Anime all-stars · Cosmic · Mismatch
Edward Elric vs Doctor Strange
Alchemy demands equal exchange. Magic, the Sorcerer Supreme explains, is much more generous, and much more dangerous.
Tale of the tape
| Fullmetal Alchemist | Universe | Marvel |
|---|---|---|
| Superhuman | Tier | Cosmic |
| Alchemy without a circle: he claps and reshapes the ground into anything | Strength | Mastery of mystic arts, dimensions and time tricks |
| Short temper, especially about his height | Weakness | Needs a moment to cast; a fast opponent can deny it |
| 1–2 | Record on Versus | 3–2 |
The Arena
Edward Elric arrived in the Sanctum Sanctorum through a transmutation circle that had not been his, ripped out of Amestris by someone else’s mistake. He landed in a library full of floating books and glowing artifacts and stared around in fascination. A man with a goatee and a red cloak drifted down a staircase toward him.
“You came through an unauthorised portal,” said Doctor Strange. Ed was already reading the spines of the books. “Are these about alchemy? What’s the energy source for all this? Where’s your circle?” Strange raised an eyebrow. “No circle. And no energy source you would understand.” Ed’s face lit up. “Show me.”
Strange decided that the fastest way to send this boy home was to win an argument with him. Ed decided that the fastest way to learn something was to start a fight.
Round One
Ed clapped his hands and slapped the floor, and the marble rose into a stone hand that grabbed at Strange. Strange teleported aside without a word, and the hand closed on empty air. Ed clapped again, turning a bookshelf into a cage of iron bars. Strange stepped out through a portal on the other side of the room.
He raised a hand and cast a binding spell, the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, and Ed was suddenly wrapped in glowing red ribbons. Ed slapped the bands with his automail hand and tried to transmute them. Nothing happened. They were not made of matter. Ed stared at them in shock. “They don’t have a structure!”
Strange nodded, almost kindly. “Magic does not obey the laws of matter. That is what makes it so dangerous.”
The Turn
Ed could not touch the bands, but he could still touch the floor. He kicked it with his automail foot and transmuted the marble beneath Strange into a pit. Strange, distracted, fell into it with a startled shout and the bands loosened. Ed broke free and transmuted the walls of the pit closed over him.
For a moment, there was silence. Then Strange stepped out of a portal behind Ed, looking slightly ruffled. “Clever,” he admitted. “Very clever.” Ed spun, clapping, and Strange caught his wrists in glowing mystic shackles before his palms could meet. Without the clap, Ed could not transmute anything.
“You pay for every transmutation,” Strange said. “Equal exchange. I learned the same rule the hard way, with my hands. Let me show you what happens when you forget it.”
The Finish
He opened the Eye of Agamotto and showed Ed a vision: a dark dimension where a being of fire called Dormammu waited, offering unlimited power to anyone foolish enough to bargain. Ed watched in silence. He recognised it. He had once knocked on a door like that, with his brother, and paid with an arm and a leg.
Ed stopped struggling. Strange released the shackles. The boy sat down on the library floor and looked at his automail hand for a long time. “I tried to bring my mother back,” he said quietly. “I lost my leg. My brother lost his whole body.” Strange sat down beside him. “I lost my career, my hands and almost my soul.”
They spent the night in the library, comparing the laws of alchemy and magic, and arguing about whether any power is worth its price. In the morning, Strange opened a portal back to Amestris. Ed stepped through, then turned back. “Next time,” he said, “I’m going to figure out how your magic works.” Strange smiled. “I am counting on it.”
The verdict
Doctor Strange wins
Edward is a creative genius whose alchemy can reshape anything physical, but Doctor Strange’s magic is not made of matter, his teleportation avoids every trap, and he can stop Ed simply by keeping his hands apart.
- Non-physical magicEd cannot transmute spells that have no structure.
- TeleportationStrange escapes every pit and cage Ed builds.
- Hand controlShackling Ed’s wrists stops all his alchemy.
How the rematch could go differently: An Edward who used the Philosopher’s Stone, or the power of the Gate itself, could fight Strange on his own level.
Who do you think wins?
Who would win in a fight between Edward Elric and Doctor Strange?
Doctor Strange wins. Edward is a creative genius whose alchemy can reshape anything physical, but Doctor Strange’s magic is not made of matter, his teleportation avoids every trap, and he can stop Ed simply by keeping his hands apart.