Misconception: He’s
dead and no longer exists.

Reality: He is
dead, but he still exists in heaven.

Ex: He once tied
up God so that he was able to visit his grandsons. 

(Source: Together with Grandpa Rome, Hetarchive.)

Ex: He visits
Earth with Germania, only to find out that his home has since been replaced by
a bench.

(Source: Grandpa Rome’s visit home, Hetarchive). 

Misconception: He
and Germania hate each other and are grave enemies.

Reality: It’s not
so much hatred but rather a strong one-sided dislike on Germania’s part. A lot
of canon information is contradictory, so it’s tricky to piece together.

Ex: A character
note for Germania: “Has a taciturn but rough personality and dislikes Rome
greatly.”

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, May 6th, 2008). 

Ex: Germania is
easily irritated by Rome.

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, Feb 6th, 2015). 

A condensed explanation of their relationship would be
childhood rivals who teased each other, a disgruntled Germania becoming Rome’s
bodyguard + occasional teasing, tension, Germania probably—although unconfirmed—giving
the finishing blow that ended Rome’s life on Earth, and reconciliation in
Heaven.

Ex: Childhood
teasing.

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, Feb 24th, 2015). 

Ex: Germania
acting as Rome’s bodyguard and making a snide comment about the latter.

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, May 3rd, 2011). 

Ex: The
unconfirmed status of whether Germania truly killed Rome is mentioned in this
character note “A brave man who is said to had [sic] defeated Rome, although
the truth is hard to find out.”

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, May 6th 2008). 

Ex: The two visit
Earth together. Germania consoles Rome, who became distraught after learning
that his home no longer exists.

Source: Grandpa Rome’s visit home, Hetarchive. 

Misconception: He
doesn’t care about Romano.

Reality: While he
may have devoted more attention to Veneziano, he very deeply cares about Romano
too.

Ex: Sketches indicate that Himaruya may have intended for them to have a more
tangible family dynamic.

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, May 1rst 2011). 

Ex: Rome visits
both Italy brothers in their dreams [x]. 

Ex: Romano bursts
out into tears of happiness when Rome visits him from heaven. The meetings don’t
occur often because Romano gets embarrassed by his crying.

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, April 5th 2011). 

Misconception: He’s
not biologically related to the Italy brothers.

Reality: While
the labels attributed are awkward due to the absence of a traditional birth
process, the three of them are, in fact, biologically related.

Ex: Rome is said
to have many grandchildren, both biological and adopted.

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, Oct 30th, 2014). 

Ex: On several
occasions, the Italy brothers are said to have inherited his legacy.

Source: Grandpa Rome’s visit home, Hetarchive). 

Ex: The presence
of a curl is later used to distinguish a direct blood relation from Rome [x]. 

Bonus facts: 

He was originally conceptualized as a much older man.

Source: Main story line chapter 4, Hetarchive.

He also visits Germany quite often to check up on the latter’s
research on him.

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, Oct 20th, 2014). 

Himaruya intended to give him a retired playboy vibe.

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, May 6th, 2008).