Selim Bradley/Trivia

Trivia

 * Pride's child-like form may reference the literal meaning of "homunculus" ("little human").
 * According to the second official Fullmetal Alchemist guidebook, Pride is the first Homunculus to be created by Father, created before history was even recorded. However, given the context of the actual story, this makes little sense. Father could not have created Pride any time before acquiring his Hohenheim container in Xerxes, which has been confirmed to have been 400 years prior to the 1900s, putting it around the late 1400s or early 1500s. History was recorded long before even those ancient times. It's possible, however, that the guide was referring to Amestrian history and not history in general.
 * In some senses Pride's black blob is an amalgamation of all the other Homunculi's abilities. His shadow can pierce or cut through almost anything (Lust), can consume or devour relatively large objects (Gluttony); is invulnerable to conventional physical harm (Greed), has great strength over physical objects and moves at superhuman speed (Sloth), can see things far beyond the range of his main body's human eyes (Wrath), and can assume many forms or even possess the bodies of others (Envy).
 * The Pride's multiple eyes, discounting the two on his child-like container, may be a reference to the false eyes on a peacock's tail and to the peacock being a symbol of pride.
 * Pride has two different voices for each of his identities. When acting as Pride, he has a metallic sound to his voice, and when he is Selim, he has a normal child's voice.
 * Selim, like Hohenheim and Scar, is one of the few characters to have both new Japanese and English Voice Actors from 2003 to Brotherhood.
 * The name Pride reflects that his true body was made in the image of Father's (pride is also Father's most prominent trait according to Van Hohenheim).
 * Ironically, Pride is the oldest Homunculus at over three centuries old. However, he retains the youngest appearance, while Wrath is the youngest Homunculus (roughly 60 years old), but has the oldest appearance.
 * Interestingly, the youngest and oldest Homunculi are the only Homunculi to share a close, yet fake, father-son relationship with one another. Moreover, when Ed defeats Pride, his most present memory is that of King Bradley and his wife, implying that despite him being much older, he truly thought of Bradley as a father figure, opposed to Father, whom, in Ed's words, had forsaken him for his goals.
 * The chapter where Pride and Alphonse are buried under a pile of rock may be a reference to Dante's Purgatory, where the proud and vain are forced to carry boulders to learn humility.
 * In chapter 106, Pride attempts to take over Edward Elric's body. This is very similar to the goal of Wrath in the 2003 anime, who, as a child Homunculus, is Pride's equivalent.
 * Pride can grow as large a country since he can extend himself throughout the nation-wide transmutation circle
 * As of chapter 106, Pride's True Form makes him the smallest Homunculus - even smaller than Envy's True Form.
 * Pride's true form has the most resemblance to actual Homunculi of historical alchemy concepts than any of his siblings.
 * Pride is the only Homunculus who does not bleed, this is most likely due to his "container" body. He is also the only Homunculus without an Ouroboros mark, instead of having a circular mark on his true form's forehead.
 * In the Volume 27 omake, pressing the node on Selim's forehead switches him to his former persona as Pride.
 * True to the fact that his body is a "container" when half of Pride's face crumbles off after Ed headbutts him, his shadows start pouring out.
 * Selim Bradley, the body container of Pride, slightly resembles Suan, a character from Arakawa's Shanghai Youma Kikai, the discontinued manga series Arakawa wrote earlier before the Fullmetal Alchemist manga.
 * Pride ranked 21st place in a recent fan poll, making him the third most popular Homunculus.
 * Pride is the last remaining Homunculus alive.
 * Despite Pride (King Bradley) in the 2003 anime being the only Homunculi that ages, there is never any reason given as to why he can age, while none of the others can. It is known that Dante created him to keep up appearances, and considers him her greatest work, but it's never explained how she made it possible for him to age and yet still be as invulnerable as the rest of the Homunculi.
 * Pride might reference Damien from the British/American horror film, The Omen, being a child of great evil. It could also explain why his Ouroboros might be hidden since Damien in the film had the numbers "666" hidden underneath his hair.
 * In the manga, the teeth of Pride's shadows are flat until he eats Gluttony, whereupon they become sharp and cone-shaped. In the anime, he appears able to manifest either flat or sharp teeth before and after eating Gluttony; the change is instead marked by his eyes turning purple.
 * After Pride is defeated by Edward and raised by Mrs. Bradley, his eyes are shown to have gone back to their original black color.
 * Pride's "container" body is noticeably different in the manga and subsequent 2009 anime series. In the manga, when Pride reveals himself to Hawkeye and his shadows leave Selim's body, the container remains lifeless, almost as if a mere shell, while in the anime, Selim keeps all vitality during that scene, and the "container" body is never shown lifeless in the series.
 * Pride's defeat by Edward Elric seems to give off a symbolic meaning, for it is hinted that Ed's main vice is his pride (mainly from his failure at human transmutation). This works in a similar manner to how Scar defeated King Bradley in the same 2009 anime (Wrath is Scar's vice as well as Bradley's title).
 * Both Pride and Wrath were also defeated by deterioration.
 * Pride's devouring of Gluttony is frequently mocked in manga extras. In volume 21, Gluttony's extreme sense of smell becomes a weakness as Darius takes advantage by farting, causing Pride to beg for the smell to leave, falling back covering his nose, leaving him completely vulnerable. In a next extra, he devours Gluttony, but gains Gluttony's weight as a result, leaving his shell body, Selim, obese. In another extra, Gluttony is instead merged with Lust, resulting in Lust gaining considerable weight and Gluttony's face.
 * In both anime series, Pride is the last Homunculus to be revealed.

Trivia

 * In episode 14, Selim expresses interest in someday “learning alchemy so he can help Father”. Curiously in another episode, Pride assimilates Kimblee, assimilating his knowledge and making a Transmutation circle for Mustang to open the portal. Thus Father would have the 5 sacrifices at his mercy which makes Selim's wish come true.
 * Selim Bradley's character design slightly resembles Suan, a character from Arakawa Hiromu's Shanghai Youma Kikai, the discontinued manga series Arakawa wrote earlier before Fullmetal Alchemist.
 * Selim/Pride came in the 21st place in the latest fan poll.
 * Selim's name comes from the Ottoman Sultan's name Selim I.
 * The reason why Selim Bradley was fully human in the 2003 anime, was that his status as a Homunculus was not officially revealed at the time in the manga during production of the first anime. However, Pride's voice was first heard in the chapter that was released shortly before the final episode of the 2003 anime was aired.