Hello, Readers ~

This side chapter is dedicated to explaining the human ages of my States of America OCs. Note that I'm not an expert when it comes to the aging of countries in Hetalia, and that disagreements are understandable, so long as it's respectful. Anyway, feel free to read this side chapter if interested.

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Human ages in Hetalia are more or less complicated. Sure, there are official ages for some characters like America being around 19 years old, and Italy and Germany being around 20 years old. As to why Himaruya chose such ages, I do not know. It's been estimated these human ages are based on the foundation of the country and how long that country existed. Even so, there's still some confusion as to how aging works in Hetalia. Overall, human ages in Hetalia is a complex topic worthy of discussion.

To begin, let's start with birthdays.

Birthdays for nations in Hetalia are simply listed as a month and a day. Such dates are usually significant to a nation's formation. For America, it's July 4th in relation to the day the Declaration of Independence was signed. For Italy, it's March 17th in relation to the day the Count of Cavour united the Italian Peninsula (most of it anyway). For Germany, it's October 3rd in relation to the reunification of Germany in 1990. While such dates are reasonable as birthdays, they don't necessarily explain a personification's exact birth or age.

Let's look at the historic timeline in Hetalia. Italy's youngest appearance was during the reign of the Roman Empire whose rule ended up getting split around 395 AD. As for America, his youngest appearance is assumed to be around the creation of Jamestown which happened in 1607. As for Germany, his youngest appearance should be around 1871 upon the creation of the German Empire. Note that Germany is a special case in a sense he (spoilers) was formerly known as the Holy Roman Empire (it's complicated) whom was formed around 800 AD. Plus, his birthday doesn't correspond to his creation which should've been on January 18th, but I digress.

Basically for those who are confused by those dates, let me put it this way. Despite being born over a thousand years before the foundation of America, Italy is only a year older than him. Exempting the Holy Roman Empire situation, Germany, having been created over two hundred years after the foundation of Jamestown, is a year older than America. In a weird way, it's even more shocking to know that the current Germany who started to pop up around the late 19th century is the same age as Italy who existed since the Roman Empire over a thousand years ago.

Like, what?

Once again, how and why Himaruya gave these characters their unique human ages is up for debate. I mean, he did list China as being 4000 years old while his birthday remains unclear so far. It's possible he hadn't thought this through, or, if he did have his reasons, it's currently unknown to me at least. One thing's certain, there aren't really any rules when it comes to giving characters and Hetalia OCs their human age.

Other than a significant date of their formation that's used for their birthday, Hetalia OCs come in an array of various human ages. For this side chapter, I'll be focusing on States of America OCs as this series is focused on the 50 States. Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

50 States OCs usually have young human ages. Most of them are depicted in their pre-teens with some being either younger or slightly older than that. Such ages are usually due to the fact such OCs to be America's children, thus it would make sense for them to be younger than the nation. However, I disagree with that headcanon. Instead, the 50 States OCs in this series are older than the ones depicted in the usual States of America fanfiction. This is mostly due to the fact some of these States were created prior or around America's creation, thus making them children didn't make sense to me.

How I decided their human ages is based around their foundation date and the date they joined the Union. Regarding the foundation date, it can be a little confusing to decide due to various factors such as the exact date of colonization (rather than exploration) and a State's previous form (territory, district, or nation). As for the Union date, I'm aware most creators tend to use that date for their 50 States' birthdays. In this fanfiction, I didn't really give them birthdays due to my belief of Union dates to be an anniversary of sorts. Even so, I do admit the foundation dates can be trickier to summarize and pinpoint when exactly a State is born.

With these two dates, it must be easy coming up with their ages, right? Not really to be honest. I thought it was easy to come up with an appropriate age for each State, but as I was writing the series I kept wondering if the age I chose for a particular character was appropriate. There were changes and tough decisions I've done to confirm each OC's human age. It wasn't until after organizing a list of possible ages with their "birthdays" was I able to get a clear idea on each OCs' human age.

To how I create the OCs' human ages, I divided a timeline of American history into sections and labeled each section with a number that would be their human age. According to a State's foundations and their statehood, that was how I came up with the their human ages. The divisions I made aren't equal in length since I want the ages to be somewhat understandable according to American history. Down below is a depiction on how I split the ages between the States:

Prior to 1600-1650: 22 Years Old

1650-1700: 21 Years Old

1700-1776: 20 Years Old

1776-1826: 19 Years Old

1826-1860: 18 Years Old

1860-1900: 17 Years Old

1900-1950: 16 Years Old

On a side note, I made an exception for Hawaii to be around 15 years old since I like a young Hawaii when in reality she's supposed to be the oldest for being created around 300 AD although I made two different Hawaii's (Ancient and Modern) which even then Hawaii should've been a little older around 16-18 years old. My creativity got in the way, and I ended up having the last state to join the Union be the youngest.

I don't mind anyone using this similar plan to come up with their own Hetalia OC(s). To anyone using this kind of example know that even after doing this plan I always made exceptions from this list. States like Louisiana and Florida I always made exceptions because of their prior history before joining the Union. As seen with my Hawaii OC, a creator's creativity is the end factor on the final results.

Before finishing the chapter, I like to talk about one more important subject regarding ages. That being aging and growth rate.

For example, America was born in the early 17th century. From Jamestown to the Declaration of Independence he turn, let's say, from a 3-5 year old child to a young adult around 17-18 years old. Using Italy as a similar example, he was born around the decline of the Roman Empire at around 3-5 years. Italy would eventually hit puberty under Austrian-Hungarian (Hapsburg) rule between 1526-1804. And then he would be a young adult during the Unification of the Italian Peninsula in 1861 at around say 18 years old before hitting his current age around 20 years old by World War II. These numbers are an estimate, so they aren't canon. The point of explaining the matter is to show a unique part of Hetalia.

Not only do personifications appear young for many years, but they grow at abnormal rates. And when writing over fifty plots with their own timelines, I take in the factor of the OC's human age regarding the event taking place. Growth is a complicated subject to show, especially in this type of fanfiction where stories take on various views at various points in American history. Even so, it helps to differentiate characters and show the differences from the then and now. Without growth, there wouldn't be much characterization which is essential in developing fleshed-out OCs.

It's assumed each nation's growth to be connected to the state of their economy. Many times throughout the manga and the show, it shows various instances just how much the economy influences a nation. If the economy is along depression levels, the nation would fall ill as seen with the Financial Crisis of 2007-2008. At the other end of the spectrum when the economy is booming, the nation is shown to be at its peak, strong and healthy. It also contributes the right conditions for literal growth.

This was made notable with America growing rather quickly in a short amount of time thanks to his home's plethora of resources and England's economic assistance, allowing the young nation to witness a growth spurt that even shocked England himself. As for Italy, he'd witnessed political turmoil, numerous wars, economic downturns, and his home being divided into many weaker regions along with parts of him being owned by other countries. By unification will Italy begin to grow at a stable rate and be at his current age. Because of this fact, I had to always consider the age the state was at during an event.

To anyone who has looked over the character sheets, know that the age listed only means the age they're currently at as of present. So whenever I do stories in the past, know that the OC may be younger than their current age.

For example, the Original Thirteen during England's colonial rule were pre-teens who became teenagers with the oldest among them being 18-19 years old by independence. Over time they grew, some growing faster than others, to where they reach their current age in present time. While the Original Thirteen is easy to explain, it isn't the same for other States.

For example, Texas would be around 3-5 years old in her beginnings before growing to a pre-teen thanks to Mexico's efforts to populate her. Tex would slowly age to around 14-15 years old by the Civil War before becoming 18 years old thanks to Spindle Top and the Oil Boom. Events like population booms and the discovery of natural resources can increase the aging process. I did my best to factor the amount of growth they'll have from such events, but I rarely do this for most of my OCs.

The main reason is due to some States having better growth than others, and it gets to the point where it becomes confusing. Can young States like California be as old as Virginia due to having an outstanding economy? Can older states like Rhode Island be younger than recent States like Washington due to a smaller growth rate compared to them? The point is economic growth doesn't mean older States rather than growth spurts. For States who have shown little to no growth in their economy, they age at a slow, constant rate compared to States who have a boom, aging in a short amount of time, but stay at that age for a long time. 

If possible, for anyone taking the time to include this factor in their Hetalia fanfiction, it's highly recommended to read the country's/state's history and estimate their growth alongside important events. As much as growth helps with character development, it's rather a difficult subject to incorporate, especially with fifty OCs. I know most States of American fanfiction don't do much research on the States or incorporate growth which I forgive in that aspect considering their works aren't really history based. For this fanfiction, however, I wanted to not only show each personifications' unique history, but I also want them to be memorable and detailed.

When writing growth into this series, it can be difficult to display, but I did my best to use language and perspective to note their age in the event or situation. When being referred as a boy, girl, man, woman, mister, madame, or whatever, this can indicate their position and relation to others around them. Other tips such as behavior changes are vital in showing their age, contrasting the then and now. Personality changes from childish to mature, optimistic to pessimistic, timid to daring, or even their relationship to others over time can indicate an OC's growth over the series. I'm not a writing expert, but such tips I've mentioned can improve a character to be more than a caricature. 

One disadvantage of this series is its design being one-shots of various characters, so character growth isn't shown in a continuous narrative. Anyone who is doing a story on a steady timeline while focusing on a specific cast may have an easier time displaying character development. For me, I like to focus on an event and have one to a "few" characters react in that specific situation. One-shots can be great in a sense that individual stories will have its own beginning and ending rather than rely on a long narrative. Even so, I'm always bound to make mistakes. 

It's quite possible I can make mistakes on the OCs' human ages according to the series. Events where they should be younger instead of older or the other way around I may mess up on, so when I do make a mistake I'll be sure to correct the errors and make the story more accurate as possible. Even if I have to rewrite the entire story, these stories are permanent and I want them to be perfect if possible. It will be a pain, but I like to correct the mistake at that moment rather than ignore the problem and not care.

In conclusion, human ages in Hetalia are complex. Pretty much anyone can be creative and have the freedom to make their OCs of any age they want. Even though I made my explanation on human ages for the 50 States complicated, nevertheless it's up to me, the creator, to decide the complexity of the OCs made.

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Below is a personal "rant", so I apologize to anyone who finds offense on the matter.

After seeing various States of America OCs and fanfiction, I became fascinated on how creators came up with such ages. I've seen states with ages as old as thirty to as young as five, and I find such decisions "unusual". Creativity is important when making OCs, but even then I'm always curious to why their Hetalia OCs are at such ages.

If there's anyone who has their own 50 States OCs or their own Hetalia OC(s), I would like to hear your reasons on why you chose such ages. This is a friendly discussion, so understandable disagreement is fine, but attacks and rude comments aren't okay. Anyway, thank you for reading the end notes, and feel free to continue reading this fanfiction.

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Feel free to vote or leave a comment on your thoughts of human ages in Hetalia here.