Information|Stuff about FMA incase anyone needs re

[Edward]

Yeah, I don't think people will really need this but maybe some people need a refreashing of their memory.

AMESTRIS
Amestris is the nation-state that serves as the principal setting of the anime and manga series Fullmetal Alchemist. Amestris is quite large and diverse, both in terms of terrain and inhabitants. In the central and southern provinces the citizens seem to be of Eurasian extraction. The province of Ishbal in the East (annexed by Amestris 14 years earlier) is ethnically and culturally distinct from the rest of country; it is populated by religious-minded tribes similar to the people of India, North Africa or the Middle East.

A military dictatorship controls Amestris, with the head of state holding the official title of "Führer." King Bradley (King here is a first name, not another title) is the Führer throughout the series. It is unclear how long he has been in control of the country, but his term at least precedes the Ishbalan War. Amestris shares some parallels with Nazi Germany, especially considering the use of the title "Führer" as its leader and the human experiments during the Ishbalan War, paralleling the human experiments of the Nazis during World War II. The relationship between Drachma and Amestris is also similar to the one between Nazi Germany and Communist Russia.

Due to Amestris's many aggressive militaristic acts, it has shaky relations with most of its bordering countries. The country conquered and annexed the former country of Ishbal in the East, and the military is constantly engaged in border-clashes with Creta in the West and Aerugo in the South. Drachma, Amestris' neighbor in the north, has recently signed a non-aggression pact with Amestris after having border wars between the two countries, but diplomatic relations remain shaky--Amestris's government still considers Drachma to be populated by "barbarians." However, the two countries are separated by the Briggs Mountain Range, which aids in hindering another full-scale engagement. Far to the east, beyond Ishbal and the Great Desert, lies the country of Xing. Xing is ruled by an imperial government, and its people use alchemy strictly for medical purposes. There were any mentions of conflict between Xing and Amestris.

This would imply that Amestris is a mostly land-locked nation, as it seems to be bordered completely by other countries (Creta, Aerugo, Drachma, and Xing). It is currently unknown what lies beyond the nations of Creta, Aerugo, Drachma, and Xing, whether that's all there is to the continent or if there are more countries out there. It is known that there is a water route from Xing to Amestris(considered to be "the long way around."), but its location, name, or the existence of any others is unknown. As well, it is unknown if there are separate land-masses (continents) beyond the one that the current countries are on.

The name Amestris was believed to have come from the name of the Persian Queen, who was the wife of King of Kings Xerxes I of Persia. In the manga, Xerxes is the name of the country which had been destroyed in one night because of alchemy. Its ruin are in the east, in the Great Desert. What relationship it shares with the country of Amestris is still unknown.

In the manga, it is revealed in chapter 67 that Amestris was founded in the year 1558 of the common calendar, and grew larger by conquering its neighbors.

One may note the use of Winchester Lever-action rifles and Colt 1911s in the manga. In the anime, however, the weapons more resemble those of World War I.

In the manga, recent developments have led to a horrifying discovery: the very existence of Amestris is due to alchemy and genocide.

Approximately 350 years before the present date, alchemy was taught to the then-tiny country of Amestris by a mysterious man from the East now known as "The Eastern Philosopher". Amestris almost immediately transformed into a military dictatorship and began conquering its neighbors, most likely through the use of destructive alchemy.

Since then, there have been nine incidents of mass murder in Amestris-- all in annexed areas, and all involving the military. Marking these locations on a map and connecting them in concentric circles creates a pattern-- the alchemic array discovered under the Fifth Laboratory used to create Philosopher's Stones. The secret purpose of the nation of Amestris itself was simply to create this array.

The ultimate purpose of this gigantic array is as of yet unknown, but one thing is certain: when it is activated, it will kill every living thing in Amestris. One may assume that this is what happened to the neighboring country of Xerxes - the home of the "Eastern Philosopher". And only one area remains to be marked - the Briggs mountain range.
Flags
The official flag of Amestris is green with the symbol of a rampant white dragon. It appears twice in the course of the anime: one flag was draped over Brigadier General Mäes Hughes' coffin, and another flag was shown being torn apart by an angry mob of Ishbalans.

The Amestrian Flag

Appearing more frequently is the flag of the military government: a yellow-bordered green gonfalon with the same dragon symbol. It can often be seen hanging from the façades of government buildings, most notably on the several regional military headquarters.

The Amestrian Millitary Flag

The dragon symbol also appears on the uniform of the State Military as a lapel insignia on the right collar. The person's rank is displayed after it. Also, the cover of the pocket watches carried by state alchemists, used to amplify their transmutations, has the gonfalon on its face.

In the manga, the dragon is shown in the center of the design for the transmutation circle that destrories Xerxes, and gives "Father" and Van Hohenheim new bodies.

[Edward]

THE GATE
The Gate of Alchemy is a fictional metaphysical construct integral to the plot of the anime/manga series Fullmetal Alchemist referred to as the Doors of Truth in the manga or simply The Gate in the anime. The Gate/Doors is the source of all alchemic energy, often exemplified by the light of an alchemic transmutation. The Gate/Doors of Alchemy/Truth is depicted differently in anime and manga versions of Fullmetal Alchemist. In the anime, it is depicted as a large, black, two-doored gate that is variable in height and typically suspended in a white void. In the manga, it is shown as being a huge clay tablet depicting the Sephirot.

(In the manga, they are referred to as "The Doors of Truth") Like in the anime, the "Truth" exists at the Doors, but rather than being a part of the Doors themselves, it originates from an entity residing there (some call it "God" or "the World"). It is only shown as a short, childlike outline, implying that it possesses a physical figure, though none is ever visible, save for a frightening grin, meets alchemists who have attempted human transmutation in front of the Doors. His right arm and left leg (at least to Ed), are his arm and leg specifically. An interesting incongruency is that Ed passed through the doors on his way out of Gluttony by performing human transmutation on himself; he saw the doors, encountered Truth (who asked him if he had come for his limbs) and was not maimed in any way, due to his using the souls that reside inside Envy's Philosopher's Stone as passage fee. For the "toll" of a body part, the entity reveals to the alchemist a portion of the "Truth"; the more that is sacrificed, the more that is revealed, while the Truth looks on in the greatest amusement. After the transaction, the being keeps the body part(s) that are taken, and is usually seen grinning as the alchemist is flung back into the real world.

"Truth" has an enormous crazed grin similar to Gluttony's -- an interesting similarity, as the two are also alike in that Truth resides in the Doors of Truth and Gluttony holds a false Door at the core of his body. It is noticed in the manga that Gluttony's false Door is modeled after the real one; his creator had obviously seen the doors multiple times, or at least enough to know what the other side of it was like. Because he has taken Ed's limbs as his own, he could be compared to Wrath from the anime.

The grin could also, more likely, be compard to the ones that appears in Prides shadows.

The Homunculus Gluttony was designed by Father as an attempt to access the Doors, but instead he is merely an imitation; a "fake" version of the Doors. When Gluttony gets incredibly angry, he will transform into his true form, which consists of his chest opening up into a large, dark void that bears a similar single eye to the one that the true Doors contain. It is this void where everything he consumes remains; the only way to escape it is through the true Doors.

The functions of the Doors of Truth in the manga are similar to that of the anime, but there is no mention of an alternate world existing beyond the Doors that allows for the existence of the souls necessary for the energy of alchemy in the country of Amestris. The energy used in Amestrian alchemy is said to have come from the movements of the earth's crust. However, it actually comes from the enormous amount of souls contained in Father's body.

The only known way for an alchemist to access the Doors of Truth in the manga is by means of attempted human transmutation.

[Edward]

THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE
In the anime/manga Fullmetal Alchemist, the Philosopher's Stone (Œ«ŽÒ‚̐ΠKenja no Ishi lit. 'Wise man's stone') is the central element that drives the plot, and the object of the Elric Brothers' (the story's protagonists) search.

It is based on the legend of the philosopher's stone, able to transmute inexpensive materials into gold and grant immortality to its user. In Fullmetal Alchemist, it is a likewise legendary item said to allow the holder to completely bypass the law of Equivalent Exchange. It's rumored that the Stone could give its owner the ability to perform a flawless "human transmutation", thus the Elric Brothers search for the Stone, in order to gain back what they lost during the failed transmutation to bring back their mother from the dead.

In the adapted anime version, there are incomplete Philosopher's Stones called "Red Stones" or "incomplete Philosopher's Stones" which can be transmuted from a toxic liquid known as Red Water. Because it is incomplete, this stone will usually use up its power after just a few uses, sometimes backfiring on its holder. Much less expensive, and much easier to obtain than the real Stone, it can amplify the power of its holder to various extents, bypassing the law of Equivalent Exchange to a minor degree, acceptable for many practical uses.

Given its toxicity, appearance and alchemic significance in the plot, the "red water" material of the stone is probably cinnabar.

The raw material of Philosopher's Stone is a very large amount of human lives, ranging from dozens to millions. The first stone in history was transmuted by "Father", using the souls of the people of Xerxes. This event inspired the legend of a country which was destroyed in a single night. The later Philosopher's Stones were transmuted by Doctor Tim Marcoh and his fellow alchemists who were instructed to make the Stones by Lust and the other Homunculi, using the lives of Ishval prisoners, and later the makers themselves to cover it up. This series of Philosopher's Stones wasn't complete - they were made from only about 13 prisoners (based on the count shown in chapter 59). The stone that Father Cornello used was also one of this series.

The Philosopher's Stone has many potential uses for an alchemist. The State Alchemist Tim Marcoh researched it for the military, and was forced to turn over his research, including several vials of liquified Red Stones, to Basque Grand in order to improve the already incredible military efficiency of the State Alchemists involved in the Ishval Massacre. The stones rendered the alchemists nearly invincible, and contributed in large part to the Ishval genocide. After deserting from the military, Marcoh became a medical doctor, using the imperfect Philosopher's Stones only as a way to help the sick. It was hinted that even for those relatively unskilled in alchemy, like Father Cornello, could perform amazing feats like the transmutation of chimeras and temporary reanimation of dead animals. Scar's arm, an imperfect Stone, gave him the ability to decompose matter by alchemy and an instinctive understanding of a material's makeup.

A genuine Philosopher's Stone is capable of amazing feats, among them complete human transmutation and allowing a soul to be transferred into a new body. Such transference comes at the cost of a fraction of the alchemist's soul, and runs the risk of the new host body decomposing into a living corpse. In the manga, the Philosopher's Stone is the main ingredient in the creation of a Homunculus, while in the anime the Homunculi seek it to obtain humanity. Even a true Philosopher's Stone is not immune to Equivalent Exchange: every time it is used, a bit of it vanishes, and its power is likewise reduced.

The two types of Stone operate in the same manner. When a transmutation is performed, the matter is usually supplied by the alchemist himself. A broken radio can be reshaped into a fully functional radio, some scrap iron can build a sword, a spear, a gun, etc., but the source of the energy necessary to the process is only revealed in the final episodes. This energy is supplied by the mysterious Gate, a passage present in every human soul, linked to a second world (which is in fact our world). In the movie, the Fullmetal Alchemist world was thought to be the mystical Shamballa by the Thule Society. Every death in the second world generates energy, meaning the souls of the dead became the energy harnessed by alchemists to perform their transmutations. The Philosopher's Stone supplies an additional energy source, utilizing not the souls from the other side of the Gate, but souls collected in the alchemy world which are transmuted into the Stone. This allows amazing feats, such as human transmutation and incredible alchemic augmentation, to be performed as the souls from the stone are sacrificed as Equivalent Exchange for the desired power, effectively meaning giving up more than what one initially had. But as one uses the stone the souls used in making it are sent through the gate as energy, so over time the stone "rots" by using it.

The primary reason for seeking a stone is to ignore the principle of Equivalent Exchange. The stone supposedly bypasses this law and allows the alchemist to gain without sacrifice, but this is not the case. The Philosopher's Stone is made up of thousands if not millions of lives, and after each usage its power diminishes. The equivalent exchange for ignoring the law would be thousands of lives as represented by the stone. Minor human transmutations, such as Shou Tucker using the stone to resurrect his daughter's body, use up a percentage of the stone. Complete human transmutations, such as Alphonse bringing Edward back to life, require the consumption of the stone entirely (although it may have used all of Alphonse's body because he was an incomplete philosopher's and/or the fact that Gluttony had recently eaten a large part of his body). Therefore it can be said that (in accordance with equivalent exchange) to bring a single human back to life, the sacrifice needed is thousands/millions of lives. Conquering the ultimate truth of life (death) requires an ultimate sacrifice.

It is never explained in the anime or manga why the "equivalent exchange" of human transmutation is not one life sacrificed for one human brought back to life. One obvious theory explaining this is that one life is never equal to another. Factors that may come into play with the human transmutation is the potential of all humans,and the cost of revivifying this is unimaginable. In real science, as well, no reaction has 100% efficiency, with most 'energy' from a single human soul being wasted. The logic could be reversed so that one sacrificed human made into a stone could bring back to life thousands/millions of humans. However, given the story's anti-war perspective, it is likely that this version of "equivalent exchange" was used in order to put the sacrifice of large numbers of people in warfare in a more negative light.

A Red Stone

[Edward]

ALCHEMY
In the anime/manga series Fullmetal Alchemist, alchemy is a technique used to transform one material into another (referred to as a transmutation). For most alchemists, performing a transmutation requires the use of a transmutation circle. In addition, all transmutations, except for those performed with the aid of the Philosopher's Stone, are subject to the Law of Equivalent Exchange.

Alchemy in the Fullmetal Alchemist series, put simply, refers to a three-step process. The steps are analysis (to understand the structure and properties of the substance that is about to be transmuted), destruction/decomposition (to break the substance down to its rudimentary properties), and reconstruction/recomposition (to rebuild the substance into another form or with different properties). The first step is crucial because if the substance that an alchemist intends to transmute is unknown, an alchemic reaction will not occur.

Performing alchemy requires the usage of an appropriate transmutation circle. The Elric brothers Edward and Alphonse (in the manga and Conqueror of Shamballa, as well as late in the anime), their alchemy teacher Izumi Curtis, Hohenheim of Light, and Dante are capable of performing alchemy without using a transmutation circle of any sort as a result of seeing the Gate of Alchemy. In both the anime and manga, rather than being a method of manipulating forms via their accidents (the basis of historical alchemy, derived from Greek philosophy), it is essentially modern chemistry without a reaction medium.

In the anime, the energy for alchemical reactions comes from the other side of the Gate, supposedly from the deaths that occur in this other side. In the manga, Dr. Tim Marcoh reveals that the source of alchemical power derives from the energy of the Earth's changing crust, the same energy which causes volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The equation for harnessing the energy was discovered 350 years prior to the story's beginning; legend tells that it was taught to the people of Amestris by a man from the east referred to as the "Eastern Philosopher". However, while this is accepted as truth by alchemists like Marcoh, Xingese alchemist Mei Chang disagrees because she finds the alchemic energy in Amestris, especially near Central City, to be highly unusual and unsettling-as if there were people trapped in it.

In the manga, there are two known types of alchemy: the alchemy used in Amestris and the alchemy used in the empire of Xing, which lies in the far east. The Xingese refer to their own alchemy as "Rentan Jutsu" while the alchemy of Amestris is known as "Renkin Jutsu".

Rentan Jutsu's roots lie within medicine and derived from attempts to gain immortality (similar to Taoism and early Chinese medicine). Modern Rentan Jutsu is credited to philosophers from the west of Xing, who arrived and combined their knowledge of alchemy with the medical research the people of Xing had developed in their quest for immortality; as such, they are honoured by the Xingese as the "Western Sages".[2]

Transmutation circles are referred to as "purification circles" or "formula circles" by the people of Xing. While similar to Amestris alchemy, the source of energy is different; Rentan Jutsu derives its energy from a power called "Lungmei" which exists everywhere on the earth, similar to Feng Shui. "Lungmei" is the flow of energy of the Earth itself, like the power for water to flow from a mountain to nourish the ground at the base of the mountain. Understanding of where this energy enters and exits the earth allows alchemists like Mei Chang to perform long range alchemy on almost any matter. The flow of energy also allows for the Xingese alchemist to use their abilities for medicinal purposes as the body's energy flow works very much in the same way.[3]

Alchemist Mei Chang's own brand of alchemy allows her to use throwing knives to form two alchemy circles; one is created near herself and the other near the intended target. She performs alchemy on the circle nearest to her, and the result appears within the second circle. So far, no other characters have been shown to use Rentan Jutsu, save Scar on the basis that the tattoo on his right arm consists of an amalgamation of Renkin Jutsu and Rentan Jutsu.

Both Xing and Amestris were taught the initial concepts of their versions of alchemy by mysterious figures from a foreign land. The Amestrians had the "Eastern Philosopher" (possibly Father), the Xingese had the "Western Sages" (possibly Van Hohenheim). The Great Desert that separates the two nations was once the land of Xerxes, which collapsed in a single night after it was used as a transmutation circle that ripped the souls out of all but two people (Father and Van Hohenheim) in the country. Therefore, all alchemy in the FMA world originated there. For many in both nations, it is the only thing they remember of the lost empire.[4] Alchemy is closely tied to Amestris' growth and development-it is not known to what extent it has influenced Xing.

The color of the light used in a transmutation is different among alchemists. This depends on their methods. White would seem to have something to do with the composition of organisms, given that the regenerative capacities of the Homunculi involve a white glow & Kimbley's color is also white. This specialization feature extends to other things, such as Mustang's orange flame-based alchemy & the Tringham brothers' green plant-based alchemy.

Purple occurs if the alchemist's circle is tattooed on their bodies. It also seems to have something to do with gate-based transmutations, since both the Elrics' & Huskisson's gate summoning transformed the light from yellow to purple. Alchemists who use it not in this sense include Psiren, Crowley, Camilla, & Eckhart.

Red comes from the usage of a Philosophers Stone. The only character who uses a red alchemical charge on a regular basis is Scar, due to the stone forming in his arm.

Blue occurs when an Alchemist has seen the "truth" beyond the Gate. Dante, Izumi, Ed, Al, Crowley, Wrath, & Hohenheim all use blue alchemy.

The last color is yellow. This is the normality of alchemy colors. Curiously, though Armstrong works consistently with stone, he hasn't developed any sort of specialty.

Ed has used yellow after he saw the Gate and Crowley has used blue for every scene except that lone cutscene. These are most likely small continuity errors.
For more complex transmutations & due to the type, arcs of different colors may appear. Examples include in Conqueror of Shamballa where Armstrong's attack had bits of blue & in the beginning of the series when flashes of white surrounded the new born Sloth.
This trait cannot be observed in the manga, due to the fact that manga aren't typically drawn in color.