Solf J. Kimblee - The Psychopathic Realist (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

I get the feeling that kimblee’s nihilism comes out not so much as “nothing matters, so why?” as opposed to “nothing matters, so why not?”

One of the things I liked most about Kimblee is that while he may have been a monster he was NEVER a hypocrite.

A guy like Kimblee would make a great lawyer.

How fitting that the philosopher's stone would be given to the show's biggest philosopher.

May i just add that he dresses classy, even better then the rest of the cast?

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: an anime so great you can write a doctoral thesis on on one of its side characters, alone.

"The one thing worse than death is to avert your eyes from it. Look straight at the people you kill, don't take your eyes off them for a second, and don't ever forget them. Because I promise that they won't forget you." I still get shivers from that line. Between that and him absolutely slam dunking on Hawkeye, I don't think I've ever seen the heroes get such an ideological beatdown from a villain.

I actually did a psychological analysis of Kimblee back in college for a term paper. Ended up with an A on the paper. He truly is a fascinating character!

1:14 “Blind Ambition” Shows video of a blind Mustang...... well played

7:49 And I just realized how Mustang never looked away from Lust and Envy when he was incinerating them to death...

I normally hate psychotic characters, since most of them feel hypocritical in attempting to justify their own cynicism, anger, and misanthropy. Kimblee, however, is none of those. He's a genuine observer who acts with absolute conviction and really points out some harsh truths about the world and its people. The scenes with Riza and Pride really stand out to me in that regard because both of them ring true. For that, he's definitely one of my favorite characters in Brotherhood.

Something I feel you missed is the opposite of Kimblee's disdain of hypocrisy: Kimblee feels a great deal of admiration for those who stick to their guns and don't deviate, such as Winrey's parents, Ed and Al, and Scar, even if he feels that those same morals are stupid and likely to get those characters killed. He frequently points this out to Ed about his conviction to never kill, especially right before blowing him up. In his last scene though, he shows that he knows Ed very well by telling Pride that Ed would not kill him, even as Pride is panicking over being killed. He even tells Winrey that he deeply admired her parents when they were treating Ishvalans even as they were supposed to be exterminating them. It is very much like Kimblee to not tell her that he was not sent to rescue them but to kill them, despite, or because of, that same admiration.

I think Kimblee did have genuine respect for the Rockbells. He takes great issue with people who are hypocrites when it serves their purposes and naive about the world. The Rockbells never betrayed their convictions as doctors to help those who need helping, despite the escalation of the conflict and the dangers that it posed to them. Whilst Kimblee clearly has no problem massacring innocents, he’s never shown to be outwardly hostile to the idea of helping others. He shows a similar respect to Edward when he saves him from Pride, acknowledging that Edward has stayed true to his conviction not to kill and thus earning Kimblee’s respect.

Psychotic characters don't feel developed and deep since we all just consider them psychotic but sometimes when they are written well there's an entire sea underneath just waiting to be explored

Kimblee’s perspective is very similar to a quote from The Joker “You see their moral code... it’s a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble, they’re only as good as The World allows them to be. I’ll show you, when the chips are down these so-called... civilized people... they’ll eat each other. You see... I’m not a monster... I’m just ahead of the curve... You have all these rules and you think they’ll save you.”

Pride: throws away his pride Kimblee: I’m about to end this mans whole career

I feel like his "Look them in the eyes and remember them because they won't forget you" line is very respectful. The reason why I think that Kimblee is so amazing is because, until the very end, he stays true to his believes. Also, can we all admit how, if not for him, Pride would win against Ed? And that wave of the hat as he fades away? Talk about being a savage.

Solf J. Kimblee is the type of character I love. A character who isn't bound to traditional thought or ideals and carves his own path, but loves to test those ideals in himself and those around him whenever he gets the chance. The only other character who gave me the same chilling vibes is the Major from Hellsing.

One scene that always stood out to me was when Kimblee said Ed doesn't have the resolve to kill, and Ed responses that he has the resolve not to kill, Kimblee doesn't dispute this, it looks as though he respects it.