Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)/Headscratchers: Difference between revisions

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* If Father has {{spoiler|eaten God/Truth}}, why when Al made the {{spoiler|soul-arm transmutation, there's still a Gate and Truth in front of it?}}

*** They never go in depth into how the markings work. They explain their effects, like in the original anime with Mustang's alchemy. It would be very boring to see them explain every line of every circle so Arakawa went the simple route. There might be an actual graphical representation for it all but all you need to know is that they work because fantasy-science.

** Why do people (mainly the circle-less alchemists) avoid abusing it (the possibilities are obvious) I mean they could turn the ground to lava and take down an entire army.

*** To add to the "why don't those with circleless alchemy abilities abuse it?" question, I'm only going off the three circleless alchemists (Ed, Al, and Izumi), but maybe, since, they have had, in some sense, all the knowledge in the universe crammed into their heads, they've gained a certain wisdom from going through the portal of truth. They understand how much more powerful they've become and what it had truly cost to gain it (hint: more than just body parts). So that might be one reason why alchemists who use circleless alchemy don't abuse it.

*** (facepalm) Of course, how did I miss that people in this anime aren't ever going for the kill? Honestly you've defeated me not only as an intellectual but as a [[TV Tropes]] user as well (you appear to have fixed my posts).However this does raise another question, why didn't Ed just encase Gluttony in nets or something not edible to defeat him?

** If I recall correctly, 3 pairs of characters were discussing the Ishbal war at the same time, Riza and Edward, Knox and Alphonse, Scar and Marcoh respectively.

* Why are some Homunculi able to regenerate their clothes? Lust regenerates an entire dress after being exploded multiple times, but I'm pretty sure she was wearing a different outfit when she was talking to Havoc as "Solaris," so I doubt it's a part of her body. (Unless she was just wearing her dress under that outfit, but that would be pretty impractical.) Also, Wrath doesn't seem to have any specific Homunculus outfit, considering we can see his collarbones in the most recent chapters (and his wife would have noticed), so... are the regenerateable outfits just for Father-created Homunculi only?

*** Actually it looks a bit more like some sort of kimono-esque dress, but the result is the same. It covers her homunculus skin-dress. You can actually tell it's still there by her hands- the dots on the backs of her hands and the lines connected to them are shown (not that Havoc would be able to recognize such a trait).

*** Could be for modesty reasons, but also considering that Lust's clothes could be also be regenerated by their innate Stones. Clothes should be no problem for them, but their bodies are another matter.

** I thought that entire sequence was ''made'' of awesome.

*** Not the thing with Bucaneer, that was awesome. I'm talking about the parts leading up to it. I mean honestly what happen to all those smoke bombs and explosives he had a chapter ago?, and you'd think Fuu would try harder to kill the guy who cut off his granduaghters arm. well hopefully Ling and [[Ran Fan]] will avenge his loss.

**** As far as I could tell, it was meant to demonstrate Bradley's awesomeness more than Fuu's. It has been repeatedly established that Bradley is flat-out '''unbeatable''' in regular combat - Fuu never really had a chance to begin with. As for why he wasn't tossing around smoke bombs and grenades, it seems like Fuu simply didn't have the time for combat tricks - it was taking everything he had just to stay alive. Remember that while Ling successfully used grenades against Bradley, they were used to ''escape,'' not as part of an actual fight.

** Plus, Fû didn't get in the way, Greed did. The moment Fû got in the fray, Wrath saw that he was in trouble now that he faced a ''skilled'' opponent, and ridiculed Greed even more by throwing him at Fû and nailing him on the floor through his [[Badass Longcoat|Badass]] [[Awesome but Impractical|Longcoat]], just so that he could focus on the old man.

* It bugs me that so many people are saying that {{spoiler|all those people ''died''}} in chapter 104. Obviously they {{spoiler|had their souls sucked out,}} but that's not the same thing as {{spoiler|being dead, since their souls still exist. Bringing back the dead is impossible in this manga because the souls of the dead [[Cessation of Existence|do not exist]] anymore, but joining together existing souls and bodies, which have been previously separated, should be possible.}}

* How come the militaries looking for Ed after he is MIA and "wanted" due to his fight with Kimbley didn't have a photo of him (''while Hugues has a private photograph of his family'')? The only reason why the black dude doesn't recognize him is because Ed is accidentally [[Clark Kenting]]. It logically should have been a national register of the State Alchemists, with official photographs. Furthermore, why the only way for State Alchimists to prove their status is their silver watch? They're not nominative if I recall correctly. For a dictactorship, Amestris is kinda careless with identity proofs.

** [[Rule of Funny]]. If Ed's appearance was widely known, then you couldn't have the jokes where people think Al is the Fullmetal Alchemist, causing Ed to go berserk.

* Just how old is Mei? This has been bugging me for a while. Is she [[Older Than They Look|older than she looks]], or is really as young as she looks? I have yet to find a reliable source to tell me.

* Bothers me that everything is going to hell for Father right now. I mean, we all know he has to be defeated, but seems like his time as {{spoiler|a god}} ended a bit too quickly. I mean, not even a full chapter passed since {{spoiler|his plan worked}}.

** Actually, he {{spoiler|is still possessing God/Truth}}. It's not neccessarily over yet.

** Or for tl;dr (brought down to conform to the chronological queue and not confuse anyone, with intro added): What kind of question is this? Hoenheim probably just kept some armour suits in his house for decorative reasons. He probably collected them for a hobby as well.

** It's a bit more clear in the Japanese version of the manga, where he specifically says it's part of his armor collection. So yeah, it's a hobby.

** This one is tougher to answer do to the nature of of the law and alchemy. Alchemists must have just about enough material to transmute the object they want to create or modify. It's probably them making guess estimates at how much material elements they have to work with. Now, their technology is fairly consistent with early 1900's Earth, but their clothing, prosthetics, and anything else that I have missed may improve into full on robotics by the time they catch up to our present day Earth. [[Wild Mass Guessing|WMG]], of course.

* One thing that just bugs me is that, in Brotherhood/the manga, Madam Christmas gathered several reports on Selim, showing that his appearance never changed through the years. If he's been with the Bradleys for several years, haven't the people around him (e.g. Mrs. Bradley, his bodyguards) ever grown suspicious of how he never grows older? I've tried to rationalize this by thinking that King Bradley hand-waved this by saying that Selim has some kind of disease.

** According, to Perfect guide book vol.3, he can "make body height elasticized". I think that means he simply stretches his container to look taller.

* It's stated in both the anima and the manga/''Brotherhood'' that alchemists can only reconstruct matter into things made up of the same elements. But it's also implied in both canons that gold can be transmuted from other elements. It seems like an inconsistency. So alchemy ''can'' change one element into another?

* Why do so many people seem to hate Rose from the first anime and the EdRose pairing? I don’t see anything wrong with her or it.

** I think part of it has to do with people just generally hating the first anime as a whole. Rose barely had any screentime outside of Liore in the manga and second anime, while Winry was a much better character, resulting in a staunch division of manga/Brotherhood fans who like Edwin, first anime fans who like Edwin, and first anime fans who like EdRose. Personally, this troper shipped Edrose from the very first episode of the first anime, having never read the manga before then, and was surprised and disappointed when she didn't go with Ed and Al on their journey at the end of the second. Having read the manga and seen Brotherhood now, this troper's fondness for Edrose has...waned. Not because Rose is any less likeable of a character, but simply because she's less relevant of one.

* Why did Envy bring precious human sacrifice Ed back to the military after the Fifth Laboratory incident? Why not just keep Ed, who had demonstrated circle-less alchemy when fighting the Armor Brothers, locked up until the eclipse? After all, Envy would outright incarcerate Marco later on, who was merely a candidate for sacrifice. Envy could have easily just ripped off all of Ed's limbs after he fainted and Father could have subsequently kept him sedated.

** Marcoh wasn't JUST a candidate for sacrifice. He was a candidate for sacrifice who studied the Philosopher's Stone extensively. He had knowledge that was potentially dangerous and couldn't be allowed to go unchecked. As for why not lock up Ed...did Envy know Ed was a confirmed candidate yet? He demonstrated circle-less alchemy when fighting the Armor Brothers, but Envy wasn't present for most of that fight. I got the feeling Lust, Envy, and Gluttony had just arrived when Lust pierced Slicer's helmet; otherwise, they most certainly would have intervened to keep him from killing a sacrifice. In any case, even if they were aware, they don't need to lock him up. There's no reason for it. He doesn't know anything dangerous and he's already a State Alchemist. The quest for the Philosopher's Stone can hold his interest and he knows nothing about any of them. He is not, in any way, shape, or form, a threat to the plan at this point. Locking him up would create an enemy where one does not need to exist, not just in him, but also in his brother Al, and possibly in Mustang, who they were trying VERY HARD to avoid making an enemy of because, as one of the homonculi, I forget which, later notes...of all the alchemists in Amestris, they fear him the most. You can't just make people disappear without repurcussions. And that's not even going into the fact that, as part of the military, they basically own him anyway.

*** TL;DR: The search for the Philosopher's Stone and the perks of a State Alchemist are a better cage than any they could build.

*** But there ''would'' be a reason to incur all the risks of disappearing Ed--to make assurance double sure. Remember, Kimbley nearly killed the poor kid, and Al's soul was a flight risk too. Besides, Father could easily crush Mustang under his heel. Hell, Bradley could. As for whether or not they knew he was prime sacrifice material:

'''Envy:''' Looks like it's Elric hunting time! (Mustang will be a problem though...) }}

** Though I will grant that both Lust and Bradley didn't seem all that keen on the sacrifice thing. Lust tried to outright kill Alphonse later on, and Bradley was probably smart enough to put two and two together when Ed circle-lessly transmuted that spear right in front of him yet seemed to say nothing to Father about it. I guess neither was as beholden to Father as Pride was.

* How come nobody in Fort Briggs seems to wear a hood or hat? Wouldn't their ears freeze off?

** They're too badass for that. In all seriousness though, if I remember right, several (not all of them though...?) of the soldiers wear those hats with flaps on them when they're out in the cold. And later, they've all {{spoiler|secretly moved to Central}} where it's warmer so it's assumed they don't need to bundle up so much.

** I've seen no reason to see the same point. If anything the closest Aesop we got concerning alchemy is more that "Power should be respected", in other words, the power itself isn't evil, but it should be used carefully. Edward, Izumi, Alphonse and Father all abuse alchemy and pay the price.

* Is it just me, or is the lesson {{spoiler|Truth}} is trying to teach by claiming that {{spoiler|giving up your own gate}} is the right price to pay when {{spoiler|performing human alchemy}}, is that the most appropriate answer to {{spoiler|playing god}} and facing punishment is saying "I'm sorry {{spoiler|God,}} I won't do it again!" Or is it implying instead that alchemy is a privelage of some sort and that when abused you'll get that privelage {{spoiler|taken away forever.}}

****** Do you know what the word "posited" means? Also, a wiki with no source is no better than your word.

**** Her name in Winry and has always been Winry. That's how it's pronounced in Japanese, so the "translations mistake" story you heard is either a myth or was inverted.

* what where Ed and Al's groups doing during the {{spoiler|time skip between chapters 83 and 84}}

* Ed and Al living alone as little kids [[Just Bugs Me]]. Seriously, why are they allowed to stay in that house alone, especially when there was someone nearby (Pinako) who was perfectly willing to take care of them? Pinako's a tough old woman, she could've made them live with her! Talk about being irresponsible...

*** That's whats so ''pathetic'' about Envy. Both the character and the emotion itself. He's so busy being jealous of the people who have what he wants, that he never realizes that he could probably get the same thing if he just made a little bit of effort.

**** And he's also a complete psychopath. That probably hurts his ability to get friends.

** In Japan, the sound made by the letter 'V' doesn't exist, but briefly shared the same character as 'B'. The two spellings are just a translation debate.

* What, exactly, is the point of Number 48 from the fifth laboratory having two blood seals located four inches apart? Such a thing would only be useful against the exact attack Ed used. If he had lost his legs, or been hit by a vertical cut he'd be knocked out of the fight easily. And for that matter, is the soul bonded to his head fighting at all? Or does he just exist to trash-talk intruders while his brother kicks ass?

 

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