[WolvenLordSoulReaper]

Before you answer with the obvious statement, 'Edward Elrich is the older brother... duh', the question is actually meant to refer to the unique dynamic of sibling bond shared by the Brothers Elrich.

Almost always, Alphonse is the voice of reason, encouragement and due process.

Edward is the half-cocked, temperamental, brash Git-R-Done or get outta my way type.

But we also see Edward caring sensibly for Al, protecting him at great lengths and shielding him from harm at all times, even if Edward must sacrifice greatly in the endeavor. Emotionally Edward has at times had to buoy Alphonse with comforting words and soothing whispers of hope in long and tragic nights of ungodly dimensions.

So I ask again... who's the eldest brother?

[Lanen]

Still Ed...

Yes the brothers complement each other's immature behaviors we associate with youngness in both the anime and manga. Yes sometimes Al seems to be the older or not and vis versa. However I'm still going with Ed because he's running the show, not Al. Ed is the one who decided they needed to bring back mom/then Al, burn the house, set off on a trip, become a state alchemist, and so forth. Al didn't decide those things, he went along with them. I guess the point I want to make is while Ed is no adult, Al is still following along with his brother. In terms of maturity? Well, lets split that into two things: personality and actions.

Ed: Personality: Younger (maturity) Actions: Older (decision maker)

Al: Personality: Older (maturity), however, has the classic younger brother sterotype in the sense that he's shy most of the time to stand up against Ed's decisions. If you notice, Ed and Al haven't fought that much, and when they did, Al wasn't always the clear winner.
Actions: Younger, lets Ed do the decision making, is much more relaxed and allows Ed to take lead. When separated, Al doesn't do much other than collect information or keep watch over important things.

Ok, so that was a bit hazy but bleh, I know what I know kind of things. Also its harder to tell in the anime, but I think the manga puts Ed clearly in front. He grows up A LOT. Of course both of them are much more mature in the manga, and Al becomes more serious and independent, but its more about losing the fluffiness and becoming more serious about saving people he cares about.

[WolvenLordSoulReaper]

Nicely done... I salute you:-)

[TokyoDarjeeling]

One thing I often think about is, while Al is in his armour, he doesn't get the chance to grow up. I mean, Ed didn't really have a normal childhood either, but he's still got his body. And Al... well he has an inside, but he can't really grow up. He misses out on so much!
I agree that Al in most situation behaves a lot more adult than Ed, but to me Ed is older mentally as well. Cause even though it's the inside that counts, you need an outside to be who you are.

[TrisakAminawn]

Tokyo has a point; Al's personal development has been very odd for some years now. Sometimes he still talks like someone much younger than fourteen. (Please remember, he is just fourteen. When I was fourteen, I was a clueless brat. Don't know about the rest of you. Hey, maybe some of us are fourteen now. ) He has a vulnerability that Ed never had even as a child, which actually seems to have increased over the past four years. He's a kind and gentle person. But he has matured, and he is himself. Al is taller, stronger, more sensible, and quicker at mathematics and such important things than Ed, but he doesn't have Ed's fierce internal drive and self-assertion. Due to being 'hollow inside' the way he is, and his natural personality, he is also in a position to be emotionally dependent on Ed, because even though he's a naturally friendly person, he's got too big a secret to keep to interact too extensively outside the duo dynamic.

Until recently, when they were acting separately; one effect of the current situation he's caught in with Pride is that they're back together and Al needs rescuing. He couldn't quite cut it alone. Ed missed Al, but his effectiveness isn't cut down too much without him. The fact that Ed is a more significant existence in Al's life than Al is in Ed's (not to denigrate Ed's genuine and immense devotion to his brother) gives a very strong impression to me of Ed as the older. There are plenty of younger siblings to whom their elder siblings are more or less insignificant, but in pairs of siblings with only a few years between them, it's fairly rare.

[tikurrui]

._. in a sense, this pisses me off, because it reminds me of how selfish we are to reward just one character all the fame. That's why there's only one REAL main character, and the other one's just a secondary char.

( I mean, why can't there be two main characters? it WILL be chaotic, but with a good structure, there should be no worries on the manga/anime falling apart )

but then again, I've never created a manga/anime so I don't doubt it to not work out.

[TrisakAminawn]

You can have plural main characters, but it's tricky, tricky, tricky, and often makes it harder to make clear what you're trying to say, never mind to get to the end of the story.

But I think in FMA we kind of have got two main characters at this point, Ed and Roy Mustang. Mustang's expanded his part so much since he debuted and announced that he was taking over the manga, and he basically has another and much more interesting plot going on at this point. Ed's story-locus is only really getting covered because he's the official main character. Mustang is handling the elements of main-character-hood that Ed can't because he's...well. mostly because he's too young, with all that young implies. Especially in the sense of being impulse-driven and not fully entrenched in the world. It's like Roy is Fergus to Ed's Cuchulain, except of course that they aren't that close.

[Tyr11]

I think envy is the eldest brother. Although he is horrible, he is Hoenheim's kid too. He's like a century or older. Alphonse is mature but not really "grown up" more like a wise young person. And Ed's aot mature at all.

[Kurisuta1]

Originally Posted by Tyr11

I think envy is the eldest brother. Although he is horrible, he is Hoenheim's kid too. He's like a century or older. Alphonse is mature but not really "grown up" more like a wise young person. And Ed's aot mature at all.

that's just in the anime. The manga is differn't...
and they were just talking about just Ed and Al anyway.

Good point about Al kinda but I do think Ed is very mature even if he acts stupid sometimes. You can't go through what he's gone through and try and acheive what he's trying to without being mature.

[The_Kawaii_Alice]

dude.... that's a hard quesiton... but i'll awnser with Alphonse.