Italy


 * This article is about the character representing the northern portion of Italy. For the character representing the southern portion of Italy, see South Italy.

Italy (イタリア Itaria) is a main character in the series Hetalia: Axis Powers. He is the representation of northern Italy and is part of the Axis Powers. He is also referred to as Italy Veneziano (イタリア・ヴェネチアーノ Itaria Venechiāno). In 2008, Himaruya gave human names to some of the characters and he recieved the name Feliciano Vargas (フェリチアーノ・ヴァルガス Ferichiāno Varugasu).

Appearance


He has short brown hair and brown eyes, with a curl on the left side of his head acting as his erogenous zone when stroked or pulled. He wears a blue uniform, a black shirt and tie, and black boots. In the earlier strips, his hair was smoother and his curl was drawn smaller, a change which was noted in a gag illustration. Italy's eyes were depicted as gray in the earliest artwork of him, but quickly changed to brown.

In his first appearance in both versions of the manga and the first two episodes of the anime, he wore a tan uniform that looked almost similar to his brother's, aside from being drawn as a jumpsuit in the manga (though it was shown as a two-piece suit in the anime).

As a child, he wore dresses and was mistakenly thought to be a girl by Holy Roman Empire and others. Often when not in uniform, he can be seen dressed in a white sailor suit-style top (with blue collar, necktie, and sleeve bands) and blue shorts.

Personality And Interests
A cheerful, energetic boy that went from being the kin of Ancient Rome to an irresponsible crybaby. He loves pasta, pizza, gelato, and cheese. Though he relies on Germany a lot, Italy doesn't really listen to what he says. His hobbies include cooking, siestas, painting, and singing.

In the webcomic and the first drama CD, it is noted that he frequently gets stomach pains due to overindulging on gelato. Italy is shown to have a compulsion of stripping off all of his clothes for his daily 3PM "siestas," and usually forgets to put his pants back on after he wakes back up (causing Germany to have to lend him a pair of his own). His public nudity has become notorious enough to where Switzerland will fire upon him if he catches him streaking throughout his homeland.

He also has the verbal tic of making a "Ve" sound, though in the anime adaptation, he makes other onomatopoeic sounds as well, a more notable one being a chant of "Herahera" (a Japanese onomatopoeia which means "acting foolishly" or "frivolous").

Though he was relatively weak and timid as a child, he was able to take on Turkey single-handedly at one point.

Germany
Main article: Germany

After being found in an orange crate (a crate of tomatoes in the published manga and anime adaptations), Italy became his prisoner, then ally. With Japan, they formed the Axis Powers. Despite their differences, Italy and Germany are rather close.

It is hinted, though not outright confirmed, that Germany may be Italy's long-lost childhood love, Holy Roman Empire.

Japan
Main article: Japan

Japan is shown to often be unnerved by Italy's "shameless" and unusual behavior, even going as far as to order him to "take responsibility" and marry him after having been hugged and kissed by Italy as a greeting. When Italy once drove Japan to his house, his erratic driving skills inspired Japan to invent safer cars. The two have been shown to have a mutual respect of each others' history and artwork, and seem to be friends.

South Italy (Romano)
Main article: South 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 sent to live with Spain because he was too difficult to deal with.

In the present day, the two brothers do not 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 and cleaning, while he could do neither well. He also felt that his brother took after their grandfather in appearance more. Despite this though, he is shown to have at least a subconscious care for him, becoming upset when his brother implies he does not admire him, and sharing a bed with him. Usually, when it is hinted that he cares about Italy, something happens that angers him and he instantly reverts back.

Although South Italy seems tougher than Italy, both are actually cowardly and ineffectual. South Italy refers to Italy as Veneziano, and Italy and others refer to South Italy as Romano, in order to avoid confusion.

France
Main Article: France

A young Italy ("Chibitalia") grew up with a teenage France. The two got along well until Italy was taken to spend time with Ancient Rome. When he returned, France only wanted to gain control of him. They are still on rather good terms, as Italy still refers to France as his big brother and has visited him a number of times. France is also unwilling to harm Italy despite being enemies.

Poland
Main Article: Poland

Italy and Poland are shown to be good friends in a few of the "Extra Stories" and Comic Diary strips, and have known each other since they were small children. It was Poland who gave Italy the idea to make an ejectable seat in Germany's Kubelwagon, as he had previously designed an airplane with one (which backfired on him).

Austria
Main Article: Austria

Austria took control over a young Italy and helped raise him, with the assistance of Hungary, in Holy Roman Empire's house. In the strip In Vienna, it is revealed that Austria had originally thought Italy to be a girl along with most others; when he and Hungary learn of Italy's voice maturing, he states that he expected something like this to happen, and buys Italy boy's clothing from then on.

Holy Roman Empire
Main Article: Holy Roman Empire

As a child, Holy Roman Empire would frequently chase Italy about, demanding that he become a part of the Holy Roman Empire. After Austria gained control of Italy, they resided in Holy Roman Empire's house. Holy Roman Empire was excited, but had a hard time interacting with Italy as he had a crush on him (believing him to be a girl). As a result of HRE's quiet and intense gazes, Italy became very afraid of him at times.

Italy later revealed that the reason he refused HRE's offer to join him in becoming the Holy Roman Empire was because he saw the effects a long life of war had on his grandfather. Heartbroken, HRE leaves his home to go to war after other members of the Holy Roman Empire begin turning against him and Austria. As he leaves, he runs into Italy, and the two say their goodbyes as Italy gives HRE a token of his affection (his underwear in the webcomic version and his broom in the anime). The two share a goodbye kiss and HRE promises that he will return.

In Chibitalia in the 15th Century, HRE does return, but without Italy's knowledge, and only to see if Italy is doing okay, before going back to war. HRE's fate has yet to be confirmed in the series.

Prussia
Main Article: Prussia

Prussia is shown to like Italy very much, considering him "cute" and going as far as to ask him on a date, only for Italy to be oblivious to his question (as he was fixated on Prussia's bird).

Hungary
Main Article: Hungary

Hungary helped raise Italy when they were both under Austria's rule, and is considered to be an older sister figure to him. She is also one of the few who knew of Italy's true gender.

Ancient Rome
Main Article: Ancient Rome

The heir apparent to Rome's fortune, the young Italy spent an indeterminate amount of time living and traveling with his grandfather until Rome eventually grew weak and vulnerable due to his empire crumbling.

Due to what happened to his grandfather, Italy refused to become a new Roman Empire when Holy Roman Empire offered him the chance to do so. Though he didn't inherit Rome's success, he did get his natural talents for art.

In the Anime


Italy appears in Episode 01, towards the end of the meeting. He offers to speak, but when he is called upon, he lets out a cry of "PASTA~!" instead of presenting data.

He is formally introduced in Episode 02, after Germany finds him hiding in the tomato crate, and is taken captive, but eventually kicked out and sent back home after he annoys the other man with a stereotype-filled song about Germans. Italy later returns to work for Germany after becoming poor, and eventually becomes his ally in the lead-up to WWII.

In the anime adaptation, Italy's hair is changed to auburn, while his tie is colored blue. His eyes were also changed to amber, a more "golden" shade than what they appear as in manga illustrations.

Name
The exact inspiration behind his human name was not stated by Hidekaz Himaruya, though it is to be noted that Vargas is a Spanish surname and not Italian (though it has Latin roots, like both languages) but it is believed that Vargas may have been derived from the artist Alberto Vargas, who was famous for his WWII "Vargas Girls" pin-up art. Likewise, Feliciano (which comes from "felice," happy one) is an uncommon given name in Italy, and is more common as a surname. It is possible that it might have been inspired by the Italian calligrapher Felice Feliciano.

Trivia

 * The birthdate given in his profile, March 17th, corresponds with the date of the formation of the "Kingdom Of Italy" (Regno d'Italia) in 1861. As Italy is shown in the strips to have existed for centuries before, it is likely that the brothers use the date of the Italian Unification to celebrate their birthdays with, as a unified Italy. The formation date of the Italian Republic (Repubblica Italiana) is actually June 2nd. South Italy is confirmed to be the elder of the two; despite this, some fans continue to mistake them for twins due to having similar hairstyles.
 * Though Italy was represented with the flag for the Kingdom Of Italy in the original webcomic, the published manga and later media use the modern Italian flag.
 * His full nation name, Italy Veneziano (or just "Veneziano") is derived from Venezia, the Italian name for Venice, a city in Northern Italy. In the strips, he is simply referred to by the others as Italy, with his brother only referring to him as Veneziano. The name North Italy is also used to differentiate him from his brother.Veneziano can also be seen as a sort of pun for the similar-sounding Japanese phrase "Venezia no", which would mean "of Venice".
 * Though his name is derived after Venice, he only seems to represent the Republic itself in the strip where he fights the Ottoman troops. In footnotes to strips such as The War of Austrian Succession, it is shown that he has also been used to represent other northern areas of Italy such as Milan and Piedmont-Sardinia, before the unification of Italy.
 * In the strip Let's Assist The French Economy!, his right nipple is revealed to represent Corsica and winds up claimed by France. His right pectoral area is also said to represent both Savoy and Nice.
 * In Contrary To The Italian Image, it is revealed in a footnote that Italy suffers from the medical condition phimosis (which makes it difficult for the foreskin of the penis to be retracted), due to Italy ranking #2 in frequent cases of it.
 * In the webcomic strip Italy's Big Brother, Germany reveals that Italy happens to share Germanic blood with him (presumably due to the German conquests of Italy after the fall of the Roman Empire). This noticeably angers South Italy, who was later said to be of Arabic blood by Himaruya.
 * In a note, Himaruya stated that Italy was not entirely weak, but due to him being cowardly and scared, he does not use his strength. However, as Chibitalia, he was shown at one point to be strong enough to defeat Ottoman forces that were invading the Adriatic Sea (referencing how Italian naval troops were thought to be stronger than the ones on land). In another illustration, the female version of Italy is shown to display an incredible bout of strength when angered, much to the surprise of her male counterpart.
 * In the special booklet included with the third volume of the published manga, it was revealed that Italy's personality was originally intended to be modeled after that of Noto Kanazawa (an unlucky, often-bullied character from a previous Kitayume comic), and that his curl was a last-minute addition to the design to make him look cuter. As the manga progressed though, the character of Italy became more carefree and absent-minded.