Hetalia Axis Powers / Q to Z

This page covers tropes in Hetalia: Axis Powers.

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

Q—R

• The Quiet One:
  • Egypt. He's only been shown talking once, and that was because France asked him if he was even able to talk.
  • Sweden himself has the least social skills compared to the rest of the Nordics. Norway speaks rarely as well.
  • Canada is very soft-spoken, even talking in a smooth, whispery tone, opposite to the much louder America, England and France.
  • Played with in Russia's case, as according to Word of God, he is quiet and aloof around people he doesn't consider friends. Of course, he considers everyone his friend, so it never comes up.
• Reading The Enemy's Mail: The Allies get a hold of Germany's diary and find little to help them defeat them.
• Real Men Cook: Several male characters have been shown cooking.
  • Italy, France, and China are excellent cooks.
  • Austria and Japan have also been shown cooking.
  • It's been mentioned that Turkey, Thailand, and Hong Kong are good cooks.
  • Finland has also cooked, but whether or not it's good is a matter of opinion.
  • England tries...
• Really Gets Around:
  • It's been stated that Greece has a lot of sex.
  • Implied in the case of France. While the other nations don't seem interested in his advances, he seems to be successful with normal people. He's mentioned having relationships in the past, was once shown taking two young women home with him after a party, and during the 2007 April Fool's event when one fan wrote in claiming she was pregnant with his child, he responded:
    "Wh-Who are you...?! Who?!
    Are you Marianne?! Jennifer?!
    I'm really sorry about that time..."
  • Italy is shown sharing beds with other characters, and conversations mention off-screen events that make that list even longer. It could be hand waved as innocent, but this is Italy, and its history isn't lost on the show's writers.
• Really 700 Years Old: Most of the characters are hundreds (if not thousands) of years old, yet none of them look any older than their mid-20s or so.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Canada gave this to America once. It went on for three hours and he only stopped because England intervened.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Played straight when Prussia is an actual threat, but subverted when he's in his usual Butt-Monkey role.^note Though more recently, Prussia has Technicolor Eyes (a combination of red on top and blue on the bottom) rather than the solid red eyes he was depicted with earlier on in the series.
  • Subverted with Romania, who despite having red eyes is a cheerful and nice guy. Well, unless you're Hungary.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni:
  • Prussia is Hot-Blooded, energetic, and wilder than his younger brother Germany, who is serious and businesslike. Prussia even has red eyes to contrast Germany's Icy Blue Eyes.
  • Denmark is loud, boisterous, and fun loving while Sweden is a Perpetual Frowner. Their uniforms and flags also reflect the red/blue color motif.
    • Denmark also plays the Red to the deadpan, somewhat cynical and snarky Norway. Their colors even match.
  • Poland is the energetic, carefree and excitable Red to the calm, cautious and gentle Lithuania's Blue.
  • America is the cheerful and loud Red to England's the serious, deadpan Blue, while England's Hair-Trigger Temper often plays the Red to the more laidback, relaxed France's Blue.
    • The boisterous America also plays the Red to the calm, soft-spoken Canada's Blue.
  • The excitable and Hot-Blooded Turkey is the Red to the relaxed, thoughtful Greece's Blue.
• Refuge in Audacity: If the series weren't so cute and silly, it would probably be much more offensive than it already is. The dub even more so than the original.
• Regional Riff:
  • Japan's introduction in the anime was accompanied by flute music, and one of his Image Songs opened with the sound of a shishi-odoshi.
  • Both Japan and China's songs use East Asian instruments and motifs.
  • France sometimes has accordion music in the background when he is on screen, and it shows up in his songs as well.
  • Spain's Image Song uses guitar music with a distinctly Spanish sound.
  • Turkey's version of "Hatafutte Parade" used the Freygish scale.
• Reincarnation: In volume four, France meets the reincarnation of Joan of Arc.
• Repeat Cut: In episode 13 of season five, this happened both times that America came through the window.
• Retired Badass: Sweden was once a terror, controlling the Baltic region and Scandinavia. In the present, he's calmed down and put his efforts toward welfare.
• Revisiting the Roots: The series originally focused on WW2, but gradually expanded to other time periods. When it was serialized in Birz magazine, it returned to the WW2 timeframe.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: This is how Himaruya always seems to draw animals.
• Ripped from the Headlines: Many of the stories set in modern times are this.
• The Rival: Lots of nations have been this to each other, in the past and present: Sweden and Denmark, France and England, Spain with the Netherlands and Portugal, among others. Subverted in that while Ladonia treats Sealand as this and Czech Republic treats Hungary as this where spas are concerned, neither of the latter two reciprocate.
• Roswell That Ends Well: The "Assault ★ The neighbor’s Roswell Incident" comics address this incident.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Some of the Real Life examples listed, such as Frederick the Great, have made appearances in the series and are shown as being active in warfare and politics.
• Rubbery World: In Paint it, White!, everything that the ray from the Picto Alien's spaceship touches turns into a white, wobbly thing reminiscent of rubber. As it passes over cities and countries the world starts to resemble this Rubbery World.
• Rule of Cute: The whole look of the show, especially the character designs, is done with this in mind.
• Rule of Funny: This is what the series runs on, and is also why many more serious aspects of history (such as the Holocaust) are not covered.
• Rule 63:
  • There are official gender-reversed designs of several of the characters, and some of them made an appearance in the "I Was Overwhelmed by Heroines" story in volume five of the manga.
  • World Stars genderbends some historical figures, "for those who are tired of the sausage fest."
• Running Gag:
  • That F**king Island.
  • "To be continued... maybe."
  • Korea insisting that everything comes from his country.
  • Poland's threat that he'll make Warsaw your capitol.
  • Canada's polar bear, Kumajirou, will always forget who Canada is. In return, Canada will always screw up his name.
• Russian Guy Suffers Most: Inverted and played straight. Bloody Sunday and failed White Sea canal strips cover his history of suffering. But most of the time he's a superpower that likes making others suffer.

S

• Sailor Earth: People tend to design their own countries frequently.
• Sanity Slippage: This happened to Russia as a result of all the bloodshed and violence in his history.
• Santa Claus: He made an appearance in the 2011 Christmas event.
• Sarcasm-Blind: Denmark doesn't notice when Norway insults or mocks him...but it may be a case of Selective Obliviousness.
• Satellite Character: The Holy Roman Empire. Is he the boss? Does he just own the house? He doesn't interact much with the others. He's not Germany, by the way. Or is he? Hmmm...
• Saving Christmas: Happened during one of the Christmas events. Finland needed help delivering presents (it isn't stated where Santa is) and called the other nations for help. America's solution was to order everything from Amazon.
• Saying Sound Effects Out Loud:
  • "Patapata~! Patapata~!" The sound effect for flapping for Italy's white flag of surrender.
  • France's "Slap slap slap slap slap~" counts too.
• Say My Name:
  • Estonia: LATVIAAAAAA!!!
  • America: "England? ENGLAND!!"
  • Germany: ITALIAAAAAA!! (Constantly.)
  • Italia: Doitsu Doitsu! (Constantly.)
  • Austria: Preußen? Preußen!? PREUßEEEEEEEEEN!!!
  • Spain: Romano? Romano! ROMANOOOOOOOO!!
  • England (in the movie): "AMERICA!"^note  Doubles as Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other - America has just been hit by an alien's transformative attack, and England freaks out. Then he gets hit too.
• Scanlation: This is how the series was originally available in English. While there are official translations of the published manga, the translations of the webcomic are available in this format.^note Himaruya is fine with people scanlating and reposting his work as long as they don't claim they are the creator or try to make a profit off of it.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Russia and Netherlands each have one.
• Scenery Censor:
  • While walking around mostly naked on a tropical island, Italy's vital regions are blocked by a plant leaf in the foreground.
  • During the 2011 April Fool's event, France's pet bird would often be shown flying in front of him to censor his groin.
• Scenery Porn: Season five had some beautiful backgrounds, especially early on in the season.
• Scream Discretion Shot:
  • When Greece offers to give Japan a private lesson in bed, the image switches to a map of east Asia while Japan screams.
  • Another time when Austria and Germany caught France spying on them, they tied him up and discovered that the photos he had been taking were all sexy shots of Austria. Cue Austria getting pissed off and the camera shifted away while we hear France screaming.
  • In another strip, Japan pulls a katana on China and then the scene switches to a panda eating, with China's horrified screams on the background.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Italy and his entire army do this early in the series. Germany finds him and drags him back, however.
• Secret Diary:
  • Prussia has written diary entries every single day of his life. He has an entire room full of nothing but bookshelves containing them.
  • Germany has one as well. At one point the Allies get ahold of it in the hopes that they can get some information, but they don't find anything useful as the entries are all about Italy.
• Security Cling:
  • When Russia came to visit, Italy and Romano were shown clutching each other in fear.
  • Italy was shown clinging to Germany's arm when they were watching horror movies in "Hetalia of the Dead."
• Seinen: Yes, really. Though starting out online and still being a part-time webcomic makes its demographic more ambiguous, and World Stars makes the demographic jump to Shonen.
• Selective Obliviousness: It's implied that Denmark deliberately ignores any aggressive or negative social cues, while America has the ability to read the atmosphere, but he just chooses not to.
• Sentai: Has been mentioned in the Drama CD and during the Fourth-Wall Mail Slot. America is the Red Ranger of course! America and Sealand are fans.
• Separated by a Common Language: In one comic, England asks America for a rubber (eraser). After asking a confused England if he even has a partner, America gives him a condom.
• Sequel Snark: The published manga volumes frequently end in "To be continued... maybe." The anime follows suit.
• Sex Signals Death: Mentioned in an author's note discussing American horror movies. "However, generally speaking, when you have sex, you die."
• Sexy Discretion Shot: When Greece offers Japan a "private lesson" to help him improve his sex life, the scene switches to a "view" of East Asia with Japan's screams in the background (and China yelling back at him because he can't sleep). When we're back to Japan, he's naked (or at least shirtless) in bed next to a sleeping Greece and screaming his head off.
• Sexy Santa Dress:
  • Poland decided to wear this one year for no apparent reason.
  • There was this one picture on the author's blog where Vietnam wore one, too.
  • Hungary was once shown in one as well.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Many male nations have at least a few instances of being this, but Luxembourg and Hutt River have this as their usual wear.
• She Is All Grown Up:
  • England leaves young America to return to his country, telling the boy to do his best and become strong. When he comes back, England is shocked to find that America has grown to be taller than him.
  • In a different strip, France gets impure thoughts upon seeing a more grown-up but still not fully "legal" North Italy.
  • The strip where England has a nightmare about Sealand actually growing up and becoming a country.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend:
  • Sweden calls Finland his wife. Finland does not like it at all.
  • Also, Japan would like you to acknowledge that he did NOT have sex with Greece...
  • Switzerland says he and Austria were never friends.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Japan may count. When Italy asks for advice on designing a war poster, he suggests Italy and Germany's names under an Umbrella of Togetherness.
  • Austria also gives Germany advice during the Valentine's comics.
• Ship Tease: And there's a lot of it.
• Shirtless Scene:
  • Germany and Italy have had a few. Usually together.
  • This isn't unusual in the live events, usually courtesy of France.
  • Season five has several, including Australia, Greece, Turkey, France, America, Spain...
• Short Film: Hetalia: Paint It White would be just under an hour long, about the length of two regular half-hour episodes, without the clips from the series thrown in. Given the source material, they didn't have a lot to work with, but wanted a feature-length film. The movie proved controversial in Japan and the Japanese DVD release removed the clip show parts, but the American release includes them.
• Shout-Out:
  • There have been a couple of South Park references:
    • Himaruya once posted a sketch of Hungary on his blog with "Let's Frying Pan Love" written next to it.
    • America and England were drawn in South Park's style in one panel of the 2011 Halloween event.
  • There have also been multiple Shout Outs to the Harry Potter series:
    • England once wore a shirt with a spoiler for the last book on it. When Japan tried to look away because he hadn't read it yet, England decided to take his shirt off, only to reveal that the same spoiler was written on his skin.
    • In the Hetalia Academy universe, it's revealed that members of the Magic Club dress up like "that wizard with the glasses and a scar on his forehead".
    • In the Halloween episode from The Beautiful World, the music that plays when England is on screen is very similar to the theme music from the movies.
  • Episode 3 of World Series opens with Japan and Greece looking at the Spartan ruins, and Greece says: "This... is... where Sparta once stood."
  • In Episode 7 of World Series, a variation on the music from Rocky plays in the background during the segments where England is training.
  • In one strip, France imagines Germany as Light from Death Note. (Just as Planned Catchphrase included.)
  • Finland's last name is a reference to The Kalevala. Namely, to Väinämöinen, the main hero of the story.
  • When Japan is staying with America, Spongebob Squarepants can be seen on America's TV.
  • Hungary's Frying Pan of Doom is likely a reference to the Hungarian comedy series László the Brave, where the titular hero uses a huge frying pan to beat up his enemies.
  • When the nations were watching horror movies together, Finland brought a copy of Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale.
  • The 2011 Halloween Event was full of Shout-Outs:
    • England came to the party dressed up as Sherlock Holmes.
    • The former Soviet nations came dressed up as characters from Alice in Wonderland.
    • France was wearing a Peter Pan costume and Monaco was Tinker Bell.
    • Switzerland and Liechtenstein came as William Tell and his son.
    • China, Hong Kong, and Macau were dressed up as characters from Journey to the West.
    • India and Prussia were dressed up as characters from the Bollywood film Veer, and even reenacted a dance number from the film.
    • Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, and Romano all came as characters from Little Red Riding Hood.
    • Belgium also mentioned The Path at the party and encouraged the other characters to buy it.
    • Taiwan was dressed up as Hikaru, the Anthropomorphic Personification of Microsoft's Silverlight program.
    • Turkey, Greece, and Egypt were characters from Arabian Nights.
    • America changed into a Batman costume at the end of the event, and somehow managed to get England into a Robin costume at the same time. However, while America's costume was copied from The Dark Knight Trilogy, England's costume was from the original comic series.
  • In the 2013 Halloween event, Bulgaria showed up with Eren Yeager's Survey Corps uniform.
  • China's Shinatty-chan toy is a rip-off of Hello Kitty.
  • In the April Fools episode from season five, Russia's embarrassing photo showed him cuddling with a Cheburashka doll.
  • Greece once mentioned the movie The Attack of the Giant Moussaka.
  • After a meeting, Italy declared that working things out in the EU was too hard so he was going to search for dragon balls instead.
  • In World Stars, Italy was shown cosplaying Monkey D. Luffy.
  • The English dub added several more to the anime:
    • The second time Todd Haberkorn auditioned for Italy^note  The dub actor who was originally cast as Italy decided against the role, so the role had to be re-cast., he told the director he could either do the realistic accent, or a straight-up Mario impression. They went with the second option.
    • In a similar situation, when asking what type of British accent the director wanted England to have Scott Freeman tried several, but the director liked best the voice which was a bad impression of Stewie Griffin.
    • When the Allies attack the Axis while they're stranded on an island, America yells out "China, I choose you!" at the beginning of the fight. When the Axis have been subdued, he comments that "We caught 'em all!"
    • In the dub of Episode 13, after America walks in on England about to perform black magic, another participant asks England, "Where did you put the eye of newt?"
    • England's lullaby to America in episode 39 of the dub is a rushed version of a song from The Phantom of the Opera.
    • In one episode of the World Series dub, America's boss gives him a mission, and he says he'll accept it as long as it allows him to kick ass and chew bubble gum.
    • In the beginning of The Movie, the characters are arguing about who makes the best movies, after England insists that his movies are superior, France sarcastically comments that "Time-traveling phone booths can only go so far."^note Knowing that he is a huge fan of the series, Jamie Marchi put that reference into the script specifically for Doctor Who fan J. Michael Tatum.
    • Also in the dub of The Movie, Germany tells Italy, "There's no crying in alien warfare!"
    • In the second episode of season five, the narrator states that, "[The Earth] is home to the W Academy, a unique school where the countries of the world hone their mutant pow- ahem. I mean, live the student life.
    • In the same episode as the previous example, Germany says, "Jawol! We will interview all of the clubs, even the one for that little girl pony cartoon!"
• Show Within a Show:
  • In one of the webcomics, Estonia makes a movie.
  • Most of the live events during the holidays are this.
• Shown Their Work: In the webcomic, Himaruya frequently links to articles that inspired the comic in question. Volumes four and five also have bibliographies of the books that he used for reference.
• Sibling Incest: Some of the Ship Tease can be seen this way, depending on whether or not viewers interpret them as Not Blood Siblings.
  • Belarus adores her older brother Russia and wants to marry him, much to Russia's horror.
  • Korea towards China and, to a lesser extent, Japan.
  • England and America, though these two aren't blood relatives, but America was raised with England as his 'big brother'.
• Shrinking Violet:
  • Latvia, combined with him being Prone to Tears.
  • Norway describes himself as "painfully shy," and at one instance is shown hiding his face and trying to slink away as Finland introduces them.
  • Iceland is easily flustered by too much attention, as well as when the other Nordics playfully tease him.
  • Poland is a variation: He's outgoing and clingy around people he's used to, but when confronted by a stranger, gets anxious and hides behind the nearest person.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: North and South Italy; Switzerland and Liechtenstein; America and Canada; Prussia and Germany.
• Sick Episode: One story showed France teasing a bed-ridden England until he realized that the latter was really sick, at which point he tried to help him feel better. America appeared later and tried to cure England by putting a hamburger on his head.
• Signature Laugh:
  • Prussia's "kesesese!"
  • America's DDDDDDDDD (A big Shrug of God on how it's pronounced. The anime and CD adaptations just go with a loud, rhythmic "Ha ha ha ha!")
  • dub!France's "ohonhonhonhon!"
  • Poland's "wahahaha!"
  • Russia's soft, ominous "ufufufu~" (his cat actually meows like this - "nyafufufu")
• Significant Birth Date: Long story short, the 'official' birth dates of the Nations are either their dates of independence or dates of the formation of their current form of government, but for specific dates:
  • America: July 4, Independence Day. (He's a Cancer)
  • Austria: October 26, Declaration of Neutrality. (He's a Scorpio)
  • Belarus: August 25, Belarus becomes independent from the Soviet Union. (She's a Virgo)
  • Canada: July 1, Canada Day. (He's a Cancer)
  • China: Originally it was October 10 (formation of the Republic of China), although later volumes of the manga list his birth date as “unknown.”^note The Chinese translation of the manga lists his birth date as October 1 (formation of the People’s Republic of China). (Anyway, he's a Libra)
  • Cuba: May 20, Cuba declares independence from the United States. (He's a Taurus)
  • Egypt: February 28, independence from the United Kingdom. (He's a Pisces)
  • Estonia: February 24, declaration of independence from both Germany and Russia. (He's a Pisces)
  • Finland: December 6, declaration of independence from the Russian Empire. (He's a Sagittarius)
  • France: July 14, Bastille Day. (He's a Cancer)
  • Greece: February 3, Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire officially recognized. (He's an Aquarius)^note The original date in the webcomic was October 28 (He would be a Scorpio), but was retconned in the published manga.
  • Holy Rome: February 2, Otto the Great is crowned Emperor by Pope John XII. (He's an Aquarius)
  • Iceland: June 17, officially declared a republic. (He's a Cancer)
  • Italy and Romano: March 17, Italian reunification. (They're both a Pisces)
  • Japan: February 11, National Foundation Day. (He's an Aquarius)
  • Korea: August 15, Korean Liberation Day. (He's a Leo)
  • Latvia: November 18, declaration of freedom from both Germany and Russia. (He's a Scorpio)
  • Liechtenstein: July 12, full sovereignty gained after accession to the Confederation of the Rhine. (She's a Cancer)
  • Lithuania: February 16, declaration of independence from Russia. (He's an Aquarius)
  • Monaco: January 8, gained independence from Genoa. (She's a Capricorn)
  • Poland: November 11, National Independence Day. (He's a Scorpio)^note Himaruya originally listed his birthday as July 22 (He would be a Cancer), which corresponds to the formation of a “free Poland” under communist rule. This date proved controversial among fans. The Polish translation of the manga listed his birthdate as November 11 with a note that said the change was made at Himaruya’s request.
  • Prussia: January 18, foundation day of the Kingdom of Prussia. (He's a Capricorn)
  • Russia: December 30, foundation of the Soviet Union. (He's a Capricorn)
  • Sealand: September 2, Roughs Tower is occupied by Roy Bates. (He's a Virgo)
  • Seychelles: June 29, independence gained from Great Britain. (She's a Cancer)
  • Sweden: June 6, National Day of Sweden, also known as Swedish Flag Day. (He's a Gemini)
  • Switzerland: August 1, foundation of the Swiss Confederation. (He's a Leo)
  • Taiwan: October 25, Japanese military surrendered control of Taiwan. (She's a Scorpio)
  • Turkey: October 29, Republic Day. (He's a Scorpio)
  • Ukraine: August 24, independence from the Soviet Union. (She's a Virgo)
  • Wy: November 15, Paul Delprat declared independence. (She's a Scorpio)
• Silk Hiding Steel: Lithuania, from Europe but male, fits this trope very well too: he's sweet, hard-working, and shown to not only be excellent at cooking and house-cleaning (to the point where he actually works as America's housekeeper for some time) but also formidable in battle. However, he also happens to be the main Woobie of the cast, which tends to overshadow his other traits, especially considering that his deference, loyalty, and humility might actually be one of the causes of him tending to be pushed around by Poland, Russia, and Belarus.
• Single-Season Country: The personification of Russia leans heavily into the country's reputation as a wintery war zone. He is one of few characters always wearing a scarf and is specifically tormented by the Anthropomorphic Personification of winter (other northern countries are seemingly spared this fate). It is also mentioned that General Winter is his greatest ally in times of Winter Warfare.
• Sir Swearsalot:
  • Romano often spouts foul language when he is upset. Or when he sees Germany.
  • England does this whenever he gets mad.
  • Tony. Most of the words that come out of his mouth are variations on "fuck" and "bitch."
  • Mochi America's language gets fouler as the series goes on.
  • Belarus does this at times.
  • Molossia, at least when anyone other than America is around.
• Sitcom Archnemesis:
  • The only surefire way to keep England out of your house is to invite France. America observes that after 900 years of war the only thing that keeps these two old timers going is antagonizing each other.
  • Greece and Turkey are also this too. In fact, the only time Greece loses his easygoing nature is when Turkey's around.
  • Cuba considers America his nemesis, too. Poor Canada...
  • Sealand and TRNC provide a bit of this in the first Drama CD.
  • Romania and Hungary. Hungary names her dogs after him, and locks him out of the Hetalia Hetaween 2013 party.
  • Ladonia treats Sealand as this, but Sealand likes Ladonia and calls him "interesting."
• Sixth Ranger: Canada's presence is rarely noticed by the other Allies and is almost always mistaken for America, even by his older brother England.
• The Slacker: Latvia is amazing at things if he actually tries...but he doesn't work hard unless he's ordered (and threatened).
• Slasher Smile:
  • Usually smiling calmly, Russia usually pulls this out by the end of a strip he's in.
  • In one strip, Japan imagines Italy pulling one.◊
  • In another strip, America has this while wielding a chainsaw along with Scary Shiny Glasses. Probably the only time America didn't look his normal self. Though it was only scary due to Canada's paranoia, as America was just normally using his chainsaw to cut wood.
• Slave Collar:
  • Happens to Seychelles in the Gakuen Hetalia game.
  • And to Spain when the pirates capture him.
  • During the 2011 Halloween even, Italy wore one as part of his costume. As the event went on, more and more countries were seen wearing costumes like Italy's. Rome was somehow getting them all to wear them because he wanted to make Italy's costume popular.
• Sleep Cute:
  • Lithuania, exhausted from being overworked by his boss Russia, unintentionally falls asleep on a couch only to wake up to find himself beside Russia, who for once is in deredere mode.
  • Subverted with Greece and Japan, when the first dozes off next to the other for some seconds but then wakes up like nothing happened.
  • The end of the 2010 bloodbath, oh so much.
  • At the beginning of the 2011 Christmas event, Italy was shown sleeping with his head pillowed on Germany's lap.
• Sliding Scale of Gender Inequality: The female Nations, while fewer than the male ones, clearly fall into Level 5. Hungary in particular is described as manlier than a good chunk of the cast while Belarus and Liechtenstein are not submissive pushovers.
• Sliding Scale of Silliness vs. Seriousness: For most of the series, it falls on the silly side, but it is occasionally serious without moving into any jarring Mood Whiplash (most of the time). The series cannot be taken too seriously without dire consequences.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Denmark thinks he's amazing, as he spends one strip bragging about his accomplishments and history, to the point of an Imagine Spot with the other Nordics praising him. In reality, they're completely unimpressed.
• The Smart Guy: Despite his flirty nature, France fills this role for the Allies when he puts his mind to it.
  • Latvia has surprisingly in-depth knowledge of other nations, as seen in the Sealand and Latvia Desktop Mascots. He's also said to be great at chess.
• Smoking Is Cool:
  • Cuba and his famous Cuban cigars.
  • Netherlands, too, with his Pipe of Asskicking.
• The Smurfette Principle: Subverted. While the female nations were initially (and still are) outnumbered by the males, the commonly recurring ones have since become varying degrees of Ensemble Dark Horse and Ascended Extra (notably Hungary, Belarus, Liechtenstein, Taiwan and Ukraine). And that's not counting the Nyotalia counterparts.
• Soft Water:
  • Averted when Russia thinks he doesn't need a parachute when he sees snow on the ground from an aircraft, adding that no one knows snow like him. He ends up breaking all his bones (only one in the anime).
  • Played straight in The Movie.
• Something about a Rose: France is frequently shown with roses in a romantic manner.
• Sorry Ociffer: There have been a couple of times where a drunk nation claims to be sober.
  • After a plot to get America drunk to get information out of him failed, a drunk England tries to insist that not only is he sober, but he can hold his liquor better than anyone.
  • In the Hetalia Gakuen video game, a drunk Germany bursts into a room and tries to convince Austria to come to a party.
    Austria: Germany... Are you, by chance, drunk?
    Germany: I am so sober, ya hear? I haven't had a beer in minutes!
• Sound-Effect Bleep: Sometimes it's an actual "bleep" and sometimes it's another noise like a cat's meow. When France was explaining the birds and the bees to Italy, it was a series of moans.
• Speech-Bubbles Interruption: Happens sometimes in the webcomic and manga.
• Spell Book: England has been shown using one when casting magical spells.
• Spell My Name With An S: Many examples where the human names are concerned.
• Spheroid Dropship: The invading Pict aliens in The Movie travel in one of these.
• Spit Take:
  • Prussia does this when he finds out that Germany is not drinking beer as part of his new diet.
  • He also did it to Frederick the Great when he found out that Austria was forming an alliance with France and Russia during the Seven Years' War.
  • Iceland also does this when Denmark tells him cows are flying in the sky during the 2011 April Fool's event.
• Split-Screen Phone Call:
  • This happens when America calls Russia to ask him if he can make a large number of 25 cm condoms.
  • It was also used when Italy called France for reassurance after he had a bad dream about Germany and Japan leaving him.
• Spoiled Brat: Ladonia, who's prone to throwing tantrums when things don't go his way (and Sweden seems incapable of disciplining him). Romano was this as a child, since Spain didn't discipline him either.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: The series originally focused on Italy, Germany, and Japan (hence the "Axis Powers" part of the title), but this happened as other characters began to be introduced. After a series of stories focused on the Allies, one strip even ended with the Axis trio wondering when they were going to be featured again.
• Squee: Spain did this when he saw that Chibitalia and Chibi Romano's hair curls formed a heart.
  "So cuuuuuute!"
• Stalker with a Crush:
  • Belarus to Russia.
    Belarus: Damn doorknob, getting between me and big brother! (rips it out) Big brother, that obstinate knob is no more. Now then, let's get married married married married...
  • Russia to Lithuania and China.
  • Holy Rome was this to Chibitalia at first.
• Stalking Is Funny if It Is Female After Male: Belarus' obsession with her big brother is played for humor.
• Standard Snippet:
  • The Oriental Riff was used in episode 23 when Germany, Italy, and Japan stumble upon a Chinatown.
  • "Also sprach Zarathustra" is alluded to with the first few notes of the opening music of seasons one through four.
• Status Quo Is God: Subverted. While characters' relationships with each other stay relatively stable (even when in reality many have changed over time), when they do change, it's made very clear. Examples include the American Revolution.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: In the manga only "Secret training and 007" strip, England sneaks up on the Axis expecting important training secrets hears Germany ask Italy and Japan what would they do if England is dressed up in a sexy carnival outfit and is swaying his hips proactively at them. In the next strip, America is announcing their battle strategy, even though he is eating a burger, you can still see over the sound effects of what he wants England to do.
• Stealth Pun:
  • In volume four, the Newspaper Club are interviewing members of the various school clubs. We're then told that all three Baltic nations are members of the Chorale Club, and Estonia comments that even among them, his singing is considered revolutionary.
  • In episode 10 of the Beautiful World anime, there's a scene where Italy has his camera stolen by a pickpocket on the Galata Bridge (a famous bridge in Turkey). As Turkey himself takes off after the pickpocket, you can hear a sped up version of the Turkish March playing in the background.
• The Stinger: The Movie opens with Iceland introducing himself to the audience and commenting how tourism has been down in his country. After the ending credits, we see that some of alien Pict have remained on Earth and are using their abilities to create lights that look like the Aurora Borealis every night, bringing people to Iceland's home to see them.
• Stock Animal Name: Japan's pet dog and cat are named Pochi and Tama.
• Stock Foreign Name: Seems to be the case with several of their human names.
  • America: His surname is Jones.
  • China: Both his given name (Yao) and his family name (Wang).
  • Egypt: His middle name is Muhammad.
  • England: Arthur.
  • Finland: His given name, Tino, is very similar to Timo.
  • France: Francis.
  • Germany: Ludwig.
  • Prussia: His surname is Beilschmidt, which bears a resemblance to Schmidt.
  • Russia: Ivan.
  • Spain: One of his family names is Fernández.
  • These are also used by many fans when giving human names to characters who do not have a canon name.
• Stock Footage:
  • Basically involves the Axis being stuck on an island, ambushed by the Allies, and attacked with a wok by China until some diversion comes to break it up. The same exact animation and lines are recycled, save for a few minor differences.
  • Also egregiously used in the movie where entire episodes were thrown in.
  • When DEEN adapted some extra Chibitalia stories, they decided to frame them as being dreams by HRE and would use the same footage of him waking up in bed. To the sound of an alarm clock in the 17th century.
• The Stoic: Sweden, Norway and Germania are this. Japan also counts, though he's had a few Not So Stoic moments. Moldova becomes this when Russia is around.
• Stoic Spectacles:
  • Actually, Austria has a great emotional range: he can be 'solemn', 'sullen', 'stern', 'saturnine', 'harsh' and 'sterner'.
  • Sweden.
  • Germany gives this impression during the times he's shown wearing glasses.
• The Straight Man: Lithuania to Poland and Norway to Denmark, respectively.
• Strip Archive: The series started as a webcomic, and much of it can still be read for free on Himaruya's website.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Norway looks a lot like Iceland without his hairclip holding his bangs. Sweden looking a lot like Germany and Prussia is also explained by him having family ties to Germania.
• Subbing for Santa: One of the Christmas events involved the nations helping Finland deliver presents because Santa disappeared.
• Summon Magic: England, and his summoning spell is full of Shout Outs in the dub.
• Summoning Ritual: England once did this when he tried to summon "A twisted creature of monstrous size and strength... with the power to crush America!" He got Russia.
  Russia: You called?
  —>England: (shoves Russia back through the circle) Damned communist!
• Super-Deformed: Done sometimes in the series. It shows up a lot in Himaruya's artwork and the merchandise.
• "Super Sentai" Stance: France, China, and Turkey do this in volume four when they are praising the Gourmet Food Club.
• Super-Speed: Italy, but only when he's running away from something, and France too.
• Super-Strength: America, China, and Russia have shown this, being the superpower nations of the modern world. Sealand has this as well, since he's made of steel.
• Super-Strong Child: America was able to swing a full-grown buffalo around as a child, and Sealand is this in the present day.
• Super Window Jump: America does this a couple of times in some of the 2009 Christmas strips and the anime episode based on them.
  England: Hey! The window!
• Supreme Chef: France, Italy, Austria, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Turkey, and possibly Belgium are shown to be this, either through the series itself or via Word of God.
• Surprise Jump:
  • When France appeared, Romano went from yelling at Germany to cowering behind him in fear almost instantly.
  • When Rome came to visit one night, the fact that Italy had been in his bed the whole time caused Germany to jump across the room in shock.
• Surprise Santa Encounter: Finland and America have both dressed as Santa Claus at one point. Poland did and turned up expecting presents.
• Swapped Roles: Germany and Italy have swapped roles briefly just to see what it would be like.
• Sweat Drop: Germany got one of these when Austria sat on him like a bench.
• Sweet Tooth: Turkey and Belgium are stated to be this, and Finland loves to eat sweet food and drink alcohol together.
• Sympathetic P.O.V.: Given that some of the countries have historically been considered "bad guys..."

T

• Tactful Translation: Done at least once, when America comes to Japan to make friends with whales.
  Japan: Go away.
  Translator: It's nice that you have such interesting pursuits, but please pursue them in your own residence.
• Take a Third Option: What the creator did after the controversy surrounding Korea. The character still shows up in drawings and some of the webcomics, but he is not in the anime, the later volumes of the published manga, or on any official merchandise.
• Take Off Your Clothes: During the 2010 Christmas event, the nations had to find a person with a message written on their body. When Germany finally found Italy and Romano, this is what he asked them to do.
  Germany: I know it's sudden, but I have something to ask of you.
  Italy: OK! If it's within my means, I'll do it!
  Germany: Strip! Right now!
• Take That, Audience!: A few times in the dub.
  "...mostly in Delaware. That's one of their fifty states, but most Americans don't know that unless they actually live there."
  "Polish horses never charged German tanks at the battle - right, anime fans. Germany invaded Poland in '39 - right, American fans. Poland is a country. In Europe!"
  • Funimation is based in Texas, however.
• The Talk: In the anime, after Italy asks France what "sexual intercourse" means, the latter is only too happy to explain.
• Talking Animal:
  • Canada's pet bear Kumajiro.
  • Mr. Puffin, Iceland's pet.
  • Finland and Sweden's dog Hanatamago gains the ability to talk during the Christmas events.
• Tamer and Chaster: In the series along with becoming Lighter and Softer, the Fanservice, while still very existent, is a lot lesser than in the earliest strips. The earlier strips had a lot more Black Comedy Rape and much more Homoerotic Subtext, some so blatant it could only be called text. Some of the old fanservicey strips were even deleted. Ironically, inverted with the fifth season of the anime. After 4 seasons of toning down the fanservice, the 5th season goes all out in pandering to the Yaoi Fangirls, animating some of the raunchiest strips such as April Fools 2011 and Buon San Valentino.
• Tareme Eyes: Italy, America, Liechtenstein, Finland, and Lithuania are the most notable examples, and often seen with Tsurime counterparts (see below.)
• Tarot Cards: Romania uses them during his fortune-telling.
• Team Dad: Austria in the Chibitalia chapters.
  • Denmark tries his hardest to be this to the Nordics, as he sees himself as their leader.
• Team Title: Half of it, anyway, with the other half being a Character Title.
• The Team Wannabe: Estonia really wants to be the sixth Nordic country, while Romania wants to be acknowledged as a descendant of Ancient Rome (and thus an Italy brother).
• Tears of Fear:
  • Italy gets teary eyed whenever he's scared. It can range from tears simply welling up in his eyes to outright Ocular Gushers.
  • Romano as well, but not as frequently as his brother.
  • America has done this on a couple of occasions. Once as a child when England's scary expression frightened him, and when he was watching horror movies with Japan.
  • Latvia whenever Russia is around, being the epitome of being Prone to Tears.
  • A human child once, when he gets scared by Sweden's facial expression.
• Technicolor Eyes: Prussia's eyes as of the more recent series, going from a solid red to being a combination of red on top and blue on the bottom.
• Technicolor Magic: Many characters have purple eyes, many of which are connected to something supernatural or magical]] (Finland being a Santa Claus-type figure, Russia being connected to General Winter, Austria invoking Purple Is Powerful with the Habsburgs, etc.).
• Tengu: Japan dresses as one for the Hetaween 2011 event...at least at first.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics:
  • After Liechtenstein cuts her hair, her big brother Switzerland gets her a hair ribbon so people won't mistake her for a boy.
  • Hungary, Taiwan, and the gender-reversed versions of China and Japan are always shown with flowers decorating their hair.
• Thick-Line Animation: In the mochi segments of season five.
• The Thing That Would Not Leave: Italy to Germany, at least early in the series.
• Through a Face Full of Fur: The nekotalia stories show the cat versions of the nations having a Luminescent Blush like their human counterparts.
• Throw the Pin: Neither Italy nor Romano can seem to figure out how to properly use a grenade.
• Thwarted Escape: England's multiple escape attempts from the Italian prison during WWII, since Germany keeps finding him despite his attempts at disguise and dragging him back.
  • Finland during the Running Away With Mr. Swe strips, whose plan to slip away in the middle of the night once Sweden is asleep is thwarted when Sweden embraces him to keep him warm.
• Tickle Torture: In the dub, France threatens Italy with this after he asked for his paintings back.
• Time Dissonance: Months and years to normal people feel like days or weeks to the nations, and it's why the nations have difficulty forming relationships with people.
• Tiny Schoolboy: Latvia is physically 15 years old, and roughly 4'7" tall. His small size is implied to be the result of Russia's smothering influence leaving him unable to develop properly, as well as Russia's affectionate head pats crushing part of his spine.
• Title of the Dead: Volume five of the manga has a story titled "Hetalia of the Dead" which shows the nations discussing horror movies from around the world.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Hungary and Liechtenstein, Ukraine and Belarus. Vietnam and Taiwan. Played with for the last one.
• Totally Radical: America speaks like this in the dub, throwing "dude" and "yo" often.
  • Denmark also speaks like this in the dub, though it's a milder version. Like when the Nordics discuss Valhalla:
    Denmark: Gnarly! If I were still young, I would have been down to go fo' sho'!
• Trademark Favorite Food: Almost every character makes a reference to their own cuisine.
  • Italy and Romano have pasta and tomatoes.
  • Germany with his wursts and beer.
  • America has hamburgers.
  • Canada loves pancakes with maple syrup.
  • Cuba, Canada, and America all love ice cream.
  • England has tea and scones.
  • Russia says that vodka is his fuel.
  • Taiwan is said to love bubble tea and tofu.
• Transformation Ray: In the webcomic, America made a gun that would cause enemy soldiers to fall in love and lose the will to fight. After Japan points out that in some ancient cultures, not wanting to look weak in front of their lovers made the armies stronger, America paused, then pointed the gun at himself. This is Truth in Television, as the United States did research a weapon like this.
• Triple Nipple: France may count as such ever since the strip "Let's Assist the French Economy!", wherein he claimed Italy's right nipple, which apparently represents Corsica. At the very least, Italy is down to one...
• True Companions: Despite the fact that the Nordics used to fight among themselves a lot, they've become this in modern times. The Axis Powers are shown to be like this as well.
• Tsundere:
  • England is stated to be this in the author's notes. He can be quite snarky, especially◊ when◊ around◊ America◊. When he's in deredere mode, though, he shows a lot of vulnerability.
  • Germany is also stated to be this by the creator, although It's hard to tell his exact type given his usually staid demeanour. He appears to be a Type A whose default mood is a grumpy, "take no guff" guy, but there are times when his softer side can come out, such as when he sees that the other nations survived the fall from the spaceship in the movie. And while he may be a Drill Sergeant Nasty to Italy most of the time, there are moments when you can tell that he really does care about him. To drive the point further, the Valentines strip had Germany pretty much in full-blown deredere mode the entire time.
  • Romano is a very strong example of a Type A, especially when he's around Spain.
  • Switzerland is a combination of Type A and He Was Never My Heterosexual Life Partner to Austria.
  • America seems to be an odd variation of the Type A Tsundere himself. His tsuntsun side is represented less by mood swings and more by his penchant to step on people's toes with his rampant KY-ness, cheerful Love Freak mannerisms and occasional arrogance; he also shoots down England's advances and seems to have fun when he relentlessly teases the other nation-tan. However, he has shown genuine sadness and melancholy as he remembers their common past times (especially in "America Cleans Out The Storage"), as well as some degree of worry for the other's well-being, which can be seen as him being deredere.
    • It could be that he's a Type B (dere dere), since England is the only one he purposely annoys/teases. Although he has been seen mocking Canada a few times, "I'm not sure I can love moose and drag my ass as much as you do, k?"
  • Wy was one toward Sealand in Hetaween 2011, insisting that it was a "coincidence" that she is wearing the dress he told her to wear. Lampshaded by Seborga, who commented that she must have been influenced by England (mentioned above).
  • Molossia. He flips off Sealand, Seborga and Wy off when they ask him to be their new friend, but runs back to join them as soon as they leave. He also shows signs of being very self-conscious about letting his other side being seen.
  • The Netherlands is described as one- he's pretty grumpy and even his sister calls him stingy. But he's quite patient towards Isolationist!Japan and brings his pet bunny with him when he visits.
  • Ladonia is at first hostile to the other micronations, looking down on them and proclaiming that he'd never be friends with them. He changes his tune when Sealand says he likes him and calls him "interesting," and is later shown to have joined their group. He's had friendly moments with Sealand, no matter how much he seems to outwardly dislike him.
  • Czech Republic, after she and Slovakia separate, proclaims how happy she is now that she doesn't have to "listen to his prattling", only for her to muse that "it's not like he doesn't have good traits". She only admits to missing him in a roundabout way.
• Tsurime Eyes: Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Prussia, Netherlands, Sweden, Egypt, Germania, and Hesse.
• A Twinkle in the Sky: When Italy was launched into the sky by an Ejection Seat, the last thing seen of him was just a twinkle in the sky.
• Twinkle Smile: This happens to America the first time that he declares "I'm the hero!"

U—Y

• Umbrella of Togetherness:
  • Italy makes posters with his and Germany's names under one of these at Japan's suggestion. Of course, he doesn't understand the meaning behind it.
  • Japan and Greece shared an umbrella in one comic.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: Seychelles can't tell Spain and Portugal apart, and while their exact relationship is ambiguous, they're confirmed to have the same ancestor. Canada and America as well, to the point that Canada is often mistaken for America, much to his misery.
• Uncatty Resemblance: All the cats in the Nekotalia strips look like their owners.
• Uncle Pennybags: Estonia is the wealthy one of the Baltics, and he's said to be glad to help them out monetarily.
• Unexplained Recovery:
  • Russia jumped out of a plane without a parachute and broke his bones. There's no recovery time that we see.
  • Switzerland once shot France in the head. He was back on his feet in moments with no apparent wound.
  • While we didn't see it onscreen, Japan stabbed China in the back; a later strip shows China with a massive scar over his spine, and yet he's fully alive and has no paralysis issues.
  • As a small child, Lithuania continues holding a conversation with an arrow in his head.
  • Fandom tends to interpret this as a case of Good Thing You Can Heal. "Consensual guro" has a small but keen following, but it's more usually played for horror, as in fics where Nazi scientists get hold of the nations and do horrible things to them again and again and again.
    • Subverted for Prussia. A dog has bitten him and he doesn't recover as fast as usual. This is because his country no longer exists and these traits start to fade away.
• The Un-Favorite:
  • Canada has always been overshadowed by America ever since they were little. As soon as England seemed to be paying more attention to Canada, America came along and took his attention back. Most of the other countries not only forget who he is (or mistake him for America) there are many times when they can't even see him.
  • Also played with in regards to Belarus. She treats the other Baltics so badly because she thinks she is Russia's Unfavorite because of them. Hell, she's even jealous of Ukraine...
  • Romano (South Italy) is this to some degree, especially during his "childhood" days when Spain was more fixated on Italy than him. He was seriously worried that he didn't have anything to offer, lacking his brother's domestic and artistic skills.
• Unicorn: England gave a baby unicorn to America as a pet for his centennial. America freaked out because he couldn't see it, but it's been mentioned by Word of God that he kept it and manages to take care of it.
• The Unintelligible: Sweden, according to Fanon. In Japanese he speaks with a Tohoku accent, which is perfectly intelligible if a bit unusual, but due to fan translators' attempts at localizing it this got Lost in Translation and after some Flanderization it ended up looking as if Sweden was grunting and mumbling instead of just using a dialect.
• Unkempt Beauty: Greece, apparently. Iceland as well.
• Unmoving Plaid: Shows up in the manga and Himaruya's art, most notably on the uniforms in the Hetalia Academy Alternate Universe.
• Unreadably Fast Text:
  • The anime sometimes has text appear on screen to add details about what is going on in the scene. At times it flashes by so quickly that it is impossible to read it all without pausing, and it was even lampshaded once in the dub.
  • Occasionally a character will be shown with notes or something written on a blackboard behind them that go by too quickly to read.
  • At the beginning of the movie, the picture of the aliens that Italy was drawing on was part of a report about the invasion.
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal:
  • Young Prussia used to think that young Hungary was a boy; in all fairness, so did she, sometimes forgetting even after she grew up.
  • Holy Roman Empire and Austria both thought that Italy was a girl. It wasn't until his voice changed that Austria found out that he was really a boy.
  • Amusingly, some fans are actually shocked when they learn that the author of Hetalia is a male.
  • Liechtenstein is startled when Germany refers to Kugelmugel as a boy, thinking that he must have made a mistake.
• Unsound Effect: Often used in the webcomic and manga, and has shown up in the anime from time to time as well.
• Unstoppable Rage:
  • Hungary took out the entire Prussian army after he took Silesia.
  • France did this after Switzerland shot him in the head during the 2007 Christmas Bloodbath.
• Unusual Euphemism: Sealand lampshades this in the dub:
  Sealand: Sometimes I ride the goat while swabbing the deck, and that is not a euphemism for anything.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Russia was timid, sweet-tempered and not insane back when he was a child, but a combination of being bullied by the countries around him and his turbulent history turned him into a Psychopathic Manchild.
• Use Your Head: Chibi Romano does this to Spain after the latter made the mistake of tugging on his Idiot Hair.
• Vague Age: Some of Himaruya's old notes gave approximate physical ages for the characters, but you can't really tell which nations are older based on looks alone. Some characters look older than others, but their countries have been around for less time, and looking (or even being) older isn't always a sign of the character being more mature.
• Valley Girl:
  • Totally Poland, like ehmagawd. Based on the Japanese equivalent. Less obvious in the dub, although he's still laidback.
  • America has sort of a variation on this in the dub.
• Vapor Wear: Moldova normally only wears a shabby, oversized coat. He asks for underwear during the Hetalia Hetaween 2013 event.
• Verbal Tic:
  • China ends most of his sentences with "aru", which is derived from a Japanese stereotype of Chinese people. When talking to England (for example in the Britannia Angel strip) "aru" sometimes changes to "ahen" which means "opium".
  • Sealand finishes most of his sentences with "desu yo," which is basically ending everything with an exclamation point.
  • When America talks business, he develops the verbal tic "-gates".
  • Italy's veee~
  • And Romano's chigi!
  • Don't forget Korea, da ze!
  • Or even Spain, ya de!
  • Like, I can't believe we totally haven't like, mentioned Poland!
• Visible Sigh:
  • In season five, Spain let out one of these when dealing with a pissed off Chibi Romano.
  • Germany did this in the second "Buon San Valentino" episode after getting exasperated with Italy.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Many nations are this to one another, including England with America and France, Prussia with Austria and Hungary, Czech Republic with Slovakia, and even Greece and Turkey.
• Vocal Evolution:
  • Japan's voice in the first Drama CD is very soft. In later CDs and the anime, the same seiyuu switches to a much deeper tone, allegedly because fans complained that he'd sounded too similar to Italy.
  • In the first CDs, America has a sort of low tenor voice. Then in the anime and consecutive drama CDs his voice gets higher and higher (as well as more and more hyper), except for dramatic scenes where it drops back to its normal tone.
  • Canada's voice got less inaudible as the series went on.
  • Greece's voice in the anime became considerably slower from his episode with France to his episodes with Japan, presumably to emphasize his Heavy Sleeper nature better.
• Volleying Insults:
  • France and England, oh so much. It frequently escalates to physical violence.
  • Greece and Turkey at times.
  • America and Russia, on occasion.
• We ARE Struggling Together: Pretty much goes for any group ever, as all the countries seem to hate at least something about every other one, and it's hard to find even a single pair that don't bicker at some point.
• Web First: The series started as a webcomic.
• Weirdness Magnet: All of the really strange things (even in a Fantasy Kitchen Sink) seem to happen to Estonia, from the mochis to getting sent to the gender-reversed universe...
• Wham Line: From "Private Concert", when Germany notices that a dog had bitten Prussia and shrugs it off due to Nations having a Healing Factor, the dog thinks the following to itself...
  "Wait...didn't I bite him a week ago?"
• White Flag: Italy waves one whenever he's in trouble, has given them as a present to Germany, was shown mass producing them at one point, and turned a bunch of them into Pict costumes in The Movie.
• White Magic: Russia gets the Orthodox Church to curse Japan once. And it works.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: The focus in some of the later strips.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Poland and both Italies when they were young, although that may be another historical in-joke (or Accidentally-Correct Writing). Japan wears an apron over a woman's kimono when he cleans house and cooks.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Austria is terrified of sea creatures like crabs as seen in a Drama CD, while Japan is terrified of cockroaches according to Word of God, to the point that he'd cry over them.
• Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: Characters sometimes get this when they are shocked, but Blank White Eyes are more common.
• Will They or Won't They?: Germany and Italy, especially where the Valentine's Day strips leave off.
• Window Watcher: France once spied on Austria by peeping through his window. He might have gotten away with it if he hadn't butted in on the argument that Austria was having with Germany.
• Wine Is Classy: France has had a few wine drinking scenes in the anime, and is often seen with a wine glass in the manga artwork.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Moldova is adept at reading the atmosphere to properly deal with Russia, a feat that a lot of the adult nations haven't mastered.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Russia, by insisting that "all will become one with Russia". This trope is also played straight with him during the Bloody Sunday strip, in which he snaps and starts to mow down his own people on the grounds that "they're not really Russians if they don't love me".
• World of Symbolism: And cheerfully candid about it too.
• World of Weirdness: Aliens? Check. Fairies? Check. Talking Animals? Check. Ghosts? Check. Monsters? Check. Santa? Check. Alternate Universe with cat people and 123 Frances? Super check. And yet, life goes on as if nothing happened. This could also be mixed with The Masquerade, if not outright Extra-Strength Masquerade, given that most of humanity is still going on as normal despite the aforementioned hijinks.
• Wingding Eyes:
  • America's turned into spirals when he saw how small a large order of fries was in Japan.
  • When a ninja suddenly appeared in a movie, Germany's eyes turned into yellow stars.
• Written-In Absence: In the Drama CD titled Prologue, America is assigning Power Ranger colors to the five main allies. He says China will be green, but he's not there because he's busy taking care of his panda. China did not have a voice actor until later.
• Written Sound Effect: They're usually written in Japanese, but once in a while they're in English.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: Fem!Japan is this according to the author's notes.
• Yandere:
  • Russia, Russia, Russia. His interest in the Baltic nations, Lithuania in particular, is frightening.
  • Latvia shows signs of this as well, likely because of Russia.
  • Belarus: she is obsessed with her older brother, is often represented with a knife, and shares Russia's penchant to abuse people who show care for her - especially Lithuania... Heck, Belarus is so Yanderiffic that Russia is scared of her!
  • Spain was supposed to be one according to Himaruya's notes. It was alluded to in the 2011 April Fool's event, but otherwise hasn't come up.
• Yaoi Fangirl:
  • When Hungary saw France stripping and feeling up Austria, she hid around a corner and watched for a while before finally smacking France with her Frying Pan of Doom.
  • A fair amount of the series' fans enjoy the Ship Tease between the male characters as well.
• Youkai: They exist, but Japan has lost the ability to see them. England spent some time talking to a Kappa and an onion-headed creature while he was visiting Japan to form an alliance.
• Yonkoma: Most of the series is in this form.

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