[FAQ] Hetalia FAQ
Hetalia Community FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
By popular demand, here is the community-wide FAQ for Hetalia! The reason why we are doing this is because our membership has shot up to about 4000+ members, which brings a lot of new members in along with the veteran members. This is something for both, just in case some of us need to know something, or if some of us need reminders or clarifications about certain points.
The FAQ has been divided into different sections for easier navigation.
COMMUNITY
General Community Questions
First and foremost, the best way to find out certain things that CAN and HAVE been answered is to just read the rules.
How do I join the community?
-Click on the red icon that comes before the community name, and that will take you to the community profile, where there should be a “join this community” option.
There are too many posts a day! How do I keep them from clogging my friends page?
-What you can do is to choose the “stop watching community” option on the community profile page and just bookmark the community’s main page.
How do I make an LJ cut?
-Use this HTML tag:
The content of the post would go here.
How do I insert an image?
-Use this tag here:
Can the mods make a [something] tag?
-It depends. If the tag is relevant and will be used frequently, then of course we can make the tag for you, provided that you have made a post pertaining to the tag so that we can stick it on. Irrelevant tags are tags that won’t be used frequently and would only exist to clog up the tags list.
Can we make tags ourselves?
-No. This is because sometimes due to spelling errors or discrepancies, we would end up with tons of tags that are only used once or twice. The other fear is also the “too many tags” issue where some tags only pertain to ONE person’s post.
Can we have human name tags?
-It’s much easier to search by nation names, and to instate them now that we have over thousands of posts and then having to retag them would just be monstrous.
I want to contact a mod, who are they?
-The community presently has three mods, they are listed on the community profile.
Posting in the Community Questions
Can we advertise a new community?
-It depends. If it’s a community that focuses mainly on Hetalia and its characters, then sure. But if it’s something that is multi-fandom or just random and not Hetalia-centric, then no. The safest bet is to PM a mod and ask.
I want to post an OC (original character) nation!
-Sorry, that goes to nationslash, the sister site unless you are sure that there is a Hetalia-original character included in the post, with your OC participating at equal or lesser value. Think of it like a shoe sale.
Can we post coloured doujinshi pages?
-In order to respect the wishes of the fanartist or the doujinshi artist, we would ask that you put it under a members’ only lock if you do. And please don’t forget to credit the artist and scanner.
OHMYGOD SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO OUR ANIME!!!
-Please PM one of the mods with the concerning news in order to prevent clogging of the community about the same news of certain things. See this post for reference.
HETALIA QUESTIONS
General Hetalia Questions
Is it “Axis Powers Hetalia” or “Hetalia Axis Powers?”
-The site seems to advertise it as “Axis Powers Hetalia,” and considering the abbreviation of “APH,” that would seem right. But the anime labels it as “Hetalia Axis Powers,” so both works
Who draws Hetalia?
-The artist of Hetalia is Himaruya Hidekaz (pen name), a 23-year-old male college student living in New York. He is a design student.
How do I contact Himaruya?
-He has a contact tool on his site that you can send a message to, and he will try to answer via his blog.
Why is [my nation] not in Hetalia?
-There are over 200 nations in the world not including ones that disappeared and/or are being disputed over. Currently, Himaruya has touched upon roughly 50 of them, and he did say he had some others waiting in the wings. Consider that, in terms of narration and writing, 50 characters is already a lot to handle!
Are the Nations human? What are they?
-This is a topic that has been frequently discussed by the community. You should try looking in the “discussion” tag, as sooner or later you will run into a post addressing the subject. So far, there are many different trends and ideas about how human or how not human the nations are, so it’s really up to you. Himaruya has not discussed this in depth, so it’s open to a lot of speculation.
Why is [certain nation’s] information wrong?
-The information presented is a translation of what Himaruya wrote, and there might just have been confusion, wrong sources, research, etc. Many reasons can go into this.
Keep in mind that there is no real “canon.” Himaruya is fuzzy in his characterization and, sometimes, what happened a few strips ago can be easily contradicted. Because of that, we prefer to play it loose about this. Besides, arguments on what is and isn’t canon can be time-consuming when there is much more fun to be had, simply enjoying things. So far, a lot of creative and interesting ideas have come from the unique and individual views everyone in the community has expressed about Hetalia and its characters.
CHARACTER QUESTIONS
North American Nations
Are America and Canada twins?
-It has not been explicitly declared in the canon, though Canada and America have acknowledged that they have the same exact face.
Is Canada’s bear real or stuffed?
-It’s a real, live bear, and his name is Kumajirou. It even talks to Canada.
Why is America wearing a pilot jacket?
-Apparently, the uniform that he is wearing is the American air force service uniform (Ike Jacket), thus the pilot jacket. A good reason may be that it makes him look like your old-school war hero.
What is the number on America’s back?
-It’s the number fifty (50), most likely to signify the fifty states. There have been different numbers in different strips, but recently it seems to have been stabilized to 50.
Why didn’t America have his glasses in the “Cleaning Out the Storage” flashback scene?
-Since his glasses are representative of Texas, he didn’t have that state during the Revolutionary War and therefore would not have acquired Texas just yet.
Where is America's curly cue supposed to represent?
-Nantucket.
Asian Nations
Does China really have a scar? Where did it come from?
-Yes, China does have a rather large slash scar on his back that runs from his right shoulder blade down to his left torso area. Though not explicitly shown in the manga, it is largely assumed that it came from Japan when he attacked him with a sword.
What is that on China’s butt?
-Appears to be a tattoo of a bear.
Why does China add “aru” in all of his sentences?
-It’s Himaruya’s way to depict China’s Chinese accent, and has actually been used by quite a number of Chinese/Cantonese characters in manga (Kagura from “Gintama” and 006 from “Cyborg 009” both have this accent). Not sure exactly where it originated from, though.
What is Korea’s obsession with boobs?
-Well, in Korean, there are two words for “older brother,” which are “hyung” and “oppa.” The Japanese word for boobs is “oppai,” and therefore it’s a play on words since Korea is obsessed not only with China (his brother) but also boobs. (Oppa and oppai.)
Is there a North Korea? Who is that Korean girl?
-As of now, there has been no official appearance or talk of “North Korea,” and therefore that character does not exist. The Korean girl sketch that we saw on Himaruya’s blog was captioned by Himaruya as “the first concept sketch of Korea,” which meant that he had originally planned on Korea to be a girl but then made him a boy in the end. Most of fandom now uses the girl as either North Korea (or a young version of Korea being raised as a girl before his balls dropped).
Why does Korea have a face in his curly cue?
-On a note in a Korea sketch on Himaruya’s blog, he wrote “his ahoge has gone completely berserk,” so I’d imagine it’s because Korea’s energy is just that strong.
What’s the name of Japan’s dog?
-Pochi-kun.
Scandinavian Nations
What gender is Hana Tamago?
-Might be a girl, since it wanted a “cute, girlish name” during the Christmas strips.
Why does Sweden talk like that?
-Since he is from Scandinavia, which is essentially the north of Europe, it appears that Himaruya decided that he should have the Tohoku accent, which is the accent from the north-eastern area of the Japanese main island. It’s also very cold in Tohoku.
European Nations
Are Hungary and Austria still married?
-It doesn’t seem like that is the case, even though they are still extremely close. Since Austrian-Hungary is no more, they would probably be separated or something like that.
Where is Austria's curly cue supposed to be?
-Mariazell.
Is Germany really Holy Roman Empire?
-He just might be, especially if you read the Valentine’s Day strip, there is a flashback of Chibitalia getting flowers from HRE, seen through HRE’s perspective. However, this theory has not been proved or disproved by Himaruya, so that is also up for speculation.
Why is Prussia still around if he’s no longer a nation?
-There are other characters that are still around even though their nation-ship is disputed. I imagine it’s because Himaruya enjoys drawing Prussia, there is just a lot of material to use for him, etc.
What’s the name of France’s bird?
-Pierre. And it appears that he has more than one.
France used to look so PRETTY as a child! WHAT HAPPENED!?
-According to Himaruya, France started to grow that stubble once he got older because he wanted to look “more like an older brother.”
Baltic Nations
Why does Estonia smell like money?
-Apparently, he is one of the nations that’s gotten along relatively well amongst the former Soviet nations. He is thriving on his tourism industry and become rich…thus reeking of money.
Slavic Nations
What is with Russia’s “kolkolkol”/”korukorukoru?”
-Russia’s “Kolkolkol” chant is said whenever he is feeling upset or angry, and is the shortened form of “Kolhoz,” the infamous Soviet Shared Farms that ultimately failed and starved many people.
Why does Russia carry a pipe around?
-There are two sources of this-one is that historically, during the World Wars, there was the marching of Russian soldiers south into Europe. As they went through the gardens of some European residents, they saw the faucets there and were shocked that water came out of it when they turned the faucet’s knob.
“If I have this, then I can drink water anywhere!” those soldiers exclaimed, and tore the entire faucet and pipe straight out of the fixture.
The other source is the comic which is based on this tidbit, where Russia tears the garden pipe from Germany’s garden on his visit to sign a contract with Germany. He subsequently used said pipe to beat Latvia over the head.
About Russia's scarf...
-As we have found out from Vol.2 of the manga, it was given to him by Ukraine, and according to Himaruya, Russia would most likely have it on even if he is naked otherwise.
Is Russia an only child?
-No. He is actually the middle child, with Ukraine as his older sister and Belarus as his younger sister.
Why does Poland talk like that?
-Sorry, that would be my fault. In the Japanese version, Poland speaks like a “high school student from Nagoya,” so I figured the closest thing was the Valley Girl accent.
Mediterranean Nations
What is that cross that Greece carries around?
-Mount Athos.
Why is Greece covered in cats?
-It would appear that is because Greece (the territory) is covered in stray cats.
African Nations
Who is Seychelles? Where does she show up?
Seychelles is a small African island nation that used to be a colony of France. She shows up in the “We Are Shipwrecked” strips, but only as a minor character. She is also the main heroine of the Hetalia Gakuen game that Himaruya put on his site for download.
Have any more questions?
1. Put a title on the SUBJECT LINE for ease of finding. Help others clear their doubts later!
2. Everyone is FREE to answer them for you. Try to remember that you are guiding newcomers, so try to stick to the official facts first before you list fan speculation or common ideas in the fandom.
However, since this series is VAST and all, and there will be points of argument for sure... we'd like to avoid argument. So remember, just go for what is interesting, and before you ask any questions, try consulting encyclopedias first. Usually, what is history can be considered correct and acceptable, not to mention good sources for ideas!
By popular demand, here is the community-wide FAQ for Hetalia! The reason why we are doing this is because our membership has shot up to about 4000+ members, which brings a lot of new members in along with the veteran members. This is something for both, just in case some of us need to know something, or if some of us need reminders or clarifications about certain points.
The FAQ has been divided into different sections for easier navigation.
COMMUNITY
General Community Questions
First and foremost, the best way to find out certain things that CAN and HAVE been answered is to just read the rules.
How do I join the community?
-Click on the red icon that comes before the community name, and that will take you to the community profile, where there should be a “join this community” option.
There are too many posts a day! How do I keep them from clogging my friends page?
-What you can do is to choose the “stop watching community” option on the community profile page and just bookmark the community’s main page.
How do I make an LJ cut?
-Use this HTML tag:
The content of the post would go here.
How do I insert an image?
-Use this tag here:
Can the mods make a [something] tag?
-It depends. If the tag is relevant and will be used frequently, then of course we can make the tag for you, provided that you have made a post pertaining to the tag so that we can stick it on. Irrelevant tags are tags that won’t be used frequently and would only exist to clog up the tags list.
Can we make tags ourselves?
-No. This is because sometimes due to spelling errors or discrepancies, we would end up with tons of tags that are only used once or twice. The other fear is also the “too many tags” issue where some tags only pertain to ONE person’s post.
Can we have human name tags?
-It’s much easier to search by nation names, and to instate them now that we have over thousands of posts and then having to retag them would just be monstrous.
I want to contact a mod, who are they?
-The community presently has three mods, they are listed on the community profile.
Posting in the Community Questions
Can we advertise a new community?
-It depends. If it’s a community that focuses mainly on Hetalia and its characters, then sure. But if it’s something that is multi-fandom or just random and not Hetalia-centric, then no. The safest bet is to PM a mod and ask.
I want to post an OC (original character) nation!
-Sorry, that goes to nationslash, the sister site unless you are sure that there is a Hetalia-original character included in the post, with your OC participating at equal or lesser value. Think of it like a shoe sale.
Can we post coloured doujinshi pages?
-In order to respect the wishes of the fanartist or the doujinshi artist, we would ask that you put it under a members’ only lock if you do. And please don’t forget to credit the artist and scanner.
OHMYGOD SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO OUR ANIME!!!
-Please PM one of the mods with the concerning news in order to prevent clogging of the community about the same news of certain things. See this post for reference.
HETALIA QUESTIONS
General Hetalia Questions
Is it “Axis Powers Hetalia” or “Hetalia Axis Powers?”
-The site seems to advertise it as “Axis Powers Hetalia,” and considering the abbreviation of “APH,” that would seem right. But the anime labels it as “Hetalia Axis Powers,” so both works
Who draws Hetalia?
-The artist of Hetalia is Himaruya Hidekaz (pen name), a 23-year-old male college student living in New York. He is a design student.
How do I contact Himaruya?
-He has a contact tool on his site that you can send a message to, and he will try to answer via his blog.
Why is [my nation] not in Hetalia?
-There are over 200 nations in the world not including ones that disappeared and/or are being disputed over. Currently, Himaruya has touched upon roughly 50 of them, and he did say he had some others waiting in the wings. Consider that, in terms of narration and writing, 50 characters is already a lot to handle!
Are the Nations human? What are they?
-This is a topic that has been frequently discussed by the community. You should try looking in the “discussion” tag, as sooner or later you will run into a post addressing the subject. So far, there are many different trends and ideas about how human or how not human the nations are, so it’s really up to you. Himaruya has not discussed this in depth, so it’s open to a lot of speculation.
Why is [certain nation’s] information wrong?
-The information presented is a translation of what Himaruya wrote, and there might just have been confusion, wrong sources, research, etc. Many reasons can go into this.
Keep in mind that there is no real “canon.” Himaruya is fuzzy in his characterization and, sometimes, what happened a few strips ago can be easily contradicted. Because of that, we prefer to play it loose about this. Besides, arguments on what is and isn’t canon can be time-consuming when there is much more fun to be had, simply enjoying things. So far, a lot of creative and interesting ideas have come from the unique and individual views everyone in the community has expressed about Hetalia and its characters.
CHARACTER QUESTIONS
North American Nations
Are America and Canada twins?
-It has not been explicitly declared in the canon, though Canada and America have acknowledged that they have the same exact face.
Is Canada’s bear real or stuffed?
-It’s a real, live bear, and his name is Kumajirou. It even talks to Canada.
Why is America wearing a pilot jacket?
-Apparently, the uniform that he is wearing is the American air force service uniform (Ike Jacket), thus the pilot jacket. A good reason may be that it makes him look like your old-school war hero.
What is the number on America’s back?
-It’s the number fifty (50), most likely to signify the fifty states. There have been different numbers in different strips, but recently it seems to have been stabilized to 50.
Why didn’t America have his glasses in the “Cleaning Out the Storage” flashback scene?
-Since his glasses are representative of Texas, he didn’t have that state during the Revolutionary War and therefore would not have acquired Texas just yet.
Where is America's curly cue supposed to represent?
-Nantucket.
Asian Nations
Does China really have a scar? Where did it come from?
-Yes, China does have a rather large slash scar on his back that runs from his right shoulder blade down to his left torso area. Though not explicitly shown in the manga, it is largely assumed that it came from Japan when he attacked him with a sword.
What is that on China’s butt?
-Appears to be a tattoo of a bear.
Why does China add “aru” in all of his sentences?
-It’s Himaruya’s way to depict China’s Chinese accent, and has actually been used by quite a number of Chinese/Cantonese characters in manga (Kagura from “Gintama” and 006 from “Cyborg 009” both have this accent). Not sure exactly where it originated from, though.
What is Korea’s obsession with boobs?
-Well, in Korean, there are two words for “older brother,” which are “hyung” and “oppa.” The Japanese word for boobs is “oppai,” and therefore it’s a play on words since Korea is obsessed not only with China (his brother) but also boobs. (Oppa and oppai.)
Is there a North Korea? Who is that Korean girl?
-As of now, there has been no official appearance or talk of “North Korea,” and therefore that character does not exist. The Korean girl sketch that we saw on Himaruya’s blog was captioned by Himaruya as “the first concept sketch of Korea,” which meant that he had originally planned on Korea to be a girl but then made him a boy in the end. Most of fandom now uses the girl as either North Korea (or a young version of Korea being raised as a girl before his balls dropped).
Why does Korea have a face in his curly cue?
-On a note in a Korea sketch on Himaruya’s blog, he wrote “his ahoge has gone completely berserk,” so I’d imagine it’s because Korea’s energy is just that strong.
What’s the name of Japan’s dog?
-Pochi-kun.
Scandinavian Nations
What gender is Hana Tamago?
-Might be a girl, since it wanted a “cute, girlish name” during the Christmas strips.
Why does Sweden talk like that?
-Since he is from Scandinavia, which is essentially the north of Europe, it appears that Himaruya decided that he should have the Tohoku accent, which is the accent from the north-eastern area of the Japanese main island. It’s also very cold in Tohoku.
European Nations
Are Hungary and Austria still married?
-It doesn’t seem like that is the case, even though they are still extremely close. Since Austrian-Hungary is no more, they would probably be separated or something like that.
Where is Austria's curly cue supposed to be?
-Mariazell.
Is Germany really Holy Roman Empire?
-He just might be, especially if you read the Valentine’s Day strip, there is a flashback of Chibitalia getting flowers from HRE, seen through HRE’s perspective. However, this theory has not been proved or disproved by Himaruya, so that is also up for speculation.
Why is Prussia still around if he’s no longer a nation?
-There are other characters that are still around even though their nation-ship is disputed. I imagine it’s because Himaruya enjoys drawing Prussia, there is just a lot of material to use for him, etc.
What’s the name of France’s bird?
-Pierre. And it appears that he has more than one.
France used to look so PRETTY as a child! WHAT HAPPENED!?
-According to Himaruya, France started to grow that stubble once he got older because he wanted to look “more like an older brother.”
Baltic Nations
Why does Estonia smell like money?
-Apparently, he is one of the nations that’s gotten along relatively well amongst the former Soviet nations. He is thriving on his tourism industry and become rich…thus reeking of money.
Slavic Nations
What is with Russia’s “kolkolkol”/”korukorukoru?”
-Russia’s “Kolkolkol” chant is said whenever he is feeling upset or angry, and is the shortened form of “Kolhoz,” the infamous Soviet Shared Farms that ultimately failed and starved many people.
Why does Russia carry a pipe around?
-There are two sources of this-one is that historically, during the World Wars, there was the marching of Russian soldiers south into Europe. As they went through the gardens of some European residents, they saw the faucets there and were shocked that water came out of it when they turned the faucet’s knob.
“If I have this, then I can drink water anywhere!” those soldiers exclaimed, and tore the entire faucet and pipe straight out of the fixture.
The other source is the comic which is based on this tidbit, where Russia tears the garden pipe from Germany’s garden on his visit to sign a contract with Germany. He subsequently used said pipe to beat Latvia over the head.
About Russia's scarf...
-As we have found out from Vol.2 of the manga, it was given to him by Ukraine, and according to Himaruya, Russia would most likely have it on even if he is naked otherwise.
Is Russia an only child?
-No. He is actually the middle child, with Ukraine as his older sister and Belarus as his younger sister.
Why does Poland talk like that?
-Sorry, that would be my fault. In the Japanese version, Poland speaks like a “high school student from Nagoya,” so I figured the closest thing was the Valley Girl accent.
Mediterranean Nations
What is that cross that Greece carries around?
-Mount Athos.
Why is Greece covered in cats?
-It would appear that is because Greece (the territory) is covered in stray cats.
African Nations
Who is Seychelles? Where does she show up?
Seychelles is a small African island nation that used to be a colony of France. She shows up in the “We Are Shipwrecked” strips, but only as a minor character. She is also the main heroine of the Hetalia Gakuen game that Himaruya put on his site for download.
Have any more questions?
1. Put a title on the SUBJECT LINE for ease of finding. Help others clear their doubts later!
2. Everyone is FREE to answer them for you. Try to remember that you are guiding newcomers, so try to stick to the official facts first before you list fan speculation or common ideas in the fandom.
However, since this series is VAST and all, and there will be points of argument for sure... we'd like to avoid argument. So remember, just go for what is interesting, and before you ask any questions, try consulting encyclopedias first. Usually, what is history can be considered correct and acceptable, not to mention good sources for ideas!