WOAH, I wasn't even thinking he lost his hands...! That's a creepy thought. But, I'm pretty sure that creepy guy was the "sacrifice" that opened the Gate. Pride came down and dropped the creepy guy into the middle of the transmutation circle, and it all went kablooey. So I'm pretty sure he was the sacrifice, and Roy just needed to bleed a bit, like Ed and Al did when they attempted human transmutation.

But just for the sake of discussion... If he had automail hands, he wouldn't need to snap: he could do a flint-and-steel sort of thing. Wow, that's a really awesome idea...! and both Roy and Ed having automail would make their relationship really interesting... *plotbunnies churning*

I think it was more of Bradly or Pride that opened the gate and Bradly had the Philosphers stone so I don't think either of them would lose anything. Right now I don't think they want damage Roy in any way because thn they couldn't use him as their sacrifice.

Still, if he had two automail hands I don't see why he couldn't still do alchemy. It doesn't seems to make any difference for Al and he doesn't have any flesh:)

I wondered if Roy would lose anything too, but then I remembered that bradly had the stone, so I don't he's going to lose anything. But if he did lose his hands I don't think he could do clap fire because he'd still need a spark to start the fire. Unless he can transmute sparks too, then bravo lol.

I was wondering, am I the only one who doesn't want to see Roy vs. Wrath? I'm way more interested in seeing Greed fighting Wrath, seeing has Wrath killed off some of original Greed's men and was pretty much the reason Ran Fan cut her own arm off. But they already had a fight, so it probably won't happen again. :( Plus roy killed lust and almost envy stop hogging all the glory plz thx

No way, I'm for Olivia vs Wrath! Now she has motive, too, because he killed Buccaneer. Sword fight to the death! What could be better? And yeah, that bastard Mustang is always stealing all the glory! Forget him! ARMSTRONG FOR FÜHRER!! ^______^

Seconded!

Holy crap, YES. I hadn't thought about it, but Olivia taking him down would be EPIC.

Al manages perfectly fine to use alchemy without any hands at all (or, in fact, any flesh), so I can't see how it would be a problem if Roy had two automail hands. It's just a case of completing the circle.

Well, technically, it's more than just completing the circle... he also has to create a spark. Once he has a spark, he can control the fire with his alchemy, but he can't just create fire out of nothing. That's why he used Havoc's lighter in the fight with Lust, because he'd lost his glove, which not only has the transmutation circle on it, but is also made of "ignition cloth", so that when he snaps, a spark is created.

So if he had two automail hands, the question wouldn't be whether or not he could create a transmutation circle - he could definitely do that, as you say, because we see Al, Ed and Izumi able to do that by clapping their hands, since they've all been through the Gate. And yes, Al does it with his metal hands, or whatever his big gloves are made of, so that's not a problem.

But the question is, would he be able to create a spark. Would he be able to imitate the snapping gesture, or would his automail not be precise enough for that. I bet if he explained the problem to someone like Winry, he could definitely figure it out. After all, Paninya or whatever her name was had artillery in her automail... could Roy not have something that created a spark, a lighter, even? Or flint and steel? I would think an automail hand would be even easier than human hand to create fire with.

(which sort of brings up a bit of a plothole that people have pointed out with Roy, like why doesn't he just carry around matches and lighters all the time, which would solve a lot of problems... but that's a separate issue).

But as I say, I don't think that will be necessary, because I believe there was already a sacrifice, and like some people were pointing out, there was the Philosopher's Stone, too. Interesting idea, though.

Lighter in automail's finger. It would be epic.

Every time I think of Roy and matches I think about that scene in the movie--when Havoc pulled out a cigarette and Roy pulled out a match box--and couldn't get the damn thing to light....

maybe he could do something cool instead of just clapping his (automail) hands and slap his leg or something *giggle snort* or his arm...

*If* he does need automail hands, then well, I like qashqai1's idea, no joke. Or maybe he could just make fire appear out of nowhere. 'Cuz the Gate is magical. xD

On the other hand, like pointed out above, Wrath has the Philosopher's Stone with him AND a dead Dr. Golden Tooth (lol) as a sacrifice, so Roy probably won't have to lose anything, methinks.

Also, kind of OT, but this thread totally reminds me of that Daen doujin "I can fly," where Ed can't make the little toy work cuz of his automail hand, and then Roy has to help him and it gets all mushy sentimental from there on in... SO KYOOT!! ^___^

inb4 Roy's bringing Hughes back alive with human sacrifice + Philosophy stone and be like zomg awesome.

Philosopher*

I have a philosophy midterm this week, and I'm freaking out LOL!