Solf J. Kimblee

Solf J Kimblee (ゾルフ・J・キンブリー, Zorufu J Kinburī), the "Red Lotus Alchemist" or "Crimson Alchemist", is a deranged psychopath who loves the sight of blood and death. He earned fame during the Ishval Civil War for his ruthless commitment to the Ishvalan extermination, killing thousands without remorse through his unique brand of alchemy. Using transmutation circles tattooed to the palms of his hands, Kimblee can turn anything he comes into contact with into a bomb, be it people or distant buildings. Because of his effectiveness in wiping out the Ishvalans, Kimblee was given an imperfect Philosopher's Stone to increase his alchemical abilities. With it, he killed Scar's family and gave Scar his characteristic cross-shaped scar. After the war was over, Kimblee wishing to keep the stone for himself, swallows the Stone and kills the superior officers that knew he had it to keep it a secret. He was imprisoned for his crimes.

In the manga, he conceals his murderous disposition behind a facade of gentlemanly politeness, typically speaking respectfully to his superiors and unrelated civilians, while at the same time caring very little for either them or their well-being, and being utterly ruthless to his enemies. He has also been shown to be unable to understand his comrades compassion towards the enemy during the Ishval Massacre stating simply that it is their role as dogs of the military to carry out their orders without question. His trademark outfit is a pure white suit with matching fedora, and he is always seen wearing it when not in uniform. In both the manga and 2009 anime, he has also shown to have somewhat of an workaholic attitude.

In the anime his disposition is more openly sadistic, and the suit he wears is burgundy in color.

Alchemy
Kimblee is a former State Alchemist who specializes in transmuting matter into bombs. The nature of these "bombs" may vary from biological and chemical reactions to mechanical explosive devices.

Manga
In the manga, Kimblee's rationale is better explored during the Ishval extermination. He looks with disdain upon Mustang and Hawkeye's guilt regarding their actions against the Ishvalan citizens, reminding them that they bore the military uniform of their own free will, knowing what may have been expected of them when they made the decision. He also purposefully thwarts any attempts other state alchemists make to show mercy to the enemy, such as when he kills two fleeing Ishvalan women whom Armstrong attempted to spare, reminding his comrade that allowing an enemy to escape was an offense punished by court-marshal before extending a hand to help him up.

After it was discovered that the Rockbell doctors were aiding the Ishvalans, Kimblee's superiors express discontent for their actions. Because they were providing humanitarian aid, it was the military's duty to protect them, an act which they felt was an unnecessary burden to them. Kimblee's unit is the one sent to guard the Rockbells, with it being strongly implied that he was to assassinate them as soon as possible. Kimblee expresses admiration toward the doctors, stating his respect for their doing their job as doctors in such a chaotic time. When it's discovered that they were killed prior to his arrival, Kimblee states that the purpose of a soldier is to take life, and the purpose of a doctor is to save it, and as such, the Rockbell's deaths were noble ones.

Following these events, Kimblee kills several of his superior officers, in doing so maintaining his possession of the Philosophers stone he was issued, and was subsequently sent to prison.

After the war, Kimblee is released from jail by order from the Führer and Envy gives him a new Philosophers stone. He is then sent to capture Scar and Dr. Marcoh. Of course, he was oblivious to the identity of Scar as the man whose entire family he's slain, and thus was fairly stunned at this revelation. He engages Scar in brief battle on a train to the north but is badly wounded by a steel pipe thrust by Scar through his left side. He is then transported to Briggs, and General Raven arrives along with the Alchemist doctor who heals him.

He arranges to have Winry brought to the northern base, under the guise of needing her help in making Ed combat-ready, but in reality securing her as a hostage to force the Elrics to cooperate with his search for Scar. Ed confronts him on his siding with the homonculi, but Kimblee states that he did so out of simple curiosity. He says that the world was on the brink of change, and he acted because he wanted to see which side the world would support in the end. He is eventually able to placate Ed into compliance, both with Winry as his hostage and with the promise of relinquishing a philosopher's stone to him should he succeed.

When Kimblee's search resumes, the Elrics conspire with Dr. Marcoh and Scar behind his back, faking Winry's kidnapping as a means of freeing her from Kimblee's grasp. They arrange a scene to create the illusion that Winry has been taken by Scar, in the hopes that Winry's presence would stop Kimblee from attacking, and give the perfect excuse for her sudden disappearance. The plan goes awry when Scar taunts Kimblee, telling him that it seems their roles had switched from when they had first met, bringing Kimblee to a rage that makes him attempt to use his alchemy to attack. The encroaching blizzard prevents the scene from growing bloody, and Kimblee's army is forced into shelter as Scar and his party navigate the mines for a path to Briggs.

While snowed in, the Briggs in Kimblee's search party begin plotting his assassination, convincing an uncertain Ed to participate by drawing his attention away while their snipers take positions. Ed attempts to comply with their plan, but Kimblee reveals that he's perfectly aware of the attempt, stating that he could sense the murderous intent coming from the Briggs unit the whole time. He creates an explosion to blur the view of the snipers and escapes into the mines.

Kimblee continues his search for Scar and Marcoh but loses Scar's trail in a old mining town when Edward Elric fights him. Ed manages to separate Kimblee from his first Philosophers stone, and cut the transmutation circle on his hand, believing these actions to have effectively ended Kimblee's ability to perform alchemy. Kimblee expresses his respect to Ed for trying to live true to his code of possessing the strength to not kill, but says that it's that same naive belief that will cost him his life. Kimblee then uses the other stone (which Ed was unaware of) to blow up the building they are fighting in.

He then searches Sloth's tunnel but encounters Pride who orders him "to carve a bloody mark into Briggs".

He attacks Briggs along with the Drachman army. The whole army gets obliterated but Kimblee's mission is fulfilled.

Later when Pride has been captured by the Elrics, Father sends Kimblee to rescue him from hearing a message sent to him by Pride banging on Al's helmet in a secret code. Ironicaly this is just like when Riza sent Mustang a secret message about Selim being the homunculus Pride. He wounds Heinkel and frees Pride, but Al takes Kimblee's old Philosophers stone from the dying Heinkel and prepares for battle. After a while fighting against Al, Kimblee gets bitten in the neck by Heinkel in chimera mode. They attempt to escape while taking Kimblee as a prisoner, but Pride uses his power to retrieve him as the Elric's car speeds away.

Pride laughs at the wound that Kimblee received, stating that it truly proves that humans have no place in the natural world. He marvels at how Kimblee's suit, which has been dyed red by the blood from his throat, now had a color that so perfectly suited him, and asks Kimblee how he planned to see the side the world would choose if this was all his strength could do for him. He decides to help Kimblee in his desire by letting him "live on as a part of him." He then absorbs him gaining another Philosophers stones.

Fullmetal Alchemist
In the 2003 anime series, Kimblee is first seen in prison, serving his time for the crimes he committed in Ishval. Along with other prisoners, he is sent by Envy, disguised as Basque Gran, to Lab 5, where he would be a human sacrifice for the Philosopher's Stone being created by Edward at the same time. However, Kimblee escapes death by exploding one of the inmates who believes that his alchemic skills are a hoax. While leaving the facility, he meets Greed, also escaping, and his newly formed Chimera gang. Having few options, Kimblee joins.

After the Elric brothers return from Yock Island, Kimblee helps Greed by assisting, along with Bido, in trying to capture the homunculus Wrath from Military headquarters. After they fail, he helps Greed in kidnapping Alphonse. Shortly afterward, Kimblee betrays Greed by sending an army unit (as well as Lust and Gluttony) into the hideout, where they kill most of Greed's gang. In doing so, Kimblee is recruited back into the military.

Kimblee later travels with Mustang and his men to Lior, where they attempt to find Scar. There, Kimblee is confronted by Martel, the only surviving member of Greed's gang. Enraged, she attacks Kimblee, only to be nearly killed. She is saved by Alphonse who breaks Kimblee's arm in the process. Hours later, Kimblee is employed by the Homunculi to go into Lior to stir an uprising with the help of Shou Tucker's chimeras. During this attack, he confronts Scar, whose brother he killed during the Ishval rebellion. Kimblee fights Scar, but is killed by the vengeful Ishvalan. His last act is to turn Alphonse into a bomb, designed to explode after a slow chemical reaction in order to give Alphonse "time to think about his death, and reflect on how meaningless his efforts have been."

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Kimblee appears in the first episode, where is he visited by ex-state alchemist Isaac McDougal. McDougal hopes for Kimblee to assist him in bringing down the government as revenge for the atrocities they committed during the Ishval Rebellion. Kimblee, however, refuses, believing that he does not think on such "sophisticated terms" and that he killed all those people just because he enjoyed it.

In a later episode, while Laboratory 5 is being destroyed, Kimblee hears an explosion and deduces by the range of the sound that the noise is coming from Lab 5. The soldier who is guarding Kimblee tells him to shut up, after which Kimblee politely apologizes.

Trivia

 * During numerous points in the manga, Kimblee is revealed to have a photographic memory, as he never forgets a person's face (mostly the faces of the victims that he kills) this example is supported when he offers to tell Major Miles every Ishbalan relative that he killed during the Ishbalan War and how they died, to which Miles responds by telling Kimblee to "shut the Hell up".


 * During the most recent character popularity poll, Kimblee ranked fourteenth.


 * While Kimblee's eyes were amber in both the manga and the first anime, they are blue in Brotherhood.