Suffice to say, Father is stopped by the combined efforts of our protagonists, ultimately losing control of the powers of God, and finding himself before the mysterious being known as the Truth, and The Gate. The purpose of this was to build a gigantic transmutation circle, one that would steal the souls of the inhabitants of Amestris, in order to gain the power to absorb the being known as “God,” the being on the other side of The Gate. Over hundreds of years, the state of Amestris was formed, all under Father’s guidance from the shadows. From there, Father found another inhabited land, and taught the people there secrets of alchemy, building for himself the name of the “Philosopher of the East,” but of course, this wasn’t enough for him. No, it wanted more, and so, tricked the kingdom of Xerxes into performing a huge, genocidal transmutation, one that gave The Dwarf a new, physical, yet immortal body: a copy of his unknowing cohort, Van Hoenheim, who was also cursed with immortality. However, the Dwarf was not satisfied with this existence, restricted to the Flask. The main point here, is that the Dwarf was a great source of knowledge, with which, he taught humanity how to use the powers of Alchemy. Through an unknown method, this entity was born from the essence of something beyond “The Gate,” which we will get into later. The Homunculus exists only as a black blob in a small container: The Dwarf In The Flask. The story of Father starts in a kingdom called Xerxes, thousands of years before the events of the main series. So, before we get to all the theological and religious symbolism, let’s just brush up a bit on who exactly Father is, and how he came to be. …Or you could skip to the TL DR version at the bottom. So, hope I can keep it entertaining and educational for ya’ll- let’s get it started. And is in fact, the LONGEST and MOST DETAILED analysis on Reading Between up to this point, that tackles basically everything about FMA, from the thematic significance of alchemy, to the meaning of “Truth”. Just a heads up, this is gonna be LONG and DETAILED. Yes, Father does fit the “wise old man,” Jesus stereotype, he dresses in white, and his name alludes to God himself, but man, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Rather, Father sums up the thematic patterns of Full Metal Alchemist WONDERFULLY, his existence in and of itself so full of symbolism, that I’m surprised people haven’t noticed it. What I am talking about is The Dwarf in The Flask, The Homunculus, known as Father.įather is one of my favorite anime villains of all time, but not for an imposing presence, not for his sheer evil, not even for really being a stereotypical “good” villain throughout the series. This is common knowledge, however: and what is lost in many a symbolic analysis of the series, is a meaning that is far greater. Among its thematic strengths, was the prevalence of knowledge, and the seven evil Homunculi or artificial humans, each named for one of the famous Seven Deadly Sins. It is one of the greatest anime of all time, in my humble opinion, and a big part of that was an adventure that perfectly blended action, character development, and thematic strength. Here on Reading Between, we got bigger fish to fry.įull Metal Alchemist Brotherhood has received critical acclaim from many sources, myself included. Symbolism? You mean like those cool tattoos the homunculi have? The seven deadly sins? Father’s Jesus symbolism? We’ve seen that before! Now, now, now, I know what you’re thinking.
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