hetalia | Did you have any idea of what nations would be like as people before Hetalia?

I actually entertained something like Hetalia in middle school

Japan was a middle aged businessman
China was an old man
England was a posh fellow
America was a frat boy

I forget what the others were like

Weeeeh, part of me gets upset when China is actually an old man because I want to ship him with other countries.
There was a survey of how Japanese view the ages of other countries and Japan was 55 while China was 30. Has to do with average age of the population/sense of national pride/economic vitality.

I always thought that America would have been something like a Tony Stark type of character, just slightly younger looking. But very much technologically advanced, arrogant, eccentric, brilliant, but damaged in way that the bravado was an act and he was barely holding on himself, unsure of himself and how to act around people but is slowly learning.

America is some amalgamation of Captain America and Iron Man.

~~Personally I see him being like Kanye West~~

Steve Rogers/Tony Stark/Kanye West combination? Me gusts

Chairman Mao and Uncle Sam? In bed? Holy shit, that's taking sick to a whole new level! :S

Uh, I would judge countries much more critically, and refer to them as strictly countries, and incapable of being kind or considerate outside of their own interests. (still are, really, but I'm much more respectful of nations, kinder to them, and willing to forgive more easily) I would never view each country as having gone through a lot or even dared to consider them in a human form.

For America, I'd view him as nothing but a country. He'd still be the nation I love, but that's it. And no pairing countries with countries. :P And history would dull immensely as well...But Hetalia is something I need in my life. It changed mine and the way I view the world, that's for sure.

I don't know what I would be like right now without it. XD

It's not sick (I really hope you are not referring to homosexuality being bad lol) - more ironically funny.

I had a hard time taking country personifications seriously before Hetalia because what happens often that political cartoon is published showing country A as its government...there's no canon to those kind of cartoons.

Nope, I'm not, otherwise I would've left Hetalia a long time ago XD But the prospect just seemed horrifying to me DX

Oh lol, I hardly ever read those wacky cartoons- they kinda annoy me XD Yeah, they all seem a little bit wacko, huh? One moment it's this and them it's that... XD //sighsigh

Eh, we can't control attraction/non-attraction......what are your thoughts on Shinatty?

I have to say some of these political cartoons are more offensive/daring than most Hetalia fanworks :S

Shinatty? I consider him funny, especially when it was revealed that beneath the head was an old man cosplaying. XD And he does seem to follow around China everywhere... I wonder, is he hired or volunteered?

~~Maybe China is stuck in some terrible job and Shinatty is his boss~~

Well, China, is, I believe, part of the governmental system since it's been told that his boss(es) is actually the president of China (or premeir, I believe). And Shinatty... lol, he dresses far too casual to be China's boss XD Besides, I seriously doubt the president would wear a slightly deformed Hello Kitty hat all around his country :D

When I started learning English one of the things that striked me as curious was referring to the countries with female pronouns. I really liked the idea as my people refer to our country as "Mother" even though my language doesn't have a distinction between male and female pronouns. So, I always thought about my country as a young woman. I think you can guess my reaction when I discovered Hetalia and saw that my country is drawn as a very masculine male :)

Truth be told, I have never imagined USA as a young man before Hetalia. Uncle Sam had a lot to do about this. Ah, and France and England... I saw too many political cartoons belonging to far past (published around 1800-1900s) which depicted the two as warrior females and I lolled at John Bull who had totally clashed with my idea of England for a while. But then I started to imagine England and France as males, who were rich, pompous, powerful, self centered and greedy (lol, I am sorry). Now that I think about it, I like the Hetalia versions of them so much more.

As for Russia and Germany... Their Hetalia counterparts are just like how I was imagining them as. I was really delighted. But I thought that Russia would be a bit older. Why, I don't now :)

I like Hetalia because it lets me imagine the personifications as the representatives of the "people" not the "governments". Sometimes the governments make such blunders that we people we don't condone and that's why I hate political cartoons where all the nation is judged because of some silly government regardless of people having voted for them or not.

I hate it when governments are referred to by country names.
Sometimes I'm delighted by discussion outside fandom of countries as if they were people, but it's often government- or trade-related and you know how that can go wrong :|

Before Hetalia, I had never thought too deeply on how a country's personification would look like unless it had been done so earlier through historical references and propaganda. I never saw Alfred as a young man, nor a bright-spirited and carefree one. Maybe it's because of Uncle Sam and how he's depicted as. e_eleniel also mentioned how in English, countries have often been referred to as "her", but then other times my history teachers referred to allied nations as "brother" nations. Since I never came to the decision on whether I saw countries as male or female, I didn't dwell on these thoughts as much. That kind of makes me a bland person, ahaha.

But then again, I did think that someone would make Australia a tanned surfer dude with blonde hair and blue eyes because that's one of Australia's most commonly-used stereotypes. That, and the kangaroos, koalas, crocodiles and cork hats. *sigh* Oh, and I do find that his China is a bit… unfitting? Sure, he's an old man deep down, but there's not enough in him, IMHO. I'd never thought of personalised states, either. Lol. Basically, I've only started seeing what country personifications could have been /after/ knowing about Hetalia. I think I complain too much. xD

I still wish that a number of nations were really women in disguise.

~~We're all hormonal monkeys and prefer our nations young and virile~~

Before Hetalia, my image of England was more like how Austria looks except he would always be wearing a tuxedo. Personality-wise he's posh and cultured, get all the ladies like James Bond and will always have a witty comeback. At one point I imagined Korea, Japan and China like Mean Girls...on the outside they look like friends but they're all secretly jealous of each other.

England and his gentleman image, haha. I must be bitter or something but I imagine he's really grumpy and not that much of a gentleman.

I always loved the idea of country personifications, which is probably why I got into hetalia so quickly as soon as I heard of it.
My country, France, is typically personified as a lady (as are most european countries actually): Marianne, who is the personification of the spirit of revolution we love to boast about while going on strike. I have to say I love the way France is personified in Hetalia, but if I'm completly honest, I would have expected him to be far grumpier. But we all have to remember that Hetalia is about country personifications/stereotypes from a Japanese point of view. Stereotypes vary from one country to another, be it for our own country, or the countries we have relationships with. For example most of my friends (french as well) are not too fond of FrUk because if we went with our own stereotype for the relationship between France and Britain, we would keep it as snarky frenemies; however we typically consider Spain as a sort of cousin (but that may also be because I live in the south of France, people in the north would probably have stronger opinions about England).
I personally love to think that Marianne exists in the Hetaliaverse and is France's serious secretary taking care of internal matters and telling Francis to flirt less and work more. I have a whole headcanon but nobody cares about that xP.

I've taken issue that people are so keen to take a Japanese viewpoint of world affairs as infallible - mostly with Asian countries ><
And there was the drama over the European economy strips.
But I heard that China likes Japan more than the other way around...

Would I have personified the countries before Hetalia?... Probably not XD I wasn't too into history at all before Hetalia--I mean, I was failing US History. -^^-;; I didn't even know what Hetalia was, I had no clue at all! But if I were to personify the world back then, they probably would have been very strange. (I was in a depressive mood back then, not depressed per say but kind of like that) They would have been completely different, wild even. Like, America probably would have taken after My Chemical Romance or something. Also, my views on world history and world affairs were skewed considerably. I thought Ukraine was in Asia somewhere. OTL Ahh... I probably would have personified the elements of the periodic table first. I was into that before countries and history. So the elements, then countries. Maybe. XD Yeeahh...

America's taste in music...well I personally like My Chemical Romance's style but I don't think Alfred could pull it off.

I know--like I said, I was kind of messed up back then. XD;; They all would have been kind of like that, except Japan. At that time I was really only interested in Japan, mainly because of anime, so he would have been my ideal bishie. But yeah, he could not pull that off!

Before Hetalia, for some reason I always thought if England was a person s/he would be...basically like Fem!England xD

Other than that I never really gave it a thought, and now that I know of Hetalia I don't think I could go back and try to imagine what I'd think they'd be like.

Fem!England with pigtails?

The same thing happened with me and Harry Potter characters...I can't remember what my mental image of Harry and Co was before watching the movies.

I remember reading in a College History course about Britain courting America. And how America was Britain's lady friend. And how they always showed/portrayed America as Britain's girl that he could never win over. I used to have a scan of it from my text book.

Edited 2012-07-12 15:06 (UTC)

Lady Friend...that sounds like Wife Husbandry (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WifeHusbandry) to me.
I've seen Canada being portrayed as a flaxen-haired Maiden...

I assume you've seen the post on Tumblr where non-Hetalia users come up with the USUK ship.

My best friend and I actually had a chat about this during the past winter break. Granted, Hetalia was prominent in our thoughts as we entertained the idea, but what we ended up with was quite a bit different.

France: a petite, dignified woman with very simple but stylish attire; dark hair swept into a neat updo and a pert "Parisian" nose. Quite snobby and laconic.
England: a brusque, middle-aged, rather rotund man in a flat cap and working class attire, smoking a cigarette and generally being quite blunt and occasionally, uncouth.
China: an old man in a white tank top and saggy khaki pants, very thin and bony with sunned, work-hardened skin. Quite crabby and easily provoked into rants. Naps often. Rides around in a really obnoxiously loud motor-scooter that spews exhaust everywhere.
Japan: a teenage girl who dresses in a far more extroverted manner than she actually is. Giggles behind her hand and takes photos of everything.
America: an anxious woman who "tries to be everyone's mom", often sticking her nose into business she really doesn't have any connection to. Means well but always ends up being shooed away because she tends to create more trouble than it's worth.
Russia: an elegant, slightly older woman who aged gracefully. Well educated and with glamorous tastes, such as classical music and professional ballet. "Everything our America wants to be but isn't," said my friend.
Canada: a young hipstery kind of guy. Curly hair - and beard - with big glasses. Jeans and flannel. Says little, but mostly because he doesn't want to get involved. Secretly quite smug and proud of himself.
Italy: a mid-20s woman who's dressed well but communicates loudly and very dramatically. Easily flustered.
Spain: a tall, lean man with a fiercely serious expression. Rather arrogant.
Hong Kong: a skinny young man in a business suit and messenger bag, wearing plastic classes with white, square, thick frames (but the prescription is needed) and converse sneakers. Earbuds connecting to his smartphone. Has a slightly unfortunate acne problem, but floppy side bangs hide some of it.

We also understand that our views are probably wildly different than everyone else's. =P

Edited 2012-07-12 18:44 (UTC)

The motor scooter part is deadly accurate
Yao sitting on a porch, wearing his dirty tank top and letting his beer belly hang out. Spitting on the street and smoking a pack a day.
But part of me thinks China would like like, a young Niubi with a grown-out buzzcut and some glasses who wears slogan shirts. I found out that people /do/ wear Engrish shirts here (some of them are complete gibberish) and it's not just fans being vaguely racist and using American stereotypes about Chinese people 囧rz

Stereotypes are always true somewhere. One day I was shopping with my mom and her friend, and the friend declared that her number one rule was to make sure that texts on t-shirts made grammatical sense. And in high school, I recall watching our librarian trying to explain to the cleaning lady why "pimp my sexy bling" made her top inappropriate to wear around students.

It's okay though - through those random Chinese tattoos white people like to get, we're even. http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com

Edited 2012-07-13 01:12 (UTC)

What I thought nations were like before Hetalia? Well, Uncle Sam would have been the image stuck in my mind for America, and there were many books that referenced England / United Kingdom as a woman so that's how I always saw it as. And the fact that ever since I was born I've heard of a "Special Relationship" / "Essential Relationship" with England, so I guess if you asked me what countries I paired each other with, America and England would have been it. Seriously, I hear about this a lot. And a relationship with Canada as well. Though I've always imagined Canada as a strong woman that could fight bears. Other countries? I don't know for sure. Japan would have been this teenage girl into anime and weird outfits and partying and whatnot.

To be honest, if I never knew of Hetalia I would have thought of the countries as all female because it's our homeland, our motherland. And I think of mothers, so strong women that would protect their countries to the end. Though I also had had the thought of there being a male and female equivalent for each nation.

My sister is a history major, and I sit in some of her classes because I have no life. In any case, I've heard her Russian history instructor refer to America and Russia as a married couple, and the cold war being their mid-age crisis or a divorce or something of that nature. I've also heard several of her professors say that America and England are an odd couple or an on-again-off-again couple. Recently, I've seen news articles refer to China as wooing England, France, and Germany [perhaps the rest of Europe too]. 8D; So journalists ship countries unknowingly?? I've also seen the China and America thing that you pointed out.

I'd write out what I had in mind for the nations before I got into the Hetalia fandom, but I'd write an essay for a handful of the nations, and I'm lazy and don't want to kill you. This is an interesting discussion though. XD

China has a crush on Western nations
but Western nations think China is evil empire

Before joining the Hetalia fandom I didn't personify countries. The first time I heard about Hetalia was actually on a trip without Internet connection...:D
When I heard about how it was about personified countries and the gist of the story I started making up personified countries in my head. I don't remember a lot of them now, but I remember that I thought Russia was seven feet tall, very pale, with dark hair and dark blue eyes, and didn't like smiling so he freaked a lot of people out. Also when I heard about the Baltic trio I thought of them as one would the Bad Touch Trio: all defiant and bold and rebellious. :D I was in for a huge shock when I watched episodes of them...
My friend told me how France's "Marukaite chikyuu" mentions lilies and chansons, so I initially pictured France as a pretty young girl and sitting in a huge flower garden singing chansons. :P

Edited 2012-07-12 23:28 (UTC)

Well, Italy already had her own personification (and we also have personifications for the regions and even for cities) so I've to say I've never thought about creating a different one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italia_Turrita

I've also come across the Uncle Sam stuff when I was younger. Though there's also an idea based on Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" comics about lands having their own human forms...

I just remember my history teacher, when we studied Italian unification, talking about how pathetic it was and how it was the "most adorable unification ever" (due to the stupidity). All the boys in the class went "what?" and all the girls, once we learned more, went "awww, it is cute and pathetic!"

I feel like it prepared me fairly well for Hetalia.

But really, I think referring to countries as people is pretty common in history classes? That certainly wasn't the only time I've ever run into international things simplified by that kind of thing.

In Germany we have two personifications. Germania a young warrior woman and Michel a grumpy old man.
Ludwig is The fusion of both, a grumpy young soldier.
I imagined the personifications of country´s older, not in their 20s rather in their 40s.

Michel http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutscher_Michel (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutscher_Michel)

Gerhttp://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/display/18503097 (http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/display/18503097)mania

The only ones I had a clear idea of before Hetalia was the French Marianne and Uncle Sam.

Otherwise I had never really thought about personifications, which is funny since my own country Germany has some, too.

As a Spanish myself, I've been thinking since highschool that Spain would look like this:

<src="http://www.lahiguera.net/musicalia/artistas/estopa/fotos/1075/estopa.jpg">

And he would be rude, party-loving and obnoxious with women when flirting but a good boyfriend once he's scored.

The others:

FRANCE: Pretty much like he does regarding looks, but much more arrogant and stuck-up. this is true for every single European country, though.
ENGLAND: I'd have pictured him older, always dressed in an old suit, with monocle. But I actually think Hetalia's Englandi is the most perfect summary of the nation!
FRUK: I have been shipping this since highschool, as did my teachers XD

GERMANY: Exactly like Hetalia, but less cutesy and more intense.
ITALY: MUCH more foul-mouthed than even Romano, very tacky in dress, very very insistently trying to score with girls all the time, very catholic but promiscuous and slightly chauvinistic(sorry). Either that or a plump but beautiful hysterical woman that cooks very well but is very submissive toward males. Man, Italian stereotypes in fiction are terrible!
POLAND: Holy shit, the most different; old, plump, decadent and very very religious.
AUSTRIA: Pretty much like Hetalia, but probably a woman.
HUNGARY: Not cutesy, but dignified, an older and stylish woman with raven hair. Romania would be the male equivalent of this too.
GREECE: Loud, easily-angered, much more tanned and way less tall and muscular.
TURKEY: Actually, very much like Hetalia!
MONACO: Much like Hetalia, but more indecently dressed XD
SWITZERLAND: Older but very much like Hetalia in everything else.
LIECHTENSTEIN: A posh but timid young man that is incredibly rich.
BELGIUM: Older and very stressed.
BULGARIA: Viktor Krum, I'm sad to say XD
HOLLAND: Less tall, more fun-loving and very bohemian.
DENMARK: The smallest of the nordics, and more quiet.
FINLAND: Like Sweden but drunker.
SWEDEN: Like Sweden but smiling.
NORWAY: Like Sweden.

AMERICA: Like Hetalia's but ruder, fatter and more ignorant. Sorry, Americans! Hetalia has done a lot for my image of your country.
RUSSIA: Manlier and decidedly less smiling. Grim and resigned.
RUSSAME: I actually thought there was sexual tension between these two nations during the Cold War when one of my friends and I joked during class.

CANADA: Bigger, and noticed and liked by everyone. I love this country.
CUBA: A woman just like Cuba, but no beard and very curvy and fun.
EGYPT: like Hetalia's but much older.
INDIA: A woman in her 30s, fit and incredibly dignified, gorgeous and sensual; veeery long hair and calm, wise and a terrible teaser.
CHINA: Way way older! An old man, wise and sly.
JAPAN: A giggling girl dressed as a gothloli or a middle-aged salaryman.
VIETNAM: A young man of incredible courage and determination.
THAILAND: A gorgeous young woman always smiling and welcoming.
HONG KONG: Like yakuza LOL
TAIWAN: Like Hetalia's, only older.
KOREA: Like Hong Kong's Hetalia in appearance, very cool and silent, stylish and impossibly intelligent.
AUSTRALIA: Hetalia's.

Historical:

PRUSSIA: More ruthless and astute, and less goofy and loser. I never pictured him, but the albino thing goes well with it.
GERMANIA: Much bigger, a huge, hairy, violent brute.
ROME: More ruthless and astute, dignified and cultured.
JEANNE D'ARC: More crazy.
OLD FRITZ: Didn't know much about him, but probably more ruthless.
MARIA THERESA: Pretty much like in Hetalia, as a matter of fact.
JOANNA OF CASTILLE: A nutcase.

I didn't have an opinion on the Baltics or Russia's sisters. Nor Iceland, Cyprus, New Zealand or Cameroon. I didn't even know the existance of the micronations.

Edited 2012-07-16 11:26 (UTC)

Did you have any idea of what nations would be like as people before Hetalia?

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