Full Metal Alchemist: The Homunculi, Explained

Key Takeaways

• Greed’s durable carapace makes him the Ultimate Shield, unmatched in defense.
• Gluttony’s endless appetite and false Gate of Truth make him a nightmare.
• Envy’s shapeshifting cruelty and regenerative abilities make him a cruel foe.

Fullmetal Alchemist has had one of the most interesting concepts as the basis for its power systems. Alchemy is essentially the manipulation of matter using ancient practices and the natural energy of the world. This act is known as Transmutation and basically alters a state of matter to become something else entirely and can also be used to completely deconstruct or even destroy anything.

However, there are also many forbidden arts within the world of Fullmetal Alchemist that essentially take the concepts of Alchemy and use them in unspeakable ways. One of the most dangerous of these are the Homunculi, who are essentially artificial humans with incredible powers to perform Alchemy on a greater scale than the average Alchemist. So, let’s take a look at each of them and see just why they’re so strong.

Greed Is Incredibly Durable

The Ultimate Shield

Greed is the third oldest of all the Homunculi, being alive for over 200 years and personifying Father’s avarice. Due to his natural state of greed, he was unique among the Homunculi as one who broke his allegiance to his creator, instead vying to go solo due to his covetousness being more important to him than anything else. He was incredibly powerful because of his own abilities as well as those that he got after possessing Ling.

You humans think greed is just for money and power! But everyone wants something they don’t have.

Greed’s innate and special ability allowed him to manipulate the carbon atoms on his skin to make a hardened carapace around him that was one of the most durable things in the entire series. This armor got him the title of Father’s “Ultimate Shield” and was so strong that bullets just bounced off of him, which, paired with the incredible regenerative powers that all Homunculi inherently have, made him a nightmare to face.

Gluttony Is Always Hungry

The Voracious

Gluttony initially seems to be the most unassuming of all the Homunculi, but his original form is among the most horrifying of the bunch. Personifying Father’s need to consume, Gluttony was created after Father’s failed attempt at making a Gate of Truth in order to accumulate an incredible amount of Alchemical power. Despite this amazing strength, however, Gluttony is rather simple-minded and becomes subservient to any Homunculus stronger than himself.

Can I eat him now, Lust? Oh please!

He also has a signature ability. His true form opens the false Gate of Truth that traps anything within a pocket dimension permanently, which was used by Father to dump all of his failed experiments into so they would never again see the light of day. Moreover, Gluttony’s jaws in this form are powerful enough to chew through steel, which is made worse when considering that his appetite is indeed boundless.

Envy Is Cruel And Sadistic

The Jealous

Perhaps the most cruel Homunculus of them all, Envy is an evil and sadistic creature who is responsible for the death of one of the series’ most beloved characters. Born from the envy Father felt towards the bonds and freedom of humans, Envy’s inherent ability is that of shapeshifting into any other person or creature that it desires, perfectly mirroring its name and powers. While this is definitely the best innate ability when it comes to infiltration and spying, as was shown, Envy has used this ability in far more sadistic ways.

You have no idea how good that felt! I ravaged their entire country with a single bullet!

Envy has been shown to transform into the appearance of its target’s loved ones, making the entire act of killing them far more cruel and uncalled-for. Moreover, its true form has one of the greatest regenerative abilities of all the Homunculi and incredible strength to boot, but unfortunately, it relies on its powers far too much, This means that its fighting skills are very poor.

Sloth Is A Terrifying Monster

The Indolent

Sloth is very true to his name, especially because he barely ever talks due to him thinking of it as a tiresome action. Father appointed Sloth to always be digging underground tunnels because of his incredible strength, because of which Sloth rarely even converses or even meets with his siblings, always continuing his excavations while complaining about them the entire time.

Such a pain… to think about it…

However, Sloth is the exact opposite of his name in a fight. Though his average disposition is that of a hulking and slow brute, he is incredibly strong and is actually incredibly fast. However, even his immense strength can’t make up for the fact that he lacks the brains to make full use of his powers.

Lust Is Merciless

The Ultimate Spear

Although a Homunculi like the rest of her siblings, Lust is one of the 3 leaders of the group who keep the others in line to carry out Father’s will. Unsurprisingly, Lust is known to use her beautiful looks to manipulate and blackmail her victims, which also makes her one of the smartest Homunculi out of them all, always strategically approaching any situation and how well she thinks about her actions. She is also the most charming, which allows her to seduce unsuspecting targets to carry out her plans.

Bloodshed gives way to more bloodshed. Hatred breeds more hatred, until all of the violence soaks into the land carving rivers of blood.

Unlike the Homunculi below her, who are the perfect manifestations of their respective ‘sin’, Lust is always calm and collected in every situation, never letting her emotions get the better of her. She is not a slave to her nature like Gluttony is to food or Greed is to avarice. Contrary to the latter, Lust’s has the ability is to make her nails grow exponentially longer in the blink of an eye, which are so fast and strong that they can pierce through anything, earning her the moniker of the “Ultimate Spear”.

Wrath Is The Perfect Warrior

The Furious

Wrath was introduced as Fuhrer-King Bradley and initially seemed to be a good guy, but was eventually revealed to be one of the strongest Homunculi as well as one of the primary antagonists of the story. Just like Lust, he is also one of the 3 leading Homunculi and is the personification of Father’s Wrath, although he is very calm and polite in his disposition to the average person. This contrast was partly the reason he became the leader of Amestris.

I’ve lived my life by forever following the path that had been set for me.

Wrath possesses the typical strength and speed of his kin but he cannot regenerate. His innate ability isn’t very apparent in comparison to the others, but is known as the ‘Ultimate Eye’, which is always covered up by an eyepatch and has an Ouroboros on it. This allows Wrath to predict all of his opponents’ moves in the future, which is made even more potent by his incredible skills as a fighter and his exceptional agility in a battle situation.

Pride Is The First-Ever Homunculus

The Arrogant

Despite taking on the appearance of a young child, Pride is the oldest Homunculus of them all and is over 350 years old. Due to his age and the nature of being the very first Homunculus, Pride acts as the second-in-command to Father, with authority that supersedes even Wrath and Lust. Just like the sin he is named after, Pride is extremely arrogant and narcissistic as he not only sees himself as superior to humans, but to the other Homunculi as well.

They may well be tenacious creatures, but humans are easy to dupe.

He is utterly loyal to Father and follows whatever he commands. Moreover, he is also the most powerful of the Homunculi due to the sin of pride being Father’s most apparent, and he uses his innate ability to form extremely powerful and durable shadows that can destroy pretty much whatever he wants them to. However, the most terrifying ability of Pride is the fact that these shadows can be used over huge distances and can consume people or even Homunculi, with the latter even having their abilities stolen by him.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood can be streamed on Crunchyroll and Netflix.