Axis Powers Hetalia/Characters/Asean Sensasean
ASEAN SENSASEAN
- Big Screwed-Up Family: A popular rendition, which can be played either for drama or for laughs depending on the fandom.
- Chinese People: All of them, especially China. Hong Kong, despite the eyebrows.
- Anime Chinese Girl: Taiwan, the Gender Flip arts of China and Hong Kong (either fanart or the canon Himaruya doodles)
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Vietnam (tomboy) and Taiwan (girly girl) certainly look the part. The fourth manga volume toys with this: Vietnam is mature and reserved, while Taiwan is straightforward and energetic.
- Anime Chinese Girl: Taiwan, the Gender Flip arts of China and Hong Kong (either fanart or the canon Himaruya doodles)
- Five-Man Band: In fanwork, the East Asian nations are typically portrayed as one.
- The Hero: China (Gets upgraded from The Smart Guy to this, since he's the eldest of the group and the others' Parental Substitute)
- The Lancer: Japan (Disagrees with China a LOT, ends up betraying him at some point) and Vietnam (Serious and can't smile very well, the tomboy to Taiwan's girly girl)
- The Big Guy: South Korea (Tallest and the most energetic of the bunch) class 4 and Thailand (Cheerful,calm and always smiling. Also, Determinator) class 2.
- The Smart Guy: Hong Kong (mysterious, calm, always deadpan, quite the trickster) and Macau (due to having the most common sense).
- The Chick: Taiwan (the only girl for quite a while, the most Moe of the group, very enthusiastic and colorful when in the spotlight)
- Sixth Ranger: Mongolia and Tibet would count if they were featured more often.
- Team Pet: Either Pochi (Japan's puppy) or... Shinatty-chan.
- Huge Guy Tiny Other Guy and Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: South Korea (tall enough to stand with America eye-to-eye, which would put him in the 177 cms tall range) has this with Japan (165 cms), China (169 cms.) and Taiwan (150 cms.).
- Non-Human Sidekick: Several of these.
- 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.
- Savvy Older Brothers, Energetic Annoying Younger Sibling: Korea and both China and Japan. China and Taiwan, to a degree.
- Taiwan is this to pretty much everyone in East Asia, according to the fourth manga volume.
R of K - Im Yong Soo
URI NARA MANSAE!
- Adaptation Dye Job: He would have had chestnut brown hair in the anime series, as evidenced by a character design that was later removed from the official site. Himaruya usually depicts him with black hair or a very dark shade of brown.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Korea's incestuous affection towards China is not returned at all. He's not much luckier when he tries to pursue Japan, either.But somehow, his is the luckiest with Taiwan.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: To both China and Japan; he's loud, obnoxious, and says that they should call him their older brother.
- Asian and Nerdy: In his profile, it's said he loves the internet and games. Truth in Television to some degree; Korea apparently has the highest percentage of households with Internet access in the world.
- Art Evolution: Holy crap, it has hit him hard lately.
- Awesome McCoolname: One of the possible readings of "Yong Soo" in Korean is "Water Dragon".
- Bi the Way: He has groped Japan and China, but lately in Hetaween, he starts taking interest in Taiwan too.
- ... Which doesn't mean he'll stop oooh-ing and aaah-ing at China too.
- Brainy Brunette: Korea really is quite intelligent, seeing as he was able to fix the mind reading binoculars in one strip. Too bad he doesn't show it a lot.
Korea: I'm an intellectual, da ze!
- Cain and Abel: In Dark Fic, if the not-featured-in-canon North Korea appears, their and Yonsoo's relationship goes like this.
- Completely Missing the Point: Korea's mind-reading binoculars; he utterly misinterprets what they show him.
- Cool Sword: This picture here has him with one. Possibly his Weapon of Choice.
- It's not exactly clear what kind of sword is it, but it may be either: a Byeolum-Gheon, a Hwando, or a Samindo.
- Expressive Hair: Korea's Idiot Hair is sometimes drawn with a face, making this a more literal interpretation of the trope.
- Genki Guy / Keet: Korea is quite cheerful and energetic.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Korea is usually saying he invented things, like education (and of course he didn't).
- Megane: In the Hetalia Bloodbath 2011, he's seen wearing glasses while playing videogames.
- Skinship Grope: He really wants to grope both of his brothers's breasts. And once or twice manages to do so.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Is it "Yonsoo" or "Yong Soo"?
- Stepford Smiler: He's another one who gets this characterization in Dark Fic.
- Trademark Favorite Food: He loves kimchi so much that he took it up into outer space, causing France to become pissed off.
- Tsundere: During a conversation with Japan, he claims to have invented tsundere (all types, presumably). He is not one himself, but an Annoying Younger Sibling with traces of Hopeless Suitor to China and Japan.
- What Could Have Been: A prototype design for Korea had the character as a girl with aspirations to be a pop idol. The design for the female Korea was inspired by the lead of an earlier, short-lived webcomic by Himaruya, entitled MoeKan (and even directly resembled her in one of the drafts). It was also re-used for his canon Gender Flip self.
- He was also supposed to be in the anime, but then the South Korean government, Moral Guardians and Fan Dumb declared a Dude, Not Funny on the character. Fans can still dream though since Himaruya did not dispose of him, at least in his blog, as of 2010-11.
- Himaruya himself seems to have taken a third option: Korea's out of offical merchandise and media, but he keeps drawing him on a regular basis in his blog and website since he can do whatever he wants there. He still gets strips of his own, and also appears in Hetaween 2011 and Hetalia Bloodbath 2011.
- He was also supposed to be in the anime, but then the South Korean government, Moral Guardians and Fan Dumb declared a Dude, Not Funny on the character. Fans can still dream though since Himaruya did not dispose of him, at least in his blog, as of 2010-11.
Taiwan
Voiced by: Yuki Kaida (JP)
- Anime Chinese Girl
- Bathing Beauty: A recent strip implies that both she and Hungary are this. Explained by the rich Taiwanese hot spring culture
- Confirmed in her character song in which she outright references her many hot springs.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: One of the earlier Himaruya sketches has her poking China on the cheek and demanding that he leaves Japan alone, while saying the quote above.
- Confirmed in China's drama CD track, where she teases China a lot (and according to her profile, one of her hobbies is annoying China):
Taiwan: (giggles) Teacher’s going crazy!
China: I told you! I’m young, cool, and hip!
- The Beast Master: She's often represented with tigers, magpie birds (the national bird of Taiwan) and oxes in fanart.
- Buxom Is Better: Some fanwork give her size that rival even Ukraine. Her breasts are medium-sized in canon, but not to such an extreme.
- A-Cup Angst: Despite not being as flat-chested as Liechtenstein, she does fret about about seeing the Western girls' cleavage during the 2011 Bloodbath.
- Fan Nickname: To cover up for her current lack of a proper "human name", some fans call her "Mei Mei" (which means "little sister" in Chinese) or simply "Mei" (which can mean "plum"). Taiwanese fans also nickname her "Wanwan" or "Wan-chan".
- Himaruya recently listed Lin Yi Ling and Xiao Mei as possible names.
- The Fashionista: According to Word of God.
- Flower Motifs / Flower in Her Hair: Her hair accessories. Those are Asian plum flowers, which is the national flower of Taiwan. Strange, it's one of the symbolic vestiges of Taiwan's Chinese claim.
- She also has a flower-shaped mark on her thigh.
- Lampshaded in her character chart blurb: "If she has flowers and long dark hair, then it's Taiwan-chan."
- Friend to All Living Things: According to these Himaruya chibis
Taiwan: If you're too noisy, you’ll scare away all the birds and make the flowers die...
- Genki Girl: And how.
- Joshikousei: Taiwan's preliminary character design for Gakuen Hetalia has her wearing a sailor uniform instead of the more Western clothing Seychelles wears.
- Idiot Hair: Kind of. Hers is longer and droopier than the other characters'.
- Expressive Hair: It comes unravelled when she's uneasy during the 2011 Bloodbath.
- Curiously, her Idiot Hair seemed to vanish in this strip, which led to people not knowing if it was her or Vietnam in it (the use of Hungary's Chinese name gave Taiwan's identity away). Oops?
- Some fanart seems to speculate that it was pulled up in her bun.
- Idol Singer: Dresses as one for the 2011 Halloween event, including Girlish Pigtails, Detached Sleeves, and Zettai Ryouki.
- Motor Mouth: Her dialogue can take up the entire panel!
- Pink Means Feminine: That's why she's the Girly Girl to Vietnam.
- Plucky Girl: Taiwan's profile mentions that, though she tends to fret and worry, she's also very strong-willed when it counts. Confirmed when she gets some more spotlight and a proper profile in the fourth manga volume.
An island girl nation with a headstrong and easygoing personality!
Taiwan: It's okay, the Taiwanese don't believe in bad fortunes!
Japan: How positive!
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Fanartists sometimes give her this, although she seems to only wear tights with her Gakuen uniform.
- Qipao: She wears one over a long, flowing skirt.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Taiwan usually looks adorable and very pretty, but she looks absolutely gorgeous in more traditional clothing.
- Supreme Chef: Implied.
The good thing about her cooking is that you can thank her for treating you to delicious yet inexpensive cuisine!
- Trademark Favorite Food: According to fandom, bubble tea. Which is actually from Taiwan.
- Confirmed in her character song along with tofu.
- What Could Have Been: Himaruya had many preliminary designs of Taiwan, including: a little girl, an old man, a Dragon Lady, a short-haired tomboy, a little boy and a young man.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Averted. She has the looks, but canon has pretty much Jossed the personalty traits:
- In the Doodles about Asia, while Taiwan keeps the looks, she's also capable of speaking quite more roughly than the average YN lady, referring to China as "bastard" like the quote above shows.
- The drama track from China's CD has her as a Genki Girl who inflicts Amusing Injuries on China (she tries to fix his back and then ends up breaking his arm!) and calls him "old man" pretty much to his face.
- And the fourth manga volume throws the YN concept out of the window, by making her the plucky and cheerful energetic girl to all of her Asian siblings.
- Yandere / Cute and Psycho: Sometimes portrayed as one in fanwork, usually toward Japan, though mostly played for laughs.
- She's sometimes portayed as a Tsundere in fanon too, especially if paired up with Korea or Hong Kong. Considering the fourth manga volume's Taiwan strip, this may be the closest. During the Halloween Event, she has shades of this towards China when she complains about his old man bad health but makes him a "cure" anyway.
- Yuki Kaida
- Playing Against Type
- Talking To Herself (she voices both Taiwan and China)
- Zettai Ryouiki: Her Hetaween costume.
Hong Kong
"To be blunt, isn't "not playing the game" the least troublesome option?"
Voiced by: Motoki Takagi (JP)
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Makes several digs against China, like showcasing how he knows exactly what China will wear or do at any given time and constantly referring to him as old in spite of China's indignant protests, and "annoying China" is even listed as one of his hobbies. Which makes him the third Asian sibling who pokes fun at China on a regular basis. China just can't get any respect.
- Fanon loves to portray him as this towards England too during his time as a British territory.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: He has noticeably thicker eyebrows due to a curse from England.
- Born Lucky: Apparently, it's NOT a good idea to place bets against him. Double if it involves China, since HK knows him way too well.
Taiwan and Macau: We can't win against Hong Kong!
- The Comically Serious: Keeps his deadpan face even in the craziest situations.
- Covert Pervert: "I said to stop making this kind of art, otherwise I'll have to mosaic it out, aru!"
- Cross-Dressing Voices: Avoided. Lots of fans speculated about which female seiyuu would play him, but both the CD drama and the Special Episode of the anime gave him a male one: Motoki Takagi.
- Curtains Match the Window
- Deadpan Snarker
- Emotionless Boy: Actually averted, he's not as emotional as Taiwan or Korea but it doesn't mean he lacks emotions at all. He's just really good at keeping them bottled and viewing the world through very snarky eyes. It doesn't necessarily give him a Sugar and Ice Personality.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: When he was with China as a child, his hair was in a ponytail like China's and he looked very feminine. When he lived with England, however, he gained Big Ol' Eyebrows and had his hair cut short.
- Gossipy Hens: Male example, according to his volume 4 profiles which lists "gossip" among his interests.
- Slightly confirmed when he starts teasing and almost pestering Iceland due to some things he said about England.
- Fan Nickname: An interesting case, as some fans give him an Asian name, others a Western one, and still others both an Asian name and a Western name to represent Hong Kong having been under the rule of both China and England. "Hong" and "Xiao/Xiang" are the most popular Asian names for him; the Western ones have more variation.
- According to Himaruya, a suggested Chinese name was "Wong Kha-Loung" and a suggested English one was "Leon Wong".
- Overly Long Name / Long Title: Full name: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Thankfully, he's usually called Hong Kong.
- Hadaka Apron: In the 2010 Christmas Event, he is forced into a maid outfit which he subsequently sheds. China won't stand for such nakedness, so Hong Kong puts on an apron.
- Like Is, Like, a Comma: In one English translation of the fourth manga volume.
- The Medic: In the CD Drama Hetalia Phantasia, he apparently is both this and the...
- Naive Newcomer: As China's assistant. In the seiyuu talk track, his seiyuu Motoki Takagi sorta takes up the role as well.
- Pandaing to the Audience: Just as much as China, apparently.
- Perpetual Frowner: Starts like this, but he's a little more cheerful in the fourth manga volume.
- Stuff Blowing Up: His profile says that he loves detonating firecrackers, much to England's annoyance. More than one fanwork goes further and depicts him as a full-blown explosives expert.
- Trickster: He uses his firecrackers to play pranks on England, according to Word of God.
- And he gets China drunk in the 2010 Christmas special, apparently just for the lulz. That one backfires, though.
- Either that, or he was also knocked out by Parallel!America before China.
- Confirmed with his newest profile:
- And he gets China drunk in the 2010 Christmas special, apparently just for the lulz. That one backfires, though.
"His hobbies include annoying England and China whenever he sees them!"
- When He Smiles: Smiles for the first time in the fourth manga volume when telling China that he knows him better than anyone else.
Vietnam
"A photo with me...? I'm not photogenic, and it's embarrassing."
- Asian and Nerdy: A gamer, indeed. She was showed playing Uncharted 3 in a recent sketch on Himaruya's blog .
- Beware the Nice Ones: Based on her true history, we know that many powerful forces such as America, China, France, Mongolia Empire, etc. have learnt their lesson.
- Bifauxnen: Arguably in the old sketches of her military uniform.
- Big Sis/ Team Mom: She is often portrayed like that to other Asian-tans besides Team Dad China by fandom.
- Seems to live up to this during the 2011 Christmas event where she takes charge of the girls' meeting.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer: She may have been hinted to be this during the Halloween Event where she shows up dressed as Vietnamese robot Topio. And wins.
- Comically Serious
- Eyes of Gold
- Fan Nickname: Her most common human name in fanworks seems to be Ciel, but Phuong seems to becoming increasingly popular.
- Flower in Her Hair: She's sometimes drawn with flowers in her ponytail.
- Hartman Hips / Sexy Santa Dress: One of Himaruya's Christmas sketches gives her a rather large butt.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Often in fanart and fanfiction, Vietnam becomes the only one (besides Belarus) who admires Russia as the nicest person and wants to be like him.
- I'm Not Pretty: According to herself. Taiwan disagrees.
Taiwan: It's okay, Vietnam's a cutie!
- Improbable Weapon User: In this sketch on Himaruya's blog, Vietnam is shown with her rice paddle in a military uniform.
- Joshikousei: During the 2011 Christmas event, she's shown wearing the same more sailor style of uniform that Taiwan sports in Gakuen art.
- Lady of War: A popular Fanon depiction, which is supported by Himaruya's description of her.
- Meido: Jossed. She was featured dressed as one in a very old sketch on Himaruya's blog (which many people mistook as a design for a Philippines), and it was not revealed that that was her until years later. However, that design seems to have been completely thrown out.
- Nice Hat: Nice leaf hat (nón lá), indeed.
- And another Nice Hat in her military uniform.
- Plucky Girl: According to her profile.
A very headstrong woman in an áo dài! There are many strong women in her history!
- Smart Ball: Accoding to Word of God.
She's been using her natural creative skillfulness in building new things.
- The Stoic: While not to Perpetual Frowner levels, she has to ask Thailand to teach her how to smile.
- Not So Stoic: Blushes intensely when checking on some photos in the manga.
- Sugar and Ice Personality: Has an aloof appearance and seems to be a generally quiet girl, but has also shown signs of shyness and Heroic Self-Deprecation.
- Tsundere: By the fandom. Especially when she's paired with America, China or France. If it's Thailand or Taiwan? Scratch out "Tsun" and make her 100% "Dere".
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Sometimes portrayed like this in fanart, specially if it also features Taiwan. The most recent manga also makes her look very pretty Moe and a little aloof when in her áo dài.
- Tomboyish Ponytail
- Tomboy: Yup. With Taiwan, they become Tomboy and Girly Girl. Especially in the manga. They're also Savvy Tomboy, Energetic Girly Girl. An interesting case is that their personality seem to be opposite.
- The 2011 Bloodbath also added more hints when she dressed in a more masculine way than the other females when in casual clothing.
- When She Smiles: Happens in a recent blog post, and it's absolutely adorable.
- After she seeing Thailand wearing bunny shirt she is mix of this and when she laughs.
- Woman in White: Her ao dai is occasionally colored this way in fanart. Himaruya even mentioned in a blog entry before he gave her her official coloring that he had been considering making it white.
Thailand
"Yes of course! Your smile will surely be wonderful."
- Anime Hair
- Bare-Fisted Monk: In fanon, due to Thailand being the "home" of the very brutal fighting style known as Muay Thai.
- The Beast Master: Has a pet elephant named Toto, whom he dotes on like crazy.
- The Big Guy: While his unofficial height is currently not revealed, Fanon is more than often to draw him as tall as Korea. Possibly type 2.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Said to be very absent-minded by Word of God.
- In the Hetalia Bloodbath 2010 he looks way too happy despite being buttnaked and in mortal danger.
- Fan Nickname: Thai-Fans called him "Eaggarat" which mean Freedom in Thailand.
- Fun Personified: The doodles where he's appeared have him always smiling and acting cheerful. His original profile says he gets along with people easily and is never in a hurry.
- The Determinator - Guile Hero: When he does make a decision or wants something, however, he can be pretty tricky and stubborn. Possibly comes from the fact that the Kingdom of Thailand was the only territory in the South East of Asia that retained its independence during the European colonization.
- Heavy Sleeper: Possibly. He's shown sleeping during the commotion of the 2011 April Fool's event. Which make him lucky that he didn't see the photo of himself and forced to dress "sexy" like Spain or America or crossdress like Russia or China. Then again, given his attitude, he probably didn't care anyway.
- Alternate Character Interpretation: Given his history, he could also be somewhat (sadistically) happy consider that it is after all France and England in the background.
- Knife Nut: Carries one on this page picture. Pretty much hinting another "side" of him.
- Male Frontal Nudity: Subverted in Bloodbath 2010 as the frame "blocked" from his waist down.
- Man in White: As seen above.
- Megane
- Non-Human Sidekick: Elephant, and judge from this strip, it appear to be "she"(Judging from Toto's eyebrows).
- Only Six Faces: People used to mistake him with Austria until some point out this. Play more straight with Denmark who he is just a different hair color version of. Just look at this when they actually interact each other.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Patthai
- Perpetual Smiler: He even teaches Vietnam how to smile.
- Supreme Chef:
"If he cooks it's always something really sweet or really spicy. The cooking itself is very delicious."
- Show the Forehead: He's a member of the Forehead Four in Fandom. Might be a bit canon since he his seen talking with Denmark on Blood Bath 2011. He also take "interest" in Netherland.
- Verbal Tic: "Ana~", according to said doodles.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: In Fanon. Either used as a disguise or as an analogy to the Kathoey concept.
- On the flipside, he has plenty Manly fanon too.
Mongolia
- The Archer: In this cameo from Japan and China's Backstory.
- Megane
- Nice Hat: Has only appeared in a single draft aside of the aforementioned doodle, but fans still comment on the odd hat he wears.
- The Rival: Of Hungary, whom he attacked and bullied as a child according to some sketches.
Tibet
- Bald of Awesome
- Bare-Fisted Monk: The very unfrequent fanarts about him portray him this way.
- Hermit Guru
- Too Soon: Due to the obvious Real Life issues, Tibet just appeared in a single strip. In the webcast adaptation of said strip, he was replaced by a talking panda
Macau
"Mister... why don't you think about yourself a little more...?"
His nature is rather ungreedy; he appears calm and good at business, is tall, and tries to be philosophical (...) He often has a businesslike manner, but he jokes around with Portugal, China, and Hong Kong. He treats Taiwan like a proper lady.
He seems to also have another side, another part, lol.
- Non-Action Guy: In the Hetaween event, notes mention that he tends to get pulled into conflicts and get hurt.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Wears a cheongsam here. While said cheongsam is black in some Himaruya chibis, sometimes fandom also makes it white or green.
He often wears smart-looking suits to casinos and in business-related things.
- The Cameo: In the Hetalia Bloodbath 2010, first. Then he reappears in the fourth manga volume.
- The Gambler: Any wonder?
- Tall, Dark and Handsome