Italy

This article is about the character representing the northern portion of Italy. For the character representing the southern portion of Italy, see South Italy.

Italy イタリア
Character Information
Name	Italian Republic (Repubblica Italiana), Northern Italy
Human Name	Feliciano Vargas (フェリシアーノ・ヴァルガス, Ferishiāno Varugasu)
Age	20
Gender	Male
Birthday	March 17
Hair Color	Brown (manga) Auburn (anime)
Eye Color	Brown (manga) Amber (anime)
Height	172 cm (5' 7.7") (webcomic) 173 cm (5' 8.1") (Hetalia☆Collezione)
Debut Appearances
Volume	Hetalia: Axis Powers Volume 1
Strip	Hetalia: Chapter 1
Game	Gakuen Hetalia
Drama CD	Hetalia Drama CD: Prologue
Anime	Episode 01
Musical	~Singin' in the World~
Voice Actors
Japanese	Daisuke Namikawa Aki Kanada (child) Shounosuke Hitachi (drama CD)
English	Todd Haberkorn Brina Palencia (child)
Tagalog	Anthony Steven San Juan

Italy (イタリア Itaria) is a main character in the series Hetalia: Axis Powers. He is the representation of the northern part of Italy and is part of the Axis Powers. He is also referred to as Italy Veneziano (イタリア・ヴェネチアーノ Itaria Venechiāno). Between 2007 and 2008, Himaruya gave human names to some of the characters and he received the name Feliciano Vargas (フェリシアーノ・ヴァルガス Ferishiāno Varugasu).

Attributes

A 'chibi' version of Italy. Shown in Hidekaz Himaruya's blog.

Appearance

He has short brown hair and brown eyes, with a curl on the left side of his head, which acts as his erogenous zone when stroked or pulled. He wears a blue WWII military uniform, a black shirt and tie, and black boots. In earlier strips, his hair was shown smoother, and his curl was drawn smaller, a change which was noted in a gag illustration. Italy's eyes were depicted as gray in the earliest artwork of him, but quickly changed to brown. In the Volume 5 Special Booklet, Himaruya notes that he's changed the way Italy's hair falls, and it now appears shorter and more spread out as opposed to longer and falling to the sides of his head.

In his first appearance in both versions of the manga and the first two episodes of the anime, he wore a tan uniform that looked similar to his brother's, aside from being drawn as a jumpsuit in the manga (though it was shown as a two-piece suit in the anime).

As a child, he wore dresses, and was often mistaken for a girl by Holy Roman Empire (and many others). When not in uniform, he can often be seen dressed in a white sailor suit-style top (with blue collar, necktie, and sleeve bands) and blue shorts.

Personality and Interests

Chibitalia.

Italy is a cheerful, energetic man, who although being the kin of Ancient Rome, is an irresponsible crybaby. He loves pasta, pizza, gelato, and cheese. Although he relies on Germany a lot, Italy doesn't really listen to what he says and instead daydreams or wanders off. His hobbies include cooking, designing clothes, siestas, painting, and singing. He was noted as being able to use both hands skillfully, though it may have been a joke as it was cited that he can hold a paintbrush in one hand and a slice of pizza in another.

In the webcomic and the first drama CD, it is noted that he frequently gets stomach pains due to overindulging on gelato. Italy is shown to have a compulsion of stripping off all of his clothes for his daily 3 PM "siestas," and usually forgets to put his pants back on after he wakes back up (causing Germany to have to lend him a pair of his own). His public nudity has become notorious enough that Switzerland will fire upon him if he catches him streaking throughout his homeland.

He also has the verbal tic of making a "Ve" sound (really said by Italians, above all in Emilia-Romagna, whereas you could hear a "Be" in other Italian regions, which is an abbreviation of "bene", "good", and it has the same function as the English interjection "well" at the beginning of a sentence), though in the anime adaptation, he makes other onomatopoeic sounds as well, a more notable one being a chant of "herahera" (a Japanese onomatopoeia which means "acting foolishly" or "frivolous") .

Though he was relatively weak and timid as a child, he was able to take on Turkey single-handedly at one point. It's also possible that he's a skilled fencer, as Himaruya entitled one of his blog entries "Italy's Fencing Strength Is Abnormal." According to Germany, when his hands and legs are bound, he dies.

Italy dislikes wearing helmets as they make him feel shorter.

Relationships

America

Main Article: America

America and Italy have appeared together quite a few times and both are known for not being able to read the atmosphere. In Comic Diary 1, they were shown looking for the "Legendary ability to read the atmosphere" together.

Ancient Rome

Main Article: Ancient Rome

The heir apparent to Rome's fortune, young Italy spent an indeterminate amount of time living and traveling with his grandfather until Rome eventually grew weak and died due to his empire crumbling.

Due to what happened to his grandfather, Italy refused to become a new Roman Empire when Holy Roman Empire offered him the chance to do so. Though he didn't emulate Rome's military success, he did pursue the same instinctive talent for art.

Austria

Main Article: Austria

As a child, after Rome fell, Italy(Chibitalia) lived in Austria's house and spent the majority of his time there, acting as a maid due to becoming part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was raised there with Hungary's help. He believed Italy to be a girl until his voice broke sometime after he'd grown into a preteen, with Austria thinking he "had a feeling this would happen for some reason." It's assumed that, from then on, Austria bought him clothes of the proper gender and no longer made him wear maid's dresses. Because of Italy's behavior and being rather useless, Austria often pushed him around and punished him. Italy often asked if they would have pasta for dinner and the answer was always no. However, Italy was a glutton and went looking for pasta anyway. When Holy Roman Empire snuck him food Austria, believing he'd stolen it, locked him in a dark room as punishment.

During the Spanish-Austrian war, Italy had the opportunity to be reunited with his brother and live with Spain. However, he ran straight to Austria after being untied. Despite that, according to Spain, he often complained about Austria's rule, seemingly because Spain scared him with his leering and dreaming of being with the Italy brothers all the time. He also was against Germany's annexation of Austria along with Hungary. Italy doesn't hold a grudge to Austria for his mistreatment as a child or from any wars they'd had and is generally happy to see him, rushing to him and hugging him and rubbing their cheeks together.

France

Main Article: France

Italy (still a child) grew up with a teenage France. The two got along well until Italy was taken to spend time with Ancient Rome. When he returned, France only wanted to gain control of him. They are still on rather good terms, as Italy still refers to France as his big brother and has visited him a number of times. France is also unwilling to harm Italy despite being enemies.

Germany

Main article: Germany

After being found in a tomato crate, Italy became his prisoner, then ally. With Japan, they formed the Axis Powers. Italy is openly affectionate towards Germany, always trying his best for him and the Axis Trio as a whole; though failing most of the time. It is shown repeatedly that Italy has no problem sleeping in Germany's bed or publicly asking how Germany feels about him. Despite their many differences, Italy and Germany are rather close.

In the incomplete strip Buon San Valentino, it is hinted, though not outright confirmed, that Germany may be Italy's long-lost childhood love, Holy Roman Empire when he appears to have a flashback of Chibitalia.

In more recent modern-day strips, the two still seem to be very close, one example being one strip where Germany praises Italy's land and culture, causing him to giggle and blush, or one which shows that recently Spain's land's sightseeing locations are becoming more popular with Germans than Italy's, causing him to become upset, stating that he thought he would always be Germany's "Number One" and would find a way to fix that.

Holy Roman Empire

Main Article: Holy Roman Empire

As a child, Holy Roman Empire would frequently chase Italy about, demanding that he become a part of the Holy Roman Empire. After Austria gained control of Italy, they resided in Holy Roman Empire's house. Holy Roman Empire was excited but had a hard time interacting with Italy as he had a crush on him (believing him to be a girl). As a result of HRE's quiet and intense gazes, Italy became very afraid of him at times.

Italy later revealed that the reason he refused HRE's offer to join him in becoming a new Roman Empire was because he saw the effects a long life of war had on his grandfather. Heartbroken, HRE leaves his home to go to war after other members of the Holy Roman Empire begin turning against him and Austria. As he leaves, he runs into Italy, and the two say their goodbyes as Italy gives HRE a token of his affection (his underwear in the webcomic version and his broom in the anime). The two share a goodbye kiss and HRE promises that he will return.

HRE's eventual fate has yet to be confirmed in the series, though in a discarded or unfinished comic, France goes to Italy and tells him that Holy Rome is 'no more', hinting that he may have been killed. However, as the strip was never aired, Holy Roman Empire's fate continues to go without address.

Hungary

Main Article: Hungary

When they were both under Austria's rule, she and Italy were very close and she became his older sister figure. She was one of the few characters who knew his true gender at that time, but didn't mind bathing with him despite that. Hungary then embraced him out of her love for cute boys. It's strongly hinted that they still remain close. Each December she dresses up as a monster from the Alps, the Krampus, and scares Italy. She was unable to contain herself and hugged him, telling him how cute he was, "capturing" him in the process, only serving to scare him more. He falls for this trick every year.

Japan

Main article: Japan

Japan is shown to often be unnerved by Italy's "shameless" and unusual behavior, even going as far as to order him to "take responsibility" and marry him after having been hugged and kissed by Italy as a greeting. When Italy once drove Japan to his house, his erratic driving skills inspired Japan to invent safer cars. In infrequent but consistent instances, Italy seems to believe Japan looks much younger than he is, to Japan's mild irritation; Japan laments that when he visits Italy's house, he often hears "Where's his parent?" However, Japan has appeared to have slowly accepted Italy's quirks over time. The two have been shown to have a mutual respect for each others' history and artwork, and seem to be friends.

Poland

Main Article: Poland

Italy and Poland are shown to be good friends in a few of the "Extra Stories" and Comic Diary strips, and have known each other since they were small children. It was Poland who gave Italy the idea to make an ejectable seat in Germany's Kübelwagen, as he had previously designed an airplane with one (which backfired on him).

Prussia

Main Article: Prussia

Prussia is shown to be very fond of Italy and often refers to him as "Ita-chan" in the original Japanese text. According to Himaruya, worrying about Italy is "a tradition from Prussia's time".Upon being asked by a fan, Himaruya said that Prussia grew attached to him some time ago when they fought together. Prussia considers him 'cute' and is attracted to his and his brother's climate and topography and even asks him out on a date in the drama adaptation of his blog event, only for Italy to be oblivious to his question, being fixated on his bird. In the same CD, Germany says that Prussia is very good with Italy. In Osōji Prussia (Cleaning Prussia), if he chooses to go to Italy's house to clean, he states that he has clear ulterior motives to be praised by Italy. Upon arrival, Prussia finds Italy asleep in his bed and begins to stroke Italy's head. As he strokes Italy, he is reminded of the Risorgimento as he did so, and happily daydreams about him and Italy on a gondola in Venice.

Italy has also praised Prussia for his hard work and was eager to join him and India in dancing during America's Halloween party.

In an older series of drawings, Prussia was shown blushing and breathing harshly while approaching a teenaged Italy, before embracing him, to his distress.

South Italy (Romano)

Main article: South Italy

The two brothers grew up knowing each other, but they never actually met face to face. Italy eventually went off to live with their grandfather for some time, while South Italy stayed behind. After Grandpa Rome had died and Italy came back, South Italy 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 South Italy 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; South Italy occasionally refuses to acknowledge his brother's existence, though Italy is more than eager to be around his older brother. As a child, South Italy often felt jealous and inferior to Italy, due to the younger brother inheriting their grandfather's talent for art and cleaning, while he could do neither well. 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, something happens that angers him and he instantly reverts back.

Although South Italy seems tougher than Italy, both are actually cowardly and ineffectual. South Italy refers to Italy as Veneziano, and Italy and others refer to South Italy as Romano, in order to avoid confusion.

Spain

Main Article: Spain

Italy affectionately refers to Spain as his older brother while, in the original Japanese text, Spain refers to Italy as Ita-chan. Spain's greatest desire is for the Italy brothers to live with him, and he's also expressed interest in marrying them, however, in 2005 when he returned to him saying that it was legal for men to marry now, Italy merely congratulated him despite having said it would be okay to get married as a child. When Romano and Veneziano were still young, Spain wished Romano could be as cute as his brother and even wanted Austria to trade with him because North Italy was better behaved and a harder worker. During the War of Austrian Succession, Spain promised Veneziano that they could be together forever when the fight was over, however his thoughts and possibly his expression scared Italy into running back to Austria in tears.

Appearances

Manga

Italy from the Axis Powers arc of the published manga.

Italy is first introduced in the first chapter of the webcomic and the beginning of the published manga. During World War I, Germany crosses the border into northern Italy with just a stick. Expecting a great opponent reminiscent of the Roman Empire, he instead encounters Italy hiding in a tomato crate in the woods. Italy immediately surrenders and begs Germany not to kill him, though Germany is still in shock and initially believes Italy is putting on an act. Italy shows no resistance to capture, and leaves when Germany leaves the cell door open only to return after briefly flirting with some girls. After writing a song about Germany, he is ultimately kicked out. After the war is over, Italy appears at Germany's house begging for a job as he has fallen into poverty just as Germany has. Grateful, Italy later declares himself an ally of Germany as the stage for World War II begins to form.

Italy proves to be a "useless" ally, with his battle tools being various forms of Pasta and white flags. He is frequently retreating, captured, and overtaken whenever he tries to mount a strategy on his own. (Such as getting attacked by Egypt with a stick, provoking a defeated France into attacking him, and immediately surrendering to England while Germany is away on another front). When Germany meets with Japan to formalize their alliance, Italy flirts with the local girls then falls asleep underneath a heated kotatsu table. When the three begin to train, Italy shows regular incompetence despite Germany's threats and confuses Japan in the process. Italy also has a habit of abandoning training, in one case to play with a stray cat, though he is always dragged back by Germany.

When Germany begins to put in place an alliance with Russia, Italy begins to worry that his friends will abandon him in favor of a stronger ally. He asks France for advice on how to keep his friends, and he tells Italy simply to talk to them (and write down what he wants to say in case he gets nervous). Germany finds the letter and reassures Italy, and the two form the Pact of Steel. On the day Russia arrives to meet with Germany, Italy plans to lurk outside to see what kind of guy Russia is, though he ends up stripping and taking a siesta when the clock strikes 3. When Italy wakes up, he immediately rushes inside and forgets to put in his pants, flashing Russia and the other visiting nations. Germany yells at him for his behavior and gives him his pants to wear, though Russia seems to take delight in the chaos. Italy later shows up as Germany, Austria and Russia prepare to mobilize and invade Poland. He gives Germany food to eat later and tells them both to be careful and not to get hurt, in addition to not doing any of the bad behaviors he himself had been doing previously.

Chibitalia from Chibitalia in the 15th Century.

In a supplemental storyline showcasing Italy's childhood (known as "Chibitalia"), he is a frequent victim of bullying - especially at the hands of France and the Holy Roman Empire. While he was initially raised by his grandfather Rome, he is later conquered by Austria and forced to work as a servant in the house of the Holy Roman Empire. Italy is regularly scolded for creating problems by Austria, though he soon becomes the object of affection for Holy Rome, who believes Chibitalia to be a girl. However, Chibitalia is alternatively afraid and reverent around Holy Rome, and their interactions are often awkward or chaotic much to the amusement of fellow servant Hungary. The Holy Roman Empire begins to become unstable, and Holy Rome is forced to leave for war, though he asks Italy to join him and create the most powerful country in the world. Italy refuses, citing his grandfather's painful battle scars, as he does not want to see Holy Rome attacked in such a way. Chibitalia later encounters Holy Rome as he prepares to leave, and he becomes upset and gives Holy Rome his underwear (often at the center of their mishaps) to remember him by. Moved, they share a kiss and Holy Rome leaves for war, promising to return when the war is over.

The title character, Italy has appeared in all five chapters of the main webcomic storyline and all six volumes of the published manga.

Anime

Italy in Episode 38.

Italy appears in Episode 01, towards the end of the meeting. He offers to speak, but when he is called upon, he lets out a cry of "PASTA~!" instead of presenting data. He is formally introduced in Episode 02 after Germany finds him hiding in the tomato crate, and is taken captive, but eventually kicked out and sent back home after he annoys the other man with a stereotype-filled song about Germans. Italy later returns to work for Germany after becoming poor and eventually becomes his ally in the lead-up to WWII. In an adaption loosely based off the strip Shouting S.O.S. From the Center of the World, Italy, Germany, and Japan are stranded on a tropical island though Italy doesn't seem too concerned about it. After playing in the water and on the beach, it is revealed that Italy has been buying food from a nearby Chinatown, and they decide to ask China for a ride home the next time he goes to get supplies. The other Allies are also on the island alongside China, and the two parties frequently battle with Italy surrendering immediately and begging for them not to hurt him. His cries are answered twice by the ghost of his grandfather who scares the attackers off, and once by Finland as Santa Claus delivering gifts.

In the film Hetalia: Axis Powers: Paint it, White, Italy and his citizens flee their country when the Pict arrive and drain away all the color and turn all who remain into more Pict. After putting their differences aside, the eight nations dress up in Pict costumes that Italy made to play with and enter the ship. Much to Germany's annoyance, Italy brings a stray cat inside with him to play with, which ends up attacking them while they are moving through the vents, leading to their capture by the Pict. As the others try to sway the Pict into enjoying aspects of earth's culture, Italy has to be frequently restrained from interfering and partaking in the activities himself. When the Pict are unimpressed, Italy encourages them to enjoy themselves in a very enthusiastic manner and while the Pict are bewildered by his behavior the nations take the opportunity to bail from the ship.

Italy in the episode Each Battlefield.

Italy arrives on the beach of the deserted island and immediately begins to make pasta. The other nations arrive and sit down to eat, but the peace is broken when the Pict arrive. Distressed, Italy's cat runs off into the woods and he chases after it, returning to find that the others have been turned into Pict. As Italy cries out for help, Rome's ghost arrives and distracts the Pict with a song and leaves Italy a sharpie marker. Finally understanding why the Pict were so confused by his mannerisms, Italy decides to brighten them up and uses the sharpie to draw faces on all the Pict. Pleased, the princess of the Pict promises to fix everything and apologizes for the mess they've caused, and Italy gives her the sharpie marker as a parting gift. In a cutaway inter-spliced into the movie's main plot, Chibitalia and Holy Rome are shown in the woods holding hands and staring at one another with affection.

The title character, Italy has appeared in all six seasons of the anime as well as the film. In the anime adaptation, Italy's hair is changed to auburn, while his tie is colored blue. His eyes were also changed to amber, a more "golden" shade than what they appear as in manga illustrations.

Musical

Ryōki Nagae as Italy.

Italy appeared in the musical Hetalia ~Singin' in the World~ and was portrayed by Ryōki Nagae. A Chibitalia puppet also appears during one segment, controlled by Daiki Mihara.

Trivia

• The birthdate given in his profile, March 17th, corresponds with the date of the formation of the "Kingdom Of Italy" (Regno d'Italia) in 1861. As Italy is shown in the strips to have existed for centuries before, it is likely that the brothers use the date of the Italian Unification to celebrate their birthdays with, as a unified Italy. The formation date of the Italian Republic (Repubblica Italiana) is actually June 2nd. South Italy is confirmed to be the elder of the two; despite this, some fans continue to mistake them for twins due to having similar hairstyles.
• Though Italy was represented with the flag for the Kingdom Of Italy in the original webcomic, the published manga and later media use the modern Italian flag.
• His full nation name, Italy Veneziano (or just "Veneziano") is derived from Venezia, the Italian name for Venice, a city in Northern Italy. In the strips, he is simply referred to by the others as Italy, with his brother and his grandfather only referring to him as Veneziano. The name North Italy is also used to differentiate him from his brother. In Italian, the word Veneziano has the meaning of "Venetian", "native of Venice", but, unlike his brother's second forename, it is no existent male first name. Veneziano can also be seen as a sort of pun for the similar-sounding Japanese phrase "Venezia no", which would mean "of Venice".
• Though his name is derived after Venice, he only seems to represent the Republic itself in the strip where he fights the Ottoman troops. In footnotes to strips such as The War of Austrian Succession, it is shown that he has also been used to represent other northern areas of Italy such as Milan and Piedmont-Sardinia, before the unification of Italy.

An early design of Italy.

• In the strip Let's Assist The French Economy!, his right nipple is revealed to represent Corsica and winds up claimed by France. His right pectoral area is also said to represent both Savoy and Nice.
• In Contrary To The Italian Image, it is revealed in a footnote that Italy suffers from the medical condition phimosis (which makes it difficult for the foreskin of the penis to be retracted), due to Italy ranking #2 in frequent cases of it.
• In the webcomic strip Italy's Big Brother, Germany reveals that Italy happens to share Germanic blood with him (presumably due to the German conquests of Italy after the fall of the Roman Empire). This noticeably angers South Italy, who was later said to be of Arabic blood by Himaruya.
• In a note, Himaruya stated that Italy was not entirely weak, but due to him being cowardly and scared, he does not use his strength. However, as a child, he was shown at one point to be strong enough to defeat Ottoman forces that were invading the Adriatic Sea (referencing how Italian naval troops were thought to be stronger than the ones on land). In another illustration, the female version of Italy is shown to display an incredible bout of strength when angered, much to the surprise of her male counterpart.
• In the special booklet included with the third volume of the published manga, it was revealed that Italy's curl was a last-minute addition to the design to make him look cuter. Himaruya calls the curl "important" now.
• In Hetalia: World☆Stars, it was revealed that Italy is taller than his brother South Italy.
• When asked about Italy and Germany's relation at the end of the war, Himaruya said that despite popular belief, North Italy has not changed sides during the WWII, stating that: "At the time, Italy was actually split into two countries. The South switched sides and joined the Allies, while the North continued to stay with the Axis even after they surrendered. Despite knowing they were losing the war, The North fought alongside Germany until they were finally taken over by the Allies and Southern Italy". Meaning that would be Romano the one who switched sides during the war, and not Veneziano. He attributes this misconception to the fact of people being unaware that Italy was actually split into two countries during the war. He also stated that this is one of the reasons to why there are two Italys in the series.