Note: This theory
will make use of Freudian theory. While I recognize that Freud’s ideas do not
bear much contemporary relevance, that shouldn’t take away from the fact that many
of his concepts are nonetheless employed by Hima in the series. The purpose of
this post is to give some insight into the psychologies of the characters.

Terminology I’ll go
over: Psychosexual stages, causality, regression, fixation.

Yes, that’s right. Freud’s ideas are very much prevalent in
the series. A big area of his work analyzed the impact of childhood on
personality development. Freud believed in causality, meaning that who you are
as an adult can be directly traced back to your childhood.

How you’re parented and brought up is the most crucial factor.
I don’t need to go into this in too much detail, but basically, we go through
five stages of psychosexual development titled: Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.

For this specific post, we only need to focus on the early
stages of development, which focus on sensual (sensory, not sexual) pleasure and
stimulation, often for the purposes of soothing and experiencing relief.

Each stage has corresponding needs. If these needs are not
met (under-gratification) or if they are too easily met (over-gratification),
then the person develops a fixation.

A fixation essentially
means that the person is stuck at that level of development, which causes them
to develop a problematic personality type.

However, it’s only when that individual is met with confrontation
or a stressful situation that they regress back to the stage in which they
developed this fixation. The stress causes them to revert back to the age where
their needs weren’t met, and as such, adopt childish behaviours.

For example, if you get into an argument with someone and
they start behaving selfishly, like a
toddler, then you have every right to poke fun at them for having Daddy or
Mommy issues. Or, there are those who bite their nails and pick at their lips,
something akin to the soothing acquired from sucking one’s thumb as a child.

The stage that the Italy brothers appear to be fixated on is
the first stage: Oral.

The Oral stage involves the stimulation and pleasure of the
mouth. It’s where babies get their nourishment. The feeding phase within the oral stage of development is labelled
as Incorporative.

Thus, if the baby is given too much nourishment, they’ll
develop an Oral Incorporative personality type.

An Oral Incorporative personality type is someone who’s fixated
on activities that involve the use of the mouth. This can include being
extremely talkative, as well as excessive drinking, smoking, and chewing. In a figurative sense, they’re also
extremely gullible as they will “swallow” anything they’re told.

Sound familiar? If you thought of Italy, then you’d be
correct. Because Ancient Rome coddled and spoiled him, Italy’s needs were overgratified.

Italy’s extremely talkative and social, flirting with girls
left and right.

He’s also quite gullible.

Lastly, he absolutely loves to eat.

Romano, on the other hand, is the product of what happens to
a child that’s been weened off prematurely, meaning that the baby stops drinking
its mother’s milk too early. This second phase within the oral stage of
development entails teething, merely titled as Sadistic.

In the context of Hetalia this weening and subsequent
teething would be better fitted to parental neglect. Romano’s needs weren’t met
by Ancient Rome, as the latter focused most of his attention on Italy.

It’s this lack of nourishment/ care that results in an Oral Sadistic
Personality type.

An Oral Sadistic Personality type is someone that is
verbally abusive. They use “biting” sarcasm.

I mean, come on. That’s literally Romano. Cue montage.

That said, there can also be a mix of these personality
types. It isn’t just one or the other. I think we all know by now that the
characters in the series are extremely fleshed out. They remain likeable
despite bearing so many flaws.

Still, using Freud’s terminology, isn’t it uncanny how well
the Italy brother’s personality/ childhood experiences fit into this chart?