Lust is one of the seven Homunculi named after the seven deadly sins in the manga/anime series Fullmetal Alchemist. In the manga and Brotherhood anime, she is the only female homunculus, though in the 2003 anime she is one of two females, the other being Sloth.
Lust appears as a voluptuous and beautiful woman with narrow red eyes and long, raven-black hair. She wears a black dress with gloves reaching up towards her shoulders, wears blood-red lipstick and has an Ouroboros tattoo situated just above her cleavage. A red stripe ending in circular nodes runs down both of her arms.
Japanese Voice (2003 series): Yuuko Satou
Japanese Voice (2009 series): Kikuko Inoue
English Voice: Laura Bailey
History[]
2003 anime[]
In the anime, Lust is the first Homunculus formally introduced in the series (although technically not the first witnessed by the Elrics, chronologically). She is largely the same as her manga counterpart, however, she begins to crave becoming a human as the series progresses. Her main purpose amongst the Homunculi is gathering information and traveling abroad, manipulating alchemists into creating Philosopher's Stones (her work can be seen for what it truly is in her dealings with Cornello, Mugear, Lujon, and others). Gaining true humanity is the focal point of her ambition, arguably much more so than the rest of the Homunculi.
Lust claims to have first observed the Elrics while she was evaluating the potential of the alchemist Majhal to create a Philosopher's Stone. While she was always in the background, using those like Cornello or Mugear, Lust only revealed herself to the Elrics years later during the events of the 5th Laboratory, where she attempted to convince Ed into creating a true Philosopher's Stone. Lust doesn't introduce herself or Gluttony by name to Edward until they met face to face again in Reole. Even then, she only introduces herself intending to kill Edward immediately after.
She is often directly involved in encouraging humans to seek out the Philosopher's Stone, using their desire for the stone to her advantage. Once baited, the alchemists are molded into following whatever path that best suits Lust and the other Homunculi's designs. She also tends to be more involved with the intrigue side of various conspiracies. Lust was created by Scar's brother, when he attempted to use alchemy to bring his lover back from the dead. After he was cast out from Ishvalan society as a heretic, Envy visited the wretched creature and fed it red stones, giving her human shape, and her new name. She was not the first Homunculus to bear the name of Lust, and is the third youngest Homunculus, with only Wrath and Sloth being younger.
While ruthless throughout most of the series, she changes near the end during the Reole incident as she begins to recover some memories of her life as a human, and she softens particularly towards Scar and the Elrics. But her involvement was reckless, and allowing the Elrics' escape–a locket containing strands of hair from the woman she "was" prevented her from action–raised doubts about her loyalty. Lust was taken to Dante, who gave her a chance to redeem herself by helping Wrath take out Edward while Sloth abducted Al. Finally realizing Dante's true intentions were never to make the Homunculi human, Lust defected from the Homunculi. After at first trying to kill Ed, Lust betrays Wrath and forms an alliance with Ed under the condition that he help make her human. In return, she would reveal to the Elrics the identity of her master. However, to save Sloth from the ambush Edward and Lust set up for her, Wrath uses the locket and the transmutation circle that Lust made for Edward to use on Sloth, immobilizes and kills her by transmuting his arm temporarily into a blade. Before her death, Lust wonders where she will go when she dies. As if the whole reason she wanted to become human so badly was so she could die and, ironically, her question is answered. She is the second Homunculus to die in the anime.
2009 anime[]
Lust is the only female Homunculus and the second to be created by Father. She is one of the highest ranking Homunculi and takes a role of mistress among them. Lust also has a great disdain for humans, thinking them frail, predictable and generally foolish. Moreover, she appears to take pleasure in using and throwing them away.
Lust first reveals herself to have been behind Cornello's attempted uprising in Reole, having given him an incomplete Philosopher's Stone and false promises of ruling Amestris with the Church of Leto. After Cornello fails his mission due to the Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric's intervention, Lust reveals to the false prophet that she had only been using him in order to cause trouble in the region and kills him without a second thought, impaling him through the skull with one of her bladed fingernails. Though remorseless over the death of a human, she is concerned that Cornello's work in the town is unfinished and requests that Envy to take Cornello's place in disguise. But Envy brings along news from Central City regarding the movement of "the scarred man" in East City. Though incensed that the Fullmetal Alchemist had managed to throw a wrench into the goings-on in Reole, Lust worries that he may be killed before his role in Father's plan and heads to East City in order to keep an eye on the young State Alchemist.
Though Lust is not given a chance to intervene when Edward and Scar meet, she keeps tabs on his movements afterward, tailing him and Major Alex Louis Armstrong on the train to Resembool. When the train makes a stop on the way to Resembool, Lust is inadvertently alerted to the presence of former State Alchemist Dr. Tim Marcoh, who had deserted the military and escaped her control several years before. She gets off the train with Strong Arm and Fullmetal, following them to Marcoh's residence. After the three alchemists discuss the Philosopher's Stone and Marcoh gives Edward a clue to where his research notes are hidden, Lust lies in wait for the good doctor in his home. She assures him that she no longer needs his services, but warns that the data he stole when he left could alert an alchemist as skilled as Edward to what the Homunculi are trying to do and demands that Marcoh reveal its location to her as well, reminding him that the Homunculi were the ones who taught him how to make Philosopher's Stones. Marcoh resists, using alchemy to impale the monstrous woman through the stomach, but Lust merely laughs the injury off, remarking that it was very mean of Marcoh to waste one of her lives. After she takes a small village child hostage, Marcoh has no choice but to tell her that his notes are hidden in the First Branch of the National Central Library, to which Lust heads in order to destroy the evidence before Fullmetal can see it, but not before warning Marcoh that if he gets in their way again, she would not hesitate to wipe his peaceful village of hiding off the map.
Unable to root through the millions of books in the library for Marcoh's notes, Lust merely burns down the First Branch and heads back to East City to rendezvous with Gluttony and continue the search for Scar, since Pride and Wrath can keep an eye on Fullmetal while he is in Central. When Gluttony smells Scar's presence, the two Homunculi go on the attack, ambushing the Ishvalan assassin in the sewers of East City. Though they manage to wound Scar, he escapes before they can confirm a kill and before Gluttony can dispose of the body by eating it. Lust returns to Central City in order to report the incident to Father, but is alerted to the Elric brothers' infiltration of Central Alchemical Laboratory #5 and heads there with Envy to keep them from learning too much about their Father's plan. Lust intervenes just as Laboratory Guard Number 48 is about to reveal what he knows about the Homunculi to Edward and destroys the blood rune binding the elder Slicer Brother to the mortal plane with her blades. Lust informs Fullmetal that the Homunculi are allowing him to live for their own purposes and, after Envy knocks Edward unconscious and delivers him safely outside, triggers the explosive charges inside Lab 5, causing the building to crumble to the ground, hiding away its worst secrets. Two days later, Lust confronts Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes in the records room of Central Headquarters. As it has been determined that Hughes' investigation into the information given to him by Edward Elric has led him to the secret truth behind Father's plan, Lust attempts to assassinate him, but underestimates his combat abilities and is struck in the head by one of Hughes' thrown push knives, causing her to lose one of her lives as the Lt. Colonel escapes her, only to be killed soon afterward by Envy.
Soon, Lust and almost all of the other Homunculi greet Greed after Wrath returns him to Father's underground lair. She reveals to him that Wrath is King Bradley's true identity and that Sloth is at work digging the Nationwide Transmutation Circle before Father destroys his body. Aware that Colonel Roy Mustang is getting closer to the truth of the Homunculi's actions through his subordinates, Lust uses her contacts in the military to have the Flame Alchemist transferred to Central City and attempts to keep tabs on him by posing as a human and dating 2nd Lt. Jean Havoc (under the alias "Solaris") in order to glean information regarding the Colonel's activities. Of course, despite Lust's best efforts, Jean avoids telling her anything vital or confidential about his work.
When Envy reports to Lust that Mustang has begun personally investigating Hughes' murder and the mystery of Laboratory 5 in secret, the two Homunculi collaborate on a plan to keep the Flame Alchemist out of trouble. They leak falsified information to the military implicating 2nd Lt. Maria Ross as Hughes' killer. However, Roy catches wind of this information and counters with his own plan, orchestrating Ross's escape from prison and simulated death with the help of Number 66 -- the other of Laboratory 5's former guards who, unknown to the Homunculi, had been discovered by and agreed to cooperate with Mustang's group.
After Envy recognizes 66 from the penitentiary attack, Lust sends the former guard's reanimated body out to track down its soul and orders Envy and Gluttony to take care of the traitor when found, inadvertently falling right into the second part of Colonel Mustang's plot. Mustang's unit manages to draw both Gluttony and Envy out of hiding and tail 66's fleeing body back to its home base -- the lower levels of Central Alchemical Laboratory #3 and the entrance to the Homunculi's underground lair. Noticing the intruders, Lust goes after the first group of Mustang and Havoc, who have penetrated into the basement level human experimentation chambers of Lab 3. When Roy notices Lust's Ouroboros tattoo, he also discovered that Havoc has been dating her and she deceived him, because Havoc has a weakness for women with large breasts. Then Roy asks if she was involved with Hughes' death, Lust responds that she was involved and wishes she could have finished off Hughes herself, prompting Roy to shoot her in the leg and command that she kneel. Lust heals the wound effortlessly and responds that such a meager attack could never bring her to her knees and when several more shots to the head, chest and abdomen also fail to subdue her, Jean and Roy realize the truth -- that the woman before them is an actual Homunculus. Lust commends the officers for their cognizance and peels back the wound in her chest to reveal her Philosopher's Stone heart, stating that it is the secret behind her apparent immortality.
Before Roy and Jean can act, Lust goes on the offensive, rupturing a large water pipe in the ceiling and dousing them - rendering Roy's ignition gloves incapable of drawing a spark and thus removing his Flame Alchemy from the fray. Jean and Roy flee the room, desperately dodging the Ultimate Spear's dangerous fingernails as they escape, and Roy uses the transmutation circle on his gloves to transmute the water in the room into combustible hydrogen and flammable oxygen, which build up quickly in the underground chambre as the Flame Alchemist raises it over his head. Lust stabs Roy through the abdomen and shreds his glove, lamenting that such a perfect human sacrifice had to go to waste, but stating that once he had stuck his neck in this far, he could not be allowed to live. Lust leaves Roy and Havoc to bleed to death on the floor and heads off to intercept the other group, consisting of the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother Alphonse, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye and Number 66.
As Lust angrily encounters Mustang, she realizes that he has carved a Transmutation Circle into the back of his hand and is using Havoc's lighter to enable his attacks. Confused by Mustang's presence, she exclaims that his wounds should have overcome him, but Mustang reveals that he has cauterized his wounds to stop himself from bleeding out. Mustang then bombards her with explosion after explosion, repeatedly reducing her to little more than a skeleton. However, Lust manages to recover enough to launch herself at Mustang, who fires one last explosion at her as her deadly talons approach his forehead. As the smoke clears, Lust appears to have Mustang at her mercy, with one of her talons virtually touching his head. Shortly thereafter however, her body begins to disintegrate, and it is revealed that Mustang's final attack drained her Philosopher's Stone completely. As she crumbles, Lust smiles at Roy's face, saying that there are worse ways to die than at the hands of a man like him. Lust also says that she loves how cold and focused Mustang's eyes are, adding that the day will soon come when those same eyes become clouded by suffering. With these final words, her body and Philosopher's Stone are quickly reduced to dust.