Ok so like...I was thinking about where Lust would fall on a power scale of all the characters and it occurred to me that Envy is...not good at fighting.
Envy relies primarily on trickery and shapeshifting, but they're really outclassed by some of the better fighters (Lan Fan for instance) and also seems to underutilize the potential of shapeshifting? "Oh noes I'm losing better go leviathan mode" but like
morph a bear. lion. heck they've morphed a horse in the manga and I know that could do some serious damage by itself! And Envy's used shapeshifting in battle before - they turned their arm into a snake to choke Ling for instance.
Anyway has anyone imagined Mustang vs Bear Envy because now I can't get it out of my head
Iâm so glad someone else thought of this too! Especially in the final fight with Mustang, Envy had *just* consumed a bunch of Mannequins and would have the power of all of their Philosopherâs Stones, Envy should be so much more powerful?
Envy must be so used to people falling for their emotional or mental manipulation that they are not used to having to endure long combat. Envy not being a good fighter doesnât fit right to me and I think youâve explained whyâyouâre canonically correct, theyâre bad at fighting. But their abilities should let them be far better!
Someone else mentioned elsewhere that it is a running problem in various stories that shapeshifting abilities are underused by writers, so Iâm curious if this was a conscious or subconscious choice in the story. Does Envy rely too much on mind games? Were they used to Lust being the killer most times and not practiced doing it themself?
The best example for this is in the final fight with Roy Mustang. Envy had JUST consumed a bunch of mannequins and should thus have the power of several Philosopherâs Stones. How come they were so easily defeated then?
It does seem like part of it could be Envyâs frustration and anger making them arrogant and sloppy in their fighting again (weâve seen it before), but after the first few flame attacks, wouldnât they adjust? They barely shapeshifted during the fight.
Mustangâs flames would become a problem in close quarters since he himself isnât fireproof (as far as Iâm aware), and weâve seen Envy transform their arm into a sword before. If they cut Mustangâs hand or elsewhere to distract him or even remove a glove, the fight could have been so different.
Even in the running away, Envy could have changed into a mouse to hide, a predator with fangs, or really any other animal to run away. They would have easily outpaced Mustang then and gotten away.
Was Envy really in such a space they wouldnât think to transform into anything else? Even with fight or flight triggered, theyâve been around for over 200 years and shapeshift CONSTANTLY, how would they forget? They had the energy for at least one change (pretending to be Roy), so being tired doesnât explain it.
It just felt off to me how easily Envy was beat with their abilities. Lust couldnât run away and was cornered by Roy. Envy wasnât and had tons of energy. So why were the end results so similar?




















