Sweden

Sweden (スウェーデン Suweden) is a character in the series Hetalia: Axis Powers. In 2008, Himaruya gave human names to some of the characters and he received the name Berwald Oxenstierna (ベールヴァルド・オキセンスシェルナ Bēruvarudo Okisensusheruna).

Appearance


Main article: Uniform Guide: Sweden 

Sweden has short, light blond hair and greenish-blue eyes. He wears a long blue overcoat with a matching hat, a black shirt and tie, and black pants, gloves, and boots; he also wears glasses. He is the tallest of all five Nordics; there is approximately a 12 cm difference between him and Finland (the latter standing at about 170 cm, which would make Sweden 182 cm). He is the same height as Russia, they both tie for 2nd when it comes to height. The Netherlands is the tallest at 185cm

Personality and Interests
Sweden was once a viking and the "Conqueror Of The Baltic Sea", but now stands neutral in military matters; he has calmed down and currently puts his strength into welfare. He is silent and difficult to understand; his taciturnity is due to the fact that he was born in a cold area. Deep down, he is actually quite playful, but it's rarely shown because of his intimidating aura.

His hobbies include making furniture and art. It is said that his canned Surströmming can be used as a deadly weapon. He speaks in a Tohoku accent, often translated as grunts and truncated words.

Despite his silence, he apparently takes interest in arguments and debates.

Denmark
Denmark once ruled over Sweden and Finland, but Sweden grew aggravated by his control and his refusal to listen. Sweden finally snapped and ran away from their home. A set of strips on Himaruya's blog suggest that Denmark challenged Sweden a number of times, though they also suggest his defeats. Although their relationship hasn't been discussed much during the modern period, Denmark does show concern for him during the 2011 Christmas event when he discovers Sweden knocked to the ground by Ladonia. Also, during the event, Denmark thought it was cool that Sweden lived in a furniture store and said he wanted to try living in a house made of Lego. In a comic published in Comic Birz, Denmark states that he and Sweden used to fight frequently but are now "best buds".

Estonia
Sweden and Estonia meet for the first time in the strip, The Violent Sve of Northern Europe Takes a Mighty Swing!. Upon their first encounter, Estonia screams in fright when seeing Sweden's face but later apologizes for being rude after Finland whispered to him that he made Sweden angry (Sweden, however, wasn't angry; he simply couldn't hear him) and introduces himself. Sweden later states that he wants Estonia and Latvia to come with him, but Estonia nervously says that it's not possible while Latvia adds they need Poland's permission first.

Determined, Poland tries to stand his ground against Sweden, but later he ends up getting "stranger anxiety" and he is given partially custody of Estonia and Latvia. In the volume 4 omake comic, Estonia writes that when Sweden looks down at him, he feels as if Sweden might want to kill him.

Finland


The two were once under the control of Denmark, but managed to escape. From that point, the two began living with each other; because of this, Sweden considers him to be his "wife" (though Finland denies such relation). Finland later fell under the control of Russia for some time; he stated that he felt more "free" there, though he quickly added that it was more fun being together with Sweden. Finland often refers to Sweden as "Su-san" ("Mr. Swe") for short.

Several strips about their life together were made, including one that features them adopting a dog named Hanatamago and one where Finland runs into a small child (which later turns out to be a very young America). After the boy flees in fright and Finland telling him about the boy, Sweden asks him if he wants kids, and he responds that he thought it would be nice if they had a child following them everywhere. Sweden says he'll "do his best" but he doesn't understand what Sweden means.

Although some strips show Finland appearing terrified or uneasy towards Sweden, most strips show a different picture with Finland appearing less afraid of Sweden, most noticeably during some of the Kitayume events like Christmas 2010 and Halloween 2011. In Finland's Volume 5 profile, it is said he likes and looks up to Sweden. Sweden's feelings towards Finland have been consistent throughout the series and considers him to be "a good friend".

Ladonia
Ladonia, who lives on Swedish territory, acts very spoiled towards him, to the point of knocking him down during a tantrum. He also appears to address him as Sve. Sweden, however, has more than once willingly pretended to be attacked by Ladonia by reading from a script that paints Sweden as being mercilessly defeated as Ladonia tackles him, much to Ladonia's joy. In the Christmas 2011 event he appears to have done this to distract Ladonia from fears that he was on Santa's naughty list or that Santa wasn't coming.

Prussia
Sweden is listed as one of the character options for house cleaning in Osōji Prussia.

Prussia is afraid of him and begins having unpleasant flashbacks about the Great Northern War. It is also mentioned that he doesn't understand and know how to communicate with Sweden, even with his "Northern German sixth-sense." Despite this, he decides to go to his house anyway in hopes he will be sold cheap IKEA furniture in gratitude. When he arrives, he immediately faints when he sees his face through a crack in the door. When he awakes inside his home and sees Sweden's face once more, he faints again. This process is said to have repeated another twelve times and the game is labeled as a "bad end".

Sealand
Sealand is Sweden's adoptive son, whom he bought from an auction.

In the strip, The Creation of Dambolis, Sealand began ignoring his "papa" in favor of playing video games and watching TV. To get Sealand to pay more attention to him, Sweden came up with a solution: He wrote "England" on a box, placed the box over Sealand, and began shaking it (while Sealand made noises like "Please stop it!!"). Sweden called it a Dambolis. Also, in the strip, Fly, Canada-san, fly!, England discovers that Sealand infiltrated the meeting disguised as Canada and pulls out his hair curl. Sealand then tells him not to pull out his hair, stating "I just got papa to swede it for me!". In the strip, To Create Better Products in Northern Europe, Sealand was seen in the background watching Sweden build dolls.

In The Anime
Sweden is first seen in a brief cameo in Episode 01, sitting next to Finland in the meeting room. He later appears in Episode 14 as one of the many characters stuck in line at the supermarket, and comments on what a peaceful day it is.

His character design was altered slightly for the anime; his blond hair changed to a light brown while his eyes became a darker brown, matching the way he appeared in the Meeting of the World strip.



However, in Episode 69, his appearance was changed to fit his original design, as his hair was given a "yellow hue" similar to Finland's. Sweden also makes minor appearances in episodes Episode 70, 79, 83, and Extra Episode 1

Name
It is assumed that his surname, Oxenstierna, came from the Swedish statesman Axel Oxenstierna (Oxenstjärna), and that his given name Berwald came from Franz Berwald, a Swedish Romantic composer, for whom the Berwaldhallen in Stockholm is named after. The Berwaldhallen also happens to be near Oxenstiernsgatan (Oxenstjärnsgatan).

Character Songs
Hatafutte Parade (Sweden)

Always With You... Nordic Five!

Mm.

Trivia

 * His birthday corresponds with the National Day of Sweden, also known as Swedish Flag Day.
 * It has been said by Hidekaz Himaruya that Sweden is homosexual. It has also been said that he only has romantic feelings towards Finland.
 * Sweden is the only character with a confirmed sexual preference; other countries' sexualities are implied or hinted at, but not confirmed.