Roy Mustang

Roy Mustang
Fullmetal Alchemist character
File:Roy Mustangs Glove (FMA).JPG Roy Mustang by Hiromu Arakawa
First appearance	Fullmetal Alchemist manga chapter 1 Fullmetal Alchemist anime episode 1

Colonel Roy Mustang (ロイ・マスタング Roi Masutangu) is a character from the Fullmetal Alchemist anime and manga series. Holding the title of the Flame Alchemist, he is a skilled State Alchemist who ambitiously strives to become the next leader of Amestris. Although he has also held the ranks of Major (in flashbacks), Lt. Colonel (episodes 3-8), Brigadier General (episodes 45-51), and Corporal (The Conqueror of Shamballa movie after resigning his commission), Mustang holds the rank of Colonel in most of the anime and manga, and so he is referred to as such here.

Character attributes

Background

The manga contains an extensive background story depicting Mustang during the Ishbal War.

In chapter 58 (Padding Footsteps of Destruction), Roy is said to have learned his elementary alchemy from Riza Hawkeye's father. In a flashback conversation, Roy is revealed to have become a State Alchemist in order to help the common people, despite the objection of his teacher. Upon hearing Roy's desire for power, his teacher states that he would pass his greatest and most powerful alchemy to Roy under the condition he would use it on the course of good. However, before he could elaborate, Roy's teacher began to choke from coughing up blood and manages only to reveal that he had passed all his secrets on to his daughter, and asked of Roy to look after her. The strange markings on Hawkeye's back is the method chosen by her father to pass these secrets on.

Like fellow State Alchemists, he was sent to completely raze a region Amestris was unable to subdue. It seems that he was 23 at that time (volume 2 and bonus in volume 4). He runs into Maes Hughes and they reminisce briefly about the past and discuss the State's involvement in the War before they are ambushed by an injured Ishvalan. They were saved by a sniper, later revealed to be none other than Riza Hawkeye. Mustang continues through the war with a pessimistic view and considers himself to be a killer, unable to help people as he had previously hoped.

However, Mustang discovers that while he thought he was alone in the war, simply murdering people, he was saving the lives of the men in his unit. This new idea appears to spur him into making an attempt to become the Führer, which he explains to Hughes at the end of the war. He then surrounds himself with people he knows he can trust; Hughes, Fuery, Falman, Havoc, Breda, and lastly Hawkeye. He orders Hawkeye to watch his back, and that if he ever strayed from the path of wanting to help people, of wanting to change the government, it was her role to shoot him.

Personality

Outwardly arrogant and playfully manipulative, Mustang is extremely intelligent and adaptable. These traits usually ensure that he is always one step ahead of his opponents. He also likes to feel in control of the situation. He is one of the superiors of Edward Elric. At the beginning of the series, he appears to be nothing more than a ruthless careerist and a shameless womanizer. However, he is eventually shown to be a rather paternal commander who cares for the emotional and physical well-being of his men. This earns him the fierce loyalty of his friends (Hughes, Hawkeye, Armstrong) and subordinates (Jean Havoc, Vato Falman). He also feels obligated to look out for the Elric Brothers after they become fellow "dogs of the military". This stems from his experience in the Ishbal War where he was forced to kill with his flame alchemy despite learning it to help people. After the war ended however his fellow soldiers thanked him for saving their lives. Mustang resolves to protect his subordinates and feels personally responsible for their well being and places their's above his own.

He also has a soft spot for dogs, as demonstrated in episode 13 of the anime. However, this is because he saw the dog as the perfect soldier (since it didn't need any pay, didn't fight back and could be treated roughly without complaints). Though a hero of the Ishbal War, he remains haunted by the horrors of war and suffers great remorse for the lives of civilians he took.

Powers & Abillities

File:Roy Mustang Transmutation Circle.svg

Roy's Transmutation Circle

A powerful alchemist in his own right, Mustang wears gloves with transmutation circles on them that are made of a material called "pyrotex/ignition cloth" that spark when he snaps his fingers. By adjusting the oxygen densities in the surrounding atmosphere through alchemy, he can create flames anywhere in the surrounding area at will and manipulate them as he desires. While oxygen, by itself, cannot combust, it is assumed that he makes use of the more flammable gases found in the atmosphere such as hydrogen. This assumption is verified in the manga, where it is revealed that it is indeed hydrogen that is burned.

During the Ishbal war, Mustang wore an incomplete Philosopher's Stone on a ring, which increased his flame power and allowed him to destroy entire city blocks in a single blast. He did not have a stone in the manga version of the war, and his alchemy was mainly used for clearing trenches and similar duties.

Mustang is often considered "useless" on rainy days because when his ignition cloth gloves are wet they cannot create sparks. This fact came up at two points in the anime series, first in a humorous moment in the battle against Scar ("The Ishbal Massacre") where Hawkeye tripped her comrade and remarked that he should leave the fighting to others because his alchemy is useless in the rain. Later, when Mustang battles Edward in "The Stray Dog", an anime-only episode, and Ed uses alchemy to get Mustang's gloves wet, Mustang uses Havoc's matches instead.

However, the manga goes into further depth regarding the relationship between Mustang's alchemy and water. His alchemy is actually achieved by using the transmutation circle on his gloves to split water molecules in the air. The energy required to split the molecule is presumably obtained from the murdered souls of Xerxes, as is all Amestrian alchemy. Consequently, Mustang is actually at his most dangerous when the environment is wet, although it is implied that he loses some degree of control as well, due to the fact that all the flames and explosions he creates are large and his own reference to the fact that he was "well-done" when he cauterized his own wounds. In the end, however, Mustang's alchemy is still mostly useless if his gloves are wet and he has no other means of creating a spark, hence Hawkeye's cause for tripping him. The manga has also implied that Roy has knowledge of other alchemy besides the flame alchemy obtained from Hawkeye's back, since he says that her father "[He had] taught me only the basics of alchemy up until now". However, none of this early alchemy has been seen as of the most recent chapter, 83.

Additionally, the author has commented that although she had been planning Mustang's "big scene" for a long time, the idea of his uselessness in the rain became somewhat of a running joke.

Another weakness of Mustang was discovered by King Bradley. During the fight against Mustang, Bradley kept his sword in constant motion, disrupting the air currents in the enclosed space to be in constant flux, hence making it difficult for Mustang to manipulate the air. King Bradley stated, "My Ultimate Eye sees your alchemy at work! Even if you did get off a flame it wouldn't have any accuracy!" Left with no other means of defending himself, Mustang was eventually forced to use it anyway to avoid Bradley's sword strikes and blew an entire wall away, inflicting burns on himself in the process.

In the manga, Roy also carries a gun of unknown make, which he uses against Lust until it runs out of bullets.

Techniques (as stated in the Dream Carnival game):

• Flame Burst: Roy snaps his fingers, causing an explosion of fire.
• Flame Blast: Roy sends out a ball of flames by snapping his fingers.
• Flame Barrage: Roy sends out a series of fire balls by snapping his fingers multiple times.
• Flame Pillars: Roy summons pillars of fire from the ground by snapping both of fingers pointing down and moving up.
• Flame Control: Roy touches the transmutation circle on his hand, causing any nearby fire to engulf the chosen target.
• Flame Dragon: Roy snaps his fingers, creating a dragon made of fire.

Plot Summary

Anime

Mustang makes his first appearance in the series in To Challenge the Sun (episode 1), when the Elric Brothers attempt to resurrect their mother. Subsequently, Mustang is formally introduced in Mother after Alphonse brought Edward to the Rockbells' home. As a lieutenant colonel in the State Military, he came to the Elrics' hometown of Resembool in search of their father, Hohenheim. Recognizing Edward and Alphonse's talent for alchemy, he offered them a chance to become State Alchemists and to seek him out at Central City, where he was currently stationed.

The Elrics take up his offer and Edward reluctantly becomes his direct subordinate when he becomes a State Alchemist. Mustang is transferred to the Eastern Territories to clean up Lieutenant Yoki's mess (Episode 9) and is promoted to colonel. He remains at Eastern Headquarters for the early portions of the series until he is transferred back to Central.

When Hughes dies, Mustang is devastated by his friend's death. When forced to pursue the Elrics per military orders, Mustang learns that the Führer is a Homunculus, and tries to expose him to the top brass of the military by revealing the truth about the Führer's secretary, Juliet Douglas (Episode 45). To counter this perceived threat against him, Bradley promotes Mustang to Brigadier General in preparation for his leading troops against armies in the north.

Although Bradley intends for him to die in combat (at Envy's hands), Mustang stays in Central (Havoc acts a decoy in Mustang's place), making his move to avenge Hughes's death. He succeeds in killing the Homunculus but only narrowly survives the ordeal. Mustang is only able to defeat King Bradley when Bradley's son, Selim, unwittingly brings the skull of the man from which the Führer was created and weakens him. As Mustang escapes the Führer's burning mansion, he is confronted by a maniacal Frank Archer, who shoots him. Hawkeye arrives in time to save him and kills Archer.

Later on Mustang is recuperating with Hawkeye's help, and he himself is wearing an eyepatch on the same eye as Bradley once did. When Hawkeye blames herself for not getting there in time, he strokes a few strands of her hair and tells her that there's nothing that is perfect, but that's why the world is beautiful. She tells him to shut up and eat but smiles nonetheless. Later they are seen shopping together with Black Hayate.

Conqueror of Shamballa

In Conqueror of Shamballa, Mustang resigns from both alchemy and his rank to become just an ordinary enlisted man in a remote, almost Arctic outpost. He has not used his alchemy since the end of the series, claiming he can still see the people he has killed in his blinded left eye. Obviously he was depressed and devastated after Edward had left and presumed that he had died (as everyone did except Al). However, when Central is under attack by armies and airships, Mustang steps up and takes command, using his alchemy to defend Central (Havoc notes Mustang barks a lot of orders for an enlisted man). Mustang and Hawkeye are reunited but soon he must leave her once more, leaving her angry. Mustang and Armstrong are able to create a hot-air balloon to reach the airships, and that is where he is reunited with the Elric brothers, and helps them gain entry into the airship. When Edward leaves again, he is the one to hold Alphonse back but it is presumed that he let Al go in order for the younger Elric to follow his older brother. At the end of the movie, Al says that Mustang (who has, it is implied, taken back his rank of Brigadier General) and his team are now responsible for destroying the Amestris side of the Gate.

Manga

The anime followed much of Roy's role in the manga during the early storyline. However, as the anime diverges from the original story, Roy's role and much of his background also differ.

Mustang first appears in Battle on the Train (chapter 4). He holds the rank of colonel and is stationed at Eastern Headquarters. Like in the anime, he is responsible for recruiting Edward Elric into the State Military. After Mustang heard about their prodigious abilities (and because a typo made him believe Edward was 31), he traveled to Resembool with Hawkeye to meet the Elrics. Horrified to discover that the boys have attempted a human transmutation, he confronted them at the Rockbell's home and then offered them the chance to become State Alchemists to find a way to restore their bodies.

Following Hughes's death, Mustang investigates the incident in secret despite the military closing the case after convicting Maria Ross. Trusting in Ross's innocence, and with the help of Barry the Chopper, Mustang uses his alchemy skills to fake Ross's death and engineer her escape from Amestris. While breaking into a military laboratory with Barry's help (Chapter 39: Complications at Central), Lust confronts Mustang and Havoc. In the ensuing fight, Havoc is stabbed in the spine; while Lust sets off to find the rest of the intruders, she leaves Mustang and Havoc to bleed to death. After she slices Barry to pieces and is setting on Hawkeye (with Alphonse trying to stop her), she is almost blown off her feet by an explosion. Mustang had cut a transmutation circle into his skin and seared his wounds closed with fire. He then proceeds to mercilessly shoot flames at Lust, to the point where her Philosopher's Stone is unable to fuel her regenerative powers, killing her. He and Havoc then spend a short amount of time in the hospital recovering from their wounds, though it is revealed that Havoc is paraplegic as a result of Lust's attack. Mustang later helps in transporting Ed, Al, Hawkeye, Dr. Knox, Ling, an injured Ran Fan, and a tied-up Gluttony to a deserted house in the woods. However, Gluttony does not hold long, and breaks free after recognizing Mustang as Lust's killer. Mustang manages to escape by car, leaving Ed, Al, and Ling to battle Gluttony.

After discovering that King Bradley is a Homunculus, he tries to expose him to the top echelons of the military, only to discover that they know his true nature but continue to support him. This move costs Mustang and deprives him of his subordinates - King Bradley places Riza Hawkeye under his command and authorizes the transfer of Mustang’s remaining personnel to the far reaches of Amestris.

Mustang compares his struggle against the Führer to a chess game, and says that his knight, pawn, rook, bishop and queen have been taken away, obviously referring to the fact that his trusted subordinates have been stationed elsewhere. In this analogy, logically, Roy must be the king piece, also given that his name in French means "king". However, it is unclear whether Arakawa intended for each chess piece to correspond with one of Roy's removed subordinates, or if she had referred to all the pieces in chess, being Roy's subordinates in general, being taken away collectively.

It is revealed that his playboy tactics used in order to cover his true intentions were inherited from Hawkeye's grandfather, General Grumman. This is an interesting follow up to Mustang's note of gratitude towards Grumman "I have learned a lot from you" before he left Eastern Headquarters. In chapter 62, when Roy visits "Madame Christmas", he mentions that "Elizabeth-chan has been taken by another man". While it has not been confirmed, this may be his way of referring to Hawkeye's being restationed, as her codename in chapter 37 was "Elizabeth" and she has recently been assigned to the Führer as his personal aide. This subsequently leads to a contact between Mustang and General Grumman, who had left a hidden message inside the king piece of the chess set he gave Mustang upon the latter's transfer to Central should Mustang need his help. He made contact through Madame Christmas, and meets General Grumman, who was disguised as an old woman.

In chapter 69, he is contacted by Major General Olivier Armstrong through an old flower-seller, who made Mustang buy all her flowers (35200 cenz) for the information (and makes him the center of attention, since he bought that many flowers but is unable to carry them all, and apparently going near-bankrupt in chapter 74). The old flower seller, said to have served the Armstrong family for generations, revealed that Olivier is intending for the "sword" of East Area troops under Mustang's command to join with the "shield" of the Briggs mountain range troops in order to protect Briggs, and wants Mustang's cooperation.

In chapter 72 he contacts Riza Hawkeye (unbeknownst to him at the time this conversation took place right after her confrontation with Pride), and asks her to take some flowers off his hands. She rejects (for she doesn't have any vases in her home), however, he also manages to ascertain that there's something wrong with Hawkeye, even though she tried to sound as normal as possible.

In chapter 74, he meets with Olivia Armstrong, in which she shows her strong dislikes toward Mustang, and rebukes all his courting rather harshly (even speaks that he has no guts and money). However, he manages to let out a cryptic hint about "planning to give her a flower".

He also finally manages to meet Hawkeye in person, and eats with her at the lunch table. She manages to tell Mustang about her knowledge, which disguised as casual, friendly conversation. Mustang then hides in a bathroom, recalls the names from the conversation in order, and decodes it on a slip of paper. Writing down the first letter of each name Hawkeye mentioned, he is shocked at the message he finds: SELIM BRADLEY IS HOMUNCULUS. He later passes that message to Olivia Armstrong, as she takes over the residence of the Armstrong family to herself.

Learning about the Homunculi's plan to be carried out after the New Year, he forges a plan with General Grumman to assassinate King Bradley, during the spring training at the East Headquarter, implying also a plan of Coup de Etat as his subordinates Hawkeye, Breda and Fuery desert the Army.

Character reception

AnimeOnDVD commented on Volume 4 of the anime saying Mustang's character was "well-developed" and added on: "The darkness added to Mustang's past is spot on." and that ".. [the] material we see of Mustang in this volume, it only becomes more interesting...." They later added in Volume 12 saying that Roy Mustang's part in the story is "..interesting since it shifts around the cast on his side a bit and they make a fascinating ploy to turn rebel.."

Travis Willingham, the voice actor, has said he enjoys voicing Roy as "arrogance is a big part of his character" and saying "He's got this wall up. On the inside he's got doubts about what he's done in the past just like everyone else, you don't want to reveal too much." In an interview, Travis mentioned that he auditioned for the part of Mustang after Justin Cook said he would be just right for the role. He also auditioned for Armstrong, but that went to his colleague, Christopher Sabat. Travis also stated that during production, he and Vic re-recorded several parts as he wasn't happy with the result.

Popularity has also Travis started his own fan club called The Mini Skirt Army [1].