Character Discussion - Roy Mustang

[Sannom]

Originally Posted by Krazzy Angel

If Roy was not a skilled alchemist then why was he accepted as state alchemist?

The flames. State Alchemist are merely human weapons, so being able to use such a destructive kind of alchemy almost guarantee that you will be taken for the job. Plus Mustang has the particularity to be both a State Alchemist and a member of the military who has really good results : this must exempt him of the annual examination, since he is always monitored by the military.

Roy is a extremely skilled weapon of mass destruction (no kidding, his alchemy is worse than Scar's) but most likely one of the less skilled alchemist over all. Marcoh, Ed, Al, probably Alex too are more skilled than him.

[Ziziphus]

Originally Posted by Krazzy Angel

If Roy was not a skilled alchemist then why was he accepted as state alchemist?
In even if flame is his speciality, it does not mean that he does not know about other fields.

Spoiler for manga:

Also why would have the homunculi considered him as a potential sacrifice if he was not a good alchemist?

It's not clearly stated how much he knows about alchemy, so it was just an assumption I made myself.

And I didn't say that Roy was not skilled. He excels at his flame transmutation, and that alone qualified him as a State alchemist (just like Ed's ability to transmute without a circle, they both have impressive alchemy and the millitary didn't need more than that). I just assumed he's not the kind of person who would devote his time to tiring jobs like decoding or researching. Although he may know about other fields, I don't think his knowledge is up to the level of Ed, Al or Marcoh.

[Haladflire65]

Since Roy's an officer in the military, unlike Ed, Al and Marcoh, he's intelligent in other ways, like tatics, leadership, planning, etc. He doesn't have much need to research anything, because his alchemy's already top-notch in battle, and he doesn't have any real motivation for research like Ed and Al, for instance.

It's obvious that Mustang's a pretty smart guy, though. How else would he have become Colonel at only age 29?

[Ziziphus]

^He's very smart, and talented, yeah. No one denies that. That's the reason why:

Spoiler for manga:

The Homunculi saw him as a potential candidate.

We were just talking about his knowledge of alchemy though. Of course he's able to go very far with alchemy if he wants, but as you said, his alchemy's already top-notch in battle, so he just didn't feel the need to.

[Krazzy Angel]

Originally Posted by Ziziphus

^He's very smart, and talented, yeah. No one denies that. That's the reason why:

Spoiler for manga:

The Homunculi saw him as a potential candidate.

We were just talking about his knowledge of alchemy though. Of course he's able to go very far with alchemy if he wants, but as you said, his alchemy's already top-notch in battle, so he just didn't feel the need to.

I thought a mentioned that in one of my post in this thread before.

Well one more reason to consider Mustang as a skilled alchemist

Spoiler for manga chapter 60:

: Riza said that her father's research could not be understood by an average alchemist. Roy became the Flame Alchemist as a proof that he is a skilled alchemist.

[Sannom]

Spoilers :

Spoiler:

Riza gave him the key to decode the tatoo, so he didn't have much to do. He is pretty much like Scar, he received a great power, some basic instructions (in the case of Scar, knowing that the right arm was made to destroy) and just got better at using it after some time practicing.

[GaimeGuy]

You guys are seriously underrating Roy :/

[Kusa-San]

Well it's maybe true that Marcoh and Ed are better than him in global knowledge about Alchemy but in alchemy battle, he is clearly better than them. He masters really well his alchemy (which is not the case for Ed and Al)and his military experience make him far more dangerous than Ed or Al. Mustang is maybe not a genius in alchemy but he is cleary a genius soldier.

[Sannom]

He masters really well his alchemy (which is not the case for Ed and Al)

Al and Ed controls perfectly their alchemy, but it's different by essence. Theirs is based on transmuting objects and materials, while Mustang's is based on making things go "boum".

Spoilers manga :

Spoiler:

When it comes to sheer power of destruction, Mustang is unparalleled. But his power isn't really helpful to help others in combat : he can't cushion someone's fall or save people about to be crushed by a falling wall, like Al and Ed did in their fight against Scar.

I don't think he is superior in "personal" battle due to his experience, but he is undoubtedly better at tactics and strategies on a bigger scale.

[yezhanquan]

Mustang has to be the attacker of any group, but again, due to the nature of his alchemy, it is best that he fights alone. Friendly fire is on, people.

[orangejuicetang]

Just want to point out but

Spoiler for manga:

didn't Roy become a state alchemist before he learned the secret of the flame alchemy from Riza's tattoos? And as for Roy vs Greed that was mentioned a bit ago, honestly, how many people actually stand a chance against Greed when he's fully armored? Wrath, badass as he is, only won his first fight against Greed because he didn't give him a chance to fully harden himself. If Greed had fully hardened himself then, I really don't think that Wrath would have won. And if Roy fights Greed before Greed had fully armored himself, I think that Roy can do the same thing that Wrath did, which is basically keep attacking and not giving a chance to harden.

[Krazzy Angel]

Originally Posted by Sannom

Spoilers :

Spoiler:

Riza gave him the key to decode the tatoo, so he didn't have much to do. He is pretty much like Scar, he received a great power, some basic instructions (in the case of Scar, knowing that the right arm was made to destroy) and just got better at using it after some time practicing.

Eh... when was that said?

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by orangejuicetang

Just want to point out but

Spoiler for manga:

didn't Roy become a state alchemist before he learned the secret of the flame alchemy from Riza's tattoos?

Spoiler for Manga:

Nope. Roy was a normal soilder.

[Akatsukimember]

Originally Posted by orangejuicetang

Just want to point out but

Spoiler for manga:

didn't Roy become a state alchemist before he learned the secret of the flame alchemy from Riza's tattoos? And as for Roy vs Greed that was mentioned a bit ago, honestly, how many people actually stand a chance against Greed when he's fully armored? Wrath, badass as he is, only won his first fight against Greed because he didn't give him a chance to fully harden himself. If Greed had fully hardened himself then, I really don't think that Wrath would have won. And if Roy fights Greed before Greed had fully armored himself, I think that Roy can do the same thing that Wrath did, which is basically keep attacking and not giving a chance to harden.

uh no

Spoiler for Spoiler:

he went to the military as a normal soldier before he learned flame alchemy he didn't become state alchemist before that

[orangejuicetang]

Okay, my mistake. I misremembered some parts of that chapter.

[Haladflire65]

IMO, Mustang's most powerful point is his will - man, the guy's unbreakable. No matter how overwhelmingly bad the odds are, he just keeps pushing on... and on... and on... It's what I like about the character. Not unlike Ed and Al...

[Darklord_bg]

I think if Roy was any better at alchemy, like Marcoh or Izumi, he would be pretty much the strongest character in the show, which I would not like, since it would make him a Gary Stu. He's pretty amazing as he is right now in terms of pure battle power, precision and battle tactics, so if he was also good at general alchemy as well, he would be pretty much unstoppable. I like it this way with different characters having different strengths and weaknesses since they can complement each other. For instance, Ed's alchemy is nowhere near as destructive as Roy's but it is much more versatile and can be used in variety of different ways - which makes the battles they fight different and unique.

[Kanish]

You know. If he actually put his jacket on, I'd be able to believe this is a guy who can get into a decent fist fight.

What Roy needs is a good fight sometime soon. 'Cause any and all action involving him in the first series has kinda escaped my memory.

[Vicious108]

And what you need is to watch episode 19 sometime soon.

[Haladflire65]

Originally Posted by Endless Twilight

And what you need is to watch episode 19 sometime soon.

Hell yes. I've just watched it - in some parts, it looks even better than the manga.