Ivan Braginski

**Ivan Braginski** is a character from the manga series *Hetalia* and the *Tea Leaves* series. He is the personification of Russia and part of the Allies with America, Britain, France, and China.

## Appearance and Personality

### Appearance

Ivan is the tallest of the Allies, as well as the tallest of all the nations alongside Berwald. Ivan wears a long, heavy tan coat, dark green pants, brown gloves, and a long tan or pink scarf; in the mini-drama CD included with his character album, he mentions to Kiku that his scarf is a body part and therefore he cannot take it off. This, though, might just be an excuse so he will not have to take it off, seeing as how he didn't wear it as a small child before Katyusha gave it to him, and that in some artwork he is actually seen with it off. He has a round, childish face with a more prominent nose, and tends to carry around a bottle of vodka, a sunflower, or a faucet pipe. His hair is a light beige-blond, and his eyes are violet (purple), though they were initially colored blue in early color artwork by Hidekaz Himaruya.

### Personality

A large young man who is seemingly big-hearted and innocent, but is in reality childishly cruel often coming off as villainous to those who fear him. He comes off as intimidating without even saying a word, his gentle smile and disposition only intensifying the aura of dread which seems to constantly hang over him. In a recent profile from the third volume of the published manga, Russia was described as gentle and naive, and not malicious, but insane. Russia ends many of his sentences with 'da', the Russian word for 'yes', although in Japanese it is often used to confirm the topic of the sentence, as an informal form of 'desu', the ubiquitous form of 'to be'.

He has been tormented since his childhood, having seen many tragedies and wars, which have cracked his mentality, making him more easy to sympathize for. General Winter haunts and attacks him every year, which has caused him to hate the cold. However, in the face of war, General Winter is his best ally. He dreams of one day living in a warm place surrounded by sunflowers.

Though he is capable of being incredibly cruel-minded, Russia himself is unaware of it, and truly means well. Whenever he thinks of either of his sisters, he becomes very depressed.

## Back Story

Ivan appears at the meeting in Episode 01, stating that he only wants to see a troubled Lithuania come running back to him. His plan is quickly thwarted by Felkis, who threatened to make his capital Warsaw.

In Episode 42 Ivan introduces us to his family, adapting the strip *Russia's Older And Younger Sisters*.

Ivan's design is relatively the same in the anime adaptation, though the color of his scarf was changed from tan to pink. His hair is also colored more beige than blonde.

## Storyline History

### Tea Leaves and Red Silk

Ivan is the one who helps Yao Wang bring down Junjie Zhong. He had Toris look up information in the police files and hospital records in China. Yao is grateful, but it is implied that there is a price for this information when Ivan asks him if he will keep up his end of the bargain.

### Tea Leaves and Silver Rings

Turns out, Lin Yi Ling is going to marry Ivan while Wang Ja Long was going to be his new butler. So far, he's been treating them kindly. Ivan hasn't made any sexual advances toward Lin Yi before the wedding. They marry during the Halloween special. Ivan doesn't seem fazed as he waits for the wedding to unfold. On wedding night, he tries to sleep with his new bride, but she got sick and ended up throwing up in the bathroom and breaking down crying.

Later, Ivan gets the call that the Woman in Red is coming back. He is the only country that acts calm and is amazed that Doctor Kitano was able to act on his words. Ivan then calls a meeting with his colleagues to discussion what to do next in the "game".

In "Tina", Ivan is seen boarding a plane to Ikebukuro to pay the semi-annual visit to the Tandeki Group to see the progress of Project Tadpole. He doesn't get why his boss asked him to bring Lin Yi along, but he decided to let her visit Kiku. Ivan also can't get why the research tem he is travelling with is so interested in wanting more involvement in the project or why they want to buy Chirin when Kinato-sensei refuses to let them do both. Still, they all board the plane when it touches down in Moscow.

When his party gets to Ikebukuro, they are greeted by a woman wearing a pearl necklace and a man in a black fur coat. While the research team goes to Rampo Biotech, Ivan takes Lin Yi to visit Kiku. After he drops her off, he rejoins his party.

### Tea Leaves and Opal Necklaces

Ivan is seen with the group, Vozrozhdeniye, in Ikebukuro checking up on the Tadpole project. They are greeted by Aya Otomo and Izaya Orihara and shown inside of Rampo Biotech. He doesn't share the same interest as the rest of the time. He's there because his boss says that he has to. Afterwards, Ivan picks up Lin Yi and they head back home to Russia. Ivan is later seen in a meeting with Vozrozhdeniye about what to do since Kitano won't hand over the tadpoles. It is him that suggests that they create a species that can counter them and then work from there. Ivan starts to have strange memories from a past life.

Ivan is in another Vozrozhdeniye meeting. He doesn't really care about their game and knows a little bit about each member. He begins to wonder who the true leader is.

### Tea Leaves and Diamond Bracelets

Ivan is starting to have visions of himself in a mental hospital back in the 1950's. He hears the voices in his head in this vision and there is a woman taking care of him. Meanwhile, Ivan still isn't too interested in Vozrozhdeniye's plans for the Apocalypse game. Then Fydor sends him a message saying that he would like to speak with him in private. Ivan hasn't been telling his wife or sister what's been going on with him lately.

Ivan still has visions as Vozrozhdeniye creates a creature to counter the tadpoles. His boss tells him that it's his past life and not to worry about it. Later, Ivan lures a homeless woman into his car for the Vozrozhdeniye experiments. Vozrozhdeniye begins their experiments in Project Drioma. The whole time, Ivan begins to have flashbacks about his past life in a mental hospital as a patient around Christmastime. In "Kikimora", the project seems to be a success. Ivan asks how the test subject feels and she says that she feels good.

### Tea Leaves and Sapphire Earrings

Ivan is the only one who's not intimidated by Subject One. When she demands vodka, he tells her no and walks off after he checks on her. Ivan later meets up with his in-laws to talk about the problems with Kiku. Later, Ivan uses Wang Ja to look up information about Vozrozhdeniye and its leader. He comes across something rather interesting.

### Tea Leaves and Purple Robes

Alfred shows off his baby daughter, Florence J. Jones to the other nations. Ivan says that the baby is cute. Later, he asks Wang Ja what would happen if the Korean twins reunited. Wang Ja doesn't know and the Russian man dismisses him. Ivan talks to Yao on the phone because he can't seem to let it go. He asks the Chinese about how Im Yong is doing. Yao is confused by this. Ivan then asks if he's heard from Mi Soon. The Russian man warns him that a divided country will reunite. He oversees Vayla going to Japan. He doesn't really care about the project. Ivan has breakfast with his wife before heading off to Ikebukuro.

### Tea Leaves and Black Lipstick

Ivan goes to Ikebukuro with the rest of the group. They land in Narita Airport. Ivan left Li Yi enough money to go shopping and had Katyusha watching over her. He planned to call his wife when he made it to the hotel. Ivan, Alisa, and Kenya meet up in a coffee shop. They talk about Valya and the tadpoles ahead of the unveiling. He and the other two notice the shadows floating around the in café. It is clear that Tandeki has gotten further in the game than they have in the past. Ivan is there to witness Vayla's debut. He witnesses her flying from an abandoned rooftop. The debut is a success.

### Tea Leaves and Crimson Nails

Ivan gets a weird video in his email. He later goes to the party.

## Relationships

### Natalia Arlovskaya

*Main Article: Natalia Arlovskaya*

Although Natalia is Ivan's sister, she has a deep, obsessive love for him, to the point of stalking him and wanting him to marry her, but Ivan is terrified of her and does not return these feelings.

### Yao Wang

*Main Article: Yao Wang*

Though Ivan and Yao had a close relationship throughout their history, Yao is very suspicious and fearful of him, especially after the Sino-Soviet Split. In return, Ivan has been shown to stalk Yao, especially when disguised in a panda suit, and takes a very special interest in him.

### Toris Laurinaitis

*Main Article: Toris Laurinaitis*

In the past, Toris was Ivan's subordinate and is not-too-subtly hinted to be a victim of his abuse; Toris is once shown wearing a maid costume with Ivan lashing him with a whip in the While You Were Gone strip. In the present, Ivan wishes that Toris, along with the rest of the world, was "one with Russia". When he visited Alfred, who was taking care of Toris after WWI, he told America to be good to his 'ex'; but during the Great Depression, Toris returned to Ivan's home. Once, Ivan listened to Toris's dreams and went so far as to share his own of "living in a warm place with sunflowers"; soon after, Ivan allowed Toris to fall asleep on his shoulder, though he replaced himself with a panda when Toris awoke up the second time.

### Feliks Łukasiewicz

*Main Article: Feliks Łukasiewicz*

The two have argued with each other at least since the early 1600s, when Feliks succeeded in capturing Moscow. Ivan's revenge for this was taking part, together with Gilbert and Roderich, in the partitions of Feliks. In 1939, Ivan decided to partition Feliks again, this time in conjunction with Ludwig. Their relationship was further soured by the years of post-war Soviet domination.

It should be noted that Feliks is not afraid of Ivan; he actively defends Toris from Ivan, despite the inherent threat.

### Katyusha Braginskaya

*Main Article: Katyusha Braginskaya*

Ivan's older sister, who acted as mother to both him and Natalia. She has giant breasts that make sounds when she moves. She was also the one who gave Ivan his scarf. Though she wants to be with him again, she either winds up running away at the chance due to the issues that have arisen between them (such as paying for gas), or due to being blocked from seeing him in some way (such as her boss prohibiting her from seeing him). In his own way, Ivan also cares about her, describing her in quite fond terms in the manga.

### Wang Ja Long

*Main Article: Wang Ja Long*

Wang Ja Long is now Ivan's butler. So far, everything seems calm on the surface, but how long is that going to last?

## Trivia

* Due to his thick clothing and his tall, somewhat heavyset appearance in comparison to the other characters, a fan had asked Hidekaz Himaruya if Ivan was fat. The in-character answer from "Ivan" was that he was simply "big-boned". A later black-and-white sketch also depicts Ivan wearing a shirt that claims such.
* In the World War-set strips, Ivan technically represents the Soviet Republic, rather than the Russian Federation (as evidenced by his flag). However, Himaruya explained in liner notes that he was simply called Russia in the series due to it being cuter and the kana being simpler to write. His birthday being given as December 30th also corresponds with the date that the Soviet Union was founded. Although, another possibility for Russia's birthday could be June 12, as that date corresponds with the day the First Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation had adopted the State Sovereignty of the RSFSR on June 12, 1990. To this day, Russia Day is celebrated on June 12.
* While the flag used for Ivan is the Soviet flag in most of the webcomic, the published version of the manga, as well as the anime and merchandise, has opted to use the standard Russian flag.
* In response to a fan's question (circa 2007), Himaruya stated that Ivan is unaware of his own cruelty.
* In chapter four of the Hetalia manga, after a heart pops out of Ivan's chest, he claims it as his own, saying "it just pops out of me sometimes". Some fans see it as possibly symbolic of the heartbreak he's suffered in his time, or a representation of just how mentally damaged he is (while the other Allies are completely freaked out, Russia doesn't even seem to mind that his own heart is literally falling out.)
* Notes in the special edition booklet for Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 3 revealed that Ivan was originally intended to be dark-haired and middle-aged in appearance, as well as being a meek crybaby whose personality would reverse when he was drunk. However, Himaruya noted that he didn't like the plans, and made a new design from scratch when it came time for the Allies to appear.
* The instrumental part of his Marukaite Chikyuu is from "Коробейники/Korobeiniki" a Russian folk song popularized outside of Russia because of its use in Tetris.

## Source

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