Alphonse Elric

Alphonse Elric (アルフォンス・エルリック, Arufonsu Erurikku) is the secondary protagonist of the Fullmetal Alchemist series. The younger brother of Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, Al is also a victim of the failed Human Transmutation experiment that lost Ed his right arm and left leg. Having had his entire physical being taken away from him in the aftermath of the tragedy, Alphonse exists solely as a soul alchemically bound to a large suit of steel armor. Now Al travels with his brother in search of the legendary Philosopher's Stone, an item with the power to restore their bodies to normal.

Appearance
In his gunmetal-colored steel armor body, Alphonse stands out as one of the tallest characters in the series, inching out such stalwart man-mountains as Captain Buccaneer and Major Armstrong while absolutely dwarfing his older brother, who only comes up to his elbow in the beginning of the series. As such, a running gag in the series is that he is frequently mistaken for being the famous "Fullmetal Alchemist" in place of his brother - the rightful bearer of the title. The helmet that comprises Al's face is adorned with a large, conical horn in the middle of the forehead, has a pair of parallel, horizontal vents beneath each half-moon eye hole and a fang motif just above the protruding chin. The top of the helmet also sports a ribbon of white hair that hangs down to the small of the suit's back.

The trunk of the body also consists of a removable breastplate with a protruding, triangular shelf on the chest just below the throat guard, a high collar that extends out of the back and surrounds the rear and sides of the neck, and a large, circular leather patch on either side of the abdomen.

A light blue breechcloth covers the groin and painted on the left shoulder is a red Flamel, signifying Alphonse's tutelage under the master alchemist Izumi Curtis.

Al's armor body also appears to have a triple spike motif, as each shoulder is adorned with a trio of large conical spikes lined in a row and each elbow, knee and foot carries small spiky protrusions as well. Al also appears to have a white band around his right leg which holds up a small weapons holster.

Inside the empty armor is a curtain of chain mail for the protection of its former wearer as well as a small alchemical rune drawn in Edward's blood, which binds Al's soul to the metal by way of the iron in both. Al's Blood Seal is unique - likely of Edward's own design - and denotes a small flame locked in place by multiple intersecting polygons.

Human Form
In the manga Alphonse's appearance before the accident was rather similar to his brother's. He was taller than Edward even then, despite being a year younger, and wore his golden-blond hair short and neat with a parting on the left side. He had a slightly broader face than Ed's and his eyes were also gold colored. In Chapter 53, it is revealed that Al's body still exists, living without its soul inside the Gate. With absolutely no direct nourishment or maintenance, it has become skeletally thin, with its finger and toenails growing past his digits and its hair, though still parted on the left, growing past the shoulders in back and growing down over the right side of the face, all the way to its collarbone in the front.

In the 2003 anime series Al's human appearance differs somewhat. His hair is a few shades darker than Edward's and his eyes are brown instead of gold. The events of Conqueror of Shamballa depict Al donning a similar hairstyle to that of his older brother, with his bangs worn long, but still parted on the left rather than in the center, and a ponytail hanging down in back. He also dons an outfit identical to Ed's, including a pair of white gloves marked with Transmutation Circles.

Personality
In many ways, Alphonse's calm and passive disposition exists as a foil to his older brother's more abrasive personality. Al is kindhearted, notably compassionate and patient almost to a fault, acting often out of protective selflessness for his loved ones, new friends and sometimes toward even his enemies. Having had his psychological growth stunted at the age of ten due to loss of his physical body, Alphonse retains a childlike purity in the face of all his encountered horrors; however, despite his age, he has always displayed a significantly higher level of maturity than Edward. Though Al is as passionate as his brother, he has remarked that his anger takes longer to spark and jokes that he is always beaten to the punch by Edward's outbursts.

On the other hand, Al's heart does contain some darkness born from the tragedies of his life. Plagued with insecurities about his own uncertain existence inside a suit of armor, Al craves the human warmth of his former life in desperate silence, fears that he will never again know closeness and is sometimes overwhelmed by the suspicion that he himself is not human. It is also revealed that Alphonse carries the added burden of blaming himself for the failure of his mother's resurrection and the subsequent loss of his brother's limbs.

As Edward detests his diminutive stature, Alphonse dislikes being reminded of his large size and often becomes melancholy when it inhibits or calls undue attention to him, lamenting that it was not his choice to become so big. As such, he displays a great deal of pleasure when others treat him as a child instead of the hulking brutish adult persona that his appearance gives off.

Possibly as part of his desire for warmth and love, Alphonse displays a great affection for small cats and has developed a bad habit of picking up stray kittens that he finds over the course of his travels, hiding them inside his armor cavity from his disapproving brother.

On a more subtle level, Alphonse appears to have a great fondness for women as well. Particularly sensitive himself, Alphonse has a gift for complimentary and inspirational speech that surpasses even that of his brother's. While this does not negate the effect his armor body has on ordinary girls, it does allow him to leave an impression on the few women with whom he regularly associates such as May Chang, Riza Hawkeye, Lan Fan and Sheska. When his skills are necessary, Alphonse is often paired up with female comrades in situations where Edward is not present. In many of the omake, Arakawa makes Al's primary motivation finding a girlfriend.

Aside from the warmth of physical contact, what Alphonse misses most about having a human body seems to be delicious food. He keeps a journal of all the various foods he will eat upon returning to his body in order to keep his spirits up (a practice encouraged by Edward) and has stated that his fondest wish is to have some of Winry's apple pie.

Relationships
Edward - Alphonse's relationship with his older brother is easily the strongest and most significant of his personal relationships.Though the Elric brothers have wildly different personalities and argue often about the best way to go about things, they are close enough that each would readily and willingly give his life for the other. Alphonse is particularly supportive of his brother and holds a great deal of faith in him despite the fact that Edward almost constantly requires Al to look after him and keep him from getting into trouble. Edward is, himself, very protective of Al, but Alphonse's care of his brother has been described by Winry as being almost parental. While Ed continues to search feverishly for a way to return his brother to normal, Al refuses to be the only one to benefit and insists that he only wants to his human body again if Edward regains his right arm and leg by the same means.

Winry - Born to the kind family that lived next door to the Elrics, Winry grew up alongside Ed and Al and means as much to them both as would a sister; she and Al are more than childhood friends, they are a family. However, Alphonse had displayed some sort of romantic affections for Winry in his youth, as revealed by his mention of how he and Ed had fought over her hand in marriage, but were both turned down. Nonetheless, Al expresses jealousy in one of the omake pieces over Edward's nearly seeing her naked in Chapter 84. For the most part, Al appears to have put those feelings behind him and takes pleasure in teasing Winry for her apparent feelings for his brother.

Abilities
Having apprenticed under the master alchemist Izumi Curtis, Alphonse has been trained to condition his body through regular workouts and sparring as part of her philosophy, "to train the spirit, first train the body." As such, Al has become a particularly competent hand-to-hand fighter, able to hold his own against armed opponents and even skilled martial arts practitioners. Additionally, his armor body has several combat advantages including - strengthened offense and defense, imperviability to bullets, inexhaustible stamina, invulnerability against extreme temperatures and an exemption from needing to breathe, eat or sleep. Unfortunately, these are all tempered by the fact that he cannot take any actions that might cause the Blood Seal inside his armor to be damaged so as to prevent his soul from becoming detached.

Like his brother, Alphonse also wields a genius-level intellect and prodigious proficiency in the studies of biology, chemistry and alchemy. While Edward is apparently the greater mind of the two, Alphonse does not trail far behind and has been able to match wits with his brother since the days they learned alchemy together as children. Alphonse, skilled with words, is capable of solving complex alchemical puzzles and mysteries and has displayed an encyclopedic knowledge of his craft, but seems to lack Edward's amazing sense of focus, instead developing the social skills in which his older brother is so sorely deficient.

In the 2003 anime series, Alphonse would have become a State Alchemist alongside his brother but for the fact that the inclusion of a physical evaluation forced him to drop out of the program lest his secret be revealed. Otherwise, it is revealed that he was able to finish the written portion of the certification exam, a feat that most candidates, including Edward, were unable to match.

Alchemy
Alphonse is a particularly competent alchemist who transmutes quickly, cleanly and with remarkable attention to detail in the style of his master, Izumi. In combat, he uses alchemy to augment his offensive and defensive capabilities, crafting weapons for melee strikes and altering his surroundings to gain the advantage in the same way as his brother - transmuting columns, battering rams and traps for his enemies, albeit without the gaudy touches that Edward usually gives his works.

However, Alphonse's own alchemy is unique in several ways that make themselves apparent over the course of the two diverging storylines. From the beginning of the story, it becomes clear that - unlike most alchemists - Al does not require direct physical contact with the transmutation arrays he draws in order to manipulate matter; merely by standing over a circle and applying concentration (sometimes displayed as his crossing one hand flat over the other with both palms facing down), he can manipulate matter without touching it - a feat that has yet to be displayed by any other human alchemist without an alchemical amplifier.

In the manga, Alphonse gains the additional ability to transmute without having to draw a transmutation circle at all. Having passed through the Gate as a result of the failed Human Transmutation, the ability had remained dormant inside his soul so long as his more tragic memories of the event stayed repressed. But after he regains his memories in Chapter 30, Alphonse discovers that the skill he had watched his brother and master perform so many times now belonged to him as well and puts it into practice for the first time in Chapter 34.

In the 2003 anime, Alphonse gains the ability to transmute without a circle in another manner - by becoming the Philosopher's Stone himself due to Scar's machinations. At first, this seems like a boon because the properties of his armor are changed and his blood seal becomes impervious to damage, but it becomes apparent that Alphonse, as the stone, reacts dangerously with any nearby transmutations and loses a physical part of his body whenever he is used directly as an alchemical amplifier. In Conqueror of Shamballa, Alphonse's alchemy takes yet another transformation. Now unable to transmute without circles, he wears a pair of white gloves with transmutation circles in order to use alchemy quickly - emulating his older brother. Additionally, due to the instability of his soul after having his body changed so many times (from human, to steel, to Philosopher's Stone and back to human), Alphonse has gained the ability to split his soul into pieces and insert them into inanimate objects to act as golems. While in this state, he is able to see from the perspective of and communicate through his various avatars.

In the Manga
In the manga Al eventually develops the ability to perform alchemy without a transmutation circle, the same as Ed. In the manga, when King Bradley impales Martel while she is inside Al's armored body, her blood spills onto his blood seal. This gives him a near-death experience, recalling to his mind his experience at the Doors of Truth. He realizes that he can transmute without a transmutation circle shortly thereafter. Also, in the manga, Alphonse is afraid that his armor will eventually reject his soul, which would mean his death. A recent chapter proved the theory that Al's body was still in existence, as Ed finds it on a return trip to the Doors, malnourished and unkempt, but very much alive. He shows the true nature of his body, showing that even though his body is almost impossible to recover, he won't give up, and so neither should they. During Ed's near-death experience, Al is shown as blacking out and seeing his body in the midst of snowstorm. This suggests that his body is calling for his soul, showing the first sign of rejection. However, he manages to find the party and warns them, though Scar said that it is rather useless, since they had nowhere else to go. As of recent chapters, Al has been attacked by Pride and Gluttony, and was knocked out and possessed by Pride. However, with Ed's quick thinking and flash bangs, Pride's control over Al was broken. He then returned to the slum camp, where he met Hohenheim. Al came up with an idea to "beat" Pride. By Hohenheim using himself as a decoy, Pride moved all his shadows near him and was attacked by Al. Further distracted by Al, Hohenheim sealed Pride and Al in a large sphere made out of Earth. Al would be fine in there as he required no oxygen to survive. He started talking with Pride about how human he could be.

When Solf J. Kimblee, guided by Pride's morse signals blasted a hole in the Earth Jail, nearly killing Heinkel and setting Pride free. Al was given Kimblee's first Philosopher Stone, which he lost in his fight against Ed, by Heinkel. He then fought against both Pride and Kimblee and managed to flee toward Central along with Tim Marcoh, a healed Heinkel and Yoki after Kimblee's defeat. Pride cryptically states "Brave humans sure are easy to trick" as he watches them going away, hinting that they may run into a trap. In chapter 99, Al with Marco, Yoki, and Heinkel are seen running through a town, trying to find a way underground. Heinkel senses the transmutation circle that was made by the Doctor Alchemist, at that point, a large eye appears and black hands grabs Al.

Alphonse is next shown to have been teleported to Father's lair, along with Izumi and Edward. While Edward tries to wake Al up, he seems to be unconscious, but is really at the Doors of Truth with his original body. His body asks him if he wants to return to how he was before, but seeing how weak and malnourished it was, he decides to return to normality so he can fight properly to protect his loved ones after realising there was no way he could fight with his original form. His body mentioned after he left that he would have been proud to be his container but his return to the real world may bring nothing but despair and ruin.

In the 2003 anime
After Solf J. Kimblee uses alchemy to transform Al's armor into explosive material, Scar transferred all of his incomplete Philosopher's Stone into Al to save his life. As a result, Al became the Philosopher's Stone. Shortly after, Alphonse learns his body became lighter and his blood seal could endure contact with water. He also gained the ability to perform alchemy without a circle, although this is due to him "remembering" the gate. He only uses alchemy twice after he becomes the stone because any alchemy he or anyone near him uses activates the stone and destroys a part of Al's body. Because he houses the Stone in his body, he becomes the primary target of Dante's attempt to cheat death, but not before he becomes a pawn in Shou Tucker's plot to resurrect Nina. Once captured by the Homunculi for Dante, Al was to be devoured by Gluttony to complete the Stone inside Gluttony's body. But when he saw his brother killed by Envy, Al uses the stone's power to restore Edward's body (including his missing limbs) and re-bind his soul to it. This destroys his own body as he used up the whole of the Philosopher's Stone in the transmutations.

Alphonse becomes the Philosopher's Stone and regains full memory of his visit to the Gate. The concept of this is never fully ventured, due to his fear of the possible outcome effects of using the Stone's power. In the final episode of the series, he clearly uses alchemy without the need of any transmutation circle, in order to resurrect his dying brother. After Ed is revived, Ed performs one last transmutation on himself and sends himself to our world to pull Al's body and soul back to Amestris. When Al came back to his body, he had forgotten his experiences in the armor and was physically the same age as when his body was taken away by the gate.