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Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, is the man who first recognized the Elric brothers' talent and recruits Edward Elric to become a State Alchemist (Episode 3). His first appearance is in the first episode. At the time of his introduction in the anime, Mustang held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was stationed at Central, although he was soon transferred to the Eastern Territories to clean up Lieutenant Yoki's mess (Episode 9). He was a hero of the Ishbal War, but he remains haunted by the horrors of war and suffers great remorse for the lives he took, among whom are the parents of Winry Rockbell, a childhood friend of the Elric Brothers (in the anime only; in the manga, it was Scar, not Mustang, that killed Winry's parents).
Outwardly arrogant and playfully manipulative, Mustang is a very smart character who is always one step ahead. One can see Mustang's scheming ways at work when he  devises a situation to allow Edward to take the State Alchemist examination, which would have otherwise been impossible as Edward is only a child. While perceived as merely a glory hog who doggedly pursues promotions and praise, his true goal is to become F��hrer and reform the government in order to absolve his sins in the Ishbal War, along with the (hopefully) joking requirement for female officers to wear miniskirts (which considerably increased Havoc's loyalty to him). His goals are admirable enough that he earns the fierce loyalty of his good friends Lt Col. Maes Hughes, Major Alex Louis Armstrong, and his own subordinates, among whom are Hawkeye, Havoc, Breda, Fuery, and Falman. While Mustang has a close and amicable relationship with all of his subordinates, he appears to share a deeper bond of affection with his second-in-command Riza Hawkeye, who has devoted her life to supporting him. This bond culminates in the final episodes of the show when Mustang chooses Hawkeye alone to accompany him on his greatest and most dangerous mission. When Hughes dies, Mustang is devastated by his friend's death. When forced to pursue the Elrics per military orders, Mustang learns that King Bradley is a Homunculus, and tries to expose him to the top brass of military by revealing the truth about the F��hrer's secretary, Juliet Douglas (Episode 45). To counter this perceived threat against him, Bradley promotes Mustang to Brigadier General in preparation for his leading troops against armies in the north. Although Bradley intends for him to die in combat (at Envy's hands), Mustang stays in Central (Havoc acts in Mustang's place up north), making his move to avenge Hughes' death. He succeeds in killing King Bradley but only narrowly survives the ordeal. He loses his left eye, and it is commonly presumed that this injury was sustained when he is shot by automail-Archer.
 Roy first appeared in Chapter 4: Battle on the Train. The anime followed much of Roy's role in the manga during the early storyline. However, as the anime diverges from the original story, Roy's role and much of his background also differed.
Roy tries to investigate Hughes' death in secret despite the military closing the case after convicting Maria Ross. Trusting in Ross's innocence, and with the help of Barry the Chopper, Mustang uses his alchemy skills to fake Ross' death and engineer her escape from Amestris. After discovering that King Bradley is a Homunculus, he tries to expose him to the top echelons of the military, only to discover that they know his true nature but continue to support him. This move costs Mustang and deprives him of his subordinates - King Bradley places Riza Hawkeye under his command and authorizes the transfer of Mustang��s remaining personnel to the far reaches of Amestris.
In chapter 58 (Padding footsteps of destruction), Roy is said to have learnt his elementary alchemy from Riza's father. In a flashback conversation, we are told Roy became a State Alchemist in order to help the common people, despite the objection of his shishou (teacher). Upon hearing Roy's wanting of power, Roy's teacher states that he would pass his greatest and most powerful alchemy to Roy if he shall use it as a good course. However, before any further explanation, Roy's teacher choked with blood and only managed to state that he had passed all his secrets on to his daughter, and asked of Roy to look after her. It is later revealed that the strange markings seen on Hawkeye's back were the method chosen by her father to pass his secrets on.
 The more recent chapters depict Roy's active role in the Ishbal War. Like fellow State Alchemists, he was sent to raze a complete area where Amestris was losing, using his flame alchemy. Later, he was seen with Hughes discussing the State's involvement in the War, before getting ambushed by an injured Ishbalan. They were saved by a sniper, later revealed to be none other than Riza Hawkeye.
In chapter 61, in the continuing flashback of the Ishabal war, Mustang discovers that while he thought he was alone in the war, simply murdering people, he was saving the lives of the men in his unit. This new idea appears to spur him into making an attempt to become the Fuhrer, which he explains to Hughes at the end of the war. He then surrounds himself with people he knows he can trust; Hughes, Fuery, Falman, Havoc, Breda, and lastly Hawkeye. He orders Hawkeye to watch his back, and that if he ever strayed from the path of wanting to help people, of wanting to change the government, it was her role to shoot him.
In chapter 62, Roy compares his struggle against the Fuher to a chess game, and says that his knight, pawn, rook, bishop and queen have been taken away, obviously referring to the fact that his trusted subordinates have been stationed elsewhere. In this analogy, logically, Roy must be the king piece. However, it is unclear whether Arakawa intended for each chess piece to correspond with one of Roy's removed subordinates, or if she had refered to all the pieces in chess, being Roy's subordinates in general, being taken away collectively.
Also in the same chapter, it is revealed that his playboy tactics used in order to cover his true intentions were inherited from Hawkeye's grandfather, General Grumman. This is an interesting follow up to Mustang's note of gratitude towards Grumman 'I have learnt a lot from you' before he left Eastern Headquarters.
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