Unlike in fanon depiction, Germany’s anger isn’t senseless and inherently driven by aggression. While Germany’s short temper may have originated from aggression, having been reared in a hostile environment, his anger later shifts to an expression of frustrated confusion.
What this post will also explore is how Germany gets in touch with his kinder, softer, and sentimental side, as well as his troubles in expressing this aspect of his person.
Where did his temper originate?Â
To understand why Germany was so aggressive and angry, it’s important to situate his life.
Germany’s childhood was not a healthy one. He was reared in an atmosphere of constant war, hostility, and aggression. As such, he didn’t learn how to trust and form healthy relationships with others, but rather, he learned to view others with distrust and suspicion. Â
Ex: When Germany first meets Italy as enemies in WW1, notice how suspicious, paranoid, and hostile he is of Italy. Regardless of the fact that they’re in a war, Germany’s reactions here are over the top.
Likewise, when Germany became frustrated with Italy, he would use physical force. His childhood was primal in that the use of physical force was wrongfully normalized.
Ex:Â Germany would put Italy into headlocks when he fell out of line.
What you’ll see is that as Germany’s relationship with Italy deepened into a true friendship, Germany not only learns how to be receptive toward others, but his temper diminishes significantly. He still has a short fuse, although in no way does he see aggression – verbal or physical – as an appropriate method of communicating.
Ex: He begins hugging Italy, albeit being confused by this.
As mentioned above, Germany’s friendship with Italy changed him dramatically. Italy was the first person that indirectly taught Germany what a healthy relationship entails.
To put things into perspective, Germany’s understanding of relationships was so warped from his past that he needed Austria to clarify what his relationship with Italy was.
Before asking this, he had also bought a manual on relationships.
The running gag of Buon San Valentino is that Germany panics over whether Italy is his friend or “partner.” It’s a big misunderstanding on his part.
What’s important here is that as Germany confronts his relationship with Italy, he comes to realize how he had normalized hostile relationships. His relationship with Italy confused him because he hadn’t been used to experiencing something so pleasant or “fun.”
Additionally, Italy causes Germany to experience emotions that he’s never felt before. He never felt anxiety on the battlefield, meanwhile, his friendship with Italy causes him to experience it. Even more extreme, is that he’s uncertain if what he experiences with Italy is happiness.
How I interpret this is that war was something that Germany was used to; receiving unequivocal affection was foreign and strange to him, which would explain why it produced so much panic and confusion. Similarly, happiness was not something he had learned. He’s experiencing it for the first time.
The last thing I want to mention here is how Germany’s anger shifts to a frustration over being confused.
As Germany experiences these new emotions – confusion, shame, happy, and heartbeat– he gets angry as a result of his inability to process/ handle them properly.
Ex: Germany getting mad at Italy for flirting with girls, as he had mistakenly perceived their dinner to be a date. The ellipses are extremely important here as it demonstrates how overwhelmed he is.
These new emotions make him feel vulnerable and confused, resulting in him losing his composure. For someone as ordered as Germany, losing this sense of composure is terrifying, especially since he doesn’t like to show weakness.
This refusal to show weakness still persists in modern times. Perhaps this is yet another link to his do-or-die war-ridden past – it’s a primal instinct.
Ex: I find it interesting that when Germany experiences confusion at Italy’s behaviour, it’s his mind that explodes.
Ex: When Germany’s misunderstanding is taken a step further and he proposes to Italy, the shame of the event is enough to cause him to blackout. We are then introduced to a pan-in on his brain, which reveals another surplus of emotions that Germany is experiencing for the first time.
The progress in Germany’s character, then, is that as Italy inadvertently helps Germany learn how to form trusting relationships, Germany’s inherent hostility and distrust of others disappears. This is especially the case following both world wars, as he no longer has to keep up his guard.
Another problem that Germany faced was that even when he attempted to reciprocate Italy’s affection, he came across as angry and intimidating.
Ex: Germany scares Italy just by asking him if he’s all right after a training session and if he needs anything to drink. Italy interprets this as Germany being angry with him.
Germany’s softer side and his difficulty in expressing it:
The irony with Germany is that even though he learned how to get over the majority of his anger and hostility, he has trouble expressing himself.
While he may have mellowed out and calmed down considerably…
…he still comes off as angry and troubled to others.
On top of that, he also has trouble smiling. It’s something that doesn’t come naturally to him. Just like he read a manual on relationships, he’s once shown to be reading a manual on how to smile properly. It’s something that he’s still working on and isn’t very easy to undo. Point is, he’s trying.
Ex: He still has difficulty receiving praise from others.
That said, I want to end this by pointing out that however poorly Germany expresses himself, his actions are what is truly important in proving how sweet and considerate he is.
Ex: He loves baking, especially with friends.
Ex: He’ll come to his friends’ aid without any question or deliberation, no matter how ridiculous the request.
Ex: He worries about others more than himself. This is especially relevant when you consider that he’s pretty much holding up the EU.
All in all, to portray Germany as a strictly angry character doesn’t do his personality any justice.
Yes, he may have been an angry and hostile character, but you have to situate that with his childhood and understand that he’s evolved past his initial distrust of others. Germany has always been an inherently kind person – all it took was another person, Italy, to bring this side out of him.
It’s a tedious process, but Germany’s slowly opening himself up more and more as the strips progress. For a person who was born in a primal environment, of course it’s going to take some emotional priming before he’s truly ready to show all sides of himself.
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