Roa

A hulking figure of a man, Roa was reshaped through alchemy into a chimera carrying the traits of an ox. In his ordinary state he already towers over most opponents, but he can also take on an even larger and more imposing bull-man shape. His military attire differs across adaptations, rendered in standard blue in the 2003 anime and a distinctive greenish beige in the 2009 series. English releases have handled his name inconsistently, spelling it Law in the 2003 dub and Loa in the translated manga.

Roa's fighting stems from overwhelming physical might rather than quickness. He is capable in bare-handed brawling and deadly with his signature sledgehammer, skilled enough to stand toe to toe with Alex Louis Armstrong in a straight contest of muscle. His most striking gift is the power to shift from his human shape into a far bigger and stronger bull-man form, making him the first chimera in the story shown doing so.

In the manga, Roa enters the story in the twenty-sixth chapter, joining Dolcetto and Martel on Greed's order to seize Alphonse Elric in Dublith and pry loose the secrets of the boy's hollow, seemingly deathless armor. Too slow to run him down, he finishes the capture only after Martel hobbles Alphonse from within. He also serves as the hand that demonstrates Greed's regeneration, striking off his master's head with the sledgehammer on a silent cue. When King Bradley assaults the Devil's Nest, Roa spearheads the defense to open an escape route, only to be intercepted by Alex Louis Armstrong, a foe he remembers from Ishval. Knowing he is outmatched, he transforms and trades blows with the alchemist until Wrath fells him mid-battle. He survives long enough to drag himself toward Bradley and Greed in a bid to save his boss, but Bradley cuts him into four pieces with two swift strokes, and he dies.

The 2003 anime reframes his origins, introducing him as one of the test subjects who flees the collapsing Laboratory 5 and immediately falls in with Greed. During that version's attempt to abduct Alphonse near Dante's home, he holds Armstrong back and collapses a sewer wall to block pursuit, then flees into the forest with the gang, only for Lust and Gluttony to corner them; he and Dolcetto buy Greed time and are killed and devoured by Gluttony. A parallel-world version of Roa also turns up as one of Alfons Heiderich's fellow scientists in Conqueror of Shamballa.