The hit anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a philosophically deep action franchise about ambition and power, sacrifice, the meaning of humanity, and much more. Heroes Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric are on a quest to restore their mangled bodies, and they meet new friends and enemies along the way. They played a central role in the final battle, but there's one conflict they didn't see: the Ishval Civil War.
Taking place eight years before the anime's main events, this bloody civil war was a tragedy that deeply scarred everyone who survived it, most of all the Ishvalan people. Some survivors of this affair renounced their love of war, and others are bent on revenge. Here are 10 things to know about it.
10 It's part of the homunculus plan
The Ishvalan Civil War was no accident. While the everyday people of Amestris don't know it, this mass slaughter is a step in Father's plan to form an enormous, nation-wide transmutation circle.
This is a plan that is carried out over a few centuries, and every major bloodbath in the nation's history is a part of it. Many lives are given for this transmutation circle, and once the Ishvalan Civil War is over, the one-sided battle at Briggs is the final piece of this gruesome puzzle.
9 Envy launched the whole thing
As he freely admits much later, Envy assumed the form of an Amestris officer and shot an Ishvalan child in cold blood, thus launching a series of events that began the civil war.
Tensions were high in the area anyway, and Envy tossed a lot match into that particular powder keg. Being able to imitate anyone, anywhere, has allowed Envy to accomplish many missions for Father, and "start a civil war" certainly got checked off the list.
8 Eyes and color
Eye color, skin color, and hair color vary among different ethnic groups, and the same is true in the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. The German-inspired Amestris people have blond or black hair for the most part and tend to have brown or blue eyes.
The Ishvalans, meanwhile, have tanned skin, ashy gray hair, and red eyes. In flashbacks of the civil war, the Amestris soldiers' eyes glow brilliant blue and the Ishvalans' eyes are a bright red, showing the stark differences that put these people on the opposite side of this war.
7 Kimblee became a madman
Some soldiers or state alchemists felt sick about what they were doing in Ishval. Not Solf J. Kimblee! He showed his true colors and enjoyed every minute of the war. To him, the sound of exploding buildings is music, and he got intoxicated with the power of the Philosopher's Stone.
He refused to hand it back over, and instead swallowed it. With its power, Kimblee killed several officers until he was finally apprehended. But his insane bloodlust was never lost.
6 Riza Hawkeye, the sniper
Some soldiers grappled with guilt, and others like Kimblee reveled in the slaughter. The sniper lady Riza Hawkeye, though, took another route: sheer detachment.
Of course, personal emotions play no role in a battlefield, but even by that standard, Riza learned to utterly detach herself from her actions, and that protected her sanity. As a sniper, she can pull a trigger and end a life without being up close to her victim.
5 Alex Armstrong, the objector
The burly state alchemist Alex Louis Armstrong is a cheery fellow, but he suffered badly in the Ishvalan Civil War. He very reluctantly did his part as a state alchemist, and he openly grappled with his part in all this.
He was even seen holding a dead Isvalan child, and he was soon sent away from the front lines. Fortunately, he wasn't court-martialed or dishonorably discharged instead. Now, he's around to help the Elric brothers make things right at last.
4 The rise of Scar
Before the civil war erupted, there was a muscle-bound Ishvalan monk who was a man of peace, and he looked up to his brilliant older brother. When the civil war began, the monk swore revenge on the state alchemists who massacred his countrymen.
He abandoned his name (whatever it was) and became Scar, a being of revenge. He even got his brother's arm, complete with alchemist tattoos, and used deconstruction to attack anyone in his way.
3 Winry, the gentle
Like Scar, Winry suffered loss from the civil war. In this case, her doctor parents, the Rockbells, were killed. And it was Scar, of all people, who killed them. But despite this, Winry never wanted revenge, and even with a pistol in hand, she couldn't bring herself to shoot Scar when she got the chance.
Her hands are not made for killing, as Edward correctly pointed out. Her kind ways may have helped inspire Scar to help the good guys later on. She makes an impressive case that love trumps hate, indeed.
2 State alchemists resigned en masse
Although not shown on screen, many state alchemists resigned their posts soon after the civil war in disgust or protest for what had happened. Other alchemists remained, either out of loyalty or because they were determined to change the world for the better from within the military.
And the ambitious Roy Mustang, for his part, certainly couldn't afford to quit during his quest to the top. But the ranks of state alchemists had certainly thinned out around him.
1 The real-life Herero Wars
Fullmetal Alchemist draws heavily from real-world history and analogs, and that includes the Herero Wars. A series of battles and conflicts from 1904 to 1908, the Herero Wars took place when German settlers tried to push native Africans from their land during the height of European colonization of Africa.
Germany was eager to expand its own holdings and compete with France, Belgium, Holland, and England, thus bringing about war with local tribes. Ultimately, the German colonists won, though at quite a cost.