Roy is a more morally ambiguous character in 03 compared to his Brotherhood counterpart. We more explicitly see him blowing up children and he is of course responsible for killing Winry’s parents. His attitude towards the Elric brothers was a little colder and he just generally seemed more manipulative. He’s got his good moments too but it comes across more as attempting to be heroic in order to redeem himself rather than a naturally good, heroic person.
Riza’s not explored nearly as much in 03 as in Brotherhood where she gets much more backstory and is more central to the story. One thing that remains consistent is her devotion to Roy though. Her support is unwavering. Never seeing any of her backstory, we’re instead left to wonder at why she trusts him so much.
Because Roy is less obviously a good person, it makes Riza’s unwavering support of him more remarkable because it can be seen more as a character flaw. Her decision to defend his actions really shows how biased her feelings are:
-Refusing to condemn him for killing Winry’s parents even when Winry confronts her about it. Shielding Roy when she confronts him about it.
-Defending (admiring) his actions of using his flame alchemy at that protesting refugee camp to scare people into submitting to the military’s orders.
-Helping him to stage a coup in order to go and assassinate the Fuhrer.
It’s not a bad thing though, indeed she is very aware of all the things Roy has done and the two of them are virtually always together. My personal headcanon would be that Riza feels her own guilt for the deeds she committed in the past and sees Roy as her way of absolving that guilt. His goals are, of course, to change the way the State is run in order to prevent more pointless wars such as Ishval.
Riza’s great. It’s just, they’re not perfect people. She’s very much a loyal soldier who only ever offers any advice or criticism when the two of them are alone. I feel she will defend Roy to the end. It’s admirable but it’s also dangerous because he’s a clearly flawed person.
Zetalial 