Roy Mustang

Roy Mustang (ロイ・マスタング, Roi Masutangu), also known as the Flame Alchemist (炎の錬金術師, Honō no Renkinjutsushi), is the tritagonist of the Fullmetal Alchemist series. He is a State Alchemist and officer in the Amestrian State Military. A hero of the Ishval Civil War and Edward Elric's superior officer, Colonel Mustang is a remarkably capable commander who plans to become the next Führer of Amestris.

Appearance
Roy Mustang is the very picture of an attractive, sophisticated man in the prime of life. With his dark, piercing eyes and clean-shaven, baby-faced visage, the infamous colonel attracts a great deal of attention from admirers. Roy's dark hair - perhaps in keeping with his persona - is worn casually unkempt, falling over his eyes; in more formal or somber situations, however, he is known to wear it neatly slicked back.

A great fan of classy attire, Mustang is rarely seen out of uniform (and even while in uniform will often don other impressive accoutrements, such as a long, black overcoat and white formal-wear gloves), but when dressed in civilian clothes, he appears rather partial to the three-piece suit and black tie (frequently coupled with classic scarves, polished dress shoes and the aforementioned overcoat and gloves). It may be interesting to note that Roy tends toward dark or neutral colors in his dress, such as dark blue, brown and black tempered with minimal white.

After the events of his fight with Lust in Chapter 39: Complications at Central/Episode 19: Death of the Undying (2009 series), Roy carries a faint scar on the back of his right hand in the shape of the Flame Alchemy Transmutation Circle. He also carries a large burn wound on his left side, lower back and abdomen from the same event.

Personality
On the surface, Roy seems to be a shallow and self-absorbed man, infamous among many of his colleagues and subordinates alike for the selfish and narcissistic aura he gives off. Easily as arrogant as his young protégé Edward, Colonel Mustang is wont to act in an ostentatious manner and appears to act mostly out of self-interest rather than any sort of philanthropy. He comes off to most as a sort of cocky layabout, shirking most of his duties and delegating his paperwork to subordinates while sitting idly at his desk with an amused smile on his face as he procrastinates, but quick to take action when it appears that there is glory and military notoriety to be gained. Roy is expertly manipulative and prone to think several steps ahead of those around him, giving him a remarkable talent for making subordinates act exactly as he wishes despite appearing not to have had a hand in their decisions - all traits which make the fact that he has managed to attain the lofty rank of colonel at such a young age a matter of public gossip.

Roy also has the reputation of being an incorrigible womanizer, and it's said he spends much of his time cavorting about town with various women and wooing several of the servicewomen with his abundant charm, good looks and charisma. This adds another facet to his unpopularity among the enlisted men, many of whom have had their sweethearts and crushes romanced away from them by his hand.

However, while these traits do have a place in his real personality, much of his outward persona can perhaps be considered an intentional façade perfectly designed to cause those unfamiliar with him to underestimate his remarkable intelligence and ability. Mustang is an exceptional tactician, well-versed in various strains of combat theory and particularly talented in the realms of surreptitious information-gathering, covert operations and enemy ensnarement.

At the core, he is a remarkably devoted commander whose primary focus and personal duty is to his friends and subordinates. Though he hides it well behind a veil of cynicism and self-importance, Roy Mustang is a man who cares deeply about the people who trust and support him and goes to great lengths to ensure their safety and well-being, even at the risk of his own. As a man with considerable power, Mustang considers himself a protector to those without and acts accordingly, earning the staunch loyalty of his most trusted compatriots.

Unfortunately, his self-imposed position as protector has caused him to display a penchant toward stubbornness in regards to his pride on the field and a fiery temper, both of which have been shown to cloud his judgment in certain situations.

Relationships
Riza Hawkeye - Easily the most significant of Roy's personal relationships, his connection with Lt. Hawkeye goes deeper and further back than any other. The daughter of Berthold Hawkeye, the man who taught Roy to use alchemy, Riza has known Roy throughout his youth and military career and has a personal stake in how he chooses to live his life. In turn, Roy has entrusted Hawkeye with his life as his personal assistant and bodyguard and has deemed her as both his conscience and executioner by giving her the express authority to shoot him in the back should he ever step off the righteous path.

They repeatedly demonstrate a deep, genuine sense of concern and devotion to each other as equals. Roy has stated many times her to be "truly kind" and "sweeter than she may look", although he's often seen complaining about Hawkeye being demanding and too stern with him. He enjoys teasing her at any given opportunity, especially at the times she shows her affections openly. He also has a tendency of acting on impulse whenever Riza is in danger.

Though their relationship has not shown any explicit signs of crossing into traditional amatory during the series, there have been many scenes where such a romantic nature is implied.

Maes Hughes - Mustang's best friend from their shared days at the military academy, Maes Hughes is Roy's closest friend inside and outside of the military. Almost constantly calling Roy on the phone or dropping into his office to say hello, Maes' uplifting persona is an active deterrent to Colonel Mustang's often gloomy disposition. Maes is also the strongest secret supporter of Roy's bid for Führer, often giving him inside information from his position in the investigations office at Central Command as well as slipping him pointers on how to achieve his dream. 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 Elric - Officially, Mustang is Edward's superior officer, but their relationship is far from the typical professional connection. There exists between them a sort of amicable animosity, as Roy takes a great deal of personal pleasure in teasing Fullmetal and watching him squirm under his orders and, at the same time, Ed takes pleasure in getting around his orders and showing Mustang up whenever he manages to find an opportunity. Though their meetings are fraught with a great deal of apparent, mutual dislike, Flame and Fullmetal hold a great deal of respect for one another and are compatriots as well as co-conspirators in the secret battle against the Homunculi. Having originally scouted the young boy for the State Alchemist program and formed a bond with him, Roy genuinely wishes to see Edward fulfill his goal and Edward also subtly supports Mustang's secret bid to become the Führer and improve the country. Their personalities are quite similar, both being quite fond of boasting of their own abilities, but willing to do anything to protect their loved ones.

Lt. General Grumman - Roy's superior officer from his days at East Area Headquarters, General Grumman has played a sort of grandfatherly role in Roy's development as a soldier and officer. Having taught the young Flame Alchemist everything he knows about covert operations, subordinate coordination and womanizing, Grumman feels rather fondly for his protégé and is partly responsible for the young man's speedy rise through the ranks. Roy owes Grumman a great deal and trusts him enough to seek the old man's help and advice when he finds himself in a pinch.

Madame Christmas - Roy's foster mother and paternal aunt, Madame Christmas (real name Chris Mustang) raised Roy after his parents died in his early childhood. Madame Christmas treats Roy in a gruff, casual way, with a slight ironic tease, calling him "Roy-boy" even though her foster son is about 30 years old. Mustang seems to rely on Madame Christmas quite a lot, letting her in on his plans inside the military and conveying dangerous secrets to her. She acts as his information source, promoting fake dates of her employees with Mustang, where the girls usually get a payment for information they acquire from the Military Officers who seek their services. She's also Mustang's connection to General Grumman.

They tend to treat each other with sarcasm and a bit of bitterness, even though their conversations let in a sort of comfortable and old intimacy. As in almost every intimate relationship Mustang shares with other characters, his relationship with Madame Mustang has a good dose of mutual mockering and teasing.

Flame Alchemy
Even among the elite State Alchemists, Colonel Mustang is a particularly skilled alchemist adequately versed in standard physical transmutation, experimental theory and biological alchemy. However, the brilliant skill that has earned him his state license, national notoriety and the status of "hero" during the Ishval Civil War is his remarkably powerful fire-based combat style. Mustang's unique style of combat alchemy is made possible by his custom made gloves. Made of "pyrotex/ignition cloth" and embroidered with unique flame alchemy Transmutation Circles, these gloves create a spark when Roy rubs his fingers together and allow him to manipulate the concentration of oxygen in the air surrounding his target, raising its density to a level at which it becomes a volatile and flammable oxidizer, and creating narrow pathways of oxygen through which he can direct the ensuing flame that blossoms from the spark. The 'snap' sound is caused by the instantaneous speed at which the highly concentrated gases and sparks react together and pop (not his fingers actually 'snapping', to common belief.)

While Mustang's Flame Alchemy cannot be used on rainy days because the humidity makes it impossible for his gloves to produce sparks, it becomes clear that water itself does not make the Colonel entirely as "useless" as his subordinates assume. Using the transmutation circles on his gloves, Roy is able to separate hydrogen atoms from the oxygen atoms in water molecules, isolating them into a highly combustible fuel and powerfully volatile oxidizer, respectively. Though this method can only be used when a large quantity of water is present in a relatively closed-off space (and not in the rain where the air is open and separating hydrogen and oxygen for the purpose of combustion would pose far too much danger to anyone in the vicinity), with an outside source of ignition such as a cigarette lighter or a match, Roy can produce extremely powerful, localized explosions.

It has also been revealed that Roy is able to delegate each hand to a different flame effect, possibly due to a difference in hand dexterity. The right hand appears to allow for large explosive attacks, while the left allows for smaller, but strong and very accurate pinpoint flame attacks, demonstrated when he used his left hand to evaporate the liquid in Envy's eyes causing excruciating pain, and the right to engulf Envy in a large explosion. Overall, because of his Flame Alchemy, Roy has been regarded as "the most troublesome State Alchemist" by the First Homunculus himself, Pride.

Flame Alchemy is the brainchild of the master alchemist Berthold Hawkeye, who had spent several years perfecting it before his death from illness in 1905. Believing it to be the greatest and most powerful form of alchemy possible, Hawkeye refused to pass on the knowledge to Roy, who was his apprentice at the time, and instead entrusted the secrets of his search for knowledge to his young daughter Riza - tattooing the perfected array onto her back as the only physical record of its existence. The full array appears to consist of a circle corralling an inverted hexagram made up of a large air triangle and a large earth triangle, both splitting into identical pairs as they intersect, with a fire triangle at the center, pointing upward toward a flame. Below the hexagram is an image of a salamander. Outside the circle is a pair of entwined basilisks and the text of the "Libera Me" responsory repeated multiple times. After Roy gains Riza's trust and takes the Flame Alchemy knowledge for himself, he modifies the symbol somewhat for his gloves (removing the text and the basilisks in favor of a simplified circle). At Riza's insistence, he reluctantly uses his new knowledge to burn parts of the image off of her back, erasing the important aspects of it from existence, and freeing her from the heavy responsibility of carrying it.

When he is forced to perform human transmutation and see the Truth, Roy gains the ability to transmute without a circle, clapping his hands to compensate for the sigils on his gloves being shredded. While at first he is apprehensive of this mode of alchemy, he quickly realizes that because of the absence of the need for transmutation circles he is no longer limited to flame-based alchemy on the battlefield, as seen when he transmutes a stone wall to protect himself, Riza, and Major Alex Louis Armstrong from the Homunculus Father's attacks.

In the Book in Figure Red omake strip, Roy reveals that he sometimes uses alchemy for the purpose of scoring a date. In his "Oxygen de Gentleman Strategy", he uses his gloves to raise the oxygen density around a specific woman to the point that she becomes dizzy. He then, rushes to her side to prevent her from falling, asks her if she is all right and follows up with other sweet words and an invitation for tea.

History
Orphaned at a young age, Roy was adopted by Chris Mustang, his father's younger sister, who brought him up with the intention of making him into a fine gentleman. Presumably in his teens, young Roy discovered an affinity for alchemy and took basic instruction in the craft from master alchemist Berthold Hawkeye in the hopes of becoming a source of strength and knowledge for the people of Amestris.

However, faced with the increasing frequency of border wars, Roy eventually left his teacher's charge and enrolled in the State Military Academy with the intent of becoming a State Alchemist and devoting himself to the protection of citizens caught in the crossfire of international struggles. While at the military academy, he became friends with fellow cadet Maes Hughes, with whom he often discussed his idealistic dreams for the future of the country.

In 1905, at the age of twenty, Roy returned to the decrepit Hawkeye estate hoping to both acquire the higher echelons of Master Hawkeye's unique alchemical expertise as well as persuade his revered teacher to join the State Alchemist program so as to share his brilliance with the world. Berthold, however, refused the offer and further expressed his doubts that someone so eager to become a military lapdog was worthy of attaining the pinnacle of his research. Unfortunately, Master Hawkeye died of an unknown illness in Roy's arms that very day, leaving as his dying wish that Roy inherit his secret research notes from his daughter Riza under the condition that he look after her and vow to never use the power hidden within for ill.

At Hawkeye's funeral, after Roy revealed to Riza his own dreams of strengthening the government and protecting the people with his own strength, she in turn revealed to him that her father's secret research had been encoded in a tattoo on her back. Impressed by Roy's intentions, she entrusted her back to him in the hopes that he would use its secret to create a happy future for the people. Deciphering the code, Roy mastered Hawkeye's innovative flame alchemy and went on to pass the State Alchemist certification exam, earning the symbolic moniker "Flame Alchemist" and the military officer rank of Major.

Three years later, the Ishval Civil War had reached a fevered pitch, prompting the Führer to order combat-oriented State Alchemists into front line combat as human weapons to begin a full-blown extermination campaign against the Ishvalans. The Flame Alchemist was ordered into the Daliha district where the columns of fire ignited by his flashily destructive style of combat alchemy earned him great notoriety and the nickname "The Hero of Ishval". Re-encountering Maes Hughes and Riza Hawkeye, who had enrolled into the military academy and become an infamous sniper in the civil war since he had seen her last, the three lamented the fact that their eyes of youthful idealism had been replaced with the eyes of murderers and pondered over the unknown reasoning behind the incredible military expenses being devoted to the inexplicable wholesale slaughter of the Ishvalans, who were technically fellow Amestrian citizens.

After an exorbitant death toll, Mustang himself brought an end to the struggle in Daliha, effectively bringing the civil war to a close. However, the long and bloody struggle had all but erased the idealism of his youth; after devoting himself to the military in order to support the people, he had built himself up into the "hero" of a massacre, and only managed to save the lives of a few men stationed under him with his flames. Still, the thanks of those men inspired a new dream in the Flame Alchemist's heart. Instead of becoming part of the foundation of the country in order to protect the people, he began planning to 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. It was at that point that Roy Mustang first set his sights on the position of Führer.

As Mustang prepared to move out from the battlefield, Riza - just as guilt-ridden for her deadly role in the genocide, both direct and indirect - asked Roy to burn the record of her father's research off of her back with his Flame Alchemy so as to prevent the creation of a second "Flame Alchemist".

After the war, Mustang was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and stationed at the East Area Headquarters in East City under Lt. General Grumman. As a new commander, he scoured the new recruits for trustworthy subordinates who would fulfill his ideals of universal protection and amassed a handful of dependable underlings including Riza Hawkeye, whom he positioned as his personal aide and bodyguard, entrusting his back to her under the agreement that she would protect him from harm and shoot him from behind if his march to power caused him to stray off of the correct path and use the knowledge she had given him with ill intentions.

In the aftermath of the war, as several State Alchemists had thrown away their licenses as penance for the atrocities they had been ordered to commit, Lt. Col. Mustang was assigned to investigate and recruit possible candidates for the State Alchemist program. One such lead brought him, along with 2nd Lt. Hawkeye, to the town of Resembool in the east in pursuit of an alchemist named Edward Elric. Upon arriving in town, Mustang discovered not only that this Edward Elric was only eleven years old, but also that the boy's empty home held the horrific telltale signs of a Human Transmutation attempt. Rushing to next door neighbor's house to confront young Edward, he made yet another discovery - that the boy had miraculously survived the Rebound from a failed Human Transmutation and managed to bind the disembodied soul of his younger brother Alphonse to a suit of armor (two unheard-of alchemical feats) at the cost of his right arm and left leg. Faced with this information, Mustang offered Edward the chance to join the program under his command, mentioning that the boy might even find a way to restore his and his brother's bodies with the resources at his disposal as a State Alchemist.

One year later, after Mustang had been promoted to the rank of Colonel, Edward arrived at East Area HQ and requested that Roy escort him to Central City for his license examination. Displaying the unique ability to transmute without a circle as well as uncommon brazenness, Edward was accepted into the program, stationed under Col. Mustang's command and granted the title "Fullmetal Alchemist". In exchange for Edward's loyalty, Roy promised to keep Edward's illegal human Transmutation attempt as well as the secret of his brother's body under wraps and granted him the leeway to venture freely around the country in search of his goal.

Eastern Command
Colonel Mustang makes his first formal appearance in Chapter 4, when his office receives word that remnants of the eastern terrorist group Blue Squad has hijacked the train on which Maj. General Hakuro is traveling with his family. Before the Colonel can take action, however, the Blue Squad members are dispatched by Edward and Alphonse Elric, who had happened to be passengers on the train as well. Upon Edward's arrival in East City, Roy introduces him to state-certified bio-alchemist Shou Tucker, whom they hope can use his expertise on chimeric alchemy to give them some insight on a different means of restoring their bodies. Unfortunately, Edward discovers that Tucker's famous past success in creating a chimera capable of human speech was the result of a human experimentation in which he sacrificed the life of his "estranged" ex-wife and that his fresh triumph was willingly gained at the cost of his young daughter Nina, to whom the Elric boys had grown quite close. Roy orders that Tucker be placed under house arrest and begins proceedings for a court-martial, sending for Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes and Major Alex Louis Armstrong from Central to escort the ex-State Alchemist to his hearing; unfortunately, they arrive at the Tucker home to find that Shou, Nina and even the military policemen guarding the estate have been gruesomely murdered by a mysterious assailant. Hughes and Armstrong inform Mustang that the modus operandi of the killings matches that of a nameless serial killer they had been tracking from Central City - a scarred man who targets State Alchemists specifically and had already slain ten around the country. Though Hughes advises Roy to lay low until the killer is caught, Mustang worries for Edward's safety and orders the military police to find and escort the Fullmetal Alchemist to the safety of the command center. When reports come in that Ed and Al have engaged a mysterious scarred assailant on the main road of town, however, Roy moves with his own forces to back them up and arrives on the scene just before the Scarred Man is able to assassinate Fullmetal. With the help of Major Armstrong - who happens to be the "Strong Arm Alchemist" - the East City forces manage to prevent Edward's demise as well as ascertain a bit more about Scar before his flashy escape: namely that his strange method of execution is a brand of alchemy that stops at the deconstruction stage and, perhaps more importantly, that the man is an Ishvalan survivor of the Civil War bent on taking vengeance for his slaughtered people.

Roy vows to apprehend and execute Scar before he can do more damage, placing a gag order on the incident with Fullmetal and initiating a citywide search for the alchemist killer as Ed and Al leave town under escort to have their injuries tended to. Though Scar manages to elude capture and leave the city, Mustang receives word from Hughes that turmoil in Central City has caused the members of Central Command to seriously consider transferring Roy to the capital. Anticipating a possible invitation to Central Command, Hughes advises Roy to amass as many supporters as possible so as to ward off opposition. However, a short time later, news reaches Roy that Hughes has been murdered. He travels to Central City to attend his best friend's funeral and learn what he can about the murder, but even with the help of Major Armstrong is only able to uncover a few key facts - Hughes' death was orchestrated by one or more unknown members of a mysterious group already under investigation, the reason for his death had to do with an unspecified plot he had uncovered which threatened the military government and someone in Central Command had placed a gag order on all other information. After being informed officially that his transfer to Central City is indeed imminent, Roy vows to get to the bottom of the mystery and avenge Maes Hughes in one fell swoop.

When Roy's transfer orders officially arrive in Chapter 25, he bids farewell to Lt. General Grumman and, in addition to receiving Grumman's chess set, requests another parting gift in the form of five subordinates to be transferred with him - Lt. Riza Hawkeye, 2nd Lt. Jean Havoc, 2nd Lt. Heymans Breda, Warrant Officer Vato Falman and Sergeant Major Kain Fuery.

"Fishing" in Central
No sooner does Mustang arrive in Central with his squad than he is hit with a new and substantial lead regarding the goings-on in Central Command; he is contacted in the dead of night by Riza, who informs him that she has just apprehended Barry the Chopper, a supposedly executed serial killer who now exists as a disembodied soul bound to a suit of armor just like Alphonse. Securing a secluded warehouse, Roy, Riza and Vato Falman interrogate the suspicious character and uncover a wealth of new information. Barry explains that he was a guard at Central Alchemical Laboratory #5, a supposedly abandoned military facility which was in actuality being secretly used to manufacture imperfect Philosopher's Stones using military personnel as researchers and live prisoners as ingredients, and had met Alphonse Elric when he and Fullmetal snuck into the compound a short time earlier. With this information, Roy is able to piece together the cryptic snippets of information that Major Armstrong had given him after Hughes' funeral and deduces that Central Command is likely behind the experimentation there as well as the sudden destruction of the facility and the evidence hidden therein. Barry also describes two individuals named Lust and Envy who appear to have been in charge of Lab 5's personnel and explains how he himself was torn from his own body and bound to his current armor form as part of the gruesome experimentation being performed there. As a final note, Roy demands to know if Barry was involved in the murder of Maes Hughes a month earlier, not noticing Riza and Falman's. When Barry responds in the negative, Roy drops the subject and asks Falman to forget everything he had heard during the interrogation. But when Falman declares that his impeccable memory will not allow such a thing and promises to follow the Colonel's path to the end, Roy uses Falman's offer as an excuse to place him as Barry's unofficial guard, setting them up to stay hidden in a safe house nearby.

Over the next ten days, Roy begins digging into the archives at the records department, tirelessly trying to find the information that Hughes was researching before his death. He encounters Major Armstrong, who offers moral support and mentions that he had met the Elric brothers down in the south. Roy asks Alex if he had told the boys about Hughes' death and when the Major responds that he could not bring himself to do so, the Colonel lectures him for being too soft on Edward, who will be exposed to much harsher truths once he turns sixteen and becomes subject to military missions as a "Human Weapon". But when Mustang encounters Edward and Alphonse - who have recently arrived in Central to see Hughes - Roy tells the boys that Maes has retired from the military and moved to the countryside with his family. Though he tries to rationalize this lie to Lt. Hawkeye after the Elrics go on their way, Mustang is forced to acknowledge that he himself is being just as "soft" as Armstrong was.

A new development arises when 2nd Lieutenant Maria Ross, one of Major Armstrong's subordinates, is publicly charged with and arrested for Hughes' murder. Suspecting foul play in the strangely promulgated proceedings, Roy begins a counterattack to draw out the hidden enemy and orders Hawkeye to gather as much information on Ross as possible. But when the news arrives that Ross has been convicted and marked for execution without so much as a trial, the next phase of Roy's plan goes into effect. He receives a call from Barry, who - having met Ross during the incident at Laboratory 5 - is certain of her innocence and offers to break her out of jail. After securing an outside phone line away from the prying ears of his superiors, Roy orders Barry to go in, rescue Ross and help him fake her death and then sends 2nd Lt. Heymans Breda to gather the materials necessary to transmute a rudimentary mock corpse. Once he has the materials, Roy uses his basic knowledge of human anatomy as well as the information gathered by Hawkeye to fashion the corpse's form to a woman of Ross' build and matching her dental records.

With the knowledge that his old war comrade, burn specialist Dr. Knox will be on duty conducting autopsies, Roy steps out to play his part and waits for Ross' arrival along an escape route that Barry the Chopper had suggested. When she appears, afraid and confused by the sudden and unexplained events of her abduction from jail, Roy produces the corpse doll from a nearby dumpster, informing her that she is a dead woman from this moment forward before incinerating it with Flame Alchemy right before her eyes. Roy forces her into the dumpster, which has been converted into a secret tunnel entrance where 2nd Lt. Jean Havoc is waiting to escort her from the scene. Unfortunately, no sooner has the real Ross been whisked away than Edward Elric appears on the scene, furious over both Mustang's earlier falsehood regarding Hughes' murder as well as Ross' apparent demise. Mustang apologizes for keeping Hughes' death from the boys, but not for "killing Ross" and after cementing his alibi with Col. Henry Douglas of the military police, heads with the Elrics and Major Armstrong to the hospital morgue, where Knox conducts an autopsy on the corpse doll, falsifying the reports despite having recognized the body as a fake. Armstrong is significantly distraught over Ross's false conviction and death. Mustang, wishing to invite Alex into his confidence, cryptically suggests that the Major take some time off in the East Area, where he claims the women are beautiful.

With the initial phase of the plan complete, Roy returns to his office, having orchestrated leave for all of his main subordinates in order to enact the next step of his plan. Receiving word from Barry regarding the Chopper's plans to secretly extradite Ross to the ruins of the ancient eastern country Xerxes through a channel supplied by his new friend Ling Yao, Roy sends Breda to the eastern town of Resembool to await Majors Armstrong and Elric, who have been surreptitiously ordered to meet him there so that the three can sneak across the border to exchange information away from the enemy's ever-present prying eyes. Meanwhile, Havoc, Hawkeye and Fuery are covertly placed at a stakeout point observing Falman's safe house. As Roy had suspected, the violent release of their scapegoat Maria Ross from her holding cell by their former subordinate Barry the Chopper has drawn the mysterious enemy's attention, causing them to act. While Mustang feigns nonchalance in his office, he communicates via code with Hawkeye, who informs him that a strange figure has approached Barry's location, thereby kicking off the Colonel's secret operation to "fish out" the enemy using the Chopper as bait.

Though Havoc, Fuery and Hawkeye perform admirably, Roy perceives a problem and, fearing that Hawkeye may be in danger of going the same way as Hughes, rushes madly to the scene of the battle just in time to rescue Kain and Riza from the clutches of a mysterious figure called Gluttony with his Flame Alchemy. After Lt. Hawkeye berates the Colonel for entering the battlefield and showing himself to the enemy, the two (leaving Kain and Black Hayate to erase evidence of their presence) head to the ground to rendezvous with the others, only to find that several strange revelations have taken place. Havoc explains that the strange person who had attacked Falman and Barry was in fact Barry the Chopper's human body with a lab animal's soul inside. Alphonse, who has arrived on the scene with Ling and his retainer Lan Fan, demands to go with Mustang and crew as they chase after the fleeing human shell and explains to them all that he had just encountered a familiar being named "Envy", who had transformed from a dog into the form of a human right before his eyes. Mustang is skeptical when Alphonse claims this Envy person is a Homunculus, but Hawkeye backs up his claim, stating that the creature called Gluttony would not die no matter how many times she fired into its vital organs.

Hunting Immortals
Taking advantage of Barry's ability to sense his body's presence through his spirit, Mustang, Alphonse, Havoc and Riza tail the errant creature to Central Alchemical Laboratory #3 while Ling and Lan Fan stay behind to deal with Envy and Gluttony. At first, due to the lab's close connections to Central Command, Roy opts to end the mission here and regroup, but when Barry - crazed by the idea of being able to chop up his own body - rushes inside against orders, the Colonel decides once again to play off of the confusion and storms in afterward, announcing to the staff inside that he is pursuing a dangerous fugitive and misinforming them that backup is already on its way. The group follows the Barrys' trail to a sealed off basement level of the facility and decides to split up in order to find their quarry, Mustang with Jean Havoc and Alphonse with Lt. Hawkeye.

Mustang and Havoc reach a set of underground laboratories which appear to have been abandoned. Havoc comments that the labs stink of violence while Roy notes that the strange bloodstains on the floor as well as operating tables fitted with leather straps suggest that the research that was being performed here could not have been legitimate. Before they can investigate further, they are interrupted by a mysterious woman marked with the Ouroboros. Roy demands to know if she had anything to do with Hughes' death and the woman reveals that, while she was an enemy, she was not the one who took Maes' life in the end. Mustang shoots the woman in the leg and orders her to get down on the ground for capture and interrogation, but when her wound heals before his eyes and she claims that it will take more than that to subdue her, Roy immediately fires shots into her head and chest. Unfortunately, this does little more than confirm for Mustang and Havoc that they are dealing with the seemingly immortal Homunculus Lust that Barry had described. She opens the shrinking wound in her breast to show that, as a Homunculus, she has a Philosopher's Stone as her core which will keep regenerating all her wounds but states that she is otherwise just like a human.

Mustang deduces that Lust feels secure enough to reveal this sensitive information to them because she does not intend to let them live and declares that he will discover what she attempts to hide by keeping them even this far from the Homunculi's base of operations, but Lust reveals another of her inhuman abilities by extending her fingernails into razor-sharp blade with which she disables the Colonel's sidearm and ruptures an overhead water pipe, dousing both soldiers and eliminating Roy's Flame Alchemy as a threat. With the tables overturned, Roy and Jean flee the room, but Roy reveals that he has yet another trick up his sleeve; with the Transmutation Circle on the back of his glove and a cigarette lighter borrowed from Havoc, he transmutes the water filling the room into combustible hydrogen and flammable oxygen which he then ignites, incinerating Lust in a makeshift furnace.

Mustang and Havoc cautiously reenter the devastated room to investigate and though the Colonel comments that the Homunculus was definitely incinerated, he warns Havoc to be on alert for Lust's regenerative abilities. Unfortunately, at that very moment, the Homunculus' bladed talons shoot out from the rubble, impaling the 2nd Lieutenant through the abdomen. As Havoc falls, Roy attacks the quickly regenerating Lust, reaching into her chest cavity to pull out the Philosopher's Stone. As the Homunculus' shell begins to disintegrate without its core, Mustang declares that he will use the stone's power to heal Havoc's wound, but before he can manage, Lust's body begins to reform around the stone in his hand and she stabs the Colonel in the side with her bladed hand. Lust destroys Roy's ignition cloth gloves and leaves him to die, all the while declaring the Homunculi to be the next stage of evolution and lamenting the loss of the Flame Alchemist as a potential Human Sacrifice. Mustang calls out to Havoc, who is bleeding out on the floor, but gets no response. Fearing that all the people close to him are beginning to die before he does, Mustang firms up his resolve and cuts a Flame Alchemy circle into the back of his hand. Using the flint from Havoc's lighter, he reactivates his Flame Alchemy and uses it to painfully cauterize his and Jean's wounds shut before heading out after Lust.

Following the sounds of combat, the Colonel arrives at a spacious hall just outside a gigantic stone doorway, where Lust has begun attacking Hawkeye and Alphonse Elric. Upon hearing Al refuse the defeated Hawkeye's request to leave her behind and save himself, the Flame Alchemist makes his presence known and, signaling the armor boy to transmute a defensive wall as he unleashes the full fury of his Flame Alchemy on Lust, finally bringing her to her knees. Colonel Mustang announces, as he fires off wave after wave of flames at her, that if it will take more than a normal kill-shot to subdue her - as she had claimed before - then he will continue killing her until she stays dead. Forcing her to keep regenerating rapidly to survive his attacks, Mustang pushes Lust's Philosopher's Stone to exhaustion, causing her body and core to disintegrate to nothing before his eyes. As she dies, Lust commends Roy's resolve, but warns that the day his clear, focused eyes will become clouded by suffering is nigh.

Roy and Havoc are whisked away to the hospital where, after being given emergency treatment for their wounds, the Colonel scolds Hawkeye for succumbing to enemy taunts and losing her will to fight on the battlefield. Riza apologizes and makes up for her actions by producing a map of the city and explaining that she had counted her steps while they party was traversing the underground facility the night before, but because the hallways were slightly curved, she was unable to calculate the exact location of that large white room, and could only confirm that they had ended up somewhere within a circle she had drawn on the map with Lab 3 at the center. Complimenting the lieutenant's exceptional work, Roy gets right to the task of examining the evidence they had gathered. He notices that both Central Command Headquarters and the Führer's executive residence lie within the circle and begins to wonder whether King Bradley is an enemy or an ally. Though the path ahead seems daunting, he vows to get to the bottom of the conspiracy that Hughes had uncovered and asks Riza and Jean to continue following him loyally. Hawkeye complies wholeheartedly, but both Roy and Riza are shocked when Havoc suddenly bows out, stating that he can no longer feel either of his legs and must retire from the service.

Realizing that Havoc's paralysis was caused when Lust's fingers severed his spinal cord, Roy looks into spinal anatomy to see if there is anything that can be done for him. Unfortunately, Dr. Knox - who has come to chastise Roy for the sloppy job he did transmuting Ross' dummy corpse - informs him that a spinal injury offers virtually no chance of recovery. Breda suggests that they consult the Dr. Marcoh whom Ed and Armstrong had mentioned, prompting Roy to manipulate the 2nd Lieutenant's available leave so that he can fetch the Philosopher's Stone-carrying physician, but Breda returns empty-handed, stating that Marcoh had been abducted by the enemy before he could reach him and that his leave for the year has been all used up, confining him to Central City. Visiting Havoc in the hospital room, they discover that Jean has officially begun his discharge proceedings. Roy protests, but Jean declares angrily that the Colonel has no use for a motionless pawn and scolds him for thinking that he can make it to the top of government while wasting time pitying a fallen soldier. Roy solemnly agrees to let Havoc leave his service, but adds that he is only cutting him off temporarily and will be waiting for him when he reaches the top. Though his wounds are not yet fully healed, Roy demands to be discharged from the hospital.

Soon after his discharge, Roy becomes aware that Fullmetal is being unnaturally flashy and active in town, as if he were purposely attempting to attract the attention of Scar, who new reports claim has resurfaced in Central City. He pulls up to the Elric brothers with Hawkeye and asks what exactly they are up to, taking them to a secluded alley where they can speak without being overheard. Exchanging information regarding the Homunculi and recent events involving Marcoh and the Homunculi, Roy and Ed wonder how these mysteries are connected to the military. Edward explains that he is in fact trying to lure Scar out just as Scar himself appears. As the Elrics begin combating the Ishvalan murderer, they ask Roy and Riza not to get in their way, as they need Scar to remain alive and active for as long as possible in order to help them lure out a Homunculus for capture, but when Roy mentions that the military police will likely step in soon, the boys relegate to him the task of keeping the MPs at bay. Promised a share of the spoils should the operation succeed, Roy heads with Hawkeye to Kain Fuery's nearby townhouse apartment and use his copious amounts of broadcasting equipment to relay falsified reports of Scar's presence to the Provost Marshall's office, throwing the police multiple false leads and keeping them from interfering in Fullmetal's fight. When enough time has passed and the military police are in complete disarray, Hawkeye heads out in disguise to act as backup for the Elrics while Roy remains behind. The Colonel gives her the address of an empty house on the outskirts of town that they can use as a hideout after the mission and waits in the city until evening, when the Elric brothers have finished both their Homunculus capture and the resulting cleanup. Having received word from Hawkeye that she has arrived at the safe house with a badly-injured ally, Roy picks up the Elric brothers and Dr. Knox in a second car and, making sure not to be followed, drives to the meeting place.

The Belly of the Beast
As Knox tends to the wounded Lan Fan, Roy introduces himself formally to Ling Yao, thanks him for his assistance during the "Maria Ross incident" and expresses his happiness in forging a connection to Xing's royal family. Together they discuss their capture of the Homunculus Gluttony, explaining to the puzzled Dr. Knox that the beast is restrained because it cannot be killed due to the Philosopher's Stone as its core, but when Roy mentions that the bigger problem may be their mysterious connection to parts of Military High Command, Ling reveals even more devastating news - that Führer King Bradley himself is likely a Homunculus, as he bears the Ouroboros mark on his patched left eye and was the one who - working in tandem with Gluttony - injured Lan Fan. Edward and Alphonse are skeptical, suggesting that the Führer's wife and son would surely have noticed him acting strangely and even mentioning that, theoretically, homunculi lack even the ability to reproduce. But Knox chimes in with a bit of interesting information - though young Selim Bradley is, by all rights, the Führer's son, the boy was adopted and is not descended biologically from King Bradley.

Whether Bradley is human or homunculus, however, Roy sees this new development as his freshest opportunity to drag the Führer off his throne. He expresses plans to interrogate Gluttony and, if possible, remove the Philosopher's Stone so as to heal Havoc's paralysis. Unfortunately, Ling (who seeks the Stone so as to bring it back to Xing) refuses to abandon the prize for which Lan Fan sacrificed her arm and the Elric brothers object as well, reminding everyone that they need to the Stone in order to regain their original bodies. As they argue, Roy notices that Gluttony has started to become agitated. The Homunculus declares furiously that Mustang was the one who murdered Lust. In a flash of freak rage, the Homunculus produces a strange volley which simultaneously breaks his bonds and obliterates roughly a quarter of the building and a large patch of ground outside.

No one is injured in the strike, but everyone is aghast to see how the benign, rotund Homunculus has been changed by his fury, his mouth now a gaping maw extending down to his abdomen and lined with rib-like teeth. Lt. Hawkeye, who had been standing guard outside, opens fire on the monster, but Roy orders her not to provoke it, as it appears that the Colonel is Gluttony's true target here. Gluttony is, however, provoked by the sound of Mustang's voice and lashes out again, instantaneously devouring everything for several meters directly in front of him. Faced with no other choice, Roy dons his ignition cloth glove and decides that Gluttony must be destroyed here and now lest he kill them all or escape with information regarding his captors. But when he unleashes a torrent of flame on the Homunculus, the inferno is harmlessly drawn into Gluttony's mouth and swallowed by the large eye at the center of the dark abyss, proving that this Homunculus will not be as simple to beat as the last. Terrified, Roy flees toward the nearby treeline with the Elric brothers as Gluttony gives chase. Though they split up to confuse their inhuman pursuer, Gluttony locates Mustang immediately and Roy is only spared ingestion by Hawkeye's timely intervention. Unable to run any further due to his recent wounds, Roy has to be helped to safety by Hawkeye while Ed and Al create a diversion. Roy reluctantly gets into the car with Knox, Riza and Lan Fan while Ed, Al and Ling stay behind to deal with Gluttony, reminding the Colonel that the information he has gained today puts him one step closer to his goal if he acts on it immediately. As the car departs toward Central City, Mustang decides that he will confirm with his own eyes whether or not Bradley is a Homunculus.

After dropping Knox off at his home with Lan Fan, Mustang prepares for his next move and heads to Central Command with Hawkeye in an attempt to discover who he can and cannot trust within the top brass. Leaving her outside to wait for him, Roy enters HQ but is unsure how to begin such a dangerous endeavor as overthrowing the Führer. He is suddenly approached by Lt. General Raven, who praises the up-and-coming Colonel for his recent achievements and, remembering Hughes' advice about gaining supporters, Roy casually lets slip that he had heard a rumor that the Führer is a homunculus. Raven initially laughs at such a rumor, but quickly ushers Mustang into a Central Command meeting and gravely repeats Roy's "joke" for all the presiding generals to hear, at which point King Bradley himself emerges from the shadows and asks coolly what difference it makes if he is. Seeing the sudden seriousness in all the generals' faces, Roy suddenly understands Hughes' warning about the military being in grave peril; rather than speaking of an external threat, Maes was trying to inform him that the danger was coming from every single member of High Command.

Roy is cordoned inside Central HQ for the night and, in the morning, Bradley himself comes to speak to him, explaining that the Colonel is being kept alive so that he can understand just how deep he has stuck his neck into things. Roy asks just how long the top brass has been in league with the Homunculi, to which King replies that the Homunculi's plan has been in place since Amestris' inception. And when Mustang asks how Bradley would feel if his loving son Selim were to discover that his father is not human, the Führer responds that Mustang should worry about his own weak spots, explaining that plans to scatter his trusted subordinates to remote locations around the country has already been put in place while Lt. Hawkeye is to be reassigned to a position as the Führer's personal aide - effectively making her his hostage. Bradley explains his origins to Mustang, stating that he had been a nameless, abandoned infant who had come into the possession of a secret government organization and raised with a host of other children specifically to be candidates for the position of Führer. When he reached early adulthood, the project went into its second phase and each candidate, in turn, was injected with a Philosopher's Stone imbued with the "wrath" of the Homunculi's "Father". While eleven candidates were killed in the experiment, unable to withstand the physical and psychological strain of having their bodies and souls continuously deconstructed and reconstructed by the Stone, he - the twelfth - survived to become the first human-based Homunculus, Wrath and was given the name King Bradley as well as a position at the head of Amestris' government.

Some hours later, while Mustang remains sequestered in Bradley's office, Edward and Alphonse are also escorted in to join them. Roy quickly and calmly fills them in on the situation, explaining that all of Military High Command is their enemy. Bradley informs the three alchemists that, as valuable resources, they will remain unharmed so long as they stay silent until they are called upon, but refuses to reveal any more information regarding the Homunculi's plan. Indignant, Edward throws down his State Alchemist pocket watch and refuses to cooperate, but when the Führer explains that the Elrics' close friend Winry Rockbell is being kept under constant surveillance, Ed begrudgingly takes up his watch and complies under the condition that they still be allowed to search for a path to their physical restoration. Bradley asks Mustang if he, too, has any inklings of leaving the military, but Roy remarks that his ambitions prevent him from casting aside his uniform or his dubious title as a State Alchemist and the Führer dismisses them all from his office. As he leaves, Roy asks Bradley if he was the one who had killed Hughes; the Führer replies that he was not, but refuses to say who it was. Roy steps outside and is joined shortly by the Elrics, who seem particularly frazzled about the encounter and then immediately demand that Roy give them Dr. Knox's address and all the money he has on him. Handing over his pocket change of five-hundred and twenty cenz, Roy watches in confusion as the boys speed off, promising a full explanation later.

Suddenly remembering that he had left Lt. Hawkeye outside all night, the Colonel rushes to the front gate only to find that Major Armstrong had been manning her post for a few moments while she visited the latrine. Hawkeye promptly returns and expresses her relief at seeing the Colonel unharmed and the trio leaves the scene in Mustang's car. Away from Central Command, Roy explains the night's revelations to his two horrified comrades. Armstrong is visibly disturbed by the facts and laments that the government he has placed so much trust in has been rotten from the start. Roy suggests that Alex leave the service, but the Major responds that he cannot run away from this battlefield. Mustang reveals that he had told Bradley about his own resolve to stay in the military and remarks that, despite being called a "monster" and a "human weapon", fighting true monsters like Lust and Wrath make him feel truly human.

Gathering Force
A short time later, Hawkeye, Falman, Breda and Fuery clear out of Mustang's office to head off for their reassignments. After seeing Riza out and reminding her of the promise she had made to him after the Ishval War, Roy laments the loss of his people while poring over the chess set that Lt. General Grumman had given him.

But as he unscrews the hollowed out black king piece and removes from it a hidden piece of paper marked with the number to Grumman's secret phone line, the Colonel notes that he hasn't been beaten yet. Heading to the hostess bar run by Madame Christmas, which serves as a cover for her clandestine intelligence service, Roy gives her the number and covertly asks her to get in touch with the Lt. General for him.

In Chapter 63, some days later, Roy encounters the Elric brothers on the street and takes them into his car to talk. They explain that they are searching for a little girl from Xing characterized by her unusually patterned &quot;pet cat&quot; because her skill with Xingese alchemy may prove to be useful. Roy promises to tell them if he hears any news regarding her, but then quickly reminds Edward of the 520 cenz he had borrowed, demanding it back. But instead, Edward refuses, saying that he will repay Roy the money when Mustang becomes the Führer of Amestris. After explaining that Hawkeye had told him all about the war, their promise and the Colonel's secret goals, Ed goes on to say that he will borrow more at that time and hold it hostage until Mustang turns Amestris into a democracy. Roy agrees and drops the Elrics off at their hotel before meeting with Madeline, one of Madame Christmas' informants who relays a message from Grumman calling Roy to rendezvous with him the next day in front of Brigadier General Hughes' grave. Roy complies, meeting the disguised Grumman at the rendezvous point and explaining to him the situation regarding Central Command's conspiracy with the Homunculi. Grumman explains that his own demotion to East City from Central came immediately after he had unwittingly declared an opposition to the idea of attaining immortality in General Raven's presence and discusses with Mustang the inconsistencies regarding the ongoing riots in Reole and how the violence there only escalated after Central forces took jurisdiction out of Eastern Command's hands.

Still, Roy reminds his mentor slyly that the Lt. General is still a highly-respected officer with a great number of loyal and war-tempered soldiers under his command, coyly inciting Grumman to action. As they prepare to depart, Grumman notices the sketch of the Xingese girl's black-and-white cat under Mustang's arm and informs him that he himself saw the girl in question at the East City train station boarding a train for the North Area. Mustang contacts Alex Armstrong and instructs him to relay the message about the girl from Xing's path north, in addition asking the Major to give the boys a recommendation letter to his older sister Olivier Armstrong, the Major General in charge of North Area's Fort Briggs.

In Chapter 69, Mustang learns from Madeline that Solf J. Kimblee, the long-incarcerated "Crimson Lotus Alchemist", has been released from prison via executive order and is on a mysterious mission at Fort Briggs. She goes on to say that, though he arrived in the North Area with grievous injuries, he made an oddly full recovery immediately after receiving a personal visit from Lt. General Raven. Dropping Madeline off with payment for her intel, Roy is surreptitiously contacted by an Armstrong Family informant relaying a message from Major General Armstrong. Having discovered a great deal from the Elrics and hoping to combat this dangerous conspiracy, Major General Armstrong wishes to combine the defensive capabilities of Briggs with the excellent offensive capabilities of the East Area forces and asks the Colonel to help organize a joint.

In Chapter 74, Roy appears again, greeting the Major General warmly on the occasion of her summons to the capital and dropping subtly that he has received her message and will comply. Shortly afterward, Mustang encounters Lt. Hawkeye after a long time apart and, though the two act as professionally toward each other as possible, Hawkeye manages to deliver a coded message disguised as friendly banter. Roy takes note of each thing she says and later deciphers her code in the bathroom, learning Hawkeye's own shocking discovery - that Selim Bradley is one of the Homunculi.

He later passes that message to Olivier Armstrong, as she takes over the residence of the Armstrong family to herself. Alphonse meets up with Hohenheim at Reole, learning about the Promised Day and asking Izumi to deliver the message to Falman, Buccaneer and Miles at Briggs, who, then, proceed to send the message to General Grumman at the East. Grumman sends the message through Lieutenant Rebecca Catalina - Hawkeye’s best friend – to Hawkeye, at Central. Hawkeye goes to visit Havoc at the hospital to deliver him the news in a small roll of paper inside a cigarette cartridge and asks him to “Say hi to the Colonel when you see him.” Mustang, who has been hiding behind a curtain to avoid being seen next to the lieutenant, comes out, Havoc offering him a cigarette but showing him the message inside the cartridge. Mustang gets and reads the message, starting to make his own preparations for the Promised Day.

Mustang had previously asked to Madame Christmas to check Selim Bradley’s background, to make sure of Hawkeye’s information of him being a Homunculus. Being closely followed by spies, Mustang visits Madame Christmas at the eve of the Promised Day. Madame Christmas states Roy’s suspicions were in fact correct and that Selim was no human, while the spies of the Military discover that the Madame’s true identity was Chris Mustang and that was, in fact, Colonel Mustang’s foster mother. They try to enter the Bar to arrest both, but are stopped as the bar explodes, leaving nothing left. Chris Mustang and Roy, who had gone underground and blown up the building, go their separate ways.

Mustang meets up with his former subordinates Fuery, Breda and Hawkeye, who have deserted the Military to help Mustang in the coup that is about to take place. They all go to Central’s outskirts, surrounding Mrs. Bradley’s car and kidnapping her. They take Mrs. Bradley into the city, being attacked by Central forces. The Central Soldiers have orders to kill all Mustang’s allies and disregard the possibility of killing the First Lady, making Mrs. Bradley wonder whether the Central forces have turned against the Führer or if her husband has abandoned her. She then agrees to aid Mustang and his men.

The Promised Day
In chapter 93-4 Mustang's gang arrives at Central. While Mustang and Hawkeye meet up with Edward, the other subordinates send out a radio transmission of how the upper brass of the military is corrupted, although they say it in believable terms and do not mention the Homunculi or their real intentions. Mrs. Bradley lends her assistance to the broadcast, crediting Mustang and his men for her very survival and appealing to the people's sympathies by saying she doesn't know where her husband and son are.

Meanwhile, Mustang encounters Envy, who after being questioned, reveals he was Hughes' killer. Edward, Scar, May, and the chimera all move on to get to Father, leaving Hawkeye and Mustang to fight Envy. Both parties are reminded of Mustang's defeat of Lust (whose charred remains can still be seen on the floor) using the same methods of flame alchemy and Envy, realizing that Mustang could easily kill him, attempts to escape. Mustang orders Hawkeye not to come with him and goes off after Envy, but she disobeys Roy's orders and follows him anyway. During the pursuit, Envy tries to throw Mustang off guard by transforming into Hughes, but this does not fool the Flame Alchemist, who sets Envy on flames again while pointing out the fact that Hughes is dead and gone from the world, and that Envy's action has only served to add fuel to the flames. Envy then charges towards Mustang, hoping that the Flame Alchemist wouldn't dare burn him at close range, but this act backfires as well.

Envy makes another dash for it when Mustang mercilessly continues to burn him, and discovers Hawkeye searching for him. He shifts into Mustang and deceives her (most likely planning to do so for just long enough to kill her) momentarily. Hawkeye, however, understands that it could be Envy and tricks the homunculus by saying that Mustang never calls her "Lieutenant" but Riza when the two of them are alone. Envy falls for the trap, thus confirming his identity, and Riza thanks him for believing her and asking him to "do me another favor and die." She is able to take him on with her guns for a little while even with injuries; however, Envy eventually is able to get the upper hand and ensnares her in his elongated arm. Just as he is about to kill her, Mustang blasts him from a side entry, and warns Envy that Riza is one of his dearest subordinates. He burns Envy one final time which causes the homunculus to revert back to his ugly parasitic form from before.

He is one spark away from killing him when Hawkeye, although injured to an unknown extent, gets up and puts her gun to his head. She refuses to put her gun down and tries to persuade Mustang to stop, and he explodes at her, going into a fit of rage and refusing to give up his vengeance. Ed and Scar arrive, and Ed uses his alchemy to grab Envy; Mustang then demands that Ed to give him back.

When Edward refuses, Roy threatens to burn Envy along with Edward's automail right arm off. Edward accepts the challenge, but asks for him to look at himself first, wondering, "You think you can lead a country looking like that?!". Edward then reminds him of his goal and Mustang's temper subsides a little. Scar partially agrees with Edward that Roy couldn't lead others the way he is now, but shows no opinion if Roy does exact his revenge on Envy. Riza then asks to let her kill Envy instead, but Roy rages about his revenge for Hughes. Riza tells him that she knows full well that he has sought to avenge Hughes but corrects him that he only wants to kill Envy to satisfy his revenge. Riza then sorrowfully pleads for Roy to not fall like this, and Roy flashes back to a photograph of himself and Hughes. He tells Hawkeye that if she intends to shoot him, she should do it, but then asks her what she will do after he is dead. She replies that she has no intention of living on without him and will erase her body, and the secrets to flame alchemy "which drives good men to madness," from this world. This, as he notes later, is the thing which puts him over the edge; he looses his pent-up fire on a nearby wall, and says that he cannot allow Riza to follow through with this plan, because "I can't lose you too." He laments on his recent behavior and actions and apologizes to her for how he forced her to act.

Envy then cuts in, mocking their apology. He antagonizes everyone, bringing up events that he hopes might bring themselves to fight amongst each other and taunting others with the things they have done. Edward looks at him, pointing out Envy's jealousy towards humans. Ed goes on to explain that, even though humans are weak, and sometimes they fail, humans have their friends to help them up whilst Homunculi don't have such a comfort. Envy frees himself of Edward and falls to the ground. Riza is about to shoot, but Scar stops her, pointing out that Envy doesn't have much time left. Envy comments on how pathetic he seems, on their "mocking nature", and how Edward, the one that he despises the most, is the only one that understands how he truly feels. He pulls out his Philosopher's Stone and crushes it, then disintegrates into dust while bidding Edward a tearful farewell. Seeing that Envy has committed suicide, Roy calls him a "coward".

They continue their path through the subterrain but get lost, being separated from May, who was guiding them. Walking down a path, they find the Doctor who had created all the candidates for Führer and King Bradley himself. Activating a transmutation circle, he makes Ed disappear in front of their eyes, and a fight ensues between Mustang, Hawkeye and Scar against those failed attempts of creating the homunculus Wrath. The failed Führers subdue the three and the doctor tries to force Mustang into performing a Human Transmutation and becoming a qualified human sacrifice. Mustang refuses and one of the failed Führers slice Hawkeye's throat, leaving her to die and leaving Mustang screaming for her. The doctor says he can cure her with his Philosopher's Stone, but only if Mustang obliges to make a Human Transmutation. From the Elric brothers, Mustang knows that human transmutation is not a cure-all, but he is unable to make a concrete decision until Hawkeye sends him an eye signal that help is on the way. For a moment, he lectures the doctor about using people, and then the chimeras and May join them, resuming the fight. May staunches Hawkeye's bleeding with Xing alchemy, but Wrath and Pride arrive. Wrath then pushes Mustang into an alchemy circle by pinning his hands to the ground with swords. He is forced to open the gate, and thus is made the fifth sacrifice needed by Father.

In Chapter 102, Pride uses the Gold-Toothed Doctor to open the Gate of Truth, forcing Mustang into it. What happens while Mustang is at the gate is unclear, but as he leaves, he is transported to the room where Ed, Al and Izumi were taken before. Ed tries to talk to him, and Roy replies that he cannot see; the Truth has taken his sight as the price of looking inside the gate. Pride arrives at the scene and Father discusses the irony behind the works of the 'Truth', who took Ed's way to 'stand by himself' and his 'only family', Al's body so he 'cannot feel the mother's warmth as he craved', Izumi's 'capacity to bear a child' and, now, with Mustang, coming full circle, 'depriving the man who had a grand vision to save his country from his eyesight, denying him to see what his beloved nation will become'.

Final Battle and New Beginnings
In Chapter 105, after the Alkhestric Reverse is activated, Edward, Alphonse and Izumi launch their final attack against Father. Roy expresses his frustration and shame that he's useless at such a key battle, later asking Hawkeye if she can still fight, to which she replies she can. This gives him an idea. He points out to the others, who want Riza to stay behind and have her injuries tended, that in order to make Father use up his Philosopher's Stone, they need his power - and he needs Riza with him.

In Chapter 107, he joins the fight with Riza at his side. He is shown to be able to use his Flame Alchemy via clapping, but with the downside that he cannot really keep it safely under control without his sight. He is relying on Riza to properly aim his attack and warn him of Father's counter attacks, and at the same time is providing her with physical support, as she is lost a great deal of blood and therefore strength. Unfortunately, when their combined efforts contribute to Father's loss of composure, the blow back from the energy he released renders everyone but Edward incapacitated. As such, while Edward takes the initiative onto his own shoulders, Roy joins in by shouting out his support to his friend and ally.

After the battle with Father is over, Roy is shown in a medical center conversing with Dr. Knox. He informs the doctor of his disability, and states that he will have to retire. He decides to pass the title of Führer over to Grumman. Knox then informs Roy that Dr. Marcoh was looking for him and brings the doctor over to Roy. Marcoh informs Roy that he has a Philosopher's Stone which Roy could use to regain his eyesight. Roy initially refuses, but Marcoh say that he has a plan in which they and the Ishvalans (referring to the souls in the Philosopher's Stone) can work together. Marcoh says he'll hand the stone over on the condition that Roy changes the Ishval policy, allows the Ishvalans to return to their homeland, and allow him (Marcoh) to live in Ishval as a doctor. Roy agrees to Marcoh's demands.

The ending is presented slightly differently in the Brotherhood anime. When approached by Drs. Knox and Marcoh, Roy and his subordinates are already at work planning to change the Ishval policy. Roy also adds the stipulation that Marcoh also use the Stone to heal Jean Havoc's paralysis before curing his blindness.

Two years later, it is mentioned that Mustang has been promoted to Brigadier General and is working hard on rebuilding the Ishval region as well as turning it to a trading point between Amestris and the country of Xing. At the epilogue, he has already been promoted enough to gain a grand achievement, becoming one of the few fully-fledged Generals in the history of Amestris, and Riza Hawkeye still loyally holds her position as his personal adjutant.

2003 Anime


Mustang makes his first appearance in the series in Episode 1, when the Elric Brothers attempt to resurrect their mother Trisha Elric. Subsequently, Mustang is formally introduced in Episode 3 after Alphonse brought Edward to the Rockbells' home. As a lieutenant colonel in the State Military, Mustang came to the Elrics' hometown of Resembool in search of their father, Hohenheim. It is also implied that Roy was seeking out the Elrics' childhood friend Winry Rockbell, the girl he had orphaned during the Ishval Rebellion, in order to see how she was doing (Episode 16). Recognizing Edward and Alphonse's talent for alchemy, he offered them a chance to become State Alchemists and to seek him out at Central City, where he was currently stationed.

Although appearing in episode 1, the first time he speaks is in episode 3, albeit only a single sentence.

The Elrics take up his offer and Edward reluctantly becomes his direct subordinate when he becomes a State Alchemist. Mustang is transferred to the Eastern Territories to clean up Lieutenant Yoki's mess Episode 9 and is promoted to colonel. He remains at Eastern Headquarters for the early portions of the series until he is transferred back to Central after Hughes' death.

In Episode 15, it is revealed that Roy had executed Winry Rockbell's parents under Basque Grand's orders in place of Scar in the manga. He was devastated by his cold-blooded actions and tried to kill himself, but to Hughes, Edward, and his subordinates, Roy explains his failure to do so by saying that he "was too much of a coward" to pull the trigger. Instead, Roy decides that he is going to work to reach a position where he would not have to obey orders like that: becoming the Führer.

When Hughes dies, Mustang is devastated. When pursuing the Elrics after the Stone's creation in Reole, Mustang learns that the Führer is a Homunculus, and tries to expose him to the top brass of the military by revealing the truth about the Führer's secretary, Juliet Douglas in Episode 45. Once the Führer's reaction goes as Mustang planned, which also confirmed his suspicions, Mustang began to realize that the Homunculi were responsible for the Ishvalan Civil War to create the Philosopher's Stone. Because of this revelation, Mustang has now developed an intense hatred towards Bradley for the genocide the military committed under his rule.

After he and Major Armstrong are promoted one rank and sent to Drachma, although Bradley intends for him to die in combat during the Northern Campaign on the front lines, Mustang instead stays in Central, making his move to avenge Hughes' death. He explains his actions to Edward in the end of Episode 48, saying that he has given up his goal of becoming Führer to avenge Hughes, much like Edward had given up restoring Al with the Stone. He pointsout his and Ed's similarities in the scene, and Edward finally comes to respect and understand him. Roy then moves on to the Führer's mansion and stages his fight. In Episode 51, Mustang is only able to defeat King Bradley when Bradley's son, Selim Bradley, unwittingly brings the skull of the man from which the Führer was created and weakens Bradley, who then in a rage snaps Selim's neck killing him almost instantly.

As Mustang escapes the Führer's burning mansion, he is confronted by a maniacal Frank Archer, who shoots him leaving him face down in a pool of blood. Hawkeye arrives in time to save him and kills Archer.

It is then revealed that Roy loses an eye from being shot by Archer but retains an optimistic attitude. When Hawkeye despairs at him that she should have been there to stop Archer, Roy says that "the world's not perfect" and "that's what makes it so beautiful." He seems to not be unhappy with what transpired in the Führer's mansion, and that the loss of his eye only showed that "nothing is ever perfect."

Envy shape-shifts into him during Episode 50 in a failed attempt to guilt trip Ed into keeping him alive. When he does this, Ed laughs and shouts "You couldn't have picked an EASIER target!"

Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa
In the movie that concluded the storyline of the 2003 series, Mustang resigns from both alchemy and his rank to become an ordinary enlisted man in a remote outpost. The events of the series are shown to have taken a heavy toll on Roy, since he says he has not used his alchemy since killing Führer Bradley; Roy says that he can still see the people he had killed in Ishval with his blinded eye. However, when Central is under attack by armies and airships, Mustang steps up and takes command, using his alchemy to defend Central. Mustang and Armstrong are able to find a hot-air balloon to reach the airships, where he is reunited with the Elric brothers, and helps them gain entry into the airship. Roy is glad to see Edward alive and well, and it is implied that it is Roy seeing Edward again that galvanizes Roy into taking charge and giving orders and using his alchemy again. When Edward leaves, he is the one to hold Alphonse back but he lets Al go in order for the younger Elric to follow his older brother. At the end of the movie, Al says that Mustang and his team are now responsible for destroying the Amestris side of the Gate.

Trivia

 * Like nearly all military personnel in the Fullmetal Alchemist series Mustang's name has a military origin, in his case, the North American P-51 Mustang, an American World War II fighter aircraft.
 * In compliance with his womanizing fame (or perhaps in exploitation of it), Roy codes his research notes with names of women, making them look like a mere record of his romantic adventures.
 * Mustang's English voice actor, Travis Willingham, also plays Portgas D. Ace in the Funimation dub of One Piece, the user of the Flame Flame Fruit, as well as Johnny Storm, the Human Torch in "Marvel Super Hero Squad".
 * The relationship between Riza and Roy is a heavily implied one, and fans refer to their relationship as "Royai", The first part of "Royai" Roy is his name, and the end "ai" is likely from the "eye" in "Hawkeye", making the word a portmanteau. However, "ai" also means "love" in Japanese.
 * The name Roy is Old French for "king".
 * Roy Mustang bears a facial resemblance to other Arakawa's characters, namely Ryuukou, from Hero Tales (Juushin Embu), and to Kondo, from Silver Spoon (Gin no Saji).
 * Roy and Ed were referenced in the anime Lucky Star along with Apollo Justice and Klavier Gavin from the Ace Attorney series.
 * Roy's English voice actor, Travis Willingham, is married to fellow voice actress Laura Bailey, the voice of Lust. Ironically enough, Travis' character killed Laura's in Episode 19 of Brotherhood.
 * Roy's last name, Mustang, is actually a military slang term for a soldier (original definition) who had earned a battlefield and/or (later definition) a soldier with a continuity in military service from an enlisted man to an officer without any breaks. Generally, they can also be defined as a soldier who has earned a Good Conduct Medal or have completed 4 years of enlisted service prior to earning their commission. It refers to the Mustang horse for being a wild (though more appropriately feral) animal. After being saddle broken, it still has a wild streak and it can periodically revert to its old ways unexpectedly and therefore the owner needs to keep an eye on it at all times. They're known to be smarter and have a better survival instinct than other thoroughbreds, so therefore, Roy Mustang, in many senses, is a Mustang in the military.
 * Mustang claims that dogs would make the perfect soldier due to their unwavering loyalty and never gripe about not getting paid.
 * In an omake, it is comically put forth that Roy's motivation to become Führer is to make all female officers wear mini-skirts. It is for this reason that Travis Willingham's fan club is known as "the Mini-Skirt Army."

Manga and 2009 Series

 * A salamander can be found in the Flame Alchemy emblem and transmutation circle. In ancient Greek mythology the salamander was considered the living symbol of fire. The mythological salamander was completely fireproof and able to live in fire itself.
 * In the 2009 anime's epilogue, he was shown to have grown a mustache, contrary to the manga.
 * Mustang's record for playing chess with Grumman is 1 win, 97 losses and 15 draws.
 * In the manga storyline, Mustang is the first known human to completely kill a Homunculus and is even able to do so single-handedly. As further proof of his impressive skill, he is able to bring a second Homunculus to the point of death later on, more or less by his own power. He was, however, aided both times by Riza Hawkeye.
 * While all original art for the manga and both anime series depicts Roy Mustang with black eyes, a few late manga color pages show Roy with blue eyes, presumably to better portray him in moments of emotional and/or physical duress.
 * There are several implied jokes and remarks on the nature of the relationship between Mustang and Hawkeye in the manga and 2009 series. These include Lt. General Grumman asking Mustang to "marry his granddaughter" (said granddaughter we know by other means to be Riza), Hawkeye tricking Envy by implying she and the Colonel were romantically involved, Roy being devastated because "Elizabeth has been taken by another man" when King Bradley first started to take her hostage, Edward's remark as Riza being "the perfect hostage" in that same occasion, Rebecca implying Riza might have done immoral things to keep such good positions in the military, among others.
 * The author of the series, Hiromu Arakawa, has revealed several facts about Roy in various interviews:
 * In the Q&A section in Character Guidebook, she said that the car Roy drives in the series is actually his (and not a military car) and that he lives in a narrow rent house in Central. She also says he owns little more than a couch in his living room.
 * Although Roy hasn't become Führer as of the end of the series, she states he'll eventually become the leader of Amestris and that she might consider making an extra chapter telling about that event in the future. She also stated she has decided Roy would not yet become Führer because "he's still too young".
 * In the Art book 3 of the manga, answering to fan questioning about why hasn't Mustang married Hawkeye at the end of the series, Arakawa stated "[I] can't get them to marry because of Military Regulations. If they got married, they could no longer stay as superior officer and subordinate".


 * Mustang refers to all of his subordinates as chess pieces, with connotation of battle ability, usefulness and personal links they might have to him. Fuery is the "Pawn"; Falman, the "Bishop"; Havoc, the "Knight"; Breda, the "Rook"; and Hawkeye, the "Queen", thus making Roy the "King".
 * Though fans have likened Roy's eyes to those common among Xingese immigrants, there has been no indication that Roy is of full or partial Xingese ancestry. His nationality, however, is unquestionably Amestrian.
 * Roy is the second most popular character in the series, as shown in the latest fan poll as well as the previous ones. However, this angers him to the point of wanting to burn Edward for being the most popular.
 * Roy is the only character in the series to be forced to open the Gate.
 * In the Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood CD, Roy has one theme song, performed by his seiyu Shinichirou Miki, called "Inochi ~MEI~" which means 'mortal life' (inochi) and 'destiny' (mei).

2003 Series

 * In the 2003 anime, Mustang's commitment to a coup d'état against the Führer, and the symbolic loss of his left eye, are similar to the exploits of a World War II German Resistance member, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who attempted to kill Hitler in a Resistance operation called Valkyrie. Colonel Stauffenberg lost his left eye at an ambush in Tunisia. He was later killed by firing squad for treason, becoming a German Resistance's martyr.
 * In the 2003 anime, the eye Mustang lost after his battle with King Bradley/Pride was his left eye, coincidentally the one Bradley wore an eyepatch over and the one that Archer had replaced with "automail", with both people having been enemies Mustang confronted in the same episode.
 * In the OVA "Kids", the young lookalikes of Edward, Alphonse, and Winry pass by a group of kids playing cards on a sidewalk. The kids resemble some of Mustang's men from the series, and one of them looks notably like a child version of Mustang.
 * Roy has two theme songs from the first anime's soundtrack, both sung by his seiyu Toru Okawa. The first is called "Tsuki no Uragawa," which means "the other side of the moon," and the second is called "Shounen yo Sinjiru nakama yo."