Greed

Greed the Avaricious
Alias	The Ultimate Shield Greeling
Race	Homunculus
Place of Creation	Amestris
Age	Around 200
Gender	Male
Professional Status
Affiliation	Himself; His Gang
Previous Affiliation	Father; Homunculus
Occupation	Gang Leader
Base of Operations	Dublith; Amestris
Personal Status
Relatives	Father (creator, deceased); Pride (brother); Envy (sibling, deceased); Lust (sister, deceased); Gluttony (brother, deceased); Sloth (brother, deceased); Wrath (brother, deceased)
Abilities
Power	Ultimate Shield
First Appearance
Manga Debut	Chapter 25
Anime Debut	Episode 13
Voices
Japanese Voice	Yuichi Nakamura
English Voice	Chris Patton Troy Baker (2nd Greed)

The original Greed (グリード Gurīdo?) was one of the homunculus created by Father, who betrayed his brethren over a century before the series beginning and was introduced as a major antagonist.

Appearance

The original Greed was a young, muscular man whose appearance reflected his indulgent nature. He wore an open, dark leather, sleeveless vest with a fur collar as well as leather pants of the same colour. Underneath the vest he also wore a sleeveless maroon shirt which hugged his body shape closely. Greed originally wore a pair of small, rounded sunglasses when in public, however these were broken when the homunculus demonstrated his regenerative qualities to Alphonse. His Ouroboros tattoo was located on the top of his left hand.

Personality

Greed, as his name suggests and by his own claim is a very greedy individual. Wanting to possess everything material in the world and more, he was willing enough to kidnap Alphonse in order to learn the secret to transmuting a soul onto an object to gain what he believed to be eternal life. Greed was also quite prideful of everything he possessed, placing a lot of value in his subordinates as well as his own capabilities. Believing himself indestructible due to his Ultimate Shield, it wasn't until Greed encountered Edward, Izumi and finally King Bradley that he found an opponent capable of bypassing or negating his defences and experienced true vulnerability.

Plot

ch25 pg42; ch27; ch28; ch30; ch31 pg15

Thirst for Immortality

Greed inspecting the inside of Alphonse's body.

After learning of Alphonse Elric's existence, that of an armour with no body but just a soul, Greed sends out Bido in order to locate the armoured boy. Successful in this, he has his chimera subordinates set a trap and ambush Alphonse, bringing him to their hideout in Devil's Nest. There he finds that Alphonse truly is an empty suit of armour, and from there attempts to find out the secret of his soul transmutation.

Greed having Loa help him demonstrate his regeneration.

Asking about the nature of his subordinates, Alphonse continued to believe that there's no way they were actually chimeras. Responding that there's no way, "there's no way", Greed explains that they were true chimeras created by the military. Explaining that there was a side to the world society was ignorant of, he claimed to know everything that went on in that world, including the nature of Alphonse's body. Greed then reveals himself to be a homunculus which greatly surprises Alphonse, who believed artificial humans were impossible to create. Showing his Ouroboros tattoo as proof, Greed then has one of his subordinates kill himself in order to demonstrate his regenerative abilities.

Edward arrives to save Alphonse from Greed and his men.

However, Greed goes on to admit that he was not truly immortal, and that he believed that by transmuting a soul onto a physical object he could achieve just that. Learning from Alphonse that the armoured boy wasn't the one who performed the transmutation, Greed declares that they would just need to find the one who had. Before they can do anything however, Edward suddenly bursts through the door with a defeated Bido at his feet. The two brothers have a short exchange, with Alphonse annoying Greed by revealing his nature. Taking it in stride however, he is quick to show his tattoo as proof once more.

Greed asking Alphonse why he wanted to restore his body.

Edward then asks why he doesn't just ask "them" for help, as the individuals from Research Laboratory 5 also bore the tattoo of Ouroboros, as well as there being someone else who'd had their soul affixed to a suit of armour. Surprised by this, Greed replies that he has his own circumstances which restrict him from doing just that, and instead offers a deal where he would reveal how to create a homunculus in exchange for the method to affix ones soul to an object. Going on to show disbelief that Alphonse would want to restore his body, Greed unintentionally upsets the brothers by expressing his absolute passion for a body like his.

Greed blocking Edward's blade with his Ultimate Shield.

Berating Greed for believing that all despite knowing nothing, Edward quickly rejects his offer and instead moves to beat the information out of the homunculus instead. Moving to intercept the boy, Dolcetto is quickly knocked out by the diminutive alchemist. Seeing this, Greed decides to fight him personally and instructs Loa to take Alphonse for dissection later. Both combatant then enter a vicious melee fight, with Greed utilising his Ultimate Shield in order to counter Edward's alchemy.

Edward managing to break Greed's neck.

Eventually scoring a devastating blow on the homunculus, Greed surprises Edward by lashing out immediately afterwards and slashing his chest open, all the while regenerating from his own injury before commenting that if he had been a normal person, he'd have had to be sent to a hospital for it. Asking if his body was unusual, Greed denies this and admits that he's built the same way as humans, with the exception for his regeneration and Shield. Mentioning that it would be smarter to just make the trade rather then fight, Greed notes that Edward must be one of the people who disregard their own safety for the sake of others.

Greed initiating his full-body transformation.

Edward then counters that his regeneration must have a limit, and if he continued to strike the areas outside of his shield then he'd be able to win. Laughing at this, Greed apologises for going easy on the alchemist and take off his vest before initiating a full-body transformation. Claiming that the form was ugly, he preferred to not use it in front of others. Within seconds of entering this form, Greed is able to break the blade from Edward's automail and leave him bloodied on the floor.

Greed's arm being transmuted by Edward.

Not giving in, Edward struggles to get up before punching Greed with an right uppercut, doing nothing to injure the homunculus and instead further damaging his automail. Grabbing the boy by the head, Greed then tosses him into a nearby crate, breaking it with the force of his blow. Picking the alchemist up, Greed once again demands to know the secret of Alphonse's body. Instead Edward thanks him for clearing the blood in his head, and appears to perform a transmutation on his arm. Dropping the boy, Greed proceeds to punch him with the fist Edward had just touched.

Greed is impaled in the stomach by two spikes.

Forming spikes on the knuckles of his automail, Edward counters the punch directly, and rather then damaging the prosthetic it's Greed's arm that gives out, the outer layer of skin breaking away. Shocked by this, after regenerating Greed tests his arm by shattering a pillar of rock nearby. Back to normal, he resumes the fight with Edward only for the alchemist to transmute his stomach this time. Knocking him back after this, Edward then transmutes the floor and creates several stone spikes, two of which then impale Greed through his gut.

Greed being knocked away by Edward.

Asking what the alchemist had done to his shield, Edward explains that he had realised Greed was just changing the density of the carbon in his body, so Edward had been changing it back. Beating him down again, Edward then points out he cannot regenerate and harden his body simultaneously. Congratulating him on finding out that much and defying his expectations, Greed then asks how long Edward expects to continue fighting due to his own injured body.

Greed after taking a blow from Izumi.

Suddenly the door behind them is blown inwards, and from the dust emerged Izumi Curtis while hauling the unconscious body of Ulchi. Throwing the body at Edward as punishment for leaving a broom unattended, Izumi then directs her attention towards Greed. Commenting that he hated to fight women, Greed is unexpectedly attacked mid-sentence by the older woman who transmutes his head before kicking him into a nearby wall with great force. Asking what the hell she was, Izumi merely replies that she was a passing housewife.

Encountering Bradley in the sewers.

Realising his disadvantage against both Edward and Izumi, Greed quickly turns to make his escape while his opponents are preoccupied by Izumi's health deteriorating. Arriving in the sewers, Greed encounters both Alphonse and Martel who ask what is going on as they hadn't seen the others. Explaining that things had become complicated and it'd be best for them to run, all three are shocked by the sudden appearance of King Bradley. Asking as to why the country's leader was down in the sewers, Bradley deflects the question and begins to comment about how his old age was beginning to inhibit his physical ability. Telling him to give up, Greed begins to activate his Shield only to have his right hand cut off in an instant.

Greed being confronted by Bradley over their differing abilities.

Realising the threat before him, Greed is immediately set upon by Bradley and is forced to endure a barrage of lethal attacks, culminating with his left arm also being severed and having his entire body blown into a concrete wall. Regenerating, he attempts to land a blow on the king, however is only able to graze the side of his face, removing the man's eye-patch and leaving himself open to have his throat pierced by both of Bradley's swords. Commenting that he himself doesn't possess either an ultimate shield or spear, Bradley asks Greed how he thinks a man like him could have survived the numerous battles he has been a part of. Opening his left eye fully, Bradley reveals the mark of Ouroboros tattooed upon the eye.

Greed lying defeated by the king.

Following this revelation, Greed manages to arrive back to where Alphonse and Martel (still hiding within the armour's body) were waiting. Saying nothing, the homunculus lurches forward and reveals one of Bradley's swords to be impaled in his neck, the man himself appearing behind him also. Mentioning he had killed him fifteen times already, Greed can only curse the man as he lies helplessly. Noticing the approach of two more individuals, Dolcetto and Loa appear bloodied and quite injured. Watching as his men are cut down swiftly by Bradley, Greed stands back up and challenges the king once more. Attempting to activate his Shield once more, Bradley is able to move in quickly and finish him off for good, impaling the homunculus with four of his swords.

An Involuntary Homecoming

Greed chained and impaled before his fellow homunculi.

Waking up much later, Greed finds himself taken prisoner in an unknown location. Chained to a large stake and with Bradley's swords still impaled in his torso, Greed notes that everybody except for Sloth were present, and comments on how they all hadn't changed from when he left over a century ago. Bringing his attention to the one person he didn't recognize, Bradley reveals himself to also be one of the homunculi, named after the sin of wrath. With Lust explaining that he was the latest of their siblings made by Father, and based off a human, Greed expresses his shock at the other's unique ability to age.

Greed getting into an argument with Envy.

Getting into an argument with Envy, they are interrupted by Father before things could get violent. Noticing his advanced age, Greed calls him out on it only to be ignored, and in return asked why he had betrayed his fellow homunculus. Laughing at the idea that his desertion had come as a surprise, Greed explains that due to his inherent nature, by staying with the homunculus he would have been unable to achieve his desires. Asked if he would rejoin then, Greed rejects the idea immediately.

Greed being lowered into a vat of molten steel.

Seeing him to be a lost cause, Father then reveals a vat of molten steel beneath the rogue homunculus before dropping Greed into it. Joking that it was hot enough to be a bath for him, Greed maintains a casual conversation despite being burnt alive while his siblings watch on in silence. Calling him back to his soul, Greed warns Father about getting a stomach-ache before finally being melted down completely and returns to Father's soul via a glass of his liquefied being.

Abilities

Greed's regeneration ability.

Regeneration: A standard ability amongst the homunculi, Greed possesses a certain degree of regeneration. Thanks to this ability Greed was capable of surviving grievous if not outright lethal injuries such as having his neck broken, his internal organs pierced or his entire head destroyed. However there was a limit to this power, as seen after he was forced to combat Edward Elric, Izumi Curtis and King Bradley one after another, with the latter being able to finally drain all of his lives.

Greed's Ultimate Shield.

Ultimate Shield: Greed has the ability to re-arrange the configuration of carbon atoms in his body, allowing him to transform his skin into Graphene. He usually uses this ability to partially strengthen the density of selected parts of his body during battle, but can extend the effect to its entirety. In this form, he resembles a black-skinned demon with a malevolent facial visage. He also gains claws in this form, allowing him to cut or pierce his targets with ease.