Alchemist: Brotherhood is a classic anime with plenty of laughs, but is generally better known for moments when things go dark and characters feel hopeless. The characters’ ability to recover from these events is one of the series’ strengths, so it’s worth taking a look at the five darkest moments in the entire story, as well as how the main characters Fullmetal Alchemist’s deal with these problems and promote because.
5 The Fall of Xerxes
Xerxes is the home of the man known as Hohenheim, AKA father of the Elrics. At the time, he was a slave tasked with taking care of the first Homunculus, created by a royal alchemist. The King of Xerxes hoped to be able to use Homunculus’ knowledge to become immortal, but the Homunculus tricked him, forcing the King to create a transformation circle around the entire Kingdom with himself and Hohenheim. in the center. When the transformation circle was activated, Hohenheim and Homunculus were granted eternal life – at the expense of everyone else in the Kingdom. Hohenheim was horrified but powerless to do anything about it.
Unlike many times on this list, Hohenheim is insurmountable; he has lived his whole life of guilt and depression, while still fighting against the Homunculus (now known as Father) in every possible way. The most peaceful Hohenheim ever had was probably when he was with Trisha Elric, the boys’ mother. However, even that respite could not last forever and Hohenheim was forced to leave behind his new family.
Elrics .’s Attempt to Resuscitate Mother
One of the series’ earliest moments is also one of its darkest. Edward Elric, having lost his mother to illness, decides that he and his brother Al can use their knowledge of alchemy to bring her back. As stupid as it may be, it’s important to remember that Edward was really a child, barely capable of the forward thinking needed to realize the danger here. The boys research and create the transformation circle, as well as collect all the chemical ingredients, but when they activate it, something terrible happens. Alphonse was completely destroyed by a mysterious force, while Edward lost his leg. He then wakes up to find an inhuman abomination instead of his mother and is forced to sacrifice his right arm to retrieve Al’s soul from the Gate of Truth.
The entire episode has an foreboding aspect to it, as it’s told in flashbacks, so it’s clear to viewers that this isn’t going to go well. Every decision the boys make that leads them to their fate has the audience screaming at them to stop, and then when the inevitable happens, the scene is truly heartbreaking. Ed was able to recover from this just because he got Al; otherwise, he might have bled on the floor, leaving a gruesome sight for the Rockbells to discover. This is a time to strengthen the brotherhood and become the foundation for everything they will do in the future.
3 Major Hughes’ Death
Major Maes Hughes was one of the first to love the Elric brothers, treating them warmly as if they were his own children. Hughes was a good man who loved his family, especially his daughter Elicia. The major unfortunately discovered the homunculi that ruled the nation of Amestris, which immediately made him their target. While Hughes tried his best to get out and give this information to Colonel Roy Mustang, he was eventually murdered in cold blood by the sin/homunculus Envy who took the extremely cruel step of being transforms into his wife before killing him, causing him to hesitate. to retaliate.
Hughes himself, apparently, was unable to recover from death, but his fall was a blow to everyone from Colonel Mustang to Elrics. Roy Mustang blamed himself heavily, as he felt his orders to Hughes were a large part of the cause of his death. This culminates in the “terrible rainy day” funeral scene where Roy devotes himself to finding Hughes’ killer, which is how he got through. When he discovered the truth on the Promised Day, he brutally beat Envy, but was ultimately robbed of his revenge when Envy destroyed its own Sorcerer’s Stone.
2 being devoured by gluttony
While Ed and Ling were battling Envy, all three were devoured by Gluttony, though it wasn’t really intentional. Gluttony’s stomach actually leads to another dimension, and as far as everyone knows, it’s completely inescapable. Trapped with an injured Ling and a very angry Envy, Edward could easily have become most desperate at the time and in that regard, so is Al.
Ed’s intelligence and knowledge of alchemy are his saving grace here. He was able to make an escape plan when he saw the Sorcerer’s Stone serving as the core of Envy, and Envy was at least rational enough to agree to cooperate for its own survival. The plan, which involved opening Gluttony’s Gate of False Truth, was something only Ed could have come up with, because only he had enough knowledge of the Gate to do so. Al also plays an important role here, managing Gluttony while the three are trapped inside.
1 Nina’s Fate
Known to fans as one of the saddest moments in anime history, the episodes involving Nina Tucker are notorious, and this tragedy happened early enough that it really dealt a blow to Fullmetal Alchemist How ready to accept the darkness. Raised and mentored by the Alchemist “The Sewing Life”, Shou Tucker, the Elrics’ bond with him and his daughter like a family. However, Shou Tucker is facing a test to maintain his Alchemy Certificate, and his research has stalled. Instead of solving this problem like a normal scientist, Shou goes completely insane and uses his stepdaughter Nina and their pet dog to create a chimera by merging the two together. . Ed and Al are horrified, but not as terrified when they find her later, after the hybrid creature is killed by Scar, who sees it as a mercy.
Nina’s fate contains many things that make Fullmetal Alchemist’s dark moments stand out and be remembered by fans. It’s a betrayal of trust, in that Ed and Al think Shou Tucker is a respectable man; it’s an affront to nature, a big theme in the series; tragic, because Nina and Alexander are so sweet and innocent; and all are motivated by nothing more than ambition, which ultimately benefits no one. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has its characters going through some really dark moments, but they end up taking the lead by carrying the pain of those moments throughout the series.