10: Olivier Mira Armstrong

An amazingly scary woman, the daughter of the Armstrong family, commands fear and respect as the head of the Brigs Mountain facility. With her keen sword skills and amazing tactical knowledge, she defends the northern border of Amestris. Feared by many powerful people, she has made her way up the ranks. When Olivier was first introduced, we saw how terrifying she could be when she immobilized a homonucleus with her clever tactics.

9: Riza Hawkeye

Riza Hawkeye is arguably the most intimidating woman in the series because even though she is a subordinate of Colonel Mustang, he mostly listens to what she says. Her name is very fitting because she is an amazing marksman and an experienced fighter. Early in the series Riza adopts a small dog which she trains throughout the series. At one point the dog saves her life by distracting a homonucleus.

8: Fuhrer King Bradley

Also known as Wrath, Fuhrer King Bradley is unique even among homunculi because he is able to age unlike the others. Bradley is the figurehead and leader of the country of Amestris. Even though he appears to be old, he is still a very capable fighter. Using two swords and his magic eye that can see weaknesses, he shreds his enemies to pieces. The real thing that makes Wrath so scary and powerful however is how good of an actor he is. He has managed to trick everyone around him for years that he is just a normal human. He was raised from birth to be Fuhrer and was the only one of the candidates able to accept the Philosopher’s stone.

7: Alex Louis Armstrong

SHINY, is the only word that really comes to mind when one thinks of Alex Louis Armstrong. This large and muscular alchemist is as much of a physical threat as his alchemy is. His alchemy draws a lot of attention because all of the creations are modeled on his own body as an extension of himself. He is a very caring man and regularly is brought to tears when he gets emotional which may be why he is not taken as the serious threat that he is. At one point when visiting Resenbool with Edward, he is seen splitting wood with his bare hands.

6: Scar

A survivor of the war in Ishval, Scar holds bitter resentment for the deaths of his brother and the other Ishvalans that were killed. He takes his anger out on the Amestris military by hunting and killing the state alchemists. On his right arm alchemical designs have been tattooed on. This right arm is actually not his but his brothers. It was a final gift from his brother to save his life after his arm was blown off in an explosion caused by the state alchemist Kimblee. The arm deconstructs anything to it’s basic alchemical state. Scar uses this arm to exact revenge saying that it is “turning their own evil magic against them”.

5: Father

Father is the leader of the homunculi. He is the original homunculus. He was created by Hohenheim back in the days of xerxes and taught Hohenheim the secrets of alchemy. Poisoned by the greed of the king, Father turns the entire country into a transmutation circle and he and Hohenheim each become living philosopher stones. Father takes his new abilities as a homunculus and becomes the sage of the east. He founds amestris and creates alchemy. Since then he has started every single major conflict in the country all in order to turn amestris into one giant transmutation circle to recreate what happened in xerxes an a much larger scale. Being that he is immortal and the third smartest being in the universe, he is by far one of the most powerful characters in the series.

4: Hohenheim

Ed and Al’s father, Hohenheim is the last surviving Xerxian and is over 400 years old. He helped to create father and inadvertently caused the death of the country. When he and father become immortal he takes his knowledge east and becomes the sage of the west. He teaches the people of xing Alkahestry and spend the next 400 years learning alchemy and gaining better control of his powers. Because he has a philosopher’s stone in him, he can bypass the law of equivalent exchange. He also can communicate with each of the over 500,000 souls in his stone making him able to have amazing control over his alchemy and do multiple transmutations at the same time without having to move his hands or use a transmutation circle. With over 400 years of experience, he is by far the most powerful alchemist in the world with more knowledge than anyone besides Father.

3: Edward Elric

The youngest state alchemist in history; Ed is a brilliant alchemist. Determined to learn alchemy after his father left, he studied the books in Hohenheim’s library until his mother died. After learning with Izumi for awhile he and his brother return to their home and attempt to bring back there mother. When the gate is opened, Ed is exposed to the truth. Because of this Ed can transmute without a circle much like his father and a few other characters. Filled with youthful anger and energy, Ed is very adept at combat and stands his ground against homunculi. He has such determination to get his and his brother’s bodies back that he pushes himself past many others. He has also survived entering the portal of truth on more than one occasion.

2: Colonel Roy Mustang

The hero of Ishval, Colonel Roy Mustang is a powerful state alchemist that is the only living alchemist with control of flame alchemy. He is very headstrong and arrogant but his arrogance is justified a lot of the time. He spends most of his time plotting and planning on how to rise through the ranks. His flame alchemy is arguably the most powerful type of combat alchemy shown in the show. By himself he has taken on and single-handedly defeated two different Homunculi. When he was blinded after being forced to perform human transmutation, he was still able to use his alchemy to do serious damage to father with the help of Riza Hawkeye.

1:  Izumi Curtis

Tho she is not the most powerful alchemist in the world, she is by far the scariest. When she was a young woman she lost her child and attempted to bring it back. After she saw the truth she was able to transmute without a circle and became a very powerful alchemist in her own right. She is the one who taught Ed and Al and they still fear her to this day. Even though she could be an amazing state alchemist she regularly hides her alchemy and when asked who she is she replies with “I’m just a housewife”. She is an amazing woman and easily holds her own against any enemy she fights.