Fullmetal Alchemist is a classic shonen series with no shortage of beloved characters, regardless of whether one is speaking of the manga or the 2003 and the 2009 TV adaptations. The Elric brothers, who viewers follow throughout their journey to restore their bodies, are incredibly strong, fun-to-watch characters. That also goes for everyone who joins them during the series. One of their most loyal aides is none other than their childhood neighbor and best friend, the mechanic-next-door Winry Rockbell.
Not only does Winry possess the strong personality needed to keep up with the Elrics, but her skill as a mechanic is nearly unrivaled given how young she is. Not even her grandmother is comfortable tinkering with Ed's automail, as it's so much of a personal craft of Winry's. Despite all of the positives that the show presents about her, though, and her overwhelming fan reception, there's a fair bit about her that doesn't make much sense upon closer inspection.
10 Why Didn't She Take Responsibility For Ed's Automail Malfunctioning?
After Winry pulls multiple all-nighters in a row trying to build Ed a new arm, Ed rushes out the door to fix Al and head out again without waiting for her to explain its drawbacks. He quickly gets into an incredibly serious fight where his arm malfunctions, and while he thinks it's simply due to him pushing his limits too hard, it's actually because Winry forgot to install a vital screw.
However, when she goes to apologize to him, Ed states that it's his own fault for being too reckless. Winry capitalizes on the fact that he didn't realize her error and simply brushed past it, but given how concerned she truly is for him, this is pretty out-of-character.
9 She Invades Ed's Clear Boundaries By Breaking Into His Watch
During the group's visit to Rush Valley, Ed has his state alchemist watch stolen by an infamous thief in town, Paninya. When Winry and the others catch her, she of course scolds her, but the mechanic in her is more interested in her automail and they end up bonding.
Winry decides that she wants to take a look inside the watch to "uncover any secrets Ed might be hiding," and due to her being aware of his horribly tragic past, this comes off incredibly tone-deaf. In the '03 version, she wants to open it simply to see how it works from a mechanical standpoint. This makes more sense, but it also isn't the version of events that's canon.
8 Her Decision Not To Get Revenge On Scar In The End
It isn't exactly that it doesn't make sense in the story for Winry to drop the gun in the end, as it grants for a scene that deepens her bond with Ed and allows Scar to stay alive and repent for his past actions. However, it would've made more sense for her character if she had given into her emotions in that moment. It didn't even have to be made into a tragic scene, either, as it would have made sense for someone with no training and who's incredibly distraught to miss her mark.
7 Why Didn't She Warn Ed About Extreme Temperatures?
When Ed first makes his way to the Briggs Mountains, he nearly finds himself in a life-threatening situation because the material his automail is made from is prone to freezing. Since they're connected to his actual joints, if this happens, he can very well put his own life at risk.
While it's true that Winry wasn't clued in on the fact that he was going North, this seems like a rather crucial tidbit of information to not have forewarned him about, anyway. Especially given her automail mastery and fanatic-like knowledge. It wouldn't make sense for her not to know of and warn her client of such a danger.
6 Why Did She Think To Let Scar Fake Her Kidnapping?
Now, Winry was absolutely correct when she said that if she was going to be held hostage by either the Fuhrer as part of his plans or Scar as a part of her own, she may as well choose her captor. However, it doesn't really make sense for someone like her to have come up with such a plan to begin with.
Winry simply wanted to meet with Scar and talk with him, and she'd been able to accomplish this before Kimblee and his men closed in. Perhaps she was afraid that she might be killed by them, but it didn't feel as if he was ready to make such a drastic move yet.
5 Why Does She Have Violent Outbursts, Especially At Edward?
Especially in the early-to-mid 2000's, it was a rather common trope for female characters in shonen, particularly the female lead, to be somewhat violent involving their treatment of the protagonist. With Winry, it's seen in how often she can be seen absolutely pummeling him with wrenches, including whenever he was fully without an arm and a leg. This is usually done for comedic purposes, but it doesn't age well and simply makes Winry seem like an overly violent and temperamental person when she's really quite caring and easy to get along with.
4 Why Doesn't She Try To Contact The Elric Brothers At All?
Despite Winry's positive, go-getter attitude, she isn't one who hasn't been darkened by the tragedies of war. Her parents were killed while serving as doctors in Ishval, and she seemed incredibly fearful to let Ed and Al go off to join the military.
However, she never tries to get in contact with them to see how they're doing. Although they do travel quite a lot, they still report to a headquarters where surely Winry could leave a message inquiring about them.
3 Her Original Reason For Rejecting Edward
When Ed, Al, and Winry were younger, Ed and Al decided to hold a bit of a competition between themselves regarding the blossoming crushes that both of them had on Winry. She instantly shot both of them down, though, stating that she simply isn't into guys who are shorter than her.
This doesn't exactly hold up, though, as Winry starts realizing romantic feelings of her own for Edward before he hits his growth spurt. While it's possible she could have changed her mind as she aged, she was so adamant about her response that it just comes off as confusing.
2 Why Does She Become So Passive Around Hughes?
One of the reasons why Winry is able to keep up with Edward is because they both possess incredibly strong, unwavering personalities. When Winry arrives at Central for emergency repairs on Ed's automail and doesn't have a place to stay, Hughes immediately offers a spot with his family. He then literally drags her by her arm to come with him, and it feels really out-of-character for her to allow someone to drag her off in such a manner. Although it was clearly played for comedic purposes, it doesn't truly land when it comes at the sacrifice of the character''s personality.
1 Her Childhood Pastime Of Reading Medical Textbooks
At one point early on in the series, Winry helps to deliver a baby using the knowledge she'd learned reading medical textbooks when she was younger. While this isn't entirely illogical, Winry has always been one to be much more drawn to learning about engineering with Pinako. It doesn't make much sense for her to have spent her free time reading the books that her parents would have kept at the house, especially when she already knew how to help craft Ed's automail when he first needed surgery.