CHARACTER
NAME: Roy Mustang
AGE: Mid-30's-ish
CANON: Full Metal Alchemist.
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
The country of Amestris was created in order to be sacrificed. That, however, is not where Roy's story starts. Roy's story starts as a presumed orphan, fostered with Chris Mustang, madam of a whorehouse. Whatever else may be said about that, his foster mother thought well enough of him that she casually expected that he would do well when he was an adult. Of course, she also called herself “Madam Christmas” so it's possible that her judgment was a bit clouded.
At some point Roy apprenticed himself to Hawkeye's father, a dedicated scholar who refused to join the “Dogs of the Military” and so lived in destitution. Roy returned after joining the military, explaining that he wanted to protect his nation and thus protect it's people. There wasn't time to argue over the wisdom of that, though, because literally moments later the older man died spitting blood. The last words that Roy got were an expressed regret that the older man wouldn't be able to teach him, and the statement that he was leaving his daughter to the younger one. This was an awesome time for Hawkeye to walk in but later, at the old man's graveside, she made the decision to bestow on Roy the fruits of her father's labour, turning him from a reasonably competent state Alchemist into the Flame Alchemist.
The next major point in Roy's life was the Ishval rebellion. Over the course of that short, but bloody, war his native compassion took hard hit after hard hit as he was used in order to incinerate men, women, and children without number. By the end of the war he'd gone from thinking he could protect the country to realising that he could protect barely a handful of people from his current position. His focus shifted, although it didn't change. He realised that he could only protect those beneath him, and expect those beneath him to protect the ones further down. Maes Hughes, Roy's best friend, called him idealistic; but at the same time pointed the other man towards the highest level in the country. After all, if Roy was to protect everyone he had to be in King Bradley's place.
This was the first time that Roy Mustang came to the attention of the man known as King Bradley by the country of Amestris, and as the homunculus Wrath by the creator of that country. It would not be the last.
Roy began a quiet, subtle, and merciless campaign towards the top on that day. Part of this campaign involved collecting a small collection of people willing to back him all the way to the top. At the same time he was cultivating the surface persona of a lazy, womanizing cretin in order to hide the majority of what he was doing. Some of this wasn't entirely a facade; his Alchemical notes were coded entirely in the names of women, and he used the names of various women to code operations and operatives. This could only hold up, however, if he did skip out on work in order to meet women and go on dates. While a not insignificant number of these dates were with contacts and spies, a greater number needed to be legitimately non-work related in order to provide sufficient cover. Not that he minded dating around. Man's got needs, you know.
Around the time that the Ishvarite known as “Scar” began hunting the older of the Elric brothers Hughes pointed out that this rapid rise was bound to make more enemies for Roy, and Roy accepted this as an inevitable byproduct of his goals. There are several chapters of plot here that have nothing to do with Roy. /o/
The next we hear from him is when he is summoned to a telephone call from Hughes, only to pick it up just after his best friend had been killed. In a way this broke Roy more than Ishaval managed to, he shut his emotions down to the point where he utterly refused to grieve, as shown by insisting to Hawkeye that it was raining rather than admit that he was crying.
This began both Roy's involvement with the greater plot overall and also his spiralling decent into what could very easily have turned into a complete loss of self. Major Armstrong very carefully gave Roy significant amounts of information, laced into refusal to speak. Roy mentioned to Hawkeye that he was to be assigned to Central and in response to her comment of “It isn't like you to mix your professional and private agendas together” he stated; “There's no such thing as 'professional' and 'private'. My intention as an individual is to become the president as well as to avenge Hughes.”
His first clues came along with the empty suit of armour that was possessed by a murderer called Barry the Chopper. From Barry, Roy learned that the military had been making incomplete Philosopher's Stones out of living humans. He also learned of the existence of Lust and Envy, although not what they were. After questioning Barry for quite a while, Roy then asked if Barry was the one to kill Hughes. He gave Falman the chance to get out of things before they got too deep, and was pleased to find out that he wasn't going to be abandoned by the other man. In one of the fast, sharp turns that he was used to making he then set Falman to watching Barry. Poor guy really should have got out while the getting was good.
We find out that Roy had been driving himself to the point that he fell asleep in one of the storage rooms in central; researching execution lists, incidents with the higher levels of the military, state alchemist incidents, documents about the fifth research institute, and Hughes' murder in an area that he was not supposed to be in. Because classified rooms you aren't supposed to be in are the best place to take naps. In a very quiet way, Alex Armstrong; another state alchemist, offered his support to Roy's bid for the top; giving him one more strong, smart, and determined supporter. As per Roy's request, no-one had informed the Elric boys of Hughes' death, because it would hurt them. In fact, when face to face with the boys and Winry, Roy flat out lied to them, both to avoid hurting them, and to keep them from abandoning their quest to get their bodies back.
When Maria Ross was set up as Hughes' murderer, Roy had Hawkeye find out everything she could. He then set up an elaborate scheme to save her life and get her out of the country. This scheme required him to be painted as her killer, and he held onto that appearance firmly, to the point of allowing the Elrics to think badly of him, and to the point that the people from Central accused him of 'overdoing it'. Part of Roy's plan, however, included sending one of his people to where she was hidden to make sure that she hadn't actually killed Hughes, and to kill her if she had. Not so secretly, Roy's a soft touch.
Barry the Chopper, Lin, and Falman were holed up in a safehouse with several of Roy's other subordinates watching over them. On an apparently routine call to check in, Hawkeye signed off unexpectedly. Roy pretty much panicked as he attempted to save his people from whatever it was that caused that. So much so that he forgot that he was trying to be behind the scenes and blew his cover completely.
While driving after Barry the Chopper, who was chasing his body, Roy learned that the ouroboros tattoo was seen on homunculi. The fact that these monsters were real pissed Roy off, and the concept that they were involved in Hughes' death obviously clicked hard at that moment. At this point, believing Bradley to be human, Roy's plans include blackmailing “the higher ups” and putting his dual goals that much closer to completion. Barry's obsession with killing his body gave Roy the excuse he needed to get into the Third Research facility and poke around. This led to Roy's fight with Lust, and Havoc's paralyzation. Over the course of this fight it became obvious how much protecting his people meant to Roy. He went as far as ripping the very Philosopher's Stone out of Lust's chest in his attempt to keep Havoc alive. He then cauterized his own flesh – and the player can say from experience that doing so is not easy which may be the worst thing to have in common with a character ever - as well as Havoc's and then chased Lust down. At that point, he burnt her until she finally died forever. Once he'd done that he requested a doctor for Havoc, ignoring his own wounds and passing out.
In the hospital Roy lectured Hawkeye, loudly, about never giving up the will to live. He also spoke with Havoc in a very casual way that is more of a friend-friend sort of insult than a subordinate/superior official one. When it was made clear that Havoc wouldn't be able to continue, Roy insisted that he could get better. They argued again, although in this case it was more Havoc demanding to be left behind. In the end Roy said that he would leave Havoc behind...but that he expected the man to catch up with him. Hawkeye and Havoc determined that Roy was an idiot, but the right kind of idiot.
At last Roy and Ed started comparing notes and mocking each other as they do. Ed set himself up as bait for Scar in an attempt to flush out one or more of the homunculi, Roy spent the fight on the radio pretending to be backup and having a blast. Hawkeye, however, ordered him to stay put even though he's her superior. A good subordinate is worth their weight in stubborn. They caught Gluttony, and in the ensuing attempt at questioning him found out that Bradley was also a homunculus. Unfortunately they don't actually get to question the being because upon finding out that Roy was present Gluttony goes apeshit.
After a short battle consisting of bravely running away, then screaming at a sixteen year old, Roy is convinced to take his still healing body away from the fight. Unfortunately he then attempts to feel out a potential ally and ended up showing his hand. Roy's house of cards started tumbling down immediately as he was dragged to Bradley's office and told nearly everything in an attempt to break his spirit. This takes all night, and at the same time, his special underlings were reassigned to every part of the country, and Hawkeye was reassigned to Bradley's side.
Roy and Ed underwent a tense stand-off with Bradley, in the end keeping their positions as state alchemists; Roy for the sake of his ambitions, Ed for Winrey's sake. For Roy, though, it was also about staying close enough to be able to rip the rug out from under the brass' feet and bring them down. Even so, he asks Bradley if he was the one to kill Hughes. Knowing how outclassed he was, he still simply couldn't let it pass. Obsession level: idiot. Ed and Al got Knox's address from Roy, and along with borrowing money they run off, intent on explaining later.
Collecting Hawkeye and Major Armstrong, Roy filled them in while driving around. The Major refused to take the out that Roy gave him, and Roy seemed extraordinarily pleased to be given the amount of room he had, even while admitting there was something behind Wrath that he didn't understand – yet.
Later Hawkeye and Ed had a long conversation about Ishval, and Hawkeye explained to the boy that Roy's goals had shifted from being ruler of a military state and more towards that of a state run by the people, even if that meant that the men and women who had been involved in the Ishval rebellion were tried as criminals. Hawkeye told Ed that she believed Roy intended to protect his underlings by taking responsibility for everything that they had done.
As Roy's underlings left for their new assignments he reminded Hawkeye of her promise to shoot him if he stepped off the righteous path. He was then left in an empty office, and there was a small amount of time dedicated to missing them before he pulled himself together and started formulating new plans and setting them into motion. This included a trip to visit his foster mother, herself the centre of a spy network so that he could convene with Vice Admiral Grumman from the East.
A meeting with Ed and Al gives him the knowledge of Shin alchemy, at least that it is different from their own. He and Ed also have another of their constant bickering exchanges, with Ed informing Roy that he won't pay back his debt until Roy is Fuhrer, and then he'd borrow some more and only give it back when Roy was president as well. Dropping the boys off he goes on a date with someone we have never heard from before, and never hear from again.
Roy's message to Grumman results in them meeting in front of Hughes' grave, Roy dressed in civilian clothing and Grumman as an old woman. Despite Grumman's rather distinctive features, the disguise is good enough that it took Roy a moment to realise that it's the general. He filled in the General about the goings on in Central, and learned that Gumman had ended up in the West, and then the East, after turning down a feeler about being part of an immortal army.
A meeting with an informant gives him information about Kimblee's interactions up in the North, and another piece of information regarding who couldn't be trusted; in this case General Raven. After she left he was contacted by another informant, this one a flower seller in the employ of Mjr. General Olivia Armstrong, Major Armstrong's sister. The alliance between Oliva and Roy was a tense one, as they had respect for each other but showing it was an entirely different thing. Alas for Roy that he hadn't thought his flower buying spree through and was left with an entire cart's worth of flowers spilling out of his car.
Joining Hawkeye for lunch, the two of them had a long conversation about various people that they knew, touching on current events and lingering on friends and acquaintances of Hawkeye's. This conversation, for all that it was light and long was nonetheless memorised by Roy, and in the privacy of the toilets he decoded it into the message that Selim, the Fuhrer's son, was also a homunculus.
A note passed from person to person, eventually ending up in Havoc's hospital room, got to Roy and informed him that whatever was happening, would happen after the new year. He and Olivia had a conversation full of snark and barbs that also held the information about how they would hide troops in preparation for the attack on the top. A gift of hyacinth flowers both passed along Selim's status, and also allowed Roy to get the best of Olivia by being a dig at her “feminine grace and beauty”.
Another trip to his foster mother's brought proof that Selim wasn't human; photographs of him as far as fifty years back, never looking more than five years in either direction of his current apparent age. It also brought proof that Bradley had not been born or lived where the records claimed he did; no-one in the village remembered any family by that name.
Some of the Fuhrer's men burst into the whorehouse after Roy, finding only an explosion as Roy and his foster mother had already vacated into the sewers. She gave a casual order to Roy to make it to the top and walked off out of the series. Walking the opposite way from her, Roy connected with three of his special underlings; Hawkeye, Fuery, and Breda, waiting for him in an abandoned tunnel. He debriefed them, letting them know that Bradley and Selim were missing and pointing out that it was a either a golden opportunity or a trap. He offered them a chance to back out, and when yelled at told them that he had one order; “Do not die”.
Roy's group kidnapped the Fuhrer's wife, under the guise of helping to save her from Olivia's rebelling troops. While appearing a double-cross, this was so that no matter what group of people were to win, they would have someone with the best intentions for the country still in play. Working their way to the meeting point for the East army, Roy and his people committed large acts of property damage with minimal human damage. One of the Central officers gave the order to shoot any of the party except Roy, finding this out made the Fuhrer's wife fall in firmly on Roy's side.
As rounds were running low an armoured ice cream truck filled with all kinds of fun toys came to the rescue, driven by Maria Ross. A phone call to the person who brought her back to the country found that Jean Havoc, despite his protests that he was useless, had been orchestrating a fourth side to the whole mess designed to come and back Roy up.
Hawkeye and Roy ventured into Central to find Ed and Al's party, joining up with them as they drove themselves towards the lair of the homuncului's “father”. Scar's presence borked Roy for a moment, but he snapped out of it rapidly and brought down the room full of puppets with a knee-height wave of flame.
As they progressed deeper into the lair, the group found themselves confronting Envy. After a bit of mockery, both Envy to the humans and Roy to Envy, Roy asked the question that had plagued him and dogged his feet since Hughes' died. Envy not only admitted to it, but also called Hughes an idiot. It would be fair to say that at this point something that had become fragile in Roy's mind fully snapped. He did not just kill Envy, as he had Lust, he tortured the creature. Using both hands, one for wide-ranging attacks and the other with pinpoint, he wore Envy down in the most painful way possible.
After a brief escape Envy attempted to disguise itself as Roy, to kill Hawkeye, but she didn't fall for it. Instead they had a short fight while Roy was trying to find Envy, ending with Hawkeye being choked. Roy then blasted the vile creature, having found them again. One more blast and Envy was reduced to it's base form, a tiny slug-piranha thing.
Getting ready to crush it under his foot, Roy heard the click of a gun behind him. Hawkeye, who had allowed the burning, was ready to make good on her promise to shoot him if he went off the path of righteousness. The rest of the party left Roy and Hawkeye alone, but in the end they turned back in an attempt at saving Roy from himself. Ed used alchemy to remove Envy from Roy's immediate vicinity, and Ed, Scar, and Hawkeye use their various relationships with Roy to bring him back to himself. For several minutes it was close. Very, very close. In the end, Hawkeye's statement that if she had to shoot him she would finish the battle and then kill herself that made him give up the vengeance he wanted in favour of life, telling her that he couldn't lose her too. Envy attempted to turn the humans against each other, but failed spectacularly enough that it ended up removing it's Philosopher's Stone and suiciding. It wasn't enough, but it had to do. It would take time for Roy to recover.
Venturing deeper into the depths of Central the party encountered one of the scientists who had created Bradley. They had to fight the other men who had undergone the same training, but had not had the chance to become homuncului. The scientist attempted to force Roy into performing human transfiguration by cutting Hawkeye's throat. The death-glare she gave him kept him from doing something stupid, instead forcing Selim and the scientist to play silly buggers with human transfiguration and force Roy into the gate. This involves Wrath pinning him to the ground with swords through his palms. Somebody gonna need healing ja sure ya betcha.
The Truth took Roy's eyes. Not the physical eye, but his sight was gone. He was in complete blackness when he came falling out of the gate head first. There's a short, but intense fight where Roy's main contribution is staying very still and not getting killed before the five sacrifices are caught in homunculus tentacles and dragged to their positions for 'Father' to go ahead and killinate the whole country at once so that he/it can eat God. Because that makes total sense.
There's another fight where shit happens and Roy continues to not have a clue what's going on beyond what he can hear. Let's be honest, here: finding out that your enemy can create a sun in the palm of his hand would be scary as fuck even if you could see it. Hohenheim's counter-attack worked, and part three of 'what the hell is going on somebody explain something' began. The important piece of information that Roy picked out of that part of the fight was that all they needed to do was wear the creature down.
While everyone on their way to the top attempted to leave him behind, once reunited with Hawkeye Roy demanded to know if she could fight, and then bullied his way to the battle field. Don't mess with a man's ego is what I'm saying here. Being called useless was always something Roy couldn't stand, and when it came to the final fight...well. Yes. There was no way he wasn't going to go blast everything around. Too bad that's his pull point, huh?
PERSONALITY:
Roy's personality goes through several iterations over the course of the manga. In the flashback to his last meeting with his master he is naive, with bright and shining ideals of how the world works and what the future will hold.
After Ishval, however, Roy was consumed with his ambitions. His heart was in the right place; he wanted to be at the top in order to change the world from the top down, but the fact was that he still saw everything in his life as a stepping stone towards the Fuhrer’s throne. His ambition was born in the charred remnants of Ishaval, in the corpses of the men and women and children that he had obliterated on the orders of his king. He didn't hesitate, but doing that broke something in him that he could only deal with by focusing his whole life on fixing it.
Roy has a particular form of obsession that usually works out in his favour; he's capable of parallel thinking that allows him to use obsession as a focusing tool, depending on his underlings and most of all Riza Hawkeye to keep him from turning it into the wrong kind of obsession.
At times he appears to have a lack of care for people, coding his direct team with chess terms, recruiting a one-armed, one-legged eleven year old, pushing Havoc to fight despite being paralysed. That's just a surface, though. Not far under the surface he has a loyalty to his people that's as deep as his obsessions. He'll put his people in danger, but not in danger alone or without the tools needed to survive.
Roy is a compassionate man made hard. His dream, his reason to be an alchemist, to be in the military, was to “be able to protect everyone with these hands”. What happened in Ishaval broke his trust in his superiors, and in a way his trust in himself. In many ways the reason that he was able to keep going was by Kimblee's words; “Don't avert your eyes from death. Look forward. Look at the people you're killing in the face. And don't forget them.” His ghosts haunt him, every person he killed rides his steps, but he also acknowledges that he's going to end up making more corpses on his way up. Before Ishaval he was a young man, with a young man's view. Afterward he was an old man, even if his body was still in it's prime. He formulated his plan, and set it in motion understanding what he was likely to lose, and went down that path with a single minded, yet subtle, devotion toward fixing the country.
He began to change again with the death of his best friend, Maes Hughes. Of equal importance to reaching the top was finding out who killed Hughes. He wasn't as in control of this obsession, however, refusing to let himself grieve at all may have been necessary to continuing to function, but it also festered down where no-one could see how far he was going.
The end result of this festering obsession bursts out when he finally catches Envy; torturing the creature rather than simply killing it until it stopped returning to life. The torture takes an entire chase through the underground with Roy acting less like a man and more like the monster he was fighting. The darkest point in his life comes when he is involved in a stand-off between Hawkeye, Ed, and Scar versus himself. Killing Envy was the thing he wanted the most in that moment, even more than he wanted to fix the country, and the decision not to become that monster was a victory won by the thinnest of razor edges.
That marks the final turning point in his personality. At that point he gives up the obsession for revenge, and in doing so is freed of his other obsessions. It wasn't about being leader, any more. It, finally, came back to saving as many people as he possibly can. It can't be said that he released all the hardness and negativity, but rather that he refocused back to his earlier goals. Having seen just how far down he was capable of going, he was reminded of what he was fighting for, and what he was fighting against in the first place. He'd been brought back to his reason rather than his goal.
Roy is also something of a womanizer, choosing to code his notes in women's names only works so long as he actually goes on dates and spends downtime with women. He enjoys their company, on a light and string free manner, being completely unwilling to settle down while in the middle of his rise towards the top. His pose as lazy, however, is pure hyperbole.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
Riza Hawkeye – There is a great deal of love in this relationship. Given different circumstances, if they were not superior and inferior, if they were not both in the military, they could easily turn it to romance. However between Roy's obsession with his goals and their positions in life it is a romance held in abeyance and a love that has been very deliberately put into a box marked 'Platonic'; on Roy's side at least. As she says when discussing Hughes' death; “It isn't like you to mix your professional and private agendas together”. He depends on her to keep him on the straight and narrow, and cannot imagine a life without her presence. What form that presence finally settles down as is up in the air.
Kain Fuery, Heymans Breda, Vato Falman, Jean Havoc – Roy's people, his special underlings, are the folks that he handpicked to help him reach his goals. He trusts them without limit, to do their jobs, to go beyond their jobs, and to keep things running smoothly. Their actions and the very fact that he's rarely shown talking to them show better than words how much he trusts them. With Havoc especially Roy is shown speaking to him with the kind of tone one would use with a friend.
Ed and Al Elric – Roy's feelings for the boys are very conflicted. He admires their ability to persevere despite all that they've been through, he thinks they're idiots for having done human transfiguration. He's willing to use them, he feels badly about it when he has to rip another layer off their childhood. He likes messing with Ed, and if they were closer in age he'd probably be friends with the elder Elric. The age difference, however, makes him take more of an “annoying big brother” position.
Chris Mustang – Roy's foster mother. They snark at each other whenever they're showed together, but she has a blithe confidence in the ability of “Roy-boy” to make it all the way to the top.
Mjr General Olivia Armstrong – She's Roy's rival, and while on the surface they seem like bitter rivals when push comes to shove they're not only willing to work together, but understand each other well enough to move like hand in glove. They don't like each other, but they do respect each other (little though they want anyone else to know it).
Maes Hughes – Roy's best friend who is not exactly his opposite but is not in the same personality category as Roy himself. Maes is a family man, a doting husband and father, with a quick smile and a surprisingly cynical view of war. Hughes isn't an ambitious man himself, but his decision to back Roy's bid for the top is what convinced Roy that he had a chance.
Envy – It is fair to say that Envy is the driving force behind Roy's actions for the majority of the series. Envy's murder of Hughes begins the psychological devolution that very nearly destroys him.
King Bradley/Wrath – When Roy knew the man merely as the Fuhrer he thought the man incompetent and in need of being replaced. Once the tower of cards began to fall and he found out that the king he'd followed wasn't human, and was in power for no reason other than destroying the country he developed a deep hatred. If not for his obsession with Envy, this could have become all-consuming.
Scar – In the beginning Scar was simply a murderer that needed to be caught. In the depths under Central, however, he became more clearly Roy's dark mirror; the face that he would become if he allowed himself to kill Envy out of hatred and grief rather than need. He still doesn't like the other man, but he understands now.
STRENGTH OF HEART MOMENT SUMMARY: Roy's pull point is when he pushes through the panic of losing his eyes, and the fear of being useless (arguably his biggest fear) and determines to go fight anyway because his power as Flame Alchemist is necessary to the survival of the people of his country.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
The first thing he knew was falling, and then hitting ground. Not expecting it, not having a clue where ground was his knees buckled and he fell onto his hands. The fact that they hit cold, slick glass did nothing for the panic once again welling up in him. In what part of his mind laughingly paralleled with Fullmetal's hysteria when he first came away from the Truth he started feeling himself to be sure he hadn't lost anything else.
Everything appeared (heh) to be in the right place, so he stood and called out; “Is someone there? Where am I?” only to hear silence. He couldn't tell if he was back in the white world the Truth inhabited, and that creature, personification, whatever that had taken his eyes didn't seem to be there. Or, if it was, it wasn't answering. “Lieutenant? Fullmetal? Anyone?” He'd even take the homunculus, Greed. Nothing. Nothing and more nothing. He attempted the clapping transmutation that he'd seen Fullmetal do over the years, only to have no power come to his call. The possibility that 'Father' had somehow won made him call out again, shouting for anyone to take away the terrifying idea of being the only person left alive.
Silence was all that answered him, so waving his hands in front of him in an attempt to feel his way without bumping into things he took a few cautious steps forwards and heard a voice not unlike his years dead master in alchemy; Military's dog. Not any more, though, are you? As long as we live, we must seek truth, mustn't we; we alchemists? Have you died, Flame Alchemist?
The idea froze him for a moment. Was he dead? Could silence and blackness be his reward for his part in the Ishval massacre? “No! No, I am not dead.” his protest was firm, and loud. He was alive. Blinded, lost, and alone, but he was alive and he had no intention of laying down and waiting for death. From wherever he was he needed to get back to the fight and help burn away the stolen lives that 'Father' was using to survive. Those already fighting needed him as much as he needed to be needed.
Power. You've always wanted power, haven't you? You've always had power, locked inside of yourself and flailed about with little direction. Now it is time to finally shape it. Step forwards, three paces. dragged by that so familiar voice he did so, and heard the crack of a gunshot, which sent him to the ground again in primal response. It took several seconds to realise both that the crack was the sound of Hawkeye's gun in Ishval, and that the voice was still speaking.
The Guardian who watches, protects, cares for and covers. Take three steps to your left. Gingerly, half expecting the gun to go off again and shoot him this time, he stood up and did as the voice bade. Whoever the voice was, it was the only thing in his world at the moment and his most likely chance of getting back where he belonged.
There was a snap so familiar he felt it in his fingertips, and fire popped and crackled, first brutal and then gentle, containing inside it all the gradations of the most necessary of primitive tools. He leaned towards it, wanting to call it towards himself despite the knowledge that fire, his favourite weapon and tool, would burn him as easily as it would anyone else.
The Alchemist who seeks and finds only the next question, creator and destroyer. Take three steps to your left. This time the slowness in his step was reluctance to leave the fire. Also a primal urge, he thought, to seek warmth and light (even if he couldn't see it he knew that the light was there) in the face of uncertainty.
This time swords clashed, desperate grunts of man versus man face to face in the struggle for life – and death. There was a pull there, as well, although it was mostly due to what the sword had come to mean to him; Bradley...no, Wrath's preferred weaponry. The creature he'd known as king and Fuhrer, the ultimate eye making the ultimate warrior.
The Warrior who never quails, domination by strength of arms, leader of the charge. What is the form that your power shall take? Roy stood where he was, running the options over in his mind. Once, twice, three times. He had no idea what the hell was going on or what the catch was, but there was a catch. There was always a catch.
If he picked, would he be given what he'd chosen? Or would that be what was taken from him? “Who are you? What's going on?” nothing. “Answer me!” Nothing at all. ”ANSWER ME, DAMN YOU!” When the third demand garnered no response he grimaced and clapped wounded hands as he'd seen Fullmetal do, intent on blasting fire around to see if he could spook someone out. The fire came to his call and he filled the space around himself. When he finally stopped and the fire, bereft of anything to burn, died down there was only another question;
What form do you relinquish? the voice had sound of pain or damage, there no smell of cooking or burning flesh. There was both annoyance and relief in his mind; relief that his power was finally answering his call, annoyance that trying to use it was apparently a choice. Sure, it was the choice he'd have made if he'd trusted but he still didn't like feeling pushed into it.
Guardian or Warrior, huh? This one he had to think about more carefully. Gingerly he sat on the ground with his chin on his hand. No big gestures this time, he wanted to actually make the choice rather than default into it. Leader or guardian?
Weren't they the same thing, in the end? The leader there to keep the country safe? Then again, the country was a military state and people like him; “the Military's Dogs” were considered living weapons. What was a weapon? A weapon was a tool used aggressively against someone else. Was a tool evil? No, he thought, a tool is just a tool. It is used when needed and put away when not. Could he be a weapon and a guardian?
”Take a good look at your face before you do anything. You think you can lead a country looking like that?!”
“Or will you let your fury turn you into little more than an animal?”
“I wonder how a world led by a beast in human skin would end up.”
“Please, Colonel, don't go where I can't follow.”
A weapon has to have a hand to wield it. It cannot wield itself without losing sight of it's path. Or, to think of it another way; would he rather be the Lieutenant or the Fuhrer? Hawkeye or Bradley, the choices they would make made his own obvious. There was only one reason he'd determined to take Bradley's position, and that was to protect his country. His people.
“Take the sword.” even if that meant giving up any chance of ever being Fuhrer or President. He didn't want to fight just to fight, and he didn't want to be leader if that meant giving up protecting the people under him. His voice was exhausted from the struggle it took for him to make the choice, and part of him – a small but real part – wanted him to take it back, “Take the sword and let me go.”
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Roy is a good enough Alchemist to have become a National Alchemist before he got the powers that made him the Flame Alchemist, never mind that Ed got his name at the same time as his position, the flashback has him National Alchemist before his master died and Hawkeye gave him the secrets of the fire.
Fire is, however, where he excels. Good enough to perform two kinds of attack at once using one hand for each attack; close and far. Good enough that with the circles on his gloves he was able to twist fuses out of dust and adjust the level of air to get the burn he wanted. Good enough that he could turn a room full of water into a raging inferno.
His choices will have him leaning on his alchemy/magic a bit more than in canon. However, due to his brush with the Truth and subsequent loss of his eyes he no longer needs his gloves or other alchemical circles to perform his alchemy. He'll get his fire back pretty close to immediately, and the rest of his “magic” very rapidly by pitting the scientific mind of the Alchemist to figuring out his new “car”.
Physically he's just a very in-shape thirty-something man who is completely blind for reasons that medical and magical healing can't fix.
INVENTORY:
One uniform with gloves and long black overcoat. The whole is slightly singed, bloody, and covered in holes.
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