Misconception: He’s emotionless.

Reality: He’s expressive through non-expressiveness.

Ex: A smile for him isn’t expressed as obviously as it is for some of the other characters. Still, that doesn’t negate the fact that he has feelings. I mean really now.

Misconception: He’s humourless.

Reality: He has an implicitly “evil” and “mischievous” side. In other words, he’s often playful, albeit subtly.

Ex: He’s the one to come up with France’s punishment after the 2007 April Fools’ Event. This entails getting France to praise everything about England’s culture for a whole day.

Ex: When at war with each other, he was glad to have a legitimate reason to punch Denmark.

Ex: He goes along with the Nordics’ plan to host a secret birthday party for Iceland. 

Again, the humour is subtle as he wordlessly teases Iceland and makes light out of the latter’s confusion over them meeting outside.

Misconception: He’s intimidating inside and out.

Reality: His external appearance is intimidating, but he’s tender and sweet on the inside.

Ex: During the stereotypical café arc, Sweden’s customer is initially terrified of him. Nonetheless, Sweden gives away the meal for free.

Ex: He acts as a parent to Sealand.

Ex: Ladonia refers to him [and the other Nordics] as an Uncle.

Ex: He’s good at sewing + uses this skill to adjust smaller clothes for Finland.

Misconception: SuFin is canon.

Reality: Sweden has confirmed feelings for Finland, but Finland doesn’t reciprocate.

In a lost 2007 blog post, Hima confirmed that Sweden has homosexual feelings for Finland and only acts this way towards Finland. [That’s literally what the translation says].

Ex: Finland has repeatedly denied being Sweden’s “wife.”

Nonetheless, the two do share a close relationship, enough for Finland to refer to Sweden as “Swe.”

Ex: The two spend their New Years’ Eve together in 2009.

Ex: This one-sidedness is seen as early as when they were first colonizing America. Finland spots America in the wild, and Sweden proposes the option of them having kids.

Bonus facts:

It’s left unclear as to whether Sweden can see magical creatures.

He and Denmark used to hate each other, but have recently calmed down in their temperaments. Of course, this is to be expected from their present welfare and collectively-oriented nations.

Regardless, the two still tease each other in the present time. 

[Denmark and Finland are imitating Sweden here.]

All in all, a somewhat mysterious, yet thoroughly entertaining character.

Misconception: He’s Iceland’s father.

Reality: He raised Iceland and acts as an older brother figure/ mentor.

Ex: He supportively encourages Iceland to participate in their activities. In this case, they’re designing a Nordic-inspired hotel.

Ex: He also gave young Iceland diplomatic advice.

Misconception: He’s a playboy that treats Norway like a loose end

Reality: Denmark treasures Norway as his best friend. As the leader of the Nordics, he’ll selflessly put others first before himself.

Ex: When Denmark realizes that Norway is struggling under his rule, he breaks down crying.

Ex: Denmark gets distressed when he’s forcefully separated from Norway by a British Naval Blockade. He’s more worried about Norway.

Ex: He doesn’t want to let Norway down and look “uncool.” Because of this, he heads into a battle with Sweden that he knows he’s going to lose.

Notice how he still tries to set an example for Norway.

Misconception: Norway is indifferent toward Denmark.

Reality: While Norway may enjoy teasing Denmark and often gets irritated with him, he too reciprocates this deep-set affection. The two share a strong bond.

Ex: Norway’s hobby is gently poking Denmark. Denmark doesn’t even notice Norway’s comments.

Ex: Norway expresses concern before Denmark charges into a doomed battle against Sweden. Denmark refers to him as a “worry wart.”

Ex: Despite how poor he is under Denmark’s rule, Norway recognizes that Denmark’s trying his best.

Again, Denmark may annoy Norway, but the two care strongly for each other.

The running gag between the two of them is Denmark being overly affectionate and Norway’s cheeky reactions to this affection.

Misconception: He has a hot temper.

Reality:  He had a hot temper.

Due to recent statistics, Denmark is the happiest of the Nordics – his people are rated to be among the happiest in the world. [x]

Misconception: He and Sweden hate each other.

Reality: They hated each other. 

Aside from friendly teasing here and there, the two get along really well.

Or, my personal favourite: Denmark and Finland mocking Sweden.

Bonus facts:

He has a good relationship with Germany, mostly stemming from their economic ties.

He once watched Hans Christian Andersen water grass with his own tears.

He’s one of the few nations who can get the Netherlands to sell him goods at a cheaper price.

Iceland, huh? For such a minor character, he’s perhaps one of my favourites, mainly because his personality is so interesting and, well, relatable.

Let’s get some clarifications out of the way first: Norway is Iceland’s older brother. They’re related.

After having an excavation done on his land, Iceland finds out that he has no strictly Icelandic indigenous people. Instead, it was Norwegians who had first settled there before travelling elsewhere.

Now, this is important in establishing a tentative ground principle in understanding the family trees in the series. I’ve found a pair of relatively consistent rules too: It seems that nations are biologically related when…

1) There is one dominant nationality of sibling #1’s people living on the other sibling’s land – Ex: in this case, it would be early Norwegians initially settling on Iceland.

And/ Or

2)  The nations of the siblings are typically next to one another – Ex: America and Canada, Netherlands and Belgium, Germany and Prussia, & Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.

I know it’s messy, but remember that these rules are exceptive and only apply when Hima explicitly makes them siblings. You can have nations, like Spain and Portugal, who look alike due to similar ancestral influences on their histories and cultures, and yet, they’re only listed as neighbors with no biological relation.

It’s important that I make this distinction only because the Nordics all refer to each other as brothers in an affectionate way, despite us knowing that they’re not actually related. Again, the only ones who are confirmed to be related are Norway and Iceland.

There’s also the presence of brother figures in the series. Regarding Iceland, he sees the other Nordics as older brothers.

What’s sad is that he didn’t get to meet most of the Nordics until the 18^th century.

While Denmark may have raised him…

…right from birth Iceland sensed that Norway was his older brother.

Now for Iceland’s personality.

Predicating from his childhood and geographic isolation, Iceland is unsociable. The irony is that he also feels lonely.

No one really knows anything about him, and he’s often the odd man out.

Despite this alleged unsociability, Iceland still worries about making friends.

Arguably, Iceland is closest with Norway, who likes to “stick” into the former’s business.

While Iceland may snap at Norway and the other Nordics, he secretly appreciates their concern – especially Norway’s. He doesn’t hate any of them.

In fact, this somewhat erratic moodiness is actually part of Iceland’s personality.

His contrasting warm (volcanoes, hot springs) and freezing climate gives way to a polarizing temperament. As such, he’s noted to have a hot and cool side.

This unpredictability in mood, metaphorically understood in terms of how you never know when a volcano will explode, is seen in Iceland right from birth.

His cool side relates more to his unsociability and shyness.

What’s more, his hot side doesn’t always have to do with his temper or irritability. It can also mean the playfulness and mischievousness of a young child.

Another fun fact is that Iceland is able to see Norway’s magical creatures, albeit refusing to acknowledge this ability.

All in all, akin to his climate and geography, Iceland isn’t static and is therefore far from your typical stock character. He has a profoundly rich and complex personality stemming from a childhood filled with neglect, isolation, and loneliness; the problem for him now is whether he’ll be able to reconcile all this and open himself up to others more.

That awkward silence when the teacher asks a question and no one responds

Misconception: She’s average.

Reality: While Hima intended for her to be average, her characterization took a drastic turn [x]. She’s anything but average. 

Ex: She’s a model student within Africa.

Ex: Regardless of her isolated position, she avidly studies foreign relations [x]. Either way, she’d need to given how globalized the world’s economies have become. The 2008 Financial Crisis affected her too, after all.

Ex: She’s described as a go-getter [x].

Ex: She’s not subtle about her economic transactions with European tourists. She’s well adept at making her tourism industry thrive.

“Good –foreign currency– noon!” [x]

Ex: She’s good at sales promotions [x]. 

Ex: Prices in her country are more expensive in response to high volumes of European tourists.

Ex: As a matriarchal society in which women are the breadwinners of the family – as also cited by Hima in her character notes [x] –Seychelles is not only strong and tenacious but admirably self-effficient.

Misconception: She’s a ‘stupid’ and ‘plain’ airhead.

Reality: She’s a lively, bubbly personality who simply smiles a lot. The term airhead is used to describe her weird personality given that she’s composed of a mix of several cultures. It has nothing to do with her intelligence.

Ex: An unconfirmed African nation refers to Seychelles as an airhead due to French and English influence.

Ex: She loves salted and pickled fish [x] [x]. 

Ex: She’s notorious for her butt-shaped coconuts [x].

Ex: Her isolation from other African nations parallels that of Iceland and the other Nordics. A unique moment is shared between them where Iceland senses her situation and relates to her fear of being forgotten. I can guarantee you this is where the IceSey pairing came from.

Misconception: She’s related to England and France.

Reality: She inherited much of their culture, along with some Indian and Chinese influence. What ties her and France and England together is that she used to be a colony of theirs at different points in time [x].

Ex: A scrapped design intended for her to have one thick eyebrow and one thin one to represent French and English influence.

Ex: Later, it’s shown that French influence on her country has prevented her from inheriting England’s thick brows [x].

Ex: Her cuisine represents a mix of several cultures.

Bonus facts:

Both the Allies and Axis get stranded on her island during WW2.

She’s a homebody [x].

Her costume as Captain Hook during the 2011 Halloween Event is likely a reference to the fact that young pirates used to have hideouts on her island [x] [x].

She’s tough on litterers.

She was the main character in an unfinished dating simulation titled “Gakuen Hetalia” [x].

In sum, Seychelles is a wonderful character, regardless of how little canon representation she has. She’s a cheerful and vibrant spirit that bravely powers through the obstacles of her isolation, namely economic. Nonetheless, she makes the best out of her unique cultural inheritance and isn’t afraid to show it off. What’s unfortunate is that much of this complexity is watered down in light of disliking her for coming between popular ships.

Disclaimer: This post will strictly explore Germany’s character in canon. It does not explore nor make the Holy Rome = Germany assumption.

Misconception: He’s gruff, mean, stand-offish, and curt to the point of being rude.

Reality: He’s sweet and considerate but is very poor at expressing himself. He lacks socialization skills and can also come off as too formal.

Germany’s main complex is that he comes off as angry to others when he actually isn’t.

Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 1. 

Ex: He asks out Italy for drinks after a training session, and Italy interprets him as being angry.

Source: Hetarchive, Comic Diary 4. 

Ex: He has trouble smiling. The consequence of this is that others are afraid of his domineering appearance. 

Source: Hetarchive, Christmas 2010 Event.

However, he’s able to smile when he’s drunk.

Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 1. 

Ex: He’s so poor at socializing that he needs to rely on manuals for things such as friendship, romance, and even how to smile.

Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 7 + Hetarchive, Buon San Valentino Series (mentioned).

Ex: He absolutely loves dogs.

Source: Volume 5. 

Ex: He loves baking, especially with his friends. He has an entire character song dedicated to this, titled “Ich liebe…”

Source: Hetascanlatoins, World Stars Chapter 33. 

Misconception: He was a Nazi and rooted himself in the fascist cause.

Reality: It’s complicated…

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