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He has short, golden blond hair with a cowlick, representing Nantucket, sticking up and blue eyes. He wears a tan uniform and a brown bomber jacket with a "50" on the back for the fifty states. His glasses are said to represent the state of Texas. America is often shown holding a hamburger or a large-sized soft drink, usually a cola, and flashing a thumbs-up.
When America initially appeared in the webcomic, his hair was drawn smoother, parted in the center, and he had no cowlick. Eventually as the art style changed, Himaruya added in the strand and made America's hair slightly wilder. America also was shown to have his pants tucked into his boots in older designs, but more modern artwork depicts him wearing his pants over the boots.
When shown as a child, America's face had that natural childhood chubbiness and he typically wore a light blue sort of christening gown up until the time Britain had to leave and he was seen wearing regular clothing.
Personality and Interests
America is a cheerful, energetic, yet somewhat conceited young man who is obsessed with heroes, justice, and freedom. He has the habit of sticking his nose into everyone else's business, which causes him to have difficulty making friends. He loves hamburgers and junk food, to the point of an obsession, and can even eat strange and inedible things due to inheriting England's sense of taste (or lack thereof).
America is also known for not being aware of how "the atmosphere" is when he is around others (which, at one point, he was told to read it), but it has been noted that it is not that he lacks the ability to "assess the situation", he simply chooses not to. His profile states that his hobbies are sports, games, and making movies, but he also enjoys watching movies specifically of the horror genre. On multiple occasions, he has forced Japan to watch movies that he calls "Too freaking scary!" because they are about ghosts and paranormal activity. Japan gives him zombie video games to come over his fear of ghosts. Furthermore, in the side-story Black Ships Have Come, in introducing himself to Japan, he states that his hobbies are "quick-draw, archaeology, and adventures" (which is translated to Japan as America's hobby being lechery).
He possesses an abnormal amount of strength, shown even as a child by easily swinging a full-grown buffalo around, and has been once seen running around dragging a heavy Rolls Royce that belong to England with one hand behind him for an hour in order to ask permission to borrow it. In the NotoSama 6 game, America was able to stop a car with the heel of his foot.
America is shown to be ignorant of the geography outside his own home, believing that maps of the United States constitute the "world map" and believes that he can simply get to other countries by car travel. He is shown becoming concerned about his weight in the strip Supersize You! and it is mentioned that he has invented strange diet machines as well as becoming obsessed with exercise which has caused him to become paranoid about his rising weight, as he is unaware of his building muscle. Aside from being afraid of ghosts, scary movies, and weighing scales, he also fears marmite. As America is obsessed with heroes and happy endings, he hopes that his future will be that way.
Though he is friends with a space alien named Tony, he does not believe in England's magical friends, fairies, or unicorns, except on Halloween.
Relationships
Canada: America's kind-hearted brother, who is frequently overshadowed by him and is constantly mistaken for him. While most other nations either ignore or don't notice Canada, America seems to have no trouble noticing Canada most of the time and is actually the one who spends the most time with Canada. The two have a typical sibling relationship, with America being the more dominate one and trying to get Canada to be tougher and Canada simply wanting to be recognized as himself.
England: America was adopted and cared for by Britian when he was young and the two view each other as brothers. When America was young, he greatly adored Britian and loved the Englishman's cooking. However, their relationship became heavily strained when America started to become more independent and no longer needed Britian's support. Over the years after the Revolution, they appear to have re-established their bond, but both are still haunted by those events. They work well as part of the Allied Forces but many, if not all, of America's suggestions are met with disapproval and heavy criticism from Britian. While they often argue with one another, it is hinted they truly care about each other. America often teases Britian for acting like an "old man" and his love of tea, calling him "Limey" during arguments.
Russia: Unlike many other characters, America does not seem instantly afraid of Russia as he can often be seen speaking directly with him without any sign of nervousness. In fact, America once stated he thought Russia was cool after hearing he fought tanks with his hands.
China: America appears to have a decent relationship with China. He seems aware enough to know China is a capable fighter as he right away chose him to single handedly fight the Axis countries. When China falls into an angry fit and starts to become somewhat destructive, America is often the one to try to settle him, though this may possibly be due to America being the only one physically strong enough to restrain him.
Japan: America has been close friends with Japan since he got him to open his borders but appears unaware of how he made Japan feel during that time. They stayed friends as they would visit each other's house often even as America struggled with Japan's culture, such as cute things being reported as news and the difference in size regarding food portions. America often tries to get Japan to loosen up but finds the task quite difficult since Japan is so set in his ways. Although he occasionally teases Japan, America is aware of some of Japan's concerns and fears, the biggest one being that Japan was worried about not being able to make friends with others when he opened the country. While they are different in many ways, they do share several interests.
Lithuania: After falling into poverty due to WWI, Lithuania started to work for America as his housekeeper, finding himself a happy freedom in the process. When the Great Depression hit, Lithuania found himself having to return back home with Russia. It seems like Lithuania actually cares for America since in Episode 29 he asks Russia about him, although a trembling Estonia interrupts to remind him that he cannot talk to Russia about America. He also was one of the people who went to America's birthday party.
Davie: As a young boy, America was friends with a boy named Davie who was searching for blue flowers. America joined his search, but he noticed how, as the years went by, Davie seemed to not remember who America was. Despite this treatment, America still viewed Davie as a close friend and continued to search for the flowers to make him happy. When seeing Davie had passed away, America appears to have taken it rather hard.
In the Anime
America in the anime.
America makes his first appearance at the beginning of Episode 01 where he announced his (albeit far-fetched) plan to stop global warming. Throughout many episodes where the Allied nations join together, America is often self-appointing himself the leader of the group and laying out plans that usually spell out trouble for the others while leaving himself to come out looking the hero.
His childhood is spotlighted numerous times in the anime, including Episode 25, Episode 39, and Episode 40, which tells of how France and England battled each other over his ownership. He is later shown meeting Davie and learning of the unpleasant impact of being immortal when Davie passed away.
In a minor difference from the manga design, the "50" was left off of America's jacket in the anime adaptation. This is most likely due to the time setting of the series starting between America's founding and World War 2 which meant that all fifty states were not yet founded by this time.
Name
"Jones" is one of the most common surnames in the United States. His last name could also refer to the action movie hero Indiana Jones, as America once stated that one of his own hobbies is archaeology.
"Alfred F." is most probably an allusion to Alfred E. Neuman; the "F" in his middle name possibly inspired by John F. Kennedy, one of the most recognized presidents of the United States. It is also possible that his name is a reference to the USS Alfred, the first ship to fly the Grand Union Flag. The man who hoisted the flag was John Paul Jones. Another likely reference would be Alfred Hitchcock, who is famous for his suspense films, which would explain America's video game and movie preference.
According to an answer to a fan's question in one of Himaruya's blog post, the "F" in Alfred F. Jones was initially thought as "Foster" but after a while "Franklin" could also be a possibility, America's true middle name is still yet to be revealed.
His birthday corresponds with the Independence Day of July 4th, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was approved by the U.S. Continental Congress.
Although commonly referred to as America, some merchandise refers to him by the full term United States Of America, or simply U.S. for short.
In some fanart, he is often portrayed with a rabbit, as "U.S.A." can also be "usa", which means "bunny" in Japanese. The child version of America was also shown to have a bunny following him when he first met the older nations.
An early America as seen in vol 3.
According to Himaruya, America's personality was based off of his teacher's. The same teacher is said to have a strong disinterest in world geography. Meanwhile, America's appearance is based off of that of a Canadian that Himaruya met when he went to America.
Notes in the special edition booklet for Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 3 revealed that America was originally intended to be smarter and more cocky, but evolved into a louder, heroic-wannabe type of character. Himaruya noted that in retrospect, the original character personality would have been harder to use.
In a set of character notes, it is revealed that America has mingled a lot with Germanic blood, and that he was insecure for having no history of his own before England adopted him.
In England, Dreaming About The Past, it was revealed by a sleeping England that America used to wet his bed when he was younger.
It is a source of debate among fans as to whether it is America or Canada that is the older of the two brothers (with Hidekaz Himaruya having not confirmed a set age difference between the two). A common fanon assumption is that the two are twins, due to their similarities and appearances that often cause Canada to easily be mistaken for America, though the two do not share the same day of birth. Supporters of the twin theory point out the nations' birthdays merely refer to their date of independence or unification, and that a "nation" may not have an official birthday in the same sense as humans. One such example being directly related to America himself as his birthday is noted to be when the Declaration of Independence was signed (July 4th, 1776) but he had been alive for an unknown number of years prior to this when Britian and France tried to claim rulership and sibling titles to him; historically/possibly as early as 1492 when the country of America was originally discovered by Christopher Columbus.
Should the years of their country's discovery be confirmed in the series as their year of birth, America would be the older brother by five years as America was discovered in 1492 while Canada was discovered in 1497.
In terms to year they gained independence, America would still be older as he gained his freedom in 1776 and Canada gained his in 1867, a difference of 91 years.
While his true year of birth remains debatable in the series, if America has truly been alive since 1492, his real age would be closer to around 531 instead of 247.
The number "50" on his jacket, representing the 50 states, is historically incorrect. Hawaii became a state on August 21, 1959, and Alaska became a state on January 3, 1959, both after the end of World War II, the time in which the story primarily takes place. This is most likely the reason the "50" is not present in the anime adaption.
Based on certain clothing and uniforms he's worn, America has possibly served in the military, most likely the army if he has.
In Hetalia Fantasia 2 it is revealed that America has at least 238 weaknesses, one of those being Dora The Explorer.
He also seems to like cars and has a car collection, as it is said that he has several, including a Mustang, a remodeled Caprice, a 1955 Thunderbird, and a DeLorean modeled after the car in the movie Back to the Future.
In the 2010 Christmas event, he said that he was jealous of all of the kids in his country that get presents from their fathers. This may be a reference to America's fast growth and young age, and how he missed out on a lot of childhood things by growing physically mature so quickly, as well as what seems to be the lack of parents for most of the nations (as opposed to elder siblings).
In World☆Stars, America is shown to secretly admire Canada's personality to get along with everyone (despite Canada's desire to change it), calling him "blessed" to have such an ability. He is also shown to be taken aback by how much Canada knows about his politics and entertainment, while he knows very little about Canada's.
In the strip Until It Becomes Buried in the Cabinets, America stars in a hair iron commercial. An off-screen voice refers to him by his human name of Alfred.
In response to a question from a fan on Himaruya's blog, it was stated that in addition to America's glasses representing Texas, his glasses are "a prop to show you he's normally disguising his power". This pays homage to the American cartoon trope where the hero conceals his identity with a pair of glasses. However, America still feels like a hero even with them on.
In chapter 32, thirty of America's New Years resolutions were revealed to focus on body image; wanting to either build muscle, drop down to 3% body fat, or be skinnier or slimmer.
Notes
↑The Independence Day of the United States, celebrating the date of the Declaration of Independence, when the colonies declared independence from British rule. Click here for more information.
↑The phrase "sworn brother" refers to men who are either siblings by birth or who have sworn loyalty to each other.
↑The scientific name for the genus of 130 flower species commonly known as Columbines. These are very prevalent native wildflowers in North America. Also, the name Aquilegia comes from the Latin for eagle, aquila Click here for more information.
↑The national flower of the United States. Click here for more information.
↑Three popular desserts commonly associated with the United States and regarded as symbols of American identity/culture. Apple pie is considered one of the United States' unofficial national dishes. Click here, here, and here for more information.
↑One of the most popular foods in America, it is considered the unofficial national dish (in addition to apple pie). Click here for more information.
References
↑Himaruya, Hidekaz. May 2007. "Old Blog 2007/05". Japanese. English.
↑Himaruya, Hidekaz. October 2006. "Old Blog 2006/10". Japanese. English.
