Sōsuke Yao

Sōsuke Yao (搜速客堯, Yáo Sōsuke), born to the Elric family né Yiannis Elric, is a drifter from Xing and one of its strongest masters of Alkahestry. He is also well-known as one of Amestris's strongest Alchemy masters. He has traveled the world in hopes of researching and developing new Alchemy and Alkahestry skills, as well as learning more about the Gate and the being known as Truth.

Appearance
Sōsuke, ironically, has a somewhat ragged appearance. He has wavy black scholarly hair, that is parted down the middle. Some find this hair color strange, since his brother Hohenheim has blonde hair. He has a light black fuzz, located around his chin area. Madara commented that Sōsuke has a droopy, depressed look to his facial expression, despite his personality strongly contradicting this claim. He is shown to wear glasses, though he claims that his eyesight "hasn't failed him quite yet." Making reference to his moniker, Sōsuke wears a white robe kept on by scroll-like obi that go down his shoulders; the entire attire almost like that of a japanese noblemen.

Personality
Sōsuke, in the eyes of many, is often shown as comical and naive when in regards to current events, social conversation, and even in the heat of battle. However, this is almost devastatingly false. Evident from his famed moniker, Sōsuke is a man of few words, and yet, those few words hold great importance to those whom he addresses. Madara explained that Sōsuke was not someone to do things without reason, applying to both his words and actions. Despite not being loyal to any one nation, Sōsuke held his faith in the next generation, and wanted to learn all he could in the hopes of passing it all on. Sōsuke is often shown as serious and calm, but with a friendly air about him. He is not above breaking the tense atmosphere in order to promote prevention of provacation; this being shown most often in battle. It should also be noted that Sōsuke does not credit the idea of survival of the fittest; rather believing that if one is to worry about only oneself, in times of peril where one's skill is not enough, they will be damned to defeat, or worse, death. Sōsuke strictly kept himself beyond the traits of arrogance, self-importantance and greed. Despite this fact, however, Sōsuke was quite aware of the fact that his knowleddge outmatched many of those around him and would not hesitate to remind others of this fact, if the situation demanded it.

He typically acts in a goofy, energetic and fun-loving manner; being able to cheer up even the depressed at times. While on the surface, he acts in such a ridiculous manner, this merely masks his true personality. Sōsuke appears to act mostly out of self-interest rather than any sort of philanthropy. Sōsuke is expertly manipulative and prone to think several steps ahead of those around him, giving him a remarkable talent for making subordinates act exactly as he wishes despite appearing not to have had a hand in their decisions. However, while these traits do have a place in his real personality, much of his outward persona can perhaps be considered an intentional facade perfectly designed to cause those unfamiliar with him to underestimate his remarkable intelligence and ability. At the core, he is a remarkably devoted commander whose primary focus and personal duty is to his friends and family. Though he hides it well behind a veil of cynicism and self-importance, Seireitou is a man who cares deeply about the people who trust and support him and goes to great lengths to ensure their safety and well-being, even at the risk of his own. As a man with considerable power, Sōsuke considers himself a protector to those without and acts accordingly, earning the staunch loyalty of his most trusted compatriots.

Sōsuke also has the reputation of being an incorrigible womanizer, and it's said he spends much of his time cavorting about visiting towns with various women and wooing several of the servicewomen with his abundant charm, good looks and charisma. This adds another facet to his unpopularity among Amestris men, many of whom have had their sweethearts and crushes romanced away from them by his hand.

Abilities
Sōsuke is revealed to have considerable power and knowledge, despite not much being known about him. It seems that he was behind the training of current Führer King Roy Mustang, as well as the snapping technique used in Mustang's flame alchemy. Sōsuke has a talent for analyzing everything, to the point where he claims that nothing ever surprises him anymore. He is quick to perceive a person's true nature and abilities simply by watching them for a mere minute, and ends up being perfectly correct almost every time. During fights, he easily observes his opponent and accurately sees through their abilities without losing his calm state, then he correctly chooses the most effective means and techniques to counter them. Also, his resolution enables him to pick strategies in which he requires getting hurt in order to defeat the enemy, thereby showing tremendous endurance and willpower. Sōsuke has also demonstrated tremendous knowledge in regards to human physiology, as displayed by his ability to affect a person's organ system; presumed to be very useful in Sōsuke's Alkahestry.

Combat Alchemy
As a result of having passed through The Gate and witnessing the Truth, Sōsuke became one of the few alchemists who do not require a drawn Transmutation Circle to perform alchemical transmutations. He does this by two different methods; one, by snapping, which he passed onto his student Mustang. He can use this method to manipulate the concentration of oxygen in the surrounding air, raising its density to a level at which it becomes combustible and creating pathways of oxygen through which he can direct the ensuing flame birthed by the spark. The "snap" sound is caused by the instantaneous speed at which the gases and sparks react together and pop (not his fingers actually "snapping", to common belief).

The second method, although used less commonly, is clapping. With this quick style, Sōsuke becomes a master of his surroundings and uses the substances therein to supplement his physical prowess in battle - creating giant earthen hands to lift objects, columns of stone to gain himself the higher ground and dragon-faced battering rams with which to strike opponents. His personal favorite is creating large rock dragons, resembling an asian-style dragon, which can be used to ascend to high elevations or even to escape a wide-range attack. Another common usage of this is creating a sound-based barrier which can repel most of alchemy-based attacks. He can even convert this barrier into an offensive weapon, being able to direct the sound ripples toward a particular direction.

Healing Alkahestry
Sōsuke is by far the most knowledgeable on health-related matters in all of Xing, and even in Amestris. This was acheived by his master-level prowess in Alkahestry. He had shown a unique technique to use the life within plants as an equivalent exchange for healing injuries and even broken bones or torn ligiments.

Martial Arts
Using perfect fluid motion to defeat his opponents, Sōsuke is known to be a master of martial arts. His techniques stem from the teachings of Tai Chi, Aikido, and Taekkyeon. He sometimes will combine spinning kicks with his flames, which can allow for redirection of the flames as well as the chance to change the range. The process is so fast, it appears as if the flames appear directly from Sōsuke's feet. However, he begets using direct violence, and will usually use Aikido to drive the force of the opponent away, instead of openly confronting it. It can be said that this ideology could stem from his native mastery of Alkahestry, which is meant for healing and defense, and never for offense.

Quotes

 * (To Lucius Madison) ''"The reason why an Alchemist learns Alchemy is to seek spiritual understanding. Humans have always been violent. It is our predetermined nature. An Alchemist understands this﻿ and seeks a peaceful resolution through Alchemy in order to invoke true understanding. The true scientist carries a sense of responsibility. This is born, not out of fear of the world, but in hopes of coexisting with its natural form. Your comment is a reflection of fear and ignorance. You are obviously not an Alchemist."

Behind the Scenes
Sōsuke's birthname, Yiannis, is the Greek reading of the name Yanni, which happens to be my real name. Ideas for Sōsuke were inspired by the upcoming movie, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, as well as existing Fullmetal Alchemist characters, Hohenheim Elric and Roy Mustang.