Pride

Pride (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 and 2009 anime
In the manga, Pride is the first Homunculus that Father created. Ironically though he is the youngest looking, just as Wrath, who was the most recent homunculi (before Greed was reborn) looked the oldest. 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, as well as feared. 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 second Greed comments seeing two rare things happening in one day: Pride coming to visit and Father sleeping.

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 orders Solf J. Kimblee to carve a crest of blood on Briggs, before having a short fight against Van Hohenheim in the tunnel for the country-wide transmutation.

During later chapters, he personally enters the fray helped by a newly reborn Gluttony. On the day before the Promised Day, he captures Hohenheim's son Alphonse Elric during one of the boy's blackouts (when Al would envision himself standing before his Gate and emaciated body). Pride takes control of Al's armor with his shadows, using him to lure his own brother Edward. 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. Using Xingese flash bangs, Edward and the rest free Alphonse from Pride's grasp; Al awakens from his blackout, and seems to suggest that Pride was able to keep Alphonse trapped in his blackout, as he says Pride's contact with him "felt like he was interfering with my soul" and was "disgusting." Meanwhile, Pride overpowers the others, but he is ultimately trapped by Al, who uses himself as a distraction to allow Hohenheim to trap them both in a huge domed jail of earth.

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 or biased, 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 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.

In chapter 101, Pride reappears in Father's subterranean lair, confronting Roy Mustang's group alongside Wrath. He rescues the Gold-Toothed Doctor from Jerso'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. In doing so, Pride apparently sacrificed a tremendous amount of the energy within his Philosopher's Stone, placing him in a very weakened state of near-death. He then faces off against Edward and Alphonse in battle, although seemingly at a disadvantage. This is noted by the Elrics when he jumps to dodge an attack, rather than use his shadows to counterattack. His face also seems to be disintegrating. It is then made clear that Pride's true form is actually the shadows he holds within what he calls his "container" -- the physical body of the young boy now breaking apart.

In chapter 106, Pride engages in battle with Edward, who confronts him about his motives. Pride replies that he is simply obeying his father, as any child would, but Edward points out that Father has paid no attention to Pride's injuries and does not care for him. Although clearly hurt at the obvious truth, Pride states that this is human logic, and that it doesn't matter. As a result of his body rapidly disintegrating, Pride attempts to take over Edward's body using his shadows, but is instead invaded by Edward himself, having transformed his body into a Philosopher's Stone. Pride is also shocked to notice that Kimblee has retained his own sense of self, and has been "living" in Pride ever since he was absorbed.

Realizing his imminent death, Pride thinks of his adoptive parents, Wrath and Mrs. Bradley, as he cries out for Ed to stop. Pride is reduced to his apparent basic form, that of a humanoid baby (reminiscent of a fetus) small enough to fit in Ed's hand with a circular mark on its forehead (similar to that of the Mannequin Soldiers). Opting not to destroy his enemy, Edward rests the helpless infant on his jacket, ultimately pitying Pride as it murmurs for its "mama".

After Father's death, Edward hands over the body of Pride to a tearful Mrs. Bradley, who raises him all over again despite harsh opposition. Two years later, it is shown that Pride has grown up and once again goes by the name of "Selim Bradley". He is seen acting like a regular child, caring for an injured bird and seemingly having no recollection of his life as Father's firstborn son. However, Grumman, temporarily serving as the Führer, orders that Selim continue to be monitored for a while longer and warns Mrs. Bradley that the military will have to take action if he starts showing any signs of suspicious or malevolent behavior. Mrs. Bradley responds that she will ensure that nothing will happen, leaving Grumman to ponder if humans and homunculi will ever truly understand each other. Pride is the only surviving homunculus.

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 although much larger and more formidable with multiple slitted eyes and sharp toothed mouths. The shadow can take on a variety of shapes, from sharp spikes to tendril-like hands (similar to those seen within the Gate of Truth).

Pride can manipulate, slice through or devour anything that comes in contact with his shadow and it appears invulnerable to conventional physical harm, although it can be deflected by sufficiently hard objects (Carbon-hardened objects appear particularly resistant). 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 country-wide transmutation tunnel, slaughtering anyone who enters it. It is implied by Greed early on (and later confirmed by Pride himself) that his shadows are in fact his actual form, with the child-like body being a simple "container" for him to move around in, similar to Father's flask-contained form. This is supported by the shadows limited mobility, only being able to appear in the immediate 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.

Pride's shadow can consume living things and assimilate the abilities and strengths of that particular victim, along with their corresponding weaknesses (i.e. after devouring Gluttony, Pride gained an enhanced sense of smell along with Gluttony's ravenous hunger). After assimilating the Gold-Toothed Doctor, Pride gains knowledge of human transmutation and activates a corresponding circle with his shadows.

However, after Pride had forced Roy Mustang to perform human transmutation and teleport to Father's den, he is assumed to have weakened his ability to use shadows because instead of counter attacking the Elrics' attacks, he dodges them and later he only uses them to fight in close combat. Edward states that this is because Pride's skill of forcefully opening another's gate carries that high risk.

In chapter 104, Pride attempts to use his small size and speed to exploit Edward's weaknesses in hand-to-hand combat (being used to fighting people taller than him), but has his fighting style read easily by his opponent and is bested, before Father subdues an unsuspecting Edward in order to begin his plan.

In the 2003 anime
In this anime, Pride is the true identity of King Bradley, the "Ultimate Eye". His eye, usually covered by an eye patch, 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 the Homunculi cannot reproduce he was given a family to keep up appearances: his son, Selim Bradley, and a wife. Pride's identity was first confirmed in the 40th episode when the snake-chimera Marta attacked him to prevent Bradley from turning Reole into another Ishval. During this clash, his eye patch was sliced off, exposing his identity. Pride proceeded to kill Martel, but not before she was able to pass on this truth to Al.

Later, when Roy Mustang learns from the Elrics that Bradley is a Homunculus and verified it, 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 and snaps his neck before Roy stops him, but this weakened state allows Mustang to kill him by repeatedly setting him on fire, similar to how Roy killed Lust in the manga. Pride was the fourth of the Homunculi to die in the 2003 anime, because Selim Bradley, the manga's Pride who survived in the manga and 2009 anime, is innocent and fully human in the anime.

Trivia

 * According to the second official Fullmetal Alchemist guide book, Pride is the first Homunculus to be created by Father, created before history was even recorded. However, given the context of the actual story, this makes little sense. Father could not have created Pride anytime before acquiring his Hohenheim container in Xerxes, which has been confirmed to have been 400 years prior to the 1900s, putting it around the late 1400s or early 1500s. History was recorded long before even those ancient times. It's possible, however, that the guide was referring to Amestrian history and not world history.
 * In a sense Pride's shadow powers are an amalgamation of all the other Homunculi'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's 2009 anime voice actress Brittney Karbowski also voiced a character from Soul Eater named Black Star, who also (along with his partner Tsubaki) can control his own shadow to fight.
 * Apparently, the name of Pride is given to the strongest of the Homunculi. This would make sense considering that, of all the Seven Deadly Sins on which the Homunculi are based, Pride is considered the worst and most unforgivable, the father and origin of all other sins; this idea originates from the biblical account of the angel Lucifer having been cast down from Heaven due to being too prideful towards God and becoming the ultimate evil, Satan.
 * The name Pride reflects both his status as the most powerful of the Homunculi and that his "true" body was made in the image of Father's original form, speculated by Van Hohenheim as an act of vanity.
 * Ironically, Pride is technically the oldest Homunculus at over three centuries old. However, he retains the youngest appearance, while Wrath is the youngest Homunculus (less than a century old), but has the oldest appearance.
 * Interestingly, the youngest and oldest Homunculi are the only Homunculi to share a close, yet fake, father-son relationship with one another. Moreover, when Ed defeats Pride, his most present memory is that of King Bradley and his wife, implying that despite him being much older, he thought of Bradley as a truly fatherly figure, instead of Father, whom in Ed's words had forsaken him for his goals.
 * The chapter where Pride and Alphonse are buried under a pile of rock may be a reference to Dante's Purgatory, where the proud and vain are forced to carry boulders to learn humility.
 * In chapter 106, Pride attempts to take over Edward Elric's body. This is very similar to the goal of Wrath in the 2003 anime, who, as a child Homunculus, is Pride's equivalent.
 * As of chapter 106, Pride's True Form makes him the smallest Homunculi - even smaller then Envy's True Form.
 * Pride's true form has the most resemblance to actual Homunculi of historical alchemy concepts than any of his siblings.
 * Pride appears to be the only Homunculus who does not bleed, this most likely due to his "container" body. He is also the only Homunculi without an Ouroboros mark, instead having a circular mark on his true form's forehead.
 * In the Volume 27 omake, the mark is shown to be a button which causes Selim to switch back to his Homunculus identity when pressed.
 * Selim Bradley, the body container of Pride, slightly resembles Suan, a character from Arakawa's Shanghai Youma Kikai, the discontinued manga series Arakawa wrote earlier before the Fullmetal Alchemist manga.
 * Pride ranked 21st place in a recent fan poll, making him the third most popular Homunculus.
 * Due to the deaths of Greed and Father, Pride is now the last remaining Homunculus alive. This seems fitting as it is said that 'Pride' is the one sin that can never be defeated; it could also be a reference to the phrase "A person's pride never truly dies."
 * Despite Pride (King Bradley) in the 2003 anime being the only Homunculi that ages, there is never any reason given as to why he can age, while none of the others can. It is known that Dante created him to keep up appearances, and considers him her greatest work, but it's never explained how she made it possible for him to age and yet still be as invulnerable as the rest of the Homunculi. The concept of "Human-based Homunculus" is not in the original anime.
 * Pride might reference Damien from the British/American horror film, The Omen, being a child of great evil. It could also explain why his Ouroboros might be hidden, since Damien in the film had the numbers "666" hidden underneath his hair.
 * In the manga, the teeth of Pride's shadows are flat until he eats Gluttony, whereupon they become sharp and cone-shaped. In the anime, he appears able to manifest either flat or sharp teeth before and after eating Gluttony; the change is instead marked by his eyes turning purple.