Ling Yao

Ling Yao is a Xingese character exclusive to the manga and the 2nd anime. He first appears in Chapter 32, in Rush Valley. He is the twelfth prince of the eastern nation of Xing. He is the essence of "Noblesse Oblige " - "privilege entails to responsibility". Though haughty, arrogant and ambitious, he cares deeply for his servants and people - a feeling that is returned, especially from his bodyguard, Lan Fan. Those outside his responsibilities are often less fortunate - as Ed learns from his habit of running up room service bills. His goal in life is to become immortal and become the emperor of his country of origin. He enjoys flirting with Winry and becomes a close friend of Ed.

He instantly becomes a dedicated opponent of Fuhrer King Bradley due to the Homunculus' belief that those in one's service who can no longer perform should be discarded. Ling is a devoted believer in fealty that is, a King cannot exist without a people to support him. Bradley simply responds that a King is merely one who is powerful enough to compel obedience in others.

Ling leaves his country and heads to Amestris to find a way to become immortal, so he can gain the throne. In Xing, many families are striving for the position as emperor. The current emperor is ill, so if Ling can find a method of immortality and gives it to the emperor, he will be chosen as an heir (the emperor will retire eventually). Ling begins to look for the best lead he has: The Philosopher Stone's.

Skills and Abilities

Skilled in hand to hand combat: Ling is a very skilled fighter, trained in the Xingese martial arts since he was young, because people would try to assassinate him.

Swordsmanship: Ling is very high skilled in fighting with swords, he was skilled enough that he was able to handle Wrath by him self while carrying Lan Fan, he also was able to take down Envy with no effort at all.

Peak human speed: As a human Ling has show peak human speed.

Peak human strength: Despite that it looks that Ling lacks strength, he is actually strong for someone his age. He was able to pick up Gluttony with little difficulty.

Agility: Ling is very agile, as seen how he was able to dodge hits from wrath with no problems, he showed great agility when he tied up Gluttony up with wires.

High endurance: Ling can take a lot of punishment, showing how how he was able to keep fighting with broken ribs, and he was able to handle Greed taking over his body because normally anybody would die of that as shown when Wrath became a homunculus.

Dragon Pulse: Ling has a special ability called the "Dragon Pulse" which allows him to detect any living presence near him and locate their location, he is also able to use this technique in the dark or blinded in order to avoid getting attacked by someone else as shown how he was able to deal with Gluttony in the dark and was able to sense Pride and warn the others.

Former abilities

This are Ling's former abilities if when he was part homunculus.

Immortality: When Ling became part Homunculus, he became immortal because of the Philosopher's stone.

High regeneration: As part homunculus, Ling possessed high regeneration, but it's limited because the Philosopher's stone runs out after being used a lot.

Invulnerability: Because of Greed's abilities, Ling could use his ultimate shield and thus becoming harder than a diamond.

Items

Sword - Ling carries a sword around most of the time.

Grenades - Ling carries grenades around for tough situations, such as escaping from trouble. He carries hand grenades, flash grenades, and smoke grenades.