VAN HOHENHEIM SPOILER!
VH
The brothers' father. Left Resembool when they were small. Appears in photographs that should not exist given when they were taken. Brotherhood's version of Hohenheim is entirely different from the 2003 anime and considerably more developed. He is connected to the ancient civilization of Xerxes, to the original Homunculus, and to a history that predates everything the series puts on the table. What he carries and what he has been trying to do with it for centuries is the spine the Promised Day arc is built on. The absence makes sense once the show explains it. The explanation takes a while and earns every episode it needs.
VAN THROUGH THE ARCHIVE //
THE PROMISED DAY //
Open page →Prepared across the country over centuries
Hohenheim has spent centuries communicating with the souls inside his Philosopher's Stone body and placing portions of that power around Amestris.
When Father activates the national transmutation, Hohenheim's countermeasure reverses the mass extraction and returns the population's souls to their bodies.
When Father activates the national transmutation, Hohenheim's countermeasure reverses the mass extraction and returns the population's souls to their bodies.
Why it matters
Hohenheim defeats Father's first victory using the thing that most separates them. Father treats souls as fuel. Hohenheim learned their names, spoke to them and acts with their cooperation.
Ed · Al · Izumi · Hohenheim · Mustang
Father needs five people with a connection to the Gate.
Edward, Alphonse and Izumi opened it through human transmutation. Hohenheim's existence is bound to the Xerxes transmutation that created Father's present form. Mustang is the missing piece, so Pride and Wrath force him through a human transmutation against his will.
Edward, Alphonse and Izumi opened it through human transmutation. Hohenheim's existence is bound to the Xerxes transmutation that created Father's present form. Mustang is the missing piece, so Pride and Wrath force him through a human transmutation against his will.
Why it matters
Father cannot simply choose five powerful alchemists. The Gate experience is the qualification, which turns the heroes' past mistakes into infrastructure for somebody else's plan.
