View source for Die for Our Ship/Anime and Manga/Axis Powers Hetalia

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[[File:t care about Spain 4500.jpg|frame|[[Sarcasm Mode|Totally the actions of someone who doesn't care about Spain and would delight in abusing him.]]]]

''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'', despite being a show full of [[Ho Yay]]-fueled [[Moe Anthropomorphism]]s, has a fandom that's largely free of [[Shipping Wars]], probably because almost any pairing can be [[Reality Subtext|justified]], and multishipping and [[Ship Mates]] are very common. But even it isn't ''completely'' free from this trope (...okay, the list below ''is'' rather long, but that's mainly because of [[Loads and Loads of Characters]], and most examples are still limited to [[Vocal Minority]] status). In other words, even the nicest and most civil of fanbases - Hetalia shipping being on the whole wonderfully accommodating - can't eradicate the 'fanatic' in 'fandom.'

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* England gets the worst of this from militant Russia/America fans who [[Ron the Death Eater|twist and warp]] his [[Tsundere]] behavior and possible crush toward America to [[Jerkass]] or even [[Yandere]] levels to make him into a pathetic [[Crazy Jealous Guy|Crazy Jealous]] [[Hopeless Suitor]] who can't accept that America doesn't want him or even a creepy pedophile who's been perving on America ever since he was a kid. The worst cases have England as a [[Domestic Abuser]] toward America who seems to have forgotten all about his own [[Super Strength]] or a [[Manipulative Bastard]] who uses poor America's undying love for him to emotionally abuse him. (Russia, if he appears, is [[Draco in Leather Pants|of course entirely sane and supportive to America]].) Never mind that in canon, England has almost [[Woobie]] moments with America, or that America is actually a lot harder on him than the other way around. Or that Russia is clearly Satan.
** Pedophile!England perving on young America is not a rare phenomenon in stories that feature America with someone else and feel the need to justify the pairing by showing how horrible England/America would be... even though canon has zero evidence that would back this up; in fact, America seems to think back on their days together with nostalgia. Plus, if England has more-than-brotherly feelings for America, they seem to have been kickstarted when America was a teenager at the very least.
* As for America, there are some fics that play up his stupidity and tactlessness to emphasize just how unsuitable a partner he would be for England. It ''is'' canon that America can be a jerk to England at times and is the main source of his heartbreak, but some rabid England/someone-other-than-America shippers would have you believe that America enjoys making England suffer and couldn't possibly ''ever'' be nice or flirtatious toward him without having some secret agenda to crush his heart again (while conveniently overlooking that America is ''canonly'' friends with England). This mentality crops up the most often in England/Canada fics, where it goes hand-in-hand with some Canada fans' bad habit of [[Ron the Death Eater|putting down]] America to make Canada look better too.
** America also comes off badly in some Japan/someone-other-than-him fanworks where he's depicted as being in love with Japan instead of them just being best friends, with his somewhat tactless but genuinely cheerful and friendly attitude toward Japan in canon somehow being translated into him becoming [[Crazy Jealous Guy|unnervingly possessive]] [[Stalker with a Crush|and stalkerish]] toward, if not [[Domestic Abuser|outright abusing]], Japan. About the only justification ever given for this is that America's dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan at the end of WWII ''must'' mean that he's actually a [[Yandere]] deep down, which completely ignores not only everything we've seen of them together in canon but everything ''else'' about their (currently good) real-life relations, so it can't even be passed off as "historical canon".
* There's also the portrayal of [[The White Prince|Austria]] in some [[Hot-Blooded|Prussia]]/[[Ninja Maid|Hungary]] fanworks. While they rarely go so far as to make Austria [[Domestic Abuse|beat the hell out of Hungary]] (who's still [[Hot Amazon|physically]] [[Ninja Maid|stronger]] [[Non-Action Guy|than he is]], anyway), they still sometimes portray him as a [[Bespectacled Bastard Boyfriend]] [[The Unfair Sex|cold, snobbish and neglectful of Hungary to the point of emotional abuse]] to not only discredit their canon marriage as a loveless [[Arranged Marriage]] (even though they show romantic affection for each other even ''after'' their "divorce") but to have Hungary [[Good Adultery, Bad Adultery|seek out comfort]] in the [[Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor|"not as well-off but more fun and passionate"]] [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|Prussia]]'s arms [[Your Cheating Heart|behind Austria's back]]. More than once it's coupled with [[Chickification]], since Hungary goes from a [[Tomboy]] [[Girliness Upgrade|who became more girly without losing]] [[Plucky Girl|her backbone]] [[Badass Adorable|and fighting skills]] to a weepy and wangsty mess who whines and cries about her "loveless married life" with abusive-asshole!Austria and pines endlessly for badass-romantic-hero!Prussia rescuing her from such torment - without even ''attempting'' to do anything for her own sake.
** For Poland/Hungary fics, you can replace "Gilbert" with "Feliks" and it's the same. Apparently the Polish and Hungarian traditional friendship, their parts in the 1848 revolutions and the Austro-Hungarian Compromise that came in later equal to "Austria is a cold and cruel [[Complete Monster]] who rapes Hungary every night and keeps her locked up while pretending they're [[Happily Married]] in public, so she whines and cries herself to sleep and needs to be rescued from her torture by a super manly [[Jerk Stu]] who only resembles Poland in name!"
* [[Badass Longcoat|Romania]] is starting to get this treatment from [[Vocal Minority|some rabid]] Prussia/Hungary fans, especially because many fans have liked him since his appearance and started shipping him with Hungary, even though [[Foe Yay|Romania and Hungary are said to hate each other with a burning passion]]—which is easy to see as potential [[Interplay of Sex and Violence]]. He's also interpreted pretty badass due to the fact that he's ''apparently'' a mischievous yangire with a vampire vibe AND also uses Black Magic, which helped increase his popularity even more. [http://www.zerochan.net/683411 He also looks like a combination between Hungary and Prussia]{{Dead link}}.
**  While some Prussia/Hungary fans see Romania as a "serious obstacle" like they do to Austria, others treat the "rivalry" more as a [[Running Gag]] and make Prussia a prospect [[Butt Monkey]] whom Hungary is still [[Tsundere]] for, rather than a super Stu-fied romance hero who must "recover" his love interest from Romania's "dirty" paws and vampire teeth. And two/three others seem to favor an [[OT3]] in which Hungary gets it on with ''both'' Prussia and Romania.
* ''Hungary'' herself, while normally embraced by fans for being a [[Hot Amazon]] and [[Yaoi Fangirl]], isn't free of this. Some Germany/Austria fics portray her as a whiny, self-centered [[Clingy Jealous Girl]] or a [[Real Women Never Wear Dresses|brainless, weak, "girly"]] [[Het Is Ew|female]] who breaks the Austro-Hungarian compromise ''solely'' because Austria pays less attention to her than she wants to. Seems somebody hasn't read the Anschluss, New Year and/or Valentine strips, huh?
** Don't forget the "feminists" who also apply the "girls are Relationship Sues" trap to her. Double when they also whine about how [[Real Women Never Wear Dresses|Hungary is a horrible role model for girls]] and a slutty [[Shallow Love Interest]] because of her [[Girliness Upgrade]] and her love of Austria.
** This troper once found a Belgium/Austria fic. Okay, that's good. But then she found out that it had ''heavy'' Hungary bashing. Eeeep, hitting the "back" button.
* The [[Ship-to-Ship Combat]] between Russia/Lithuania and Poland/Lithuania shippers has fallen more than once into this. The most rabid Poland/Lithuania shippers portray Russia as a [[Complete Monster]] who beats and rapes Lithuania [[For the Evulz]] (Russia ''is'' a canon [[Psychopathic Manchild]] and [[Yandere]], but many Poland/Lithuania fans ignore [[Despair Event Horizon|his sympathetic]] [[Jerkass Woobie|backstory]] and [[Never Live It Down|iron out all nuances in his character]] to make him into [[Card-Carrying Villain|the stock evil antagonist]], AND they also tend to ignore [[Lighter and Fluffier|how Himaruya now plays up more]] his [[Adult Child]] side than the [[Psychopathic Manchild]] one in the last strips), and the most vocal Russia/Lithuania fans take Poland's initial selfishness and [[Dumb Blonde]] quirks (played for laughs in-series) to [[Character Exaggeration]] extremes, denying Poland's own [[Character Development]] which was remarked on in the third manga volume.
** Russia in general has been used as a stock antagonist in many other shipping fics, not so much because the fanwriters hate him but more because he's the closest thing the series has to an "evil" character and they find it all too easy to [[Ron the Death Eater|crank up]] his "become one with me, da...?" line to a "you WILL become one with me, whether or not you like it, and only your true love can save you from my clutches, DA!" ultimatum. Suffice it to say that while he's no saint in canon, he's still far from the kidnapping, torturing, raping <s>plot device</s> villain these kind of fics make him into.
* Belarus, as the [[Yandere]] [[Stalker with a Crush|stalker]] of Russia, who not only is the [[Launcher of a Thousand Ships|fandom bicycle]] but also her ''[[Brother-Sister Incest|brother]]'', doesn't get ''nearly'' as much hate as you'd expect and many fans actually enjoy her [[Played for Laughs]] role as the stalker of the stalker. However, more serious fics that pair Russia up with someone other than Belarus often turn her into a [[Complete Monster]] without a drop of sympathy or depth. True, Belarus canonically resents anyone Russia shows interest in and she doesn't get a [[Freudian Excuse]] or [[Hidden Depths]] regarding her behavior like her brother does, but the worst thing she did in canon was breaking Lithuania's fingers - and that was solely done for humor on a date that Lithuania himself asked Belarus for. Having her go out of her way to tie up and ''rape'' Lithuania just to prove the point of him being "unworthy" of Russia's love is probably taking it too far.
* While it hasn't translated into outright [[Ron the Death Eater]] in fanworks yet (if only because most Turkey/Greece works simply leave Japan out entirely), the [[Vocal Minority]] of Turkey/Greece shippers can become very wanky toward Japan and the Greece/Japan ship when provoked, especially after the "provocation" of the anime faithfully adapting some of Japan's strips with Greece and Turkey that had been on the Web for ''years'' beforehand, with them deriding Japan as a [[Flat Character]] who only got the attention of Greece and Turkey because of him being a "gigantic [[Canon Sue]] who has half of the cast as his harem" and claiming that Greece [[Shallow Love Interest|loses all personality and historical depth]] when paired with him over his "far more interesting and historically important" rival Turkey.
** To elaborate on that final point, some fans think that being with Japan makes Greece a "weak [[Shallow Love Interest]]" because he acts calm, gentle and laidback with him whereas being with Turkey makes him a "strong, interesting character" because he acts short-tempered, violent and angry with him. Apparently, Greece being [[The Philosopher]] with Japan gives him no additional depth because it's "[[What Measure Is a Non-Badass?|not physical]]" or something like that. Can lead to [[Unfortunate Implications]] if you think too hard about the "he's a [[Shallow Love Interest]] if he [[Real Men Hate Affection|acts sweet to his boyfriend instead of fighting with him all the time]]!" or "he can be interesting ''only'' if he's paired up with the one that [[A Real Man Is a Killer|constantly makes him angry and violent]]!" implications.
* Turkey has a case similar to France's (listed just below); he isn't demonized nearly as often by Greece/Japan shippers as you might expect as most of them view him as [[Hopeless Suitor|posing no real threat to their ship]], but if they feel the need to have someone stir up some external drama for Greece and Japan, he's the one they're most likely to use. It doesn't help that [[Ron the Death Eater|exaggeration]] of Turkey's [[Boisterous Bruiser]] traits to [[Jerkass]], [[Manipulative Bastard]] or [[Smug Snake]] levels is a not-uncommon sight even in non-shipping and Turkey-pairing fanworks, which can cause some fans to forget that Turkey is canonly friends with Japan and leans more toward being a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] than an irredeemable [[Jerkass]].
* As for Greece, he's mostly free of this trope. Mostly. There are still some fans who are ''not'' pleased about him being paired up with Japan so often (and are not feeling charitable enough to simply make him [[Just Friends]] with Japan) and hence try to make him out to be a [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|Jerk In Nice Guy's Clothing]] who lies about what "really" happened on that night with Japan or a pathetic [[Crazy Jealous Guy]] who exists solely to bitch about how Japan's not with him and thus come off as worse than the nation the author wants Japan to be with instead. A few of these fans even claim that Greece hangs out with Japan only because he wants to get into Japan's pants, even though a read-through of all his strips with Japan will show that this is almost certainly ''not'' the case. It's pretty mild compared to many other characters' cases on this list, but it still really stands out in Greece's case, considering his sleepy [[Kindhearted Cat Lover]] personality in canon.
* France is mostly free of this in America/England fics, in spite of having a [[Anything That Moves|person]][[Lovable Sex Maniac|ality]] that could very easily fall victim to [[Character Exaggeration]] of the [[Rape Tropes|worst possible kind]], with almost all America/England fans simply [[Ship Mates|pairing him up with someone else]] (usually with [[Meganekko|Canada]]), making him a [[Shipper on Deck]] for America and England, or going the [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]] route if he's depicted as [[Starboarding|being in love with England]]. However, he's still the character most likely to be used as an obstacle against their relationship; as such, there are some who make either character a [[Knight in Shining Armor]] who foils France's [[Attempted Rape]] of the [[James Bondage]].
** A more subtle yet venomous and insidious way to make France look bad in USUK fics (principally [[Doujinshi]]) is to take the French Crown's historical role in [[The American Revolution]] and flanderize it by characterising France as a borderline [[Evil Mentor]] to America who sleeps around in the war camps and seems to have fun by pitting a young and easy to manipulate America against his eternal enemy England under the excuse of "giving America the chance to develop into his own country", but actually just wants to make England suffer and get revenge against him. Way to twist [[historical canon]] to fit your ship preferences, people.
*** To be fair, one of the main reasons that the French Crown got involved with the American Revolution '''was''' to get revenge on England for the Seven Years War. In canon, France is pretty self-centered and likes to cash in on other people's victories, so him being a "borderline [[Evil Mentor]]" isn't that out of character. It can definitely be pushed too far(and often is) but the premise is relatively reasonable.
* Believe it or not, ''[[The Ditz|North Italy]]'' gets bashed by rabid fans who'd rather pair up Germany with others, especially Austria or Germany's older brother Prussia. Some shippers of Germany/Prussia are notorious for turning Italy into a [[Psychopathic Manchild]] who actively sexually, emotionally, and physically abuses Germany, so that Prussia can come in and rescue his younger brother and offer him a "truly loving" relationship.
* North Italy's big brother Romano has lately been getting this piled on him too, by those who can't stand his [[Tsundere|abrasive personality]] and would prefer Spain be with a more "suitable" (or "historically important") partner like France. It's often forgotten that ''both'' Romano and Spain have issues with their personalities and in dealing with each other and that South Italy has shown more than once that he ''genuinely'' cares for Spain [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|underneath it all]] (the major proof comes when [[Ill Boy|when Spain falls sick]] and Romano goes [[Find the Cure|searching for a cure]], willing to deal ''even with [[The Mafia]]'' to help him). All this hasn't stopped the detractors from derailing South Italy into a [[Complete Monster]] of a boyfriend that you wonder how Spain could ever have been cheerful around, or making Spain into the worst case of a [[Love Martyr]] who must be saved by France. Unless we talk about him actually raping and torturing North Italy to "keep him in check" and "away from the potato bastard" (re: Germany).
* In the rare Romano/Belgium ships they occasionally seem to change Spain from a good-natured, happy character who cares about Romano's wellbeing into a [[Pervert Dad|perverted caretaker]]. That being said, they do have an equal chance of making him have an [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]] moment, which is less of a character derailment that the former.
* There are a distressing number of stories where America, North Italy and/or Poland's natural [[The Ditz|ditziness]] illustrates how they'd be unsuitable partners to another character (often England, Germany or Lithuania, respectively). Yes, America's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's not a moron that needs help counting to ten; Italy may not take everything seriously, but he's not brainless; and Poland is flighty, but he's most certainly not an idiot that makes a chimp look like Einstein in comparison.
* While still rare ([[Tempting Fate|we hope]]), some rabid Prussia/Canada fans are really ''horrible'' not only to France, but to ''[[Big Fun|Cuba]]'' too. Because not being a [[Bishonen]] and mistaking Canada for America apparently makes Cuba a horrible bully whom Prussia must defeat to release poor uke Canada from his abuse, obviously missing how Cuba is ''very'' apologetic whenever that happens and how they get along extremely well otherwise.
* Though extremely rare, '''[[Gentle Giant|Sweden]]''' gets this treatment from time to time in Estonia/Finland fics; usually becoming an abusive "husband" keeping Finland from Estonia, or something of a [[Stalker with a Crush]] that poor little Finland is too weak to push away.
** Some fanworks take Denmark's canon [[Boisterous Bruiser]] traits and make him an insane [[Yandere]] who drove Sweden to run away with Finland after raping and torturing him into almost insanity. Even some works that are ''ostensively'' Denmark/Sweden use this; there's a very popular doujin that represents the infamous [[wikipedia:Stockholm Bloodbath|Stockholm Massacre]] by first making Denmark [[Eye Scream|severely injure Sweden's eyes]] with his axe when Sweden merely says something that ''sounds'' like he'll leave the Nordic group (which "explains" why Sweden uses glasses), and then torturing and raping him among the ruins of Stockholm right after his defeat.(Though in that doujin has a rather cute reconcilation between them at the end.)
* '''''All''''' of the female characters in Hetalia have been falsely accused of being [[Relationship Sue]]s for the guys. While it ''is'' true that some shippers in both W-Fen and J-Fen are fond of [[Possession Sue|disregarding the girls's canon personalities in their fanwork]] (with America/Belarus, America/Vietnam, England/Seychelles, Prussia/Hungary and Japan/Taiwan shippers as the main culprits), that is hardly the ''girls's'' own fault as they are not necessarily there just to have the guys stick their cocks inside of any of them. (Also, let's consider how many ''male'' characters [[Wimpification|fall in the same trap]] [[Double Standard|but this seems to be tolerated much more]] by the ''same'' fangirls who whine about the girls being Sues...)
** ...with the exception of Japan who was getting just as bad [[Relationship Sue]] accusations from the [[Vocal Minority]] of [[Americans Hate Tingle|W-fen]] long before the above cases came to light, with them making his [[Launcher of a Thousand Ships|LOATS]] status in J-fen out to be a ''horrible'' [[Misplaced Nationalism]] crime worthy of bashing him for alone. Some of them even used this to discredit the England/Japan pairing (many England/Japan fics do suffer from OOCness and [[Relationship Sue]]dom for Japan, but that doesn't mean that the ''pairing itself'' has zero credibility!). And when they found out about the Greece/Japan/Turkey triangle, their accusations got truly ridiculous. All while the majority either ignored them, [[squee]]d over the episodes, or went "...What, you're just learning about Japan's relations with Greece ''now''? Boy, you ''really'' need to read the webcomic in full."
** The biggest female victim is Seychelles, the local [[Nubile Savage]] and [[Plucky Girl]]. She was a minor character with a mere cameo in the comics... then she became an [[Ascended Extra]] in [[High School AU|Gakuen Hetalia]] (both the original script and the PSP game), and then the poor girl started getting shit from ''everyone'' coming from ''everywhere''. The [[Het Is Ew]] camp called her a [[Relationship Sue]], and the USUK and FRUK rabidshippers accused her of standing in between their beaus because she had some degree of [[Ship Tease]] with both England and France. (Nevermind that France is after [[Anything That Moves]], that Gakuen Hetalia isn't that centered in romance but more in [[The Power of Friendship]], and that in the PSP game itself  {{spoiler|Sey actually ''helps'' America to gain England's attention after a fight, which can easily be interpreted as her [[Playing Cyrano]] for them.}})
** Belgium may not be ''as'' big of a target as Seychelles, but she still gets potshots from rabid Spain/Romano fangirls that falsely accuse her of standing in between. An apparently [[Lost Forever]] [http://storikeeper.tumblr.com/post/8610938986/are-we-still-going-on-with-this-whole-belgium-thing Spamano fanart]{{Dead link}} has ''Canada threatening to hit her'' ([[Shrinking Violet|yes]], '''[[Nice Guy|CANADA]]''') because she won't give up on interferring with them, ''and we're supposed to cheer for Canada when he says he'll hit her''.
** Even Liechtenstein, who's a [[Proper Lady]] in canon, is once in a while treated as being an evil [[Mary Sue]] who stole Switzerland from Austria. (Nevermind that she and Austria are very polite and civil to each other in canon). Luckily it's not that common, but there are some [[Unfortunate Implications]] in how the hate stopped ''only'' in the [[Hetalia Bloodbath 2011]] when she seemed to [[Shipper on Deck|approve of Swiss and Austria's somewhat improved relationship.]]
** Poor Ukraine actually gets this from a certain corner of the fandom who bash her for a barely hinted at [[Brother-Sister Incest]] affection for Russia in her character song. A lot of the bashing comes from the fact that she dares to have [[Gag Boobs|a large chest]] and is a [[Nice Girl]] and relatively well-liked [[Team Mom]], which makes the [[Het Is Ew]] camps treat her as an annoying crybaby [[Mary Sue]] [[What Measure Is a Non-Badass?|who is a terrible female character]]. Never mind that she canonically has hints of being a [[Lady of War]] and is a huge [[Chew Toy]].
** [[Shorttank|Wy]] got pegged with this shortly after her first appearance by [[Toy Ship|Sealand/Latvia and Sealand/Iceland]] shippers. The fact that she already had [[Scrappy]] status from being a [[Little Miss Snarker]] certainly didn't help her case any.
*** Not really. The Sealand/others shippers that bad her aren't that numerous, as the major part of the fandom tends to get Wy outta the way peacefully via giving her a [[Precocious Crush]] on Seborga instead, since he promised to hit on her [[She's All Grown Up|when she grows up]].
** Taiwan is generally liked as she's a [[Genki Girl|cheerful]] [[Plucky Girl]], but she's often falsely accused of being Japan's [[Relationship Sue]] and prospect child bride. Thing is, while canon shows that she ''does'' look up to Japan and prefers her to China, it's not clear if it's a crush-like affection or simply a case of a young girl who wants her favorite sibling to aknowledge her. A lot of the accusations also seem to take [[Fanon]] as canon: it's true that some Japan/Taiwan shippers reduce the very complicated Japanese occupation of the Taiwanese island to a [[Romance Novel]]-like [[Lady and Knight]] deal, but ''that is not the fault of Taiwan the character in any way'' and ''it doesn't necessarily reflect her canon interaction with Japan''.
** Even Vietnam, who has had barely any screentime at all gets this from people who dislike how some members of the fandom pair her up with America, Russia, France, and/or China and refer to her as a [[Relationship Sue]] because of [[Fanon]] portrayals. Despite the fact that, in canon, she has not had any reaction with anyone other than Taiwan and Thailand so far, she has gotten some accusations of being a [[Flat Character]] who only exists to ruin other pairings. Thankfully, this portion of the fanbase is very small in comparison with hate that the other females have gotten, as it's very easy to ignore her character entirely.

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