Ling Yao

About Ling Yao

Ling Yao is a prince of Xing, the empire east of Amestris, who crosses the desert searching for a Philosopher's Stone to secure his claim to the throne. Greedy for food and advantage alike, he is a skilled swordsman who can sense the Homunculi, and who willingly shares his body with the Homunculus Greed for power. His friendship with Edward slowly turns ambition into something nobler.

Appearance

Ling is a tall, lean young man from Xing with long black hair tied in a high ponytail, narrow eyes that are usually closed in a cheerful squint, and a grin that gives nothing away. He dresses in Xingese style, a yellow jacket over dark trousers, and carries a straight sword at his hip. His relaxed posture is a disguise: when he opens his eyes, his gaze is sharp, measuring and very hard to fool. He is also famous for collapsing from hunger in the street, usually just in time for someone else to pay for his meal.

Personality

Ling is playful, theatrical and cheerfully shameless. He eats other people's food, sleeps in their rooms and treats princeship as a joke. Underneath is a serious ruler in training: he believes a king exists for his people, judges others by how they treat their subordinates, and can read a room, a lie and a battlefield in seconds. His ambition is real but not selfish; he wants the throne to protect his clan in Xing's brutal succession struggle. Meeting the Elrics teaches him the difference between using people and standing with them, and he grows into the second without losing the grin.

Background & Story

Ling is one of many children of the Emperor of Xing, the vast empire east of Amestris, where fifty clans compete to offer the Emperor the secret of immortality and win the succession. Sent (or rather, going eagerly) across the great desert with his bodyguards Lan Fan and Fu, Ling arrives in Amestris hunting rumours of the Philosopher's Stone. He attaches himself to the Elric brothers, the country's most famous Stone-hunters, with a princely lack of shame and a swordsman's skill. Xing's arts give him one more gift: like other Xingese warriors, he can sense the strange, wrong feeling of the Homunculi, making him one of the few people who can track Amestris's hidden enemies.

Powers & Abilities

• Xingese Swordsmanship: A master swordsman trained in Xing, fast and precise enough to duel King Bradley's soldiers and hold his own against Homunculi.
• Qi Sensing: Like other Xingese fighters, Ling can sense the flow of energy in people and places, letting him detect Homunculi and feel disturbances ordinary alchemists cannot.
• Ultimate Shield (as Greed): Sharing his body with the Homunculus Greed, Ling can harden his skin into an unbreakable carbon shield, Greed's signature defence, wielded with Ling's sword skill.

Key Relationships

• Lan Fan: His masked bodyguard, whose absolute loyalty Ling honours by treating her as a person, not a tool, a bond that defines his idea of kingship.
• Edward Elric: The alchemist he shamelessly mooches off and gradually becomes a true friend and ally to, Stone-hunt and all.
• King Bradley: The ruler of Amestris, whose inhuman nature Ling is among the first outsiders to sense, and whose soldiers he keeps outrunning.

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