What are the unknown Fullmetal Alchemist facts? Who hasn’t heard the name of Fullmetal Alchemist? It is one of the most famous anime in the world. This series is the creation of mangaka Hiromu Arakawa. The manga series came out in 2001 and was serialized till 2010. Further, the manga series later got adapted into two anime series in 2003 and 2009. However, the first series didn’t adapt to the entire manga series and had a separate ending. Whereas, the second series adapted the entire manga. Further, both the stories have different endings but both receive equal love from fans.
The story revolves around a world where alchemy is the superior science. Two brothers, Edward and Alphonse, practice the forbidden alchemy to resurrect their mother. However, human transmutation costs an enormous price, and also the experiment never succeeds. Both the brother not only fail to resurrect their mother but Edward loses his left leg and Alphonse lost his entire body. Further, Edward sacrificed his right arm to tie his little brother’s soul to an armor. However, the Elric brother also gained the ability to perform alchemy without the help of the transmutation circle. They set on a journey to find the philosopher’s stone with which they can get Alphonse’s body and Edward’s legs and hand back. The Elric brothers come across many trials and challenges, which they overcome along with their friends.
The plot and characters attracted the fans toward the show. Therefore, they seek to know more about their favorite show. Therefore, we will look into 20 Fullmetal Alchemist facts that you should know.
20. Interviewed Real War Victims
Mangaka Hiromu Arakawa read war documentaries and books for inspiration for the Fullmetal Alchemist series. Further, she even interacted with real war victims. She talked with everyone from soldiers to common people whose lives were affected by the war. As we all saw throughout the series, events like inequality and betrayal felt so detailed and real because Arakawa taking inspiration from actual experiences. It is one of the Fullmetal Alchemist facts many fans don’t know.
19. Military Officers Are Named After Military Vehicles
We all know many mangakas use some theme for naming their character like Akira Toriyama named all Saiyan after vegetables. Therefore, in the Dragon Ball series, most Saiyan names sound like a vegetable. Similarly, Arakawa used military vehicle names as the last name for the military officers in Fullmetal Alchemist. Like Colonel Roy Mustang was named after a P-51 Mustang and Commanding Officer Grumman was named after Grumman E-2 Hawkeye.
18. Edward Doesn’t Wear Light Colors
Throughout the Fullmetal Alchemist series, we saw Edward wearing his iconic long red hooded coat and under them, he always wear black shirts and trousers. However, wearing black isn’t a style statement for Ed, but more like a necessity. Because of losing his right arm and left leg, he uses “Automail” to replace them. Therefore, those automail causes lots of oil and grease stains. Therefore, to hide those stains, he wears black. This is the reason behind the Fullmetal Alchemist fact about Edward wearing black.
17. The Cross of Flamel
Edward’s red coat is an iconic item in the series. However, you all might have noticed the symbol on his back, which makes his coat different from others. Further, that same symbol also appears on his brother Alphonse’s armor, and their master, Izumi Curtis, also has the same symbol tattooed on her left breast. You might think that symbol portrays that the Elric brothers trained after Izumi Curtis. However, it has a more significant meaning than that. That symbol is called the “Cross of Flamel.” It belongs to the famous alchemist Nicolas Flamel. Many of you might have heard the name of this philosopher in the Harry Potter series. Flamel is not a fictional character but was a real-life French scribe who earned the reputation of an alchemist after death. Further, many believed that he discovered the philosopher’s stone.
16. Dead Character’s Don’t Say
Like most anime shows Fullmetal Alchemist also has an interval screen that separates an episode into two parts. In this interval screen, a Fullmetal Alchemist character’s artwork appears and that character’s voice actor calls the show’s name. But sometimes you might see no one calling out the show’s name during the interval screen. Only those characters who are alive in the show call out the show’s name. But for those who are dead, only their artwork appears. You can go through the episodes once again to check the authenticity of this Fullmetal Alchemist fact.
15. Arakawa Got Real Guns
It is not a secret anymore that the fictional country of Fullmetal Alchemist, Amestris, is based in Germany. Further, the events of the show are also based on the period of World War I. As we know, Arakawa interviewed the real war victims to develop the show’s plot. However, that is not the extent of the show’s realism. All the guns that appear in the show are based on real-life guns during WWI. Mangaka Hiromu Arakawa even tried to get real guns for inspiration. But because of not getting easy access to real guns, she got replicas of the real guns to draw in the series.
14. Fullmetal Alchemist Yonkoma Are More Popular
The Fullmetal Alchemist series is one of the most popular anime and manga series. Fans love to read the manga because of its intensity and maturity, which is far more than the anime. However, there is something more to the manga. Arakawa loves to put a Yonkoma or Four-Koma section after each chapter in her manga. Usually, these yonkomas are popular for their hilarious background. As after reading some heartbreaking or emotionally heavy chapters, it’s always fun to watch those same characters but with a touch of humor. Further, these yonkomas do not have any relation to the series’ plot, but sometimes they also portray an important scene from a chapter but in a comedic manner.
13. There Is Reason Behind Edward’s Height
Edward Elric is only 4’8 inches. Throughout the series, we witness everyone making jokes about Ed’s height. But there is a truth behind his height. When the Elric brothers failed in human transmitting their dead mother. For performing such taboo, Edward lost his left leg whereas his brother Alphonse lost his body. Further, Ed sacrificed his right hand to attach Al’s soul to armor. But since then, Al and Ed are connected and also Edward gives energy from his body to keep Al bound to the armor. Therefore, Edward doesn’t get enough nutrients for his body.
12. Edward Was Right Handed
We saw Edward Elric write with his left hand. However, he wasn’t always a lefty. Initially, he was right-handed as we saw Edward heavily using his right arm during his young days also while performing human transmutation. However, Edward lost his right arm to protect Alphonse. As “Truth” took his dominant hand in the equal exchange for Alphonse’s soul. Therefore, forcing Ed to use an automail. But an automail isn’t good for delicate works like writing. Thus, he had learned how to write using his right hand.
11. Elric Brothers and Homunculi Are Cousins
Homunculi were the major antagonists of the Fullmetal Alchemist series. As we know, Father is the first Homunculus in existence and he further created more Homunculi. However, Van Hohenheim is the one who helped to create Father and gave his blood. Therefore, Father looks like Van, and can be said he’s like a clone of the alchemist. Initially, Van and Father saw each other as brothers. Therefore, the Elric brothers and Homunculi are cousins in reality. This is one of the craziest Fullmetal Alchemist facts.
10. Van Hohenheim Is The Opposite Of Father
Father is the symbol of the “Seven Deadly Sins”. Further, he created seven homunculi to portray the message. However, Van Hohenheim is the polar opposite of Father. If Father is the “Seven Deadly Sins” then Hohenheim is the “Seven Heavenly Virtues”.In the series we saw that even wandering the Earth for over four centuries, Hohenheim never fell in love with any other woman and always stayed loyal to Trisha, showing the sign of Chasity. He is the strongest alchemist in existence because of being a literal walking Philosopher’s Stone, yet he never exploits his vast power and only uses them when necessary, and this is the sign of temperance.
Hohenheim uses his power to help others and is always willing to sacrifice himself. These two are the sigh showing his qualities of humility and charity. He also showed the sign of Diligence and Patience, as Hohenheim gives his best and he can wait for a long time for the perfect opportunity to be rash. Finally, he showed the seventh heavenly virtue of kindness, even after being the strongest and capable of submitting others to himself, he always sees himself as equal to others.
9. Truth Has An Official English Voice Actor
The “Truth” is a transcendental being. It doesn’t have any physical form. Further, Truth can be said about the negative version or “conscience” of an Alchemist. he’s the closest being that is near to God and in one chapter he even called himself God. Therefore, Truth doesn’t have any physical traits like shape, appearance, or voice. Usually, while interacting with an alchemist who broke the law of alchemy, Truth has the same voice as that respective alchemist. Therefore, Truth doesn’t have any voice actor in the Japanese Dub. But the characters who were interacting with the Truth, their voice actors, also voiced Truth. However, Fullmetal Alchemist’s English dub has an official voice artist for truth. Luci Christian gave voice to Truth in FMA: Brotherhood.
8. Only Three Can End A Homunculi
Facing a homunculus is one of the greatest challenges for alchemists in the Fullmetal Alchemist series. These artificial humans are known for their superhuman abilities, strength, and their regenerative properties. Because the homunculi comprise Philosopher’s Stone, it’s hard to kill them. However, three alchemists in the series defeated a homunculus single-handedly. We can never forget when Roy Mustang and Scar killed Lust and Wrath. Finally, Edward killed Pride alone. These three are the only known alchemists to kill a homunculus.
Also Read: Top 10 Strongest Alchemists in Fullmetal Alchemist–Ranked
7. Using a Bowl For Recording
A Fullmetal Alchemist fact that few people know is the secret behind recording Alphonse’s voice. After Alphonse lost his body while performing human transmutation, Edward bound his soul to an armor. Therefore, when Al talks, the voice sounds like it’s coming from inside the armor. So fans thought the studio might have used editing or filters on the voice for the effect in Alphonse’s voice. However, the truth is there is no editing instead; the studio placed an empty bowl in from of the mic for that effect. Since then, a good deal of anime series has used this technique to make a voice texture similar to Alphonse.
6. Mustang And Lust Are Married
We all wanted to see Roy Mustang tieing the knot with his subordinate, Riza Hawkeye. However, some fans imagined a relationship between Mustang and Lust. In the anime or Manga series, Colonel Roy never had a romantic moment with the beautiful homunculus. But they had a great fight where Mustang gave a really painful death to Lust. However, there is a fun Fullmetal Alchemist fact that English voice actors of Roy Mustang and Lust, Travis Willingham, and Laura Bailey are actual life couples. Therefore, Fans kinda got the two characters together. However, now it feels like the fight between the Alchemist and Homunculus was domestic violence that went too wrong.
5. Hiromu is Hiromi
We all know that the creator of the Fullmetal Alchemist universe is a female Mangaka, Hiromu Arakawa. However, Hiromu is just a pen name, the mangaka’s real name is Hiromi Arakawa. In the past, female mangakas were famous for working on Shoujo Mangas, which targets teen girls whereas, Shonen Manga was he works for male mangakas and targeted boys. Arakawa broke the stereotype because instead of creating a Shoujo Manga, she made one of the best Shonen series. However, she was afraid that people might not read her story because she is a girl. Therefore, Hiromi chose Hiromu as her pen name, which is like the male version of her actual name. Like the famous writer, JK Rowling only used her initials instead of her full name.
4. When is Edward’s Birthday?
We know how famous anime characters can get and fans want to know everything about their favorite characters. Therefore, fans also want to know the birthday of the Fullmetal Alchemist’s protagonist, Edward Elric. His birthday is one of the Fullmetal Alchemist facts that every FMA fan would want to know. From the anime and manga series, we know Edward was born in 1899. Therefore, he was a teenager during the series whose age was around 15 or 16. However, Arakawa never assigned a specific date to Edward to celebrate his birthday. In the series, we saw it was snowing outside during Edward’s 12th birthday. Whereas, it was sunny outside on his 15th birthday. Therefore, it seems the Alchemist loves to host two birthday parties a year.
3. The Great Law of Alchemy Comes From Arakawa’s Childhood
Fullmetal Alchemist’s primary and the most important law of alchemy is the Equivalent Exchange. According to this law, to gain something, one must give or lose something of the equal value. Mangaka Hiromu Arakawa went through many books of philosophies. Therefore, Arakawa took inspiration for the law of alchemy from her childhood. You all might wonder that Arakawa studied alchemy as a child. But that’s not the case, Arakawa grew up on a farm. Her parents had a simple rule that they need to work to get food. Thus, the idea of the Equivalent Exchange comes from this very farm rule from her childhood.
2. Pioneer Of Strong Female Characters
During the 1980s, most of the Shonen manga only had female characters as cute and bubbly girls. The only role they played was looking “kawaii” and be a love interest for the protagonist. However, Arakawa is a woman and wanted a change. Therefore, in her Fullmetal Alchemist series, not a single female character is just a pretty-looking girl who just acts as a love interest for the protagonist. However, in the FMA series, every female character is independent and strong-willed, capable of fighting for themselves.
Riza Hawkeye doesn’t need protection from a man, but a man relies on her and that is none other than Colonel Roy Mustang. Then we see Izumi Curtis, one of the strongest alchemists in the series and also the teacher of the show’s protagonist. Last but not the least, Winry, who supported Edward since they were little kids. Without her help, Edward can’t do anything because she’s also his automail’s mechanic.
1. Arakawa Asked Studio For A Different Ending
We all know there are two Fullmetal Alchemist series. The first series came out in 2003 whereas, the second series came out in 2009. Both the stories have the same beginning, but as the story continues, they differ from each other and the endings differ completely from each other. The first series came out when the Fullmetal Alchemist manga was also ongoing. Therefore, Arakawa herself has made no ending for the series back then. However, she asked the studio to come up with their ending. She once said that she like the ending of the 2003 series.
Also Read: How To Watch ‘Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood’ Anime Online?
