Sloth (FMA 2003)

Sloth is one of the seven Homunculi that appear in the 2003 anime series Fullmetal Alchemist. This character is radically different to the Sloth from the manga and 2009 series; this Homunculus resulted from Edward and Alphonse Elric's failed attempt to bring their mother back to life through human transmutation.

Appearance
Sloth bears a close physical resemblance to Trisha Elric, the mother of Edward and Alphonse Elric. She has a tall, slender figure and long, dark-brown hair with a fringe covering the right side of her face. She wears a black dress and has red lines with circular nodes adorning either side of her abdomen. Above her left breast is the Ouroboros tattoo shared by all the Homunculi.

History
When Edward and Alphonse Elric attempted to use alchemy to bring their mother back from the dead, their transmutation backfired horrifically. Ed lost his leg while Al lost his entire body, and the only thing they managed to create as a result was a malformed abomination incapable of sustaining itself. Edward was able to save his brother by inscribing an alchemic rune upon a suit of armour in the basement, anchoring Al's soul to the mortal world. Al awoke in the armour to find his brother bleeding to death after giving up a leg and now an arm, taking Ed to Pinako Rockbell's house for help.

The creature that the boys had created was believed to have died shortly after its creation, but while the Elrics stayed at the Rockbells' house, it crawled its way out of the Elric house, dragging itself through the dirt where it was found by the elderly alchemist Dante. Dante fed the creature Red Stones that had been forged from human lives, and as time went on and the creature ate more stones, it fully formed to resemble the late Trisha. Dante dubbed the new Homunculus "Sloth".

Soon after her creation, Sloth took on a second alias "Juliet Douglas," and played the role of secretary to Führer King Bradley, who is in reality the Homunculus Pride. Although she was the youngest Homunculus, Sloth was also seemingly one of the highest-ranked, as she would give orders to the other Homunculi from her desk at Military HQ in Central. "Juliet Douglas" was allegedly the name of a soldier who sparked the war in Ishval by accidentally shooting an Ishvalan child. She was listed as being deceased, but her name still appeared on the list of those in active duty of the military. This was noticed by Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes, who, hoping to uncover the Homunculi, asked Sloth, in her disguise, to get into contact with Dr. Tim Marcoh. Sloth later accompanied Hughes to a hotel, where she said Doctor Marcoh was waiting for him. Hughes began to grill her, asking whether she really was Douglas or whether she just took her place. Sloth dismissed the accusations, but led him to a room where she had arranged a rendezvous with Lust and Envy. After Lust was impaled in the forehead by a thrown knife, she and Sloth went after Hughes, but Envy, disguised as 2nd Lt. Maria Ross and then as Hughes' wife, had already killed him. Sloth later assisted Envy in recruiting Wrath to their side before Greed could and helped him escape pursuit from the Elric brothers by hiding Wrath in her watery body.

Later while investigating Hughes' murder, Sheska came across the name "Juliet Douglas" many times, and revealed to the Elrics' friend Winry Rockbell a series of conflicting reports, including the fact that Douglas only looked about thirty years old, but should have been in her fifties. The two young women broke into the Central Military HQ telephone network hub, and connected to the Führer's office, hoping to listen in on Douglas' phone calls. At that time, Sloth was on a call with Envy over an insecure line. She heard the interference and made her way to Winry and Sheska, intending to kill them. Winry recognised her as bearing the same appearance as the Elrics' mother Trisha, before being saved in the nick of time by Lt. Ross.

Sloth later revealed herself to the Elric brothers, who were horrified by her resemblance to their mother. She took full advantage of this, frequently mocking them by acting like Trisha and using their hesitation as a chance to attack them. Although killing the Elrics was an objective of the Homunculi at this time, Sloth had her own personal reasons to kill them. She revealed that she had been suffering memories of Trisha and her life with her sons. Sloth did not wish to believe that she bore any relation to Trisha, and felt that if she killed Trisha's children, she could prove this to herself. She also remembered Hohenheim, whom she immobilized with her liquid body, giving Dante the opportunity to banish Hohenheim to the other side of the Gate. Like the other Homunculi, Sloth was also motivated by the hope that Dante would make her human.

In their last encounter with Sloth, Edward and Alphonse were forced into a confrontation with Sloth and Wrath at an empty arms factory. Assisted by Lust who had betrayed Dante by that point, Edward prepared a trap specifically for Sloth: a Flamel array carved into the factory floor capable of sealing a Homunculus. Ed managed to lure Sloth into the array and Lust continuously attacked her to keep her from escaping, but Ed was interrupted when he was attacked by Wrath. In his last visit to Resembool, Edward had secretly dug up the remains of his mother in preparation for the fight against Sloth. Since Sloth was created by Ed and Al when they tried to resurrect Trisha, she was weakened by proximity to the remnants of the human she was meant to replace. However, Wrath overpowered Ed and took the box of remains, absorbing it into his body. Wrath then went after Lust, freeing Sloth from the Flamel array and sealing Lust using his own alchemy. Wrath then embraced Sloth and in his haste, he fused his body to hers in order to defend her. By his own impulsive actions, Wrath actually sealed Sloth's doom as he forgot about the remains of Trisha he had absorbed. Contact with the remains left Sloth paralysed, allowing Edward to destroy her by transmuting her liquid body into ethanol and letting her evaporate into the air. As Sloth evaporated, she offered Ed and Al words of motherly advice, telling them to clean up after themselves and take care of one another.

Abilities

 * Superhuman Speed - Sloth's speed and agility are significantly greater than that of humans.
 * Regeneration - Sloth and the other Homunculi are capable of quickly regenerating, healing in seconds injuries that would normally be fatal to humans.
 * Immortality - Homunculi do not age the way that humans do and can live indefinitely.
 * Liquid-shifting - Sloth is capable of morphing her whole body into a mass of water. In this state, she can stretch herself out and reconstitute herself as she wishes, or engulf enemies in order to drown them.

Weaknesses
In the 2003 anime, Homunculi are weakened when exposed to the remains of the people they were meant to replace. When Wrath accidentally brought Trisha's remains into close proximity to Sloth, he paralyzed her, allowing Edward to transmute her water body into ethanol. This caused Sloth to quickly evaporate.