Romano

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Romano is the representation of Southern Italy, and is commonly referred to as Italy Romano. He appears in both Hetalia: Axis Powers: Paint it, White and Hetalia: Axis Powers (anime) as a supporting character.

His full name is Italy Romano, used to distinguish him from his younger brother Italy Veneziano. "Romano" is a real Italian name likely derived from the word "Roma" (the Italian equivalent of Rome) that literally translates to "Of Rome". While his brother takes the title of "Italy", Italy Romano is most commonly known by his surname.

In 2007 and 2008, Himaruya gave some characters human names, and Romano received the name Lovino Vargas.

Appearance
Full Article: Uniform Guide: South Italy 

South Italy has dark brown, straight hair with a long curl in the front that extends to the right of his face and acts as an erogenous zone, similar to that of his brother's. His skin is slightly tanned and his eyes are a sort of yellowish-green. He could be described as "cute" by ladies, although his expression is usually twisted into a scowl to mirror his grouchy personality when not flirting. His typical "alternate WWII" military uniform is different than his brother's, despite them both being Italy; His uniform bears many similarities to Spain's, being a darker tan colour uniform with high, brown boots.

Character Summary
South and North Italy bear many similarities, but their differences are alarmingly evident. Romano has a stong liking for women and fine food and he can be as weak and cowardly as Veneziano at times, but his brother's all-around good-naturedness is missing in his personality. While he retains charm when impressing the ladies, Romano is normally very rude and disrespectful towards other males, nations included. He shows a particular hatred for those who try to get close to him or his brother (such as Germany and Spain), supposedly to protect them from any posers who would use them only to benefit from Grandpa Rome's fortune, and will normally refer to them sourly using rude titles such as "the Kraut" or "Bastard". However, this grouchy attitude extends freely to most other male nations, France in particular. It is highly noted that despite Romano being rude towards males, he is extremely courteous and polite to women, flirting with them as much as his brother.



But despite his need to protect his "idiotic brother", Romano has always had a rather strong inferiority complex, since Veneziano has always been the cute, desirable child, who's more skilled than him in painting, dancing, cooking, trade, and what seems like everything else (to him), causing Romano to give up trying to appeal to people. Even their grandfather chose Veneziano over Romano, and after Italy was conquered by Austria, he was simply dumped on Spain, who initially wanted to trade Romano back for his own brother. This lack of hope to be loved like Veneziano was lead him to become unenthusiastic but highly defensive and skeptical of others. It was also shown that as a child, he suffered from Choreia, adding to his difficulty to work. Spain tried to fix this by making him dance the Tarantella, which strangely enough, worked.

In times, however, he's a surprisingly hard worker who can "accomplish what he puts his mind to", much to the shock of some other nations.

Some Italian stereotypes he portrays include: his physical fragility, the rudeness some Italians are known for (particularly those from South Italy), the prominent erogenous zone (curl) he has, etc. (He is also suspected to enforce some stereotypes of the Italian Mafia).

Relationships

Belgium
As a child, South Italy had a crush on the older Belgium, though he found himself unable to kiss her or tell her how he actually felt (though Belgium revealed she was only teasing him and felt bad for it). He also gets incredibly flustered and tongue-tied when Belgium praises him for his hard work, even getting flustered to the point of meekness and admitting he hadn't worked much at all. They seem to get along as adults.

They can be paired together as Romano/Belgium.

Germany
Unlike his brother, South Italy hates Germany and can't stand to see him and Italy together. He refers to Germany as a "potato bastard" and "macho potato". South Italy had attempted to get revenge on a few occasions, but failed each time: Tried to charge at Germany, but slipped on a banana peel and skinned his arm (Italy's Big Brother, Webcomic) Pulled the pin off a "Red Devil" grenade, but threw the pin instead of the actual grenade, which he held in his mouth, much like Italy in a previous episode. (Italy's Big Brother). Threatened to throw tomatoes at Germany and "rip every muscle" off of his body, but wound up frightened by France (Meet My Big Brother!, Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 1). Attempted to embarrass Germany by holding up a fake mustache (to make him look like he was sporting one), but wound up making himself look like he wore mustache instead (Good Luck! Big Brother!, Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 1) It is suggested that he might hate Germans in general, seeing that he thought one as a danger when he was a kid and got scolded by Spain because he believed the German would attack Spain. A line in Italy's Big Brother also reveals that his stereotype of Germans is that they're all "uncivilized country bumpkins with bad physiology." When Germany noted that Italy happened to have Germanic blood as well, it caused South Italy to go into a rage and attempt to charge at him (only for the above banana incident to occur).

They can be paired as Germany/South Italy, though this pairing sems rather unpopular and can be easily scorned by other fans.

North Italy
The two brothers grew up knowing of each other, but they never actually met face to face. Italy eventually went off to live with their grandfather for some time, while South Italy stayed behind. After Grandpa Rome had died and Italy came back, South Italy and the other boys became bullies to him. The two were separated again at the end of the Italian War, when Italy was claimed by the Holy Roman Empire and Austria, while South Italy was conquered by Spain after the Battle of Garigliano. In the present day, the two brothers don't get along very well; South Italy occasionally refuses to acknowledge his brother's existence, though Italy is more than eager to be around his older brother. As a child, South Italy often felt jealous and inferior to Italy, due to the younger brother inheriting their grandfather's talent for art, while he could barely draw. He also felt that his brother took after their grandfather in appearance more. Despite this though, he's shown to have at least a subconscious care for him, becoming upset when his brother implies he doesn't admire him, and sharing a bed with him. Usually when it's hinted that he cares about Italy though, something happens that angers him and he instantly reverts back.

Their blatantly incestuous pairing is known as Itacest.

Japan
Though they have to met only briefly in an earlier "strip," in which they didn't actually interact beyond introductions and Japan's pondering of the brothers' curls, Himaruya has stated that they would both get along rather well and that Japan would refer to the other as "Romano-kun" after initially referring to him as "Romano-san."

Prussia
Prussia seems to have feelings for both of the Italy brothers due to their climate and topography. Despite his hatred of Germany, Romano does not appear to treat Prussia with the same level of contempt. However, Romano has been said to dislike Prussia and had wanted to fight him when he was a child, but he found him too scary. Instead, he merely cursed at him from afar. In modern times, as Prussia watched him work, Romano was not openly hostile towards him, neither yelling nor cursing excessively, while Prussia concerned himself as to why he worked barefoot, wondering if he had no money for shoes despite his hard work. Romano might trust Prussia a little bit (or it was simply siesta time and, like his brother, he will fall asleep no matter where he is, though Romano stayed dressed), as he fell asleep near him. Prussia watched him sleep, telling Germany that the flow of time was mysterious when he showed up, likely because Romano wasn't as hard a worker as a child as he was in the present. Romano later said that he felt gloomy for having associated with Prussia.

They can be paired with one antoher as Prussia/Romano, a surprisingly well-recieved and explored pairing.

Spain
Because Spain raised him, South Italy has assimilated his culture, customs, religion, and his love for tomatoes. While Spain often acts affectionately towards him, South Italy tends to treat him rather coldly because he believes that Spain just wants his grandfather's inheritance. Deep down, he does care about Spain, though he rarely shows it openly; he seems to become extremely jealous when Spain is with someone else. When Spain caught a cold, South Italy increases imports from Spain (despite having a cold himself) and overcomes his weakness to the Mafia (even though he usually bends to their will.) In his youth, South Italy would often jump on Spain or headbutt him in the stomach to wake him up. This caused Spain to have a nightmare where an adult South Italy jumped on him and "crushed his vital regions."

They are an extremely popular pairing, normally going by the name "Spamano" or "親分子分 (Oyabun Kobun)".

Turkey
Romano first encountered Turkey as a child. Turkey, then known as the Ottoman Empire, found Romano alone in a forest and captured him. Spain arrived soon after to reclaim him, and Turkey left with little protest. In modern times, Turkey acts amicably towards Romano, remarking on how much he has grown and asking how he has been. In contrast, Romano finds him frightening.

AU (Alternate Universe) Versions
'NOTE: A great deal of the information surrounding the AU versions of this character are purely fanon ideas - headcanons, if you will. Little official information has been given on the alternate universes; please do not believe any of the details not stated to be confirmed as canon to be official.'

Read more on the alternative versions of South Italy, listed or not listed below, at: Memes in fandom

Nyotalia/Genderswapped (Nyo!)
"Italy Romana" is one of the more popular supporting Nyotalia characters. She has not featured in a strip yet, but has been given an official design as well as multiple footnotes. Himaruya has said to have taken a liking to the name Chiara Vargas, though fans in the Japanese fandom will opt to call her Karatina, with the English side calling her Lovina (a feminine version of Lovino, the male Romano's name). Her appearance features dark, slightly curled, shoulder-length brown hair featuring her male counterpart's curl and a pink headband. Her outfit is similar to that of her sister's, being an altered version of the beige Italian uniform with gloves, but with longer, rolled up sleeves and heels.

Fans normally give nyo! Romano a similar attitude to that of the male Romano's, if not a bit more demanding or "sassy". She's shown to be a daughter-type figure to nyo! Spain, who fans believe was the one to gift nyo! Romano her headband, but she's stonger and more respectable than her original version. She's said to have a strong image and is respectfully referred to as "Romana-san" (Ms. Romana) by HImaruya. She can also be shown as more caring at times.

Second Player/Another Color (2p!)
Though 2p! Romano was not given an official "Another Color" version, he is a very popular OC among Hetaia fans. His said appearance and personality may vary depending on the fan who portrays him, though a recurring design he's shown to have includes bleached blond hair, reddish eyes, pink-tinted sunglasses, a designer suit and a vibrantly colored scarf (varying from red, blue, purple, green, etc.). There has been next to no work on a classic Second Player (being, a recolored nyo! version), but she can sometimes be shown as looking very similar the the original genderbent version of Romano, if not colored darker and/or wearing more revealing clothes. They can sometimes be shown with a small knife.

2p! Romano's personality is usually that of a flamboyant fashion enthusiast who has "crybaby"-ish tendencies when he doesn't get what he wants. Normally bubbly and flirtatious, he can be rather manipulative or pessimistic when pushed too far and is said to have a distaste for gore but pays little mind to murder itself. It's also common to see him in a sexual relationship with 2p! Spain. His most popular name is Flavio Vargas, though the names Leonardo/Caratina Vargas can be used, too.

Character Songs
Hatafutte Parade (South Italy)

Hatafutte Parade (Chibiromano)

Mawaru Chikyuu Rondo (South Italy)

Buono Tomano Song

Nah, It Will Settle Itself Somehow