Sweden (スウェーデン Suweden) is a supporting character in the series Hetalia. He is the personification of Sweden.
In 2007, Himaruya gave human names to some of the characters and he received the name Berwald Oxenstierna (ベールヴァルド・オキセンスシェルナ Bēruvarudo Okisensusheruna).
Appearance[]
Chibi Sweden from Axis Powers Volume 4
Sweden is a tall man with short, shaggy platinum blond hair and turquoise eyes. He also wears thin, rectangular glasses.
He has a distinctive stare that many other characters perceive as menacing, a facial expression he shares with Holy Roman Empire, Prussia, Germany and Germania (a nod to the fact that they are all tied to Germanic peoples).
He is the tallest of the Nordics and also one of the tallest characters overall (though Netherlands remains the tallest at 185 cm). Even before Hetalia☆Collezione[6] officialized many characters' heights, a strip from Comic Diary Summary Part 7[7] mentioned that there was approximately a 12cm height difference between him and Finland.
In a blog post[8] from 2011, Sweden was described as "considerably muscular".
Personality and Interests[]
Sweden was once a viking and the "Conqueror Of The Baltic Sea", but now stands neutral in military matters; he has calmed down and currently puts his strength into welfare. He is silent and difficult to understand; his taciturnity is due to the fact that he was born in a cold area. Deep down, he is actually quite playful, but it's rarely shown because of his intimidating aura.
His hobbies include making furniture and art. It is said that his canned Surströmming can be used as a deadly weapon. He speaks in a Fukushima dialect,[9] often translated in English as grunts and truncated words.
Despite his silence, he is said to take interest in arguments and debates.
Biography[]
Viking Age[]
Swedish Empire[]
WWII[]
Modern Era[]
Relationships[]
Denmark[]
- Main article: Denmark
Denmark once ruled over Sweden and Finland, but Sweden grew aggravated by his control and his refusal to listen. Sweden finally snapped and ran away from their home. A set of strips on Himaruya's blog suggest that Denmark challenged Sweden a number of times, though they also suggest his defeats.
Although their relationship hasn't been discussed much during the modern period, Denmark does show concern for him during the Christmas 2011 event when he discovers Sweden knocked to the ground by Ladonia. Also, during the event, Denmark thought it was cool that Sweden lived in a furniture store and said he wanted to try living in a house made of Lego. In a comic published in Comic Birz, Denmark states that he and Sweden used to fight frequently but are now "best buds".
Estonia[]
- Main article: Estonia
Sweden and Estonia meet for the first time in the strip, The Violent Sve of Northern Europe Takes a Mighty Swing!. Upon their first encounter, Estonia screams in fright when seeing Sweden's face but later apologizes for being rude after Finland whispered to him that he made Sweden angry (Sweden, however, wasn't angry; he simply couldn't hear him) and introduces himself. Sweden later states that he wants Estonia and Latvia to come with him, but Estonia nervously says that it's not possible while Latvia adds they need Poland's permission first.
Determined, Poland tries to stand his ground against Sweden, but later he ends up getting "stranger anxiety" and he is given partially custody of Estonia and Latvia. In the volume 4 omake comic, Estonia writes that when Sweden looks down at him, he feels as if Sweden might want to kill him.
Finland[]
- Main article: Finland
Sweden, Hanatamago and Finland in Our Failure
The two were once under the control of Denmark but managed to escape. From that point, the two began living with each other; because of this, Sweden considers him to be his "wife", though Finland denies such relation. Finland later fell under the control of Russia for some time; he stated that he felt more "free" there, though he quickly added that it was more fun being together with Sweden. Finland often refers to Sweden as "Su-san" ("Mr. Swe") for short.
Several strips about their life together were made, including one that features them adopting a dog named Hanatamago and one where Finland runs into a small child (which later turns out to be a very young America). After the boy flees in fright and Finland telling him about the boy, Sweden asks him if he wants kids, and he responds that he thought it would be nice if they had a child following them everywhere. Sweden says he'll "do his best" but he doesn't understand what Sweden means.
Although earlier strips show Finland appearing terrified or uneasy towards Sweden, most recent strips show a different picture with Finland appearing less afraid of Sweden, most noticeably during some of the Kitayume events like Christmas 2010 and Halloween 2011. In Finland's Volume 5 profile, it is said he likes and looks up to Sweden.
Sweden's feelings towards Finland have been consistent throughout the series and considers him to be "a good friend".
Ladonia[]
- Main article: Ladonia
Ladonia, who lives on Swedish territory, acts very spoiled towards him, to the point of knocking him down during a tantrum. He also appears to address him as Sve. Sweden, however, has more than once willingly pretended to be attacked by Ladonia by reading from a script that paints Sweden as being mercilessly defeated as Ladonia tackles him, much to Ladonia's joy. In the Christmas 2011 event he appears to have done this to distract Ladonia from fears that he was on Santa's naughty list or that Santa wasn't coming.
Prussia[]
- Main article: Prussia
Sweden is listed as one of the character options for house cleaning in Cleaning Mr. Prussia. Prussia is afraid of him and begins having unpleasant flashbacks about the Great Northern War. It is also mentioned that he doesn't understand and know how to communicate with Sweden, even with his "Northern German sixth sense." Despite this, he decides to go to his house anyway in hopes he will be sold cheap IKEA furniture in gratitude. When he arrives, he immediately faints when he sees his face through a crack in the door. When he awakes inside his home and sees Sweden's face once more, he faints again. This process is said to have repeated another twelve times, and the game is labeled as a "bad end".
Sealand[]
- Main article: Sealand
Sweden and Sealand in What Italy Forgot
In 2007, Sweden bought Sealand after the latter auctioned himself online[Note 9] (Sweden won because he was the only bidder, as shown in It’s Sealand![10]). Since then, Sweden has attempted to be a father figure to the micronation but has been shown to struggle a bit, as Sealand acts like a typical pre-teen and would rather pursue his own interests and goals rather than spend time with Sweden (as in The Creation of Dambolis[11] and What Italy Forgot).
Despite that, Sealand seems to have accepted Sweden as his adoptive dad. Sweden is referred to as his "papa" in The Creation of Dambolis, and Sealand himself refers to him as such in Fly, Mr. Canada, Fly![12]
Appearances[]
Manga[]
To avoid excessively long pages, the following list only contains Sweden's most notable appearances. It also doesn't include content from the Bamboo Thicket blog posts that are not reuploads of pre-existing strips.
- Comic Diary Summary Part 7[7]
- Comic Diary Summary Part 11[13]
- It’s Sealand![10]
- Meeting Of The World[14]
- Running Away With Mr. Sve[4]
- The Creation of Dambolis[11]
- World☆Stars Chapter 94: He Resembles Him… or so He Hopes![5]
- World☆Stars Chapter 108: The Legend of Mr. Sweden[15]
Anime[]
Sweden (right) in Episode 01
His character design was altered for the anime; his hair and eyes both changed to brown in Episode 01 and Episode 14, matching the way he appeared in Meeting of the World.[14] However, in Episode 69, his appearance was changed to fit his original design, as his hair was given a "yellow hue" similar to Finland's and his eyes changed into dark blue ones. Another change occurs from Hetalia: The Beautiful World onwards, where his hair gets a more natural hue and his eyes are now turquoise to match official artwork.
For a complete list of his anime appearances, see this page.
Name[]
It is possible that the surname Oxenstierna came from the Oxenstierna noble family, and that his given name Berwald came from Franz Berwald (a Swedish Romantic composer), whom the Berwald Hall in Stockholm is named after. The Berwald Hall also happens to be near Oxenstiernsgatan (Oxenstierna Street).
Since Berwald does not exist as a given name in Sweden, fans sometimes chose to use more common names like Björn.
Songs[]
Anime Ending Themes[]
Character Image Songs[]
- "Always With You... Nordic Five!" (featured)
- "Mm."
Trivia[]
- So far, Sweden is the only character whose sexuality has been canonically confirmed.
Notes[]
- ↑ The exact source for where Himaruya said this is currently lost. His name was not given in the list with most of the others.
- ↑ In 2007, it was said by Himaruya that Sweden was homosexual but that he only has romantic feelings towards Finland. The post in which this was said has since been lost, however content from it and other old posts was later listed in a post on this wiki in 2009.
- ↑ National Day of Sweden, also known as Swedish Flag Day.
- ↑ A height of 181 cm would be considered average for a man in Sweden.
- ↑ Sweden adopted Sealand after the latter auctionned himself online. Sweden being the only bidder, he ended up winning and getting custody of Sealand. In the strip The Creation of Dambolis, Sweden is then referred to as Sealand's "papa". For more details, see their relationship section.
- ↑ In the sourced strip from the Christmas 2011 Event, Germania shows Rome a vision of his family, which includes Sweden, Austria and Switzerland. It makes sense since Germanic Tribes have lived in most parts of these present-day countries.
- ↑ Although it's unconfirmed whether or not Sweden and Finland are actual housemates in the present day, they appear to have lived together multiple times (such as in the strip Mr. Sve And The Dog, or anime episodes 69 and 70 where Finland mentions that he'll have to live with Sweden). The strip and matching episode The Creation of Dambolis as well as Get Better! also seem to hint at them living together.
- ↑ National flower of Sweden. Click here for more information (source in Swedish).
- ↑ This references real-life events, as Swedish media pirates tried purchasing Sealand to operate their illegal activities away from Swedish jurisdiction. However, this auction never went through.
References[]
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. 2007. Lost blog post, title unknown. Content archived via Ceras SanMarina on November 09, 2009 on their blog on this wiki at User blog:Ceras SanMarina/MoeKan scanlations + a few interesting old bits of trivia.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 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 19. Gentosha. ISBN: 978-4-3448-1514-8(JPN), 978-1-4278-1887-4(ENG). English.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. January 3, 2012. "リクエスト4コマ まとめ１ [2011 Christmas – Requests Page 1]" Japanese. English.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Himaruya, Hidekaz. May 29, 2007. "スーさんと家出 [Running away with Mr. Sve]" Japanese. English.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Himaruya, Hidekaz. August 28, 2024. "94話 [Chapter 94: He Resembles Him… or so He Hopes!]" ヘタリア World☆Stars 3 [Hetalia World☆Stars 3]. Shueisha. English.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. November 4, 2021. ヘタリア☆Collezione [Hetalia☆Collezione]. Page 130. Shueisha. ISBN: 978-4-0888-2870-1(JPN). English.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Himaruya, Hidekaz. June 15, 2007. "日記漫画まとめ その７ [Comic Diary Summary Part 7]" Japanese. English.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. July 30, 2011. "ベラルーシさんとウクライナさんの軍服バージョン [Belarus & Ukraine military uniform versions]" Japanese. English.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. July 30, 2008. "ありえんだろアメリカ [Unbelievable, America]" Japanese. English.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Himaruya, Hidekaz. December 2, 2007. "シーランド君です！ [It’s Sealand!]" Japanese. English.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Himaruya, Hidekaz. January 23, 2008. "ダンボリスの作り方まとめ [The Creation of Dambolis]" Japanese. English.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. January 26, 2008. "飛び越せ！カナダさん [Fly, Mr. Canada, Fly!]" Japanese. English.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. October 5, 2008. "日記漫画まとめ その１１ [Comic Diary Summary Part 11]" Japanese. English.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Himaruya, Hidekaz. March 28, 2008. "Meeting Of the World" Axis Powers ヘタリア 1 [Hetalia: Axis Powers 1]. Page 3. Gentosha. ISBN: 978-4-3448-1275-8(JPN), 978-1-427-818-768(ENG). English.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. September 10, 2015. "108話 [Chapter 108: The Legend of Mr. Sweden]" ヘタリア World☆Stars 4 [Hetalia World☆Stars 4]. Shueisha. English.