Sloth (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Sloth is a homunculus and a minor villain in the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and second anime series. A giant, muscular and dim-witted homunculus who is tasked to do huge works by his peers, he rarely talks or even thinks, as he finds it too tiresome. Like Pride and Wrath, Sloth's appearance greatly differs between the 2003 series and the true manga and the 2009 series. He is voiced by Patrick Seitz.

Personality and Appearence
Sloth is the fifth born of the Seven Homunculi and the least seen in the series. He is a giant, dim-witted homunculus, standing over three metres tall, with long black hair, a massive, muscular frame and sharp teeth, with a red line that covers his right arm and the right side of his face, eye included, and he sports his Ouroboros mark on the right shoulder-blade.

True to his name Sloth is extremely lazy, if it were for him, he would spend all his time sleeping without end. He rarely talks or even thinks, as he finds it tiresome, thus not much is known about his personality. Yet his formidable strength comes in handy for his siblings, who order him to do the big work. Sloth finds that even thinking takes too much effort, so he follows Father's orders without question, speaking only to complain or to claim that he would like to die, but it would be too tiresome.

Among the Seven Homunculi, Sloth wields the most "classical" powers, so to speak. He is the physically strongest, even surpassing Envy in his true form. He is able to crush someone into a pulp by merely smacking the ground, he can toss a tank and dig through stone with no effort, and he can use the chains on his wrists like weapons. In spite of his enormous size (he is the second biggest homunculus) and his sluggish attitude, Sloth's major asset is his incredible speed, which he mostly uses to hurl himself at his foes faster than the eye can see like a devastating human missile. He lacks accuracy in his attacks but he can widen the range of his charges by spreading his arms and legs. Sloth also seems immune to many weapons, including mortars, and the only thing which has proved to pierce his steel-hard skin are huge Alchemy-made spikes or blades.

Fort Briggs
Sloth first appears when the primary protagonists, the brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric, travel to the fortress of Briggs in the montains located in the north of the country of Amestris. Since several decades, if not since he was created, Sloth is tasked to dig a huge underground tunnel all around the country, that Father plans to use as a nation-wide transmutation circle to sacrifice everyone in the country, with the ultimate purpose of becoming the new god of the Fullmetal Alchemist world, while being constantly watched over by Pride's shadow.

However, Sloth accidentaly dug too high and ended up storming in the basement of the fortress. There, as he was trying to find out where he was and wreaking havoc in his path, he was mistaken for a secret weapon from Drachma, the hostile neighbour nation, and attacked by the soldiers under the command of Major General Olivia Armstrong. Given that not even a tank was enough to phase the dim-witted giant, it took cooperation from Olivia Armstrong, her most devoted subordinates and the Elric brothers to douse him with gas and expel him outside the fortress, where the searing cold froze the gas and completely paralysed him.

Unfortunatelly, the homunculus Wrath, who rules Amestris under the alias of King Bradley, sent one of the corrupt rulers, Solf J. Kimblee, of the Central Military Headquarters to Briggs, where he gave orders to set Sloth free and to guide him back into the tunnel; which Sloth completed sometime later while Major General Armstrong, who killed the corrupt general to take his place, successfully infiltrates the highest spheres of influence Amestris.

Promised Day
Sloth is next seen serving as Father's personal bodyguard, going with him when he personally takes command of Amestris after Wrath's disappearance, and sleeping next to Father's throne when he has nothing else to do.

During the final battle, Sloth is sent to kill Major General Armstrong after she killed one of the corrupt officials and took another one hostage, while her troops from Briggs are invading the Central Headquarters. Sloth clumsily kills Armstrong's hostage while attempting to crush her from behind, and she fearlessly engages a fight.

Armstrong manages to wound Sloth several times by striking him in the forehead but she finds herself in a dangerous situation and gets helped by her younger brother, the alchemist Alex Louis Armstrong. They manage to rally the soldiers sent to kill them to their cause and to fend off the giant homunculus for a while, but he eventually uses his speed-powered "human missile" attacks and drives them into a corner. The tide turns for the last time when Izumi Curtis, a very powerful alchemist and the Elrics' master, enters the fray alongside her (very muscular) husband Sig. Both Sig and Alex to pummel him with an onslaught of synchronised blows, showing off their manly muscles and gloating of their physique (as the two's muscle is what started their friendship), while they take on fellow muscleman, Sloth, before throwing him on huge alchemic spikes. Sloth disintegrates, stating that living was definitely too tiresome for him.

Fullmetal Alchemist: 2003 Version
Main Article: Sloth (FMA 2003)