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Colonel Roi Masutangu is a fictional character from the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series and its adaptations created by Hiromu Arakawa. In the series, Mustang is a State Alchemist of Amestris' State Military, as well as the superior of the series' protagonist, Edward Elric. Mustang holds the title of Honō no Renkinjutsushi for his ability to create fire with alchemy, and he ambitiously strives to become the next leader of Amestris. Despite his ambition, as the series continues, Mustang decides to overthrow the State Military after his best friend, Maes Hughes, is killed by the homunculi, who are controlling the Military.
Besides his appearances in the manga and the anime, Mustang has also been featured in other media for the series, such as Makoto Inoue's , the original video animations and the Fullmetal Alchemist . Since his introduction in the manga series, Mustang has been well received by readers, appearing second in each popularity poll for the series. His character has also received praise in various outside media, with many of them focusing on his character and development in both manga and anime.
Following the death of his best friend, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, Mustang investigates the incident in secret despite the military closing the case after convicting Maria Ross. Trusting in Ross's innocence, Mustang fakes Ross's death and engineers her escape from Amestris. While breaking into a military laboratory, Mustang kills Lust, an immortal creature known as a homunculus, who was investigating his actions and was going to kill subordinates. Recovering from his wounds, Mustang learns that the Führer King Bradley is also a homunculus and tries to expose him to the top echelons of the military. This move costs Mustang and deprives him of his subordinates - Bradley places Hawkeye, Mustang's adjutant, under his command and authorizes the transfer of Mustang's remaining personnel to the far reaches of Amestris.
Mustang is later contacted by General Olivier Armstrong, who is intending to join forces with various troops to attack Central City, the capital of Amestris. He then meets up with his subordinates, and the four attack Central's military while Bradley is gone. Mustang later confronts the homunculus Envy after learning that he was Hughes' true murderer; fueled by rage, Mustang easily defeats Envy. As Mustang prepares to finish Envy off, he is convinced by Hawkeye, Edward, and Scar not to kill him and allow his own thirst for vengeance to consume him. Later, the homunculi attack Mustang, forcing him to use human transmutation to become the fifth human sacrifice needed for their leader. This results in Mustang losing his eyesight as part of the sacrifice, although he continues to fight with Hawkeye to help him direct his attacks. However, after the final fight is over, a former comrade, Tim Marcoh, offers to use a Philosopher's Stone to restore Mustang's eyesight on the condition that he promises that he will be a part of a movement to restore Ishbal. Mustang accepts and is put in charge of the East region as brigadier general.
Forced by Bradley to pursue the Elrics after the Stone's creation, Mustang learns that Bradley is a homunculus and tries to expose him to the top brass of the military by revealing the truth about the Führer's secretary, Juliet Douglas. Mustang also finally comes to the true realization of all the corruption and institution plaguing the military which got Hughes killed in the first place. Edward and Mustang, despite their rocky relationship all this time around, finally repair it, coming to a greater understanding of each other before going their separate ways. Although Bradley intends for him to die in combat during the Northern Campaign, Mustang instead stays in Central, making his move to avenge Hughes. Mustang then moves on to the Führer's mansion and stages his fight. Mustang is only able to defeat Bradley when his son, Selim, unwittingly brings the skull of the man from which the Führer was created and weakens Bradley. As Mustang escapes the Führer's mansion, he is confronted by a maniacal Frank Archer, who shoots him unconscious, losing his left eye in the process. Hawkeye arrives in time to save Mustang's life and kills Archer, after which Mustang is forced to wear an eye patch while temporarily bedridden.
In , Mustang resigns from both alchemy and his rank to become an ordinary enlisted man in a remote outpost. However, when Central is under attack by armies and airships from a parallel universe, Mustang steps up and takes command, using his alchemy to defend Central. Mustang and his comrade Alex Louis Armstrong are able to find a hot-air balloon to reach the airships, where he is reunited with the Elric brothers and helps them gain entry into the airship. Mustang and Alphonse are sad to watch Edward leave for good and destroy the gate on the parallel universe's side, knowing Edward will be trapped there permanently, but Mustang at the last second allows Alphonse to go so he can be with his brother. At the end of the movie, Al says that Mustang and his team are now responsible for destroying the Amestris side of the Gate.
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 commented that most featuring Mustang are comical, with few of them showing him with a serious expression.
In the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime series, Mustang was voiced by Toru Okawa, while in the second anime, Okawa was replaced by Shin-ichiro Miki. In the English dub of the first and second 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, which was cast to Christopher Sabat. Willingham also stated that during production, he and Vic Mignogna re-recorded several parts as he was not satisfied with the result.
Publications of manga, anime, and other media have commented on Mustang's character in both the manga and anime. While reviewing the first volume of the manga, Manga Life found that Mustang's character was more mature in the manga than in the anime. On the other hand, in the review from the first anime's last episodes, Lori Lancaster from Mania Entertainment enjoyed Mustang's relationship with Edward, comparing him to a "teasing and protective older brother". Sakura Eries from the same site noted that Mustang "steals the show" in Volume 10 of the manga, praising his fighting skills during his battle against Lust and Gluttony. Additionally, when Maria Ross was revealed in the same volume to be alive and that she was not killed by Mustang, Eries remarked on his work as leader, taking back her negative comments regarding Mustang when she thought that Mustang really killed her. These sub-plots were also commented by IGN's D. F. Smith, as they expanded Mustang's character much more than in the first anime series, where he had relatively smaller appearances. Lydia Hojnacki from PopCultureShock noted Mustang's character as one of the reasons she likes the series, noting his personality and relation with the Elric brothers. When he watched , Anime News Network writer Theron Martin mentioned that when Mustang "makes his dramatic return in a cheer-out-loud moment", he remarked the audience "went wild at that point". In IGN's review of the same film, Jeremy Mullin commented that he wanted to see Mustang's counterpart from Germany, as several characters from the series had their counterparts, but then said "it does make it fun imagining what" he would be. David Smith from the same site cited his role and ambitions in the first anime series in the feature "Ten Things I Learned From Fullmetal Alchemist", which had comments on his flaws.
In "Social Communication Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist: Stylistic Nuances of the Comic Book" I. Lenczowska refers to Mustang as a parallel to the Elrics due to how both refer to a close individual whom they know for a long time; In Mustang's case it is Hawkeye as they met before the Ishvalan Civil War which heavily affected their personalities.
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