Italy Romano (イタリア・ロマーノ, Itaria Romāno), also known as just Romano, is a secondary character in the series Hetalia. Though he is most often referred to just as Romano by other characters and by Himaruya, he is as equally a personification of Italy as his younger brother, Italy Veneziano, and specifically is the personification of the southern part of Italy (南イタリア, Minamiitaria).
In 2007, Himaruya gave human names to some of the characters and Romano received the name Lovino Vargas (ロヴィーノ・ヴァルガス, Rovīno Varugasu).
Appearance
Chibi Romano from Axis Powers Volume 4
Romano has dark brown hair and has more of an olive complexion than his younger brother in earlier artwork, but there is a tan tone to his skin. His eyes were originally green, but became colored hazel or dark brown in most of the later colored art.
Like his brother, he has a wild long curl that acts as his erogenous zone, though it rests on the right side of his head, as opposed to the left. In most artwork and merchandise, he is shown to wear a khaki uniform in a different style than Italy's (and more similar to Spain's), with three-quarter-length sleeves. But in the published manga and anime, he instead wears a virtually identical uniform. In his very first appearance in the webcomic, Romano's shirt and belt were colored white, but were later shaded in dark. The actual color of the uniform is unknown due to it only appearing in black-and-white art, though fanworks often depict it as being a lighter blue.
As a child, he did not usually wear a maid dress like his brother but simply the apron, as seen in early strips of Boss Spain's Control of Southern Italy. But in some strips like the ones in Comic Diary 9, he is depicted wearing a dress of an unknown color.
A chibi image by Himaruya, as well as a figurine, also show that Romano has a casual sailor outfit like Italy, but with the blue accents replaced by green.
Personality and Interests
Romano is friendly and kind to women but is strict and less social towards men. In particular, he is openly rude to both Germany and France. Despite appearing to be tougher than his younger brother, he is just as cowardly and ineffectual, if not more. Though he is not very skilled with his hands, it is said that he is a good pickpocket. He also has a habit of speaking in profanity, particularly the words "bastard" and "dammit".
As a child, he often slacked off and slept when it came to chores, though he was rather clumsy when he actually tried to do them. In Comic Diary 10 and blog illustrations by Himaruya, as well as in the first part of Boss Spain's Control Of Southern Italy, it is revealed that the younger Romano had a bed-wetting problem and often had trouble finding the toilet due to the vast size of Spain's mansion. In Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 1, it is also revealed that he had the disease chorea as a child, and that it played a part in his clumsiness. Spain attempted to heal him by making him dance the Tarantella; Romano appeared to recover from the disease, whether due to those efforts or not.
When using grenades, he seemingly has no clue of the correct way to throw them (throwing the pin rather than the actual grenade, a habit shared by his brother). In the strip In Two Minutes, You Can Grasp The Exterior Of The European Economy, it is shown that he is often controlled and led around by his own mafia. It is partially due to the influence of the mafia that his view of the world is more biased and bleak than Italy's.
While Italy eats a variety of foods other than pasta or tomato, Romano refuses to eat any foreign foods, especially if it happens to be either cheese or potatoes. He has the verbal tic of making a "Chigi" (or "Chigigi") sound when he is agitated or when his hair curl is pulled.
Like his younger brother, he loves pasta, siestas, and flirting with girls. His hobbies are farming and cooking.
Relationships
Germany
- Main article: Germany
Unlike his brother, Romano hates Germany and cannot stand to see him and Italy together. He refers to Germany as a "potato bastard" and "macho potato".
Romano had attempted to get revenge on a few occasions, but failed each time:
- Tried to charge at Germany, but slipped on a banana peel and skinned his arm (Italy's Big Brother, Webcomic).
- Pulled the pin off a "Red Devil" grenade, but threw the pin instead of the actual grenade, which he held in his mouth (Italy's Big Brother).
- Threatened to throw tomatoes at Germany and "rip every muscle" off of his body, but wound up frightened by France (Meet My Big Brother!, Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 1).
- Attempted to embarrass Germany by holding up a fake mustache (to make him look like he was sporting one), but wound up making himself look like he wore the mustache instead (Good Luck! Big Brother!, Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 1).
It is suggested that he might hate Germans in general, seeing that he thought one as a danger when he was a kid and got scolded by Spain because he believed the German would attack Spain. A line in Italy's Big Brother also reveals that his stereotype of Germans is that they are all "uncivilized country bumpkins with bad physiology". When Germany noted that Italy happened to have Germanic blood as well, it caused Romano to go into a rage and attempt to charge at him (only for the above banana incident to occur).
Italy Veneziano
- Main article: Italy Veneziano
The two brothers grew up knowing of each other, but they never actually met face to face. Veneziano eventually went off to live with their grandfather for some time, while Romano stayed behind. After Grandpa Rome had died and Italy came back, Romano and the other boys became bullies to him. The two were separated again at the end of the Italian War, when Italy was claimed by the Holy Roman Empire and Austria, while Romano was sent to live with Spain because he was too difficult to deal with.
In the present day, the two brothers do not get along very well; Romano occasionally refuses to acknowledge his brother's existence, though Italy is more than eager to be around his older brother. As a child, Romano often felt jealous and inferior to Italy, due to the younger brother inheriting their grandfather's talent for art, while he could barely draw. He also felt that his brother took after their grandfather in appearance more. Despite this though, he is shown to have at least a subconscious care for him, becoming upset when his brother implies he does not admire him, and sharing a bed with him. Usually when it is hinted that he cares about Italy though, something happens that angers him and he instantly reverts back.
Japan
Main Article: Japan
Though they have to met only briefly in an earlier "strip" (in which they did not actually interact beyond introductions and Japan's pondering of the brothers' curls [1]), Himaruya has stated that they would both get along rather well and that Japan would refer to the other as "Romano-kun" (after initially "-san").
Spain
Main Article: Spain
Because Spain raised him, Romano has assimilated his culture, customs, religion, and his love for tomatoes. While Spain often acts affectionately towards him, Romano tends to treat him rather coldly because he believes that Spain just wants his grandfather's inheritance. Deep down, he does care about Spain, though he rarely shows it openly; he seems to become extremely jealous when Spain is with someone else. When Spain caught a cold, Romano increases imports from Spain (despite having a cold himself) and overcomes his weakness to the mafia (even though he usually bends to their will).
In his youth, Romano would often jump on Spain or headbutt him in the stomach to wake him up. This caused Spain to have a nightmare where an adult Romano jumped on him and "crushed his vital regions".
In The Anime
Romano in the anime.
Romano is first shown briefly in the Chibitalia segment of Episode 01 as a small child, and makes further non-speaking cameos in Episode 02 (where the brothers are bullied by the other nations) and Episode 04 (being stepped on by a victorious Austria). The adult Romano finally appears in Episode 07, which adapts Meet My Big Brother! and Good Luck! Big Brother! from Axis Powers Hetalia volume 1.
His childhood is further detailed in Episodes 60-62, 67, 68, and Episode 75-77 which adapt Boss Spain's Control of Southern Italy. This shows the time from when Spain firsts acquires Romano to where he begins fighting France and Turkey for him.
He is voiced by Daisuke Namikawa, who also voices Italy. Namikawa also initially voiced the child version of Romano in the first episode, but the role was later recast for Hetalia: 'World Series', with Aki Kanada providing the voice (as she did for his brother).
In the anime adaptation (much like the later colored manga artwork), Romano is given lighter skin, rather than being olive-skinned. Though he is depicted as wearing his pants over a short pair of boots in a character sketch for the manga, his anime turnaround instead shows him to have his pants tucked into a pair of tall boots (that look much like his brother's). His first military uniform is also colored khaki, with the shirt being maroon and the tie being navy.
Name
Though the exact inspiration behind his human name remains unknown, Lovino is not a given name in Italian, instead used as a surname; in Italian, it simply translates to "the wine". However, it may be a masculinized form of "Lovina" which comes from the name "Lavinia" which was the name of the legendary mother of the Roman people. Vargas is a common Spanish surname but in this case it is believed to have come from the artist Alberto Vargas. Alternatively, Rovino exists as an Italian word and derives from a tense of the word "rovinare", which means to "collapse" or to "wreck", thus the name literally means "I ruin", the same is for 'Romano' since there is a type of cheese through the same name.
Songs
Anime Ending Themes
- "Hatafutte Parade (Romano)"
- "Hatafutte Parade (Chibiromano)"
- "Mawaru Chikyuu Rondo (Romano)"
- "Mawaru Chikyuu Rondo (Spain and Chibiromano)" (featured)
- "Romano☆Jet"
Character Image Songs
Trivia
- It is a theory among some fans that it is possible that Romano could also represent the Campania Region of Italy. It is currently unknown whether the Italian regions have personifications, though it is likely due to the fact that Germany's states, Japan's prefectures, and others have personifications. With this being the case, it would be plausible that, rather than there being a separate Campania personification, Romano could be the representative of Campania as he represented Naples before Italy was unified.
- Like his brother, Romano's birthday falls on March 17th, which is the date that the "Kingdom Of Italy" was formed. He was also represented with the flag for the Kingdom in the original webcomic art, though the modern Italian one is now used for him. Romano is confirmed to be the elder of the two; despite this, some fans continue to mistake them for twins.
- His full nation name, Italy Romano, is derived from Rome, the capital of Italy. In the actual strips, he is simply Romano, though Romano is also used to differentiate him from his younger brother. Historically however, he would represent either kingdom of Sicily or Naples (though Naples is far more likely given canon evidence), which later became "The Kingdom Of The Two Sicilies" and were part of Southern Italy and wound up under the control of Spain. Romano is an existent Italian male first name, derived from the Latin title "romanus" (which originally meant "a citizen of the Roman Empire", but now simply "native of Rome"). It is also the Italian word for "Roman".
- According to Hidekaz Himaruya, Romano's hair is colored darker than Italy's due to him having Arabic blood. Himaruya described him as having both "darker hair" and a "darker personality". But in a 2006 profile of Italy on Kitayume, Romano briefly appeared in an illustration with black hair, as opposed to the dark brown hair Himaruya would settle on.
- You can tell Veneziano and Romano apart hair-wise because Romano has darker hair and his curl is in the middle of his hair and Veneziano has lighter hair and and his curl is on the side of his hair. Romano's hair is also parted differently from Veneziano's, the former having his hair parted on the left side of the head and the latter from the middle of the head. Although they appear nearly identical, Romano is slightly shorter and his eyes are open far more than Veneziano's.
Notes
- ↑ Opposed to a common fandom belief that Veneziano is the "main" representative of Italy, Romano is as equally a representation of "Italy" as he is. They represent their respective halves, Romano is not "lesser" than Veneziano is.
- ↑ Though what Romano previously represented has not been as directly stated as it has been with Veneziano, both Himaruya and Romano himself have made numerous references to Naples in his characterization and it is fairly obvious this was Himaruya's intention. For example, Romano says in Back to the Story about Sea Turtles and South Italy (Japanese; English) that Romano roots for SSC Napoli in soccer/football, and in one page of Hetalia-like Column ~World (?) Cuisine~ from Hetalia: Axis Powers Volume 6, Romano is seen reacting to the Japanese dish "Naporitan" (click here for more information). Additionally, in his version of Hetalian☆Jet (and in a few other places), he has used the catchphrase "Neapolitan Tornado!". Historically speaking, him representing Naples also makes sense, as he is Rome's oldest descendent and Naples was one of the first places in the Italian peninsula that were conquered by the Romans.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 In the Chibitalia comic (Japanese; English) it is shown that Veneziano was born at some point before the fall of the western half of the Roman Empire in CE 476, and that Romano is older than him. Therefore, Romano was alive during this period.
- ↑ He has shown some level of attraction to Spain (for example, he more or less accepted Spain's marriage proposal when the other asked), and he has flirted with many, many women.
- ↑ The Anniversary of the Unification of Italy, celebrating the day in 1861 when the Kingdom of Italy was officially proclaimed. Click here for more information.
- ↑ Probably a reference to robots such as Roombas getting caught on things.
- ↑ Though Italy has no official national flower, daisies are sometimes cited because they were allegedly a favorite flower of Queen Margherita, the first queen of the newly united Italy (and Margherita is also the Italian word for Daisy). However, other flowers are more commonly cited as Italy's national flower than daisies. Click here, here, and here for more information.
- ↑ Two popular Southern Italian desserts. Cannoli is a Sicilian pastry consisting of a fried shell of dough and a creamy filling containing ricotta cheese, though there are regional variabilities of the filling throughout Sicily. Pastiera is a Neapolitan tart made with cooked wheat, eggs and ricotta cheese, and flavored with orange flower water. Click here and here for more information.
- ↑ One of the most iconic Italian dishes, and one of the national dishes of Italy. Pasta is usually made from unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and then formed into various shapes. 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.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. December 10, 2008. "ヘタリアと愉快な仲間たち [Hetalia and Funny Friends]" Axis Powers ヘタリア 2 [Hetalia: Axis Powers 2]. Page 16. Gentosha. ISBN: 978-4-3448-1514-8(JPN), 978-1-4278-1887-4(ENG). English.