Poland

Poland (ポーランド,Porando) is a character in the series Hetalia: Axis Powers. In 2008, Himaruya gave out human names to some of the characters and he received the name Feliks Łukasiewicz (フェリクス・ウカシェヴィチ, Ferikusu Ukashevichi).

Appearance
He has light, shoulder-length blond hair and green eyes. He wears a green uniform with matching cape, and tan boots. Sometimes he is drawn with a green capelet worn over his jacket, though in one preliminary design of Poland, he wore a full-length cape instead. His uniform probably was inspired by the ones of Podhale Rifles.

An earlier, alternate color scheme for Poland exists, where his uniform and eyes are colored blue instead of green.

Personality And Interests
He was once a super nation that controlled Middle and Eastern Europe with his partner Lithuania in the Middle Ages, until Russia split them apart and he was annexed. Despite this, he kept rising back (described "like a phoenix"), noting that Poland is a very strong country.

It is difficult for others to get to know him because he acts shy and has anxiety towards strangers. However, once he becomes used to someone, he will never let go and will act troublesome. He is a cheerful, somewhat selfish man who is rather forceful with his opinions. Because he is short-sighted and impulsive, other nations can easily take advantage of him.

He has a Nagoya dialect, often translated in English as a "valley girl" accent. Even though Himaruya resigned from the idea of Poland as a crossdresser, fans still tend to show him this way. One instance (in the sequel to Christmas Rampage 2007) was removed from the site.

Italy
Main Article: Italy

Italy and Poland are shown to be good friends in a few of the "Extra Stories" and Comic Diary strips; it is suggested that they knew each other since they were small children. It was Poland who gave Italy the idea to make an ejectable seat in Germany's Kubelwagon, as he had previously designed an airplane with one (which backfired on him).

Lithuania
Main Article: Lithuania

Poland's partner, who he refers to as Liet, (short for Lietuva, the Lithuanian word for Lithuania). The two are close, though Lithuania feels like he is often dragged around. Poland was initially shown to be rather self-centered and unconcerned about Lithuania's problems; in later strips, it appears their friendship is not as one-sided as it was portrayed. Poland's character has changed over the years, and he is much less selfish in the newer strips.

A "missing" page of Chapter 5 revealed that Poland possibly did care for Lithuania underneath it all, as he stated, "I, like, totally don't care what [Lithuania] thinks of me. Even if you, like, hate me, it totally doesn't change that I like you." Then he says that he will try to be less selfish. The expression he uses in Japanese can also mean "love". But the validity of that statement remains ambiguous, due to the dream sequence-nature of the scenario (as it may have been Lithuania's own interpretation of Poland's nature).

In the last strip of While You Were Gone, he thinks, "There's a side of Lithuania I don't know," after seeing Lithuania's battered and bruised back.

Prussia
Main Article: Prussia

When Prussia was banished from Hungary, he found a new home at Poland's house. Their relations became bad, and the two started to argue with each other. At the Battle of Tannenberg, Poland, together with Lithuania, succeeded in beating Prussia but, due to the economic problems caused by the preparations for war, was unable to fully exploit the victory. Much later, Prussia, as an independent kingdom, played a major role in the partitions of Poland.

Today, they still seem to dislike and annoy each other, a reference to the fact that some territory that was historically Prussian (Silesia) is now part of Poland.

Russia
Main Article: Russia

The two have argued with each other since the early 1600s, when Poland succeeded in capturing Moscow. Russia got his revenge by joining Prussia and Austria in the partitions of Poland. In 1939, Russia decided to partition Poland again in conjunction with Germany. Their relationship was further soured by the post-war Soviet domination.

It should be noted that Poland is not afraid of Russia; Poland actively defends Lithuania from him despite the inherent threat.

In the Anime
Poland appeared briefly in Episode 01 when he intervened in the confrontation between Russia and Lithuania and threatened to make the former's capital Warsaw. He formally appears in Episode 47, where England and France talk to him about Germany.

Poland's eyes are slightly altered to have more shine to them in his anime design, while in the manga they are flatly-colored. His hair is also a more yellow shade of blond.

Name
The exact inspiration behind his human name is unknown, but it is believed that Hidekaz Himaruya may have had either Jan Łukasiewicz (a philosopher) or Ignacy Łukasiewicz (a scientist) in mind. The name Feliks is spelled as so because the letter "x" is not used too often in the Polish language, although the both versions Felix and Feliks are acceptable. It is not common in Poland today but was a popular name among the Polish elite in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. His surname is pronounced Wook-a-shye-veech in Polish.

Trivia

 * Poland's birthday, July 22nd, is often a point of controversy with fans due to the fact that it references the foundation date of a "free Poland" under Communist rule. November 11th is seen as more acceptable, due to it being the date that Poland was reestablished as a country after WWI. It remains to be seen whether or not Himaruya will retcon the birthdate (as he did with other characters). In the Polish translation of the manga published by Studio JG, the latter birthdate was used to avoid such controversy.
 * According to notes by Hidekaz Himaruya, Poland was originally designed as being female but was changed to a male character sometime in production, though the feminine sense of attire was kept to give him the crossdresser angle.
 * In a somewhat noticeable continuity error, Poland and Lithuania are shown in their teens during the Battle of Grunwald in What Happened After Tannenburg, though another strip written at the same time (that took place in the Chibitalia timeframe) showed them to still be small children long after that would have taken place.
 * Originally, it was said that Italy and Poland first met each other in their teens while Poland had been partitioned and Italy was still not yet independent. However, the Comic Diary strip depicts the two playing together as small children. It might be because in the time of Renaissance Polish king Zygmunt I the Old had married duchess Bona Sforza, who brought with herself to Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Italian artists, architects, scientists, etc.