You probably don't want to know what I think about that. Enough said.

You don't need to act like everyone who thinks the fma anime isn't perfect is your personal enemy or anything. All I'm saying is that Roy's decision seems to be way out of character for him.

And at the end of the series, he smiles at Riza and tells her that the world is imperfect, and that's why it's beautiful. I don't think that's what someone who's overly depressed would say, no?

A lot can happen in two years.

Despite what he said, that doesn't mean all his mental and emotional scars were healed either. I think he said that more for Riza than for himself. He said it to make Riza feel better because she felt responsible for what happened to Mustang. There are so many layers and nuances to it and you guys don't even want to consider EXPLORING it. You just want to say, OUT OF CHARACTER.

i don't think anyone is saying that the minute roy killed bradley he instantly became depressed. as we've been trying to stress all along. roy is a human being. when we see him recovering he's undoubtedly happy that his goal has been accomplished. however, i would like to see the scene where roy is finally discharged from care of the hospital and done with all the political and legal ramifications of killing a head of state. i bet then that we'll see a conflict. the roy, even at the very end of the series is still distracted. he's happy that he accomplished his goal. also important, he's trying to cheer up riza (and maybe put some of his moves on her).
however, once he has a bit of dead time after all the chaos of bradley's death dies down, we see the conflict that we are speaking of.

Since no one has debated what I wrote and since this is just running around in circles, I just leave you with my closing statement <3



(and yaaayyyy my account is verified <3)

I'm not going to add anything else either, non argument (or/and insult) stated afterwards has made me see it in a different way, and I'm not here to tell anybody how needs him/her see the film nor to be told by someone how should I see it.

I already said how I see it and the impression I got and my arguments, enough said.

All and all, I will still stick to my belief and statement that Roy is OOC. Everyone may say that Roy is 'human' but it still doesn't explain how Roy magically decides to use alchemy again and become the leader we all know and love.

There is just so much that just doesn't add up.

So I'll just stare at emo!Roy for the time being. Emo!Roy does look pathetically hot.

...see? that's why I said I wouldn't add anything else... because we are repeating ourselves about the same thing over and over. Noone is offering anything new (ontopic) to this thread...

Ladymercury, I'm with you! XD

yeah, go run away from us!

nah, i'm kidding. i can sorta understand how you guys think it's ooc. however, i think roy is complex enough that you can think of him a lot of different ways. to me his actions are in character to who i believe him to be. to you, perhaps not so.

I'm not changing my opinions based on what I've read here either, but it really does get aggravating when certain people on this forum seem to enjoy disagreeing with everything someone else posts.

I personally find it aggravating that so many people here enjoy nitpicking and scrutinizing every insignificant and trivial aspect of FMA.

Wow! boy, have I not checked this thread in a while. I was starting to think no one will respond to it.

But thanks everyone for all of the insight and in-depth analysis on Roy's psychological state, plot congruity, and other inferences. I really enjoyed reading it; all of the points I made and thought about were brought up and discussed so thoroughly. it saves me from having to delinate all of my issues with Roy's position.

At least my original question was answered, he did in fact, demote himself eh?

I guess ooc or not, I think just for structure of the plot of the movie, roy needed to be out of the center of action in the movie. The movie's main plot was Edo and the dominant problem of warfare between the two worlds. In fact, his whole screen-time was less than 10 minutes.

So by casting him in a supportive role, I think he had to be given that track. It also opens up so many possibilities after the movie ended about his career path and his personal life, and leaves so much up to interpretation.


**Shameless plug**
Before I started this thread, I was going to write a piece analyzing Roy's psychological profile and his actions, but now that this thread exists, I guess I don't have to do that. Instead, I have a written a very in-depth analysis of the movie's ending, since that was another issue that I had after watching the movie. I guess it's a response to the widespread dissatisfaction with the ending. if anyone's interested, do check it out. constructive criticism welcomed.
http://www.xanga.com/libraryminion

Ha, "To avoid making Roy steal spotlight from Ed in the movie (?)" theory!! It's new, and I like that. I'm not sure how true it is, but I like hearing all the brainstorming and new theories for the Fma movie.

It's possible Roy will start climbing the ranks again though, right? I really want to see the movie so I can understand it more, but from what I read, it's implied that Roy starts looking up again.

i think so, at least from from my point of view (which you can find throughout this thread).
to me a lot of his issues were with denying himself and coming to terms with what he did. he perhaps liked to not think he was a good leader or maybe just didn't want people's lives to be put into his hands again because there's always guilt when someone you're responsible for dies. but i think when he came back to central, even he had to see just how naturally he immediately took charge of the situation and rallied the troops.
the same thing with his alchemy. he didn't want to use it again, but realized he was more helpful as an alchemist than a foot soldier.
from a military standpoint, the military will probably give him his comission back if he asks for it. or he may want to try civilian life. who knows?

awww that's so sad. mustang felt really bad then. ;_; after all his hard work over all those years (who knows how many)

well i don't know about roy and the ranks, besides i think we all have the answer... but now i have another question....

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ROY?!?!?!?

the last we see him he's holding al back from following ed into the gate... so then did he get back to the ground safely? is he going to be with riza again? is he going back with the military? what???? im just curious

If you watch one of the interviews with the director and the japanese voice actors of the movie, the director said something about Roy withdrawing himself and sealing away his state alchemist title, but the director isn't really clear on why Roy did that......

Maybe they demoted him so they could shift him to another area of Amsteris for the sake of the plot line?

I highly doubt that. They can always reassign him even as a general...you know, have him take charge of a different part of Amestris.

I think.

But there are hints on why Roy forsook his Alchemy. Note that he shot the Rockbells. He burned Ishbalan soldiers but couldn't burn two doctors. Maybe because Roy believed in the purity of his power. He wanted to use it to help people. So far, he used it to kill people, but only under the rules of war, with the Ishbalans as the enemy soldiers. He knew deep down that the Rockbells were innocent, so he had to execute them by some other way besides his precious Alchemy. Six years later, he used his Alchemy on Bradley for revenge, the worst ever motive. Such an action (added with the innocence of the Ishbalan nation) probably convinced Roy that his power was an evil thing that could do nothing but harm (after all, can anyone remember any good things his Alchemy did besides burn living things?). Best to never use it again.

well, i suppose that being burned alive hurts a lot. and i think that mustang shot them so that rockbells would die right away, and he wouldn't have to listen to their screams when they are burnt. i think that he couldn't bear to use the alchemy that caused so many people pain again, so he demoted himself so he wouldn't be in the front lines again and wouldn't have to kill anyone.

if roy was happy, why are his subordinates not happy? speially hawkeye!
didnt riza said that she's in the military to protect someone till that peron reaches his goals? she 's talking about roy here! so it means that roy didnt achieve his goals. and roy said that he wants to change how the country runs, meaning he wants to make the change himself!!!
why was he even demoted?! for killing the one who gave the country civil wars?!

they really need to explain and make another season and movie!!!!

The Military didn't know Bradley was an Homunculus, as far as they knew he was just their leader and murdering a countries leader is generally frowned upon. It doesn't matter what he did and from from what's shown he was a well liked leader.

Well, I hope that I don't get out of the subject with my opinion about Roy. If I am, I apologize.

While reading the manga (Spoiler just in case somebody didn't read the volume that talks about the war in Ishbal) I realized that Roy was an idealist that learned alchemy to help people. And he joined the Military because he thought that being part of the Military, he'll help more people.
But, after seeing all the horrible things he saw and did in Ishbal, he realized that, instead of helping, he was making things worse. And the guilt was killing him.
That's when he decided to climb up and be the Fuhrer. (sorry, I forgot how to write this word.) He thought that, by being the Fuhrer, he'll help people and he will not receive horrible orders like the ones he received in Ishbal, etc.
At the end of the anime, he saw that the corruption was to deep and no matter how hard he'll try, he'll never aim his wish because, he killed Bradley. And the Military will never forget that.
I think that's why he demoted himself.

I don't think Roy can forget that too. He was an idealist who wanted to take the noble path, even after Hughes' death. But learning Bradley's complicity in his best friend's murder enraged him to the point of revenge (a very bad thing in this series). By killing Bradley, he showed himself to be a petty man lacking the spiritual and moral strength to rule a country wisely and nobly (a good leader does not take revenge as an answer).
BTW, does any outsider really know that Roy killed Bradley? There are no remains, none of the witnesses seemed to have survived thanks to Archer, and the only dead body is Selim, with Bradley's fingerprints all over his broken neck.
I'm proofreading a more detailed thread of this plotpoint. Expect to see it in a few weeks...

Claudius: self-appointed defender of Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa.

this very well answers everything about roy..........movie roy i.e.