The central cast, de-chibified. From left to right: Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
Scandinavia and the World is a popular webcomic by DeviantArt member Humon. It is a comic about stereotypes, history and culture in the form of national personifications interacting with one another (not unlike Axis Powers Hetalia), but focusing on, well, Scandinavia. The main characters are Denmark, a cheerful, but culturally naive party boy; Norway, a friendly and calm nature lover; and Sweden, the uptight technology expert.An Animated Adaptation (for the Web) is in the works, though progress is sporadic. Now has its own wiki (still being built).Humon has two other webcomics, Love And Tentacles and Niels. In addition, her DA account regularly features works based on Northern European folklore, with plenty of notes.
All Germans Are Nazis: Averted in an interesting way. Nazi Germany and Modern Germany seem to be two separate entities (as opposed to the latter being simply the former after a very thorough makeover), evidenced by the fact that they both can appear in the same comic — wherein Modern Germany is outright terrified of his fascist counterpart. Moreover, Modern Germany is also terrified of being thought of as a Nazi.
All There in the Manual: Humon's comments provide a lot of background about the characters, especially the ones she hasn't introduced into the actual comic.
America seems to count to an extent. His treatment of Canada seems to be the signs of severeArmored Closet Gay. Since he has the mind of a very confused teenager, it's not that unlikely. On the other hand, he was seen dating Sister Mexico (though one character proposed that Mexico was America's beard).
Until a chart listing the relationships between certain countries was released (here), it was hard to tell what New South Wales's gender was. Because she was a sheep.
Also Christiania, Denmark's son. Yes, son, despite the rather feminine-sounding name and strong resemblance to Sister Denmark. The only person (besides Denmark, of course) who notices, however, is Japan, because he's used to sorting the girly-looking guys from actual girls.
And Sister Denmark, who is fine with being picked up by France for some girl-on-girl action (here), then when it turns out that she's been mistaken for a long-haired guy by France, asks to borrow Sister Sweden's strap-on.
The Nordic Lodge now only has two rectal thermometers thanks to Denmark's misunderstanding.
There was also the matter of Sweden's Stone Age artifact, although that was more understandable.
The Atoner: Modern Germany has shades of this, out of guilt for Nazi Germany's actions... which doesn't make any sense as Nazi Germany is a completely different character from Modern Germany.
Fridge Brilliance: The characterization of the different nations is related to national stereotypes. Germany has literally become a different person since World War II.
Betty and Veronica: Apparently, Karelia and Sister Sweden fit these roles for Finland. (Except for a little detail: Karelia hasn't been introduced in the comics yet.)
Sweden gets one when he finds out Sister Sweden slept in Finland's room and he himself slept with Sister Finland. They were all really drunk the night before — it makes sense in context.
Also, Denmark after Sweden conquers Norway from him.
Norway after Denmark kills his albino moose. With never-ending rain of sadness.
Britain Versus The UK: Subverted; "England" seems to symbolise a more British stereotype and wears a Union Jack shirt, but later on Wales and Scotland show up and he explains he wears it because the Cross of St. George makes him look like a member of the Red Cross.
Actually it is Ireland rather than Wales that complained about the Union Flag... which is either a case of Artistic License - Geography (Ireland isn't in the UK at all so England really doesn't speak for him) or a rather weird Genius Bonus (the Union Flag is a combination of the English, Scottish and Irish crosses — but the Irish cross has long since fallen out of use and been forgotten about in both countries).
More recent comics depict him with the Cross of St. George (though that may just be because it's easier to draw).
Denmark expresses interest in having sex with a sheep as soon as the topic turns to Wales/New Zealand. Also, in a borderline example, Sweden orders him not to hump the glass dalah horse he just made.
Inverted: Canada and his sister are the most polite and shy and little pushovers in the comic, and yet they have body hair beyond your wildest dreams. Humon stated it was because she wanted to rip apart the Bishie Laws.
Character Development: Sweden is the character who by far has changed the most since the beginning. He started off with his sexuality being only a subtle implication that was never spoken of and he always dodged about, but over time he slowly has been opening up, and recently acquired a boyfriend. This is because he's something of an Ensemble Dark Horse... for the creator.
Character Tics: Sweden's hair sticks out when he's angry or frustrated.
Compensating for Something: Iceland owns three gigantic cars, goes sky diving down volcanoes, and collects dismembered animal penises... he also happens to have a very small... ahem... population.
Done quite literally with the "Sisters", who are basically female versions of their "Brothers", with the exception of Sister Sweden and Sister America.
New Zealand (though she's a sheep), North Pole, Sami, Mexico (whose spear counterpart is Brother Mexico), France, and the Baltic States are exceptions, however.
You can basically tell if a character is a Distaff Counterpart based on whether they have a title/prefix or not (Brother/Sister).
Even that has one exception: Russia has no sister, only Mother Russia.
And the sisters tend to address each other by country name alone. To themselves, they are the main ones and the brothers are the Spear Counterparts.
Dunce Cap: Norway and Denmark wear them in Sweden's version of the 2011 Norwegian butter crisis strip: here.
Eagleland: While America certainly has most of the Flavor 2 traits, he does genuinely want to help others and is seen as the peace keeper when things get too out of hand. Essentially he's a Type 2 who aspires to be Type 1. Sister America, on the other hand, is 100% Type 2.
Empathy Pet: Sister America's dog, and ocasionally Norway's fish.
Sister America is basically Paris Hilton with Strawman Liberal overtones.
Canada's role as an inferior to America is very similar to Hetalia's version. Although this may have more to do with drawing on shared stereotypes/truths of America overshadowing Canada.
America in some of the earlier comics reminds us of Calvin, especially here.
Japan and Sister Japan have always shut eyes based on looking stereotypically Asian, except when REALLY shocked.
From what's been seen of the Koreas and China, it's apparently only the Japans that are like this. Most likely done as a subversion to the massive eyes seen in anime. Then again, we've only seen South Korea once, and North Korea's face (and entire body) is hidden underneath his flag....
The picture of the Canada siblings in swimwear. Let's just say... body hair. This was largely the point, or at least to point out that the author thinks the disgust of it is largely ridiculous. Then again, some of us like a bit of fluff.
And Denmark in drag here. As Humon says in the commentary, Denmark does not do pretty and sparkly well. The entire strip is inspired by this multinational rendition of All You need Is Love (Denmark at 2:05).
Fanservice: Let's just say there are a lot of strips where the characters are more detailed than usual...
Female Gaze: Once when asked why, if she is a feminist, most of her characters are male, Humon replied that as a (mostly) straight woman, she likes drawing men for herself to ogle. She has also expressed irritation with fanworks that present/describe all the male characters as Bishōnen, since she went out of her way to depict numerous different types.
The Fundamentalist: America. Contrast that with his sister, who's a Hollywood liberal.
Fun Size: The style of most strips. Drawings that are not strips are in a more realistic style, and one comic was drawn like manga for artistical reasons.
Gag Boobs: Sister Sweden. And Sister America has very large fake ones. Sister Germany's can literally break your hands.
Gainaxing: Inverted. Sister America's boobs don't move at all.
Gender Bender: In one strip, Humon turns Åland into a girl ("Tada! You [and Sweden] are now free to make out!").
Surprisingly not an America-only trait. The Scandinavians don't know anything about South America, America mixes up Sweden and Norway while forgetting Denmark, and Sister America thought Scandinavia was a country till she discovered the joys of shipping.
Half-Identical Twins: Most of the sisters look just like their male counterparts, but with longer hair and no facial hair. It's most pronounced with the Denmarks, where the sister even has boyish features and a skinny figure.
Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Sweden in the earlier comics. With the introduction of Åland into the comics, however, hiding his sexuality has been jossed. Sweden still tries to hide it. Åland, not so much.
Headbutt of Love: Norway and Denmark pull of one of these here. According to the author, it was because drawing them hugging would look weird in the comic's art style.
When Finland's puppy suddenly grows Hitler's mustache and hairdo, and gives Germany a Nazi salute, Germany LITERALLY bluescreens.
Heteronormative Crusader: Brother America, who shares Fred Phelps's extreme right-wing views of homosexuality. Of course, he's confusing gay people with flamingos....
I'm Standing Right Here: In one strip, America keeps mistaking Norway for Sweden and can't seem to see Denmark, implying that he is that oblivious. In the last frame, we see things from his perspective: Norway looks just like Sweden, Denmark isn't seen... but we see South America standing beside America, when he wasn't visible earlier! Seems like America's not the only one with selective blindness...
Norway: Wait, wasn't I supposed to pick up Kven today? Kven: ... I'm already here.
Incest Is Relative: America has a lot with Canada, who is his adopted brother; England is America's birth father and adopted Canada from France.
Kuudere: Sister Finland. Though she has a "don't-give-a-damn" personality like her brother, she has a soft spot for Sweden.
Laser-Guided Karma: Finland shoves Åland and Sweden off the end of a dock into the water. Two panels later, Åland comes back up screaming that he found a bunch of old 18th-century champagne bottles that are worth a fortune, and proclaims to Sweden that "we'll keep one and open it on the cruise trip I'll be taking you on around the world!"
A Man Is Not a Virgin: Played straight with America. He is apparently a virgin because Mexico won't sleep with him if they're not married, and America won't sleep with Canada. His virginity is used, as per the trope, to show what an immature, unmanly wimp he really is, at least once going all-out by having him break down crying when an attractive female propositioned him.
Mistaken for Racist: In one comic, Denmark mistakes South Africa for a monkey, causing South Africa to attack Denmark. This stems from the stereotype that all Danes are racist without realizing it.
Most likely, it is also a reference to this where a Danish TV host mistook a picture of an African man for a monkey. Also, far from all Danes are racist but are often seen this way because the most racist political party in the country is also the (arguably) most influencial one — plus that whole thing with the drawings.
The Napoleon: Canada threatens in one comic to America that just because he's America's hat, doesn't change the fact that Canada is on top. America just thought this was hilarious.
Iceland. Not only is he completely unperturbed by the dark matter demon in his bathroom (and can't understand why Denmark and Norway are so afraid) but he also collects, um, penises. Word Of God is that his slightly twisted mind is a result of living close the Hekla, the gateway to Hell.
Norse By Norsewest: Being a comic about stereotypes, each character shows varying shades of this trope. The classical Hollywood stereotype isn't that prominent, however, due to the stereotypes coming from a Danish viewpoint. The comic's premises actually inverts this, as it shows the Scandinavian perception of other countries.
Nosebleed: Sister Japan has a fair few, thanks to Netherlands and Denmark.
Patriotic Fervor: Inverted with modern Germany, who doesn't like flying his flag around since it might make his people prideful, but played straight with the Scandinavian trio, seeing it as a symbol of joy and happiness. And when it's someone's birthday.
Really Gets Around: Sweden has slept with every member of Finland's family, and one of them wasn't due to alcohol. His sister's kind of the biggest skank in time and space too. However, a removed comic stated that Denmark is the country that has the most sex, and to date he has slept with Norway, Sweden, Sister Sweden, Sister Australia, quite possibly Netherlands and maybe even Germany.
Real Men Wear Pink: Finland and Sister Sweden enjoy using a strap-on. Finland seems to hold no shame in this, and no one else is brave enough to mock the knife wielding sociopath about it.
Strawman Political: America flip-flops between left and right depending on the comic. Though with Sister America getting more characterization, he might be staying to the right.
Humon has stated that the America siblings basically have the minds of teenagers, making them incredibly opinionated to the extreme, but completely unwilling to do any research whatsoever on anything they're talking about. Leading to "debates" on whether gays are penguins or flamingos, and whether it's right to step on their eggs.
Sweden: No thanks. I don't look at porn that has women in it.
There Are No Girls on the Internet: Averted on the official site, where members who have their gender set to "female" on the options outnumber those who have set it to male.
Vague Age: All the characters to an extent, but Denmark in particular. He mostly looks and acts like he's in his early to mid-20s, but he has two kids, one of whom is clearly a teenager. Also, he is either the oldest or the youngest of the Nordics depending upon whether he is viewed as a political or a geological entity... yeah, it's complicated.
Wearing a Flag on Your Head: People wear flags on their shirts. In fact, every article of clothing and cloth item the characters own bears their respective flag design, including royal crowns and bed pillows.
When You Coming Home, Dad?: England was a rather inattentive parent to America. Now, any time America wants England's attention, he acts out. One such event was the Boston Tea Party.
Wholesome Crossdresser: Sweden and Iceland in the "Eurovision Winners" strip, and Sweden again as St. Lucia in the December 2010 calendar page illustration.
Humon frequently makes journal entires giving details about the characters, but also tends to delete them shortly afterwards because she likes to let the viewers find out about the characters themselves, not by some Informed Abilities.
Also, there's much debate about the sexuality of the characters. So far, the only confirmed facts are that Sweden is gay (currently in a relationship with nearby island nation Åland) and that Finland is straight (in an on-again-off-again relationship with Sister Sweden). She also stated that she does not think the characters are actual embodiments of the countries like in Axis Powers Hetalia, but more the personifications of the inhabitants of those countries.
Yamato Nadeshiko: Sister Japan is a quiet, polite, and shy girl who is very proper, but at the same time is also quite the Covert Pervert.
Yandere: Sister Finland dabbles in this, having kidnapped Sweden at least once in order to have her way with him.
Yaoi Fangirl: Sister America if thiscomic is anything to go by. Sister Japan was also introduced as such.
is a popular webcomic by DeviantArt member Humon. It is a comic about stereotypes, history and culture in the form of national personifications interacting with one another (not unlike Axis Powers Hetalia), but focusing on, well, Scandinavia. The main characters are Denmark, a cheerful, but culturally naive party boy; Norway, a friendly and calm nature lover; and Sweden, the uptight technology expert.An Animated Adaptation (for the Web) is in the works, though progress is sporadic. Now has its own wiki
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