TV-Series
Description
Father is the primary antagonist of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. He was originally known as the Dwarf in the Flask, a small, intelligent homunculus created from the blood of a slave who would later become Van Hohenheim. This homunculus was kept sealed inside a flask and possessed vast alchemical knowledge but craved the freedom of a physical body. By manipulating the king of the ancient country of Xerxes, he orchestrated a nationwide transmutation circle that sacrificed every citizen in the kingdom. Using the souls of the Xerxesian people, he created a Philosopher's Stone and formed a new, immortal body for himself, deliberately choosing to make it identical to Hohenheim's. This event also granted Hohenheim immortality, creating a deep and lasting enmity between the two.
Father's personality is marked by a profound and absolute sense of superiority over humanity. He views humans as insignificant, comparing them to insects whose lives are beneath his consideration. Initially, he can present a facade of calm benevolence and even grandfatherly warmth, as seen when he heals Edward Elric's wounds and repairs Alphonse Elric's armor upon meeting them. However, this behavior is purely instrumental and quickly gives way to cold, callous pragmatism. He has no genuine empathy or emotional attachments. He refers to the seven homunculi as his children, and they call him Father, but he feels no paternal love for them. He treats them as disposable tools, shows no grief when they are destroyed, and does not hesitate to brutally punish or even kill and remake them, as he did with Greed. This detachment is so complete that he is described as having no feelings at all, a fact that Hohenheim later identifies as his greatest weakness.
Father's central motivation is a relentless and obsessive desire for true freedom. Having been confined to a flask at the beginning of his existence, he seeks to be free from all constraints, not only physical but also the fundamental laws of the universe. This drive leads him to orchestrate a centuries-spanning plan to create another nationwide transmutation circle, this time using the entire country of Amestris. His ultimate goal is to transmute the population of millions into another massive Philosopher's Stone and use it to absorb the being he refers to as God, or Truth, thereby becoming a perfect, unrestricted being. He despises the limitations of equivalent exchange and seeks to transcend them completely.
In the story, Father is the secret mastermind behind Amestris's long history of war and tragedy. He manipulated the nation's creation, including its borders and its cyclical conflicts, to carve a gigantic transmutation circle into the land itself. For centuries, he worked from the shadows, using the homunculi as his agents, including the powerful Pride and the puppet Führer King Bradley. His role is to be the ultimate obstacle for the Elric brothers and all other protagonists. His plan defines the Promised Day, the climax of the series when the solar eclipse provides the final signal to activate the nationwide circle and begin the transmutation of every citizen in Amestris.
Father's key relationships are defined by utility and opposition. His connection to Van Hohenheim is deeply personal; Hohenheim is his creator and also his victim, sharing the same body and the same source of immortality. The two share a profound hatred, and Hohenheim dedicates his existence to stopping Father's plan. The homunculi are extensions of his own being, fragments of his soul that personify the seven deadly sins he removed from himself in a failed attempt to achieve perfection. He commands them absolutely but ultimately regards their suffering and destruction as irrelevant. He sees Edward and Alphonse Elric not as individuals but as potential sacrifices for his ritual because they have survived performing human transmutation and have seen the Gate of Truth.
Father undergoes minimal character development, which is central to his portrayal as a being who has rejected the core of humanity. He begins as a curious, intelligent entity in a flask who simply wants freedom. Over centuries of power and sacrifice, he becomes a cold, inhuman, and arrogant god-like figure. His only significant change occurs at the moment of his final defeat. When his plan fails and Hohenheim's counter-circle forces the souls of Amestris to abandon him, he becomes desperate and ferocious. In his dying moments after being pulled into the Gate of Truth, he screams not for redemption but for the freedom and knowledge he always wanted, a final, pathetic echo of his original desire. The Truth reveals to him that his Gate, representing the knowledge and connections he gained in life, is completely blank, signifying that he gave nothing to the world and only ever took from others. This moment, particularly in the Brotherhood anime, evokes a small measure of pity from Hohenheim, suggesting that Father's initial innocence was long ago corrupted by his own actions.
Father possesses a range of god-like abilities. Because his body is composed of a Philosopher's Stone containing over half a million souls, he is functionally immortal and can perform alchemy without a transmutation circle or any physical gesture, simply by willing it. One of his most formidable powers is the ability to block the alchemy of anyone in Amestris. This is because he has placed a filter of his own Philosopher's Stone beneath the country, which Amestrian alchemists unknowingly draw their energy through. He can simply shut this energy off. Alkahestry from Xing is immune to this effect, as it draws on a different source of power. He can also absorb other Philosopher's Stones, such as reclaiming a homunculus's core, to replenish his own power. After absorbing the being known as God, he gains immense power, including the ability to release devastating energy blasts and reshape matter on a colossal scale, but this power is unstable and ultimately beyond his control to maintain. His final desperation move is to create a massive, shadowy form, though this also proves ineffective against the combined efforts of his enemies.
Father's personality is marked by a profound and absolute sense of superiority over humanity. He views humans as insignificant, comparing them to insects whose lives are beneath his consideration. Initially, he can present a facade of calm benevolence and even grandfatherly warmth, as seen when he heals Edward Elric's wounds and repairs Alphonse Elric's armor upon meeting them. However, this behavior is purely instrumental and quickly gives way to cold, callous pragmatism. He has no genuine empathy or emotional attachments. He refers to the seven homunculi as his children, and they call him Father, but he feels no paternal love for them. He treats them as disposable tools, shows no grief when they are destroyed, and does not hesitate to brutally punish or even kill and remake them, as he did with Greed. This detachment is so complete that he is described as having no feelings at all, a fact that Hohenheim later identifies as his greatest weakness.
Father's central motivation is a relentless and obsessive desire for true freedom. Having been confined to a flask at the beginning of his existence, he seeks to be free from all constraints, not only physical but also the fundamental laws of the universe. This drive leads him to orchestrate a centuries-spanning plan to create another nationwide transmutation circle, this time using the entire country of Amestris. His ultimate goal is to transmute the population of millions into another massive Philosopher's Stone and use it to absorb the being he refers to as God, or Truth, thereby becoming a perfect, unrestricted being. He despises the limitations of equivalent exchange and seeks to transcend them completely.
In the story, Father is the secret mastermind behind Amestris's long history of war and tragedy. He manipulated the nation's creation, including its borders and its cyclical conflicts, to carve a gigantic transmutation circle into the land itself. For centuries, he worked from the shadows, using the homunculi as his agents, including the powerful Pride and the puppet Führer King Bradley. His role is to be the ultimate obstacle for the Elric brothers and all other protagonists. His plan defines the Promised Day, the climax of the series when the solar eclipse provides the final signal to activate the nationwide circle and begin the transmutation of every citizen in Amestris.
Father's key relationships are defined by utility and opposition. His connection to Van Hohenheim is deeply personal; Hohenheim is his creator and also his victim, sharing the same body and the same source of immortality. The two share a profound hatred, and Hohenheim dedicates his existence to stopping Father's plan. The homunculi are extensions of his own being, fragments of his soul that personify the seven deadly sins he removed from himself in a failed attempt to achieve perfection. He commands them absolutely but ultimately regards their suffering and destruction as irrelevant. He sees Edward and Alphonse Elric not as individuals but as potential sacrifices for his ritual because they have survived performing human transmutation and have seen the Gate of Truth.
Father undergoes minimal character development, which is central to his portrayal as a being who has rejected the core of humanity. He begins as a curious, intelligent entity in a flask who simply wants freedom. Over centuries of power and sacrifice, he becomes a cold, inhuman, and arrogant god-like figure. His only significant change occurs at the moment of his final defeat. When his plan fails and Hohenheim's counter-circle forces the souls of Amestris to abandon him, he becomes desperate and ferocious. In his dying moments after being pulled into the Gate of Truth, he screams not for redemption but for the freedom and knowledge he always wanted, a final, pathetic echo of his original desire. The Truth reveals to him that his Gate, representing the knowledge and connections he gained in life, is completely blank, signifying that he gave nothing to the world and only ever took from others. This moment, particularly in the Brotherhood anime, evokes a small measure of pity from Hohenheim, suggesting that Father's initial innocence was long ago corrupted by his own actions.
Father possesses a range of god-like abilities. Because his body is composed of a Philosopher's Stone containing over half a million souls, he is functionally immortal and can perform alchemy without a transmutation circle or any physical gesture, simply by willing it. One of his most formidable powers is the ability to block the alchemy of anyone in Amestris. This is because he has placed a filter of his own Philosopher's Stone beneath the country, which Amestrian alchemists unknowingly draw their energy through. He can simply shut this energy off. Alkahestry from Xing is immune to this effect, as it draws on a different source of power. He can also absorb other Philosopher's Stones, such as reclaiming a homunculus's core, to replenish his own power. After absorbing the being known as God, he gains immense power, including the ability to release devastating energy blasts and reshape matter on a colossal scale, but this power is unstable and ultimately beyond his control to maintain. His final desperation move is to create a massive, shadowy form, though this also proves ineffective against the combined efforts of his enemies.