In the hit anime series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, viewers are transported to a world of steampunk technology, fantasy alchemy powers, and all kind of deep philosophy about the true nature of humanity. This series explores the greatest virtues and courage of the human race, as well as its darkest ambitions and cruelty, all in one package.
In fact, the villain's seven homunculus villains are modeled after the seven deadly sins, and one of the first ones we meet is Envy, a shapeshifter and a longtime rival to Edward and Alphonse Elric. This homunculus gets more screen time than most villains in this series, and newcomers will want to know more about what makes Envy who he is. Here are ten essential facts about him.
10 Manipulator
One of Envy's main jobs for Father is to divide allies and fool them into fighting and hating one another, and for setting big schemes into motion. This is possible thanks to Envy's shapeshifting power, which allows him to pose as just about anyone, to give faulty orders or make someone look guilty of a crime.
He even set off the dreadful Ishval Civil War this way, by posing as an Amestris officer and shooting an Ishval child for no clear reason. Often, Envy boasts about how esay it is to manipulate and trick people individually or as a group, and we can see why.
9 He Envies Other Pe0ple's Appearance
At first, it seems that Envy is proud on par with the actual homunculus Pride, and he enjoys being a superhuman creature with powers beyond anything humans can do. But in reality, his shapeshifting tells a different story.
Envy likes to brag about his youthful looks, but he's constantly assuming the forms of other people and animals... perhaps because he secretly covets their looks? Someone who truly took pride in themselves wouldn't walk around in other people's skins so often.
8 He is Spiteful
Envy once died for good, but he came back to life when May Chang accidentally set him loose and he absorbed a bunch of battle dolls powered with Philosopher's Stones. He had his body back, just in time for Roy Mustang to kill him again.
On the verge of death, Envy tried and failed to divide the people in Ed's group, and he realized that his schemes weren't working anymore. So, he removed his own Stone and challenged Ed, Roy, Scar, and the rest to try and survive Father's plans, and their own hatred. He has no sentimentality at all.
7 His Dense Body
Envy has a massive true form, as well as his shapeshifting human form. That giant form is good for combat and protecting his allies from enemy fire, but even a homunculus like Envy has to obey the concept of mass conservation.
That is, Envy's true body is huge, and turning into a human shape doesn't make his body lighter. During battle, prince Ling noticed that Envy landed very heavily, hinting at the monstrous true form to come. But now we're wondering how he can drive a car without crushing it...
6 He Is Cruel
Once again, Envy is rather like another homunculus: Wrath. Envy is a vicious bully, and he loves to torment others in all kinds of ways. This even includes psychological warfare, such as when he assumed Gracia Hughes' form (pictured) to assassinate Maes Hughes.
Envy was also pretty rough when he and Lust met Ed in Lab 5, and Envy had fun killing off the armored brothers there, despite Ed's protests. In his final battle, Envy swore that he would "repay" Roy, Ed, and the others for his defeat up north, and we can't even imagine the kind of torture he had in mind.
5 Eyeball Symbolism
The homunculi in Fullmetal Alchemist have all kinds of real-world tie-ins, and allusions to classic art and literature, such as Dante's The Divine Comedy. This includes the seven deadly sins, such as Envy and covetousness.
In this case, in Dante's poem, the envious had their eyes sewn shut in punishment, so they could lo longer look upon other people and things to covet. Meanwhile, Envy the homunculus suffered repeated attacks to the eyeballs while fighting Roy Mustang.
4 He's Overconfident
While Envy is a capable fighter and he has the inherent regeneration of all homunculi, he tends to get pretty sloppy. Envy has arrogant pride to rival, well, Pride's, but he can't back it up as well.
More than once, Envy loses a fight that he might have won if he took his opponents more seriously and recognized their potential. For example, he was helpless when fighting May and Edward up north, and he fell for May's alkahestry circles under the snow.
3 He's Like Greed
What is interesting about the seven homunculus siblings is that while they are all distinct entities, they are ultimately one and the same, the same failing of the human spirit. Envy, therefore, shares some traits with the others, such as Greed.
This is only natural, since the only reason a person will envy another's possessions or status is because they greedily want it all for themselves. Similarly, we could say that Greed the homunculus envied Alphonse's immortal armor body. Indeed, Envy and Greed are brothers.
2 His Clothing
Envy wears some odd duds, doesn't he? What's even more interesting is that Envy didn't find those clothes somewhere; he forms them himself, and he can create other people's clothing when morphing into them, too.
This makes his disguise work more effective, though we must question Envy's fashion choice for his default outfit. Another interesting note: Envy sometimes wears real clothes over his artificial ones, and those clothes fall off when he morphs into dogs or other animals.
1 His Meta Humor
Envy is hardly a wise-cracking person, but he does have a few goofy moments without even realizing it. He once got off the phone with Zampano and gave the camera a look as though to say "this is gonna be good." Breaking the fourth wall, right there.
In the manga, when Envy accidentally walked in on Ed in the shower room, Ed yelled at him and threw a bar of soap, and Envy actually said "Quit acting like you're in a manga." Except... they totally are.