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Birvan — Hellhound Germany
Published: 2014-06-23 16:49:41 +0000 UTC; Views: 2401; Favourites: 83; Downloads: 11
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Description
Today's Brewing Trouble pic: Germany the Hellhound, member of the Wild Hunt and herder/guardian of soulsAlso little Tomato Fairy Italy and Matagot France, just for comparison
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Comments: 33
Better get a fireproof suit first
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But he's a hellhound. That's not the average fire
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And i am a devil so i am not effected!!
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Very nice. I remember the character design processes over the years fondly. 
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He's one of the few that barely changed over time. Though I am wondering on removing his ability to speak, since dogs aren't exactly the best talkers
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It would be interesting to figure out how he might communicate without words - and, I'm sorry, but when you said "dogs aren't exactly the best talkers", all I could think of was a YouTube video 'If Humans Acted Like Dogs', in which spoken vocabulary was limited to things like "Hey! Hey! Hey you! Hey!"
Being serious again, it would be something to consider, whether Germany will be able to speak or not; we tend to take the spoken (and in places, written) word for granted as a form of communication, though I think most adults would be lost if we had to communicate in a new, unfamiliar way - or worse - had to invent a new way of communicating. By no means am I advising against limiting/redirecting Germany's ability to communicate, but it would have implications on the story and would need to be navigated accordingly so he can still participate fully - not that he really needs words to get things done.
One option that's easy to point out, but definitely not the only option available is for Germany to try and communicate the way any dog would, by making noise to get people's attention, pointing/trying to lead people to something, and typical canine body language such as raised hackles and pulled back lips for aggression, tail held low or between the legs (possibly ears flattened) as fear, tail wagging or general calmness for satisfaction. There's a whole lot more to it, but those would be some of the basics.
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Lol, what I meant was the ability to pronounce actual words. They're a lot better at using body language (and scent) to express themselves
I used to have dogs and I could easily tell what they wanted just by looking at the glances and body postures. I even had one where we understood each other so well, I rarely needed to give her verbal commands
But yes, Germany wasn't born a dog so anything outside of facial expressions and basic body postures is going to be counter intuitive to him. And even those might be quite challenging, since he's nowhere nearly as "physically expressive" as Italy for example and the others might easily mistake a smile for a snarl
He'll probably end up using tail wags and ear positions quite a lot, but they'll all be instinctive reactions. Stopping them halfway (if he notices) should be fairly easy, but if he tries to use them on purpose he'll most likely end up with awkward results
But as for how he'd react to the realization that he can no longer form words, yeah I'm pretty sure he'd freak out. Especially considering how he loves to follow rules and procedures and he doesn't have any mental map on what he should do under those circumstances. But on the other hand he's a dog owner and I'm pretty sure he has lots of dog handling manuals, so he'll probably default to those in trying to make himself understood
His biggest problem however is the others not being as "dog literate" and completely misinterpret what he's trying to tell them. He'll probably grow frustrated and shout a bark, only to find out he'll breath out fire in the process. That will likely cause him to keep his mouth shut as often as possible and force himself to use overly exaggerated body language instead. I can even imagine him trying to stand on 2 legs to try to make motions with his arms, only to fail completely (besides gravity issues, dogs don't have the same arm rotation range as we do)
Either way I think it would be really interesting to add that to the story, especially because it forces Germany to act so out of character
But Italy might also prove to be an unexpected aid. Considering the relationship hellhounds have with fairies through the Wild Hunt, and the abilities fairies have to communicate with animals in general, he could become Germany's interpreter. Not in the ability to translate word for word, but telling his intentions rather accurately
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Always one-upping me with your amazingly lengthy and dedicated replies...
Briefly put, I agree on all points, forcing Germany out of character would be a fun and engaging way to spice up his role in the story and would give Italy a chance to interact with him on a whole other level; I can easily see him defaulting to manuals of any kind to try and manage the situation... imagining poor frustrated and increasingly desperate Germany does make me feel a little sorry for him though.
I remembered that fairies are quite in-tune with animals, but I hadn't thought of how fairies and hell-hounds were both involved in the Wild Hunt, pretty cool. I look forward to seeing it all play out.
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I think about details a bit too much
Yeah, me too. But he's a tough, resourceful guy, I'm sure he'll figure something out x3
In terms of storytelling though I want to avoid mental speech bubbles as much as possible. If he can't communicate verbally with others then he can't do the same with us as well
Which is going to make things a bit tricky in the beginning when they have to figure out who the big, menacing looking dog is without any clue but his eye color
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No worries, I was joking around.
Best of luck and (broken-record time) let me know if I can do anything to help. Granted I mostly see it in fanart, can't really find any screenshots to support this, but the iron cross is pretty unique to Germany and Prussia from what I've seen. What I'm thinking of are props/belongings/things that identify with him. I don't know if that helps, but it's a preliminary idea.
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I used to have it around his neck in the original design but everyone who transformed didn't gain any clothing or specific objects, so if he'd have one on him when he arrived and remember to fetch it and carry it around in his mouth at all times (or at least until someone remembered to put it on a string around his neck)
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That could definitely work. The only question is where would the string come from...
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I'm pretty sure England has some in the kitchen for when he tries to make roast
But this would only work if Germany is carrying the emblem to begin with. Since the WWII it gained some bad reputation (despite not being directly related)
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This is true.
Ditto that last statement; and it's definitely not certain that Germany would carry it with him; I guess it might depend somewhat on the time frame the story takes place in; are we presuming it's modern day, or earlier? I only ask because while I can imagine it feeling the sting of that reputation shortly after WWII, it also probably faded to some degree afterwards, and if Germany's particularly attached to it, I could see him holding onto it, either publicly or in secret. I don't really know anything about the culture behind the iron cross, much less whether Germany would really want to keep it, but that would be a possible arrangement.
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It's in the present
Actually one time I had to help a friend buying one of those and I was pretty surprised to find out a lot of people associate that symbol directly to the nazis
And one thing is certain, after all these decades people (England, America, etc) still don't let Germany live down the Holocaust. It's one of the reasons he's still very afraid to show any pride on his own flag
So even if he's still attached to that particular emblem (a personal gift maybe), there's little reason for him to take to a party at someone else's house, especially when there's so many who would point the finger at it. It would be too much of a headache to explain it's not nazi related and give them an history lesson > >
It would be far more likely for Prussia to carry it, but he sneaked into the party, so Germany doesn't know he's there
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Definitely a fair explanation, and there are a lot of outdated and misinformed associations made with many countries, but trying to convince company otherwise is literally a headache, that I certainly agree with. It's possible that Italy with his nature as a fairy could recognize Germany on some level - that might help if we can't find a "prop" to help identify Germany. We'll keep exploring options of course, but I'm just throwing ideas out there.
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Yeah, that's the most likely way for him to be recognized. Especially considering the close relationships he and Italy are considered to have
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Okay, totally useless reply coming up: ... yeah~ they do seem to enjoy a close-knit friendship *squiggles happily*
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Thats a big dog. So Italys a fairy. 
Cool idea. ^U^*
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Yeah, hellhounds are said to be larger than average dogs, sometimes as big as calves
I figured it would be funny XD
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I bet germany is happier about this than england.. XD
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Probably, though he actually isn't smiling, but panting. The fire masked the corner of the mouth unintentionally
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Oh.. I just hope he doesnt burn his fur. D:
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Hellhounds are fire creatures, it can't harm them. Actually he can set his fur on fire on purpose, to intimidate others
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Cool. I want a dog like this now.
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Lol, it would be fun on BBQ, but I doubt it's a good pet to have indoors
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