Edward Elric (the Fullmetal Alchemist) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
transmutate) wrote2016-11-20 11:32 pm
transmutate) wrote2016-11-20 11:32 pm
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
entranceway app!
Name: Shana.
DW username: effulgent
E-Mail: shananagin @ gmail
IM: aboutblood
Plurk: antivillain
Other Characters: Dipper Pines, Georgia Mason, Pidge Gunderson
Character Name: Edward Elric
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Timeline: End of episode 10 "Separate Destinations"
Canon Resource Link: boom
Character History: Edward's early life was pretty good. He had his mother, Tricia, and his little brother, Alphonse, and they were all very happy. His father, Hohenheim, had left them when Ed was very young, and Ed had completely written him off. Hohenheim hadn't loved his family enough to stay with them, so as far as Ed was concerned, he didn't count as family. Ed and Al both showed a high proficiency for alchemy from a very young age, just like their father, and they enjoyed showing off for their mother. Unfortunately, Tricia passed away when Ed was only 5, and Al 4. They kept living in their house, learning alchemy from their father's books while Pinako Rockbell, their neighbor and family friend took care of them alongside her daughter Winry. They had decided that they were going to learn enough alchemy to bring back their mother even though it was a taboo.
Unfortunately, it turned out there was only so much they could learn on their own. Their chance to learn more came in form of a "simple housewife" passing through: the exceptionally skilled Izumi Curtis. She was reluctant to take in the boys, but after they proved themselves by surviving a month on an island, she brought them home and taught them alchemy. They were subject to intensive training at her hands for five months, and then they returned home. Despite Izumi's teaching that death is a part of the flow of the world, they went right back into their plan to resurrect their mother.
They amassed the necessary ingredients that make up an adult human body, made a transmutation circle, and used some of their own blood for soul and biological data, then initiated human transmutation. Unfortunately, it didn't work, sending them into a rebound that sent Ed into a strange white space and confronted with a being known as the Truth or the World or God and got a glimpse into the vast alchemical knowledge that could be seen through the gate that appeared. When Ed came back, he found himself missing a leg, the price for what he'd seen, the thing that was supposed to be their mother was just a mass of grotesque organs, and worst of all, Al was entirely gone. Ed couldn't bear to lose his brother and created a blood rune on a suit of armor, giving up his arm as well in order to save his brother's soul. It worked, and Al carried the heavily injured Ed back to the Rockbell house.
Ed fell into a heavy depression after the abject failure of his human transmutation. He was missing two limbs, his brother was missing his entire body, and their mom was still dead. He stayed that way until Roy Mustang came to Resembool. He saw the remains of the Elric brothers' experiment and confronted them. He persuaded Ed to join the state alchemist programs to pursue the research that would let him get back his brother's body and his own. With a possible means to end his guilt in sight, Ed regained his ambition and commissioned Pinako and Winry to give him automail limbs to replace the arm and leg he'd lost. They told him it would take three years to do the surgeries to install them and for him to recover. He promised he'd make it in one.
A year later, Edward, now 12, went to Central with his new automail limbs and took the examinations. When it came time for the practical part of the tests, he was astounded that Fuhrer-President King Bradley himself had come to watch the proceedings. Ed showed off the ability he had gained while looking at the truth--to do alchemy without a transmutation circle by clapping his hands and forming a circle that way and used it to form a spear and threaten the Fuhrer-President. Though Bradley used his own extremely fast swordsmanship to cut off the top of the spear, he was impressed with Edward's brazeness and gave him the title "Fullmetal Alchemist" to go with his license.
On October 3, 1911 he and Al burned down their house so that there would be no turning back. They were on a journey to get their bodies back. Ed carved the date into the pocket watch he'd received as a State Alchemist so that he wouldn't forget.
Three years later, the brothers get a lead on the Philosopher's stone, a legendary perfect substance known to be able to aid in transmutation. It seems like the best shot to get their bodies back. They travel to Liore and find a priest in the new Church of Leto named Cornello who has been impressing his followers with "miracles," something the boys quickly spot as actually alchemy, though certainly alchemy more powerful than he should be capable of. With the help of Rose, a Letoist girl who follows Cornello on the promise of him bringing her boyfriend back to life, they infiltrate the church and expose Cornello as a fraud. Ed defeats Cornello, but the stone shatters and disintegrates, leaving Ed to conclude it was as fake as Cornello. He tells Rose that she has two strong legs and should keep moving, even though she doesn't have her faith anymore.
When they get back to East Tucker, Colonel Mustang introduces Ed to Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist, in hopes that his work on chimeras might help the boys figure out a way to get their bodies back. He can't help them much, but he lets them look through his library. They also bond with his young daughter, Nina, and her dog, Alexander, and take some breaks to play with the two of them. Tucker is worried he won't be able to maintain his State Alchemist status since he hasn't had a success since the experiment that gave him his title, a chimera that could speak. When the boys return, they find that he's made another chimera that can speak. Edward realizes, however, that Nina and Alexander are missing and that his first victory happened when Tucker's wife left him. He realizes that this chimera is actually made from Nina and Alexander, and that Tucker has sacrificed both his wife and daughter in the name of alchemy. Ed punches Tucker repeatedly as Tucker insists they're the same, since Ed experimented with his mother. Al stops Ed before he kills Tucker, but Ed is still distraught, especially since they have no way to fix Nina. He learns later, that Tucker and Nina both have been murdered by the mysterious assailant known as Scar who's been attacking only State Alchemists.
Before they really have time to process, Scar comes after Edward. Ed's never seen anything like Scar's ability to alchemically destroy anything he touches, and doesn't know how to fight it, though between his automail parts and Al's entirely metal body, they do manage to last longer than the other alchemists Scar has killed. Scar manages to disintegrate a large portion of Al's body and destroy Ed's arm, though. Al encourages Ed to run, but Ed instead tells Scar to kill him so long as he leaves Al alone. Before Scar can do it, Colonel Mustang and Major Alex Armstrong come to the rescue along with Mustang's team. They manage to defeat Scar, but he escapes to the sewers. Mustang realizes that Scar is a survivor of the Ishbal civil war out for revenge, and Al yells at Ed for giving up and tells him never to accept death like that again.
Ed and Al go back to Resembool to get repairs accompanied by Major Armstrong since Ed is vulnerable without his arm and Scar is still on the loose. On the way, Armstrong recognizes an old colleague, Dr. Marcoh, who he knows to be a medical alchemist. They get off and go to find him. Marcoh has been living under an assumed name and treating the people of the town, and he doesn't want to talk to Armstrong and Ed in fear that they will bring him back. They muscle him into doing it anyway, though, and Marcoh reveals he had been working on the Philosopher's Stone and shows them the imperfect stone Marcoh made. Ed is immediately excited but Marcoh tells him he must not seek it out and refuses to share the information even after hearing Ed's story. Ed is dejected but doesn't want to take the imperfect one by force even if it would help with their quest since Dr. Marcoh has been using it to heal the villagers and that's also important. Right before they leave, though, Dr. Marcoh finds them again, swayed by Ed's determination, and tells him the research is in the first branch of the National Central Library. He tells Ed he hopes it'll lead him to find "the truth beyond the truth."
Ed and Al make it back to the Rockbell Home and are welcomed by Pinako and Winry, though they're both mad that they never called and Winry is distraught over the state of Ed's automail. Pinako adjusts his leg and Winry works nonstop for three days to fix Ed's arm so they can go back to Central and follow this new lead. Ed fixes Al with his newly fixed limbs and the two of them head on back to Central to read up on Marcoh's research.
When they get to Central, Armstrong swaps out escort duty with 2nd Lieutenant Maria Ross and Sergeant Denny Brosh and they all go to the First Branch. Unfortunately, it had burned down shortly before the boys got there. Mysteriously. Fortunately, they find former librarian Sheska trapped in a pile of books. She had been fired since she spent too much time reading at work, but she has a perfect memory of everything she's read and she replicates Marcoh's work perfectly. Ed pays her extremely well and gets her a job with Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes and gets to work with Al trying to decode the research. It takes them ten grueling days to figure out the truth: that the Philosopher's Stone is made out of humans.
Dejected, Ed considers asking Al if he hates Ed for turning him into a suit of armor without a body, but before he can Armstrong interrupts. He intimidated Ross and Brosch into telling him what the Elric brothers told him and wants to comfort them. That reminds Ed, though, that Marcoh had mentioned a truth beyond the truth, and he decides to continue investigating. He finds a supposedly decommissioned fifth alchemy laboratory besides the four known ones and notes that it's right next to a prison, perfect for obtaining humans that won't be missed. Armstrong tells them not to go look into it but of course, Ed and Al sneak out without telling their bodyguards.
It's immediately clear that the laboratory is still in use, since there are guards, but Ed and Al sneak past the wall. There's a vent that Ed can use to get in, but it's too small for Al, so Al has to wait outside. Ed discovers a huge room with a large, mysterious transmutation circle built around it and concludes this must be what is used to make philosopher's stones. Before he can look into it further, an armored figure called Number 48 attacks him. Ed realizes that Number 48 is an empty suit of armor, just like Al, and 48 shows him the blood rune and tells Ed that he used to be a serial killer called Slicer. He confirms that he was pulled off death row and experimented on. He nearly defeats 48, then learns that actually it's a pair of brothers, both with runes connecting them to the armor. They injure him badly and back him into a corner, but Ed adapts Scar's destructive alchemy and immobilizes them. He refuses to kill them, however, because saying that they're not living humans would mean saying the same thing about Al and he refuses to give up on his brother like that. The two are moved by Ed treating them as human for the first time in their lives, and they're about to tell him more about the lab when a mysterious woman and teenager appear and destroy the blood runes keeping them connected to their armor. The two, Lust and Envy, refer to Ed as a precious human sacrifice and also call him short a bunch, which pisses Ed off and makes him want to attack them despite how injured he is. Unfortunately (or possibly extremely fortunately) his automail stops working, and instead of fighting Envy just knocks him unconscious and pulls him out of the building as they blow it up. They leave him with Ross and Brosch, who have followed them, and the four of them flee.
Ed wakes up in a hospital, and Ross and Brosch reprimand him despite being lower rank than him, telling him to trust his allies. Ed calls Winry and has her come up to Central to fix his arm, and while he notices Al is being despondent, doesn't do much about it right up until Al accuses Ed of having created Al and doubting that Al was ever real instead of just a bunch of made up memories Ed had implanted. Ed runs away, and, with Winry's urging, Al follows. They spar and talk it out and Ed reassures Al that he's real, and that they are going to get their bodies back. Fuhrer King Bradley appears in Ed's hospital room and gives Ed a melon, then warns him to be wary of the military and sneaks out the window. Ed and Al decide to visit Izumi and strengthen their bodies (since they've been getting their asses kicked a lot) as well as get her advice on the philosopher's stone and how to get their bodies back. When Winry learns that Dublith, where Izumi lives, is very close to the famous automail community of Rush Valley, she decides to tag along, and the three of them set out.
Abilities/Special Powers: Ed's main powers is that of alchemy: transmuting one material into another. Unlike most alchemists, he doesn't need to make a transmutation circle to do it, instead clapping his hands and forming a circle that way and then touching his hands to whatever he wants to transmute. He's very smart and good at learning other transmutational techniques, either by reading or by emulating other alchemists. For instance, after seeing Scar break the transmutation cycle and destroy without creating again, he later does the same thing. He also can figure out the composition of different materials very quickly to use them in alchemy.
His automail limbs are very durable, and when he fights, he'll often transmute his arm into a blade and use it for battle. He's tough and acrobatic and creative in battle, generally believing there's no such thing as cheating in a fight since you generally want to stay alive. He's an expert at using his surroundings and incorporating alchemy into his fighting style.
Third-Person Sample: "Al?" Edward yawns and stretches and blinks. This… is not the train he had been on with his brother and Winry. This is, in fact, some weird sort of maze. He stands up, looking around in alarm. "Alphonse? Winry?" When there's no response, he growls in annoyance and starts moving.
It doesn't take him long to get tired of running around through hedges and getting nowhere. He growls in frustration and claps his hands, then hits the bush in front of him, setting out a burst of explosive alchemy and blowing a big hole in it. There's another hedge, but that's okay. He can keep doing this until he finally reaches the last one. He steps out into a field and blinks around.
He doesn't know this area at all, and he still doesn't see Al or Winry around. Just some big house in the distance. He still has no idea where he is, but if he's going to find his answers, they'll probably be there. Maybe there'll be people, maybe there'll be newspapers or books or something for him to research, but there has to be something. In any case, it's not like he was having any luck in the hedge maze. He stalks towards the mansion. Information would be welcome, of course, but if he finds out anyone in that mansion has hurt his little brother, there will be hell to pay.
First-Person Sample: [There's an angry looking blond kid staring at the phone and scowling.]
What sort of device is this? I've never seen a camera that can record like this.
[But it definitely is recording. Edward's poked around enough to figure that out already.]
And while I'm at it, what sort of place is this? There's no train station here, and if there was a place like this between Central and Dublith, I would have heard about it.
[He leans in again, making a fist, and smiles, showing his teeth.]
And more importantly, where is my brother? He's about 2 meters tall and dressed in full body armor and I find out any of you hurt him, there'll be hell to pay.
[Yes, the skinny kid is worried about the giant in full body armor. Please, point that out. He is waiting eagerly for you to point that out so he can point out all your teeth on the floor.]
If you want proof I'm not bluffing, just look out at the hedge maze. I woke up in. I'd say I'm sorry about destroying it, but if you don't want people destroying your plants you shouldn't kidnap them and stash them there.
[A beat. He waves a hand vaguely, glancing away.]
Oh, yeah, and there's a girl I'm missing too, Winry. She's my automail mechanic and I guess she's important too. [Maybe. A little bit. He makes a fist again and glares at the camera.] I don't care how cool your cameras are, I have to keep going with my journey. Give me back my people, and give me a train ticket out of here so I can get out of here.
DW username: effulgent
E-Mail: shananagin @ gmail
IM: aboutblood
Plurk: antivillain
Other Characters: Dipper Pines, Georgia Mason, Pidge Gunderson
Character Name: Edward Elric
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Timeline: End of episode 10 "Separate Destinations"
Canon Resource Link: boom
Character History: Edward's early life was pretty good. He had his mother, Tricia, and his little brother, Alphonse, and they were all very happy. His father, Hohenheim, had left them when Ed was very young, and Ed had completely written him off. Hohenheim hadn't loved his family enough to stay with them, so as far as Ed was concerned, he didn't count as family. Ed and Al both showed a high proficiency for alchemy from a very young age, just like their father, and they enjoyed showing off for their mother. Unfortunately, Tricia passed away when Ed was only 5, and Al 4. They kept living in their house, learning alchemy from their father's books while Pinako Rockbell, their neighbor and family friend took care of them alongside her daughter Winry. They had decided that they were going to learn enough alchemy to bring back their mother even though it was a taboo.
Unfortunately, it turned out there was only so much they could learn on their own. Their chance to learn more came in form of a "simple housewife" passing through: the exceptionally skilled Izumi Curtis. She was reluctant to take in the boys, but after they proved themselves by surviving a month on an island, she brought them home and taught them alchemy. They were subject to intensive training at her hands for five months, and then they returned home. Despite Izumi's teaching that death is a part of the flow of the world, they went right back into their plan to resurrect their mother.
They amassed the necessary ingredients that make up an adult human body, made a transmutation circle, and used some of their own blood for soul and biological data, then initiated human transmutation. Unfortunately, it didn't work, sending them into a rebound that sent Ed into a strange white space and confronted with a being known as the Truth or the World or God and got a glimpse into the vast alchemical knowledge that could be seen through the gate that appeared. When Ed came back, he found himself missing a leg, the price for what he'd seen, the thing that was supposed to be their mother was just a mass of grotesque organs, and worst of all, Al was entirely gone. Ed couldn't bear to lose his brother and created a blood rune on a suit of armor, giving up his arm as well in order to save his brother's soul. It worked, and Al carried the heavily injured Ed back to the Rockbell house.
Ed fell into a heavy depression after the abject failure of his human transmutation. He was missing two limbs, his brother was missing his entire body, and their mom was still dead. He stayed that way until Roy Mustang came to Resembool. He saw the remains of the Elric brothers' experiment and confronted them. He persuaded Ed to join the state alchemist programs to pursue the research that would let him get back his brother's body and his own. With a possible means to end his guilt in sight, Ed regained his ambition and commissioned Pinako and Winry to give him automail limbs to replace the arm and leg he'd lost. They told him it would take three years to do the surgeries to install them and for him to recover. He promised he'd make it in one.
A year later, Edward, now 12, went to Central with his new automail limbs and took the examinations. When it came time for the practical part of the tests, he was astounded that Fuhrer-President King Bradley himself had come to watch the proceedings. Ed showed off the ability he had gained while looking at the truth--to do alchemy without a transmutation circle by clapping his hands and forming a circle that way and used it to form a spear and threaten the Fuhrer-President. Though Bradley used his own extremely fast swordsmanship to cut off the top of the spear, he was impressed with Edward's brazeness and gave him the title "Fullmetal Alchemist" to go with his license.
On October 3, 1911 he and Al burned down their house so that there would be no turning back. They were on a journey to get their bodies back. Ed carved the date into the pocket watch he'd received as a State Alchemist so that he wouldn't forget.
Three years later, the brothers get a lead on the Philosopher's stone, a legendary perfect substance known to be able to aid in transmutation. It seems like the best shot to get their bodies back. They travel to Liore and find a priest in the new Church of Leto named Cornello who has been impressing his followers with "miracles," something the boys quickly spot as actually alchemy, though certainly alchemy more powerful than he should be capable of. With the help of Rose, a Letoist girl who follows Cornello on the promise of him bringing her boyfriend back to life, they infiltrate the church and expose Cornello as a fraud. Ed defeats Cornello, but the stone shatters and disintegrates, leaving Ed to conclude it was as fake as Cornello. He tells Rose that she has two strong legs and should keep moving, even though she doesn't have her faith anymore.
When they get back to East Tucker, Colonel Mustang introduces Ed to Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist, in hopes that his work on chimeras might help the boys figure out a way to get their bodies back. He can't help them much, but he lets them look through his library. They also bond with his young daughter, Nina, and her dog, Alexander, and take some breaks to play with the two of them. Tucker is worried he won't be able to maintain his State Alchemist status since he hasn't had a success since the experiment that gave him his title, a chimera that could speak. When the boys return, they find that he's made another chimera that can speak. Edward realizes, however, that Nina and Alexander are missing and that his first victory happened when Tucker's wife left him. He realizes that this chimera is actually made from Nina and Alexander, and that Tucker has sacrificed both his wife and daughter in the name of alchemy. Ed punches Tucker repeatedly as Tucker insists they're the same, since Ed experimented with his mother. Al stops Ed before he kills Tucker, but Ed is still distraught, especially since they have no way to fix Nina. He learns later, that Tucker and Nina both have been murdered by the mysterious assailant known as Scar who's been attacking only State Alchemists.
Before they really have time to process, Scar comes after Edward. Ed's never seen anything like Scar's ability to alchemically destroy anything he touches, and doesn't know how to fight it, though between his automail parts and Al's entirely metal body, they do manage to last longer than the other alchemists Scar has killed. Scar manages to disintegrate a large portion of Al's body and destroy Ed's arm, though. Al encourages Ed to run, but Ed instead tells Scar to kill him so long as he leaves Al alone. Before Scar can do it, Colonel Mustang and Major Alex Armstrong come to the rescue along with Mustang's team. They manage to defeat Scar, but he escapes to the sewers. Mustang realizes that Scar is a survivor of the Ishbal civil war out for revenge, and Al yells at Ed for giving up and tells him never to accept death like that again.
Ed and Al go back to Resembool to get repairs accompanied by Major Armstrong since Ed is vulnerable without his arm and Scar is still on the loose. On the way, Armstrong recognizes an old colleague, Dr. Marcoh, who he knows to be a medical alchemist. They get off and go to find him. Marcoh has been living under an assumed name and treating the people of the town, and he doesn't want to talk to Armstrong and Ed in fear that they will bring him back. They muscle him into doing it anyway, though, and Marcoh reveals he had been working on the Philosopher's Stone and shows them the imperfect stone Marcoh made. Ed is immediately excited but Marcoh tells him he must not seek it out and refuses to share the information even after hearing Ed's story. Ed is dejected but doesn't want to take the imperfect one by force even if it would help with their quest since Dr. Marcoh has been using it to heal the villagers and that's also important. Right before they leave, though, Dr. Marcoh finds them again, swayed by Ed's determination, and tells him the research is in the first branch of the National Central Library. He tells Ed he hopes it'll lead him to find "the truth beyond the truth."
Ed and Al make it back to the Rockbell Home and are welcomed by Pinako and Winry, though they're both mad that they never called and Winry is distraught over the state of Ed's automail. Pinako adjusts his leg and Winry works nonstop for three days to fix Ed's arm so they can go back to Central and follow this new lead. Ed fixes Al with his newly fixed limbs and the two of them head on back to Central to read up on Marcoh's research.
When they get to Central, Armstrong swaps out escort duty with 2nd Lieutenant Maria Ross and Sergeant Denny Brosh and they all go to the First Branch. Unfortunately, it had burned down shortly before the boys got there. Mysteriously. Fortunately, they find former librarian Sheska trapped in a pile of books. She had been fired since she spent too much time reading at work, but she has a perfect memory of everything she's read and she replicates Marcoh's work perfectly. Ed pays her extremely well and gets her a job with Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes and gets to work with Al trying to decode the research. It takes them ten grueling days to figure out the truth: that the Philosopher's Stone is made out of humans.
Dejected, Ed considers asking Al if he hates Ed for turning him into a suit of armor without a body, but before he can Armstrong interrupts. He intimidated Ross and Brosch into telling him what the Elric brothers told him and wants to comfort them. That reminds Ed, though, that Marcoh had mentioned a truth beyond the truth, and he decides to continue investigating. He finds a supposedly decommissioned fifth alchemy laboratory besides the four known ones and notes that it's right next to a prison, perfect for obtaining humans that won't be missed. Armstrong tells them not to go look into it but of course, Ed and Al sneak out without telling their bodyguards.
It's immediately clear that the laboratory is still in use, since there are guards, but Ed and Al sneak past the wall. There's a vent that Ed can use to get in, but it's too small for Al, so Al has to wait outside. Ed discovers a huge room with a large, mysterious transmutation circle built around it and concludes this must be what is used to make philosopher's stones. Before he can look into it further, an armored figure called Number 48 attacks him. Ed realizes that Number 48 is an empty suit of armor, just like Al, and 48 shows him the blood rune and tells Ed that he used to be a serial killer called Slicer. He confirms that he was pulled off death row and experimented on. He nearly defeats 48, then learns that actually it's a pair of brothers, both with runes connecting them to the armor. They injure him badly and back him into a corner, but Ed adapts Scar's destructive alchemy and immobilizes them. He refuses to kill them, however, because saying that they're not living humans would mean saying the same thing about Al and he refuses to give up on his brother like that. The two are moved by Ed treating them as human for the first time in their lives, and they're about to tell him more about the lab when a mysterious woman and teenager appear and destroy the blood runes keeping them connected to their armor. The two, Lust and Envy, refer to Ed as a precious human sacrifice and also call him short a bunch, which pisses Ed off and makes him want to attack them despite how injured he is. Unfortunately (or possibly extremely fortunately) his automail stops working, and instead of fighting Envy just knocks him unconscious and pulls him out of the building as they blow it up. They leave him with Ross and Brosch, who have followed them, and the four of them flee.
Ed wakes up in a hospital, and Ross and Brosch reprimand him despite being lower rank than him, telling him to trust his allies. Ed calls Winry and has her come up to Central to fix his arm, and while he notices Al is being despondent, doesn't do much about it right up until Al accuses Ed of having created Al and doubting that Al was ever real instead of just a bunch of made up memories Ed had implanted. Ed runs away, and, with Winry's urging, Al follows. They spar and talk it out and Ed reassures Al that he's real, and that they are going to get their bodies back. Fuhrer King Bradley appears in Ed's hospital room and gives Ed a melon, then warns him to be wary of the military and sneaks out the window. Ed and Al decide to visit Izumi and strengthen their bodies (since they've been getting their asses kicked a lot) as well as get her advice on the philosopher's stone and how to get their bodies back. When Winry learns that Dublith, where Izumi lives, is very close to the famous automail community of Rush Valley, she decides to tag along, and the three of them set out.
Abilities/Special Powers: Ed's main powers is that of alchemy: transmuting one material into another. Unlike most alchemists, he doesn't need to make a transmutation circle to do it, instead clapping his hands and forming a circle that way and then touching his hands to whatever he wants to transmute. He's very smart and good at learning other transmutational techniques, either by reading or by emulating other alchemists. For instance, after seeing Scar break the transmutation cycle and destroy without creating again, he later does the same thing. He also can figure out the composition of different materials very quickly to use them in alchemy.
His automail limbs are very durable, and when he fights, he'll often transmute his arm into a blade and use it for battle. He's tough and acrobatic and creative in battle, generally believing there's no such thing as cheating in a fight since you generally want to stay alive. He's an expert at using his surroundings and incorporating alchemy into his fighting style.
Third-Person Sample: "Al?" Edward yawns and stretches and blinks. This… is not the train he had been on with his brother and Winry. This is, in fact, some weird sort of maze. He stands up, looking around in alarm. "Alphonse? Winry?" When there's no response, he growls in annoyance and starts moving.
It doesn't take him long to get tired of running around through hedges and getting nowhere. He growls in frustration and claps his hands, then hits the bush in front of him, setting out a burst of explosive alchemy and blowing a big hole in it. There's another hedge, but that's okay. He can keep doing this until he finally reaches the last one. He steps out into a field and blinks around.
He doesn't know this area at all, and he still doesn't see Al or Winry around. Just some big house in the distance. He still has no idea where he is, but if he's going to find his answers, they'll probably be there. Maybe there'll be people, maybe there'll be newspapers or books or something for him to research, but there has to be something. In any case, it's not like he was having any luck in the hedge maze. He stalks towards the mansion. Information would be welcome, of course, but if he finds out anyone in that mansion has hurt his little brother, there will be hell to pay.
First-Person Sample: [There's an angry looking blond kid staring at the phone and scowling.]
What sort of device is this? I've never seen a camera that can record like this.
[But it definitely is recording. Edward's poked around enough to figure that out already.]
And while I'm at it, what sort of place is this? There's no train station here, and if there was a place like this between Central and Dublith, I would have heard about it.
[He leans in again, making a fist, and smiles, showing his teeth.]
And more importantly, where is my brother? He's about 2 meters tall and dressed in full body armor and I find out any of you hurt him, there'll be hell to pay.
[Yes, the skinny kid is worried about the giant in full body armor. Please, point that out. He is waiting eagerly for you to point that out so he can point out all your teeth on the floor.]
If you want proof I'm not bluffing, just look out at the hedge maze. I woke up in. I'd say I'm sorry about destroying it, but if you don't want people destroying your plants you shouldn't kidnap them and stash them there.
[A beat. He waves a hand vaguely, glancing away.]
Oh, yeah, and there's a girl I'm missing too, Winry. She's my automail mechanic and I guess she's important too. [Maybe. A little bit. He makes a fist again and glares at the camera.] I don't care how cool your cameras are, I have to keep going with my journey. Give me back my people, and give me a train ticket out of here so I can get out of here.