I don't know if a post like this was ever made or not but what do you think Roy's ethnic background? It was never specified in the anime but in the manga Roy is adopted. To me Roy looks like he could be Xingese or at least I think so. Your thoughts?

Thirty years ago, Madame Christmas was the owner of a brothel (okay, I say this and I find that, how ironic is that???). A very caring woman, she treated her girls with respect. One day, one of those girls became pregnant from one of her patrons, a very Amestrian man. The pregnancy did not go well, and she died giving birth to Roy. Madame Christmas decided to take the boy and raise him as her own, because his mother was one of her girls. Seriously.

Wow. I never knew that! He looks like he could be Xingese to me. Thanks for telling me. Where did you find this info?

Like, seriously-seriously? Really? *snort* Roy's mum was a hooker! Hahaha! (I don't know why I find that funny...)

You know, it explains a lot. A LOT.

Hmm...

Wait, so Madam Christmas runs a brothel? I thought she ran a bar (maybe I'm just an innocent).

Once again, where did all this info come from?

I'm pretty sure Sannom was just throwing a theory out there. Decent theory, though.

Toby-chan is right, I'm just throwing a theory here

Actually, I'm just annoyed by this kind of topic... I mean, we're not in Naruto, we don't need to speculate on such futile details! In another forum, someone actually "said" that perhaps Roy was Wrath's or Pride's son... that was so ridiculous Just because we now know that he has been adopted doesn't mean there is a mystery behind his birth. He has the name of his surrogate mother, which means that she is her "mother".

Maybe not even Arakawa knows about Roy's parents. Remember she said she never determines the story with things that doesn't matter to the plot?
It's a cool idea, to have Chis Mustang take care of her girls like that, but there's also the possibility that he became an orphan in other ways and she took him in... Either way, there's no way to tell what exactly happen.

The only thing we do know about Roy is that he's a foster son and there's also rumors about his sisters dressing him up as a girl when he was little. lol


About the Xingese heritage, that has been speculated many times before... and it's perfectly possible!

But, also, I've been thinking lately and Arakawa never said those where the only countries known to that world. And, personally, I find Roy's phenotype much more similar to Japanese than Chinese (and to me, Chinese, Japanese and Korean people look VERY different). So maybe his heritage lies somewhere else.

Or even in Amestris! We all know it's a lot like Germany, but even in real Germany, people aren't always blond. In fact, I could very well say they have about the same amount of black/brown haired people and of blond.
Of course, there's the eye thing. But even here in Brazil, some people look at me and ask if I have a Japanese heritage, even though almost my entire family is either Spanish or Portuguese. I think I look completely 'Spanish' like, but go figure!

Amestris is a multi-racial country, that's for sure... there is black people (with some of the oldest visual cliche to have been used when drawing black people), asian people (Buccaneer), white people, and Ishbalan people.

Ah, jeez, you got me all excited...

I can't see Roy's heritage being that important to be honest, but on the other hand, my inner writer is saying that Arakawa wouldn't release the 'step-mother' information for no reason. She could have just made Madam Christmas Roy's biological mother, but she chose to specifically make her his step mother. She wouldn't release that information for kicks.

Meh, maybe I'm just over-analysing things.

As for Xingese heritage? Nah, I've always thought of him as an Amestrian man. My argument towards this is that when Ed first meets Ling he makes lots of comments about his slanty/skinny eyes (or however they were described) but he's never once said anything like that to Roy.

I was just curious I didn't think people would get so angry over a little post like this...

... who got angry?

I always did wonder if Roy had some sort of Xingese heritage, or if he just squinted a lot!

OT:

I agree. I didn't see anyone getting mad. Stating opinions yes, but not getting mad. Heck, they didn't even get that fierce with their opinions, like I've seen some forums get.

Ed did make that comment to Ling but I always took it as he was just talking Ling not every Xingese because he didn't say anything about Mei or Ran Fan who have different eyes then him. And he's never gone "Those eyes you must be Xingese" the way he's done with an Ishbalan. Plus it's always been their accents or clothing that stick out.

^Nah, see I think it's a Xingian thing, but I guess that's just my opinion. They're supposed to be the asians of the Fullmetal world, so, it'd make sense...

Maybe they are distant relatives.

Oh God! Still no where near to chapter 95's release. It's been 2 long weeks!!

^ Please disregards preceding spectator post. It turned out spectator was talking about Winry and Riza. Sorry..

Anyway, to avoid this kind of confusion in the future, I HIGHLY recommend the following to everyone who include a quote(s) in the post because I keep seeing this quite often lately...

Everyone:
If your post includes any quote, please be kind and TRIM OUT all contents that DO NOT have any relevance to your post from that quote, and include ONLY the part of quote that is directly related to the content of your post.

I think I read somewhere in a Manga chapter that Roy was adopted from an Xing orphanage. But that still doesn't mean he could be from Xing. Just from that orphanage.

I dunno, here's something that I noticed:

24 sons of Xing emporer

Ling is the 12th son of the emperor, at 15 years old

Mustang was a foster child and is about 30 years old

First son of the emperor? XD

It was just something I noticed in the numbers and I thought it was quite a coinky-dink. Also, Roy does have very Xingnese features (minus the accent - he grew up in Amestris), and his past is something of a mystery.


The only thing is, I think its a bit late in the story to pull something like that.

Oh well. Continue on~!






Where'd you find that? I just reread the entire series and I don't recall that. I don't even think there was any mention in his upbringing besides that one little thing about Madam Christmas being his foster mother.

Hmm, whenever I look at Roy, I always thought of him as half-Xingese & half-Amestrian.

Whenever I look at my friends who are mixed (usually the mom is Asian while the dad is white), you can see some distinctive features features (usually the eyes) but for the most part, the looks blend together really well.

It's also struck me as funny as this past weekend I was looking through my FMA series one artbooks and realized how different anime!Roy looks compared to his Brotherhood self. Brotherhood!Roy looks a bit more tanner and the eyes look more Xingese-looking.

FMA2!Roy is just how he had to look Very similar to the manga >D
And yep, that's what I always thought too, half-Xingese/half-Amestrian.

I must have read it wrong. Or maybe I accidentally read an omake? o_0

I still prefer my theory of Roy being the son of a hooker

I read that post. lol. Funny theory you got there.

If Roy's half Xingese, he would know a little of their alchemy... maybe...

His not seeming to know anything about Xingese alchemy or much about the country in general is one of the things that I find strange, because I do think that he as well as Izumi clearly have Xingese features.
Although if he was born in Amestris and orphaned really early that doesn't have to mean anything.
I sincerely hope Arakawa tells us a bit more about his background in a data book or something (probably not in the manga as I don't think that would fit anywhere). Come on, why mention Madame Christmas as his foster mother, if you're not giving more information about it? Otherwise the fact that she is his foster mom doesn't do anything for the plot or the like.

@DistantBlue: That would come out so far from left field that it wouldn't be anything but extremely lol-worthy. XD

@Forgiven: Maybe you read it in a doujinshi or some fanfic? I used to get confused with other series by what was canon and what was just written so believably that you forget it was just fanon.

Yeah, and Izumi too doesn't know anything about Xing



She did this because she didn't want to have a woman named "Madame Christmas" in a world with no Christianity without a plausible explanation. So she made her as Chris Mustang. And said that she was only the foster mother to avoid being torn apart by the fans who couldn't accept that this old and "ugly" woman is Roy's biological mother.

While I don't think it is impossible that Roy might have some Xingese in him (nothing is impossible) unlike many others I don't see Roy as having Xing features at all. He looks nothing like Ling, Mei or Ran Fan to me. His eyes are small but not really that slanted at all in my opinion. I don't know besides Roy being adopted there seems nothing else to really support this theory. It's not a bad theory per say but I think some people put a little too much credence on it based on Roy's appearance which to me is extremely superficial evidence.

I think Arakawa wouldn't leave such a big question like Roy's origin unanswered....

who knows the manga (I hope) still has a long way to go so...probably Arakawa will take the chance to show us Roy's origin...

REMINDER:

Guys, you are going OFF-TOPIC. >.<
If you'd like to post and tell us your theory about where Roy is from, then please add your post and tell us your theory on this thread.
Otherwise, please fight your urge to make your off-topic posts.

ETA: June 27
Moved some of the off-topic posts to the appropriate thread.


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Program Note to some members:



@Sannom - We are, basically, an FMA fan board, and as such, on our board members tend to enjoy discussing such stuff as whether Ling should have "g" at the end of his name, or whether Ed wrote with his Right hand or Left hand in some panel in some chapter, or whether some word on Scar's Tattoo is Latin or Greek, or whatnot, etc. XD And, I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of viewers of our board who may feel that these posters are going overboard with their discussions on these minor details and "unimportant" aspects of this manga/anime series, but I'm glad they are adult enough to leave these threads alone and keep us going on enjoying discussing about these things.

@Hagaren_4ever - I think it's a good idea to keep in mind to include the source of info every time you post such info, so that others don't have to keep making another posts asking for the source of that info. ^^
And, here is an accepted way, IMO, to post off-topic content (when you absolutely have to post some off-topic content XD)... when you're making posts with some off-topic comments on these threads, please make sure that you have some ON-TOPIC content to post, then add your off-topic comment as an addendum at the end of that post, and marked it as OT (off-topic.) IMO, that's an accepted way of making off-topic comment. But, if all you have is some Off-Topic content, then please don't make a post consisting of only off-topic content, because that would be considered as an off-topic spam posting (which is considered as a "bad' thing to do on our board.)

@angelstar2408 - I edited your signature to make it within the size limit for our board. When you edit and add some new stuff on your sig, please make sure that the overall size of your sig (pics and texts included) is within the Max size limit for our board.


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Now, please resume your discussions on Roy's origin.

nyah~ I always thought Roy looked pretty Asian, but I just put it down to the artsytle, untill the adoption thing came into play and now I think he's probably half xingese. It's not just the eyes but also the hair, Izumi to me is pure amestrian for this reason, well i don't think her eyes are as eastern as roy's anyway, but her hair isn't black and from the drawn texture of it doesn't look asian at all, whereas roy's does. In brotherhood one of the first things i noticed was how much more asian roy looked this time around, i think they changed his skin colour a bit too.

Yep, that was one of the first things that I noticed too. In the first series, Roy definitely appeared to be more on the pale side, but after looking through the official manga artbooks and all of the scans for Brotherhood, he's definitely darker in skin tone than his first series counterpart.

Probably we'll get to see more of his background in the later eps of Brotherhood.....

Program Note:

Posts relating to discussion on Scar's name have been moved to Character Names discussion thread.
Please continue your discussions on Scar's name there.


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OT:

QUOTE (Sannom @ Jun 27 2009, 10:08 AM)

QUOTE ("Tombow")

And, I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of viewers of our board who may feel that these posters are going overboard with their discussions on these minor details and "unimportant" aspects of this manga/anime series, but I'm glad they are adult enough to leave these threads alone and keep us going on enjoying discussing about these things.

Well, I've got nothing against people discussing it. Heck, I'm the one who came up with the theory that Roy is the son of a hooker that worked for Roy's mother in the past. Even found a real world "proof" (what's with the largest legal brothel in the US being called Mustang Ranch ). I just reacted to the fact that it appeared so important that Arakawa wouldn't left it out... I mean, seriously ?

@Sannom - That's fine. I just don't want to see some "I'm bored to death on people discussing FMA!" kind of people start posting "That's not important!" on every FMA discussion thread.


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~ Sorry for all these interruptions. Now, please resume your discussions on Roy's origin. ^^

Well, if they stick to the manga, there won't be THAT much background on him. At least not yet. Only the things we already know from the manga are: he's adopted, Madame Christmas is his foster mother, he was a disciple of Riza's father... I don't think we know a lot more than that, so far.

He has that asian look to him, which is why I like him.

ALL HAIL ASIAN LOOKING ANIME CHARACTERS~~

It makes me proud somehow. ^^*

Wait, I read up to the latest chapter, so where does it say Roy was adopted?

It was in chapter 87.

Thanks, actually after I posted this, I went back and read from 80-97 and found it. But thanks anyway. I must have missed it the first time around.

Roy's background is an interesting one. If it hadn't been significant, I think Arakawa would have made Madame Christmas Roy's mother (that would have been hilarious still) instead of foster mother. Having her as a foster mother delibrately arouses the question 'If she's his foster mother, who is Roy's mother?'. Combine that with Roy's non-typical looks, it's almost as if his different background has been hinted at.

To be honest, Roy stuck me straight away as someone who actually looked Japanese (why is it in manga/anime that characters who look Japanese are so rare?). I never thought of Roy coming from Xing - to be honest, that sounded a bit too farfetched. Though ever since it's been revealed that Madame Christmas is Roy's foster mother then it may just be a possibility.

Think about it. Who on earth would give their child to an owner of a brothel/bar to look after? Not any normal kid. It's unlikely any foster services would ever give a kid there - Roy was given directly to Madame Christmas. Madame Christmas also seems the sort of person to have connections in various places. Roy being given to MC seems a very dubious affair - almost if his parents/guardians had something to hide, or were really desperate. Perhaps Roy's parents/guardians had MC owing them a favour, or had connectiosn with them? It just seems very...suspicious.

So...now for my crackpot theory XD

I think it's likely that Roy's probably half Xingese, half Amestrian. He doesn't look completely Xingese - he's obviously got enough Amestrian in him to blend in, otherwise people around him would notice. I think he's probably the first son of the Xingese Emperor - though illegitimate. The Emperor when young and unmarried, went travelling, and hooked up with an Amestrian girl (whether they loved each other or not, it doesn't matter). Unfortunately, she was pregnant. Now, I have no idea on Xingese ideals on marriage, but even today (in our world) that would be a bit of a scandal.

So, after she gave birth to him, she had to give him up (to avoid suspicion). Roy was given to Madame Christmas to look after in Amestris (after all, if he grew up, and resembled the emperor in Xing, people would notice. In Amestris, I doubt anyone would know, or if they did, care). Whilst Roy technically is the Emperor's first son, he's illegitimate, therefore cutting him out of the race to be Emperor (whilst it would be cool if Roy turned out to be emperor of Xing and the Fuhrer of Amestris, it's unlikely (and a bit over-the-top) and him being an actual legitimate son makes no sense and probably would annoy Mei and Ling).

i think roy been son of the emporer is a bit far-fetched and giving roy a bit too much attention, allthough i wouldnt say the theory is impossible, i do think roy is either half or full xingese, but i just dont see him related to royalty somehow, lol sure is a small world with ling and mei, his half-syblings around XD that just seems weird to me

@Red Kitty: Your theory on Roy being Xingese royalty seems probable to me, and it would be an interesting plot twist for Ling and Mei lol

Personally, I think Roy does look very Asian, since his eyes are so small, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's related to the Xingese King.

from this poster,it seems that madam christmas is mustang biological aunt,according to the fma guide book3.
maybe from mother's side Asian?

Oh this is interesting! Guide book 3? Maybe it's from the Character Guide... but this has got me too curious now (and since there's Roy involved).

And on the issue related to Roy being related to the Xing Royal family or lineage - there's this phrase from Chapter 48 that intrigued me where Roy says:

"I also have a feeling that down the line I'll be glad I have a connection in the Imperial family of Xing."

Most probably that is foreshadowing from Roy's end, but it might be interesting to consider in this whole concept of the theory you have mentioned in this thread.

I don't particually like the idea, but if it turns out to be true, thats actually a bit of a play on words "I also have a feeling that down the line I'll be glad I have a connection in the Imperial family of Xing." 'line' can also mean a lineage often linked with royalty, and 'connection in the imperial family of Xing' could obviously mean a blood link rather than a link through Ling

Most probably Roy there is stating that he's glad that he got to know Ling and that he might be of help when he'll be on the top.

Just wanted to remind of that line because it picqued my curiosity in relation to the discussion.

yes lol I know that and wasn't implying Roy knew anything about possibly been related to him, just if he turned out to be, that line was some very subtle foreshadowing/conisidence, still though I dont like the idea of Roy been related to xingese royalty XD

@thunderbreak - Is this "FMA Guidebook 3" the same as the latest "Character Guide" guidebook that came out recently?

If so, could Kale Mustang, or anyone who has the guidebook confirm this, or post the pic of the entry from the book so that I or someone can confirm this??? I would love to have this confirmed, if true, before we go further with this discussion. ^^

Here's the scan (don't mind the mark on Madame Christmas - forgot to clean the glass of my scanner):

oh... this is interesting.... XD

Thank you, thank you, Kale Mustang for posting the scan of that page from the Character Guide book!!!! You're so awesome!! (It took me an eternity to load the page with that scanned pic with my super slow connection, but I finally got it. ^^)

The beginning part of that entry for Madam Christmas's page (as posted kindly by Kale Mustang above ^^) says: (translation by Tombow, and partially paraphrased)


"Owns and runs her bar, 'Madam Christmas' in Central city.
Mustang's aunt (younger sister of Mustang's father) on Mustang's father's side.
After Mustang has lost both of his parents, she adopted Mustang and raised him to be a fine man....."

Note: The entry doesn't specifically say she is "younger" sister of Mustang's father...it only says she is Mustang's aunt on his father's side. But, you can tell she is a younger sister (and not an older sister) of Mustang's father, from the Chinese characters used to describe "aunt" in this entry. ^^


And thus, it is confirmed!!! Madam Christmas is Mustang's aunt!!
Wow... this indeed is interesting!
Thank you so much, thunderbreak, for bringing this to our attention!!