Winry Rockbell - Appearances

Appearances

Winry's first appearance in the manga is when the Elric brothers return to Risembool in order to ask Winry and Pinako to create another automail for Edward's right arm after it was destroyed by the criminal Scar. Winry is portrayed in the series as kind, optimistic, and sincere, acting as a concerned family member to the Elrics in their company. She had known Edward and Alphonse since childhood. In the story, she was orphaned at a young age when her parents were killed while serving as doctors in the Ishbal war. She lived with her grandmother in Risembool from then on. Known as an "Automail Otaku", she is fascinated by any and all types of machines, tools, and excels in building and repairing automail. Along with her grandmother, Pinako, also a famous automail engineer, the two run a small shop out of their home. They made and installed Edward's automail arm and leg after he lost his original limbs in a failed human transmutation of his mother. Winry takes it upon herself to make sure that his automail is in top form travels to service them when it is needed. In the first anime series, it is hinted that Winry and Edward share romantic feelings for each other, but this is never confirmed. In the manga and second anime series, Winry eventually realizes that she loves Edward and has for most of her life. After three all-nighters, she forgets to add parts to Edward's automail and so it breaks after one of his fights. Winry goes to Central City to fix Edward's automail.

While the Elrics continue their search for the Philosopher's Stone, Winry accompanies them to Rush Valley. There she meets a pickpocket named Paninya. They become friends because Winry is interested in her automail legs and Winry convinces her to try to earn her money honestly. Winry also meets the family of Dominic, an automail engineer, and when Dominic's daughter-in-law goes into labor, Winry successfully delivers her baby. She asks to be Dominic's apprentice, but is refused both because Dominic doesn't take apprentices and because he has an unexplained past with her grandmother, Pinako, and is terrified of her. He introduces her to another engineer named Garfiel, who happily takes her on. Some time later, Winry returns with the Elrics to Central Headquarters and finds that their friend Maes Hughes was murdered. When the Elrics confront the criminal Scar once again to get closer to the Philosopher's Stone, Winry discovers during the fight that Scar killed her parents. She points a gun at Scar, but Ed jumps in front of her and pins the gun down. She's distressed that she couldn't bring herself to shoot, but Ed reassures her that her hands aren't meant to kill, but are meant for saving lives. After Scar escapes, Winry returns to Rush Valley, deciding that since she has customers that depend on her, she needs to do her best for them and is therefore glad she was unable to shoot. She asks Ed and Al not to die, and Ed tells her the next time he makes her cry they will be tears of joy. After this, she realizes she has been in love with him.

Winry is used as a hostage by the military to gain Edward's obedience. State Alchemist Solf J. Kimblee tricks Winry into coming to North Headquarters, saying that Edward's automail needs maintenance, but really just to use her as a hostage. The Elrics are forced to capture Scar for the military, but Winry later bandages him as she thinks her parents would do. In order to both evade the military so she can no longer be used against the Elrics and secure freedom for her allies, she decides to pretend to be Scar's hostage to cover her group's escape. After staying in Liore for a short time, Winry is taken on a military train back into Resembool in a water tank. When she goes into her house, she finds Ed in her room, who tells her to leave the country, but she refuses. Two years after the Elrics return to Resembool, Winry and Edward confess their feelings to each other and both are seen in the epilogue holding their children.