England

England イギリス
Character Information
Name	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland England
Human Name	Arthur Kirkland (ˈɑrθər kɪrklænd) (アーサー・カークランド, Āsā Kākurando)
Alternate Spellings	Arther, Arthor
Age	23
Gender	Male
Hair Color	Blond
Eye Color	Green
Height	175 cm (5' 9")
Debut Appearances
Volume	Hetalia: Axis Powers Volume 1
Strip	Chapter 2: Allied Forces
Game	Gakuen Hetalia
Drama CD	Hetalia Drama CD: Prologue
Anime	Episode 01
Musical	~Singin' in the World~
Voice Actors
Japanese	Noriaki Sugiyama Sho Sudo (Young UK, drama CD "Prologue") Yuuya Kakitsubata (Flower of Iris)
English	Scott Freeman (S1-5, Film) Taliesin Jaffe (S6) Steven Kelly (S7) Todd Haberkorn (Colonial-Era Britain)
Tagalog	Jojo Galvez

England (イギリス, Igirisu) is a main character in the anime and manga series Hetalia: Axis Powers. He represents both the United Kingdom and England, and is part of the Allied Forces. The English dub refers to him as Britain, a shortened term synonymous with United Kingdom. Between 2007 and 2008, Himaruya gave out human names to some of the characters and he received the name Arthur Kirkland (アーサー・カークランド, Āsā Kākurando).

Attributes

A 'chibi' version of England.

Appearance

England has messy, short blond hair and lime-green eyes. According to France, he's rather slender. In World War II, he dresses in a green dress military uniform, which consists of a green jacket, a brown Sam Browne belt (the over-the-right-shoulder-and-waist-belt), green pants tucked into his boots, off-white shirt (sort of off-yellow in the manga and webcomic in the colored drawings), a tie that's a shade of green that's slightly darker than the rest of his uniform, and brown boots that almost come up to his knees. Himaruya has stated that he dresses smart casual most of the time, and as a punk when he's out for fun. His eyebrows are very prominent and bushy, despite that he apparently trims them. Himaruya mentions that his eyebrows were cursed into bushiness. They are a trait that is shared by his younger brother Sealand, as well as Australia, Hong Kong, and Wy. He also happens to be the same height as France.

In the original manga, his hair seemed to be golden blond, but in the first four seasons of the anime, it is bright yellow. The first four seasons of the anime also exaggerated the size of his eyebrows.

Personality and Interests

England is a fanciful, blunt, obstinate former pirate who used to torment Spain. In modern times he claims to be a gentleman; however, he is cynical, sharp-tongued, prone to rough speech, and yearns for the golden years. He often uses British vocabulary, such as 'bloody' and 'git'. He is noted for being horrible at cooking which has caused America, his former charge, to have "bad" taste in food. England is also, apparently, the "king of losing things", and France has described him as "somehow extremely useless when it comes to matters not pertaining to himself or America". He can be described as "spacey" because of his strong belief in magic, spirits, fairies, and other fantasy creatures. He has the ability to perform magic, such as spells and curses, and can also summon demons and other magical creatures. He is able to communicate with supernatural beings and is not limited to creatures from his homeland, being able to interact with youkai and spirits from Japanese folklore. He also happens to have fantasy friends, such as a flying bunny, unicorns, fairies, gnomes, and Captain Hook, but oddly enough he did not believe in Santa Claus until Finland came and brought them presents. Despite this, England often ridicules America's belief in aliens and Tony. According to the author's notes, England's interests include embroidery, craftsmanship, literature, rock music, and giving scathing criticisms to America's movies. He appears to be sharp-witted and surprisingly creative, although he seems to have rather bad luck. According to the author, he is rarely afraid of anything, and is rather interested in ghost stories, especially if he can use them to startle America. He also seems to be very stubborn and strong-willed and does not easily succumb to stress or pressure. He is shown to be startlingly mature at times and is very friendly with young or cute people and magical creatures. He also has a quite strong sense of responsibility and has been seen scolding France and America when they don't take things seriously. In some recent notes, the author has stated that England has a very rich and unlimited personality and that he can't decide whether England is a serious person or not.

Because of his status as an island nation, England is pretty distant and prefers to work alone. Perhaps because of this, he does not know how to express himself, leading to others often misunderstanding him. He is also depicted as being self-deprecating or tsundere. For example, despite his generally harsh behavior, he is definitely stated to have a softer side and seems to genuinely care for other nations. This is illustrated by the fact that he likes giving them advice, yet specifically mentions that he "does not do it because he's worried about them". Despite all this, he highly values his country's pride, and sometimes comes over as very arrogant. Despite his cynical, realistic view of the world, he is said to be a "quite a romanticist before he goes to sleep." When drunk, he suddenly becomes very nostalgic, and the next morning, he'll pretend that nothing has happened. Also, every year when the Fourth of July comes around, his condition collapses.

In a blog post, England is depicted as not being able to swim to illustrate how British characters can't swim in movies.

Relationships

America

Main Article: America

America was discovered as a small child by Finland and Sweden. Finland told England and France about his existence, and they proceeded to fight over who would be the child's older brother, though America chose England after the latter began to cry because he could not offer anything that compared to France's cooking. England cared for America as his "little brother" and visited America's home whenever he found the time, though he always needed to return to Europe after his visits. Only America was capable of liking or tolerating England's terrible cooking, resulting in England being delighted and America adopting the same "tastelessness." He also provided America with toys and clothes and was shown to be very affectionate to him, even letting America sleep in his bed when the latter couldn't sleep after reading horror stories. One day, when England came for a visit, he was surprised to find out that America had grown from a child into a teen and had become increasingly independent, no longer needing to rely on England.

Soon after, the Revolutionary War broke out and America fought England for his freedom and right to be his own nation. Near the end of the war, England, unable to shoot America when he had the opportunity, surrendered and allowed him to be independent. While England cried in front of him, America stated: "You used to be so...great."

This memory always makes England upset; when drunk, he is known for cursing America for leaving him (England once stated that 'someone left him heartbroken' for centuries, and it is assumed he refers to America), especially when the Fourth of July, or America's "birthday", arrives. The Revolutionary War caused a rift between the two and they constantly bicker and have disagreements. However, they are hinted as to truly care for each other.

Canada

Main Article: Canada

England gained Canada as his territory after a battle with France and for years afterwards, Canada would be very loyal to him. Canada's devotion was so great, he refused to go against him during the American Revolution, and accompanied him without regrets during the War of 1812. When England fell gravely ill after losing in the American Revolution, Canada took care of him and he seemed extremely grateful for his presence and support.

France

Main Article: France

Despite the fact that both are members of the Allied forces, England and France have a deep-rooted historical rivalry. While they often have petty disagreements, they appear to respect each other and are quick to team up if a third party enters their argument. France once tried to marry England to save his country, even though neither of them really wanted it. In strips focusing on England's childhood, he is often picked on by a pre-teen France. On one occasion, he scoffs at England for not growing out his hair, but when England does let his hair grow, it turns into a mess; France teases him, saying he'll cut it into a "cool" style, cutting it the same way France keeps his hair. England refuses, saying that he does not want to be mistaken for him. Then, France cuts it back to its original style, saying that the only style that would suit him would be a boring one. In Crossing Through the Year 1000, the two younger countries are fooled into believing that the world will end soon, and England agrees to let France pretend to have conquered him since it is only for a little while. They later reminisce about their childhood when Japan makes the same mistake.

Holy Roman Empire

Main Article: Holy Roman Empire

In Italy's Beautiful Architecture, when England was younger, he complained about how France was always picking on him and his complicated relationship with his brothers, so Holy Roman Empire built an Italian-style house in his home as a present. But since the climate didn't match the style, England only sobbed back.

Ireland

Mentioned by Himaruya as having thick eyebrows, but ones with a "different" feel to them than the eyebrows that England and his brothers share. It is currently unknown what their relation to England is, or to Northern Ireland.

Japan

Main Article: Japan

When England finally decided to look out for friends, he thought of Japan as a candidate. But Japan's boss wanted an alliance with Russia instead, leaving England very upset. Before England was about to give up and isolate himself once again, Japan came and said they could have an alliance and be lonely together, instead of obeying his boss.

The two are often shown enjoying each other's company.

Liechtenstein

Main Article: Liechtenstein

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.

Norway

Main Article: Norway

During the Christmas 2011 event, England spots one of Norway's magical creatures and the two have a pleasant conversation about them. America appears to be watching them and states, "England has a new weird friend."

Prussia

Main Article: Prussia

At the end of the Seven Years' War, England sent a letter to Prussia to announce their alliance, due to wanting to fight against France.

In Prussia's blog at the April Fool's '09 event on Kitayume, Prussia tried out England's cooking as a request (much to England's delight), but found that even Prussia couldn't stomach it and he passed out for a while, leading the other nations to believe he had died. England then vowed to make Prussia and everyone else acknowledge his cooking skills the "next time".

Romania

Main Article: Romania

In the anime adaption of the Advance! Newspaper Club! strips. Romania was shown in the Magic club along with England, where he revealed the activities of the club after Germany broke the spoon he was instructed by England to bend.

Russia

Main Article: Russia

It appears that whenever England tries summoning demons, he always ends up summoning Russia instead. Russia seems to hold some kind of grudge towards England, so the air between them isn't pleasant, as he's said that England always gets in his way.

Sealand

Main Article: Sealand

Sealand is England's youngest brother, an abandoned naval fort who declared himself a nation at the end of WWII. The two always bicker because Sealand wants to be recognized as a full-fledged nation and often sneaks into conferences the other countries attend (such as the G8, in which Sealand pretended to be Canada). In This Kind of Sealand is OO, England has a nightmare about the earth around Sealand rising up, causing Sealand to become taller than him. Despite being called "Jerk England" and being promised that he will one day bow to him, England, though annoyed, does look out for Sealand.

Seychelles

Main Article: Seychelles

During their first meeting in the Gakuen Hetalia universe, England snaps a dog collar onto Seychelles and claims her as his colony. He uses her as a servant in the game, though they occasionally are able to get along. In one of Seychelles's appearances in the comic, she is shown to be angry at England.

Spain

Main Article: Spain

In the late-1500's, England, jealous of Spain, decided to use his pirates to dethrone Spain. Whenever Spain complained about it, England gave the false excuse that the pirates were giving him trouble as well. However, when Spain came back to protest one day, he saw England giving an award ceremony for the work of the privateers.

Spain was eventually beaten so badly he eventually had to give up his seat of power to England.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

It has been mentioned that England has brothers, one representing Scotland, and the others presumably Wales and Northern Ireland, whom hated him and used to drive him away with stones and arrows when he was a child, and even went as far as to mail him curses. In one of the non-linear strips, it is implied by England that his brothers only shoots him arrows whenever he meets them.

Appearances

England in Episode 11

Anime

England first appeared in Episode 01 where he disagreed with America's plan to stop global warming and later fighting with France before being stopped by Germany.

In the anime, his hair is a vivid yellow, rather than the mousy or reddish blond used in the manga illustrations. His eyebrows are also exaggerated. In The Beautiful World, his hair is changed to the golden blond seen in most manga illustrations.

Musical

Daisuke Hirose as England.

England appeared in the musical Hetalia ~Singin' in the World~ and was portrayed by Daisuke Hirose.

Trivia

• He is referred to as the United Kingdom, or UK for short, in most merchandise and in his character design on the official anime website. In other instances, however, he is referred to as England, most notably in Gakuen Hetalia and the English-language preview for America's Cleaning of the Storage. The Japanese word Igirisu means Britain but is sometimes used to refer to England (normally rendered as Ingurando in katakana or eikoku in kanji) in colloquial speech. A note by Hidekaz Himaruya confirms that he would only be known as "England" to his brothers, while he would be known as "UK" to the others.
• The English dub refers to him as Britain. According to FUNimation, this was a request from the Japanese anime producers.

The Original UK character design as seen in Hetalia: Chapter 1.

• Todd Haberkorn was originally cast as England in the FUNimation dub, while an unidentified actor was cast as Italy. After the actor for Italy dropped out of the dub mid-production, Haberkorn was cast as Italy and Scott Freeman was cast as England. However, Haberkorn's lines were retained for England's slightly younger colonial-era self in the Storage episodes.
• Although he's always called Igirisu in the manga and anime, historically, he would be known as simply England up until the 18th century, when The Kingdom of Great Britain was formed, uniting both England and Scotland (the Act of Union of Wales and England had already taken place 1536-1543). In the early 19th century, Ireland was added, creating United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After Ireland split to declare itself independent in 1919, the Irish War of Independence waged until 1922, when it became the Irish Free State. Six of the 32 counties of Ireland (mostly from the province of Ulster where there was a great English/Scottish population) rejoined the UK while the other 26 counties formed the Republic of Ireland.
• A UK character is actually first seen at the end of Hetalia: Chapter 1, however, his design was not yet completely finalized. He appears as a short-haired man with a UK label on his shirt and with somewhat thinner eyebrows. Notes in the special booklet for the third volume of the published manga reveal that England was originally to have normal eyebrows, as well as the appearance of a middle-aged man who dressed much younger. Himaruya decided to give him thicker eyebrows, as he liked the idea of a character having brows modeled after a Shiba Inu.
• He appears to be modeled after the character Hikone Kalom from Himaruya's other webcomic Barjona Bombers, though he is the exact opposite of Kalom in personality.
• Himaruya once stated that his eyebrows are actually trimmed, although they don't appear that way since they still remain thick in appearance. He has also stated that Ireland has thicker eyebrows, but with a "different feel" to them.
• England mentions in his version of Marukaite Chikyuu that "My tattoo really hurts, but it's a hot six-string!" (six-string meaning electric guitar). This may indicate he has a tattoo.
• England states in the Christmas 2011 event that he hates firecrackers, but an explanation to why is never given.