The popular action fantasy anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has no shortage of villains! In fact, the entire fictional nation of Amestris was crafted as one massive tool for Father's scheme to rise and become a god. The entire military government is part of this plan, and that means that heroes like Edward Elric and Roy Mustang are surrounded by the enemy.
There's corrupt generals, the murderous alchemist Solf J. Kimblee, and most of all, Father and his seven sin-based homunculi to contend with, each with different deadly powers. During the story, these villains fall one by one, and some of them have a rather pitiable side to them, even sympathetic. But others are total monsters through and through, and their pitiable last moments aren't enough to compensate for that. So, which five villains are fairly sympathetic, and which deserve zero remorse?
10 Sympathetic: Greed
In many ways, the homunculus Greed is barely even a villain at all, more of a rogue. In his first appearance, he kidnapped Alphonse Elric in Dublith and tried to unlock the secret of Al's supposed immortality. He even came to blows with Ed over it, and he later fought (and lost to) Wrath.
From there, Greed was reborn in Ling's body, and he acted entirely in selfish interests. But still, he helped out the good guys in exchange for favors, and he willingly fought his former homunculus allies more than once. Most of all, he greatly cared for his subordinates, and was desperate to avenge them against Wrath.
9 Monster: Solf J. Kimblee
Many of the homunculi are total monsters in Fullmetal Alchemist, but this show smartly reveals both the brightest and darkest sides of humanity. Take the state alchemist Kimblee as an example, who not only obeyed orders to slaughter Ishvalans in the civil war, but loved it!
Explosions and murder are music to him, and he is ruthless, too. Kimblee will easily turn on a former ally if they become useless to him, such as when he ditched a few chimeras up north. He also used Winry as a sort of hostage to convince the Elric brothers to cooperate with him in the Scar hunt. Even up north, that's cold!
8 Sympathetic: Wrath
Wrath is an interesting case. For the most part, he fights like a monster, such as against Greed, Buccaneer, Fu, and finally, Scar. But he has his human side, literally, since he was a mortal man injected with a Philospher's Stone.
He created a sort of family with his wife and "son" Selim Bradley (Pride), and really did enjoy the time they spent together (as he told Lan Fan in his dying moments). He respected Scar and wanted them to both fight as equals, a rather honorable sentiment.
7 Monster: Pride
As mentioned in the above entry, Pride posed as the young boy Selim Bradley, and even Ed and Al didn't realize who they were dealing with when they met him. Neither did his adoptive mother. But on the inside, Pride is a horrific creature, and even Greed dreads him. Made in Father's image, Pride will calmly and smugly interrogate, intimidate, exploit, or murder anyone who gets in his way, and his incredible combat skills easily back up his attitude.
He also turned on Gluttony and ate him to gain his olfactory powers. Later, he also ate Kimblee, showing that any ally of Pride's had better watch their step! In his final battle against Ed, Pride showed his vulnerable side, and it was a little pitiable but not that pitiable!
6 Sympathetic: Scar
In many ways, Scar is just like Greed. He was an Ishvalan monk, a man of meditation and peace, until the deadly civil war ignited and his people were routinely massacred. His older brother granted him arms for alchemy, but for the most part, Scar carved a bloody path of revenge against state alchemists everywhere.
Over time, though, he shifted his attention to unlocking the secrets of his brother's research, and he helped the good guys take down Father for good. He risked his very life against the mannequin soldiers, against Wrath, and more. And besides, the man suffered the near-total loss of his people. He's got a lot weighing on him.
5 Monster: Lust
Don't be fooled by a pretty face. Lust is one of the first homuncili to appear, leading a squad with Envy and Gluttony. This embodiment of carnal desire has no mercy on anyone, and she will casually order the execution of anyone who fails her or loses their usefulness.
If she doesn't order Gluttony to eat the target, she'll impale them on her fingers, the Ultimate Spear! Don't forget that time she cornered Dr. Marcoh and threatened a child's life to coerce him. Maternal, she is not! It was a relief when Roy Mustang burned her to ashes.
4 Sympathetic: Gluttony
He's got a big appetite, and even houses a failed attempt at an artificial Portal of Truth. Gluttony is just a simple-minded enforcer, though, and rarely acts on his own accord except when he wanted to kill Roy to avenge Lust. He acts mainly on orders, even for eating, and outside of that, he has very little malice or rage in him.
In fact, Gluttony seems to have his innocent and docile side, and he was positively cheery when he led Alphonse to Father's lair. And finally, as described earlier, Pride turned on him and ate him up! Gluttony was terrified and shocked at this betrayal, and we can't blame him.
3 Monster: The Dwarf in the Flask
This is Father's original body. Appearing in Xerxes, this tiny homunculus enticed slave #23 with power and alchemy, and gave him the name Van Hohenheim. Through his human helper, the dwarf arranged for the creation of a massive transmutation circle, passing it off as a way to grant the Xerxes king immortality.
But instead, every living soul was sacrificed, and the dwarf awoke in a body identical to Hohenheim's due to a blood sample it obtained. Now, it stalks the earth in Hohenheim's image, ready to become a god once and for all!
2 Sympathetic: Martel
She is just a minor villain, appearing with her comrades during the story of Greed and Dublith. Like her compatriots, Martel was once a soldier, and allowed herself to be experimented upon and become a chimera (fused with a snake).
Martel is quite loyal and cool-headed, but she lost it when Wrath massacred her fellows and threatened Greed. She lashed out in desperation, and in response, Wrath ended her with a single sword thrust. She wasn't really evil or anything; just a lost creature who needed a master.
1 Monster: General Raven
He's not an alchemist or a homunculus, but like Kimblee, he shows the dark side of humanity. Unlike Roy or Riza, he absolutely loves the idea of sacrificing millions of people so that a select few may become immortal!
In fact, he arrived at Briggs and tried to convince Major-General Olivier Armstrong to take his side, but she merely played along. He also gave direct orders to Sloth (passing off Sloth as a chimera) and met an early end when Olivier assassinated him! He's stone-cold, and he tried to appeal to Olivier's "survival of the fittest" attitude to justify Father's plan. But Olivier wasn't having it, and thank goodness for that.