Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a complex, thematically deep and intellectually engaging shonen anime series where every last detail is carefully thought out and has meaning in the narrative, even the apparent running jokes such as protagonist Edward Elric's height. Edward is often teased for being the shorty state alchemist, but there's more to it than that.
Edward Elric is no ordinary boy, from his automail arm and leg to his goofy ahoge hair feature and even his height, which is a closely guarded secret for the character. So, anime fans want to know just how tall Edward actually is and how his height represents his personal growth throughout the story of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
Edward Elric's Height & What It Means
Edward keeps his exact height a secret in the main story of Fullmetal Alchemist and even in the original manga's bonus comics, but by now, the truth has come out. Edward Elric is 4 feet 11 inches tall, making him shorter than the supposedly average anime character height of 160 centimeters, or 5 feet 3 inches.
Edward is even shorter than Demon Slayer's Kamado Nezuko and My Hero Academia's petite villain Toga Himiko, although at least he is taller than the tiny Mineta Minoru, the Grape Juice hero. Edward is shorter than almost any other Fullmetal Alchemist character, but while his petite status is the source of his tsundere-style temper tantrums, Edward must realize that his height is partially his fault, and his brother Alphonse should actually be grateful.
When Edward and Alphonse attempted human transmutation, Ed lost his left leg while Alphonse lost his entire body, so Edward sacrificed his right arm to translate Al's soul and bind it to a suit of armor. What Ed didn't know at the time was that Alphonse's body was still alive, being watched over by the distant Truth, and Al's organic body needed nourishment. Ed and Al were connected via alchemy and the truth, and Ed's body had to sustain not just itself, but Al's body as well, which put a strain on Ed's body.
This resulted in Ed's stunted growth and his constant fatigue, with Alphonse noticing that Ed spent a lot of time asleep. Later, Edward was overjoyed to hear about this theory, and he predicted that if Al got his body back, Ed's own growth would resume and he could finally become taller. And he was proven right after he defeated the villainous Father and got Al's body back.
When Edward Elric Grew Taller
Even before Edward transmuted Alphonse's body during the climax of Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward started growing taller as the series progressed, and it was all for symbolic reasons. At first, Edward was noticeably shorter than his childhood friend Winry Rockbell, who was about 5 feet, 2 inches, but as Ed continued his journey and became wiser, he grew taller, and he was soon on eye level with Winry, showing his progress.
Ed was growing up as a person, and he got taller to match his progress in becoming a humble and wise young man, not just an angry boy with a metal arm. Edward even learned to cooperate with the vengeful monk Scar and get along with the reborn homunculus Greed, while also learning the truth of Father's plans and the reality of Amestris. Ed was forced to rapidly grow up in just a few months, so his physical height changed to reflect that.
By the series' end, Edward was definitely taller than his love interest Winry, and he and Alphonse were both tall, burly young men during the sequel, set a few years after Father's downfall. At that time, Edward had not only grown in height but also in general appearance, ditching his colorful shonen hero outfit for more respectable gentleman's clothes, complete with a suitcase.
In particular, Ed had come to resemble his late father Hohenheim, who often dressed in a similar manner, and Ed changed his braided ponytail to a looser one to boost his similarity to his father. Now, Ed is the new Van Hohenheim -- a humble, wise and generous man who is no longer the short and hot-tempered youth everyone once knew him to be. Edward had moved on to a new and better phase of his life, and he had the height to prove it.
