Alex Louis Armstrong

The Fullmetal Alchemist manga and anime series feature an extensive cast of fictional characters created by Hiromu Arakawa. The story is set in a fictional universe within the 20th century in which alchemy is one of the most advanced scientific techniques. Although they basically start the same, the first anime, midway through its run, begins to differ greatly from the original manga; characters that are killed early on in the manga survive to the end of the first anime and vice versa. The second anime's (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) events, however, faithfully follow those from the manga.

The story follows the adventures of two alchemist brothers named Edward and Alphonse Elric. While trying to revive their mother, the brothers lost parts of their bodies, with Alphonse's soul being contained in a suit of armor, and Edward replacing his right arm and left leg with two sets of automail, a type of advanced prosthetic limb. Advised by Roy Mustang, an alchemist from the State Military, Edward becomes a State Alchemist, and starts traveling with Alphonse through the country of Amestris in order to find a way to recover their bodies. In their search, they hear of the Philosopher's Stone, a powerful alchemy artifact that the brothers can use to recover their bodies.

When creating the series, Arakawa took her inspiration from several experiences in her childhood, including her parents' jobs and the manga she used to read. Several types of merchandising have also been released based on the characters from the series. Reviewers from manga, anime, and other media have also commented on the characters. Most of them have praised their development in the story as well as Arakawa's artwork.

The author Hiromu Arakawa integrated several social problems into the story after talking to people who had suffered and lived through them, such as refugees, war veterans and former yakuza, or simply by watching news concerning those issues. Several plot elements expand on these themes, such as Pinako Rockbell caring for the Elric brothers after the death of their mother, and the brothers helping people all over the country to gain an understanding of the meaning of family. Many characters of the series differ from the manga to the first anime, the homunculi being the most notable, which was because Arakawa wanted the first anime to have a different ending from the manga, to avoid repeating the same events in both series.

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