20 Best Scar Quotes — The Ishvalan Serial Killer & FMA's Most Complicated Antihero
Scar spends the first half of Fullmetal Alchemist killing State Alchemists with a right arm that destroys anything it touches. He’s hunting the people who massacred his family during the Ishvalan Civil War — including the young version of the boy protagonist whose gloved snap-fingers ignited those killings. He’s introduced as a villain, an antagonist, a man whose grief curdled into a killing spree. And then the manga does something rare: it lets him become one of the heroes without ever letting him off the hook.
Scar is the Fullmetal Alchemist character who most challenges “equivalent exchange.” What equals the cost of a genocide? Nothing. So what do you do? Scar’s answer evolves. These 20 quotes trace his journey from “I will kill every State Alchemist” to “I will stand with you against the homunculi” — and the quiet reckoning with the fact that neither of those positions brings his brother back.
About Scar
Scar (his real name is never given) is introduced in Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 10 as the serial killer murdering State Alchemists across Amestris. An Ishvalan — one of the ethnic and religious minority the Amestrian military nearly exterminated in a State-sanctioned genocide — Scar survived the war only because his older brother used forbidden alchemy to transfer his dying right arm onto Scar’s body. That arm bears alchemical tattoos that let Scar destroy matter with a touch.
Scar’s arc moves him from pure vengeance to complicated ally. He ends up working alongside Edward, Alphonse, Mustang, and the Ishvalan Elder against Father’s homunculi plot. He even sets aside his vow to kill Mustang — the Flame Alchemist who burned his family — because defeating Father matters more. In the epilogue, Scar is working to rebuild Ishval.
His signature: tall, muscular build, white hair, dark skin, red eyes (an Ishvalan trait), the X-shaped scar across his face, and the tattooed right arm.
The Vengeance Creed
"Ishvala judges you. I am only the instrument."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 10)
"State Alchemists killed my family. I will kill every one of them."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 15)
"Alchemy is the arrogance of humans trying to be God. I break what alchemy builds. That is also alchemy."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 18)
Grief & Brother
"My brother gave his arm so I could live. I don't know yet if that was a gift or a sentence."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 59)
"My brother studied alchemy to save Ishvalans. I turned his research into a weapon. That is my failure."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 72, paraphrased)
"I remember every face from that night. The soldiers. The alchemists. The children we could not save."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 59)
Confronting Edward
"Fullmetal. You're just a child. But that State Alchemist watch is stained with Ishvalan blood, whether you know it or not."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 15)
"The Elric brothers did not choose this. But innocence does not erase a uniform."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 36)
Working with Former Enemies
"Elric. I have not forgiven you. But today, we have the same enemy."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 70)
"Mustang. The Flame Alchemist. You are alive only because Father is the greater enemy."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 90)
"I will fight alongside you. I will not call you friends."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 88)
Revenge vs. Justice
"Revenge does not bring back the dead. I know this. I do it anyway."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 36)
"Justice belongs to the state. Revenge belongs to the survivor. I chose the second because the first failed me."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 70)
"There is no victory in revenge. There is only a different kind of quiet."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 95, paraphrased)
On Faith
"Ishvala teaches mercy. I have not been a faithful follower. But mercy is still what I owe my people."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 85)
"A priest once told me that even the lost can return. I am testing whether he was right."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 95)
Against Father
"Father. You used the blood of my people to make yourself eternal. That ends today."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 104)
"My brother's research. My arm. I use both now — not to destroy, but to construct."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 105)
Epilogue — Rebuilding Ishval
"Ishval will rise again. Stone by stone, family by family. My hands will build this time."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 108)
"My name — my brother's name — does not matter. What matters is the work that comes after."
— Scar, Fullmetal Alchemist (Chapter 108)
Why These Quotes Resonate
Scar is the conscience of Fullmetal Alchemist. He forces every other character — especially Mustang and the Elrics — to reckon with what Amestris did to his people. The narrative never excuses his murders. It also never dismisses his grief. That refusal to pick a side is rare in shonen, and it’s why his quotes carry the weight they do.
“I will fight alongside you. I will not call you friends” is maybe the most honest line in the manga about what reconciliation looks like after a genocide. You work together. You don’t forgive. You rebuild, which is a kind of forgiveness that doesn’t require saying the word.
Frequently Asked Questions about Scar Quotes
Why does Scar kill State Alchemists?
Because State Alchemists were the instruments of the Ishvalan genocide. As Scar declares in Chapter 15: "State Alchemists killed my family. I will kill every one of them." His framing in Chapter 10 is religious: "Ishvala judges you. I am only the instrument."
How did Scar get his right arm?
From his older brother. Scar survived the Ishvalan Civil War only because his brother used forbidden alchemy to transfer his dying right arm onto Scar's body. The arm bears alchemical tattoos that let Scar destroy matter with a touch. As Scar puts it in Chapter 59: "My brother gave his arm so I could live. I don't know yet if that was a gift or a sentence."
Is Scar a villain or an antihero?
Both, sequentially. He is introduced as a villain in Chapter 10, the serial killer murdering State Alchemists. The manga then lets him become one of the heroes without ever letting him off the hook. His own framing in Chapter 88 is the most honest line in the manga about reconciliation after a genocide: "I will fight alongside you. I will not call you friends."
Does Scar forgive Mustang?
No, but he sets aside his vow to kill the Flame Alchemist because Father is the greater enemy. Chapter 90: "Mustang. The Flame Alchemist. You are alive only because Father is the greater enemy." Scar's Chapter 95 reflection on revenge is bleaker: "There is no victory in revenge. There is only a different kind of quiet."
What does Scar do after the war?
He rebuilds Ishval. In Chapter 108: "Ishval will rise again. Stone by stone, family by family. My hands will build this time." He renounces his old name — "I am simply Ishvalan" — and uses his brother's research and tattooed arm not to destroy but to construct (Chapter 105).
Related Characters
Same series — Fullmetal Alchemist:
- Edward Elric — State Alchemist Scar nearly kills, then allies with
- Alphonse Elric — Ed’s brother
- Roy Mustang — the Flame Alchemist Scar hunts most of all
Cross-series antihero comparisons:
- Itachi Uchiha — another man carrying a genocide’s burden
- See all: Best Anime Villain Quotes
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