Netherlands
Summary
The Netherlands, officially known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is a nation with Amsterdam as its capital and Dutch as its primary language. His birthday remains unknown, though his national flower is the tulip. While his exact height and age are unspecified, he stands approximately the same height as Denmark. He is the brother of Belgium and Luxembourg. His first official appearance occurred in a commemorative drawing for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where he appeared in a soccer uniform alongside Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon, who was also making his debut. He features spiky light brown hair, which was depicted as blonde in the anime and shown in a down-style in a sketch by Hidekaz Himaruya. His eyes are green, although they have been colored amber and blue in certain official artworks. The Netherlands holds a special bond with Japan, having warned him about America’s arrival in 1852. This act is the reason the two nations get along well to this day; Japan maintained contact primarily with the Netherlands, who informed him about the movements of other European countries whenever he visited Japan. He is also known to have beaten up Finland and Sweden after they built a villa in America during the exploration of the “New World.” When explaining this to England and France, Finland expressed hope that the Netherlands would not find America, who was a baby at the time. As he spoke, a silhouette of the Netherlands appeared, resembling a ferocious monster. His relationship with his sister Belgium is strained due to their vastly different personalities; Belgium is mature, while the Netherlands is cool and collected. They lived in Spain’s house for a long time, which seems to be when their relationship soured. After the Netherlands declared independence from Spain, Belgium had to fight against him. He later attempted to reconcile by proposing a union of their countries, but differences in religion, trade, and diplomatic relations prevented it, leaving them as separate entities. Personality-wise, he plays it cool and acts like a true bro. He is a strong strategist, a neat freak, and a schemer who is somewhat pessimistic and exceptionally muscular. He loves bunnies, hates things that are tied, and is stingy, solemn, neurotic, and somewhat of a tsundere. He can be competitive and loves to fight, once battling Turkey over who deserved the title of "The Tulip Country," a contest he likely won according to Finland. His kitchen and garden are reportedly flawless. In a sketch, he is shown smoking marijuana and has a light attitude toward drugs, possibly referencing Amsterdam’s drug industry. In other manga strips, he is seen smoking a pipe. His character profile in volume three states that "Of course he goes Dutch." His trademark item is a white and blue striped scarf, which he rarely goes without. He has a small scar on his forehead, the origin and meaning of which remain unclear. He speaks in a Hokuriku dialect and owns a pet rabbit, who is friends with Japan’s dog, Pochi-kun. Although his official human name has not been decided, Hidekaz Himaruya revealed in a blog post that he has considered "Abel," "Govert," "Mogens," and "Tim" as possible names.
