7794


As far as I know, Edward Elric is the only State Alchemist who doesn't wear a
uniform. Why was he treated differently? Did he have a special rank or
something?

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/yDf9E.gif)

This is Edward current 'Uniform'

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/n7nB2.jpg)

These are some state alchemist, all of them wearing a uniform.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-03T03:48:00.147
7791
2017-05-30T19:52:07.057
2014-03-03T03:59:56.467
1458
2869
question
fullmetal-alchemist-series
Why did Edward not wear a uniform?


It appears that in the Fullmetal Alchemist universe, those who are state
alchemists are not necessarily in the military hierarchy per se, even if they
have a rank equivalent to major.

Yes, there are alchemists such as Mustang, Basque Gran, Armstrong, etc. who
are active members of the military, but there are also other state alchemists
who, while involved in the military state alchemist program, are not involved
in the military full-time as those I mentioned earlier are.

An example of this would be Shou Tucker, who we never see wearing a uniform,
but is a state alchemist. Given that Edward similarly seems to not be involved
in the military as a soldier on a daily basis, it makes sense that he doesn't
wear a uniform.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-03T04:33:36.750
7794
2014-03-03T04:33:36.750
2604
7791
answer


Three theories:

  1. The two alchemists in the picture, Mustang and Armstrong, were in the military when they became state alchemists during the war in Ishval as is the case with the vast majority of state alchemists we see in the series. it could be the case that after the war, state alchemist became a more broad term.
  2. For some state alchemists, like Ed, not wearing a military uniform helps with more clandestine activities as there are many places Ed and Al go where the military is disliked.

  3. It could also be the fact that Ed doesn't like the fact that he's beholden to the government and doesn't want to wear a reminder of that everywhere he goes.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-28T01:23:00.110
32388
2016-05-28T09:04:20.627
2016-05-28T09:04:20.627
22208
24349
7791
answer