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Hail To The Ice Queen! Olivier Mira Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist)

The Ice Queen of Briggs, Olivier Mira Armstrong.

“You bastards are hopeless. Scum like you who observe the battlefield from a safe location…talk about ‘sacrifice’ as if it’s something sublime. You don’t even know the meaning of the word! By the time all of this is over, I might be a hero. But one thing’s certain, I’m not as soft as the ‘Hero of Ishbal’.” (From Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 22, Chapter 90)

Young teenage girls, if you need a anime/manga woman to look up to, look no further than Olivier Mira Armstrong from Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist. She is a headstrong individual and a female who holds a position of extremely high power in the military. What makes her amazing is her mental strength. Major General Armstrong (as she will be called throughout the entry)’s character is a combination of the best emotional & personality aspects of each gender. In essence, she’s the complete package as an individual.

Major General Armstrong is a supporting character who is first introduced midway late in the series in Volume 16. She is the older sister of Major Alex Louis Armstrong. Edward & Alphonse Elric travel to the Northern base of Briggs to enlist the Major General’s help in the search of a young Xing girl named May Chang. They meet the Major General after an intense encounter with her troops. We learn about what makes Major General Armstrong tick as she is a firm believer of “survival of the fittest”. She has very high standards for others as well. What makes her really stand out is her ability to quickly analyze situations and come up with immediate solutions. This is one person who you want to lead or take a upper-management role in your club/group/company.

Major General Armstrong appears confident.

An interesting article I read recently talked about the cultural impact of Barbie commercials and how they are a bad influence with regards to female identity and objectification. The commercials seem to encourage girls to stay passive and non-threatening. Major General Armstrong is a complete antithesis to this. Her toughness & charisma have gathered many supporters around her (and even won the respect of one Fuhrer King Bradley). She represents a woman who doesn’t need to flaunt her looks to succeed. Unfortunately, many of today’s female role models that young girls are supposed to idolize are somewhat questionable. Another thing to point out is that young women are slowly being taught to focus more on looking good than being smart to succeed in society.

Major General Armstrong artwork by Hiromu Arakawa.

Probably the one moment that defines Major General Armstrong is when she kills General Raven, a upper-rank official of the Amestris military, in merciless fashion (Volume 17). She gets him to spill out the plans of the villains and disposes of him afterwards. Armstrong would later appear into the Central branch of the military where she is confronted by the almighty Fuhrer King Bradley. She admits to killing Raven and why she did it, saying it’s terrible to have a loose-lipped fool running around in the military. The Fuhrer commends her and gives her a seat in Central high command. Armstrong would use that to her advantage by taking over the Armstrong house, sending her family away to protect them & to house her men for an opportunity to strike. She shows that she is not intimidated by men who are technically superior in position & power to her.

Wouldn’t it be more enlightening to see more women like Armstrong in real life? It is very alarming to see some girls being taught not to fight back or being held back in today’s world. (I’m looking at you, Afghanistan.)

Finally, there’s one quote from Armstrong that reflects the real world right now. In Volume 16, when asked by Miles, an Ishbalan warrior, on why he should continue fighting alongside her despite his fear of being criticized for his race, she replies:

“Race, ethnicity, gender, class…any type of prejudice on the battlefield can only lead to weakness and an increase in casualties. Briggs is one location that we can’t afford to lose. No matter what happens, no matter who is standing by your side, as long you wear this uniform…you must be prepared to move quickly & decisively as you carry out your superiors’ orders. We must be a SINGLE FORCE! Let nothing weaken our resolve!”

As much as society has made a lot of progress in terms of achieving “equality”, not everyone buys that notion and issues still persist. Humans are inherently selfish and it takes time to convince them to act for others.

Major General Armstrong leads the troops of Briggs.

To all the women out there fighting for their rights, keep on fighting the good fight. Some of us do want the world to be a better place for everyone.

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Tagged: Fullmetal Alchemist Hiromu Arakawa Ice Queen Olivier Mira Armstrong female characters female psychology manga psychology psychology of leadership