Awesome Ladies

[elle_white]

Riza Hawkeye



carlitwo wanted me to write meta about the amazing Riza Hawkeye. This made very happy!  I've already done
a post about the awesomeness of Lan Fan. I made it a general rule that I choose only one lady from a fandom, because I could very easily go on for ages about ALL the ladies in FMA and a few other series I love. It's always a pleasure to talk about this very complex and amazingly strong lady.

I love Riza's character deeply because she's an adult dealing with decisions she made earlier in her life and actively trying to improve the world.

Someone once said Riza seemed to have a slight incongruity in her personality. That's because Riza is such a dynamic character. The readers learn about her past and see her when she was younger far more innocent. Her cruel and emotionally distant father tattooed the secrets of his alchemy on her back, only letting someone he saw fit look at it. It's was act of abuse and paternalism that left both of them with traumatized and quilt-ridden. Roy's powers were used in the Ishval war to take part in a massacre. However, they both make a conscious decision to move forward together and make amends for their past actions. Riza gains agency in her life and becomes her own person. She grows into a very intelligent and capable person who refuses to blindly obey authority. 

While she is very stoical and may even seem cold at times, she is a deeply compassionate and warm person. This is evident many times throughout the series, especially in her interactions with Winry, Ed and Al.

Riza's a complete badass with firearms, and it an excellent straight woman/unfunny to the dorks she's surrounded by. She questions when Major Armstrong feels the need to remove his shirt, and draws a moustache on Roy's face while remaining completely serious.

Riza is such an amazing and well-developed character to me. Watching both Roy and Riza working through the guilt and trauma from their pasts and determinedly work for a better future is one of the most beautiful and compelling elements of this brilliant series.