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When Ed "kills" Pride, a tiny baby pops out. When we see him 2 years later, it appears he has a nipple in the middle of his forehead.

Why?

the "nipple" on Selim's forehead

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    If i recall Gluttony, Sloth and Lust had dots on their skin connected by lines. look at Sloth's left side. maybe it's the same?
    – Memor-X
    Dec 7, 2016 at 0:35
  • @KazRodgers Actually I think it appears in the manga too...
    – user29635
    Dec 7, 2016 at 0:37
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    @KazRodgers he has it in the manga, remember that brotherhood follows the manga much more closely than the 2003 series
    – Memor-X
    Dec 7, 2016 at 0:38
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    @sohomangue not sure. been a long time since i've seen the end. i just remember that in both series the homonculi have that circular mark on their skin, not just their clothing
    – Memor-X
    Dec 7, 2016 at 0:41
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    @Memor-X Well... I thought it was kind of a part of their clothing or something. Thank you !
    – user29635
    Dec 7, 2016 at 0:45

2 Answers 2

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It's another mark commonly worn by homunculi.

This a remnant from Selim being a homunculus. The ouroboros tattoo is a recurring mark of a homunculus, but there are other common themes that at least some homunculi share.

Look for the red lines and circles, most notably found on Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, Envy (only in his true form) and Greed (when he has his shield up).

the homunculus

ouroboros tattoo 1 ouroboros tattoo 2

The "nipple" you see on Selim's forehead is a continuation of this same mark. The tiny baby already had this mark:

Baby Selim

The "old" Selim (the one who was destroyed) wasn't the actual homunculus. It was a container (the true homunculus was the little baby).

Why don't all the homunculi have these marks?

Well, first of all, these marks are never explicitly mentioned (at least not in the shows, I haven't read the manga) and not plot relevant. Therefore, it's possible that these are not required, but rather a design choice (or a consequence from their creation)

Or maybe Father managed to improve his later homunculi so that they don't need the mark anymore, though GreedLing still has the red marks and he is the newest addition.

There are two homunculi who actually bear the marks, but are able to hide them:

  • (as per the other answer) Pride (Selim as we initially meet him) is nothing but a container for the true homunculus (the tiny baby which later grows up to be "nipple Selim"). Since the baby survived when the shell died, that proves that the container is not connected to the homunculus itself, and therefore the container does not need these marks.
  • Envy is a shapeshifter, thus he is able to hide the marks by choosing his humanlike form. Since the big green monster is considered his true form, that means that his humanlike appearance is his own preference. Note that Envy's headband still carries a similar mark, so that means he chooses to display the mark though not on his body as a tattoo. This strongly suggests that the mark itself is optional (but preferred).

So actually, there is only one homunculus who does not have the mark: Wrath (Bradley). But Wrath is also unique in other ways, e.g. the only homunculus that ages. It stands to reason that there is a very good reason for Wrath to hide his homunculus marks: because he is a deep agent who needs to stay anonymous.

So there are two possibilities here:

  • All homunculi have this mark (in different forms), we simply haven't seen Wrath's. Maybe it was under his clothes, we never see him naked or even undressed.
  • All homunculi except Wrath have this mark. Wrath is a specially designed homunculus in many ways (he ages too), so it's not impossible that his mark was hidden because he needed to go undercover as the Fuhrer.
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The mark on Selim's forehead was already present when Edward had reduced him to his true form in chapter 106.

Selim's true form

The mark does not appear to be visible on his forehead prior to his destruction: for instance, compare these instances of Selim's face in ch. 70 to that in ch. 108, post-Promised Day.

The most likely explanation is that this has the same function as the ouroboros tattoos of the other homunculi, since each is meant to have one somewhere on its body, and we see no other markings on Pride's true form. Note however that unlike with the other homunculi, this mark is not actually the ouroboros symbol.

Why is the mark only visible after Pride is destroyed? Selim Bradley's body is really a shell. We see Selim's face start to disintegrate up in ch. 104, after he fights with Edward, and in ch. 106, he states that the "container" that Father gave him is breaking up. There would be no reason for such a container to have the mark, particularly when it might arouse the interest of others.

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