User:Watemon/Father (FMA)

Father (父) is the main antagonist of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and second anime series. Father is the creator and leader of all the homunculi as depicted in the manga, and mastermind of the many atrocities that result from the countless wars and border disputes within the story. Father does not appear in the first anime series, effectively replaced by Dante who, likewise, does not appear in the manga.

Character Outline
In the manga, Father is depicted as a calculating and remorseless figure whose preference is to exploit "useful" people to further his own goals, while disregarding those who serve absolutely no purpose. When Edward and Alphonse Elric first meet Father, he was shown to have treated their wounds and even engage them in conversation. However, Father was quick to dismiss and order the death of Lin before he reconsidered the use of this "valuable human resource". Father is shown to be rather protective of the Homunculi; made of his own flesh, Father regards these creations as his own children. In fact, Father went so far as to reabsorb Gluttony and recreate him with all his original memories intact, after Gluttony's Stone was nearly depleted. Not much is known about Father other than he manipulates the governing body of the fictional Amestris. In fact, Fullmetal Alchemist protagonist, Edward Elric postulates that Father masterminded the creation of the State for the express purpose of bringing his plans to fruition.

In appearance, Father greatly resembles Hohenheim, Edward and Alphonse Elric's father. It is revealed in a series of flashbacks that Father used to be a mere black spec with one eye and a set of teeth confined to a scientific flask, created four centuries before the start of the main plotline. Hohenheim's blood (then slave 23) was used in the experiment that initially created Father (then simply Homunculus), thus Father holds Hohenheim in high regard for having fathered him. During the transmutation that destroyed Xerxes, Father fashioned his body using Hohenheim's blood as data once more, thus resulting in their near-exact likeness. In his original form as Homunculus, he was able to deftly manipulate the King of Xerxes into crafting the massive transmutation array under the promise of immortality, and had no sympathy for the thousands of lives that were sacrificed during the alchemical reaction. In this respect, very little has changed between the tiny Homunculus of 400 years before and Father as he is depicted in the present time; Father is planning a very similar transmutation with the whole of Amestris as an array, and just as before, cares not for the countless innocent people that had to and would soon die in order for his goals to be reached.

Plot Overview
The character Father was originally a sentient shadowy substance called "Homunculus" (who at times could form eyes and a wide grin), which was created in a flask during the time of the ancient civilization of Xerxes. To leave the flask would mean death for it. The purpose of its creation has never been explicitedly revealed, although the king consulting Homunculus for the secrets to immortality suggests that it was created to acquire knowledge.

Homunculus formed an attachment to a young slave boy, whose blood had been used in his creation and gave him a name in place of his identification number. Homunculus also taught him alchemy, the knowledge of which was viewed by the boy as freedom. The boy was Van Hohenheim, the father of the Elric Brothers. With Homunculus' teachings, Hohenheim rose from slave to associate alchemist. Hohenheim and Homunculus had a friendly relationship and were together for awhile; Homunculus identified Hohenheim as being 'like his father,' since it was from Hohenheim's blood that he took life.

Homunculus, in order to obtain his freedom, told the King of Xerxes the secret to immortality, but deliberately omitted that everyone within the empire-encircling transmutation circle would be killed by its activation save for the person at the center. After the alchemical process occurred, it was revealed that Homunculus had deceived the king. The true center was not where the king stood but several feet away, where the now fully-grown Hohenheim stood holding Homunculus. All of the souls in Xerxes were ripped from their bodies, and Van Hohenheim's body was sacrificed to open the Gate of Truth. Using the energy from the souls, Homunculus created new bodies for himself and Van Hohenheim, effectively becoming Philosopher's Stones. Half of the souls he kept for himself, while the other half were given to Van Hohenheim. Using Hohenheim's blood, Homunculus created his body in the image of the now-immortal alchemist.

Amestrian legend holds that their alchemy was taught by the 'Sage of the East,' who hailed from the fallen civilization of Xerxes. Due to the fact that he seems to be in control of Amestrian alchemy, it is heavily implied he is this legendary figure. This is further reinforced by the fact that Xing, the country on the far side of the desert where Xerxes once stood attributes its alchemy to a 'Sage of the West,' with golden hair and eyes, said to be immortal. Amestrian alchemy is specialized for war, Xingese for healing, and Hohenheim knows Xingese medicine. It can be assumed that, if this is true, Hohenheim and Homunculus left the ruin in opposite directions.

Plot Summary
In chapter 73, it's revealed that Father needs five human sacrifices to 'open the gate,' all of whom have 'opened' it before. He is shown placing four pieces, representing Edward and Alphonse Elric, Van Hohenheim, and Izumi Curtis (all people who have seen the Doors) at four corners of a transmutation circle. He has yet to find one to fill up this fifth slot, however, it is implied that he intends to use a different alchemist to open the gate beforehand (such as Marcoh or Mustang).

Powers
Father has the power to nullify all alchemic processes within a large radius of himself, rendering any alchemic reaction to be impossible. However, this ability does not affect Xingese alchemy. The reason for this is that the two types of alchemy use different power sources. Xingese alchemy uses the power "that flows from mountains into underground, nourishing land as it passes by", whereas Amestrian alchemy apparently relies on tectonic energy from the Earth's crust (only Xingese alchemist Mei was skeptical of this description by Dr. Marcoh, describing the country as if there were people dying).

He can perform alchemy purely through thought, with no movement whatsoever, and he can transmute with any part of his body, not merely his hands as with most other alchemists. A third eye can appear in his forehead, which secreted the Philosopher's Stone that was the Homunculus Greed's nucleus (this suggests that Wrath, who like the second Greed is a human-based Homunculus, was produced in a similar way - in the manga, Wrath was shown to have been one of many young men trained since childhood to take the role of Führer, and the only one to accept a Philosopher's Stone into his body and survive). Because he is essentially a Philosopher's Stone, Father is capable of 'violating' the law of Equivalent Exchange, as demonstrated when he replaces Al's missing hand without having to rely on the material already present.