Alphonse elric

Alphonse elric (arufonsu erurikku) is the deuteragonist of the fullmetal alchemist series. The younger brother of edward elric, the fullmetal alchemist, al is also a victim of the failed human transmutation experiment in which ed lost his right arm and left leg. Having had his entire physical being taken away from him in the aftermath of the tragedy, alphonse exists solely as a soul alchemically bound to a large suit of steel armor. Now, al travels with his brother in search of a legendary philosopher's stone, an item with the power to restore their bodies to normal. Alphonse is a particularly competent alchemist who transmutes quickly, cleanly and with remarkable attention to detail in the style of his master, izumi. In combat, he uses alchemy to augment his offensive and defensive capabilities, crafting weapons for melee strikes and altering his surroundings to gain the advantage in the same way as his brother - transmuting columns, battering rams and traps for his enemies, albeit without the gaudy touches that edward usually gives his works.


While in general his alchemy is more conventional than that of edward (who often uses it in unusual forms to outsmart his opponents), he has displayed greater creativity when the situation called for it. For instance, when equipped with a philosopher's stone, he was able to use his alchemy in unexpected ways, like transmuting flash bangs, flexible swords and conical earth-prisons to surprise his opponents. However, alphonse's own alchemy is unique in several ways that make themselves apparent over the course of the two diverging story lines. From the beginning of the story, it becomes clear that - unlike most alchemists - al does not require direct physical contact with the transmutation arrays he draws in order to manipulate matter; merely by standing over a circle and applying concentration (sometimes displayed as his crossing one hand flat over the other with both palms facing down), he can manipulate matter without touching it - a feat that has yet to be displayed by any other human alchemist without an alchemical amplifier. This may be due to the nature of his existence as a soul inside a suit of armor, he may be able to protrude the influence of his soul over larger distances, unlike ordinary humans whose souls are confined within their skin.


In the manga and 2009 anime, alphonse gains the additional ability to transmute without having to draw a transmutation circle at all. Having passed through the gate as a result of the failed human transmutation, the ability had remained dormant inside his soul so long as his more tragic memories of the event stayed repressed. But after he regains his memories in chapter 30, alphonse discovers that the skill he had watched his brother and master perform so many times now belonged to him as well and puts it into practice for the first time in chapter 33. In the 2003 anime, alphonse gains the ability to transmute without a circle in another manner - by becoming the philosopher's stone himself due to scar's machinations. At first, this seems like a boon because the properties of his armor are changed and his blood seal becomes impervious to damage, but it becomes apparent that alphonse, as the stone, reacts dangerously with any nearby transmutations and loses a physical part of his body whenever he is used directly as an alchemical amplifier. In conqueror of shamballa, alphonse's alchemy takes yet another transformation. Now unable to transmute without circles, he wears a pair of white gloves with transmutation circles in order to use alchemy quickly - emulating his older brother. Additionally, due to the instability of his soul after having his body changed so many times (from human, to steel, to philosopher's stone and back to human), alphonse has gained the ability to split his soul into pieces and insert them into inanimate objects to act as golems. While in this state, he is able to see from the perspective of and communicate through his various avatars.

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