Prussia

Gilbert Beilschmidt is a character in the series Axis Powers Hetalia. He represents the former country Prussia (プロイセン,Puroisen).

Appearance
Gilbert has platinum blond hair and red-violet eyes, though he has also been colored with white hair and blue eyes in other official images. His hair has also been shown to be colored white or silver.

He wears a deep blue (Prussian blue) military uniform, akin to a Luftwaffe fliegerbluse with a Knights Cross of the Iron Cross on his tie. In later WWII-set strips, he is shown to wear a Waffen SS uniform like his brother as well as an SS Panzer uniform in many later images.

Personality And Interests
Gilbert was born to fight the same type of battles as Roderich, but was a hooligan who did nothing but fight and avoided any marriage. He often threatens to invade and seize others' "vital regions". He'll do anything to become strong, and believes that he is the best, although he hasn't really succeeded at his goal. Although he proclaims to like being alone, he is seen crying when he sees Elizaveta and Roderich together in the Christmas Rampage 2007 strips.

He is very loyal to his leaders, and had a special attachment to Frederich II, known to him as "Old Fritz". He continues to hope that Old Fritz will watch over him and that he'll be proud.

Gilbert often refers to his younger brother Ludwig as "West", and hates Ivan. He considers Francis to be a loser, and doesn't get along well with Roderich, but doesn't mind Feliciano.

Apparently, he had kept diaries since he was formed, which led to him having an entire library of journals. Almost all of them start with passages that read "I'm so cool/I was so cool today".

In The Anime


Gilbert briefly appears in Episode 10, during the era of "The War Of Austrian Succession". He is shown beating up Roderich until Francis comes along and takes over.

Prussia later returns up in Episode 24, where he's once again seen teasing Austria, this time hindering his attempts to impress Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Gilbert makes brief appearance in Episode 40. He is shown standing next to Roderich.

Although it is widely believed that he was voiced by the seiyū Subaru Kimura, no one was credited for the role of Prussia in the Episode 10's ending credits, and it was later revealed that Atsushi Kousaka had actually voiced him (doing an impression of Kimura's voice for Gian, from the series Doraemon). According to a Comic Birz interview, Hidekaz Himaruya approved the casting of Prussia, having anticipated that Kousaka would fit the character.

In the anime, his hair is silver and his eyes are a deep red.

Volume 8 of the anime DVD will include his and Austria's "Marukaite Chikyuu". It will be released in late March of 2010.

Trivia



 * His surname is also often rendered as Weillschmidt, though it has fallen somewhat out of use as it doesn't exist as a German surname, while Beilschmidt does. Beilschmidt also means "Axe smith" and there is speculation that the jumper Rolf Beilschmidt may have been inspiration.


 * As a child, Gilbert was originally part of the St.Maria Order, and then became part of the Teutonic Knights until some point in his teens, before finally growing up to become Prussia (after some other, unspecified stages of his life).


 * The type of flag used to represent Gilbert is the one for The Kingdom Of Prussia, which lasted from 1701-1918. It was succeeded by The Free State Of Prussia, its final incarnation before it was dissolved de jure by the Allied Forces in 1947.


 * There is much fan speculation surrounding his potentially being East Germany as well, given that he calls his brother "West" and despises Ivan. A production note by Hidekaz Himaruya also lends evidence to the theory, stating that Gilbert was under Russian control after WWII and was stuck having to work jobs that made him no profit.


 * An old sketch by Himaruya depicted a much different representation of The Monastic State Of Teutonic Knights. Instead of a younger Gilbert, the Teutonic Knight has long, dark hair and a beard.


 * In a production note, Himaruya stated that he also initially designed a Prussia that looked more like a long-haired Poland, and that his personality was to be a lot more mature and pitiful.


 * No birthday was given for Gilbert in his first official profile, which lead to some fan speculation that Himaruya did not give him one due to Prussia having been dissolved (and thus no longer existing as an actual nation). However, in the anime guide WorldWideWalking, his birthday was finally listed as January 18th, which corresponds with the foundation date for the Kingdom Of Prussia (January 18th, 1701).