Maes Hughes

Maes Hughes is a character from the Fullmetal Alchemist series.
== Charactah Account ==
A rather quirky officer working in Military Intelligence who is best friends with Roy Mustang. He assists both Mustang and the Elric brothers in their respective missions. Contrary to his appearance, he is not a man to trifle with.
For the most part, Maes' personality is decidedly amicable and cheerful, even to the point of being considered annoying by his closest acquaintances. He nearly always appears randomly, jovially butting in while something important is being discussed, and is rather well known in Central for shirking his many duties just to have a chat with friends, even while griping gleefully about how much his paperwork is piling up. Hughes is also a rather forcefully hospitable person, never taking "no" for an answer when offering a position under his authority or a night's stay in his house and even going so far as to physically drag people behind him without waiting for their consent - prompting the Elric brothers to call him a "kidnapper" on more than one occasion.
Of course, his biggest and most noticeable character trait is the idolatrous infatuation he has with his wife, Gracia, and his three-year-old daughter Elicia. Never without one or more pictures of them on hand, Maes makes quite a nuisance of himself by bragging about them to peers and friends and offering up glances of their photographs as either a motivational tool or as reward for a service well rendered. As such, he is constantly advising his friends Roy Mustang and Edward Elric to hurry into marriage themselves, much to Roy's annoyance and Edward's embarrassment.
== Appearance ==
=== Anime ===
* Fullmetal Alchemist
* Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
* Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Specials
* Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - 4-Koma Theater
* Fullmetal Alchemist: Premium Collection
* Fullmetal Alchemist: Reflections
=== Manga ===
* Fullmetal Alchemist
=== Video Games ===
* Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir
* Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
* Fullmetal Alchemist: Dream Carnival
* Fullmetal Alchemist: Prince of the Dawn
* Fullmetal Alchemist: Sonata of Memories
* Fullmetal Alchemist: Stray Rondo
== Trivia ==
* In the OVA "Kids" on the Conqueror of Shamballa DVD another police officer resembling Hughes can be seen giving directions to Edward Elric's grandchildren.
* As a running gag, Hughes would always talk about his daughter (mainly to Roy and Ed) shoving a picture of her in their faces and exclaiming, "Look at my beautiful daughter Elicia! Isn't she adorable?!" In the 2003 anime, as well as in a side story in the manga, before Ed and Roy's duel, he unveiled a large picture of his daughter, angering the crowd. Despite this habit, many people were very upset at his later death.
** This running gag indirectly causes Maes' death, which was taken advantage by Envy when he dropped one of his family photos. Envy transforms into his wife, distracting and shooting Maes. In short, his habit is one of the reasons that lead him to death, apart from knowing too much.
* Maes' death is somewhat changed from the manga.
** In the 2003 anime, Hughes initially attack Envy and was shot in the liver. He also died almost instantly.
** In the 2009 anime, he was shot in the heart by Envy. Hughes, in this version however, survived long enough to say farewell to his family.
* Hughes' military identification number is USO-800.
* In Episode 30: The Ishvalan War of Extermination, it is revealed on a letter marked to Maes Hughes that he was stationed with the 27th Infantry Battalion during the Ishval Civil War.
* The Hughes' house in Central City is located on a street called Mayflower.
* Like all military personnel in the series, Maes Hughes is named after a military vehicle, the Hughes H-4 Hercules heavy transport plane (also known as the "Spruce Goose").
* In a little picture in Volume 22, Arakawa states (while holding a FMA volume with no visible number) that she didn't get to draw Hughes, or Lust, on the back spine on that printed manga volume, meaning she was planning to have him and Lust somewhere on the back spines along with the other main characters but apparently didn't get the time to do so.
* In the splash page of Chapter 107, where the protagonists place their fists towards to center, the reader can see his hand holding a picture of Elicia.
* His first name is pronounced quite differently in the original Japanese compared to the English dub. In the dub, it sounds like "Maze" but in the Japanese version, his name almost exactly as it's spelled: "Mas."
* In regards to Maes' career as part of the Amestrian State Military, he has held four separate ranks over the span of the franchise. He held the rank of Captain during the Ishval Civil War in the manga storyline and was introduced as a Major in the 2003 anime storyline. In both stories, however, he holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel up until his death and is posthumously promoted two ranks to Brigadier General (Major General or Commodore in the Viz translation of the manga) after being killed in action.
* During his scene in "In Memoriam," he is shown forcibly showing the Slicer Brothers a picture of his daughter as they are both ascending to heaven.
* Hughes participation in the Ishval Civil War is different in the 2003 anime, as during the events of Episode 25: Words of Farewell, it was revealed that Hughes did not serve on the front lines during the Civil War. Instead he chose to stick to a desk job in the military. This was due to the fact that the 2003 anime had already ended before this fact had become known when the manga chapters for the Ishval Civil War were serialized.
* He was injured by Lust before his murder by Envy by taking form of his wife, which may have been a reference to Lust being called an excessive love for others, and which also is how he meets his end at the hands of Envy using the same tactic.
* Hughes's habit of gushing over his family is also a safety measure for making sure a phoneline is secure; so Mustang has to put up with it until they're sure the line is secure.
* His japanese voice actor Keiji Fujiwara died of cancer in 2020.
* While characters like Edward and Roy incidentally killed the homunculi related to their flaws, Pride and Lust specifically. Was Maes interestingly killed by Envy, and many envied Maes for having a wife and a daughter.
== Gallery ==
File:Maes Hughes Render 01.png
File:Maes Hughes Render 02.png
File:Maes Hughes 01.png
File:Maes Hughes 02.png
File:Maes Hughes 03.png
File:Maes Hughes 04.png
File:Maes Hughes Fan Art 01.png
File:Maes Hughes Fan Art 02.png
== External Links ==
* Maes Hughes at Fullmetal Alchemist Wiki
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:Fullmetal Alchemist