History AxisPowersHetalia / QToZ

This page covers tropes in ''WebComic/AxisPowersHetalia''.

[[AxisPowersHetalia/AToH Tropes A To H]] | [[AxisPowersHetalia/IToP Tropes I to P]] | '''Tropes Q to Z'''

* TheQuietOne:
** 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 WordOfGod, he is quiet and aloof around people he doesn't consider friends. Of course, he considers ''everyone'' his friend, so it never comes up.
* ReadingTheEnemysMail: The Allies get a hold of Germany's diary and find little to help them defeat them.
* RealMenCook: 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''...
* ReallyGetsAround:
** 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.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: 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.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Canada gave this to America once. It went on for ''three hours'' and he only stopped because England intervened.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Played straight when Prussia is an actual threat, but subverted when he's in his usual ButtMonkey role. [[note]] Though more recently, Prussia has TechnicolorEyes (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.[[/note]]
** Subverted with Romania, who despite having red eyes is a cheerful and nice guy. Well, unless you're [[SitcomArchnemesis Hungary]].
* RedOniBlueOni:
** Prussia is HotBlooded, energetic, and wilder than his younger brother Germany, who is serious and businesslike. Prussia even has red eyes to contrast Germany's IcyBlueEyes.
** Denmark is loud, boisterous, and fun loving while Sweden is a PerpetualFrowner. 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 HairTriggerTemper 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 HotBlooded Turkey is the Red to the relaxed, thoughtful Greece's Blue.
* RefugeInAudacity: 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.
* RegionalRiff:
** Japan's introduction in the anime was accompanied by flute music, and one of his {{Image Song}}s opened with the sound of TheThingThatGoesDoink.
** 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 ImageSong uses guitar music with a distinctly Spanish sound.
** Turkey's version of "Hatafutte Parade" used the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrygian_dominant_scale Freygish scale.]]
* {{Reincarnation}}: In volume four, France meets the reincarnation of Joan of Arc.
* RepeatCut: In episode 13 of season five, this happened both times that America came through the window.
* RetiredBadass: Sweden was once a terror, controlling the Baltic region and Scandinavia. In the present, he's calmed down and put his efforts toward welfare.
* RevisitingTheRoots: The series originally focused on UsefulNotes/WW2, but gradually expanded to other time periods. When it was serialized in ''Birz'' magazine, it returned to the UsefulNotes/WW2 timeframe.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: This is how Himaruya always seems to draw animals.
* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Many of the stories set in modern times are this.
* TheRival: 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.
* RoswellThatEndsWell: The "[[LuckyCharmsTitle Assault ★]] [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/nonlinear.php?lim The neighbor’s Roswell Incident"]] comics address this incident.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Some of the RealLife examples listed, such as UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat, have made appearances in the series and are shown as being active in warfare and politics.
* RubberyWorld: 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 RubberyWorld.
* RuleOfCute: The whole look of the show, especially the character designs, is done with this in mind.
* RuleOfFunny: This is what the series runs on, and is also why many more serious aspects of history (such as the Holocaust) are not covered.
* RuleSixtyThree:
** 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."
* RunningGag:
** 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.
* RussianGuySuffersMost: Inverted and played straight. [[http://community.livejournal.com/hetalia/1045.html 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.
* SailorEarth: People tend to design their own countries frequently.
* SanitySlippage: This happened to Russia as a result of all the bloodshed and violence in his history.
* SantaClaus: He made an appearance in the 2011 Christmas event.
* SarcasmBlind: Denmark doesn't notice when Norway insults or mocks him...but it may be a case of SelectiveObliviousness.
* SatelliteCharacter: The Holy Roman Empire. Is he the boss? Does he just own the house? He doesn't interact much with the others. [[spoiler: He's not Germany, by the way. Or is he? [[EpilepticTrees Hmmm...]]]]
* SavingChristmas: 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.
* SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud:
** "Patapata~! Patapata~!" The sound effect for flapping for Italy's white flag of surrender.
** France's "Slap slap slap slap slap~" counts too.
* SayMyName:
** 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 AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther - America has just been hit by an alien's transformative attack, and England freaks out. Then he gets hit too.[[/note]]
* {{Scanlation}}: This is how the series was originally available in English. While there are official translations of the published manga, the translation of the {{Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia 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.[[/note]]
* ScarfOfAsskicking: Russia and Netherlands each have one.
* SceneryCensor:
** While walking around mostly naked on a tropical island, Italy's [[MemeticMutation 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.
* SceneryPorn: Season five had some beautiful backgrounds, especially [[AnimationBump early on in the season]].
* ScreamDiscretionShot:
** 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.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Italy and his ''entire army'' do this early in the series. Germany finds him and drags him back, however.
* SecretDiary:
** 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.
* SecurityCling:
** 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}}: [[HoYay Yes]], ''[[EstrogenBrigade really]]''. Though starting out online and still being a part-time webcomic makes its demographic [[GenreBusting more ambiguous]], and ''World Stars'' makes the demographic jump to Shonen.
* SelectiveObliviousness: 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.
* SempaiKohai: When Sealand learns that Iceland tried to auction himself on eBay as well, he proclaims that they should be friends due to their "similar circumstances," and that Iceland should call him his "superior." Iceland doesn't know what he means, which drives Sealand to despair.
** Hutt River considers himself Wy's superior, much to her annoyance, and he chastises her for not greeting him.
* {{Sentai}}: Has been mentioned in the Drama CD and during the FourthWallMailSlot. America is the [[HeroicWannabe Red Ranger]] of course! America and Sealand are fans.
* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: 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.
* SequelSnark: The published manga volumes frequently end in "To be continued... maybe." The anime follows suit.
* SexyDiscretionShot: When Greece offers Japan a [[HoYay "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.
* SexySantaDress:
** [[AmbiguouslyGay 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.
* SharpDressedMan: Many male nations have at least a few instances of being this, but Luxembourg and Hutt River have this as their usual wear.
* SheIsAllGrownUp:
** 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.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend:
** Sweden calls Finland his wife. Finland does not like it at all.
** Also, Japan would like you to acknowledge that [[OrWasItADream he did NOT have sex with Greece]]...
** Switzerland says he and Austria [[HeterosexualLifePartners were never friends]].
* ShipperOnDeck:
** Japan may count. When Italy asks for advice on designing a war poster, he suggests Italy and Germany's names under an UmbrellaOfTogetherness.
** Austria also gives Germany advice during the Valentine's comics.
* ShipTease: And there's a ''lot'' of it.
* ShirtlessScene:
** Germany and Italy have had a few. [[HoYay 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...
* ShortFilm: ''[[Manga/AxisPowersHetalia 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.
* ShoutOut:
** There have been a couple of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' 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 Franchise/HarryPotter 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: "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis This]]... [[MemeticMutation is]]... [[Film/ThreeHundred where Sparta once stood]]."
** In episode 7 of ''World Series'', a variation on the music from ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' plays in the background during the segments where England is training.
** In [[http://hetalia.livejournal.com/11825767.html one strip]], France imagines Germany as Light from ''Manga/DeathNote'' (JustAsPlanned CatchPhrase included.)
** Finland's last name is a reference to ''Literature/TheKalevala''. Namely, to Väinämöinen, the main hero of the story.
** When Japan is staying with America, ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' can be seen on America's TV.
** Hungary’s FryingPanOfDoom 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 ''Film/RareExportsAChristmasTale''.
** The 2011 Halloween Event was full of Shout Outs:
*** England came to the party dressed up as Literature/SherlockHolmes.
*** The former Soviet nations came dressed up as characters from ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''.
*** France was wearing a Literature/PeterPan costume and Monaco was Tinker Bell.
*** Switzerland and Liechtenstein came as Myth/WilliamTell and his son.
*** China, Hong Kong, and Macau were dressed up as characters from ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest''.
*** India and Prussia were dressed up as characters from the UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} film ''Veer'', and even reenacted [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEfsrieYjMg a dance number]] from the film.
*** Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, and Romano all came as characters from ''Literature/LittleRedRidingHood''.
*** Belgium also mentioned ''VideoGame/ThePath'' at the party and encouraged the other characters to buy it.
*** Taiwan was dressed up as Hikaru, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Microsoft’s Silverlight program.
*** Turkey, Greece, and Egypt were characters from ''Literature/ArabianNights''.
*** America changed into a Franchise/{{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 ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'', England’s costume was from the original comic series.
** In the 2013 Halloween event, Bulgaria showed up with [[Manga/AttackOnTitan Eren Yeager’s Survey Corps uniform]].
** China's Shinatty-chan toy is a rip-off of Franchise/HelloKitty.
** In the [[AprilFoolsPlot April Fools episode]] from season five, Russia's embarrassing photo showed him cuddling with a Literature/{{Cheburashka}} doll.
** Greece [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/comicdiary.php?nikkimannga6 once mentioned]] the movie ''[[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever The Attack of the]]'' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Attack_of_the_Giant_Moussaka Giant Moussaka.]]''
** After a meeting, Italy declared that working things out in the EU was too hard so he was going to search for [[Franchise/DragonBall dragon balls]] instead.
** In ''World Stars'', Italy was shown cosplaying [[Manga/OnePiece Monkey D. Luffy]].
** The English dub added several more to the anime:
*** The second time Creator/ToddHaberkorn 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.[[/note]], he told the director he could either do the realistic accent, or a straight-up [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros 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 [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Stewie Griffin]].
*** When the Allies attack the Axis while they’re stranded on an island, America yells out “China, [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} 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, "[[Theatre/{{Macbeth}} 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 ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''.
*** 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 [[VideoGame/DukeNukem3D kick ass and chew bubble gum]].
*** In the beginning of TheMovie, the characters are arguing about who makes the best movies, after England insists that his movies are superior, France sarcastically comments that "[[Series/DoctorWho Time-traveling phone booths]] can only go so far."[[note]]Knowing that he is a huge fan of the series, Creator/JamieMarchi put that reference into the script specifically for ''Series/DoctorWho'' fan Creator/JMichaelTatum.[[/note]]
*** Also in the dub of TheMovie, Germany tells Italy, "There's no crying in [[Film/ALeagueOfTheirOwn 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 [[Franchise/XMen hone their mutant pow]]- ahem. I mean, live the student life.
*** In the same episode as the previous example, Germany says, "[[GratuitousGerman Jawol]]! We will interview all of the clubs, even the one for that [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic little girl pony cartoon]]!"
* ShowWithinAShow:
** In one of the webcomics, Estonia makes a movie.
** Most of the live events during the holidays are this.
* ShownTheirWork: 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.
* [[BrotherSisterIncest Sibling Incest]]: Some of the ShipTease can be seen this way, depending on whether or not viewers interpret them as NotBloodSiblings.
** 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'.
* ShrinkingViolet:
** Latvia, combined with him being ProneToTears.
** 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.
* SiblingYinYang: North and South Italy; Switzerland and Liechtenstein; America and Canada; Prussia and Germany.
* SickEpisode: 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 [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext putting a hamburger on his head]].
* SignatureLaugh:
** Prussia's "kesesese!"
** America's [[{{Emoticon}} DDDDDDDDD]] (A big ShrugOfGod 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")
* SignificantBirthDate: 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).[[/note]] (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.[[/note]]
** 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.[[/note]]
** 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)
* SilkHidingSteel: Lithuania, from Europe but [[GenderFlip 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 [[BewareTheNiceOnes formidable in battle]]. However, he also happens to be the main [[TheWoobie 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 [[TheChewToy pushed around]] by Poland, Russia, and Belarus.
* SirSwearsalot:
** 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.
* SitcomArchnemesis:
** 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 ''Manga/HetaliaHetaween2013'' party.
** Ladonia treats Sealand as this, but Sealand likes Ladonia and calls him "interesting."
* SixthRanger: Canada's presence is rarely noticed by the other Allies and is almost always mistaken for America, even by his older brother England.
* TheSlacker: Latvia is amazing at things if he actually ''tries''...but he doesn't work hard unless he's ordered (and threatened).
* SlasherSmile:
** Usually [[StepfordSmiler smiling calmly]], Russia usually pulls this out by the end of a strip he's in.
** In one strip, Japan [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/warriorseadra/hetaliaslasher.png imagines Italy pulling one.]]
** In another strip, America has this while [[ChainsawGood wielding a chainsaw]] along with ScaryShinyGlasses. 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.
* SlaveCollar:
** 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. [[spoiler: Rome was somehow getting them all to wear them because he wanted to make Italy's costume popular.]]
* SleepCute:
** 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 [[Manga/HetaliaBloodbath2010 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.
* SlidingScaleOfGenderInequality: 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.
* SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness: For most of the series, it falls on the silly side, but it is occasionally serious without moving into any jarring MoodWhiplash (most of the time). The series cannot be taken too seriously without dire consequences.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Denmark thinks he's amazing, as he spends one strip bragging about his accomplishments and history, to the point of an ImagineSpot with the other Nordics praising him. In reality, they're completely unimpressed.
* TheSmartGuy: 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 [[SmartPeoplePlayChess great at chess]].
* SmokingIsCool:
** Cuba and his famous Cuban cigars.
** Netherlands, too, with his Pipe of Asskicking.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Subverted. While the female nations were initially (and still are) outnumbered by the males, the commonly recurring ones have since become varying degrees of EnsembleDarkhorse and AscendedExtra (notably Hungary, Belarus, Liechtenstein, Taiwan and Ukraine). And that's not counting the Nyotalia counterparts.
* SoftWater:
** 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 TheMovie.
* SomethingAboutARose: France is frequently shown with roses in a romantic manner.
* SorryOciffer: 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!
* SoundEffectBleep: 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.
* SpeechBubblesInterruption: Happens sometimes in the webcomic and manga.
* SpellBook: England has been shown using one when casting magical spells.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: ''Many'' examples where the human names are concerned.
* SpheroidDropship: The invading Pict aliens in TheMovie travel in one of these.
* SpitTake:
** Prussia does this when he finds out that Germany is not drinking beer as part of his new diet.
** He also did it to UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat 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.
* SplitScreenPhoneCall:
** 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.
* SpoiledBrat: 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.
* SpotlightStealingSquad: 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.
* SpotOfTea: England, of course. Japan and China have also been seen drinking tea. Macau is fond of tea as well, while India has been seen with a teacup on one piece of official art.
* {{Squee}}: Spain did this when he saw that Chibitalia and Chibi Romano's hair curls formed a heart.
-->"So cuuuuuute!"
* StalkerWithACrush:
** 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, [[BrotherSisterIncest let's get married married married married...]]
** Russia to Lithuania and China.
** Holy Rome was this to Chibitalia at first.
* StalkingIsFunnyIfItIsFemaleAfterMale: Belarus' obsession with her big brother is played for humor.
* StandardSnippet: The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Riff Oriental Riff]] was used in episode 23 when Germany, Italy, and Japan stumble upon a Chinatown.
* StatusQuoIsGod: 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.
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: 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.
* StealthPun:
** 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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singing_revolution 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.
* TheStinger: TheMovie 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 [[spoiler: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.]]
* StockAnimalName: Japan's pet dog and cat are named Pochi and Tama.
* StockForeignName: 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.
* StockFootage:
** Applies to the anime with [[FanNickname "That F**king Island", as some fans refer to it]]. 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. Some Website/YouTube comments speculate that they were trying to make fun of [[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya Endless Eight]].
** 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. [[AnachronismStew To the sound of an alarm clock in the 17th century.]]
* TheStoic: Sweden, Norway and Germania are this. Japan also counts, though he's had a few NotSoStoic moments. Moldova becomes this when Russia is around.
* StoicSpectacles:
** 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.
* TheStraightMan: Lithuania to Poland and Norway to Denmark, respectively.
* StripArchive: The series started as a webcomic, and much of it can still be read for free on Himaruya's website.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: 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.
* SubbingForSanta: One of the Christmas events involved the nations helping Finland deliver presents because Santa disappeared.
* SummonMagic: England, and his summoning spell is full of [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]] in the dub.
* SummoningRitual: 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!
* SuperDeformed: Done sometimes in the series. It shows up a lot in Himaruya's artwork and the merchandise.
* SupernaturalIsPurple : 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 PurpleIsPowerful with the Habsburgs, etc.).
* SuperSentaiStance: France, China, and Turkey do this in volume four when they are praising the Gourmet Food Club.
* SuperSpeed: Italy, but only when he's running away from something, and France too.
* SuperStrength: 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.
* SuperStrongChild: America was able to swing a full-grown buffalo around as a child, and Sealand is this in the present day.
* SuperWindowJump: America does this a couple of times in some of the [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/event.php?xmas 2009 Christmas strips]] and the anime episode based on them.
-->'''England:''' Hey! The window!
* SupremeChef: France, Italy, Austria, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Turkey, and possibly Belgium are shown to be this, either through the series itself or via WordOfGod.
* SurpriseJump:
** 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.
* SurpriseSantaEncounter: [[UrExample Finland]] and [[TropeCodifier America]] have both dressed as Santa Claus at one point. Poland did and turned up expecting presents.
* SwappedRoles: Germany and Italy have swapped roles briefly just to see what it would be like.
* SweatDrop: Germany got one of these when Austria [[MakesSenseInContext sat on him like a bench]].
* SweetTooth: Turkey and Belgium are stated to be this, and Finland loves to eat sweet food and drink alcohol together.
* SympatheticPOV: Given that some of the countries have historically been considered "[[WrittenByTheWinners bad guys]]..."
* TactfulTranslation: 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.
* TakeAThirdOption: 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.
* TakeOffYourClothes: During the 2010 Christmas event, the nations had to find a person with [[spoiler: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!
* TakeThatAudience: 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!"
** [[SelfDeprecation Funimation is based in Texas, however.]]
* TheTalk: In the anime, after Italy asks France what "sexual intercourse" means, the latter is only too happy to explain.
* TalkingAnimal:
** 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.
* TamerAndChaster: In the series along with becoming LighterAndSofter, the {{Fanservice}}, while still very existent, is a lot lesser than in the earliest strips. The earlier strips had a lot more BlackComedyRape and much more HomoeroticSubtext, some so blatant it could only be called text. Some of the old fanservicey strips were even [[OldShame 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 YaoiFangirls, animating some of the raunchiest strips such as April Fools 2011 and Buon San Valentino.
* TaremeEyes: Italy, America, Liechtenstein, Finland, and Lithuania are the most notable examples, and often seen with {{Tsurime}} counterparts (see below.)
* UsefulNotes/TarotCards: Romania uses them during his fortune-telling.
* TeamDad: Austria in the Chibitalia chapters.
** Denmark tries his hardest to be this to the Nordics, as he sees himself as [[TheLeader their leader]].
* TeamTitle: Half of it, anyway, with the other half being a CharacterTitle.
* TheTeamWannabe: 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).
* TearsOfFear:
** Italy gets teary eyed whenever he's scared. It can range from tears simply welling up in his eyes to outright OcularGushers.
** 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 ProneToTears.
** A [[{{Muggles}} human child]] once, when he gets scared by Sweden's facial expression.
* TechnicolorEyes: 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.
* {{Tengu}}: Japan dresses as one for the ''Manga/Hetaween2011'' event...[[SlaveCollar at least]] [[FoodEnd at first]].
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics:
** 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.
* ThemeTuneCameo: The first two endings have been sung by Italy in-universe (his voice changed in the middle of Maru Kaite Chikyuu, and in ''World Series'' 34 Germany tells him to stop humming Hatefutte Parade).
* ThickLineAnimation: In the mochi segments of season five.
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Italy to Germany, at least early in the series.
* ThroughAFaceFullOfFur: The nekotalia stories show the cat versions of the nations having a LuminescentBlush like their human counterparts.
* ThrowThePin: Neither Italy nor Romano can seem to figure out how to properly use a grenade.
* ThwartedEscape: 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.
* TickleTorture: In the dub, France threatens Italy with this after he asked for his paintings back.
* TimeDissonance: 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.
* TinySchoolboy: 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 [[AndCallHimGeorge affectionate head pats]] ''[[BodyHorror crushing]]'' part of his spine.
* TitleOfTheDead: Volume five of the manga has a story titled "Hetalia of the Dead" which shows the nations discussing horror movies from around the world.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Hungary and Liechtenstein, Ukraine and Belarus. Vietnam and Taiwan. Played with for the last one.
* TotallyRadical: 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'!
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: 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.
* TransformationRay: In the webcomic, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20161222051553/http://www.hetarchive.net:80/scanlations/comicdiary.php?nkmng 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 [[{{Beat}} paused]], then pointed the gun at himself. This is TruthInTelevision, as the United States did [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bomb research a weapon like this.]]
* TripleNipple: France may count as such ever since the strip "Let's Assist the French Economy!", wherein he claimed Italy's right nipple, [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/nonlinear.php?korusika which apparently]] represents Corsica. At the very least, Italy is down to one...
* TrueCompanions: 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, [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/APH_Chp2_p4.jpg especially]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i_i9-2.gif when]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/APH_IndeDay_p5.jpg around]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tdn6.jpg 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 [[GermanicDepressives 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 [[spoiler: the other nations survived the fall from the spaceship]] in the movie. And while he may be a DrillSergeantNasty 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 [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/nonlinear.php?var 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 [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend 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 LoveFreak 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 [[spoiler: (especially in [[TearJerker "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 [[spoiler: 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 Manga/{{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 [[NiceGuy other side]] being seen.
** The Netherlands is described as one- he's pretty grumpy and even his [[NiceGuy 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.
* TsurimeEyes: Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Prussia, Netherlands, Sweden, Egypt, Germania, and Hesse.
* TurtlePower: [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/nonlinear.php?blog-entry-603 This comic]] illustrates an actual incident when a bunch of baby turtles wandered into a cafe in Italy.
* ATwinkleInTheSky: When Italy was launched into the sky by an EjectionSeat, the last thing seen of him was just a twinkle in the sky.
* TwinkleSmile: This happens to America the first time that he declares "I'm the hero!"
* UmbrellaOfTogetherness:
** Italy makes posters with his and Germany's names under one of these at [[ShipperOnDeck Japan's suggestion]]. Of course, he doesn't understand the meaning behind it.
** Japan and Greece shared an umbrella in one comic.
* UncannyFamilyResemblance: 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.
* UncattyResemblance: All the cats in the Nekotalia strips look like their owners.
* UnclePennybags: Estonia is the wealthy one of the Baltics, and he's said to be glad to help them out monetarily.
* UnexplainedRecovery:
** Russia jumped out of a plane without a parachute and broke his bones. There's no recovery time that we see.
** Switzerland once [[GoryDiscretionShot 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 GoodThingYouCanHeal. "Consensual [[{{Gorn}} guro]]" has a small but keen following, but it's more usually [[DarkerAndEdgier played for horror]], as in fics where Nazi scientists get hold of the nations and do horrible things to them [[NightmareFuel again and again and again]].
*** Subverted for Prussia. A dog has bitten him and [[http://hetascanlations.tumblr.com/post/101431568050/blog-update-private-concert he doesn't recover as fast as usual]]. This is [[TearJerker because his country no longer exists and these traits start to fade away]].
* TheUnFavorite:
** 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 WordOfGod that he kept it and manages to take care of it.
* TheUnintelligible: Sweden, according to {{Fanon}}. In Japanese he speaks with a TohokuRegionalAccent, which is perfectly intelligible if a bit unusual, but due to fan translators' attempts at localizing it this got LostInTranslation and after some {{Flanderization}} it ended up looking as if Sweden was grunting and mumbling instead of just using a dialect.
* UnkemptBeauty: Greece, apparently. Iceland as well.
* UnmovingPlaid: Shows up in the manga and Himaruya's art, most notably on the uniforms in the Hetalia Academy AlternateUniverse.
* UnreadablyFastText:
** 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.
* UnsettlingGenderReveal:
** Young Prussia used to think that young Hungary was a boy; in all fairness, so did she, [[{{Bokukko}} 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 [[http://community.livejournal.com/hetalia/411243.html?thread=11932523#t11932523 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.
* UnsoundEffect: Often used in the webcomic and manga, and has shown up in the anime from time to time as well.
* UnstoppableRage:
** 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.
* UnusualEuphemism: Sealand lampshades this in the dub:
-->'''Sealand:''' Sometimes I ride the goat while swabbing the deck, and that is ''not'' a euphemism for anything.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: 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 PsychopathicManchild.
* UseYourHead: Chibi Romano does this to Spain after the latter made the mistake of tugging on his IdiotHair.
* VagueAge: 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.
* ValleyGirl:
** Totally Poland, like ehmagawd. [[AccentAdaptation 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.
* VaporWear: Moldova normally only wears a shabby, oversized coat. He asks for underwear during the ''Manga/HetaliaHetaween2013'' event.
* VerbalTic:
** 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 [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything "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 [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything "-gates"]].
** Italy's veee~
** And Romano's chigi!
** Don't forget Korea, da ze!
** Or even Spain, ya de!
** [[ValleyGirl Like, I can't believe we totally haven't like, mentioned Poland!]]
* VisibleSigh:
** 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.
* VitriolicBestBuds: 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.
* VocalEvolution:
** Japan's voice in the first Drama CD is very soft. In later [=CDs=] and the anime, [[Creator/HirokiTakahashi the same seiyuu]] switches to a much deeper tone, allegedly because fans complained that he'd sounded too similar to [[Creator/DaisukeNamikawa Italy]].
** In the first [=CDs=], America has a sort of low tenor voice. Then in the anime and consecutive drama [=CD=]s 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 HeavySleeper nature better.
* VolleyingInsults:
** France and England, oh so much. It frequently escalates to physical violence.
** Greece and Turkey at times.
** America and Russia, on occasion.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: 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.
* WebFirst: The series started as a webcomic.
* WeirdnessMagnet: All of the really strange things (even in a FantasyKitchenSink) seem to happen to Estonia, from the mochis to getting sent to the gender-reversed universe...
* WhiteFlag: 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 TheMovie.
* WhiteMagic: Russia gets the Orthodox Church to curse Japan once. And it ''works.''
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The focus in some of the later strips.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Poland and ''both'' Italies when they were young, although that may be another [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeching_(boys) historical in-joke]] (or AccidentallyCorrectWriting). Japan wears an apron over a woman's kimono when he cleans house and cooks.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Austria is ''terrified'' of sea creatures like crabs as seen in a Drama CD, while Japan is terrified of cockroaches according to WordOfGod, to the point that he'd ''cry'' over them.
* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: Characters sometimes get this when they are shocked, but BlankWhiteEyes are more common.
* WidgetSeries: What you get when your characters are all {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of nations and the plot is essentially world history on crack.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Germany and Italy, especially where the Valentine's Day strips leave off.
* WindowWatcher: 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.
* WineIsClassy: France has had a few wine drinking scenes in the anime, and is often seen with a wine glass in the manga artwork.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Moldova is adept at reading the atmosphere to properly deal with Russia, a feat that a lot of the adult nations haven't mastered.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: 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 [[GoMadFromTheRevelation he]] [[DespairEventHorizon snaps]] and starts to [[FreakOut mow down his own people]] on the grounds that "they're not really Russians if they don't love me".
* WorldOfSymbolism: And cheerfully candid about it too.
* WorldOfWeirdness: [[TheGreys Aliens?]] Check. [[TheFairFolk Fairies?]] Check. [[TalkingAnimal Talking Animals?]] Check. [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghosts?]] Check. [[{{Youkai}} Monsters?]] Check. [[SurpriseSantaEncounter Santa?]] Check. [[spoiler: AlternateUniverse with [[CatGirl cat people]] and 123 [[NakedPeopleAreFunny Frances]]?]] Super check. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight And yet, life goes on as if nothing happened.]] This could also be mixed with TheMasquerade, if not outright ExtraStrengthMasquerade, given that most of humanity is still going on as normal ''despite'' the aforementioned hijinks.
* WingdingEyes:
** 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.
* WrittenInAbsence: 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.
* WrittenSoundEffect: They're usually written in Japanese, but once in a while they're in English.
* YamatoNadeshiko: 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 [[DoggedNiceGuy Lithuania...]] Heck, Belarus is ''so'' [[{{Yandere}} 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.
* YaoiFangirl:
** 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 FryingPanOfDoom.
** A fair amount of the series' fans enjoy the ShipTease 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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* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The focus in some of the later strips.

* WholesomeCrossDresser: Poland and ''both'' Italies when they were young, although that may be another [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeching_(boys) historical in-joke]] (or AccidentallyCorrectWriting). Japan wears an apron over a woman's kimono when he cleans house and cooks.

* {{Scanlation}}: This is how the series was originally available in English. While there are official translations of the published manga, the translation 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.[[/note]]

** America seems to be a 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 LoveFreak 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 [[spoiler: (especially in [[TearJerker "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.

* TripleNipple: France may count as such ever since the strip "Let's Assist the French Economy!", wherein he claimed Italy's right nipple, [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/nonlinear.php?korusika which apparently]] represents Corsica. At the very least, Italy is down to one....

* TransformationRay: In the webcomic, [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/comicdiary.php?nkmng 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 [[{{Beat}} paused]], then pointed the gun at himself. This is TruthInTelevision, as the United States did [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bomb research a weapon like this.]]

** Taiwan is said to love Bubble Tea and Tofu.

** After Leichtenstein cuts her hair, her big brother Switzerland gets her a hair ribbon so people won't mistake her for a boy.

* TaremeEyes: Italy, America, Liechtenstein, Finland, and Lithuania are the most notable examples, and often seen with {{tsurime}} counterparts (see below.)

* TarotCards: Romania uses them during his fortune-telling.

-->'''Japan:''' Go Away.

** When America talks business, he develops the VerbalTic [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything "-gates"]].

* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: After Leichtenstein cuts her hair, her big brother Switzerland gets her a hair ribbon so people won't mistake her for a boy.

* TheUnintelligible: Sweden, according to {{Fanon}}. In Japanese he speaks with a TohokuRegionalAccent, which is perfectly intelligible if a bit unusual, but due to fan translators' attempts at localizing it this got LostInTranslation and after some {{Flanderization}} it ended up looking as if Sweden was grunting and mumbling intstead of just using a dialect.

** Occasionally a character will be shown with notes or something written on a blackboard behind them that go by to quickly to read.

** Romano (South Italy) is this in 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.

* SympatheticPOV: Given that some of the countries have historically been considered "[[WrittenByTheWinners bad guys]]..."

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Norway looks a lot like Iceland without his hairclip holding his bangs. Sweden looking a lot like Germany and Prussa is also explained by him having family ties to Germania.

** Egypt: His middle name is Muhammad.
** France: Francis.

* StandardSnippet: The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Riff Oriental Riff]] was used in episode 23 when Germany, Italy, and Japan stumble onto a Chinatown.

** In another strip, America has this while [[ChainsawGood wielding a chainsaw]] along with ScaryShinyGlasses. Probably the only time America didn't look his [[LoveFreak normal self]]. Though it was only scary due to Canada's paranoia, as America was just normally using his chainsaw to cut wood.