Van Hohenheim

Van Hohenheim (also referred to as Hohenheim of Light, born as Slave Number 23) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Fullmetal Alchemist and the father of protagonists, Edward and Alphonse Elric. He takes his name from real life occultist Phillip Von Hohenheim, otherwise known as Theophrastus Philippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim, or, Paracelsus. Though he is given a vastly different background and representation between the manga and the first animated series, there remain a few similarities: he is a brilliant and well-known alchemist, he abandoned his sons and their mother, Trisha, several years before the start of either series, and Edward holds a grudge against Hohenheim for abandoning his mother, which he believes contributed to her death.

In the manga
In the manga, Hohenheim is introduced as Van Hohenheim and is different from the first anime, although the facts that he is both several centuries old and a past intimate associate of the villain remain. His character is mild, soft-spoken, vaguely guilt-ridden, prone to making an idiot of himself, and immune to embarrassment. He tends to make cryptic statements and occasionally test other people's character. He has an instantly self-regenerating body and describes himself as 'the Philosopher's stone given the form of a man'. He is an extremely powerful alchemist, second to none, having access to the unlimited power of the Stone, and, having been studying for several hundred years, is probably an exceedingly learned one as well. Only his "son", the enigmatic "Father", is capable of rivaling his power. He is also more muscular in the manga than his anime counterpart.

In his youth Hohenheim bears a strong resemblance to Ed, although with different bangs, taller, thinner and a more defined jaw. He was of similar character as well, with a hair-trigger temper and considerable pride. However, he always completely lacked the obsessive drive which characterizes Edward Elric. In Chapter 74, Hohenheim's complete past was revealed. In his youth, he was a slave called "Number 23". Very little is shown of the nation of ancient Xerxes, but the people's manner of dressing is reminiscent both of the Ishbalans (though they physically resemble Amestrians) and of Father's way of dressing in the present. As Number 23 mops the floor in his master's laboratory, a creature in a flask addresses him. Hohenheim's blood had been used in the creation of the creature, the first homunculus. As a sign of gratitude, the homunculus gives him the name Theophratus Bombastus Van Hohenheim, but it was shortened to Van Hohenheim for 23's own "convenience". Lastly, the homunculus tells Hohenheim that it can give him knowledge. Homunculus teaches Hohenheim reading, writing and basic alchemy. As a result of this knowledge, Hohenheim becomes his master's assistant and his life greatly improves.

The homunculus presents the King of Xerxes with what it claims is the secret to immortality. After the King creates a massive transmutation circle around Xerxes, the circle is activated, with Hohenheim and the homunculus secretly in its center. As the country and people, including the King, are consumed by the array, Hohenheim is brought before the Doors of Truth. When he is returned to the dead land of Xerxes, he encounters Homunculus, who has crafted a copy of Hohenheim's body to inhabit for itself. As a 'gift' for helping him and being the source of his life, Homunculus also rebuilt Hohenheim's body into an immortal one. The souls used were most likely people he once knew in his youth in Xerxes, who died for his and Homunculus's bodies. Some of the names of the souls he addresses in Chapter 97 include the people he called out to after returning from the Doors. Hohenheim, once human, is immortal, and, as he later tells Izumi Curtis, is a "Philosopher's Stone in human form". He also has considerable healing ability, being able to reorder Izumi Curtis' ravaged internal organs to the most favorable arrangement possible merely by sticking his flat hand into her abdomen.

In Chapter 68, Hohenheim states that he has lived for a long time and that he thought it wasn't too bad to "accept this body and live on... Until I met you, Trisha and had children." He says that Trisha knew that he had the body of "a monster" yet still cared for him. His departure from Resembool was part of his search for a means to become mortal, so that he could age and die with Trisha, Edward, and Alphonse (meaning, ironically, that he missed the end of her life and their childhoods), although he also left when he did largely because he realized at last just what 'Father' was planning to do with the country. Although it initially appeared as if he did not accomplish much during the ten-plus-year period of his absence, the plans and contingiencies to stop Homunculus is later revealed to have required considerable time, effort, planning and calculation, and is probably part of what kept him away from home for so long.

When Hohenheim returns to Resembool, he discovers that his house has been burned down, encounters a very hostile Edward in front of Trisha's grave, and plants the suggestion that the creature Ed and Al created when attempting to resurrect Trisha might not have even been a bad copy of her, but something quite unrelated. Before leaving, he warns Pinako Rockbell to leave the country for her safety. After he leaves Resembool with a family portrait of himself, his sons, and his wife tucked into his jacket, his carriage is held up by bandits, who promptly retreat after shooting Hohenheim multiple times, to no effect apart from damaging his clothes. In Chapter 67 it is revealed that he has or is the philosopher's stone. Therefore he has a body similar to the body of "Father," the creator of the seven Homunculi. Notably, they look almost alike, except that "Father" seems to have aged a great deal more. Interestingly, Hohenheim addresses the souls in the Stone he takes from his body by name. However, Hiromu Arakawa, the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist, was for a long time very ambiguous about whether Hohenheim somehow was "Father." In chapter 54, it was finally established that "Father" is the original homunculus, not Hohenheim - the manga shows Hohenheim in a completely different place during Ed and Al's encounter with "Father." However, the two are clearly shown as being connected, considering how "Father" enthusiastically asks Edward about what had become of Hohenheim, and then utters the cryptic statement "Of course he wouldn't have died." In Chapter 73, Father lists Hohenheim as one of his potential sacrifices for his planned transmutation circle.

Toward the climax of the story, Hohenheim joins Ed, Al, and their comrades in stopping Homunculi's plan to sacrifice Amestris's citizens to become "perfect". When they fail to stopping him before activating his nationwide transmutation circle, he absorbs the souls of Amestris's citizens and absorbs a being from beyond the planet's Gate, giving him godlike power. He attacks the band of alchemist sacrifices with what appears to be pure alchemic power, but Hohenheim manages to defend against it with help from Mei. Hohemheim then reveals to Homunculus that he had a backup plan involving a few souls from his stone. By placing them into the ground, and having the moon's shadow act as a transmutation circle with his stone's souls at the cardinal points, they managed to disrupt Homunculus's control over his stolen souls, making his new form unstable and weakening him. The souls of the people of Amestris subsequently returned to their bodies. Homunculi's power was further weakened by Scar activating a reverse transmutation circle, one theorized and designed by his brother using Homunculus's circle as a base, allowing the assembled alchemists to counterattack. As the counterattack continued, it was revealed that the second circle was designed to neutralize the Philosopher's stone "cushion" that was deliberately pumped under the ground across the entire country, evidently acted as a dampening field of sorts between the alchemists of Amestris and the energy of the Earth's tectonic plate movement. As the battle continued, Hohenheim continued to counter all of Homunculus's attacks while Homunculus countered all of the attacks of the assembled alchemists. Losing ground and losing control over the massive power he'd just absorbed, Homunculus went above ground in an attempt to gather more stone ingredients, but was attacked by Hohenheim before he could add more souls to his stone. Homunculus then counterattacked, distracting Hohenheim by giving the souls of Hohenheim's dead former friends bodies. This enabled Homunculus to attack his assailants with some sort of energy blast, to which the distracted Hohenheim reacted too late to counter. However, Homunculus eventually lost control over the power he had absorbed and was defeated.

After the battle Hohenheim, having been reduced to a single soul - his own - offered to use it and end his own life to restore Al to his body, but Ed refused and gave up his own ability to use alchemy in order to restore Al. Hohenheim then returned to Resembool to visit Trisha's grave one last time, where he died with a smile on his face and was buried in a grave next to her.

In the first anime series
Approximately four centuries old in soul, forty years old in his current body, 'Hohenheim of Light' remains behind the scenes throughout most of the series. Most of his past is kept under wraps, save for a few key points, revealed quite late in the series. Hohenheim is a tall, rather well-built man, standing in at least six feet tall at first glance. He's rather gentle and weary, and soft-spoken as well, which is most likely due to the extensive amount of time spent alive, under his assorted burdens. This disposition is clearly demonstrated when Edward actually punches him in the face and kicks him in the stomach, with very little reaction. In the anime and manga he sports blonde hair and gold eyes, causing him to bear a strong resemblance to his sons, more so Edward than Alphonse. He is shown to be an extremely powerful alchemist, possibly the strongest in the series, showcasing his talents in transmuting light (hence his nickname) in episode 44, "Hohenheim of Light".

In the anime, Hohenheim's official debut is in episode 43, "The Stray Dog". Here, he meets Winry, confusing her for a woman named Sara. Winry promptly flees, but soon realizes that since Sara was her mother's name she may have been taken for her mother. Hohenheim then appears at the Rockbell residence, where Pinako introduces him as Ed and Al's father.

Background
His past is fairly murky, save for a few key moments shown in the series. Approximately four hundred years prior to the series, Hohenheim created the first Philosopher's Stone (it is implied that at least two were created, one in the city under Central and the other from the lost civilization in the east), using people captured in a witch hunt and those dying of the plague. The resulting reaction nearly caused Hohenheim's death, but out of love and concern for her lover, Dante used the stone to attach his soul to another man's body. It's from here on out that the two jump from body to body, living on, and obtaining a so-called eternal life. It's not known if Dante and Hohenheim were actually ever married, but their relationship produced one son who died of mercury poisoning. Hohenheim performed human transmutation on his son, which, in turn, failed and produced Envy, the first-ever Homunculus. Regretting what he had done to his son, Hohenheim fled, leaving Dante a fragment of the Stone. Later, Hohenheim renounces ever truly loving Dante, stating Trisha Elric as the only woman he ever truly loved.

Hohenheim's ten-year absence after leaving the Elrics is never clearly explained in the first anime series. He had explained to Trisha shortly before his departure that he was leaving to do research of some kind, but never came back. In episode 50, "Death", it is revealed that Hohenheim's stolen bodies rot more quickly every time he takes a new one. Also knowing that Dante was out there, somewhere, he assumed that staying in hiding would, perhaps, make her vanish for good. But once he found out that Dante had her eyes set on his sons, he emerged to face her, only to be immobilized by the Homunculus Sloth, who bore a striking resemblance to his late wife Trisha, and was consequently sent into the Gate, where his mind, body, and soul were separated. He was able to reassemble himself, however, and emerge on the other side, in London, and eventually becomes an advisor to Winston Churchill. When Edward's soul was sent there by Dante, he learns about Hohenheim's past. When he offers to find a way to bring Hohenheim back to their home world, he declines, revealing that the act is impossible due to his entire being being on this side. At the end of the series, he is living in Germany, siding himself with the Thule Society, secretly finding a way to send his son back to Amestris, caring for him until Edward left for Romania to find the means of world travel.

Conqueror of Shamballa
In the movie, Hohenheim doesn't appear very often, save for a couple of pivotal scenes. Hohenheim is used as a sacrifice on Germany's side of the Gate, fixed in the mouth of Envy, who was captured by the Thule Society when he arrived on Earth, trapped in a serpentine form. He tells Edward that he is a sinner, from creating Envy to the making of the Philosopher's Stone, destroying thousands of lives in the process indirectly, to sacrificing untold lives to further his own existence out of his and Dante's own selfishness.

Despite Edward's pleas not to, Hohenheim tells him to give Alphonse his regards as he uses Envy to create a gate to Amestris. He gets Envy to bite down on him, killing him and using his own blood and Envy to activate the gate.