Francis Bonnefoy

**Francis Bonnefoy** is a main character from the anime/manga series, *Hetalia*. He also appears in the *Tea Leaves* series. He is the personification of France and is part of the allies with America, Great Britain, Russia, and China.

## Appearance and Personality

### Appearance

Francis has shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes, and has a slight amount of facial hair which he believes makes him look like a "big brother" (it is said to represent the Gorges du Tarn, or Tarn Gorges). He wears a long blue coat and matching capelet, with red pants and brown boots. He is often depicted with a rose, which is also used to censor his genitals in his nude scenes.

When Francis initially appeared in the webcomic, his hair was drawn shorter and less wavy, but was drawn longer over time as the art style changed and evolved. He also originally wore white spats over his boots, a detail that was dropped in later artwork.

### Personality

Francis was once a large nation, but after Napoleon Bonaparte had died, he was no longer good in wars and instead attracted tourists to his country with his wine. He has an intense rivalry with Arthur, and loves to argue with him over trivial topics (one example is arguing over "who is more perverted"). His hobbies are manipulation activities, agriculture, fashion design, sketching, singing, and telephones, as well as wandering around the art museums and fashion boutiques of Paris. He likes places that are a little odd or chic.

Francis is infatuated with most of the nations and is known to make blatant sexual comments at every opportunity and is very affectionate, often shown streaking or touching other nations inappropriately. He is attracted to beautiful things, which include men and women of any age (supported by statements such as "Sure, I'll settle for boys! Boys are the best!" and "This onii-san here loves pure and innocent children like you." in response to a fan not knowing the meaning of the term "tachi") and maybe even some non-human beings. He said "be gentle to the ladies and be gentle to the earth" is his motto. He has admitted to being "the dandiest among the dandies." He loves himself so much that he does not bother to remember English and considers French the "language of love." In addition, he has referred to the others as insignificant characters.

He likes men who have exquisite bodies and give him a good impression, and has no preference in their personalities, so long as they are not loud like Arthur. He said he would like cool but passionate women, and might latch on best to someone who is good at singing. He also mentioned, in response to that the French supposedly fall in love due to other's body odors, that a faint, flowery scent could have him curled up in pleasure.

He stated that he is afraid of computers, Ludwig (and that he supposedly hates Germans in general, despite that he seems to get along with both brothers as of recent), Ivan, Basch, whenever Arthur is angry, and possibly Sadik. He stated this through a response to a fan, thus over the computer, and that doing so was bad enough for him. It seems that gardening relaxes him, and that he is not intimidated by other technologies, as he claimed to be playing "Bokosuka", a video game, with Ludwig and Arthur. In response to another fan suggesting their lack of will to stand near him because of his overbearing scent, he stated that he only wore a little perfume.

He has referenced his old age several times, saying things like how his waist is always creaking, his back hurts, and that he had to surrender to sleep early in the day. Despite this, he gets upset when said that he is a grandpa as opposed to a big brother, and claims he is still young.

## Back Story

Francis first appears at the world meeting in Episode 01, opting to disagree with both Alfred and Arthur in their argument.

After being left out of the second Allied Forces meeting in Episode 10, Francis reflects on his history of past "victories," insisting that he was successful a long time ago.

## Storyline History

### Tea Leaves and Silver Rings

Despite only catching the tail end of the Woman in Red's reign, Francis still remembers the terror and suffering his country was dragged into. He only saw her once. He couldn't remember much about that encounter, but Francis could remember seeing her gray eyes and freaking out. In present day, he hoped that he would never have to encounter that again.

Francis walks home one day through a park that he likes to frequent and notices that there are no birds singing. He encounters a woman that notices the same thing. Francis begins to have a flashback of the Woman in Red about to be sealed in the Land of the Dead and becomes ill. The French man ends up excusing himself and going home.

### Tea Leaves and Opal Necklaces

Francis starts to notice that something is wrong with Arthur. The Englishman would walk by him when he would start teasing him. When the Frenchman asked him what was wrong, Arthur pushed him away and walk off.

In "Confessional", Arthur stops by his house late one night. Francis gives him warm milk and asks about his well-being. The Englishman tells him that he was a great guy even though he found him annoying that he's sorry in the past. The Frenchman becomes worried when Arthur bids him farewell and walks away. Later, Francis starts to have strange memories from a past life.

### Tea Leaves and Sapphire Earrings

Francis visits Feliciano in his home. He seems to notice that something is not right. He later meets an old madam in a cafe and starts to have strange memories about a past life when he talks to her.

### Tea Leaves and Purple Robes

Alfred introduces his new daughter to the countries at the next meeting. Francis asks if he's going to name the baby something like Supergirl or Wonder Woman. The American man says no and names the baby Florence. Francis greets Feliciano outside of the building before the world meeting. The exchange is short but it gives the French man the creeps. Francis notices that something is wrong with Arthur when he acts like he's a puppet on strings.

### Tea Leaves and Black Lipstick

Francis is visiting a neighbor during a fog. He notices that something is wrong. He asks her what is wrong. The neighbor tells him about a website that her son was visiting. She was on his laptop because she was waiting for her new charge chord to come in. Francis and the neighbor come across a cursed game for the website. He reads it aloud. The mother figures it all out. Turns out, her son is mad at his father for leaving his mother. The son wanted revenge. Francis tells her to talk to him.

## Relationships

### Roderich Edelstein

*Main Article: Roderich Edelstein*

Not much is known about these two's relationship, although in Big Brother France And The Frying Pan! Francis is seen outside Roderich's window, ranting about how much he desires him, and talking about how good looking and talented Roderich is. In the Christmas Rampage 2007 strips, he also tricks Roderich into stripping down in order to get Elizabeta a hat, yet this may have only been to make Gilbert feel better. In Hetalia: World Series Episode 25 of the anime it is stated that France and Austria do not get along.

### Arthur Kirkland

*Main Article: Arthur Kirkland*

Despite both being members of the Allied forces, Arthur and Francis have a deep-rooted historical rivalry between them. While they can be seen to constantly argue with each other over the littlest things (like language and culture), they appear to have a level of respect for each other and are quick to team up with each other if a third party should enter the argument. Francis even tried to marry Arthur to save his country once, though neither of them really wanted it. In strips focusing on Arthur's childhood, he is often shown being picked on by a preteen Francis, who, on one occasion, scoffs at him for not growing his hair long - and when Arthur's long hair turns out a mess, Francis teases him by saying he will cut it into a "cool" style - by cutting it back to the style he had before. In Crossing Through the Year 1000, the two younger countries are fooled into believing that the world will soon be over, and Arthur agrees to let Francis pretend to have conquered him, since it is only for a little while. They later reminisce about their childhood when Kiku makes the same mistake. In the movie Hetalia: Paint it White, they said that "they have an undesirable relationship, but indestructible in their heart; they get along very well".

### Ludwig

*Main Article: Ludwig*

The state of their relationship depends on the specified time period however, generally, like Arthur, Ludwig and Francis have a history of being one another's enemies, and as such the two do not seem to get along. In Let's Think About The G8 members, when Ludwig suggested Francis be removed from the group, he argued that they had been actually getting along well recently. In Kusogame, the two and Alfred went to a maid cafe in Kiku together. Both are set in the present day. During his April Fools sitejacking, he seemed to know a fair amount about him, especially that he, like Feliciano, often ran around naked, thus he needed a different idea of what to do to him as he had been stripping the others (in the end he forced him into a maid cosplay and cat ears).

### Feliciano Vargas

*Main Article: Feliciano Vargas*

Francis grew up with a small Chibitalia, but after Chibitalia returned from spending time with Roman Empire, Francis only wanted to control him. Feliciano refers to Francis as "France nii-chan" in strips set in both the past and present. Once Feliciano had grown into a teenager, he visited Francis again, resulting in the older man suddenly becoming enthusiastically attracted to him. During the visit, Feliciano saw the word "intercourse" in a book and asked him what the definition was. Francis replied by saying that intercourse is something you do with someone you like, then proceeded to ask "So Italy, do you like me?" (This was changed in the anime to Francis using body language to express the meaning of intercourse). Francis seems to have a soft spot for Italy, becoming frantic when Arthur suggests they spread rumors about Feliciano and responding with "I know he's kind of dumb, and he's weak and useless, but he's not a bad guy...". He then proceeds to break down in tears, causing Arthur to note that Francis, while always insulting Ludwig, never really brings himself to badmouth Italy.

### Monaco

Monaco acts as a younger sister to Francis and is solely dependent on him for economic and diplomatic strength, as well as intervention in other affairs. Due to this, Monaco often accepts his various requests.

### Seychelles

*Main Article: Seychelles*

In the Gakuen Hetalia universe, it is revealed (via flashback) that he helped raise her as a child, while in the present day he carries an affection for her and attempts to undress her, much to her shock and embarrassment, apparently to see what her body has become like.

Their relationship in the mainstream Hetalia universe has not been mentioned, outside of Francis appearing with her in Shipwrecked and an illustration in Christmas Rampage 2007, which depicts him groping Seychelles.

### Antonio Fernández Carriedo

*Main Article: Antonio Fernández Carriedo*

The two get along rather well, having grown up and fought in wars together, though Antonio remains oblivious to Franics' more perverted tendencies and cannot see why Lovino hates him. It is said in production notes by Himaruya that their relationship is actually undesirable, yet the two remain inseparable. Recently, it seems Antonio is aware that Franics is a bad influence on him, calling him "despicable" before defeating him in The Battle of Garigliano with the help of his pet bull. Franics' first bird named Pierre is used for communication with him.

## Trivia

* His birthdate (July 14th) corresponds with the date of the French national holiday known as Bastille Day, a celebration of the anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille.
* In notes included in the special edition booklet for Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 3, Himaruya stated that Francis was originally meant to look more middle-aged, and that he was intended to have a completely suave personality. The "older", shorter-haired design could be seen in early chapters of the webcomic, but faded as the style changed.
* Francis shares both Japanese and English voice actors, Masaya Onosaka and J. Michael Tatum respectively, with Issac Dian, a character from the anime Baccano!.

## Source

* Basic Information: http://hetalia.kitawiki.net/index.php?title=France