(L) Fullmetal Alchemist Manga Discussion

[yezhanquan]

But, back to Mustang and Co. against one mad alchemist: Oh boy, Roy is in trouble. He can't do any AOE fire spells without frying eveyone in the area.

[Haladflire65]

I'd actually like to see Roy in real trouble for once. He hasn't really been so since Lust. I hope it brings on some intense scenes.

[Vicious108]

Originally Posted by Haladflire65

I'd actually like to see Roy in real trouble for once. He hasn't really been so since Lust.

Really? He sure looked in real trouble to me by the end of chapter 50.

[Haladflire65]

Originally Posted by Endless Twilight

Really? He sure looked in real trouble to me by the end of chapter 50.

Ok, correction: he hasn't been in life-threatening trouble for a bit. Wrath wasn't trying to kill him, just take away his power. At least he wasn't standing face-to-face with the daddy of all the villains. I'm hoping something really unexpected will happen.

[orangejuicetang]

Originally Posted by yezhanquan

But, back to Mustang and Co. against one mad alchemist: Oh boy, Roy is in trouble. He can't do any AOE fire spells without frying eveyone in the area.

He can still do his pinpoint eyeball burning moves though.

[Haladflire65]

As if burning out Father's eyeballs would get rid of him... lol. I don't think he's at the same level as Envy.

It'll definately help, though.

[yezhanquan]

Originally Posted by orangejuicetang

He can still do his pinpoint eyeball burning moves though.

Then, I pray he keeps his cool, enough to do some precision burning.

[GaimeGuy]

Yeah you're right... All the extra souls in Bradley's philosopher's stone were killed off when the stone was injected into him. the stone woudl break his body down and regenerate it over and over again in a violent attempt to take control of the body, like Greed tried to take over Ling's body.

Only one soul was left when the stone was finally accepted by the body, and Bradley doesn't know if it was one of the souls from the stone or the original soul of "his" body.

So yeah, no regeneration for him.

[Tsuyoshi]

Well, Roy could try the pinpoint attack but I'm pretty sure Bradly would be able to foresee the attack before it hits him. The only way to really get at Bradley is to strike at him when he's completely focused on something else, like another opponent. That's exactly what Buccaneer did in this chapter.

On the subject of Homunculus not able to use alchemy, if that were the case, Father, who originally referred to himself as Homunculus, wouldn't have been able to use any alchemy himself. He even taught Alchemy to Hohenheim.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by yezhanquan

But, back to Mustang and Co. against one mad alchemist: Oh boy, Roy is in trouble. He can't do any AOE fire spells without frying eveyone in the area.

On the contrary, I think from a tactical battle position, he's better off now that Ed is out of the picture. Before he had to hold back a bit because Ed is such a mobile melee fighter. He could have fried all the Fuhrer candidates at once had Ed not waded into the middle of them all as usual. Now he only has to make sure Riza stays behind him—fine with her since she uses a gun—and he can torch everything in front of him with impugnity, all at once. As for Scar? I suggest he stick near to Riza...

No, Mustang's problem is whether he'll decide he needs Old Alchemist around to bring Ed back, or if he will just torch him along with the FCs to prevent (or at least hinder) the finishing of the master transmutation. That all hangs upon how well he's picked up on the alchemy at play here, and my guess is he has a better idea what's going on than we expect. Probably better than we do (remember Daddy Hawkeye's uber alchemy?). I think Chapter #100 is going to have Mustang surprising us in much the same way Bradley has the last few chapters.

[Sannom]

Why are you all conviced that Mutang can have a easy time defeating the old man? I mean, he tried to use his alchemy, he was stopped by one of the soldier! They're just too fast and skilled for him, people who said that Bradley would have probably crushed him were right, this chapter proved it : if Mustang has trouble againt the ones who didn't receice the stone, how well could he have done againt Bradley???

[GaimeGuy]

Sannom:

Well, regardling the old man (Mr Gold Tooth), We haven't really seen what he can do yet,but if he's been one of Father's main right hand men for all these decades, he certainly is a giftedalchemist. That complicated alchemic transmutation he did at the end of ch 99 illustrates that.

Regardling Bradley....
Mustang is the only normal person outside of Ling who has been able to fight a homunculus1 on 1. And he's done it against two of them, at that.

Ling? He held off Bradley temporarily and sparred with Envy a bit later. but seemed to have trouble with envy once he transsformed, since Ling is a short-range hand-to-hand fighter, while Mustang can attack from all sorts of ranges.

Mustang? He destroyed Lust once he was able to use his flames, and Envy couldn't touch him.

Considering Bradley wasn't afraid to be alone with Mustang, Ed, and Al when they knew he was a homuculus, you're probably right, though.

[Hell_ping]

But then again, those old guys are spartans..., its like letting mustang fight yoda here... The only time we see mustang try and attack with flames, he was stopped by a kick from an old guy.

Moral of the story: Dun underestimate the old man. For a full list of examples http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph....BadassGrandpa

EDIT: Anyone thought of Mr Gold Tooth as our fifth sacrifice? And the main reason why mustang was able to beat Envy and Lust: Becoz they are slower, with respect to Bradley and Sloth, which gives him just enough time to react and attack. We saw what happened when Envy tried to take the battle to close range. But if he cant react to the attacks of the old guys fast enough, i guess its safe to say he will have a very tough time against Bradley.

[quigonkenny]

Look where everybody is at the end of the chapter. One snap and for sure either the three on the right or Mr Gold Tooth are toast. The FCs aren't close enough to get to him in time, especially with Riza's gun trained on them. Depending on the layout of the room (tough to tell from the angle) he may be able to get all four of them and any others in one blast.

[Sannom]

Mustang? He destroyed Lust once he was able to use his flames, and Envy couldn't touch him.

Yeah, but never forget that the Homonculus are not skilled fighters and terribly slow compared to the other characters, and that Mustang got the most destructive alchemy around. They were won fight from the beginning.

But pit him against lightning-fast and abolutely ruthless Bradley, or damage-immune and also lightning-fast, although in a different way, Sloth? There, poor old Roy would probably have had his ass handed to him. Not that there is shame to it when it comes to King Bradley. That old man hasn't been presented as nearly-invincible for the entire series for nothing!

The FCs aren't close enough to get to him in time, especially with Riza's gun trained on them. Depending on the layout of the room (tough to tell from the angle) he may be able to get all four of them and any others in one blast.

When they fell menacingy from the ceiling, Mustang didn't even have enough time to ask who they were that they were already on him and kicking his hand away to stop him from using the flames. There is just two meters between them and Riza, they can probably fill that gap in a blink (and if Scar was able to dodge bullets, you can bet that those guys can too) and once they're here, Mustang can't attack.

[Tsuyoshi]

I think Scar can hold his own against any one of those old men. It is said that Ishballan warrior priests were worth ten of Amestris' soldiers, which has to count for quite a lot. Plus, he has the destrictive arm, which makes him far more lethal than what he was. Still, there's only one of him and several FC's. Best bet would be if Roy and Scar act as bait while Riza shoots them from a distance. We saw that happening once already as well. Better yet, if Riza takes down the old man, I wonder how the FC's would behave since they appear to be under his unquestioned command.

[Sannom]

Yeah, but Riza tried to hit the old man directly. The result? A soldier leaping in front of him to take the bullets.

Yeah Scar is extremely fast, but sometimes it seems like he slowed down since the war, as if the use of his alchemy somehow needed him to slow down a little. If I where him, I would revert to simple hand-to-hand against those guys, they're not alchemists nor are they super-powered.

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by Sannom

Yeah, but Riza tried to hit the old man directly. The result? A soldier leaping in front of him to take the bullets.

Yeah Scar is extremely fast, but sometimes it seems like he slowed down since the war, as if the use of his alchemy somehow needed him to slow down a little. If I where him, I would revert to simple hand-to-hand against those guys, they're not alchemists nor are they super-powered.

All the better, the more she tries aiming for the old man, the more of the other people she can take down until there's none left while Roy and Scar keep the others busy.

As for Scar, I don't think I catch your drift. You say he seems to have slowed down since the war, yet you say he's extremely fast. Don't forget, Scar is able to dodge bullets from point blank range, and that was after the war as well. And I doubt Scar can't use hand to hand technique and use his alchemy to deal a mortal blow when he hits with his right.

[Hell_ping]

The good thing is that they dont have regenerative abilities, nor as I see it, have the ability to do anything other than mid-range to far ranged combat, which scar is unable to do. It was said that scar is able to hold his own against 10 normal soldiers during the war (correct me if I'm wrong on this part), but ever since his fight against Ed and Al, i just have the feeling that his reflexes slowed down a bit when they were fighting against the dolls. I noe he can still dodge a bullet at point blank range, which is saying a lot, but being a guy who almost literally lives for battle, not having to fight for a long time will dull the senses a bit. What the old guys have to do to survive -- dont let scar grab u with his right arm, u're toast.

Yes, Riza can take out more guys by shooting at the boss instead, letting them jump in to take the bullet. However, if Mr Gold Tooth actually tried to attack them, or do something significant, that's a completely different scenario. Those precious seconds of delay would be enough for Mr Gold Tooth to accomplish what he wanted to do, as we saw. The delay was enough to complete the transmutation and teleport Ed, Al and Izumi out.

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by Teh_Ping

The good thing is that they dont have regenerative abilities, nor as I see it, have the ability to do anything other than mid-range to far ranged combat, which scar is unable to do. It was said that scar is able to hold his own against 10 normal soldiers during the war (correct me if I'm wrong on this part), but ever since his fight against Ed and Al, i just have the feeling that his reflexes slowed down a bit when they were fighting against the dolls. I noe he can still dodge a bullet at point blank range, which is saying a lot, but being a guy who almost literally lives for battle, not having to fight for a long time will dull the senses a bit. What the old guys have to do to survive -- dont let scar grab u with his right arm, u're toast.

Scar killed Brigadeer General Basque Grand and was just about to finish off Armstrong at some point as well. Armstrong himself admitted that he was fighting for his survival more than anything, which says a lot about how strong Scar is even now. We all know either one of those two would be a match for ten normal soldiers if not more. If anything, I'd say Scar's senses have actually sharpened rather than dulled. He may have looked slower against the dolls because those creatures are immortal and never go down. When you have numerous creatures that don't go down no matter how many times you break them down, you have a whole new story to read.

Originally Posted by Teh_Ping

Yes, Riza can take out more guys by shooting at the boss instead, letting them jump in to take the bullet. However, if Mr Gold Tooth actually tried to attack them, or do something significant, that's a completely different scenario. Those precious seconds of delay would be enough for Mr Gold Tooth to accomplish what he wanted to do, as we saw. The delay was enough to complete the transmutation and teleport Ed, Al and Izumi out.

You're right that the FC's will most likely be smart enough to tell that Scar's right arm is the most dangerous part of him and they will try to avoid it. That's why I prefer if Scar and Roy act as bait while Riza tries shooting the old man. I doubt he will do anything to try and attack the others because first of all, he's a medical alchemist. Those types of alchemist tend to be weak in terms of offense. The second reason is that the old man strikes me as the type who is overconfident in his troops and won't even try worrying about a situation where the balance is not in his favor. For that reason, I don't think he will try attacking on his own.