Edward Elric
Personality
Edward Elric is the youngest State Alchemist to be selected by the State Military of the country, having achieved the rank of Major at age twelve. His father's disappearance when Edward was young, the death of his mother, and a failed transmutation play a key role in his story. Edward's motivation stems from a love for his brother Alphonse Elric, for whom he is desperately seeking a way to restore to a human form after their alchemy accident. Due to this, he is also generally perceived to be very independent; he feels that he's the only one who can solve a problem. Often, he feels a heavy guilt that the problem is his fault to begin with, and thus his responsibility to solve. This gives him a selfless inclination.
His automail limbs are made by his childhood friend Winry Rockbell. She's always kept busy with them, as Edward regularly breaks them during fights. She is constantly looking for new ways to improve them, whether it is an attempt at extending their lifespan or simply lightening the weight. In both the anime and manga, Winry is an extremely important person to Edward. In the anime series, no romantic feelings are ever explicitly stated, but in the manga, Winry is in love with him. Edward has also exhibited similar feelings, but constantly denies them.
Edward is extremely short for his age and is very sensitive about his height, and will humorously overreact to any comment about it. He makes a habit of breaking out into rants and frenzied outbursts. Despite all of the obstacles that Edward tackles in the story, he still displays a childish personality when it comes to things he despises, such as needles and milk. He is extremely idealistic and strongly believes in Equivalent Exchange, using it as his personal philosophy. Despite his occasional bouts of immaturity, he is a selfless, strong, independent young adult that gains a reputation as a "hero of the people". During his early teens, he catches serial killers, robbers, and helps different types of communities throughout the country. A running gag in the manga is that Edward has very poor taste in art. Whenever he transmutes an item, he tends to make it over-the-top, including spikes, skulls, or other demon-like touches. Many characters become angered when he fixes their broken items to suit his own odd taste.
Abilities
Ed has the special ability to create alchemical currents in his body simply by connecting his hands. This is a direct result of seeing the Gate of Truth, the source of all alchemic knowledge, while attempting to resurrect his mother. His body creates a transmutation circle when he puts his hands together, and he himself is the required rune. With this, he can perform alchemy without the use of the transmutation circles that regular alchemists require. This ability greatly increases his speed and alchemical potency. He most often uses this power in battle, in order to change the shape of his automail arm into a blade or to make weapons from the areas around him. He is also adept at changing substances from one thing to another, such as changing water into ethanol, etc. As the story progresses, these skills reach a point where he is able to transmute the elements of an enemy's body to injure them. In the manga, this knowledge is great enough to save his own life, as he heals a fatal wound.
Even without alchemical ability, Edward is a formidable fighter. His teacher, Izumi Curtis, considers physical excellence to be an important part of an alchemist's repertoire, and has thus extensively trained both brothers in the martial arts. Edward often fights by transmuting the forearm of his automail into a blade.
