France

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France is one of the main characters in Hetalia: Axis Powers: Paint it, White and Hetalia: Axis Powers (anime).

He is one of the main powers in the Allied Forces, along with England, America, China and Russia.

During the years 2001 and 2008, Himaruya gave human names to some characters. France received the name Francis Bonnefoy (sometimes stylised as François and/or Bonnefoi).

Appearance
Full Article: Uniform Guide: France'

France has blue eyes that sometimes seem violet, and shoulder-length blonde hair that was passed on to his former colony Canada. At one point, in an attempt to look more "big brotherly", he grew a small amout of facial hair on his chin that's still there now and is rumoured to represent the Gorges du Tarn. He stands at the same height as England, at 175 cm or 5 ft. and 9 inches, but is sometimes portrayed as slightly taller due to the slightly heeled boots he wears. France's uniform is known as the flashiest of the Allied Forces' selection; being a long blue coat, vibrant red pants and tall brown boots (this flashiness also lead to him being a popular target for cannons and such on the battlefield). A popular accessory of his would be a red rose, enforcing his romantic air as well as doubling for a censoring icon when streaking. It's been mentioned that his body is rather nice if not a bit lanky, but he has muscles "in the right places". Overall, his appearance is normally well-praised by himself and others. He's also sometimes seen with a small white dove named Pierre, who can also serve to censor his genitals at times.

Character summary
France is one of the more peaceful nations and is quite a romanticist, and his talents for many arts such as cooking, fashion, singing, etc. should not be overlooked, either. However, he can be seen as a rather plain man who always goes on strike if his working conditions are below his standards. He prefers to focus on tourism and food rather than war, and has an extreme affinity for beauty, being known to fall in love with beautiful men, women, and sometimes objects or non-human beings. France is also well known to be very "affectionate" towards many other nations through means of touching, stripping and/or blatantly sexual comments or suggestions, and is also never shown to back down from a chance to streak. Because of this, many fans and other characters consider him a pervert or rapist, and it has become a sort of running joke in the fandom. However, these thoughts appear to be misleading, as France strongly enforces the thought of true love and insists that it should never be forced upon others. Normally upon hearing a firm "no" from the subject of his actions, he won't continue with whatever he's doing. "Be gentle to the ladies and be gentle to the earth" is his motto. His ego is less than modest as well, having admitted to being "the dandiest among the dandies" and preferring his own language, the "language of love", over English. In addition, he has referred to the others as insignificant characters. His hobbies include creating art, manipulation activities, agriculture, wandering art museums and cities, and going on strike.



In the past, France was well known to the surrounding nations (namely England) due to his seemingly outlandish fashion sense, such as his long hair and long tunics for grown men, which England's bishop claimed were only meant for girls. Despite these claims, the pre-teened France loved to flaunt his style and ended up rubbing off on nations, namely England, who wanted to outshine him. When England tried to grow out his hair to look better than France's (with disastrous consequences), France offered to cut and style his hair. After being asked to give him something that "suited him" and didn't look anything similar to France's own, France ended up cutting England's hair back to its former choppy state, erasing months of hard work and enraging the latter. (It seems to sum up their entire relationship back then, don't you think?)

He was also shown to have been a large nation with substantially more power than in modern times, but that all ended after the defeat and death of Napoleon Bonaparte. When beaten in war, he usually claimed that "God wanted it to be this way" or "God was taking a break from watching over us" (in short, he would blame God), refusing to to face the fact that he was growing weaker. He also became rather dramatically upset when he thought he had been excluded from one of the Allies' after-parties, assuming they'd all had a great time because he wasn't in the way. He was also shown to have been a love interest of Joan of Arc, and became very nostalgic when he apparently found her reincarnation - a girl named Lisa who was vacationing to his house.

Some French stereotypes he portrays include: His romantic and perverted tendencies, stylish appearance, love of beautiful things, self-centered ways, etc.

England


Despite both being members of the Allied forces, England and France have a deep-rooted historical rivalry between them. They can be seen to constantly argue with each other over the littlest things (like language and culture) and pointedly starting fights to go up against each other, thought they still appear to have a level of respect for each other and are quick to team up with each other if a third party should enter the argument. They care for each other to some extent, such as when England came down with a cold and France insisted on caring for him, despite England's protests of "Stay away, you might get sick too". France is also known to make sexual advances on England from time to time, attempting to strip him, commenting on him, and occasionally calling him "cute" when he's vulnerable, though he shows distaste toward his overall personality. France once even attempted to marry England to save his country, to which England became flustered and rejected him. Some fans say that the death of Jean D'Arc (Joan of Arc) may have caused an even more excessive level of hatred between the two, while others believe that England himself had nothing to do with it and was forgiven.

As children, France would constantly pick on or tease England on his constantly "outdated" and "unrefined" appearance and fashion trends, leading England to start growing his hair out to match France's. When this turned out a mess, however, France took the liberty of cutting it into a "cool" style that suited him - back to the way it had been before. At the time where they both believed that the world would end, England granted France's wish of having conquered him in a way (by playing pretend until the world would "end"). They both seemed to have enjoyed it in a way until they found out the "end of the world" was a hoax, as they reflected when Japan made the same mistake. They also fought hard on who would take the title of America's big brother, but wasted no time in shooting down Finland's likelihood of being the brother together. However, they are also said to have raised some nations such as Canada together, and are the parental figures in the FACE (France/America/Canada/England) "family".

They are a popular pairing in the fandom, going by "FrUK". However, this pairing seems to be constantly competing against the pairing USUK, as both have England in the pairing.

Germany
France and Germany's relationship depends heavily on the period of time in which they're depicted, but they have a history of constantly being at each other’s throats. Germany was also shown once to break into France's house and annex him at gunpoint. Generally, they still don't seem to get along perfectly. However, in more recent dates, their relationship seems to have improved a bit, such as when the two went together with America to a maid café at Japan's house (in Kusogame) and when France seemed to know quite a bit about Germany during his April Fool's day hijacking of the site. When Germany suggested France be removed from the G8, France claimed the thought they'd finally started to get along recently. Their mutual relationship with Italy may mean they see each other more often then shown, though there's little proof supporting this.

Italy
France and Italy grew up together (in part) as young children, where he was referred to as an older brother. When Italy left to go live with Rome, France was evidently upset, but upon Italy's return he simply became obsessed with the thought of controlling him as French territory. However, France was one of the few nations to stand up for Italy while he was bullied by others, such as telling off the Holy Roman Empire for chasing him around, despite eventually being to one to invade him and leading him and his brother into hardship. When Italy was a young teenager, France became suddenly very attracted to him and once again obsessed over making him French territory. He also educated Italy about "intercourse", subliminally suggesting they partake in it in the manga (it was changed to France expressing the meaning of intercourse through body language in the anime). Although they were enemies in WWII, France could not bring himself to hurt or spread rumours about Italy, claiming "I know he's kind of dumb, and he's weak and useless, but he's not a bad guy...." and breaking down in tears. England then noted that while France would constantly insult Germany, he could never find it in himself to badmouth Italy.

Their modern day relationship is seen to be rather positive, with Italy still referring to France as "Big Brother" and France being affectionate toward the younger nation.

Monaco
Monaco acts as a younger sister toward France and is very reliant on him for military strength, as well as many other affairs of her country. She is often shown accepting and obeying his requests, and they seem to have a rather stable relationship together.

Seychelles
The relationship between France and Seychelles is most commonly known to be covered in the Gakuen Hetalia universe, where it was revealed that France was the one to raise her and currently hold much affection for her. He was once show to have tried to undress her to see what her body had become in her adult years, much to her shock and horror. She was also once groped by France in the 2007 Christmas Rampage, to which she protested violently. They have also appeared together in Shipwrecked and a few pictures, which depict them normally to be enjoying themselves in each others' company.

They are sometimes paired together because of their many references and the Gakuen Hetalia AU and their relations as "France/Seychelles" "リボン組 (Ribon Gumi)".

Spain
France gets along rather well with Spain, having grown up and fought together with him, though Spain always remained oblivious to France's more perverted tendencies and can't understand why most other nations hate him. Himaruya has described their relationship as an undesirable one, yet the two of them still remain inseparable. In the past they were shown together often, such as when Spain was constantly protecting Romano from France, and how France would go to lengths to try and cheer Spain up when he was down. It seems Spain is aware that France is a very bad influence, going as far as to heatedly call him "despicable" before his pet bull defeated him in the Battle of Garigliano. But they still seem to have a good relationship together nowadays and share many moments together in the webcomic, some going as far as being considered as semi-canonical. France normally uses one of his pet birds, a dove named Pierre, to communicate with Spain.

They are a surprisingly popular pairing, going by the name "France/Spain", but it is normally outdone by more popular ships such as Spamano and FrUK..

AU (Alternate Universe) Versions
'NOTE: A great deal of the information surrounding the AU versions of this character are purely fanon ideas - headcanons, if you will. Little official information has been given on the alternate universes; please do not believe any of the details not stated to be confirmed as canon to be official.'

To read more on the alternative versions of France, listed or not listed below, at: Memes in fandom

Nyotalia/Genderswapped (Nyo!)


Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (seiyū)

The female counterpart of France did not make her debut appearance in the I Was Overwhelmed with Heroines strip, but is set to appear in said anime episode. Fanonically, her name is said to be Françoise (a feminine version of François, the male France's name) Marianne or Francine Bonnefoy; an official name has yet to be recommended. She is almost unrecognizable when put next to the male France, with dark brown hair tied back in a French bun and a crown, violet eyes and very elegant dress. She normally wears the top half of a double-breasted military uniform, complete with a black tie and gloves, and a deep purple cape. The bottom half of her attire features a long, lightly colored skirt, with black stockings and high boots. She seems to have a generally darker and calmer shade of coloring than that of France. She usually holds a red rose or a bottle of wine in her hand (different to how France would normally hold a wine glass ).

Said to be a rather snobby woman, nyo! France is said to be more protective and caring toward her former charges (such as Canada) and more argumentative. Because of her tranquil expression and cooler, more dignified way of dressing and holding herself, nyo! France is normally shown by fans to be classier than the regular France (not having his signature "Bad Touch"), not doing things such as streaking or harassing other nations as commonly and being a bit more smooth when it comes to flirting, which she does to both women and men, similar to the male France. However, she's not one of the most popular Nyotalia characters, and thus her character can vary or seem underdeveloped at times.

Second Player/Another Color (2p!)
This version of France is colored lighter than the original female version, but with about the same skin and hair shades as the normal France. Her hair is light blonde and her skin is fair, and her eyes are a touch lighter than her Nyo! version's. Their outfits are rather similar, but with the tiara replaced with a few venom-purple rose, and the shirt seeming more dressy and ruffled and a matching purple, cream and black. The bottom half of her outfit, the long, flowing skirt is black, with the cape being red. The unofficial male design of this second player seems like a raggedy version of the regular France with unkept hair, dark bags under his eyes, and scratchy stubble all over his chin. He often wears a slightly dirtied and wrinkled black suit with a dark violet undershirt. They're sometimes portrayed with a bloodred rose, though it's most common to see them with a bottle/glass of wine or a cigarette. It's said their weapon is the bottle they hold, but smashed, as they will do so upon being angered.

France's second players are commonly portrayed as gloomy, yet devious asexuals who don't really believe in having any sort of romantic relationship other than one to be used for their own benefit. They're also often shown smoking or doing drugs to relive stress, and not really caring about their appearance or other nations' opinions, and in general being pessimistic, unlike 1p! France. However, within the 2p! universe, pairings dealing with France are considerably more developed, and it's almost more common to see them paired with 2p! England rather than 2p! America is, as part of the FACE family situation. 2p! France is also sometimes seen enjoying war, and also being very good at it, which is the opposite of 1p! France. Their fan-given names are said to be François or Jean Luc/Marianne Bonnefoy or Masson.

Character songs
Maru Kaite Chikyuu (France)

Hatafutte Parade (France)

Mawaru Chikyuu Rondo (France)

Paris Is Indeed Splendid

Embrace The Très Bien Moi

Worldwide À La Mode

Fall In Love, Mademoiselle

Wa! Wa!! World Ondo (featured)

We Wish You A Merry Christmas (featured)

United Nations Star ☆ (featured)

Trivia

 * His birthdate (July 14th) corresponds with the date of the French national holiday known in English-speaking countries as Bastille Day, a celebration of the anniversary of the Fête de la Fédération held the July 14th 1790.
 * In notes included in the special edition booklet for Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 3, Himaruya stated that France was originally meant to look more middle-aged, and that he was intended to have a completely suave personality. The "older", shorter-haired design could be seen in early chapters of the webcomic, but faded as the style changed.
 * Because of England and America's inability to recognize and fear of him, it has been hinted that an abruptly awoken France is not a pleasant sight, and that he may be a sleepwalker.
 * France shares both Japanese and English voice actors, Masaya Onosaka and J. Michael Tatum respectively, with Issac Dian, a character from the anime Baccano! He also shares J. Michael Tatum as an English voice actor with Sebastian Michealis from Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler, and Kyoya Ootori from Ouran High School Host Club.