Note: This post will explore the mystery behind why Russia covers his neck. This isn’t a theory, as I use facts to come up with a speculation that, while probable, hasn’t been substantiated in canon. I find it very important to distinguish between facts, theories, headcanons, and opinions.
What’s the deal with Russia’s heart?:
I know, I know. This post is about Russia’s neck, but I have to do some backtracking first.
All right. In canon, it’s normal for Russia’s heart to spontaneously burst out from his chest.
In earlier posts, I’ve speculated that this acts as a metaphor for how Russia’s conception of love has been equated with violence.
He grew up being routinely conquered and chased after.
Not only that, but General Winter – who acted as Russia’s de facto parent figure due to the protection he provided the latter with – also attacked [abused] Russia on an annual basis [x].
As such, what Russia grew to understand as love and friendship became irreparably warped.
Ex: He thinks that anyone he meets is his friend. This includes General Winter, his abuser.
Ex: He uses violence as a solution to his problems. He’s normalized it [x].
In conjunction with the first reason, I also believe that Russia’s heart falling out so violently symbolizes being cut up from the inside. Since the personification’s body is a physical representation of their nation’s landmass, this would relate to the act of partitioning and being partitioned. The heart and soul of a nation are tarnished upon being conquered.
Ex: Russia’s hobby during WW2 is partitioning Poland [x].
Ex: When he exerts political pressure on Japan, notice how Russia sends a heart. Again, I interpret this as another example where Russia has conflated love and violence [aggression], confusing the two of them.
As many others in the fandom have pointed out, there is a mystery surrounding why Russia takes great lengths to cover his neck, most notably with his scarf. It’s not just his neck, but I’ll get back to that in a moment.
Originally, the scarf was a gift given to him by Ukraine. While she wanted him to keep warm, she also did this to get him to make Kiev successful in return.
On the other hand, the scarf has taken on a much darker meaning in Russia’s adulthood.
Ex: In Italy’s Chest Test Series, instead of his usual scarf, Russia’s wearing bandages around his neck [x].
Ex: In the History Copy Book, there’s a strange panel with an angle that reveals Russia wearing a single bandage around his neck [x].
What I haven’t seen people mention is that it’s not just his neck that Russia tries to cover.
1) He’s often spotted clutching his chest, an action that I believe is done to prevent his heart from falling out.
2) Russia takes great lengths to cover his chest too [x] [x].
Putting this all together:
The answer I have that possibly explains all this isn’t grandiose or complicated. It’s simply medical. I think that by covering up his chest and neck, Russia’s concealing the physiological effects of heart failure. The heart failure here is his heart falling out.
Conditions like Congestive Heart Failure occur when the heart is unable to pump enough blood to give your body the sufficient oxygen it needs. A symptom of this failure in the right side of the heart can cause bulging tube-like veins to appear on the right side of the neck – jugular vein distention.
If that’s the case, then no wonder Russia wants to cover up his neck. Not to mention that he would without a doubt have massive scars and damaged unhealed tissue from his heart popping in and out like a revolving door.
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