Amestris (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Amestris is a country that features in Fullmetal Alchemist.

History

Amestris (Japanese: アメストリス, Hepburn: Amesutorisu) was a country that had been established at some point in the world. The land had long existed when it came to be visited by a Philosopher from the East made the country his home. It was originally founded in the year 1558 with it being under the control of a military dictatorship.

In July 1558, Amestris declared war with the nation west of the country by invading the city of Riviere. This resulted in the nations first bloody battle in known history. Afterwards, it invaded other neighboring cities such as Cameron in 1661 and Wellesley in 1811. By October 1835, it attacked the neighboring country of Aerugo thus triggering a long war fought until the modern day. As each war was fought and the neighboring countries conquered, Amestris took their enemies' land and integrated it and their peoples into its own. The country eventually grew into a large circle, save for one piece at the northern border, with the capital in the center. Around 1894, a prominent general and King Bradley was appointed as Commander-in-Chief, or Führer, of the country. Since Führer Bradley's appointment, there have been conflicts in most borders of the country, resulting in many massacres and heavy civil wars, always under the command of Central's Army.

Around 14 years earlier, the lands of Ishval to the East were annexed by Amestris and became one of its provinces. During the war with Ishval, Aerugo supplied the Ishvalans with weapons, but refused to grant refugees of the war any sanctuary when the Amestrians turned the tide of the war in their favour.

Overview

In appearance, Amestris was a land-locked nation with no access to any known sea. Its surface varied from deserts in the east to an icy mountain range in the north whilst plains dominated the west and south.

Locations in the country included:

• Central : seat of government in Amestris holding the National Library, Central Headquarters, and Laboratory 5.
• Dublith : a city of the south, it was the home of Sig and Izumi Curtis as well as the Devil's Nest. Ed and Al were trained in alchemy there after their mother died.
• East City : located in a backwater region near the desert, East City was the home base of Colonel Mustang and his entire outfit. It's reasonably close to Lior and Resembool, making it a sort of central hub for some of Ed and Al's early adventures.
• Lior : the desert city of Lior was home to a unique ethnic group who, like the Ishbalans, hold religion in high regard. They were formerly under the control of Father Cornello, the so-called "Prophet", but he was deposed by the Elric brothers, leading to a period of civil war that nearly destroyed the entire city. Rose comes from Lior.
• Resembool : this far-flung town was the home of the Elrics, and a great deal of important events happened here. This was where Winry and Pinako live and the site of the Elrics' burned down house.
• Rush Valley : a city of the South, it was known for its automail mechanics and it was near Dublith by train.
• Youswell : a coal mining town far to the east, it was the last stop on the railroad.
• Xenotime : was once known as the "City of Gold", due to its rich deposits of said element. They sold their wares far and wide, gaining great wealth, but when the gold was exhausted, the town fell into disrepair. The land-baron Mugwar attempted to use the toxic Red Water hidden in the mines to forge Red Stones, so that he could transmute gold and return the city to its former glory. However, the Elric Brothers caught on to him and, together with the sons of alchemist Nash Tringum, stopped his plan.
• Underground City : an old city that once stood on the site of what is now Central City. In the anime, Hohenheim used the city's entire population to create a Philosopher's Stone, and pulled the city itself beneath the earth, four centuries ago. Dante used the city as her headquarters to create new stones. In the manga, it is a massive underground complex where the mysterious "Father" lives. In the movie parts of the underground city is raised above ground destroying parts of central.
• Briggs : the northern base of Amestris located in a mountain range, commanded by Major General Olivia Mila Armstrong. It is a huge underground complex housing thousands of soldiers who regularly go out on patrols, as well as the centre for the development of non-alchemic weapons. Most if not all the soldiers there are extremely paranoid, accusing anyone whom they do not know of being spies from the nation of Drachma to the north. Apparently, only one incident involving patrolling soldiers successfully being attacked occurred over a period of a month about twenty years before the arrival of Major General Armstrong; the attacker was identified to be a woman, though not a spy from Drachma. Gaiden chapter "Tales of the Master" reveals that the woman was actually a young Izumi Curtis.

In Amestris, there resided the National Central Library located in the capital which was the largest literary repository and contained texts as well as reference materials collected from all over the nation and throughout its long history.

It was noted that Amestris was a landlocked country with it being bordered by Aerugo in the south, Creta in the west, and Drachma in the north. In the past, the east side of Amestris held the nation of Ishval until its conquest and annexation. Beyond the Ishval province was the Great Desert that separated the country from the land of Xing with a water route linking to that nation. The Great Desert was said to had once been home to a long lost nation called Xerxes that was destroyed in a single night by alchemy. In terms of foreign relations, Amestris was actually shown to be at war with Aerugo, Creta and Drachma. However, there did not appear to be any ongoing conflicts with the Empire of Xing.

The country was divided into five administrative divisions: South Area, West Area, North Area, East Area and Central Area.

It was noted for being quite large and diverse both in terms of terrain as well as its inhabitants. In the central and southern provinces the citizens seemed to be of European extraction. The province of Ishval in the East was ethnically and culturally distinct from the rest of country; it was populated by religious-minded tribes with a darker skin tone.

As a military dictatorship, the Head of State held the official title of Führer who was also the highest ranking Army officer and the Commander in Chief of the military. A key component in the army were the State Alchemists that were skilled alchemists that used their talents for warfare and were even referred to as the dogs of the military.

One notable type of technology was in the field of Automail (機械鎧オートメイル, Ōtomeiru, Japanese kanji lit. Mechanical Armor) that was the common term for automotive armored prostheses. Within Amestris, automail had developed into a venue for weapons development as well, resulting in 'combat automail'. Using various techniques, these machines, previously used only for movement, have begun to incorporate armaments such as diamond-tipped claws, hidden blades and even firearms, sometimes willingly at the expense of normal limb functionality. As such, there has also been a rise in the number of fanatical automail hobbyists who willingly sacrifice flesh-and-blood body parts by way of operation in order to obtain weaponized combat automail appendages.

The latest Amestrian weapons achievement was the Briggs Tanks that were designed and invented on the front lines of combat in the Briggs Mountain Range of northern Amestris. They were a new type of fighting vehicle with heavy firepower and defensive armour. The first mobile war machine of its kind, the Briggs Tank was highly maneuverable and could accelerate rapidly with them being protected by a durable armour.

The Amestrian Army maintained steady control of its northern border, fortified by the harsh weather and natural barrier of Briggs Cliff and the strict control enforced by Major General Armstrong.

Inhabitants

• Father :
• King Bradley :
• Philip Gargantos Armstrong :
• Olivier Mira Armstrong :
• Roy Mustang :
• Riza Hawkeye :
• Maes Hughes :
• Henry Douglas :
• Vato Falman :
• Maria Ross :
• Zolf J. Kimblee :
• Shou Tucker :

Notes

• Amestris was created by Hiromu Arakawa where it served as the primary setting for Fullmetal Alchemist universe.

In other media

Television

• In Fullmetal Alchemist, Amestris featured in the setting of the 2003 anime television series adaptation. An anime original character named Lt. Colonel Frank Archer was introduced as a replacement to Maes Hughes.
• In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Amestris featured in the setting of the anime television series adaptation.

Video games

• In Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel, Amestris made an appearance in the video game setting. A location included New Hiessgart that was a city founded and governed by Professor Wilhelm Eiselstein, a member of the Ten Alchemists, when Hiessgart was overrun by Chimeras. The city was relatively new and lies somewhere between Resembool and Central City. It served as the primary setting in the video game tie-in.
• In Fullmetal Alchemist and the Curse of the Crimson Elixir, Amestris made an appearance in the video game setting. A location included was Siam-Sid that was once a gleaming metropolis, the former capital of Lebis and now little more than ruins. Long ago, the king of Lebis attempted to create the perfect human being, unleashing an untold horror which destroyed the entire civilization in a single night. The city and the fate of its residents are often referenced in the anime, but are only directly dealt with in the video game.

Appearances

• Fullmetal Alchemist:
• Fullmetal Alchemsit: Brotherhood:

External Links

• Fullmetal Alchemist Wiki Entry

This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.