I want it all. Money!! Sex!! Power!! Fame!! I want everything in the world! And most of all... eternal life!" - Greed (manga)
Greed (グリード, Gurīdo) is the embodiment of some of Father's greed. He is called the "Ultimate Shield" because he can rearrange the carbon in his body to make his skin as hard as diamond, thus making him impenetrable by most weapons. As his name implies, he is a very avaricious character, who likes living in luxury, surrounded by powerful minions and beautiful women. He also has a habit of flipping people off in the manga. Despite his generally greedy nature, he is shown to care for his subordinates, as detailed below.
Appearance
In his original body, Greed resembled a tall and muscular young adult with short, spiky, black hair that is kept slicked back. He also had a subtle widow's peak. Among his most noticeable features were Greed's purple eyes with thin, cat-like pupils, and razor-sharp teeth. He often smiled with a huge grin. Greed dresses in leather, sporting a short, black jacket with a fur collar, black leather pants, and shoes with upward tips. In the 2003 anime, his pants and shoes have a dark green hue, while in the 2009 anime they're colored black. Beneath his jacket, Greed wears a skintight shirt similar to the clothes worn by his homunculus siblings. His shirt is the same navy blue as his armor form in the 2003 anime, while in the 2009 anime it has a reddish brown hue. Around each of his wrists, Greed wore four black leather wrist belts with metal claps, that seem to disappear when he goes full shield, and when he's regenerating his arm. He briefly wore a pair of sunglasses with round lenses.
While possessing Ling Yao, Greed looks exactly like Ling, but with slit pupils, purple irises, and he kept his eyes opened in the same manner as his previous body. When possessed Ling's bangs are also moved to the other side of his forehead.
In his "Ultimate Shield" form, Greed has dark blue skin, razor-sharp finger nails, and a pronounced spinal column, while his ears and hair disappear beneath his blue skin. The sclera of both eyes become red, while his irises turn white. In this form, Greed's sharp teeth become more pronounced, with two lower fangs rising just above his upper lip. His overall facial features are a reflection of his inner self, which takes the form of a red devil's head with skull-like features, notably: fangs and slit eyes.
His Ouroboros tattoo is located on the back of his left hand in both incarnations.
Personality
| “ | They weren't my "friends". Henchmen are like money and women: possessions. And killing them is like stealing from me. And NOBODY steals from me! | ” |
—Greed | ||
Greed, as his name implies, is filled with and motivated by his avaricious nature. It could be said that the reason why he wanted all that life has to offer was because Greed didn't know exactly what he wanted from it, which fuels his desire to have it all. He is the only homunculus to defy Father, and the only one to openly taunt him. He has an easygoing, charismatic, arrogant personality and tends to do what he wants. He is also somewhat narcissistic, claiming part of the reason he doesn't use his ultimate shield to his fullest extent is because it masks his attractive face. He claims to not hurt women and (to an extent) children. In addition, he states he never lies (though he tells only one lie in order to save Ling's life). While he normally possesses a calm, confident nature, when angered he can be rather impulsive and ready to go into a fight with those he feels have wronged him. However, he shows some capacity for adapting to his fights and is willing to protect his allies (and later innocent civilians). On a side note, he seems very charismatic and has shown good leadership skills, first with his chimera friends and later with Edward, Darius, and Heinkel, which he attributes to how he earns and deserve their loyalty in the first place. In addition, while he seems to see humans as weak and powerless, he never had sociopath tendencies or even hatred towards humans the way the other homunculi did. In the end, he even grows to respect their power and tenacity.
After being killed and reborn, he initially had no memories of his former life. He retained his mocking arrogant, easygoing personality but initially had a complete loyalty to Father, faithfully doing his job. However, after killing one of his surviving friends, Bido, he remembers his past and develops a grudge against Wrath for what he had done. He also slowly develops a bond with Ling, whose body he shares and whose greed nearly matches his, and the prince helps him realize what he truly desires. He does get annoyed when Ling tries to take over his body, especially without his permission, though the two manage to work together well as a team. He also bonds with Edward, despite getting into fights with him.
However, deep down Greed wants nothing more than true friends who cared for him and for whom he cared for, though given his personality he often cloaks this by calling his friends and henchmen "possessions". This is first shown in Dublith where his chimera friends are killed by Wrath. While claiming he only saw them as possessions, he attempts to kill Wrath in retaliation, reasoning that Wrath killing his henchmen was like stealing from him. This is, in truth, not a lie; for what Greed treasured had been taken away from him and their loss deeply wounded his heart. Furthermore, he cries upon killing his own friend Bido and regaining his memories, then attacks Wrath at his home afterward, demanding an answer as to why Wrath destroyed his possessions. Ling later points this out to him during their final fight against Father, and in the end Greed is satisfied with having died to protect his friends. As Ling pointed out, the chimeras were the only part of his life that Greed chose and were his real family; in fact, he never sought to ditch them for better cronies, truly being worthy of their respect and loyalty.
Being a living incarnation of avarice, Greed understands its nature better than anyone else, though Ed warns him that wanting too much can have dangerous results, just like what happens to people who attempt human transmutation. However, Greed countered by explaining that avarice is not about just money and power; no matter how noble or selfless someone is, everybody desires something.
Powers and Abilities
As a homunculus, Greed possessed the standard physical and regenerative abilities of his brethren. Provided his internal Philosopher's Stone had enough energy, Greed would not age beyond his youthful prime and could heal from any injury no matter how severe. Combined with his Ultimate Shield, this made him almost completely immune to harm. However, his defensive abilities led him to be extremely reliant on his Ultimate Shield and regenerative abilities in combat situations and was only an average fighter as a result.
Greed's regeneration ability.
Ultimate Shield
Greed can convert his skin into hard but still prehensile graphene, leaving everything else underneath malleable so as not to compromise his overall movement. He usually uses this ability to partially strengthen the density of selected parts of his body during battle, but can extend the effect to its entirety.
In this form, he resembles a demon with a malevolent facial visage. His finger nails become razor sharp while under this form, capable of slicing through rock and metal alike with little effort. Because Greed has control over the configuration of his body's carbon atoms, the substances that he can convert his skin into can vary based on his intentions. He can choose to convert his body into the indestructible substance, or he can turn his skin into weak graphite.
Greed's full Ultimate Shield
While in its Ultimate Shield form, Greed's body is completely indestructible and possesses absolutely no internal or external weakness. This defense cannot be breached by any attack, giving him protection from all attacks, regardless of types, magnitude and directions; thus, he is immune to any/all kind of damage, and his indestructible body does not hinder his speed or mobility. He is able to survive and adapt to any environment at optimal efficiency under any circumstances and for an unlimited duration, with no hindering discomfort on account that he does not require such superfluous necessities like respiration and sustenance. His "shield" is so strong that he was able to take Father's nuclear-level attack at point-blank without harm. As a downside to his Ultimate Shield power, skilled alchemists can transmute his skin from graphene to graphite, which allows for his shield to be breached with excessive force. Edward once exploited this weakness during his battle with the Homunculus. Another disadvantage of Greed's is that he cannot harden his skin and regenerate simultaneously. During their fight together, Wrath constantly dismembered and sliced Greed. Before hardening his skin, his intervals of regeneration left Greed open for more of Wrath's sword attacks.
Although Greed had an overwhelming advantage when fully armored, he preferred to use his Ultimate Shield to form claws covering up to his shoulders (thereby summoning makeshift weapons at will), leaving much of his body vulnerable to attack (only using his shield on other areas to protect them from attack temporarily, as seen when Wrath attempts to slice Greed's head off with his sword only to have it broken in two by Greed's shield). He claimed to dislike his fully armored form because it "covered his handsome face", though it was implied that this form required more power and wasn't an ability that he used lightly.
Charisma
Greed possesses a magnetic quality that allows him to easily make loyal allies/friends with anyone. While he cannot directly override others' will and values, his persuasive abilities are so powerful he can convince others of anything remotely believable. Due to his immense charisma and eloquence, he was able to form many loyal friendships and partnerships, as well as becoming an effective and respected leader.
Connection with Ling
After his integration into Ling's body, Greed was able to share his physical abilities and incredible martial arts skills. Whereas before he was completely overwhelmed by Wrath's speed and strength, as Ling, Greed was able to match him on multiple occasions.
While Ling and Greed shared a body, it seemed that there were some abilities that were exclusive to one or the other, depending on who was in control. Ling could not utilize the full potential of Greed's Ultimate Shield without requesting more power from Greed. Meanwhile, Greed could not use Ling's ability to sense chi, a helpful ability to remotely sense other's locations in low visibility. The two of them were most effective when working together, switching control to best suit the situation, though due to their constant struggle over control, express cooperation was a seldom occurance. Greed feared that Ling would simply "run off with his body", so he only willingly allowed Ling control during emergencies.
Trivia
- Greed's Armor state differs between the manga and the 2009 anime and 2003 anime:
- In the 2003 Anime, when Greed goes into his full Armor state, his mouth doesn't move (unless he laughs). However, in Brotherhood, when he uses his armor, his mouth does move like in the manga.
- In the 2003 anime and the manga, Greed's skintight shirt is of the same navy blue color as his Armor state and the two meld together, while in the 2009 anime, his shirt is of the different color (reddish brown) and his Armor state grows over it.
- Greed's body being shared with Ling could possibly be a reference to Canto XXV of The Inferno. In this Canto the thieves are subjected to the constant loss of their bodies to the lizards that inhabit the seventh Bolgia. In life they took the substance of others, transforming it into their own, so in Hell their very bodies are constantly being taken from them and they are left to steal back a human form from some other sinner.
- Interestingly, after gaining Ling's body, when his hair is over his right eye, Greed's soul is in control. When it's over the left side, Ling is in control. However, this is only mostly present in the manga, as the 2009 anime shows the bangs in mostly random positions, regardless of who's in control. Instead, they are differentiated by their voice actors.
- In a slight way, Greed is one of the few characters, alongside both Selim Bradley and Hohenheim, to have entirely new Japanese and English Voice Actors from 2003 to 2009; although Greed's original English voice actor did reprise his role initially.
- Fans assume that the change was due to Greed's voice now having Ling's accent.
- In the latest fan poll, Greed came in the 12th place, making him the second most popular of the Homunculi. The Greed with Ling's body came in 13th place while Ling himself came in 9th.
- The original Greed and Lust are the only Homunculi who are not in a back spine volume shot.
- Due to his death and rebirth, and the fall of his Homunculi siblings, Greed was both the first Homunculus to die and the second to last one to die permanently (Father being the last).
- Greed with Ling's body is commonly called by fans, "LinGreed," due to the fact that Ling's name ends with the letter G and Greed's starts with G. Greedling or Greelin are also common nicknames for him. Edward has also mentioned to calling the new Greed "Grin", but it never appeared to have caught on.
- It is interesting to note that the Ouroboros between the first and second Greed differentiate in the 2009 anime. Ling's Ouroboros is actually facing the opposite way as the first Greed. The first Greed's Ouroboros had its top by his fingers, but the second Greed wears his on the top by his wrist. There are a few animation mistakes where it changes around (by his fingers), but for the most part, it's opposite the first Greed. It is unknown why this was decided because the mark is the same on both Greeds in the manga.
- Unlike his fellow Homunculi, Greed surprisingly does not harbor any sociopathic feelings towards humans.
- According to the English audio commentary in Conqueror of Shamballa, Troy Baker originally auditioned for the role of Greed in the 2003 anime but was rejected after 35 seconds because he couldn't laugh right for the part. Ironically, Baker did go on to play the second Greed in Brotherhood.
- Greed's motive for kidnapping Al does not sensibly transition to the 2003 anime. Although both Greeds sought immortality by being bonded to an inanimate object, it's heavily stressed that Homunculi in the anime 2003 have incomplete souls, thus making a spirit binding impossible.
- Coincidentally, in all versions of the series, Greed is the first Homunculus to "die" (though he was reborn in the manga and 2009 anime).
- Apparently, Greed does not believe in telling lies, as Ling stated when Greed lied to Ling in order to prevent him from being dragged into Father along with Greed himself.
- This may be a reflection of how Father desires Truth.
- Greed seems to like strong women like Lan Fan, instantly becoming impressed with her combat skills.
- The way Greed transfers to a new body in the manga and Brotherhood is similar to Hazama/Yuuki Terumi of Blazblue, where the latter like Greed "seemingly perished" and later possess a vessel to be reborn, only Terumi took time compared to Greed, and grew permanently in control for the vessel was made specifically for him. Both have also been voiced by Yuuichi Nakamura in Japanese.
- Interestingly, Terumi's durability is similar to Greed's title as the Ultimate Shield; most Blazblue fighters often have a hard time trying to defeat him, though Terumi's weakness was not as obvious as Greed's.
- Despite their bickering, Greed and Envy shared two preferences: both of them preferred avoiding violence whenever possible and both enjoyed their respective good-looks while in human form.
- If Greed's soul managed to go to the afterlife, he's now at peace; reunited with his real family, the chimeras.
| Homunculus |
|---|
| Father |
| Lust | Gluttony | Greed | Sloth | Wrath | Envy | Pride |
| 2003 Anime Exclusive |
| Wrath | Sloth | Pride |