Greed/History

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Sub-Pages:

• Overview
• History
• 2003 Anime
• Appearances
• Quotes
• Gallery

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The following page is the history of Greed as it pertains to the manga and 2009 anime.
 

Greed is the third Homunculus created by Father (according to the Perfect Guide Book 2) and claims to be around two centuries old. He defected from the other Homunculi over 100 years before the start of the series, as fulfilling Father's ambition would deprive him of obtaining all of his worldly desires.

Quest for Immortality

Greed's Ouroboros tattoo on the back of his left hand.

He first appears hiding in the Devil's Nest in Dublith, with his gang of chimeras, all of whom he apparently rescued from military experimentation.

After learning of the Elric brothers' battle with Scar, he becomes intrigued with the notion that the youngest brother, Alphonse, is an independent soul bound into a suit of armor. Contrary to fact, he believes that existing in this state would make him truly immortal. He sends out his gang's smallest member, the lizard chimera Bido, to confirm his suspicions. Bido locates the brothers, but is discovered and barely escapes the two. His hopes confirmed, Greed orders the rest of his gang: Roa, Dolcetto and, Martel to capture Alphonse. After a brief battle, the chimeras capture and bring Al to Greed, where Greed introduces himself and starts questioning Al about his empty armor. Greed even reveals himself to be a Homunculus. Al, however, denies it and claims it to be impossible. In order to prove it, Greed has Roa smash the top part of his head off with his hammer. Within seconds, Greed rises up completely healed, complaining that he didn't have to hit him in the head so hard, thus proving that he is, in fact, a real Homunculus.

Greed asking Alphonse why he wants to restore his body.

Shortly after, Edward rushes into the Devil's Nest to rescue his brother and confront Greed. Finding him, Ed pays no attention to Al and Greed's suggestions about a deal and demands that Greed free Al, saying he wants nothing to do with his plans. Greed offers a deal to Ed of how to manufacture his own Homunculi in exchange for information on how to become immortal. Greed then explains that he doesn't know why Al would ever want his original body back, having not to deal with the physical conveniences of his human body. Ed then flies into a rage and threatens to beat Greed and his gang. Dolcetto tries to physically force Ed to agree with the deal, but gets beaten in seconds. Seeing what Ed is capable of, Greed sends his gang to run away with Al, and he fights Edward alone. Despite Greed using part of his "Ultimate Shield" on his hands, Edward slips past Greed's guard and breaks his neck. However, this does little to stop Greed, and he only shrugs it off. Ed thinks that he has the advantage in the fight because he thinks that Greed's shield only covers part of his body. In fact, Greed was only holding back. Greed explains that his full form covers his face, so he tries not to wear it much, and then he changes to his completely armored form.

Izumi attacks Greed.

Now practically invulnerable to physical harm, Greed seems to gain the upper hand in the fight. Ed, however, manages to figure the alchemic process behind the Shield (rearranging carbon molecules into a diamond-like form) and nullifies it with his own alchemy. Some moments later, Izumi Curtis storms in to rescue Alphonse. She quickly gets in a fight and finds herself outmatched by his Ultimate Shield. After she is beaten, Alphonse agrees to make a deal with Greed, to stay with him willingly in exchange for information on Soul Attachment. Greed agrees and Izumi leaves Devil's Nest to tell Ed about the deal. Suddenly, Führer King Bradley arrives with Alex Louis Armstrong and an army unit to reclaim Al and eliminate the chimeras.

Before the two can finish their battle, Bradley's army unit storms the Devil's Nest. Greed manages to escape with Alphonse still in his custody. However, in the sewers below the club, he is met by King Bradley. Not knowing the Führer's real identity, Greed orders his gang to dispose of him. In a matter of seconds, Bradley kills all of Greed's gang (except for Bido), before revealing himself as a Homunculus. After repeatedly killing Greed until his Philosophers Stone is almost depleted, Bradley impales Greed with four swords and takes him prisoner.

Shortly after that, Greed is brought before Father and the other Homunculi, and Bradley introduces himself as the Homunculus Wrath. After gleefully insulting Envy, Father offers him another chance to work for him, but Greed flippantly refuses to rejoin Father's scheme. Knowing that Greed is but an obstacle in his current state, Father lowers Greed into a vat filled with boiling molten gold (symbolizing greed) and melts him down into his constituent Philosopher's Stone. Greed remains defiant to the end, laughing maniacally and screaming curses at everyone present.

The Return of Greed

Greed in Ling's Soul.

In Chapter 54, Greed returns to the story as Father decides he needs a new pawn due to the void left by Lust's death. To this end, he reextracts his avarice as a Philosopher's Stone and inserts it into the body of Ling Yao (who was more than willing to accept the stone). While undergoing the painful transformation into a Homunculus, Ling meets Greed within his subconscious; Greed tells him to hand over his body. Ling allows this, stating he needs Greed's power if he is to become ruler of Xing. Greed notes Ling's avarice is appealing, taking control as the process ends. However, due to having his mind wiped by Father reassimilating him, Greed does not recognize Envy, Gluttony or the Elric Brothers. Now a "blank slate", Greed is loyal to Father despite his desires. While it looks like Ling is gone for good, Ed manages to wake him up briefly by yelling about Lan Fan's sacrifice. it turns out that Ling is still "alive", and is waiting for a moment of weakness from Greed to take back his body; he briefly snaps at Wrath for insulting his view of how to rule. Greed honors a request from Ling to give Ed a message for Lan Fan that explains his situation.

Once the Elric Brothers and Mustang are threatened into keeping quiet and not opposing them, Greed is given the job of standing guard over Father's lair and dealing with intruders, as witnessed in Chapter 73 when he is spotted merely watching Father sleep and, more poignantly, in Chapter 82 when he chases Bido (who has blundered into the Homunculi's inner sanctum) with the intent of killing him. Because the new Greed shares powers and mannerisms with the first, Bido recognizes him despite his different body.

Greed's memory sweeps back upon him full force over his merciless action.

Greed is confused by how much this odd stranger knows about him, but shrugs it off and uses Bido's relaxed guard as an opening to kill him, stating that the lizard-man has the wrong Greed. But as soon as Bido dies, Greed begins to have mental flashes back to his first life and his comrades at Devil's Nest and begins trembling uncontrollably. Ling berates the Homunculus from inside for killing a comrade and believing that the old Greed's memories and feelings could be purified. He informs Greed that things that have become part of a soul can never be truly washed clean or forgotten. Holding Bido's body in his arms, Greed has a complete mental breakdown (as he killed one of his "possessions"). Seeking answers, Greed rushes to the Führer's mansion to confront Wrath. The two Homunculi do battle as Greed demands to know what is going on, but when Greed notices that Pride is there as well, he flees, defecting from Father for the second time.

In his state, Ling takes the body over again and wanders to Mustang's safe house outside Central City, encountering Edward, Heinkel, and Darius. As Ling threatens to divulge parts of Father's plan to them, Greed takes over once again. Edward offers to allow Greed to join the good guys, after learning that he has left the Homunculi forever, but Greed says that his greed cannot be satisfied by working for Edward or merely being the Emperor of Xing, as he desires the whole world. The only way he'll help is if Edward offers to work for him instead, which the Fullmetal Alchemist accepts. For the next few months, Edward, Heinkel, and Darius work as Greed's outlaw henchmen, using the basement of the Rockbell house in Resembool as their hideout before returning to Central for the final battle. They are confronted by Pride and Gluttony, and Greed must allow Ling to fight with the body under his control because he can sense the Homunculi's aura. After Gluttony is killed and Pride is trapped, Greed takes his chance to escape from the battlefield. Realizing that the only Homunculus left to guard Father is Sloth, he heads to Central Command to take a stand against his creator.

In Chapter 97, Greed reappears to confront the returned Wrath at the entryway to Central Command and engages him in combat, claiming that his avarice now desires Wrath's life. With Ling providing tactics from inside Greed's mind, he manages to hold his own against Bradley in hand-to-hand combat, deflecting sword strikes with his armored hands and moving into the Führer's blind spot, until Wrath removes his eye patch and gains the upper hand. Though Briggs soldiers attempt to come to Greed's aid by providing cover fire, Greed warns them to stay uninvolved in the fray. His advice proves justified when Wrath mercilessly cuts down all who fired impotently on him. After Captain Buccaneer manages to disarm Bradley, Greed engages him again, only to be met with further resistance as Wrath procures twin bowie knives with which to do combat. Fu arrives on the scene to provide further backup, and the two prepare to take on Bradley in tandem. Wrath still holds ground against them both and eventually wounds Fu fatally. Fu tries a suicide bomb attack against Bradley, but fails, with Bradley slicing through the detonators and Fu himself. Cpt. Buccaneer stabs one of Wrath's swords through Fu's body, wounding Wrath. Greed continues the fight, hitting Wrath to head with his hardened arm and seemingly blinding his Ultimate Eye. The gate is opened to Central, distracting Greed, which gives Bradley time for a counterattack. Wrath throws them off the walkway but Greed manages to grab the side of the walkway. Lan Fan and Briggs men try to help Greed up, but he and Wrath weigh too much. One of Briggs soldiers shoots Wrath down to moat surrounding Central HQ. Greed, reverting to Ling Yao, promises to Buccaneer to guard the HQ's gates. He then transforms to his fully armored form and charges against the attacking Central forces, although not before offering "those who have a family, a lover, or simply doesn't want to get hurt" and women to leave (only to be ignored). Central troops are quickly defeated before Greed's might.

A short while later, as Father is prepared to use the five sacrifices to open "The World's Gate", Greed suddenly appears right behind him and cuts him down while saying the world belongs to him. But his attack fails to kill Father, as the latter tells him that he knew Greed would come because he was born from Father's own avarice. When Father successively brings God down to earth and makes him a part of himself, Greed, Mei, Roy, Izumi, Lan Fan, Scar, Hawkeye, Darius, Zampano, Jerso, Hohenheim, Alphonse, and Edward are the only ones left free while everyone in the country's souls are removed and contained within Father's new body, much to their shock. When Scar activates the redesigned country-wide transmutation circle and restores alchemy, Greed aids the brothers in battle with Father until his stone is depleted sufficiently that he flees to the surface. Without alchemy to aid his assent, Greed climbs up himself and finds Lan Fan standing beside the fallen body of Wrath, Greed is quietly angry with Wrath for dying with a smile on his face.

Finally reaching the surface, Greed finds all the allies desperately fighting to bring down Father's strength. As he watches Father fight, Greed envies Father's powers and claims them for himself, saying that the power of God will finally sate his desires. Ling disagrees, but Greed orders him to be silent and charges headlong into battle. Since Father's power is waning and he is losing control over the God that he has absorbed, Father decides to lower his guard in order for Greed to strike him and in doing so reabsorb his son's Philosopher's Stone. However, Greed anticipated the move and Ed seizes the opportunity to strike Father directly. Though the attack fails, Father's overuse of his power causes him to lose control of God and his body begins disintegrating. When Edward regains his right arm and tries to finish Father off, everyone cheers for him except Greed. Quietly the homunculus admits to Ling that the true thing he has always wanted was not world domination, but to have friends like them.

Ling tries to prevent Father from absorbing Greed.

After Ed pummels Father badly enough, God attempts to leave Father's body again. Driven into a frenzy for power to subdue God again, Father stabs his hand into Greed's gut to suck out his Philosopher's Stone. Inside, Ling holds onto Greed soul while the rest are being drawn back in; Greed is not too pleased with having to get eaten again by Father but tells Ling to let go to avoid getting sucked in too. However, Ling refuses under the belief he needs Greed's power to become emperor of Xing. Seeing he can reason with the prince, Greed tells him that they will fight together before sucker punching him. Resisting the pull, Greed tells Ling that was the only lie of his life, and that Lan Fan has another Philosopher's Stone with her.  

Recalling how Ed transmuted his impervious Ultimate Shield into brittle graphite, Greed turns Father's body into this same substance to help Ed defeat Father. With his last moment in Ling, Greed called Lan Fan to sever Father's arm.  As a parting gift, Greed healed the wound in Ling's gut before leaving. As Father wonders why Greed betrayed him, Greed laughs that his dad shouldn't be too surprised by this because he's betrayed Father twice already. After telling Father his plan, Greed's soul is pulled out of Father's mouth and severed from him with a bite.

Greed's demise at Father's hand.

As his soul floats away into the air, with no more Philosopher's Stone to sustain him, Greed accepts his time has come. He looks down to see Ed and Ling on the verge of crying over his demise. Greed then thinks back to when Ling reminded him that bonds with friends couldn't be washed from his soul, and how Ed was able to convince him to team up so he wouldn't be alone. Thinking he never got any respect he "deserved" from them, Greed decides what he's done is enough and silently thanks the two for giving him everything.

Greed is the sixth Homunculus to permanently die.