Izumi Curtis

"You asked who I am? A HOUSEWIFE!!!"

- Izumi in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 13

Izumi Curtis, born Izumi Harnet, the teacher of Ed and Alphonse Elric, agreed to train the brothers to hone their alchemical abilities after their mother died. She expands their training with a regimen of philosophy, martial arts, and living off the land.

Izumi and her husband Sig Curtis were expecting a child years before the start of the series; however, their son was stillborn. Izumi tried and failed to revive the child through human transmutation (an act that created Wrath in the first anime). The failed attempt took some of her internal organs, resulting in infertility, and causing her to periodically cough up blood. Izumi gained the ability to use alchemy without a transmutation circle after seeing the "truth."

In the manga, Izumi attracts the attention of the State Military for surviving the failed human transmutation. As she and her husband travel around Amestris in order to avoid the military, they eventually meet Ed and Al's father Hohenheim. He rearranges her insides to ease the blood flow, and persuades her to help collaborate in bringing down the State Military.

Appearance
Izumi is a rather attractive and deceptively young-looking woman despite being middle-aged. She is fairly tall and fair-skinned with dark-eyes, a slender frame with a curvaceous yet well-toned figure, and upperback-length black hair worn in box braids. On the left side of her collarbone is a Flamel tattoo. She normally wears a long white collared-blouse with a flowing backside, form-fitting grey pants reaching her ankles, and opened-toed sandals that have the letters "W.C." on them.

Personality
Although Izumi takes apparent pride in being a simple housewife and introduces herself as such to anyone who asks, her attractive and humble exterior belies a fearsome disposition such that Ed and Al become terrified at the mere thought of aggravating her. She is prone to swift acts of violence and is often seen dealing out physical harm, but despite her frequently aggressive nature, Izumi is a remarkably caring, wise and perceptive individual always willing to help those in need, especially children. That being said, she is also a great advocate of helping people to make their own way and will usually only intervene on behalf of those with the will—but not the means—to help themselves. Though she has a great deal of alchemical skill and faith in her alchemical power, Izumi frequently values the idea of working hard and only using alchemy for things that cannot be done by hand, stressing to others that alchemists are still only human and have human limits. Additionally, Izumi appears to greatly enjoy travel (a trait she may have passed on to Edward), as many of her appearances in the series find her journeying outside her hometown.

Abilities
Izumi is among the strongest characters in the series. An extremely powerful martial artist, both in terms of armed and hand-to-hand combat, she boasts shocking physical strength and proves herself capable of easily subduing multiple enemies in a flash and overpowering larger opponents such as mountain grizzly bears, and even the Homunculus Sloth.

Though Izumi appears as an unbeatable paragon of fearsome power, most acts of overexertion on her part are followed by a crippling regurgitation of blood linked to an internal injury from a failed Human Transmutation several years before. As a result of this, she is one of the few characters able to perform alchemy without the aid of a Transmutation Circle. By merely touching her palms together, she creates an energy circulation with her arms and transmutes by using her own will as a substitute for the necessary runes. This remarkable talent makes Izumi's transmutations both instantaneous and incredibly versatile, allowing her to use alchemy to its fullest potential in direct combat. Later in the manga storyline, her internal organs are rearranged by Hohenheim to improve her health, relieving her issues with physical overexertion.

Her specific alchemy-style seems to focus more on her immediate surroundings and how best to use them to her advantage. She also shares with Edward the same preference for creating spears to wield with deadly proficiency.