Mustang Unit

Overview


By the time Colonel Mustang is transferred from East Headquarters to the Central Headquarter, Lieutenant General Grumman allows him to take a team of loyal subordinates with him to carry out his plans at Central.

This unit consists of five members, each one with specific abilities and jobs.

Members
From left to right:

Kain Fuery (Mechanics Specialist) - A young Sergeant, Kain is uncommonly gentle and a helpful soldier, always willing to aid his pairs and, most of all, younger and lower soldiers. A "tech geek", he sometimes states he had the luck to make his hobby become his job.

Riza Hawkeye (Personal Aide) - The sole female in the unit, Riza is the only officer aside Mustang who has participated in war actions prior to the series, taking part of Ishval Civil War. Riza is a Weapons' Specialist, whose job lies in parallel with the Unit's Hierarchy, answering to Colonel Mustang alone. She works as his secretary, bodyguard and personal aide. Considered to be one of the top sharpshooters in Amestrian Army, Riza is looked up to for her serious demeanor and discipline and, though sometimes it makes her seem unapprochable and aloof, those close to her enjoy teasing with her temperament and often state she's a lot sweeter than she seems. She's the most graduated of all soldiers in Mustang's unit, holding the rank of 1st Lieutenant.

Vato Falman (Information Specialist) - Vato is a Warrant Officer specialized in intelligence. He has extraordinary memory and knowledge, especially in History. His job is mostly connected to office work and he rarely participates in field missions. However, his information is most of the time proven to be valuable, aiding imensely to the Unit's work.

Jean Havoc (Unit Coordinator) - Jean is a regular, but capable soldier. Not particularly gifted in any field, he compensates his lack of natural talent with dedication and effort. His character and loyalty is beyond shadow of doubt and, therefore, has been made the Officer-in-Chief of Mustang's Unit, coordinating the work of Breda, Falman and Fuery (but not Hawkeye). Although never taken part in a war front, Havoc is the most efficient officer in field missions after Hawkeye.

Heymans Breda (Investigation Specialist) - A extremelly talented soldier, Heymans graduated top of his class (Havoc was his classmate in the Academy) and is specialized in all sorts of information gathering, especially those that require travel and speaking different languages. His unimpressive appearance makes him pass by unnoticed (or underestimated) by most military personel, a trait he uses to his advantage in stealth missions.

Roy Mustang (Unit's Commander) - The Commanding Officer of the unit, Roy Mustang is a State Alchemist, holding, during most the series, the rank of Colonel. While stationed at the Eastern Headquarters, he was responsible for all administrative chores of that HQ, that were passed on to him by Commanding Officer Lt.

General Grumman. After the serie's end, he returns to the Eastern HQ, this time holding the position formely occupied by Lt. General Grumman himself.

Chess Parallels
In Chapter 62 of the manga, Roy Mustang states a metaphoric relation to each of his subordinates (and, consequentially, himself) to pieces of the Chess game. He says he “has lost his pieces”, as if he was actually playing a Chess game against the Homunculi and the top brass of the Amestrian Army. Interestingly enough, this metaphor is not randomly put, as the pieces of chess mirrors each subordinate’s character, personality, role inside the office and, furthermore, of their own relationship with Colonel Mustang.

Roy Mustang is represented as the King. In Chess, the King is the fundamental piece and represents the center of the game. It cannot be exchanged and one cannot attribute a value to it, since it would be infinite. The King it's the only piece that you cannot play without and its loss represents the end of the game. A king can move one empty or enemy-occupied square in any direction (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) unless such a move would place the king in check (which means the King cannot sacrifice himself and that one King cannot directly kill the other, unless with the aid of another piece), but, when together with even only one other piece, can perform a check.

The King is commonly used as a symbol of wisdom, leadership and power.

Riza Hawkeye is related to the Queen. The only unique piece in the board besides the King, the Queen can be moved any number of unoccupied squares in a straight line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, thus combining the moves of the rook and bishop. It’s the most versatile piece in the board and the one with the highest relative value (and, thus, being one of the most protected and with the largest effects when lost, a direct parallel to importance Colonel Mustang atributes to the Lieutenant). In modern times, the Queen is the only female piece in the Chess board but, in ancient times, the Queen piece used to be a “male” piece called the "Counselor" (Ferz), reinforcing its characteristics of being the one closer to the King and its importance as the King’s guardian and advisor, another characteristic that can be used to define the role of Hawkeye and her relationship to Mustang. The Queen is regarded as a symbol of purity and clearness of mind (and of conscientious decision), for starting the game in the house of its own color --White Queen in the white square and Black Queen in the black square (The expression “The Queen gets her color” comes from that rule) – as well as for being the “King’s ferz”. The fact that Mustang mentions Hawkeye as “his queen” reinforces the common belief of Mustang and Hawkeye being a romantic pair in FMA.

Jean Havoc is represented as the Knight. The Knight one of the most agile pieces of the chess board and it’s the only piece that can “jump over” all other pieces (of either color) to its destination square, as long as his initial and final squares are empty or enemy-occupied. It’s a piece that is always in the center of action and is more powerful the closest it is to the center of the board. It's usually one of the first pieces to be played in game and represents both strength and impulse to action. The combination of the Queen and a Knight is also considered one of the most powerful in chess, a good parallel to Mustang common strategy of using Hawkeye and Havoc in the field together and his belief that this pair is his most effective combination.

Vato Falman is represented as the Bishop. The Bishop moves in diagonals, requiring a great ability to use. Each bishop can only access half the squares of the board, which is an interesting parallel to Falman’s lack of ability in the field. Opposite to the Knight, the Bishop is more powerful the farthest it is from the center of the board (which is also a good parallel to Falman’s supportive role). It can also jump over other ally pieces. It symbolically represents the control of one's feelings, not letting your emotions get you "side tracked", which can be related to Falman’s ability to acquire privileged information and “saving the unit’s time”.

Heymans Breda is represented as the Rook. The Rook is a very sturdy, strong piece, moving horizontally or vertically, forward or backward, through any number of unoccupied squares. It’s usually a piece players don’t move during the early stages of the game, but, once the first rows from the board are clear (meaning, after the attack strategy is in place), very powerful and with great ability to threaten the opponent’s pieces, not allowing them to move. As Breda, the Rook usually plays a supportive role in Chess, protecting the King while stronger/more active pieces like the Queen and the Knight attack the opponent. But it also can take the main floor of the board as a substitute to a Bishop or even the Queen, mirroring Breda’s capacities of gathering information (like Falman) as well as operative jobs usually done by Hawkeye.

Kain Fuery is represented as the Pawn. The Pawn is a very different piece in the chess board: Unlike all the other pieces, pawns may not move backwards and they capture in a different way than they move. It moves only forward, one square (except for their first move, where the pawn can move two squares), but capture in diagonal squares. Like Fuery, the Pawn is a very altruistic sort of piece, working to protect and aid those that are at his side. Attacking sideways, they mirror the works of a soldier in a Roman/Spartan militia, whose shield protected the soldier to their left and not themselves. Its usual task is to provide assistance to other pieces, protecting them while they attack. They are also the ones who prepare the field to the other pieces strategies to take place.

Trivia

 * Contrary to common belief, Lieutenant Hawkeye is not the head of Mustang's unit. That position is held by Lieutenant Havoc. However, as the highest ranked officer and for her strictness, Hawkeye is more respected and attended to than Havoc, whose laid back personality makes his colleagues not really respect him as an authority. Hawkeye, on the other hand, is regarded as the highest authority in the office and the one who "puts order" to everyone else, including her commanding officer, Roy Mustang, who she scolds constantly, without any sort of punishment.
 * Is unclear whether Havoc, Breda and Fuery continue to work under General Mustang once he's appointed as Commanding Officer of the Eastern Headquarters at the end of the manga series. It is clear, though, that, in addition to Hawkeye, Major Miles was also appoited to work under Mustang, along with Scar, on the Reconstruction of Ishval. Falman continues to be stationed at Briggs.