Known as the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward is the youngest State Alchemist ever selected by the Amestris State Military. His State Alchemist name was given to him by King Bradley upon passing the State Alchemist certification and it refers to his automail, his artificial arm and leg. Edward Elric was born in 1898 to Hohenheim of Light and Trisha Elric. Hohenheim left the family while Ed was very young, for reasons we discover later in the series.
Ed is short and slender, but compactly muscled. His automail limbs are considerably strong, and he is extremely agile and flexible. He is also able to think quickly, even in desparate situations. These qualities, combined with his alchemic powers, make him a formidable fighter. He has golden-blond hair and gold eyes. It is believed he is left handed, as he is often seen writing with his left hand. However, in the 29th episode, it is shown how Ed affixed Al's soul to the armor. He uses his right hand to draw the blood seal on the armor, as well as the transmutation circle on his chest. Also, in the very first episode, immediatelly in the beginning, you see him drawing a transmutation circle (which he is going to use for human transmutation of his mother), with a stick he's holding in his right hand. On episode 7, you'll see him writing a letter to Winry using his left hand. He's holding it in an odd position, like he's not used to writing with it- although it should be noted that many left-handed people write in a manner that looks awkward. Some fans theorize that perhaps he was right-handed until he lost his right arm and had to replace it with automail.
Ed's personal story begins in October 1910, when Edward and Alphonse, his brother, attempt to revive their mother using forbidden alchemy: human transmutation. The attempt completely backfired, as Al's body was pulled into the Gate of Alchemy, and Ed lost his left leg. In order to keep Al's soul from being lost as well, Ed was forced to give up his right arm to bind Al's soul to a nearby suit of armor using knoweldge he attained from this glimpse into the Gate. Unbeknownst to Ed at the time, he also gained the rare ability to perform transmutations without a transmutation circle.
In order to regain what they had lost, Ed and Al decide to head out in search of the legendary Philosopher's Stone, which allows an alchemist to perform transmutations that violate the Law of Equivalent Exchange (in order to gain, something of equal value must be lost). To gain access to the vast amount of research and information on alchemy available to State Alchemists, Ed and Al decide to take the notoriously difficult State Alchemist entrance exam. They stay for a year in Central with Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist, while studying for the exam. However, because the brothers feared that their secret (that they had performed forbidden alchemy) would be exposed during the interview phase of the exam if Al were to take it, they decide that only Ed should take the test alone. Ed passes with flying colors, and, at the age of 12, becomes the youngest State Alchemist that the State had ever certified. (Note: Had Al not been forced to drop from the Exam due to his "condition" and passed it, he might have been the youngest State Alchemist ever certified -at age 11- instead of his brother, Ed. Al's selection, though, is not a given. The state only takes one or two alchemists a year, so presumably even some alchemists that pass are not selected.)
However, despite his diminuitive height (about which he is quite sensitive), Edward is a very powerful alchemist who, unlike almost all other alchemists, can perform alchemy without the use of a transmutation circle, also known as an array. This allows his body to form a transmutation circle, allowing Ed to carry out a transmutation. In the anime, he first discovered this ability when he accidentally transmuted a bowl of water, thus boiling it, while Gracia Hughes was giving birth. In the manga, however, Edward's first transmutation done without the use of a circle was when he bound Alphonse's soul to the suit of armor. (Edward's unawareness of this ability in the anime version constitutes a continuity error to some fans, in that the Gate is supposed to give knowledge of alchemy rather than unexplained special abilities.)
At the end of the series, when Edward was fatally wounded by Envy, Al uses the power of the Philosopher's Stone in order to heal Ed's body and to reattach his soul which was at the gate. The revival, however, uses up the all of the Stone (Al's own body). Al appears briefly at the gate and then disappears. After being revived, and whole (missing arm and leg back), Ed decided to risk everything to bring back his little brother by pulling Alphonse's soul and original body out of the Gate and putting them back together, in exchange for his own life if necessary. Edward loses his arm and his entire being fall through the gateway, ending up in a version of our world living in Post WWI Germany with Hohenheim. Hohenheim later offers the theory the four years that the brothers spent on their quest served as the Equivalent Exchange in the transmutation (rather than Ed's life, as he intended). Hohenheim had also said in an earlier episode one way for the Elrics to get back what they lost was to give up what they had gained. The death of Sloth had given back a portion of what they had gained. In Al's case he lost all the memories in his armored form and reverted to exactly how he was before the failed transmutation of their mother. Ed, on the other hand, could not keep his arm because he had traded that for the soul of Alphonse.
But determined to get to Al, Edward soon became involved in rocketry research in the country of Romania. His intention behind this being that he would use that technology to try and get back to his world, to his home. During that time, Edward matured emotionally and seems slightly cold and distant like his father. It would seem that after he got caught up in this world's plots of the Thule Society surrounding the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, Ed was able to make his way back to his world. There, back in Amestris, he aided to defeat the Thule Society's invasion of his world. Which, in the end of the invasion, Edward and Alphonse cross over to Other World in order to seal and make sure the physical Gateway between both worlds was closed off forever. Afterwards, Edward and Alphonse decide to go on a quest to recover a nuclear bomb created in Amestris which had been sent over into the Other World.
Some fans believe him to be half German and half Russian, as his father was German and his mother, Russian.
In the OVA "Hagaren Kids", Ed is shown to still be alive in the other world by the year 2005, on his 100th birthday. He has grown very old and sports a beard, but his hair (which now resembles his father's) is still blonde, and he still has his automail arm (which is smaller than his real left arm). He apparently has 3 grandchildren, one resembling himself, one resembling Alphonse, and another resembling Winry. He is still sensitive about his height.
Ed is short and slender, but compactly muscled. His automail limbs are considerably strong, and he is extremely agile and flexible. He is also able to think quickly, even in desparate situations. These qualities, combined with his alchemic powers, make him a formidable fighter. He has golden-blond hair and gold eyes. It is believed he is left handed, as he is often seen writing with his left hand. However, in the 29th episode, it is shown how Ed affixed Al's soul to the armor. He uses his right hand to draw the blood seal on the armor, as well as the transmutation circle on his chest. Also, in the very first episode, immediatelly in the beginning, you see him drawing a transmutation circle (which he is going to use for human transmutation of his mother), with a stick he's holding in his right hand. On episode 7, you'll see him writing a letter to Winry using his left hand. He's holding it in an odd position, like he's not used to writing with it- although it should be noted that many left-handed people write in a manner that looks awkward. Some fans theorize that perhaps he was right-handed until he lost his right arm and had to replace it with automail.
Ed's personal story begins in October 1910, when Edward and Alphonse, his brother, attempt to revive their mother using forbidden alchemy: human transmutation. The attempt completely backfired, as Al's body was pulled into the Gate of Alchemy, and Ed lost his left leg. In order to keep Al's soul from being lost as well, Ed was forced to give up his right arm to bind Al's soul to a nearby suit of armor using knoweldge he attained from this glimpse into the Gate. Unbeknownst to Ed at the time, he also gained the rare ability to perform transmutations without a transmutation circle.
In order to regain what they had lost, Ed and Al decide to head out in search of the legendary Philosopher's Stone, which allows an alchemist to perform transmutations that violate the Law of Equivalent Exchange (in order to gain, something of equal value must be lost). To gain access to the vast amount of research and information on alchemy available to State Alchemists, Ed and Al decide to take the notoriously difficult State Alchemist entrance exam. They stay for a year in Central with Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist, while studying for the exam. However, because the brothers feared that their secret (that they had performed forbidden alchemy) would be exposed during the interview phase of the exam if Al were to take it, they decide that only Ed should take the test alone. Ed passes with flying colors, and, at the age of 12, becomes the youngest State Alchemist that the State had ever certified. (Note: Had Al not been forced to drop from the Exam due to his "condition" and passed it, he might have been the youngest State Alchemist ever certified -at age 11- instead of his brother, Ed. Al's selection, though, is not a given. The state only takes one or two alchemists a year, so presumably even some alchemists that pass are not selected.)
However, despite his diminuitive height (about which he is quite sensitive), Edward is a very powerful alchemist who, unlike almost all other alchemists, can perform alchemy without the use of a transmutation circle, also known as an array. This allows his body to form a transmutation circle, allowing Ed to carry out a transmutation. In the anime, he first discovered this ability when he accidentally transmuted a bowl of water, thus boiling it, while Gracia Hughes was giving birth. In the manga, however, Edward's first transmutation done without the use of a circle was when he bound Alphonse's soul to the suit of armor. (Edward's unawareness of this ability in the anime version constitutes a continuity error to some fans, in that the Gate is supposed to give knowledge of alchemy rather than unexplained special abilities.)
At the end of the series, when Edward was fatally wounded by Envy, Al uses the power of the Philosopher's Stone in order to heal Ed's body and to reattach his soul which was at the gate. The revival, however, uses up the all of the Stone (Al's own body). Al appears briefly at the gate and then disappears. After being revived, and whole (missing arm and leg back), Ed decided to risk everything to bring back his little brother by pulling Alphonse's soul and original body out of the Gate and putting them back together, in exchange for his own life if necessary. Edward loses his arm and his entire being fall through the gateway, ending up in a version of our world living in Post WWI Germany with Hohenheim. Hohenheim later offers the theory the four years that the brothers spent on their quest served as the Equivalent Exchange in the transmutation (rather than Ed's life, as he intended). Hohenheim had also said in an earlier episode one way for the Elrics to get back what they lost was to give up what they had gained. The death of Sloth had given back a portion of what they had gained. In Al's case he lost all the memories in his armored form and reverted to exactly how he was before the failed transmutation of their mother. Ed, on the other hand, could not keep his arm because he had traded that for the soul of Alphonse.
But determined to get to Al, Edward soon became involved in rocketry research in the country of Romania. His intention behind this being that he would use that technology to try and get back to his world, to his home. During that time, Edward matured emotionally and seems slightly cold and distant like his father. It would seem that after he got caught up in this world's plots of the Thule Society surrounding the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, Ed was able to make his way back to his world. There, back in Amestris, he aided to defeat the Thule Society's invasion of his world. Which, in the end of the invasion, Edward and Alphonse cross over to Other World in order to seal and make sure the physical Gateway between both worlds was closed off forever. Afterwards, Edward and Alphonse decide to go on a quest to recover a nuclear bomb created in Amestris which had been sent over into the Other World.
Some fans believe him to be half German and half Russian, as his father was German and his mother, Russian.
In the OVA "Hagaren Kids", Ed is shown to still be alive in the other world by the year 2005, on his 100th birthday. He has grown very old and sports a beard, but his hair (which now resembles his father's) is still blonde, and he still has his automail arm (which is smaller than his real left arm). He apparently has 3 grandchildren, one resembling himself, one resembling Alphonse, and another resembling Winry. He is still sensitive about his height.
