Alphonse Elric

**Alphonse Elric** is the deuteragonist of the *Fullmetal Alchemist/Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood* series. The younger brother of Edward Elric, the **Fullmetal Alchemist**, Al is also a victim of the failed Human Transmutation experiment that lost Ed his left leg in their attempt to bring back their mother. Having had his entire physical being taken away from him in the aftermath of the tragedy, Alphonse exists solely as a soul alchemically bound to a large suit of steel armor. Now, Al travels with his brother in search of a legendary Philosopher's Stone, an item with the power to restore their bodies to normal. He is now one of the four deuteragonists of the crossover series.

## Physical Appearance

In his gunmetal-colored steel armor body, Alphonse stands out as one of the tallest characters in the *Fullmetal Alchemist* series, inching out such stalwart man-mountains as Captain Buccaneer and Major Armstrong while absolutely dwarfing his older brother, who only comes up to his elbow in the beginning of the series. As such, a running gag in the series is that he is frequently mistaken for being the famous "**Fullmetal Alchemist**" in place of his brother - the rightful bearer of the title. The helmet that comprises Al's face is adorned with a large, conical horn in the middle of the forehead, has a pair of parallel, horizontal vents beneath each half-moon eye hole and a fang motif just above the protruding chin. The top of the helmet also sports a ribbon of short white hair that hangs above his head with a blazing design to it.

The trunk of the body also consists of a removable breastplate with a protruding, triangular shelf on the chest just below the throat guard, a high collar that extends out of the back and surrounds the rear and sides of the neck, and a large, circular leather patch on either side of the abdomen.

A light-colored breechcloth covers the groin and painted on the left shoulder is a red Flamel, signifying Alphonse's tutelage under the master alchemist, Izumi Curtis.

Al's armor body also appears to have a triple spike motif, as each shoulder is adorned with a trio of large conical spikes lined in a row and each elbow, knee and foot carries small, spiky protrusions as well. Al also appears to have a white band around his right leg which holds up a small weapons holster.

Inside the empty armor is a curtain of chain mail for the protection of its former wearer as well as a small alchemical rune drawn in Edward's blood, which binds Al's soul to the metal by way of the iron in both. Al's "Blood Seal" is unique - likely of Edward's own design - and denotes a small flame locked in place by multiple intersecting polygons.

### Human Form

Alphonse's appearance before the accident was rather similar to his brother's. He was taller than Edward even then, despite being a year younger, and wore his golden-blonde hair short and neat with a parting on the left side. His eyes - gold like Ed's - are rounder than his brother's and set in a broader face, causing Al to more closely resemble Trisha than Edward, who resembles Van Hohenheim.

## Personality

In many ways, Alphonse's calm and passive disposition exists as a foil to his older brother's more abrasive and short-tempered personality. Al is kindhearted and polite, notably compassionate and patient almost to a fault, acting often out of protective selflessness for his loved ones, new friends and sometimes toward even his enemies (Scar is a particular example). Having had his psychological growth stunted at the age of ten due to loss of his physical body, Alphonse retains a childlike purity in the face of all his encountered horrors; however, despite his age, he has always displayed a significantly higher level of maturity than Edward. Though Al is as passionate as his brother, he has remarked that his anger takes longer to spark and jokes that he is always beaten to the punch by Edward's outbursts.

On the other hand, Al's heart does contain some darkness born from the tragedies of his life. Plagued with insecurities about his own uncertain existence inside a suit of armor, Al craves the human warmth of his former life in desperate silence, fears that he will never again know closeness, and is sometimes overwhelmed by the suspicion that he himself is not human. It is also revealed that Alphonse carries the added burden of blaming himself for the failure of his mother's resurrection and the subsequent loss of his brother's limbs.

As Edward detests his diminutive stature, Alphonse dislikes being reminded of his large size and often becomes melancholy when it inhibits or calls undue attention to him, lamenting that it was not his choice to become so big. As such, he displays a great deal of pleasure when others treat him as a child instead of the hulking brutish adult persona that his appearance gives off.

Possibly as part of his desire for warmth and love, Alphonse displays a great affection for small cats and has developed a bad habit of picking up stray kittens that he finds over the course of his travels, hiding them inside his armor cavity from his disapproving brother. This habit continued in the crossover series, as he constantly picks up any stray cats during his adventures with Team Warriors, and mostly hides them from either his brother or any of his more hot-headed and inflexible teammates like Ichigo and Sasuke.

On a more subtle level, Alphonse appears to have a great fondness for women as well. Particularly sensitive himself, Alphonse has a gift for complimentary and inspirational speech that surpasses even that of his brother's. While this does not negate the effect his armor body has on ordinary girls, it does allow him to leave an impression on the few women with whom he regularly associates such as May Chang (also his love interest), Riza Hawkeye, Lan Fan, Sheska, Hinata Hyūga, Sakura Haruno, Rukia Kuchiki, Karin Kurosaki, Lucy Heartfilia, Juvia Lockser (his "new" older sister figure), Erza Scarlet and Meredy. When his skills are necessary, Alphonse is often paired up with female comrades in situations where Edward is not present.

Aside from the warmth of physical contact, what Alphonse misses most about having a human body seems to be delicious food. He keeps a journal of all the various foods he will eat upon returning to his body in order to keep his spirits up (a practice encouraged by Edward) and has stated that his fondest wish is to have some of Winry's apple pie.

## Abilities

**Physical Prowess**: Having apprenticed under the master alchemist Izumi Curtis, Alphonse has been trained to condition his body through regular workouts and sparring as part of her philosophy, "to train the spirit, first train the body." Additionally, his armored body has several combat advantages including - strengthened offense and defense, imperviability to bullets and missiles, inexhaustible stamina, invulnerability against extreme temperatures and an exemption from needing to breathe, eat or sleep. Unfortunately, these are all tempered by the fact that he cannot take any actions that might cause the Blood Seal inside his armor to be damaged, such as being on contact with water that could wash his seal, so as to prevent his soul from becoming detached.

* **Immense Strength**: In his armored body, Alphonse possesses a tremendous amount of physical strength, being able to lift heavy objects to either throw at his enemies, or push them out of the way for his allies. He can even use his strength to enhance his blows against more powerful enemies.
* **Invulnerability**: Due to his armor, Alphonse possesses invulnerability, able to remain undamaged from multiple attacks like high caliber bullets, blunt force physical attacks, powerful energy and magic blasts, and even withstand extreme temperatures such as scorching heat and dangerous blizzards; likewise falls from great heights and massive steel-based objects thrown towards him. Even when shot in the head, he still remains conscious afterwards. His invulnerable body even allows him to remain physically active without the need to breathe oxygen, eat food or sleep during the night.
* **Enhanced Speed**: Despite his giant armored stature, Alphonse has a high degree of speed, able to keep up with his brother and move at great speeds against his opponents.
* **Enhanced Agility**: Alphonse is quite agile, and displays great dexterity and balance despite his armored body.

**Master Martial Artist**: After training under Izumi's tutelage, Al has become a particularly competent hand-to-hand fighter, able to hold his own against armed opponents and even skilled martial arts practitioners. In fact, Edward had stated that Alphonse is an even more skilled combatant than himself and notes that he has never beaten him in a fight, even since before Izumi's training, despite Ed's alchemy prowess and intellect is greater than his.

**Alchemical Prodigy**: Like his brother, Alphonse also wields a genius-level intellect and prodigious proficiency in the studies of biology, chemistry, science and environment, and alchemy. While Edward is apparently the greater mind of the two, Alphonse does not trail far behind and has been able to match wits with his brother since the days they learned alchemy together as children. Alphonse, skilled with words, is capable of solving complex alchemical puzzles and mysteries and has displayed an encyclopedic knowledge of his craft, but seems to lack Edward's amazing sense of focus, instead developing the social skills in which his older brother is so sorely deficient.

**Great Chi Power**: Even when his soul is trapped in a suit of armor, Alphonse still boasts a great deal of chi energy, almost equivalent to that of high-ranking figures in Xing. Even with his body lost, his soul possesses that energy from the blood Ed drew on the armor, almost matching his own power with the latter and Hohenheim, the two brothers' estranged father. His chi is light-red in color.

### Alchemy

**Object Transmutation**: Alphonse is a particularly competent alchemist who transmutes quickly, cleanly and with remarkable attention to detail in the style of his master, Izumi. In combat, he uses alchemy to augment his offensive and defensive capabilities, crafting weapons for melee strikes and altering his surroundings to gain the advantage in the same way as his brother - transmuting columns, battering rams, golem-based fists and traps for his enemies, albeit without the gaudy touches that Edward usually gives his works. While in general his alchemy is more conventional than that of Edward (who often uses it in unusual forms to outsmart his opponents), he has displayed greater creativity when the situation called for it. For instance, when equipped with a Philosopher's Stone, he was able to use his alchemy in unexpected ways, like transmuting flash bangs, flexible swords and conical earth-prisons to surprise his opponents. However, Alphonse's own alchemy is unique in several ways that make themselves apparent over the course of the two diverging story lines. From the beginning of the FMA story, it becomes clear that - unlike most alchemists - Al does not require direct physical contact with the transmutation arrays he draws in order to manipulate matter; merely by standing over a circle and applying concentration (sometimes displayed as his crossing one hand flat over the other with both palms facing down), he can manipulate matter without touching it - a feat that has yet to be displayed by any other human alchemist without an alchemical amplifier. This may be due to the nature of his existence as a soul inside a suit of armor, he may be able to protrude the influence of his soul over larger distances, unlike ordinary humans whose souls are confined within their skin. Later on, Alphonse gains the additional ability to transmute without having to draw a transmutation circle at all. Having passed through the Gate as a result of the failed Human Transmutation, the ability had remained dormant inside his soul so long as his more tragic memories of the event stayed repressed. But after he regains his memories, Alphonse discovers that the skill he had watched his brother and master perform so many times now belonged to him as well and puts it into practice for the first time.

### Transformation Alchemy

**Super Alchemist Mode**: Like his brother, Alphonse has gained the new ability to enter **Super Alchemist Mode** following his own power transfer from his son through a power transfer.

* **Enhanced Strength**:
* **Enhanced Speed**:
* **Enhanced Durability**:
* **Enhanced Chi Power**:
* **Enhanced Alchemy**:
	+ **Lightning Alchemy**:

## Relationships

### Family

* Van Hohenheim (Father; Deceased)
* Trisha Elric I (Mother; Deceased)
* Edward Elric (Older Brother)
* The Homunculi (Blood Kin)

### Friends/Allies

* Team Warriors
	+ May Chang (Best friend and Alkahestry teacher; also love interest)
		- Xiao-Mei (Best friend)
	+ Naruto Uzumaki
	+ Sasuke Uchiha
	+ Chūnin Hinata Hyūga
	+ Jōnin Sakura Haruno
	+ Ichigo Kurosaki
	+ Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya
	+ Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki
	+ 3rd Seat Karin Kurosaki
	+ Natsu Dragneel
		- Happy
	+ Gray Fullbuster
	+ Lucy Heartfilia
	+ Juvia Lockser
	+ S-Class Mage Erza Scarlet
	+ Wendy Marvell
		- Carla
	+ Jōnin Kakashi Hatake
	+ Captain Byakuya Kuchiki
	+ S-Class Mage Jellal Fernandes
	+ Meredy
	+ Colonel Roy Mustang (Close friend and comrade-in-arms)
	+ Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye
	+ Major Alex Louis Armstrong
	+ Konoha 11
		- Sai
		- Jōnin Shikamaru Nara
		- Chūnin Ino Yamanaka
		- Chūnin Chōji Akimichi
		- Chūnin Kiba Inuzuka
			* Akamaru
		- Chūnin Shino Aburame
		- Chūnin Rock Lee
		- Chūnin Tenten
	+ Team Karakura
		- Lieutenant Renji Abarai
		- Lieutenant Momo Hinamori
		- Uryū Ishida
		- Orihime Inoue
		- Yasutora Sado
	+ Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto
	+ 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame
	+ 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa
	+ Fairy Tail
		- Gajeel Redfox
			* Panther Lily
		- Levy McGarden
		- S-Class Mage Mirajane Strauss
		- Elfman Strauss
		- Lisanna Strauss
		- Romeo Conbolt
	+ Twin Dragons of Sabertooth
		- Guild Master Sting Eucliffe
			* Lector
		- Rogue Cheney
			* Frosch
	+ Yukino Agria
	+ Kagura Mikazuchi
	+ Winry Rockbell (Childhood best friend and older sister figure)
	+ Prince Ling Yao (Close friend)
	+ 2nd Homunculus Greed
	+ Lan Fan
* Pinako Rockbell

### Enemies

* Tartaros
	+ Mard Geer Tartaros
	+ Nine Demon Gates
* Unified Axis
	+ The Homunculi
* Black Lotus