Greed (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Greed is a character from the Fullmetal Alchemist anime and manga.

Greed is a Homunculi and is notable among his fellow homunculi for his independence, which led him to betray Father and work on his own. He is first introduced as an anti-villain then becomes a full-fledged villain and ultimately an anti-hero, following his rebirth in the body of the Xinese prince Ling Yao.

Appearance
Greed looks like a tall, well-built and muscular man with dark hair, a pointed face and sharp pointed teeth. He wears the black clothing common among the homunculi, plus a black jacket with a white fur-collar and a pair of sunglasses, and most of fellow homunculi has red lines across his body; in his case the torso. Greed has the homunculi's distinctive Ouroboros mark on the back of his left hand. Used to the maximum, Greed's Ultimate Shield ability turns him entirely black and metal-like and the two red lines that run all over his body are expanded all over his face, crossing his eyes.

After being destroyed and re-assimilated by Father, Greed is reborn in the body of Ling Yao. Thus he now has the appearance of his host, though his eyes become red, an Ouroboros mark appears on his left hand and his facial features are altered, looking paler and more akin to that of his previous aspect. When Greed is in control of Ling's body his hair cover his right eye, while when Ling takes it back, his hair cover his left eye. Also contrary to his host, Greed is almost always depicted with his eyes open.

Personality
As his name implies, Greed is the embodiment of Father's extreme avarice and unquenchable thirst for every form of possession. He covets "everything that the world can offer", including money, women and political power. However, this also gives Greed a much firmer personality than his fellow homunculi that played into his desertion, since he felt he would never gain anything for himself by following Father's command. This makes Edward Elric describe him as "the only homunculus who has learnt to think for himself".

In spite of his demanding and nettlesome personality, he his very polite, laid-back, chivalrous, and enthusiastic (he refuses to fight against women). He never lies, he offers bargains to gain what he wants and he acts in an extremely friendly (though sarcastic) way even towards foes. However, he is bent on gaining whatever he has set his sight on, not taking "no" for an answer and fighting ruthlessly to obtain and keep it. When confronting people he dislikes, he becomes clearly insulting and bent on killing them, stating that he is so greedy that he wants their lives.

Being extremely greedy and possessive, he values his possessions more than he demonstrates it, and holds those who swear their allegiances to him in very high regards, being seen kind and complementing towards his chimera underlings. He eventually becomes friends with Ling, though he frequently rants when Ling take the control of their body, which he considers as his own alone. In his final moments, Greed reveals that he feels that the thing he wanted most of all was companions and genuine friendship, showing a sense of empathy beyond any other homonculus.

Abilities
Being one of the Seven Homunculi, Greed has above-average strength, speed and durability, and he is able to regenerate his body even when mortally wounded or partially destroyed. As such, the only way to fully destroy him is to kill him more times than the Philosopher's Stone which serves as his core can regenerate him.

His most prominent power, the "Ultimate Shield" enables him to rearrange the carbon cells in his body to make his limbs or his entire self as hard as diamond. He usually uses this power on his forearms (which then become clawed) to use them for offense and defense, becoming able to impale people with his bare hand and to block sword strikes. When he turns his entire body into this diamond-like matter, he becomes virtually immune to any attack and not even an explosion can hinder him. Greed is also able to rearrange the carbon in his cells the other way around; to make his body as friable and weak as charcoal, but he obviously does not use it often.

Trivia

 * In the 2009 series, Greed has fought Wrath three times. He lost the first two. The final was interrupted when Ling took over after Wrath killed Fu.
 * Greed is similar to Beelzemon from Digimon franchise, as they wear leather jackets and are independent. They are also greedy, but both have also redeemed themselves afterwards.
 * In the 2003 anime, both Greed and Envy share a particular distaste for one-another - although this was never explained, but it could be attributed to their connection with Dante.