One-Armed Guys with Nicknames? (SPOILERS)

[Newtypeblue]

Has anyone else noticed how many one-armed characters with nicknames or titles there are on the AS anime? Not only that,but have you noticed that most of them lost their arms in some sort depressing event from their past that they want to keep hidden,but keeps returning anyway?

Here's who I came up with:

Ed from FMA: Lost his arm due to human transmutation gone awry. Holds title of "Fullmetal Alchemist" Please refresh my memory,was it his leg that was taken and his arm used to bind Al's soul to the armor?

Jet from Bebop: Lost his arm from an injury caused by his partner doublecrossing him(correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while since I've seen Black Dog Serenade) Called the "Black Dog" because in his ISSP days,he would bite into a case and never let go.

Vash from Trigun: Got his arm shot off,his arm was later put to use against him. Has the titles "the Stampede", "Legendary Gunman" and "Humanoid Typhoon."

If you want to include guys with "special" arms, not replacement ones,then include:

Scar from FMA: Right arm covered with strange alchemic tattoos. "Given" to him by his brother. I can only assume that more explanation comes later in the series. I've read and heard him called the "Stray Dog Ishbalan" and "The Scarred Man of the East"(West?).

Then there's the dude from S-cry-ed whose name escapes me. I don't think his arm is the result of a tragedy,but I don't watch S-cry-ed.

Has this become a trend? Is it some sort of symbolism? Or does it just look cool?

[TnAdct1]

Ed from FMA: Lost his arm due to human transmutation gone awry. Holds title of "Fullmetal Alchemist" Please refresh my memory,was it his leg that was taken and his arm used to bind Al's soul to the armor? It was his leg that he lost due to human transmutation gone awry, with the arm being the cost of his binding of Al's soul to the armor.

One more person that you forgot: Sesshomaru from Inu-Yasha (had his arm cut off in episode 7). As for his nickname, while it's not a real nickname, the fangirls do like to call him "Fluffy". :anime:

[shoujoaifan]

I don't think its really symbolic, and there's been plenty of characters in literature/tv/film/etc. missing an arm that sometimes gets an replacement, or any other body parts. It seems, to me anyway, more of a way to both:

1. Give them a "red badge of courage." Its an easy and effective way to show the wear and tear a hero accumulates and to also make them more sympathetic. And what better way to show such touching tragedy than instead of an "ordinary" wound or scar, but having an ACTUAL piece of them missing? Soul/spirit or just a carbon-based animal, while the human mind makes a person a person, loosing something like that is very traumatic.

2. Makes them cool! :p An easy and effective way to make a character more badass and hopefully somewhat more rememorable (as rememorable as one can get when you start to accumulate alot of such characters). ALSO, there's the little fantasy element: C'mon, even though you would NEVER want to part with your flesh, you KNOW you've thought "Dude, that's SOOOOOO badass! I wish I could do that...a few times and get my arm back of course!":D

Ed Elric: In this case, compared to the others, instead of the missing limbs and body being just traumatic elements and "red badges", they also factor in the whole "equalivalent exchange" bit, how those parts were "payment" or "punishment". One parallel, either intentional. accidentally, subconsciously, cultural baggage, etc., is that you could say how Ed and Al trying to bring back their mom and becoming less naive at the cost of negative consequences is like the Adam and Eve story.

(Ed is the ONLY character I can think of that may or may not be symbolic, otherwise most of the characters normally are because of the those 2 reasons above.)

[Patches]

If you go back a half hour before AS, you can add Shanks from One Piece, too. And AS will be getting the Escaflowne movie in a couple of months, which has Folken (though I seem to remember he's not missing his arm in the movie like he is in the series).

One would also note that all these people are someone's brother, or a figure who can serve the same role as one.