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In Fullmetal Alchemist, when an alchemist performs human transmutation, they
lose a part of their body. What determines the body part an alchemist loses?


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fullmetal-alchemist-series fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood
Why did Colonel Mustang lose his sense of sight and not his arm or body?


[The Truth is a cruel, cruel thing](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/87/274).
It takes away the part of the body that "fits" the person best, to provide the
cruelest irony.

When Father is speaking to the sacrifices, he says why each one (less
Hohenheim) lost what they did. Edward lost his ability to stand on his own;
Alphonse lost his only way to feel warmth; Izumi could no longer bear children
after trying to bring back her own. (Edward's also fits nicely with the
phrase, "I would give an arm and a leg to ...")

Unlike the others, Mustang is somewhat more metaphorical. Mustang had his
sights set on being Führer, and so he lost his ability to see.

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

Here is the quote in full:

> The Truth can be such a cruel thing. The two brothers who wanted to feel
> their mother's warmth once more: Their attempt to bring the dead back to
> life cost one of them the leg on which he stood, as well as the only family
> he had left. The other lost his entire body to have it replaced by a suit of
> armor that could feel nothing. The woman who sought to bring back her only
> baby was given a body that would never again bear children. And then, the
> man who looked to change his nation had his eyesight taken from him, and now
> he can no longer see his future. Humans who would dare to play God must pay
> a steep price for their arrogance.
>
> — Father, _Brotherhood_ Episode 59, 15:47


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Also, Truth’s punishment of Mustang is much more merciful than what he
typically dishes out to people who perform human transmutation. Normally,
Truth takes something physical outright from whoever breaks the rule regarding
human transmutation (Ed’s leg, Izumi’s organs, Alphonse’s body, etc). Since
Mustang was forced to open the gate rather than doing it on his own accord,
Truth merely took one of his senses with the full knowledge that it could (and
would) be fully restored in the future rather than outright take Mustang’s
eyes.


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