Rumors and Misconceptions

Like many manga and anime series, Axis Powers Hetalia is subject to much fan speculation and various theories, which may turn into misconceptions when newcomers confuse fanon with canon. Mistranslations of profiles and strips may also contribute to some as well. This is a listing of the most frequent rumors, misconceptions, and fan-theories related to the series and its characters.

The Italy Brothers: Twins?
Rumor: Veneziano and Romano are twins.

Fact: While the Italy brothers are often portrayed as identical twins in fanart and fanfiction, there is little in canon to support or suggest that to be the case. In the case of them being twins, it is more likely that they would be fraternal due to the differences in their size and appearance.

In a response to a question by a fan, Hidekaz Himaruya mentioned that he had designed Romano to be a few years older than Veneziano, and that their respective physical ages were approximately 22-23 and 20.

But it is to be noted that Romano's appearance has changed slightly over the course of the comic, and that there was originally more of a visible height difference between the two. The child version of Romano also shrunk in height in later-drawn strips, and now appears to be the same size as the younger Veneziano (while in his Chibitalia debut, he was shown to be significantly larger). Romano also was originally colored to have tanner skin than his brother, and had green (or hazel) eyes. In later artwork and the anime adaptation, Romano's skintone was lightened and his eyes were changed to brown.

Due to the characters being nations (and therefore not as fully-human as they appear to be), their aging patterns are also shown to be different than a normal human's would be. Characters who knew each other as child-nations have been shown to out-age each other, or that younger nations may wind up outgrowing their older peers once they hit their equivalent of puberty. In a liner note to the webcomic version of Chibitalia, Himaruya suggested that Romano's growth remained (and remains) slow due to the long-term influence of Spain, who had control over him for a lengthy period of time.

But proponents of the twin theory suggest that perhaps Romano physically aged faster than Veneziano at birth, and only slowed down once he became controlled by Spain.

In their profiles, the brothers' birthdays are both given as March 17th, 1861, the foundation date of the Kingdom of Italy. As both brothers are shown in the series to have been in existence since the days of the Roman Empire, it would appear that they count their unification as a shared birthday and celebrate it as such.

North Korea
Rumor: There is a North Korea in the series/The Korea in the series is North Korea.

Fact: There has yet to be a character for North Korea in Hetalia, though a number of fan-created characters do exist, the most notable being "Hyung-soo", created by the doujinshi artist Lo_wah.

Occasionally, there is also the misconception that South Korea is the North, due to the fact that he is usually simply labeled as Korea (with no specific designation). But his nation name, Daehan-minguk, would suggest that he is the South, as the name is generally used to refer to it by. South Korea is also written in kanji as Kankoku (which is used for the character), while North is rendered as Choseon. Factoids from his profile indicate that his culture reflects South Korea as well, rather than the North's. It is also noteworthy that he only appears in the contemporary strips, and that the flag used for him there is that of South Korea.

A scrapped early design for South Korea is in existance, where the character was originally designed as a female and said to be an idol-wannabe. Some fans theorize that her design could possibly be reused for a North Korea character, though Himaruya did recycle the basics of her design into the character Sena, from his discontinued webcomic entitled MoeKan (A portmanteau of moe and the first part of kankoku).

Holy Roman Empire's Fate
Rumor: Holy Roman Empire grows up to be Germany, having survived his apparent dissolution and death, but with amnesia. Alternatively, Germany is Holy Roman Empire reincarnated after his death at the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Fact: Though the first is a popular theory supported by pieces of evidence in-series, most visibly in the cliffhanger to the strip Buon San Valentino, it remains to be seen what the exact connection between Germany and Holy Roman Empire is. Detractors of the theory will point out the differences in the government of the German Confederation (and German Empire) in relation to the rule of the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the fact that it took the German remnants time to form into that nation. After its dissolution, the German states of the Holy Roman Empire were first formed into The Confederation of The Rhine and were under the control of France from 1806 to 1813, while the German Confederation was established in 1815.

In historical reference, supporters of the theory will point to the Holy Roman Empire's full name (from the 16th century onward), which was The Holy Roman Empire Of The German Nation. Fans will also point to Hitler's statement of Nazi Germany being the Third Reich, with the Holy Roman Empire considered to be the second (while the original Roman Empire was the first).

In-series, it has been noticed that Hidekaz Himaruya has seemed to go out of his way in not showing a younger Germany in any of the strips, while Holy Roman Empire happens to have an uncanny resemblance to Germany and look much like he would as a child. Germany is also shown to have a hairstyle similar to HRE's when his hair is not slicked back, and both have prominent sideburns. A design of a teenage HRE furthers the connection, along with a scrapped piece of art where the child HRE dreams of himself and Chibitalia in their adulthood. In the latter image, the adult HRE is shown from the nose down, but appears to resemble Germany in his height, build, and hairstyle.

Some members of the Japanese fandom for Hetalia have a third theory for the connection, it being that the two characters are not related in any way and the similarities are red herrings or mere coincidence in a possible bait-and-switch move by Himaruya. The only official word given on HRE's fate at this time (other than his apparent demise being reported in a scrapped strip) was in Hidekaz Himaruya's response to a fan's question (circa 2007), where he promised that eventually:


 * "Chibitalia and Holy Roman Empire will have a happy ending."

But the meaning of that statement has been left up to debate as well.