Switzerland

Vash Zwingli (バッシュ・ツヴィンクリ, Basshu Tsuvinkuri) is a character in the series Axis Powers Hetalia/Hetalia: Axis Powers. He represents the country Switzerland (スイス, Suisu).

Appearance


He is a short young man with blond hair (in a chin-length bob cut) and green eyes. He wears a green jacket, brown pants, and a white hat, and is often seen having a rifle slung over his shoulder. He also has a cross shaped scar on his left shoulder.

In an earlier design, his hair was drawn much shorter and he wore a green hat. However, in the earliest design known of him, he wore no hat and his jacket was blue, with his pants colored beige. This version can be seen (in color) in a set of counter icons that Hidekaz Himaruya made for his site (with Vash being the "0" icon).

Personality And Interests
Vash is seemingly eternally neutral and lives his life as a hermit/recluse, surrounded by the Alps. Though he appears to be peaceful, he actually is the biggest producer of guns in the world and has the most military strength. He hates outsiders and in the past, was hired by the Vatican as a mercenary. Supposedly, he has quite a temper. He's also a cheapskate, buying cheap cheese rather than expensive and saying he likes the taste of it better. He also goes to lunch with Austria just so he can save money. However, he has a soft spot for Liechtenstein, and is extremely protective of her.

Due to Feliciano's habits of forgetting his pants and streaking, Vash becomes trigger-happy if he catches him running through his property.

Liechtenstein
Main Article: Liechtenstein

He is a doting older brother to Liechtenstein, having found her and taken her into his care. The close relationship that he shares with her, however, reminds him of his childhood days with Roderich, which he has tried to forget.

Roderich Edelstein (Austria)
Main Article: Roderich Edelstein

They were very close as children, though Vash expressed irritation at the fact that he taught Roderich to be a fighter, only for him to keep failing and having to be bailed out when it came to wars. However, due to their bosses, the two friends eventually grew apart. In their adulthood, Vash does all he can to deny that he was ever friends with Roderich or had any close connection to him.

In the Anime
Vash first made two minor appearances in the first season; in Episode 01 where he yells at Kiku for agreeing with Alfred's plan on global warming, and in Episode 21 where he walks past Peter, ignoring him.

He finally debuts in Episode 23 and the following episodes, which adapts Liechtenstein's Journal Of Swiss Dopiness from the webcomic strips and Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 2. He shows up in Episode 31: Academy Hetalia Christmas, yelling that he celebrates Christmas with families and then promptly leaves, slamming the door. He makes an appearance in Episode 35, yelling at Francis for his shamelessness. He then appears in Episode 44, which adapts more of Liechtenstein's Journal of Swiss Dopiness. In the anime, his hair is more of a yellow-blond shade than it was in the manga. His eyes are also colored a darker green and appear to have more shine to them.

Trivia



 * Though Vash is the commonly accepted spelling in Western fandom, early Japanese fanworks rendered his name in English as Bache Zwingli. Another alternate, though less common spelling in use is Basch Zwingli, which reflects the pronounciation of the name better.


 * His human surname is believed to have been inspired by Huldrych Zwingli, the leader of the Swiss Protestant reformation.


 * A possible source of his first name as "Vash" could be the French word 'vache', meaning 'cow'. Switzerland is known for its domestic dairy industries and products (including world-famous milk chocolate products like Lindt Lindor), and the prominence of the cow in tourist shop mementos reflects this. As French is one of Switzerland's official languages, it would not be out of character to have a French-based name. But Basch also happens to be a diminutive for the name Sebastian, which would reflect a German-based name for him.


 * His birthday corresponds with the date that the Swiss Confederation was founded, on August 1st, 1291. Though he is technically older than Alfred, he is only a year younger than him in physical appearance and "human age".


 * A production note by Hidekaz Himaruya states that he played around with the idea of making Vash a female character, and that Ludwig would be shocked when he saw her in womens' clothing.


 * Additional sketches reveal that Vash has three pet goats: Eiger, Jungfrau, and Mönch, named after Switzerland's famous mountains.


 * His Japanese voice actress, Romi Paku, also voices Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. Incidentally, Liechtenstein's voice actress is Rie Kugimiya, who also voices Alphonse Elric. Also, both Switzerland and Edward share similar personalities (stubborn, caring big brother, short and blonde, etc).