England

England (イギリス, Igirisu) is a main character in the anime and manga series, Axis Powers Hetalia/Hetalia: Axis Powers and is part of the Allied Forces. The English dub refers to him as Britain, a shortened and often informal way to refer to the United Kingdom. In 2008, Himaruya gave out human names to some of the characters and he received the name Arthur Kirkland (アーサー・カークランド, Aasaa Kaakurando).

Appearance
He has short blond hair, green eyes, and dresses in a green military uniform. His eyebrows are rather thick and prominent, a trait that is shared by his younger brother Sealand, as well as Australia and Hong Kong.

Personality and Interests
England was formerly a great empire and pirate that tormented Spain, stripping the his status as a powerful nation. In modern times, he claims to be a gentleman, though is cynical, sharp-tongued and prone to rough speech, and yearns for the golden years. He is noted as being horrible at cooking, which has caused America, his former charge, to have "bad" taste in food. England is also apparently the "king of losing things" and can be described as "spacey" because of his strong belief in magic, spirits, fairies, and other fantasy-related creatures. He has the ability to communicate with supernatural beings and is not limited to creatures from his homeland, being able to interact with various Japanese youkai and spirits. Despite this, England often ridicules America's belief in aliens, as well as America's alien friend, Tony. According to the author's notes, England's interests include embroidery, craftsmanship, reading literature, rock music, and giving scathing criticisms to America's movies.

He is also terrible with expressing himself and others often misunderstand him, so he can also be rather self-deprecating or tsundere. Behind his cynical, realistic view on the world, he is a romanticist. When drunk, his personality will change from that of a gentlemen to a bitter and violent delinquent.

It is mentioned at least two times in the series that England has brothers (one representing Scotland, the others presumably Wales and Northern Ireland), who hate him and used to drive him away with stones and arrows when he was a child; they even went as far as to mail curses to him.

Sealand
Main Article: Sealand

Sealand is England's youngest brother, an abandoned naval fort who declared himself a nation at the end of WWII. The two always bicker because Sealand wants to be recognized as a full-fledged nation and often sneaks into conferences the other countries attend (such as the G8, in which Sealand pretended to be Canada). In This Kind of Sealand is OO, England even has a nightmare about the earth around Sealand rising up, causing Sealand to become taller than him. Despite being called "Jerk England" and being promised that he will one day bow to him, England, though annoyed, does look out for Sealand.

America
Main Article: America

He was discovered as a small child by Finland and Sweden, and England and France was told about his existence by the former. England and France fought over who could be his older brother, though America chose England after he began to cry because he couldn't offer anything that compared to Francis's cooking. England cared for America as his "little brother" and visited America's home whenever he found the time, though he always needed to return to Europe after his visits. Only America was capable of liking or tolerating England's terrible cooking, resulting in England being delighted and America adopting the same "tasteless-ness." He also provided America with toys and clothes and was shown to be very affectionate to America, even letting the younger sleep in his bed when he couldn't sleep after reading horror stories. One day when England came for a visit, he was surprised to find out that America had grown from a child into a teen and had become increasingly independent, no longer needing to rely on England.

Soon after, the Revolutionary War broke out and America fought England for his freedom and right to be his own nation. Near the end of the war, England, unable to shoot America when he had the opportunity, surrendered and allowed him be independent. While England cried in front of him, America stated "You used to be so...big."

This memory always makes England upset; when drunk, he is known for cursing America for leaving him and wishing for old times (England states that 'someone left him heartbroken' for centuries, and it is assumed he refers to America), especially when American Independence Day, or America's "birthday", arrives. The Revolutionary War caused a rift between the two and they constantly bicker and have disagreements. Despite this, they care for each other and work together when necessary.

France
Main Article: France

Despite both being members of the Allied forces, England and France have a deep-rooted historical rivalry between them. While they often have petty disagreements, they appear to have a level of respect for each other and are quick to team up if a third party should enter the argument. France tried to marry England to save his country once, even though neither of them really wanted it. In strips focusing on England's childhood, he is often shown being picked on by a pre-teen France. On one occassion, he scoffs at England for not growing his hair long and when England's longer hair turns out a mess, France teases him, saying he'll cut it into a "cool" style, only to cut it back to its original style.

Seychelles
Main Article: Seychelles

During their first meeting in the Gakuen Hetalia universe, England snaps a dog collar onto Seychelles and claims her to be his colony. He uses her like a servant in the game, though they occasionally are able to get along. In one of Seychelles' appearances in the comic, she is shown angry at England.

Anime


England first appeared in Episode 01 where he disagreed with America's plan to stop global warming and later fightting with France before being stopped by Germany.

In the anime, his hair is a more vivid yellow shade of blond, rather than the darker blond used in the manga illustrations.

Name
The name Arthur is likely to be a reference to Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes series, who was famed for his obsession with fairies. It could also refer to the legendary King Arthur.

Before fans settled on the Kirkland rendering (which was more accurate from the katakana), some early fanworks referred to his last name as Clarkland.

Trivia

 * He is referred to as United Kingdom, or UK for short, in most merchandise and in his character design on the official anime website (and in some merchandise and fanworks, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, his full nation title). In other instances, however, he is referred to as England, most notably in Gakuen Hetalia and the English-language preview for America's Cleaning Of The Storage. The Japanese word Igirisu means Britain but is sometimes used to refer to England (normally rendered as Ingurando in katakana or eikoku in kanji) in colloquial speech. He is commonly referred to with either name by fans, though England tends to be used to differentiate him from his brothers (that represent the other parts of the UK). A note by Hidekaz Himaruya confirms that he would only be known as England to his brothers, while he would be known as UK to the others.
 * Although he's always called Igirisu in the manga and anime, historically, he would be known as simply England up until the 18th century, when The Kingdom Of Great Britain was formed, uniting both England and Scotland (the Act of Union of Wales and England had already taken place 1536-1543). In the early 19th century, Ireland was added, creating The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Ireland. After Ireland split to declare itself independent in 1919, the Irish War Of Independence waged until 1922, when it became the Irish Free State. Six of the 32 counties of Ireland (mostly from the province of Ulster where there was a great English/Scottish population) rejoined the UK while the other 26 counties formed the Republic of Ireland.
 * He has a genderswapped version of himself, minus the brows and now with twin pigtails and glasses. She has no official name but fans often refer to her as Igiko, which is derived from Igirisu and the Japanese word for child, ko (which is usually tacked on to the end of girls' names), thus meaning England girl.
 * A UK character is actually first seen at the end of Hetalia: Chapter 1, however, his design was not yet completely finalized. He appears as a short-haired man with a UK label on his shirt and with somewhat thinner eyebrows. Notes in the special booklet for the third volume of the published manga reveal that England was originally to have normal eyebrows, as well as have the appearance of a middle-aged man who dressed much younger. Himaruya decided to give him thicker eyebrows, as he liked the idea of a character having brows modeled after ones of a Shiba dog.
 * He appears to be modeled after the character Hikone Kalom from Himaruya's other webcomic Barjona Bombers, though he is the exact opposite of Kalom in personality.
 * Himaruya once stated that his eyebrows are actually trimmed, although they don't appear that way since they still remain thick in appearance. He has also stated that Ireland has thicker eyebrows, but with a "different feel" to them.
 * It is possible that he has a tattoo, for he mentions in his version of Marukaite Chikyuu that "My tattoo really hurts, but it's a hot six-string!" (six-string meaning electric guitar).