Again, I’m only doing this because it’s a question I’m often asked about. All of this information can be found through google, thanks to Hetarchive. I’ll make a guide, no problem, but plenty of other content creators have already explained this before me.
The parallel nations come from the 2010 Christmas Event. They’re separate from the 2ps – who are alternate colour designs.
As for my opinion on the 2p fanmade characters? Who am I to stop people from channeling their creativity and interests? While I’m not necessarily into the 2ps , I don’t dislike them either. People should always be free to enjoy the fandom how they want to, so long as they’re not hurting others.
Guide coming up tonight!
Anon 1: This is Angel. She’s
not the smartest cookie and howls all night like a total loon, but I love her
very much.
Anon 2: It’s because I’m a dumbass who’s pretty much made all these
mistakes.
What’s sad is that I had actually read the manga first
before truly getting into the fandom. The only thing I’m willing to give my 17
year old self leniency on, as it’s something that I still do, is changing the
ages and sibling relationships of the characters in human AUs.
Anon 3: Oh
wow, thank you! I love you too ❤
Misconception: Nyotalia isn’t canon.
Reality: The word “Nyotalia” isn’t canon. It’s a fanmade
term. On the other hand, alternate female and male versions of APH characters have
been officially created. They’re character designs, and some of them also have
character notes and personalities.
Himaruya stated on his blog that each nation will have a
reverse male and female counterpart [x].
While designs, the reverse male and female versions are
separate people from their original counterpart. As such, their personalities
are slightly different [x].
Ex: Both female Italies are stronger fighters [x][x].
Ex: An old version of Portugal’s design – that has since
changed slightly – and his female version [x].
Ex: The female nations’ male versions [x]. *not all of them*
Ex: The male nations’ female versions [x].*not all of them*
It’s important to remember that Himaruya is open to fans
choosing whatever names they please for “nyo” characters [x].
Another thing that confuses people is the female versions’
cameo in volume 4. The premise is that Estonia has a dream where God grants him
his [alleged] fantasy to be surrounded by girls – although this plays out with
the male nations being replaced by their female versions.
The point to differentiate here is that while the female
versions don’t exist in canon, given that they’re separate versions of the
original canon nations, they’re officially designed characters with
personalities that have made an official appearance. Although, this appearance
doesn’t occur in reality. [I know, it’s confusing.]
If it helps, Estonia’s reaction to the female nations sets
out the fact that they don’t exist in canon. Nonetheless, they’re canon because
they’re officially designed characters with personalities.
Fun facts:
When asked, Himaruya explained that the reason why Estonia
has these strange dream experiences – including the mochi one – is because his
“elite glasses summon strange fellows,” [x].
This is just a speculation, but my best bet as to why there
are far more male nations than there are female ones is because Himaruya has
repeatedly admitted to not being good at drawing girls [x][x].
Can you just imagine how awesome it would have been if Russia was actually a girl in canon? I think Himaruya missed big on the potential for toying at the whole “Mother Russia” endonym.
Honestly, I’m only doing this post because it’s the question I’m often asked about. On the other hand, I’d like to point out that the answer to this is googleable!
I try to be patient and understand that not everyone reads the manga, but…Hetarchive has generously made all this information very accessible.
Anyways, guide on the alternate male and female versions of the nations coming up tonight!
Thank you! Although, I have mixed feelings and don’t really
have a firm stance on this matter. Correct names can be found on Hetarchive.
They’ve graciously catalogued everything, and it’s a google search away.
For one thing, Himaruya admits to having a “questionable
naming sense” and encourages fans to name characters however they wish [x]. The
human names actually came from Hima’s deleted yahoo blog, but they haven’t
really been touched on since. Occasionally, he’ll give suggestions for some
countries’ names. Overall, the subject isn’t something definitive. Some people
don’t even consider the human names Himaruya provided to be canon.
Another thing that Hetarchive has helpfully informed readers
of is that the original human names were written in Katakana, which means that
fans have made “suppositions” on the
correct spelling. There’s no real officiality in the spelling of the names [x].
That said, what I’ve seen fans get angry about is, like you
mentioned, how names like “Tolys” are anglicized. Thing is, this isn’t
something that exclusively happens in English.
Names get changed in order to adapt and make things more
understandable for the respective reading or speaking audience. I suppose I’m
just perplexed when people get riled up only because of the anglicization without realizing how common this practice is
across all languages.
Ex: The German name Ludwig is Louis in French: The French name Jeanne is Joan in English. You see this
with country names too. Germany is Germany in English, Deutschland in German, Doitsu
in Japanese, and Allemagne in French. That’s just how it is.
While I respect and appreciate those who do strive for
cultural accuracy, I also understand your point in why certain names have
become popularized in fanon; they’re easy to recognize and read. Not to mention
the wonky status of the name’s officiality and that Himaruya’s not opposed to
letting people choose their names. Personally, 2/3 of my name has been anglicized.
It doesn’t bother me, but for some people it does, and there’s no avoiding
that.
Anon 1: That’s brutal, dude. At
least you have boobs, though! I sure don’t :))))))
Anon 2: Even though there probably is no link, what’s
hilarious to me that America received a ton of XS condoms from Russia once, so
maybe…(?) [x]
Anon 3: Unfortunately, no. I’ve
been too busy these past few months to read, let alone write fics 😦
It sucks,
but I’ve always left the option open for people to recommend me both Hetalia
fics and blogs. I’m always happy to share them. You can find the guidelines on
that here [x].
Anon 4: I LOVE HIM. Shane and
Garrett together always crack me up.
Anon 5: Other than Shane, I
usually watch Philip Defranco and Cody Ko’s “That’s Cringe” series (mostly for
his friend Noel though lmao.)
This guide will go over
the stereotypes that affect how the Germanic nations are able, or rather, unable
to express their feelings. The steely emotionless stereotype of Germans/
German-speaking countries often prevents the respective nations from being
understood properly. It’s not that they’re incapable of experiencing love or
feeling care and affection. It’s quite the contrary. Instead, they just have a
difficult time showing and communicating how they feel [x].
For the purpose of this
post, I’ll only be going over the Germanic nations that are listed in this
strip, as they are what Himaruya characterizes to be of German inheritance and influence.
I recognize that there are many more Germanic countries than this. I’m just
going by what we see portrayed in the manga.
That said, let’s go over
some examples.
Germany:
The German stereotype of
being emotionally steely and hot-tempered is a complex that Germany is defined
by in the manga.
He’s sweet and
compassionate but is often mistaken to be angry by those around
him [x].
Germany also claims to
have trouble smiling. It’s not something that comes naturally to him [x] [x].
In terms of
relationships, Germany is emotionally withdrawn. This is most seen in Buon
San Valentino [x].
There, the premise of
the arc is that Germany has trouble defining what his relationship with Italy
is.
He first buys a popular
book in Germany titled “Communicating with your partner.” The comic gag
of this is the stereotype that Germans aren’t savvy at reading emotions; they’re
‘emotionless.’ Obviously, this isn’t truly the case.
As Germany reads this
first book, he begins to question whether Italy likes him as a friend or as a
romantic partner.
When Germany gives
details of his relationship with Italy to Austria, Austria is repulsed due to
the romantic overtones = seeing someone every day, kissing and hugging them,
bathing with them etc. The irony is that Austria later realizes that Germany
was talking about Italy, an anomaly of a person who normally does all these
things.
Unfortunately, Germany
doesn’t know this, and he forms the conclusion that Italy has romantic feelings
for him. It’s a “misunderstanding.”
Since he’s still clueless about this aspect of human relations, Germany then buys a book that gives dating advice.
His dismay grows when he remembers that Italy’s a guy [wow!] so of course, his next course of action is to ask Austria if he can practice these newly learned romantic gestures on him.
He later reveals to Austria that he has no previous experience with romantic relationships and that he’s only read romance novels.
The strip culminates in
Germany mistakenly proposing to a very confused Italy.
Prussia:
Despite having never
been married, Prussia is the most sensitive and emotionally-expressive Germanic
nation.
He’s often found crying
and lamenting over the fact that he’s single and “alone.”
Ex: He cries when he
spots Hungary and Austria spending their Christmas together during the 2007 Christmas event [x].
The Germanic stereotype
has more to do with the fact that he’s a poor socializer.
For example, he’s given a
book on “How to Socialize with People.” He sneezes and claims to be bored with
it [x].
Austria:
In direct contrast to
Prussia, as someone who’s been in several marriages, Austria is arguably just as
clueless as the German brothers.
He may have solved his
problems with marriages…
…but when it comes to
relationship troubles, he’s read his fair share of manuals and guides too.
Austria had copies of both
books that Germany purchased in Buon San Valentino. Had he have known this
beforehand, he would have lent them to him.
He becomes flustered
when Hungary reads the dating book and laughs at how inaccurate it is. It would
be to his own embarrassment should he have admitted that he had been an avid
reader of it.
On the other hand, in his defense, it’s largely hinted that he’s the one who gave Hungary flowers on Valentine’s Day.
Switzerland:
Switzerland’s similar to
Germany in that he’s an angry-type that’s soft on the inside and well-intentioned.
He shouts at Japan to
give his own opinion, scaring the latter despite the good intentions of this
action. It’s tough love in that he’s trying to get Japan to stand up for himself.
He cringes and gets
angry for remembering all the fond moments that he had experienced with Austria during
their childhoods. This is sometimes at the expense of ruining the fond moments that
he shares with Lichtenstein [x].
Nonetheless, Switzerland
shooting at Italy in the frilly pajamas that Lichtenstein made for him is
iconic, and you can’t tell me otherwise.
Sweden:
Sweden’s slightly
different in that his minimal facial expressions are intimidating to people.
In sum, while the
Germanic nations may come across as hard and steely, they’re easily among some
of the sweetest, most considerate characters in Hetalia.
Ellawritesficssometimes 
![[x].](http://www.hetarchive.net/img/bamboothicket/onynyoko.jpg){kind=link}