Giolio Comanche

Giolio Comanche, known as the Silver Alchemist (銀の錬金術師, Shirogane no Renkinjutsushi), is an elderly, diminutive man whose thirst for battle is belied by his grandfatherly countenance. He first appears in Chapter 43, being accosted by Scar during the night on the streets of Central City and again briefly in Chapters 58-59, during the flashback regarding the Ishval Civil War.

The Silver Alchemist is one of the State Alchemists sent into Ishval as part of Order 3066. Notably, Comanche is the only one among them shown smiling when the Order goes into effect. During the fighting, Comanche is seen cursing vehemently while being borne to the medical tent on a stretcher after being grievously wounded in the left leg, presumably by gunfire - to which then Captain Maes Hughes comments that the old man is lucky because he gets to be sent home early.

It is assumed that Comanche's injury necessitated the amputation of his leg, because he is without it when Scar confronts him, donning a peg leg in its place. Rather than shrink from the murderer's presence, Comanche prepares to combat him with a rather large grin on his face, complimenting Scar's bravery at attacking the famed Silver Alchemist head on. Despite his handicap, Comanache is able to move agilely, jumping around and balancing on his peg leg, all while fighting with a multitude of transmuted weapons. During their short skirmish, Comanche attempts to cut off Scar's left leg, calling it revenge for the leg that Ishval took from him, but is unable to inflict the murderer with any more than a graze. Comanche's own peg leg, however, is broken by Scar's destruction alchemy, causing the Silver Alchemist to fall into a river. Without any solid materials within reach, Comanche becomes easy prey for Scar underwater and is killed.

During their fight, Comanche comments that Scar, knowing only how to destroy with alchemy, is no match for those with the ability to create - a statement that Scar quotes back at Edward Elric a few chapters later.

Combat Alchemy
Much like the Crimson Lotus Alchemist, the Silver Alchemist has transmutation circles tattooed to the palms of his hands, though in a far more elaborate and intricate manner. Comanche has differing circles on each palm and smaller circles on the tip of each finger and various alchemical texts and markings tattooed on each finger in between the circles. Because of this, the Silver Alchemist does not need to touch his hands together to form a circle, but does need to remove his gloves in order to fight with alchemy.

Comanche appears to have a penchant for blades, creating a large number of swords, shuriken and chained blades, and appears to be skilled in the use of all of them. The Silver Alchemist also seems to have grown quite accustomed to his prosthetic leg, as he maneuvers impressively upon it, dashing at great speeds, stopping sharply and performing a series of spinning attacks with it. In the manga, the tattoo on Comanche's left palm is a hexagram, but in the 2009 anime series, it was changed to a tattoo of scales, presumably to avoid any reference to Judaism.

Trivia

 * Comanche, like most military characters in Fullmetal Alchemist, is named after a military vehicle, the RAH-66 Comanche, an American armed reconnaissance helicopter. It is likely that his spinning attacks are meant to reference his namesake.
 * In the 2009 anime, Comanche's battle with Scar took place before the Elrics arrived in Rush Valley after their battle with Greed, instead of just after Edward Elric encountered his father in Resembool.
 * Acknowledging that a significant amount of the Fullmetal universe is influenced by the 'American Civil War' era (including characters), Comanche's character is strikingly similar to the Civil war hero Daniel Sickles. Sickles was known to be hasty, and also lost his legs during the war. Furthermore, the scene where Comanche is carried off injured and cursing, Sickles had also been withdrawn from the war in a similar manner. These two individuals also share the same over the top exhibitionist attitude.