Russia

Russia (ロシア, Roshia) is a main character in the series Hetalia: Axis Powers. In 2008, Himaruya gave out human names to some of the characters and he received the name Ivan Braginski (イヴァン・ブラギンスキ, Ivan Buraginsuki, Russian: Иван Брагинский).

The tallest of the Allies, as well as the tallest of all the nations together with Sweden, Russia wears a long, heavy tan coat, brown pants, brown gloves, and a long tan or pink scarf; in the mini-drama CD included with his character album, he mentions to Japan that his scarf is a body part and therefore he cannot take it off. He has a round, childish face, and tends to carry around a bottle of vodka or a faucet pipe. His hair is a light, beige-ish blond and his eyes are violet (purple), though they were initially colored blue in early color artwork by Hidekaz Himaruya.

A large young man who is seemingly bighearted and innocent, but is in reality childishly cruel. He comes off as intimidating without even saying a word, his gentle smile and disposition only intensifying the aura of dread which seems to constantly hang over him. Russia ends many of his sentences with 'da', the Russian term for 'yes', although in Japanese it is often used to confirm the topic of the sentence, as an informal form of 'desu', the ubiquitous form of 'to be'.

He has been tormented since his childhood, having seen many tragedies and wars, which have cracked his mentality. General Winter haunts and attacks him every year, which has caused him to hate the cold. However, in the face of war, General Winter is his best ally. He dreams of one day living in a warm place surrounded by sunflowers.

Though he is capable of being incredibly cruel-minded, Russia himself is unaware of it. Whenever he thinks of either of his sisters he becomes very depressed.

When Russia is upset, he uses the chant "KolKolKol" to threaten and frighten others into submission. However, there has been speculation that there are other possible meanings for 'kol' than those involving kolkhozy*.

View spoilerHide spoiler*Tzar Ivan The Terrible's favorite way to deal with disobedience was impaling. 'To impale', pronounced in Russian as сажать на кол ('sazhat' na kol'), or just на кол 'na kol' is easily understood. So, Russia is possibly trying to intimidate people by the threat of impalement, although he is saying the noun 'kol' (which means 'stake', in this context being thrust towards a person).

*There is also the possibility that Russia could be issuing a warning to others. 'Kolokol' means 'bell' in Russian, and 'kol' is often used as an onomatopoeia in Russian for the tolling of a bell, a centuries-old designation of approaching danger.

*Another interpretation offered by the Japanese fandom is that "kolkolkol" is "korukorukoru", which sounds similar to "korosu", the Japanese word referring to killing.