User blog:CiscoTheSoto/Pure Good Proposal: Van Hohenheim (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

This is a pure good proposal for Van Hohenheim of FMA: Brotherhood. This is not for the 2003 counterpart, whom I do not believe is pure good and has committed much more heinous crimes.

What is the Work?
Van Hohenheim is from the anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The anime revolves around two boys named Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric who tried to bring their mother back to life through human transmutation but failed and were given horrible punishments. Edward lost his arm and his leg, and Alphonse lost his entire body, and they try to find a way to get their bodies back. Van Hohenheim is the father of these two, and for the first half of the series, he is an enigma and gives off the impression that he is a cold, uncaring man who abandoned his family. In reality, he is a very tragic, caring man who has demonstrated his selflessness and purity through his words and actions.

Who is He?
Van Hohenheim is a living Philosopher’s Stone who was infused with the souls of 500,000 people hundreds of years ago by Father, a homunculus who was created from Hohenheim’s blood and a portion of The Gate that fuels alchemy itself. Viewing himself as a monster and refusing to work with Father for making him into a monster, he wandered aimlessly until he settled in the foreign country Xing, where his knowledge of alchemy allowed them to create their own form of alchemy: Alkahestry. Later on, he continued his travels and met a young woman named Trisha Elric in Amestris, who he fell in love with and had two children together. Although he was happy, he soon discovered Father’s plan to merge himself with God through a transmutation circle that would use all of the citizens of Amestris as fuel. He then left his family to travel across the country and prepare his own transmutation circle that would counteract Father’s transmutation circle. However, his absence left his son, Edward Elric, traumatized and hateful towards him because he viewed him leaving as a sign of abandonment and the reason why Trisha later died.

Years later, he reunited with his son, although he was rather cold with him and confronted him over the burning of his home. After this, he became more active in the fight against Father and the homunculus, and worked together with his sons and their allies in order to stop Father from activating the transmutation circle. He was very helpful in general and was not angry at his son, Edward, for being so hostile towards him. In the end, Hohenheim managed to defeat Father alongside the rest of his allies, although the battle drained him of the power of his Philosophers Stone, and he died shortly after.

Goodness Zone
For me, what makes Hohenheim stand out as pure good was the fact that he actually spoke with 500,000 souls, taking the time to talk to them individually and help them regain their sanity in the sea of anguished screams. To do that must’ve taken YEARS to do, and the fact he was willing to help those people, remembered their names, and put a value on each and every one of their lives instead of just giving up and accepting that they couldn’t be cured is extremely admirable.

Beyond this, he often goes out of his way to help others. Some examples giving the people of Xing his knowledge of alchemy and helping them form a new type of alchemy, assisting in the reconstruction of Reole by doing manual work in the city, and helping Izumi Curtis by rearranging her entrails to improve the flow of blood. He also tried to wan Pinako of the upcoming trouble that was about to come and told her to leave the country, although she chose to stay at home.

He loves his family very much, and attempted to reverse the effects of the Philosopher’s Stone so he could grow old with his family and die alongside them. He is willing to do anything for them, even give up his own life, and profusely apologized to his older son for not being there and for his failure as a father. He also thanked Trisha when he was near his death for all the love she gave him and the hope she instilled into his life.

Even against the very being who cursed him with 500,000 souls and an immortal body he never wanted, he still didn’t want to fight Father and only did so when absolutely necessary. This sentiment expands to nearly everyone, and he holds a generally pacifistic nature. In addition, when Father was about to die and the homunculus explained that all he wanted was to be free, Hohenheim reacted with shock to these words, remembering of all of the good Father did for him, primarily giving him a name and knowledge which helped craft his identity. This demonstrates his sense of compassion and pity for even his enemies.

Corrupting Factors
Initially, Hohenheim was very hard-headed and brash, reacting angrily to criticism and fueled by a sense of greatness. But overtime, this side of him faded, and he became much more mature.

Another thing that Hohenheim did which was not very fatherly or noble was criticize his son Ed for burning their home, stating that he did it to hide what he had done and related it to a child hiding the fact that he wet the bed. I believe that he shouldn’t have been so hard on his son, especially after not seeing him for more than a decade, but in his defense, I believe that he simply didn’t know how to be a good father and was trying to give him some harsh but necessary wisdom about his actions. I mean, he barely talked to anyone for several years and never had very good social skills in general. Later that night, he tried to hold his son while he was sleeping, but stopped himself at the last second, as well as indirectly tell Ed that the body they brought back wasn’t actually Trisha’s body. Besides, he did not talk so harshly to his sons ever again, accepting whatever criticisms Ed gave to him and warmly accepting and appreciating Alphonse’s love towards him.

Overall Verdict
I believe that his willingness to save the lives of 500,000 people one-by-one and his general selflessness makes him worthy of being pure good.