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It is day seven of the 30 Day FMA Challenge.

7. Favorite Female Non-Alchemist

My favorite female non-alchemist from FMA is easily Winry Rockbell.

Some have made the argument that Winry is more like a typical shonen side character, just there to be an attractive “romantic” interest for the main character with little substance, and for some of FMA I can certainly understand that perspective. However, I think there are plenty of things that differentiate and humanize her for than other female characters in similar situations.

For example, for the little screen time that Winry gets, she has a lot of great moments that span the entire series, such as the episode where she confronts scar about the death of her parents, or when she helps give birth in Rush Valley, both of which help her realize important things about herself.

Another thing that makes her far more interesting is that FMA is an anime, at least in the Brotherhood iteration, where the investment in Winry and Ed’s relationship is rewarded at the end when the two get together. Not to mention just how well executed the last scene is in how the two take the whole thing. Ed stumbles around for two minutes not just because he’s an anime protagonist but because he is genuinely nervous about how the one person he’s ever had romantic feelings for might respond, and Winry is, at least one some level, genuinely surprised at Ed asking her to marry him because of how much she does not want to recognize her own feelings.

This is not to say Winry is the most interesting female character ever written, but she is a pretty good one.

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Who is your favorite female non-alchemist character from FMA? Let me know in the comments.

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