Norway

Norway (ノルウェー, Norūē) is a supporting character in the series Hetalia: Axis Powers.

Appearance
Main article: Uniform Guide: Norway 

Norway has short, light blond hair and dark blue/indigo eyes. He wears a brown belted, navy blue sailor top with a light blue collar, tie, and cuffs, with matching pants and sailor hat. He sports a Nordic Cross barrette in his hair, and has a detached hair-curl that floats independently beside his head (which often has a dot that floats independently beside it).

Of the five Nordics, he is the third tallest. He speaks in a Tsugaru dialect.

Personality and Interests
Norway is a mysterious man of few words and expressions and is reclusive from the everyday world. He is often shown to have a troll or fairy with him and has the ability to see and interact with various supernatural creatures. For this reason, some fans think that he and England might possibly get along well.

He is described as curious but difficult to read. In Hetalia Fantasia 2, while questing with Denmark and crossing paths with Germany and Japan, it was stated that he is painfully shy around strangers as he resolved to leave upon seeing them. However moments after this suggestion Norway did a generous amount of speaking, complaining and whining to said pair, demonstrating the absence of his previously assigned social discomfort. This contradictory scene may have been constructed solely for comedic purposes; however, it leaves the impression that Norway is the type to recruit himself sympathy at the expense of Denmark.

Mr. Puffin referred to him as a "snarky guy". He is shown to be hard-working, skilled at chess, and is a baker. His hobby includes fighting over mackerels with his little brother, Iceland, and gently pokes Denmark.

Denmark
They have known each other since childhood, but while Denmark considers the two of them to be very close and believes that Norway feels the same way he does, he is unaware of Norway's teasing. Denmark appears to be the one Norway is most annoyed by most and often refers to him as "Dane". Despite Norway appearing annoyed by Denmark's over the top energy, he is also aware that Denmark cares for him and the other Nordic countries and has done what he can to help them in various areas.

England
Norway and England had a long history. When Norway was still a Viking, he invaded the British Isles. They both have a strong belief in magic, and every year, Norway sends England a Christmas Tree as a token of thanks for being his ally.

Estonia
The two nations are said to share some sort of an acquaintanceship. In the volume 4 omake comic, Estonia writes that Norway is difficult to read but they talk on occasion. After the two nations are kidnapped by Parallel France, alongside with Finland and Sweden in the 2010 Christmas event, Norway mentioned that Estonia's eagerness to join the Nordics frightens him sometimes.

Iceland
Norway feels strongly for Iceland, whom he sees as a younger brother to him and as being very important. In return, it is said that Iceland considers Norway to be the home where his heart truly is. It was later revealed that Norway and Iceland are indeed "biological" brothers due to Iceland having been discovered by Norwegians, though Iceland became irritated at Norway's insistence to refer to him as a big brother ("onii-chan"). His behavior toward Iceland is noticeably different than his behavior toward most others. As Norway embraces being Iceland's older brother, he is more playful and smiles more while acting in the manner of a supportive yet teasing older sibling.

In The Anime
Norway made his anime debut in Episode 79, which adapts To Create Better Products in Northern Europe. He appears only to observe that while the dolls Finland and Sweden made were fine, the salesman (Denmark) was too loud and annoying. He is voiced by Masami Iwasaki.

He appears next in Extra Episode 01 where after learning about Iceland's DNA results, Norway tries to get him to fulfill his promise in calling him "Big Brother." In The Beautiful World, he makes a brief cameo in Episode 103: Gakuen Hetalia: Go Forth! Newspaper Club!! Second Half which adapts the strip of the same name in volume 5. In The World Twinkle, he makes appearances in the Nordic-centered episodes, Episode 124: The Nordic Five +α.

His appearance remains largely unchanged in both World Series and The Beautiful World from his manga appearance. However, one scanned official anime picture featuring the Nordic 5 (in their uniforms) showed that the necktie of his sailor top had a slight extension to it. In addition, his new design in The Beautiful World moves the dot near his floating hair curl from above to below it.

Name
Himaruya has listen in a blog post that Lukas Bondevik, Bjørn, Kjetil, Knut, and Sigurd are names he liked for Norway. Børre Thomassen was also originally on the list, but was later removed. In the list, Himaruya also specifies that Lukas is one of the most popular given names in Norway, and that Bondevik is a common surname as well.

Lukas Bondevik is thus the most commonly used name combination. However some fans do not like using the surname Bondevik because they associate it with a real-life Norwegian politician. However, the name itself was probably not chosen specifically because of this politician. Bondevik is a toponymic(name that comes from a place and in Norway, this most commonly is a farm), which is the most used category of surnames in Norway. Patronymic surnames are steadily declining in popularity. The name Bondevik itself means "farmer bay".

Character Songs
Always With You... Nordic Five! (featured)

My House is... Quiet ~With the Trolls~

Why Don’t You Come Over? ~Beyond the Northern Lights~ (speaking role, on the phone with Iceland)

Gallery
Norway Image Gallery

Trivia



 * It was rumored that Norway would appear in the first season of the Hetalia anime, and that he would be voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro. But the "announcement," which also claimed that Denmark and Iceland would appear, turned out to be a hoax. Despite this, some websites still circulate the false seiyū information. Norway is now officially played by Masami Iwasaki in the second season (and fourth season overall) of Hetalia: World Series. 


 * Norway celebrates the day between his birthday and Iceland's birthday.


 * Norway's floating curl is meant to represent the fjords off the Norwegian coast. Some fans speculate that the curl represents a group of islands, Svalbard, with the dot being the smaller island of Jan Mayen.


 * Norway's Nordic Cross hairclip is actually a mobile phone when revealed about it in Episode 124: The Nordic Five +α of the World Twinkle series.