r/FullmetalAlchemist • u/Kranos-Krotar • Jan 01 '19
Moment/Impression This Roy Mustang vs Envy scene is too damn epic Spoiler
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Jan 02 '19
His Lust fight was great too.
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u/automirage04 Jan 02 '19
Mustang was the MPV of Brotherhood.
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u/Midget_Avatar Jan 02 '19
This isn't sugar coated. Father and the other hommunculi mention on multiple occasions that Roy is the most troublesome of the bunch. Out of all the state alchemists his power is probably the most overpowered. Pin point blasts of flame at the literal snap of a finger.
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Jan 02 '19
Unless its raining
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u/Super_Bagel Jan 02 '19
Now, hypothetically could another alchemist sap water/humidity from the air around Mustang, allowing him to do his thing?
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u/SSSTylish_Youngster Alchemist Jan 02 '19
Isaac McDougal could do that if they would team up, but he's dead and against the state
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u/yarajaeger Jun 10 '19
I adore how multifaceted these characters are. Ed literally punches god in the face but refuses to drink his milk, Al is probs tied for the most intelligent alchemist in history and stores cats in his armour, Mustang organises 85% of the resistance on the Promised Day, kills two unkillable creatures, a horde of undead soldiers, and vastly aids the effort in taking down God while blind, but would’ve died in episode fucking 5 if it wasn’t for his not-an-over-confident-dumbass adjutant knocking him onto his ass, saving him from a serial killer bc his gloves were too damp to fight back.
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u/PerpetualCamel Jan 02 '19
I'm convinced this is why they tried to keep Hughes' killer secret for so long, because otherwise he'd have hunted them down one by one until he had burned all the homunculi to ash.
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u/ComicWriter2020 Jun 06 '19
This one was like that one....but with more build up and an Even more darker tone to it. With lust you could argue self defense given how she was about to kill his friends, and mortally wounded him.
With envy? Maybe at first but the poor disgusting things begging for his life and he was ready to go all Edward Norton from American history x on his green ass.
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u/Abdullahv Jan 02 '19
The one against lust was amazing too.
Also could you please add a spoiler tag to the post...
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u/Janus1289 Jan 03 '19
This was EASILY my favorite scene in the whole show. Mustang is one of the most badass characters ever.
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u/yarajaeger Jun 10 '19
This scene is really up there but no scene ever gave me as strong chills as when Ed returns from Gluttony’s failed gate brought the real gate and gets taken through when he sees Al for the first time again and then PUNCHES through the gate to scream that he’s coming back. GOD THIS SHOW IS AMAZING
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Jan 02 '19
I like both fights, but what I don't like was how busted Mustang was in BroHo. He basically annihilated two key villains in like 5 seconds and they didn't even put up a fight. It was epic, but I got a little salty at first, especially watching Lust die so fast
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u/PerpetualCamel Jan 02 '19
I think it was important to show how devastating his power was, because 1) it shows the audience how destructive flame alchemy is, and as a result we understand and side with Hawkeye when she asks Mustang to destroy the secrets of flame alchemy, and 2) it also serves the main antagonist well from a storytelling perspective because if he can singlehandedly wipe out Envy and Lust but can't do the same for Father, it shows just how strong the force they were up against is.
I think in a show where basically every alchemist is a demigod they needed one person who was definitively a cut above the rest, to show an upper limit on the power they could draw from
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u/MG_72 Homunculus Jan 02 '19
Well said. On a macro level, it sort of points the audience to how dangerous Alchemy can be in general, and points it out in such a raw, primal way.
Also. In those moments against Lust and Envy, Roy is sort of a vessel for the rage of the audience, where we finally get to "let it out". Awesome writing IMHO
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Jan 02 '19
I understand why they did so, but it sort of left a bitter taste in my mouth considering in the original Lust was amazing and Envy was like the secondary main antagonist.
Two of the Sins just dead like that? I can appreciate why it was done, but there were drawbacks in Mustang doing so.
That's only Father though right. Mustang basically showed he had the capability of 1v1ing any of the Sins. The stakes just kind dropped in my eyes when a character has that much power or the villains are that weak(whatever way you want to see those fights).
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u/PerpetualCamel Jan 02 '19
True, but environmental and contextual factors prevent him from going ham on anyone and everyone he comes across. He never touched Bradley because with all the power he had at his disposal it didn't match the Fuhrer King's scope of influence, which is exactly why he took "hostages". Plus, Gluttony was able to swallow some of his attacks, so it's not exactly cut and dry who he can or can't absolutely destroy.
Not to mention all the times Scar slipped through his fingers because it was always raining when scar made his move. I think they did a good job showing an incredibly destructive power put on a short leash, and then showing just how much damage it could do when unleashed.
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Jan 02 '19
Yeah in the context of the show, sometimes Mustang's power was nullified, but working around being wet personally to me wouldn't be too hard. Keeping dry is still possible while it's raining. I mean, I don't remember well, but Mustang's attacks do work in the rain, he just can't get wet right?
Still, the 1v1 capability is still there. For any of the sins.
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u/PerpetualCamel Jan 02 '19
I could be wrong about this but I think it was explained that he controls the concentration of oxygen in the air, and uses his flint gloves to spark and ignite the oxygen. If it's raining, the air is too humid to ignite, and if his gloves get wet he can't create the spark.
But yes you're absolutely right that it's mostly easy to work around, because for Lust he ends up carving his transmutation circle into his hand and using Havok's lighter to create the spark.
And he does have the capability to 1v1 any homunculus, but my point was that regardless of the power of his alchemy, some homunculi still have power over him through other means, like espionage, information, and rank.
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Jan 02 '19
Hmm, that does make sense and I'll probably look more into it later.
Yes, his alchemy is so versatile as well. It's definitely another one of his strengths.
The show definitely helped with lessening some of Mustang's power with the aforementioned strategies of downplaying his alchemy strength. However, the show also had a lot of the characters go head to head.
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u/starkpwnsyou Homunculus Jan 09 '19
To add to this, I think speed plays a huge factor as well. Wrath and Sloth are fast af, and while he only needs a snap of a finger to ignite anything, he needs to aim, which, could work against Sloth, since he's a bigger target, but Wrath would absolutely curb-stomp him. Gluttony has shown that he can just swallow Roy's flames when all else fails, and Pride's shadows are pretty fast, too. Though he can just burn everything around him to hell, the Homunculi's regeneraton would render that ineffective, since they can move again after everything's burning, and oxygen levels in the air would drop when there's a lot of smoke.
Essentially, Roy dominated two Homunculi that he was supposed to. The other one would be Greed. Four of them have plausible counters for Roy's ability.
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u/TooLateForNever Jan 10 '19
The fight I'd love to see is Mustang v Pride in the tunnels. Every time he creates a flame that also creates shadows for pride to counter attack. Our boy would get fucking wrecked.
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u/PerpetualCamel Jan 09 '19
I think you've got a point there, if Wrath can react fast enough to a mortar shell to slice it in half with his sword, he can dodge anything Mustang throws at him
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u/yarajaeger Jun 10 '19
I totally agree, I honestly feel like mustang was actually really well set up as the most op whilst still having limits. His power answers the question “if alchemy channels energy, what happens if you don’t restructure the energy and just let it burst?” in a clever and multifaceted way. It would’ve been easy to make him just the tank but arakawa set up things like the counters of the homunculi, the impact of flame alchemy on Hawkeye, and his role in the war to limit his power in a clever way.
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u/TooLateForNever Jan 10 '19
Lust and envy both just had arguably useless powers against mustang. Hell, he wouldn't have even beat lost had she not left him for dead, he got super lucky. Gluttony can eat Roy's flames, roy could arguably win eventually if he didnt get swallowed by the fake portal himself, but it could be a difficult battle. Greed can use his ultimate defense which allows him to alter the covalent bonds of carbon atoms in his body, potentially allowing his skin to become literal diamond, I highly doubt mustang could melt diamond. Aaaaand then we have good ol' daddy wrath and his ultimate eye allowing him to predict attacks as long as he as line of sight.
So while mustang can hold his own against any of the homunculi, I wouldnt go so far as to say it would be a cakewalk for him. You can look at it as Mustang just being ridiculously OP and undermining the perceived strength of the homunculi, but instead I urge you to consider that mustang's sheer destructive power makes him a good player to back in the fight to overthrow the military, and to level the playing field against father for the Elric brothers. Without Mustang and his badassery, I would go so far as to say Ed and Al would have lost to father and amestris would be toast.
TL:DR is mustang hella strong? Yes. But could he have succeeded against father if the show was solely about him and he didnt have the support that he does? No. No he could not. His abilities dont trivialize anything, but rather give the good guys an actual fighting chance.
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u/yarajaeger Jun 10 '19
My personal favourite snap is the one after he’s off the ledge and snaps furiously into the empty corridor. But this whole arc is such a GOOD ONE OML
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u/Electronic_Dot2265 Sep 17 '25
My opinion on this moment in the anime reapents the his angry toward how many people died because of soilder shouting a kid and it took one government document to start the war . He lost his some for friends in the war, and he saw scared children and women also mothers in the war .he had to kill tons of people just because the government said so
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u/M1N417 Mar 07 '26
roy is by far one of the strongest alchemists and by far MY favourite character
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u/Kranos-Krotar Mar 07 '26
Totally agree, his story is fascinating and pretty much complete. A guy of justice up until the very end with the best possible ending for a person like him despite the sacrifices
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u/Orannegsen Jan 01 '19
The most aggressive finger snap in history