Matthew Williams
From Hetalia Archives
| Matthew Williams マシュー・ウィリアムズ | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Represents: | Canada |
| Age: | Unknown |
| Gender: | Male |
| Birthday: | July 01 |
| Hair Color: | Blond/Orange (manga), Dark Blond (anime) |
| Eye Color: | Violet (manga), Blue (anime) |
| Height: | Unknown |
| First Appearance (Manga): | Fly, Canada-san, Fly! (Separate strips), Hetalia Axis Powers: Vol.1 (Published manga) |
| First Appearance (Anime): | Episode 19 |
| Last Appearance (Manga): | N/A |
| Last Appearance (Anime): | N/A |
| Japanese VA: | Katsuyuki Konishi |
| English VA: | N/A |
Matthew Williams is a character in the series Axis Powers Hetalia/Hetalia: Axis Powers. He represents the country Canada (カナダ,Kanada) and is the brother of Alfred F.Jones (America).
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[edit] Appearance
His hair is wavy, and depicted at times as being two-toned: A lighter blond on top, with more of an orange (or darker blond) shade on the bottom and tips. He has violet eyes, though they have also been colored blue in some of the official art featuring him. At least one figurine depicts him with completely orange hair.
Matthew wears a heavy tan winter coat and pants as his military uniform, though when he's dressed casual, he is usually shown wearing a red hoodie with the Canadian flag emblem, and a pair of jeans. Like his brother, Matthew wears glasses, though he also sports a pair of goggles on his head at times (such as when wearing his uniform). The picture at the right depicts him in his younger days, presumably in his early teens.
[edit] Personality And Interests
In contrast to Alfred, Matthew is shy, sensitive, and hates fighting. Despite this, he is often mistaken for his brother and has found himself in trouble for incidents that Alfred has caused. When he's not being mistaken for his brother, all the other nations seem to forget that he exists. He is also passive aggressive and was once able to make Alfred cry by arguing with him for over three hours and pointing out every single one of his faults.
He has a pet polar bear named Kumajirou, but even it forgets about him. In return, Matthew can't ever remember his bear's exact name.
[edit] Relationships
[edit] Alfred F.Jones (America)
Main Article: Alfred F.Jones
The two brothers grew up separately as children, until Arthur eventually took Matthew on a trip to meet Alfred, who wound up becoming bored with him and forgetting him shortly into their first meeting.
In their adulthood, Alfred is the source of his constant troubles, due to the fact that people get his identity mixed up and he gets blamed for fights that Alfred started. But when the two had an argument, Matthew was able to reduce Alfred to tears when he went on a 3-hour rant about all of his flaws.
[edit] Cuba
Main Article: Cuba
Cuba, as well as numerous other nations, initially mistook Matthew for Alfred and beat him up. Later, he apologized with a peace offering of ice cream. The two get along well, though Cuba still sometimes mistakes Matthew for his brother.
[edit] In The Anime
Matthew and Kumajirou appear briefly in Episode 19, at an Allied Forces meeting. But due to Matthew's "invisibility effect", the other Allies do not realize that he's there with them.
He makes an appearance after the credits of Episode 34, and turns up late for a G8 meeting in Episode 35, though none of the countries realize he's missing. After the credits, he is tormented by Cuba after being mistaken for Alfred.
His design was slightly altered for the anime, with his eyes changed to blue and his hair drawn slightly shorter and straighter, as well as colored dark blond and missing its gradient effect.
He is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi, who also voices Alfred in the anime. In an interview with PASH magazine, Konishi said that he played Matthew's voice as very quiet and "barely above a whisper", in contrast to the louder Alfred.
[edit] Trivia
- His birthday, July 1st, corresponds to the national holiday of Canada Day, when Canada first became independent on July 1st, 1867. Although, full independence wasn't gained until August 1982.
- There is no definite source for his first name, Matthew. Across Canada, 'Matthew' has been a greatly popular name for newborns in recent decades, often in the top three most frequently given first names. Coincidentally or not, the caravel sailed by John Cabot from Bristol to North America in 1497 was named Matthew. John Cabot and his crew are thought to have reached somewhere in Newfoundland (unusually, not a province of Canada until 1949). In fanworks, his name is occasionally spelled "Matthieu" or "Mathieu", acknowledging past and present French influence on Canada.
- Interestingly, Canada receives many different spellings and pronunciations for his first name, possibly as a nod to Canada's multicultural heritage and policies. For example, while English speaking countries use "Matthew" (Alfred often uses "Mattie" in the fandom), Francophone countries use "Matthieu" (following France's lead). Meanwhile, Slavic countries (such as Russia, but especially Ukraine) use "Matvey", Germanic countries use "Matthias" (such as Holland or the Nordics), and Latin countries use "Matteo", or some variation.
- It is a source of debate as to whether Alfred or Matthew is the older of the two brothers. Though Matthew is often thought of as the younger one, Hidekaz Himaruya has yet to confirm the age difference between the two. A common fanon assumption is that the two are twins, due to their similarities and the fact that Matthew is easily mistaken for Alfred (due to having the same face), though the two do not share the same day of birth.
- Some parts of the fandom assert that the nation's birthdays merely refer to their date of independence or unification, and that a "nation" may not have an official birthday in the same sense as humans, thus making the lack of a same birthday a non-issue. For example, both Matthew and Alfred existed as colonies for an undefined period of time, fought over between France and England. It's possible, according to some fans, that Canada and America were born before then and could thus be "twin nations", with their birthdays being mere formalities that appeared when each gained independence.
