Hetalia Axis Powers / I to P

This page covers tropes in Hetalia: Axis Powers.

Tropes A To H | Tropes I to P | Tropes Q to Z

I

• I Have a Family: At the very beginning, Italy tries this when begging for mercy from Germany. The webcomic/manga notes explain that captured Italians would often claim "I have relatives in [enemy country city]", like Brooklyn with Americans. It even adds: "The correct response is 'So?'".
• I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: When a young Russia asked his big sister Ukraine for advice on getting people to do what he says, she told him to "Just bring out the milk-makers!"
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Iceland, to the point where he complains about the other Nordics' eccentric behavior, pretends he can't see magical creatures and tells his Puffin not to speak when other people are around.
  Iceland: If I were speaking to a bird, they're gonna think I'm pitiful.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
  • Spain lets Italy leave during the War of the Austrian Succession.
  • Sweden also thinks this about Finland during the Polish-Swedish wars, however he thinks it's too embarrassing to say just in front of Finland.
  • England and America. There's much fighting before England chooses to let America go.
• I Was Just Joking: When America tells England how great it feels to remember defeating him in the American Revolutionary War, England looks as if he's been genuinely hurt. America then says that that's a lie, which brings England back to his usual irritated Tsundere state.
• Iconic Outfit:
  • England's "Sexy Waiter" and "Britannia Angel" outfits have only shown up a couple of times. The fanart of him in it, though...
  • Poland has only cross-dressed a few times in the series, and one of those occasions was Halloween, but fans frequently draw him in skirts and dresses.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Germany, befitting his no-nonsense demeanor. Sweden's eyes are piercing as well, though his are more of a blue-green shade.
• Identical Grandson:
  • Germany looks like Germania with shorter hair.
  • The Roman Empire also looks like an older, more mature Italy.
• Idiot Hair:
  • North and South Italy, it acts as an erogenous zone for both of them.
  • Rome has a couple that resemble his grandsons'.
  • Korea's is drawn with a face, supposedly representing his "Korean spirit."
  • America didn't have one at first, but developed one as the series went on. It represents Nantucket.
  • Similar to America, Austria started out without one. His represents Mariazell.
  • Canada has a long, loopy one.
  • Taiwan also has a long one.
  • Greece has a sort of curly Y-shaped idiot-hair thing on top of his head.
  • Turkey has one similar to Greece on the side of his head, though it's hard to notice.
  • Norway has one too, albeit, it's detached from his head and floats with a dot next to it. It's hinted that it represents his fjords.
  • Australia has two of them.
  • Seborga has an angular one similar to Italy's.
  • Kugelmugel has one that looks like a longer version of Austria's.
  • Some of the Japanese prefectures seem to have them as well.
  • Slovakia has one that sticks up from the back of his head.
• I'm Your Worst Nightmare: Spoofed in the dub when Germany meets Chibitalia and wonders who he is.
• Image Song:
  • Italy's voice actor, Daisuke Namikawa, sings the ending themes, and the main eight characters' voice actors have their own respective character CDs, "Marukaite Chikyuu," "Hatafutte Parade," and "Mawaru Chikyuu Rondo" songs.
  • Chibitalia, Holy Roman Empire, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Poland, Lithuania, Austria, Prussia, Sealand and Spain also have their own versions of Marukaite Chikyuu.
  • Greece, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Chibi!Romano, Spain, Hungary and Prussia all have versions of Hatafutte Parade. Also, Belgium and Netherlands have a duet.
  • Hong Kong, Taiwan, Seychelles, Canada and Rome also have character songs. Rome and Chibitalia have a duet, and the Baltic Trio and the Bad Friends Trio both have group songs.
  • In the Interval CDs, Prussia, Spain and the Nordic Five have a song on their respective CDs.
• Imagine Spot:
  • Japan gets an... interesting one featuring his preconceived notions of Switzerland. There is dancing.
  • He also gets one in the Hetalia Academy setting when he remembers Germany drunk and passed out on a table after the newspaper club did research for an article about beers from around the world.
  • Germany gets a couple of them in the "Buon San Valentino" story about himself and Italy.
  • Denmark gets one while bragging about his history and accomplishments in one strip where the other Nordics are in awe and praising him. In reality, they're completely unimpressed.
  • France gets a couple when he imagines England Subbing for Santa; first climbing through a window drunk and nude, and then in pirate garb Licking the Blade.
• Immortal Immaturity: Almost all the characters, but China stands out as a 4,000 year old Hello Kitty Shinatty-Chan lover. Inverted for England, who's grown out of his 'wild youth' (read: piracy on the high seas, and also possibly the actual punk movement in the 80's), which only survives as his foul mouth and his quick temper, and Sweden who grew out of his viking phase a while ago.
• Immortality Begins at Twenty: Most of the nations stop physically aging when they look to be in their early twenties, with a few outliers on the younger side (Iceland and Latvia), and a few on the older side (Turkey, with Greece and France looking to be in their later twenties).
• Important Haircut: Liechtenstein cut her hair after Switzerland rescued her so that she would look more like him.
• Improbable Weapon User:
  • China has used a wok and ladle on more than one occasion, and was also once shown beating up his boss (who is a dragon, mind you) with a Hello Kitty doll.
  • Hungary and her frying pan also count.
  • Russia and his magic wand — er, magic metal pipe of pain.
• In-Series Nickname: Many of which are combined with Affectionate Nickname:
  • Prussia calls Germany "West."
  • Poland refers to Lithuania as "Liet," or "Lithy," as it is sometimes rendered.
  • Hungary calls Poland "Po-chan," or "Popo."
  • Finland calls Denmark "Ta-san" (from the Finnish name for Denmark, Tanska). He refers to Sweden as "Su-san," (usually rendered as "Mr. Sve") calls Norway "Noru-kun" (rendered as just "Nor") and calls Iceland "Ice-kun" (rendered as just "Ice"). The other Nordics call him "Fin" in return.
  • Norway calls Denmark "anko," a term analogous to "onii-chan" (the familiar form of "big brother"). Scanlations generally render it as "Bro." All of the Nordics refer to him in turn as "Nor," and Denmark also calls him "brother" (kyoudai) and "best buddy" (shinyuu).
  • Iceland calls Sweden "Svi," from Sweden's Icelandic name, Svíþjóð. He calls Denmark "Dan," short for Denmark's name in Icelandic, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian (Danmark). The older Nordics just call Iceland "Ice."
  • Switzerland and Ukraine call Liechtenstein "Liechten."
  • Ukraine calls Hungary "Hun-chan" ("Hunny" or "Hunny-baby"), while Hungary calls Ukraine "Uku-san" (rendered as "Raine" by some scanlations).
• In Touch with His Feminine Side:
  • Austria. He's depicted as being refined and having an aristocratic personality.
  • Italy doesn't like fighting, and is an excellent cook and artist.
  • China is sometimes mistaken for a girl by fans, and like Italy is shown to be a consummate chef.
  • France. Thanks to Art Evolution he's gotten prettier and prettier, and is depicted as very romantic.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Many of the more cheerful, hyperactive, and youthful characters have these, including America, Denmark, Sealand and Ladonia.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: A gender-reversed version, Italy frequently neglects to put on pants, much to Japan's embarrassment and Germany's irritation.
• Innocent Innuendo: Italy's panicked phone call. "Germany! Romano's in bed! It won't come out! Ow ow! Take it out!" Their hair got tangled together.
• Inscrutable Oriental: Japan and Hong Kong.
• Insistent Terminology: Estonia has a tendency to introduce himself as the "sixth and newest Nordic member," while Czech Republic and Slovakia are adamant that their separation was not a divorce.
• Introductory Opening Credits: A variant; in the opening sequence of the first episode, all of the countries are named and their flag is shown when they begin speaking.
• Interspecies Friendship:
  • America and Tony, his alien friend. They've been shown hanging out and playing video games, and America goes to Tony for help regarding the Pict invaders in the movie.
  • England and Norway with their respective magical friends as well.
• Invisible President:
  • When the President of the United States appears, his face is obscured by the caption bubbles or we just see the back of his head.
  • A similar phenomenon occurs when Germany is talking to his "boss". As with Japan when he's talking to his "boss". China's "boss" is a giant dragon. ...or edited to appear as such.
  • Averted when Austria, Prussia, and Spain talk to their own "bosses" (Empress Marie Therese, King Friederich II and Queen Joanna of Castile, respectively), whose faces we can see clearly.
  • Also when Italy becomes aligned with Russia, Italy's "boss" is clearly seen, though Russia's is only shown from the back.
  • Ukraine's boss is also briefly shown clearly.
• Invisible to Normals: England's and Norway's "friends" can't be seen by normal people or other nations.
  • World☆Stars revealed that Iceland can see them as well, but in the interest of appearing as normal as possible, pretends that he can't.
• Is It Something You Eat?: Italy made this comment while driving Japan home once.
  Japan: A-ah! I mean, is it OK with the traffic laws - Eek!
  Italy: No? Traffic? I've never eaten that sort of thing.
  • Also occurs in a World☆Stars chapter when Romano gets sick of working for America and calls Spain, hoping to mooch off of him.
    Romano: Ever since I started living with my little brother, everything's turned to shit! You're making shit loads of money like everybody else, right? You know… with that whole industrial revolution thing?…
    Spain: Ohh…
    Spain: Industrial Revolution? Haha, Boss has not eaten anything like that before!
• Island Help Message: The Axis carve a large S.O.S. in the sand when they end up stranded on That F*cking Island.
• It's All About Me: America falls into this occasionally, despite his good intentions. Poland was this early on, but got more considerate over time. France also has a few of these moments, and has referred to the other nations as "insignificant characters."
• It's All Junk: America tries to pull this with the gifts given to him by England, but can't bring himself to do it.

J—L

• Japanese Ranguage: Japan is the most prominent example of this in the English dub. Most of the other Asian nations also have accents, but less obvious with the Rs.
• Jaw Drop: Happens to Germany when he saw Prussia doing a Bollywood dance number with India during the 2011 Halloween event.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Russia terrifies everyone, but loves his big sister and seems to genuinely want the best for his people.
  • America is obnoxiously blunt and full of himself, but when he first realizes how nervous Japan is about having contact with the outside world, he purposely makes his fake fortune-telling method give a good outcome to give Japan confidence.
  • England's a grouch who presumably wasn't much fun for any of his siblings or those stuck with him during his empire days, but he genuinely adored America and wanted to protect him, plus he seems quite friendly with his former colonies now. There's also how affectionate he is to his fairy friends.
  • Germany's a Drill Sergeant Nasty who's pretty tough on his allies...and will also run to their rescue should they ever need help, and who, despite his constant complaints, never abandons "useless" allies.
• Jesus Taboo: Averted, he appears sometimes. At one point, he appears to Prussia (who was still the religious order of the Teutonic Knights at the time) who was remorseful about touching Hungary's breasts.
• Jokers Love Junk Food: America is a Manchild who represents both flavors of Eagleland at varying times who loves junk food, especially cheeseburgers. He does worry about his weight from time to time, and will diet from time to time, but his physique never changes, and some of the others believe he's gaining muscle, somehow.
• Just a Stupid Accent: In the dub, whenever non-English speaking characters are shown talking to each other or their nations, they speak in English with an accent.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Japan's weapon, of course.
• Kinda Busy Here: At the end of the 2009 Christmas Bloodbath, France gets interrupted from the final battle by a phone call from Italy.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Greece is always surrounded by cats and adores them, as a parallel to the high numbers of stray cats in real-life Greece.
• Keet:
  • Sealand is small, cute, and hyperactive.
  • While they're older than most examples, Italy and Poland have a lot of these traits, like being cute and cheerful.
  • America and Korea aren't small or colorful, but they also have shades of this trope.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Korea is usually saying he invented things, like education. Also, Poland used to treat Lithuania like his lackey and tried to make Liet live like him. Many of the nation-tans have a moment acting like this (They are all good at heart, though).
• The Krampus: Hungary dresses up like this every Christmas to scare Italy. He still hasn't figured out that it's her.
• Labcoat of Science and Medicine:
  • A scientist giving a lecture on the effects of eating tomatoes was wearing one.
  • Germany also wore a white lab coat when he was doing research on a substitute for coffee.
• The Lancer: England is the Straight Man and sort of The Rival to America, sometimes Team Dad and Only Sane Man of the Allies.
• Large Ham:
  • Rome is not only physically tall and muscular, but also loud, enthusiastic, and sometimes over the top in terms of personality.
  • America can be this at times, especially when he's declaring himself the hero.
  • Cuba has moments of this as well, such as the time when he and Canada were taking pictures together and Cuba's suggestions started getting over the top. Dynamic yoga, anyone?
  • Kugelmugel's introduction: He starts yelling about art and rolling around on the ground. It even scares the other micronations away from trying to talk to him (at first, as he joins their group later).
• The Leader: America claims to be this.
  • Denmark loudly proclaims himself to be the leader of the Nordics, and takes the job very seriously. The other Nordics don't really acknowledge him as such, though.
• Left the Background Music On: Austria in episode four.
• Lemony Narrator: In the dub, where she sometimes talks with a Valley Girl accent. The Narrator is very informational in the original.
  "Oh! Pretty music!"
  "Even Godless-er China."
  "Gay Christmas... I mean, French."
  "'Hoist the main sail and get me my brown pants' and 'holy crap a talking muffin!' I love those jokes"
  "Apparently, neutrality means stay the F*** out!"
• Lethal Chef:
  • England. No surprise. This trope is played with in the show and is a major plot point in the movie.
  • Sweden's surströmming (fermented baltic herring) can make others think that he is this.
• Let Him Choose: In the comic that introduces Colonial America, England and France decide to have America choose which of them he wants as his big-brother. America sees a dispirited England in a Corner of Woe and chooses him over France.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: What the characters do in the movie when infiltrating the spaceship.
• Licking the Blade: France once imagined England coming through a window while dressed as a pirate and licking a bloody sword blade.
• Lightning Glare: When Tony and England met for the first time, it was pretty obvious that they didn't like each other. Well, obvious to everyone except America.
• Like Is, Like, a Comma:
  • Poland speaks in this manner.
  • In the dub, the narrator speaks like this for an episode.
  • Some scanlations have Hong Kong speak like this, as a way to reflect the Gyaru-o dialect he speaks in Japanese.
• Limited Wardrobe: The characters often have a certain iconic outfit that they wear most of the time, but there are also times when they wear other clothing, making this a Zig-Zagging Trope.
• A Lizard Named "Liz": Kumajirou: "Kuma" means "bear" in Japanese. Word of God also says that if he'd been named in English, his name would be Will-bear.
• The Load: Italy, oh so very much towards his fellow Axis members, especially Germany.
  "Germany, Germany, help me! I'm in north Africa right now and I can't tie my shoelaces! Oh... and also England is here!"
• Lonely Together: "The Anglo-Japanese Alliance Between Two Lonely People," anyone?
• Lovable Coward: Italy in a single phrase.
• Love Bubbles:
  • A variation occurs inside Germany's head in the Valentine's Day comics when the workers get swamped with numerous heart-shaped objects that they've never seen before.
  • Italy tends to have hearts coming from him, but this is often towards Italian things (such as food and their traditions) as opposed to another character.
• Love Hurts:
  • In the Christmas Episode, a drunk England suddenly snaps out of his stupor when reminded of how he spent a hundred years trying to get over the pain of his unrequited love. (He didn't succeed; he just moved on to another stage.)
  • Belarus breaks all of Lithuania's fingers not even ten minutes into their date. And he doesn't seem to mind.
  • Prussia isn't lonely! Really!
• Love Triangle:
  • Lithuania has a crush on Belarus, who completely abhors him. Russia's favorite subordinate is Lithuania, who is terrified of him. Belarus wants to marry Russia, who is terrified of her. It's very... twisted, indeed.
  • Greece —> Japan <— Turkey. Complete with the two ends of the triangle arguing about which one of them Japan pays more attention to. Japan may prefer Greece over Turkey (fandom certainly thinks so, and you can't really blame them), but he remains evasive of any questions about the matter.
  • Austria and Hungary are an Official Couple, but it's hinted that Prussia has feelings for Hungary. That's likely the most canon take on their relations, but fandom enjoys playing with all possible combinations of the "Frying Pangle", sometimes even making it a Type 7 or Type 8 in their works.
  • And then there's the America/England/France Love Triangle. While you'll definitely find it in Fanon, canon is quite subtle about it. One could argue that the reason for this is that England is a huge Tsundere, America gives mixed signals and France is, well, France.
• Lucky Charms Title:
  • The Delicious★Tomato Song.
  • Hello★China.
  • Casino ★ Show Time!
  • World☆Stars
  • Hetalian☆Jet
• Luminescent Blush: Most characters have this on constantly, especially in the earlier manga editions and seasons one through four of the anime.

M

• Made of Iron: Sealand is literally this. When he punches out France #23 from the Alternate Universe, he states that he's able to do so because he's made of steel.
• The Mafia: They once demanded some of Spain's imports from Romano. Word of God also says that one of the reasons Romano is grouchier than his brother is because he's had to deal with the Mafia more.
• Magical Realism: Hints of it, especially regarding the nature of the characters and how they come to be. When a young soldier asked France about his true nature this is what he said:
  France: If it's hard to understand, imagine a ship! The government is the mast, citizens are the wind and they swim on the sea of time, or so it says. If the mast stands straight and good wind blows, the ship goes forward. Well, sometimes it gets stranded and that was it. Something like that maybe?
• Magic Wand: England has one that can be used to make the other nations into kids.
  France: Oh, you naughty wizard boy!
  • Russia declares that he's going to use one to go after Estonia after he accuses him of hacking his blog, but it's actually his metal pipe.
• Makes Just as Much Sense in Context:
  • Whenever the characters are stranded on That F*cking Island and Rome appears singing a song.
  • Anything involving the mochi.
• The Man Behind the Man: Arguably Austria to the Holy Roman Empire. Subverted in that he's not evil at all, even though his stuffiness seems to give the impression.
• Manga Effects: As the series started out as a Japanese webcomic, you can expect to see a lot of these.
• Marshmallow Hell: Inverted. During the 2013 Halloween Event Italy went around resting his head on other nation's chest. He was successful with the guys but not so much with the girls.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Hungary and Austria. In the 2011 Halloween event, Hungary even dresses up as a prince and gets Austria to be her princess.
• Masquerade: It's strongly hinted that not everyone knows of the Nations' existence or at least their true identities. This is even touched upon in a strip involving France and one of his soldiers.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": In the movie, the others do this when England states that he put his home-made scones into the gift bags they gave the Pict.
• Matryoshka Object: When helping deliver presents after Santa went missing, Japan put boxes nested inside larger boxes into his gifts.
• Medium Awareness:
  • England stares daggers (well, arrows) at Russia. Russia then grabs and eats them.
  • In chapter four of World☆Stars, Germany swatted at Italy's Bishie Sparkles.
• Meganekko: There are a few male versions.
  • Austria has an refined personality and wears glasses purely to enhance his appearance.
  • Estonia is intelligent and quite competent with computers and electronics.
  • Thailand is sweet, cheerful, and always smiling.
• Meido: As a young child living with Austria, Italy used to wear maid outfits. Especially in the Chibitalia chapter, which lampshades the trope when the Holy Roman Empire is seen with a portrait of Chibitalia and is asked if the model was a servant. This may be a historical in-joke, though. See Wholesome Crossdresser below.
• Memento MacGuffin:
  • Holy Rome keeps the broom that Chibitalia gave him. (In the webcomic, it was "her" panties.)
  • America still has the toy soldiers that England made for him.
  • Possibly the iron cross necklace that Germany gave Italy when they decided to be allies.
• Messy Hair: England, and it was even worse when he was a child. Iceland's hair is described as being this, and Greece's hair is this way too.
• Misplaced Retribution: Canada is frequently the target of this because he looks almost identical to his brother America, though the countries that are pissed at America wouldn't harm Canada if they knew the difference. That he's very soft spoken means he rarely is able to stop the abuse or convince the other countries (rightfully angry at America) from beating up on him.
• Misplaced Sorrow: When England 'dies' in the hospital after an accident involving the panjandrum, America gets teary eyed and tells him he can't go because he owes him a 'crap-ton of money'.
• Mistaken Identity: Poor Canada is frequently mistaken for America on the occasions that the other nations even notice him.
• Modesty Towel: Variation in the Christmas Episode; Spain pulls a shower curtain towards himself and barely covers his crotch.
• Moe Anthropomorphism: The other foundation the series was built on.
• Moe Couplet:
  • Sealand and Latvia. Sealand helps Latvia not be a twitching emotional wreck and Latvia keeps Sealand grounded to reality.
  • America and Japan. America can come across as obnoxious and pushy at times and Japan as dull to some. Put them together, however, and America becomes the cheerful, eager friend who gets Japan to open up to new things and Japan the calm, mature one who balances out America's boisterousness. Plus, in spite of the obvious Opposites Attract potential, many people prefer them as BFFs rather than lovers in the Western fandom.
  • Greece and Japan, whose relationship seems to be mainly based on them both being quiet Kindhearted Cat Lovers who soften or endear each other's negative traits and are unlikely to ever fight. You can make a drinking game out of the number of times they're described as "cute" or "moe" by fans, seriously. (Not that that's a bad thing, mind you.)
  • England and Japan, too, they seem to get along well and are very respectful of each other's cultures, even if they find them confusing at times.
• Moment Killer: America has a tendency to do this around England.
  • His voice actor did this during the 2011 Seiyuu event when Ai Orikasa asked the guys to give the audience a New Year's kiss.
    Hiroki Yasumoto: (pointing to the camera) Over there? Why don't you come closer? (walks to the edge of the stage and crouches down so he's closer to the camera)
    Katsuyuki Konishi: (just as Yasumoto is about to start) We can see your underwear!
• Monochromatic Eyes: Japan, Liechtenstein, Norway, and the Holy Roman Empire have eyes that are matte colored and not as expressive as the other characters.
• Monochrome Past: In season one of the anime, when America remembers growing up with England, the Flashback sequences are shown in an old-fashioned sepia tone.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • The comics about the American Revolution, Lithuania's sleepover at Poland's house and Bloody Sunday.
  • There are quite a few milder examples than the ones given above as well. Episode 50 of the anime(the one with the table-turning) contains one between America and Japan. When America asks Japan if there's anything bothering him, Japan proceeds to pour his heart out, sharing with America how excited yet apprehensive he is about learning Western culture. Then he concludes by asking if they (Japan and America) will be able to get along from then on. Ouch.
• Mood Dissonance: At one point, the Allied countries spread gossip about Germany. In the context of the anime, its treated like a highschool gossip moment... except one of those 'rumors' involves the existence of Auschwitz.
• Mooning: When Italy calls France in the middle of the night because he's afraid that his friends will leave him, France sarcastically suggests that Italy show them his ass. The next night, Italy called back crying again, claiming it didn't work. France couldn't believe that he had taken the suggestion seriously.
• Moose and Maple Syrup: Canada is frequently forgotten about and mistaken for America, and says "Maple..." whenever he gets hurt.
• Moral Guardians: Pulled the show off regular TV airings to other electronic distributions. Nationalist Korean netizens reacted to a Japanese parody of Korea being broadcast about as well as you might expect. Some of the English and Japanese fandom reacted to that about as well as you'd expect, too.
• Mortality Ensues: What apparently happens to the characters when their nation ceases to exist, but Shrug of God makes it difficult to be certain. In any case, they do eventually die, but it's unknown how long it takes.
• The Movie: The Plot? Alien Invasion.
• Muggles: We sometimes see normal people hanging around and interacting with the nations.
  • An early story showed Italy conspiring with one of his soldiers. When the Germans went to bed, he and his entire army pulled a Screw This, I'm Outta Here.
  • At one point, England tries to take advantage of this by blending into crowds in Italy.
  • When Germany gives up beer as part of a diet, his soldiers are shocked.
  • This is touched upon in the strip Though I may depart, you shall remain when one soldier wonders what exactly France is, as the poor sap says that France hasn't aged since his grandfather's time.
  • France brings a French actress to the Hetalia Hetaween 2013 party, and a Danish diplomat and his family accompany Denmark and the Nordics to the same party.
• Mouthy Kid:
  • Sealand can be this occasionally, especially when he's trying to get others to acknowledge him as a real country.
  • Wy does this at times, especially towards Sealand and Seborga.
• Multiple Demographic Appeal: The fandom is often stereotyped as being made up of teenage girls (possibly because they're usually the ones producing most of the fanwork), but there are a lot of male fans, along with fans in their 20s, 30s, and even 40s.
• Mustache Vandalism: When Chibitalia went to live with Austria, he wanted to do some painting but was only able to find a jar of ink and a big brush. So he added a mustache to a portrait of Austria.
• Must Have Caffeine: Austria gets very grumpy when he is deprived of coffee.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: Considering that all of the characters are personifications of their countries, this is very much in effect. Examples include WWII Germany, who expresses open disgust at some of the orders he's been given, but has to follow them anyway. Or Russia's growing anger at Stalin despite being more or less fine with communism. They aren't bound to a particular government, leader or ideology as they represent their people as a whole. Which includes their ideas/cultures/beliefs/what-have-you in general. Plus, autocratic governments can hardly be considered representative of their people in the same way as democratic ones, so it makes sense for their countries to hold different opinions to their rulers - and also to be unable to stop them. Dictators don't hold elections.
  • The first chapter of World☆Stars paints the nations like this:
    "They accept their fate as it is, and let their bosses order them around."
• Mystical White Hair: Iceland, with him being able to see magical creatures and such.
• Mythology Gag: In the dub, Todd Haberkorn voices Britain when he's a kid instead of Scott Freeman — possibly a nod to the fact he was supposed to voice Britain before North Italy had to be recast.

N

• Naked Apron:
  • England's "sexy waiter" outfit, which was inspired by an actual business in the UK.
  • Hong Kong during the 2010 Christmas event.
  • Spain, America, and Prussia all wore them in the 2011 April Fool's event.
  • In the 2013 Halloween event, Himaruya drew several characters wearing them as an apology for being late with updates.
• Naked People Are Funny: Has been used more than once. Italy and France in particular get this treatment.
• National Stereotypes: The other other foundation the series was built on, although the characters themselves go beyond this. Said stereotypes are either subverted or expounded upon, revealing the basis and history behind them.
• Nations as People: The main characters are all Anthropomorphic Personifications of nations.
• Nature Lover: Finland is revealed to be this in World☆Stars, and Norway's character song My house is… Quiet. ~With the Trolls~ alludes to him being this as well.
• Naughty Nurse Outfit: France blackmails England into wearing one during the 2011 April Fool's Day event.
• Neat Freak:
  • Germany is obsessive about cleanliness.
  • Austria as well, although while Germany will actually fold his dirty clothes, Austria will simply drape them on a chair.
  • Netherlands hates messy gardens and doesn't let anyone touch the kitchen because of this.
  • For all their differences, this is something that Prussia and Germany have in common.
• Necktie Leash: Norway strangles Denmark this way.
• Nerves of Steel: England isn't the type to buckle under pressure or get scared easily, as Word of God notes. At one point he walks right up to a tank. Moldova mentions he has a high tolerance for terror in the Hetalia Hetaween 2013 event.
• Nice Guy:
  • Lithuania is the premiere example; he's very kind and considerate, and one of his profiles has called him "a really good person."
  • Finland is very friendly and sweet-tempered.
  • Canada is very gentle and friendly...though he's more often than not overlooked by others.
  • America is a variation: He's good-hearted and friendly, but doesn't bother to read the atmosphere, thus stepping on others' toes. One strip revealed that he's jealous of Canada's "rare personality" that enables him to get along with everyone.
  • Sweden is this underneath his intimidating aura.
  • Macau's profile mentions his "ungreedy nature," and he's protective and friendly with his siblings, even attempting to defuse arguments between them.
  • Spain is extremely kind, to the point of exhibiting saintlike patience with the very Tsundere Romano.
  • Cyprus is peace-loving, and the Only Sane Man in the midst of Greece and Turkey's constant fighting.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: The nations can be injured, although it takes a lot more to hurt one of them than a normal person and they heal very quickly, but they can't be killed as long as their country still exists.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Finland's desire to make a hotel room with an "ambiance that makes you want to scream," Belarus' interest in ghosts and the occult, and surprisingly Italy with his taste for gory horror movies.
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Used in a Halloween strip as Japan tells America to use Russia as a receptionist in order to scare England. Otherwise, countries are often shown as being very scared of anyone who'd beaten them before or who has a reputation; hence why many freak out whenever they are asked to interact with Germany or Russia. Also, the Italies are afraid of England and Southern Italy appears to be terrified of France.
  • Romania invites the Italy brothers to a concert at his place, with the stipulation that they must give him some of their blood... It's just a campaign to encourage blood donation.
• No Cartoon Fish:
  • Most animals are drawn cutesy like the rest of the characters, but fish are usually shown◊ in a more realistic style.
  • Averted in season five of the anime, where the fish were just as cartoony as the other animals, although some of the anime artwork still plays this straight.
• Non-Action Guy: The Italies, Austria, and Luxembourg are like this.
• Non-Human Sidekick:
  • America has been shown with his alien friend Tony. He also has a pet whale and a cat.
  • Japan and his dog Pochi.
  • England and his magical friends.
  • Norway and his magical friends as well.
  • Germany has three dogs. Although Berlitz is the only one who has appeared in the series.
  • Greece is almost always shown with various cats.
  • Finland and Sweden have a pet dog named Hanatamago.
  • Canada and his bear Kumajiro.
  • France has had several birds, all of them named Pierre.
  • Iceland has Mr. Puffin.
  • Prussia has a little yellow bird that he is frequently shown with.
  • Netherlands has a rabbit.
  • Australia is often shown with a koala. He apparently has a pet kangaroo as well.
  • Similar to Australia, New Zealand is often drawn with a sheep, and has a pet kiwi bird.
  • While they haven't appeared in the series, official art often shows Egypt with a jackal and/or falcon.
• Non-Indicative Name: The Italian Armored Division.
• Noodle Incident: Early in the series, both Germany and America made a reference to England wearing a carnival dress and swaying his hips, but nothing else about that incident has been revealed.
  • Nikko Nikko started out as an Ordinary Middle School Student, but was somehow able to become a Micronation personification. Even Japan is baffled by how he did it.
• No-Sell: A young Russia calls down General Winter for help when he's being attacked by Sweden, Denmark, the Teutonic Knights and Mongolia...only for it to have no effect on them since they were all born in a cold area and are used to the cold.
• No Sense of Direction: Austria, to the point where he has even gotten lost inside Germany's house.
• No Social Skills: Germany, who has to consult books constantly. Russia doesn't know how to make friends in a non-forceful way, and writes anonymously to France's radio show for advice on how to do so.
• No Swastikas: Averted; they can be seen in the last chapter of Volume One of the published manga.
• Not Blood Siblings:
  • Liechtenstein is Switzerland's adoptive little sister.
  • England and America, along with the other nations who were part of the British Empire.
  • China with Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong.
• Not Drawn to Scale: While some characters are always drawn taller than others, the exact difference between their heights isn't kept consistent.
• Not Growing Up Sucks: TRNC can't grow up, apparently because he's only been recognized as a country by Turkey.
• Not Me This Time: France usually pulls some sort of prank on the other nations during the holidays, so when the others caught up with him during the 2011 April Fool's event, he said this when admitting that he wasn't the mastermind behind the pranks.
• Not-So-Imaginary Friend: Magical creatures exist, but most nations lost the ability to see them as they stopped believing in them. England, Norway and Iceland are the only ones shown to still be able to see them (and Iceland pretends that he can't). Everyone else thinks they're talking to thin air if they see them interacting with them.
• Not What It Looks Like:
  • An early story had Germany receive a panicky call from Italy, who kept yelling things like, "Germany, help!" "Big brother, stop! Ow ow ow! It won't come out!" After rushing over, he discovered that Italy and Romano have merely gotten their Idiot Hairs tangled together.
  • Japan was shown coming over to Germany's house one night to borrow something, only to hear him and Italy talking about liking each other and thinking, "I can't even begin to imagine what is going on in there." After hearing a loud crash, he rushes in to make sure that Germany and Italy are fine, only to see Italy (who is mostly naked) laying flat on his back with Germany (who is completely naked) face-down on top of him. It Makes Sense in Context.
  • During the 2011 Halloween event, Germany (dressed as a Roman soldier) asks Japan (dressed as a slave) if the Slave Collar and attached chain he is wearing is too heavy. Japan explains that it actually was quite light, and asked if Germany wanted to hold it. Taiwan happened to walk up to them right at that moment and wonder what was going on.
  • In the 2013 Halloween event, Bulgaria dressed up as Eren for the party, but Romania insisted that he can't show up wearing that and tried to force him to change his clothes with some help from Poland. Monaco walked in and saw the two of them taking off Bulgaria's clothes.
• Now or Never Kiss: A variation occurs in the Chibitalia storyline, when Holy Roman Empire kisses Chibitalia on the lips before leaving Austria's mansion, since they don't know if they'll ever see each other again.

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• Obfuscating Stupidity: Subverted when Germany thinks Italy is pretending to be The Ditz to trick him early on in the series. He's wrong.
  • Latvia might be doing this, as his volume 4 profile says he's "hidden his true strength and ability to handle things easily."
• Obligatory Swearing:
  • America and especially mochi America, thanks to the stereotype that Americans swear a lot.
  • The dub is often raunchier than the original anime.
  • This is pretty common in fanfiction, especially with Darker and Edgier stories.
• Oblivious to Love: Italy is this to Germany in the Buon San Valentino comics.
• Ocular Gushers: Italy did this when he first met Germany and was begging the latter to not hurt him.
• Occult Blue Eyes: Norway, who can see magical creatures and is implied to be able to do Black Magic.
• Odd Friendship:
  • Germany and Italy, it's even been discussed by other characters who can't figure out why those two are such good friends.
  • Poland and Lithuania are also opposites in terms of personality.
  • America and Japan, whose friendship is often used for Crazy Cultural Comparison.
  • Norway and Denmark, being a calm, stoic and practical-minded Deadpan Snarker and an unfailingly energetic, adventurous and boisterous Perpetual Smiler, respectively.
  • Finland and Sweden, with Finland being talkative, expressive, and exuberant, while Sweden is straightforward, stoic, and rarely speaks. Though as Sweden is friendly and playful deep down, it could be a case of Birds of a Feather.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • America when he discovered that he had gained weight.
  • Holy Rome when Chibitalia collapsed while they were cuddling.
  • Russia in the 2010 Christmas event when General Winter was instantly defeated.
  • When Iceland was telling a ghost story during the 2013 Halloween event, France remarked that Iceland had unique phrasing and asked him if he would like to get together for a poetry reading. After looking horrified, Iceland rushed through the rest of the tale.
• Official Couple: Austria/Hungary, who were married at one point and are still close despite being divorced.
• Offscreen Teleportation: Seems to be how the nations get around. Lampshaded in the 2010 Christmas event when Cuba called Germany and told him to come over right away. Germany informed him that there was no way he could get a plane chartered in time, at which point Cuba expressed surprise that he couldn't just teleport.
• Older Than They Look: All of the nations. They're centuries old, but most of them look to be in their late teens to mid-late twenties tops. Special mention goes to China, who's 4000, and Japan, who's hinted to be an old man despite his very youthful appearance.
• Once Killed a Man with a Noodle Implement: In the dub, Germany claims to have killed a man with his own mustache and a grape.
• Ondo: The end of the movie shows the characters doing an Ondo dance with the aliens.
• One-Man Army: Every single character, in an unusually literal example, although it is subverted once in a while. There are occasions where we see nations with their troops.
• Only Sane Man:
  • Germany for the Axis Powers and England for the Allied Powers. If you stretch the definition of "sane" a bit, that is.
  • For the Allied Forces, China sometimes reaches this level and acts as the voice of reason when England proves that he's Not So Above It All, especially when fighting with France.
  • Estonia for Eastern Europe as well.
  • Iceland of Nordics considers himself this, but in practice his slightly bratty nature has him come off as a grumpy killjoy instead.
  • And Hong Kong of Asia. Macau is this as well, in his attempts at defusing fights between his siblings.
  • Wy for the micronations, too. It seems that every character group has one.
  • Cyprus for the Southeastern Europe group, as he's constantly trying to get Turkey and Greece to get along.
• Only Six Faces: Averted for the most part in the manga (more often than not, the anime plays this straight) as there are variations in the characters' facial features. However, as more and more characters are introduced, similar features started popping up. Himaruya acknowledged this when he pointed out the similarity between Prussia and Sweden's faces.
  • Himaruya also acknowledges that Kugelmugel looks like a short Iceland with braided twintails.
• On the Next: An "on the next episode of Hetalia..." preview was used a couple of times in the first season of the anime.
• "On the Next Episode of..." Catch-Phrase: This was used once in a while in the anime.
  "To be continued... maybe."
• Opposites Attract:
  • Despite all their differences, Germany and Italy have remained friends, and the "Buon San Valentino" story hints that Germany may have developed romantic feelings for Italy.
  • Poland and Lithuania as well, although whether or not the two are just friends or something more is left ambiguous.
• Otaku:
  • Many aspects of Japan's personality are references to Japanese otaku culture. He's a fan of anime and manga and is into 2D.
  • France has been shown to be a manga fan. A sketch showed him and Japan shopping for manga together, during one of the live events Japan told him that if he didn't start behaving he wouldn't let him have any more manga, and he once imagined Germany as Light from Death Note. Justified Trope since France imports more manga than any other nation.
• Our Angels Are Different: Bulgaria dresses as one for Hetaween 2011, opposite Romania dressing as a demon.
• Our Demons Are Different: Romania dresses as one for Hetaween 2011, opposite Bulgaria dressing as an angel.
• Our Fairies Are Different: England and Norway are friends with them, and are drawn with them in a few instances.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Romania and Moldova's designs are influenced by this, with their Cute Little Fangs. England also dresses as one for one Halloween.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Italy and Germany dress like this for one Halloween, and Luxembourg wins the Hetaween 2013 costume contest with a wolfman costume put together by Hollywood professionals.
• Out of Focus: Unavoidable since there are so many characters. This mostly applies to nations other than the main eight, especially ones that were introduced later in the series. Often remedied by A Day in the Limelight. It's also related to Artifact Title above, with the Axis Powers no longer having the spotlight to themselves.

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• Paper-Thin Disguise: The disguises work, it's how the characters act that gets them caught.
  • Germany simply wore a suit and glasses while undercover in France, and was only caught because France noticed that he was mashing his potatoes rather than slicing them.
  • England changed his clothes (and later his hairstyle) when repeatedly trying to escape from Italy. Germany kept catching him and dragging him back, the first time because his unstylish clothing stuck out, the second time because he wasn't flirting with the pretty girls walking by, and the third time because he ordered British food at a cafe.
  • Sealand once sneaked into a G8 meeting disguised as Canada, complete with a fake Idiot Hair and white teddy bear. He's only found out because he starts loudly criticizing and insulting England.
• Parental Substitute: Turkey acted as this to a young Greece and Egypt, and Denmark was this for a young Iceland (as well as a Big Brother Mentor). Sweden is this for Sealand after he buys him off eBay.
• Perma-Stubble: France, Rome, Turkey, and Croatia all sport this.
• Perpetual Frowner: As they're Germanic nations, Germany, Switzerland, and Netherlands have this as their default expressions. Sweden, Iceland and Norway are like this, as well as TRNC. Germania is this to the point that when he tries to smile, he physically can't.
• Perpetual Poverty: Moldova, whose economy is only 1/30th the size of Greece's. All he wears is a patchy coat, and apparently can't even afford underwear.
• Perpetual Smiler: Spain, Denmark, Portugal and Seborga are very cheerful and constantly smiling. Russia is this...in a bad way.
• Personality Swap: Germany and Italy (try to) switch personalities in one strip just for the heck of it.
• Phenotype Stereotype: Most European nation-tans north of Italy are blond with blue or green eyes. Somewhat Truth in Television, as studies shown that the percentage of blondes in Europe◊ increases the further north you go.
• The Philosopher: Greece, and he'll talk at great length when he gets in this mood.
• Physical Scars, Psychological Scars:
  • China has a large one on his shoulder from when Japan stabbed him in the back with his katana, which symbolized the first Sino-Japanese war.
  • Lithuania's back is covered in scars. It's implied that he got them from Russia during Soviet occupation.
  • According to Chibitalia, Rome's body was eventually covered in them from all the battles he fought.
  • Netherlands and Hesse also have scars, but we don't know their significance yet. Although we do know the Netherlands got his from Spain.
• Picky Eater: A hungry Chibitalia once outright refused food that Holy Rome brought him for this reason.
• Pimped-Out Cape: Hutt River wears a purple one, even when he's relaxing at the beach with Australia, Wy, and New Zealand. It's actually his home's royal outfit.
• Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Russia and his sisters sort of invert this. Ukraine is recognized for her blue overalls, Belarus is recognized for her indigo/blue dress, and Russia is more associated with purple or pink. His scarf is pink in the anime.
• Pinky Swear: Used to symbolize Germany and Italy's Pact of Steel.
• Pin-Pulling Teeth: Germany does this when trying to demonstrate to Italy how to use a grenade. Italy tries to mimic him, but it doesn't work out so well.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Sealand, a Super-Strong Child made out of steel.
  Sealand: My punches are really strong! Do you wanna see?
  Ladonia: No, don't!
• Pipe Pain: Russia's preferred weapon.
• Pity the Kidnapper:
  • Germany takes Italy prisoner, but kicks him out at the end of the First World War.
  • A running gag in the series, as anybody who captures Italy is going to regret it very quickly.
  • Another one for the Italies is they pretty much regret that their trap worked on England.
• Pixellation: In the manga, it's sometimes used to censor someone's speech if it's foul or disturbing. In the anime and movie, it's used to censor images of characters/objects from other anime series.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Czech Republic and Slovakia are this (through the platonic part is somewhat ambiguous), and Hungary and Poland are hinted to be this.
• Playboy Bunny:
  • Near the end of Paint It, White, America took a turn at making the aliens feel welcome by bringing them to a Vegas-esque casino complete with young women wearing these outfits.
  • In the 2013 Halloween event, one of the sketches that Himaruya posted as an apology for being late featured Hungary dressed up as a Playboy Bunny.
• Playful Hacker: Russia occasionally "tinkers" with his computer, and once hacks Finland's phone to get it to ring constantly in an attempt to get him to spend time with him. Estonia also accuses Russia of hacking his blog and turning it into a fansite for himself. He didn't, and was...upset at Estonia for thinking so.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Young nations (and grown up North Italy) tend to have abandonment issues.
• Please Put Some Clothes On:
  • Italy is often told this, usually by Germany.
  • When France decides to revive the Olympic games, he shows up in the nude. Cue England walking in and promptly freaking out.
  • In the 2010 Christmas Bloodbath, China is horrified when Hong Kong whips off the maid dress he had been wearing.
• Plenty of Blondes: With a few exceptions, the majority of the European and North American nations are blond.
• Political Overcorrectness: The plot of the Paint It White movie deals with this.
• Politically Correct History: For the most part, although there are a few strips that avert this.
• The Pollyanna: Spain and Romania remain cheerful and upbeat, despite the fact that they've had a rough time of things in the past.
• Porn Stash: Germany apparently has one. Italy found it and later blabbed about it to the Allies when he was captured.
• Portmanteau Couple Name: Can be either a combination of their country names in English, their country names in Japanese, their human names, in-universe nicknames, or a mix-and-match of any of them.
• Post-Victory Collapse: After beating France on one occasion, a very battered England was shown exclaiming "I won!" and promptly passed out.
• Potty Failure:
  • Romano when he was little. Not only did he wet the bed, but Spain came home one day and discovered that he wasn't able to make it to the bathroom in time.
  • America apparently wet the bed as a kid. While sleeping during a meeting, England muttered "You wet the bed again, Amer-" causing America to hit him, waking him up.
• Power Trio: The Axis can be seen this way. Germany is Superego (rational), Italy is Id (emotional), Japan is Ego (middle man). Although they don't always act this way.
• Princely Young Man: Austria has an aristocratic personality, is in charge of the house, has refined taste in food, plays classical music, and is referred to as a "young master" by the others.
  • Luxembourg qualifies as this as well, as he "exudes elegance" and speaks in a "prim and proper" manner.
• Privateer: There are a couple of strips which detail the story of England's privateers. Basically, England found a few pirates that were causing him trouble, and told them to "go beat up that Spain guy." They did, allowing England to get the upper hand over Spain. Whenever Spain complained to England, he would just apologize and say that the pirates were causing him trouble, too. That is, until Spain went over to England's house and saw him giving medals to the privateers. Whoops.
• Proper Lady: Liechtenstein. She's humble, kind, quiet, deferring yet not completely submissive to her brother Switzerland, very mature for a young nation, and quite competent at housework.
• Psychopathic Manchild:
  • Russia. The author did state that Russia has a Child-like cruelty to him. He has such a sweet face and is always smiling... Flanderized to a ridiculous extent in the fandom, seeing as he says creepy things and stalks people frequently but very rarely actually does anything.
  • His little sister Belarus, a beautiful young woman with an unhealthy fixation on her big brother and a very immature temperament, also falls under this.
• Psychotic Love Triangle: A rare "closed" variant - Belarus wants Russia, Russia wants Lithuania, and poor Lithuania wants Belarus...
• Public Bathhouse Scene:
  • Has been used a few times in connection with Japan. In one strip, England meets up with Japan just as he is leaving a bathhouse.
  • Another story had the Axis in a bath together.
  • Rome loved bathhouses, and one strip showed him leaving one. Unfortunately for Germania, he neglected to put on any clothes afterwards.
• Public Domain Soundtrack:
  • Austria has played Chopin's Nocturne No 9 Op 2 and Nocturne No 4 in F, OP 15 No1.
  • When Germany sees Austria breaking a mug, the first movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony plays in the background.
• Puni Plush: The art style is very soft and rounded.
• Puppy Love: Chibitalia was initially afraid of Holy Rome, but eventually returned his feelings.
• Purely Aesthetic Glasses:
  • Word pf God states that Austria wears glasses to make himself look more interesting, not because he needs them.
  • America's represent the state of Texas, which is why he isn't shown wearing them prior to Texas becoming part of the US.
  • Germany is occasionally shown wearing them, mostly in the Hetalia Academy setting.
  • There have been multiple times where Himaruya draws characters wearing glasses simply for Fanservice.

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