The homunculus’ deaths and who kills them are chalk full of meaning. What is it about Envy the Jealous that makes his death the most miserable of the seven deadly sins?
BY NATALIE CHERIE CAMPBELL
It’s been thirteen years and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (FMAB) is still on top. Ranked the #1 anime and the #16 TV Show on IMDB.com, FMAB continues to stand the test of time for good reason. FMAB remains true to Hiromu Arakawa’s bestselling manga, delivering all the action and suspense we expect from a shonen while remaining focused. FMAB’s large cast of complex characters wrestle with politics and intrigue, relationships with the self and others, as well as philosophical and moral quandaries, making the story engaging for a wide variety of viewers.
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Spoilers ahead. But, if you’ve been missing out for this long, go watch it stat.
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FMAB is packed with symbolism, not least of which are the seven homunculi. Each homunculus is an incarnation of one of the seven deadly sins: Pride the Arrogant, Lust the Lascivious, Envy the Jealous, Sloth the Indolent, Gluttony the Voracious, Wrath the Furious, and Greed the Avaricious. Created by Father, the homunculi are his extracted vices distilled into a philosopher’s stone and placed in either artificially-formed or human bodies. They are undying monsters that can withstand any injury and the passage of time. Yet, they have a fatal weakness. They can be killed if the energy in their core is exhausted.
The homunculus’ deaths and who kills them are chalk full of meaning, so let’s dig into the particularly fascinating homunculi Envy, truly the most joyless of the seven deadly sins.
Envy typically presents as an androgynous humanoid. However, Envy can shape shift and does so frequently. Envy is one of two homunculi to have true forms. It takes its powerful true form at will, revealing a large chimera monster with a reptilian body, multiple pairs of legs, and a dog-like head of long hair and multiple pupils in the left eye. All over its body are protruding human faces and limbs, all of whom are in the forever cycle of drowning and resurfacing before being pulled down once again. These are physical representations of Envy’s core, which was created from the souls of Xerxians that Father absorbed. Envy is forced into its powerless true form when its stone’s energy is almost completely depleted, revealing a diminutive, pathetic version of his monster form—an ugly, green, reptilian crawler with a parasitic, sucker mouth that can regain its power by attaching to and taking over a living host with a philosopher's stone.
In both of Envy’s true forms, Envy is a green monster. This is appropriate considering the idioms “green with envy” or “jealousy, the green-eyed monster.” But where does this color association actually come from?
The connection of green with jealousy and envy may have basis in the medicinal theory of the four humors. An excess of yellow-green bile was associated with choleric emotions such as jealousy. However, we absolutely know that the association was alive and well-known at the time of Shakespeare, who wrote in Othello, Act 3, Scene 3: “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”
Envy is nothing if not a “green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” Defined by its bitter resentment for humans, Envy is more personally invested in mistreating and hating humans, including those it feeds on, than any of the other homunculi. Wrath is dismissive toward humans. Pride looks down on them. Sloth doesn’t care about them. Lust uses them. Gluttony eats them. Greed, interestingly, cares about them and feels possessive of those he knows. But Envy loathes humans. Envy makes a point of continually insulting humans and pointing out their weaknesses. It’s almost like Envy’s very life depends on the belief that humans are inferior.
Fast forward to the day Envy dies. Mustang confronts Envy about the death of Maes Hughs and soon learns that Envy killed Hughs by impersonating his wife. Envy’s idiotic confession marks the beginning of Envy’s end. Driven by vengeful hatred, Mustang claims Envy as his to kill. As Envy flees, Mustang follows and burns Envy alive again and again. Further infuriated when Envy threatens Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, Mustang rains down fire until Envy’s outer shell disintegrates. Envy crawls out of the ash in its parasitic true form.
When Mustang sees, he says, “So this is your true form, then. You’re ugly. Envy means jealousy. That’s what your name means, right? I get it. And jealousy is an ugly thing.” Mustang understands envy and jealousy as near synonyms here. However, there are technical differences and knowing them makes Envy even more interesting.
Envy is a resentful awareness of and desire to possess someone else’s advantage. Jealousy is the desire to protect one’s own advantage from someone else. Think of a shoujo. Two guys like the same girl. One is her boyfriend and the other is not. The “not-boyfriend” is envious of the relationship he doesn’t have. The boyfriend is jealous for the relationship he does have. Envy is hatred driven by the desire to gain. Jealousy is hatred driven by the fear of loss.
What does this distinction mean for Envy the Jealous? First, its powerless form embodies envy: a tiny, helpless, parasitic crawler defined by an inherent sense of inferiority to humans. Second, its powerful form embodies jealousy: a massive, strong, parasitic monster defined by its sense of superiority over humans. And third, its assumed form embodies its misery: a cocky humanoid facade that acts as a defense mechanism, hiding its inferiority complex and giving it the confidence to assert its superiority.
Just before Mustang kills Envy, Hawkeye, Ed, and Scar convince him to stop his rampage of revenge. He shoots his flame down an empty corridor and sinks to the ground apologizing. Envy is shocked by this show of care and strength. Envy begins to mock them, trying to remind them of all the reasons they should give in to their hatred of each other. When Envy can’t get a rise, it begs, “Hate and weep. Kill and be killed! Fight each other! Grovel in the dirt!” Envy continues, “There’s no way. No! No you can’t. Never, never! It’s impossible! How could you? How could you do it? How?!”
Only then does Edward understand Envy. “Now I see. You’re jealous. You’re jealous of humans, aren’t you? We humans, according to you, we’re supposed to be nothing compared to homunculi. And yet, when we’re beaten down, when we stray and fall, we face the challenge again and again. Our loved one’s are always there to pick us back up. And you’re jealous. You envy us because of that.”
Envy is stunned and begins to scream and wail. “Humiliating. Ending up so pathetic like this. Trampled on by humans, those loathsome beings, weak, useless people. What’s worse, out of all the scum out there, you just had to be the one, didn’t you pipsqueak? Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. I’ve been humiliated, humiliated! Me, Envy? Jealous of you, of you humans? I'm a homunculus! How can this pipsqueak kid see through me? It’s the ultimate humiliation!”
This is where the idea that the deadly sins are overcome by the contrary virtues comes in. The contrary virtue for envy comes in: charity and kindness. At the core of charity and kindness is a love for all things, including humankind. That love inspires those who are kind and charitable to rejoice in the good fortune of others. It inspires friendly, generous, and considerate action. That love means judging others with an eye of understanding and compassion. It means viewing our own worth as independent of others’ advantages and disadvantages.
In this way, Hawkeye, Mustang, Ed, and Scar all played a role in “killing” Envy. Envy proves this when it lists all the reasons they should hate each other and exclaims its dismay at the humans’ ability to overcome those grievances. Envy’s method of self-preservation is suddenly clear when it tries to elevate its own self-image by goading them into vengeance and cruelty. But sometimes humans refuse to hate. Sometimes humans choose to be kind. That truth and Ed’s pity are things Envy cannot live with.
With a skeptical, despairing giggle, Envy gives a parting challenge, “I guess we’ll see how long this adorable, little alliance of yours can hold up. Oh well. Best of luck with that, pipsqueak.” Envy pulls out its own philosopher’s stone so no one can ever pity it again.
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