Alphonse Elric, commonly shortened to just Al, is the deuteragonist of the Fullmetal Alchemist series. He is the younger brother of Edward Elric. Al is also a victim of a failed Human Transmutation experiment to bring back his late mother, which ultimately resulted in his brother losing his left leg and right arm and Alphonse his entire body. Before it left completely, Edward managed to alchemically bind Alphonse's soul to a large suit of armour via a blood seal.
Alphonse spends most of the series in this form which, while incredibly powerful and durable, is also completely unfeeling, unable to do basic things like eat, sleep, or feel a sense of touch. To restore their bodies to their original forms, the brothers end up leaving their hometown of Resembool in search of the legendary Philosopher's Stone, the only known way to get around the law of equivalent exchange. For most the story, Alphonse is 14 years old.