Thank you, and 100% canon! It’s a request from the 2013-2014 Halloween Event [x].
He’s also spotted wearing a ninja outfit when he stars on America’s cooking channel to make sushi.
Note: This is an example and reference post. By no means does this cover every case or detail in the manga.
PART 1
Fear of Criticism–
Ex: In earlier strips, he’s
depicted to be reluctant to show England his movies.
This changes as he later
warms up to showing England his latest movies, only to have it be brutally
ripped apart, again. He’s gotten so used to being criticized by England that he’s normalized it all together.
Perhaps because of these
criticisms, on top of how poorly his movies are rated, is what caused him to
begin “laughing off the negative as something positive.”
Fear of Being Challenged–
He likes to be the #1 at
everything.
While it’s not made explicit, it’s clear that others’ opinions
threaten him.
Ex: He claims to want to hear
alternative opinions but later refuses to accept them.
Ex: He crushes bundled
spoons, likely as a form of intimidation, to prevent other nations from
disagreeing with his world defense plan.
Fear of Being Alone–
Due to England’s long absences,
he grew lonely.
This translates into adulthood,
where he pesters other nations into hanging out with him.
Ex: He breaks into Japan’s
house + desperately tries to convince himself that at least Japan likes him,
despite all other nations ‘hating’ him.
Discontentment with his
weight–
Ex: He doesn’t like being
called fat.
Ex: He refuses to acknowledge
the ‘number’ on his scale and instead convinces himself that it’s broken.
Fear of Being Plain–
Ex: He doesn’t need to wear glasses
but feels simple without them [x].
Fear of Being Ignored/
Forgotten–
Canada was neglected in his
childhood and consequently developed low self-esteem and self-worth.
Ex: He mistakenly believed that
the then colonizing England was looking at
him as a person and not as a resource when they first meet. If anything,
this fleshes out how young Canada wasn’t accustomed to being valued on a
personal level. As such, he doesn’t value himself later on in life.
Ex: He at one point believed
that America was disinterested in him.
Ex: He was once too shy to communicate
with America directly, so he used England as a mouthpiece.
Ex: He cries when Seychelles
remembers that he’s a member of the G8 .
Discontentment with Looks–
Ex: He doesn’t think he’s
good looking.
Fear of being weak + inferior–
Ex: After being conquered
several times over, young England aspired to become strong himself.
Ex: He longs for the golden days of his empire [x].
Ex: He especially feels
inferior when America surpasses him in manufacturing during the Second Industrial
Revolution.
Ex: In “England’s Plan to Be
the Strongest”, England trains to become stronger – an implicit acknowledgment
that he’s lost power.
Low self-esteem–
Ex: As a child, he took France’s teasing
insults to heart and believed that he was “unrefined.”
Ex: While he’s critical of
others, he’s just as critical of himself. He’s self-deprecating.
Fear of Being Alone–
As the “Black Sheep of
Europe, he was constantly isolated from other countries.
Ex: The American Revolution.
It’s indirect, but he gives Canada a lift during the American Revolution [x].
Russia taking back Lithuania
after the Great Depression + America’s reaction as Lithuania calls out for him.
Canada crying when Seychelles
remembers him as a member of the G8.
Germany promising Italy that
he values their friendship by giving him a cross necklace.
…
The relief on France’s face
when he realizes that Jeanne d’Arc has been reborn into a happier life
Of course,
being immortal affects how the nations experience time. They’ve lived for
centuries/ millennia and experience time at a much faster pace. A year, let
alone a decade, for a human is nothing to them.
Ex: Canada once
spent an entire weekend in a trance, staring into Kumajiro’s eyelashes. [x]
Ex: Because time flows differently for him, by the time America visits his child/ later teen friend Davie again, the latter’s had both children and grandchildren [x].
Interestingly,
the nation’s immortality can also rub off on other beings.
Ex: Pets like
Hanatamago, Pochi, or the Gilbird’s have extended lifespans as a result of
being around their owner nations. Should they separate, they would become
normal pets again. [x]
Ex: The
situation with humans is similar, but not quite the same. Unlike pets, humans
have a stronger developmental capacity to perceive time. It’s likely for this
reason that being around a nation for too long would cause them to go mad. The
drastic warping of time would be too much to handle.
From what we’ve
seen in the strips, immortality is depicted to be more of a curse than it is a
blessing. There are several instances where nations have expressed regret over
their existence.
Ex: Germania
and Rome, as fallen ex-nations, experience relief over not having to deal with
wars and their leaders.
Ex: As an
Ancient in his own right, China romanticizes about the past, wishing that the
world was the same as it was 4000 years ago.
Ex: Italy
admits that he sometimes gets bored of seeing the same people every day [x]. Also
notice how his boss recognizes that immortality isn’t beneficial in practice,
as Italy’s had to endure countless painful memories and experiences.
Ex: The nations
have gaps in their memories [x].
While it would
be impossible for them to remember everything, as they’re not perfect immortals
and can get injured and die, the fact that Russia claims that it’s good that
they don’t remember all the bad in their life may allude to an unconscious repression
of memories.
Still using
Russia as an example, given how he’s historically been tortured and punished by
his bosses, it’s easy to understand why he wouldn’t want to remember everything.
Considering that the nations are described as “odd beings”,
many aspects of their existence are either left open-ended or unanswered. It’s probably
meant to be like this, as it allows Hima to have more creative leeway.
On the other hand, there’s a consistent logic in the process
of how the nations are born that I’d like to go over.
For the most part, the nations are born as babies.
Ex: Egypt and his mother, Ancient Egypt.
This excludes…
1) The micronations, who are noted to be anomalies outside
the rules of nationhood.
2) Germany, who’s born as a young child given that he
already had an existing body (I’ll get back to this in a moment).
We know from Iceland that the nations spontaneously gain
consciousness and come into existence. It’s not a formal birth process. They’re also instinctively able to tell that they’re different from humans.
What signifies a nation as a baby is the nightgown they
wear. Personally, I don’t believe that the nightgown has any real significance
other than the fact that it acts as a plot device to distinguish the nation’s
young age.
Just like the nations are able to sense each other, the baby
nation is also able to sense their biological sibling.
This is seen with Iceland when he’s born. He sensed that
Norway was his brother upon gaining consciousness.
Norway also senses Iceland.
Likewise, we also know that later on, Iceland takes a DNA
test–in this case, it’s a land excavation–to confirm that there were no
Icelandic natives. Instead, the first people to settle in Iceland were
Norwegian.
That’s why Iceland and Norway are related.
On the other hand, America was colonized by several nations at once, not to mention that there
were already native tribes living there. As such, he’s referred to as an “ingredient.” He represents a mix of several cultures. [x]
Further, America doesn’t ‘sense’ an older brother from the pool of countries colonizing him. Instead,
Finland, France, and England deliberate over who will assume the role of America’s older brother.
It’s also important to mention that “onii-chan” in Japanese
does not always literally mean older brother. It can be an expression of “endearment” or “adoration.”
There are different cultural connotations that are
unfortunately lost in direct translations.
Despite this, America does, in fact, have a biological brother: Canada [x]
As mentioned above, most nations are born as babies. Germany
is an exception to this rule as he’s born as a young child…or is he?
Disclaimer, I’m going
outside canon now. This next part is theory based on canon fact.
Many people have speculated that Germany’s ‘existing’ body
means that while Holy Rome died, his body remained. Germany then resumed this
body after German Confederation.
The ‘existing’ body, then, would be the fact that Germany’s spirit
inhabited Holy Rome’s old body, hence the reason why he wasn’t born as a baby.
This perspective doesn’t make sense to me, as we know that
it’s possible for nations to live past their date of dissolution. More
importantly, Holy Rome lived past his dissolution.
Another problem with this perspective is that the nations’
bodies don’t remain when they die, but rather, they fade away. The nations are
personality-based, meaning that when their culture dies, so do they. [x]
Put another way, culture doesn’t die definitively. It fades
with time – A nation’s path to death is reflective of this.
This would explain why Holy Rome didn’t die right away, albeit being ill. The
German culture he represented was still alive and well.
Meanwhile, my take on Germany’s ‘existing body’ is vastly
different. I’m of the mindset that Holy Rome lost all his memories when he
became Germany. [post on that here].
In other words,
Germany wasn’t born as a baby because he was already existing, as in he had a living body.
In sum, while many questions about the nation’s existence
are left unanswered, there is a relative level of consistency regarding the
ages in which nations are born as well as the role that evolutionary instinct
plays in how they find their relatives.
Q: What I really want to know is why people ship Canada and
Netherlands,,, I’m not judging it, it looks quite cute but I don’t??
Understand???? Could you help out?
A: It’s a historically-based ship. During WW2, the Dutch Royal Family fled to Canada. When Princess Margriet was born, they declared the maternity to be Dutch territory so that she would retain her Dutch citizenship. Every year as thanks, the Dutch government sends close to a million tulips, and in return, Ottawa hosts a tulip festival every year. I’ll make sure to take some pictures since I live there.
Q: Hey, sorry to bother you, but do you have any information on
Ireland, Scotland, or Wales? I know they’re not official characters yet, but is
there anything on them?
A: You’re not bothering me! However, I’m not an information blog. If you’d like access to information, there’s an English translation of Hima’s blog, Bamboo Thicket. It’s an excellent resource if you’re looking for facts about specific characters.
Scotland and Ireland are undesigned characters but do have some character notes [x]
England is the son of four siblings, which includes North Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. He also doubles as the UK in representing them [x]
Q: For characters like Iceland, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Estonia
, micronations and other young/ teen characters ;do you think they live by
themselves or with a physically older nation and would they go to school or no?
A: The only school that all nations attend is the World Academy. It’s like a mini AU within the series. [x] Nations only live with each other if they lack independence.
Q: England is my least favourite Hetalia character. Enlighten
me and change my opinion, I don’t want to be the only tea-hating heathen in the
fandom!
A: I’ve done a lot of posts about this 😉 [x] [x] [x] [x]
You’re not a heathen, by the way. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.
Q: It looks like Romano is getting over his inferiority complex
in recent years, in Liechtenstein strip he certainly is confident even when
Veneziano points out their grandpa’s inheritance to both of them.
A: I’m not so sure about that. Romano still consistently refers to Veneziano in a demeaning manner. He needs to stop calling Veneziano “stupid/ idiot little brother” if he’s to truly get over his inferiority complex.
In previous posts [x] [x], I’ve laid out the rules that explain what
affects a nations’ health. This post, however, will elaborate in more detail to
show the different ways in which they can be affected and why that is.
For one thing, we know that the personification’s health is
predicated on their economic and political situation. That is, if they are
suffering from political issues (either domestic or international) or are
experiencing an economic recession, they will fall ill.
That said, let’s go through the symptoms they can experience.
Ex: Several nations develop fevers or colds in reaction to
the Great Depression.
Ex: Austria will develop a high fever and eventually collapse if
Germany acquires a cold [from an economic slump].
“A reliable country that likes to approach things with a sober seriousness.
He approves of and supports lots of Germany’s ideas so he may look like one of the helper countries, but in reality the level of his dependency is pretty high.
So high that when Germany catches a little cold, Austria goes straight to high fever and eventually collapses, and so he doesn’t have much of a choice than to take good care of himself.”
Ex: England develops a cold after the American Revolution.
Ex: The aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars.
Ex: Spain nearly dies during an economic recession before
Romano starts helping him recover with imports.
This symptom in particular is depicted more as a consequence
of war (which includes separate battles/attacks) or civil strife. You’ll often
see the most devastated nations coughing up blood in panels where Hima
introduces different sides of the conflict.
Ex: Prussia, Spain, and Italy during the Napoleonic Wars.
Ex: Prussia during the American Revolution.
Ex: China during WW2 after being betrayed by Japan.
Ex: The disunity in the Holy Roman empire causes Holy Rome
to fall ill and cough up blood. His political situation isn’t stable, which, in
turn, is reflected in his poor health.
Bonus case:
The nations cough up blood and get sick during conflicts,
but are nonetheless able to heal from these wounds with time as their country’s
situation stabilizes.
But, what if a personification never healed emotionally from
a conflict and keep reliving it over and over again?
Wouldn’t that explain why England coughs up blood and falls
ill every year during the fourth of July? The event is still fresh in his mind,
and regardless if it’s over and done with, his body reacts as if it’s still
happening.
Canada, honey, I know you have emotional issues, but what the fuck.
Now that I’ve gone over some of the factors that cause a nation
to age [x], I think it would be useful to go through each one separately. This
post will focus on how political autonomy and independence allows a nation to
reach adulthood.
Not only that, but what you’ll also see is that they go
through growth spurts right before gaining independence; their status as an
adult is solidified once this independence is gained. In other words, it’s the resistance that first sparks the aging.
It’s also important to mention that
chronologically-speaking, nations will still consider themselves to be older
than others, regardless if one of them became an adult first. There are late bloomers
like the Italy brothers and quick bloomers like America. The best comparison I
can think of is that anything to do with gaining independence is akin to the pubescent
period for a personification.
That said, let’s go through some examples.
In the following three panels, we see America go through three
developmental changes. In the first stage, he holds a more compliant attitude
towards England and helps him in the French-Indian War. Notice the tag of “Young
America” attached to him.
This compliance begins to wane as America was heavily taxed and financially drained by England following his involvement in the war. Notice how he’s a slightly
older child here.
Then, when America begins fighting for his independence, he’s clearly gone through another growth spurt.
We also see in the years leading up to his independence – as he becomes even more economically and politically sufficient – that he grows pre-emptively.
Lastly, there’s the imagery that Kumajiro uses with dolls to
represent England’s relationship with America and Canada. America is the rowdy
Baby Bear; put another way, it’s like a teenager fighting for freedom from
their parent. Once that freedom is gained, only then will they become an adult.
Canada’s growth occurred at a much slower rate than America. He wasn’t an economic powerhouse like the latter.
While he remained as a young child, America appears to be in his pre-teen
phase.
In the years following America’s independence, Canada ages,
but he still has the lanky and awkward appearance of a teenager. He hadn’t yet
gained his autonomy yet, the missing factor to the age equation.
Here’s Canada after the Battle of Waterloo.
Pay attention to the roundness of his face.
And here’s him during the war of 1812 [right], vs how he
looks in present strips [left]. There’s a notable difference in age.
Likewise, we also know that when Canada upgrades to the semi-dependent
status of a Dominion, the autonomy is enough to allow him to reach adulthood.
We know that Italy is around the age of a pre-teen during the
Austrian War of Succession. He’s not quite a teenager, or at least not an older
one given how short he is in comparison to Austria.
During the Battle of Custoza [whilst raging his third war of
independence], there’s a considerable increase in age. Once again, we see an
example of a nation pre-emptively growing right before they attain independence.
Once Italian Unification is complete, there’s no doubt that
Italy has become an adult.
Romano’s path to adulthood occurred in the exact same manner
and timespan as Veneziano’s did.
He’s around the same age as Veneziano during the Austrian
War of Succession.
He’s noted to have stereotypical teenager behaviour in the
years leading up to his independence from Spain.
Before independence, he appears to be in his late teen
years.
Once unification occurs in the panel I provided above, he’s also clearly an adult.
With all that in mind, it’s important to mention that chronological age is how the nations organize themselves
in terms of perceiving their elders. I know this may come across as obvious,
but it still needs to be said.
Despite becoming an adult later than America did, Romano
still sees himself as older than America and even takes it upon himself to give
him political advice.
Ellawritesficssometimes 