Yes! Exactly! That reminds
me, I’ll have to do a post on this sometime this week 😊 World Stars did a great job of fleshing out his character.
Sources: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 61 + 298.
It took me a while to understand what you were asking but it’s from Volume 6, under Summoned by Russia ^^
What this post will set out to do is prove that while
Belarus may have neurotic tendencies, she does not have APD. I should also
mention that I don’t mean to conflate the labels of psychopath and sociopath. What
matters is that both are listed under APD. I’ve noticed in the fandom that
Belarus is often labelled as either or without having an actual idea of what
the diagnosing criteria is for the personality disorder.
Similarly, while I don’t go into it much here, it should be
noted that a good chunk of canon information about her comes from the untranslated
video game, Desktop Buddies (2008). The most neurotic piece of
trivia we are given there is that Belarus wore Russia’s underwear on her head, has looked at suggestive photos of him, and has fantasized about them having sex…
Source: Hetarchive, Belarus’ profile.
I attribute this
mostly to the hyperbolic shock sexual—unequivocally inappropriate—humour that Himaruya previously employed to evoke reactions
from the audience. Such humour is no longer employed, but the trope of Belarus’s
obsession and love for Russia has still remained. Overall, it was a crude way of
portraying Belarus’ tight historical ties with Russia.
That said, one by one, I’ll be going through the criteria of
APD to prove that while Belarus may have neurotic tendencies, she does NOT have
APD. Even though she fulfills some of the criteria, she doesn’t get a passing
grade for the true diagnosis.
Disclaimer: I’m very critical of the DSM because of the
vagueness of its criteria and its history of overdiagnosing and
overmedicalizing biological and mental conditions/ making up conditions that aren’t even remotely pathological. This doesn’t mean that it’s not a useful tool either; I just
carry a degree of skepticism when using it because of its overuse, as well as
the fact that it once listed homosexuality as a disorder.
1. Impairments in self-functioning (a or b):
a) Identity: Ego-centrism; self-esteem
derived from personal gain, power, or pleasure.
Criteria: Unfulfilled (X).
Belarus is the exact opposite of ego-centrism. Her whole
life revolves around her devotion for Russia, not herself. For example, she
once forgot her own language and only spoke Russian.
Source: Volume 2.
b.Self-direction: Goal-setting based on personal gratification;
absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to
lawful or culturally normative ethical behavior.
Criteria: Fulfilled (✓).
Belarus’s personal gratification is achieved when she’s with
her brother, meaning that she’ll do anything to be with him.
Ex: She’s broken through doors to get to him.
Source: Volume 2.
Examples of where she hasn’t conformed to normal ethical
behaviour would include holding other nations at knifepoint and breaking
Lithuania’s fingers when they went on a date.
Source: Hetarchive, Comic Diary 11.
2. Impairments in interpersonal functioning (a or b):
a. Empathy: Lack of concern for feelings, needs, or suffering of others;
lack of remorse after hurting or mistreating another.
Criteria: Unfulfilled (X).
Belarus is always putting Russia above herself and making
sure that his needs are met. She does have empathy, even though it’s only
directed at her brother.
On the other hand, she doesn’t experience remorse when
she hurts other nations in order to meet Russia’s needs.
Ex: She holds Latvia at knifepoint to pressure him into
complying with Russia.
Source: Volume 1.
b. Intimacy: Incapacity for mutually intimate relationships, as
exploitation is a primary means of relating to others, including by deceit and
coercion; use of dominance or intimidation to control others.
Criteria: Unfulfilled (X).
As seen with the Lithuania
example, Belarus is unable to form mutually intimate relationships. This
applies to Russia as well, who for obvious reasons, does not reciprocate her
love.
Source: Volume 2.
However, Belarus is not
exploitive. She’ll use force to control others but not for her own personal gain. In her world, she lives to serve her
brother. A person with APD is both egocentric and is unable to relate to
others; what excludes Belarus is that while incapable of doing this with other
nations, she’s able to do so with Russia.
Source: Hetarchive, Halloween 2011 Event + Christmas 2010 Event.
1.
Antagonism, characterized by:
a. Manipulativeness: Frequent use of subterfuge to influence or
control others; use of seduction, charm, glibness, or ingratiation to achieve
one’s ends.
Criteria: Unfulfilled (X).
As mentioned above, Belarus doesn’t
manipulate other nations to get what she wants. I say manipulation in the sense
that people with APD are skilled at reading others and pull a lot of strings behind
the scenes to get those close to them to do what they want. They do this
through charm and a grandiose presentation of self. Meanwhile, Belarus will
merely use brute force.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., March 31rst, 2010).
b. Deceitfulness: Dishonesty
and fraudulence; misrepresentation of self; embellishment or fabrication when
relating events.
Criteria: Unfulfilled (X).
Belarus is painfully honest about
her intentions. She straight up tells Russia of her desire to marry him. She
also divulges that she doesn’t want to be with anyone else but Russia. In other
words, Belarus doesn’t curate or put up a false presentation of herself. She
wants to be with Russia and everyone knows it.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Nov 11th, 2010).
c. Callousness: Lack of concern for feelings or problems of others;
lack of guilt or remorse about the negative or harmful effects of one’s actions
on others; aggression; sadism.
Criteria: Partially fulfilled,
but not really.
Examples cited: Breaking
Lithuania’s fingers, holding Lichtenstein and Latvia at knifepoint.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Jan 8th, 2010).
Another example would be when she
told Belgium, who was feeling self-conscious about her ‘plain’ appearance to
become Russia’s servant. This demonstrates a complete lack of concern for
Belgium.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Nov 25th, 2013).
Again, people with APD wouldn’t
be as devoted or as concerned for another person as Belarus is for Russia. Belarus’
ego is very much invested in Russia. She’s not the pinnacle of her existence–Russia is.
d. Hostility: Persistent or frequent angry feelings; anger or
irritability in response to minor slights and insults; mean, nasty, or vengeful
behavior.
Criteria: Fulfilled (✓).
Belarus is notorious for being
hostile. This is especially the case in circumstances where Russia is either challenged
or insulted.
Ex: She throws a hanger at
Denmark simply because he was Russia’s rival in a costume contest.
Source: Hetarchive, Halloween 2011 Event.
2. Disinhibition, characterized by:
a. Irresponsibility:
Disregard for – and failure to honor – financial and other obligations or
commitments; lack of respect for – and lack of follow through on – agreements
and promises.
Criteria: Unfulfilled (X).
Belarus doesn’t form many obligations,
but when she does, she commits wholeheartedly. Big surprise, she promises to
stay by Russia’s side. Although, she does leave him briefly to live with
America after the USSR disbanded.
Source: Volume 2.
b. Impulsivity: Acting on the spur of the moment in response to
immediate stimuli; acting on a momentary basis without a plan or consideration
of outcomes; difficulty establishing and following plans.
Criteria: Fulfilled (X).
There’s no doubt that Belarus is
impulsive. The hanger example and the fact that she pulls a knife on Italy just
for approaching her speaks to this.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Nov 8th, 2013).
c. Risk taking: Engagement in dangerous, risky, and potentially
self-damaging activities, unnecessarily and without regard for consequences;
boredom proneness and thoughtless initiation of activities to counter boredom;
lack of concern for one’s limitations and denial of the reality of personal
danger.
Criteria: Unfulfilled (X).
Belarus’ stalking of Russia doesn’t
come at the cost of harming herself.
Criteria: Unfulfilled (X).
While the traits that do satisfy the
personality impairment criteria are consistent, there aren’t enough of them to
warrant a diagnosis.
Criteria: Fulfilled (✓).
I think we can all agree that Belarus’s
behaviour is not normal for any stage of development.
Criteria: Not enough information is known –> Unfulfilled
(X).
F) The individual is at least age 18 years.
Criteria: Artificial and of no intrinsic value but fulfilled (✓).
All in all, while Belarus does fulfill some of the vague
criteria outlined in the DSM for APD, it’s not enough to stipulate a diagnosis.
Without a doubt, Belarus has several neurotic tendencies. Regardless, unlike
someone with APD, Belarus isn’t egocentric or unempathetic. What it all boils
down to is that her undivided devotion to Russia is the largest disqualifier
for the personality disorder.
Horrible. It’s total, unequivocal, and pervasive control.
They torture him out of boredom
Ex: They asked him to stop a tank with his body (Volume 5).
They punish him if he doesn’t meet their unrealistic expectations [x].
He plays no part in national elections and can’t do anything to prevent against fraud and illegitimacy [x].
Ironically, his 2010 Halloween costume sums up the relationship best:
“The polar bear Putin put a collar on.”
Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng. trans, Hetarchive, Nov 7th, 2010)
Random cosplayer
here- could you do a post on demon England sometime maybe, if it isn’t too much
trouble? I’m thinking of cosplaying him in the future and I know horridly
little about how much he was in canon and how he was portrayed in canon. You’re
pretty much the expert on this sort of thing and I’ve found shockingly little
official stuff online. Thank you so much for all of the work you do for the
fandom, it’s absolutely excellent! 😀 Keep up the good work and best of luck to
you!
Hello, and thank you!
I’m not sure what you mean by demon England… are
you perhaps confusing that with the Brittania Angel trope [x] ? Or is it the Halloween 2010 costumes you’re talking about? Even then, it was Prussia who was the demon. England looks more to be a vampire. Not all of the costumes are specified, though [x].
Do you think America is somewhat bitter at
Britain because he didn’t tell him about how humans aged and died or took
possibly 50 or so years to get a flower for him to give his friend? I know it’s
odd to ask but I just watched the davie episode and after watching it, certain
scenes like America running away and laughing after Britain says they could be
friends has a different feeling now.
It’s never really talked about nor are any links made. As
you figured, America must have learned for himself the hard way as he matured.
The grudge that prompted America’s reaction in the latter
strip you mentioned was mainly from the Revolution/ England meddling in his Civil
War [x] [x] [x].
Ella, what are your thoughts on fans who create
OCs for countries that haven’t appeared in Hetalia?
As long as they’re respectful, who’s to stop
them? They’re exercising their creativity and tapping into their imagination.
Likewise, it would be hypocritical to criticize
someone else for taking the initiative to create their interpretation of a
country when that’s literally what Himaruya did.
What’s the source for America being modelled on
a Canadian?
Sorry about that,
thought I included it in the OP. It also has the note about Himaruya’s
American teacher not caring for geography all that much [x].
Out of all the countries who do you think is
the most lonely?
A lot of them are
lonely!
However, I would say
Russia is the most isolated since he doesn’t really have any solid friendships [x].
Below will be a list
of events that have contributed to Lithuania’s resilience and strength of
character. There’s a reason why he’s known for his perseverance and willpower
to survive through adversity.
On several occasions,
Prussia attempted to forcefully convert Lithuania. Meanwhile, Lithuania refused
to back down and gained enough reputation to cause Finland to be wary of his
fierce warriorhood [x].
To circumvent against the
threat of larger powers, he and Poland joined forces. The series depicts
Lithuania as the one who held up their partnership, doing most of the work
whilst being bossed around by Poland [x].
In modern times this
dynamic remains, as Lithuania still ends up doing a lot of running around for
Poland. It’s important to note that Lithuania chooses to do this, as the two
are close friends that have since smoothed out the hiccups from their past.
Lithuania’s just a bit of a pushover and is too kind to say no.
Ex: In the
intermission between the world wars (given the date that these character notes take
place), Lithuania is said to be seemingly enjoying himself whilst being dragged around by
Poland. He is also said to be rehabilitating with Poland after initially freeing
himself from Russia.
Lithuania bore
considerable resentment towards Poland due to the circumstances of their separation.
As Lithuania was being forcefully dragged away by Russia, Poland laughs and
makes fun of Lithuania’s expression [x].
However, it’s likely Poland didn’t understand the severe implications of what
it meant to be under Russia’s rule (e.g., physical abuse and degrading servitude). I say this because after the two gain their independence from
Russia, Poland becomes shocked when he learns that Lithuania acquired many scars
on his back.
Since Poland and Lithuania had just gained their independence and
there’s a mention of Italy having gained his independence not that far in the
past, this leads me to believe that this strip took place between WW1-WW2 [x].
On the other hand,
earlier strips contradict this. Poland is once shown to have found a half-dead
Lithuania after a fatal encounter with Russia. It’s messy to get around, but
you’ll notice that later strips fall more align with the former point.
While Lithuania may
have bore a grudge over Poland’s apathetic reaction to their separation, this
doesn’t stop Lithuania from fretting about Poland and warning the latter of
Russia’s intent to annex him prior to the outbreak of WW2.
Likewise, it seems
that after Poland realized the horrific truth of the adversity Lithuania
experienced under Russian rule, Poland became more protective of Lithuania,
even going so far as to call out Russia on several occasions despite being
scared of him and having also been under USSR influence.
Although he was poor
and had to outsource himself for work, Lithuania was able to find a stable and
welcoming environment in America’s home [x] [x].
Unfortunately, America
himself became too poor to host Lithuania during the Great Depression and
Lithuania again found himself being forcefully dragged away by Russia.
Lithuania went back to
a life of servitude and lacked full agency (e.g., Russia attended world
meetings on his behalf.)
He was the one who
rallied the Baltics into gaining their independence from the USSR. Afterward, Lithuania
didn’t hesitate to throw away any belongings associated with this period of his
life [x] [x].
When she’s not erratic, yeah lol [x].
Misconception: He’s
an intentionally cruel character.
Reality: He’s
cognitively unaware of his cruelty+ his cruelty is described as child-like. In
other words, he’s doesn’t have the mental capacity to realize the repercussions
of his abuse. He was tormented and abused in childhood and subsequently
normalized it.
Ex: General Winter attacks him on an annual basis despite
offering protection [x]
Ex: He was conquered [bullied] by several nations when he
was a much smaller power.
Of course, this doesn’t aim to justify his actions, but it’s
important to understand that he’s not consciously malicious or sadistic in
nature. He’s characterized as a child-like adult that doesn’t have an accurate
perception of the world due to the trauma he experienced in his childhood. You
can feel pity for him without condoning his actions. Longer post on that here.
Multiple character notes corroborate this too [x].
Vol 1: “A gigantic
northern nation that has been tormented ever since childhood. At
the first impression, he seems to be a pure-hearted country bumpkin, and yet,
conversely speaking, he holds a child-like cruelty. Compared to other nations,
Russia’s history has seen more bloodbaths and tragedies.”
Vol 2: “He loves Vodka.
He has the simplicity of a country bumpkin and the cruelty of a child mixed
together.”
Vol 3: “A biiig, gentle,
and naive nation! He isn’t malicious, just extremely scary!”
Vol 4-5: “He’s
frighteningly innocent! + This huge northern country is giving off
a sense of oppression with his looks and his air of innocent scariness!”
I.e., in terms of mental
development, he’s remained as a perpetual child.
Misconception: He’s
evil.
Reality: Russia
isn’t good or bad. Someone who can’t tell right from wrong is incapable of
possessing morals. Instead, Russia often possesses good intentions despite the
disastrous consequences of his actions.
Ex: A repeated example, but the volume 4 character note
explicitly mentions that Russia isn’t a malicious person.
Ex: He thinks that anyone he meets is his friend.
Ex: He doesn’t realize that he hurts Latvia when he stretches
and squeezes him. He actually appears to kill Latvia briefly and remains
clueless to the pain he’s causing [x].
The only thing I would argue that Russia is conscious of is
the physical pressure that he puts on nations in order to get what he wants. I’ve
speculated before that Russia pushing down on Latvia’s head acts as a metaphor
for political pressure and suppression, hence the latter’s stunted growth.
Again, it’s like a child that knows what it wants and doesn’t tolerate any
deviating opinions.
Ex: Russia asks Latvia to help him build a railroad. When
Latvia refuses, Russia begins pushing down on his head until he complies [x].
Lastly, just like a child is capable of throwing tantrums,
Russia is the last nation you want to anger. He experiences mood swings that
are unpredictable, not to mention dangerous.
Ex: Russia naively believes that the Allies are his friends.
When Lithuania points out otherwise, Russia becomes angry, only to go through
another volatile shift in mood culminating in him feeling dejected.
Ex: He holds a covetous attitude towards nations that are/have been under his control [x].
Misconception: He’s hateful.
Reality: As the character note states, he can become “extremely
scary” if you do something he doesn’t like, but he’s far from hateful. He’s
known for his ability to forgive easily [x].
Ex: He dreams of living in a warm place surrounded by
sunflowers [x].
Ex: He loves children [x].
Just to prove again how unstable he is: he goes from
maternally feeding Estonia food with a bunny apron to threatening to assault
Estonia with a metal pipe—all executed with a smile on his face [x].
Misconception: He’s hated by all nations.
Reality: He’s feared and avoided for the most part. There are some notable grudges.
Ex: Although they’re not keen to be friends with Russia due
to the terror they experienced during the reign of the USSR, they don’t outright
hate him. They recognize that he’s unstable, and, therefore, can’t hold him
accountable for what he did. Instead, they keep their distance and still remain
fearful since this unpredictability hasn’t exactly gone away.
On the other hand, there are a few long-term grudges that
Russia’s held.
He and England have experienced several feuds, and it’s even
alluded to the fact that England is additionally wary of Russia because of a
dark presence that surrounds him. Longer post on that here [x].
Ex: England’s magical friends conveniently sense a dangerous
presence and flee right before Russia makes his appearance during the Halloween
2013-2014 Christmas event.
Another notable one is the grudge that he held against Japan.
Ex: Russian clergymen cursed Japan, resulting in Japan
panicking at the possibility of Germany forming an alliance with Russia during WW2 [x].
Bonus Facts:
He’s very rarely depicted without his scarf. Ukraine gave it
to him when they were children.
His heart has a habit of falling out of his chest.
His hair is blond in the manga [x].
He’s big-boned [x].
Ellawritesficssometimes 
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