Alphonse Elric

Alphonse is born in Resembool, a rural community in eastern Amestris, as the second son of Van Hohenheim and Trisha Elric. He grows up alongside Edward, and the brothers begin studying alchemy at an unusually young age. Their father's books provide them with much of their earliest technical knowledge, while their successful childhood transmutations delight their mother.

Hohenheim leaves the family while the boys are still young. Trisha subsequently raises them alone until illness takes her life. Her loss devastates both children. Rather than accepting that death cannot be reversed, Edward and Alphonse begin researching human transmutation, believing that sufficiently advanced alchemy might reconstruct their mother.

Their preparation eventually takes them to Izumi Curtis, an accomplished alchemist who agrees to train them only after putting them through severe physical and survival exercises. On an island, the brothers are forced to survive without alchemy and confront Izumi's principle of "one is all, all is one," learning to understand themselves as individual parts of a larger natural cycle.

After completing their training, they return home and assemble the materials needed for human transmutation. Their attempt fails catastrophically. Alphonse's entire physical body is taken as the toll for passing through the Gate of Truth, while Edward loses his left leg. Edward then sacrifices his right arm to bind Alphonse's soul to a large suit of armor.

The binding is maintained through a blood seal drawn inside the armor. The seal becomes Alphonse's critical vulnerability: damaging the steel itself is usually survivable, but destroying or significantly disturbing the blood seal threatens the connection between his soul and the armor.

Following Edward's recovery and automail surgery, the brothers burn their childhood home and leave Resembool. Edward becomes a State Alchemist, giving them access to government research and resources, while Alphonse accompanies him without formally joining the military.

Their principal objective is finding the Philosopher's Stone. They initially hope that a Stone's apparent ability to bypass equivalent exchange will allow Edward to recover his missing limbs and Alphonse to regain his entire body.

The search becomes progressively darker as they encounter researchers such as Shou Tucker, investigate Laboratory 5 and learn more about the military's secret experiments. They eventually discover that genuine Philosopher's Stones are created from human lives, making the apparently limitless alchemical power of a Stone dependent upon souls consumed as energy.

Alphonse consequently joins Edward in rejecting the simplest method of restoration. Even when a Philosopher's Stone could potentially return his body, he refuses to treat other people's lives as acceptable payment for their mistake.

His journey eventually intersects with Xingese alchemists, homunculi and the conspiracy surrounding Amestris itself. Alphonse and Edward discover that their human transmutation has made them valuable as sacrifices in Father's nationwide plan, because both passed through the Gate and encountered Truth.

Alphonse is gentle, patient and considerably more diplomatic than Edward. Where his brother frequently answers insults or hostility with confrontation, Al usually attempts conversation first. This contrast makes him the more approachable Elric brother despite his enormous armored appearance.

He is nevertheless far from passive. Alphonse has firm moral convictions and becomes forceful when innocent people are threatened. His politeness should not be mistaken for an unwillingness to fight; once he determines that violence is necessary, he can act decisively.

His compassion extends readily to strangers. He often tries to understand an opponent's motives before condemning them and shows particular concern for children, animals and people caught in conflicts they did not create.

Cats are a recurring weakness. Alphonse has an intense affection for them and occasionally hides stray cats inside his armor despite Edward's objections. The enormous hollow body that normally separates him from ordinary human experiences becomes, somewhat ironically, an excellent place to shelter small animals.

Al also possesses a quietly competitive side. He and Edward grew up training together, and their sibling relationship includes arguments over who is stronger, more talented or more successful in particular areas. Alphonse is especially accomplished in hand-to-hand combat and can outperform Edward in straightforward sparring.

His emotional restraint sometimes causes others to underestimate the psychological burden of his condition. Alphonse cannot eat when hungry, sleep when tired or feel warmth, cold and physical contact normally. He remembers these sensations but cannot experience them through the armor.

That deprivation gives seemingly mundane experiences enormous importance. Food, sleep and the physical sensation of holding another person's hand become parts of the life he wants to recover rather than trivial conveniences.

Alphonse also fears losing his humanity. Because his soul exists separately from his original body, questions about memory, identity and the nature of a soul affect him more personally than they do most characters.

This insecurity becomes especially severe after Barry the Chopper, another soul bound to armor, deliberately questions whether Alphonse was ever human. Barry suggests that Edward could simply have manufactured Al's memories along with the blood seal.

The suggestion exploits a fear Alphonse had already been suppressing. He briefly wonders whether his childhood memories, his relationship with Edward and even the identity "Alphonse Elric" might have been fabricated.

His eventual reconciliation with Edward strengthens his confidence in the reality of their shared past. More importantly, Alphonse gradually learns to define his humanity through relationships, memories and choices rather than through the material containing his soul.

His kindness also has limits. Alphonse can become angry when someone treats human life as disposable, and his response to cruelty is sometimes more severe precisely because he normally approaches others with patience.

He shares Edward's refusal to use innocent lives for restoration. Even as his body's condition worsens, Alphonse consistently rejects solutions that would require sacrificing another person.

Alphonse spends most of the story as a soul attached to a large medieval-style suit of plate armor. The armor is significantly taller and broader than Edward, producing the recurring misunderstanding that Alphonse must be the famous Fullmetal Alchemist.

Its most recognizable features include a horned helmet, broad shoulder plates, a segmented waist and a loincloth-like armored covering. A white cloth is tied around the helmet and trails behind him.

Because there is no physical body inside, damage to the armor does not produce ordinary wounds. Sections can be cracked, broken or detached and subsequently repaired through alchemy.

The empty interior regularly surprises people who assume Alphonse is simply an unusually large man wearing heavy armor. It also gives him several practical advantages: he does not require food, air or sleep in the ordinary sense and can conceal objects—and occasionally animals—inside his torso.

His true physical appearance resembles the rest of the Elric family. Alphonse has blond hair, golden eyes and features similar to Edward's, though his expression is generally softer.

Before the human transmutation, he is a small blond child with short hair. His physical body continues to exist separately after being taken by the Gate.

When Edward later encounters Alphonse's body beyond the Gate, it has become extremely thin and weak from prolonged deprivation. Its hair has grown long, and the body lacks the physical strength necessary to leave with Edward immediately.

The blood seal connecting Alphonse's soul to the armor is located inside the suit. It was drawn by Edward using his own blood during the emergency soul transmutation.

Because the seal is the actual anchor for Alphonse's soul, protecting it is more important than protecting the surrounding steel. Damage elsewhere can usually be repaired; destruction of the seal cannot be treated like ordinary armor damage.

His imposing appearance contrasts deliberately with his age and temperament. Strangers frequently address him as the older brother or assume he is Edward, only to discover that the intimidating armored figure is the younger, more soft-spoken Elric.

After his body and soul are reunited, Alphonse again appears as a blond, golden-eyed young man. His body initially requires extensive rehabilitation because of the years spent separated from his soul.

Alphonse is an exceptionally talented alchemist who received the same foundational training as Edward under Izumi Curtis. Although Edward receives greater public recognition because of his State Alchemist title, the brothers are both highly advanced practitioners.

His alchemy initially requires conventional transmutation circles. Alphonse commonly draws them directly onto surfaces before activating a reaction, meaning his early alchemy requires slightly more preparation than Edward's circle-free technique.

He is capable of structural transmutation, manipulating stone, earth and manufactured materials into walls, weapons, platforms and other useful forms. His knowledge is broad rather than limited to a single specialized branch of alchemy.

Alphonse's armor provides unusual physical advantages. He possesses the leverage and reach of a very large body while being largely unaffected by ordinary pain. Attacks that would cause blood loss, broken bones or organ damage instead dent or fracture metal.

The absence of a conventional body also removes several normal biological limitations. Alphonse does not become physically exhausted in the same manner as an ordinary human, does not need to breathe and can remain awake indefinitely.

These advantages have serious costs. He cannot heal naturally because the armor is not living tissue, and the blood seal remains an absolute weak point. His inability to sleep also means he never receives the psychological respite that unconsciousness provides.

Alphonse is particularly accomplished in hand-to-hand combat. Izumi trained both brothers extensively, and Al is repeatedly established as a formidable martial artist independent of alchemy.

His large armored body changes the application of those skills. He can deliver powerful strikes and absorb substantial punishment, but his movements remain surprisingly quick and controlled for someone of his apparent size.

He is also an intelligent tactical fighter. Alphonse often observes an opponent before committing to an attack and tends to fight with greater patience than Edward.

After recovering memories of passing through the Gate of Truth, Alphonse gains the same ability as Edward to perform alchemy without drawing a transmutation circle. He can clap his hands together and use his own body to complete the array.

This development dramatically improves his combat flexibility. He can transmute his surroundings immediately rather than spending time drawing circles, bringing his practical activation speed much closer to Edward's.

Hiromu Arakawa has indicated that neither brother should simply be regarded as categorically superior at alchemy; their strengths and preferences differ despite their similar education.

Alphonse also develops practical understanding of alkahestry through his interactions with May Chang. Although he does not simply become a Xingese alkahestrist during the main story, exposure to another alchemical tradition expands his understanding of how transmutation can operate.

During the final conflict, Alphonse demonstrates exceptional skill while using a Philosopher's Stone entrusted to him by Heinkel. He accepts its use because the souls within the Stone willingly assist him, distinguishing the situation from sacrificing unwilling people for personal restoration.

Alphonse rarely uses formally announced attack names. His combat style combines martial arts with flexible applications of alchemy rather than relying upon a catalog of fixed techniques.

• Transmutation Circle Alchemy: Alphonse's original method requires drawing or preparing a circle before activating a transmutation.

• Circle-Free Transmutation: After recovering his memories of the Gate, Alphonse becomes capable of activating alchemy by clapping his hands together, eliminating the need for an externally drawn circle.

• Structural Transmutation: Alphonse reshapes stone, earth and other materials into barriers, platforms and weapons.

• Earthen Walls: Defensive structures can be raised rapidly to block attacks or protect allies.

• Stone Weapons: Alphonse can produce spears, spikes and other offensive structures from available material.

• Armor-Based Martial Arts: His training under Izumi allows him to combine grappling, strikes and evasive movement with the unusual strength and durability of his armored body.

• Soul Binding Knowledge: Alphonse possesses firsthand knowledge of soul transmutation and blood seals, although Edward originally performs the transmutation that binds him to the armor.

• Philosopher's Stone Transmutation: During the Promised Day, Alphonse temporarily uses a Philosopher's Stone to perform exceptionally powerful transmutations without being constrained by the ordinary material cost of each reaction.

Edward Elric is Alphonse's older brother, closest companion and primary partner throughout the story. The brothers share responsibility for attempting human transmutation, although Edward Elric tends to place more of the blame on himself. Alphonse repeatedly rejects the idea that Edward alone should carry responsibility for a decision they made together.

Their personalities complement one another. Edward Elric is quicker to anger and confrontation, while Alphonse usually mediates disputes. In physical sparring, however, Alphonse is entirely capable of challenging or defeating his brother. Their relationship therefore avoids a simple protector-dependent division despite Edward's determination to restore Al's body.

The brothers briefly experience a serious rupture after Barry the Chopper encourages Alphonse to question whether his memories were fabricated. Alphonse's suspicion deeply hurts Edward Elric, who has privately feared that Al might blame him for placing his soul in armor. Their reconciliation restores the mutual trust that anchors their journey.

[During the final battle, Alphonse Elric chooses to exchange his own soul for Edward's missing right arm after Edward is critically disadvantaged. Edward Elric subsequently sacrifices his Gate of Truth—and therefore his ability to perform alchemy—to retrieve Alphonse's body and soul.](#spoiler)

Winry Rockbell is Alphonse's childhood friend from Resembool. Although she serves primarily as Edward's automail mechanic, Winry Rockbell regards both brothers as family and is deeply invested in their safe return.

Alphonse often recognizes emotional developments between Edward Elric and Winry Rockbell before either of them is willing to discuss them openly. His more perceptive temperament makes him a frequent observer of their arguments and mutual concern.

Trisha Elric is Alphonse's mother. Her death motivates the brothers' attempt at human transmutation, and Al's memories of her remain central to his desire to recover his ordinary human life.

[Alphonse later learns alongside Edward Elric that the malformed being produced during their transmutation was not actually Trisha Elric. The discovery confirms that human transmutation had not dragged their mother's soul back into the body they created.](#spoiler)

Van Hohenheim is Alphonse's father. Unlike Edward Elric, Alphonse is generally more willing to speak with him after his return and does not express his resentment as aggressively.

That willingness allows Alphonse Elric to develop a somewhat easier relationship with Van Hohenheim. He nevertheless shares many of Edward's questions about why their father left the family.

[After learning the scale of Van Hohenheim's history and preparations against Father, Alphonse comes to understand that his father's disappearance was connected to the approaching nationwide crisis rather than simple indifference toward his family.](#spoiler)

Izumi Curtis is Alphonse's alchemy teacher. Her severe training gives him both his martial arts foundation and the philosophical framework through which he understands alchemy.

Alphonse fears Izumi Curtis's temper as much as Edward does, but the relationship is fundamentally affectionate. She considers both brothers her students and reacts strongly when she learns they ignored the taboo against human transmutation.

[The discovery that Izumi Curtis also attempted human transmutation gives Alphonse another person who understands the experience of seeing Truth and paying a physical toll.](#spoiler)

May Chang becomes one of Alphonse's closest companions during the later stages of the story. They share an interest in alchemy, and Alphonse treats her with consistent kindness even when circumstances place them in danger.

May Chang's knowledge of Xingese alkahestry is particularly important to him. Their conversations expose Alphonse to a system based upon different assumptions from Amestrian alchemy and contribute to his growing interest in studying other traditions.

[The epilogue shows Alphonse Elric traveling east to Xing so that he can study alkahestry more deeply, continuing the intellectual connection established through May Chang.](#spoiler)

Scar begins as an enemy because of his campaign against State Alchemists and his attacks on Edward. Alphonse fights him when necessary but is less personally confrontational toward him than Edward.

As the history of Ishval becomes clearer, Alphonse recognizes the difference between understanding Scar's anger and condoning murder. Their circumstances eventually force cooperation against a larger threat.

Ling Yao initially enters Alphonse's life as a Xingese prince searching for immortality. Alphonse gradually comes to respect his determination to protect his retainers and his understanding of leadership.

Lan Fan and Fu are among the Xingese warriors whose loyalty impresses Alphonse. Their willingness to risk themselves for Ling reinforces ideas about mutual responsibility that repeatedly appear throughout his journey.

Heinkel becomes an important ally during the later conflict. When Alphonse considers using a Philosopher's Stone, Heinkel argues that refusing the Stone automatically would also ignore the wishes of the souls contained within it. His reasoning helps Al accept their assistance rather than treating their remaining power as inherently forbidden.

Zampano and Jerso also become allies after initially serving the military's darker projects. Alphonse's willingness to accept help from people previously positioned as enemies reflects his tendency to judge individuals by their choices rather than fixed labels.

Selim Bradley initially appears to Alphonse as the Führer's young son. Selim is actually Pride, the first homunculus, and Alphonse later helps contain him by trapping both of them inside a sealed earthen dome where Pride cannot freely exploit surrounding light to create shadows.

Father ultimately stands behind the conspiracy threatening Alphonse and the rest of Amestris. Because Alphonse opened the Gate during human transmutation, Father identifies him as one of the five human sacrifices required for the nationwide transmutation.

Alphonse begins the main story already living with the consequences of its central taboo. His missing body gives the brothers their immediate objective: find a method capable of reversing the failed human transmutation without causing further harm.

Because Edward becomes a State Alchemist while Alphonse does not, their public roles differ. Edward possesses the military title and official authority; Al accompanies him as an independent civilian. The arrangement gives Alphonse more distance from the institution they gradually begin investigating.

His armor also creates a recurring visual deception. Edward's State title is "Fullmetal Alchemist," so strangers frequently assume that the enormous armored brother must be the famous alchemist. Alphonse generally corrects the mistake politely while Edward reacts much less calmly.

Early incidents repeatedly test Alphonse's understanding of humanity. The Tucker case demonstrates that alchemical knowledge can be used to violate rather than improve human life, while Laboratory 5 introduces other people whose souls have been bound to armor.

Barry's challenge to Alphonse's memories turns the philosophical problem inward. If a soul can be attached to an artificial container, Al must determine what evidence actually makes him the same person who once possessed a human body.

The brothers' search for the Philosopher's Stone then forces a moral choice. Once they learn that Stones are made from human lives, Alphonse refuses to restore himself through the unwilling sacrifice of others.

This decision gives his condition additional significance. Remaining trapped in armor is deeply painful, but Alphonse considers accepting another person's life as payment worse.

His connection with his physical body becomes increasingly important as the story progresses. Edward eventually encounters Alphonse's emaciated body at the Gate, proving that it still exists. The body cannot leave with Edward because Alphonse's soul is not present to accompany it.

Alphonse later experiences episodes in which his soul begins being pulled toward his original body. These incidents indicate that the separation cannot continue indefinitely and add urgency to the brothers' search.

His role expands beyond being the person Edward wants to save. Alphonse independently investigates, fights powerful enemies, protects companions and makes strategic decisions without his brother.

The northern and final arcs especially emphasize this independence. He works with allies from several factions and participates directly in the resistance to the nationwide transmutation.

During the Promised Day, Alphonse becomes one of Father's required human sacrifices alongside Edward, Izumi, Hohenheim and Mustang. Their Gates are used as components in Father's attempt to seize an immense source of power.

Alphonse later uses a Philosopher's Stone in battle after accepting that the souls within it want to help stop Father. The decision demonstrates a more nuanced position than simply declaring every use of a Stone immoral.

When Edward is left unable to fight effectively, Alphonse makes his most consequential independent decision. He asks May to activate a transmutation that exchanges his bound soul for Edward's missing right arm.

The act sends Alphonse's soul back to his body beyond the Gate. Edward subsequently reaches Truth and offers his own Gate—the source of his ability to perform alchemy—as payment for Alphonse. The exchange reunites Alphonse's body and soul without sacrificing another human life.

Alphonse's central struggle is initially framed as a physical one: he wants his body back. The longer he remains in armor, however, the problem increasingly becomes one of identity.

The armor protects him from many ordinary injuries but removes basic human sensations. He cannot taste food, feel another person's skin or fall asleep. These absences accumulate quietly rather than appearing as a single dramatic wound.

His crisis after meeting Barry exposes the insecurity underneath his calm behavior. Alphonse realizes that almost everything he knows about his childhood exists only as memory, while the physical body that might corroborate those memories is inaccessible.

Edward's emotional reaction helps him recognize how deeply the suspicion wounds their relationship. Alphonse ultimately chooses to trust both his own memories and the people who share them.

That experience changes the meaning of restoration. Recovering his body is no longer merely about repairing an alchemical mistake; it is about reclaiming an embodied human life while accepting that his years in armor were also genuinely his.

Alphonse's morality develops alongside this understanding. Initially, the Philosopher's Stone appears to be an uncomplicated answer to the brothers' problem.

Discovering its composition forces him to choose between the body he desperately wants and the lives of strangers. He chooses to remain in armor rather than knowingly make unwilling victims pay for him.

Later events refine rather than overturn that principle. When Heinkel encourages him to listen to the souls already trapped within a Stone, Alphonse recognizes that refusing their voluntary help solely to preserve his own moral purity would deny them agency as well.

His increasing independence from Edward is another major part of his growth. The brothers begin almost inseparable, with Edward often assuming responsibility for solving Alphonse's condition.

Al gradually demonstrates that he is not simply the object of Edward's quest. He develops his own relationships, fights without Edward beside him and makes decisions Edward cannot make on his behalf.

His friendship with May encourages intellectual independence as well. Amestrian alchemy is no longer the only system worth understanding, and Alphonse becomes interested in what can be learned by comparing different traditions.

His sacrifice of his soul to restore Edward's arm completes this reversal of roles. The brother Edward has spent years trying to save becomes the person who saves Edward at the critical moment.

After being restored, Alphonse faces another challenge: his recovered body is physically weak after years of separation. Rather than treating restoration as an instantaneous return to normality, he undergoes rehabilitation and gradually rebuilds his strength.

He eventually travels east toward Xing to study alkahestry, while Edward travels west to broaden his own knowledge. Their decision to separate voluntarily demonstrates how far they have progressed from two children whose guilt made them believe they had to solve everything together.

Alphonse's name is written in Japanese as アルフォンス・エルリック (Arufonsu Erurikku). "Al" is the standard shortened form used by Edward, Winry and many of his other companions.

Alphonse is a European masculine given name ultimately related to Germanic names such as Alfonso and Alphons. No specific in-universe explanation for Trisha and Hohenheim choosing the name is established in the manga.

The surname Elric is shared with Edward and identifies the brothers' family. Amestris uses predominantly European-inspired names, architecture and military terminology, and "Alphonse Elric" follows that general naming convention.

His lack of a formal State Alchemist epithet is notable beside Edward. Alphonse never becomes a State Alchemist during the central story, so descriptions such as "Armored Alchemist" are not equivalent to Edward's officially granted title of Fullmetal Alchemist.

The recurring confusion between them exploits this distinction. A stranger hearing that one of two brothers is called "Fullmetal" naturally tends to select the enormous steel figure rather than the short teenager standing beside him.

• Alphonse is younger than Edward, despite his armored body making him appear considerably older and physically larger.

• He is fourteen through most of the main story. His physical body was lost when he was ten, during the brothers' human transmutation attempt.

• Alphonse never becomes a State Alchemist during the central manga story. Edward alone carries the military certification and Fullmetal title.

• He is particularly fond of cats and occasionally hides them inside his hollow armor.

• Alphonse is generally the stronger of the brothers in straightforward hand-to-hand sparring, reflecting the martial arts training both received from Izumi.

• Hiromu Arakawa has resisted treating either Elric brother as simply the superior alchemist, describing them as having different strengths and preferences.

• His armor contains no biological body. The essential component is the blood seal connecting his soul to the suit.

• Alphonse placed third in an early Monthly Shōnen Gangan Fullmetal Alchemist character popularity poll and fourth in later polling.

Alphonse appears throughout the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist television anime, which begins with the manga's basic premise before developing a substantially different continuity. Rie Kugimiya voices him in Japanese, while Aaron Dismuke voices him in the principal English dub.

The 2003 adaptation significantly changes the mythology surrounding human transmutation, homunculi and the Gate. Alphonse's later experiences consequently diverge from the manga even though his initial loss of his body and attachment to armor remain fundamental to the story.

Near the conclusion of the 2003 anime, Alphonse is restored differently from his manga counterpart and loses memories associated with the years following the brothers' human transmutation. The storyline continues in Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, where Alphonse attempts to reunite with Edward across the boundary separating their worlds.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood adapts the manga's storyline much more closely. Rie Kugimiya again voices Alphonse in Japanese, while Maxey Whitehead performs the English-language role. Aaron Dismuke could not continue as the teenage Alphonse for Brotherhood after his voice changed with age.

Alphonse also appears in the franchise's OVAs, comedy shorts, light novels and video games. Games typically translate his unusual body into gameplay by emphasizing durability, martial arts, alchemy and his ability to withstand physical punishment.

The live-action Fullmetal Alchemist films reproduce Alphonse primarily through computer-generated imagery rather than placing an actor physically inside conventional armor. Hiromu Arakawa commented on seeing the completed CGI interpretation of the character.

He continues through the live-action sequels Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar and Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy, which adapt later portions of the manga and preserve his position beside Edward as one of the story's two central brothers.

Alphonse has consistently ranked among the most popular characters in the franchise. In Monthly Shōnen Gangan manga popularity polls, he placed third in an early poll and fourth in subsequent polling. He also ranked highly among male characters in Animage's Anime Grand Prix.

His armor became one of Fullmetal Alchemist's most recognizable designs. It creates an immediate visual contrast with Edward: the younger, gentler brother looks like a gigantic armored warrior, while the older brother carrying the "Fullmetal" title is comparatively small.

The character has consequently been widely represented in franchise merchandise, including figures, plush toys and keychains. His unusual silhouette allows merchandise to reproduce Alphonse recognizably even without showing his human face.

Critical responses have frequently focused on the emotional consequences of his disembodied existence. Reviews highlighted the storyline in which Alphonse questions whether his memories and identity are genuine, with particular attention paid to how the conflict turns the supernatural premise of a soul-bound suit of armor into a personal crisis.

His relationship with Edward remains central to that appeal. Alphonse is neither merely Edward's sidekick nor simply the objective Edward must rescue; he develops into an accomplished alchemist whose choices repeatedly determine the direction of their shared journey.

The conclusion makes that independence explicit. Alphonse voluntarily gives up his soul to save Edward, is subsequently restored through Edward's final transmutation, and eventually leaves on his own journey to Xing. The younger brother who began the story trapped inside armor ends it pursuing knowledge by his own choice.