Fullmetal Alchemist - Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc
Title: Meet You At The Top
Author: galuxkitty
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Character: Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc
Word Count: 5120
Spoilers: For the entirety of the manga that is released so far (all 64 chapters).
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist is the property of Hiromu Arakawa and Shounen GanGan. I am making no profit from this fanwork and it is for entertainment purposes only. The anime version of Fullmetal Alchemist is not mentioned in this essay.
"Loyalty cannot be blueprinted. It cannot be produced on an assembly line. In fact, it cannot be manufactured at all, for its origin is the human heart - the center of self-respect and human dignity. It is a force which leaps into being only when conditions are exactly right for it."
- Maurice R. Franks
Introduction
Firstly, an essay is a piece of writing that presents the view of the author. If you do not agree on my opinion, or want to contribute your own then you’re welcome to. The one thing I ask is that you justify your opinion and explain why you do not agree with mine.
This essay is canon for the manga only, and contains spoilers right up to Chapter 64. I know that the manga isn’t anywhere near being complete, but when compared to the anime it presents a stronger idea of Havoc’s personality and background.
Character Background
Jean Havoc is a Second Lieutenant in the Amestris National Armed Forces. Details of his life before the start of the series are sketchy; he grew up in an unnamed country town in the east of Amestris where his family owns a store, and joined the army after the Ishvar War affected the area where he lived in an effort to assist with the clean up. Sometime after joining the army he came under the command of Colonel Roy Mustang. In the years that Havoc served as the Colonel’s subordinate, Mustang earned his utmost respect and he had been more loyal to Mustang and his goals than any other man ever since. At some point in his life he became best friends with Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda; it’s not known exactly when they met each other and became friends, but evidence suggests they were already in the military and relatively young. He first appears in Chapter 5 of the manga, and even at that early stage his smoking habit was made obvious.
About thirty chapters later, he starts dating a woman named ‘Solaris’, or so she says. She is actually one of the main enemies of the series; a homunculus named Lust, the “Ultimate Lance” who can cut through anything with her fingers. After he finds this out, they fight (there’s a much longer story behind the situation than this, but it goes back too far to explain and doesn’t relate to his character in the long run). Mustang thinks he’s destroyed Lust, and they go to look for her corpse. Unfortunately, she isn’t dead, and she stabs Havoc with her Ultimate Lance, severing his spinal cord and paralysing him from the waist down. He survives this attack, and is shattered by the news of his paraplegia at first, but soon manages to harden his resolve and dedicate himself to physiotherapy, determined to once again rejoin his comrades.
When I first watched the anime of Fullmetal Alchemist, nothing about his character really caught my attention; he was one of Mustang’s shadows, never really explored as a character but always there for support. There was very little to his character aside from his loyalty to Mustang, his constant bad luck in love, his occasional role as comic relief... and his smoking.
It was only after I started reading the manga that I realized that there was a lot more to his character than the anime originally portrayed, including the sadness of him being the man Mustang’s forced to leave behind.
First Impressions
When I first became interested in the manga storyline of Fullmetal Alchemist after watching the entire anime series, Havoc seemed to be practically the same character in both versions of the story; a loyal, chain-smoking soldier with incredibly bad luck with women and a rather pessimistic outlook on things. He seemed overly emotional and slightly gullible at times despite it usually being for the purpose of humour, was self-pitying and tended to blame a fair portion of his bad luck, particularly with women, on his superior officer.
On the other hand, he certainly had admirable points; his loyalty to Mustang was strong, he was honest and willing to support what he believed in. He seemed to genuinely care for the girlfriends that he often changed like clothes whether by his own fault or by the fault of others, and he had a rather dopey, sweet disposition about him that I loved from the start despite the character quirks I didn’t take such an immediate shine to.
I didn’t love him, and I didn’t hate him. He wasn’t an emotional fortress like so many of the other characters tried to be. He wasn’t an alchemist like the main characters were, and his skill with a gun was not really showcased all that often. He wasn’t a genius, but perhaps that was one of the things I liked about him; a slightly simpler character who wanted things in life that people would think to be normal, such as to get a girlfriend and balance said girlfriend and his job evenly. Aside from the goals of his superior that would undoubtedly affect him and his dedication to such a risky ambition, he seemed like a normal sort of guy.
He continued to give off this impression until he found the seemingly caring and concerned girlfriend he’d always been looking for in “Solaris”, who was really the homunculus Lust trying to use him to get information on Colonel Mustang and the Elric brothers. It was only then that I felt that his fate was taking a drastic turn for the worst.
Weaknesses
One of Havoc’s main weaknesses is the way he reacts to his own situation, and what’s happening around him regardless of how small the situation; if something makes him feel spontaneous joy, anger, frustration, sadness et cetera, he tends to react extremely abruptly to what’s happening. On most occasions, this is seen by most as mere comic relief, but it does give us a greater insight to his character; he reacts to things quickly without really thinking the situation through, and often panics, finds things irritating or takes things to heart when it’s really nothing to worry about. He bursts out with whatever he has to say before he thinks it through, more often than not, and while it has never really got him into any trouble and it’s more of an instantaneous attack of his own emotion rather than anything that could insult whoever he’s talking to, he has the habit of doing it a lot. In the same light, he has the occasional case of severe foot-in-mouth syndrome.
Despite this image of spur-of-the-moment reactions to situations, when something is genuinely troubling him past the point of mere irritation, anger or sadness, he tends to try to play it down and give the impression that he’s fine. A perfect example of this is the events in Chapters Forty through to Forty-Four, in which he tries to deal with his paraplegia on his own and finally breaks down after Mustang refuses to give up on him and cut him loose; perhaps the reason for him refusing to even really talk about his injury was to try and avoid hurting others, and making them feel as if it was their concern. This didn’t work for very long, naturally. As I have said previously, Havoc isn’t able to keep his feelings hidden for very long, and no matter how hard he may try to hide his problems they eventually surface. He tends to see things from a negative perspective and often assumes that things will turn out badly far before they’re resolved. He believes the best in people, but sometimes this gets him into bad situations, such as the one with ‘Solaris’. He’s a joker, but occasionally he takes jokes a little too far (his jokes about eating Black Hayate certainly scared Fuery).
He doesn’t consider himself to be particularly intelligent, and perhaps part of his problem in that sense is that he has a habit of putting himself down and convincing himself that he’s not going to succeed without realizing, and sometimes without attempting it at all. He isn’t a genius, a great strategist or particularly knowledgeable in the stereotypical view of the word, but he certainly isn’t as useless or stupid as he likes to think he is. He’s rather blind when it comes to the faults of the people he cares about (particularly girlfriends), but when the blame falls onto him rather than them, he tends to try and divert attention to their possible part in the scheme with limited success.
He is a follower, not a leader. He is a pessimist, not an optimist. If Ed and Roy are emotional fortresses, Jean is an emotional marshmallow. Despite this, Havoc has many character strengths and a good majority of them actually developed thanks to his weaknesses.
Strengths
While Havoc is far from perfect in terms of strengths and weaknesses, it would be fair to say that his strengths far outweigh his weaknesses.
His first and foremost strength is his undying loyalty to his friends and to those he respects. He would do anything within his power to help these people in any way, and because he shows such loyalty to these people it’s only natural that they return his trust and care. This brings into the discussion how he acts towards people in general; he’s an affectionate and caring person towards everyone he meets. If he meets someone under normal circumstances, he always believes the best in the person; this could be a weakness as well as a strength, because at times he seems almost too trusting in people. He’s always got a smile ready for anyone who needs it, and often jokes around; he always seems so genuine when trying to cheer people up, and that in itself is a comfort.
His determination is obvious; although he is constantly upset (mainly because of his bad luck with women) he always manages to crawl back from the problem even if it takes him a while to do it. The courage it must have taken him to accept his paraplegia and dedicate himself to rehabilitation must have been immense, especially after he realized that he wouldn’t be able directly support Mustang any longer. He’s a hard worker and an honourable person, and always dedicates himself to what he’s doing until the job is done.
His physical strength is above average, and his skill with a gun isn’t bad; perhaps he’s a little reckless when it comes to fighting, but he’s always quick to retreat from the frontline and avoid danger if the situation gets out of his control, so it all evens out in the end. If someone he cares about is in danger, he won’t hesitate to protect them.
I mentioned in weaknesses that he was a follower, not a leader; this is also a strength. His loyalty to Mustang is high, and he’s willing to do anything asked of him if it is within his power. Very few people in the world can take such the initiative of a leader like Mustang, but without followers that are willing to listen, and respect, and even die for their superior, leaders have very little power on their own. To be a follower is also a huge undertaking; to dedicate yourself to the ideals of one person, to dedicate yourself to helping them and to trust their every judgment also takes a special sort of person; such loyalty cannot be copied nor forged.
While Havoc isn’t as charismatic in the area of leadership as Mustang and he certainly never plans to be, he is a leader in his own right; he seems to have a few low-ranked officers working for him, and they respect him a great deal as he works with them on an equal level and treats them with respect. Within Mustang’s group of subordinates, he seems to be the spokesperson of sorts for himself, Fuery, Breda and Falman. They apparently look up to him a bit, or at least trust him to not get them into any sort of strife with what he says.
Havoc is just your regular, caring, loyal guy. He cares for his friends, is generally pleasant towards everyone he meets, and works hard. I believe that his strengths far outweigh his weaknesses because of this; weaknesses are something everyone has, but most people are recognized for their strengths, the things that make them stand out from everyone else. People accept weaknesses, but cherish strengths.
Relationships
Havoc didn’t become who he is on his own, obviously. The people he’s met have shaped him into who he is, whether by a small or large influence over his character.
Colonel Roy Mustang
At first, their relationship seemed to be that of any superior and subordinate; this image was dispelled relatively quickly, as by Chapter Eleven it’s already clear that they have some sort of rivalry with one another. From Havoc’s point of view, Mustang gives him all the dirty jobs and constantly hinders his chances for love. From Mustang’s point of view... well, it’s entirely possible that Mustang just enjoys seeing Havoc’s feeble spirit being crushed. That’s not to say that Havoc doesn’t snark back, just that he complains about it more than Mustang ever does. There are plenty of times when Havoc obviously feels like Mustang is annoying or distracting him, even if Mustang himself isn’t aware of it; when he plans to take a nap and Mustang calls just before he can do so, when Mustang tells him to dump his girlfriend and that the relationship isn’t serious anyway, and when he allegedly stole Havoc’s girlfriend sometime prior to the Flame Alchemist sidestory.
Havoc annoys Mustang, too; I would never call Havoc stupid, but some of the things he does aren’t all that bright. Apparently, he once gagged the Colonel’s mouth to check if he was breathing (you’re welcome to try and decipher the logic behind this). Havoc, when given the chance, makes sure to tease at Mustang as much as Mustang teases him. They have an almost sibling-like rivalry at times, but it’s also obvious that if Colonel Mustang didn’t trust Havoc, Havoc wouldn’t be his subordinate, and the same for Havoc’s respect for Mustang.
Whilst their relationship seems to be predominantly based on childish rivalry with underlying respect, the one event that changes this is Havoc being attacked and paralysed from the waist down by Lust. Chapter 39 is one of the most obvious chapters when looking at Mustang’s deeper relationships with his subordinates, and Havoc being attacked was no exception. It was obvious that the Alchemist was far more concerned for Havoc (and Hawkeye and Alphonse, who weren’t with them at the time) than for himself. In Chapter 40, it seems that they’ve returned to the norm; Havoc and Mustang are sniping at each other again. Havoc then tells Mustang and Hawkeye that he can’t feel his legs, and that he’s out of the game. Havoc continues to worry about his condition while giving the impression of not really being too bothered about it, and Mustang asks Knox about paraplegia and finds out that it will be difficult for Havoc to return to active duty. Havoc’s frustration only surfaces when Mustang confronts him about the injury.
Mustang: You’re giving up?
Havoc: What do you expect me to do with these legs?
Mustang: But...
Havoc: What’s with those eyes... throw me away! Leave me behind! Do you have time to be worrying over an underling like me?! ... I don’t need your sympathy! Please cut me off... please give up. I’m begging you.
Mustang: I understand. I’ll leave you, so you have to catch up, I’ll be going first. I’ll be waiting at the top.
At first Havoc seems almost frustrated by the Colonel’s words, but he apparently took them to heart and by chapter 48 he has dedicated himself to physiotherapy.
Incidentally, the reasons Mustang lists for choosing Havoc as one of his subordinates are his physical strength (despite his intelligence being comparatively low), his kindness towards his subordinates and the fact that he always works hard.
Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda
When you first see them both as characters, there isn’t actually much evidence to suggest that they have any deeper relationship past both of them being Mustang’s subordinates. As the series progresses, it’s revealed that they’re actually best friends, and were so even in their earliest days in the military. Very little is known about their relationship in those days, so I won’t even try to explain it further. From this, it’s quite possible to infer that while Breda isn’t particularly emotional at the best of times, he shows his loyalty and care when it’s needed the most.
The real strength of their friendship was revealed post-Chapter 40 (as was so much about Havoc’s character); Breda was the first to think of Marcoh as a possible way to heal Havoc’s injury, and was also the first to make it clear to him that he wouldn’t be left behind because he “didn’t suit the lifestyle of a retiree”, even though he couldn’t follow them how he used to. Breda rushes to try and find Marcoh, but Envy gets there first and Havoc is left paraplegic. Because their relationship took such a serious tone after these two chapters, and there wasn’t too much shown for their friendship beforehand, it’s really quite difficult to interpret how they acted towards each other prior to Havoc’s injury. Based on the evidence they were most certainly very close friends, as they speak to each other informally (in a way that would probably be considered rude if they were nothing more than comrades), and Breda calls him “Havo” instead of by his full name.
Breda is the other person who inspires Havoc to keep training after he’s injured; whenever he visits, he brings him “presents” to help increase the strength in his arms (such as grips and weights, but no pictures of breasts much to Havoc’s frustration) and is the character who’s visited him the most in hospital since he was injured. When Havoc was yelling at Mustang in Chapter 44, Breda was the first one to move to comfort him. Although Breda was busy after being transferred to the West by King Bradley, he made time to visit Havoc before he left.
Although there was next to no evidence to their relationship prior to Chapter 40, it’s now very clear that Breda is the best friend Havoc has.
“Solaris”/Lust
Before Chapter 37, Havoc knew her as Solaris, a woman he was dating with an apparent curiosity towards the inner dealings of the military. After this, he discovers that the woman he was dating and who helped him relocate to Central was a homunculus under an alias (and after explaining how he was deceived to Mustang; his love of large breasts), and was forced to face her as an enemy and to wonder just what made people human after she explained that homunculi are almost the same as humans. They have feelings, thoughts, hopes, dreams, and a body that is effectively the same as a normal human’s with one exception; they have a Philosopher’s Stone as their nucleus. Before Havoc could really come to comprehend this, Lust attacked him and severed his spinal cord, paralysing him from the waist down and very nearly killing him. Mustang tries to use the Stone at Lust’s core to heal Havoc, but fails, and instead cauterises both Havoc’s and his own wounds shut with his flame alchemy to stop the bleeding, and finally kills Lust using Havoc’s lighter.
By explaining the origins of the homunculi, Lust effectively called all of Havoc’s beliefs about what truly defines a human being into question; he met her as a normal woman and friend, and then discovered she was an artificially created human and an enemy. This made him hesitate in attacking her, although it would have done very little anyway. He has never spoken about what he felt for her nor about how he feels about her now, but one can assume it’s most likely a mix of resentment and terror. Perhaps he had convinced himself that because she’s dead, he’s perfectly safe, and that he needn’t worry about things that have already happened at the same time he resolved to dedicate himself to training to regain mobility and strength. Regardless of how Havoc feels, it is very safe to say that Lust is probably the character that had the greatest influence over Havoc save Colonel Mustang.
First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye
Although Havoc and Hawkeye rarely interact on a personal level, they’re very much united by their loyalty to Colonel Mustang. They are allies with a common cause: to support Mustang on the long road to him becoming Fuhrer of Amestris.
Havoc and Hawkeye seem to treat each other with a sort of silent respect and very rarely talk despite working together and obviously having a mutual feeling of respect. Despite the Flame Alchemist being their top priority there are some instances where they do talk, the most obvious of these being after Havoc yelling at Mustang in Chapter 44; Hawkeye sympathizes with Havoc and explains that even if he begged, nothing could make Mustang leave one of his subordinates behind; she herself had lost the will to live, but Mustang still kept her as his most trusted subordinates and adjutant despite her giving up after believing Lust when she said he was dead. Havoc responds that he thinks Mustang is an idiot and that he’ll never reach the top if he keeps being so soft, to which Hawkeye replies, “I think it’s good to have those sorts of idiots around sometimes”. This simple scene is effectively the extent of their interaction, but it shows that they respect each other and that Hawkeye certainly doesn’t want Havoc to feel so hopeless.
Master Sergeant Kain Fuery and Warrant Officer Vato Falman
There isn’t much to mention about Havoc’s relationship with the last two members of Roy’s group of subordinates; they are never seen openly communicating with one another. However, knowing what we know of the group and their dynamics, relations and how dire the situation they’re involved in is, it is very safe and logical to assume the three of them trust one another; there’s no room in such a situation for people’s own petty grudges even if they did exist, which I certainly do not believe they do.
There’s no evidence to say that they’re best friends, but it’s inferred that they get along with one another fine.
The Elric Brothers
Havoc has very little to do with the Elric brothers, but some things he says about Ed and Al in the earlier points of the story give a strong indication that he thinks of them as children and this opinion is shared by the rest of Roy’s subordinates; although the boys are extremely mature for their ages, they are still children. Havoc also takes one or two opportunities to make fun of Ed’s height, at one point calling him a “brat who swears too much” after Ed’s automail gets destroyed by Scar and this conclusion is agreed with by others, including Mustang and Hawkeye. Although it’s obvious they’re just teasing Ed, it also gives this minute, bizarre image of a “slightly dysfunctional family” set up, and this image continues to get stronger as the series progresses, though more for Roy and Riza than Havoc.
After Edward finds out about Havoc’s injury he shows sympathy for him, though understandably fights with Ling and Mustang for the potential to use Gluttony’s core in Chapter 49. Despite this, Havoc and Edward seem to respect each other even though Havoc still sees Ed as a child.
Havoc’s Mother
We see Havoc’s mother briefly in two chapters, and both of them are after Havoc is injured. From what we can assume from her reactions, she’s a woman who’s relatively protective of her son, and supports him in any decisions he makes; she never once told him he was wrong to undertake physiotherapy instead of retiring, even though he knew it would be hard.
Character Growth and Motives
I think I’ve already explained what little pre-series knowledge we have of his life well enough, so the “History” part that was supposed to be in this section was dropped because what little information we have on his past was explained there.
Havoc’s greatest growth as a character occurs after he has come to terms with his injury. This is certainly the first time we see him steel his resolve in such a way as to accomplish something that will be such a physical and mental challenge, but it’s also obvious that he’s come to appreciate him comrades even more for never giving up their faith in him. The majority of facts about his personal life and relationships, however few there are, are revealed after being attacked; his friendship with Breda, his country background, why Mustang chose him as a subordinate and why he joined the military in the first place are all things that are disclosed after he is injured.
At the beginning of the story, he’s another one of Mustang’s subordinates; he’s not shown to be particularly bright, nor is he shown to be particularly mature about what Mustang asks of him if he doesn’t like it. When he announces he has a girlfriend to Falman and Barry The Chopper, it’s almost impossible to believe that this could be a good thing after his poor luck with women has become somewhat of a running joke throughout the series. After he is injured and he’s trying to give the impression that he’s fine and needs no comfort, it’s obvious that soon he’s going to break, and when he finally does you can’t help but feel sympathy for him. For someone to have their life changed so drastically in a split second is a terrible tragedy, but it would be even worse if he didn’t realize that he could still be of help to his friends and simply gave up on his life. Fortunately, through the words of Breda and Mustang, Havoc does realize that he can continue to be of help and dedicates himself to physiotherapy with the hope that he can once again join them; this moment is what truly shows his strength of character and growth from being what appeared to be a token background character to a strong character in his own right.
Havoc’s main motives, on the other hand, are the same as the rest of Mustang’s subordinates; they want to see him become Fuhrer of Amestris and to reform the corruption in the army, and they will do everything they can to see him accomplish this goal. Even after he is injured, it is his greatest intention to help Mustang to the best of his ability. His secondary motive (and one of his most recognizable traits) is his constant search for romance, with very little success. This hope, when compared to people such as Edward and Alphonse and even Mustang, is what people would consider normal for a guy Havoc’s age; he wants to settle down, wants to do his job and do it well, he wants to find someone to spend the rest of his life with. Unfortunately, the hope of leading a normal life can be one difficult to accomplish when you’re planning an elaborate coup against a near-indestructible homunculus who knows almost exactly what you’re doing, and when your luck with women is almost unbelievably poor. Despite this bad luck, he perseveres in both his personal and professional endeavours.
Enduring Interest
Every month, I rush to see the newest chapter of Fullmetal Alchemist, and it is indeed mainly Havoc, a side character who keeps me coming back every month. I love the series, the storyline and all of the characters, but for some reason this character proved to be my greatest attachment in the series.
Ever since his injury was confirmed twenty-four chapters ago, I’d been drawn further and further toward his character through the combined feelings of sympathy for his injury, hope that he can recover somewhat if not completely, and how that single event both truly revealed and drastically changed what he seemed to be. Despite the fact that his appearances since that moment have been few and far between, it’s easy to see that his determination grows with every new appearance he makes.
Even if you aren’t interested in him as a character, you can’t really help but hope that he recovers. His plight may not be as tragic as half the other characters’, but you can hardly help but hope that everything turns out well for him, and that they are able to heal him, or that he’s able to return to Mustang’s service regardless of his physical state, or even that he is at least able to live a normal life and finally be released from the hospital after his physiotherapy, because his condition is by no means something that should stop him from being happy.
It will be hard for him to continue on during the hardest of times, but he knows he must soldier on if there is any hope of him meeting his comrades at the top.
Links
Up In Smoke, the official Jean Havoc fanlisting.
Jean-Havoc.Net, an unofficial Jean Havoc fansite, domain, and namelisting.
havoc_fan_club, the one and only Havoc fan community on Livejournal.
havocai, a Jean Havoc/Riza Hawkeye fan community.
havocroy, a Jean Havoc/Roy Mustang fan community.
havocwin, a Jean Havoc/Winry Rockbell fan community.
havocxsheska, a Jean Havoc/Sheska community.
royaihavo, a Roy/Riza/Jean community.
For an excellent fanfiction based on Havoc's recovery and life post-Chapter 40, please visit havocmangawip.
Credit
I would like to thank havocmangawip, zannechaos, kousuke_blade, raja815, _themantis and crack_alchemist for reading this essay over for me at various times during its progressive creation. The various scans from this essay are from dbArchives, ReadManga and hagaren_manga. In terms of the original images themselves, they are from the various chapters, manga, artbooks and guidebooks of Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa.
Any comments, queries or questions are welcome.
Author: galuxkitty
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Character: Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc
Word Count: 5120
Spoilers: For the entirety of the manga that is released so far (all 64 chapters).
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist is the property of Hiromu Arakawa and Shounen GanGan. I am making no profit from this fanwork and it is for entertainment purposes only. The anime version of Fullmetal Alchemist is not mentioned in this essay.
"Loyalty cannot be blueprinted. It cannot be produced on an assembly line. In fact, it cannot be manufactured at all, for its origin is the human heart - the center of self-respect and human dignity. It is a force which leaps into being only when conditions are exactly right for it."
- Maurice R. Franks
Introduction
Firstly, an essay is a piece of writing that presents the view of the author. If you do not agree on my opinion, or want to contribute your own then you’re welcome to. The one thing I ask is that you justify your opinion and explain why you do not agree with mine.
This essay is canon for the manga only, and contains spoilers right up to Chapter 64. I know that the manga isn’t anywhere near being complete, but when compared to the anime it presents a stronger idea of Havoc’s personality and background.
Character Background
Jean Havoc is a Second Lieutenant in the Amestris National Armed Forces. Details of his life before the start of the series are sketchy; he grew up in an unnamed country town in the east of Amestris where his family owns a store, and joined the army after the Ishvar War affected the area where he lived in an effort to assist with the clean up. Sometime after joining the army he came under the command of Colonel Roy Mustang. In the years that Havoc served as the Colonel’s subordinate, Mustang earned his utmost respect and he had been more loyal to Mustang and his goals than any other man ever since. At some point in his life he became best friends with Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda; it’s not known exactly when they met each other and became friends, but evidence suggests they were already in the military and relatively young. He first appears in Chapter 5 of the manga, and even at that early stage his smoking habit was made obvious.
About thirty chapters later, he starts dating a woman named ‘Solaris’, or so she says. She is actually one of the main enemies of the series; a homunculus named Lust, the “Ultimate Lance” who can cut through anything with her fingers. After he finds this out, they fight (there’s a much longer story behind the situation than this, but it goes back too far to explain and doesn’t relate to his character in the long run). Mustang thinks he’s destroyed Lust, and they go to look for her corpse. Unfortunately, she isn’t dead, and she stabs Havoc with her Ultimate Lance, severing his spinal cord and paralysing him from the waist down. He survives this attack, and is shattered by the news of his paraplegia at first, but soon manages to harden his resolve and dedicate himself to physiotherapy, determined to once again rejoin his comrades.
When I first watched the anime of Fullmetal Alchemist, nothing about his character really caught my attention; he was one of Mustang’s shadows, never really explored as a character but always there for support. There was very little to his character aside from his loyalty to Mustang, his constant bad luck in love, his occasional role as comic relief... and his smoking.
It was only after I started reading the manga that I realized that there was a lot more to his character than the anime originally portrayed, including the sadness of him being the man Mustang’s forced to leave behind.
First Impressions
When I first became interested in the manga storyline of Fullmetal Alchemist after watching the entire anime series, Havoc seemed to be practically the same character in both versions of the story; a loyal, chain-smoking soldier with incredibly bad luck with women and a rather pessimistic outlook on things. He seemed overly emotional and slightly gullible at times despite it usually being for the purpose of humour, was self-pitying and tended to blame a fair portion of his bad luck, particularly with women, on his superior officer.
On the other hand, he certainly had admirable points; his loyalty to Mustang was strong, he was honest and willing to support what he believed in. He seemed to genuinely care for the girlfriends that he often changed like clothes whether by his own fault or by the fault of others, and he had a rather dopey, sweet disposition about him that I loved from the start despite the character quirks I didn’t take such an immediate shine to.
I didn’t love him, and I didn’t hate him. He wasn’t an emotional fortress like so many of the other characters tried to be. He wasn’t an alchemist like the main characters were, and his skill with a gun was not really showcased all that often. He wasn’t a genius, but perhaps that was one of the things I liked about him; a slightly simpler character who wanted things in life that people would think to be normal, such as to get a girlfriend and balance said girlfriend and his job evenly. Aside from the goals of his superior that would undoubtedly affect him and his dedication to such a risky ambition, he seemed like a normal sort of guy.
He continued to give off this impression until he found the seemingly caring and concerned girlfriend he’d always been looking for in “Solaris”, who was really the homunculus Lust trying to use him to get information on Colonel Mustang and the Elric brothers. It was only then that I felt that his fate was taking a drastic turn for the worst.
Weaknesses
One of Havoc’s main weaknesses is the way he reacts to his own situation, and what’s happening around him regardless of how small the situation; if something makes him feel spontaneous joy, anger, frustration, sadness et cetera, he tends to react extremely abruptly to what’s happening. On most occasions, this is seen by most as mere comic relief, but it does give us a greater insight to his character; he reacts to things quickly without really thinking the situation through, and often panics, finds things irritating or takes things to heart when it’s really nothing to worry about. He bursts out with whatever he has to say before he thinks it through, more often than not, and while it has never really got him into any trouble and it’s more of an instantaneous attack of his own emotion rather than anything that could insult whoever he’s talking to, he has the habit of doing it a lot. In the same light, he has the occasional case of severe foot-in-mouth syndrome.
Despite this image of spur-of-the-moment reactions to situations, when something is genuinely troubling him past the point of mere irritation, anger or sadness, he tends to try to play it down and give the impression that he’s fine. A perfect example of this is the events in Chapters Forty through to Forty-Four, in which he tries to deal with his paraplegia on his own and finally breaks down after Mustang refuses to give up on him and cut him loose; perhaps the reason for him refusing to even really talk about his injury was to try and avoid hurting others, and making them feel as if it was their concern. This didn’t work for very long, naturally. As I have said previously, Havoc isn’t able to keep his feelings hidden for very long, and no matter how hard he may try to hide his problems they eventually surface. He tends to see things from a negative perspective and often assumes that things will turn out badly far before they’re resolved. He believes the best in people, but sometimes this gets him into bad situations, such as the one with ‘Solaris’. He’s a joker, but occasionally he takes jokes a little too far (his jokes about eating Black Hayate certainly scared Fuery).
He doesn’t consider himself to be particularly intelligent, and perhaps part of his problem in that sense is that he has a habit of putting himself down and convincing himself that he’s not going to succeed without realizing, and sometimes without attempting it at all. He isn’t a genius, a great strategist or particularly knowledgeable in the stereotypical view of the word, but he certainly isn’t as useless or stupid as he likes to think he is. He’s rather blind when it comes to the faults of the people he cares about (particularly girlfriends), but when the blame falls onto him rather than them, he tends to try and divert attention to their possible part in the scheme with limited success.
He is a follower, not a leader. He is a pessimist, not an optimist. If Ed and Roy are emotional fortresses, Jean is an emotional marshmallow. Despite this, Havoc has many character strengths and a good majority of them actually developed thanks to his weaknesses.
Strengths
While Havoc is far from perfect in terms of strengths and weaknesses, it would be fair to say that his strengths far outweigh his weaknesses.
His first and foremost strength is his undying loyalty to his friends and to those he respects. He would do anything within his power to help these people in any way, and because he shows such loyalty to these people it’s only natural that they return his trust and care. This brings into the discussion how he acts towards people in general; he’s an affectionate and caring person towards everyone he meets. If he meets someone under normal circumstances, he always believes the best in the person; this could be a weakness as well as a strength, because at times he seems almost too trusting in people. He’s always got a smile ready for anyone who needs it, and often jokes around; he always seems so genuine when trying to cheer people up, and that in itself is a comfort.
His determination is obvious; although he is constantly upset (mainly because of his bad luck with women) he always manages to crawl back from the problem even if it takes him a while to do it. The courage it must have taken him to accept his paraplegia and dedicate himself to rehabilitation must have been immense, especially after he realized that he wouldn’t be able directly support Mustang any longer. He’s a hard worker and an honourable person, and always dedicates himself to what he’s doing until the job is done.
His physical strength is above average, and his skill with a gun isn’t bad; perhaps he’s a little reckless when it comes to fighting, but he’s always quick to retreat from the frontline and avoid danger if the situation gets out of his control, so it all evens out in the end. If someone he cares about is in danger, he won’t hesitate to protect them.
I mentioned in weaknesses that he was a follower, not a leader; this is also a strength. His loyalty to Mustang is high, and he’s willing to do anything asked of him if it is within his power. Very few people in the world can take such the initiative of a leader like Mustang, but without followers that are willing to listen, and respect, and even die for their superior, leaders have very little power on their own. To be a follower is also a huge undertaking; to dedicate yourself to the ideals of one person, to dedicate yourself to helping them and to trust their every judgment also takes a special sort of person; such loyalty cannot be copied nor forged.
While Havoc isn’t as charismatic in the area of leadership as Mustang and he certainly never plans to be, he is a leader in his own right; he seems to have a few low-ranked officers working for him, and they respect him a great deal as he works with them on an equal level and treats them with respect. Within Mustang’s group of subordinates, he seems to be the spokesperson of sorts for himself, Fuery, Breda and Falman. They apparently look up to him a bit, or at least trust him to not get them into any sort of strife with what he says.
Havoc is just your regular, caring, loyal guy. He cares for his friends, is generally pleasant towards everyone he meets, and works hard. I believe that his strengths far outweigh his weaknesses because of this; weaknesses are something everyone has, but most people are recognized for their strengths, the things that make them stand out from everyone else. People accept weaknesses, but cherish strengths.
Relationships
Havoc didn’t become who he is on his own, obviously. The people he’s met have shaped him into who he is, whether by a small or large influence over his character.
Colonel Roy Mustang
At first, their relationship seemed to be that of any superior and subordinate; this image was dispelled relatively quickly, as by Chapter Eleven it’s already clear that they have some sort of rivalry with one another. From Havoc’s point of view, Mustang gives him all the dirty jobs and constantly hinders his chances for love. From Mustang’s point of view... well, it’s entirely possible that Mustang just enjoys seeing Havoc’s feeble spirit being crushed. That’s not to say that Havoc doesn’t snark back, just that he complains about it more than Mustang ever does. There are plenty of times when Havoc obviously feels like Mustang is annoying or distracting him, even if Mustang himself isn’t aware of it; when he plans to take a nap and Mustang calls just before he can do so, when Mustang tells him to dump his girlfriend and that the relationship isn’t serious anyway, and when he allegedly stole Havoc’s girlfriend sometime prior to the Flame Alchemist sidestory.
Havoc annoys Mustang, too; I would never call Havoc stupid, but some of the things he does aren’t all that bright. Apparently, he once gagged the Colonel’s mouth to check if he was breathing (you’re welcome to try and decipher the logic behind this). Havoc, when given the chance, makes sure to tease at Mustang as much as Mustang teases him. They have an almost sibling-like rivalry at times, but it’s also obvious that if Colonel Mustang didn’t trust Havoc, Havoc wouldn’t be his subordinate, and the same for Havoc’s respect for Mustang.
Whilst their relationship seems to be predominantly based on childish rivalry with underlying respect, the one event that changes this is Havoc being attacked and paralysed from the waist down by Lust. Chapter 39 is one of the most obvious chapters when looking at Mustang’s deeper relationships with his subordinates, and Havoc being attacked was no exception. It was obvious that the Alchemist was far more concerned for Havoc (and Hawkeye and Alphonse, who weren’t with them at the time) than for himself. In Chapter 40, it seems that they’ve returned to the norm; Havoc and Mustang are sniping at each other again. Havoc then tells Mustang and Hawkeye that he can’t feel his legs, and that he’s out of the game. Havoc continues to worry about his condition while giving the impression of not really being too bothered about it, and Mustang asks Knox about paraplegia and finds out that it will be difficult for Havoc to return to active duty. Havoc’s frustration only surfaces when Mustang confronts him about the injury.
Mustang: You’re giving up?
Havoc: What do you expect me to do with these legs?
Mustang: But...
Havoc: What’s with those eyes... throw me away! Leave me behind! Do you have time to be worrying over an underling like me?! ... I don’t need your sympathy! Please cut me off... please give up. I’m begging you.
Mustang: I understand. I’ll leave you, so you have to catch up, I’ll be going first. I’ll be waiting at the top.
At first Havoc seems almost frustrated by the Colonel’s words, but he apparently took them to heart and by chapter 48 he has dedicated himself to physiotherapy.
Incidentally, the reasons Mustang lists for choosing Havoc as one of his subordinates are his physical strength (despite his intelligence being comparatively low), his kindness towards his subordinates and the fact that he always works hard.
Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda
When you first see them both as characters, there isn’t actually much evidence to suggest that they have any deeper relationship past both of them being Mustang’s subordinates. As the series progresses, it’s revealed that they’re actually best friends, and were so even in their earliest days in the military. Very little is known about their relationship in those days, so I won’t even try to explain it further. From this, it’s quite possible to infer that while Breda isn’t particularly emotional at the best of times, he shows his loyalty and care when it’s needed the most.
The real strength of their friendship was revealed post-Chapter 40 (as was so much about Havoc’s character); Breda was the first to think of Marcoh as a possible way to heal Havoc’s injury, and was also the first to make it clear to him that he wouldn’t be left behind because he “didn’t suit the lifestyle of a retiree”, even though he couldn’t follow them how he used to. Breda rushes to try and find Marcoh, but Envy gets there first and Havoc is left paraplegic. Because their relationship took such a serious tone after these two chapters, and there wasn’t too much shown for their friendship beforehand, it’s really quite difficult to interpret how they acted towards each other prior to Havoc’s injury. Based on the evidence they were most certainly very close friends, as they speak to each other informally (in a way that would probably be considered rude if they were nothing more than comrades), and Breda calls him “Havo” instead of by his full name.
Breda is the other person who inspires Havoc to keep training after he’s injured; whenever he visits, he brings him “presents” to help increase the strength in his arms (such as grips and weights, but no pictures of breasts much to Havoc’s frustration) and is the character who’s visited him the most in hospital since he was injured. When Havoc was yelling at Mustang in Chapter 44, Breda was the first one to move to comfort him. Although Breda was busy after being transferred to the West by King Bradley, he made time to visit Havoc before he left.
Although there was next to no evidence to their relationship prior to Chapter 40, it’s now very clear that Breda is the best friend Havoc has.
“Solaris”/Lust
Before Chapter 37, Havoc knew her as Solaris, a woman he was dating with an apparent curiosity towards the inner dealings of the military. After this, he discovers that the woman he was dating and who helped him relocate to Central was a homunculus under an alias (and after explaining how he was deceived to Mustang; his love of large breasts), and was forced to face her as an enemy and to wonder just what made people human after she explained that homunculi are almost the same as humans. They have feelings, thoughts, hopes, dreams, and a body that is effectively the same as a normal human’s with one exception; they have a Philosopher’s Stone as their nucleus. Before Havoc could really come to comprehend this, Lust attacked him and severed his spinal cord, paralysing him from the waist down and very nearly killing him. Mustang tries to use the Stone at Lust’s core to heal Havoc, but fails, and instead cauterises both Havoc’s and his own wounds shut with his flame alchemy to stop the bleeding, and finally kills Lust using Havoc’s lighter.
By explaining the origins of the homunculi, Lust effectively called all of Havoc’s beliefs about what truly defines a human being into question; he met her as a normal woman and friend, and then discovered she was an artificially created human and an enemy. This made him hesitate in attacking her, although it would have done very little anyway. He has never spoken about what he felt for her nor about how he feels about her now, but one can assume it’s most likely a mix of resentment and terror. Perhaps he had convinced himself that because she’s dead, he’s perfectly safe, and that he needn’t worry about things that have already happened at the same time he resolved to dedicate himself to training to regain mobility and strength. Regardless of how Havoc feels, it is very safe to say that Lust is probably the character that had the greatest influence over Havoc save Colonel Mustang.
First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye
Although Havoc and Hawkeye rarely interact on a personal level, they’re very much united by their loyalty to Colonel Mustang. They are allies with a common cause: to support Mustang on the long road to him becoming Fuhrer of Amestris.
Havoc and Hawkeye seem to treat each other with a sort of silent respect and very rarely talk despite working together and obviously having a mutual feeling of respect. Despite the Flame Alchemist being their top priority there are some instances where they do talk, the most obvious of these being after Havoc yelling at Mustang in Chapter 44; Hawkeye sympathizes with Havoc and explains that even if he begged, nothing could make Mustang leave one of his subordinates behind; she herself had lost the will to live, but Mustang still kept her as his most trusted subordinates and adjutant despite her giving up after believing Lust when she said he was dead. Havoc responds that he thinks Mustang is an idiot and that he’ll never reach the top if he keeps being so soft, to which Hawkeye replies, “I think it’s good to have those sorts of idiots around sometimes”. This simple scene is effectively the extent of their interaction, but it shows that they respect each other and that Hawkeye certainly doesn’t want Havoc to feel so hopeless.
Master Sergeant Kain Fuery and Warrant Officer Vato Falman
There isn’t much to mention about Havoc’s relationship with the last two members of Roy’s group of subordinates; they are never seen openly communicating with one another. However, knowing what we know of the group and their dynamics, relations and how dire the situation they’re involved in is, it is very safe and logical to assume the three of them trust one another; there’s no room in such a situation for people’s own petty grudges even if they did exist, which I certainly do not believe they do.
There’s no evidence to say that they’re best friends, but it’s inferred that they get along with one another fine.
The Elric Brothers
Havoc has very little to do with the Elric brothers, but some things he says about Ed and Al in the earlier points of the story give a strong indication that he thinks of them as children and this opinion is shared by the rest of Roy’s subordinates; although the boys are extremely mature for their ages, they are still children. Havoc also takes one or two opportunities to make fun of Ed’s height, at one point calling him a “brat who swears too much” after Ed’s automail gets destroyed by Scar and this conclusion is agreed with by others, including Mustang and Hawkeye. Although it’s obvious they’re just teasing Ed, it also gives this minute, bizarre image of a “slightly dysfunctional family” set up, and this image continues to get stronger as the series progresses, though more for Roy and Riza than Havoc.
After Edward finds out about Havoc’s injury he shows sympathy for him, though understandably fights with Ling and Mustang for the potential to use Gluttony’s core in Chapter 49. Despite this, Havoc and Edward seem to respect each other even though Havoc still sees Ed as a child.
Havoc’s Mother
We see Havoc’s mother briefly in two chapters, and both of them are after Havoc is injured. From what we can assume from her reactions, she’s a woman who’s relatively protective of her son, and supports him in any decisions he makes; she never once told him he was wrong to undertake physiotherapy instead of retiring, even though he knew it would be hard.
Character Growth and Motives
I think I’ve already explained what little pre-series knowledge we have of his life well enough, so the “History” part that was supposed to be in this section was dropped because what little information we have on his past was explained there.
Havoc’s greatest growth as a character occurs after he has come to terms with his injury. This is certainly the first time we see him steel his resolve in such a way as to accomplish something that will be such a physical and mental challenge, but it’s also obvious that he’s come to appreciate him comrades even more for never giving up their faith in him. The majority of facts about his personal life and relationships, however few there are, are revealed after being attacked; his friendship with Breda, his country background, why Mustang chose him as a subordinate and why he joined the military in the first place are all things that are disclosed after he is injured.
At the beginning of the story, he’s another one of Mustang’s subordinates; he’s not shown to be particularly bright, nor is he shown to be particularly mature about what Mustang asks of him if he doesn’t like it. When he announces he has a girlfriend to Falman and Barry The Chopper, it’s almost impossible to believe that this could be a good thing after his poor luck with women has become somewhat of a running joke throughout the series. After he is injured and he’s trying to give the impression that he’s fine and needs no comfort, it’s obvious that soon he’s going to break, and when he finally does you can’t help but feel sympathy for him. For someone to have their life changed so drastically in a split second is a terrible tragedy, but it would be even worse if he didn’t realize that he could still be of help to his friends and simply gave up on his life. Fortunately, through the words of Breda and Mustang, Havoc does realize that he can continue to be of help and dedicates himself to physiotherapy with the hope that he can once again join them; this moment is what truly shows his strength of character and growth from being what appeared to be a token background character to a strong character in his own right.
Havoc’s main motives, on the other hand, are the same as the rest of Mustang’s subordinates; they want to see him become Fuhrer of Amestris and to reform the corruption in the army, and they will do everything they can to see him accomplish this goal. Even after he is injured, it is his greatest intention to help Mustang to the best of his ability. His secondary motive (and one of his most recognizable traits) is his constant search for romance, with very little success. This hope, when compared to people such as Edward and Alphonse and even Mustang, is what people would consider normal for a guy Havoc’s age; he wants to settle down, wants to do his job and do it well, he wants to find someone to spend the rest of his life with. Unfortunately, the hope of leading a normal life can be one difficult to accomplish when you’re planning an elaborate coup against a near-indestructible homunculus who knows almost exactly what you’re doing, and when your luck with women is almost unbelievably poor. Despite this bad luck, he perseveres in both his personal and professional endeavours.
Enduring Interest
Every month, I rush to see the newest chapter of Fullmetal Alchemist, and it is indeed mainly Havoc, a side character who keeps me coming back every month. I love the series, the storyline and all of the characters, but for some reason this character proved to be my greatest attachment in the series.
Ever since his injury was confirmed twenty-four chapters ago, I’d been drawn further and further toward his character through the combined feelings of sympathy for his injury, hope that he can recover somewhat if not completely, and how that single event both truly revealed and drastically changed what he seemed to be. Despite the fact that his appearances since that moment have been few and far between, it’s easy to see that his determination grows with every new appearance he makes.
Even if you aren’t interested in him as a character, you can’t really help but hope that he recovers. His plight may not be as tragic as half the other characters’, but you can hardly help but hope that everything turns out well for him, and that they are able to heal him, or that he’s able to return to Mustang’s service regardless of his physical state, or even that he is at least able to live a normal life and finally be released from the hospital after his physiotherapy, because his condition is by no means something that should stop him from being happy.
It will be hard for him to continue on during the hardest of times, but he knows he must soldier on if there is any hope of him meeting his comrades at the top.
Links
Up In Smoke, the official Jean Havoc fanlisting.
Jean-Havoc.Net, an unofficial Jean Havoc fansite, domain, and namelisting.
havoc_fan_club, the one and only Havoc fan community on Livejournal.
havocai, a Jean Havoc/Riza Hawkeye fan community.
havocroy, a Jean Havoc/Roy Mustang fan community.
havocwin, a Jean Havoc/Winry Rockbell fan community.
havocxsheska, a Jean Havoc/Sheska community.
royaihavo, a Roy/Riza/Jean community.
For an excellent fanfiction based on Havoc's recovery and life post-Chapter 40, please visit havocmangawip.
Credit
I would like to thank havocmangawip, zannechaos, kousuke_blade, raja815, _themantis and crack_alchemist for reading this essay over for me at various times during its progressive creation. The various scans from this essay are from dbArchives, ReadManga and hagaren_manga. In terms of the original images themselves, they are from the various chapters, manga, artbooks and guidebooks of Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa.
Any comments, queries or questions are welcome.