‘Fullmetal Alchemist’s Most Horrifying Episode Is Still Anime’s Ultimate Gut Punch

Image via Crunchyroll Published Sep 7, 2026, 4:41 PM EDT Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd | Metacritic Carolyn Jenkins is a voracious consumer of film and television. She graduated from Long Island University with an MFA in Screenwriting and Producing where she learned the art of character, plot, and structure. The best teacher is absorbing media and she spends her time reading about different worlds from teen angst to the universe of Stephen King. Sign in to your Collider account Anime is no stranger to horrifying spectacles that bend the mind, but Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has one of the most traumatizing examples. The official adaptation of the manga follows Edward and Alphonse Elric’s attempts to reclaim their bodies after committing the ultimate taboo of human transmutation. While working for the state as certified alchemists, they uncover a vast conspiracy, among many other horrors. Fullmetal Alchemist starts strong as Ed and Al hunt down rogue alchemists, but the series cements itself in anime history with the episode no fan will ever forget. Episode 4 leads Ed and Al to meet an alchemist, Shou Tucker, who is struggling to secure his state-certified status. The Elric brothers bond with Tucker’s daughter Nina and her delightful dog Alexander, which in itself should have been a red flag. Before long, Ed and Al discover a dark secret that threatened to scar every viewer who watched the early episode of the anime. Fullmetal Alchemist secured its position as one of the greatest anime of all time with one plotline. Episode 4 is horrifying up until its final moments, a tactic that the series would continue to employ for its entire run. However, no episode truly captures the feeling of impotent despair like it does with Nina and Alexander. Ed starts to become concerned with Shou Tucker’s intentions, becoming suspicious about the alchemist’s mysteriously missing wife. It turns out that Tucker’s expertise is in the field of chimeras, which have been failures. His desire to make a chimera who can communicate outstrips his humanity, but by the time the brothers realize that, it’s too late. Tucker was somewhat successful in creating a speaking chimera by merging his daughter and their family pet. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood turns into a horror show as Ed watches the chimera painfully string words together to form speech. Tucker sacrificed his own daughter to pass his yearly alchemist examination and shows no remorse for it. Nina and Alexander were turned into a tragic abomination with no hope of returning to their original components. This type of tragedy remains one of the most shocking episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist and shows the evils that humanity is capable of. It is just the start of the Elric brothers’ realization that the government they work for is not as righteous as it appears. Tucker’s desperation signifies how alchemy can twist people for the worse. This type of power is exactly what the Ishvalan refugee Scar hates about the entire institution. He is the one who does what is necessary to put the chimera out of its misery. While the government essentially washes its hands of the situation, Scar euthanizes the Nina-Alexander chimera so it doesn’t have to live such a cursed existence. This episode set the tone for the series, which would continue to explore philosophical and ethical issues. Though further episodes weren't necessarily as dark as this one, it set up the stakes of the narrative. Episode 4 let audiences know that this is a complex world and sometimes there are no easy answers. Release Date 2009 - 2010-00-00 Cast Maxey Whitehead Alphonse Elric Vic Mignogna Edward Elric