Feliciano Vargas

He is sunny, energetic, and emotionally open. He greets people with enthusiasm, talks a lot, and treats almost everyone as a potential friend. He is not malicious; when he causes trouble it is usually because he got distracted, hungry, or decided a nap was more important than the plan. He relies heavily on Germany (and to a lesser extent Japan) for structure and protection, yet he rarely actually follows instructions. He daydreams, wanders off, or starts talking about food and pretty scenery instead. Food is central. Pasta, pizza, gelato, cheese, and other Italian comforts are both comfort and identity. He overeats gelato to the point of stomachaches. He treats the 3 p.m. siesta as sacred and has a habit of stripping for it, then forgetting his pants when he wakes up. Public nudity is enough of a running gag that Switzerland will shoot at him for streaking. He also sings, cooks, paints, and flirts with anyone he finds attractive—women constantly, and he has been shown and stated to be attracted to men as well. Speech and mannerisms His signature verbal tic is “Ve~” (from bene / “well”). In the anime he also uses other light, airy sounds. He can be physically affectionate in a way that makes more reserved characters (especially Japan) uncomfortable; he tries to tone it down and then forgets. He hates helmets because they make him feel shorter. He is not actually powerless. As a child he once drove off Ottoman/Turkish forces by himself, and there are notes that his fencing ability is “abnormal.” The usual problem is that he is cowardly and easily frightened, so he does not use what strength he has. Bind his hands and legs and, according to Germany, he “dies.” He still idolizes his grandfather Rome and wants to become a strong country like him, but his daily behavior is the opposite of martial. Feliciano is the lovable slacker-artist-nation: romantic, food-obsessed, artistically gifted, physically clingy, easily scared, and almost pathologically unfocused. The joke of the character is that the personification of a culturally rich, historically important country spends most of his time napping, eating, painting, and saying “Ve~” while Germany does the actual work. Underneath the comedy he is sincerely affectionate, proud of his heritage, and still carrying the shadow of Rome.