Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

*"I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public." "Just stick to the cards, Elric." "Yeah, okay. The truth is...I am the Fullmetal Alchemist." -Edward Elric and Roy Mustang*

**Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood** is a 2008 anime film, based on the character of Edward Elric. It is the first installment in the Anime Cinematic Universe and the first installment of Phase One.

## Synopsis

A billionaire industrialist and genius alchemist, Edward Elric is conducting alchemy tests overseas, but terrorists kidnap him to force him to build a devastating weapon. Instead, he builds an armored suit and upends his captors. Returning to Amestria, Edward refines the suit and uses it to combat crime and terrorism.

## Plot

Alchemist and visionary industrial genius Edward Elric, CEO of leading military defense contractor, Elric Industries, is in war-torn Xing with his friend and military liaison, Colonel Roy Mustang to demonstrate the new "Explosion Alchemy."

While riding in a transport convoy, Edward is critically wounded in an ambush and held captive in a cave by a terrorist group called 'Ten Rings'. An set of wooden prosthetics built by fellow captive and younger brother Alphonse Elric keeps his older brother mobile. The Ten Rings leader, Raza offers the Elrics freedom in exchange Edward must build a alchemy weapons for the group, but Edward and Alphonse agree that Raza will not keep his word.

While pretending to work on the weapons, Edward and Alphonse secretly build a powerful alchemical item called a Philosopher Stone, to power up Edward's alchemy, and then they begin to build an alchemized suit of armor, designed by Alphonse, to help them escape. The Ten Rings attack the workshop when they discover the Elric's plan, but Alphonse sacrifices himself to distract them while Edward finishes the Philosopher Stone.

Using the armored suit, Edward fights his way out of the cave to find a mortally wounded Alphonse, who reassures his older brother and urges him to continue his escape and not waste his life. An enraged Edward leaves the cave, burns the terrorist's stockpile of Elric Industries produced weapons and flies away, only then to crash in the desert, destroying his suit.

After being rescued by Mustang, Edward returns home and announces that his company will no longer manufacture weapons, having seen first hand the strife that his weapons had caused in the wrong hands. King Bradley, his father's old partner and the country's military leader, advises Edward that this may ruin Elric Industries and his father's legacy.

In his home workshop, Edward spends the next few months building an improved version of his suit, as well as a more powerful and efficient set of prosthetics. At Edward's first public appearance after his return, reporter Christine Everhart informs him that Elric Industries weapons, including Explosion Alchemy, were recently delivered to the Ten Rings and are being used to attack Xing's capital. Edward confronts Bradley about the weapons and learns that Bradley is trying to replace him as head of the company.

Enraged, Edward dons his new armor and heads to Xing, where he saves the capital. While coming home, Edward is engaged by two Amestrian State Alchemists. He phones Mustang and reveals his identity in an attempt to call off the attack. Meanwhile, the Ten Rings gathers the pieces of Edward's prototype suit. Raza meets with Bradley and offers to exchange the suit with him, however, Bradley has the group eliminated and takes the suit for himself. Returning to Elric Industries, Bradley orders his scientists to have a new, slimmer suit reverse engineered from the wreckage.

Seeking to find any other weapons delivered to the Ten Rings, Edward sends his friend, Winry Rockbell, to hack into the company computer system from Bradley's office. She finds evidence of Bradley supplying weapons to the terrorists but also discovers that Bradley had originally hired the Ten Rings to kill the Elrics in Xing, but the group reneged. Winry later meets with Agent Smith of the "Monster Ops: Neutralization", a counter-terrorism agency, to inform her of Bradley's activities.

Bradley's scientists reveal that they cannot finish his suit as they cannot duplicate the alchemical technique. Instead, Bradley ambushes Edward at his home, using a sonic device to paralyze him and take his Philosopher Stone. Left to die, Edward manages to crawl to his lab and saves himself by using human transmutation to heal his wounds, but only barely. Winry and several M.O.N. agents attempt to arrest Bradley, but he dons the Stone and attacks them. Edward fights Bradley, but is outmatched without his Philosopher Stone to run his Alchemy without limits.

Edward lures Bradley atop the Elric Industries building and instructs Winry to overload the large reactor there. This unleashes a massive electrical surge that knocks Bradley unconscious, causing him and his Philosopher Stone to fall into the exploding reactor, killing him. The next day, the press has dubbed the armored hero "The Fullmetal Alchemist". Agent Smith gives Edward a cover story to explain the events of the night and Bradley's death. At a press conference, Edward begins giving the cover story, but then announces that he is The Fullmetal Alchemist.

Afterwards, M.O.N. Director Ciel Phantomhive visits Edward at home, and, noting that the Fullmetal Alchemist is not "the only superhero in the world", says he wants to discuss the "Jump Force Initiative".