Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood stands out for its complex narrative, breathtaking animation, and for its deeply emotional moments. With a perfect blend of action, humor, and heartfelt scenes, this anime created a memorable storyline that resonated with fans long after the final episode. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is arguably one of the best anime in history, filled with both triumphant and emotional moments that elicit a response from audiences everywhere.
Adapted from Hiromu Arakawa’s manga, the anime explores themes of loss, redemption, family, and evolving understandings. Every moment in the series contributes to a deeper understanding of the characters and the world around them. Some of these moments are crafted in such a way that they resonate with audiences and leave fans reeling from the heartbreaking moments.
10 Riza Believes Lust Killed Mustang
Her Heartbreak and Rage Was Justified
After Lust slices apart Barry the Chopper, she turns to Riza and Lust tells her that she will be sending Riza to her superior, suggesting that Roy Mustang is dead. In a moment of blind rage, Riza empties three clips into Lust before breaking down and collapsing. As Alphonse protects her against Lust, she begs him to leave her behind as she resigns to her fate.
Riza’s gradual realization of Lust’s words reveals her disbelief that Mustang could have died at her hands, but left with no proof that he is alive or dead other than Lust’s words, she becomes vengeful and angry. Her scream as she shoots Lust is filled with pain and sorrow until she runs out of bullets and falls to her knees, giving up completely. This moment shows Riza’s deep love for Mustang and her inability to continue fighting to live without him. Seeing a powerful woman like Riza break down is enough for any fan to sympathize with her pain.
9 Van Hohenheim and Trisha Flashback
Everything Ed and Al Believed About Him Wasn’t Entirely True
During one of the flashbacks involving Van Hohenheim and Trisha Elric, Trisha decides that they are going to be taking a family photo. While they are getting ready to take the picture, Trisha tells Hohenheim that he is not a monster and that he shouldn’t try to distance himself from them just because he is scared. At the end of the memory, the Elrics’ full family photo is revealed, showing that Van Hohenheim was crying.
Before this flashback, the family photo was partially blocked, covering Van Hohenheim’s face entirely. Many fans speculated that he was either smiling, enjoying the time he had with his family, or with a scornful smile. However, seeing that he was crying in the photo shows his humanity and his desire to remain with his family. This moment with Trisha was one that Ed and Al were too young to remember, and it just so happened to be one of the final moments that the Elric family was whole.
8 Winry Attempts to Kill Scar But Can’t Go Through With It
She May Have Had Every Right, But It Would Have Changed Her Forever
When Winry learns that Scar is responsible for her parents’ deaths, she becomes filled with rage and heartbreak as she tries to mentally sort through the information. She tearfully demands to know why her parents, who were doctors and saved lives, had to die, and she grabs a nearby weapon to point at Scar. He even agrees that Winry has every right to shoot, but that once she does, she will be seen as an enemy. Before it can get too far out of hand, Ed lunges himself in front of Winry, blocking her from Scar.
In a tearful moment, Winry asks why she couldn’t take revenge on behalf of her parents, leading to Ed gently prying the gun from her and telling her that she is not meant to take life, but rather to give it. The episode ends with Winry crying into Ed’s arms, leaving fans emotional after the heavy scene. Like her parents, Winry has never taken a life and saved a few on her own. She is often seen as a character with sharp wit and a positive personality, making scenes where she breaks down all the more difficult to watch.
7 Greed Kills Bido
His Rash Actions Led to a Grievous Mistake
After being reborn in Ling’s body, Greed comes across Bido, the last surviving Chimera after the attack on the Devil’s Nest. At first, they exchange moments of confusion, with Bido shocked by Greed’s new appearance and Greed unsure of who Bido is until he mentions he is from Dublith. In a heartbreaking moment, Greed kills him just as Bido breaks into a smile, thinking that he has found Greed. Immediately after, Greed is tormented by past memories as Ling angrily lashes out, calling him a monster for killing his friend. As the memories return, Greed screams, holding Bido’s body.
Though this scene happens rather quickly, the implication beneath creates a sorrowful tale. Bido's family was murdered in the Devil’s Nest attack, and he was left alone in a world that hated and feared Chimeras. When he comes across Greed, there is a short instance in which he is brought to tears, thinking he found part of his family, only to be killed by him. Shortly after, Greed is pelted with memories and screams in sorrow and guilt over what he had done, but in the end, it is too late to change anything for either of them.
6 Greed’s Death and Redemption
Greed’s Death Was His Release from the Sin That Defined Him
Greed’s death is a profound moment of redemption. Before he becomes part of Father’s body, he reveals to Ling that what he really wanted was the chance to have good friends. In his final moments, he uses his power to turn Father’s body into the most fragile form of carbon, effectively weakening him. In retaliation, Father tears Greed out of him and destroys him for good, marking the end of his long lifespan.
Greed’s death serves as a redemption for all his past mistakes. As he comes to terms with his deepest desires, he also decides to commit to the least selfish act anyone could do. Greed’s sacrifice was bittersweet as it was the moment his character arc came to a perfect and impactful conclusion as he does the one thing no selfish person would ever consider.
5 Envy’s Final Moments
A Tragic End to a Life Filled with Jealousy
Envy was the most unlikeable and hateful of the homunculi. He started a civil war by killing a young child, he murdered Hughes in cold blood and looked down on all others as he prided himself on the amount of deaths caused by his hands. Yet, at the moment of his death, as he cried and tore out and destroyed his own philosopher’s stone, it’s hard not to feel a twinge of sympathy for him.
During Envy’s final moments, Edward finally sees right through him, realizing Envy’s deepest truth, his jealousy of humans and their compassion for one another. Humans have friends and family who lift each other up when they fall, something that Envy never had. While Envy may not have been redeemed, in the end, he died with nothing, knowing full well that nothing was all he ever had.
4 Alphonse Sacrifices Himself for Edward
Ed’s Rage and Devastation Was Heartbreaking
After Edward gets pinned to rubble without his automail, Alphonse takes it upon himself to make the decision to exchange himself for Edward’s arm. When Ed realizes he has his arm back, he immediately knows what it means for Al, and there is a moment where he hesitates to even glance at it. His rage is driven by his devastation after being forced to watch his brother be taken away once again.
Al’s willingness to give up his own armored body to save his brother is proof of their bond and selfless love for one another. Ed’s attack afterward, filled with all the pain he was experiencing, led to a painful battle against Father. This scene turned the tides against Father, but at a steep cost that was felt through Edward’s sorrow and fury.
3 Edward and Alphonse Try Human Transmutation
Ed Blamed Himself for Everything That Happened to Al
Edward and Alphonse’s attempt at human transmutation resulted in disastrous consequences. What started as two young children’s well-intentioned effort to bring back their mother turned into a nightmare for the boys as Alphonse’s body completely disappeared and Edward was left alone, missing his lower leg and bleeding profusely. The scene becomes darker when Ed sees what they have created, a barely living corpse that only vaguely looks human. It lived for only a few seconds, long enough to extend a decaying arm out to Ed before whatever life it had became extinguished.
To save his brother, Edward sacrificed his arm and bound Al’s soul to armor. Years later, Edward continued to harbor guilt over that night, blaming himself for what happened to his little brother. All they wanted was to see their beloved mother again, and as children, they couldn’t have known better. The consequences of their actions were a punch in the gut, the steep cost of their actions was crushing and left a bitter feeling when all was said and done.
2 Hughes' Death and Funeral
It Was a Terrible Day for Rain
Hughes’s death and funeral mark one of the most emotional moments in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. While he may have not had a lot of time in the anime before his death, his bright personality and good nature immediately made him a fan-favorite character. Unfortunately for him, Envy finds him and shapeshifts into his wife before fatally shooting him. His final words go out to his wife and daughter, and his funeral is a solemn scene to witness.
Hughes was an incredibly smart and observant character, which was what held a hand in the homunculi hunting him down. During his funeral, as his daughter cries out, trying to understand what was going on, other characters are shown holding back their own emotions, and the sadness and loss they felt radiated through the screen to fans everywhere.
1 The Tragedy of Nina Tucker
No Fan Will Ever Forget the Evil and Traumatizing Impact Left by Shou Tucker
What happened to Nina Tucker is by far one of the most haunting moments in anime history. Shou Tucker, her father, in a desperate attempt to keep his State Alchemist License, decided to fuse Nina with their dog Alexander to create a speaking chimera. This brutal act underscores the depths of Tucker’s corruption and the suffering he placed on his own daughter. When Edward realizes what he had done, his astonishment turns to immediate horror. In that instant, Ed puts the pieces together and it’s revealed that Shou Tucker had been using humans for his experiments, starting with his wife.
The scene became all the more difficult to watch as Tucker justified his actions and showed zero remorse for his actions. In the end, Tucker was killed at the hands of Scar, and as Nina walked over to her father, calling out to him with tears in her eyes, Scar takes her life as well. It was clear that while Nina may not have been as aware as she once was, she still had an understanding of the people and events going on around her. Her death was by far the most traumatizing and heart-wrenching moment in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood follows brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric who use alchemy in a quest to restore their bodies after a failed transmutation. The series explores themes of sacrifice, the consequences of ambition, and the quest for truth in a richly developed world.
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