Roy Mustang

Infobox animanga character
name = Roy Mustang
series = Fullmetal Alchemist


caption = Roy Mustang by Hiromu Arakawa
first = "Fullmetal Alchemist" manga chapter 1
"Fullmetal Alchemist" anime episode 1
voiced by = Toru Okawa (Japanese)
Travis Willingham (English)
relatives =
age = 28 ["Fullmetal Alchemist" manga, Volume 4, Bonus Pages] (manga only)
born = September 25, 1886 [FMA Perfect Guidebook 2]
aux1 =
aux1 name =
aux2 =
aux2 name =

Roy Mustang (ロイ・マスタング "Roi Masutangu") is a character from the Fullmetal Alchemist anime and manga series. Holding the title of the "Flame Alchemist", he is a skilled State Alchemist who ambitiously strives to become the next leader of Amestris. Although he has also held the ranks of Major (in flashbacks), Lt. Colonel (episodes 3-8), Brigadier General (episodes 45-51), and Corporal (The Conqueror of Shamballa movie after resigning his commission), Mustang holds the rank of Colonel in most of the anime and manga, and so he is referred to as such here.

Character attributes

Background

In chapter 58 ("Padding Footsteps of Destruction"), Roy is said to have learned his elementary alchemy from Riza Hawkeye's father. In a flashback conversation, Roy is revealed to have become a State Alchemist in order to help the common people, despite the objection of his teacher. Upon hearing Roy's desire for power, his teacher states that he would pass his greatest and most powerful alchemy to Roy under the condition he would use it on the course of good. However, before he could elaborate, Roy's teacher began to choke from coughing up blood and manages only to reveal that he had passed all his secrets on to his daughter, and asked of Roy to look after her. The strange markings on Hawkeye's back is the method chosen by her father to pass these secrets on.

Like fellow State Alchemists, he was sent to completely raze a region Amestris was unable to subdue. It seems that he was 23 at that time (volume 2 and bonus in volume 4). He runs into Maes Hughes and they reminisce briefly about the past and discuss the State's involvement in the War before they are ambushed by an injured Ishvalan. They were saved by a sniper, later revealed to be none other than Riza Hawkeye. Mustang continues through the war with a pessimistic view and considers himself to be a killer, unable to help people as he had previously hoped.

However, Mustang discovers that while he thought he was alone in the war, simply murdering people, he was saving the lives of the men in his unit. This new idea appears to spur him into making an attempt to become the Führer, which he explains to Hughes at the end of the war. He then surrounds himself with people he knows he can trust; Hughes, Fuery, Falman, Havoc, Breda, and lastly Hawkeye. He orders Hawkeye to watch his back, and that if he ever strayed from the path of wanting to help people, of wanting to change the government, it was her role to shoot him.

Character outline

Outwardly arrogant and playfully manipulative, Mustang is extremely intelligent and adaptable. These traits usually ensure that he is always one step ahead of his opponents. He also likes to feel in control of the situation. He is one of the superiors of Edward Elric. At the beginning of the series, he appears to be nothing more than a ruthless careerist and a shameless womanizer. However, he is eventually shown to be a rather paternal commander who cares for the emotional and physical well-being of his men. This earns him the fierce loyalty of his friends (Hughes, Hawkeye, Armstrong) and subordinates (Jean Havoc, Vato Falman). It was later shown that Mustang had feelings for Lieutenant Hawkeye. He also feels obligated to look out for the Elric Brothers after they become fellow "dogs of the military". This stems from his experience in the Ishbal War where he was forced to kill with his flame alchemy despite learning it to help people. After the war ended, however, his fellow soldiers thanked him for saving their lives. Mustang resolves to protect his subordinates and feels personally responsible for their well being, placing their safety above his own. Though a hero of the Ishbal War, he remains haunted by the horrors of war and suffers great remorse for the lives of civilians he took.

A powerful alchemist in his own right, Mustang wears gloves with transmutation circles on them that are made of a material called "pyrotex/ignition cloth" that spark when he snaps his fingers. By adjusting the oxygen densities in the surrounding atmosphere through alchemy, he can create flames anywhere in the surrounding area at will and manipulate them as he desires. While oxygen, by itself, cannot combust, it is assumed that he makes use of the more flammable gases found in the atmosphere such as hydrogen. This assumption is verified in the manga, where it is revealed that it is indeed hydrogen that is burned.

Mustang is often considered "useless" on rainy days because when his ignition cloth gloves are wet they cannot create sparks. This fact came up at two points in the anime series, first in a humorous moment in the battle against Scar ("The Ishbal Massacre") where Hawkeye tripped her comrade and remarked that he should leave the fighting to others because his alchemy is useless in the rain.

However, the manga goes into further depth regarding the relationship between Mustang's alchemy and water. His alchemy is actually achieved by using the transmutation circle on his gloves to split water molecules in the air. The energy required to split the molecule is presumably obtained from the murdered souls of Xerxes, as is all Amestrian alchemy.

Plot Summary

Anime

Mustang makes his first appearance in the series in "To Challenge the Sun" (episode 1), when the Elric Brothers attempt to resurrect their mother. Subsequently, Mustang is formally introduced in "Mother" after Alphonse brought Edward to the Rockbells' home. As a lieutenant colonel in the State Military, he came to the Elrics' hometown of Resembool in search of their father, Hohenheim. Recognizing Edward and Alphonse's talent for alchemy, he offered them a chance to become State Alchemists and to seek him out at Central City, where he was currently stationed.

The Elrics take up his offer and Edward reluctantly becomes his direct subordinate when he becomes a State Alchemist. Mustang is transferred to the Eastern Territories to clean up Lieutenant Yoki's mess (Episode 9) and is promoted to colonel. He remains at Eastern Headquarters for the early portions of the series until he is transferred back to Central.

When Hughes dies, Mustang is devastated by his friend's death. When forced to pursue the Elrics per military orders, Mustang learns that the Führer is a Homunculus, and tries to expose him to the top brass of the military by revealing the truth about the Führer's secretary, Juliet Douglas (Episode 45).

Although Bradley intends for him to die in combat, Mustang stays in Central, making his move to avenge Hughes's death. Mustang is only able to defeat King Bradley when Bradley's son, Selim, unwittingly brings the skull of the man from which the Führer was created and weakens him. As Mustang escapes the Führer's burning mansion, he is confronted by a maniacal Frank Archer, who shoots him. Hawkeye arrives in time to save him and kills Archer.

Conqueror of Shamballa

In "Conqueror of Shamballa", Mustang resigns from both alchemy and his rank to become just an ordinary enlisted man in a remote, almost Arctic outpost. He has not used his alchemy since the end of the series, claiming he can still see the people he has killed in his blinded left eye. Obviously he had a nervous breakdown. However, when Central is under attack by armies and airships, Mustang steps up and takes command, using his alchemy to defend Central. Mustang and Armstrong are able to find a hot-air balloon to reach the airships, and that is where he is reunited with the Elric brothers, and helps them gain entry into the airship. When Edward leaves again, he is the one to hold Alphonse back but it is presumed that he let Al go in order for the younger Elric to follow his older brother. At the end of the movie, Al says that Mustang and his team are now responsible for destroying the Amestris side of the Gate.

Manga

Following Hughes's death, Mustang investigates the incident in secret despite the military closing the case after convicting Maria Ross. Trusting in Ross's innocence, and with the help of Barry the Chopper, Mustang uses his alchemy skills to fake Ross's death and engineer her escape from Amestris. While breaking into a military laboratory with Barry's help (Chapter 39: Complications at Central), Lust confronts Mustang and Havoc. In the ensuing fight, Havoc is stabbed in the spine; while Lust sets off to find the rest of the intruders, she leaves Mustang and Havoc to bleed to death. After she slices Barry to pieces and is setting on Hawkeye (with Alphonse trying to stop her), she is almost blown off her feet by an explosion. Mustang had cut a transmutation circle into his skin and seared his wounds closed with fire, using a lighter in place of his ruined gloves. He then proceeds to mercilessly shoot flames at Lust, to the point where her Philosopher's Stone is unable to fuel her regenerative powers, killing her. Mustang later helps in transporting Ed, Al, Hawkeye, Dr. Knox, Lin, an injured Ran Fan, and a tied-up Gluttony to a deserted house in the woods. However, Gluttony does not hold long, and breaks free. Mustang manages to escape by car, leaving Ed, Al, and Lin to battle Gluttony.

After discovering that King Bradley is a Homunculus, he tries to expose him to the top echelons of the military. This move costs Mustang and deprives him of his subordinates - King Bradley places Riza Hawkeye under his command and authorizes the transfer of Mustang’s remaining personnel to the far reaches of Amestris.

In chapter 69, he is contacted by Major General Olivier Armstrong through an old flower-seller, who made Mustang buy all her flowers for the information. The old flower seller, said to have served the Armstrong family for generations, revealed that Olivier is intending for the "sword" of East Area troops under Mustang's command to join with the "shield" of the Briggs mountain range troops in order to protect Briggs, and wants Mustang's cooperation. He finally manages to meet Hawkeye in person, who manages to tell him that Selim Bradley is a homuculus. He later passes that message to Olivier Armstrong, as she takes over the residence of the Armstrong family to herself.

Reception

"AnimeOnDVD" commented on Volume 4 of the anime saying Mustang's character was "well-developed" and added on: "The darkness added to Mustang's past is spot on." and that ".. [the] material we see of Mustang in this volume, it only becomes more interesting...." [ [http://www.animeondvd.com/reviews2/disc_reviews/4037.php AnimeOnDVD - Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 4 review] ] They later added in Volume 12 saying that Roy Mustang's part in the story is "..interesting since it shifts around the cast on his side a bit and they make a fascinating ploy to turn rebel.." [ [http://www.animeondvd.com/reviews2/disc_reviews/5487.php AnimeOnDVD - Fullmetal Alchemist - Volume 12 Review] ]

Travis Willingham, the voice actor, has said he enjoys voicing Roy as "arrogance is a big part of his character" and saying "He's got this wall up. On the inside he's got doubts about what he's done in the past just like everyone else, you don't want to reveal too much." [ [http://www.fansview.com/2005/sakuracon/040805b.htm SakuraCon - Travis Willingham] ] In an interview, Travis mentioned that he auditioned for the part of Mustang after Justin Cook said he would be just right for the role. He also auditioned for Armstrong, but that went to his colleague, Christopher Sabat. Travis also stated that during production, he and Vic re-recorded several parts as he wasn't happy with the result. [ [http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/aug05/fullmetal.shtml Sequential Tart - The Fullmetal Interview Part 1] ]

Popularity has also Travis started his own fan club called The Mini Skirt Army [http://www.miniskirtarmy.org/] .

References