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Description
I just wanted to make a quick guide in case some of you Hetalia fans with FCs care to read!
This guide to making a good FC will include everything from Hair to Personality.

___________________________________________
FEMALE OR MALE?
Although any country could be personified as a male or female I usually go with what the country's name sounds like. This is a bit difficult because some names could go either way so if this is the case then it's completely up to you! An example of a female country name is most likely Taiwan. Tell me, this does not sound like a male name, does it? To me it sounds too "cute".
Have you gotten a gender picked out? Good! Let's continue.

****QUICK NOTE**** If you don't want your FC to look a bit on the Mary-sue/Gary-stu side, I suggest you make your Hetalia FC a male. 3 out of every 4 Hetalia canon characters are male. It's alright to make your character a female if you have other Hetalia FCs that are males; that way it doesn't look as if you're only creating females.
Also, you must consider that Himaruya (The creator of Hetalia) has not made some countries into personified versions but he has mentioned the gender of some 'soon-to-be' characters.

Here's a list:
Ireland-Male
Scotland-Male
Wales-Male
Mexico-Male
Paraguay(Or was it Uraguay? I can't recall)-Male
If you have a FC with one of these countries, I suggest you change them.

From this point on, for each category (i.e. Personality,clothing,colours,etc.) there will be a pink bullet if your FC is a female and a blue bullet if your FC is a male so you know which to read because gender affects how your character will act and what your character will wear.
______________________________________

HAIR//HAIR COLOUR//SKIN COLOUR//EYE COLOUR?

Making a hairstyle for a male is difficult. Why? Because there isn't much you can do with it! With a male character's hair you can basically come up with anything but it can't look too much like a canon character's hair. For example, if you'd like, the back hair can be similar to a canon character's but the bangs could be something completely different! That way, it looks original. Now, as for the colour, this is pretty much based off of the people. In Latin America, the people tend to have different shades of brown to black hair depending on where they live. As I have it understood, in Argentina, the people have lighter hair because of their descendants. Most have blonde-dirty blonde hair because most have descendants that are Italian-Romania-European descent. Also, think of celebrities from that country. What colour hair do they have?(If it's natural). As for the skin, I'd use a general rule. In Europe most are white, in Africa they're of dark skin colour, and in Latin America it's a mixture depending on how close to the equator. NOTE: THIS IS EXCLUDED IF A CERTAIN HAIR COLOUR FITS A STEREOTYPE. I.E. IRELAND HAVING ORANGE/RED HAIR.

For females, a hairstyle is difficult and easy. Difficult because it has to be something simple yet original to draw and easy because there are many hairstyles to choose from depending on your character's hair length.  This brings up another question, 'should my character's hair be short of long?'. In the country your FC represents is it mostly hot or mostly cold or in between?  Think about that. If it's mostly hot, would you wear your hair down? No, I'd pull it up so more air can get to my neck and back. If it's mostly cold, would you wear your hair up? No, I'd keep it down to trap heat like a blanket. If it's half and half in your character's country this could go either way. It'd be pretty much your choice. Long hair is usually the most chosen because you can do lots with it.  Let's say you'd like to add a hair piece or hair band. If you do, try not to make it so extravagant that it looks silly and try not to make it so small that no one even notices it.  Now, as for the colour, this is pretty much based off of the people. In Latin America, the people tend to have different shades of brown to black hair depending on where they live. As I have it understood, in Argentina, the people have lighter hair because of their descendants. Most have blonde-dirty blonde hair because most have descendants that are Italian-Romania-European descent. Also, think of celebrities from that country. What colour hair do they have?(If it's natural). As for the skin, I'd use a general rule. In Europe most are white, in Africa they're of dark skin colour, and in Latin America it's a mixture depending on how close to the equator.NOTE: THIS IS EXCLUDED IF A CERTAIN HAIR COLOUR FITS A STEREOTYPE. I.E. IRELAND HAVING ORANGE/RED HAIR.
_________________________________________________________________
PERSONALITY?

A Hetalia FC's personality should be a mixture of his/her history and Stereotypes.  Read back on some of your FC's history and think of it as if it were a story. How does the country react to a war? Did he/she retreat? Try to solve the problem? Fight all the way to the death? The small actions tell a lot. For example, if your country retreated he/she may be afraid or trying to avoid a huge conflict.(This depends on the reason for retreating). Now, keep reading. Did they have get into lots of wars that they started? If so, this may hint that their personality should be a bit feisty.
For a girl, add those feminine traits as well. After all, she is a girl.

EXAMPLE:
I'm going to use a friend's FC as an example for this section.
Her OC is Colombia. Colombia was once Gran Colombia which consisted of Panama, Ecuador, and Venezuela. All three separated and Colombia fell a bit and so my friend took this and thought "If many close people leave a real person, the person will obviously be left with abandonment issues, right? And this may lead into a depression and that fits with the drug problem in Colombia".   She used basic knowledge of a real person's reaction to a certain problem of separation and linked it to current events and history. You can also do this with your character. Let's say a close ally of your country turned on him/her in a serious battle, how would the character react? Or how did the country react based on history?  If the country did not care then it shows your character may be solitary and tough. If the country only got more enraged and fought even more then it shows your country may be easily angered and headstrong.
Now, make sure to mix this in with the stereotypes.  As mentioned above, my friend's character, Colombia, did this with the drugs. She used the fact that Colombia fell a bit when the other countries separated and the fact that a stereotype of Colombia is that all Colombians deal drugs. (Along with their coffee addicts and have amazing gardens) Don't give them all just the bad stereotypes because then that would look as if you're bashing that country.
___________________________________________________________________
CLOTHING?
MAIN CLOTHING(Clothing your character is seen with the most)

If your male FC was involved in WW2, use the uniform he used during that time era since Hetalia takes place mainly during WW2. If he was not, then I suggest using the traditional clothing (unless its too extravagant) or just the military uniform your country had at the time even if it wasn't involved in WW2.

Because your character is a female, I suggest having her wear a dress or skirt. Remember, this is the clothing your character is most seen with and all the Hetalia females, except for Belgium,  are seen with dresses or something feminine. Even Hungary who is a tomboy wears a dress so just because your character is a tomboy as well it doesn't mean she shouldn't wear a dress. These are girls. They should also dress like girls because I can assure you most of the females in that country act and dress like it. Now, when designing your female character's clothing, look up the traditional clothing for that country. It will most likely be a dress, right? Take some ideas from the dress like the colours or outline and make it fit in with the geographical place and climate. For example, if it's cold in your country and the traditional clothing is a short dress I suggest making it longer. If your character is a tomboy a bit feel free to add small details to portray that. For example, Hungary wears a dress but she also wears her military boots showing she still has that rebel side to her.

EXCLUSIONS: Let's use a Greenland OC as an example of this. A stereotype of their clothing is that they wear that brown hood with a white floof along the borders. That would make a good clothing instead of a dress/military outfit (Depending on the gender).  The same with Egypt. He wears the hat on his head that all of us think an Egyptian would wear, right? Add those details that make it seem more "stereotypical" and less "seriously cultural" because that's what Hetalia basically is.
__________________________________________________________

PAIRINGS?
Despite what those crazy Hetalia yaoi fangirls say, I see nothing wrong with pairings when they're correct and not mary-sue/gary-stueish.

EXAMPLE OF A MARY-SUEISH/GARY-STUEISH PAIRING RELATIONSHIP:
Let's use, for example, Germany and another FC I'm going to name Loy. Germany puts up with Loy's constant jumping up and down and will do as she says. Germany doesn't yell at Loy and hugs Loy whenever they see each other. Germany also enjoys kissing Loy on the head.

What's wrong with this couple?
Well, for one, Germany is a completely different person around Loy. Germany's personality wouldn't allow him to put up with someone too loud (Example of this is with Italy. Germany constantly tells Italy to shutup) and Germany doesn't even know the difference between a hug and a kiss so I doubt he'd be the lovey-dovey type. Also, Loy and Germany have no connections whatsoever.

If you're going to pair up your FC with a canon then at least make sure that their personalities would match up. A canon character is already "Set" and cannot be changed to fit your character and you cannot change your character's personality because a COUNTRY doesn't change. If they're meant to be, they're meant to be. If not,no.
And for those of you anti-canonXFC zombies out there that say "that FC country and that canon country can't go together because they both hate each other! Look at their history or etc!" Well, my response to that is, England hates America yet people pair them up and you're alright with it. Germany, in the show, shows he can't put up with Italy most of the time and yet they're paired up. France and England have had a long time rivalry and yet people pair them up. My point? In a love relationship, some can put it aside but remember not all can. And before you say anything, I support all these couples yet I have nothing against correct CanonXFC and my FCs for this show aren't paired up with anyone,thankyouverymuch.
_______________________________________________________
Pirate!FC//Angel!FC//Sailor!FC?
The canons in Hetalia, most of them, have a "____!(Insertcharacterhere)" side, right? If you're going to give your character one of these I suggest not giving them something a canon character already has if it has nothing to do with your character. For example, I'm going to use my friend's character once again, Colombia has a pirate side because pirates were involved in her history and have made a difference in her history. Yet, she does not have an Angel!Colombia side because angels don't have anything to do with her history whatsoever at all.

ACCEPTABLE _______! SIDES OF YOUR FC
2p!
Male/Female!
Anti!
(The difference between 2p! and Anti! is that 2ps are Antis but with a sadistic and killer side.)
Gakuen!

______________________________________________________
OTHER?

Some other things I'd like to mention before we go.
Be creative! Don't just stick with what's in front of you and think "I can't do anything else..."
No! For example, With Switzerland, Himaruya knew Switzerland was a wealthy country with lots of great banks but he took an extra step and asked himself "If he was an actual person and not a country, what would've made him go from a poor country to a rich one?" and that's how Himaruya added into Switzerland's personality that he's frugal.

Himaruya also used some quirks from his fellow classmates and people he knew that were from a certain country. Himaruya used to be classmates with a Korean who was a "ladies man" so he included that into Korea's personality.

For England's eyebrows for the countries that were under his rule, you want to know why America doesn't have "England brows"? Because nowadays he's not part of the British Common Wealth. That's how I think of it. So if you have a FC who was once owned by England and don't know if you should give him/her England brows, check if that country is in the British Common Wealth.

Some of you say your character can tell the difference between America and Canada. In my opinion, I'd only say that America, France, England and, as a FC, Mexico can tell the difference because geographically they're close and have had a close partnership.

Also, don't make your character able to see England's friends. If all the rest of the canon character's can't see them, yours shouldn't be an exception.

A rule of thumb: if all the other canon character's don't have magic powers, don't make yours either. This applies with almost everything unless its something specific with your country.
_________________________________________________________________
Thank you all for taking the time to read this!
I also do critiques on Hetalia FCs.

Bullet; Green — Description
I just wanted to make a quick guide in case some of you Hetalia fans with FCs care to read!
This guide to making a good FC will include everything from Hair to Personality.

___________________________________________
FEMALE OR MALE?
Although any country could be personified as a male or female I usually go with what the country's name sounds like. This is a bit difficult because some names could go either way so if this is the case then it's completely up to you! An example of a female country name is most likely Taiwan. Tell me, this does not sound like a male name, does it? To me it sounds too "cute".
Have you gotten a gender picked out? Good! Let's continue.

****QUICK NOTE**** If you don't want your FC to look a bit on the Mary-sue/Gary-stu side, I suggest you make your Hetalia FC a male. 3 out of every 4 Hetalia canon characters are male. It's alright to make your character a female if you have other Hetalia FCs that are males; that way it doesn't look as if you're only creating females.
Also, you must consider that Himaruya (The creator of Hetalia) has not made some countries into personified versions but he has mentioned the gender of some 'soon-to-be' characters.

Here's a list:
Ireland-Male
Scotland-Male
Wales-Male
Mexico-Male
Paraguay(Or was it Uraguay? I can't recall)-Male
If you have a FC with one of these countries, I suggest you change them.

From this point on, for each category (i.e. Personality,clothing,colours,etc.) there will be a pink bullet if your FC is a female and a blue bullet if your FC is a male so you know which to read because gender affects how your character will act and what your character will wear.
______________________________________

HAIR//HAIR COLOUR//SKIN COLOUR//EYE COLOUR?

Making a hairstyle for a male is difficult. Why? Because there isn't much you can do with it! With a male character's hair you can basically come up with anything but it can't look too much like a canon character's hair. For example, if you'd like, the back hair can be similar to a canon character's but the bangs could be something completely different! That way, it looks original. Now, as for the colour, this is pretty much based off of the people. In Latin America, the people tend to have different shades of brown to black hair depending on where they live. As I have it understood, in Argentina, the people have lighter hair because of their descendants. Most have blonde-dirty blonde hair because most have descendants that are Italian-Romania-European descent. Also, think of celebrities from that country. What colour hair do they have?(If it's natural). As for the skin, I'd use a general rule. In Europe most are white, in Africa they're of dark skin colour, and in Latin America it's a mixture depending on how close to the equator. NOTE: THIS IS EXCLUDED IF A CERTAIN HAIR COLOUR FITS A STEREOTYPE. I.E. IRELAND HAVING ORANGE/RED HAIR.

For females, a hairstyle is difficult and easy. Difficult because it has to be something simple yet original to draw and easy because there are many hairstyles to choose from depending on your character's hair length.  This brings up another question, 'should my character's hair be short of long?'. In the country your FC represents is it mostly hot or mostly cold or in between?  Think about that. If it's mostly hot, would you wear your hair down? No, I'd pull it up so more air can get to my neck and back. If it's mostly cold, would you wear your hair up? No, I'd keep it down to trap heat like a blanket. If it's half and half in your character's country this could go either way. It'd be pretty much your choice. Long hair is usually the most chosen because you can do lots with it.  Let's say you'd like to add a hair piece or hair band. If you do, try not to make it so extravagant that it looks silly and try not to make it so small that no one even notices it.  Now, as for the colour, this is pretty much based off of the people. In Latin America, the people tend to have different shades of brown to black hair depending on where they live. As I have it understood, in Argentina, the people have lighter hair because of their descendants. Most have blonde-dirty blonde hair because most have descendants that are Italian-Romania-European descent. Also, think of celebrities from that country. What colour hair do they have?(If it's natural). As for the skin, I'd use a general rule. In Europe most are white, in Africa they're of dark skin colour, and in Latin America it's a mixture depending on how close to the equator.NOTE: THIS IS EXCLUDED IF A CERTAIN HAIR COLOUR FITS A STEREOTYPE. I.E. IRELAND HAVING ORANGE/RED HAIR.
_________________________________________________________________
PERSONALITY?

A Hetalia FC's personality should be a mixture of his/her history and Stereotypes.  Read back on some of your FC's history and think of it as if it were a story. How does the country react to a war? Did he/she retreat? Try to solve the problem? Fight all the way to the death? The small actions tell a lot. For example, if your country retreated he/she may be afraid or trying to avoid a huge conflict.(This depends on the reason for retreating). Now, keep reading. Did they have get into lots of wars that they started? If so, this may hint that their personality should be a bit feisty.
For a girl, add those feminine traits as well. After all, she is a girl.

EXAMPLE:
I'm going to use a friend's FC as an example for this section.
Her OC is Colombia. Colombia was once Gran Colombia which consisted of Panama, Ecuador, and Venezuela. All three separated and Colombia fell a bit and so my friend took this and thought "If many close people leave a real person, the person will obviously be left with abandonment issues, right? And this may lead into a depression and that fits with the drug problem in Colombia".   She used basic knowledge of a real person's reaction to a certain problem of separation and linked it to current events and history. You can also do this with your character. Let's say a close ally of your country turned on him/her in a serious battle, how would the character react? Or how did the country react based on history?  If the country did not care then it shows your character may be solitary and tough. If the country only got more enraged and fought even more then it shows your country may be easily angered and headstrong.
Now, make sure to mix this in with the stereotypes.  As mentioned above, my friend's character, Colombia, did this with the drugs. She used the fact that Colombia fell a bit when the other countries separated and the fact that a stereotype of Colombia is that all Colombians deal drugs. (Along with their coffee addicts and have amazing gardens) Don't give them all just the bad stereotypes because then that would look as if you're bashing that country.
___________________________________________________________________
CLOTHING?
MAIN CLOTHING(Clothing your character is seen with the most)

If your male FC was involved in WW2, use the uniform he used during that time era since Hetalia takes place mainly during WW2. If he was not, then I suggest using the traditional clothing (unless its too extravagant) or just the military uniform your country had at the time even if it wasn't involved in WW2.

Because your character is a female, I suggest having her wear a dress or skirt. Remember, this is the clothing your character is most seen with and all the Hetalia females, except for Belgium,  are seen with dresses or something feminine. Even Hungary who is a tomboy wears a dress so just because your character is a tomboy as well it doesn't mean she shouldn't wear a dress. These are girls. They should also dress like girls because I can assure you most of the females in that country act and dress like it. Now, when designing your female character's clothing, look up the traditional clothing for that country. It will most likely be a dress, right? Take some ideas from the dress like the colours or outline and make it fit in with the geographical place and climate. For example, if it's cold in your country and the traditional clothing is a short dress I suggest making it longer. If your character is a tomboy a bit feel free to add small details to portray that. For example, Hungary wears a dress but she also wears her military boots showing she still has that rebel side to her.

EXCLUSIONS: Let's use a Greenland OC as an example of this. A stereotype of their clothing is that they wear that brown hood with a white floof along the borders. That would make a good clothing instead of a dress/military outfit (Depending on the gender).  The same with Egypt. He wears the hat on his head that all of us think an Egyptian would wear, right? Add those details that make it seem more "stereotypical" and less "seriously cultural" because that's what Hetalia basically is.
__________________________________________________________

PAIRINGS?
Despite what those crazy Hetalia yaoi fangirls say, I see nothing wrong with pairings when they're correct and not mary-sue/gary-stueish.

EXAMPLE OF A MARY-SUEISH/GARY-STUEISH PAIRING RELATIONSHIP:
Let's use, for example, Germany and another FC I'm going to name Loy. Germany puts up with Loy's constant jumping up and down and will do as she says. Germany doesn't yell at Loy and hugs Loy whenever they see each other. Germany also enjoys kissing Loy on the head.

What's wrong with this couple?
Well, for one, Germany is a completely different person around Loy. Germany's personality wouldn't allow him to put up with someone too loud (Example of this is with Italy. Germany constantly tells Italy to shutup) and Germany doesn't even know the difference between a hug and a kiss so I doubt he'd be the lovey-dovey type. Also, Loy and Germany have no connections whatsoever.

If you're going to pair up your FC with a canon then at least make sure that their personalities would match up. A canon character is already "Set" and cannot be changed to fit your character and you cannot change your character's personality because a COUNTRY doesn't change. If they're meant to be, they're meant to be. If not,no.
And for those of you anti-canonXFC zombies out there that say "that FC country and that canon country can't go together because they both hate each other! Look at their history or etc!" Well, my response to that is, England hates America yet people pair them up and you're alright with it. Germany, in the show, shows he can't put up with Italy most of the time and yet they're paired up. France and England have had a long time rivalry and yet people pair them up. My point? In a love relationship, some can put it aside but remember not all can. And before you say anything, I support all these couples yet I have nothing against correct CanonXFC and my FCs for this show aren't paired up with anyone,thankyouverymuch.
_______________________________________________________
Pirate!FC//Angel!FC//Sailor!FC?
The canons in Hetalia, most of them, have a "____!(Insertcharacterhere)" side, right? If you're going to give your character one of these I suggest not giving them something a canon character already has if it has nothing to do with your character. For example, I'm going to use my friend's character once again, Colombia has a pirate side because pirates were involved in her history and have made a difference in her history. Yet, she does not have an Angel!Colombia side because angels don't have anything to do with her history whatsoever at all.

ACCEPTABLE _______! SIDES OF YOUR FC
2p!
Male/Female!
Anti!
(The difference between 2p! and Anti! is that 2ps are Antis but with a sadistic and killer side.)
Gakuen!

______________________________________________________
OTHER?

Some other things I'd like to mention before we go.
Be creative! Don't just stick with what's in front of you and think "I can't do anything else..."
No! For example, With Switzerland, Himaruya knew Switzerland was a wealthy country with lots of great banks but he took an extra step and asked himself "If he was an actual person and not a country, what would've made him go from a poor country to a rich one?" and that's how Himaruya added into Switzerland's personality that he's frugal.

Himaruya also used some quirks from his fellow classmates and people he knew that were from a certain country. Himaruya used to be classmates with a Korean who was a "ladies man" so he included that into Korea's personality.

For England's eyebrows for the countries that were under his rule, you want to know why America doesn't have "England brows"? Because nowadays he's not part of the British Common Wealth. That's how I think of it. So if you have a FC who was once owned by England and don't know if you should give him/her England brows, check if that country is in the British Common Wealth.

Some of you say your character can tell the difference between America and Canada. In my opinion, I'd only say that America, France, England and, as a FC, Mexico can tell the difference because geographically they're close and have had a close partnership.

Also, don't make your character able to see England's friends. If all the rest of the canon character's can't see them, yours shouldn't be an exception.

A rule of thumb: if all the other canon character's don't have magic powers, don't make yours either. This applies with almost everything unless its something specific with your country.
_________________________________________________________________
Thank you all for taking the time to read this!
I also do critiques on Hetalia FCs.