Buccaneer

Captain Buccaneer is an Amestrian State Military Officer stationed at Fort Briggs and a close subordinate of Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong. Abrasive and suspicious, Buccaneer is often one to strike first and ask questions later, in fitting with the Briggs mindset of "Survival of the Fittest", and seems to enjoy violence and combat, often using vicious animal metaphors in his speech. He is loath to trust strangers and does not hold back in dealing out harsh treatment to people with whom he is unfamiliar. Despite this, Buccaneer is an incredibly brave and loyal soldier and shows his more jovial side to those whom he calls "comrade".

Even among Briggs' stalwart men, Buccaneer stands out due to his macho persona, significant build, unique mohawk-and-braid hairstyle and signature automail right arm. Unlike many other automail users, Buccaneer swaps out different models of cold-climate automail depending on his situation, first appearing fitted with the M1913A "Crocodile arm" model (which is a chainsaw with a movable jaw to trap objects) but later switching to the M1910 Mad Bear Grade (a menacing standard hand with diamond-tipped claws). Like Winry Rockbell, Buccaneer is an automail enthusiast, taking great care to announce the impressive qualities of his arms to anyone who will listen, and like Edward, seems to have a taste for the intimidating in his weaponry (for which Edward ironically mocks him).

A Mountain Bear of Briggs
Captain Buccaneer first appears in Chapter 64, when - charged with leading the mountain patrol squad - he is the first Briggs soldier to encounter the Elric brothers upon their arrival in the northern area of Amestris. Having strayed from the mountain road due to a blinding snowstorm, the brothers initially mistake the massive Captain's silhouette for a mountain bear and panic. Likewise, Buccaneer mistakes them for Drachman spies and attacks, trapping Alphonse in a net and engaging Edward in hand to hand before the other members of the Briggs Mountain Patrol arrive to subdue him. Edward is baffled by Buccaneer's automail, which he cannot easily deconstruct because it is composed of mysterious, unknown composite metals. Though Edward is able to keep his hand from being sawed off in the jaws of the "Crocodile" by jamming the weapon's inner workings with the hair from Alphonse's helmet, Buccaneer overpowers him and brings both Elric brothers up to Fort Briggs as captives.

Once inside however, the Elrics are able to identify and explain themselves and are therefore given limited clearance. Captain Buccaneer clashes with Edward at first, upset that such a crass little boy outranks him, and continues to suspect him of being a spy. When the Homunculus Sloth inadvertently breaks into Fort Briggs' lowest level, Buccaneer immediately suspects Edward of being involved (due to the Fullmetal Alchemist's attempts to communicate with the hulking artificial human) and opens fire on him, but changes his tune somewhat after seeing Fullmetal protect some of Briggs' workers from harm at Sloth's hand. After learning that the Homunculus cannot be killed by conventional methods, Major General Armstrong orders Buccaneer to commandeer some tank fuel so that they might pour it on the beast and force it outside where the cold will freeze it dead. Buccaneer abducts Edward for assistance, saying that they will have to work together to prevent anyone else from being hurt or killed. When Edward voices his concern over the possibility of a Briggs soldier secretly reporting his involvement in the defeat of a Homunculus to the enemy, Buccaneer assures him that everyone in Briggs is trustworthy - of one heart and one mind. He further explains that Edward's desire to protect Briggs soldiers is all that's necessary to inspire trust between them. However, while Edward is still hesitant, Buccaneer holds a gun to the boy's head and states grimly that they can make it so that Edward has no choice but to help. When Sloth is forced to the upper level of the fort, Buccaneer ambushes him, allowing Edward and 2nd Lt. Vato Falman to douse the creature, setting their plan into motion. After Sloth is defeated, Captain Buccaneer and 2nd Lt. Falman venture down into the tunnel the Homunculus was digging under Briggs to explore. They report back to Major General Armstrong that the tunnel does not appear to have an end in sight. Buccaneer suggests a fresh scouting party be formed and dispatched to investigate it. Armstrong has other plans and orders that Edward, Alphonse, Buccaneer, Vato Falman and herself compose the next scout party. The five of them ride deep into the tunnel where there is no danger of being watched or overheard by anyone inside the fort and Armstrong demands that the Elrics and Falman tell her everything they know, without holding back.

After they explain the situation and determine that the country of Amestris was started and manipulated for the purpose of creating a Nationwide Transmutation Circle, Captain Buccaneer receives a message announcing that Lt. General Raven - whom Edward and Alphonse's testimony has labeled as one of the enemy - has suddenly arrived from Central Command to inspect Fort Briggs. While Armstrong goes above ground and goads Raven into revealing more information about Central Command's plans for the country, Buccaneer secretly listens in with the Elrics and Falman over a hidden communications receiver. over the next few hours, Buccaneer cooperates with the Elrics and Armstrong to fool and bring down Lt. General Raven, first putting Ed and Al back in their cell to keep up the appearance that the brothers have not divulged anything about the Homunculi or Central Command, then listening silently to Raven's lies to the Briggs soldiers regarding Sloth's tunnel and the "bright future" the Führer is planning for everyone. And when Major General Armstrong finally slays Raven for his cowardly betrayal of the Amestrian people, Buccaneer delivers her fresh, clean gloves to replace her bloodstained pair.

After relaying a message to Major Miles that he need no longer keep Raven's companion Solf J. Kimblee occupied, Buccaneer prepares to enter the Nationwide Transmutation Circle as part of a search party to locate the previous scouting team, which had mysteriously vanished in the recesses of the tunnel. He visits the medical bay in order to have his Mad Bear Grade automail installed and encounters Winry Rockbell, whom Kimblee has brought along as a hostage. After showing off the specifications of his new model, he mauls Edward with it out of jealousy due to the Fullmetal Alchemist's cute personal mechanic. Buccaneer enters the tunnel, along with 2nd Lt. Henschel and a few others, by way of a secret second entrance created alchemically by Edward. They take a transmitter instead of a cable radio so that whatever may lurk in the tunnel's shadows may not follow the line back to Briggs. As Buccaneer closes the trap door behind him, he requests of Armstrong that, if they do not return within twenty-four hours, she count them dead, seal up the secret entrance and act as if they never existed. She agrees and the door is hidden under some crates.

Inside the tunnel, the search party discovers the remnants of the scouting team - a few human and horse limbs as well as sharply cut scraps of metal. Remarkably, they also find a pair of survivors, the only two not attacked by whatever enemy remains in hiding. The two men are visibly shaken and remark that everyone else was killed by a mysterious monster of darkness that would descend upon them when it saw their lamps. They beg the search team to keep the lights out or the monster will return. Buccaneer and is men turn out their lamps and grope their way back to the tunnel's secret entrance in the dark before lighting them again. When they are able to see once more, Buccaneer is dismayed to realize that he and his team have missed their twenty-four hour deadline by quite some time and are sure that their "Ice Queen" has already entombed them inside. Just as Buccaneer prepares to dig their way out with his automail, the trap door opens and the soldier standing guard over it welcomes them back. The Captain asks why the entrance was not sealed as he had requested and the guard responds that the watch the Major General had given him had not yet marked one full day. Buccaneer inspects the watch and notes that it is clearly and obviously broken. Buccaneer goes up to the roof of the fort, where Major General Armstrong is sitting and surveying the landscape. She welcomes him back from his excursion and, when Buccaneer asks what she is doing, remarks that she loves the landscape of the Briggs Mountain Range in Winter, that she loves the simplicity of the pure black-and-white expanse. But Buccaneer responds that, if one looks up at the sky, one can also see blue; the hearts of men and women are not so black-and-white. He thanks her for showing him and his team some mercy, to which she responds, smiling, that she has no idea what he means.

Just then, they both notice that a group of soldiers from Central City has arrived wishing to take Armstrong to Central Command for questioning. While the Major General is away, Buccaneer answers questions posed by Central's investigators, claiming - in accordance with Armstrong's wishes - that the last time he saw Lt. General Raven was when he and Major General Armstrong went down into the lower levels alone. As Central's officers continue to keep the base under watch and questioning, Buccaneer and Henschel discuss the likelihood that Central Command will send a new, more controllable General to take charge of Fort Briggs, in keeping with the discovery that the mountain fortress is the last point of bloodshed in the Nationwide Transmutation Circle. Henschel remarks that Central Command is underestimating them greatly, to which Buccaneer muses that the "Mountain Bear and the Tiger" will soon try to devour each other - indicating that Briggs will not go down without a fight, as proven when Drachman forces attack at Kimblee's behest in an attempt to carve a "crest of blood" into Briggs and are soundly defeated.

The Promised Day
Buccaneer reappears in Chapter 83 when Izumi Curtis re-enacts her previous break-in at Fort Briggs to inform Miles and Buccaneer of a message relayed to her by the courtesy of Alphonse Elric - a message indicating that the Promised Day, the final battle between the Amestrians and the Homunculi, will take place in the Spring of 1915. Buccaneer relays the message to Vato Falman, who in turn sends the message on to Lt. General Grumman in East City. In preparation, Buccaneer heads a squad of Briggs officers, mountain patrol troops and tanks surreptitiously sent to the Armstrong family estate in Central City, where they wait and plan for the attack in the cellar after being snuck in during renovations. In Chapter 89, as Mustang's attack begins to lose its first wind, Buccaneer orders that all of Briggs' troops begin their cooperative attack on Central.

While the Mountain Patrol and the Tank Squad attack Central troops and cause confusion, Buccaneer moves with Henschel, Falman and a few others directly into Central Command by way of a tunnel dug alchemically by Izumi Curtis. Following directions given by Falman, Buccaneer bursts into the ground command room and incapacitates Brigadier General Clemin with his Crocodile automail before the General can order more attacks on Mustang's men and the tank squad.

With this, Buccaneer's group takes over ninety percent of Central Command under its control and switches its focus to eradicating the Mannequin Soldiers and guiding surrendering Central troops to safety. However, just as Buccaneer secures the main gate with Falman and declares victory for Briggs, the assumed-dead Führer King Bradley arrives at the front of the compound and announces his presence to his northern enemies along with a cadre of fresh Central soldiers. Knowing Bradley's identity as a Homunculus, Buccaneer orders the tank squad at the front gate to retreat, but to no avail, as Wrath disposes of the tank and its operators with ease. Buccaneer steps forward to protect his remaining men, but is swiftly trounced by Bradley, who dices the Captain's Crocodile automail and leaves him in a bloody heap on the ground. Bradley moves past the incapacitated Buccaneer and commands 2nd Lt. Falman to open the gate for him. Falman refuses and sheds tears of terror as he raises his gun against the Homunculus Führer.

Standing up once again with the bladed chain from his chainsaw arm wrapped around his left fist, Buccaneer commends Falman for his bravery, but scolds him for crying while doing so. Buccaneer challenges Bradley to a rematch, claiming that he himself is the bravest and manliest. However, he is saved from having to fight Bradley by Greed's timely intervention on behalf of the brave northerners.

After Bradley removes his eyepatch and gains an upper hand, however, Briggs soldiers involve themselves in the fray against Greed's wishes, opening fire and causing the Führer to eliminate them as obstacles. Buccaneer lunges forward to avenge his fallen team, but is spitted on Bradley's sword without landing a blow. But when Wrath attempts to extract his sword from the Captain's stomach, he finds that Buccaneer has purposely trapped the blade with his abdominal muscles, forcing the Führer to continue fighting Greed through other means than his expert swordplay. Though managing to turn the tide of battle, Buccaneer succumbs to his compounded wounds and briefly loses consciousness.

The sound of shelling wakes Buccaneer again moments later and his subordinates request that he lay still to conserve his energy and refrain from pulling out Bradley's sword as it would cause him to bleed out. However, upon seeing that Wrath has once again gained an upper hand over Greed and the newly-arrived Fu, Buccaneer waits for his chance to impact the battle once more. After Fu's suicide attack fails and he is mortally wounded, Buccaneer rushes in behind the old man's body - Bradley's only blind spot - draws the sword from his torso and plunges it through Fu's body and into Wrath's abdomen, impaling both men in one strike. Buccaneer remarks to the stunned Führer that even the eyes of God himself cannot block an attack that they cannot see. As King Bradley angrily kicks both men away from him, Buccaneer promises the grateful Fu that the two of them will walk the Führer down the path to hell together.

Ling, distraught at Fu's death, thanks Buccaneer for at least making sure he didn't die in vain, but remarks that he hasn't the power to save the dying captain nor the means to repay him. Buccaneer requests that Ling pay him back by helping to defend the main gate as per Major General Armstrong's orders. Ling gives his word that it will be so and Buccaneer remarks, against a cadre of Briggs soldiers attempting to save his life, that he can finally die in peace. Buccaneer states that he is off to a place even higher than the peaks of Briggs and passes away with a smile.

Trivia

 * Due to his massive appearance, Buccaneer is often mistaken as a bear.
 * Like many of the FMA characters, he is named after a WWII vehicle. In this case being a United States' Brewster SB2A Buccaneer reconnaissance bomber.