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 (e.g., erogenous
zones, childhood memory repression, catharsis) are nonetheless employed by Himaruya
in the series. The purpose of this post is to give some insight into the
psychologies of the characters.

Ever wonder why Italy
acts so childish sometimes? From a perspective of psychoanalytic theory, this
would be seen as a re-enactment of the insecurity and fear of abandonment that
Italy’s held since his childhood.

What is Regression?: 

Regression occurs when a
person experiences stress and reverts back to an earlier stage of development
where life was easier. A lot of these childish behaviours have to do with
insecurity and the seeking out of comfort.

For example, if social
situations stress you out and you have a tendency to cling to a friend or
spouse, this behaviour is comparable to a child that clings to their parent for
protection. Another common example would be grown adults sucking their thumbs
when they’re stressed. An even milder version would be biting your nails.
Babies teeth and suck as a form of tension reduction; it soothes them, just
like an adult biting their nails or sucking on their thumb would.

We know that Italy’s
childhood was far from healthy. He went from the security, comfort, and
undivided care of Rome to being routinely conquered, subjected to countless
wars, and being forced to live in a strange and foreign environment – Holy Rome’s
household [x].

This abandonment, insecurity, and
fear of being left behind is still alive and well in Italy’s adulthood. What
you’ll see is that just like a child who seeks comfort in the ‘big’ and ‘strong’
authority figure that is their parent, Italy unconsciously sees Germany as a
replacement for Rome.

That said, let’s tie
this back to the strips.

Italy’s Adulthood:

When Italy and Germany
first meet in WW1 as enemies, Italy pleads for Germany not to open the tomato
crate that he’s hiding in. He comes up with the childish ruse that he’s the
spirit of the tomato box. While this could just be used for comic effect, I
still think it’s interesting to consider.

This example, on the other
hand, makes a lot more sense to me if I analyze it from a Freudian perspective.
Remember when Germany takes Italy as a prisoner of war and we get that bizarre
scene where Germany lets Italy escape, only for Italy to come waltzing right back
into his imprisonment?

Of course, the reason
that Italy does this is that he doesn’t want to go back to war and fight. On
top of that, what Germany’s providing for Italy here is a sense of comfort and
security – just like a parent would. That’s why Italy wasn’t so keen to leave.

We also get this scene. Italy has a nightmare where he’s left behind by Germany and Japan.
What prompted this was Russia’s alliance with Germany. His greatest insecurity
is that he’s useless and doesn’t bring any value to his allies [x].

He fears being alone.

The parallels between
these next two scenes are uncanny.

After waking up from his
nightmare, Italy runs all the way to Germany’s house in the middle of the
night. While he may not realize it, Italy’s seeking comfort and reassurance.

Now, compare this to the
scene with Chibitalia. Upon being frightened by thunder, he hops into bed with
Holy Rome [x].

Side note: Holy Rome and
Germany literally have the same emotional and verbal responses, just saying.

Point is, Italy’s fear
of being alone was developed early in his childhood and it’s continued into his
adulthood.

In sum, Italy’s childish
behaviour doesn’t appear to be simply for the fact that he was originally
intended to be a derpy character by Himaruya. A lot of Italy’s clinginess stems
from childhood fears of abandonment and the subsequent insecurity of being left
to fend for himself in a world that has consistently proven to be hostile,
brutal, and unfair.