King Bradley

King Bradley (キング・ブラッドレイ, Kingu Buraddorei) is the Führer of Amestris, as such his duty is to protect and control the country to prevent it from becoming unstable. As government head and Commander-in-Chief State Military, the Führer is a very powerful and respected man. Although there are those who hate him and the state like the citizens of Youswell for example, the Führer is a friendly and laidback man who does the oddest things in both the anime and the manga, such as giving melons to Ed when he sees him, or climbing out the window to avoid work. He lives in a large manor with his wife and adopted son Selim Bradley, who is the manga version of Pride. He is a master swordsman although he rarely resorts to combat. It is eventually revealed that he is a homunculus &mdash; Wrath, in the manga and 2009 anime, and Pride in the 2003 anime &mdash; with the ability to see the outcome of a situation using his Ultimate Eye, hidden behind the eyepatch he wears. Even though he is a homunculus, Bradley has the amazing ability to age, which is a trait that no other homunculus has, with the exception of Wrath in the 2003 anime.

It should be noted that, although King Bradley is the military dictator of Amestris, he holds the official political title of Führer. He is not a king; in fact, King is simply his first name. Although he seems to be quite easy-going and perhaps a little eccentric, he has a mind like a steel trap, and maintaining Amestris is his chief priority at all times. He hungers for war and is constantly sending troops to locations all over Amestris, "purifying the land."

In the Anime (2003)
The Führer maintains his role as the president of the country. Although he is a carefree man, he has a mind like a steel trap and his personality can change rapidly. It was he who finished the Ishval Civil War by sending in the State Alchemists to end it, although it was Bradley himself who started the war in the first place.

Pride was created by Dante as the fourth Homunculus in existence. He was made the president of the country by Dante to keep an eye on things. Despite his power, it never known why he did not rebel against Dante and take charge of things, but it is possible loyalty had something to do with it. Bradley made Edward Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist, and in secret made Sloth his secretary, under the guise of Juliet Douglas. Bradley and the rest of his group in Central fled east and took command of the Eastern Command Center to escape the wrath of Scar, although Bradley apologized to Roy Mustang for the hassle that was being caused. The Führer later returned to Central.

The Führer accompanied Hughes and his team to save Edward and Alphonse from Laboratory 5, allowed Hughes to continue his investigation into the Homunculi, and also permitted the capture of Scar in Lior. However, Martel, the snake chimera found him talking about the deliberate destruction of Lior with Frank Archer. She cornered him and soon discovered him to be the Homunculus Pride.

With his identity exposed and now his role as the Führer on the line, Pride hunts Martel who he finds hiding in Al's armour and stabs her with his sword. However, Al already has learnt the truth about Pride and quickly tells Edward about it. Mustang, Armstrong and other members of the military discover the truth as well. Roy decides to avenge Hughes with the help of Lt. Hawkeye.

A final battle between Pride and Mustang occurs in the Führer's estate. As Pride is on the verge of defeating Mustang, Selim appears with a sack, which in fact contains the skull of the person Pride was created from. Pride mindlessly kills his son. Mustang uses this opportunity to seize the skull and paralyze Pride. He repeatedly sets fire to Pride, until he is no more. In the aftermath, Pride has been reduced to a puddle of red liquid. Mustang drops the skull onto the puddle and sets fire to it, melting the skull and ending Pride's life.

Trivia

 * As a member of the military, Bradley is named for a real world military vehicle, the M2 Bradley tank.