Alphonse Elric

Alphonse Elric is the deuteragonist of the anime/manga series Fullmetal Alchemist. He is the younger brother of Edward Elric, whose soul is contained in a suit of armor due to him losing his entire body in a human alchemy transmutation. The story revolves around Ed and Al as they journey the world in search of the Philosopher's Stone to restore their bodies back to normal.

He is voiced by Rie Kugimiya in the Japanese version of the anime and Aaron DIsmuke in the English version. In the English version of Brotherhood, he is voiced by Maxey Whitehead, who also voices Crona and Czeslaw Meyer.

Appearance
In his gunmetal-colored steel armor body, Alphonse stands out as one of the tallest characters in the series, inching out such stalwart man-mountains as Captain Buccaneer and Major Armstrong while absolutely dwarfing his older brother, who only comes up to his elbow in the beginning of the series. As such, a running gag in the series is that he is frequently mistaken for being the famous "Fullmetal Alchemist" in place of his brother - the rightful bearer of the title. The helmet that comprises Al's face is adorned with a large, conical horn in the middle of the forehead, has a pair of parallel, horizontal vents beneath each half-moon eye hole and a fang motif just above the protruding chin. The top of the helmet also sports a ribbon of white hair that hangs down to the small of the suit's back. Later in the series, the hair is cut short during a skirmish with the Fort Briggs Mountain Patrol, much to Al's chagrin.

The trunk of the body also consists of a removable breastplate with a protruding, triangular shelf on the chest just below the throat guard, a high collar that extends out of the back and surrounds the rear and sides of the neck, and a large, circular leather patch on either side of the abdomen.

A breech cloth covers the groin and painted on the left shoulder is a red Flamel, signifying Alphonse's tutelage under the master alchemist, Izumi Curtis.

Al's armor body also appears to have a triple spike motif, as each shoulder is adorned with a trio of large conical spikes lined in a row and each elbow, knee and foot carries small, spiky protrusions as well. Al also appears to have a white band around his right leg which holds up a small weapons holster.

Inside the empty armor is a curtain of chain mail for the protection of its former wearer as well as a small alchemical rune drawn in Edward's blood, which binds Al's soul to the metal by way of the iron in both. Al's "Blood Seal" is unique - likely of Edward's own design - and denotes a small flame locked in place by multiple intersecting polygons.

Personality
In many ways, Alphonse's calm and passive disposition exists as a foil to his older brother's more abrasive personality. Al is kindhearted, notably compassionate and patient almost to a fault, acting often out of protective selflessness for his loved ones, new friends and sometimes even toward his enemies (Scar is a particular example). Having had his psychological growth stunted at the age of ten due to loss of his physical body, Alphonse retains a childlike purity in the face of all his encountered horrors; however, despite his age, he has always displayed a significantly higher level of maturity than Edward. Though Al is as passionate as his brother, he has remarked that his anger takes longer to spark and jokes that he is always beaten to the punch by Edward's outbursts. Much of his personality are traits he inherited from his mother.

On the other hand, Al's heart does contain some darkness born from the tragedies of his life. Plagued with insecurities about his own uncertain existence inside a suit of armor, Al craves the human warmth of his former life in desperate silence, fears that he will never again know closeness, and is sometimes overwhelmed by the suspicion that he himself is not human. It is also revealed that Alphonse carries the added burden of blaming himself for the failure of his mother's resurrection and the subsequent loss of his brother's limbs.

As Edward detests his own diminutive stature, Alphonse dislikes being reminded of his large size and often becomes melancholy when it inhibits or calls undue attention to him, lamenting that it was not his choice to become so big. As such, he displays a great deal of pleasure when others treat him as a child instead of the hulking brutish adult persona that his appearance gives off.

Possibly as part of his desire for warmth and love, Alphonse displays a great affection for small cats and has developed a bad habit of picking up stray kittens that he finds over the course of his travels, hiding them inside his armor cavity from his disapproving brother.

On a more subtle level, Alphonse appears to have a great fondness for women as well. Particularly sensitive himself, Alphonse has a gift for complimentary and inspirational speech that surpasses even that of his brother's. While this does not negate the effect his armor body has on ordinary girls, it does allow him to leave an impression on the few women with whom he regularly associates such as May Chang, Riza Hawkeye, Lan Fan and Sheska. When his skills are necessary, Alphonse is often paired up with female comrades in situations where Edward is not present. In many of the omake, Arakawa makes Al's primary motivation finding a girlfriend.

Aside from the warmth of physical contact, what Alphonse misses most about having a human body seems to be delicious food. He keeps a journal of all the various foods he will eat upon returning to his body in order to keep his spirits up (a practice encouraged by Edward) and has stated that his fondest wish is to have some of Winry's apple pie.

Powers and Abilities

 * Alchemy- Like his brother, he too can perform alchemy by clapping is hands on a transmutation circle.
 * Armor Body- But due to his soul being attached to an armored body, Alphonse doesn't require food, drink, or sleep nor does he get fatigued from running of lifting objects, as this body gives him augmented strength.
 * Soul Transplantation- He is able to transfer a piece of his soul into an armored body, due to him being bonded to one (Conqueror of Shamballa only.)
 * Hand-to-hand combat- Since Alphonse and Edward trained together in fighting in the beginning, the brothers learned how to fight by sparring against each other. Alphonse, can even hold his own whenever he does not use alchemy in any fighting situations, though he does not enjoy it, he is still able to fight alone when Edward is not around.

Trivia

 * Alphonse has a fondness for cute animals (especially stray ones) and will try to adopt them, much to his brother's disdain.
 * Unlike Ed (and if you want to count Envy, his half-brother in the 2003 anime,) he doesn't harbor ill-feelings towards his father.