Do we like them?

Do we like Alphonse Elric?

A character from Fullmetal Alchemist (2001–2010)

Our score: 9 out of 10. Yes, we'd back him. He's gentle, loyal and brave, and he cares about people even when it costs him. He's about as dependable a companion as fiction offers.

Alphonse and his older brother Edward grew up as alchemy prodigies in a rural village. Their mother's death drove them to attempt something forbidden, and it left Al's soul attached to a large suit of armor. The story follows the brothers as they search for a way to get their bodies back.

Al is the gentle half of the pair. He is polite, patient and soft-hearted, and he stops to help people and stray cats alike. Behind the gentleness he is a powerful fighter, and he is often the one who talks Ed down when Ed gets hot-headed. Against the sprawling conspiracy the brothers uncover, his steady moral sense is what keeps them grounded.

His one real flaw is self-doubt. Because he has no body, he sometimes wonders whether his memories and feelings are real. The series treats that doubt seriously, and he works through it with courage. The score is a 9 because he is kind, brave and loyal, and he does very little wrong.