Roy Mustang - Creation and Conception

Creation and Conception

Before Fullmetal Alchemist started publication, Arakawa had already thought that during the series Mustang and his soldiers would fight against the antagonist Lust. She wanted that fight to be one of Mustang's most impressive scene in the series, so she decided to give him calmer situations before such a fight. Having had only one important scene before his fight against Lust made readers from the series criticize Mustang's appearances; in order to change the readers' opinions about him before the outcome, Arakawa set up the sub-plot of how Maria Ross was accused of killing Maes Hughes and Mustang would intervene there. When King Bradley was revealed to be an antagonist from the series, Arakawa wanted to mark the differences between him and Mustang as while both have subordinates, Mustang is unwilling to sacrifice them unlike Bradley. As an important part for the series, Arakawa had troubles drawing that and is unsure whether the result was good. When the first guidebook of the series was released, Arakawa was surprised by the large number of images featuring Mustang and supposed he was a character "that's easy to mess with." Regarding Mustang's popularity within fans, Arakawa stated that while some consider him good-looking, it is still above average and that he was not too tall. While checking sketches she made before the series, Arakawa comments that most featuring Mustang are comical with few of them showing him with a serious expression. After ending the series, Arakawa was asked by several fans if Mustang and Riza Hawkeye ever got married. She commented that they could not marry as it would result Hawkeye not being able to continue serving Mustang due to military regulations.

In the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime series, Mustang was voiced by Toru Okawa, while in the second anime Okawa was replaced by Shinichiro Miki. In the English dub of the first anime, Mustang was voiced by Travis Willingham. Willingham first auditioned for the part of Mustang after Justin Cook said he would be just right for the role. He also auditioned for Armstrong, but that went to his colleague, Christopher Sabat. Travis also stated that during production, he and Vic Mignogna re-recorded several parts as he was not satisfied with the result.