I'm not sure if theres a thread for this allready, but yer if there is feel free to come along and merge or whatever, theres probably similar topics im sure >_<

Anyway, I wasn't sure whether to put this is the brotherhood or manga section but I thought it'd probably be better here, I was watching ep 26 of brotherhood again last night and then something really twigged with me, in the manga we could never hear Truths voice, and apart from noting how awesome it was in episode 2, and loved how it incoperated both a male and a female voice, in episode 26, I swear that the primary voice is Ed's voice actor, it sounds REALLY similar, or at least I think it does, also in brotherhood we caught a snipet of Izumi's truth which was quite obviously in the shape of a woman opposed to the shape of a young boy that met Ed, anyway my point is, is that Truth seems to bare some very close similarities to who ever it appears before, which leads to the question what exactly is Truth anyway? Is the truth merely a part of the human phyce, therefore explaining why Ed and Al's gates were different, and that they can see each others as their minds 'crossed'? And that the truth seems to be the same shape and gender as the person who sees it? It's allmost like Truth is really just themselves, anyway it would be interesting to have some other opinions discuss discuss! And if there is another thread with this topic in it er...direct direct!...me to it XD

There was a question about Truth in the Perfect Guidebook 3 and this was Arakawa's answer: (translated by amber1003 from Deviantart)


I hope that helped.

^ Thank you, Michiyo- for that info! ^^


If anyone happens to have this part in raw, please kindly post the scan? (Thanks to amber1003's translation and Michiyo-'s reposting, we know the content, but just being curious how Arakawa-sensei is describing this in the raw. ^^)

I've been wondering about this too. What the heck is The Truth anyway, and what is the purpose of it's existence? Is it only alchemy-related? Does it specifically show itself only to those who dare attempt human transmutation? This is what we've been told, and as far as we know that's all there is to it. But assuming that The Truth is some kind of God-like entity holding the truth of the universe, and not just that of the science of alchemy, why would it only respond or show itself in situations revolving around human transmutation?

You have to pay a toll in order to receive knowledge from The Truth, that much is known, and the ammount you pay directly affects how much you get to see. But putting aside this toll fare, why would The Truth put you in this situation in the first place? In the act of human transmutation, what is it that you do to earn the "privilege" of being put in front of the gates?

Is there another way to open the doors, one that might not involve alchemy?

If not, then does that mean the whole world revolves around alchemy? (still going with the assumption that The Truth is "God")

So, Is The Truth the equivalency to God in Arakawa's universe? Or is it just a powerful non-physical "being" who exists in another dimension, and likes to mutilate people?

And why does everyone seem to know so little about The Truth and The Gate in particular, and human transmutation in general? Most people who attempt human transmutation seem to be unaware of that it will bring them to the gates. And when you arrive at the gates, it's not like you have the choice of saying "No thanks, you can save all your truth for somebody else and take me back". On the contrary, once you arrive there, you are forced into an agreement that will have you lose significant parts/uses of your body. If it doesn't kill you, that is. So does The Truth assume that everybody who tries their hands at human transmutation are aware of the consequenses, or is it just cruel?

And those who survive a human transmutation, why wouldn't they write down what they experienced? Information about the gates and The Truth should at this point at least have been documented by somebody somewhere, don't you think? (Or is it just Father being a douche and controlling the flow of information with a spiked, iron leach, so that more people will, unknowingly, do human transmutation? This seems plausible, actually...)

And (this topic has been discussed before) Father, is he a being of the gates? (I haven't read the chapters from Vol. 21 and forward, since I prefer reading it in a book and not on a screen. If this is something that has been answered in the manga already, I'd appreciate to not have the story spoiled for me just yet, thank you )

Edit: all this writing got me confused about halfway in xP So not sure how much of that made sense.