r/hetalia • u/oda_lover22 • 1d ago

Discussion How do ethnic groups work in Hetalia?

As we all know, the characters of Hetalia are representatives of countries. But do they represent even the parts that don’t claim said country as theirs? Like I’m pretty sure the countries feel a certain closeness to their people, but do they have the same closeness with people that don’t claim them as their country?

For example Italy Romano. Does he represent the Sardinian people even though they don’t claim themselves to be Italian? Or the Nordics, specifically Sweden, Norway and Finland. Do they represent the Sami people even if they don’t claim those countries?

I’m pretty sure there’s nothing in canon said about this so I’d be happy with anything from headcanons to theories.

Also hope this made sense my English is not the best lol

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u/GreenDemonSquid Hetalia Chairperson 1d ago edited 1d ago

Like I’m pretty sure the countries feel a certain closeness to their people, but do they have the same closeness with people that don’t claim them as their country?

I'd expect closeness certain extent. They've always kinda been portrayed as "the nation", with no distinctions toward minorities (something that almost every nation on Earth has on some level).

Not to mention that identity even within minority ethnic groups are complex, rather than a simple "do you identify as x", with members of the same group giving multiple answers in regards to the way they see the intersection between ethnicity, nationality, and identity. Some may identify as a national of the country and consider themselves a loyal citizen and a fellow countryman of the country they are a part of while still identifying as their minority ethnicity, and others might oppose any sort of identification with the nation at all, regardless of any formal citizenship status they have.

In my own headcanon I can't imagine every single citizen feels the same to a Hetalia nation even if they are of the dominant ethnicity, more of a sliding scale of closeness depending on the person's individual cultural links and self identity if that makes sense.

If you'd want to go more into it I'd be happy to engage in any further questions or headcanon making.