First Impressions
The first time I laid eyes on Greed, it was 2004 and I was watching a clip of the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime. I admit that I was a little freaked out. Who wouldn't be by those teeth?
Of course it didn't help that it was an AMV that my brother showed me where the songs were synced up with the characters' lips for comic effect. In this particular video, Greed's "theme song" was about how he wants his [EXPLETIVE] to lick his [EXPLETIVE], with Martel calling him "Papa Smurf" all the while.
Yeah, what the heck?
Having not the slightest clue how the song pertained to the character, I questioned my brother as to what I just saw. His explanation: Greed's a pimp. My brother had told me that I probably wouldn't like the anime, and this AMV clip fueled the fire a bit.
The second time I laid eyes on Greed was '07 or '08 when I saw a panel from the manga on a blog. It was the scene in Volume 8 where he was chained to a slab of rock side-by-side with the original Japanese illustration of him being on a crucifix. I think the blog post had something to do with censorship, but that's beside the point. The point is that I didn't know that was the same character as the one in that AMV I saw a few years ago. I just hadn't made the connection. All I saw was that unconscious figure-- limp, chained, and suspended like a marionette-- and felt bad for him.
When I finally was in the process of reading the Fullmetal Alchemist manga in 2012, I was excited when Volume 6 finally introduced another member of the mysterious organization of villains. In Volume 7, I had conflicted feelings. I got the impression that he was something like a smooth mafia boss when he introduced himself to Al. And I had a feeling, by the way he talked about "the others" with ouroboros marks on their bodies, that he was no longer in league with them. An anti-villain. I LOVE anti-villains. But once he revealed his desire for eternal life, he lost me. Not another one of THOSE.
Yet there was something about Greed that drew me to him. His extra-wide smile? His smooth talk? His fluffy vest? Though it wasn't until the chapters after his introduction that he truly became a favorite of mine. I soon learned that he was no average "bad guy".
