Van Lucifer

Van Lucifer (ヴァン・ルシファー, Van Rushifā), also referred to as "Father" (お父様, Otō-sama) by his "children"; the other homunculi, is the fictional character and one of the central antagonists of the Dante's Alchemist series. He is oldest Homunculus and the progenitor of the Homunculi, creating them directly or indirectly. Arrogant and self-righteous, he deems only power over and ownership of the world, "perfect goodness and being", and "divine order" worthy of his attention, and he seeks to become absolutely "superior" to the human race. One of his outward looks bears a striking resemblance to Van Hohenheim.

"Father" was created from the essence of the Eye (with some of Hohenheim's blood mixed in), and thus Father's shadowy actual form greatly resembles the Eye. "Father" inherited much knowledge from the Eye, and, when it comes to amount, only those of the Eye and Truth exceed his knowledge.

"When you see an insect lying on the ground, do you stop to consider it a fool? The life of an insect is so beneath you that it would be a waste of your time to even consider judging it. That would be an accurate summation of my feelings towards you humans."
 * —Van Lucifer.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Steven Blum (English), Not Known (Japanese), Not Known (French), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (German), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Portuguese)
 * Voice Actor (Dwarf): Kent Williams (English), Iemasa Kayumi (Japanese), Not Known (French), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (German), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Portuguese)

Appearance
In his weakened form, after most of the stone that is its core is destroyed, Lucifer is a small round mass of black gas with a single eye, a wide toothy mouth, and tendril-like arms, making him resemble the Eye of Truth from inside the Gate (This might be because Father was created from the entity's essence). He wasn't able to perform alchemy while inside the flask, but was able to teach it to the people of Xerxes.

Due to his limitation of Hohenheim's body in Xerxes, Lucifer's first second human form looks identical in appearance to Hohenheim, excluding hair and skin color, hairstyle, clothing, a few additional wrinkles, and a lack of glasses. Hohenheim has referred to this form as nothing more than a human-like husk that Lucifer uses to hide his true appearance.

During his battle with Hohenheim, Hohenheim gains the upper hand in the battle. However, after Father goes into a quick change, his "second form" looks much like a younger version of Hohenheim. Also, despite looking so young, he keeps the voice of his second form.

In its true form, Lucifer is an ancient, muscular, supernaturally tall, humanoid-like monster with black skin, bat or dragon-like wings on his back, and had several glowing scars around his body. He had glowing red/orange/yellow eyes, multiple large upward spikes on his head. He wore an bronze/gold armlet on his right arm in the shape of a serpent and his legs appeared to be those of a goat (Similar to a Satyr). He also is tremendously endowed.


 * Hair Color: White/yellow (Human), Black (True Form)
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Not Known
 * Age: 450+ years old (Deceased)
 * Birthday: Not Known
 * Height: Not Known
 * Weight: Not Known

Personality
Lucifer's original personality when he was known as the Dwarf in the Flask is more human-like and beautifully charismatic than when compared to his later self. His later self is stated by Hohenheim to be much more stoic and lifeless, the reason being that he had supposedly purged himself of the seven vices (this "purging" seems to have been incomplete, since he acts in sinful manners that reflect the seven vices). He is dark and foreboding. During his first meeting with the Elric brothers and Ling Yao, Father shows a somewhat comical, lighter side to his personality, similar to that of Hohenheim, but almost immediately after switches back to his very serious demeanor.

Lucifer is also cold, pitiless and believes that everyone around him are nothing but tools to be used as part of his plans. The only exceptions to this may be his thirteen Homunculi "children", as Hohenheim had stated during their battle that one of the reasons he and Dante had created them in the first place was because he wanted a family of his own, hence his title of Father. The Homunculi personalities vicariously reveal more about Lucifer, since, as he tells Greed himself, they were born out of his own vices, as well as the subconscious emotions that drove them, and everything they feel he has felt himself. This is particularly true of Greed, Envy, and Pride. Greed's desire for possessions was really an attempt to escape the loneliness and desire for close friends he felt deep down, whilst Envy's grandiose hatred of humans covered up a deep-seated inferiority complex and envy of humans, particularly their sense of emotional intimacy, and Pride's great disdain of the human race covers a certain lack of self-reverence. These revelations suggest that deep down, part of what Father wanted to purge was his own unbearable loneliness and jealousy that humans had each other for social, emotional, and physical support whilst he was originally the only Homunculus on Earth. Since he could not be like or part of the human race, and since he feels done with the sickening social deprivation he suffered through for what he felt was too long a time, he resolved to break free of the flask that prevented him from having physical contact with people, and to shun all the "burdensome" feelings he previously desired- longing for experiencing intimate physical and familial companionship with other people- as "inferior" by going for what he deems infinitely greater- the power to chaotically abolish the physical laws imposed upon everything.

His thirst for power seems to be the only thing more important to him other than himself, noted when he does not hesitate to abandon his Homunculus "son" Pride in exchange for resupplying his Philosopher's Stone or to absorb one into his body to resupply it. Also, though he considers the Homunculi to be his children, he never expressed grief for any of their demises. Unlike Lust or Envy, Lucifer has also stated that he feels no hatred or contempt towards humans. He confesses to Edward that he merely sees humans as nothing more than stepping stones for himself, explaining his outright indifference towards them.

Despite his normally calm, brooding personality, he is shown to be extremely excited when his plans finally come together, showing a wicked, gleefully evil side to his personality, as he was giggling with delight as the nationwide transmutation circle took affect. When outside of his human container and revealing his true form, he is often seen with a wicked grin.

Lucifer claims that Truth (the consciences of alchemists) is a personal God, and since Father considers himself perfectly good, he also thinks that God is on his side. Lucifer's extremely personal interpretations of Truth's works have a logical flaw, according to Edward Elric.

Back when he had his original, mortal form in the flask, he had a much more charismatic personality to him. "Full of human emotions", as Hohenheim notes, before he "purged" out his cardinal sins. When confronted by Hohenheim about this, Lucifer reveals that the thirteen Homunculi were only created so he would become a perfect being. Ultimately, in his final moments, Lucifer's motivation is revealed to be freedom from the laws of the universe itself.

Family

 * Dante (wife; deceased)
 * King Bradley/Pride (adopted son)
 * Treachery ("son")
 * Heresy ("daughter")
 * Lust ("daughter")
 * Anger ("daughter")
 * Greed ("son")
 * Juliet Douglas/Sloth ("daughter")
 * Violence ("son")
 * Fraud ("son")
 * Envy ("son")
 * Wrath ("son")
 * Gluttony ("son")
 * Limbo ("son")

Weakened Appearance
He wasn't able to perform alchemy while inside the flask, but was able to teach it to the people of Xerxes.

First Human Appearance
He is normally seen in the cavity beneath Central in which he and the Homunculi reside, sitting on a stone or cement throne with numerous pipes leading to it. The throne itself also has a physical connection to him, which can be unattached from him via pipes directly protruding from his spine. He uses the pipes to spread the Philosopher's Stone beneath the nation of Amestris. The purpose behind this is to act as a barrier between the tectonic energy of the earth's crust, where Amestrian Alchemy gets its energy from, so that he can stop others from using Alchemy at any time. Doing this, however, has aged his body slightly more than Van Hohenheim, who still looks identical from the time of Xerxes. This process, however, can be countered by a "Reverse Transmutation Circle", which is a concept Scar's brother had figured out by combining Xingese Alkahestry and Alchemy practices. Alkahestry was unaffected by Father's barrier because Alkahestry uses energy from the Earth's chi instead, which allows Scar and Mei Chang to continue using their alchemy even when Father blocks Amestrian Alchemy.

Father's body is created by and contains the Philosopher's Stone that came from half of the souls of the human population of Xerxes (however, he later gave parts of it to create the other Homunculi). Due to this, he is able to perform alchemy without drawing a transmutation circle, clapping his hands together, or even moving at all.

Original Appearance
Due to the countless sacrifices, Lucifer managed to absorb the entity beyond the gate and now has the "power of God" within him with the Amestrian souls he absorbed keeping it in check. He can now almost completely defy natural order (or, in Lucifer's words, "do anything"). He can manipulate energy and matter to their full extent, turn anything into anything at any scale and create any force at any magnitude.

He retains his form and the powers that go with it even after having lost the Amestrians' souls, but as he lacks the strength to keep "God" inside his new body, the new power is too much of a strain on him, and as of chapter 107, it renders him vulnerable to counterattack. Reflecting this, Lucifer's appearance deteriorates as the fight goes on: his skin and hair losing their color, pronounced veins appearing across his body, and eventually his face losing almost all human resemblance.

Chapter 106 also revealed that Lucifer now has the ability to create bodies for the souls inside his Philosopher's stone. However, in the manga, these beings are not well-made and start to fall apart moments after they were created. Lucifer used this ability to distract his enemies so he could unleash a devastating attack.

Notes & Trivia

 * Lucifer's original flask-bound form was most likely inspired by real life concepts of Homunculi. Supposedly, if an alchemist was successful in creating such a being, he was to keep it inside of a glass flask for a certain period of time, as it would die in its "infancy" stage outside of it. Lucifer's evolved monster-us form and its giant incarnation could be a play on the "Homunculus argument" fallacy.
 * Lucifer and Envy from the 2003 anime share several similarities, as both have some sort of previous affiliation with Hohenheim, being created by him. The two were considered the first Homunculi in their respective storylines, being approximately 400 years old. It is also interesting to note that Pride's original form resembles Lucifer's fourth form, with both looking like younger versions of Hohenheim.
 * Though it's stated numerous times that Lucifer has expelled all of his sins, it's interesting to note he acts in a way similar to that of the sins: He desires for becoming a perfect being (Lust); devours souls with no self-control (Gluttony); seeks power at all costs (Greed); prefers to let others do his bidding for him while being incredibly incompetent and doing little to nothing to further his own goals over hundreds of years (Sloth); feels anger towards any opposition, principally Hohenheim (Wrath); has a desire for a family like humans (Envy); views humans as "ants" (Pride). However, given the general vagueness of these behaviors, as well as his dispassionate demeanor compared to both prior to the creation of and after the death of the homunculi, seems to imply that he did get himself purged of his sins.
 * Indeed, the process of rejecting his sins is hinted by the Truth to be the reason for his malevolence.
 * He's told Greed that anything he wanted was desired by him first, meaning that Greed's desire for friends was so mething Lucifer desired but expelled because he thought it was weakness.
 * His largely prideful-seeming nature may be a reference to pride being the "father of all sins", though it's easy to argue that his biggest sin is sloth rather than pride.
 * When Lucifer succeeded in opening the Gate, he emerged from the ground in a much larger form of himself. This massive form of Father is exactly the same as his previous form yet his body is slightly altered. He is much thinner, showing what looks like a rib cage, a more muscular body, the multitude of eyes and wide grins that were on his previous form are gone, and he now has one large, bulging eye on his forehead.
 * Lucifer's image bears a striking resemblance with the image concept of God as an old man with robes in multiple religions. Ironically, the nature and symbolism of his origin, methods, and goals actually makes him the closest analogue the Dante's Alchemist franchise has to Satan. Dr. Tim Marcoh referring to the Philosopher's Stone as "the Devil's research" is found to hint at this when it turns out that Lucifer is responsible for the first stones ever created and seeks to achieve "godhood" by further powering his own stone with souls.
 * Lucifer's voice actor in both the Japanese and English version also narrates the anime. They can be heard previewing the next episode and at the beginning of the first few episodes where they briefly explain the concept of alchemy to the viewers.
 * Lucifer's English voice actor also voiced Majhal from the 2003 anime.
 * In the anime, before Lucifer gets sucked back to the Gate (while in his fourth appearance), he loses both of his arms (the other arm was lost when he destroyed Greed), unlike in the manga where he only loses one arm and one leg, ironically mirroring what happened to Ed at the beginning of the story.
 * Lucifer is the character with the greatest amount of changes in terms of increasing his own capacities, due to his numerous transformations.
 * In the original Japanese version of Brotherhood, when Lucifer is in his "old man" form, he sounds like he's struggling to pronounce certain words, and talks at a very slow pace, when he's in his original form, he speaks much more fluently.
 * Truth's ultimate punishment for Lucifer seems poetic: by letting the Eye of God drag him back into the Eye, they let Lucifer become as high as God in some senses whilst stripping Lucifer completely of the freedom he cherished.
 * In the manga, Lucifer's eyes in his fourth form are dark purple and, like those of Envy, Lust and Greed, have slit pupils. In the anime, they are golden with round pupils like Edward's, possibly to further imitate Hohenheim's appearance. Also, Lucifer's second human appearance wears sandals in the manga whereas in the anime he appears barefoot.
 * Before meeting the Elric brothers for the first time, Lucifer and Hohenheim's actions are coordinated very specifically to match up in the manga, leaving it ambiguous if he and Hohenheim are indeed the same person. Despite basing itself wholly on the manga, the anime does not include any of these scenes.
 * When Lucifer is sucked back into the Gate, it could almost be seen as comical that such a tiny creature was responsible for the entire plot of the story.
 * Since each of the Homunculi he created were partially made of his soul in an attempt to cleanse himself of his sins, a part of him is still alive due to Pride never being fully destroyed.
 * This could possibly hint that Lucifer may be able to possibly be reborn or recreated through Pride. Though because he was banished back into the Gate from where he originated, it is unclear if this could actually happen.
 * The Gate that Father appears in front of is completely blank.
 * This could possibly signify that a Homunculus can't use alchemy normally.
 * Considering the gate seems to portray a different alchemic symbol (such as Mustang's transmutation circle) between alchemists, it may also be seen to represent Lucifer's status as a being originating from the gate itself.
 * This could also signify Father, as the Truth stated that Lucifer "stole his powers from others", and thus never had any real power of his own.
 * The gate could also represent what they had learned, as truth stated that Lucifer "stole his power from others", this might imply that since Lucifer only stole and never learned anything, his Gate was blank.