The successful shonen anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood presents a handful of antagonists for heroes Edward and Alphonse Elric to face, and it's always exciting to see Ed use alchemy, martial arts, or science to fight back. Fans should also note that Full Metal Alcehmista respects quality over quantity when it comes to its characters, meaning that every villain is a genuine and compelling threat in some way, with very few “employee” antagonists to speak of. Given the anime’s limited power scale, heroes like Edward Elric aren’t likely to easily crush a villain with a made-up power-up – he actually has to earn his victories.

Most of the time, the villains Fullmetal Alchemist are superhuman homunculi who plan to remake the world at the expense of humanity, and such creatures are always dangerous. There are also some great human villains in Fullmetal Alchemist, including some who simply needed redemption, as opposed to those who were evidently born evil. Overall, with their cunning intelligence, supernatural abilities, and martial arts, Fullmetal AlchemistThe villains often proved themselves to be a serious threat to any state soldier or alchemist who stood in their way.

10 Father was a schemer who wanted to achieve divinity

As any shonen fan would expect, Fullmetal AlchemistThe main villain was never a pushover, even when he was desperate. The homunculus who later called himself Father tricked the people of the city-state of Xerxes into casting a gigantic transmutation circle, allowing him to harvest over a million souls, half of which he used to transform himself into a powerful humanoid being. Van Hohenheim kept the other half.

Father did not like to fight his battles personally, but if necessary, he could use advanced alchemy to fight his enemies, and could even bypass the laws of equivalent exchange to do so. He could create matter from thin air, as seen when he repaired Alphonse Elric's metal body. He also fought on par with Van Hohenheim, himself a truly powerful alchemist. When Father obtained his final form, he was encased in a nearly indestructible barrier that could ward off countless bullets and explosives.

9 Gluttony had a secret weapon embedded in his chest

Compared to his fellow homunculi, the idiotic Gluttony may have seemed like a pushover, but compared to any soldier or alchemist in Amestris, he was a true monster in battle. Like most homunculi, Gluttony could regenerate his body countless times to outlast his enemies, and he could eat absolutely anything to deprive his opponents of their weapons if need be.

Above all, Gluttony had a false Gate of Truth in his chest that he could open, revealing one eye and many fang-like fangs. With this power, Gluttony could instantly devour anything before him within a medium distance, an ability that any alchemist would fear. Gluttony could eat anything from fire and dirt to people with that false Gate and teleport them to his infinite stomach realm.

8 Lust threatened the heroes as the ultimate killer

The homunculus Lust served Father as an assassin and spy, similar to her compatriot Envy. Lust would use her beautiful appearance and skilled acting to trick people into trusting and supporting her, making it easier for Lust to attack them when their guard was down. She could also quickly heal any wound, even if her body was burned or torn to the bone.

As for offensive weapons, Lust wielded the Ultimate Spear, meaning she could elongate her fingers into sharp spikes to stab or slash her enemies. She could even destroy brick walls with ease, and with these weapons, she nearly killed Roy Mustang and caused a permanent injury to Jean Havoc. Only with repeated fire attacks did Roy finally finish her off, and even then, it was a close call.

7 Anger can cut through bullets and destroy battle tanks

Known as King Bradley, Wrath the homunculus led the entire nation of Amestris for years, making him a hidden enemy in plain sight to the people of Amestris. Wrath was determined to see Father's plan come to fruition, leading the entire nation to its destruction from his comfortable perch on his wooden throne.

Wrath could fight by sending his troops against the enemy, but he was no paper general. As a homunculus with the Supreme Eye, Wrath could jump straight into battle and fight with astonishing agility and precision, showing no mercy as he slashed at his enemies with his sabers. He could also predict the movements of an object or person to easily gain an advantage, as well as cut through bullets or tank shells in midair.

6 Solf J. Kimblee blew people up for fun

Solf J. Kimblee was one of the most deadly and infamous human antagonists of all time. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. He used his unusual transmutation circle to create powerful explosions throughout the Ishval Civil War. After his father freed him from prison, Kimblee resumed his rampage while also displaying his tracking abilities.

Kimblee could easily use explosions to fight his enemies, but that wasn't all. He also had a few different Philosopher's Stones to fight with, giving him a sneaky advantage. He scolded Edward Elric for being naive in not killing his enemies, as Ed's mercy allowed Kimblee to fight back with his Stone-enhanced powers to win the fight.

5 Pride could see everything in the shadows

Pride was modeled after Father's original form, representing Father's arrogant pride in his own form and abilities. Additionally, Pride incorporated the powers of all his homunculi: Gluttony's ability to eat things, Lust's impaling spears, Greed's tough skin, Wrath's all-seeing eyes, Sloth's speed, and Envy's shapeshifting. If necessary, Pride could even eat his fellow homunculi to directly gain their powers, such as Gluttony's strong nose.

Pride often served his father by spying on his enemies from the shadows, as Pride could see anything anywhere through shadows. If Pride had to fight, he could overpower any enemy with his various powers, and his shadow body made him virtually impossible to defeat. Pride's main weakness was his reliance on shadows, the boundary between light and darkness, as he was unable to form his shadow body in bright light or in complete darkness.

4 Sloth was much faster than it looked

For the most part, the hulking homunculus Sloth served as Father's handyman, digging a transmutation circle across the land to ensure that Father's plan could proceed on the Promised Day. True to his name, Sloth was reluctant to perform tasks or fight, and was slow to fight back, even when hit by tank cannons.

Sloth showed his true power during the Promised Day, when he used his deceptive speed to attack the Armstrongs during their internal battle. Sloth's extreme speed, constant regeneration, and incredible physical strength made him a formidable challenge. The heroes suffered severe injuries before finally mastering Sloth's Philosopher's Stone and killing him for good.

3 Envy can deceive its enemies by changing shape

Not unlike Lust's job, Envy's job was to spy on humanity and use his complicated powers to ensure that no one could discover Father's plans. Envy was generally more useful as a shapeshifter than a fighter, but he could still challenge any human with his combined regeneration and shapeshifting. For example, he could transform his limbs into deadly snakes, and his true form was a gigantic melee warrior.

Envy was eventually destroyed, only to absorb dozens of puppet soldiers on the Promised Day and threaten the heroes once more until Roy destroyed him for good. Depending on the enemy, Envy could gain a serious psychological advantage by transforming into someone precious to the target, such as when he imitated Gracia right before Maes' eyes.

2 Scar killed countless state alchemists with his right arm.

The vengeful Ishvalan monk who calls himself Scar was not a true villain at heart, but for a time, he was an undeniable antagonist to Edward Elric and other state alchemists. Scar lost everything in the Ishvalan Civil War, most notably his unnamed brother, so he used destructive alchemy to find and assassinate state alchemists across Amestris. Doing so helped him gain a lot of experience in combating these enemies.

Scar was a quick and clever warrior, finding ways to counteract any form of alchemy and defeat his enemies. He also had great physical strength and endurance on his side, and was also skilled at escaping. All of this made him a major concern for the military, as soldiers and alchemists alike tried in vain to hunt him down. Impressively, Scar even faced off against Wrath and narrowly won a victory over him on the Promised Day.

1 Greed sported nearly unbreakable skin

The homunculus villain Greed attempted to offer the Elric brothers a deal in the sewers of Dublith, only for the outraged Edward to challenge him to a fight. Greed armed himself with ultra-hard skin over his hands and forearms, giving him sharp claws for fighting. Greed then encased his entire body in his hard skin, a defensive ability called Ultimate Shield.

This, combined with his martial arts and regeneration, made Greed a formidable foe for Edward, who needed some serious trickery to even the odds. Much later, the reborn Greed leapt across the battlefield on the Promised Day, destroying his countless enemies to support his allies in the fight for Central. In this fight, Greed used all of his power and Ultimate Shield to become an unstoppable juggernaut, though he still struggled a bit against Wrath.

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  Fullmetal Alchemist

  When a failed alchemical ritual leaves brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric with severely damaged bodies, they begin searching for the only thing that can save them: the legendary philosopher's stone.

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  Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

  Two brothers search for a Philosopher's Stone after an attempt to revive their deceased mother goes wrong and leaves them in damaged physical forms.