Sloth



Sloth (Japanese:スロウス, Surōsu) is the name given to two very different homunculi due to the sheer differences between the anime and manga.

In the anime
In the anime, Sloth was created when the Elric brothers tried to revive their mother, Trisha Elric. Sloth is the product of Edward's sin, being a sloth for not taking time to appreciate his mother even in her death. Dante visits the mass of organic substance that would eventually become Sloth, feeding her a red stone that allows her to achieve and maintain a human form. Sloth is able to assume a watery composition, which she can use to drown others by grabbing hold of them. With a red stone inside her, she is perfectly capable of reforming herself but at a slow pace. Sloth assumes the identity of Juliet Douglas, a secretary to the Fuhrer (Pride). Sloth constantly suffers from memories of raising the Elric brothers. Determined to prove to herself that those are Trisha's memories, not her own, she longs to be able to kill them, as a mother could never kill her own sons. She worries that, as time goes on, she will be forced to accept that she really is simply a resurrected Trisha Elric, and that she will grow to love Edward and Alphonse. Instead of the Elrics, she develops a mother-son relationship with Wrath, and the two stick together during the second half of the anime. During a battle with the Elric brothers Wrath, having unknowingly merged with Trisha's remains earlier, merges with Sloth's body to help her in combat. This leaves Sloth paralyzed, allowing Edward Elric an easy opportunity to convert the water in her body into ethanol, which then evaporates into the atmosphere. Just before she disappears for good, Sloth smiles kindly and says: 'Nicely done, Sweetheart. Clean up after yourselves and take care of each other.' This indicates that Sloth had been lying; that she had in fact cared about Edward and Alphonse all along.

In the manga
In the manga, Sloth is not introduced until midway through the series, where he is revealed to be a large, muscular, dim-witted man. He is tasked with digging a gigantic transmutation circle beneath Amestris to be used in turning the country into a Philosopher's Stone. Though he is briefly impeded in this job when he runs into the Elric brothers at Briggs Fortress, he is allowed to continue his work, finishing the circle in chapter seventy-eight. Just as his name, Sloth is always wanting to rest and finish his job so he can stop working. When Greed is captured by Wrath, he asks about Sloth and Lust answers saying he is still working, meaning he was already making the tunnel before Greed left the group one hundred years before.

After finishing the transmutation tunnel, he acted as Father's personal bodyguard, following him when he took direct control of the army and sleeping near Father's throne when he has nothing else to do. In chapter 91, he was sent to deal with Major General Olivia Armstrong when she took one of the corrupted generals of Central as hostage, killing the hostage in a surprise attack. He is currently fighting against the two Armstrong siblings.

In combat, he uses his fists and the chains on his wrists coupled with his astonishing physical strength. In his most devastating attack, he hurls himself towards his foes at incredible speed, like a living missile. He claims to be the fastest homunculus.