Immortals

The Immortals (不死者 fushisha) are a group of people who attained immortality - either via the Grand Panacea or via the Cure-All Elixir.

There are set of rules that immortals must follow, as set by Ronny Schiatto. Although they are able to use a false name for temporary introductions to mortals, their bodies reject all attempts to establish lasting false identities. They must use their real names when speaking to another immortal - and this is an involuntary measure; it is physically impossible to give a false name when there is another immortal in one's vicinity.

To kill an immortal, another immortal must "devour" them by placing their right hand on the other's head while thinking "I want to eat you." After one devours another immortal, one receives all the immortals' memories and knowledge.

The more often an immortal is injured in a certain way, the faster they will recover from that injury. For example: Dallas Genoard has been shot in the head more than once. Each time he is shot in the head, the faster he recovers.

In the anime, immortals can transmit information and images to another immortal by placing their left hand on the other's head and thinking about the information or image. This is not so in the light novels - though immortals can transmit information in that manner to their linked homunculi. (Ex: Szilard to Ennis). In the anime, Maiza transmits knowledge of the elxir to Gretto via this method, but in the novels he simply tells Gretto half of the recipe.

History
At least three generations of immortals are confirmed at this time.

Pre-1711 Generation
This generation originally consisted of ten people: nine alchemy students and their teacher Dalton Strauss. A decade after their turning, one immortal devoured his own mother - sparking a war for survival within the group.

There are only three survivors of this group: Dalton himself; Renee Paramedes Branvillier; and Archangelo. Archangelo is personally responsible for the deaths of the other immortals, whom he devoured for Renee's sake (he loved her, and believed that the very existence of the others was a threat to her). To avoid devourment, Dalton severed his own right hand and gave it to Archangelo, making it impossible for him to devour Renee or anyone else. Archangelo proceeded to bury it in a spot that only he knows the whereabouts of.

The survivors would go on to continue teaching alchemy to interested students.

1711 Generation
This generation originally consisted of thirty people who obtained immortality aboard the Advena Avis.

Fleeing persecution in Lotto Valentino, the alchemists board the ship and head for the New World. At some point during the voyage, Maiza Avaro summons a 'demon' (Ronny Schiatto). Ronny bestows on Maiza (and only Maiza) the knowledge required to concoct the Grand Panacea. That day, Maiza teaches his younger brother Gretto half of the recipe before deciding that he will keep the recipe to himself rather than share it with the others. Alchemist Szilard Quates is outraged, and proceeds to devour thirteen of the alchemists aboard the ship -- the first he devours is Gretto, and thus he obtains half of the recipe.

The surviving alchemists manage to throw him off the ship. Once they arrive in the New World, they scatter across the continent in fear of Szilard's wrath. Over the next two centuries, Szilard devours five more of the alchemists. The manhunt comes to an end when Szilard is devoured in 1930.

It is later revealed that three of the passengers (Huey Laforet, Elmer C. Albatross, and Lebreau Fermet Viralesque) each sent Lucrezia de Dormentaire portions of the elixir (Huey and Elmer each sent her half of their portions, and Fermet sent her a 'sample' several years later. And so - Lucrezia becomes a complete immortal, along with Niki and Maiza's father (Maiza's father is experimented upon over the next two centuries).

1930 Generation
This group of immortals consists of an unknown amount of people, and unlike the previous two generations obtained immortality accidentally rather than purposefully. This generation became immortal via the Cure-All Elixir - Szilard's newly completed version of the immortality elixir - in November 1930.

As previously stated, this group became immortal accidentally. To explain, there were three dozen bottles of the new elixir...most of which were destroyed in a granary fire (thanks to the mishap of Randy and Pezzo). Barnes managed to save two bottles of the elixir, but quickly lost possession of them. The two bottles rapidly changed hands that night -- those of Dallas Genoard and co., the Gandor Family, Isaac & Miria and eventually the Martillo Family. Believing the bottles to contain alcohol, Isaac, Miria, the Gandor brothers, the Martillo executives, and Seina all consume it at a promotion party that night.

It is revealed in a Drama CD that a young man called Pietro Gonzales recovered a bottle of the elixir from the collapsed granary and drank it (thinking it alcohol). Once he learns he is immortal he is horrified, and with his friend Dominico Fuentes he searches for a way to 'cure' his immortality and become mortal again.

1920s-1930s - Incomplete Immortals and Homunculi
Szilard also devised an elixir that could bestow upon someone incomplete immortality. An incomplete immortal will eventually die of old age, but otherwise can survive all manner of injury or sickness. They cannot devour others, however.

Huey's homunculi in the Lamia are the reverse: they do not age, but they can be killed like normal humans.

Szilard must have finished the incomplete immortality elixir by 1927, since during that year he made the priest Donatello an incomplete immortal (he later devoured the man).

In November 1930, Paula Wilmans (the mother of Mark Wilmans) - worked for Szilard on the incomplete elixir. Lester pleads with her to give him the incomplete immortality elixir, but she refuses, and hides the bottle of the elixir by burying it at her husband's grave. In the summer of 1932, Mark retrieves the bottle, and eventually confronts Lester. Lester charges at him in order to get at the bottle, and Mark stabs him with his ice pick several times, mortally wounding him. Lester manages to seize the bottle. Kicking Mark aside, he rips out the cork and downs the bottle's contents in one gulp.

And so, Lester becomes an incomplete immortal. His wounds do not heal of course, and Lester screams in agony as Elmer (who'd tried to warn him not to drink it) sighs. After Nicola Cassetti prepares to blow off some steam (intending to torture Lester), Elmer crouches down next to Lester and offers to devour him and put him out of his mystery...as long as Lester promises that he'll smile when he goes. Despite knowing his fate, Lester shakes his head in painful refusal. Elmer says that he'll be back in a few years once Lester has changed his mind.

After Szilard's death, both Huey and the Nebula corporation attempt to obtain his incomplete elixir. Huey sends the Lamia to steal the elixir - but Nebula gets to it first and distributes it to all twelve hundred of its employees at the Mist Wall (under the guise of it being a mandatory vaccine for their jobs) in 1933.

In 1934, Nebula distributes the remaining incomplete elixir to certain executives of the Russo Family (including don Placido Russo and capo Klik) under the condition that the Russos capture the Lamia. To do this, Placido recalls Graham Specter and co. back from New York to Chicago to capture the group alive. The homunculi manage to escape from Graham.

At the same time, Huey is incarcerated in Alcatraz. 1711 immortal and FBI agent Victor Talbot sends 1930 immortal Firo Prochainezo as a mole into the prison, where he has incarcerated 1930 immortal Isaac Dian as blackmail for Firo.

When Alcatraz prisoner Ladd Russo and Firo meet with Huey, it is revealed that Renée (who works for Nebula had hired several Felix Walkens to steal Huey's eye. The Felix Walkens are easily dispatched, but Firo decides that he will steal Huey's eye instead. Sham secretly betrays Huey and helps Firo to escape, but not before Liza (a vessel of Hilton) steals Firo's eyes via one of her falcons/hawks. She later returns his eyes to him via Annie, one of Hilton's vessels. Isaac Dian is released that year and reunites with fellow immortal Miria Harvent.

Back in Chicago, the Russo Family have failed to capture the Lamia. As punishment Renée Paramedes Branvillier devours the Russos' incomplete immortals, starting first with Placido and ending with Klik.

Huey also escapes the island by 1935 and hires Claire Stanfield to guard Melvi Dormentaire.

Post-1930s
1711 immortals Maiza Avaro and Czeslaw Meyer go on a trip in the 1970s to find the surviving 1711 immortals and inform them of Szilard's passing. Over the next few decades, they locate Begg Garott, Nile, Sylvie Lumiere and Denkurō Tōgō.

In 2001, Maiza, Czes, Nile, Denkurō and Sylvie travel to Europe in search of the last missing immortal (Elmer). They find him living in a castle, and investigate the strange village that surrounds it.

In 2002, several of the immortals board the cruise liners Entrance and Exit, and are embroiled in the massacres aboard both ships.

Elder Immortals (pre-1711)

 * Dalton Strauss
 * Renee Paramedes Branvillier
 * Archangelo
 * Seven other alchemists (deceased)

Immortals Created aboard the Advena Avis (1711)

 * Begg Garott
 * Czeslaw Meyer
 * Denkurō Tōgō
 * Elmer C. Albatross
 * Gretto Avaro (deceased)
 * Huey Laforet
 * Lebreau Fermet Viralesque
 * Maiza Avaro
 * Nile
 * Sylvie Lumiere
 * Szilard Quates (deceased)
 * Victor Talbot
 * Zank Rowan (deceased)
 * Pierre (mentioned in Episode 07; deceased)
 * Italo (mentioned in Episode 07; deceased)
 * Fifteen other alchemists (deceased)

Other Immortals created with the Grand Panacea

 * Lucrezia de Dormentaire
 * Niki
 * Avaro Sr.

Immortals Created with Szilard's Cure-All Elixir (1930)

 * Firo Prochainezo
 * Keith Gandor
 * Berga Gandor
 * Luck Gandor
 * Isaac and Miria
 * Don Molsa Martillo, all the Martillo Family executives (including Kanshichirou Yaguruma, Randy and Pezzo), Seina, and Lia Lin-Shan
 * Pietro Gonzales
 * A mouse

Huey Laforet's Homunculi

 * "The Poet"
 * Adele
 * Christopher Chareau de Red
 * Frank
 * Hong Chi-Mei
 * Leeza Laforet (Hilton)
 * Sham
 * Sickle
 * Rail

Szilard Quates' homunculi

 * Ennis
 * Felt Nibil
 * Phil

Incomplete Immortals

 * Dallas Genoard and his cohorts (one dead, two alive)
 * The 1200 employees of the Nebula association (including Renee's team)
 * Don Placido Russo, and a few of his subordinates (including Klik) (deceased)
 * Donatello
 * Lester