Pride

Pride (Japanese:プライド, Puraido) was the first Homunculus created. Much like Sloth and Wrath, the role of Pride is two different characters in the 2003 anime and the manga.

In the manga
In the manga, Pride is the first Homunculus that Father created. Ironically though he is the youngest looking. He has the identity of Selim Bradley, King Bradley's adopted son. He is the most powerful of the Seven Homunculi and seemingly the highest ranked, as he is seen giving orders to Sloth and Envy. Thus, he is generally respected by the others. He is extremely cruel, ruthless and devoted to Father's cause. He refers to his enemies as "mister (plus a nickname)" in mocking respect and often makes big smiles and casual talks before attacking. He has also proven himself to be very clever and resourceful.

It appears he visits the Homunculi lair very rarely since the Lin Yao that was Greed said he saw two rare things happening in one chapter: Pride coming to visit and Father sleeping, dreaming about his creation.

At first Pride remains hidden, and only his voice is heard when he talks to (or rather scolds) other Homunculi. "Selim Bradley" reveals his identity to Riza Hawkeye in chapter 70. Shortly after, he has a short fight against Hohenheim in the tunnel for the country-wide transmutation. During later chapters, he personally enters the fray helped by a newly reborn Gluttony. He captures Alphonse Elric and takes control of his armor with his shadows, using him to lure Edward Elric. He and Gluttony then engage a fight against Ed, Greed, Darius and Heinkel, and soon joined by Lan Fan and her grandfather Fu, during which he devours Gluttony gaining his appetite and his sense of smell. He soon overpowers all his foes, but he is ultimately trapped alongside Al in a huge domed jail of earth by Hohenheim.

Now unable to use his powers because of the absolute darkness in this jail, he and Al had a discussion about being human where he admits to be truly fond of his adoptive human mother. This, and his apparent closeness with Wrath

seems to show that he is not entirely devoid of human feelings. Yet he may only be pretending, as he shows no compassion towards Gluttony, cynically referring to him as a "part of a system" instead of a sibling.However, by banging continuously on Alphonse's helmet with a stick, Pride sent a message in Morse code to Father who summoned Solf J. Kimblee to his location. There, Kimblee's alchemy set Pride free, severely wounding Heinkel in the process. This engaged another struggle with Pride and Kimblee against Alphonse (with a Philosopher's Stone), Tim Marcoh and a healed Heinkel. When his opponents managed to flee, Pride was left with a dying Kimblee whom he devoured, further enhancing his power to a yet unknown extent and gaining a third Philosophers stone.

In chapter 101, Pride reappears in Father's subterranean lair, confronting Roy Mustang's group alongside Wrath. He rescues the Alchemist Doctor from Jelso's grasp only to stab him with his shadows shortly after. He then activates the transmutation circle, where Wrath has trapped Mustang, making the Flame Alchemist the final Sacrifice needed.

He is now facing the candidates for the Sacrifice and May Chang alongside his Father, ready for the final showdown.

Powers and Abilities
Aside from the Homunculi standard powers, Pride's abilities lie within his shadow, which resembles the original flask-contained form of Father. He can destroy or manipulate everything that comes in contact with his shadow. He can also see and talk through his shadowy eyes and mouths wherever his shadow can extend, an ability he uses to watch over the transmutation tunnel, slaughtering anyone who enters it.

His shadow has limited mobility, only being able to appear in the surroundings of his human body (Selim) and in the circular transmutation tunnel around Amestris. It also cannot appear without a light source and can be harmed when light becomes too bright. His perhaps most powerful ability is that the shadow itself can consume living things, to assimilate the abilities and strengths that his victims may have, along with their corresponding weaknesses (i.e. after devouring Gluttony, Pride gained an enhanced sense of smell along with Gluttony's ravenous hunger). From this, it is fair to assume that Pride can now open his own version of Gluttony's fake Gate of Truth. As Pride activated a transmutation circle with his shadows at the end of chapter 101, It is also fair to assume that having absorbed Kimblee enables him to perform Alchemy. However he haven't used yet the deranged alchemist's signature explosive attacks.

In the 2003 anime
In the anime, Pride is the true identity of King Bradley, the "Ultimate Eye". His eye, usually covered by an eyepatch, allows him to see everything, even the air in a room. This allows him to have amazing reflexes and speed, as he is able to see what his opponent is planning and where they will move. His weapon of choice is the sword, which he wields with great proficiency. Because he ages like a regular human, Dante considers him her greatest creation, a title he is very proud of. Because homunculi cannot reproduce he was given a family to keep up appearances: his son, Selim Bradley, and a wife. When Roy Mustang discovers that Bradley is a homunculus, Pride gives Selim the skull of his original body to be kept safe. When Selim unknowingly brings the skull back to him during his battle with Mustang, he is severely weakened by its presence. Out of anger he strangles Selim to death, but this weakened state allows Mustang to kill him by repeatedly setting him on fire, similar to how Roy killed Lust in the Manga. The Bradley that was Pride was the fourth of the Homunculi to die.

Trivia

 * According to the second official Fullmetal Alchemist guide book, Pride is the first Homunculus to be created by Father, he was created before History was even recorded.
 * In a sense Pride's shadow powers are an amalgamation of all the other Homonculi's abilities. His shadow can pierce or cut through almost anything (Lust), is invulnerable to conventional physical harm (Greed), can assume many forms or even possess the bodies of others (Envy), has great strength over physical objects (Sloth), can consume or devour anything apparently integrating them into Pride himself (Gluttony), and can see things far beyond the range of his main body's human eyes (Wrath).
 * Pride has two different voices for each of his identities. When acting as Pride, he has a metallic sound to his voice, and when he is Selim, he has a normal child's voice.
 * Pride is, as of yet, the only Homunculus whose Ouroboros has never been revealed.
 * Apparently, the name of Pride is given to the strongest of the Homunculus.