Fullmetal Alchemist is a manga series created by Japanese artist Arakawa Hiromu, which started its serialization in Shounen Gangan magazine in August 2001. With a mix of drama, humour, suspense, horror and a bit of romance, this series follows the journey of Edward and Alphonse Elric, as they try to recover what they lost one night when they tried to bring back their mother from the dead via means of alchemy.

Fullmetal Alchemist takes place in a rich complex alternate world, with the country of Amestris at the core of its plot. Belonging to said country's military are Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye, a colonel and first lieutenant respectively. With a goal set before they even crossed paths with the Elric brothers, they're pivotal players in the general plot of the series.

Roy Mustang is a 29 year-old colonel within the National Amestris Army at the start of the manga. He's moreover a national certified alchemist who goes by the codename of Flame Alchemist, due to his ability to control fire by manipulating the concentration of oxygen.

Roy is, above all things, an idealist. A young man whose beliefs made him enter the military to protect his country and help the people who live in it. He also thought alchemy would be a useful tool to make that dream come true someday. Unfortunately, he had of course underestimated the complexity of the world he was living in.

After he was dispatched as a human weapon in an unjust war (or really, a genocide) Roy set his mind on trying to change his country from the inside. And as so he gathered a bunch of trusted comrades who would follow and support him in his crusade.

Riza Hawkeye is also a soldier within the National Amestris Army. Her rank is first lieutenant and she's an incredibly talented sniper, as well as a magnificent all-round officer. She is Roy's right hand woman and it's rare to see one without the other.

Hawkeye is a person that has reinvented herself over the years, a logical measure to protect herself for all the tough times she's had to endure. Almost no one would suspect how the strict no-nonsense first lieutenant was like years ago.

Her father, an incredibly talented although absorved alchemist, died when she was young; leaving her pretty much alone. She entered the military hoping to do some good, but instead was prematurely dispatched to the Ishval War and made into a killer. It wasn't until she officially joined Roy and his cause that she was able to become the person she is today.