Neil

Neil is an Amestrian man marked by a few easy-to-spot habits and features: a bandanna tied around his head, a goatee, and a cigarette rarely far from his lips. Those very traits earned him the nickname Bandana Man in supplementary material. His look suits the practical, hands-on world of the Briggs workshops where he spends his days.

Easygoing and warm, Neil strikes up friendships fast with newcomers to the fort and never passes on a chance to show off the technical strides the facility has made. He carries an obvious pride in his work and a real eagerness to teach, qualities that make him a welcoming presence in an otherwise unforgiving mountain outpost.

Neil oversees much of the mechanical activity inside Fort Briggs and knows more than anyone about the frost-resistant alloys used in the region's automail, which puts him in regular service as Captain Buccaneer's mechanic. He enters the story when the Elric brothers reach Briggs, prying Alphonse Elric's helmet free from where it had snagged on Buccaneer's crocodile arm, though the fix costs the armored boy a chunk of his hairstyle. He later brings the imprisoned alchemists coffee to thank them for their help against Sloth's break-in.

When Winry Rockbell arrives, Neil happily walks her through his workspace and passes along pointers on building automail. Her abrupt departure from the fort soon after hits him harder than anyone else.