Alphonse Elric

Alphonse Elric was a renowned scientist and alchemist, hailing from the village of Amestria. Alphonse was held captive, alongside his brother Edward Elric, by the Ten Rings in Xing, where he was charged with attending to Edward's medical needs when Edward was brought in injured from an explosive. Alphonse helped Edward escape the cave, but willingly sacrificed himself in the process.

Abilities
Alphonse was a particularly competent alchemist who transmuted quickly, cleanly and with remarkable attention to detail in the style of his master. In combat, he used alchemy to augment his offensive and defensive capabilities, crafting weapons for melee strikes and altering his surroundings to gain the advantage in the same way as his brother - transmuting columns, battering rams and traps for his enemies, albeit without the gaudy touches that Edward usually gives his works. While in general his alchemy is more conventional than that of Edward (who often uses it in unusual forms to outsmart his opponents), he has displayed greater creativity when the situation called for it.

However, Alphonse's own alchemy was unique in several ways. Unlike most alchemists, Al does not require direct physical contact with the transmutation arrays he draws in order to manipulate matter; merely by standing over a circle and applying concentration (sometimes displayed as his crossing one hand flat over the other with both palms facing down), he could manipulate matter without touching it - a feat that has yet to be displayed by any other human alchemist without an alchemical amplifier.