Wrath

"Wrath links here, for the anime exclusive character, see Wrath (anime)"

Wrath (ラース, Rāsu) is a Homunculus made by Father (in the manga and 2009 anime series), and by Izumi Curtis (in the 2003 anime). In the manga this Homunculus is revealed to be Führer King Bradley, while in the 2003 anime it is an original character.

Personality
Despite the violent nature of the sin he embodies, Wrath is actually one of the calmer of the Homunculi and rarely bickers with them, but when he is angered he unleashes his sin's full power. He has a slightly strange sense of humor and has a habit of doing rather odd things for someone of his status, such as joking with his subordinates, dressing up as a tourist while visiting Dublith to meet Izumi Curtis, giving watermelons as gifts to Edward Elric, ditching work to meet the brothers in the hospital, and jumping out of a window to get away from his attendants. He is also more lenient towards humans than his siblings, likely due to having lived among them for a long time. He also appears to secretly enjoy the complications that the Elrics and their friends have brought to Father's plans since he has lived a life where everything has been planned, controlled, or predicted. He is also scornful of the idea of feality or sacrificing one's life for others, believing only that the strong should survive and that the loss of one life can only be balanced by the loss of another.

History
Wrath is the secret identity of King Bradley. He was originally one candidate amongst hundreds in a secret program created by Father and the Amestrian military to find the perfect ruler of Amestris. The process involved training already physically fit young men to their peak, then injecting a Philosopher's Stone from Father's body into their candidate. He was the first to survive the process, becoming the first Homunculus with the ability to age and was given the name King Bradley. He quickly rose to the position of Führer through his battle prowess and apparent dedication to the military ideals of Amestris.

The Ruler of Amestris
He first appeared visiting the Elric brothers in hospital shortly after the Laboratory 5 incident. Here he subtly implies he suspects there maybe traitors among the military's high echelons and orders the Elrics and their friends to watch their backs. He then travels to the South for a military inspection and personally leads the attack on the Devil's Nest after Alphonse is kidnapped. His true identity is then revealed during his battle against Greed, revealing the Ouroboros tattoo on his left eye. He swiftly overwhelms his older sibling and kills many of his chimera underlings personally.

Throughout the story Bradley maintains control over the constant strife in the military and manipulating the various players of Father's plans into their appropriate positions. However the Elrics and their various allies slip out of his grasp or play their own games in secret, plotting variously to either top Fathers schemes, overthrow Bradley, or seize control of the country back from the Homunculi who created it. When they finally strike close to the "Appointed Day", General Grumman has the Furher's train blown up and Bradley's apparent death throws all the top brass into chaos.

The Return of the Fuhrer
Bradley finally reappears after men from Briggs have seized control of Central Headquaters. He then effortlessly disposes of all troops and a tank in his way, severely wounding Buccaneer in the process and is about to kill Falman when he is confronted by the renegade Greed.

They start fighting, and Wrath is unfazed by Greed's attacks and sustains no injuries whatsoever. Greed uses tips that Ling gives him, but still cannot seem to truly damage him. Greed on the other hand sustains several small injuries, each of which heal. Some of the Brigg's soldiers watch from nearby and decide to help, shooting at Wrath. However, this is not only pointless but leads to their immediate slaughter. Buccaneer then rises and in rage attacks Wrath, yet again only to be easily defeated, this time impaled by his sword through his stomach. However, Buccaneer uses this and uses his tight abs to pull the sword from Wrath. Wrath calmly picks up two combat daggers, stating he won't be as efficient. Greed savors the chance and fights Wrath, with his new advantage. Wrath can no longer harm Greed, but he is still capable of defending himself perfectly. Then, Fu joins the fray and instantly begins his assault on Wrath. Wrath however is yet again undamaged. Noting this, Fu asks Greed the identity of Wrath. Upon learning it was the man who nearly killed his granddaughter and cut off her arm, Fu angrily readies himself for battle.

The battle starts yet again, 2 on 1, Wrath still keeping up, uses his strength to disarray his enemies attacks. He manages to stomp down his dagger into Greed, subduing him, and then focuses on Fu. He uses his other dagger to disarm Fu's sword and then throws the dagger at Fu. Fu catches it, saving himself. However, now Wrath has a sword once again, and has made himself much more dangerous. He slices at Fu, cutting his dagger, headband, and forehead. Fu jumps back, but he is not able to keep up as Wrath slashes him and thrusts him into the air. This awakens Ling, who decides to protect Fu. Fu however, realizing he is just getting in the way, tells Ling to be a good king as his parting message, ready to make a great sacrifice. He knocks Ling down, and asks Greed to begin hardening Ling's body to protect him. Greed does so, to Ling's surprise. Ling then watches as Fu runs towards Wrath, setting afire four sticks of dynamite. Wrath however in one stealthy cut removes the firing tips of the dynamite, and slashes Fu powerfully across his midsection. As Fu begins to fall, feeling pathetic as he couldn't do anything, Wrath ends up impaled in the stomach. Buccaneer stabbed through Fu's back into Wrath's stomach (hence he could not be seen by Wrath making the move unpredictable), injuring him for the first time shown in the series. Buccaneer says that now Fu and him can take Wrath to hell together. Fu agrees, and happily thanks Buccaneer for letting him play that vital role. As Buccaneer begins bleeding relentlessly and as Fu suffers from his own injuries, the two are kicked back by Wrath. Now an enraged Ling with Greed's arms lunges at Wrath. With tears in his eyes, Ling swats at Wrath with his arm. Wrath blocks with his sword, but the sheer force was enough to break the sword, and he took the attack to the side of head/neck. Lan Fan watches in shock from above, horrified by her Grandfather's ordeal, and quickly joins the fray.

Final Battle
In chapter 100, it is revealed that Wrath's Ultimate Eye was damaged when Greed-Ling struck him and broke his sword. This is noticed when Wrath throws his broken sword at a Briggs soldier, but ends up slicing his knee instead of killing him. Wrath falls into the water below Central's gate. This, however, does not kill him,as he made his escape thought a pipeline he found. Arriving underground, near the sewer, where Mustang's group was, he picked up the Philosopher's Stone intended to be used by Roy to save Riza. May having lost Envy's Philosopher's stone tried to grab it before it was picked up by Bradley. At the end of chapter 101, Pride and Wrath declare that Mustang is to be the fifth Human Sacrifice. After Pride performs a Human Transmutation, both Pride and Roy vanish. Wrath then addresses everyone present. He asks which one wants to go down in history as the person who finally killed him. Scar and Wrath eventually face off in Wrath's final battle. As the battle commences Wrath asks what is Scar's name, to which Scar replies he doesn't have a name. Wrath enjoys the fact that his final battle is between a nameless warrior like himself. As he fights Scar, his body seems to slowly fall apart, but is still able to fight evenly against the latter. As he pins Scar to the floor and readies to deliver the fatal blow, he is suddenly caught off guard when short pillars of spikes incapacitate his right arm, much to his surprise and confusion. Scar then reveals to him that he can now use the power of recontruction on his left arm, thanks to his brother's research. After knowing that Scar can now use the power of reconstruction, Wrath is both amused and annoyed as he asks Scar if he and the other humans will ever give up in their pointless struggles. When Father activates the Nationwide Transmutation Circle Scar and Wrath are then consumed in a massive black sphere, though they are unharmed.

In Chapter 105 Wrath continues his battle with Scar. Wrath wounds Scar and questions if he has turned his back on Ishvala and the teachings of Ishval. But Scar replies that in Wrath's mind and soul, there is only one answer: "There is no God!". Despite Wrath gaining an upper hand in the fight, he is distracted by the sudden appearance of the sun, and Scar is able to use his Arm of Deconstruction to destroy his arms. Before he can fall, Wrath wounds his opponent by stabbing him, using his teeth to hold the sword.

Severely wounded and on the brink of death, Wrath says that even though he never believed in God, he wonders if this is what is meant by the phrase "Why have you forsaken me God?" When Lan Fan arrives, Wrath questions her if she's here to avenge her grandfather. She replies yes and asks Wrath if he has any last words, to which he says no. Lan Fan tells him that he has lived a sad life and asks if Wrath truly loved anyone, or if his life was indeed a sad one. Wrath tells her that his wife was chosen by him, and as such, he truly cared for her. When asked if he wanted to say something to her, he says no, adding that she doesn't need to know about him because "that is how it is between a man and his partner." After he breathes his last words, he passes away. Wrath was the fifth Homunculus to die.

When Greed/Ling tries to follow Father, he sees Lan Fan and Scar, along with Wrath's corpse lying on the floor, smiling, to which Greed replies that he really "pisses him off." for looking so satisfied.

Last words: "I lived life with the rules outlined for me... But thanks to you humans... Yes... Towards the very end it was a good life... a life worth living."

Powers and Abilities
Being a human-based Homunculus, Wrath has the ability to physically age, which enabled him to pass off as an average human, allowing him to assimilate within the general population without suspicion. For being one of them, he has all their augmented physical abilities: strength, speed, and agility - all fueled by the Philosopher's stone held within his body. However, due to the fact that his Philosopher's stone contains only one soul, he does not have the immortality and regenerative abilities his brethren are known for.

A formidable opponent in battle, Wrath strongly favors using swords, which he wields with deadly accuracy thanks to his unique gifts and lifetime of training, to the point where he can wield five blades simultaneously. Already a supreme swordsman and martial artist he is made even more dangerous due to his Ultimate Eye, which he conceals with his distinctive eyepatch. Though the details of his eye's abilities have not been elaborated on it apparently grants him tremendously accurate vision and the ability to read and predict practically any move his opponent could make. The eye's only weakness is that when there is a physical obstacle blocking its path, it is unable to provide Wrath with the predictions it normally would. This leads to Wrath being stabbed with his own sword along with Fu by Buccaneer, his first injury.

The fact that his Philosophers stone is merged with a single soul also means he cannot be easily detected by people from Xing unlike his fellow Homunculi, giving him a deadly element of surprise in battle with them. Later in battle with Greed, Fu and Briggs troops, he is stabbed in the chest and does not begin to regenerate instantly (unlike all his other siblings) most likely because he had the Philosopher's stone injected into him instead of being created with it (though this is unlikely as the Second Greed is able to regenerate easily), an encounter which he states only a single soul of unknown origins survived (he wonders whether this was his original soul or one of those fused into the Stone), unlike the second Greed, who states "there are so many souls inside of me," and like his former self begins to regenerate instantly when injured, first displayed when Gluttony bites his arm off during battle.

Nevertheless, Wrath remains as one of the most powerful characters in the manga, capable of fighting evenly against the second Greed and Fuu using only two daggers as well as being able to defeat the first Greed with ease (according to him, killing him at least 15 times during their encounter before subduing him with four swords and taking him back to Father). And even after being severely injured by Buccaneer and Greed/Ling, he proves himself to be more than capable of fighting evenly with Scar (even though his body was starting to fall apart due to his earlier fight).

Wrath make a few speeches that sometimes refers that his body doesn't move the way it used to. This could mean that despite being a powerful combatant, he is left at a disadvantage if he gets too old, or if he suffers massive body damage (this is seen when he fights Scar). He also seems to be able to withstand (more or less) Roy Mustang's flames when he tried to put down the latter in order to send him to Father as a human sacrifice, but this only made it worse for his current situation.

In the 2003 Anime
Main Article: Wrath (anime)



The Wrath seen in the 2003 anime series is greatly different from the one seen in the original manga storyline. Whereas the Wrath from the manga is a Homunculus agent created by Father, the 2003 anime Wrath is a an accidental Homunculs created by Izumi Curtis' failed attempt to resurrect her stillborn son by way of Human Transmutation.

Trivia

 * Wrath's English voice actor, Ed Blaylock, shares a common last name with James Blaylock, the author of 1986's science fiction comedy novel, "Homunculus".
 * Ironically, he is the youngest Homunculus (at 59-years-old), despite being physically the oldest-looking. This is the opposite of Pride who is the oldest (over 3 centuries) despite having the youngest appearance.
 * Wrath's loss of both his arms before death could be a reference to Dante Alighieri's "Inferno", wherein the wrathful are punished in Hell by being dismembered alive. His anime counterpart suffers a similar fate with his limbs ripped off.
 * Interestingly, the youngest and oldest Homunculi are the only Homunculi to share a close, yet fake, father-son relationship with one another.
 * Wrath bares a resemblance to "General Keiro" from "Juushin Enbu" another publication of Hiromu Arakawa's.
 * He is the only Homunculus that did not turn to dust when he died, this most likely being because his body was originally human and not sustained by the stone.
 * Interestingly, both animes, including the movie, have the Homunculus named Wrath be the fifth one to die.
 * Althought Wrath and the second Greed are created in similar ways (injecting a Philosopher's Stone into a human body), only Greed is able to regenerate. This is most likely because Bradley "fought" against the Stone, draining it to only one soul, while Ling offered his body to the Stone without resistance.