Belgium (ベルギー, Berugī) is a supporting character in the series Hetalia. She is the personification of Belgium.
Appearance[]
Chibi Belgium from Axis Powers Volume 4
Belgium is a woman of average height with short, wavy brown hair (blonde in early designs) held back with a ribbon headband, and light green eyes. She also has a distinctive cat-like mouth.
The ribbon in her hair was exclusively colored green for a long time, but in recent media she is shown to wear many different ribbons (including one with the stripes of the Belgian tricolor).
Though her original official hair color was stated to be blonde,[citation needed] a 2009 chibi headshot sketch depicted her with pale brown hair[citation needed] and in all subsequent colored drawings, her hair is brown.
Personality And Interests[]
It was revealed in Christmas Rampage '07 that she is the younger sister of Netherlands and the older sister of Luxembourg.
It is said that although she is mature and has a cheerful personality, she doesn't stand out much due to the flashy people she is surrounded by. She loves making waffles. 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 "a diligent, kind, meddlesome and friendly older sister! Although her features stand out, her clothes are simple and not very conspicuous!". And that she "Loves Gourmet and tasty snacks!" Also, in a separate translation it is stated that she is "a cheerful, good-natured, but slightly nosy older sister. And scary when she's mad!"
It appears that she is quite willing to help complete strangers, not even pausing to consider their intentions.
Relationships[]
Netherlands[]
- Main article: Netherlands
Belgium is Netherlands' younger sister; however, it's said that they don't resemble one another much. When both were under the control of Spain, Netherlands fought to become independent and went to war with his sister, as she remained with Spain. He later attempted to reconcile with her to form the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. However, they'd been separated for 200 years, and their differences were too great, with Netherlands working mainly on trade and being protestant, leaning towards England, and Belgium being very agricultural and Catholic, influenced by France. As a result, Belgium declared her independence 15 years later.
In Volume 4, Belgium said that her brother was handsome and tall, and that she thought he was cool. However, his stinginess with money was the only thing she saw as a flaw in his personality. When Netherlands bought herring from Lithuania and Poland, he used cheap salt to pickle it and sell it at a higher price. Both then and when he sold his own weapons to Spain, whom he was fighting against, after saying "money makes the world go round" Belgium was seen around the corner, crying, telling him not to be mean. According to Belgium, Netherlands reads romantic poems. When they saw Santa, she asked if he thought he would be willing to visit them. He said that he didn't mind asking and promised to bring her Santa. Sometime later he gave her a sheet of paper that said, "I'll bring you a real Santa today." She was excited that he kept his promise, however both she and Romano were startled when he showed up, dressed as a reindeer, carrying Spain dressed as Santa (the joke being that the Netherlands' and Belgium's Santa comes from Spain.) Though she had been happily telling Romano that her brother wasn't such a miser because he was going to do that for her, it said at the bottom of the page that he had invested 0 euros in it.
Netherlands' rabbit, in a conversation with Pochi-kun, said that, before Netherlands left for Japan, he'd had a fight with Belgium. As a result, he felt lonely, and thus was being a busybody, likely to keep his mind off of it.
Belgium, Spain, Netherlands, and Romano dressed as a group for Halloween, following the theme of Little Red Riding Hood. When Netherlands began to attack Spain for not working hard enough (in response to his comment about Luxembourg being a very busy person,) she was somewhat saddened.
During Christmas, a comic of Belgium and Netherlands as children was requested. Netherlands immediately made an agitated face before the video started. Belgium visited Netherlands who was, at the time, without an influential leader or much of a wealth difference among his people, in contrast to Belgium who was richer than he was. She invited him over and, when he came, she told him to take it easy. He was startled and impressed by her luxurious lifestyle, gaping throughout the trip, especially when they were eating, presented with something he considered a high-class meal. She then expressed concern at that he wasn't eating. A shot of them both as adults had Belgium worrying that she was at fault for her brother's stinginess, however Netherlands insisted that he'd always been that way.
Italy Romano[]
- Main article: Italy Romano
As a child, Italy Romano had a crush on the older Belgium. She found him cute and, as he showed off his ability to ask for a kiss in Spanish while tugging on her dress, she offered to give him a kiss on the cheek. He became flustered, stumbled over his words, and said he was actually fine, to which Belgium said he was quite innocent and apologized for teasing, offering sweets as compensation. She was depicted as serving young Romano when he was demanding food from Spain in his diary, seeming to find his demandingness amusing. In Boss CD, when they make churros, Romano says that he will get 80% of them, while Spain and Belgium get 10% each. He also gets incredibly flustered and tongue-tied when Belgium praises him for his hard work, even getting flustered to the point of meekness and admitting he hadn't worked much at all. Young Romano would refer to her by name and also said nyarome, possibly a cute version of yamero, Japanese for "you bastard" and other such things, something Romano calls everyone. However, he was said to have been taught by men, hence why he was using such a rude term. However, she wasn't bothered and found him cute, nonetheless.
In modern times, they seem to have a good relationship, and she still finds him cute in the present. She happily shared with him that Netherlands kept his promise to bring her Santa, though they were both shocked that he simply brought her Spain.
Belgium, Spain, Netherlands, and Romano dressed as a group for Halloween, following the theme of Little Red Riding Hood.
Spain[]
- Main article: Spain
Belgium and Spain seem to get along well, in contrast to his and Netherlands' relationship. While she was his territory, she lived as a maid at his house. It was noted that Spain built museums and art galleries in countries it controlled, and Spain and Belgium were shown holding and admiring canvases. Furthermore, when Spain put a large portion of his money into getting Romano nice clothes, she worried over him, saying that he had to do something about his own clothes, as well, which had become tattered. In the Boss CD, Spain helps Belgium with laundry and with Romano. They enjoyed friendly meals together, as well, including the churros that he and Romano made together. When her brother left to become independent, she not only stayed with Spain, but ended up having to fight her brother.
When she asked her brother to bring her Santa, he brought her Spain (as the Dutch and Belgian Santa is Spanish) instead.
Belgium, Spain, Netherlands, and Romano dressed as a group for Halloween, following the theme of Little Red Riding Hood.
Luxembourg[]
- Main article: Luxembourg
Luxembourg is Belgium's younger brother. In an old note, it was stated that he, along with Netherlands, often pushes her around. He refers to her as "Big sis", which subsequent blog post states he uses as a term of endearment for her. During the Halloween 2011 event, Belgium was sad that he couldn't come to America's Halloween party with them because he had too much work to do and his boss wouldn't allow him to go until it was done. However, she, Spain, Romano, and Netherlands took a picture of themselves and sent it to him, saying that he had to come and dress up with them next time, which he agreed to do. His promise was kept, and he made his debut in the Halloween 2013 event, where he charges at her in a costume, proud that he had scared her, but causing Belgium to faint. On a character relationship chart, Luxembourg states that Belgium always takes good care of him, and she sees him as a "reliable little brother."
During the Christmas 2011 event, due to a request for Luxembourg's scrapped design to speak, Belgium had a nightmare about him, causing her to mumble in her sleep that she didn't know who he was and that he wasn't the Luxembourg she knew. Overhearing her, he became concerned and asked if she was alright.
Appearances[]
Manga[]
- Luxembourg and Belgium[4]
- Mr. Netherlands Manga[5]
- Opening of the Meeting at the Center of the World[2]
- World☆Stars Chapter 151: Sometimes Tourists are More Well-Informed…[3]
Anime[]
Belgium's cameo in Episode 01
Since Himaruya took some time committing to her chara design, she appears blonde in Hetalia: Axis Powers (anime) and Hetalia: World Series (as well as other media related to S1-4), but from Hetalia: The Beautiful World onwards her hair is changed to brown to match her definitive design.
- Episode 01 (cameo)
- Episode 53.5: The Diary of the Awesome Me, part 2 (cameo)
- Episode 94
- At Netherlands'
- Surprise Halloween!
- Spa Battle and Spain's Kitchen (cameo)
- Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and "That" Dog
Name[]
Belgium does not have a canon human name.
In a 2010 blog post,[1] Himaruya picked his favorite possible options for characters' given names from fan suggestions. They include Laura, Emma (both of which are common across the country), Manon[Note 7] (common in French-speaking areas), and Anneli (rare but more likely in Dutch-speaking areas; it is actually of Finnish origin) which is often mistranslated as Anly or Anri which are not existing first names.
No possible surname was given, but fans tend to use Maes (of Dutch origin) which is the third most common surname in Belgium.
Songs[]
Anime Ending Themes[]
- "Hatafutte Parade (Netherlands and Belgium)" (featured)
Trivia[]
- In notes included in the special booklet for Axis Powers Volume 3,[6] Himaruya revealed that he initially drew 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 unique as it is rare for his female characters to lack hair accessories.
- In an annotation from Mr. Netherlands Manga,[5] it is stated that Belgium was a farming nation during the time of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands; however, Belgium started to industrialize in 1798 (almost a full century earlier). Click here for more information.
Notes[]
- ↑ Belgian National Day, celebrating the the investiture of Leopold I as the first King of the Belgians on July 21st, 1831.
- ↑ An informal pronoun meaning "one's own" and mostly used by women.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The phrase "sworn brother" refers to men who are either siblings by birth or who have sworn loyalty to each other.
- ↑ There is a decades-old debate of whether French fries actually originated from France or Belgium, which is a popular topic of controversy between both countries. The current consensus is that fries were first invented in France, but the frying process that gives them the crispy aspect everyone knows them for was largely popularized by the Belgians.
- ↑ Brussels' emblematic flower, which is also used by proxy as the national flower (the flower emblem of Flanders is the poppy, while Wallonia's is the blanket flower). Click here and here for more information.
- ↑ Belgium is famous for its waffles, of which the most popular forms are Brussels waffle and Liège waffle.
- ↑ Whether or not this was intentional is unknown, but the name Manon can be a nod to the Leonidas chocolate of the same name. Click here for more information.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Himaruya, Hidekaz. November 26, 2010. "「Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs」でのイギリスいじりは異常 [Britain’s tampering of “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” was unusual]". Japanese. English.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Himaruya, Hidekaz. June 26, 2007. "「世界の中心で会議を開く」（みかん） [Opening of the Meeting at the Center of the World]". Japanese. English.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Himaruya, Hidekaz. March 16, 2016. "151話 [Chapter 151: Sometimes Tourists are More Well-Informed…]". ヘタリア World☆Stars [Hetalia World☆Stars] English.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. January 21, 2015. "ルクセンさんとベルギーさん [Luxembourg and Belgium]". Japanese. English.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Himaruya, Hidekaz. May 13, 2010. "オランダさんマンガ [Mr. Netherlands Manga]". Japanese. English.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. May 20, 2010. "第三章【初期設定 初公開！ ＆思い出してみる！】 [Chapter Three: "First Introduction of the Default Versions! & Try to Remember!"]". Axis Powers ヘタリア 3 [Hetalia: Axis Powers 3]. Page 28. Gentosha. ISBN: 978-4-3448-1938-2(JPN), 978-1-4278-5649-4(ENG). English.