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In the Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, it was revealed that

> The Dwarf in the Flask was an experiment of the King of Xerxes and that it
> has Van Hohenheim's blood.

But it wasn't explained what method was used to create him. So, how was The
Dwarf in the Flask created? Was it ever explained in the manga?


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fullmetal-alchemist-series fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood
How was The Dwarf in the Flask created?


The backstory of van Hohenheim and Father is discussed in chapter 74 and 75.
All we see is this:

  1. The Dwarf in the Flask talks to slave no. 23, whom he names.

  2. Van Hohenheim is taught to read and write, and ends up in a better position in the household.

  3. The king wants immortality, and the homunculus tricks him and destroys the whole country, excepting Hohenheim.

**The only thing relevant in these chapters to how the homunculus was created
is this: it notes that blood was taken from Hohenheim to create the
homunculus.**

From chapter 74:

![chapter 74 excerpt](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0OB6A.jpg)

The notion that they have blood relation is repeated later in chapter 75, but
this is the main thing we ever get as to the origin of the Dwarf in the Flask.

It's possible of course that there might have been more information in bonus
material to the series, but the fact that [the
Wikia](http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/Father) lacks anything beyond this and that
I've never seen any serious commentary on this among fans of FMA suggest that
this probably isn't the case.


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Considering the Dwarf in the Flask knew a vastly complicated array like the
Xerxes Array, it's probably a piece of Gate Knowledge put into a body by an
alchemist using Slave 23's blood. This is corroborated by those little black
hands that grab anyone entering the Gate, which look remarkably like the
Dwarf's hands.


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Fullmetal Alchemist is an Anime that IS somewhat based on real alchemy, so you
can ask this question by thinking about Real Alchemy in this very own world we
live in.  
In the past, many alchemists tried to create artificial life-forms called
homunculus, which was used in this anime as a base for the homunculus in the
anime.  
The Dwarf in the Flask looks very similar to what alchemists at that time were
trying to do, like trying to fertilize a chicken egg with their own semen and
blood, seal it inside a flask and hope that a small human would be born from
that interaction.  
[![Homunculus in a
Flask](https://i.stack.imgur.com/YaZXP.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/YaZXP.jpg)

So, as he was made inside a flask, he probably was made in a similar manner,
we just don't have the exact "recipe"

Here are some references and interesting facts:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus>  
By the way, I didn't know, but Paracelsus was credited for the first mention
on Homunculus.

Paracelsus was the inspiration behind Hohenheim, which is where his name came
from:

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus>


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Dwarf in the flask is in my opinion a depiction of the emerald tablet. The
father or creator of alchemy and all alchemical nature's. It is also the thing
the philosopher stone was created from.


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Like Mihreia said above, I also believe the little Dwarf in the flask to be a
piece of the gate. Partly because of it's vast knowledge and the very easily
recognizable little black hands that strech out to grab things. Though I want
to add that the people of Xerxes may have had alchemy skills and methods that
the modern people of Amestris are unable to grasp hold of. Maybe it was a lost
skill. It's like how we still have mysteries of people and events of the past.
Till now, we dont know how the pyramids were built. Maybe it's something of
that sort.

Other than that, all the other sources I've read do not give much information
as to who,where or how the first homunculous came to be.


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