History Manga / AxisPowersHetalia

[[redirect:Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia]]

[[redirect:WebComic/AxisPowersHetalia]]

[[quoteright:221:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Axis.jpg]]

Once upon a time, [[NationsAsPeople there was a young man called]] TheRomanEmpire who ruled over all the Mediterranean. Then it [[VestigialEmpire collapsed]], leaving his grandson Italy in his place, but all he wanted to do was cook, draw, and flirt with women.

Cut to WorldWarOne. Germany waits at the Italian front, ready to face the heir to the mighty Roman Empire...

He finds Italy hiding in a tomato crate. Poor Italy is scared [[TheDitz and has no idea what the hell is going on]], so Germany takes him under his wing, where he remains until WorldWarII. At the same time, the "Allied Forces" are getting ready to counter attack... if they can reach an agreement, that is.

A popular Japanese series by HidekazHimaruya that is an allegorical tale of the history of the world, especially during WorldWarTwo, with anthropomorphizations of different countries and the various stereotypes associated with them. Axis Powers Hetalia is at once educational, irreverently silly, occasionally touching, and [[RefugeInAudacity quite probably very offensive to certain people]]. Surprisingly, it gets many of the more subtle and less well known relationships between European countries rather well represented, which you usually [[WeAllLiveInAmerica wouldn't expect of foreign writers]].

Starting off as a webcomic, Hetalia garnered a strong fan following, and was eventually published in print form. A series of drama [=CDs=] were made later; an {{anime}} adaptation has been released, but broadcast on television was [[ScrewedByTheNetwork canceled]] in favor of alternate means. The word ''Hetalia'' is a portmanteau of hetare and Italia (Italy), which means [[TheMillstone hopeless Italy]], as Germany soon discovers. Hopeless in a cute way. You know, with the Axis powers, [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain it's not bad to be bad at being bad.]]

Five volumes have been printed in Japan, the most recent in July of 2012. The manga adaptation was originally licensed by {{Tokyopop}} and two volumes were released, but they went bankrupt before the third volume could be published. Right Stuf is now selling [[http://www.rightstuf.com/rssite/main/promo/?ForumThreadName=FT0000003656 volume three and reprints of the first two volumes]], and are apparently working to [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-06-30/stu-levy/hetalia-volumes-4-5-to-get-n-american-release acquire volumes four and five]] as well. In the meantime, the original webcomic can be read [[http://www.geocities.jp/himaruya/hetaria/index.html here]], with scanlations located [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/ here]].

More recently, it has appeared in serialized form in Comic Birz starting in November 2011. So far, the "episodes" have revisited the first parts of the original webcomic, more specifically the WorldWarII arc, with updates taken from much more recent strips.

An anime adaptation by StudioDEEN began airing in January of 2009, and currently has completed four seasons, along with several additional "special episodes", with the third and fourth seasons under the title ''Hetalia World Series''. A fifth season, titled ''Hetalia the Beautiful World'', will begin airing on January 25, 2013. A movie, "Paint It White", has been released in Japan and became available in North America in November 2011. Both the series and the movie have been licensed by FUNimation. The extra episodes included on the Japanese fan discs are included on the fourth season [=DVDs=], but are not available online. Because of this, any casual fan watching streamed episodes online might get confused when they see the episode in season four where teenage Prussia sees Hungary's breasts and is reminded that she is female, as the episode where he discovered her gender was one of the extra episodes for the third season.

Most of series can be viewed at [[http://funimation.com/hetalia/ FUNimation's website]]. The subbed and dubbed episodes of the first two seasons are available for free, as are the subbed episodes of the third and fourth seasons. The dubbed episodes of World Series, the movie, and commentary are available to people who have a paid subscription. [[http://www.hulu.com/hetalia-axis-powers Hulu]] also has both subtitled and dubbed versions of the Axis Powers, as does Funimation's [[http://www.youtube.com/show/hetalia YouTube]] Channel. Likewise, a sub of ''World Series'' is also officially available on [[http://www.youtube.com/show/hetaliaworldseries YouTube]] and [[http://www.hulu.com/hetalia-world-series Hulu]]. The show is TV-MA, so an account on either is required.

Please note that the dub takes a great number of liberties with the script.

Now has its own [[FanWorks/AxisPowersHetalia Fan Works]], [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/AxisPowersHetalia Alternative Character Interpretation]], [[Memes/AxisPowersHetalia Memetic Mutation]], ''Manga/HetaliaBloodbath2010'', ''Manga/{{Hetaween 2011}}'', ''Manga/HetaliaBloodbath2011'', [[ShipTease/AxisPowersHetalia Ship Tease]], [[HoYay/AxisPowersHetalia Ho Yay]], [[RonTheDeathEater/AxisPowersHetalia Ron The Death Eater]], [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight/AxisPowersHetalia Ships That Pass In The Night]], [[ShipToShipCombat/AxisPowersHetalia Ship To Ship Combat]], ''and'' [[DieForOurShip/AxisPowersHetalia Die For Our Ship]], pages. It also has [[http://fetishfuel.wikia.com/wiki/Axis_Powers_Hetalia its own page]] on TvTropes' FetishFuel wiki.

Compare ScandinaviaAndTheWorld, another webcomic that was inspired when a Danish artist felt that the Scandinavian nations didn't match up with the stereotypes that she was familiar with, and Manga/{{Afganisu-Tan}}, a short lived webcomic centered around a humanized version of Afghanistan. Also compare ''MobileFighterGGundam,'' which foreshadows the theme of NationalStereotypes to the point that it's sometimes seen as a spiritual predecessor.

By the way, there are two Italies (Veneziano and Romano), but assume we mean Veneziano (North Italy). Similarly, "Korea" refers to South Korea, as in the original comics he is called by the Japanese name for South Korea (''Kankoku'') and the North (''Chousen'') is never shown.

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!!''Axis Powers Hetalia'' contains examples of:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: A-H]]
* AccentAdaptation: Poland's Nagoya accent is translated as a ValleyGirl accent in scanlations, while Sweden's Touhoku dialect is depicted as though he were mumbling. Interestingly, Spain's Kansai accent is not translated at all.
* AccidentalMarriage:
** In one comic, Italy greets Japan with a kiss on the cheek and a hug. Japan demands that Italy accept responsibility and marry him.
** Not to mention the same thing happen with Japan and Netherlands' pets, where Netherlands' rabbit licked Japan's dog and he immediately told Holland's rabbit to take responsibility.
* AccidentalPervert:
** Holy Roman Empire. Several times he has accidentally lifted up (or pulled down) Chibitalia's shorts.
** Germany as well. He's tugged on both Italy and Romano's [[IdiotHair Idiot Hairs]] while not understanding [[FantasticArousal the reaction]] they have to it.
** Spain is also this, for the same reason...
* ActionGirl:
** Hungary and her FryingPanOfDoom.
** WordOfGod states that Fem!Italy is tougher than her male counterpart.
* ActorAllusion: At the beginning of the "France teaching Italy about sexual intercourse" scene in the dub of ''World Series'', Italy hums the first opening of ''SgtFrog''.
* AdaptationDistillation: The anime version of ''Hetalia,'' while having a number of differences from the source material, does try to stay close to the manga.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Numerous characters, although it doesn't help that Himaruya isn't always consistent with his coloring to begin with.
** Italy's hair is brown in the manga, but the anime gives him auburn hair that sometimes looks like a saturated red. His eyes also went from brown to gold.
** Romano's eyes are usually hazel in manga, but they're gold like his brother's in the anime. He's also [[http://i45.tinypic.com/wcmesg.jpg slightly more tanned than his brother]], but they have the same skin tone in the anime.
** America's hair is more of a dirty blond in the anime.
** Canada's hair is also a dirty blond in the anime, whereas in the manga he is shown with yellow-orange hair. His eyes also went from purple to blue, possibly to make him look more like America.
** England's hair went from an ash blond shade to saturated yellow.
** France's dark blond hair was changed to the same yellow as England's.
** Sweden's hair was colored light brown in the first season, although later seasons have corrected this and changed his hair back to its original blond. His eyes also changed from a greenish hue to blue.
** Finland's eyes are purple in the manga, but were changed to brown in the anime.
** Latvia and Estonia's hair both got darker hues in the anime, and their eye colors changed as well. Latvia has purple eyes and Estonia's are a blue-green in the manga, whereas the anime gave them both blue eyes.
** Lithuania's eyes went from green to blue.
** Belarus has dirty blond hair in the anime instead of the platinum blond hair she had in the manga.
** China's black hair was changed to ash brown in the anime.
** Korea also has black hair, but the unused anime design showed him with chestnut brown hair.
** Germania's eyes changed from sea green to blue.
** Spain, Egypt and Seychelles all have tanned skin in the manga, and Greece and Turkey have more olive complexions. In the anime, they all have the same skin color as the other characters.
** Note that the above examples all refer to the first four seasons. In the preview images for season five, it appears that at least some of these are being corrected.
* {{Adorkable}}: Many characters. Italy, America, and Canada in particular.
* AffectionateParody: Of history and different countries in general, treating them with a well-meaning and almost endearing degree of respect.
* AlienAbduction: Occurs on a global scale in the end of "Paint it White", where the invading Pict proceed to [[spoiler: have billions of converted humans]] enter their mothership and then fly back home to their home planet. Only Switzerland, Liechtenstein and [[spoiler:Iceland]] seem to be the only ones to escape unscathed.
* AlienInvasion: The premise of "Paint it White."
* AliensSpeakingEnglish[[TranslationConvention /Japanese]]: America's alien friend Tony.
* TheAlliance: The Allies, [[CaptainObvious of course]].
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Oh, boy... where to start?
** England apparently has an unrequited crush on America.
** The Belarus/Russia/Lithuania love triangle. Belarus likes Russia, Russia likes Lithuania, Lithuania likes Belarus, and it all goes downhill from there.
** Korea's affection towards China (and, to a lesser extent, Japan) is not requited.
** Prussia seems to have a crush on his childhood frenemy Hungary, and his blog entries seem to indicate that he likes Italy as well.
** Poland and Lithuania are a bit more debatable. At one point Lithuania says that he hates Poland. The later replies that "it doesn't, like, change the fact that I like you." Mind you, Poland's words could also be translated as "I love you."
* AllPartOfTheShow: When a star [[http://community.livejournal.com/hetalia/35780.html falls on England's head]], America is nothing short of impressed.
* AllThereInTheManual: Several characters appear in sketches in the author's blog long before their introduction in any strip. The blog regularly features a Q&A section that gives some insight and little tips about the nations themselves.
* AlsoSprachZarathustra: Alluded to with the first few notes of the anime's opening music.
* AlternateUniverse: In the 2010 Christmas Bloodbath, it's revealed that there is one where the Nations are [[spoiler:[[CatGirl cat people]], don't wear any clothing, and there are 123 Frances]]. There is also the [[HighSchoolAU Hetalia Academy]] universe, and the Nyotalia (gender reversed) universe.
* AlternateUniverseFic: These tend to show up frequently. Since there are multiple versions of each character in canon (mochi versions, cat versions, gender-reversed versions, the 2p or "another coloring" versions, the Hetalia Academy AU) there is plenty of opportunity for this to happen. AlternateHistory stories tend to show up on a regular basis, as do fics where the characters are normal people.
* TheAmericanRevolution: Shown in a flashback during one of the rare [[TearJerker serious]] strips/episodes, "[[http://community.livejournal.com/hetalia/531.html America Cleans Out the Storage]]".
* AmusingAlien: America's little buddy Tony, provided you find his habitual cursing and severe hatred of the English amusing.
* AmusingInjuries: England has had both a missile and a falling star stuck in his head, France has been smacked with Hungary's frying pan on more than one occasion and was shot in the head once by Switzerland, America broke his foot after slipping on a banana peel, several others.
* AnachronicOrder: The story may deal with history, but the events aren't shown in historical order.
* AnachronismStew:
** In one episode of the anime, Italy mentions that Germany has pornographic [=DVD=]s, even though the DVD would not be invented until several decades after that point in the story.
** Holy Roman Empire was shown waking up to a modern electronic alarm clock at one point.
** Austria is shown wearing modern style glasses before they were invented.
** One anachronism is acknowledged in [[http://community.livejournal.com/hetalia/5087111.html this strip]]. England asks America (who is admittedly a [[GeniusDitz technical wizard]]) if he's trying to show off by having a computer that won't be invented for forty-two years.
** During WWII, France is shown wearing a WWI-era infantry uniform.
* AnimalEaredHeadband:
** [[JustifiedTrope They found an excuse]]. Belgium actually has a ceremony to honor dead cats.
** It has been shown that when France goes streaking, he will often wear cat ears and nothing else.
** Japan gives Greece some cat ears because Greece said he wished he were a cat.
** Holy Roman Empire once had a dream about Italy and the cat festival.
** At the very last strip on [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/birz.php?ep006 this page]], America and England can be seen wearing cat ears.
** During the [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/2011april1/index.php?page1 2011 April Fool's event]], Spain and Prussia wore rabbit ears, America had bear ears, while France, Germany, and Russia all sported cat ears.
** Multiple characters wore them as part of their costumes for the 2011 Halloween event.
* AnimalReactionShot: After America [[LoveHurts turns down]] a deredere England, his whale friend (who was previously smiling like an idiot) becomes sad.
* AnimeAccentAbsence: China is an aversion (sort of), but the rest of the characters play this straight.
** Although this may be just TranslationConvention. It's implied that there is some sort of CommonTongue that they all speak in addition to their native languages.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling:
** Sealand to England.
** Korea to China and Japan.
** Romano seems to consider Italy to be this at times.
* AnythingThatMoves: WordOfGod's stance on France's sexuality.
* AprilFoolsPlot: The various live events that have occurred on April Fool's Day.
* ArtEvolution: The art has become [[http://i46.tinypic.com/1zn4wna.jpg cleaner and everyone has gotten prettier]] as the series has progressed. And the new animation artwork for season five is [[http://ohgodnohetaliaanimeart.tumblr.com/post/35169004671/compare-and-contrast an improvement]] over the previous seasons.
* ArtifactTitle: The Axis Powers have had the spotlight stolen from them. The third season of the anime even goes under the title of ''World Series Hetalia''.
** Somewhat defied in anime promotions which still tend to show the Axis and Allied Powers (aka the [[FanNickname World 8]]), although many of the other characters had gotten prominence as well.
* ArtisticLicenseGeography:
** In an early episode, Italy proudly shows Japan the sights of "Rome"...with the Florence Cathedral looming in the background.
** A more minor example is with North Italy's frequent references to pasta. While pasta is eaten in the north, the specialty there is polenta, and pasta is more prevalent in the south.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
** One of the most egregious examples of this trope, and the most controversial, is the pronouncement in the manga's great depression strip that one of the reasons for the struggles of the Axis powers was the lack of colonies. Anyone who has read anything of the war in the Pacific knows that this was very much not the case for Japan. Koreans in particular were not amused.
*** Germany and Italy also had colonies, just not as many as the other European nations. The Hetalia Academy game corrects this; the other African nations find it hilarious that Ethiopia is Italy's colony.
** There's an episode where Russia is talking about the Soviet Union and its fall. We see him standing with the Baltic nations, Belarus, Ukraine, and several shadowy figures meant to represent the other Soviet nations. One by one, they fade away as they leave the USSR. The anime showed Lithuania disappearing last, when in reality, Lithuania was the first to declare their independence.
** In the dub, Sealand declares that his Prince made it a law that he has to be called "Super Larry". Sealand's Prince is actually named Roy.
** Also in the dub, when the European nations are freaking out about the year 1000 and Judgement Day, France claims one of the reasons he's sure to go to Hell is because of the guillotine. The guillotine would not be invented until the end of the 18th century.
** The series shows France and England trying to make an alliance with Poland just prior to WWII, only to have Poland not take them seriously. In reality, Poland was serious about the alliance.
** Austria and Hungary's relationship has been shown as being consistently friendly over the years, when it's really been more {{Tsundere}}.
* ArtisticLicenseShips: In the episode where England is shown beating Spain, the anime gives England [[YouFailHistoryForever hilariously inaccurate warships]], complete with a totally screwed-up version of the English flag. Instead of St George's Cross they made it look like [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/historyfail.jpg an inverted Swiss flag]].
** Not to mention that's Creator/WilliamShakespeare helping fight in the background.
--> [[SeriousBusiness '"On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures."']]
* ArtShift: Almost all of the characters go chibi at one point. Also, France has a tendency to shift into a 1970s {{Shoujo}} art style when distraught.
* AscendedExtra: This is arguably how the Allies and the more prominent Nations like Poland, Lithuania and the [[FanNickname Frying Pangle]] (Austria, Hungary, Prussia) started off in the first place. This is also closely tied to EnsembleDarkHorse.
** And given that world history is the source material, this goes right down to really minor characters like Monaco and Hong Kong.
* AscendedMeme: Oh, Creator/{{Funimation}}:
-->'''America:''' [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} China, I choose you!]]
--> (later) "We caught 'em all!"
** Sadly averted with the "vital regions" meme in the dub.
** The Bad Friends Trio (France, Prussia, and Spain). They appeared together in the strip about the War of Austrian Succession, and fans leaped on the idea of them being friends and hanging out together, despite no evidence to support this. Himaruya has since drawn the three of them together on occasion, the [[http://www.hetarchive.net/images/plog-content/images/scans/comic-birz-extras/2012-05_piccolo-cover.jpg cover]] of the Arte Stella Piccalo art book features them, and they now have an image song together.
* AttractiveBentGender: Italy explains to Germany why he was captured by the Allies. "There was a pretty girl so I hit on her. But then, it was France in disguise!"
* AnAxeToGrind: Denmark and Spain are sometimes drawn with one.
* ABoyAndHisX: Many nations.
** Japan and his dog Pochi.
** Germany has three dogs.
** America has a cat and a pet whale.
** France has had several birds, all of them named Pierre.
** China is often shown with a panda cub.
** Finland and Sweden with their dog Hanatamago.
** Canada and his bear cub Kumajiro.
** Greece has several cats.
** Spain and his bull.
** Iceland and Mr. Puffin.
** Netherlands has a rabbit.
** Switzerland has three goats.
** Prussia has a yellow bird that fans refer to as Gilbird.
** Cameroon and his lion cub.
** Australia has a koala.
** New Zealand has a sheep and a kiwi bird.
** Thailand with his baby elephant.
** Estonia and the mochi nations.
* BananaPeel: Both America and Romano have slipped on them and landed on their faces. Oddly, America broke his foot, but Romano only needed a band-aid.
* BareYourMidriff:
** Wy and her GenderFlip self.
** Fem!America as well.
* BaseballEpisode: [[http://hetalia.livejournal.com/1124276.html This comic]] is about Italy's baseball team in the WBC.
* BattleInTheRain:
** [[AvertedTrope Nearly happens]] in the strip dealing with TheAmericanRevolution.
** Played straight when Italy tries to win his independance from Austria at [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/comicdiary.php?nikkimanga10 Custoza]]
* BeachEpisode: Several times in both the manga and the anime when the nations get stranded on an island. It's pretty much a running gag by now, not that Italy ever seems concerned.
* BeamMeUpScotty:
** Contrary to what {{fanon}} says, the infamous "vital regions" [[MemeticMutation memetic line]] was ''never'' used by either Prussia or Russia. Austria first used it in [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/nonlinear.php?mrt the "Maria Theresa" series]]. Spain also used it in [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/nonlinear.php?gift Spain's Lazy Morning"]], and Lithuania in [[http://community.livejournal.com/hetalia/118420.html Checkmating Poland]].
** And America never called England "Iggy." Nor "Dad" for that matter (see BigBrotherMentor).
** Russia never referred to ''him''self as "Mother Russia."
** The "five meters" meme ''is entirely fanon'', and has never been used anywhere in the series ''ever''.
* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: France, UK, USA. (Perhaps also Italy, Japan and Germany?)
* TheBechdelTest: For a cast with few girls, it actually passes.
* BedmateReveal: Germany often wakes up to Italy in his bed. [[HoYay Naked.]]
* BelligerentSexualTension:
** Between England and America, lampshaded by France a couple of times. In one of the Drama [=CDs=] he refers to their fight as a "lovers' quarrel," and in the dub he comments, "When you two are done releasing sexual tension, we have got a meeting we need to finish!"
** England and France at times too. The ''Paint It, White'' dub took this and ran with it.
---> '''Narrator (about Britain):'''... France is a long time acquittance he's often found bickering with for bickering's sake. However, in their heart of hearts they love each other ({{Beat}}) Sexually.
* BetweenMyLegs: While not as obvious as other examples, in volume four Estonia is framed between Fem!America's legs at the beginning of the "I Was Overwhelmed by Heroines" story.
* BigApplesauce: America lives in New York City. Himaruya also lived there when he first started the series.
* BigBrotherInstinct:
** Switzerland took in Liechtenstein when she was starving in the rain and cared for her, even though he barely had enough to feed himself, and remains fiercely protective of her to this day.
** England with America, at least when he was young.
* BigBrotherMentor:
** Subverted with Latvia. He offers Sealand the benefit of his experience but when he remembers his history he's the one who needs a shoulder to cry on. Luckily, Sealand has confidence to spare.
** France is a bad influence, verging on TricksterMentor, to the Italies, mostly Veneziano, since Romano often screams and/or runs away every time he sees France.
** As with the above trope, Switzerland and his little sister Liechtenstein.
** Despite the fan tendency to make England America's 'mom' or 'dad', he explicitly adopts America as his little brother and America explicitly says "I'm not your little brother anymore!" when he severs their connection.
** China, who basically raised all of his younger siblings as their older brother, even if he's rarely treated as such by anyone other than Korea.
** In a way, Austria is also like this for Holy Roman Empire and Chibi Italy. He's just much more reserved about it. He also is sort of like this for Germany in the Valentine's strip. Though given his behavior, he might be something of an AloofBigBrother as well.
** Prussia, to Germany.
* BigDamnHero: America desperately wants to be this.
* BigDamnMovie: Complete with an AirVentPassageway escape, aliens that are something of a cross between TheGreys and HumanoidAliens, and not to mention FridgeLogic with a side helping of WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs.
* BigEater:
** America is constantly stuffing his face, usually with junk food.
** Italy, especially if it's pizza or pasta.
** China is sometimes seen eating a lot.
* BigFancyHouse: From what we've seen, most (if not all) of the nations live in these.
* BigLittleBrother:
** Prussia is shorter than his younger brother Germany.
** England returned after an absence only to discover his adoptive little brother America had gotten taller than him.
** China is shorter than his brother Korea and Macau.
* BigOlEyebrows: England, Hong Kong (who was cursed by England to have them), Australia, New Zealand, and Cuba.
* BigScrewedUpFamily:
** Two in Eastern Europe providing a general DysfunctionJunction.
** Then there's the East Asian family.
** And England with not only his brothers (Scotland, Wales, and North Ireland) but the former members of the British Empire as well.
* BilingualBonus: In the later mochi comic strips. The Japanese translation provided by Himaruya is much more polite than what mochi America is saying in English.
* BirthdayEpisode: [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/nonlinear.php?indy One comic]] showed America having a birthday party.
* BishieSparkle:
** France and Estonia seem to get them more and more often as the series goes on.
** Italy sometimes gets them when he's [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/birz.php?ep006 talking about girls]].
** Austria gets them when France takes a photograph of them together.
** England as well while he was pretending to be an Italian. He even leaves a trail of them when Germany drags him away.
* {{Bishounen}}: China and Hong Kong have been mistaken for girls by some, and thanks to ArtEvolution, pretty much every male character is this now.
* BiTheWay: Many characters give this vibe.
** Himaruya has confirmed that France likes both men and women.
** While Rome never fooled around with men when he was alive, he has stated that he regrets this.
** Italy is frequently shown flirting with women, but has admitted that his first love was the Holy Roman Empire.
** Germany's porn seems to feature women, and he wrote in his diary that he likes the outfits servers at Japan's maid cafes wear, but now there's his feelings for Italy...
** It's been hinted that Prussia may have feelings for Hungary, and he's expressed an interest in Italy as well.
** Romano showed an attraction to Belgium when he was young, but despite how he treats him, it's still obvious that he cares for Spain.
** Austria has been married to both Hungary and Spain at different points.
** Hungary cares for Austria, but was shown flirting with Ukraine in one comic.
* BizarreHumanBiology: Possibly Italy's IdiotHair, if it was in fact the hair and not his scalp which is the erogenous zone.
* BladeOnAStick:
** Hungary's WeaponOfChoice (aside from her frying pan).
** Variation: During "America Cleans Up The Storage", England and America face off with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musket muskets]] with bayonets.
** Finland carries a spear as a baby Nation.
* BlandNameProduct:
** In the first drama CD, Mc Donald's is censored just so you can hear "Mc * nald's". In the second CD, we get "D* nkin' Donuts".
** Though America is eating a sandwich with a wrapper clearly labeled [[AnachronismStew "Subway"]] in the second chapter of the published manga.
** Dozens of pounds of "Spom" and "Snackers" poured out of his shirt in the anime.
** In volume four, we see that one of the things the Magic Club does is dress up like H*rry P*tter.
** When he and Germany are snooping through the Americans' camp, Prussia finds a Playb*y magazine.
** You can upload your favorite videos on [[YouTube HetaTube]] or broadcast live on [[HetaliaBloodbath2010 HetaStreeeem]].
* TheBlank: The Pict, who are also in a way expies of [[Franchise/StarTrek the Borg]], considering their utter uniformity and advancement.
* BlindIdiotTranslation: All too common in fanwork.
* BoisterousBruiser: Rome is tall, muscular, loud, jovial, and always up for some fun or a good fight. At one point Germania even asks him if he can talk about anything other than fighting, sex, or booze. With the exception of seafood, apparently that's all he's interested in. America, Prussia, Cuba, Denmark, Turkey, and possibly Australia show signs of this as well.
* BoringButPractical: China's Special Technique [[spoiler: consist in calling people on the phone for help. Works just fine.]]
* [[GirlInABox Boy In A Box]]: Germany first discovers Italy cowering in a tomato crate.
* BrassBalls: During the 2010 Christmas Bloodbath, China utters this immortal line to Hong Kong:
-->"Choosing to go naked rather than wear a maid outfit? ....YOU'VE GOT BALLS-[[VerbalTic ARU]]!!"
* BreakingTheFourthWall:
** In one episode, Japan talks ''to'' the viewer. It's a bit ... odd.
** At the beginning of the third season of the anime, Prussia, complains about how the show's writers don't make him a main character.
** Russia introduces the viewers to his sisters at the beginning of one strip. In the anime, Belarus does this in the same story.
** After seeing the sketches of them that America drew on the blackboard, dub!France exclaims:
-->"They're even worse than our actual animation!"
* BreakoutCharacter: By the very nature of the series and due to the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, this has arguably happened especially later on, with many Nations having significant attention in both fandom and canon. See also AscendedExtra and EnsembleDarkHorse, as it's tied very much to both.
** Also tied closely with EnsembleCast: While it originally started with the "World 8" (Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia, America, China, England, France) in WorldWarII, due to its source material being world history the cast has expanded ''considerably'' to include a lot of other countries. Many of them have grown prominent in both canon and fandom that it's reached the point wherein (although the World 8 are still prominent in marketing) there's either no real main character anymore or that ''everyone'''s one. [[FridgeBrilliance Much like world history, come to think of it.]]
* BrickJoke:
** Throughout the series, Chibitalia is always seen wearing a maid's outfit, despite being a boy. In episode 48, he gets a growth spurt and his voice suddenly changes, causing Austria to realize he's a male, and he goes out and buys men's clothing.
** In the opening of the movie, Iceland wonders aloud how he can get more tourists to go to his place. At the end, during TheStinger, [[spoiler:it turns out he got some of the aliens to stay (somehow) and was using them to attract tourists]].
* BuffySpeak: The dub does this a lot.
-->"Is this your girlfriend or boyfriend or gender neutral chibi thing?"
* CallBack: In an episode in season one, America and England tell France that his brightly colored uniform is "too flashy." In season four, England sees France wearing a new, much more subdued uniform and starts teasing him. France explains that the old uniform was making him a target and comments that it was "too flashy."
* CallingYourAttacks: England is particularly prone to this.
** "Britannia Sword!"
** "Eat this! Britannia Beam!"
** "Britannia Fork!" (during the manga version of "Meeting of the World".)
** "Britannia Fist!" (in volume 3)
** Romano's "Napolitan Attack!" from Volume 3.
* CallToAgriculture: A very literal example happens with Poland and Lithuania in the "What Happened After Tannenburg" strip.
* CanadaEh: Played straight. Canada is frequently forgotten about and mistaken for America, and says "Maple..." whenever he gets hurt. [[TheWoobie Awwww...]]
* CaramelldansenVid: Can be watched [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2YCKKCs7e0 here]]. Since it was made in 2009, characters who appeared later are not shown.
* CardboardPrison:
** Germany at one point simply digs a way out of a prison camp.
** England repeatedly escaped from an Italian prison (because his jailers fell asleep from crying too much). Subverted in that Germany constantly dragged him back.
* CarMeetsHouse: WordOfGod has stated that [[http://hetalia.livejournal.com/4628.html Germany once did this]] because he is so confident in technology that he insisted on following the GPS instructions exactly.
* CassandraTruth: England and his unicorn. This can be extended to England's ability to see supernatural creatures.
* CastFullOfGay: Well, of course it's subverted in that almost nobody's sexuality is actually ''stated''. A deleted blog entry mentioned that Sweden is gay (or at least gay for Finland), and France has been confirmed to be attracted to AnythingThatMoves. But still, considering [[SituationalSexuality most of the characters are male]]...
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: While more female characters have been introduced as the series has progressed (with Hungary, Liechtenstein and arguably Belarus being the most major ones), they're still outnumbered by a large ratio. Averted in the gender-reversed AlternateUniverse.
* CastHerd: Of course, people often group nations together in RealLife based on geography (the Baltics, the Nordics, etc.) or alliances during wars (the Axis, the Allies).
* CatchPhrase:
** "PAAAAASTAAAAAAAA!"
** "All will be one with Russia" and "Kolkolkolkolkolkol".
** Don't forget this one-aru!
** This whole site was made in Korea!
** Limey bastard.
** Potato bastard.
** Tomato bastard.
** Stupid Polanders
** Big Brother! Let's get [[MadnessMantra marriedmarriedmarriedmarriedmarried]].
** Because I'm Awesome!
** I'm the hero!
* [[CatGirl Cat Boy]]: In the Manga/HetaliaBloodbath2010 [[spoiler: the nations from an AlternateUniverse are all cat people]].
* ChainLetter: Courtesy of Poland. [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment And if you don't send it, your capital will become Warsaw.]]
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Several characters have changed since the series started.
** Russia isn't as scary appearing, and his heart doesn't fall out of his chest at random times anymore.
** Poland was a much more selfish character when he first appeared, especially towards Lithuania.
** Belarus seems to have developed into something of a potty-mouth.
** While Finland ''looks'' the same, Himaruya's notes indicated that he's tougher than he originally thought, and some of the illustrations of him with a sniper-rifle certainly give him a more BadAss aura.
** More than one character has been shown to have HiddenDepths that weren't visible before.
* CheerfulChild: Sealand and Liechtenstein.
* CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys: Something of a ZigZaggingTrope. It was played straight a couple of times early on in the series, but has been averted later in the story line. The dub, however, uses this more frequently, and England even called France this in one episode.
* ChefOfIron: China. Not only is he a SupremeChef, but he's been shown attacking his enemies with a wok and ladle.
* ChekhovsGun: In TheMovie: [[spoiler: The pen Italy uses to scribble on the files in the beginning.]], although it could also count as a ChekhovsHobby since Italy likes to [[spoiler: draw/paint.]]
* TheChewToy: Ukraine and the Baltic States -- Latvia and Lithuania in particular.
* ChinesePeople:
** China (obviously), Thailand, Hong Kong (despite the BigOlEyebrows), and Macau.
** AnimeChineseGirl: Taiwan, Vietnam, and Fem!China.
** {{Mukokuseki}} This is a somewhat rare aversion of making the Japanese character generically stateless or anime-like but making other East Asians more realistic. This time, Japan looks like his relatives.
* ChristmasEpisode: There have been a few.
** One where Finland gave everyone presents.
** Another was set in the [[AlternateUniverse Hetalia Academy universe]] where various characters were interviewed about their Christmas traditions.
** There was also one where Germany and England played a game of soccer, although this was a reference to the Christmas Truce in WorldWarOne.
** The live events such as the HetaliaBloodbath2010 and HetaliaBloodbath2011 might also count.
* ChristmasInJapan:
** When asked about what he does on Christmas, this is the first thing that Japan thinks of, although he said something different.
** France and England ending up celebrating the beauty of friendship together has a distinct flair of the same.
** In the 2010 Christmas event, Austria and Hungary appeared to be spending Christmas this way.
* ClothingDamage: The 2010 Christmas "Bloodbath" (See above), has shirts and pants ''sliced open'' by a mysterious figure.
* CloudCuckooLander:
** When you get right down to it, almost all of the characters are to a degree. The most noticeable examples would be Finland, Poland, and North Italy.
** England also has an extremely active imagination, in reference to the fact that the world's most famous fantasy authors are almost all English.
** America definitely fits this as he loves dreaming up fantasy lands and heroes, and also is very ditzy and aloof to what most people have no promblem understanding, he also comes up with ridiculous outlandish ideas that are perfectly normal in his point of view.
* ClusterFBomb:
** Tony the Alien has a spectacularly filthy mouth and peppers his sentences with "fucking" or "bitch."
** Romano whenever Germany is around, especially when he is also around Veniziano. "POTATO BASTARD!!"
** England, when he gets wound up, tends to favour words like "wanker" and "bastard."
* CodeName: The creator has given some of the nations human names, mostly due to pressure from the fans, but they're popular and are frequently used in fanworks.
* TheColonialPeriod: Shown in a few strips.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Italy, Spain, and America have a tendency to do this.
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: England wasn't all that happy when America got him out of Italy. Of course, the fact that he was suspended by a rope from a flying plane probably had something to do with that.
* ContinuityLockout: The opening section of the first volume of the published manga is full of references to characters and events that were meant as [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]] to fans of the webcomic. The first episode of the anime, with its fast pace, can make this even more baffling to new fans.
* CovertPervert:
** France insists England is one of these. When England denies it, he cites several sexual records held by English people.
** Hungary insists that her love for Austria is "pure," but all the footage she has of him in [[ShirtlessScene compromising]] [[BlackComedyRape positions]] [[YaoiFangirl says otherwise.]] Even ''France'' himself is amazed on how dirty her mind is.
** Japan. Not only did Italy once mistook his Ukiyo-e books for porn, but he also appears to be a fan of 2D.
** When they were captured, Italy claims that Germany is TooKinkyToTorture, and blabs about the PornStash he found in Germany's house.
* CozyCatastrophe: What [[AlienInvasion the]] [[AssimilationPlot events]] of "Paint it White" look like from Switzerland and Liechtenstein's perspective, which seem as though ''nothing's happening.'' Thanks in part to [[TrueNeutral Permanent Neutrality]].
* CrazyCulturalComparison: Usually between Japan and America, as the creator is able to draw on his own experiences from when he lived in New York City.
* CreatorProvincialism: Both averted and played straight: Japan is the StraightMan of the Axis, but he has his share of bizarre quirks too. It helps that Himaruya used to live in New York, giving him a good "outsiders view" of Japan and a better understanding of the stereotypes associated with it.
* CrossdressingVoices: In both versions: China, Sealand, Chibitalia, Chibi Romano and Chibi America. Latvia in the dub. [[Main/RomiPark Switzerland in the Japanese version]] but not the English dub.
* CrossOver: The author has done a few short crossovers with his other works.
* CrushBlush:
** Holy Rome frequently does this around Chibitalia.
** Germany does this as well during the Valentine's comic when he gives Italy flowers and a ring.
* CultureClash: When the series isn't using history for comedy, it's using this.
* CutenessProximity:
** England and his magical creatures. Although, since most of the other nations can't see them, if they witness England talking to them, they generally start to question his sanity.
** Although they're not serious in general, Italy and China have a tendency to squee over cute things.
** Himaruya himself counts. He's drawn more than one comic that illustrates him him doing this to his pet cats and rabbits.
* DatingSim:
** Parodied in one comic. No matter what option China chooses, it ends with Korea and sex. ([[BlackComedyRape Bad ending: "If you don't like me, I'll just XXX you!"]])
** Played straight in ''Gakuen Hetalia''.
* DesperatelyCravesAffection: It's implied that Russia is this. Unfortunately, he tends to scare people away.
* DittoAliens:
** Tony and his alien friends.
** The Pict in TheMovie ([[AssimilationPlot and with a good reason]]). In an interesting twist, it's shown that although the Pict got so advanced and powerful because they were all alike, the diversity and differences between Earth's nations turn out to be much more than a match.
* TheDitz: Italy, America, and Spain all qualify. When America comments that he was told to "read the atmosphere in the room" he claims he can't find a book with that name, and Italy says that they should go looking for a copy together.
** It should be noted that according to WordOfGod, America is capable of reading the atmosphere in the room, he simply chooses not to.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** "He crushed my vital regions! Crushed them!"
** "Ah, my knob!"
** Dubbed America's reaction to [[spoiler: turning back into a human]] at the end of Paint It White was, [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar um...]]
-->'''America:''' I'm happy to see you, hands! [[ADateWithRosiePalms We're gonna have so much fun!]]
** Waiter!France was also ''very'' keen on letting the Pictonians know that he "never lets a guest leave unsatisfied". This line would have seemed a whole lot more innocent if France's voice didn't make it sound like he was trying to have phone sex 24/7.
** Ditto to America's "Because I know how to give a good time!" Lampshaded in the out-takes "What am I, a hooker?"
** After Italy convinces Japan and Germany to abandon their brutal diet and exercise routine, their apologies are, well...
-->'''Japan''': Apologies. I wanted to get better too fast. Instead, I ended up becoming stubborn.
-->'''Germany''': It's my fault. I'm the one who started it. Please forgive me, it won't happen again.
-->'''Italy''': How nice! We're all sorry. Can we move past [[WorldWarII this]] now?
* DogPileOfDoom: Type C happens to Germany in the movie.
* DotingParent:
** Spain, to Romano.
** England was a doting older brother when he raised America (the revolution kinda did away with that), but not Canada (whom he occasionally mistakes for America), let alone Sealand.
** The Roman Empire with Italy. "Aww, he's so ''kyooot~''"
* DoubleEntendre: In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEnN6QxXVao France's version of the first ending song]], he says, "I love lilies and chanson." In Japanese, the word for lily is "yuri", which can also mean [[YuriGenre something else]].
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: As a child, [[http://community.livejournal.com/hetalia/740659.html Italy had a dream]] where he met a younger [[spoiler: Japan]].
* DressingAsTheEnemy: Germany and Prussia do this when they infiltrate an American army camp.
* DrillSergeantNasty:
** Germany, especially towards Italy.
** Prussia was this when training America for the Revolutionary War.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Italy, much to Japan's horror. Himaruya has also stated that the normally laid-back Greece speeds up when he gets behind the wheel.
* DrowningMySorrows: China and England, about their relations with Japan and America, respectively.
* DubText: The dub does this quite a bit, usually by adding sexual innuendo or ramping up the HoYay.
* DVDBonusContent: Along with the commentary mentioned below, there are interviews with anime director and some of the Japanese voice actors, there is also additional historical information on the events that the series touches on.
* DVDCommentary: This is available for the dubbed anime.
* DyingForSymbolism: The characters ''are'' the nations, so the death of a character is the fall of a nation (e.g. Rome). If the nation gets into dire straits (economic crisis, social strife etc.), the nation gets sick.
* EdutainmentShow: Admit it: Hetalia has taught you ''something''. There's also a fair amount of fanwork that can be educational.
* {{Egopolis}}: Inverted. Obviously, Veneziano/North Italy is named after Venice, a city in northern Italy, to distinguish him from his brother, Romano/South Italy, who's named after Rome, though it's actually in the centre. Romano's history usually covers [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Sicilies roughly this area]], but it probably settles who then has the middle.
* EjectionSeat: Italy got the idea from Poland. [[HilarityEnsues It didn't work well for either of them.]]
* EmbarrassingCoverUp: America walks in on England doing some sort of secret magic ritual to curse Germany. England quickly welcomes him to "the costume party".
* EmbarrassingOldPhoto: The driving force behind the {{blackmail}} in the [[FanNickname Fool's Bath 2011]] ironically [[spoiler: taking embarrassing photos of the nations in the different outfits is what France send Picardy to do.]]
* [[EmotionlessGirl Emotionless Boy]]: Japan, Hong Kong, Egypt, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland rarely (if ever) display their emotions.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Little England and France were very surprised when the world didn't end in the year 1000.
* EuropeansAreKinky:
** France is the most notable example.
** England is often seen reading porn, and has a tendency to wear very little when he's drunk.
** Germany has a porn collection that includes a lot of hardcore BDSM.
** Hungary claims that her love for Austria is pure, but she's been revealed to be a YaoiFangirl with a very dirty mind.
* EveryoneLooksSexierIfFrench: France, naturally.
* EverythingsBetterWithCows: ''Flying'' cows [[http://www.horror-vacui.net/hetarchive/scanlation/shorts/2011april1/usiusi.jpg to be precise.]]
* [[CuteKitten Everything's Cuter With Kittens]]: The Nekotalia strips in volume 3. Made its anime debut in World Series 26. [[http://community.livejournal.com/hetalia/8315905.html#cutid1 Warning: Possibility of]] CutenessOverload.
* EyeTake: America walks in just as England is talking to and petting his nice spirits that come up to him (that America cannot see).
* TheFaceless:
** Played with in the case of Turkey. At first this trope was played straight; his eyes were always covered with a mask, if not his whole face. In the 2007 Christmas Event, a fan asked to see his face. While he did show up without his mask (much to France and Greece's shock), either his back was to the audience or his face was otherwise obscured by a word bubble or something else. In the very last panel of the scene, he finally turns and faces the audience.
** Luxembourg got this treatment during his debut during the Hetaween 2011 Event. It looked like we finally would get to see his face in the 2011 Christmas Event, but it turned out to be just a weird dream that Belgium had.
* FacelessMasses:
** Seen in the first episode at the Meeting of the World, all sitting around the table.
** The Pictonians in the movie ''Paint It White''
* FacePalm: Germany has done this on more than one occasion, usually because of something Italy did.
* FairyTaleMotifs: The theme for some of the costumes in the 2011 Halloween Event.
* FanService:
** Himaruya has often filled requests for fans.
** This is what a good deal of what the live events are dedicated to.
* UsefulNotes/FascistItaly: [[CaptainObvious Obvious]] from the title.
** RepublicanItaly: Later on.
* FateWorseThanDeath: The Kolkhoz that Russia threatens his subordinates with. Or living/working/etc. with [[{{Yandere}} Russia]] for that matter.
* FirstSinoJapaneseWar: Depicted as Japan stabbing China in the back.
* FiveManBand: The Allied Forces can be seen like this. Roles are subjected to change, of course:
** TheLeader: America ([[LoveFreak or so he wants to believe]])
** TheLancer: England (StraightMan and sort of TheRival to America, ''[[NotSoAboveItAll sometimes]]'' TeamDad / OnlySaneMan)
** TheBigGuy: Russia (The tallest and [[PsychopathicManchild more unstable]] of the group)
** TheSmartGuy: China (He's 4000 years old and the most knowledgeable about things) [[WithFriendsLikeThese getting hassle even from the Allies]] until [[WhosLaughingNow he ditches his traditional robes for a Mao suit.]])
** TheChick: France (The most traditionally bishonen and always romantic)
** SixthRanger: Canada (Whose presence is rarely noticed by the other Allies and is almost always mistaken for America; even by his older brother England.)
* FlowerMotifs:
** Russia is sometimes seen with sunflowers. In one strip, Russia tells Lithuania that he dreams of "living in [[SunnySunflowerDisposition a warm place surrounded by sunflowers]]". They put the "dere" in {{Yandere}} for him.
** Rye fields. Just... dear God, the rye fields.
** Meanwhile, fandom never misses an opportunity to depict England with roses (England's national flower).
** And France is often shown with roses or floral imagery.
** Hungary and Taiwan use [[EveryGirlIsCuterWithHairDecs flowers and/or flower-shaped hair jewelry]] as accesories, with Hungary's flowers representing [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Balaton Lake Balaton.]]
* ForegoneConclusion: The Axis Powers lose.
* ForeignQueasine:
** England, naturally, especially since the series is based on stereotypes.
--> "In hell, the chefs are English..."
** Some of Finland's food can be seen this way.
** It has also been mentioned that Sweden's Surströmming (canned fermented Baltic herring) can be used as a deadly weapon. Although whether the food itself or his preparation of it is what renders it inedible is not clear.
** Japan reacts this way to America's brightly colored food.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In [[TheMovie Hetalia: Paint It White]], Italy is using a felt pen to draw faces on the pictures of the faceless Noppera during a meeting between the Axis and the Allies. [[spoiler: At the end of the movie, this is how he stops the Noppera's invasion, as well as how he gets all of the other countries back to normal.]]
* FourthWallMailSlot: Characters occasionally answer fan mail, sometimes devoting entire miniseries to it, and during the live events the nations will read and respond to fan letters.
* FreezeFrameBonus: In the scene where Italy is reading his so-called war records (read: photos of himself with pretty girls) in front of Japan, there's a bookcase in the background. If you look closely, you can see an entire series on pasta (including "Wonderful Pasta" and "Excellent Pasta"), a book called "Mr. Hetare", and a title with a German flag on on the spine with the title "German Dais..." before getting cut off by the screen. Other titles are in Japanese. Looks like the the Axis boys keep a communal bookcase.
* FriendlessBackground:
** Japan kept himself isolated for a long time. When he did start to open up, he worried that this would have a negative impact on his future relations with others.
** England often [[WithEuropeButNotOfIt feels this way]].
** In the Valentine's comics, Germany thinks about how his whole life seems to have been an endless cycle of war, hatred, and mistrust.
* FreudianExcuse:
** Volume Four shows Russia when he was small, explaining that although it's unthinkable now, he used to be bullied a lot during this period. The manga showed him being pushed around by Mongolia, Prussia, Denmark & Sweden, a wild hamster...
** Volume 3 showed the first time Lithuania and Russia met ("The Tartar Yoke" in the manga), while the latter was under Mongolian rule. Later, Hungary sympathizes with Russia after hearing from Lithuania about him.
* FunTShirt: "I '''♥''' Pasta"
* GagBoobs: Ukraine, who complains about them causing her stiff shoulders and is constantly reattaching one of the buttons on her shirt. In the anime she even has a special sound effect for them that can be heard through doors.
* GagDub: The English dub certainly qualifies. Some English voice actors have admitted that a significant chunk of their dialogue was ad-libbed. With this and the short length of the episodes, it has a very [[TheAbridgedSeries Abridged Series]] feel.
* GenderFlip: The [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minnna.jpg quasi-official]] genderswitched versions of the countries (girl!England and boy!Hungary in particular) are pretty popular, especially on the Japanese side of fandom, along with fannish versions.
** OlderThanTheyThink: [[http://www.viaggio-in-germania.de/italia_overbeck.html This is not the first time Italy and Germany have been portrayed as lovers]]
* GeniusLoci: The Nations themselves, by their very nature, arguably count.
* GenreBusting: The whole premise of the show itself is genre busting, being a show about ''personified nations'' living and acting out the lives based on the historical happenings and interactions of the countries they represent. For the most part it's a {{Comedy}}, it has its HistoricalFiction values, and has plentiful BoysLove '''subtext''' to it. If that weren't enough, there is the occasional {{BLAM}} comics of it, has sort of a magical background to it (what with exactly HOW nations exist and all is still left a mystery) , and plenty of FridgeHorror once you get to really thinking about the series itself. From [[spoiler:''WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs?'' the world being invaded by alien blob-people and saved by permanent markers]] to [[spoiler:''NightmareFuel'' Bloody Sunday]] to [[spoiler: ''BoysLove'' Germany confessing his love to Italy in the Valentine's Strip]] one can only be left guessing what might happen next in the series.
* GenreSavvy: England took this to absolutely ''ridiculous'' levels in TheMovie. After he and France are trapped in a corner, we get this gem of a moment:
-->'''England:''' Don't worry. There's always a way to escape!
-->''*random rope falls from the ceiling for absolutely no plausible reason*''
-->'''England:''' [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight Aha! There it is!]]
* GentleGiant:
** Sweden is actually a very nice guy. He just ''looks'' big and scary.
** Cameroon as well. It's been shown that he enjoys playing soccer with children.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** China meets a Hello Kitty rip-off named Shinatty-chan. "Shina" is a Japanese word for "Chinese" that is roughly comparable to the word "Negro" in the US; a formerly neutral word made charged by its derogatory use during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
** There's a recurring joke about Prussia "invading" [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything someone's "vital regions"]], and others either noting how inappropriate it sounds or making even more inappropriate comments. One of the funniest examples is when Prussia invaded the Silesia zone in Austria and then had Hungary threatening him with a spear and demanding to have "Austria's nether regions" back...
** England refers to Germany as a "Kraut", a slur for Germans dating back to WWI, a few times.
** Averted in the dub. Creator/{{Funimation}} wanted to get the series rated TV-MA to [[RefugeInAudacity avoid the radar]].
* GhostInTheMachine: During the Valentine Special, Germany's head-workers are swamped by foreign emotions.
* GoodAngelBadAngel: [[http://www.horror-vacui.net/hetarchive/scanlation/shorts/index.php?birz-10-08 They appear in Germany's shoulder]], Italy as the angel and Romano as the demon. [[ButThouMust Both of them give him the same option.]]
* GoodLookingPrivates: Approaching fetish levels.
* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Spain has been shown with tomato-print boxers on more than one occasion, and China has panda-print underwear.
* GoryDiscretionShot:
** The silhouetted version happens to France in the Christmas Rampage strip, when an upset Switzerland shoots him.
** 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.
** Another France one is when he's captured and tied up by Austria and Germany. He begs them not to hurt him, before the camera turns away and his screams can be heard in the background.
* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Shows up in the original webcomic/manga, [[ImageSong Image Songs]], anime, ''and'' the dub. All of the mochi nations talk in their respective languages, and some fanfics and art take this UpToEleven. [[BlindIdiotTranslation "Blind Idiot" Translations]] tend to run rampant in the latter.
** GratuitousEnglish: America does this a ''lot'' in the original version, as does his alien pal [[SirSwearsALot Tony]]. England as well, but not to the same extent.
** GratuitousFrench: France, naturally. Although he does it more in the dub.
** GratuitousGerman: As with France, it's more prevalent in the dub.
** GratuitousItalian: Italy and Romano.
** GratuitousJapanese: Only in the dub, along with a lot of IntentionalEngrishForFunny. Also, Japanese suffixes are used in the published manga, and are often left in scanlations along with terms like "ani-ki" and "onii-san."
** GratuitousRussian: Not as much as the other characters, but Russia does throw in the occasional "da."
** GratuitousSpanish: Spain, obviously. Oddly enough, Cuba doesn't seem to do this.
*** "[[BlindIdiotTranslation Dome uh beso]]." [[StudioDEEN Damn it, DEEN]]!
** Note that in the manga, you can count on almost ''any'' character saying something (even if it's just "hello") in their own language at some point.
* GreyAndGreyMorality: None of the Nations are portrayed as ''completely'' evil, even Russia. Then again, despite being good-at-heart, they've done some regrettable things in history.
* GrimReaper: Appears in a strip where England is dying (or at least very ill).
* GroinAttack: When America and Canada are playing catch with a baseball, this happens to Canada. Ow.
* GuiltyPleasure:
** Germany secretly loves baking.
** There are definitely some fans that consider the series this.
* HalloweenEpisode: There are several instances dealing with things like this, including America and Japan exchanging horror media, England trying to scare America on Halloween, and Germany panicking over the possibility of a ghost. See also ''Manga/{{Hetaween 2011}}''.
* HauntedCastle: One was turned into a hotel, in a strip where the resident evil spirit tries [[NightmareRetardant and fails]] to scare Japan, England and America.
* HaveAGayOldTime:
** In one strip England grumbles about America's "incorrect" English.
** Also the time where differing meanings for the word "rubber" caused America to give England a condom when the latter had asked for a pencil eraser.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Poland and Lithuania, even if Poland pushes the definition of "heterosexual" quite a bit.
* HetIsEw: Surprisingly averted, since the het couples are less numerous [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys for obvious reasons]] yet they have pretty loyal supporters.
* HiddenDepths: Most of the characters show shades of this at some point. France, for example, often comes across as nothing more than a shallow pervert. [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/nonlinear.php?vais This comic]] shows that he may very well want to settle down, however being essentially immortal means that he has to watch anyone he falls in love with grow old and die, so he sticks to short flings and one-night stands because it's emotionally easier to deal with.
* HighSchoolAU: The Hetalia Academy comics take place in an AlternateUniverse where the nations are all students, as does the Playstation game.
* HilariousOuttakes: The dub includes this as bonus material for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b_tCmwF7Pc the movie]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TIekuiTlzQ season three]], and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkxMad4v870 season four]].
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Several have made appearances or have been mentioned, including NapoleonBonaparte, FrederickTheGreat, AdolfHitler, JoanOfArc, Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli, MariaTheresa, [[ShakespeareInFiction William Shakespeare]], and [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]]. A full list can be found near the bottom of [[http://www.hetarchive.net/characters.php this]] page.
* HistoricalInjoke: The entire premise.
* [[SheIsAllGrownUp He Is All Grown Up]]:
** England leaves young America to return to his country, telling the boy to do his best and become strong. When he comes back, England is shocked to find that America has grown to be taller than him.
** In a different strip, France gets impure thoughts upon seeing a more grown-up but still not fully "legal" North Italy.
** The strip where England has a nightmare about Sealand actually growing up and becoming a country.
* HoldingHands: America's flashback within a flashback where the young America takes England's hand as they both go home. Pretty much a brief CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming surrounded by a TearJerker.
* HumiliationConga: America, when he has to apologise for the Great Depression [[http://community.livejournal.com/hetalia/95663.html here]], at the end of "Lithuania's Immigration" (leading to a YankTheDogsChain}.. Actually, the treatment he gets differs from country to country depending on how badly they crashed. It ranges from 'America it seems is too inexperienced in these things' (Japan -3), to 'Your Ass is mine!' (France, -30). And Russia takes the cake by being typically tactless (+ 65).
* HypocriticalHumor: England and France both consider themselves gentlemen, but they are often shown otherwise, with [[ClusterFBomb foul language]] and [[AnythingThatMoves loose ways]] respectively. At one point, England looks down on America for being childish, saying that a gentleman doesn't waste time on what a little brat does. America then insults England's cooking, which leads England to call him a [[ThisTropeIsBleep *censored* ]]...
[[/folder]]

[[folder: I-P]]
* [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend I Am Not His Wife]]:
** 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]].
* IdenticalGrandson: Germany looks like Germania with shorter hair. The Roman Empire also looks like an older, more mature Italy.
* IdiotHair:
** North and South Italy, it acts as an erogenous zone for both of them.
** Rome has a couple that resemble his grandsons'.
** Korea's is drawn [[ExpressiveHair with a face]], supposedly representing his "Korean spirit."
** America didn't have one at first, but developed one as the series went on. It represents [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nantucket Nantucket.]]
** Similar to America, Austria started out without one. His represents [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariazell Mariazell.]]
** Canada has a long, loopy one.
** Taiwan also has a long one.
** Greece has a sort of curly Y-shaped idiot-hair thing on top of his head.
** Turkey has one similar to Greece on the side of his head, though it's hard to notice.
** Norway has one too, albeit, it's detached from his head and floats.
** Australia has two of them.
** Seborga has an angular one similar to Italy's.
** Kugelmugel has one that looks like a longer version of Austria's.
** Some of the [[http://www.hetarchive.net/characters/prefectures/todouhuken_san.php Japanese prefectures]] seem to have them as well.
* ImageSong:
** Italy's voice actor, Creator/DaisukeNamikawa, sings the ending themes, and the main eight characters' voice actors have their own respective albums.
** Prussia, Poland, Lithuania, Austria, Chibitalia, and Holy Rome also have their own versions of "Marukaite Chikyuu".
** Hungary, Prussia, Greece, Turkey, Spain, and Chibi Romano, all have versions of the second ending theme, Belgium and Netherlands have a duo.
** Taiwan, Hong Kong, Romano, Spain, Prussia, Canada, and Rome also have character songs. Rome and Chibitalia have a duo, the Baltics and the Bad Friends Trio both have group songs.
* ImagineSpot: Japan gets an... interesting one featuring his preconcieved notions of Switzerland. There is dancing.
* ImmortalImmaturity: Almost all the characters, but China stands out as a 4,000 year old [[strike:Hello Kitty]] Shinatty-Chan lover. Inverted for England, who's grown out of his 'wild youth' (read: piracy on the high seas), which only survives as his foul mouth and his [[{{Tsundere}} quick temper]], and Sweden who grew out of his viking phase a while ago.
* ImprobableWeaponUser:
** China has used a wok and ladle on more than one occasion, and was also once shown beating up his boss (who is a dragon, mind you) with a knock-off HelloKitty doll.
** Hungary and her frying pan also count.
* IncestIsRelative: Since it's unclear how nations are born and what their relationships really are, this could be seen as a case of NotBloodSiblings. Fans interpret pairings such as America/Canada, Russia/Belarus, and the rest in different ways, depending on their preferences.
* [[InnocentFanserviceGirl Innocent Fanservice Boy]]: Italy frequently neglects to put on pants, much to Japan's embarrassment and Germany's irritation.
* InnocentInnuendo: Italy's panicked phone call. "[[BlackComedyRape Germany! Romano's in bed! It won't come out! Ow ow! Take it out!]]" [[spoiler:Their hair got tangled together.]]
* InSeriesNickname: Prussia calls Germany "West", and Poland refers to Lithuania as "Liet".
* InscrutableOriental: Japan and Hong Kong.
* InsultedAwake: America brings England back from the ''dead'' this way.
* IntentionalEngrishForFunny: Most notable with Japan in the dub who speaks in Engrish the entire time, although other characters like Russia and China occasionally get this treatment too.
* InterspeciesFriendship:
** America and Tony, his alien friend. They've been shown hanging out and playing video games, and America goes to Tony for help regarding the Pict invaders in the movie.
** England and Norway with their respective magical friends as well.
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide:
** Austria. He's depicted as being refined and have an aristocratic personality.
** Italy doesn't like fighting, and is an excellent cook and artist.
** China is sometimes mistaken for a girl by fans, and like Italy is shown to be a consummate chef.
** France. Thanks to ArtEvolution he's gotten prettier and prettier, and is depicted as very romantic.
* InvisiblePresident:
** When the President of the United States appears, his face is obscured by the caption bubbles or we just see the back of his head.
** A similar phenomenon occurs when Germany is talking to his "boss". As with Japan when he's talking to his "boss". China's 'boss' is a giant dragon. ...or edited to appear as such.
** Averted when Austria, Prussia, and Spain talk to their own "bosses" (Empress Marie Therese, King Friederich II and Queen Joanna of Castile, respectively), whose faces we can see clearly.
** Also when Italy becomes aligned with Russia, Italy's "boss" is clearly seen, though Russia's is only shown from the back.
** Ukraine's boss is also briefly shown clearly.
* InvisibleToNormals: England's and Norway's [[FairyCompanion "friends"]] can't be seen by normal people or other nations.
* IsItSomethingYouEat: [[DrivesLikeCrazy Italy]] made this comment while driving Japan home once.
-->'''Japan:''' "A-ah! I mean, is it OK with the traffic laws - Eek!"
-->'''Italy:''' "No? Traffic? I've never eaten that sort of thing."
* IslandHelpMessage: That F*cking Island.
* ItalianWars: Shown in the Chibitalia segments.
* ItsAllJunk: America tries to pull this with the gifts given to him by England, but can't bring himself to do it.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy:
** Spain lets Italy leave during the War of the Austrian Succession.
** Sweden also thinks this about Finland during the Polish-Swedish wars, however he thinks it's too embarassing to say just in front of Finland.
** [[TheAmericanRevolution England and America]]. There's much fighting before England chooses to let America go.
* IWasJustJoking: When America tells England how great it feels to remember defeating him in the American Revolutionary War, England looks as if he's been genuinely hurt. America then says that that's a lie, which brings England back to his usual irritated {{Tsundere}} state.
* JapaneseRanguage: Japan is the most prominent example of this in the English dub. Most of the other Asian nations also have accents, but less obvious with the R's.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Cuba is big, gruff, and intimidating and definitely doesn't get along with America, but he's actually a nice guy. He likes chilling out with ice cream or cigars and is friends with Canada (even if he sometimes mistakes him for America).
** Russia terrifies everyone, but loves his big sister and seems to genuinely want the best for his people.
** America is obnoxiously blunt and full of himself, but when he first realizes how nervous Japan is about having contact with the outside world, he purposely makes his fake fortune-telling method give a good outcome to give Japan confidence.
** England's a grouch who presumably wasn't much fun for any of his siblings or those stuck with him during his empire days, but he genuinely adored America and wanted to protect him.
** Germany's a DrillSergeantNasty who's pretty tough on his allies...and will also run to their rescue should they ever need help, and who, despite his constant complaints, never abandons "useless" ally.
* JesusTaboo: Averted, he appears sometimes. At one point, he appears to Prussia (who was still the religious order of the Teutonic Knights at the time) who was remorseful about touching Hungary's breasts.
* JustJokingJustification: Something fans of this series use when defending it.
* KansaiRegionalAccent: Many of the countries speak a unique Japanese dialect, although this is to emphasize character traits more than anything.
** Spain has a heavy Osaka accent.
** Cuba speaks with a Kawachi accent, a rougher variation of the Osaka accent.
** Belgium speaks in Shiga dialect.
** Poland's has a Nagoya accent
** Sweden has a ''very'' heavy Tohoku dialect.
** Norway's Tsugaru dialect
** Hong Kong's Gyaru-o dialect.
* {{Kawaisa}}
* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Korea is usually saying he invented things, like education. Also, Poland used to treat Lithuania like his lackey and tried to make Liet live like him. Many of the nation-tans have [[CulturalPosturing a moment acting like this]] (They are all good at heart, though).
* TheKrampus: Hungary dresses up like this every Christmas to scare Italy. He still hasn't figured out that it's her.
* LargeHam: America and Rome. Cuba acts this way at times too.
* LemonyNarrator: In the dub. The Narrator is very informational in the original. She often talks with a ValleyGirl accent.
--> "Oh! Pretty music!"
--> "Even Godless-er China."
--> "Gay Christmas... I mean, French."
--> "'Hoist the main sail and [[BringMyBrownPants get me my brown pants]]' and 'holy crap a talking muffin!' I love those jokes"
--> "Apparently, neutrality means stay the F*** out!"
* LethalChef: England. No surprise. This trope is played with in the show and is a major plot point in the movie.
* LetHimChoose: In the comic that introduces Colonial America, England and France decide to have America choose which of them he wants as his big-brother. America sees a dispirited England in a CornerOfWoe and chooses him over France.
* LightBulbJoke: Once with Poland.
* LikeIsLikeAComma:
** Poland speaks in this manner.
** In the dub, the narrator speaks like this for an episode
* LimitedWardrobe: The characters often have a certain iconic outfit that they wear most of the time, but there are also times when they wear other clothing, making this a ZigZaggingTrope.
* LittleGreenMen or TheGrays: Tony is America's cute little alien friend (he crashed at Roswell in 1947), who can be seen most of the time at America's house. He has a foul mouth, speaks English/Japanese/Hetalia's universal language, watches America's movies, sometimes abducts people, and apparently hates the British.
* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: Austria in episode four.
* TheLoad: Italy, oh so very much towards his fellow Axis members, especially Germany.
-->Germany, Germany, help me! I'm in north Africa right now and I can't tie my shoelaces! Oh... and also England is here!"
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: A full list can be found [[http://www.hetarchive.net/characters.php here.]] [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because of the sheer number of countries (past and present) on the planet.
* LonelyTogether: "The Anglo-Japanese Alliance Between Two Lonely People," anyone?
* LoveBubbles:
** A variation occurs inside Germany's head in the Valentine's Day comics when [[GhostInTheMachine the workers]] get swamped with numerous heart-shaped objects that they've never seen before.
** Italy tends to have hearts coming from him, but this is often towards Italian things (such as food and their traditions) as opposed to another character.
* LoveHurts:
** In the ChristmasEpisode, a drunk England suddenly snaps out of his stupor when reminded of how he spent a hundred years trying to get over the pain of his unrequited love. (He didn't succeed; [[{{Tsundere}} he just moved on to another stage]].)
** Belarus breaks all of Lithuania's fingers not even ten minutes into their date. And he [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter doesn't seem to mind]].
* LoveTriangle:
** TriangRelations type 2: Lithuania has a crush on Belarus, who completely abhors him. Russia's favorite subordinate is Lithuania, who is terrified of him. Belarus wants to marry Russia, who is terrified of ''her''. [[PsychoticLoveTriangle It's very... twisted, indeed.]]
** Type 3: Greece --> Japan <-- Turkey. Complete with the two ends of the triangle arguing about which one of them Japan pays more attention to. Japan may prefer Greece over Turkey (fandom certainly thinks so, and you [[ShipTease can't]] [[BirdsOfAFeather really]] [[TogetherUmbrella blame]] [[DidYouJustHaveSex them]]), but he remains evasive of any questions about the matter.
** Type 4: Austria and Hungary are an OfficialCouple, but it's hinted that Prussia has feelings for Hungary. That's likely the most canon take on their relations, but fandom enjoys playing with all possible combinations of the [[FanNickname Frying Pangle]], sometimes even making it a Type 7 or [[OT3 Type 8]] in their works.
** And then there's the America/England/France LoveTriangle. While you'll definitely find it in {{Fanon}}, canon is quite subtle about it. One could argue that the reason for this is that England is a ''huge'' {{Tsundere}}, America gives mixed signals and France is, well, [[AnythingThatMoves France]].
* LuckyCharmsTitle:
** The Delicious★Tomato Song.
** Hello★China.
** Casino ★ Show Time!
* LuminescentBlush: Most characters have this on constantly.
* [[MadeOfIron Made of Steel]]: Sealand is literally this. When he punches out [[spoiler: France #23 from the AlternateUniverse]], he states that he's able to do so because he's made of steel.
* MagicalRealism: Hints of it, especially regarding the nature of the characters and how they come to be. When a young soldier asked France about his true nature this is what he said:
-->'''France:''' If it's hard to understand, imagine a ship! The government is the mast, citizens are the wind and they swim on the sea of time, or so it says. If the mast stands straight and good wind blows, the ship goes forward. Well, sometimes it gets stranded and that was it. [[NonAnswer Something like that maybe?]]
* TheManBehindTheMan: Arguably Austria to the Holy Roman Empire. Subverted in that he's not evil at all, even though his stuffiness seems to give the impression.
* MangaEffects
** BlankWhiteEyes: Happens often for a strong comical emotion.
** BlueWithShock
** ColorFailure
* {{Masquerade}}/ExtraStrengthMasquerade: It's strongly hinted that not everyone knows of the Nations' existence or at least their true identities. This is even touched upon in a recent strip involving France and one of his soldiers.
* MassOhCrap: In the movie, the others do this when England states that he put [[LethalChef his home-made scones]] into the gift bags they gave the Pict.
* MediumAwareness: England stares daggers (well, arrows) at Russia. [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/volumes.php?t03 Russia then grabs and eats them.]]
* {{Meganekko}}: Several characters wear glasses, but Austria, Estonia and Thailand in particular fit the trope.
* {{Meido}}: As a young child living with Austria, [[WholesomeCrossdresser Italy used to wear maid outfits]]. Especially in the Chibitalia chapter, which lampshades the trope when the Holy Roman Empire is seen with a portrait of Chibitalia and is asked if the model was a servant. This may be a historical in-joke, though. See WholesomeCrossdresser below.
* MementoMacguffin:
** Holy Rome keeps the broom that Chibitalia gave him. (In the webcomic, it was "her" panties.)
** America still has the toy soldiers that England made for him.
** Possibly the iron cross necklace that Germany gave Italy when they decided to be allies.
* MisplacedNationalism: Occasionally happens in the fandom.
* MisplacedRetribution: Canada is frequently the target of this because he looks almost identical to his brother America, though the countries that are pissed at America wouldn't harm Canada if they knew the difference. That he's very soft spoken means he rarely is able to stop the abuse or convince the other countries (rightfully angry at America) from beating up on him.
* MisplacedSorrow: When England 'dies' in the hospital after an accident involving the panjandrum, America gets teary eyed and tells him he can't go because he owes him a 'crap-ton of money'.
* ModestyTowel: Variation in the ChristmasEpisode; Spain pulls a shower curtain towards himself and barely covers his crotch.
* MoeAnthropomorphism: The ''other'' [[MoeMoe foundation]] the series was built on.
* MoeCouplet:
** Sealand and Latvia. Sealand helps Latvia not be a twitching emotional wreck and Latvia keeps Sealand grounded to reality.
** America and Japan. America can come across as obnoxious and pushy at times and Japan as dull to some. Put them together, however, and America becomes the cheerful, eager friend who gets Japan to open up to new things and Japan the calm, mature one who balances out America's boisterousness. Plus, in spite of the obvious OppositesAttract potential, many people prefer them as [=BFFs=] rather than lovers in the Western fandom.
** Greece and Japan, whose relationship seems to be mainly based on them both being quiet {{Kindhearted Cat Lover}}s who soften or endear each other's negative traits and are unlikely to ever fight. You can make a drinking game out of the number of times they're described as "[[CuteKitten cute]]" or "{{moe}}" by fans, seriously. (Not that that's a ''bad'' thing, mind you.)
* MomentKiller:
** America has a tendency to do this around England.
** His voice actor did this during the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy8btJRS1b4 2011 Seiyuu event]] when AiOrikasa asked the guys to give the audience a New Year's kiss.
--->'''HirokiYasumoto:''' *pointing to the camera* "Over there? Why don't you come closer" *walks to the edge of the stage and crouches down so he's closer to the camera*
--->'''KatsuyukiKonishi:''' (Just as Yasumoto is about to start.) "We can see your underwear!"
--->'''Everyone:''' *laughs*
--->'''HirokiYasumoto:''' "Sorry, apparently you can see my underwear right now."
* MonochromaticEyes: Japan, Liechtenstein, Norway, and the Holy Roman Empire.
* MoodWhiplash:
** The comics about the American Revolution, Lithuania's sleepover at Poland's house and Bloody Sunday.
** There are quite a few milder examples than the ones given above as well. Episode 50 of the anime(the one with the table-turning) contains one between America and Japan. When America asks Japan if there's anything bothering him, Japan proceeds to pour his heart out, sharing with America how excited yet apprehensive he is about learning Western culture. Then he concludes by asking if they (Japan and America) will be able to get along from then on. Ouch.
* MoralGuardians: Pulled the show off regular TV airings to other electronic distributions. [[FanDumb Nationalist Korean netizens reacted to a Japanese parody of Korea being broadcast about as well as you might expect. Some of the English and Japanese fandom reacted to ''that'' about as well as you'd expect, too.]]
* TheMovie: The Plot? [[TheGrays Alien]] [[AlienInvasion Invasion.]]
* {{Muggles}}: We sometimes see normal people hanging around and interacting with the nations.
** An early story showed Italy conspiring with one of his soldiers. When the Germans went to bed, he and his entire army pulled a ScrewThisImOuttaHere.
** At one point, England tries to take advantage of this by blending into crowds in Italy.
** When Germany gives up beer as part of a diet, his soldiers are shocked.
** This is touched upon in the strip ''[[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/nonlinear.php?vais Though I may depart, you shall remain]]'' when one soldier wonders what exactly France is, as the poor sap says that France hasn't aged since his grandfather's time.
* MythologyGag: In the dub, ToddHaberkorn voices Britain when he's a kid instead of Scott Freeman -- possibly a nod to the fact he was supposed to voice Britain before North Italy had to be recast.
* NakedApron:
** England's "sexy waiter" outfit, which was inspired by an actual business in the UK.
** Hong Kong during the 2010 Christmas event.
** Spain, America, and Prussia all wore them in the 2011 April Fool's event.
* NationalStereotypes: The ''other'' other foundation the series was built on, although the characters themselves go beyond this. Said stereotypes are either subverted or expounded upon, revealing the basis and history behind them.
* NationsAsPeople
* NeatFreak:
** Germany is obsessive about cleanliness.
** Austria as well, although while Germany will actually fold his dirty clothes, Austria will simply drape them on a chair.
** Netherlands hates messy gardens and doesn't let anyone touch the kitchen because of this.
** For all their differences, this is something that [[http://hetalia.livejournal.com/12306300.html Prussia and Germany have in common.]]
* NecktieLeash: Norway strangles Denmark this way.
* NiceHat: The Holy Roman Empire. Turkey combines it with MaskPower. Prussia is sometimes seen wearing one too.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Used in a Halloween strip as [[spoiler: Japan tells America to use Russia as a receptionist in order to scare England.]] Otherwise, countries are often shown as being very scared of anyone who'd beaten them before or who has a reputation; hence why many freak out whenever they are asked to interact with Germany or Russia. Also, the Italies are afraid of England and Southern Italy appears to be terrified of France.
* NonHumanSidekick: America has whales and the visitor from outer space named Tony (who hates England for some reason), England has fairies and at least one unicorn, Germany has been shown with 4 different dogs, a little dog call Hana-Tamago goes along with Finland and Sweden, Greece has his cats, France has a manipulative little bird called Pierrot, Egypt has a jackal named Anubis and a falcon, Australia has a koala and a kangaroo in his sketch, New Zealand a sheep and a kiwi and Japan's dog Pochi seems to be friends with Netherlands' bunny. As of the April Fools '09 event, Prussia has at least one small yellow bird that likes to sit on his head. Canada also has his bear, Kumajiro.
** TalkingAnimal: Iceland's pet puffin can talk, as can Canada's bear cub, Kumajiro. Hana-Tamago, Sweden and Finland's pet dog, is able to talk during the Christmas events.
* NoSwastikas: Averted; they can be seen in the last chapter of Volume One of the published manga.
* NotBloodSiblings:
** Liechtenstein is Switzerland's adoptive little sister.
** England and America, along with the other nations who were part of the British Empire.
** China with Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong.
* NowOrNeverKiss: Sorta. [[spoiler: In the Chibitalia strip, Holy Roman Empire kisses Chibitalia on the lips before leaving Austria's mansion, since they don't know if they'll ever see each other again.]]
* ObliviousToLove: Italy is this to Germany in the Buon San Valentino comics. America might also be this to England.
* OddFriendship: Germany and Italy, Poland and Lithuania, America and Japan.
* OhCrap:
** America when he discovered that he had gained weight.
** Holy Rome when Chibitalia collapsed while they were cuddling.
** Russia in the 2010 Christmas event when [[spoiler:General Winter was instantly defeated.]]
* OfficialCouple: Austria/Hungary, who were married at one point and are still close despite being divorced.
* OffModel: Some moments in the anime. One that comes especially to mind is when they show Chibitalia with [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chigiiii.png what's supposed to be a younger Romano in episode 2]], it happens fairly frequently with [[StudioDEEN DEEN's]] [[http://ohgodnohetaliaanimeart.tumblr.com/ anime artwork]] and was lampshaded in the dub.
--> '''China:''' (showing his Emperor various animals) "This is ''supposed'' to be a camel."
* OffscreenTeleportation: Seems to be how the nations get around. Lampshaded in the 2010 Christmas event when Cuba called Germany and told him to come over right away. Germany informed him that there was no way he could get a plane chartered in time, at which point Cuba expressed surprise that he couldn't just teleport.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most of the characters don't look older than thirty. Could be a case of ReallySevenHundredYearsOld depending on your interpretation of the nature of the series. It's worth noting though that apparently all countries start out as children and with time they grow into adults (see the Italy brothers, Japan and America), but they don't seem to age at the same rates. America grows up much faster than Italy did, and older characters like China often feel their age.
* OldShame: Himaruya has deleted some strips and illustrations for the series over the years, probably for UnfortunateImplications and mistakes that he later corrected.
* OneManArmy: Every single character, in an unusually literal example, although it is subverted once in a while. There are occasions where we see nations with their troops.
* OneOfUs:
** [[http://principalityofwy.com/principality-of-wy-promotes-world-peace/ Prince Paul of Wy]].
** [[http://twitter.com/#!/tristencitrine Char]], Hetalia's Brand Manager at Funimation, is quite the fangirl, to the point where "Char is watching us!" became a meme on the LiveJournal community.
** Several people working at Creator/{{Funimation}} have mentioned loving the series.
* OnlySaneMan:
** Germany for the Axis Powers and England for the Allied Powers. If you stretch the definition of "[[BrainsAndBondage sane]]" a bit, that is.
** For the Allied Forces, China sometimes reaches this level and acts as the voice of reason when England proves that he's NotSoAboveItAll, especially when fighting with [[SitcomArchNemesis France]].
** Estonia for Eastern Europe as well.
** Iceland of Nordics.
** And Hong Kong of Asia.
** Wy for the micro-nations, too. It seems that every character group has one.
* OnlySixFaces: Averted for the most part in the manga (more often than not, the anime plays this straight) as there are variations in the characters' facial features. However, as [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters more and more characters are introduced]], similar features started popping up. Himaruya acknowledged this when he pointed out [[http://himaruya.blog61.fc2.com/blog-entry-963.html the similarity between Prussia and Sweden's faces.]]
* OppositesAttract: Lithuania and Poland, Germany and Italy.
* PandaingToTheAudience:
** China is often seen with a panda cub, wears [[GoofyPrintUnderwear panda-print boxers]], and even has a panda shaped birthmark.
** Hong Kong appears to love pandas as well.
** Russia will dress up as a panda when he's stalking China.
* PaperThinDisguise: Germany simply wore a suit and glasses while undercover in France, and England changed his clothes (and later his hairstyle) while trying to escape from Italy. When they were finally noticed, it was only because of how they were acting. Germany was mashing his potatoes rather than slicing them. England got caught the first time because of his unstylish clothes, the second time because he wasn't flirting with pretty women, and the third time for ordering British food at a restaurant.
* PermaStubble: France, Rome, Turkey, and Croatia all sport this.
* PerpetualFrowner: Germany and Switzerland tend to be this.
* PersonalitySwap: Germany and Italy (try to) switch personalities in one strip just for the heck of it.
* PhenotypeStereotype: Most European nation-tans north of Italy are blond with blue or green eyes. Somewhat TruthInTelevision, as studies shown that the [[http://www.vagabondish.com/wp-content/uploads/blond-map-europe.jpg percentage of blondes in Europe]] increases the further north you go.
* PhysicalScarsPsychologicalScars:
** China has a large one on his shoulder from when Japan stabbed him in the back with his katana, which symbolized the first Sino-Japanese war.
** Lithuania's back is covered in scars. It's implied that he got them from Russia during Soviet occupation.
** According to Chibitalia, Rome's body was eventually covered in them from all the battles he fought.
** Netherlands and Hesse also have scars, but we don't know their significance yet.
* PinkySwear: Used to symbolize Germany and Italy's Pact of Steel.
* PinPullingTeeth: Germany does this when trying to demonstrate to Italy how to use a grenade. Italy tries to mimic him, but it [[ThrowThePin doesn't work out so well]].
* PityTheKidnapper:
** Germany takes Italy prisoner, but kicks him out at the end of the [[WorldWarOne First World War]].
** A running gag in the series, as anybody who captures Italy is going to regret it very quickly.
** Another one for the Italies is they pretty much regret that their trap work on England.
* {{Pixellation}}: In the manga, it's sometimes used to censor someone's speech if it's foul or disturbing. In the anime and movie, it's used to censor images of characters/objects from other anime series.
* PlanetEris: [[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.
* PlayingAgainstType:
** HirokiTakahashi, who normally plays HotBlooded, JerkAss characters, voices Japan.
** Fangirl-magnet VicMignogna voices... a sleepy, silent, bored Greece. Who has less lines in season 1 and 2 than ''[[WhoIsThisGuyAgain Canada!]]''
** EricVale as sweet, quiet Canada as well.
* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Young nations (and grown up North Italy) tend to have abandonment issues.
* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: The plot of the OVA "Paint It White" deals with this.
* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: For the most part, although there are a few strips that avert this.
* PornStash: Germany apparently has one. Italy found it and later blabbed about it to the Allies when he was captured.
* PottyFailure:
** Romano when he was little. Not only did he wet the bed, but Spain came home one day and discovered that he wasn't able to make it to the bathroom in time.
** America apparently wet the bed as a kid. While sleeping during a meeting, England muttered "You wet the bed again, Amer-" causing America to hit him.
* PowerTrio: Germany is [[DrillSergeantNasty Superego]] (rational), Italy is [[{{Keet}} Id]] (emotional), Japan is [[JapanesePoliteness Ego]] (middle man).
** ComicTrio: More often than they'd like.
* PrincelyYoungMan: Austria has an aristocratic personality, is in charge of the house, and is referred to as a "young master" by the others.
* {{Privateer}}: There are a couple of strips which detail the story of England's privateers. Basically, England found a few pirates that were causing him trouble, and told them to "go beat up that Spain guy". They did, allowing England to get the upper hand over Spain. Whenever Spain complained to England, he would just apologize and say that the pirates were causing him trouble, too. That is, until Spain went over to England's house and saw him giving medals to the privateers. Whoops.
* ProperLady: Liechtenstein. She's humble, kind, quiet, deferring yet not completely submissive to her brother Switzerland, very mature for a young nation, and quite competent at housework.
* PsychopathicManchild: Russia. [[WordOfGod The author]] did state that Russia has a Child-like cruelty to him. Not to mention he has [[{{Moe}} such a sweet face]] and is [[CuteAndPsycho always smiling...]] [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] to a ridiculous extent in the fandom, seeing as he says creepy things and stalks people frequently but very rarely actually ''does'' anything.
* PuppyLove: Chibitalia was initially afraid of Holy Rome, but eventually returned his feelings.
* PurelyAestheticGlasses:
** WordOfGod states that Austria wears glasses to make himself look more interesting, not because he needs them.
** America's represent the state of Texas, which is why he isn't shown wearing them prior to Texas becoming part of the US.
** Germany is occasionally shown wearing them, mostly in the Hetalia Academy setting.
** There have been multiple times where Himaruya draws characters wearing glasses simply for {{Fanservice}}.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Q-Z]]
* TheQuietOne: Egypt. He's only been shown talking once, and that was because France asked him if he was even able to talk.
* ReadingTheEnemysMail: The Allies get a hold of Germany's diary and find little to help them defeat them.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: With the exception of the micronations, they're all hundreds, if not thousands, of years old, yet none of them look any older than their mid-20s or so.
* 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's 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...
* 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''...
* RedOniBlueOni:
** Germany and Prussia have blue and red eyes, respectively. They very much fit the trope.
** Denmark and Sweden as well, complete with color scheme.
* 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
* RoswellIncident: Though there were extra-terrestrials already in America by this time.
* 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
* RunningGag:
** That F**king Island.
** "To be continued... maybe."
* RussianGuySuffersMost: Inverted and played staight. [[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.
* SatelliteCharacter: The Holy Roman Empire. Is he the boss? Does he just own the house? He doesn't interact much with the others. He's not Germany, by the way. Or is he? [[EpilepticTrees Hmmm...]]
* 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!''"[[hottip:*: Doubles as AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther - America has just been hit by an alien's transformative attack, and England freaks out. Then he gets hit too.]]
* ScarfOfAsskicking: Russia and Netherlands each have one.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Italy and his ''entire army'' do this early in the series. Germany finds him and drags him back, however.
* {{Seinen}}: [[HoYay Yes]], ''[[EstrogenBrigade really]]''. Though starting out online and still being a part-time webcomic makes its demographic [[GenreBuster more ambiguous]].
* {{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.
* 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.]] 'Nuff said.
** There was this one picture on the author's blog where Vietnam wore one, too.
** Hungary was once shown in one as well.
* ShipperOnDeck: Japan may count. When Italy asks for advice on designing a war poster, he suggests Italy and Germany's names under an TogetherUmbrella. Austria also gives Germany advice during the Valentine's comics.
* ShirtlessScene: Germany and Italy have a few. [[HoYay Usually together]]. There's also an entire [[ChristmasEpisode Christmas special]] devoted to characters taking off their shirts ([[NakedPeopleAreFunny and a bit more]]), usually because of some scheme of France's.
* ShortAnimeMovie: ''[[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:
** Finland's last name is a reference to Literature/TheKalevala. Namely, to Väinämöinen, the main hero of the story.
** Episode 3 of the 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]]."
** On his blog, Himaruya once posted a drawing of Hungary holding her frying pan, with "[[WesternAnimation/SouthPark Let's Frying Pan Love]]" written next to it.
** The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' shoutout mentioned above. As an extra kick, America adds that "they caught em all!"
** Italy sounds like [[SuperMarioBros Mario]] in the dub. In fact, his [[ToddHaberkorn English dub voice actor]] explained in a commentary that at first he tried to play it straight with a realistic Italian accent...but when he heard the accent Chibitalia's [[BrinaPalencia voice actress]] was using, he decided to completely go for broke and use the most ridiculous Italian accent he could think of...which happened to be [[SuperMarioBros Mario]]!
** 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 [[FamilyGuy Stewie Griffin]].
** In the beginning of the dubbed movie, the dub gives us this gem: "[[Series/DoctorWho Time-traveling phone booths]] can only go so far..." JamieMarchi put that reference into the script specifically for ''Series/DoctorWho'' fan JMichaelTatum.
** In the Japanese version of episode 7, 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.)
** Germany in the movie dub tells Italy, "There's no crying in [[ALeagueOfTheirOwn alien warfare]]!"
** England's lullaby to America in episode 39 of the dub is a rushed version of a song from ''PhantomOfTheOpera''.
* 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.
* ShowtheForehead: Netherland, Denmark, Thailand, and Australia.
* [[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.
* ShowWithinAShow:
** In one of the webcomics, Estonia makes a movie.
** Most of the live events during the holidays are this.
* SiblingYinYang: North and South Italy; Switzerland and Liechtenstein; America and Canada; Prussia and Germany.
* SignificantBirthDate: If a nation has some sort of national holiday or independence day, it will be their birthday. Examples being Italy's is March 17 (Italian reunification), America's is July 4 (Independence day), and France's is July 14 (Bastille day).
* 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, oh, so much.
** 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...
* 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 [[LoveFreak 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 [[HetaliaBloodbath2010 2010 bloodbath]], oh so much.
* 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 [[InternetBackdraft dire consequences]].
* SmokingIsCool:
** Cuba and his famous Cuban cigars.
** Netherlands, too, with his Pipe of Asskicking.
* [[SoftWater Soft Snow]]:
** 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.
* SpitTake:
** Prussia does this when he finds out that Germany is not drinking beer as part of his new diet.
** Iceland also does this when Denmark tells him cows are flying in the sky during the 2011 April Fool's event.
* SpotOfTea: England, of course. Japan and China have also been seen drinking tea.
* StalkerWithACrush: Belarus, to Russia. Russia himself, to Lithuania. Russia also wears a panda suit and stalks China.
--> '''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..."]]
* 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.
* 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).
** England: Arthur.
** Egypt: His middle name is Muhammad.
** France: Francis.
** Finland: His given name, Tino, is very similar to Timo.
** 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 YouTube comments speculate that they were trying to make fun of [[SuzumiyaHaruhi Endless Eight]].
** Also egregiously used in the movie where entire episodes were thrown in.
* TheStoic: Sweden and Germania.
* 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.
* SummonMagic: England, and his summoning spell is full of [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]] in the dub.
* SuperDeformed: Done sometimes in the series. It shows up a lot in Himaruya's artwork and the merchandise.
* SuperSentaiStance: France, China, and Turkey do this in volume four when they are [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/volume4.php?t00 praising the Gourmet Food Club]].
* 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.
* SurpriseSantaEncounter: [[UrExample Finland]] and [[TropeCodifier America]] have both dressed as Santa Claus at one point. Poland did and turned up expecting presents.
* SympatheticPOV: Given that some of the countries have historically been considered "[[WrittenByTheWinners bad guys]]..."
* SweetTooth: Turkey, Spain, and Belgium are all stated to be this.
* 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.
* 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 charge 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.]]
* TalkingToHimself:
** The Italy brothers have the same voice actor.
** America and Canada are voiced by the same person in both versions.
** China and Taiwan are also voiced by the same actress in China's drama track.
** Chibitalia and Chibi Romano
* TeamDad: Austria in the Chibitalia chapters.
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: After Leichtenstein cuts her hair, her big brother Switzerland gets her a hair ribbon so people won't mistake her for a boy.
* ThemeTuneCameo: Both 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).
* ThighHighBoots: Fem!Prussia.
* ThrowThePin: Neither Italy nor Romano can seem to figure out how to properly use a grenade.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Hungary and Liechtenstein, Ukraine and Belarus. Vietnam and Taiwan. Playwith for the last one.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Almost every character makes a reference to their own cuisine.
** Italy has pasta, Romano 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.
* 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....
* {{Tsundere}}: Several characters.
** England is stated to be this in the author's notes. He can be quite snarky, [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/APH_Chp2_p4.jpg especially]] [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i_i9-2.gif when]] [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/APH_IndeDay_p5.jpg around]] [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tdn6.jpg America]]. When he's in deredere mode, though, he sometimes shows such vulnerability that he qualifies as TheWoobie.
** 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 [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming 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 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.
*** It could be that he's a Type B (dere dere), since [[spoiler: England]] is the only one he ''purposely'' annoys/teases.
** 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.
* 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.
* TogetherUmbrella: 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 also did this in one comic.
* UncattyResemblance: All the cats in the Nekotalia strips look like their owners.
* 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 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.
* 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.
* 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]].
* 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.
* UseYourHead: Chibi Romano does this to Spain after the latter made the mistake of tugging on his IdiotHair.
* 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.
* 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 VerbalTic [[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!]]
* VocalEvolution:
** Japan's voice in the first Drama CD is very soft. In later [=CDs=] and the anime, [[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.
* WarOfTheAustrianSuccession: Shown [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/nonlinear.php?mrt here]].
* 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.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Many of the characters were originally quite different than how they were eventually portrayed.
** Italy was initially intended to be a guy with perpetual bad luck and not as as much of a ditz and a crybaby as he ended up. His IdiotHair was also added on at the last minute to make him look more interesting.
** Germany was originally imagined to be much scarier, but he had become a more sympathetic character by the time Himaruya started the comic.
** China was going to be middle-aged and have short hair and glasses.
** America was supposed to have been more handsome and smarter. Himaruya has stated that the original version would not have worked out that well.
** England was going to be an older man who constantly tried to look/act younger than he was. He originally had normal eyebrows as well.
** France was also supposed to be middle-aged, had shorter hair, and wasn't as pretty. He actually appeared this way in the very first comics Himaruya drew.
** Russia was originally going to be a crybaby whose personality changed completely when he got drunk.
** Hungary was first envisioned as a cross-dressing male and Poland was going to be a girl. Himaruya swapped them.
** Switzerland was imagined to be a girl similar to Literature/{{Heidi}}. Himaruya changed his mind after seeing a Swiss man going grocery shopping with a rifle strapped to his back.
** Early sketches of Seychelles showed her with one normal eyebrow and one large eyebrow.
** Early concept art of Korea had the character as a female.
** In the 2011 Christmas event, one comic featured a discarded character design for Luxembourg.
** In the dub, ToddHaberkorn was originally cast as Britain, but the role of Italy ended up having to be recast.
** Apparently, the recasting of Italy ended up delaying the dub for a while because they couldn't decide between ToddHaberkorn and VicMignogna.
* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy: Iceland and Prussia, though Prussia's HotBlooded personality is a subversion.
* WhoIsThisGuyAgain: Cana - er...who?
* WholesomeCrossDresser: Poland and ''both'' Italies when they were young, although that may be another [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeching_(boys) historical in-joke]]. Japan wears an apron over a woman's kimono when he cleans house and cooks.
* WifeHusbandry: The way some (fanon) couples like England/America and Spain/Romano can be seen as.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Germany and Italy, especially where the Valentine's Day strips leave off.
* WineIsClassy: France has had a few wine drinking scenes in the anime, and is often seen with a wine glass in the manga artwork.
* TheWorldCup: The author grabbed the opportunity to draw some funny strips and cute chibis playing football. Fandom grabbed the opportunity to revel in the (perceived) UST.
* WorldOfSymbolism: And cheerfully candid about it too.
* WorldWarII
* WorldWarOne
* 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.
* XMeetsY: Anime HoYay meets ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}''... for anyone who remembers ''that'' show.
* YamatoNadeshiko: Fem!Japan is this according to the author's notes.
* {{Yandere}}:
** Russia, Russia, Russia.
** 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 WordOfGod. It was alluded to in the 2011 April Fool's event, but otherwise hasn't come up.
* YaoiFangirl:
** Hungary.
** A fair amount of the series' fans as well.
* {{Yonkoma}}: Most of the series is in this form.
[[/folder]]

* BetweenMyLegs: While not as obvious as other examples, in volume four Estonia is framed between Fem!America's legs at the beginning of the [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/volume4.php?t19 I Was Overwhelmed by Heroines]] story.

* CrazyCulturalComparison: Usually between Japan and America, as the creator is able to draw on his own experiences from when he lived in New York City. [[http://www.hetarchive.net/scanlations/volume4.php?t18 This comic]] is a good example.

** Implied in the case of France. While the other nations don't seem interested in his advances, he's 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 Fools event when one fan wrote in claiming she was pregnant with his child, he responded:

** "To be continued... maybe.

** Episode 3 of the World Series opens with Japan and Greece looking at the Spartan ruins, and Greece says: "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis This]]... [[MemeticMutation is]]... [[Film/ThreeHundred the land of Sparta]]."

** Tony. Most of the words that come out of his mouth are variations on "fuck" and "bitch".

--> '''Belarus''': "Damn doorknob, getting between me and niisan!" [Rips it out] "Niisaaan, that obstinate knob is no more. Now then, [[BrotherSisterIncest let's get married married married married..."]]

* TripleNipple: France may count as such ever since the strip "Let's Assist the French Economy!", wherein he claimed Italy's right nipple, [[http://hetalia.wikinet.org/wiki/Italy#Trivia which apparently]] represents Corsica. At the very least, Italy is down to one....