculi without placing his "queen" in grave danger.

Apparent death
When he learns that the Elric brothers are now in the Fortress of Briggs, the next target for the homunculi's actions, he orders Solf J. Kimblee to go to Briggs with Winry Rockbell to keep an eye on them and remind them that the young girl is held hostage. However, the Elrics manage to make Winry escape and they go into hiding.

Later in the story, Wrath supervises a military display in the West of the country, until an alert about a terrorist attack in Central City, prompts him to come back to Central. It soon appears that the alert was a trap, and the bridge on which his train was passing is then blown up. From then on Wrath would not be seen again for some time.

The Final Battle
Wrath reappears in the midst of the final battle, when the troops of General Olivier Armstrong, have successfully taken over the Military Headquarters of Central. It is revealed that he predicted the explosion thanks to his Ultimate Eye and could rush out of the train to escape the bridge as it was blown up.

He swiftly slaughters all the soldiers who attempt to shoot him, going as far as destroying a tank, and attempts to enter the headquarters, grievously wounding Armstrong's subordinate Captain Buccaneer in the process. However, Buccaneer manages to take away his saber, forcing him to fight with two daggers. Greed then appears and engages a fight against him.

Wrath quickly reveals his Ultimate Eye and gains the upper-hand, but Ling Yao's elderly bodyguard Fu enters the fray. Wrath easily holds off his two enemies and wounds Fu, who then attempts to blow himself up in a desperate attempt to kill his enemy, but not to avail. Indeed Wrath cuts all the fuses of Fu's grenades in a single strike, mortally wounding him in the process.

However, Buccaneer intervenes and hiding behind Fu's body, he manages to go unnoticed even by the Ultimate Eye and impales Wrath with his own saber through Fu's corpse. Infuriated, Greed strikes Wrath on the face before he can recover and destroys his Ultimate Eye. Wrath eventually falls into the moat around the headquarters, as Fu and Buccaneer pass away with a smile.

Yet Wrath survives once again and swims underwater towards Father's subterranean lair, where an Alchemist is attempting to force Roy Mustang to perform a human transmutation so that he would see the Truth and become the fifth sacrifice that Father needs. Pride and Wrath then intervene and Wrath pins Mustang on the transmutation circle on the ground with two newfound sabers, before Pride activates the ritual and takes Mustang with him in Father's throne room.

Wrath then engages his last battle against Scar, a survivor of the Ishval genocide which was slaughtered fifteen year before the start of the story, who wants revenge against Amestris and sided with the Elric brothers after learning that the homunculi were behind the genocide.

In spite of his severe wounds and the loss of his Ultimate Eye, Wrath still drives Scar into a corner, but Scar eventually defeats him by destroying both of his arms, when Wrath gets distracted by the light of the sun after the eclipse. Exhausted and with no energy left, Wrath collapses at last, and Lan Fan appears to avenge Fu's death. Overcoming her desire for vengeance, Lan Fan asks Wrath if he is satisfied with living such a sad life and he replies that thanks to unpredictable humans like them, it was fun until the end, before passing away.

Contrary to the other homunculi, Wrath's corpse does not crumble into dust, but merely ages of about ten years, while his hair become white and his face gets covered with wrinkles and alchemy marks. Most likely, the Philosopher's Stone inside him disintegrates while his corpse becomes human again.