Ling Yao

Ling Yao is a Xingese character exclusive to the Manga and the 2nd Anime. He first appears in Chapter 32, in Rush Valley. He is the twelfth prince of the eastern nation of Xing. He is the essence of "Noblesse Oblige" - "privilege entails to responsibility". Though haughty, arrogant and ambitious, he cares deeply for his servants and people - a feeling that is returned, especially from his bodyguard, Lan Fan. Those outside his responsibilities are often less fortunate - as Ed learns from his habit of running up room service bills. His goal in life is to become immortal and become the emperor of his country of origin. He enjoys flirting with Winry and becomes a close friend of Ed.

He instantly becomes a dedicated opponent of Führer King Bradley due to the Homunculus' belief that those in one's service who can no longer perform should be discarded. Ling is a devoted believer in fealty, that is, a King cannot exist without his people to support him. Bradley simply responds that a King is merely one who is powerful enough to compel obedience in others.

Ling leaves his country and heads to Amestris to find a way to become immortal, so he can gain the throne. In Xing, many families are striving for the position as emperor. The current emperor is ill, so if Ling can find a method of immortality and gives it to the emperor, he will be chosen as an heir (the emperor will retire eventually). Ling begins to look for the best lead he has: the Philosopher's Stone.

Early Life
Little is known about Ling's past. He is the heir to his clan and as such, was constantly the target of assassination attempts. Because of this, he learned to 'fight dirty' in order to survive. Although Ling is untrained in alkahestry, he has significant martial arts and sword training and is able to sense chi. Ling has two loyal bodyguards, Fu and Lan Fan, that care deeply for him.

In Amestris
At age fifteen, Ling travels to Amestris in hopes of uncovering the secret to immortality. He travels across an expansive desert and briefly explores the Xerxes Ruins before arriving in Rush Valley. There, he faints and is encountered by the Elric Brothers. After they feed him, he learns that they are also interested in the Philsopher's Stone and he decides to follow them to Central. Not long after arriving in Central, Ling is arrested for being an illegal immigrant and taken to the jail. He later aids in faking the death of Maria Ross. When Ed and Al decide to lure out the homunculi, Ling offers to help them. This, however, backfires when he is forced to fight two homunculi while protecting his wounded vassal, Lan Fan. They are ultimately able to deceive Wrath and help the Elric brothers capture Gluttony.

Lan Fan, however, was critically injured and lost her left arm. While she is being treated, Ling expresses anguish and guilt for Lan Fan's injury, claiming that he hadn't been prepared for that sort of sacrifice. When Gluttony breaks free of his bonds and begins to destroy things obsessively, Ling and the Elric brothers help Lan Fan, Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, and Dr. Knox escape while they distract Gluttony.

In The Belly of The Beast
During the fight with Gluttony and Envy, Gluttony eats Ling, Envy, and Ed, transporting them to the dark world that is Gluttony's belly. Ling and Ed try to make their way out, looking for any end to the abyss. They become extremely tired and hungry. Eventually, Envy catches up to them, and tells them that they are and are not in Gluttony's belly but are fact in the fake Door of Truth. When Envy reveals that he was the one responsible for the Ishval War, Ed punches Envy, resulting in fight, Envy noting that they're "going to die anyway". Envy reveals his true, monstrous form, and attacks them. The battle continues on until Ed comes to an epiphany and realizes how to escape.

Immortality Obtained
After escaping Gluttony's belly, Ling, Ed, and Envy appear in Father's hideout. Father initially plans to kill Ling, but ultimately changes his mind, deciding to make him into another human-based homunculus. Although Ed and Al violently protest, Ling simply insists that this is what he has been looking for. While Envy holds Al and Ed down, Father approaches Ling and Father drops a Philosopher's Stone into a little cut in Ling's left cheek, telling him that Greed's position is currently empty. Inside Ling, Greed reveals himself and tells Ling that he wants his body. Ling tells the spirit that he will do whatever it takes to gain power, and gives the spirit his body. Greed takes control of Ling's body, although Ling will occasionally surface, including one instance in which Greed allows him to write a message for Lan Fan.

Regain of Control
After meeting and killing Bido in Father's Lair, Ling is given an opening to start antagonizing Greed. The new Greed starts remembering friends from his first incarnation, and he starts freaking out. Ling says that the bonds between his family and him are too strong to be simply forgotten, and Greed cut down his soul's family with his own hands. Greed then visits and attacks Wrath, asking him why he can still remember them to which Wrath responds, "You're a fool, whose endless desire won't let him even discard the past!" Their fight ends soon after as Greed leaves; he then meets Ed and faints of hunger, thanking goodness to see a friend in a place like this. During Ling's control of his body, he tells Ed about Father planning to open the gate on the "Promised Day" and suggests that he and Al try getting their bodies back then. He asks about Lan Fan's condition, relieved to hear she's okay just before Greed takes over again. In the battle with Pride and Gluttony, Ling asks for control of his body to help fight Gluttony in the dark, and Greed obliges. He isn't disappointed as Ling deals a blow to Gluttony. Gluttony is angered and about to use his fake gate of truth when Lan Fan appears and stabs him in the head with her new automail; Ling is happy to see her again. After the fight, Greed regains control and realizing that only Father and Sloth are in Central, makes a quick getaway to Central. He then appears to fight Wrath at the Central HQ's gates.

During the battle with said character, Fu appears to (rather reluctantly) aid Greed (although the reluctance apparently ends when Fu realizes his foe is the one who severed his granddaughter's arm). Fu fights alongside Greed until Wrath pins Greed down with one of his blades, then switches his other blade with Fu's longer, and better suited, sword. After Wrath deals a blow and is about to fatally wound Fu, Ling abruptly overpowers Greed and saves him. (Greed later complains to warn him before he takes over) Shortly after, Fu tells Greed to use his Ultimate Shield (to protect Ling) and attempts a suicide attack by igniting the genades around his waist and moving towards Wrath. However this backfires when Wrath deactivates the bombs and cuts Fu in half in one move. Buccaneer then uses the sword that was previously impaled in his own body to stab Wrath through Fu, for he had been using Fu to block his attack from Wrath's sight. It is unclear whether or not Greed took back control, since Wrath exclaimed "Greed" when he unexpectedly attacked him from behind, however the tears that were streaming down Ling/Greed's face imply otherwise: they might have both made the surprise strike together, sharing the control of the body, or Ling could have done it out of anguish for his long-time, dying companion.

As he continues his battle with Wrath as sudden earthquake from the Central transmutation circle distracts him, Wrath took advantage of this and attempts to shove him off the edge of the fortress but topples off with him. Greed manages to hold onto the wall but them slips only to be caught by Lan Fan who's automail is unstable. She holds onto him until a Briggs soldier shoots Wrath, causing him fall and allow Ling to climb back up.

As he climbs back up he begins yelling for a doctor hoping his Philosopher's Stone can be used to heal Fu but is met by silence he then begin crying over lack of control he has over the situation stating: " I have this thing (The Philosopher's Stone), it was supposed to make us all immortal!"

He then asks Greed for power to fight the central troops and defend the gates of Central HQ. He is finally shown in full carbon armor yet it is unknown again who is in control, though it is assumed it is Greed due to his known preference not to hit girls. Regardless of that, Central forces are quickly massacred. Greed/Ling is later seen attacking Father, who is in his true form, from behind. The Attack, however, is unsuccessful. Father is then activates the country-wide Transmutaion Circle, killing almost everyone currently in the country, except for Ling/Greed, May, Ed, Al, Hohenheim, Izumi, Roy, Pride, Riza, the Chimeras, Scar, and Wrath.

Ling is later shown after he and Greed witness Father's power. Greed claims that he would be able to rule the world and "fill the emptiness inside of [him]." Ling contradicts him, to which Greed tells him to shut up. However, after seeing everyone cheering Edward on, Ling manages to get Greed to admit that all he really wanted was "friends like them."

Soon afterwards, Father attacked him in an attempt to absorb Greed's Philosopher's Stone. While Ling resisted, Greed eventually tricked Ling to make sure that Father only absorbed the homunculus, claiming that there was no reason for Ling to come along and die. The Ourobourus tatto then faded from Ling's hand. He then watched as Greed tried to fight against Father from within, but was killed in the attempt.

When Father was defeated and everyone's attention was turned to the lifeless armor of Alphonse, Ling was quick to offer the Philosopher's stone that Lan had picked up to Edward in order to resurrect Alphonse. Ed turned down the offer, later thinking about how quickly Ling offered the very thing he had come to Amestris to find.

After the battle was fully over, Lan Fan asked Ling to show mercy to all the opposing houses of the Yao clan now that he had gotten a Philosopher's stone. Ling quickly agreed, commenting that it was an answer that was influenced by Greed. He tells Mei Chang that he will become emperor, as he has the Philosopher's Stone, and then tells her that he will spare her family and all the other families. He then picked up Mei Chang and began his travel back to Xing, along with Lan and Fu's body.

His last appearence in the manga was in a photo taken several years later, with him as the emperor of Xing. He was also mentioned as "Emperor Yao".

Powers and Abilities
Being trained from a young age in his country of Xing's unique style of combat, Ling is a very proficient martial artist and acrobat, but an even better swordsman. With his weapon of choice being a Chinese dao, he is one of the very few to cross swords with the Führer (Wrath) and live to tell the tale. Wrath himself noted that Ling would have a fairly good chance against him if Ling wasn't spliting his attention watching over Lan Fan, whom he was carrying at the time. Ling Yao is also physically fit, in contrast to his rather frail build, being able to lift a captive Gluttony with his bare hands. He is also a rather skilled tactician, able to quickly percieve his opponent's weaknesses and effectively exploit them.

Since becoming one with Greed, Ling also has found a mastered balance between attack and defense correspondingly of his swordsmanship and Greed's Ultimate Shield. He supposedly loses this ability, as Greed is no longer with him.

Trivia

 * Ling's prison processing tag number was W1582.
 * Having once shoved a grenade into Gluttony's mouth, he is one of few people to have had a limb in Gluttony's mouth without losing it.
 * In Episode 15: The Ishbal Massacre (2003 series), Ling Yao makes a cameo appearance as a State Alchemist. Ironically, he wears shades that look similar to Greed's.
 * Coincidentally, it was also Episode 15 of the 2009 series that he (along with LanFan and Fu) makes his first appearance.
 * Ling closely parallels Greed, even before he becomes him. Almost immediately after he is introduced, Ling asks Ed about immortality and Ed notes that Greed had been asking the same thing not long ago; he later shows interest in transfering his soul to a suit of armor, just as Greed had. Ling also develops a grudge against Wrath when Wrath badly injures Lan Fan, not unlike the hatred Greed holds against Wrath for killing his friends. Additionally, Envy quickly comes to dislike Ling in a way that is reminiscent of his hatred for Greed. Finally, Ling is similarly avariacous and protective of his friends and subordinates. Greed also comments that Ling's greed rivals his own.
 * In the latest fan poll Ling got ranked to the 9th most popular character in the series. The second Greed (Ling as Greed) came in 13th place while the original Greed himself came in 12th.
 * Ling appears to be sensitive about his eyes. So no one would mock him, he tries to keep up a smile all the time, because he wants them to seem authentic.
 * Ling shares the same Japanese and English voice actors as Death the Kid, a character from the anime series Soul Eater.