Belgium

Belgium (ベルギー, Berugī) is a minor character in the series Hetalia: Axis Powers.

Appearance


She has short and wavy blonde hair, held back with a ribbon headband (alternatively green or red, but also sometimes seen as being black). In her profile sketch by Hidekaz Himaruya, she is shown wearing a military uniform like most of the other characters, but it has varied in appearances in the various illustrations that exist of it: In an early-full body picture, she was shown to wear gloves, her boots were high-heeled with visible laces, and her tie had an elaborate black design. In a super-deformed character sketch, her boots were simplified (with the heels and laces removed), and her tie was changed to a neckbow. However, in a later chibi design, the neckbow was changed back to a tie (with a somewhat different design than before) and her pants became breeches. The uniform's color remained unknown for some time as well, until an illustration in Comic Birz revealed it to be khaki.

When dressed for the "Meeting Of The World" in both the published manga and anime, she wears an aqua dress and lavender bolero (with a matching lavender headband).

In earlier-drawn sketches, Belgium was shown in a traditional European dress and wore a slightly different headband (with longer ribbon "tails"). Though her official hair color is blonde, a 2009 "chibi" headshot sketch depicted her with pale brown hair. In a 2010 chibi drawing of country's imports and exports, Belgium wears a green headband and has darkly colored hair.

Personality And Interests
Little has been revealed about Belgium at this time, though it is mentioned in Christmas Rampage '07 that she has a brother, Netherlands, and another sibling, Luxembourg.

It is said that although she is mature and has a cheerful personality, she doesn't stand out much due to the people she is surrounded by. A note in a later character chart by Himaruya indicates that she speaks in a Shiga dialect. Earlier notes on the character describe her as a tsukkomi ("straight man") type, and state that she is often pushed around by her siblings.

In her profile in the third manga volume, she is described as being diligent, kind, and like an older sister, but also a bit of a trickster. It also states that she wears simple clothing and loves snacks.

Netherlands
Main article: Netherlands

The two siblings are said to be on difficult terms with each other and find it hard to get along. When both were under the control of Spain, Netherlands fought to become independent and went to war with his sister, as she remained with Antonio.

He later attempted to reconcile with her to form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but their differences were too great and she decided to declare her independence from him.

Spain
Main article: Spain

Although Netherlands does not get along well with Spain at all, Belgium seems to. When her brother left to become independent, she not only stayed with Spain, but ended up having to fight her brother. Their current adult relations are unknown.

South Italy/Romano
Main article: South Italy

As a kid, South Italy had a crush on the older Belgium though he found himself unable to kiss her or tell her how he actually felt (though Belgium revealed she was only teasing him and felt bad for it). It is currently unknown what their adult relations are like.

In The Anime
Belgium is shown in a brief non-speaking cameo in the "Meeting Of The World" segment of Episode 01.

Belgium also appeared in a special unaired episode The Diary of the Awesome Me, part 2, where she had a non-speaking cameo when Hungary explains the history of Belgium's cat festival.

Trivia

 * In notes included in the special booklet for Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 3, Himaruya revealed that he initially drew a Belgium without any facial features, in order to imagine what her look and personality would be like before he decided on a friendly-type of girl. She also originally had no ribbon, though Himaruya noted that the design would have been innovative as it is rare for his female characters to lack hair accessories.
 * In an annotation in 'Netherlands and Japan’s Isolation' it is stated that Belgium was a farming nation during the time the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was established; however Belgium had started to industrialize in 1798, three years after Austria was driven away by France, while the UKN was founded in 1815. The split up of this country was initially not Belgium's intention, but Belgium wanted to see both her economical (industrial) and demographic (3,5 million Belgians vs 2 million Dutch) superiority over the Netherlands translated into political power. Holland, seeing Belgium as a territorial gain (in Hetalian terms: a maid) instead of an equal partner, refused. Thus the Belgian rebellion became the Belgian Revolution and Belgium was on her way to become the 5th industrial superpower and 4th largest trading empire of the world, a position she held until WWI.
 * Belgium is also called Alice by some fans. The name was ment to resemble the popular 'Alice in Wonderland' due to the similar personalities between them. Alice is also a popular name in Belgium which adds to the meaning. (According to statbel.fgov.be in 2008 Alice ranked 45 in the top 100 with 187 Alices, remarquably better then 2007 (place 62), while Alicia has climbed from 65 in 2007 to 37 in 2008. Emma is already since 2003 the most popular female name in Belgium).
 * Belgium's Cat Festival is a festival only celebrated in Ypres, its official name is Kattenstoet (Dutch for Cat Parade) and originates from the cloth trade. When Monks created the Belgian coast to gain more land, the new land was infertile and salty, only grass would grow and afterwards farmers and villagers would keep sheep on these lands to fertilize them. The large amount of wool was then woven into cloth which made the County of Flanders really prosperous. The Flemish cities built cloth halls to stock and trade the cloth, but they faced one problem- there were mice. These little creatures were attracted to the warmth of the cloth and also liked the taste of it. To solve this problem, the city put many, many cats in the Hall to protect the cloth, and when summer ended, trade came to a stop and there was hardly anyone who actually wanted to keep all the animals alive, nor was there were any means to. Since farmers had to kill almost all their cattle (which were taking up space), and there was still no food for them, the solution was to kill the cats. They also wanted to celebrate the good trading year so they decided to combine both of them. The feast would be about cats and in the end, all the cats would be thrown from the tower of the Belfry. In 1817 they made an ethical adaptation: they stopped throwing living cats down.
 * Belgium has her first speaking role in Hetalia volume 3 when she meets with Spain and Romano.