Alexander

Alexander appears to be a Great Pyrenees, a broad, heavily built dog whose coat runs mostly white, though in the 2003 anime Nina's drawings give him brown markings across his head and ears. His enormous size and thunderous bark make him hard to overlook.

For all his bulk and volume, Alexander is a warm, high-spirited animal who rarely strays from Nina's side. He tends to greet the Elric brothers by leaping onto Edward, a habit Nina scolds and one that earns him the label of a mangy mutt from an exasperated Ed. With Nina's father sinking ever deeper into his research, the girl and her dog are frequently left with only each other for company, and the bond between them runs deep.

Their happiness proves painfully short-lived. Facing the loss of his state license unless he can present a stunning result, Shou Tucker merges Nina and Alexander into a single talking chimera. When the Elrics uncover what he has done, a furious Edward nearly beats the man to death, but neither brother can undo the transmutation. In the manga and 2009 anime, the killer Scar arrives, slays Tucker, and then ends the suffering creature out of pity.

The 2003 anime takes a grimmer path. There Basque Grand seizes the chimera for research, it escapes with Edward's help only to flee into an alley and meet Scar, who tears it apart so violently that little remains. Tucker himself later survives in custody and descends into madness trying to recreate Nina.