IC Information :: Scorched application
Out of Character Information
player name: Ri
In Character Information
character name: Roy Mustang
Fandom: FullMetal Alchemist - manga
Timeline: Chapter 102, after Wrath removes the swords, but before decomposition starts. He hasn't been pulled through yet.
character's age: approximately 29-30 (he doesn't have a known birthdate, just a year, but it depends on the month to know exactly how old he is -no older than 30 though)
powers, skills, pets and equipment: Given that Roy enlisted in the military prior to his becoming a State Alchemist, it's safe to say that he has basic combat training. This would include the ability to fire a gun properly and accurately (he's nowhere near Riza's caliber though), basic first aid training, and basic hand-to-hand combat skills, but his preferred method of fighting -as well as his most notable ability- is alchemy.
Being a State Alchemist, Roy has a knowledge in the overall basics of alchemy and has stated that while he has a general knowledge in biological and medical alchemy, they aren't his specialty. This means that while he is capable of using them, his knowledge in these fields is rudimentary at best (Dr. Knox even scolded him on his sloppy transmutation of the Dummy!Ross).
His specialty is Flame Alchemy, but in truth, it's actually the ability to adjust the oxygen levels in the air by decomposing the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen via the array on the back of his gloves (he does carry scars on the back of his right hand in the shape of his array from the encounter with Lust, but he hasn't tried using them after they healed over). By manipulating the oxygen in the air, Roy is able to direct the path of the flames as well as their intensity. He doesn't create the flames at all, relying on an outside source for the spark to ignite the adjusted oxygen; this spark typically comes from the gloves he wears, which are made from pyrotex, a special type of cloth quite possibly containing flint, but anything that would create a spark can be substituted. Dubbed "ignition cloth", the spark is produced through the friction created by rubbing his fingers together -hence the snapping gesture. The 'snap' sound itself comes from the spark igniting the oxygen and not from his fingers (anyone who's tried to snap their fingers in a pair of gloves knows that it's almost impossible to get that sound).
Contrary to popular belief, Roy is not useless in the rain in that he can't use his alchemy. He can't use his gloves to create the spark, but give him something that could still produce the same effect and he's set. In fact, he's actually more dangerous as using his alchemy would run a higher risk of something going wrong and accidentally blowing up everyone and everything around him. Because his ability lies in splitting the water molecules in the air to create a path of oxygen, the rain poses a major threat to his control: more moisture = more oxygen = more flammable gas = larger explosion in an open area = higher possibility of something going wrong due to the increase in oxygen and the wide open space = more control required. In the end, it's just easier for him to say he's useless in the rain and leave it at that. It's important to note that during the confrontation with Lust, she slices through a pipe and drenches him, claiming that she's rendered him useless. He and Havoc flee the room, but instead of being forced to rely on Havoc due to the wet gloves, Roy says that the situation has turned in their favor and this is now his battlefield -then proceeds to use his alchemy to split the water molecules into their respective components, uses Havoc's lighter to create the necessary spark, and reduces the entire room to a blazing inferno. The reason he was able to do this without fear of hurting himself or Havoc was that the explosion was contained inside an enclosed space and the water on the floor was a set amount (versus a constant stream falling).
Another thing to note is that Roy is capable of producing both large explosions and small, pinpoint blasts, but not both with the same hand. Possibly due to a difference in manual dexterity, the larger explosions come entirely from his right hand while the smaller pinpoint blasts are purely done with the left. This prevents him from being limited to the position of a long-range fighter as he can use the smaller bursts for enemies that are "too close for comfort" where a larger explosion would be suicide. For anything else, there's Mastercard he carries a handgun concealed beneath his clothes, most likely in a holster under the jacket.
canon history: Born in Amestris in 1885, Roy was orphaned at a young age and taken in by his aunt who raised him to "be a fine man" (he grew up under the watchful eye of Madame Christmas/Chris Mustang who owned and operated a hostess bar in Central). Some time after that, he was apprenticed to Berthold Hawkeye from whom he learned the basics of alchemy, but because he harbored a strong desire to protect others, he abandoned his apprenticeship and joined the military. It was during his time in the Military Academy that he met Maes Hughes, who eventually became his best friend and biggest supporter.
When he returned from the Academy to seek out his teacher, he was reprimanded for his actions and told that someone who would stoop to enlisting in the military wasn't ready to be taught the art of Flame Alchemy. He attempted to argue his point, but during their discussion/argument, Berthold -who was already ill- had a sudden fit of coughing, hacked up blood, and died... but not before telling Roy to protect his daughter and that the product of his life's work was with her.
Roy gladly paid for his teacher's funeral, and while standing before the grave with Berthold's daughter, Riza, imparted to her the reason for his enlisting and ultimately the reason for why he wanted to learn alchemy: to be able to protect others, even if it means his own life is forfeit as a result. Despite his sudden sheepishness at realizing he'd just babbled about his own "childish" dream, she didn't see it as anything to be ashamed or embarrassed by, and as a result, she allowed him access to her father's legacy. With the alchemic information she gave him, Roy passed the State Alchemist Qualification Exam and branded himself a "dog of the military", ready to use his abilities in defense of his country and her people.
Roy had already passed the exam by 1908 when Executive Order 3066 was passed, marking the beginning of what became known as the Ishval Extermination which was a nice way to say they released the hounds by sending the State Alchemists to the front lines. It didn't take long before he had grown tired of what had become routine -blast them with artillery, corner them, surround them, burn them, shoot any survivors, then repeat it in a different place- and had begun to have his doubts about what the military had been called in to do and why.
Eventually, the fighting came to an end and the troops were pulled out of Ishval. The war had left a deep impression upon him, though, and served to solidify his desire to protect others... but it also pushed it one step further -in order to protect the people from things like what he and so many others had been made to experience, he would need to be in as high a position as he could get, and what was higher than sitting at the top?
With a new goal in mind and support from Maes, Roy began to set his own plans into motion. To start, he gathered up those who were like-minded and loyal to work alongside him: Kain Fuery, Vato Falman, Heymans Breda, and Jean Havoc. To Riza Hawkeye, who had followed him into the military and had seen the horrors of Ishval, he gave something much more than a promotion: because she had trusted him with her back, he entrusted his own to her. Should he ever stray from the righteous path and misuse the skills her father's legacy had granted him, she was to shoot him where he stood.
In the years that followed, Roy traveled with Riza to scout for new talent for the State Alchemist program, eventually coming across Edward Elric who later took the exam and passed with flying colors. The addition of Edward to Roy's little ensemble could have been seen as a blessing or a curse as the boy's arrival heralded the opening of a whole new can of worms for them, from the appearance of "Scar" -a serial killer who preyed upon State Alchemists, the surfacing of the homunculi and the subsequent murder of Maes Hughes, to a transfer to Central, the loss of Jean Havoc from active duty, the discovery that the the military itself was working in conjunction with the enemy, and a string of cover-ups in order to hide his own actions from prying eyes (the biggest being the "death" of Maria Ross who was wrongly accused of murder).
Roy was adamant about not backing down from his goal despite everything that was thrown at him. Never without a back-up plan, he utilized the information network set in place through the Armstrongs, General Grumman of Eastern Headquarters, and his own aunt and her bar girls, effectively keeping informed of what was going on even when Fuhrer Bradley had believed him backed into a corner after scattering his crew across the map. Through the resources at his disposal, he was able to plan a coup d'état and set up events that would hopefully bring about the fall of corruption within the Amestrian military as well as help to save the country from becoming one big bowl of Stone soup.
When the Promised Day finally rolled around, the plans he'd worked so hard to construct came to fruition... but he hadn't counted for the abilities of those homunculi he hadn't encountered, such as Pride and Wrath. While the battle between Central's soldiers and the men of Eastern and Briggs raged outside, Roy, Riza, and several others descended into the lion's den to put a stop to the schemes of the man pulling the strings, the one the homunculi called "Father".
On the way down, emotions ran high when Roy was confronted by the one person he'd sought for months on end -the homunculus Envy. After he'd confirmed that Envy was indeed the one he was looking for, the one responsible for the death of Maes, Roy completely lost it and unloaded blast after blast on the homunculus. It was Edward who stopped him before dealing the finishing blow, and Riza who brought him back to his senses by insisting that if she were forced to shoot him, she would follow when everything was over. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her because of his actions and finally backed down, sinking to the ground as the emotional rush ended.
He managed to get his bearings again and the group set out once more, only to encounter former Fuhrer candidates and the alchemist who created Bradley. A scuffle ensued in which Riza's throat was slashed and Roy was given the ultimatum of "perform human transmutation or the woman dies". Despite their attempts, he steadfastly refused but in the end, Roy found himself pinned to the ground by Wrath's swords through his hands and secured by Pride in order to force his hand in the transmutation, even as the array flared to life...
personality: At first glance, Roy comes across as a polite but manipulative, arrogant and shallow womanizer who prefers to ride atop the crest of a wave propelled by the hard work of those beneath him instead of doing anything himself. This isn't all there is to him, though. In fact, the first glance is only what he projects to those he doesn't necessarily want close to him. Those who actually put forth the effort to get to know him will find that there's a lot more to him than meets the eye.
Possessed of a keen intellect, a stubborn streak a mile long, a fierce determination, and a lot of confidence in his abilities and his subordinates, Roy is a far cry from that first glance. He's charismatic, not arrogant -though he isn't the sort that everyone and their brother swoons over as evidenced by Olivier Armstrong who hates him- and while he's prone to procrastination, he's never without some sort of work-related task, whether it's for the military or his own information circles. That said, he's incredibly secretive and while he's polite in his speech and mannerisms, he has a tendency to speak cryptically at times and nothing is ever really what it seems with him. He's also rather temperamental and immensely protective of and loyal to those close to him. Roy doesn't have much of a family (the only relative that's ever mentioned is his aunt/foster mother) so his unit is his family and messing with any of them means one will have to deal with him.
Manipulation is something that he's capable of doing, but not necessarily something he does. He didn't have to manipulate Riza, Havoc, Fuery, Breda, Falman, or the Eastern Army into following him, they do it because they want to -they see something in him that strikes a chord with their own personal beliefs and feelings. He may manipulate situations to his favor or nudge others into doing what he wants them to by making it seem like the only logical course of action, but he doesn't take the credit for it; they're guided into coming to the conclusion that they decided on their actions and paths themselves.
On the subject of his womanizing attitude, he's shown buying information from one of his dates and he never stays with any one girl for long. He also encodes his notes in the names of women and gave both Riza and Havoc code names that would appear as nothing more than him flirting it up when on the phone in the office when one or both are "on leave", which could help give rise to the womanizing reputation. If he's using his "dates" as a means of scoring information and some of the others are actually his close subordinates, then that raises the question of how many of them are legitimate dates and how many are just to keep people off his trail. He is a flirt, though, and will happily chat it up with the ladies; he'll talk to the men too, but not in the same vein -don't expect him to flirt with them unless either the situation absolutely requires it or he doesn't realize they're male (and the moment he does, that's the end of that).
Roy doesn't necessarily go out of his way to be noticed in his appearance. He doesn't wear flashy clothes, preferring to stick to neutral and subdued colors such as blacks, browns, grays, and whites when not in uniform, and his hair is usually a bit disheveled unless it's a formal occasion, then it's slicked back neatly. He isn't one to be caught half-dressed as he has a burn scar that wraps around the lower left side of his body from the center of his stomach to the middle of his back from where he cauterized his own injuries after the encounter with Lust (to give an idea of the severity, he insisted Havoc was done rare while he was medium). He's not terribly materialistic either; he owns his clothes, his car, and his couch... and that's about it. The house he lives in is rented and from the way he drops money to informants, he doesn't leave himself with much more than what he needs to live on.
Like anybody else, Roy isn't without his flaws. His protective streak gets him into more trouble than it's worth because he tends to rush blindly into the fray when the safety of those close to him is concerned, and he'll worry about them if he isn't able to be there for whatever reason. His temper, while it isn't evidenced often, is not something one wants to be on the receiving end of and he carries a self-loathing complex that he's had since his days in Ishval. This isn't to say that he's "emo", but when he's down, one can bet he's beating himself up over whatever it is. As he stated to Riza and Armstrong, it's only when he's up against a real monster that he truly feels human, since the State Alchemists are seen by many as being freaks or monsters for possessing abilities beyond that of a "normal" human.
why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting? Roy is a very stubborn, strong-willed individual who doesn't seem to know how to leave "well enough" alone, but will do what he can to ensure the safety of those around him. He's rather adept at adapting to different situations, generally trying to keep one step ahead when possible and if he can't, he'll do his best to come up with a new course of action as quickly as possible even if it means he has to wing it. As an alchemist, he takes an interest in the scientific, so the overall setting and technologies available would be like the proverbial candy store. He also has plenty of emotional baggage just beneath the surface waiting to be exploited and explored.
Writing Samples
Network Post Sample:
[VIDEO]
[The screen shows only black for a few moments before a very muffled sound is heard and the blackness moves away to reveal the ceiling. When the image finally changes, it alternates between the ceiling, the floor, and flashes of blue, black, white, and red before it stops spinning. A dark streak of blood across the screen is rubbed at and smeared before the image clears enough to catch a glimpse of his face, and then it's right back to the ceiling when he puts it down again.]
I don't recall Fullmetal mentioning anything about a room before. After all that talk about opening a gate, I'd think there would actually be -- unless I missed something and this is the gate...
[There's a brief pause, then the sound of cloth tearing and a low hiss of pain followed by words muttered through clenched teeth.]
Why is it always the hands? Can't they aim for something else instead?
Third Person Sample: The last thing he remembered was being pinned down and forced into performing human transmutation by Pride and Wrath with the gold-toothed alchemist providing the necessary construction formula. Instead of seeing a Gate or anything similar, though, he found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling in an unfamiliar room with something digging into his back.
Roy grunted in pain, rolled to one side and slowly pushed himself up to get a better look at his surroundings, careful not to put too much pressure on his injured hands when the little device he'd been lying on caught his attention. He was definitely not in the catacomb beneath Central and that was definitely not anything he'd ever seen before. A miniature communication device? It sure looked like something he'd have seen in Fuery's apartment, but not on that small a scale.
Picking up the device proved a little difficult, and as he turned it over in his hands in an attempt to figure out exactly what it was and which end was up, he managed to smear blood across the lower portion of the screen and most of the device itself. After a few long moments of fumbling around and failed attempts to wipe it clean, he gave up, setting it right back where he'd found it. It wouldn't do him any good if he couldn't hold it without pain.
"I don't recall Fullmetal mentioning anything about a room before. After all that talk about opening a gate, I'd think there would actually be -- unless I missed something and this is the gate..."
If it really was the gate everyone kept talking about, that meant he'd have to come out on the other side eventually and that when he did, he'd have lost something. Well if that was the case, he certainly wasn't in any hurry to leave -not because he didn't want to lose anything, but because if he stayed where he was then the fifth sacrifice would never be completed and the enemy's plans would fail.
Then again, there was no way of knowing whether or not Fullmetal was still alive after having been swallowed up and there was no way to tell if the homunculi had a backup plan in case the sacrifice idea fell through, so it was in his best interests to get out of there as soon as possible. He couldn't protect anybody if he wasn't there, but he didn't know how the gate worked so until something happened and he was sent back, he was stuck.
Please let them be safe until I get back...
The least he could do while he waited was try to stop the bleeding from his poor abused hands, and to that end, he settled for ripping a piece out of the inside lining of his black overcoat to use as makeshift bandages. "Why is it always the hands? Can't they aim for something else instead?," he muttered under his breath as he wrapped the strip of cloth around his palm and gave it a tug with his teeth to make sure it was snug before he tucked the ends and moved on to the other hand. This was definitely not his idea of a good time and as soon as everything was over and done, he was going to have a long talk with whomever was in charge of vacation time... and maybe see about a pay increase or promotion while he was at it.
Anything else? Nope! I'm still kind of impressed I managed to condense a 9+ page history that I'd written up months ago to a 3 page one. o_o If you really want to read my massive rambling mess the much condensed version was taken from, it can be found here. Please be warned that it WILL spoil most of the series for you because I read the manga through twice, watched Brotherhood once, re-skimmed the manga, then went back through it again volume by volume in obscene detail, referring back to it when there was something I was unsure of or wanted to get the order of events right.