King Bradley is a major supporting character in the anime/manga franchise Fullmetal Alchemist. He serves as the Fuhrer, the military leader and Head of State for the nation of Amestris. While he initially appears to be a jovial and kind man as well as a just ruler, this is all merely a facade: Bradley is actually a Homunculus and throughout the series he has been orchestrating campaign after campaign, waging war and destroying countless lives for the sake of acquiring Philosopher's Stones for his master.
Appearance[]
King Bradley appears as a middle-aged male human with Caucasian skin, chiseled facial features, narrow eyes, slick black hair and a horseshoe moustache. His right eye is brown while his left eye has no human iris or pupil, instead sporting the mark of the Ouroboros that all of the Homunculi share. His left eye is usually hidden behind an eyepatch.
Bradley's common attire consists of the standard blue jacket and trousers that make up the uniform of the Amestrian State Military, the shoulders bearing the stars indicative of his rank as Fuhrer. He also wears three medals on his chest.
History[]
Manga and Brotherhood anime[]
In the manga and 2009 anime, King Bradley's Homunculus name is Wrath. He was originally one amongst hundreds of orphans inducted into a secret program created by Father and the Amestrian military to find the perfect ruler of Amestris. The process involved gathering male infants from their birth and secretly raising them up. In makeshift classrooms, they were required to master certain subjects, some of them namely as Political Science and Humanities. When old enough, they would begin training with swords and would duel against one another in matches with everyone watching. Every candidate used the same type of sword.
Wrath is born
After their training was complete, the doctors would then inject the Philosopher's Stone bearing Father's wrath into the candidates, the ones before Number 12 dying as the stone destroyed their bodies in rejection. When the Philosopher's Stone was injected into Number 12, his soul fought against the numerous souls in the Philosopher's Stone, draining it to only one soul. He ended up as the survivor of the process, becoming the first Homunculus with the ability to age and was given the name King Bradley. He quickly ascended to the position of Fuhrer (around the year 1894) through his combat prowess and apparent dedication to the military ideals of Amestris.
Bradley first appeared visiting the Elric brothers in the hospital shortly after the Laboratory 5 incident. Here, Bradley subtly implied that he suspected there may be traitors among the military's upper echelons and ordered the Elrics, Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes, and Major Alex Louis Armstrong to watch their backs. Following the murder of Hughes by Envy, Bradley attended the Lt. Colonel's funeral. Later, he would travel to the South for a military inspection and personally led the attack on the Devil's Nest after Alphonse Elric was kidnapped. His true identity was then revealed during his battle against Greed, revealing the Ouroboros tattoo on his left eye. He swiftly overwhelmed his older sibling and personally killed many of his chimera underlings. He captured Greed and took him back to Father, reporting to him that the Elrics and Izumi Curtis would make ideal sacrifices for Father's plan.
Throughout the story, Bradley maintained control over the constant strife in the military and manipulated the various players of Father's plans into their appropriate positions. However, the Elrics and their various allies would slip out of his grasp or play their own games in secret, plotting variously to either disrupt Father's schemes, overthrow Bradley, or seize control of the country back from the Homunculi who created it. When they finally struck close to the "Appointed Day", General Grumman had the Fuhrer's train blown up and Bradley's apparent death threw all the top brass into chaos.
Bradley reappeared after men from Briggs seized control of Central City. He then effortlessly disposed of all troops and a tank in his way, severely wounding Captain Buccaneer in the process and was about to kill Vato Falman when he was confronted by the renegade Greed, now residing inside the body of Ling Yao. As they fought, Wrath easily evaded all of Greed's attacks thanks to his Ultimate Eye predicting his opponent's actions. Even with Ling providing him advice in the middle of the battle, Greed still could not land a significant blow. Some of the Briggs soldiers watching from nearby decided to help, shooting at Wrath. However, this proved to be futile as Wrath avoided all of their shots and swiftly retaliated, slaughtering his attackers. Buccaneer then arose and attacked Wrath, yet again only to be easily defeated, this time having a sword driven through his stomach. However, Buccaneer used this to his advantage, tightening his abs to pull the sword from Wrath. Wrath then resorted to using combat daggers, stating he wouldn't be as efficient. Greed took full advantage of this shortcoming and was able to fight Wrath on more-or-less equal terms.
Fu joined the fray and instantly began his assault on Wrath, but failed to land a blow on the Homunculus. Bradley managed to immobilize Greed after stomping down his dagger into his shoulder, pinning him to the floor before focusing on Fu. He used his other dagger to disarm Fu's sword and then threw the dagger at Fu. Fu caught it, but Wrath took advantage of that brief moment to reclaim his sword. Ling then awoke and stepped in to protect Fu. Fu however, realizing he was just getting in the way, told Ling to be a good king as his parting message, ready to make a great sacrifice. He knocked Ling down, and asked Greed to begin hardening Ling's body to protect him. Greed did so, to Ling's surprise. Ling then watched as Fu ran towards Bradley, setting alight four sticks of dynamite. Wrath, however, in one stealthy cut, removed the firing tips of the dynamite, and slashed Fu across his midsection.
As Fu fell, Buccaneer recovered and stabbed through Fu's back into Wrath's stomach (hence he could not be seen by Wrath, making the move unpredictable). As Buccaneer and Fu began bleeding out from their injuries, Bradley kicked them back. An enraged Ling then lunged at Wrath, who blocked the attack with his sword, but the sheer force was enough to break the blade, and he took the attack to the side of his head. Lan Fan watched in shock from above, horrified by her grandfather's ordeal, and quickly joined the fray.
Wrath's Ultimate Eye was soon damaged when Greed-Ling struck it and broke his sword. He then fell into the water below Central's gate, wounded but still alive, making his escape through a pipeline. Arriving underground, near the sewer, where Colonel Mustang's group was, Wrath picked up the Philosopher's Stone intended to be used by Mustang to save Lt. Hawkeye. May Chang, having lost Envy's Philosopher's Stone, tried to grab it, but was picked up by Bradley instead. Pride and Wrath then declared that Mustang was to be the fifth human sacrifice. After Pride performed a human transmutation, both Pride and Mustang vanished.
Having fulfilled his role in Father's plan, Wrath then asked who among everyone present wanted to go down in history as the person who finally managed to topple his regime. Scar and Wrath eventually faced off in their final battle, and, as the battle commenced, Wrath, piqued by Scar in every way asked his name, to which Scar replied he didn't have one, having long discarded it. Wrath was amused at it mirrored his own life. As the two fought, Wrath progressively became weaker, but was still able to fight evenly against Scar. As he pinned Scar to the floor and prepared to deliver the fatal blow, he was suddenly caught off guard when short pillars of spikes incapacitated his right arm, much to his surprise and confusion. Scar then revealed to him that he could now use the power of reconstruction on his left arm, thanks to his brother's research. When Father activated the nationwide transmutation circle, Scar and Wrath were then consumed in a massive black sphere, though they were unharmed.
Wrath continued his battle with Scar, questioning if he has turned his back on Ishvala and the teachings of Ishval. But Scar replied that in Wrath's mind and soul, there was only one answer: "There is no God!". Despite Wrath gaining an upper hand in the fight, he was momentarily blinded by the sudden appearance of the sun, and Scar seized the opportunity to use his Arm of Deconstruction to destroy Wrath's arms. Before he fell, Wrath grabbed the blade of his sword with his teeth and stabbed Scar in the midsection.
Severely wounded and on the brink of death, Bradley stated that even though he never believed in God, he wondered if he had been "forsaken by God". When Lan Fan arrived, Bradley correctly presumed that she planned to avenge her grandfather. She asked him if he had any last words, to which he said no. Lan Fan meant to injure him further before he died, stating that his life was truly sad and asked if he had ever truly loved anyone. Wrath told her not to utter such words when she knew so little. He told her that his wife was chosen by him, and as such, he truly cared for her. When asked if he wanted to say something to her, he stated that she didn't need to know about him because "that is how it is between a king and his partner." After he breathed his last words, he passed away as his body seemed to age rapidly, with his face bearing marks of alchemy, and his hair turning grayish-white.
2003 anime[]
In the 2003 anime series, Bradley is also known as Pride and was created by the master alchemist Dante. No details behind his creation are revealed other than that he was made as a replacement to a real human and that he was designed to age like a human.
Bradley first appeared at the start of the Alchemy examination where he first witnesses Edward Elric's alchemic abilities. Thoroughly impressed by his ability to perform transmutations without a circle, the Führer decided to make Edward the youngest State Alchemist ever, giving him the title of the Fullmetal Alchemist. Later, he overheard Alphonse talking to Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye about the Philosopher's Stone. Alphonse did not know who Führer Bradley was at the time, and Bradley stopped Hawkeye from answering Alphonse when the armoured boy asked her. Bradley gave Alphonse information about where to read up on the Philosopher's Stone, seemingly unfazed by the potential danger that he was putting Alphonse in by allowing him to search for information on it.
Later in the series, it is revealed that Bradley started and ended the Ishval Civil War, an event that lead to the near extermination of the Ishvalan race. Bradley ended the war by sending State Alchemists in, although it was Bradley himself who started the war in the first place. The reasons for him starting the war are revealed later when he was discovered to be the Homunculus Pride working for his creator, a woman named Dante. Bradley was later revealed to have a wife and son. At some point, he secretly made Sloth his secretary, under the guise of Juliet Douglas. Bradley and the rest of his group in Central fled east and took command of the Eastern Command Center to escape the wrath of Scar, although Bradley apologized to Mustang for the hassle that was being caused. The Führer later returned to Central.
The Führer accompanied Maes Hughes and his team to save Edward and Alphonse from Laboratory 5, allowed Hughes to continue his investigation into the Homunculi, and also permitted the capture of Scar in Reole. However, Martel, the snake chimera, found him talking about the deliberate destruction of Reole with Colonel Frank Archer. She cornered him and soon discovered him to be a Homunculus.
With his identity exposed and now his role as the Führer on the line, Pride hunted Martel who he found hiding in Al's armour and stabbed her dead with his sword. However, Al already had learned the truth about Pride and quickly told Ed about it. Mustang, Armstrong, and the other members of Mustang's unit also discovered the truth as well. Roy decides to avenge Hughes with the help of Lt. Hawkeye.
In the final episode, a final battle between Pride and Mustang occurs in the Führer's estate. As Pride was on the verge of defeating Mustang, his son Selim appeared with a sack, which in fact contained the skull of the person Pride was created from. Out of rage, Bradley strangles his young son to death. Mustang used this opportunity to seize the skull and paralyze Pride. The Flame Alchemist repeatedly set Pride on fire until he was reduced to a puddle of red liquid. Mustang dropped the skull onto the puddle and set fire to it, melting the skull and ending Pride's life.
Abilities[]
- Superhuman Speed - Bradley's speed and agility are significantly greater than that of humans.
- Regeneration - Bradley and the other Homunculi are capable of quickly regenerating, healing in seconds injuries that would normally be fatal to humans.
- Ultimate Eye - The Ultimate Eye grants Bradley a sense of short-term precognition, allowing him to predict any movements his opponents make as long as they remain within his field of vision. Thus, Bradley is capable of dodging any attacks against him and counterattacking instantly.
- Swordplay - Bradley is a master swordsman, having been trained in all manner of swordfighting techniques since youth.
Weaknesses[]
- Ageing - Unlike the other Homunculi, Bradley still ages like a normal human, owed to the fact that he was created directly from a human body. Though this was done by design to enable him to deceive the masses, it means that he is more physically vulnerable than his cohorts and has a finite lifespan.
- Lack of Weapon Experience - Bradley was trained to be the ultimate swordsman. However, he lacks experience with other types of weaponry and cannot use them as efficiently.
- Blindness - Bradley can only predict the movements of enemies within his direct field of vision. Also, should Bradley's Ultimate Eye be damaged, he loses his precognitive ability altogether.