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Alternative Character Interpretation / Hetalia: Axis Powers
aka: Axis Powers Hetalia
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Since the cast of Hetalia: Axis Powers are nations and the series itself is mostly light comedy, this is to be expected. A few strips hint at much darker humor or hidden angst; fandom often takes the idea of history-as-canon and carries it to the logical conclusion. This makes for potentially VERY dark characterizations for most countries, especially those with imperialist or colonialist eras.
This is especially true for England. While normally depicted as a Tsundere who's more bark than bite, he's shown in canon as having been quite a prick in his conquering days when he rode roughshod over Spain, and even now he has a tendency to play The Mean Brit, usually to America and France; but it's still debatable if, based on canon, he'd ever be as much of a domineering, creepily possessive bastard as some people like to portray him. This unfortunately overlaps with his status as a victim of Die for Our Ship, especially for America/Russia shippers. There's also debate on whether England still thinks of America as a brother or someone he needs to look out for and just can't admit it, or has grudgingly come to think of him as an equal or even a friend and just can't admit it, or has fallen in love with him and just can't admit it - though everyone agrees on at least one trait. But then there's also the question of just what kind of impact his turbulent childhood might of had on him and if his acerbic personality stems from being bullied.
Any fanfic that creates an OC that represents Ireland tend to potray England negatively, due to Britain's historical oppression of Ireland, sometimes even shamelessly turning England into a Ron the Death Eater and conveniently forgetting other countries that had conflicts with Ireland, and turning Ireland into a total Purity Sue who never did anything wrong.
There's at least one fanfic in which N.Italy is portrayed as a person who pretends to be always happy (and dumb) but who has inner angst for being considered dumb by the other countries and by the possibility that Germany doesn't love him. Who even tried to commit suicide. It's probably because Italy's canon personality doesn't mesh well with drama/angst which many people favor.
There's also a surprising amount of fics in which Italy is not as innocent as people like to think and that he lied about being a virgin to Germany. Saying that he is like his Grandpa in that he has a way with women and that he can be a real tease if he wants to be.
There are two general lines of interpretation for Canada in the fandom: "moe" Canada that emphasizes his sweet, timid, and unassertive demeanor (sometimes to Woobie levels); and "manly" Canada, mostly by people who don't like the way he's portrayed in canon, that plays up his assumed passive-aggressive tendencies (sometimes to the point of making him an unabashed Deadpan Snarker) and gives him an overall Darker and Edgier characterization. This is sometimes flanderized up to the point where he's an Ax-Crazy psycho who goes around raping everybody.
A lot of fan authors and fanartists depict a very close, loving, brotherly relationship between Canada and America, even though the manga describes America as "the root of Canada's unhappiness" and it's shown that Canada, while not outright hating him, resents his brother a lot. He almost talked America to death. On the other hand, some fans posit that all this is just typical sibling behavior and that just because Canada likes cutting America down to size occasionally, it doesn't mean that he doesn't genuinely love and care for his brother when the chips are down (as evidenced by him consulting America for advice at least once in canon).
This makes sense since in Real Life, Canada and the United States are currently the world's largest trading partners, share the world's longest border, and have significant interoperability within the defence sphere (NORAD, for example, covers both countries). While Canadians will always make fun of the US and vice versa, it's also well-known that each would be sunk without the other.
Aside from the Misplaced Nationalism that frequently raises its head among his fans, America is either an Idiot Hero and a gigantic Love Freak, a Wide-Eyed Idealist who's more naive than stupid, or a Stepford Smiler who isn't as happy and idealistic as he makes himself out to be. Then, there's the way he acts towards England: Truly well-meaning yet blundering oaf blind towards his affection, despicable reprobate who enjoys shooting down and mocking deredere England for the kicks, or a genuine reciprocator to England's crush, but with the same personality problems on top of a desire to be seen as England's equal instead of as a little brother? In Dark Fics, he gets made over into a Psychopathic Manchild. He also comes off as quite a jerk to Canada at times in Fanon.
Russia is the one who gets the most varying interpretations. Does he only want to torment others, or is he a Woobie who's become so emotionally damaged that he can't think rationally anymore? Could he be accurately called a Manipulative Bastard who knows how to press his victims' buttons, or is he too childish to be capable of such conscious manipulation or even be fully aware of the morality of his actions? Does he want to become one with everybody so that he can destroy them, or ensure that he can never be hurt anymore, or simply to cure his loneliness or pain in the only way his warped mind can comprehend? And does he truly love Lithuania (probably a little too much), or is Lithuania just a convenient target for him to vent his anger and frustrations upon?
Many fans portray China as being secretly wise, with the reasoning that he's the oldest of the nations (although Really 700 Years Old and Immortal Immaturity are in full effect in this series), and general depictions of his character seem to be split between "long-suffering nation who's been kicked around for a long time and thus doesn't have much in the way of aggressiveness" and "nation who won't let others kick him around anymore and thus acts jerkish toward them." If his real-life history is brought in, he becomes either a Broken Bird who's been hurt over and over again by the betrayals of his siblings or a Broken Hero who's gone through a lot of grief and hurt but nonetheless has overcome them and can still smile and be happy.
And then there's his (admittedly complex) relationship with Japan. Is China's obvious affection for Japan purely familial or more than that, and in either case, does Japan simply not return China's affections or does he actually reciprocate them (familial or otherwise) and is just reluctant to admit it? And while we're on the subject of relationships, just what does China think of Russia, especially after the Cold War/Sino-Soviet split?
Also, we cannot forget his relationship with Hong Kong and Taiwan. A well-meaning Team Mom who nags his younger siblings and inadvertently pushes them away while trying to help them, or a dangerous Yandere who would rape them into submission if he could?
Taiwan and Hong Kong themselves are subjected to this too. Is HK a real Emotionless Boy whose psychological development was stunted while growing up with England, a Sugar-and-Ice Personality who cares deeply for China and the others and just Cannot Spit It Out due to his mixed raising, or just a Comically Serious prankster who deals with said baggage by playing tricks on everyone and just doing what he wants now that he can do it? Taiwan: was she married/engaged to Japan in the past (more exactly, during the time she was his colony), is her liking of Japan mostly based on rebelliousness towards China than real feelings for him, is she a victim of Stockholm Syndrome after her times with Japan, or is she Yandere towards him - like Belarus is towards Russia (only more subtly)?
What about Prussia? The local Memetic Badass and Memetic Molester is pretty much the incarnation of Crazy Awesome and Small Name, Big Ego at the same time, but some fans either make him a Jerk Ass Stu or empathize on his failures far more than canon already does.
About him and Hungary: is he really her Unlucky Childhood Friend and is jealous of Austria because they're still close despite their divorce, is he more romantically focused on Austria than Hungary now, or just enjoys getting any kind of reactions out of the girl who beat both him and Austria up?
There's also the characterization of him as a Stepford Smiler who puts on a facade to hide his loneliness and fears about disappearing/being forgotten in dramatic works.
Is Denmark a boisterous but good-hearted guy, a Lovable Sex Maniac who can't keep his hands off anybody, a Jerkass, or a literally Ax-Crazy Yandere who makes life hell for Sweden and/or Norway? The first interpretation seems to have become the most popular one (sometimes mixed up with the second), but the others are still kicking around.
Let's not forget Norway! Are his feelings for Iceland purely brotherly or beyond that? Does he hate Denmark after the end of the Kalmar Union , which fanon seems to see as them being "married"? Is he a Tsundere towards Denmark (and just how much of a Tsundere is he?), or is he a potential Yandere who covers his obsession with his Deadpan Snarker tendencies? And what does he think of Sweden after their union in the 19th century?
W-wait, we've gotten this far without even mentioning Germany? Or is that just way too obvious? Punch-Clock Villain Woobie who has to follow monstrous orders from his WWII boss no matter what he thinks? Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds who either snapped or will snap at some point and follows said orders willingly because he's powerless, to the point he'd even rape Italy if he's ordered to? And let's not forget all the speculations about him really being a grown-up yet amnesiac Holy Roman Empire or not...
There's the recent trend of making Spain a Yandere or Cute and Psycho, due to extremely complex real world history. In the character descriptions in the books, it's mentioned that Spain is "scary when angry", and that he's "dangerous when drunk". It's not clear if the latter means he's dangerous in the France way or the aforementioned Yandere way, but these notes are good enough for the fanartists and authors to build up on. There used to be notes on the site indicating that Spain's treatment of Romano was in direct contrast to the rest of his colonies.
Belarus has two main alternate interpretations, both very different. The first is more of a Broken Bird type character, emotionally unstable from constantly being rejected by Russia, and not willing to risk becoming attached to anybody else - with some Snark Kight and Don't You Dare Pity Me! thrown in. The latter would kill -insert character the writer ships Russia with here- without a second thought so that she could have him all to herself, because Love Makes You Crazy. Expect a Broken Smile and some Creepy Monotone.
Is Japan merely The Stoic with no other noteworthy traits, or is he more complex than that? If the latter, then does his stoic exterior conceal a genuinely sweet but socially awkward person or mask a much darker personality? You can actually predict which interpretation fans support by looking at who they ship him with: if they ship him with Greece, he'll almost always be the former, whereas if they ship him with China, he'll almost always be the latter. Other pairings for him tend to be more evenly split into these same two categories, depending on whether the fic is history-heavy or not.
Well, when shipped with China his character interpretation heavily depends on who's topping, as ridiculous as it sounds.
Add in the fact that imperial!Japan is often portrayed in a different light from modern!Japan, and character interpretations can get pretty complex. Was imperial!Japan a Well-Intentioned Extremist who thought that his empire was more important than his family and ended up regretting it and becoming a better person; a monster who only cared about furthering his empire by any means necessary and is still like that even today, just more covertly; a Jerkass Woobie who became emotionally messed up after he was led to believe that allowing himself to show emotions or fall in love would make him "weak", and nowadays still has problems with opening up to others or dealing with love; or even a Superpowered Evil Side that overtook the "real", kinder Japan during that period?
Most fanartists depict Japan's personality by the clothes he wears - if he wears his usual white uniform as shown in canon, he is (mostly) normal, but if he wears a black uniform, he is one of the above. Sometimes, the two are warring with each other.
If they're not fighting each other, they're having sex. There's no way around it.
Even Greece is subject to this. Is he a sweet and patient guy at heart who's quietly in love with Japan and just happens to have a huge Berserk Button in the form of Turkey (possibly coupled with shades of Green-Eyed Monster)? Or is he actually a sassy, smart-mouthed Tsundere deep down who shows his true colors only when with Turkey and refuses to admit that he's secretly attracted to his foe? It tends to fall along shipping lines, obviously, but it's almost as if he's an entirely different character on both sides. The balance between his Philosopher and Cloudcuckoolander traits also fluctuates from work to work, with the former tending to be emphasized more in serious works and the latter emphasized more in humorous works.
About his rival Turkey: Jerk with a Heart of Gold who has a soft spot for Japan and actually cares for Greece deep down? Lovable Sex Maniac who hits on anyone he thinks would make a good harem member? Jerkass who gets his kicks out of provoking any kind of reaction from his longtime rival/BST partner? Manipulative Bastard who'd rape Greece just to put him in his place and make him kowtow to him? And did he rape Hungary or not right before/after the fight that was followed by her and Prussia more or less realizing her real gender?
Italy Romano: A misunderstood grouch with simply a huge inferiority complex stemming from his grandfather ignoring him and feeling that Spain and others want to use him for his inheritance, a useless whiny manchild who was too spoiled of a brat that still deserves to be spanked, or a grade-A Jerkass that simply likes being an annoyance to everyone? Then there's the matter of if he has "deeper" feelings for Spain but acts like a jerk to throw him off, or if he actually hates Spain and is just stringing him along in hopes to manipulate him as payback.
His portrayal as a Deadpan Snarker is also rather popular
Let's add Korea to the list of APH characters who get Darker and Edgier characterizations in Dark Fic, shall we? It's especially noticeable with him as his normal characterization is as an unfailingly cheerful if somewhat overbearing guy with a hilariously overzealous affection for China, and the typical "serious" characterization of him essentially filters these qualities through a dark looking glass, reinterpreting his intense devotion to China as a hint to how his cheerful and childlike demeanor conceals an emotionally disturbed or stunted individual. There's even a semi-popular fanon theory that Korea actually represents both Koreas and suffers from multiple personality disorder with "North Korea" arising from his bottled-up negative emotions, even though it's been confirmed that South Korea and North Korea are separate characters.
Then there's Poland. Ditzy airhead with an affinity for wearing skirts and playing with pink ponies? Or The Phoenix-like character who always stands his ground and refuses to give up no matter who tries to beat him down? Or both? There's no rule that says he can't be a Plucky Determinator who just happens to really like wearing skirts and playing with pink ponies, after all.
Is France a Lovable Sex Maniac that goes for Anything That Moves with no motive whatsoever, or is he a broken man that lost the only person he ever loved and is Obfuscating Stupidity (or, rather, incompetence) and perversion to hide the fact that he's hurting inside? France has also been depicted as every shade on the "perversion" spectrum: from Depraved Bisexual to Ethical Slut, Casanova Wannabe to Sex God, or Anything That Moves to Ladykiller in Love. Lately, the canon strips seem to go for making France a mix of these things, thus making a Casanova Wannabe who does hit on everyone and snarks at some, but is quite capable of showing Hidden Depths (and a surprisingly good understanding of human nature) when the chance calls for it. When he meets with Lisa, the girl who might be Joan's reincarnation he only flirts with her a little, but acts much more like a Big Brother Mentor; similarly, he's rather kind to the French military man who recognizes him as a supernatural entity. In fact his Big Brother Mentor personality also fits since he lost the colonies of the First Empire to England only began acquiring new ones in the mid 19th century, not too long before decolonization began.
He does sometimes come off as a bit of a bully in some fanon depictions, particularly towards America and England.
There's also Sweden. Is he totally as the comics seem to (and fandom loves to) portray him as? A misunderstood and much kinder on the inside guy than what his thug-like face says? On the other hand, if he exudes such a constantly threatening aura that's likely worse than even Russia's, where does that come from? Was he really a doting 'husband' to Finland or was he controlling and possessive? He does get rather grouchy at the implication that Finland might have been happier with Russia. Is he uncomfortable with how scary he looks, or does he willingly intimidate others ? And who let this terrifying man buy a child off the internet, anyway?
Is Finland still "living" with Sweden because he genuinely cares for him? Is he next to Su-san's side just because of Stockholm Syndrome? Or hell, can it be both in the end? Sweden himself seems to be quite enamoured with Finland, but Finland's side of the story is not that clear if you think about it.
'Stockholm' Syndrome?
Generally, is Finland The Pollyanna or a deeply scarred Stepford Smiler?
Thailand is usually portrayed as a perpetually-smiling Nice Guy, but there are some fans who depict him as Cute and Psycho underneath that smile. There are also at least a few fics who take advantage of the Kathoey/Ladyboy culture in Thailand to make him into a sassy Wholesome Crossdresser or Drag Queen in his spare time.
How about Romania? Is he an actual vampire and a nation? And what about his relationship with Hungary: Is the Belligerent Sexual Tension between them really about Transylvania (Truth in Television, Transylvania was exchanged between Hungary and Romania A LOT through the years), or is he just a Type B Tsundere towards her, hiding that Romantic side he is said to have in favour of annoying her? In several artworks, people depict him more as Cute and Psycho or The Fake Cutie, complete with Fangs Are Evil and a Slasher Smile.
He could also be a Stepford Smiler, being mischievous, merry and eccentric while having quite a troubling past, resisting his more powerful neighbours until they eventually took over. Of course, that could also make him a Broken Hero depending on how he's written.
Some people have characterised him as being almost at ADHD levels or having the mind of a young child, even though he seems rather tame in his canon appearances, with a few strange moments (wanna history lesson on Vlad the Impaler, anyone?).
Vietnam's personality in fanworks comes in three general flavors: 1) A serious and mature Lady of War and Team Mom with a Sugar-and-Ice Personality, 2) a Broken Bird with a possible Split Personality from her civil wars, and 3) a Tsundere who's fond of using her rice paddle as a weapon against people who annoy her (mainly America, China or Thailand).
"Snapped!(character)" fics, which take that character's traits to the illogical Cute and Psycho extreme are fairly popular.
Belgium can vary widely in fanfics, most often being portrayed as either The Ojou who is rather girly in her dress and attitude, affectionate towards her older brother, Spain, and Romano, and is relatively easy-going, sometimes to the point of being an Extreme Doormat, or The Lad-ette Action Girl who often is The Tease towards the men around her.
Alternative Title(s): Axis Powers Hetalia
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