EDWARD ERIC - FMAB

      EDWARD ELRIC -



  • Accidental Pervert: He almost sees Winry naked when she starts undressing, without realizing Ed is in the room with her.
  • Actually, I Am Him: A constant thorn in his side is that people are more willing to believe that Al is the infamous "Fullmetal Alchemist" rather than him. Ed is the current trope image.
  • Adorably Precocious Child: Young Ed managed to be an alchemy whiz who was wiser than his years. He more or less kept it when he grew up, only now it makes him seem high-strung and unpleasant.
  • Adorkable: Especially when dealing with anything related to Winry and romance and his adorable overreactions over his height and anger at being called "little" brother.
  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Scar destroys his arm so he can't perform alchemy, and prepares to kill Ed, Ed doesn't beg for his life. He instead says he'll Face Death with Dignity if Scar will spare Al. Scar agrees, since Al is incapacitated and wasn't the target. Fortunately, Roy appears in the nick of time to save both brothers.
  • Alliterative Name: Edward Elric.
  • Always Second Best: Ed's brother Al always wins their sparring matches. Makes sense 'cause Al is, ya know, a living suit of armor. It’s indicated, during their reminiscing of past spats at the hospital, that Al was winning quarrels between the two even before he was a suit of armor or was under Izumi’s tutelage.
  • An Arm and a Leg: Lost his left leg attempting human transmutation, sacrificed his right arm to retrieve Al's soul. He eventually gets the arm back but the leg stays gone.
  • Artificial Limbs: His automail, replacing the arm and leg he lost during his attempt at human transmutation.
  • Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: His black clothes, white gloves, gold hair and eyes and red overcoat reference the four colors of the Magnum Opus in classical alchemy.
  • Author Appeal: Hiromu Arakawa likes muscular men, which should come as no surprise seeing how extremely ripped Ed is for a too-short-for-his-age teen. And his remarkable tendency to rip off his clothing to show off his bare torso. Lugging around all of that auto-mail which probably helps with his physique, along with all of the fighting he does.
  • Awesomeness by Analysis: Edward picks up several alchemical techniques simply by observing others and adopting their styles.
  • Ax-Crazy: Downplayed and Played for Laughs. His demeanor when fighting mooks is usually either dissonant glee or comical bloodlust. Even his allies comment on how scary he gets when he's worked up. Sometimes plays it up to demoralize his enemies. However, in dramatic situations this trait disappears, and it's clear he doesn't actually want to hurt anyone if he can avoid it.
  • Babies Ever After: At the end of the story, we see a picture of Ed and Winry with their children.
  • Badass Boast: Extremely satisfying example in the last battle against Father.
    Edward: GET UP, YOU NOVICE! I'M ABOUT TO SHOW YOU HOW OUTCLASSED YOU REALLY ARE! THIS FIGHT YOU LOSE!
  • Badass Bookworm: You can't exactly practice alchemy without hitting the books, and State Alchemists are supposed to hit lots of other things, too.
  • Badass Longcoat: If (well, more like when) it gets shredded, fixing it is high on Ed's priority list.
  • Badass Transplant: An arm and a leg are made out of auto-mail.
  • Bash Brothers: With his actual brother Al, as well as Ling later on.
  • Be All My Sins Remembered: When he has the opportunity to regain his lost leg, he decides against it, to remind him of his journey and the consequences of his actions.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Winry, whom he quarrels with often but cares deeply about. Eventually, They Do.
  • Berserk Button: He provides the trope image. He has A LOT of them due to his Hair-Trigger Temper. For example:
  • Big Brother Bully: He used to pick on Al when they were little, but after a little talk with Hohenheim he started to be a nicer brother.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Everywhere, all the time and always. His mission in life is to get his little brother's body back. He is also willing to die for Al (as seen against Scar) and gives up his ability to ever do alchemy again to get Al back.
  • Big Eater: Not really given much focus, but Ed eats a lot. Later on, he theorizes that this is because he's actually connected to Al's missing body and keeping it alive by providing extra nutrients.
  • Bishōnen: While not usually drawn as such, May Chang's fantasies of him have Ed as a dashing, slender Prince Charming.
  • A Birthday, Not a Break: When Ed and Al have just gone through a traumatic experience at Laboratory 5 and are both still injured, Ed remembers that it's his birthday.
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: His automail arm frequently gets transmuted into an arm-blade.
  • Blade on a Stick: Frequently makes an elaborate spear out of his alchemy for combat. Said creations usually get very little use.
  • Blood Knight: He sometimes has a rather nasty lust for violence when fighting baddies.
  • Braids of Action: He usually ties his hair in a braid and is quite the badass.
  • Bratty Half-Pint: Easily the living embodiment of this trope in the male perspective. But don't let him catch you calling him "half pint" or you will get plenty of bratty.
  • Broken Pedestal: May Chang imagines him to be a tall, handsome, princely figure, and spends half of her time daydreaming about him. When she actually meets him and finds that he's a short snarker with a bad temper, she just about flips her lid, accusing him of toying with her heart.
  • Brought Down to Normal: Willingly sacrifices his ability to use alchemy to get back Alphonse.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Ed is a brilliant alchemist with a hair-trigger temper who flies into a rage when people call him short.
  • Butt-Monkey: Hero. Protagonist. Amusing (and not-so-amusing) injury magnet.
  • Byronic Hero: Edward has the less destructive traits of this. As cheery as he may seem, he is rigidly stubborn and spends a good amount of time brooding over the terrible things that have happened to him. His Byronic aspects are more emphasized in the 2003 anime.
  • Calling Parents by Their Name: Typically refers to his father as "Hohenheim," until the last chapter, when he tells Hohenheim "Shut up, you rotten father!" in response to his offering to sacrifice himself to bring Al back.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: The first time he sees his father in the main narrative, he punches the guy in the face, and with his metal arm too. This is because he stayed away from home while Trisha wasted away and died waiting for him.
  • Cannot Spit It Out:
    • He'd rather recite the periodic table of elements at top speed or spit other things (like his drink all over poor Black Hayate) out than admit his feelings for Winry.
    • There's his fear that Alphonse secretly blamed and hated him for getting Al de-bodied. He never could bring himself to ask Al about it and it almost came back to bite him (for more on that see Poor Communication Kills under Al's section).
  • Cast from Lifespan: To keep from bleeding to death, Ed uses his own soul as a Philosopher's stone and shortens his lifespan by a few years to close a wound.
  • Celibate Hero: A mild case of "Love is a distraction". He has to get Al's body back before even thinking about Winry and... HydrogenHeliumLithiumBeryllium...
  • Character Development: Edward begins the series dependent on alchemy and doing everything himself. By the end of the series he has learned to depend more on his friends and share his burdens.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: With Winry. At that age, he and Al used to fight over who would get to marry her (Al won those fights).
  • Child Mage: Started alchemy at a very young age.
  • Child Soldier: Received a State Alchemist's certification at the age of twelve, which also gives him a rank equivalent to Major.
  • Clark Kent Outfit: He is a short, intellectual teenager, but so incredibly buff under his jacket that he ends up shirtless, like, almost every other fight scene. It's also initially done to hide his automail arm and leg. By the way he runs around before it's revealed, you'd never guess he was a double amputee.
  • The Coats Are Off: He doesn't take off his jacket, he rips it off.
  • Code Name: Fullmetal Alchemist.
  • Combat Breakdown: One-sided on Edward's end. He goes from using all his alchemy on Father to simply beating him down with his fists.
  • Combat Pragmatist: In his own words, "There's no such thing as dirty in a fight."
  • Condescending Compassion: A weird accidental example. When Ed realizes Envy's true Freudian Excuse, namely envying humans for their ability to steel through hardships by forming strong bonds with each other, he treats it and by extension Envy with sympathy and pity. Envy immediately views it as this trope and is so humiliated and insulted that they commit suicide.
  • Cosmic Plaything: Is he ever; one might think The Truth gets some sick pleasure in watching him struggle. Though this does lead to a rather satisfying Call-Back by Ed at the end of the series, "There's no such thing as a painless lesson."
  • Cursed with Awesome: His artificial limbs have saved his life a lot. And we can't forget anchoring his brother's soul let him transmute with just clapping his hands.
  • Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Played for Laughs, as this happens whenever somebody calls him short.
  • The Cynic: Ed's idealism got well and truly sliced to ribbons upon his mother's death and what came after it. Even though he tries his level best not to let it hold him back. Later experiences just jumped on the remains and called it a day.
  • Cynicism Catalyst: The whole human transmutation experience and Nina made him far more cynical and bitter, though he still strives to be heroic.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Appropriately enough for a teenager, Ed gives plenty of bored-sounding backtalk to the cast.
  • Destructive Savior: He once remarked "(doing) good goes on a side bar on a military report next to 'collateral damage'."
  • Determinator: He was a Determinator when he was ten, and he hasn't changed since. His sheer stubbornness and determination are what gave him the epithet of the Fullmetal Alchemist, along with the automail.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Twice. First against Pride, then against Father. The second one counts as punching out two deities at once.
  • Disabled Love Interest: Inverted. He is The Protagonist and has an automail leg and arm (by the finale, just the leg automail) and is this for Winry, who, interestingly, is the one who maintains his prosthetic limbs. This led to an amusing incident where Hughes says "I hear your brought a pretty blond girl into your room to service you" when she was fixing his automail. They eventually marry.
  • Disappointed by the Motive: He attacked Shou Tucker upon realizing that the talking chimera from two years ago was Tucker's wife, and that the new chimera was fused from Tucker's dog and child. To further Ed's disappointment, Shou did that in an attempt to remain a state alchemist. Tucker not only thought that what he did to his family was acceptable, but also expected it to be rewarding. Shou tries to give him a Not So Different speech, but Ed counters that while Ed and Al attempted human transfiguration out of a misguided attempt to save their mother, Tucker did it because he didn't want to lose a steady paycheck.
  • Does Not Like Guns: Strangely enough; they make killing without consequence too easy for his liking.
  • Does Not Like Spam: He absolutely loathes drinking milk.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: He gets his arm back, Al gets his body back, and he starts a family with his Victorious Childhood Friend, but WOW did he go through hell and back to get it. Which makes the happy ending all the more spectacular.
  • Exact Eavesdropping: He learns that what he created was not his mother by eavesdropping a conversation between Hohenheim and Pinako. Invoked as Hohenheim knew Ed wouldn't be up for talking with him.
  • Expecting Someone Taller: Everyone assumes Al the tall person in armor is the Full Metal Alchemist. This is not a good thing with his... vertical deficiency complex.
  • Expository Hairstyle Change:
    • He's seen with his trademark braid after he recovers from his automail.
    • Later in the story, he switches it to a high ponytail while he's in hiding to recuperate from an injury. He does this because the military's hunting him, and their description of him mentions that he wears his hair in a braid.
    • The ponytail also further parallels his likeness to his father, who looked just like him when he was younger. When Hohenheim mentions this, Ed changes his hair back.
    • The last chapter shows an image of him with the ponytail again. It's possible Hohenheim's death had something to do with it.
  • Expressive Hair: Not just when in Super-Deformed mode, either. His Idiot Hair spikes up when his emotions are heightened.
  • Extra-ore-dinary: His and Al's alchemy specialty is with metal.
  • Fragile Speedster: He's very fast and quite strong for his size, but can't take that much punishment. He keeps fighting anyway. Later becomes a Lightning Bruiser.
  • Freaky Is Cool: He appears to have a taste for gothic and macabre fixtures and will usually transmute decorations filled with monstrous or demonic imagery and unnecessarily gaudy details.
  • Generation Xerox: As flashback episodes ultimately show, he looks exactly like his father as a teenager, who was also an alchemical prodigy traumatized by human transmutation.
  • Genius Bruiser: A brilliant alchemist (he achieved State Alchemist status at the age of twelve) and a formidable fighter.
  • Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: He does this many times over the course of the series. The most memorable has to be when he did this while trying (and failing) to propose to Winry.
  • Grasp the Sun: Used as a shot in two of the opening credits, which parallels his Shout-Out speech to the myth of Icarus early on in the series.
  • Guile Hero: Though it can be hard to tell with how reckless and aggressive he becomes when excited, Ed is actually something of a tactical genius. Outside of clocking badguys with his automail fist or sending them flying with a pillar of raised earth, the crux of Ed's fighting style is discerning the composition of an opponent's equipment or surroundings and manipulating said materials with alchemy. When fighting a tougher foe, he often leads them into elaborate alchemical or even mundane traps, commonly feigning weakness or employing decoys to draw them in. He manipulates false prophet Cornello into blowing his own cover in front of his loyal following, and reclaims Youswell's mine for the people with an illegal gambit exploiting a corrupt official's greed. He also shows an almost frightening political savvy and an instinctive grasp of human psychology, helping him face more nebulous threats like the state.
  • Guilt Complex: His entire motivation is to get Al's body back after their attempt at human transmutation.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: You could say he has a very... short temper. Considering his height insecurity, he might be trying to make up for.
  • Handicapped Badass: Technically, but his automail usually more than compensates. At the end of the story he is still handicapped, but has both arms.
  • Height Angst: He is so insecure about his short height that it is by far his most well-known Berserk Button, often to the point that he'll assume any "insults" regarding it aimed in his direction are far worse than they really are.
  • He Is All Grown Up: Winry notes to herself that Ed's back/shoulders are broader now, and Ed is becoming a man and is no longer a child.
  • Heroic BSoD: His major BSOD happens in his backstory after his and Al's attempt at Human Transmutation goes horribly wrong, luckily Mustang showed up and offered him a chance to become a State Alchemist. He also goes into one after Nina's death. So much so that he almost lets Scar kill him during their first encounter.
  • Honor Before Reason: Edward follows a Thou Shalt Not Kill principal to a T. This puts him at a major disadvantage during his fight with Kimblee.
  • Humble Hero: Despite his occasional Insufferable Genius antics, Edward rarely puts that much stock into his military rank or even just how talented at alchemy he is.
  • Hurting Hero: Ed is constantly burdened with guilt over pressuring Alphonse to help him with his efforts to bring their mother back through human transmutation, and causing the subsequent loss of Al's entire body (and the loss of his own arm and leg). He also feels anger at his father's abandonment and holds him responsible for his mother's death.
  • Idiot Hair: He might not be an idiot, but Ed has a small "antenna" of hair which he intentionally sticks up, probably to make himself appear taller.
  • I Got Bigger: Goes from roughly 4' 10" when shown in the very beginning to about 5' 4" in the final battle a year later. Then once again to around 5' 9" in the epilogue, which is several years after that. A rare case in fiction of a teenager growing slowly in real time, slow enough in fact that you don't notice until you compare the differences over the course of thirty or so chapters. Amusingly enough, he only starts to grow once he stops complaining about how short he is.
  • I Let Gwen Stacy Die: This occurs twice over the course of the series to poor Edward: Nina's death, and then Hughes' death. These deaths stay with him all the way until the end.
  • Infant Sibling Jealousy: A manga-only omake reveals that Ed used to be jealous of how Al seemingly got more attention than him when they were toddlers, and was something of a Big Brother Bully to him as a result. Hohenheim convinced him that Trisha loved them both equally, and he became a much better brother towards Al from that point on.
  • Insufferable Genius: Part of Edward's Character Arc is a conflicting confidence in his own ability. At the beginning of the story, he was convinced that he can solve all of his problems through Alchemy. Edward's growth was his learning to accept that he could rely on others around him.
  • Iron Butt Monkey: With everything he goes through, does he really need Winry along with half his friends comically abusing him?
  • It's All My Fault: Ed completely blames himself for the loss of Alphonse's body to the point of fearing that Al hates him.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He acts like a jerk to many characters - including his younger brother, Alphonse, who constantly has to apologize for him in the trend of "Don't take it personally, he's like that with everybody and he's actually nice deep inside."
  • Kick the Son of a Bitch: Gets a moment in Brotherhood. After brutalizing Shou Tucker for turning Nina into a chimera, Tucker crawls up to his nearly-broken State Alchemist pocket watch on the floor and happily declares that he'll get to keep his job, having made the deadline. Ed immediately kicks the watch out of Tucker's hands, breaking it completely, and tells him point-blank that after what he did, there's no way in hell the military will continue employing him.
  • Knight in Sour Armour: He is ill-tempered and cynical about the world, but still fighting to do the right thing.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: When Scar succeeds in destroying Ed's arm and prepares to kill him, with an injured Al being Forced to Watch, Ed can barely move and stops trying to fight or run. He merely asks that Scar spare Al. Al, after the battle, smacks his brother around for giving up on life so easily.
  • Large Ham: When annoyed. Minus the "large" part. Also, in a gambit to lure out Scar to kill him, and by extension the Homunculi to protect him, Edward puts on a rather theatrical display of his Alchemy.
  • Last of His Kind: By descent, he and Al are the last two ethnic Xerxians.
  • Laughing Mad: Does this briefly when he realizes trying to bring his mother back was a Senseless Sacrifice after digging up the remains of what he and Al created during the failed human transmutation.
  • Life-or-Limb Decision: He saved Al's soul from crossing over by trading his arm to be able to keep his brother's soul in a suit of armor.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Once he was outfitted with cold-weather automail, he truly became a force to be reckoned due to increased with heavier hits from sturdier automail.
  • Like Father, Like Son:
    • He can't stand his dad for abandoning his family and yet he abandons what constitutes his family in the way he shuts Winry and Pinako out of his life. He gets better in this regard.
    • Hohenheim is also quick to pick up on the fact that Ed has the same brash attitude he once had at his age.
  • Little Big Brother: Al had been taller than Ed since childhood, but when he loses his body and is bound into a seven-foot-suit of armor, he towers over Ed, who is a hair under five feet (and very defensive when this is pointed out).
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Starting around the time of his state alchemist exam. Ed usually keeps it braided or in a ponytail, but as seen when he's sleeping and after he recovers from the girder through his stomach, his hair is very long
  • Love Epiphany: Whilst Winry's in the midst of upgrading his automail to cope with the cold weather, Ed laments to himself that Hawkeye was convinced that he was in love with Winry, before realising that she was right.
  • Magic Knight: A very skilled alchemist whose mentor put him in Training from Hell to make him good at fighting as well. Some of his go-to transmutations for combat include converting his automail arm into weapons or pulling a metal spear out of the earth.
  • Majorly Awesome: State Alchemists have a rank equivalent to Major, so it somewhat counts.
  • Mangst: He carries on his shoulders the guilt of resurrecting his mother as a horrific THING and believing he killed her again, and damning his brother to life as an animate suit of armor in the process. He bottles this up for years and never once asks his brother if he blames him for this, all the while blaming himself, though he also never asked his brother because he fears the answer. He even carved the date they burned down their home on the inside of his pocket watch so he'll be reminded whenever he checks the time. Note that this started when he was eleven. He deals with further tragedy with the death of Nina and Maes Hughes, soomething he carries with him. Near the end, after years of bottling it up, Ed finally cries when his father not only offers his last bit of energy to bring back Al but also apologize for not being there when his sons needed him.
  • Meaningful Echo: Of a sorts. The positions in the family photo of Hohenheim, Trisha, Ed, and Al are roughly repeated in the finale photo with Ed, Winry, and their two children. Well, except for Daddy Ed looking far more ecstatic than Hohenheim did.
  • Men Don't Cry: Excluding his backstory, Edward only ever cries once in the entire series, and those were Berserker Tears over Hohenheim trying to convince Ed to sacrifice him to bring Al back to life.
  • Mildly Military: Though having the rank equivalent of a Major as a State Alchemist and apparently being paid handsomely for that position, Ed doesn't do much that would indicate he's part of Amestris' military complex and chain of command aside from grudgingly listening to Mustang. It can be assumed his superiors are fine with him doing this since he keeps proving his potential value as a combatant in yearly examinations to keep his State Alchemist license yet they lack sufficiently pressing engagements for him utilized for them. It might also be on account of how it's later shown the antagonists want him kept alive as a sacrifice.
  • Mouthy Kid: "Cranky" seems to be his default mood. Somewhat justified when he theorizes that his body is sustaining Al's, meaning that Ed is constantly both sleep and nutrient deprived due to the resources Al's body is taking.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Spends large amounts of time without a shirt on, usually because he keeps ripping it off. And don't forget his shower scene. Not bad for a vertically-challenged double-amputee.
  • My Greatest Failure: Two equally gut wrenching things hang on his shoulders during the course of the anime: Costing Al his humanity by failing the human transmutation and not being able to save little Nina from her father.
  • Named After Somebody Famous: He's named after a real-life medieval alchemist.
  • The Napoleon: See Berserk Button...Do not mention his height. However, after he gets Al's body back, he eventually gets a growth spurt down the line! Even a little before the Promised Day, there was already an instance of him being noticeably taller than Winry. Yet Al is still taller than him in the Babies Ever After photo, despite his body spending several years in an emaciated state. Ed just can't win...
  • Nay-Theist: Not only does he know for fact that God/Truth/Whatever-He-Calls-Himself exists, his leg was stolen by it. That's the reason why his opinion of the guy is so low. Alternatively, Ed is not convinced that the Truth is God. Either way, it fits.
    • Just for reference; how low is Edward's opinion of God/Truth? It's so low that, despite having literally met it, he describes himself as an agnostic and thus claims that he isn't certain or can't know that God exists.
  • No Indoor Voice: Honestly, it's surprising that he hasn't given himself an anger-induced heart attack from all the yelling he does.
  • Non-Idle Rich: He makes quite a lot of money being a State Alchemist. He's also quite generous with it too.
  • No One Else Is That Dumb: A variation - when he and Ling end up in Gluttony's stomach, the latter asks him if he is the little runt to make sure he's not Envy in disguise. Ed reacts promptly.
    Ed: [royally pissed] WHO YOU CALLIN' A LITTLE RUNT, YOU JEEEEERK?!?!
  • Not So Different: Multiple villains throughout the series try to pull this card on Ed. It's to the point that when Scar declares them as such, pointing out that both of them use their arms for destruction, Ed responds with a Shut Up, Hannibal!, telling Scar outright that the two of them are nothing alike.
    Ed: It's funny. Every crook I meet wants to tell me how much I'm just like them.
  • Oblivious to Love: In a bizarre twist on this trope, Ed's obviously in love with Winry, but he can't seem to see that Winry returns his affections.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Whenever you see someone pressing Ed's Berserk Button (specifically calling his height to attention) yet Ed didn't blow his top and instead cowering in fear, that someone instantly gets The Dreaded status.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Less than 5 feet at the beginning of the series, Ed can handle fighting many opponents larger than him.
  • Power Copying: The true genius of Ed's combat Alchemy lies in his aptitude for incorporating the Alchemy styles of others into his own after merely having once seen them in action, which makes him very adaptable to various situations. He has adapted Scar's destruction Alchemy, Alex Louis Armstrong's gauntlets and stone spikes as well as Greed's carbon armor hardening into his combat repertoire. He reversed Pride's attempt to possess him. He has also shown that he's capable of copying the Homunculus' technique to turn his soul into a Philosopher's Stone. As Pride painfully found out.
  • The Protagonist: He's the "Fullmetal Alchemist" from the title.
  • Rank Up: Upon passing the State Alchemist exam. He is still called Mister Elric instead of Major Elric, however, because according to Maria Ross, State Alchemists possess a rank equivalent to a major. Most characters in the military call him by his first name or "Fullmetal".
  • Rated M for Manly: The reason his duster is red? He thinks the colour is badass.
  • Red Baron: The Fullmetal Alchemist. Interesting enough, Edward actually does have a reputation that precedes him, to the point where May Chang even traveled all the way from Xing to learn from him. Due to Edward's typical attitude note , most people that know him well, save for Mustang, don't actually address him by the title.
  • Red and Black and Evil All Over: Inverted. Ed's main outfit consists of an all black jacket, shirt, pants, and boots along with a red duster. However, he's the heroic, Jerk with a Heart of Gold protagonist.
  • Redemption Quest: "I'm sorry, Al. This is all my fault. So I promise that no matter what, I'll get you your body back."
  • Red Is Heroic: His red duster, although he denies being a hero. More or less an Invoked Trope aside from that as he wears the red duster because he thinks the colour is badass.
  • Retired Badass: In the Distant Finale and even then Al mentions that Ed and him are working on new forms of alchemy.
  • Scars Are Forever: Decides against regaining his leg as a reminder of his journey and the consequences of his actions. Even after he gets his right arm back, he retains the brutal-looking scars from his automail surgery, as well as a couple of metal bits sticking out of his skin and presumably more inside him.
  • Shared Family Quirks: When Hohenheim was young, he seemed have to being called stupid as his Berserk Button just as Ed's is being called short.
  • She Is Not My Girlfriend: He says this a lot about Winry. Nobody buys it. Since they later end up married and have children together, it's no wonder they don't buy it.
    Ed: She's my mechanic! Nothing more!
  • Shipper on Deck: You know it's sad when Ed can see it.
    • Has been playing matchmaker to Ling and Lan Fan.
    • Like the above pairing, Ed plays matchmaker for Roy and Riza as well.
    • He did this to Al and May (although it might have been unintentional) in chapter 104.
  • Shirtless Scene: He loses his shirt so much that it's a wonder he bothers to wear one at all.
  • Shut Up, Hannibal!: Scar tries to pull the Not So Different card on Ed, remarking that both of them use their arms for destruction. Having heard that from several villains he's faced already, Ed will have none of it.
    Ed: Don't even start! We're nothing alike!
  • Single-Target Sexuality: Apparently decided he wanted to marry Winry at a young age, goes through a long period of Cannot Spit It Out during which he never shows the slightest interest in another girl, and eventually marries Winry.
  • Sleepyhead: Ed tends to fall asleep a lot during the day. Like Big Eater above, he theorizes that this is because he's actually connected to Al's missing body and keeping it alive by providing rest.
  • Slasher Smile: Played entirely for laughs. Ed commonly sports one of these, complete with Glowing Eyes of Doom and/or ominous facial shading, when he's feeling vindictive or mischievous. Al usually steps in to try and hold him back or talk him down when this happens.
  • The Southpaw: Ed is ambidextrous but writes with his left hand. He was originally right handed but switched to his left after he lost his right. Presumably, automail doesn't have the same kind of dexterity as a real arm and hand.
  • Spit Take: Delivers a spectacular one when Hawkeye asks him if he loves Winry.
  • Stock Shōnen Hero: A more complex version of this trope. Ed is a rash and impulsive, but kind-hearted Kid Hero who would do anything for those he cares about and will never give up no matter what. He starts the series as The Atoner due to past events in which his overconfidence and recklessness led to truly horrific results. His essential personality still almost completely matches the description, except for the Idiot Hero part (since being good at alchemy requires a lot of study, so being a Badass Bookworm is a must). However, this trope is discussed in an omake, where Ed and Al point put that the former didn't have many of the typical tropes of his shounen demographic contemporaries at the time (he was rich and connected, somewhat uncool, didn't have many close friends to draw from, and was powerful from the start) and wonder how he even got popular.
  • Stress Vomit: Occurs when digging up the monstrous being that wasn't really his mother.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Flashbacks to about 400 years ago reveal that when Hohenheim was younger, he looked almost exactly like Ed does now. According to a series of sketches of Ed aging done by Arakawa, he will look even more like his father by the time he gets to 40 or so.
  • Suddenly Always Knew That: Averted. The ability to turn himself into a philosopher's stone was foreshadowed after his battle against Kimblee.
  • Sweet and Sour Grapes: He starts becoming noticeably taller after he finally starts mellowing out about being short.
  • Sympathy for the Devil:
    • After Envy's defeat, Ed realizes that Envy is actually envious of humanity's ability to form friendships and support each other. Just the knowledge that Ed pities it is part of the reason why Envy commits suicide shortly after.
    • Averted with Scar's case. In spite of the tragedy that happened to him, Ed is never shown to have sympathy for him. If anything he hates him for what he did to Nina and Winry's parents, and believes that Scar just likes attacking people because he's a bully that is masking his pain. Even after he makes a Heel–Face Turn, Ed still clearly holds a strong animosity toward him.
  • Take Me Instead: He is willing to offer his life in exchange for his brother, Alphonse, whose body was obliterated in their failed attempt to use alchemy to bring back their mother.
    Edward: No, dammit. You won't take him too. Give him back! He's my brother! Take my leg. Take my arm! Take my heart, ANYTHING, YOU CAN HAVE IT! Just give him back! HE'S MY LITTLE BROTHER! ''HE'S ALL I HAVE LEFT!
  • Technical Pacifist: In contrast to his portrayal in the 2003 anime, Edward refuses to take a life, human and homunculus alike. Ed makes a sole exception for Father, fighting to kill in the climax of the story. Even then, Ed still didn't actually kill him; Father was Hoist by His Own Petard. Though considering Father gets sucked into the Gate by the Truth, Father probably wishes Ed had killed him.
  • Terrible Artist: His attempt at drawing Shao May sucks (though it's probably his visualization based on his negative experience with Shao). Al even says it looks like an alien. That said, his technical drawing skills are excellent, as being able to draw precise diagrams is a prerequisite for learning alchemy. He just can't do portraiture.
  • Testosterone Poisoning: Most of what he makes through alchemy could look good in a Death Metal concert. It's justified because he's a kid.
  • Thou Shalt Not Kill: Ed absolutely refuses to kill people, and generally forces all his companions around him to follow this standard as well.
  • Token Human: The only known full-on human character in the history of Greed's gang.
  • Took a Level in Badass: As if he already wasn't badass enough, Ed getting his right arm back leads to Father getting a complete No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: In a big way. While Ed was never outwardly greedy or cruel, he is rather selfish and myopic at the beginning, and his more Jerkass moments are him fixedly ignoring or outright dismissing other peoples problems while Al runs interference; as we learn through his development it's less because he's unable to empathize, and more because he's so utterly horrified by what he's done that he believes that he has to fix his mistake, he has to deal with his own problem. But being forced by his own quest to acknowledge the suffering of others, as well as the other character's gentle (and not so gentle) reminders that he's not alone in this fight, that he has other people who care about him and will help him, make him gradually a kinder and more open person- so much so that the same guy who coldly told Rosé to deal with her own problems early on has to be talked down from offering help to others. Perhaps that's the reason he grew taller.
  • Tragic Keepsake: Edward's pocketwatch is engraved with 'Never Forget' and the date he and Al burned their house down to prevent themselves from returning home.
  • Troll: He quizzed Darius and Heinkel about the chemical composition of dynamite at one point, who were rather confused until they realized that Ed was about to deconstruct the explosives behind him and gas them with ammonia. His smug, shit-eating grin before the transmutation makes it clear he was fishing for an Oh, Crap! on purpose.
  • Troubled, but Cute: Traumatized by his father's disappearance, his mother's death, his failed attempt at resurrection of said mother taking his leg and brother's body, and trading his arm to anchor his brother's soul in a suit of armor. And you've read his Mr. Fanservice entry already, right?
  • Tsundere: A male Type A; he's got a harsh personality and a hot temper, and cannot spit his feelings out in standard ways. However, he softens up notably around those he cares about, like Al and Winry.
  • Tsurime Eyes: To emphasize both cynicism and determination in this case.
  • Twisting the Words: Taken Up to Eleven whenever someone makes even the slightest comment about his height; for example, he interprets "small" as "so-tiny-that-he-need-not-fear-being-crushed-by-a-boot-because-he-fits-so-easily-between-the-grooves-of-the-sole."
  • Unstoppable Rage: He goes completely berserk against Father after Al's Heroic Sacrifice. It's the one time he's clearly showing killing intent.
  • Visual Development: Becomes taller and more muscular as the series progresses. However, it's not until he stops complaining about his height that it's noticeable.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Mustang, Ling, and Scar, after the latter's Heel–Face Turn. Let's just say anyone Ed befriends are likely to become quite dependable while also giving him grief. Even Julia Crichton from The Movie forms this with Ed.
  • Wacky Marriage Proposal: To Winry. "Equivalent Exchange! I'll give half of my life to you, if you give half of yours to me!"
  • Walking the Earth: At the end, he goes west for more research and create a replacement rule for alchemy.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: During Roy's, for lack of a better word, Cold-Blooded Torture of Envy, Ed pulls this on Roy. Well, Scar and Riza got into the act too, but Ed was the one who really called him out (in Riza's case, it was more Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!).
    Roy: Give him to me or I'll burn your hand along with him!
    Ed: TRY IT THEN! If it's a fight you want it's a fight you'll get! But before you do, I think you should take a good look at your face! Is that the face you plan to wear when you're leading this country!? Well, is it!? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANNA BE, MUSTANG!? ANOTHER MONSTER!?
  • Will They or Won't They?: With Winry. They Do.
  • Wise Beyond His Years: While not as often as Alphonse, Ed does have tendency to display a high level of wisdom for someone his age.
  • The Worf Barrage: He has on several occasions conjured an elaborate-looking spear from the ground. Until the fight with the Cyclops Army it would always be cut apart in moments to show off the ability of his opponents. He's a much better fighter barehanded or with a blade transmuted from his automail's casing.
  • Would Hit a Girl: He claims that "I'm not sexist!" when it comes to battles. Since the homunculi are just as dangerous - male, female, or otherwise - it's a good thing he is.
  • Wowing Cthulhu: When he offers to exchange his own personal Gate of Truth in order to restore Al's body at the end of the series (thus denying him the ability to ever perform alchemy again), Truth is taken completely off guard and expresses genuine pride in his actions.
  • Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: To Scar regarding a relatively minor matter, "Hearing you agree with me makes me mad for some reason..."

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