An effeminate figure with a dry wit, Envy (Envī?) has the ability to shapeshift. Normally, he uses this power to assume the form of any person and copy their voice, but he has also shown the ability to transform into non-humanoid shapes and change his limbs into blades. Like most other Homunculi, he has strength and agility beyond what his body should be capable of.

He uses attacks ranging from simple punches and kicks to capoeira-like techniques. Envy is most comfortable in the “adorable” form of a young androgynous human. Envy usually serves as an imposter who gathers information unnoticed, using his shapeshifting ability to carry out efficient assassinations. Envy’s favored technique for murdering humans is to impersonate someone the target cares deeply for, and use their natural hesitation as the opportunity to kill them. His Ouroboros mark is located on his left thigh. His English voice actor is Wendy Powell,[2] and the original Japanese voice actor is Mayumi Yamaguchi.[1]

As the oldest Homunculus, Envy claims that he has forgotten what he originally looked like; this is a lie stemming out hatred for his “father”, Hohenheim. This is because Hohenheim was the one who created Envy, trying to bring back his first son (who died because of mercury poisoning at an early age).

Envy hates all humans and follows Dante mostly for the opportunity of killing as many people as he can. This is what drives Envy in all that he does; unlike other Homunculi, Envy does not care about the Philosopher’s Stone, nor about becoming human. His most prominent murder was that of Mäes Hughes: after his cover was blown while he impersonated Second Lieutenant Ross, Envy transformed into Hughes’ wife Gracia, using Hughes’ hesitation to fatally shoot him. Envy was also key in imprisoning Greed, against whom he had a long-standing grudge, within the 5th Laboratory.

It is notable that Envy has no love for his homunculi brethren, antagonising his first “brother”, Greed, and quickly turning upon Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, and even the higher ranked Pride. The only character that even poses the possibility of a close relationship with Envy is Dante, herself. Envy is usually Dante’s enforcer, carrying out her whims more directly than most of the sins, and he is apparently more comfortable in her presance than the others. However, Envy also lashes out at Dante with particular intensity when she impeeds his ambition of death and revenge. Well aware of the power that Dante holds over him, Envy is at once the most uncontrolable and the most reliable member of Dante’s legion.

It is revealed in the penultimate episode that Envy was created four hundred years ago by Hohenheim in an attempt to resurrect the son he and Dante had, who had died from mercury poisoning when he was eighteen years old. Envy holds a great hatred toward Hohenheim for never being acknowledged as his son and for abandoning him and Dante. As a result, he also hates his younger “half-brothers” Edward and Alphonse as they obtained the fatherly love that Envy himself never received. When learning from Dante that Hohenheim is gone, Envy snaps at being denied his wish to kill him. The fact that the Elrics possessed the stone and would gain back all that they had lost makes Envy more bent on making them suffer as he had.

However, Edward manages to see through Envy’s disguises and tricks until the Homunculus reveals his true form (an imitation of Hohenheim’s deceased son with Dante) and his connection to Hohenheim. That stunt is all it takes for Envy to successfully kill Ed. Upon learning Hohenheim was still alive on the other side of the Gate, Envy is able to successfully open and make his way through the doors. When inside the gate, the creatures attack him, but he fights them off by transforming into Edward. By the time he makes his way through to the other side, Envy becomes a serpentine dragon in the process.

During the two year gap between the end of the TV show and the movie, Envy is captured by the Thule Society. With Envy in his massive serpent form, the Society intends to use Envy as a literal Ourobouros to open a physical Gate and transfer their soldiers to the other side, to “Shamballa”. Hohenheim is imprisoned and offered to Envy as a sacrifice; a human chew-toy to keep the “Great Snake” calm as they formulate their plans.

Around the time of Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, Envy escapes, and takes shelter in an abandoned castle only to cross paths with Edward once again. In their ensuing fight, Envy is attacked on all sides by the Thule Society, who recapture him and manage to get a small regiment of soldiers to the other side for a short time. In the end, it is Hohenheim who takes his own life using Envy as his means, enabling Ed to return to his own world in a final act of redemption for his sins, using Envy as material to create a gate between the two worlds. Envy dies, mortified at the irony of his own dissatisfaction with his long-sought revenge, when he passes into the gate, this time unable to shift forms.

wikipedia.org