Prussia

Gilbert Beilschmidt (ギルベルト・バイルシュミット, Giruberuto Bairushumitto)is a character in the series Axis Powers Hetalia/Hetalia: Axis Powers. He represents the former country Prussia (プロイセン, Puroisen).

Appearance
Gilbert has light-colored hair and red eyes, though he first appeared in color images (circa 2007) with dark blond hair. His hair varies between platinum blond, white, or silver, while his eyes have also been depicted as pink or a dark red hue. He is seen in many images with a bird upon his head which he appears never to notice.

He wears a deep blue (Prussian blue) military uniform, akin to a Luftwaffen Fliegerbluse with a Knights Cross of the Iron Cross on his tie. In the WWII-set Buon San Valentino, he is shown to wear a Waffen SS uniform like his brother.

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 will do anything to become strong, and has an arrogant attitude, believing that he is the best and still more "awesome" than others, although he hasn't really succeeded at his goal. Although he proclaims to like being alone, he is seen crying when he sees Elizabeta and Roderich together in the Christmas Rampage 2007 strips. Deep down, it is said that his true nature is that of a punctual and diligent soldier, though his bad manners (especially during his "transition period") mask it.

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. It is said though, that he tends to become rather depressed if Fritz is brought up due to this attachment.

Gilbert often refers to his younger brother Ludwig as "West," and hates Ivan. He doesn't get along well with Roderich, and also seems to very much enjoy the company of Feliciano.

It is revealed that 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."

Roderich Edelstein (Austria)
Main article: Roderich Edelstein

Gilbert takes pleasure in annoying and humiliating him in whatever ways he can, and had fought against him in wars in the past, most notably seizing Silesia for himself in the War Of Austrian Succession (the strip of which contained Roderich saying the infamous "vital regions" line that is often erroneously attributed to Gilbert himself).

On numerous occasions when he finds himself alone and crying, Gilbert will mention that he is happy alone unlike a certain "stupid aristocrat". In the Christmas Strips, Gilbert has to tell himself that he rather be alone than be with others ''"because clustering is for the weak. Yeah, like that stupid aristocr--". ''Gilbert often talks about Roderich in a negative tone, showing that he has some strong feelings towards him, though what feeling it is exactly is unknown. An arguement that since Gilbert always stalks Roderich, and speaks about him with such interest, states that Gilbert may harbor a slight crush on the Austrian, though the point is argumentable and can be taken different ways.

In the present day while living with his brother, he also freeloads off of Roderich and has a habit of stalking him. Also, in Gilbert's blog, it is implied that either Gilbert and Roderich are both living together in Ludwig's house, or that Roderich hangs around the brothers very often to sort out their messes, and that he spends a large fraction of his time with them. In the Maria Theresa portion of the anime, Gilbert seems to be extremely infatuated with Roderich, and shows, on multiple occasions throughout the episodes, a very powerful desire to have Roderich beg for his mercy during the battle. He wanted this so much, he mentioned wanting a painter to come and paint Roderich's face after he had lost the first battle, so that his failure could be etched into history.

Ludwig (Germany)
Main article: Ludwig

Though the two are brothers, they do not appear together in most of the strips (as Gilbert's earlier appearances were before the foundation of the German Empire). Ludwig is shown to be annoyed by his brother's wild attitude and his tendency to buy strange things, as seen in the April Fools' blog event and drama CD and Gilbert refers to their familial tie as "unsavory".

Feliciano Vargas (North Italy)
Main article: Feliciano Vargas

Gilbert is shown to like Feliciano very much, considering him "cute" and going as far as to ask him on a date in the drama adaptation of his blog event, only for Feliciano to be oblivious to his question (as he was fixated on Gilbert's bird).

Elizabeta Héderváry (Hungary)
Main article: Elizabeta Héderváry

The two have had a rivalry since childhood, when Elizabeta believed herself to be a boy (as did Gilbert). It is said that she loathes Gilbert due to the fact that he kept on making fun of her hardships since that time. She is also known to hit him with her frying pan when she catches him bothering Roderich, and had appeared at his bedside fully armed with a spear to threaten him to give back Silesia after he had seized it.

Gilbert had also noticeably groped Elizabeta when they were children, though he was unaware of her true gender at the time and simply thought he'd grab a weak spot, though after realizing the truth, he became disgusted and upset that he might have committed a sin, and he was utterly horrified by his actions. This came about in the Volume 3 strips in which Gilbert has just changed his name to The Duchy of Prussia (the period after his Teutonic Knight era) By now both Gilbert and Elizabeta are older and he finds her wounded against a tree. It's only after he offers her his 'crotch cloth' as a make-shift bandage that he realises he can clearly see her breasts and that she is a girl. After this, he throws at her his whole cloak and hurries away.

Feliks Łukasiewicz (Poland)
Main article: Feliks Łukasiewicz

Though the two have not appeared in many strips together, it is said that their relations are rather rocky due to Gilbert having invaded and gone on a rampage. A glimpse of their past is shown in the Polish-Swedish Wars strips, when Tino mentions the Battle of Grunwald. Gilbert was shown to have nearly defeated Feliks (and having threatened to kill him) until Toris intervened and defeated the Teutonic Knights (after having pretended to flee).

In The Anime
In the anime, his hair is platinum blond and his eyes are a deep red. His tall boots were changed to simple shoes, while his cross was removed. He also no longer wears gloves.



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.



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

Gilbert makes a brief appearance in Episode 40, standing next to Roderich.



Gilbert makes a main appearance in Episode 53, where he is seen complaining about the anime staff not giving him enough appearances. In the next segment of the episode, Gilbert is seen as a Teutonic Knight with a young Elizabeta being called a "strange boy" by him and thus being shot with arrows by her.

He appears again in Episode 64 and Episode 65, both episodes centered around "The War of Austrian Succession". He first sends a letter to Roderich and the new empress Maria Theresa, announcing his intentions of taking Silesia (aka Roderich's "vital regions"). He teams up with Francis and Antonio to fight Roderich in the invasion, and appears to be winning until Maria Theresa recruits Elizabeta to defeat Gilbert's forces. She does so, resulting in Gilbert's retreat and his claims that he "already took enough territory for one war". He seems to be stalked down by Elizabeta afterwards, in her attempts to force him to return Silesia.

Although it is widely believed that he was voiced by the seiyū Subaru Kimura, no one was credited for the role of Gilbert 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 Gilbert, having anticipated that Kousaka would fit the character.

The eighth volume of the anime DVD releases included a version of Marukaite Chikyuu sung by him (along with a version sung by Roderich). It was released in late March of 2010. Gilbert also briefly appears in the theatrical film version of Hetalia, entitled "Paint it, White," contrary to the marketing of the film that suggested he would have a bigger part.

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. A scrapped Hetalia game idea by Himaruya has also given some weight to the theory: In the game, the nations are instead humans living in New York City. One of the characters was described as an East German man, and had a very similar personality to Prussia. But as this game never went any further, it is also uncertain.
 * A sentence in the third volume of the published manga also lends evidence to the idea of him being the Kaliningrad Oblast, as it is mentioned that he had become an enclave of Russia (though it is also said in the same sentence that he lives with his brother).


 * 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 Gilbert that looked more like a long-haired Feliks, 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).


 * According to Himaruya, although Gilbert is older than Ludwig, he is shorter in comparison due to having poor nutrition.