May Chang

May Chang arrives in Amestris as a minor scion of the Chang clan of Xing, small in stature but fierce in ambition, dragging her panda companion Xiao-Mei along as she hunts for the secret of immortality. She wants a throne she has little claim to, and she is willing to fight, scheme, and outlast bigger rivals to get it.

She could easily be comic relief—she is often very funny, all bluster and wounded pride—but the show keeps handing her real stakes and real competence, and Mai Goto's performance sells both the bravado and the genuine desperation underneath it. She turns out to be far tougher, and far more useful, than her size suggests.