Belarus

Belarus ベラルーシ
Character Information
Name	Republic Of Belarus (Рэспубліка Беларусь)
Human Name	Natalya "Natasha" Arlovskaya (ナターリヤ (ナターシャ) アルロフスカヤ Natāriya "Natāsha" Arurofusukaya)
Alternate Spellings	(given name) Natalia (surname) Arlofskaya
Age	19
Gender	Female
Birthday	August 25
Hair Color	Platinum Blonde (early art, Beautiful World anime), Blonde (manga), Dark Blonde (Axis Powers and World Series anime)
Eye Color	Blue or Violet (manga), Blue (anime)
Height	160 cm (5' 3")
Debut Appearances
Volume	Hetalia: Axis Powers Volume 1
Strip	Fly, Canada-san, Fly!
Drama CD	Hetalia: Axis Powers Character CD Vol. 7- Russia
Anime	Episode 01 (cameo) Episode 42 (speaking)
Voice Actors
Japanese	Urara Takano
English	Monica Rial

Belarus (ベラルーシ, Berarūshi) is a supporting character in the series Hetalia: Axis Powers. Between 2007 and 2008, Himaruya gave human names to some of the characters and she received the name Natalya Arlovskaya (ナターリヤ・アルロフスカヤ, Natāriya Arurofusukaya). An informal variant was also provided: Natasha (ナターシャ, Natāsha); (Belarusian: Наталля Арлоўская, (Natałlia Arłoŭskaja); Russian: Наталья Арловская (Natal'ya Arlovskaya).

Attributes

A 'chibi' version of Belarus.

Appearance

Belarus has long, straight platinum blonde hair and dark blue eyes. Though it's generally worn straight down, her hair was in a ponytail during the 2011 Christmas event. When she was a child, her hair was short and raggedy at the ends. She's also been noted to have large breasts .She wears a dark purple dress given to her by Russia that reaches her knees, a white hair ribbon(though it is said to have variations in color, notably black,) a white waist apron (though the ribbon holding it to the dress is striped), and black mary jane shoes with black stockings. Russia has stated that Belarus is "a total beauty" and "really pretty", while Lithuania commented that she, "despite being very strong, can be cute sometimes." She is shown to carry around a knife at points. In her cameo appearance in the published manga, her hair was colored light brown, and she wore a black ribbon and black dress with no apron. Her hair also appeared to be drawn shorter.

In a sketch by Hidekaz Himaruya, Belarus is shown to wear a deep green jacket, a long matching skirt, and black boots as part of her military uniform. Her bow is also black in this image.

Personality and Interests

Belarus is an intimidating, harsh young woman who radiates a hostile atmosphere. She has a deep infatuation with her brother Russia, though her feelings are not returned and he feels disturbed by her deep obsession with marrying him and her somewhat stalker-like behavior. Latvia said that she and Russia are so scary that even ghosts wouldn't want to meet them. She's said to have a very strong heart and equally strong will, but they only seem to manifest in negative ways. She's rather vulgar in her speech, and was noted to say things like "penis" and "shit" in a calm way.

Belarus briefly became a sort of adoptive younger sister to America after the fall of the Soviet Union, when she began trying to avoid Russia because nothing good came out of sticking to him. Her appearance as a Hetalia "desktop buddy" also reveals that she loves the occult, finds her traditional clothes cute, is a good fortune teller, and that she is an avid reader of the newspaper Pravda. Latvia also mentions that Belarus has been into rock music as of late. Himaruya has mentioned that Belarus is a good acrobat. She said that the gymnasium is her pride and that her voice is supreme, mentioning that she got to talk a lot in Russia's CD.

Also in her appearance in the Sealand and Latvia desktop buddies it's revealed that she can see ghosts. She expressed confusion at ghosts that are only their head or hand, and said that they must not be confident enough to only exist as their balls. It's possible she spaces out a lot, as she's spent so much time staring at objects (namely her ribbon, "France's thing," "a cat's thing," cardboard, flea remover, or a herring's eyes) that the sun went down or it became night as she did so, or spending three hours staring at the white noise on a TV. She said that Louis Gruenberg should be kinder to her, and that she should have done better back in the Soviet Union. Her outlook on life, or at least, human life, is rather negative as she finds that "humans are a series of misfortunes and hardships" and they're constantly filled with misfortune and make others suffer without realizing it by constantly striving for eternal happiness. She seems to value Lukashenko (her boss) because she knows she will eventually die, so she must value the things she has now before death takes them from her. Somewhat related, she's questioned how much longer she will live, and her reason for existence, saying she only thought such things because she's lonely. According to her diary, she's fantasized about Dmitri Smirnov, made a fansite for both her brother and her boss, occasionally enjoys prank calling Lithuania and "silent calling" (calling, but then not speaking once the phone's been picked up) Poland, stacking blocks into rows of threes and knocking them down repeatedly, and doing other activities. She also took haunted photos as a hobby, however when she did so in America, she was bothered by how conspicuous the American ghosts were. She also seems to have an odd fondness for cardboard and cardboard boxes. According to her, she's packing for something. She knows a lot of "useless trivia" such as the name of Paris Hilton's dog and that rodents can be taught to use tools, however she says not to use that knowledge for crime, before mentioning that "the degu rodent is kind of cute..."

According to her, she's skilled in cooking potatoes and she always eats them due to inflation. She thinks that "as long as we have something to eat, it's fine" and works hard on her agriculture due to her bad economy. She said that Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs labeled her as unsafe and she has travel warnings against her.

Upon being asked by Latvia, she said that the higher ups in Belarus used to speak Polish, somewhat implying that she can, as well.

At five in the morning, she said she would go watch the sun rise. She calls eight AM "torture" and four PM "the devil." At nine, she decided to "watch some state-run TV to be poisoned by propaganda." According to her, ten in the morning is the most thrilling time in Belarus. She seems to get nervous around 11 and 12 for some reason, and calms down (saying "you've forgotten") at one and that "it's alright" and "you have to start moving on" at two.

She said that the shadow on the moon was, according to Netherlands or Denmark (she couldn't recall which,) someone who had been imprisoned there for some crime. She wondered how long he had to stare at the earth powerlessly until he was forgiven and that she wasn't much better off than him.

Relationships

America

Main Article: America

America became a sort of big brother to her after she attempted to separate herself from her brother after the fall of the Soviet Union. However, she tired him out a lot in doing so, and he tried to get rid of her the same as Russia did. She's annoyed by American ghosts (as they're very conspicuous) and going to America's house, though she seems to enjoy the famous haunted mansion, the Winchester mystery house, and went there with Russia despite being irritated at having to visit America.

Latvia

Main Article: Latvia

Belarus and Latvia talked a little bit in the Sealand and Latvia mascots. One of her diary's possible entries included her dropping potatoes on Latvia's house, or having "played around with" him, though it also could have been replaced with several other names. He was a bit surprised when Belarus began to get philosophical, wondering why she was alive and how much longer she would be that way. They also shared mutual marvel at the shape of Belarus' National Library, talked about various stories about the moon, and spoke about the Mary Celeste. During Halloween, as Belarusian children do not go door to door to ask for candy, Belarus told Latvia, as she apparently did every year, that she had no candy at her house for him.

Lithuania

Main Article: Lithuania

Though Lithuania has a crush on her, Belarus despises him and treats him harshly. It's somewhat implied that Belarus' hatred for him comes from Russia favoring him. Belarus' relationship chart on her face chart listed Poland and Lithuania as annoying. Furthermore, she asked why "those cat shit bastards Poland and Lithuania" often bother her (though the word used can also mean "be concerned about" or "care about,") to which Latvia said she was "at that age," the word used meaning "adult age" or "marriageable age." In a discarded strip, Poland said that she'd been doing things such as strangling Lithuania since they were children and, even then, Lithuania thought little to nothing of it, however as it was discarded and a proper one released(though, deleted later) it's likely this has been retconned. In the proper release for that comic, Lithuania finally managed to arrange a date between them, however it only lasted for three minutes. Lithuania was shocked when she suddenly held his hand, however she did so merely to break all of his fingers (and followed him home to continue to do so.) A newer blog post also referred to them as something of strange childhood friends. In the Halloween 2011 event, Belarus does not treat him with her usual cruelty. Lithuania also worried over her, asking her if she "really want"ed to throw the hanger at Denmark, and asking what she was doing in a hysterical manner while she was being rude to Denmark and asked her to stop, however she ignored him.

In the SeaLat mascots, Belarus' diary contained the entry "Played around with Lithuania and his strange sideburns. It was interesting seeing what kind of faces he makes when I do such things to him." though "Lithuania and his strange sideburns" could have been replaced with 'that unkempt person'; 'that guy with a stomachache'; 'that guy with pollakiuria'; 'that glasses-wearing nerd'; or 'Latvia and his virtually bare armpits.' She also spent a large part of her morning observing Lithuania's house. An option for the rest of the evening before bed was that she prank called Lithuania's house as well. On the program's startup, if it's nighttime, she may ask if you'd seen Lithuania with a fish in his mouth anywhere around.

Poland

Main Article: Poland

While their relationship has yet to be shown in the comics, Belarus talks about him a few times in the SeaLat mascots and he was listed in the relationship section of her face chart along with Lithuania, both of which are said to be annoying. She asked why "those cat shit bastards Poland and Lithuania" often bother her (though the word used can also mean "be concerned about" or "care about,") to which Latvia said they were "at that age," the word used meaning "adult age" or "marriageable age." One of her diary entries' options was that she made silent calls to Poland's house in the evening. Latvia also asked if Belarus could speak Polish at one time, however she said it was only the officials who could and that she'd always spoken Belarusian.

Russia

Main Article: Russia

Russia is Belarus' older brother. While Belarus loves her brother to the point of obsession and wishes to marry him, he sees her only as a younger sibling and is frightened by her behavior. She loves him so much that she forgot to speak her own language. However, for a time, she realized that nothing good came of sticking to her brother and tried to avoid him. She is shown to stalk him, as well as stick by his side to intimidate others. It's notable that, despite this, when Belarus is not actively attempting to get him to marry her or being aggressive towards him otherwise, they can get along peacefully and he both values her opinion and thinks she is beautiful. Belarus also showed an attachment to her brother as a child, as well. The Hetalia "desktop buddies" elaborated on Belarus' obsession for Russia further, with her stating her desire to get suggestive photos of her brother. According to Himaruya the dress that she wears is a gift from her brother, and she tries to wear it as often as possible even though it's rather old-fashioned.

According to her appearance in the Sealand and Latvia mascots, she'll only tell her hobbies to her brother. Despite her creepy love for him, many of the things she imagines herself doing with him are fairly normal, such as walking through the woods, singing, "moving along smoothly," proudly smiling at each other, being in awe of nature's splendor, and "having a talk about the greatness of love." However her diary entries occasionally involve her doing things such as stealing all his underwear, smelling and wearing his underwear as a nightcap, looking through pornographic pictures of him, and making a fansite for him as well. She's also expressed the desire to be his underwear, as well as his toothbrush and fantasized about having sex with him.

Ukraine

Main Article: Ukraine

Ukraine is Belarus' older sister. It's been shown that Belarus seems to scare Ukraine sometimes. Belarus is often shown to be angry around Ukraine, possibly because she is jealous that Russia pays more attention to Ukraine than her. Their relationship was stated as Ukraine often worrying about Belarus, while Belarus believes that Ukraine is the reason Russia hates her.

However, there are also implications that Belarus has an attachment to Ukraine. In her appearance in the Sealand and Latvia desktop mascots, a possible entry of her diary she'll read for you involves her spending three hours massaging Ukraine's breasts or stretching her headband. It also contained an entry in which she went through her garbage bags. There was also an intimidating shadow resembling Belarus creeping up behind Ukraine when Italy tried flirting with her.

Appearances

Manga

Belarus debuted in the Fly, Mr. Canada, Fly strip series that focused on Canada and his diplomatic relations. The strip was later included in volume 1 of the published manga. Also included was the Meeting of the World strip, in which Belarus had a cameo intimidating Latvia. Belarus was featured heavily in a series of strips focusing on Russia and his sisters. Belarus was revealed to have known Russia and Ukraine since they were young; even at a young age, Belarus displayed an attachment to her brother. In strips focused on her current status, she is shown to be mentally unstable and focused on marrying Russia, despite his disapproval. Belarus has also appeared in several holiday events. In the Christmas 2010 event, Belarus agrees to have Finland take a picture of her smiling if he sends it to Russia. She dresses in an Alice in Wonderland-themed costume for America's costume party during the Halloween 2011 event, and accompanies Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltics.

Drama CDs

To date, Belarus has been featured in two dramas. One was included in the Russia-centric CD Hetalia: Axis Powers Character CD Vol. 7- Russia. The other is part of the Goodnight with Sheep drama CD collection, which focuses on various nations' attempts to fall asleep. Belarus appears with Russia and Ukraine in the CD Hetalia x Goodnight with Sheep Vol. 5- Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

Anime

Belarus in Episode 42, her formal appearance.

A young Belarus, with Ukraine in the background, in Russia and Friends.

Belarus first appeared in a cameo in Episode 01 at the "Meeting Of The World", where she was seen holding the knife to a crying Latvia's back (as in the manga). She makes another brief cameo in a thought bubble in Episode 37, as Lithuania mentions that he planned to go out on a date with her. She finally makes her speaking debut in Episode 42, where she attempts and succeeds in breaking down her brother's door, in an attempt to get him to agree to marry her.

Her anime design originally had a color scheme similar to the one that she had in the manga version of the Meeting of the World strip, with her hair being darker and her dress colored black, rather than her hair being light blonde and her dress being navy. The only difference between the designs is that an apron was added and her hair was lengthened to match her later manga design. However, when she reappeared in Episode 42, the colors of her dress and bow were corrected, though her hair still remained dark blonde.

In The Beautiful World, she remains largely absent from the series. However she does appear briefly as a child, making snowballs, in Russia and Friends and appears in chibi form in the series' ending sequence Mawaru Chikyuu Rondo.

Trivia

An early draft of Belarus.

• Her birthdate, August 25th, corresponds with the date of Belarus' establishment of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
• According to notes in 2009 by Hidekaz Himaruya, Belarus was originally designed as a slimmer, shy, and more mild-mannered woman. An early headshot sketch shows her to have a plain headband, while her hair is colored light brown. Additional notes in the special edition of Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 3 revealed that she was supposed to be the type who can get her point across well, and mutters quietly when she really got angry, and that Himaruya was unsure how she became the character she was now.
• Belarus' name appeared in the closing credits of Noto-sama 6 but isn't present in the game. She did appear in some unfinished concept art for the patch but it remains to been seen as to what kind of role she plays due to the patch being postponed.