Edward Elric gets teased a lot for being short, but there’s more to it than that. His height is symbolic.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a complex, thematically deep and intellectually engaging shonen anime series where every detail is carefully thought out and has meaning in the narrative, even apparent jokes like the height of the protagonist Edward Elric. Edward is often teased for being the little state alchemist, but there’s more to it than that.
Edward Elric is no ordinary guy, from his automail arm and leg to his ridiculous ahoge hair and even his height, which is a closely guarded secret for the character. So anime fans want to know how tall Edward really is and how his height represents his personal growth throughout the story of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
Edward Elric’s height and what it means
Edward keeps his exact height a secret in the main story of full metal alchemist and even in the additional comics of the original manga, but for now, the truth has come out. Edward Elric is 4 feet 11 inches tallmaking him shorter than the supposed average anime character height of 160 centimeters or 5 feet 3 inches.
Edward is even shorter than Murderer of demonsby Kamado Nezuko and my hero academiaToga Himiko’s petite villain, though at least he’s taller than the diminutive Mineta Minoru, the hero of Grape Juice. Edward is shorter than almost anyone else full metal alchemist character, but while his petite condition is the source of his tsundere-style tantrums, Edward must realize that his height is partly his fault, and his brother Alphonse should be truly grateful.
When Edward and Alphonse attempted human transmutation, Ed lost his left leg while Alphonse lost his entire body, so Edward sacrificed his right arm to translate Al’s soul and strap him into armor. What Ed didn’t know at the time was that Alphonse’s body was still alive, being watched over by the distant Truth, and Al’s organic body needed nourishment. Ed and Al were connected through alchemy and truth, and Ed’s body had to support not only itself, but Al’s body as well, which put pressure on Ed’s body.
This resulted in Ed’s stunted growth and constant fatigue, and Alphonse noted that Ed spent a lot of time asleep. Later, Edward was overjoyed to hear this theory, and predicted that if Al took his body back from him, Ed’s own growth would resume and he could eventually become taller. And it was shown right after he defeated the villain Father and got Al’s body back.
When Edward Elric grew taller
Even before Edward transmuted Alphonse’s body during the climax of full metal alchemist, Edward started to grow taller as the series progressed, and it was all for symbolic reasons. At first, Edward was noticeably shorter than his childhood friend Winry Rockbell, who was around 5 feet 2 inches, but as Ed continued his journey and grew wiser, he grew taller and was soon on the same level. eye level with Winry, showing her progress. .
Ed was growing as a person and grew taller to match his progress in becoming a humble and wise young man, not just an angry kid with a metal arm. Edward even learned to cooperate with the vengeful monk Scar and get along with the reborn homunculus Greed, while also learning the truth of Father’s plans and the reality of Amestris. Ed was forced to grow rapidly in just a few months, so his physical height changed to reflect that..
By the end of the series, Edward was definitely taller than his love interest Winry, and he and Alphonse were tall, burly young men during the sequel, set a few years after Father’s downfall. By this time, Edward had not only grown in height but in general appearance as well, ditching his colorful shonen hero attire for more respectable gentleman’s clothing, complete with a suitcase.
In particular, Ed had come to resemble his late father Hohenheim, who often dressed similarly, and Ed changed his braided ponytail to a looser one to increase his similarity to his father. Now, Ed is the new Van Hohenheim: a humble, wise and generous man who is no longer the short, temperamental young man everyone knew him to be. Edward had moved on to a new and better stage of his life, and he had the height to prove it.
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