When you think of Italy, what immediately comes to mind is a
charming, womanizing, and fashionable individual, someone who’s full of smiles,
laughter, silly pranks, and overall joy.

On the other hand, I don’t see Italy’s anxious, flighty, and
insecure side depicted all that much. Italy isn’t always confident and flashy,
as he’s often low on money, but, nevertheless, there are brief moments in the
strips that reveal how truly broken he is on the inside.

This post will go over some of these insecurities, traumas,
and intrapersonal conflicts.

What you’ll see is that several people leaving Italy over
the course of his life has affected and devastated him in more ways than one;
he’s clingy, but is afraid that he’s being a burden; he keeps lots of private
secrets; and, perhaps most important of all, he’s terrified of being alone.

In “Axis Powers Jokes,” Italy lets his anxiety best him and
worries that his contribution in his alliance with Germany isn’t up to par. He
claims that there isn’t any reason for Germany to like him, and is unable to
get any sleep because of this.

Italy’s worry grows, and he crosses over the border into
Switzerland – in the middle of the night, mind you – to confirm whether Germany
likes him or not. When asked, Germany reassures Italy and puts the latter’s
mind at rest. What I want people to pay attention to is this isn’t the first
time Italy’s asked Germany this question.

There
are some real self-esteem issues present in Italy, and as the strip progresses
this becomes even more evident. Immediately after, Italy gets Germany to repeat
his answer again, except this time more clearly. If that wasn’t enough, he then
requests that Germany say this several times over.

Notice now how uncertain and unsure Italy is of himself. He
wants to make sure that he’s liked by the people around him. That way, from his
perspective, they won’t have any reason to leave him.

In Chapter 7-8 of World Stars (the webcomic), Italy gains some
weight, and of course, this rouses him into another fit of panic. Despite
Germany’s reassurances, Italy still worries to the point that Germany has to
pull out a poll which concludes that most people don’t care if a “handsome
Italian man” has a bit of stomach fat.

Italy’s trouble with relationships didn’t start with Holy
Rome, either. Italy and Romano don’t exactly have the greatest brotherly bond.
Albeit complimenting Italy when the former can’t hear him, Romano explicitly
puts down his brother, often enough to cause quite a large rift between them.

There’s also the fact that Romano left Italy during the second Industrial Revolution, just so he wouldn’t have to rely on him. Which
leads me to my next point…

During this same time, England comes to Italy for help on
attaining better designs for his manufactured goods. Italy’s reaction here is
crucial.

It seems that Romano leaving Italy has deeply hurt him, even
if he doesn’t vocalize these feelings. It’s also important to mention that
Italy hasn’t even met Germany at this point, as this time period ends just
before WW1.

With Ancient Rome and
Holy Rome dead and Romano overseas, as well as not having the best relations with Austria and Hungary, Italy likely grew very lonely during this period. He didn’t
really have any support.

That said, there’s a lot more to Italy than reveals the eye.

What do you think are some important themes running throughout the series?

Hmmm. I’ll go with the less obvious and underlying ones.

-The Italy Brothers’ eyes
-Germany’s inability to smile.
-Germany’s love for Italy’s climate and culture + his deep interest in Roman history (*cough Holy Rome)
-Japan’s clairvoyance abilities + his limited memory
-Russia’s curse
-America’s dual personality
-China and Japan’s old age
-England’s alienation
-France’s loneliness and overcompensation as a Big Brother figure

Who’s Charles Lee in Hamilton?

Hamiltalia, “Stay Alive”:

America as Alexander Hamilton

North Italy as Charles Lee

Prussia as George Washington

Instead of me

He promotes Feli Vene

Makes him second-in-command

“I’m defecting, veeeeee!!!”

Everyone Attack!

Italy: Retreat!

Prussia: Attack!

Italy: Retreat!

Prussia: What are you doing, Feli? Get back on your feet!

“Nation Refuted”:

Holy Rome as Samuel Seabury

Hear ye, hear ye! My name is Holy Rome

And I present “Free thoughts on the

proceedings of my crumbling empire”

Heed not the rabble who scream dissolution

They have not my interest at heart

France: Mon dieu, let me tear this brat apart.

AU Finished! 8/8

Note: This post
is making the assumption that Germany was reincarnated from Holy Rome. The rest
is all canon material.

All right! In canon, we know that reincarnation is possible.
The most obvious example would be Jeanne d’Arc and her American reincarnation,
Lisa.

What people often forget is that Hima explicitly states that
it’s possible for the nations to be reincarnated too.

In these panels, Hima makes it clear for us what a nation’s
existence and lifespan is like. They can last for really short or really long
periods of time and can be brought back by a sudden memory. More importantly, is
that nations can change their titles and ultimately, their personalities.

Following this logic, this would explain why Holy Rome and
Germany share some personality differences.

Where Germany is more clear-headed, rational,
and organized, Holy Rome is emotional and sensitive, irrational, impulsive, and
disorganized. I think Hima does this on purpose as a pun to contrast how at
first, Holy Rome was a disorganized collection of nation-states and then became more organized after unification and the subsequent formation of Germany.

Just to highlight this, I’ll go over some quick examples. We
see some of Holy Rome’s impulsiveness not only with his obsession and
compulsion in getting Chibitalia to live in his house, but also in his
interactions with other countries.

What immediately comes to mind for me is how Holy Rome built
an Italian home in England, without even considering how the architecture
wasn’t designed to endure the harsher English climate.

It would be unprecedented for Germany to pull off something
like that, as he’s always rationalizing and thinking things through enough
times to drive anyone crazy.

You see the organization pun come to life with Germany’s
love for schedules, manuals, and the scientific method. Overall, he’s a much
deeper and rational thinker than Holy Rome.

Further, with unity, comes a stronger sense of national
duty.

On the other hand, due to the fragmentation in his empire,
Holy Rome doesn’t seem to care what happens to it and is more focused on
chasing after Italy. He’s even scolded for neglecting his duties by
Switzerland. Tell me, have you ever seen Germany slack off?

That said, there are more similarities between them than
differences, and Hima sure loves to stress this all throughout the series. They
both share a love for the Italian culture and climate, are flustered easily,
love sweets, own dogs, have Prussia as on older brother, and…

there’s also the obvious fact that they look exactly alike.

Okay, if Germany was reincarnated from Holy Rome, how come their personalities are so different?

Again, this isn’t a theory and the answer can be found in the
strips. Either way, I don’t mind answering it in a little more depth. Post coming up soon!

Note: This is not
a theory. All I am doing is presenting canon information to help people better understand
the topic at hand.

Despite all the countless evidence explaining why Italy and
Romano remain as separate personifications, it seems as if the entire fandom
has conveniently forgotten about this. Shame on you all for pulling a Germany
and becoming amnesiacs!

Nah, I’m just kidding! But really, the number of strips that
explain why they’re separate personifications is overwhelming if you add them
all together. First, let’s start with the strip that makes this reasoning as plain
as day.

In chapter 20 of World Stars (the web comic), Hima states that the Italy brothers
are separate personifications not just because of regional differences, but
also because of their difficult cultures (which includes different dialects)
and histories.

On example of these differences, Romano has Spanish and some
Arabic influence, whereas Italy Veneziano has German blood in him. This is likely
attributed to how they were continuously conquered and divided by larger
foreign powers (ex: Spain, HRE, the Austro-Hungarian Empire).

Hima was also very careful to differentiate Italian Unification
from German Unification. The Italy brother’s unification process was rushed and
forced. It was artificial and symbolic more than anything else; in reality, it
wasn’t true unity.

Meanwhile, while the other German nations were also separate
personifications, their unity was a much smoother process and established more
solidarity throughout the country. It’s for this reason that only one
personification, Germany, was needed.

You can even tell that Hima was a bit frustrated in having
to explain this all to the readers (again),
as he finishes the scene with these sassy panels:

Honestly, given how many times Hima has stated these
differences and distinctions throughout the series, I would be annoyed too.
After this strip, however, the reasoning for why there are two Italian
personifications is 100% obvious.

You’ll see that Hima has been explaining these differences
right from the very start. Without further ado, let’s go over some of the many examples provided.

Due to Spanish influence, those in the island of Sardinia “still use Spanish.” Although, others have informed me that this influence is only in the dialect and that Sardinians don’t actually speak Spanish.

Here, Hima makes a clear distinction between the cultures,
personalities, and economies of the North and South.

Oops! More Spanish influence on Southern Italy (cuisine).

A small map that reveals what the regions are known for.

North Italy = Arts, Cars, and Tourism

South Italy = Primarily agriculture + has a mafia problem.

Although, it’s important to mention that North Italy has also had things stolen from him by the
mafia. Point is, the mafia is a much more prevalent problem in the Southern
half of the country, especially with kidnappings.

All right, I think I made my point. Both Italy brothers are
here to stay, so you don’t have to worry about one of them fading away any time
soon.

Italy: You are the potato to my tomato.

Germany: Is that supposed to be a pick-up line?

Germany: Drop and give me fifty. I expected more from you.

I’d like to point out one thing, if I can. Technically, since Italy is unified, doesn’t that mean one of the Italies doesn’t need to be here anymore? I’ve been looking through your blog and have been reading the Germany/Prussia theories. If we’re going with the younger brother route, wouldn’t Romano fade away?

Well, you guys asked for it, so here it is 🙂 Believe it or
not, it’s not even a theory. What I will present later is nothing more than
canon information. Hima must have reiterated the fact that both Italies are
different from each other close to thirty times (if I’m going by my old notes,
I’m sure there’s much more). That’s why the North and South require a separate personification.

In other words, there is no one true Italy. Both Italies will continue to exist and neither
will fade. You’ll also see that even Hima got a bit fed up with people asking
for an explanation, despite how clear he’s made it that they’re different! He’s
explained it all throughout the strips (old and new), but it seems that people have ignored
it, because angst, am I right?

That said, there really shouldn’t be any theories out there
speculating that one Italy will fade in light of the other one remaining. Their
situation is much different from the German brothers, especially with the
cultural and historical notes that Hima provides for their dual existence.

What would you say if I told you that a lot of the nations had
Roman look-alikes – more like clones –
in the far past? Insane, right? Well, believe
it or not, it’s true.

First, there’s Augustus and Agrippa.

It’s crazy to me how uncanny they both look to North Italy
and Romano respectively. Despite some personality differences, they also share
a lot in common. Augustus is charming, charismatic, and weak at fighting.

Meanwhile, Agrippa
wasn’t given the inheritance he expected from Caesar (the title of Emperor). We
see the same thing happen with Romano and North Italy, as the latter inherits
most of Ancient Rome’s wealth once he passes on.

Further, Agrippa also shares Romano’s reserved nature, and
is only kind to those whom he is close with.

There’s also this picture that Germany draws of Italy. It’s almost
identical to the facial expressions Augustus makes.

Note: It’s manga Germany is referring to, not a textbook.

Now here’s Augustus again:

But it doesn’t stop there. There are plenty more Roman look-alikes.
Here are just a few more examples.

Tiberius looks scarily similar to a Sweden without glasses. He
is also feared by those around them and is perceived as anti-social.

Mark Antony looks a lot like Denmark.

Japan resembles Ancientus quite a bit too.

Gothicus looks like Genoa.

Probus too looks a lot like
Norway, and is even stated that he perplexes people and is often misunderstood
for this.

Now, I know what you’re all
thinking, and as much as I want to blow the whistle and say that there is, there
actually isn’t any reincarnation present. Sorry to disappoint. Anyways, what’s happening
here is extremely strange, but also fascinating.

In a brief inter-text character
note, it’s stated that Quintillus is able to break dimensional boundaries and
travel through time. For example, he’s visited Japan and China before. What I want
to talk about more is Quintillus’s recent visit to Germany.

Prior to Quintillus’s visit,
Germany was doing research on Roman history, reconstructing it to make old records
more accurate. It’s for this specific reason that Quintillus visits Germany; to
clarify that his older brother Gothicus wasn’t as bad as people have portrayed
him to be.

Of course, true to his love for
science, Germany doesn’t believe that Quintillus is the ghost of a real Roman
emperor and dismisses him. What’s odd is that in the last panel,
Germany says, “That Roman boy is interesting.”

I don’t know, but to me this
indicates that Germany might know that Quintillus is a supernatural being, but
is only able to acknowledge this in private. You’ll see with Hima that he’s
obsessed with linking Germany to Italian culture and Roman history. Another
Holy Rome hint perhaps?

Nonetheless, let’s get back to the
proof against reincarnation. One would think that maybe as Germany is reliving
history, he imagines it with the faces of those around him, hence the
look-alikes. A sound argument, but the strips prove
otherwise.

Here,
Ancient Rome is seen talking to Probus, Norway’s Roman look-alike.

Then, Gothicus, Genoa’s Roman
look-alike enters the scene and talks about how he’s not positively talked
about in modern textbooks. This confirms that the look-alikes are in fact real
and are not just a product of Germany’s imagination.

If I had to guess, I’d say that they’re
all in heaven in this scene, since they’re long dead. If they exist seperately now, then
clearly, they haven’t been reincarnated into their nation look-alikes.

Still, I can’t help but wonder why
Hima has made them look so uncanny to one another.