Cheating alchemy?

[u8mychipz]

its not really alchemy...its like cheating with that glove....same with anyone else who has the transmutation circle on their clothes and skin...for example that thief.. and scar... any thoughts?

[spunjah]

its not really alchemy...its like cheating with that glove....same with anyone else who has the transmutation circle on their clothes and skin...for example that thief.. and scar... any thoughts?


how is using an item to quicken your methods make it not alchemy? its just a quick way to use the powers. it be really ridiculus if you saw everyone in the whole series drawing out the arrays. i think the quick methods are good....and make the story what it is now...awsome!

[Lord Raiden]

I agree with spunjah. If you're in a gun fight, which would you rather do? Would you rather have to fully assemble the gun, load it and then fire? Or would you rather just pull it out, cock the hammer and fire? I'll go for the second one cause if the other guy has to assemble and load his, I'll just drive a few slugs through him while he's in progress of doing that.

Same idea goes for alchemy. The faster man always wins. So any shortcut methods help a lot. The two brothers are the only ones who DON'T need an alchemy circile in order to do theirs on the fly. Not sure how, but that's the case. You've also seen how many battles they've won in the process because of that. :)

[u8mychipz]

but the thing is...cant anyone just throw on the gloves or somethign ...i dont kno...

[Lst2touchdasky]

Not anyone can use alchemy, the ability drains your energy just like the guy at the test. Also you must have knowleged about how to use something complicated as mustang's combustion skill. And if it was just that easy wouldnt other alchemist do the same?But it isnt, thats why Mustang is a recognized Vetren, he's even a fricken commander of a entire branch.

welcome to the forum, and i hope you get flamed to death quickly :p

[luisa081]

um... al need to draw the transmutation circle i thought, and i think ed has one drawn on his right arm, from that 3rd ep i think where he was fighting that prist

[Umbrae]

Not fair your gun was loaded before we started the fight!!

Now given the fact that I doubt some one with an understanding of alchemy could so much as use a device like Mustang's gloves. I realy don't think of this as any sort of issue. it basicly just saves them the time of making the circle, and then having to perform the transmutation. also in the case of Mustang's glove it creates the spark as well. so basicly it takes 2 steps away. I uspose he could always carry chalk and a zippo, but why if he has somthing that allows him to bypass that.

He is a soldier. for a soldier in a fight, .01 seconds means life or death, not only for yourself but also your comrads. I don't think you will convence him to take them off and fight by your standard of fair, because thier is no such thing as a fair fight. you use what ever it takes to win. This has been proven over and over agin in history by such well known names as Hannibal ect.

[spunjah]

um... al need to draw the transmutation circle i thought, and i think ed has one drawn on his right arm, from that 3rd ep i think where he was fighting that prist

yes AL does need to draw the circle.

but ed does not have one on his right arm. if u watch episode 15 where scar finds them he explains how he does it.

scar: " by putting your hands together, you create a circle, then transmute with the circulated power"

...then blows his arm off =P


so without both hands he cannot use alchemy without the array

edit: put in the spoiler...sorry again

[Forsaken102]

yes AL does need to draw the circle.

but ed des not have one on his right arm. if u watch episode 15 where scar finds them he explains how he does it.

scar: " by putting your hands together, you create a circle, then transmute with the circulated power"

...then blows his arm off =P


so without both hands he cannot use alchemy without the array
(*coughs politely in a way that sounds remarkably like "Spoiler Tags!"*)

:p

[spunjah]

(*coughs politely in a way that sounds remarkably like "Spoiler Tags!"*)

:p

arg sorry all.....didnt know how to put spoiler thing in there..its changed now :D

[hunterx]

its not really alchemy...its like cheating with that glove....same with anyone else who has the transmutation circle on their clothes and skin...for example that thief.. and scar... any thoughts?

I think somewhere along the line you came up with this idea that alchemists were magicians. They are not. Ed uses a similar technique

[Yebyosh]

A little bit of speculative reasoning (substantiated with displays in the manga/series).

It is not really cheating. You can only perform specific types of alchemy with specific sigils. You certainly would not be able to transmute metal with one meant for organics. Also the contact is important. A sigil drawn on a wall can affect the wall but cannot affect the wall opposite it unless it is connected to the first wall (unless it is to explode the first wall to damage the second).

That is why for the normal alchemy, the sigils have to be drawn on the object then infused with the energies to create the effects desired.

For Mustang who is a flame alchemist, the gloves being made from special flint-like material creates sparks with sufficient friction. These sparks being fire are in contact with his gloves (with the sigils). Hence he would be able to manipulate them and the air surrounding the sparks. He can therefore create combustions or heat up objects till they explode through the contact with the air (up to a limited range).

Likewise Armstrong has his sigils on his knuckledusters. Therefore note that his combat alchemy is performed with his punches (where his knuckledusters come in contact with the affected material).

Sigils drawn on the body would affect the body or augment that portion's capabilities or allow the alchemical energy to be passed through it. These would apply to the homuculus and likely Scar.

All of these alchemists are however quite limited as their sigil are limited to a specific alchemy (Mustang : Flaming combustion, Armstrong: Kinetic transmutation). Edward however in not having a fixed sigil is unlimited in what types of alchemy he can perform with his special ability. But he must have contact with the material later.

Edward is not the only one who can perform alchemy without sigils ;)

[chhayalak]

Wow, the topic really threw me off for a second. I thought you were going to discuss about his sexuality, but that is not the case. I totally disagree, like the majority of the people here that using a pre-drawn alchemy symbol is cheating. I don't see how it is cheating really. If an average joe were to wear mustang glove, i don't think that person would be able to transmute the air into fire.


If you were to argue that using the red water stone, or philosopher stone as cheating perhaps i would agree with you. Since it seems to grant people with and without alchemy knowledge the ability to transmute.


THanks.

Chhayalak.

[degeros]

How does using his gloves make him gay?

Do you think that alchemists actually have the time to draw out a transmutation circle in the middle of a war? A good solution would be to carry a pre-made circle, which is exactly what Mustang is doing.

[ElvenPath]

Note: renamed the thread with a more relevant title (was: mustang is gay).

[PsYKoTiK]

no hes not.

the gloves simply start a spark of flame which he uses alchemy to increase. suppose its a bit like piro from xmen, he didnt creat fire only manipulated it.


and anyway mustang likes women, enough to make mini skirts the new dress code. so no he is not gay you stupid idiot

[BigFire]

no hes not.

the gloves simply start a spark of flame which he uses alchemy to increase. suppose its a bit like piro from xmen, he didnt creat fire only manipulated it.


and anyway mustang likes women, enough to make mini skirts the new dress code. so no he is not gay you stupid idiot

As we found out in Chapter 10 of the manga, different alchemist sometimes encrypted their research paper into different meanings. Marcoh hid his research into a cookbook. And in a side panel, Mustang hid his research into a book of woman's name...

[DeathPhoenix]

Like Bigfire said, it's not cheating. He has Pyrotex/Ignition Gloves which causes a spark when rubbed against itself, then he uses Alchemy to alter the oxygen levels in the air, to make the Instant Explosions.

And this pretty much says it all. Yebyosh Wrote:

"It is not really cheating. You can only perform specific types of alchemy with specific sigils. You certainly would not be able to transmute metal with one meant for organics. Also the contact is important. A sigil drawn on a wall can affect the wall but cannot affect the wall opposite it unless it is connected to the first wall (unless it is to explode the first wall to damage the second).

That is why for the normal alchemy, the sigils have to be drawn on the object then infused with the energies to create the effects desired.

For Mustang who is a flame alchemist, the gloves being made from special flint-like material creates sparks with sufficient friction. These sparks being fire are in contact with his gloves (with the sigils). Hence he would be able to manipulate them and the air surrounding the sparks. He can therefore create combustions or heat up objects till they explode through the contact with the air (up to a limited range).

Likewise Armstrong has his sigils on his knuckledusters. Therefore note that his combat alchemy is performed with his punches (where his knuckledusters come in contact with the affected material).

Sigils drawn on the body would affect the body or augment that portion's capabilities or allow the alchemical energy to be passed through it. These would apply to the homuculus and likely Scar.

All of these alchemists are however quite limited as their sigil are limited to a specific alchemy (Mustang : Flaming combustion, Armstrong: Kinetic transmutation). Edward however in not having a fixed sigil is unlimited in what types of alchemy he can perform with his special ability. But he must have contact with the material later."

But Edward does not have a fixed Sigil because he's seen The Gate of Truth, so he doesn't require a Transmutation Circle.

The Crimson Alchemist also has some in the pamls of his hands, so he doesn't need to draw the Transmutation Circles constantly, but he is limited to those two specific types of Alchemy since he hasn't seen the Gate of Truth.