Monday, July 12, 2021

Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist) | DEATH ANALYSIS


Background


  • Age: 32

  • Birth date: March 25th, 1885

  • Affiliations: Amestrian Military, Mustang’s Unit

  • Rank: General

  • Titles: Flame Alchemist, Hero of Ishval

  • Named after a WWII American fighter aircraft, the North American P-51 Mustang

  • Notorious womanizer 

  • Cannot grow a mustache to save his life

  • Big chess guy


In the world of Fullmetal Alchemist, there are many who dedicate themselves to the science of Alchemy while simultaneously serving their country in the armed forces. However, few stand out quite as much as the illustrious, ambitious, equal parts useless and ingenious, Roy Mustang.

Sometime in his youth, Roy discovered Alchemy and proved to be adept enough at it to earn apprenticeship under Berthold Hawkeye. It wouldn’t be long until Roy enlisted in the Amestrian Military, a line of duty that saw him deployed as a human weapon in what would be called the Ishvalan War of Extermination.


This seemingly senseless genocide haunted the young soldier. Amidst the blood-soaked sands, a spark lit within Roy. Rather than wallow in self-pity over his crimes, Roy vowed to rise through the ranks of the military. If he could earn the highest possible title in the nation, he could reform the government and prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again. And so, the soldier became Colonel, and oversaw many crucial happenings, like the recruitment of the Elric brothers into the military. In fact, it was thanks to Roy that the young Edward found the drive to move forward past his own tragedy. 


Roy became involved in many crucial events, from a Homunculus conspiracy that cost the life of his dear friend Hughes, to organizing a military coup in order to dethrone King Bradley. In the end, Roy had come close to losing his way, and even became blinded to the future he sought - literally - but continued forward regardless, surrounded by his loyal subordinates. In more ways than one, Roy Mustang carries a torch toward a brighter future. 


Addressing Continuities

While the original manga and the subsequent anime adaptation, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood are the primary sources here, I’ll also be including information for Roy Mustang from the 2003 anime. While the 2003 anime may be derivative of the manga canon, Roy himself is more or less capable of the same things in both versions. The differences in character come down more so in how their stories progress, rather than a change in abilities.


I’ll also be including miscellaneous techniques from the various videogames, as they mostly serve to flesh out Roy’s capabilities and do not contradict the source material. In summation, the manga, Brotherhood, 2003 anime, both movies, and all videogame appearances have been accounted for. Really, the only thing that drastically stands out is the live action film… and the less we talk about that, the better.

Equipment & Arsenal

Gloves

Roy’s standard equipment, the Flame Alchemist always carries his trademark spark cloth gloves (and some spares) into battle. 

Where most alchemists need to draw a circle on the ground to perform Alchemy, Roy’s gloves allow him access to his transmutation circle on him at all times. Thus, he needn’t draw the circle manually to perform alchemy. 


With a snap of his fingers, he can produce a small spark, which he then transmutes with Alchemy to create flames. The gloves are little more than a convenience, technically, as he can replicate the transmutation circle through other means (like via creating it with his own blood) though he of course prefers to use the gloves if possible. 

Firearm

Though he is rarely seen using it, Roy carries a standard-issue firearm, as all Amestrian soldiers do. These Amestrian-grade guns are capable of staggering and hurting Homunculi like Gluttony, Lust, and Envy, making them quite lethal when wielded by a marksman of Mustang’s caliber. 


Lighter

Mustang utilized an ordinary cigarette lighter to provide the spark needed for his Flame Alchemy. 


  • Roy acquires Havoc’s lighter (Volume 10, Chapter 39 pg 34)

Matches

Similar to the lighter, Roy doesn’t technically carry matches on him at all times, but if he comes across them, he can still achieve his Flame Alchemy thanks to the sparks they create. In both instances, the lighter and matches provide Roy with yet another option to get around having his gloves destroyed or dampened by water.


  • Roy takes a box of matches from Havoc (Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) episode 43, 16:48)

Red Stone

Present only in the 2003 anime, Roy was a recipient of a Red Stone provided by the Amestrian military. These pseudo-Philosopher’s Stones served as power amps to the State Alchemists, allowing them to end the Ishvalan Civil War in a single night. 

While Roy did not keep the Red Stone, it is notable in that it’s the only power amp he’s ever received, and thus worth mentioning for the sake of completion.


  • Roy obtained the Red Stone temporarily during the events in Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) episode 15, 9:30

Powers & Abilities

Flame Alchemy

Roy learned the rare and powerful Flame Alchemy from his late master, Berthold Hawkeye. Contrary to what the name may imply, Flame Alchemy doesn’t magically conjure fire out of nowhere; rather, it refers to the process of manipulating oxygen density. When paired with an active spark source, the resulting alchemical transmutation produces a flash fire that Roy can guide with pin-point accuracy. 



With the special transmutation circle on-hand, Roy is able to:


‘Truth’ Alchemy

After being forced to perform human transmutation, Roy was sent through the Gate of Truth and obtained the ability to perform Alchemy without the need of a transmutation circle. This affects his standard equipment in the sense that he no longer needs his gloves to remain intact in order to use Flame Alchemy. Instead, as long as they can produce a spark, or he has access to tools that can do that for him, Roy can achieve Flame Alchemy as before. 


Having access to ‘Truth’ Alchemy allows the user to simply clap before transmutation, bypassing the need for a Transmutation Circle. 

(Though it is likely that they can still use Transmutation Circles if they’re so inclined. Roy was only forced to clap for his Flame Alchemy because his gloves were destroyed earlier.)


That said, it’s not as though Roy was unable to perform normal alchemy before; he was, after all, taught normal Alchemy by his teacher, Berthold Hawkeye. Having seen Truth merely allows Roy to perform that Alchemy the same way Ed and Al do..



With ordinary alchemy, other characters have done the following:

Experience & Intelligence

Roy is a skilled strategist and experienced soldier both on and off the battlefield. He’s a master of deception, able to fool masses and shuffle his resources around in response to exterior factors.

In combat, Roy has demonstrated his preferred strategies, favoring swift action and quick, conclusive victories. Additionally, he’s well-versed in exploiting his opponent’s anger to his advantage, as seen in his battle against Ed.


As an Amestrian soldier, Roy has also served in at least one war, and has all the experience you’d expect a high-ranking general in the military to have. His fights against the Homunculi have given Roy an understanding of foes with regenerative capabilities, and he’s seen other people, like Ling Yao, use that regeneration against them. 

Physical Capabilities

Roy is a soldier, and while he relies on Alchemy most of the time, he did still go through boot camp and is a capable combatant in the close range as well, evidenced by his fight against the Gold Tooth Doctor’s super soldiers. 

He’s shown to have remarkable endurance and pain tolerance, as he was able to forcibly sear his fatal wound shut and followed Lust a fair distance away after being impaled. He’s also been stabbed by Bradley in both continuities, and walked afterward to take on another perilous situation. In 2003, he’s shot in the head immediately after fighting Bradley, who had struck him with his swords many times. In Brotherhood, Roy is stabbed through the palms by Bradley and then provides support against Father not too long after. 

Feats

Overall


Power & Strength

*nonstandard equipment 

Speed


Durability

Scaling

Edward Elric

Mustang is Edward’s superior both literally in the military and metaphorically in the narrative. In “The Military Festival”, Roy defeats Edward in battle, albeit very early on chronologically. As such, Roy should logically be able to keep with Ed in most situations, if not surpass him outright. Pride also stated that Roy’s abilities were far more troublesome than any other State Alchemist, which includes Ed.


Edward has feats such as:



Solf J. Kimblee

While Roy and Kimblee have not fought each other one-on-one, the two have some similarities as State Alchemists who weaponize explosives.


Kimblee’s greatest feat is performed during the Ishvalan War of Extermination, where Roy Mustang was also deployed and heralded as the ‘MVP’ afterward. Additionally, Flame Alchemy is stated to be superior to all other forms of Alchemy in raw power, which would include Kimblee’s Explosion Alchemy. Finally, Kimblee has fought both Ed and Al, and Roy is obviously superior to both of the Elric brothers, and scales to their encounters with Kimblee.



Izumi Curtis

Roy and Izumi never fight each other, but the two of them are Ed and Al’s superiors when it comes to Alchemy, and Izumi is never stated to be more exceptional than the likes of Roy, so they should at the very least be comparable.


Weaknesses

  • His primary source of attack, Flame Alchemy, is nigh useless in rainy weather, as he cannot create a spark from his gloves.
  • Though befitting of his philosophy as a leader, Roy often relies on having people to watch his back and support him in various ways.
  • In some continuities, Roy carries a lot of post-traumatic stress and can freeze up in crucial situations if they invoke the imagery/feeling of the Ishvalan War. 
  • In the 2003 anime, King Bradley states that Roy would have trouble manipulating the oxygen in the air if the currents are disrupted and altered, though Roy then performs his alchemy anyway, so it’s unclear exactly how much this affects Roy’s capabilities. 
  • According to Envy, Roy probably can’t use his own flames so close to his own body, though this is unproven and using methods like scaling would imply this isn’t an issue since other, weaker characters, like Ed, have taken Roy’s attacks head on.
  • Finally, Mustang can be a bit overconfident in himself sometimes, leading to him making bluffs he cannot back up, or staking bold claims mere moments before those claims come to bite him back in the ass. 


Oh, and the dude has a real bad habit of losing his eyesight some way or another.

Summary

“The power of one man doesn't amount to much. But that doesn’t matter. With what little strength I have, I'll do whatever it takes to protect the people I love. And in turn, they’ll protect the ones they love. It seems like the least we tiny humans can do for each other.”


Strengths:

  • Scales to most, if not all the relevant feats in FMA

  • Can workaround his gloves being destroyed

  • Truth Alchemy cannot be taken away and provides Mustang with much more versatility

  • Incredibly intelligent and clever 

  • Plenty of experience in multiple kinds of battlefields


Faults:

  • Flame Alchemy can be nullified under the right circumstances

  • Susceptible to freezing up with PTSD in combat (2003)

  • Sometimes barks more than he can bite

  • Is literally so ambitious that he loses his sight in two separate continuities 

Recommended Opponents

Levi Ackerman

Zuko






Tfw theres a guy called the Thunder Alchemist in one of the GBA games and has an attack that is described as using lightning but none of them actually show lightning and he fucking dies are you kidding me


At least the omake panels have the FMA speed buffs h-haha

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