England

England (イギリス, Igirisu) is a main character in the anime and manga series Hetalia: Axis Powers. He represents both the United Kingdom and England, 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, Āsā Kākurando).

Appearance
England has messy, short blond hair and green eyes. He dresses in a green military uniform, and his eyebrows are very thick and prominent, even though he apparently trims them. They are a trait that is shared by his younger brother Sealand, as well as Australia, Hong Kong and Wy. He also happens to be the same height as France.

Personality and Interests
England is an obstinate, former pirate, who used to torment Spain. In modern times he claims to be a gentleman, however he is cynical, sharp-tongued, prone to rough speech and yearns for the golden years. He is noted for 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 various other fantasy-related creatures. France has also described him as "somehow extremely useless when it comes to matters not pertaining to himself or America". He has the ability to communicate with supernatural beings and is not limited to creatures from his homeland, being able to interact with various youkai and spirits from Japanese folklore.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, literature, rock music, and giving scathing criticisms to America's movies.

He does not know how to express himself, and others often misunderstand him. He is also depicted as being self-deprecating or tsundere. Despite his cynical, realistic view on the world, he is a romanticist. When drunk, his personality will change from that of a gentleman to a bitter and violent delinquent. Also, every year when the Fourth of July comes around, his condition collapses.

It has been mentioned that England has brothers, one representing Scotland, and 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, and even went as far as to mail him curses.

America
Main Article: America

America was discovered as a small child by Finland and Sweden. England and France were told about his existence by Finland, and proceeded to fight over who would be the child's older brother, though America chose England after the latter began to cry because he could not offer anything that compared to France'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 him, even letting America sleep in his bed when the latter 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 the old times (England once stated that 'someone left him heartbroken' for centuries, and it is assumed he refers to America), especially when the Fourth of July, or America's "birthday", arrives. The Revolutionary War caused a rift between the two and they constantly bicker and have disagreements. Despite this, they seem to truly care for one another.

France
Main Article: France

Despite the fact that both are members of the Allied forces, England and France have a deep-rooted historical rivalry. While they often have petty disagreements, they appear to respect each other and are quick to team up if a third party enters their argument. France once tried to marry England to save his country, even though neither of them really wanted it. In strips focusing on England's childhood, he is often picked on by a pre-teen France. On one occasion, he scoffs at England for not growing out his hair, but when England's does let his hair grow, it turns into a mess; France teases him, saying he'll cut it into a "cool" style only to cut it back to its original style. In Crossing Through the Year 1000, the two younger countries are fooled into believing that the world will end soon, and England agrees to let France pretend to have conquered him, since it is only for a little while. They later reminisce about their childhood when Japan makes the same mistake.

Japan
Main Article: Japan

When England finally decided to look out for friends, he thought Japan as a candidate. But Japan's boss wanted an alliance with Russia instead, leaving England very upset. Before England was about to give up and isolate himself once again, Japan came and said they could have an alliance and be lonely together, instead of obeying his boss.

The two are often shown enjoying each other's company.

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 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.

Seychelles
Main Article: Seychelles

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

Anime


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

In the anime, his hair is a more vivid yellow shade of blond, rather than the paler 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. However, the English dub refers to him as Britain. According to FUNimation, this was a request from the Japanese anime producers.
 * 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.
 * 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 a Shiba Inu.
 * 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.
 * His birthday could be referred to the 23rd of April, or St. George's Day.
 * 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).
 * According to a blog post (11/14/10), ironically, island nation and former pirate England, can not swim (in reference to English people in movies,) although, historically, many pirates could not swim.