Minor characters of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga

The following characters all play minor supporting roles in the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series. For the most part, these characters only make one or two appearances in the manga. Due to irregularities in translations some names might have multiple spellings. For anime-only minor characters, please see Minor characters of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime; for minor characters common to both the anime and manga, please see Minor characters of Fullmetal Alchemist. Template:Spoiler

Mei Chan

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Mei Chang and her panda Xiao-Mei

Mei Chan is a wandering alchemist from the far-Eastern country of Xing. Accompanied by a tiny panda named Xiao-Mei, she is searching for the secret of immortality so that her clan in Xing, the lowest caste, will not die out. Mei has a crush on Edward, whom she pictures as a tall, handsome man. When she does meet him, she does not recognize him and calls him "bean boy".

Mei appears to be no older than 10, but she is already an accomplished alchemist. Her special form of alchemy involves using throwing knives to form two alchemy circles (called "formula circles" in Xing); one is created near herself and the other near the intended target. Then, Mei performs alchemy on the circle nearest to her, and the result appears within the second circle.

Mei is first spotted in Youswell, saving the miners there after a mine collapse. It is there that the people tell her about Edward Elric, and she decides to set off to Central to see him. Lieutenant Yoki then finds her collapsed on the streets of Central; he claims that Scar is his servant (though the reverse is true). This leads to Mei Chan being unafraid of Scar, and they seem to be slowly forming a bond; Mei saves Scar from the Elrics when Hawkeye shoots him in the leg. The plight of the Chan clan in Xing seems to remind Scar of the similar plight of the Ishbalans.

In chapter 56, Al took her to Dr. Knox after their encounter in the Homunculi's lair. In Chapter 61, she and Ran Fan tried to kill each other in Dr. Knox's house (much to the shock of Al, and the annoyance of Dr. Knox). In Chapter 61, Mei Chan recovers, but then attacks Ran Fan on sight who reveals that she is the 17th princess of Xing. After a brief staredown where they both seem to be ready to fight for their respective clans, Knox forcibly "calms" them down.

In the chapter 63, Mei hears the story of the Ishbalan Rebellion. Before she leaves, she has a brief conversation with Alphonse. After he describes his real appearance, Mei develops a crush on him, and wishes for him to find his body soon. She later rejoins Scar and Yoki. Edward and Alphonse are currently looking for her to ask why her alchemy worked in Father's Lair. In chapter 63, she bumps into General Grumman, who is disguised as an old lady, just before boarding the train to the North.

In the following chapter, she and Dr. Marcoh arrive near the Drachma border at the Briggs Mountain range, while Scar and Yoki have diverted the attention of the military police, and recover the notes of Scar's older brother, which contain the secret to combining Amestrian alchemy and Xingian Rentanjutsu.

An interesting bit of trivia is that Mei in Chinese means beauty, and Xiao in this instance likely means small or little. This means that Xiao Mei is actually "Little Mei". She is pictured on the side of Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 12.

Ran Fan

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Ran Fan, from chapter 35's cover

She is one of two bodyguards that guards Ling Yao. She can sense the presence of a soul (referred to as ki); thus she can quickly identify Homunculi like Envy that have more than one soul in their Philosopher's Stones (meaning she can easily see through Envy's disguises, but cannot recognize Bradley, who is Wrath in the manga, because he has only one soul like a human). In chapter 47 she cuts off her arm after it is rendered useless in an effort to divert Bradley's attention away from Ling and herself while they escape into the sewer. The trap that she sets for Bradley is very similar to the one she herself was caught in by Edward when she fought him when they first arrived in the series, proving that she learns from her mistakes. She and Ling are the first people close to the Elric brothers to find out that Bradley is a homunculus. Although we are never told her age Ling refers to her as a "girl" so we can assume that she and Ling are around the same age. Ling also refers to Ran Fan and Fu as if they are from the same family, and we later learn Fu is her grandfather. She is a very skilled fighter, as seen in her many fights with Envy, and by the fact that she was able to cut through Bradley’s sword to avoid his finishing blow, despite the severe injury to her left arm. She is very quiet and cares deeply for Ling, even to the point of self-sacrifice. She is constantly thinking of his safety and often forgets her own; in chapter 50 she wants to go back to the battle to protect Ling, even though she is missing her left arm and still needs to rest.

Before the group splits up again, she speaks to Edward about getting automail. Now that Ling’s body is being used by Greed, her future is very unclear. Recently it has been revealed that Ling and Greed are still struggling over the same body. Ling/Greed gives Ed a rag to deliver to Ran Fan, and he does so. On the rag was written "I have obtained the Philosopher's Stone" in Xingian. Ran Fan is initially overjoyed that they've finally found the stone, but she soon realizes that Ling not being able to deliver the note himself means something is wrong.

In the latest issue of the manga, Ran Fan demands that Al take her to get an automail arm as soon as possible. However, Mei Chang attacks her on sight, and they stare each other down with sharp objects in hand until Knox puts them in their place. In chapter 63, she and her grandfather Fu decide to return to Xing, but not without vowing to return in the future to save Ling.

Fu

Fu is one of the two bodyguards that guards Ling Yao. He separates from Ling and Ran Fan to help smuggle Maria Ross into Xing. It has recently been revealed that Fu is Ran Fan's grandfather.

Han

He is a Xingian man who seems to know a great deal about smuggling people into and out of the country.

Knox

A military doctor who does autopsies now, Knox knew Roy Mustang from the Ishbal rebellion. Like Mustang, his experiences there have left him mentally scarred. Mustang calls on Knox to first help him falsely identify a burnt body as Maria Ross, then asks Knox to treat Ran Fan when she was bleeding to death after losing her arm. Reluctant to go along with Mustang at first, Knox realizes he has already lost everything he held dear and so has nothing left to lose, so it seems he has joined Mustang's gang of Military men. He is currently taking care of Ran Fan and Mei Chan.

In chapter 57 of the manga, Knox reveals to Al that his experience in Ishbal led him to have night terrors that eventually led to his divorce and separation from his wife and son. In chapter 59, it is revealed that Knox met Tim Marcoh right after Marcoh had handed over the incomplete stones to the military. They discussed the Rockbells, who were still out in the field treating the wounded, when Knox told Marcoh that he was conducting human experiments on Ishbalans in the hospital. He then questioned Marcoh on why a doctor like himself who was suppose to be helping people was being ordered to murder people instead.

In chapter 63, to his great surprise, his wife and son unexpectedly show up at his front door. His son explains that they "had some business nearby", so they'd thought they would stop by for a visit. After some small talk, his son reveals that he intends to become a doctor just like him. Initially he is violently opposed, due to the awful things he did in Ishbal under the title of a doctor. His son then replies that past sins are no reason to run, and that even though Knox can never been forgiven for the things he did, he should still uphold his duty and continue to save lives. When Knox asks why he's trying so hard, his son replies "because we're family". As he cries, Knox wonders if there's such thing as God, and if there is, asks to be forgiven, at least for a moment, so that someone 'like him' can enjoy something as simple as enjoying coffee with his family.

Garfiel

Garfiel is an automail mechanic. Winry becomes his apprentice after she realizes she wants to stay in Rush Valley instead of going back to Resembool. A big muscular man who wears lipstick, powders his cheeks, wears feminine or otherwise tight-fitting clothing, and seems to be attracted to other men, it can be safely assumed that Garfiel is a homosexual.

The "Men in White Robes"

This enigmatic group was responsible for the cultivation and experimentation of various "Führer Candidates," who were raised from infancy to adulthood, and then injected with Philosopher's Stones. Out of the twelve individuals tested for compatibility, eleven were brutally killed, but the last one survived and became the manga's Wrath, King Bradley. Their first appearance and mention is in Chapter 53.

The individual identities of those affiliated with this group are completely unknown, although one man with a golden tooth appears to be in charge of the rest.