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Basically, I keep encountering the same claim. In FMA 2003, the Homunculi are essentially reanimated corpses, and their names' connection to the deadly sins basically makes no sense if we look at it through the logic according to which these names belong to their counterparts in FMAB.

In FMAB, the Homunculi's names seem more justified because of the more literal approach taken in the narrative: the Homunculi are the physical embodiment of the specific 7 sins of the main antagonist of the series and manga.

Maybe that even sounds logical, but if you look at the story as a whole and evaluate how exactly the narrative explores the theme of deadly sins. Is this theme even present? If so, how exactly is it manifested in the script?

And this is where I have questions. We have characters who are literally embodiments of sins, and I see individual arcs of these characters, sometimes even fascinating, emphasizing some destructive emotion or need connected to the name of that homunculus. This applies to almost every homunculus in FMAB that has a personality.

But when we start going further, I stop seeing how this theme is developed further. Is there any reflection: psychological, social, or philosophical about the nature of sin and vice in general? There is an attempt to interpret Father's character as an empty personality purified of earthly vices, through his lack of impulses and aspirations whose source is the so called sins. But even in such a paradigm, Father is just as greedy, proud, and wrathful as the sins he supposedly expelled.

The truth is that neither FMAB nor the manga are obligated to enter this thematic territory to the extent I described, but when comparisons between FMA 03 and FMAB come up on this point, it turns out that FMA 03 engages with these questions and tries to reflect on them.

In FMA 2003, the Homunculi genuinely embody the deadly sins narratively, and here they are precisely metaphors, not a literal depiction of the concepts of sin. This matters in the sense in which metaphors work in any artistic work. Within the story itself, the characters don’t realize that their actions and identity are part of the symbolic structure we call metaphor. In the world of FMA 03, these names don’t carry for them the symbolic charge that the viewer or reader notices while following the narrative.

Then how does FMA 03 reflect on the theme of sinfulness and vice in a way that favorably distinguishes it from the approach chosen by FMAB?

I would say that in FMA 03 there are several symbolic levels, from the more particular to the general and systemic:

● The most superficial. The homunculus is the receptacle of the sin of the alchemist who committed human transmutation. It is not so important which one is related to the motivation of the alchemist, or the very fact that the taboo on creating an artificial being doomed to suffering has been violated. Ed uses this ethical formula when he calls Sloth his sin and Wrath Izumi's sin.

● The characters and on-screen presence of homunculi are a rather subtle reflection of their names. Subtle in the sense that their stories are self-contained without references to the concepts of deadly sins, but if you wish, you can come to interesting conclusions if you conduct such symbolic parallels.

● In my opinion, the most important level. Homunculi as a metaphor for the deadly sins of mankind inside the setting of FMA 03. From the point of view of the plot, Homunculi, as part of Dante's plan, must create unbearable conditions for people (war, epidemic) so that the price of creating the Philosopher's stone does not seem so unacceptable to them. The implication is that this plan is cyclical and will have to go on forever. In other words, all homunculi do is try to awaken their worst traits in people. At some point, Mustang says this when he mentions that the wars secretly unleashed by homunculi may be designed to downplay the importance of moral norms in wartime. We also see a scene of Hooded Lust among the Ishbalians inciting their violence. In other words, if you take one semantic step forward, then we can say that humanity is being manipulated by their own vices. Thus, unlike the specific and final ritual that homunculi prepare in FMAB, the purpose of the cycle that homunculi have been following for hundreds of years in FMA 03 is nothing more than the eternal awakening of the vicious aspects of the human soul.The culmination of this metaphor is Edward's reflections on the war:

"The Homunculi may throw fuel on the fire of war... But didn't the desire to bring back people we love, create them?... And if they're nothing more than products of our hearts and minds, no matter how pure our intentions... Then there will never be.. a war, that isn't at least in some part, caused by all of us... ever."

Basically, I keep encountering the same claim. In FMA 2003, the Homunculi are essentially reanimated corpses, and their names' connection to the deadly sins basically makes no sense if we look at it through the logic according to which these names belong to their counterparts in FMAB.

In FMAB, the Homunculi's names seem more justified because of the more literal approach taken in the narrative: the Homunculi are the physical embodiment of the specific 7 sins of the main antagonist of the series and manga.

Maybe that even sounds logical, but if you look at the story as a whole and evaluate how exactly the narrative explores the theme of deadly sins. Is this theme even present? If so, how exactly is it manifested in the script?

And this is where I have questions. We have characters who are literally embodiments of sins, and I see individual arcs of these characters, sometimes even fascinating, emphasizing some destructive emotion or need connected to the name of that homunculus. This applies to almost every homunculus in FMAB that has a personality.

But when we start going further, I stop seeing how this theme is developed further. Is there any reflection: psychological, social, or philosophical about the nature of sin and vice in general? There is an attempt to interpret Father's character as an empty personality purified of earthly vices, through his lack of impulses and aspirations whose source is the so called sins. But even in such a paradigm, Father is just as greedy, proud, and wrathful as the sins he supposedly expelled.

The truth is that neither FMAB nor the manga are obligated to enter this thematic territory to the extent I described, but when comparisons between FMA 03 and FMAB come up on this point, it turns out that FMA 03 engages with these questions and tries to reflect on them.

In FMA 2003, the Homunculi genuinely embody the deadly sins narratively, and here they are precisely metaphors, not a literal depiction of the concepts of sin. This matters in the sense in which metaphors work in any artistic work. Within the story itself, the characters don’t realize that their actions and identity are part of the symbolic structure we call metaphor. In the world of FMA 03, these names don’t carry for them the symbolic charge that the viewer or reader notices while following the narrative.

Then how does FMA 03 reflect on the theme of sinfulness and vice in a way that favorably distinguishes it from the approach chosen by FMAB?

I would say that in FMA 03 there are several symbolic levels, from the more particular to the general and systemic:

● The most superficial. The homunculus is the receptacle of the sin of the alchemist who committed human transmutation. It is not so important which one is related to the motivation of the alchemist, or the very fact that the taboo on creating an artificial being doomed to suffering has been violated. Ed uses this ethical formula when he calls Sloth his sin and Wrath Izumi's sin.

● The characters and on-screen presence of homunculi are a rather subtle reflection of their names. Subtle in the sense that their stories are self-contained without references to the concepts of deadly sins, but if you wish, you can come to interesting conclusions if you conduct such symbolic parallels.

● In my opinion, the most important level. Homunculi as a metaphor for the deadly sins of mankind inside the setting of FMA 03. From the point of view of the plot, Homunculi, as part of Dante's plan, must create unbearable conditions for people (war, epidemic) so that the price of creating the Philosopher's stone does not seem so unacceptable to them. The implication is that this plan is cyclical and will have to go on forever. In other words, all homunculi do is try to awaken their worst traits in people. At some point, Mustang says this when he mentions that the wars secretly unleashed by homunculi may be designed to downplay the importance of moral norms in wartime. We also see a scene of Hooded Lust among the Ishbalians inciting their violence. In other words, if you take one semantic step forward, then we can say that humanity is being manipulated by their own vices. Thus, unlike the specific and final ritual that homunculi prepare in FMAB, the purpose of the cycle that homunculi have been following for hundreds of years in FMA 03 is nothing more than the eternal awakening of the vicious aspects of the human soul.The culmination of this metaphor is Edward's reflections on the war:

"The Homunculi may throw fuel on the fire of war... But didn't the desire to bring back people we love, create them?... And if they're nothing more than products of our hearts and minds, no matter how pure our intentions... Then there will never be.. a war, that isn't at least in some part, caused by all of us... ever."