Winry Rockbell

Winry Rockbell (ウィンリィ・ロックベル, Uinrī Rokkuberu) is a main supporting character in the Fullmetal Alchemist series. A close childhood friend of Edward and Alphonse Elric since their young life in Resembool, she is almost like a sister to the two and essentially their only family. An amateur surgeon and mechanical repair specialist/enthusiast, Winry acts as Edward's rear line support as his personal automail engineer and mechanic, making sure his prosthetic right arm and left leg are always in good working order. Additionally, she provides a great deal of emotional support for the pair and somewhat plays the role of the love interest in the story.

Appearance
Winry is a rather attractive young woman with a slender yet healthily curvaceous build, shoulder-length light blond hair and blue eyes. She is slightly taller than Edward for the entirety of the 2003 anime series and most of the manga and, though Edward spends much of their early life taunting her for having "no sex appeal", Winry's figure becomes progressively more womanly over the course of the story. She usually wears her hair in a long ponytail tied high in back, while leaving a loose curtain on either side of her face and her bangs falling casually from right to left across her forehead. Winry wears her ears pierced in an avant-garde style, with two identical pairs of hoop earrings on each and an additional pair of studs worn vertically on her right ear, above the others. Though multiple characters have commented on her ladylike beauty in public, Winry is an unabashed tomboy and spends much of her time dressed in her mechanic's garb, donning a beige worker's jumpsuit with the top half open and tied around her waist to reveal her usual black tube top and her bare midriff. After her move to Rush Valley, Winry swaps out her tube top for a black and white halter with a large zipper down the front, but the remainder of her work outfit remains the same. Additionally, she ties her hair back with a characteristic green bandanna, wears house slippers and protects her hands with light brown suede craftsman's gloves while working. When going out for a jaunt, however, Winry is quite partial to light-colored tank tops and skirts and occasionally wears her hair down.

Personality
Kind, smart, and sincere, Winry acts like a concerned family member to the Elric brothers whenever in their company. Having known Edward and Alphonse since childhood, she maintains a close friendship with the two. Orphaned at a young age because her parents were doctors who were killed during the Ishval Civil War, she has lived with her grandmother in the town of Resembool since. In the manga, her parents are murdered by Scar, whereas in the anime her parents are murdered at the hands of Colonel Mustang. Known as an "Automail Otaku", she is fascinated by any and all types of machines, excelling in building and repairing automail. She takes pride in her work as a mechanic. Along with her grandmother, Pinako, who is a famous automail engineer, the two run a small automail shop out of their own home. They are also the ones responsible for Edward's automail arm and leg, having been asked to make and install the limbs by Edward after he lost them in the failed human transmutation of his mother. Winry takes it upon herself to make sure that his automail is in top form and will go out of her way to travel for servicing when it's needed.

Winry throughout the series has been shown to be kind and empathetic to those around her. This is shown at the point prominently, where she met Maes Hughes. Though she only knew him for a short instance of time, she is shown to have been deeply hurt and saddened by his death.

Winry, despite her kindness and empathy, has also been shown to be pigheaded to the point she rivals Ed. She can be quite loud and temper-mental, especially when it comes to Ed. In the earlier points of the series, whenever Ed, well, pissed her off in the slightest, she'd throw a wrench at his head (showing that she can be a bit prone to violence).

She is a hardworker, often tiring herself out. She will pull all-nighters for the sake of her automail customers, often days in a row. She can also be a perfectionist, working meticulously until her automail is the best in all of Amestris.

One other very important thing she is, is loyal. Despite her budding fame in the automail industry, and happiness in Rush Valley, she is willing to drop everything to come to the aide of Al and Ed, both whom are close childhood friends.

Relationships
Edward Elric - She has been in love with him for a long time. As such, however, Edward argues with Winry even more than he does with Al, their similarly stubborn personalities keeping them at odds with one another despite their powerful bond. After the terrible accident that claimed Ed's arm and leg, Winry took on the role of his personal automail mechanic, building him sophisticated new limbs at the tender age of eleven. Since then, Winry has served as Ed's constant well of support, both mechanically and emotionally, though they still find themselves arguing frequently. However, this affectionate hostility appears to be masking a deeper relationship. Though Edward has not outwardly admitted any romantic feelings toward Winry, he is rather overprotective of her and becomes unnaturally flustered at the mere suggestion of an amatory relationship between them. Winry, for her part, has admitted to herself that she fell in love with Edward long ago.

Alphonse Elric - 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.

Pinako - Even since before the death of her parents during the Ishval Civil War, Winry has always had a close relationship with her grandmother, but since the tragedy that befell the Rockbell homestead, Pinako has served as Winry's sole caretaker and closest - if not only - blood relation. The two have a relatively amicable relationship, ribbing each other every so often as they go about their days jointly running their automail atelier, but the bond between them remains as that of doting grandparent and adoring grandchild. When Winry finally sets out on her own path as an automail engineer, Pinako worries silently that the greater world will be too hard on her little Winry, but is very proud when she sees and hears evidence of the young woman's progress. Conversely, Winry worries about leaving her grandmother alone and communicates with her regularly, knowing that there will always be a place for he at home in Resembool if she should so require.

Riza Hawkeye - Many parallels can be drawn between Riza and Winry, aside from being the woman closer to the main characters of the series. When Winry first met Riza, she had a heavy preconceived vision of soldiers in military in general, since she held them responsible for war and, consequentially, the death of her parents. Upon talking to her, Riza reveals another side to the military work, about her idealistic view of duty and dedicating her life to the service of the country and her objectives. Since then, although they don't share a close relationship, Winry seems to regard Riza as a role model in selflessness and dedication to her believes and Riza seems to cherish the innocence and purity of Winry (maybe as a reflect to her own innocence lost in the military service). This can be seen very clearly during the gaiden called Simple People, where Riza confess to have her hair grown because she saw Winry's and liked they way they looked; and Winry confess to have her ears pierced because she saw Hawkeye wear earrings and thought they looked nice.

Abilities
Winry is an exceptionally gifted mechanic, capable of quickly and effectively building and repairing seemingly any mechanic device, especially automail. In addition, while not having any formal training for it, Winry has also shown to have a natural talent for medicine, as she was able to on her own successfully deliver a baby. This is due in part because of having doctor parents, allowing her to regularly read their various books and accumulate great knowledge in medicine. She has also shown ridiculous aim in throwing various tools, as shown from her repeated comedic assaults on Edward from aggravating her.

Manga
In the manga Winry becomes an apprentice to Garfiel, an automail engineer in Rush Valley. Her parents, both doctors, were killed by Scar during the Ishval Civil War when she was very young (after the Elric brothers' father left but before their mother died). Winry plays a much larger role in the manga than in the the anime where she is a supporting character. She frequently travels with the Elrics (mainly because Ed keeps breaking his arm, who he refers to her as "his personal mechanic") and later realizes that she has been in love with Ed for a long time.

Due to her importance in the lives of the Elric brothers, Winry is used as a hostage by the military to gain Edward's obedience. In order to escape from the military's possession, she decided to travel with Scar and the others. It was revealed in chapter 72 that it was her plan for Scar to use her as a hostage in order to escape although she has not forgiven him for killing her parents. In chapters 80 and 81, she is seen worrying over Ed. In chapter 84 Winry is taken on a military train back to Resembool in a water tank. When she comes into her house she is shocked to find Ed in her room while she is undressing. The two scream (obviously shocked by one another) which causes everyone to believe Ed and Winry are in danger and she soon kicks everyone out of her room. Shortly after she fills Ed in on where Al is and what's been happening in Lior, she finds out Ling has become Greed, and why they were hiding out in her house. Ed tells her to leave the country, but she refuses, wanting to help Ed in anyway she can. Ed soon departs and Winry stays in Resembool for the time being.

In Chapter 104, Winry is seen in Resembool as the effects of the Nationwide Transmutation Circle are felt everywhere. Pinako and her collapse in their house as she utters what appears to be her last word, "Ed." In the next chapter, however, it is revealed that Hohenheim has been planning for Father's nationwide transmutation circle. He has hid the part of his Philosopher's Stone in the soil, and using the Umbra, the moon's shadow, souls of his Philosopher's Stone are able to rip Amestris' souls out of Father and back into their bodies. Winry is next seen coughing and says she felt like she was drowning in a whirlpool of pain and suffering.

2003 Anime
Winry pays a lot of attention to Ed's automail because of her deep feelings for him[5], and feels accomplished when she thinks that Ed wins in an automail arm wrestling contest. Winry accepts the Elric brothers as a part of her family and tries to play the role as their sister, though she may not truly see herself as one. Throughout the series, she tends to most express her feelings during moments of weakness, showing genuine concern and romantic interest towards Edward.

When they were younger, Ed and Al would argue over who would be the one to marry Winry when they grew up.

After Ed disappears at the end of the anime, Winry takes care of Al while waiting for Edward to return. When he finally does in Conqueror of Shamballa, she embraces Ed in tears of joy, making him blush. Winry reveals that she has prepared new automail for Edward, and upon his return, attaches them to him. After Edward's departure, Winry continues working on automail with her grandmother.

In 2007, three OVA's were created. In one of them, Winry's affections to Edward are made apparent. In the OVA, the "cast" of the movie attended an after-party. During which, a drunken Winry confronts Edward about pictures of him and Noah that appeared in a magazine featuring shots and tidbits of the movie. During Ed's explanations, Winry becomes infuriated with jealousy and beats him with wrenches and screwdrivers.

Another shows three children in a modern city who bear a striking resemblance to Ed, Al, and Winry who go visit an elderly Edward who is their great-grandfather. It is unknown who Ed married, our world's Winry or his world's Winry who might have found a way across.

According to the booklet in Special Edition of the movie, it is stated that she has become an authority on Automail during the two years.

Trivia

 * In the OVA "Kids," one of the children looks almost identical to Winry and is Edward's great granddaughter. No one knows if Winry somehow got to our world and had children with Edward or Ed simply found our universe's version of Winry, whether either of them are relevent is never explained.
 * Winry is a very loved character. For example Mania Entertainment's Jarred Pine liked how Winry's character is further developed in the manga than in the first anime, remarking her first meeting with Riza Hawkeye which he claims "It is such a simple scene, but it really speaks volumes about the characters."