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roy mustang (and arakawa's writing), my beloved

(copy and pasted from announcements with added commentary)

This is roy mustang and the ishvallan veterans character analysis I wrote this really late and I'm tired so its jumbleedd

Sometimes I see incredibly bad interpretations of characters on tumblr and restrain myself from replying on why they're wrong bc 1. I would be annoying bc they didn't ask and 2. Freedom of interpretation or whatever but sometimes ... sometimes y'all rlly test my strength...

Anyway I saw someone say that the homunculi made the mistake of not realizing that "Roy was a genuinely unstable psychopath who can kill without remorse [...] at his core is truly evil and only on the good side because he wants to be fuhrer"

And they meant this more positively than what I quoted makes it seem like (in the way where they aren't bashing Roy, rather they are analyzing him in a lighthearted manner) but it's so... incorrect.....

Roy is not a psychopath. He has shown remorse while killing. The entirety of the Ishvallan Civil War was him being remorseful towards his own crimes. He knows the genocide was wrong. His entire motivation is to gain enough political power to both 1. prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again and 2. hold himself and everyone else involved accountable through trial.

and him being a political tactician aware of the necessity of pawns and willing to use them to achieve his goals doesn't equate to an unstable mentality. The only times he kills "without remorse" is towards a homunculus that is either about to or already has murdered his friends— not to further his ambitions.

The basis of Roy mustang's character, and the key to understanding him, is his remorse. Arakawa is very careful in how she chooses to portray the characters we see partaking in the Genocide. they all represent the different choices taken after the war and how these people cope. And she does so in such a way that still puts them at fault.

Roy and Riza choose to commit their lives to better the country and giving back to Ishval during restoration. And they aren't martyring themselves-- which is a common misconception I see from the fandom-- they aren't doing this so they will be executed. Riza never says they want to or will be executed. She says "we don't get to choose when we die." Aka, if they are charged guilty and sentenced to execution, they will accept that decision, but if they are charged and not sentenced to execution, they will have to live with that decision as well.

by making it out that they know and are aiming to be executed makes it seem like they're taking an out, and like they are trying to die as a means of justice. dying is not justice. it might be justice for those killed, but it is not justice for the living.

That is the central theme Arakawa points at when dealing with the civil war veterans. Roy and Riza are the ones doing something that is actually justice.

We see this again with Marcoh. He ran away and hid under a fake identity after the war (for several reasons, some of which are understandable (hiding from the gov't) others which satisfy his own cowardice). When he meets Scar it is a blessing. because finally he has an Ishvallan that can kill him and let it be justice. Marcoh thinks dying by the hands of an Ishvallan is his justice. It isn't.

Marcoh's justice is helping Scar gather the Ishvallans. His justice is travelling with him and living on to help the country.

Moreover though, Arakawa recognizes another view, one that is "I have to keep living, but I don't deserve to be happy" and this falls to Dr. Knox. In which he pushes away his wife and son and lives alone because he believes he doesn't deserve that happiness. And once his family returns to help him we get his "do I... do I really deserve this happiness" (or something similar) quote. Which again is Arakawa telling the audience that preventing yourself from achieving happiness isn't justice for those wronged either. it is victimizing yourself.

Then, finally, we get the other side of the coin in Kimblee. Kimblee is the character that commits Genocide and does not care about the brutality of it, in fact, he revels in it. I'll do a larger character study on Kimblee later (because honestly he's very interesting if you look deep enough). but we all know what happens to Kimblee. He gets what's coming to him.

Anyway I think one of my biggest pet peeves is people who totally miss themes in media that are right there. maybe its because I'm a writing major bitch but it really grinds my gears. these characters are so three dimensional you cant just limit them to "ooo he a twisted cycle path" especially a character like Roy Mustang

anyway sorry for character analyzing war criminals I'm normal again