WMG / Hetalia Axis Powers Prussia

WMG regarding the character of Prussia goes here.

Prussia used to be married when he was younger.

It's history canon. The reason why his profile says he was never married is because the Holy Roman Empire and Poland wouldn't allow them to officially marry (at the time, Brandenburg and Prussia were fiefs of HRE and Poland, respectively). The two still lived together like a married couple, anyway. Common-law marriage, see? After the HRE's collapse, Brandenburg was absorbed into Prussia and ceased to exist. Prussia was devastated and never remarried, and denies that he ever was.

• Actually, Brandenburg still exists as a federal state of Germany. This just brings the mental image of Prussia and Brandenburg hanging out in Germany's basement. The marriage aspect still works, however.

Prussia represents Ernst Thalmann Island.

It's pretty widely accepted in the fandom that at at least one point in history, Prussia represented East Germany. But East Germany isn't around anymore. Except it is. Actually, in Real Life, East Germany is not only still around, but currently at war, and no one seems to have noticed. Bear with me here. In 1972, Fidel Castro gifted an uninhabited island to East Germany, called Ernst Thalmann Island. (Soon after, the American micronation of Molossia (who actually has a personification in the strips) declared war on East Germany.) When East Germany was dissolved, Ernst Thalmann Island was not included in the treaty. It's still listed at property of East Germany. Hence, Molossia is still at war with East Germany, and Prussia is still around.

• Unlikely. Official government sources from both Cuba and Germany have shown that the island was never transferred to East Germany, merely renamed Ernst Thalmann's honor.

Prussia is the Teutonic Knights.

If he managed to change from the Teutonic Knights to Prussia, he could change back.

• They exist in name only.

Prussia becomes East Germany.

He calls his brother Ludwig 'West', he dislikes Russia, and he somehow still exists in modern day strips.

• This may have been helped along by Word of God, which stated that Prussia feels more like an enclave rather than a nation these days, and that he was stuck doing dead-end jobs. Maybe he was split between Kaliningrad and East Germany? Since there's still a feeling of "East-German-ness" in those parts of Germany, maybe that's how he was living on into 2009? He was living with Germany anyway since the days of the German Empire, so it could work...
  • Recently, I read an article about how a significant portion of Germans (from both sides) actually want Germany to redivide for economic reasons. So.....
    • Just a bit of explanation for people who don't understand the whole "want to divide" thing. The Russians ran East Germany into the ground (a long occupation, isolation, and a healthy dose of communism tends to do that...), and the economy was essentially completely destroyed because of it. It was bolstered back up after the Berlin Wall came down, but East Germany is still lagging well behind its Western half and requires a great deal of aid. Germany is an economic superpower, but nowhere near what it could be considering it's carrying around the crutch that is its recently-liberated section. This is on top of the fact that, due to the roughly 40 years apart, the two populations are different in basically everything (political beliefs, lifestyle, etc.), and it's a common thing to speak about them as separate entities. It really wouldn't be that much of a shock for them to indeed split. TL;DR version: Communism sucks in practice, and it's completely plausible that Prussia will get yet another name change.
    • So essentially, Germany wants to kick Prussia out of his basement?
  • More evidence for this theory in the new game in Himayura's page:
  Prussia: I'm done cleaning the library!
  Germany: You really needn't have bothered, nii-san. I can do that much by myself. Since the unification until now I've done everything by myself. This kind of thing is no problem for me.
• I found a pretty good headcanon somewhere (will post the source when I find it) which theorized that Prussia was sentenced to die after dissolution, but when Germany learned about this, he felt compelled to save his bro (and probably also felt indebted to him since Prussia shaped a lot of German history) and make an agreement to split his land up into two: West and East, with Prussia taking the East, so that he'd still somehow live. Probably not historically accurate, but it seems plausible.

East and West Germany are still quite distinct, despite not being seperate states. Prussia has at least as much of a separate existence as South Italy.

Prussia is not Prussia

At least, not in present day strips. He's actually New Prussia

• Poor Canada...
  Oi oi, North!
  • That's the reason why he likes maple syrup.
  • Conversely, he lives on as a Carribean Island. His association with Canada is through their mutual buddy, Cuba.

Prussia is the Reichtangle personified

From Polandball. They both represent the same thing, after all. This would explain why Prussia never died: He's the Fourth Reich.

• Maybe the Reichtangle is Prussia's true form?

New Prussia is Prussia's kid

And by New Prussia I mean this kid, not the town in Ontario. I can so see Prussia pulling a Sat W!Iceland, pulling out an urn with his ashes in it...

Prussia is a Zombie

He's dead, he just doesn't really seem to realize it yet. This explains the ghostly appearance and red eyes.

• Except that he's been an albino-esque character since his childhood, when Prussia was very much going strong. Even later, he has the red-white color scheme during the brief depiction of the Austrian Succession, which was again while Prussia would have been very much alive.

Prussia is really Germany

He was so shattered at his brother's death that Germany gained a split personality, also inhabiting the brother that isn't there any longer. The fact that Germany and Prussia are never seen together in official pictures in modern time supports this.

• I would quote if I could find it, but the Word of God is that in the modern era he spends his time running around Europe and bumming off Germany and Austria (basically in a nod to how the region that was once West Germany is still having to work hard and support what used to be East Germany). Germany and Prussia do in fact interact, and with others in the room who would point out if Germany was speaking to himself (Prussia's drama CD). But, beyond that, Prussia is a pretty isolated character if only because of his own stubbornness. It's not out of character for him not to be interacting much (honestly, if he'd been someplace like the Meeting of the World, I would have put that more in the O.o.C. category. He's not really the diplomatic type; and if he did go I'm sure he probably would have gotten bored and left quickly).
  • And, beyond that, Prussia in the modern era is shown interacting with England, France, Austria, and Italy (among others). All four of them are very well acquainted with both Germany and Prussia, all four of them are not known for holding their tongues to spare another's feelings, and at least one most certainly would have said something were this Germany rather than Prussia.

Prussia represents Awesome.

• Prussia and his later incarnation (presumably) East Germany ceased to exist years ago, so how does he still exist in the modern day? Simple: what has Prussia always has, and still does, claim to be?
  • Prussia's claims to be awesome and invincible are mostly about him convincing himself of it, though. Especially in the more-modern eras, as he loses his power and place in the world, he's just trying to keep himself from breaking down completely by assuring himself of his own worth and that his old principles are still valid (note any time he talks about 'tears welling up'). If Prussia truly represents awesome, does that mean that being awesome is nothing but a series of delusions to protect self-esteem?

Prussia became Berlin state

• That explains how he survived. Since Berlin was the capital of Prussia, it would make sense if Gilbert becomes a German state along with Saxony and Bavaria.
  • Problem with that, though... The states don't really get personified in the canon (it's exclusively a fan-thing, I believe, to show something like that). So, if Prussia is simply a state, why would he still be displayed within the main cast? Wouldn't he fall into the same spot as Brandenburg, Saxony, and Bavaria (to simply list German examples, though we could say this for places like the US, China, UK, etc., as well), who are not shown? It's a better bet to say that he's East Germany, as the division between the two is noticeable enough for people to identify themselves as something different.
    • There are characters for Saxony and Bavaria that appear briefly as background characters and in footnotes, but it's debatable if they're still kicking around in the series or not after their assimilation into Germany. But if Prussia is still around, perhaps it's not too much of a stretch to assume that they're living in some capacity too. Brandenburg? Beats me.
    • They're background characters, yes, but the sketch in question was from a historical period where they were both countries (or, rather, as close to countries as any of them were in those days). There's been no sign of them otherwise.
    • It appears that they might (key: might) still be hanging around, if Prussia's words in the recently-released Kuso-game are to be believed. In addition to them, other brothers get referenced.

Prussia doesn't represent anything anymore.

• He's stated that he doesn't have a body in his character CD. While this can be interpreted as him simply not having a country to attach himself to, it's also likely that he literally doesn't have a biological body. It could have dissolved (so to speak) after the German reunification, although it probably started fading in and out of existence starting with the dissolution of Prussia after World War II. He's not dead, though, and he still retains consciousness; he just can't interact with the physical place like he used to.
  • The "no body" statement was actually in a fan-made version of Maru Kaite Chikyuu, it doesn't appear in any official song. However, the idea of poltergeist Prussia is too amusing, or rather a Prussia that only THINKS he's a ghost and tries (and fails since he's not quite dead) to haunt others "awesomely".
    • That is too epic not to exist, someone has to write it.
    • Well, here's a fanart of ghost!Prussia.

Prussia becomes Brandenburg state.

• Prussia grew out of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and Potsdam was its base of power even though Berlin had been its capital. While this would prevent a challenge for the times when the two were separate, it is possible that there was originally a separate Brandenburg-tan as well. They might have faded after the union of Brandenburg-Prussia, or they faded with being dissolved after WWII as well. Nowadays, it is Gilbo who is Brandenburg as some consider it to be the remnant of Prussia.
  • Appears to be Jossed now; Kuso-game refers to Brandenburg and Prussia as separate elder brothers of Germany.

Prussia no longer represents anything, but keeps himself alive out of sheer willpower.

Despite not actually being a country anymore, he's still around in the present day. What keeps him around? His monstrous ego. He's here to stay whether the other nations like it or not, dammit.

• If this is actually the case, then said ego is at least partly justified. You have to admit, surviving on willpower alone is pretty awesome.

Gilbert is now the personification of the Internet

Admittedly, this WMG is based on a fanfic that I read, but somehow it just fits, plus it'd explain a lot. You have to admit, there is something rather Prussia-esque about the Net.

• Or perhaps he's become the personification of everything AWESOME.

During WWI Prussia was actually in control of Germany at the time, Not Germany

Seeing that Prussia dominated the political scene of the German Empire this makes sense, it also explains why Germany didn't meet Italy before, as The German Empire and Austrian-Hungarian Empires were Allies with the Kingdom Of Italy prior to WWI.

• It's quite possible that Gilbert is both the German Empire and Prussia, the same way Arthur is both the United Kingdom and England or how Sadik is both the Ottoman Empire and Turkey.
• History itself would back this. The kingdom of Prussia made of two thirds of the German Empire, and the Emperor of Germany was also the King of Prussia per the constitution.

Prussia is still around because of the House of Hohenzollern

The House of Hohenzollern was the royal family of Prussia and had been since before Old Fritz came along. According to The Other Wiki, despite the abolition of the German monarchy in 1918, the House of Hohenzollern never relinquished their claims to the thrones of Prussia and the German Empire. Members of the family still style themselves princes of Prussia. This troper reasons that if some nut claiming a seafort and calling himself a prince is enough to create a nation-tan, then the descendents of a country's royal family continuing to claim the throne and call themselves princes of the country in question should be enough to keep one going.

Prussia is Germany's militarism

Okay, bear with me here. Modern Germany was created by combining the existing German states into one country. The personalities and defining traits of each of these states mixed together to create the 'Complete' Germany. Some of these states had enough of their own identity to continue existing as seperate beings, one example being Prussia. The question is, what aspect of Germany's psyche would Prussia represent? Looking through history, at the Teutonic Knights, Prussia and supposedly the GDR, all of these states have something in common- state glorification of war/violence, in other words, militarism. However, in the modern day, Germany is very anti-militaristic, so despite him caring about his brother, he is still rejecting what his brother represents. However, he can't make that part of him disappear, so instead Prussia is still hanging about, waiting until his brother needs him again...

• As a modification of that idea, Prussia and Germany are like two halves of a single German whole. Prussia is the militaristic Blood Knight half, rooted in his origins from the Teutonic Knights. Germany is the peaceful cultured half, only fighting because he has to. The current mindset of the German nation determines which one is the leader. Assuming that Ludwig is indeed descended from the Holy Roman Empire he probably started out weak as the German Confederation, under the joint custody of Prussia and Austria. After the Revolutions of 1848 ignited pan-German nationalism he became the ideal of a united Germany, growing older and more robust. Eventually Prussia and Austria got sick of sharing so they went to war over their little brother in 1867. Prussia emerged victorious and began plotting a way to make Ludwig even more awesome. France, determined to stop this from happening, tried to beat the brothers up but failed miserably. The resulting foundation of the German Empire made Ludwig into the nation-tan we see today although Gilbert was still the older brother in the relationship, based on Prussia's historical domination of the Empire. The reason Ludwig was on the Italian front during WWI was because Prussia was fighting the main battle against England and France in the west. After WWI Ludwig became the senior brother as Prussia's influence declined under the non-militaristic Weimar Republic. When the Nazis took over later Prussia (in the form of the Junkers generals), eager to start fighting again, convinced his brother that it was a good idea to take over Europe and once more took the lead, explaining why Ludwig is so hesitant to talk about WWII, as he was basically led by the nose into committing atrocities. After their second defeat the two brothers were split into the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, monitored by the West and Russia respectively. Once the two were reunified Ludwig took over again as the lead brother. However, one day, should crisis again befall Germany, Prussia in all of his awesome glory may again return to the forefront.
  • Supporting that theory is The Blood and Iron speech. I mean just look at Prussia: The Steel-color hair, Blood-color eyes, and Prussia being the predecessor of the very foundations of Germanic Efficiency. When the German peoples need to take up arms again, they will call on the will of Blood and Iron.

The Kingdom of Prussia will return.

And that's why Prussia is still alive.
Whatever it is that decides when a nation-tan is going to die seems to know when a country is gone for good and when it's going to return. If they started to die as soon as their nation stopped existing, then we wouldn't still be on the original Poland. So the nation Prussia is going to return somehow.
I realise that this theory depends somewhat on Himaruya being clairvoyent... but why not?

• This might not be so farfetched. After all, it's been said that East Germany still has a different culture from West Germany, due to living under communism, as well as other factors. Maybe they re-separate into two countries, and the East renames itself Prussia? Then, all they have to do is put the Hohenzollern pretender on the throne...
• Actually, it returned as a reconstituted free state of Prussia. So, not a nation, exactly, but given Himaruya's recent micronation spree (Sealand, Seborga, Wy...) it's pretty plausible.

Prussia has always been alone because he took a vow of celibacy as a Teutonic priest/his extreme religiousness.

Because he was formed as a religious order, and because there are, in fact, legitimate drawings of him in Teutonic priest garb, it seems it could be possible that Prussia claims to hate "clustering" so much and likes to exalt the benefits of being alone simply because he has no other choice. Catholic priests take a vow of celibacy upon entering the papacy.

• So, with the wide-embracing of atheism in East Germany, in the modern era he should be racing to lose it.

Prussia is, in fact, a Cyborg.

After the end of WWII, the Allies had several plans for Germany. One was to split it into three parts and de-industrialize it, which was quickly scrapped due to being near impossible (an industrial society supports more people than a pre-industrial one, so what would happen to all those extra Germans). Instead, they went with the plan we're all familiar with, in which Germany was split into occupied zones governed by the Allies, and later reconstituted as today's Germany. Well, all except for one piece...

Before and during WWII, Hitler centralized Germany as much as he could, removing many of the special rights as he could from German states and cities. For example, Austria ("Österreich" meaning "Eastern Realm") became "Östmark" (meaning Eastern March), basically making it a simple area of Germany and attempting to remove any aspects of a separate Austrian identity. Prussia was another one of the hardest hit, and lost pretty much every right he had as the Kingdom of Prussia within Germany, and later the Free State of Prussia with the Weimar Republic. At the end of WWII, the Allies were set to make this de facto status official, and also disassembled Prussia's body, giving much of it to Poland and Russia. Prussia likely would have died, his people and land (the Russian occupation zone) becoming part of Germany...

However, Russia, not wanting to play nice and deciding instead to not completely reunify Germany as a Federal Republic, declared "We Can Rebuild Him!!!" *Slasher Smile*

Thus, the Russian occupied zone was reconstituted as the German Democratic Republic (GDR). This is represented by having Russia perform some seriously disturbing surgery on Prussia, giving his land and people a new country, but also integrating as much Soviet philosophy, government, doctrine, technology, and culture as he possibly could. This, combined with the fact that Russia annexed historical East Prussia (Kaliningrad), resulted in Robo!Prussia. Robo!Prussia remained a loyal Soviet underling for decades before the USSR collapsed. This, of course, allowed Gilbert to reunify with his brother, although his continued robotic existence kept him somewhat separate from his brother (read: Ostalgie). However, Russia still has control of the Kaliningrad region (which acts as a type of remote control). He simply awaits the best moment to... make use of it.

The personification of Kaliningrad, the Soviet ace-in-the-hole? ... GILBIRD

Prussia is actually Lithuania and Latvia's brother.

The original Prussia was Baltic in language. However, he was only the two Baltics' half-brother, as his father was Germania. When he became the Order of the Teutonic Knights, Prussia tried to forget his original Baltic identity and was successful in doing so.

Prussia is actually the city King Of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

• He still lives with his brother because America didn't feel like putting up with him.
  • Or Prussia, IA, or New Prussia, ON... There are a lot of places.

Yet another why-Prussia-is-still-around WMG

Prussia is still around because he originally wasn't a country at all. He wasn't even Prussia - the original Prussia was a country in Europe that the Teutonic Order took over. Thanks to this unusual origin, the awesomeness that is Prussia will never be destroyed.

• Considering how vicious the knights were, and how vicious Prussia eventually became, it's likely Prussia killed the older nation and took its name.
  • It should actually be noted that, as he did indeed NOT start off as an actual country, he came into being as the Teutonic Order, which still exists to this day. It might be safe to say that is the actual reason he is still alive
  • I should also note the Teutonic Order still exists. And even has a website.

Prussia's died lots of times.

...and keeps coming back because he's awesome.

• My headcanon is this is one of his deaths... yes I know he doesn't look a thing like him... see the below entry?

Prussia is a Time Lord.

Someone had to say it.

• I second this.

The people who did the character songs are Pru Can shippers

If you listen closely to Prussia's Marukaite Chikyuu, you can not hear Canada singing in the background!

Prussia is the Holocaust.

Inspired by a fanfic, yes. But hear me out. There have been a few good fanfics of Prussia being imprisoned behind old Luddy's back. Without anyone to represent them, the people in the concentration camps stopped thinking about themselves as Germans and Poles ect. and started thinking of themselves as members of the concentration camp, later referred to as the holocaust. And Prussia was just chillin without a country. So he took over.

• That could also explain why Prussia is always hanging around or 'bothering' Germany. The Holocaust is STILL happening and he's trying to get Germany to remember that the Holocaust IS still happening even though he isn't in the country very often (or tell him, going off on whatever Germany theory you like, like him not knowing he's a nazi yet).

Prussia and Rance are the same person, just from different dimensions.

This means that somewhere in the Ranceverse, there is a country called Rance, and it is awesome. And hey, Rance's theme is a remix of the East Germany anthem.

Prussia, or a descendant of him, goes on to become the Galactic Empire.

Taken in part from the Legend of the Galactic Heroes WMG, it wouldn't really be surprising if it turns out that Gilbert, or at least his successor, is the Empire, especially given how blatantly German it is (or more specifically, Prussian). Suppose that he manages to be the one who convinced Kaiser Rudolf to forge that interstellar country in the first place? Eventually, he'd be the premier Nation in the galaxy (though perhaps not the only one left, given the Free Planets Alliance, Phezzan and the fringe worlds). On the other hand, it's not hard to imagine this being a tad bitter, especially when Hungary, Austria and Germany would have been long dead by the time the series takes place...

Prussia is still around because of the comic

Okay, this troper's head canon is that nation-tans exist as long as their's enough people who think of themselves as being part of that nation. Even though Prussia ceased to exist as a state decades ago, there were still enough people around who thought of themselves as Prussian to keep Gilbert going (being East Germany for a while may also have helped). However, with the passage of time, the people who identified themselves as Prussian or East German steadily decreased in number and under norml circumstances Gilbert would have eventually faded away. But them, luckily for Prussia, Axis Powers Hetalia comes along and suddenly there's a hoard of Prussia fans, with any of them who have the right ancestry proclaiming themselves to be Prussia (there's an entire group devoted to it on deviantArt for pete's sake). The number of people that Prussia has to his name shoots up and he bounces back from the brink.

• Going off of this, Prussia is the one who told Himaruya about the nation-tans in the first place. The only reason he took so long to appear is that he knew if he was the star or even just one of the leads, other -tans would suspect and his plan to survive would be ruined. So he made it Italy because if it had to be someone else, at least it's cute little Italy. (II'm pretty sure he thinks Italy's cute in canon, I think it's in one of the Drama CDs?)

-I find this an intriguing idea.

Prussia is now a Jagermonster.

He's a powerful soldier with a strong accent, he already looks a little unusual by human standards even if he hasn't got the six-inch fangs, and Episode 12 shows him with the appropriate nice hat. He doesn't wear the Nice Hat in public in order not to attract suspicion. This is why he hasn't aged since the fall of Prussia; he would have become a regular human if he hadn't drunk the Jagerbrau, and now he's a Jager, he'll live for hundreds more years.

• Corollary; Gilbird is his hat.

Prussia is Anonymous.

Prussia lied about how much Frederick praised him.

Frederick the Great was a really avid Francophile. He spoke French better than he spoke German, openly disparaged German culture, and would hire French advisors—even when there were more qualified German applicants. Even though Frederick loved Prussia, he would constantly compare him (unfavorably) to France and suggest that Prussia be more like him. Prussia became a "Well Done, Son" Guy to Frederick, and lied to all the Nations about how much his favorite leader praised him. Prussia still resents France a little over it, though his pride won’t let him admit it.

Prussia is the illuminati''.

either Prussia, (the nation) was a controlled firmly enough by the Illuminati so that after wold war 2 when Prussia was dissolved and the government went on to became Illuminati, Prussia (the tan) became the nation of the behind the scenes one world government, OR when the one world government was formed (some time after world war 2, but don't quote me I'm not 100% sure on the Illuminati back story) the Illuminti nation tan passed him self off as Prussia to hide himself from the other Nation tans.

AH! but why Assassins creed you may ask? Given the plot in assassins creed, (and the fact that creed 3 takes place during the American revolution) it is entirely possible for some one to stumble across a nation tan in the past using the Animus, and then find the still living nation.

Prussia nowadays plays StarCraft in Germany's basement

Alright, I didn't think it up (that honor goes to Irene Flores, AKA beanclam from deviantART), but I was surprised no one put it up yet, so here we go.

The memory of the holocaust is keeping Prussia alive up to this day

Prussia has gray/silver/white air and red eyes because...

One Polandball strip◊ showcases the infamous Blood and Iron speech by Otto von Bismarck. Upon reading that comic and remembering Prussia's aggressive and proud behavior it's a very good chance that his eyes and hair are the eponymous Blood and Iron.

Prussia now represents the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation

It makes sense. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation is a German government organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of the cultural legacy of the former State of Prussia. It wouldn't be to much of a stretch for him to now represent an organization whose literal goal is to uphold the legacy of what he used to be.

Prussia's not actually fading: that was just Himayura trolling us.

It's worth noting that some of Prussia's leaders had Hemophilia, and we have seen that Nations can have disorders (see North Italy canonically having Phimosis as an example). So, it's quite possible that the reason that Prussia's wound hadn't healed was because he has hemophilia, and we just didn't see it until now because Himayura was either waiting for a good time to reveal it, or because he wanted to mess with us. (Or both, knowing Himayura.) And as it's basically been confirmed that Prussia represents East Germany, he's in no danger of fading: even now, the former East Germany has a drastically different culture and economy, and people still think of themselves as being East German. So Prussia's likely not going anywhere soon, and just has hemophilia. (And really, would a dog know what hemophilia is?)

Spain originally gave Gilbird to Prussia.

Chicken chicks don't usually perch on people's heads and can't fly as well as Gilbird has, so it seems likely Gilbird's an adult yellow bird. Who's an at-least-fanon friend of Prussia's whose territory contains the Canary Islands?

Austria is Prussia's "Well Done, Son" Guy and Broken Pedestal

Prussia's cleaning game and a comment from the author both confirm that the germanic states that were united to birth Germany were Prussia's older siblings. That would also make Austria Prussia's older sibling. So why is it never commented on and why does he torment Austria at every chance? Because Prussia started out as less than a nation. He was just an order of german knights who clawed and scratched his way into nationhood, first as a recognized military state, then as a dukedom, and finally a kingdom in his own right. But Austria, his big brother, never gave him the recognition or praise he felt he had earned for all of his hard work, so Prussia conquered and unified the rest of the Germanic states and left Austria out of it out of spite, and decided that he'd be a better big brother to Germany than Austria ever was to him.