Selim Bradley

Selim Bradley (セリム・ブラッドレイ, Serimu ・Buraddorei) is the son of King Bradley, the Führer of Amestris. Due to the divergence between the manga and the 2003 anime series, Selim is portrayed as two very different characters in both the continuities.

Manga and 2009 Anime


Main article: Pride

In the original storyline, Selim first appears in Chapter 31 of the manga and Episode 14 of the 2009 anime as the Führer's sprightly son.

He frequently asks his father to tell him stories from the battlefront and interesting anecdotes from his everyday goings-on. Selim professes a desire to become a State Alchemist so as to be more useful to the Führer and is a self-professed fan of Edward Elric. It is revealed that Selim is not Bradley's biological son, but rather adopted from a distant relative. When Riza Hawkeye hears from Mrs. Bradley that Selim comes from her husband's side, she discovers the awful truth: that Selim Bradley is actually the Homunculus known as Pride. After Father's death, Edward hands over the body of Pride to a tearful Mrs. Bradley.

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. Pride is the only surviving Homunculus.

2003 Anime
In the 2003 anime, he is merely the Führer's timid adopted child, appearing late in the series.

On his tenth birthday, young Selim receives a model train and discovers the skull that constitutes Pride's remains and is trusted by his father with guarding it, calling it his treasure. Delighted, he gladly takes the responsibility in order to make his father proud of him. When the Bradleys hear a faint thud coming from their cellar, King Bradley has his guards send his wife and son to the command center for their safety. On the way, the car carrying Selim and his mother is hit by Lt. Frank Archer, knocking the driver and Mrs. Bradley unconscious. Selim, worried about his father and wanting to make sure that his secret treasure is safe, leaves the safety of the car and heads back to his home. After retrieving his father's treasure and putting it in his bag, Selim accidentally wanders onto the scene of Bradley and Roy Mustang's fight. As a Homunculus, King Bradley is severely weakened by the proximity of his human remains, allowing Mustang to gain the upper hand and remove the sword piercing his shoulder. In a fit of rage, the Führer tries to strangle his son to death on the spot.

After using the skull to kill the Homunculus, Mustang picks up Selim and carries him outside the burning manor. It is unknown if Selim died or just went unconscious.

Trivia

 * In episode 14, Selim expresses interest in someday “learning alchemy so he can help Father”. Curiously in another episode, Pride assimilates Kimblee, assimilating his knowledge and making a Transmutation circle for Mustang to open the portal. Thus Father would have the 5 sacrifices at his mercy which makes Selim's wish come true.
 * Selim Bradley's character design slightly resembles Suan, a character from Arakawa Hiromu's Shanghai Youma Kikai, the discontinued manga series Arakawa wrote earlier before Fullmetal Alchemist.
 * Selim/Pride came in the 21st place in the latest fan poll.
 * Selim's name comes from the Ottoman Sultan's name Selim I.
 * The reason why Selim Bradley was fully human in the 2003 anime, was that his status as a Homunculus was not officially revealed at the time in the manga during production of the first anime. However, Pride's voice was first heard in the chapter that was released shortly before the final episode of the 2003 anime was aired.