Maes Hughes

Maes Hughes (マース・ヒューズ, Māsu Hyūzu) is an Amestrian State Military officer stationed in the Investigations Office in Central City and Colonel Roy Mustang's best friend, as well as the closest supporter of Mustang's secret bid for the position of Führer. A devoted family man and exemplary soldier, Hughes is generally well-liked by the other characters (unless he is pushing his love of his wife or daughter on them) and his murder serves as the major starting point for the story to unfold.

Appearance
Tall and lean, Maes Hughes offsets his sharp military uniform with a thin chinstrap of scruffy beard and his jovially spiky hair ending in a characteristic forelock as well as the rectangular spectacles framed in front of his hazel eyes. Though his hair is black, the 2003 anime gave a green hue to it (coincidentally the same shade as Envy), suggesting that it could have been dark green.

Personality
For the most part, Maes' personality is decidedly amicable and cheerful, even to the point of being considered annoying by his closest acquaintances. He nearly always appears randomly, jovially butting in while something important is being discussed and is rather well-known in Central for shirking his many duties just to have a chat with friends even while griping gleefully about how much his paperwork is piling up. Hughes is also a rather forcefully hospitable person, never taking "no" for an answer when offering a position under his authority or a night's stay in his house and even going so far as to physically drag people behind him without waiting for their consent - prompting the Elric brothers to call him a "kidnapper" on more than one occasion.

Of course, his biggest and most noticeable character trait is the idolatrous infatuation he has with his wife, Gracia, and his three-year-old daughter Elicia. Never without one or more pictures of them on hand, Maes makes quite a nuisance of himself by bragging about them to peers and friends and offering up glances of their photographs as either a motivational tool or as reward for a service well rendered. In that vein, he is also rather overprotective of them both, gnashing his teeth in jealousy while imagining other men hitting on Gracia and actually drawing his sidearm to keep a group of young boys from being too friendly with his daughter. As such, he is constantly advising his friends Roy Mustang and Edward Elric to hurry into marriage themselves, much to Roy's annoyance and Edward's embarrassment.

Behind this behavior, however, is a markedly trustworthy and particularly intelligent military officer who always goes the distance to look after the people close to him. As a soldier involved with investigations and court-martials as well as a veteran of the Ishval Civil War, part of Hughes' buoyant demeanor may actually be a shield to protect himself and his loved ones from the darker aspect of his profession. He is a realist, decisive and shrewd, who is able to cut out what is unnecessary and focus on the most important aspects of a given situation. With his great eye for detail, Hughes is often the first to notice unfavorable patterns in a given situation and can plan accordingly, often calling for a strategic retreat or a change in tactics moments before anyone else realizes it's necessary. He is calm and analytical, not even flinching when a situation calls for him to deal with dead bodies or even deal out death himself and acts sharply even in high-pressure conditions. As a realist, he also understands and accepts that some situation cannot be rectified cleanly or honestly. Even so, he retains a soft spot for idealists like Roy and is prepared to burden as much of the darkness as it takes to ensure that idealists can shape the world into a better place.

Maes, despite all his goofball antics, is a rather wise man for his age and is prone to doling out sagely advice to the people he has invited into his extended family, including Roy, the Elrics and even Winry Rockbell, in order to make sure they take the correct path to the happy future.

Family
Gracia - His beloved wife, they always seem to have a good relationship, shown by the fact that she is hardly annoyed with his tendencies. He is shown to be, though to a much reduced extent than with his daughter, a bit obsessed with his wife. His love for her is shown when Envy takes her form right before he kills him, Maes hesitates to attack despite knowing that his opponent is a shape-shifter.

Elicia - He loves his daughter to an almost obsessed level, often showing off pictures of her to everyone he meets. In the 2003 anime, he even displayed a 12 foot tall picture of her to the crowd. He usually is berated for talking about her so often, to the point that Roy asked Maes if it was possible to send fire through a phone line as an annoyed joke. After Maes' death, Elicia seems to have trouble accepting (or really realizing his death, considering her age) his death, showing just how close he was to his daughter.

Friends and allies
Roy Mustang - Close friends since their shared days at the military academy, Hughes is very supportive of Roy Mustang's secret bid for the position of Führer, promising to work below his friend in order to push him to the top. As such, Roy frequently receives advice and secret communiqués from Central City via Maes' phonecalls or unanounced visits. Aware of the difficulty of Roy's position and as an active deterrent against the Flame Alchemist's oft gloomy disposition, Maes spends a great deal of their time in communication speaking happily of his family life and advising his friend to settle down soon himself. Though Roy often receives Hughes with disdain and annoyance, when Maes is mysteriously murdered, Roy is overcome with grief and rage to the point that he becomes almost obsessed with finding his friend's killer.

Edward and Alphonse Elric - Hughes is especially kind to Edward and his brother Alphonse throughout the series. In the anime, he invites them to his home to celebrate Edward's birthday, one of the few moments of domestic bliss enjoyed by the Elric brothers outside of their earlier lives with their mother. Because the Elric brothers had helped deliver Hughes's baby Elicia in the 2003 anime, it may be one of the reasons why he displays kindness towards them. Both he and his wife Gracia continue to be kind towards the brothers, as well as to their friend Winry Rockbell. Hughes also seems to be Edward's most trustworthy ally in the military, as Hughes manages to convince Edward to describe to him what he saw while in Laboratory 5 and also occasionally supplies them with useful information. Major Alex Louis Armstrong also seems to have a similar role like this to the Elrics. When the two brothers learn of Hughes' death, Edward instinctively holds Roy Mustang responsible for the death although as time passes he drops this accusation. Edward also blamed himself for being partly responsible, as he was the one who led Hughes into that investigation in the first place. Alphonse is also affected, but since he was in his armor form at the time, it is hard to see him expressing emotions physically.

Winry Rockbell - Accepting her as a surrogate member of his family unit, Maes rather enjoys Winry's company and her youthful spirit. Respecting her position as the Elrics' source of comfort and support, he is more than willing to offer her advice on how to deal with their stubbornness.

Sheska - Taking her on as his subordinate, Lt. Colonel Hughes takes an unreasonable deal of pleasure in teasing the timid Sheska and putting her remarkable memory and intelligence to work in his office, earning him the distinction among others as a bit of a sadistic slavedriver. His doing so, however, is well-intended and good-natured. In the 2003 anime, Sheska also became involved in solving the mystery of Hughes' death, and played a key role in discovering the last bit of information Hughes uncovered before his death, which was regarding the Führer's secretary Juliet Douglas.

Abilities
Hughes was initially assigned to the Investigations Division in Central, he is more involved with police work than he is in actual battles. He has displayed his skills with his push knives, with very precise aiming and through the use of his reflexes. After receiving his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, Hughes is placed in charge of the Investigations Division.

History
Hughes enrolled in the military academy during his early adulthood, where he met and befriended fellow cadet Roy Mustang; though it is presumed they were close, the two would be separated after graduation and would not meet again until both being sent out to the Daliha region of Ishval during the Ishval Civil War. There, though fresh from his academy days, Hughes was quickly promoted to the rank of Captain due the frequent deaths of his commanding officers. As the two soldiers watched the senseless chaos and rampant atrocities of the front lines, Maes lost some of his idealism but kept his spirits up with thoughts of a brighter future. When the long war finally ended, Hughes and Mustang discussed a new idealism wherein one person would rise above people and protect those below him with his acquired power and authority. Even if all he could protect was a few people, he would make sure that those people protected those below them and so on until the entire nation ended up benefiting from his protection. Remarking that any person aspiring to do so would need to reach the highest echelon of government, Hughes promised to support Roy in his new goal - to be Führer.

Years later, he married Gracia (whom he had known before the war began) and supported Mustang's plan to become Führer, doing whatever he could by "working below him and help push him to the top." After the incident in the military's 5th Laboratory, Edward Elric shows Hughes some drawings of what he saw in there. Upon further research, Hughes realizes that the military is making a huge transmutation circle around the country. Hughes is then confronted by the Homunculus Lust, who tries to assassinate him with her "Ultimate Spear". Hughes manages to escape her with only a flesh wound by throwing a knife into Lust's forehead. Hughes tries to phone Mustang with the crucial information, only to be gunned down by Envy - another Homunculus - disguised as 2nd Lt. Maria Ross. However, Hughes does not fall for this trick since he knows the real Maria Ross has a mole underneath her left eye, recognizing the imposter. Hughes then quickly grabs out his knife, but Envy has already changed himself into Gracia, then Hughes hesitates to attack (which gave Envy the opportunity to fatally shoot him). Hughes was 29-30 years old when he died (he is the same age as Mustang). This leads Mustang into further investigate the truth for himself, in hopes of finding the one responsible for Hughes' death.

Last Words: "Elicia...Gracia...I'm sorry...I don't think I can...keep my promise..."

He is promoted to Brigadier General posthumously and buried with full honors for dying in the line of duty. His death came as a shock to his friends and family, especially Sheska (in the 2003 anime series) and Mustang.

2003 anime
Hughes is initially assigned to the Investigations Division in Central, where he is more involved with police work than he is in actual battles. He has displayed his skills with his push knives, with very precise aiming and through the use of his reflexes. In this series he first met Edward Elric on the train to Central, and aided him against Bald (Hughes wasn't on the train in the original manga storyline. ). He also introduced his wife Gracia to Edward, his brother Alphonse during their stay in Central for the State Alchemy exams and the Elrics along with Nina Tucker helped deliver his child daughter Elica. Since then, Hughes had become good friends with the Elrics, and helped them as often as he could.

After receiving his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, Hughes is placed in charge of the Investigations Division. While investigating the 5th Laboratory incident and the mysterious deaths of the prisoners involved with its experiments, Hughes finds that there is much to suspect about the Führer's secretary, Juliet Douglas. During the course of his investigation, he is lured by Douglas to a hotel where she had told him Tim Marcoh is waiting, but on arrival, Hughes is confronted by both her and Lust. Barely surviving against the Homunculi, Hughes is only saved by the timely intervention of 2nd Lt. Maria Ross. He flees the building with Maria Ross, in order to contact Roy Mustang from a public telephone booth. His reason behind calling Mustang directly is to give him information that the Homunculi have infiltrated the top Military ranks and that his life may be in danger. As Mustang is on a train to Central, Hughes is not able to contact him. Hughes then notices that 2nd Lt. Ross is missing a minuscule mole under her left eye, and unknown to Hughes, turns out that the fake Maria Ross happens to Envy in disguise. The fake 2nd Lt. (Envy) quickly draws out her gun and tries to shoot Hughes, but he luckly grabs out his knife and threw it at her to slash her throat and turns to leave. Envy then gets up and transforms into Hughes’s wife Gracia. Hughes hesitates to attack, and Envy uses the opportunity to fatally shoot him. Hughes is posthumously promoted to Brigadier General ironically attaining a higher rank than Mustang, although the latter later does gain the same rank.

He gets a cameo in the 50th episode where Envy shapeshifts into him in a failed attempt to guilt trip Ed into letting him live. He is quoted as nonchalantly telling Ed to "calm down".

Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa
Just like many of the other characters, Maes Hughes and his wife Gracia also have alternate versions of themselves living in our world, with the former possessing a slightly looser set of moral standards than his Amestris counterpart. He works as a policeman in Munich, and Gracia is a flower shop owner and the landlady of the place where Edward and Alfons Heiderich were living. By the time of the movie, they are not together, but Hughes is already trying to approach her, and Ed tells him to stop stalking her and confess his feelings to her once and for all. Their relationship starts to cool when Noah starts to live with Ed, because while Gracia supports her, Hughes, a Nazi Party affiliate, tries to dissuade Ed due to Noah’s Gypsy origin. By the movie's last moments, Hughes finally gets the courage to speak openly with Gracia and apparently, they finally come to terms and he leaves the Nazi party.

Trivia

 * In the OVA "Kids" on the Conqueror of Shambala DVD another police officer resembles Hughes can be seen giving directions to Edward Elric's grandchildren.
 * As a running gag, Maes would always talk about his daughter (mainly to Roy and Ed, shoving a picture of her in their faces and loudly saying things like "Look at my beautiful daughter Elicia!"). Most noticeably in the 2003 anime when before Elric and Roy's duel, he revealed a large picture of his daughter, causing the crowd to throw stuff at him. Despite this, many people were very upset when he died.
 * Maes death is somewhat changed from the manga; in the 2003 anime, it was Maes who initially attacked Envy.
 * Hughes' military identification code is USO-800
 * In Episode 30: The Ishvalan War of Extermination, it is revealed on a letter marked to Maes Hughes that he was stationed with the 27th Infantry Battalion during the Ishval Civil War.
 * The Hugheses' house in Central City is located on Mayflower street.
 * Like all military personnel in the series, Maes Hughes is named after a real life military vehicle - the Hughes H-4 Hercules heavy transport plane.
 * Considering Hughes's death, in the 2003 anime, he was shot in the liver. While in the 2009 anime, he was shot in the heart.
 * In a little pic in volume 22, Arakawa states (while holding a FMA volume with no visible number) that she didn't get to draw Hughes, or Lust, on the back spine on that printed manga volume, meaning she was planning to have him and Lust somewhere on the back spines along with the other main characters but apparently didn't get the time to do so.
 * In the splash page of chapter 107, where the protagonists place their fists towards to center, one can see his hand holding a picture of Elicia.
 * His first name is pronounced quite differently in the original Japanese compared to the English dub. In the dub, it sounds like "Maze" but in the Japanese version, it's almost exactly as it's spelled: "Mas".
 * In regards to Maes' career as part of the Amestrian State Military, he has held four separate ranks over the span of the franchise. He held the rank of Captain during the Ishval Civil War in the manga storyline and was introduced as a Major in the 2003 anime storyline. In both stories, however, he holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel up until his death and is posthumously promoted two ranks to Brigadier General (Major General or Commodore in the Viz translation of the manga) after being killed in action.