Edward Elric Rank: State Alchemist Second Name: "Fullmetal Alchemist" Age: 15 First Appearence: Chapter 1 Species: Human Special Qualities: Can transmute without a circle (saw the gate when he tried to transmute his mother) Ed is your average teenage boy, except that his mother is dead, his father is missing, he's missing his right arm and left leg (he currently sports metal prosthetics called "Automail"), and his younger brother Al is currently simply a spirit attatched to a suit of armor. Oh, and did I mention that he can do alchemy without a transmutation circle? Anyway, Ed became the youngest certified State Alchemist in history at the age of 12, and he and his brother Alphonse are currently looking for a way to return their bodies to the way they were before they attempted forbidden human transmutation. He is kind of tempermental (whatever you do, do not comment on his height in his presence), but he cares deeply for his brother and close friends, sometimes to the point of not telling them something they should know if he thinks it will put them at risk.
	Alphonse Elric Age: 14 First Appearence: Chapter 1 Species: Previously Human, now a spirit attatched to a suit of armor through alchemy Special Qualities: Post chapter 30, can transmute without a circle (saw the gate when he tried to transmute his mother, although he couldn't remember seeing it until chapter 30) Alphonse's father left when he was too little to remember, and his mother died of a disease several years ago. So when his older brother Ed suggested that they use alchemy to bring her back, he followed regardless of the fact that he knew that it was wrong. When the transmutation backfired, however, Al's entire body was taken, and Ed gave his right arm to retrieve his soul and attatch it to the suit of armor in which he currently resides. Because of this, although he cannot be easily killed (unless an opponent somehow breaks the blood seal on his armor), he cannot eat, feel, or smell anything. However, somehow Al has not been hardened too much by the catastrophes of his childhood. He is very gentle by nature, and while his older brother prefers to yell and get physical when he is upset, Alphonse prefers to talk things out calmly first if possible. Regardless, he has been known to have his moments when even he will snap. One more thing - if you see him bending down in front of an alley as if he needed to use the bathroom, he has probably found a stray cat and is planning on hiding it within his empty shell and giving it care. He loves cats.
	Trisha Elric First Appearence: Chapter 6 Species: Human Special Qualities: Deceased Trisha's lover left to do alchemic research about a decade ago, and she waited for his return while taking care of their children in the meantime. Unfortunately, doing so became too big a burden for her, and she died of the plague without being able to fulfill a certain (as yet unknown) promise she made. Ed and Al later attempted human transmutation to bring her back to life, but they failed.
	Pinako Rockbell First Appearence: Chapter 9 Species: Human Pinako used to be a drinking companion of Hohenheim's, so she's known the family ever since before Ed and Al were born. She's always been there, even when her own son and his wife were killed in the war, leaving her to care for her grand-daugher, Winry. She even took Ed and Al into her care when their mother died. Pinako runs one of the best Automail businesses around, as Ed can testify, and she's got a great sense of humor (although it often involves teasing Ed about his height). She does, however, worry a lot about the boys.
	Winry Rockbell Age: 15 First Appearence: Chapter 9 Species: Human Winry is not what one would call your average girl. For one thing, she's very into mechanics and tools. Of course, you sort of have to be into that sort of thing if you're an automail mechanic, which she is. For another thing, she is an orphan under the care of her grandmother, and she has been ever since her parents were sent away as doctors to the Ishbal war and were killed by Scar. Winry cares a lot about Ed and Al - she almost considers them brothers, although it is difficult for her when they won't tell her anything about what they are doing. Whenever they need her, though, she's there. And it's usually when Ed needs his automail fixed for the umpteenth time (at which times Winry can get so upset as to throw a wrench at him. Yes, a wrench.)
	Den First Appearence: Chapter 9 Species: Dog Den is Winry's faithful pet dog. He lost his front left leg at one point, so one of Winry's first projects with her automail skills was to fashion a leg for him. Extraordinarily faithful, he makes an excellent watch dog and alerts Pinako whenever there's a visitor. He doesn't seem to like Hohemheim though (which, personally, I can't blame him for).
	Sig Curtis (At least, I think that's his name.) First Appearence: Chapter 14 Species: Human Sig can be intimidating, but he isn't really that dangerous. He cares a lot for Izumi though, especially when she's ill.
	Izumi Curtis First Appearence: Chapter 14 Species: Human Special Qualities: Can transmute without a circle (saw the gate when she transmuted her stillborn son) Izumi's had a rough life. She got pregnant several years ago, but her child was stillborn. In an act of grief, she performed human transmutation on the child and failed, losing several of her inner organs, including her uterus. (In short, she can't have any more children.) This means that she often gets ill and starts to cough up blood. But that doesn't mean that she's become a wimp afraid of the world - it's actually quite the opposite. Izumi has quite the hot temper. But that doesn't mean that she doesn't have a soft spot - she did take Ed and Al in to train them, no? Izumi's presence allows a lot of insight into the pasts of the Elric brothers, and she also allows them to come to startling conclusions about the real truth.
	Mason First Appearence: Chapter 19 Species: Human Mason is a happy-go-lucky man who works with/for Izumi. He likes to tease Ed, but he cares a lot about Izumi and her condition. He also tends to change the subject for her whenever giving birth is brought up.
	Ling Yao Age: 15 First Appearence: Chapter 32 Species: Human Special Qualities: Post chapter 54, see Greed #2 under the Homunculi section. The ever-funloving twelfth Prince of Xing, Ling seeks to learn about Amestris' alchemy in order to find out one thing - how to become immortal. This is because in Xing, the emperor has several princes, but he only chooses one to succeed him. Usually, it would be the oldest, but in certain cases, the emperor might state that they want a certain prince to succeed him. And since he isn't one of the older ones, he is really focusing on making the second one happen. Regardless, he still has time to have a sense of "humor", such as eating tons of room service whilst putting it all on Ed's tab. Of course, it's not as though that's all that's on his mind - he still has time to have a love life, proven by the fact that he seems to care deeply for his subordinate, Ran Fan.
	Ran Fan First Appearence: Chapter 32 Species: Human Ran Fan is extraordinarily loyal to Ling and will do whatever it takes to get him to be the Emperor of Xing. Some might say that there is a little bit of romance going on between the two of them, but that is still under speculation. (This site's owner, however, agrees with that pairing completely.) She has slightly low self-esteem when she isn't wearing her mask, but never-the-less, she is quite the effective fighter. Although whenever anyone insults Ling, her moves become slightly more angry and predictable.
	Fu First Appearence: Chapter 32 Species: Human Also extremely loyal to Ling, Fu will do whatever it takes to get his prince to be the Emperor. However, he isn't as built upon as Ran Fan, and (as of chapter 41) he is on his way back to Xing with Maria Ross, so there isn't all that much more to say about him. He seems slightly ruder than Ran Fan, though.
	Van Hohenheim First Appearence: Technically Chapter 21, although we first see his full face in Chapter 40 Species: Human Special Qualities: Bullet-proof (unexplained) Hohenheim is a gifted alchemist who left his family (Ed, Al, and Trisha) several years ago in pursuit of his alchemic career. Trisha then died of the plague, and since he didn't even come to her funeral, Ed doesn't like him at all. (Den doesn't seem to either.) Obviously, Hohenheim is very out of the loop, but he seems to at least care a little bit for what happened. (He is quite upset that Trisha died.) But after he finally reappears, he disappears just as suddenly. Where he went is of some debate at this moment and probably won't be revealed for a little while. (Please note that while the Homunculi's creator, called "Father", looks exactly like Hohenheim, they are not the same person. However, there are rumors that Hohenheim might actually be a homunculus, the main reason being because he has been proven to be bullet-proof.)