King Bradley (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
King Bradley is a male anime and manga character who features in Fullmetal Alchemist.
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Biography
King Bradley (Japanese: キング・ブラッドレイ, Hepburn: Kingu Buraddorei) was a male member of the military of the land of Amestris. He was actually an orphan that was raised by the military with his name being unknown but was one of many such children that were taken in as part of a secretive experimental program. This program was headed by Father who secretly controlled the Amestrian government. Through his backing, a training regimen was created in order to breed the public ruler of Amestris with the successful candidate being Fuhrer. The boy that would become King Bradley was designated as the twelfth subject where he engaged in a brutal training regime as he was trained to become his country's new ruler. By the time of adulthood, the second phase of the experiment was ready whereby the Philosopher's Stone was injected into the candidates. This was with the intention of turning them into a Homunculi but the majority of the test subjects died. This was until the twelfth subject who was injected with the distilled Stone in liquid form and after excruciating pain his body bean to accept it. Thus, he became a human Homunculi that was designated as Wrath (ラース Rāsu) the Furious and the final of Father's children. The military provided him a background and a name where he became known as King Bradley. In time, he came to rule Amestris as its public leader all the while bringing about the final stage of Father's plan to completion. At some point, he encountered a woman that he grew to love and married her where she lived as his wife though she was unaware of her husband's true nature. To support Wrath, Pride was dispatched to masquerade as the couple's son Selim where they appeared as an ordinary family to outsiders. As Fuhrer, he secretly instituted a number of military campaigns in order to bring about as much death as possible as this was desired by Father for the fulfillment of his goals. Only the top hierarchy of the Amestrian military were aware of his true nature as a Homunculi and supported Father in his goals as they sought immortality.
He was present at the day of the entrance exam of Edward Elric's test to determine him joining the ranks of the State Alchemists. Bradley was impressed by the young alchemist who could perform his alchemy without the use of a transmutation circle which he did to produce a spear that he brought towards the Fuhrer. Unknown to the boy, the Fuhrer had severed the spear with the quick movement of his sword and told the young man that he had much to learn whilst smiling.
Afterwards, he went to the hospital to check on Edward and Alphons Elric following their encounter with Lust and Envy in the Fifth Laboratory. He then learnt that the pair had ben conducting hidden research on the Philosopher's Stone that led them to the lab. Whilst there, Bradley seemingly hinted at the possibility of traitors within the ranks of the upper echelon's of the military. He then ordered the Elrics along with Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes and Major Alex Louis Armstrong to watch their backs and to avoid the secret organisation conducting these hidden alchemical experiments.
Later, he is then seen in the military funeral of Maes Hughes, after the Lt. Colonel was murdered. During the funeral, he is seen trembling by onlookers, but such trembling was due to anger at Hughes' daughter for interrupting the funeral ceremony with her crying. Bradley was later seen renewing Edward's license as a State Alchemist without any examination nor test, then accompanying him back to Dublith, hoping to meet the Elrics' master Izumi Curtis and appoint her as a State Alchemist. There, they learn that Alphonse got abducted by a homunculus named Greed, prompting Bradley to personally lead the attack on Greed's bar, the Devil's Nest, alongside a military squad to rescue the young armor-bound alchemist. He mercilessly slaughters almost all of Greed's chimera underlings and swiftly beats Greed himself into submission, revealing an Ouroboros mark on his left eye. Bradley then brings Greed to Father, revealing that he is Wrath, the last born of the Seven Homunculi. Before Father re-absorbs Greed, Wrath reveals that Edward, Alphonse and Izumi have been through the Gate of Truth and are candidates for the sacrifice that Father needs for his ultimate plan. Wrath later witnesses Lust's death at the hand of Colonel Roy Mustang, but instead of finishing him off he retreats unnoticed and calls an ambulance, seeing that Mustang could make a good candidate for the sacrifice if he were to open the Gate of Truth. When the Elrics, the Xingese prince Ling Yao and his bodyguard Lan Fan team up to capture a homunculus, Wrath and Gluttony are commanded to intervene and stumble upon them and Wrath severely wounds Lan Fan. However they manage to escape through the sewers, after Lan Fan severs her left arm and binds it to a stray dog to serve as a distraction.
Wrath survived once again and swam underwater towards Father's subterranean lair, where an Alchemist is attempting to force Roy Mustang to perform a human transmutation so that he would see the Truth and become the fifth sacrifice that Father needs. Pride and Wrath then intervene and Wrath pinned Mustang onto the transmutation circle on the ground with two newfound sabers, before Pride activates the ritual and takes Mustang with him in Father's throne room. Dying and having fulfilled his role in Father's plan, Wrath then asks who among everyone present wants to go down in history as the person who finally manages to topple his regime. Wrath then engages his last battle against Scar, a survivor of the Ishval genocide Wrath instigated which was started 15 years ago, who wants revenge against Amestris and sided with the Elric brothers after learning that the homunculi were behind the genocide. As the battle commences, Wrath, piqued by Scar in every way, asks his name, to which Scar replies he doesn't have one, having long discarded it. Wrath is heavily amused at it mirrors his own life and lack of a formal name; finally he can enjoy a final battle, to the fullest of his abilities with another nameless warrior, basically mirror images of one another. As he fights Scar, Wrath progressively becomes weaker due to his injuries, but is still able to fight evenly against the latter. As he pins Scar to the floor and readies to deliver the fatal blow, he is suddenly caught off guard when short pillars of spikes incapacitate his right arm, much to his surprise and confusion. Scar then reveals to him that he can now use the power of reconstruction on his left arm, thanks to his brother's research. After knowing that Scar can now use the power of reconstruction, Wrath is both amused and annoyed as he asks Scar if he and the other humans will ever give up in their pointless struggles. When Father activates the Nationwide Transmutation Circle, Scar and Wrath are then consumed in a massive black sphere, though they are unharmed. Wrath then wounds Scar and questions if he has turned his back on Ishvala and their teachings by embracing alchemu to which he replies that in Wrath's mind and soul, there is only one answer: "There is no God!" Despite gaining an upper hand in the fight, Wrath is momentarily blinded by the sudden re-emergence of the sun, allowing Scar to use his Arm of Deconstruction to destroy Wrath's arms. Before he can fall, Wrath grabs the blade of his sword with his teeth and stabs Scar in the midsection.
Severely wounded and on the brink of death, Wrath said that even though he never believed in God, he wonders if this is what it is to be "forsaken by God". When Lan Fan arrives, Wrath correctly presumes that she plans to avenge her grandfather. She asks Wrath if he has any last words, to which he says no. Lan Fan means to injure him further before he can die, stating that his life was truly sad and asks if he has ever truly loved anyone. Wrath tells Lan Fan not to utter such words when she knows so little. He tells 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, Wrath states that she doesn't need to know about him because "that is how it is between a king and his partner" and dies at peace with his life and thankful for the humans who made it worthwhile, making him the fifth Homunculus to die. Contrary to the other homunculi, Wrath's corpse does not crumble into dust, but merely ages about ten years, while his hair become white and his face gets covered with wrinkles and alchemy marks. Most likely, the Philosopher's Stone inside him disintegrates while his corpse becomes human again. When Greed/Ling tries to follow Father, he sees Lan Fan and Scar along with Wrath's corpse lying on the floor, to which Greed replies that he really "pisses him off" for looking so satisfied. When Olivier's group rejoins the three to fight Father, Olivier stays with Wrath's body. Scar tells her that he was wounded by someone earlier, citing this as the only reason why he survives. With this, Olivier correctly deduces that Buccaneer had been the one who wounded him. After the death of Father, the resistance group spreads the word of Bradley's death. According to them, the members of Military Central Command had been plotting to overthrow Bradley and turn all the citizens of Amestris into a gigantic Philosopher's Stone. Though they are reluctant to lie, they decided that they must ensure the people's trust in the government and the military by preserving Bradley's honorable image as a hero. Brigadier Generals Klemin and Edison are framed for the alleged coup, and Bradley is portrayed as a martyr defending his country.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, King Bradley resembled an older adult human being with dark hair and a moustache. He was typically seen sporting an eye patch over his left eye which hid his Ultimate Eye that contained an Uroborous symbol that indicated his nature as a Homunculi. Bradley is usually seen to wear a blue, full length military issue coat and slacks with black dress shoes. His uniform has a grey sash around it which he uses to carry his swords. Bradley is almost always seen with at least one sword on him, but has also been known to carry up to five and can wield all of them simultaneously. On occasions, he has been seen without his coat in battle, wearing his military issue slacks with suspenders and boots, along with a short-sleeve black undershirt. Other times, he is seen wearing a black vest with a white dress-shirt, dress pants, and formal shoes. At the time of the promised day, Bradley wore a white shirt with blue pants and a beige belt to hold his hand grenade. Among the Homunculi, he was actually known by the name of Wrath (ラース Rāsu).
On the surface, Bradley was seemingly a calm and surprisingly pleasant person with a frequent sense of humor.
Outwardly, he portraying himself as a kind ruler but was ultimately a hateful cynic with an atheistic view of religion as a means to enforce order on the fearful masses. Bradley demonstrated a sense of pride at his stature as when the rebel forces took over the Capitol he scoffed at the idea of being expected to come through the back door of his own palace.
He did not have any last words for his wife stating that he chose her to live with him. As such, he felt that the pair completely knew one another and that there was little to say as a result.
Normally, when within society he showed himself as a kind man with a smile on his face. This was even more so the case when he showed himself to be a kind father to Selim and loving husband to his wife. His more brutal nature was shown during combat engagements or when he was forced to threaten someone. Such a guise was completely abandoned when he showcased his true nature as a Homunculi.
Powers and abilities
Despite that, he had traits that were not like the other Homunculi. Chief among these was that he was able to age similar to a human being allowing him to grow old. Such a trait allowed him to blend easily as a human being rather than remain young. These more human-like traits were, however, a disadvantage as unlike the other Homunculi - he was not able to regenerate from his wounds.
His unique power and trait was his Ultimate Eye that when freed allowed him to see even the most minute of movements or details. This allowed him to read an opponent in battle and avoid oncoming attacks with nearly no effort.
Such was his skill with the blade that he could move it such speeds that another person could not perceive them. An example of this was during the entrance exam to be a State Alchemist where he severed the spear Edward Alric had created and pointed at the Fuhrer that had been severed without the young boy noticing. He was able to kill State Alchemists with his blade on one-on-one basis and his sword was capable of cutting through armor worn by soldiers.
As Führer, Bradley was respected Commander-in-Chief of the State Military of the nation of Amestris.
Notes
- King Bradley was created by Hiromu Arakawa where he featured in the setting of the Fullmetal Alchemist universe.
In other media
Television
- In Fullmetal Alchemist, King Bradley appeared in the setting of the 2003 anime television series where he was voiced by Japanese actor Hidekatsu Shibata and English actor Ed Blaylock in the dub. King Bradley's was changed from the source material as he was still a Homunculi but was instead changed to Pride rather than Wrath. As with the other Homunculi in this continuity, Bradley was created from a failed attempt at human transmutation that brought him back as an inhuman creature where he lived as the Fuhrer of Amestris. He lived with his wife and son Selim but secretly kept his human remains hidden whilst serving Dante in the achievement of her goals. As a Homunculi, he demonstrated the ability to regrow his flesh unlike in the Manga and battled Roy Mustang at his home. However, his son Selim feared for his father and returned home with an item that Bradley said was precious to him which were his remains. The act of bringing his remains to close proximity weakened Bradley who grew angry at his son and snapped Selim's neck. However, the opportunity allowed Mustang to finally destroy King Bradley along with his remains thus freeing Amestris from his control.
Appearances
- Fullmetal Alchemist:
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood:
External Links
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