Liechtenstein
| Liechtenstein リヒテンシュタイン | |
|---|---|
| |
| Character Information | |
| Name |  Principality Of Liechtenstein (Fürstentum Liechtenstein)
|
| Gender | Female |
| Birthday | July 12[1] |
| Hair Color | Blonde |
| Eye Color | Green |
| Height | 154 cm (5' 0.6")[2] |
| Debut Appearances | |
| Volume | Hetalia: Axis Powers Volume 2 |
| Strip | Liechtenstein’s Journal of Swiss Dopiness |
| Game | Gakuen Hetalia Portable |
| Drama CD | Axis Powers Hetalia: The CD |
| Anime | Episode 23 |
| Voice Actors | |
| Japanese | Rie Kugimiya, Moe Ayukawa (Flower of Iris) |
| English | Cherami Leigh |
Liechtenstein (リヒテンシュタイン Rihitenshutain) is a supporting character in the series Hetalia: Axis Powers.
Contents
Attributes
Appearance
Liechtenstein has blonde hair, in a chin-length bob cut like her brother, and wears a blue ribbon on the right side of her head. As shown in flashbacks, she used to wear her hair long and in braids, but she cut her hair to look more like Switzerland and found that it was more comfortable. She wears a long-sleeved dress, but on one occasion dressed in a uniform that she designed to resemble her brother's. Her dress is often shown to be deep red with lighter stripes, though she has also appeared in a pink version of it in a few doodles and in the Hetalia trading card game.
Before her adoption, she was shown to wear a pink dress and apron, which had become damaged due to the aftermath of WWI and her having fallen into poverty. She cut her hair sometime after World War II, as she was depicted during it with her hair still long and her economy still doing somewhat unwell.
Personality and Interests
Originally having been Austrian nobles, she is described as being rather high-tech, with a humble and mature personality and a level head, though she will clearly state her views. Her speaking pattern is rather formal, and she didn't seem to understand the informal greeting shared between Seychelles and Hong Kong. She was passed along many different nations throughout her life, which became rough and difficult for her after WWI due to a food shortage. However, Liechtenstein was saved from her situation when Switzerland found her and adopted her as his sister.
Due to her resemblance to her brother after her haircut (and having worn a duplicate uniform), Liechtenstein was once mistaken for being a young boy, causing her to become intensely concerned about the size of her chest. Switzerland rectified this problem by gifting her the purchase of a ribbon of her choice.
Although few of her relationships have been shown in canon, her profile in Volume 4 states that she is social and has many friends.[3]
Relationships
Austria
Main Article: Austria
Liechtenstein is said to have originally been Austrian nobles. Historically, Liechtenstein was heavily connected to Austria until after WWI, although this has not really been shown explicitly in canon. In canon, however, the two are very polite to one another.
England
Main Article: England
The two of them were featured together in a strip about soccer. They found out that the melodies of their anthems matched, which led to great confusion. Other than this, they don't interact much, though they seem to be quite friendly with each other.
Germany
Main Article: Germany
While they've not been depicted together outside of one of the Christmas events where they'd not interacted, Liechtenstein was said to have lived at Germany's house for some time, before the collapse of the German Confederation granted her independence.
Hungary and Ukraine
Main Article: Hungary, Ukraine
The three of them seem to be good friends. In Volume 4's "A History of Interesting Clothes", they had a friendly chat about the dressing costumes in their countries. They even refer themselves using nicknames rather than their full names.[4]
Kugelmugel
Main Article: Kugelmugel
Liechtenstein, upon noticing the large sphere that was Kugelmugel's house on the way to Austria's house with Switzerland, she immediately ran to it as she had heard of Kugelmugel and was enthusiastic to meet him as she had heard that he was very cute, though he exceeded her initial expectations. However, she believes him to be a girl and, even when Germany said he was a boy, she was confused and believed him to be mistaken. She seemed very enthusiastic at the idea of meeting him again. After their meeting, Kugelmugel asked his boss to make his home larger, citing that small things are not art(but small living things were). It's possible that he sees Liechtenstein as art, as she is quite small, herself (though bigger than he is.)
Switzerland
Main Article: Switzerland
Switzerland was the one who found Liechtenstein and adopted her as his younger sister, saving her from death and providing her with the assistance she needed. Because she has no army, Switzerland protects her and she does various things in her daily life together with him. The two are very close and he cares for her a lot while she seems to look up to him, though unbeknownst to Liechtenstein, their relationship reminds her brother of his long-ago friendship with Austria, that he'll deny ever happened. Despite being aware of their current relationship's troubles, Liechtenstein is happy when Switzerland will meet with and talk to Austria.
In a strip that took place in WWII, Switzerland entrusted watching the house to her while he guarded from outside. However, she found herself wondering how he survived being independent, despite stronger countries such as Germany, Prussia, Italy, France, and Austria having surrounded him for years. After coming to the conclusion that he had made many strong weapons because he was very skillful, she desired to be of assistance to him and sought them out. However, she found that his planes were all rather outdated and became afraid and worried, concerning Switzerland when he returned as she had paled. However, she confronted him and he reassured her that, due to the topography and the large variety of weapons that he had that were all superior in technology to his planes, there was no problem. However, he was quick to sell his weapons to Germany, much to Liechtenstein's returning concern.
Appearances
Anime
Liechtenstein first debuts in Episode 23, which adapts some of the first part of Liechtenstein's Journal Of Swiss Dopiness. In the episode, she cuts her hair and expresses interest in being more like her brother. But on the way to their shopping trip, a woman mistakes Liechtenstein as a young boy, causing her to become self-conscious about her flat chest. Later Switzerland buys a ribbon for her hair.
Liechtenstein's origin is detailed in Episode 45 when she flashes back to her adoption in a dream.
In the anime adaptation, she wears a light pink version of her dress that has short sleeves. The neck ribbon on her dress was also changed from red to green. Also, her hair ribbon changed from blue to purple.
Trivia
- Her birthday, July 12th, corresponds with the date that Liechtenstein was given full sovereignty after its accession to the Confederation Of The Rhine in 1806.[1]
- Liechenstein's voice actress, Rie Kugimiya, also voices Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. Incidentally, Switzerland's voice actress, Romi Park, voices Edward Elric. Also, both Liechtenstein and Alphonse have similar personalities (calm, kind, gentle, etc).
- In the special edition booklet of Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 3, Himaruya revealed an early draft of Liechtenstein that was a grumpier, more serious type of character like Switzerland. Instead of a ribbon at the side of her head, she was to wear a small headband with the ribbon on it. Her eyebrows were also slightly thicker.[5]
- Though she has no canon human name, she has been referred to as Lili by some fans, from a shortening of her nation name and from the Lily flower, which is sometimes considered to be a national flower of Liechtenstein. It is debatable if she would share her brother's surname. While most fans give her the last name of Zwingli to match her brother, others will point out the fact that 2/3rds of the population of Liechtenstein are Catholic, and that it would be unlikely that she would take the surname of a Protestant reformer.
- In a 2010 blog post, Himaruya gave her potential names as being Erica/Erika, Sisia, Elise, and Eva. Her possible surname is Vogel.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Himaruya, Hidekaz (2008). ヘタリア Axis Powers 2 [Hetalia: Axis Powers 2]. Gentosha. p. 19. ISBN 978-4-3448-1514-8.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz (2021). ヘタリア☆Collezione [Hetalia☆Collezione]. Shueisha. p. 90. ISBN 978-4-0888-2870-1.
- ↑ Hidekaz, Himaruya (2011). Axis Powers ヘタリア 4 [Axis Powers Hetalia 4]. Gentosha. p. 15. ISBN 978-4-344-82233-7.
- ↑ Hidekaz, Himaruya (2011). Axis Powers ヘタリア 4 特装版 [Axis Powers Hetalia 4 Special Edition]. Gentosha. p. 30. ISBN 978-4-344-82234-4.
- ↑ Hidekaz, Himaruya (2010). Axis Powers ヘタリア 3 特装版 [Axis Powers Hetalia 3 Special Edition]. Gentosha. p. 27. ISBN 978-4-344-81939-9.
- ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz (November 26, 2010). "「Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs」でのイギリスいじりは異常" (in Japanese). http://himaruya.blog61.fc2.com/blog-entry-946.html. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
