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PLAYER INFORMATION
Your Name: Alyssa
OOC Journal: emo_viking_ji
Under 18? Nope.
Email + IM: adaniellec@yahoo.com + andalltheworlds @AIM
Characters Played at Ataraxion: N/A
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Ivan Braginski | Russia
Canon: Axis Powers Hetalia
Original or Alternate Universe: N/A
Canon Point: Modern
Number: 133
Setting: Here
History:
Russia is an old nation, and his history could be very, very, long, so I’m going to be vague in some of the places I touch upon. If there are any comments please ask!
Russia’s history starts early, sometime in the 800s when the Varingian Rus reached Kiev. However, the “Russ” state at Novgorod is when Russia’s people and lands truly started forming and that is not till around 862. The people were simply a loose conglomerate and not really nation material just yet, and for these earliest parts of his life, Russia and his two sisters basically wandered the lands. They were still very small in form and had nothing to do with any loose governments that had formed around Novgorod and other places. The capital move to Kiev in 882 drew them closer to their people enough so that they built themselves a small little house on the outskirts of town. They still didn’t really interact with the rulers of Kieven Rus, but up through the next few centuries until the Golden Horde invades in 1237 they are drawn closer and accept parts of their nation business. For Russia, this happens more when in 1169 the capital moves to Vladimir, which is by Moscow.
As stated before, the Golden Horde invades and devastates Kieven Rus from 1237-1240, and from this point onwards through 1380 Russian land is under the Tartars’ rule. This means that in essence Russia was with the Golden Horde and kept like a little pet until the other nation-man got tired of him and foisted him off to his people. This is, ultimately, part of the Golden Horde’s undoing as it led to Rus being able to grow up a bit with his own people and while he was not exactly out of a child’s body he had grown some. It was enough for his people to rise up and throw out the Golden Horde and form the Grand Duchy of Moscow. They were still a tributary to the Golden Horde until 1480, however, so Russia was still not completely his own yet.
Now, the Grand Duchy of Moscow lasted up until 1547 when Ivan IV (Hint: There are a lot of Ivans.) takes the throne and becomes the first official Tsar of the Tsardom of Russia. So we have about 200 hundred years, where Russia’s people conquer and annex surrounding lands such as the Novgorod Republic and the Grand Duchy of Tver. Ivan III adopted the title tsar, and also claimed “Ruler of all Rus” as his title. For 43 years Russia was ruled by Ivan III and it lead to his territory tripling in size and the ability to successfully campaign again the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which was a major rival power at this time. In addition, Russia became known as the “Third Rome” through his ruler’s marriage to the niece of Byzantium’s last emperor. In 1500, Russia is actually able to defeat Lithuania and take lands away from him; something the next ruler also succeeds in doing and gains lands all the way to the Dniepr River. This river just so happens to be one of the major rivers in Europe and it allowed Russia to open up trade down the line.
So basically, Muscovy was a period of strengthening and growth for Russia. Speaking in age, he was in about his preteens at this time. He manages to grow a bit more during the Tsardom, enough to hit that awkward teenage stage, which he only manages to grow out of during his time as an empire. Stuck as a teenager for centuries, this is why we do not envy nations.
Moving on, the Tsardom was declared and led by Ivan IV, who is perhaps better known as Ivan the Terrible. Ivan IV expands Russia’s lands even further and begins the task of annexing Siberia. We could explain more on Ivan the Terrible, but really all you need to know is he created a treaty with England, added more lands, created a new set of laws and a rural government, oh and there was a reign of terror somewhere in there.
Around 1589 the Russian Orthodox Church becomes independent and kicks the other orthodox churches to the curb, this is significant only in the fact that the Orthodox shaped Russian culture from the Keiven Rus conversion for a millennium. It’s not until the Soviet Union goes Atheist that the Orthodoxy has to go underground. The majority of Rus’ people practices underground, and switch holidays and traditions around to be able to keep practicing their faith. Russia himself does not follow his people’s example and loses faith in any deities out there.
After a few Tartar raids on Moscow, and several years go by the Time of Troubles rears its head. This period can basically be explained away by a lot of fake Dmitri’s and also a lot of dead Dmitri’s. Simply put, the heirs to the throne have all either been killed, plague’d, famine or died long since. When things turn very Russian and the cold weather led to famine, famine led to economic collapse as refugees from the outer provinces fled into Moscow to take advantage of government relief efforts, disorganization and depopulation led to banditry, the Cossacks on the frontier grew restless, starvation and plagues broke out in the cities everyone blamed the not very popular ruler.
So, Russia is in a panic trying to find the new heir when all out of the blue, Poland comes trotting up on his pony and declares he has Dmitri, an heir, back home. Which is great and all, but really, Russia was pretty sure this guy had died a while back. Through shenanigans, and a dead Dmitri and the current ruler of Russia later, Poland invades and it’s with the help of Sweden that Russia manages to drive away Poland, and a second Dmitri he’d dug up out of the woodwork. The guy who’d got put on the throne, a highly unpopular member of the National Assembly, was forced to abdicate. The second Dmitri didn’t take the throne however, because Poland had a brilliant plan.
Said plan was for his prince to rule Russia.
Now, Sweden had some beef with Poland around that time, and this was not cool in his boat. So what does he do? He turns around and declares that Dmitri was with him all along.
So they go to war.
But Poland isn’t done just yet. He decides that hey, it would totally be cool if his prince didn’t become Tsar, but his king became the king of Russia instead. Okay, so we’ve got Catholic Poles controlling Moscow and Smolensk. Protestant Swedes occupying Novgorod. The throne is still empty, the National Assembly is feuding amongst themselves, and two rival imposters, a prince, and a king are all vying for the tsardom. Elsewhere in Russia, banditry and starvation has brought the country to his knees.
Sounds like a pretty hopeless situation, doesn’t it? How on earth does he bring himself out of this?
Basically? A huge surge in patriotism. No, seriously. The dismal state of the nation basically convinced everyone from the peasants to the oligarchs that they really needed to band together as Russians and throw these guys out.
So they did.
Once the Russian resistance had gained an efficient leader, the sheer ferocity of the resistance shocked the occupiers and Russian cities were quickly reclaimed with only a few land losses to end the war. These lands would be gained back over the next centuries however. This whole thing led up to the start of Romanov rule, and they would be Russia’s ruling family to the death of their line in 1917 with the end of the Empire.
But we have yet to truly reach the empire yet. See, it doesn’t start till Peter I takes the throne in 1689. Peter the Great, as he’s known more commonly, is one of the most influential leaders of Russia. He developed it from a still medieval state that had yet to go through the renaissance the rest of Europe went through, and opens up Russia to Western culture. He develops the nation into a then modern power, and creates a new Capital that will be called the “Window to the West” and later on Leninsburg.
This capital is St. Petersburg.
This growth and modernization is enough to send Russia through a growth spurt, and through Peter, and Catherine’s rule he grows until he reaches the extent of his growth a bit before Napoleon’s invasion.
Peter did a lot for the nation, including starting Russia's first newspaper and editing the first issue himself, raising woman's status by having them attend social gatherings, ordered the nobles to give up their traditional clothes for Western fashions and also requiring they shave off their beards. He advanced Russian education by opening a school of navigation and introducing schools for the arts and sciences while also reorganizing and reforming the Russian armed forces and created a modern navy modeled on European practices.
Also, he introduced potatoes. Yay, Potatoes.
Peter’s death in 1725 does not spell the end for the growth of the nation, but it does provide a running start for Russia to grow and prosper. During this time is when Russia is able to interact the most with the rest of the world for the first time in his life, but he finds himself increasingly different from the others and not as easy to integrate into modern society in other countries. He’s sort of that country bumpkin trying to make it big in a capital city. It doesn’t really work out too well. Also during this time there are a lot of pretty constant wars with Turkey, Prussia, Poland, France and Britain, and Russia has actually grown enough at this time to be able to join the war front. So he does, and it’s here that he sharpens his capabilities both as a soldier and a nation. This basically dominates his life for the next several decades off and on.
Catherine II’s rule is really the next big milestone, as she turns Russian into one of the strongest powers in Continental Europe; but really, we’re not interested in her are we?
Because in 1812, Napoleon invades, and Russia follows the scorched earth strategy by burning down Moscow to force him back. With General Winter’s help, and the Russian peasants’ guerrilla warfare, thousands of French soldiers are taken down and driven out.
Badass, am I right?
So we have Russia, burning down his capitol to drive back France, who had been something of a mentor to him a century or so ago. Ultimately, this just strengthens his distrust of the other nations.
Even with Napoleon out of the picture, however, Russia is not done with war. For the next several decades various wars and campaigns sweep Europe and Russia continues to gather land and power until WWI rears its ugly head and drags Europe down with it.
WWI is essentially not very successful for Russia to put it lightly. In the beginning, it starts out with devastating military loses at Masurian Lakes and Tannenburg and greatly weakens the Russian army in the very first stages of the war. Lending more damage to the moral of the people was Rasputin’s growing influence over the royal family. Russia spent WWI split between the battlefields and at home, but he too, like the vast majority of his people did not trust Rasputin and his influence over the tsarina. The stirrings of rebellion were getting louder, and Russia was split between both sides. On one hand, his royals had been there since day one, he’d seen them grown up, and been there all their lives, but the people are intrinsically tied to him and his psyche. So in the end, he caves in and follows the revolution.
In January of 1905 protestors gathered at the gates of the palace. They were peaceful striking workers, however the palace guards and Russian troops stationed there fired on the workers, wounding and killing hundreds. This event, “Bloody Sunday”, cracked Russia’s mentality both because of the strain his people killing their kin caused, and because Russia himself shot out into the crowds. In canon he is seen telling Lithuania that they “don’t want children who don’t behave.” It is my personal belief that he was the first person who shot into the crowd, and his shot found purchase. It is because of this, that his heart falls out occasionally. It represents all the things that he and his bosses have done to his people and land. Canon Russia seems to accept it, and state that it’s just a thing that happens but it is also a reminder of how things were.
After 1905, Russia is never quite the same. He’s able to keep himself together for the most part and go to war like a good little soldier, but he has moments when he slips and goes off the deep end, causing unnecessary violence and almost delighting in it. He feels remorse once the moment passes, but each one becomes longer and eventually, by the time Stain has gained control of the Union, Russia is almost always in one of his more insane moods.
The 1917 overthrow of the monarchy and their following execution is possibly a furthering cause of this, but while he was there for the Romanov’s deaths, he did not personally kill them. The death of the monarchy doesn’t exactly stop the problems in Russia at this time. There’s still civil war going on, even though the nation is under Lenin’s control and stability is not something that seems on the horizon. With the Red Terror pushed forward by Stalin, and the communist party itself getting purged for three years and five million dying of famine nothing seems secure. The formation of the USSR in 1922 seems as if it will lend more stability but Stalin taking power and collectivizing agriculture and starting up industrialization doesn’t help and famine strikes once more. For almost twenty years after this, Stalin’s Great Purge kills millions. This and the upcoming WWII means that Russia is a very sick nation. Famine strikes hard, and not even a nation can escape that.
Russia had an alliance with Germany around this time, and they invade Poland together, throwing the world into WWII, however, in 1941 Russia is betrayed and Germany invades. Once more, Russia relies on the scorched earth policy, and it’s with remarkably similar instances that Napoleon faced that Russia is able to drive out Germany. It is not without casualty however, millions were killed and it left Russia weak and thirsty for revenge.
Which he got.
Pushing the Germans out of his heartlands meant that they had nowhere but towards Germany to go and Russia kept pressing them backwards, capturing and holding the lands between them for the Union. Russia himself was vicious in his pursuit, and he does eventually manage to catch up with Germany. With the end of WWII Russia rises to the position of a superpower, and this also kicks off the Cold War. Insert nuclear threats, arms races, space races and just all out tension between Russia and America for the next half a century and you get the picture. There’s a lot more detail I could go into this because it was obviously a big deal between not only Russia and America, but the rest of the world who basically had to wait on pins and needles to see if the two superpowers would unleash nuclear annihilation on each other and the world.
By the time of Khrushchev’s reign, Russia was a little better at holding in and controlling the moments of insanity and had scaled them back from a pretty much constant thing, to a maybe half the time thing. This goes hand in hand with the thaw in the Cold War, though the Cuban Missile Crisis and the end of the thaw does not help much. When the battles pick up in Korea and Vietnam, Russia simply picks up his gun and heads out once more. He’s gotten remarkably used to being a dog of war of the years and finds it rather easy to slip on indifferent and apathetic masks to deal with things. In a sense, he never shows his true self, because he’s been taught and forced into shoving his emotions and reactions down so nobody can get to them and hurt him. Russia is incredibly guarded, and he doesn’t trust easily. This is offset by his dream to live happily with everyone in a warm place filled with sunflowers. But again, it makes perfect sense because one of Russia’s biggest fears is being left all alone. During his time as the Soviet Union, he tried to combat this by “hoarding” other nations, in a sense. For a while it worked and his house was full of others, but they didn’t truly want to be there and fought to get away. Eventually they succeeded, and one by one everyone left Russia behind as they once more gained independence. He fought this fiercely, and sometimes in an over the top manner, but it didn’t matter because his government was crashing and he could not keep everyone together.
So they left, and he fell.
In December of 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and Russia’s economy was down in the dumps. Mobsters took over and he found the corruption inescapable. It does not help when in 1998 the stock market crashes and Russia’s economy once more takes a swan dive into the deep end. But Russia has been slowly working himself up and as of modern day he’s doing relatively okay. He’s gotten a hold of those insane bouts, and while he does sometimes slip into them, they do not last as long nor are they as intense. That said, some things have definitely not changed. Russia still very much enjoys creeping up on the Baltic brothers and has a rivalry of some sort with America who doesn’t believe Russia when he says that he’s not actually communist anymore. Usually spouting something about “Once a Commie always a Commie.”
Personality:
Russia is not an easily overlooked character. This is mostly because despite his “sweet and innocent face” he’s always got a semi-creepy aura around him. In the comic and anime this is shown by purple waves emanating from his body. These waves are usually accompanied by a crazed look and a chorus of an odd ‘KolKolKol’ laughter. Even when he isn’t going crazy like this he gives off an uneasy vibe which-when coupled with his sometimes childlike personality- seems almost worse.
Russia’s past has not been the best, and because of the strain it held on him his mentality fractured. It was not until the “Bloody Sunday” horror, however, that his mind truly cracked. He reverted to a childlike persona to hide himself from the horrors he had seen and committed. This mask grew stronger and more prominent with the World wars and all the deaths he felt. However, it was not till Stalin’s reign that he succumbed to feelings of worthlessness and self-loathing. All of this compounded and his mentality fractured. His mind split into pieces. It’s during this time that he was at his cruelest. In the manga he was shown to have physically abused Lithuania but Russia himself is unaware of his malicious actions.
Either way, from this point on he swiveled from an extremely childlike persona, a meek, subservient one usually only brought on by his boss, a cold, sharp persona and a shadow of his former self. In fact, it’s quite possible that he had developed a form of multiple personality disorder. This disorder was heaviest while Stalin was alive, but continued on until the fall of the Soviet Union. After the fall his personality switches became less intense, and occurred less often. These personality switches still occur now days, and are usually brought on by intense emotion. He sometimes has flashbacks and slips into his childlike persona most easily at times.
Now that Russia’s crazy factor has been explained it’s easier to delve into the ‘man behind the mask’. Russia’s pretty good at pulling up a stoic mask, mostly because of the things that happened to him in the past and the fact that he’s been schooled to show no weakness. Lately he’s been able to smile a bit more naturally but he still keeps his emotions very tight to his chest. If he trusts you enough- something that’s pretty hard to accomplish- then he is willing to show his true emotions and not cover everything up with an ever present smile and twisting words. It’s rare, but it does happen every so often.
A major part of Russia’s personality are taken up by his abandonment issues and his want to have tons of people around him, unfortunately for him his past and his creep factor tend to scare away the others. His sisters too do not stay with him, Ukraine is often kept away because she owes him something (like gas money) or her boss has forbidden her from giving him anything. Belarus is a bit of a different issue, mostly because she has a strange, overbearing obsession for him and wants him to marry her. Russia is often scared away from his youngest sister even if he does still care for her. Despite these things his dream is to one day live with everyone in a warm place with sunflowers.
Russia is an intelligent nation-man, and mighty observant, but he can also be childishly naïve at times. He’s got a lot of childish possessiveness and if he has some one under his rule, so to say, he doesn’t like to share. He tends to hoard people in a sense, and is extremely protective of those he deems as his.
Russia learned to rely on himself after the Mongol invasion and thus, he trained extensively to become strong enough to protect himself, his sisters, and his people. Because of this he became a strong warrior and developed a calculating outlook on people. Russia was already quite intelligent, but through his training he started to develop a strategist side. He can look at people the way that chess masters look at pawns, and sometimes is a firm believer in “For the greater good.”
The cold war brought about a great amount of paranoia in Russia. This has not fully gone away, for instance he still carries a TT30 on his person at all times. Another thing the Cold War truly drew out was Russia’s intimidation factor. Beforehand he’d been regarded with suspicion and some fear, but that doubled during the Cold War. Even years after the Soviet Union’s fall, Russia is still regarded with suspicion and fear. This isn’t helped by the fact that despite being a part of Eurasia he was pretty much always separated from the other countries due to his land’s coldness and such. His lands are part of Europe, and part of Asia, but he doesn’t really seem to belong to either of them so he finds himself within his own little corner of the world. This helps to make it so he doesn’t really understand the other nations, and they don’t really understand him. He doesn’t really have good relationships with the majority of them, and they in turn distrust and scurry away from him.
Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:
Because he is a nation, Russia is stronger and a bit more resilient that your normal human. He has slightly faster healing abilities and can re-attach limbs if need be. However he can still be wounded and depending on his economy and the state of his landmass this healing can be the same as human’s or longer. He’s had lots of practice with a shashka and firearms as well as his pipe. Because of his experience in battle situations, he’s particularly good at keeping his mind clear when things are chaotic.
As for weaknesses, he’s incredibly paranoid, and likely to react first ask later. This doesn’t always work out well for him.
Inventory:
His faucet-pipe and a half-empty flask of vodka.
Appearance: Here
Age: Physically 21, but he’s considerably older.
SAMPLES
Log Sample:
The first thing that registers is the cold.
It takes a moment for Russia to open his eyes, mind too hazy to panic just yet, and he sluggishly presses his hands flat against the plane of glass in front of him. There’s a mechanical whirr in the background, the sound of draining liquid, and Russia gags when a breathing tube he hadn’t even noticed pulls away from his throat.
And then he’s falling, falling from what seems like such a great height but the ground is close and it doesn’t really hurt just a dull throbbing pain as he curls up on the floor, shivering and trying to wipe the drying blue liquid off his skin. The world is clearing up now that he’s out of the glass cage, enough that he’s panicking, pushing himself up off the ground and stumbling into a wall with all the grace of a downed animal.
He’s not sure how he got here, or even where here is, but it doesn’t matter because he has to get out. Escape is the only thing on Russia’s mind and even then it’s a static, chopped notion. Something that doesn’t exactly flow and he’s always been good at keeping his mind clear in desperate situations, what were they drugging his blood with? But there’s a door looming up ahead, all lit up with the promise of maybe escape, maybe answers, and he leans into it, hands scrambling to open the door and when it swings open he catches sight of the tattooed numbers inside his forearm as he tumbles to the floor once more. For a second he stares, heart hammering in his chest as possible implications race through his slowly clearing mind and then he’s surging up on unsteady legs, eyeing the lockers surrounding him.
It doesn’t take a genius to connect the locker numbers to the tattoo on the inside of his forearm and within moments Russia’s slipping into the jumpsuit his locker holds. He grabs the communicator and after fiddling with it for a moment manages to turn it on. The message he receives is unsatisfactory, and he takes his time heading over to the elevator. He meddles with it some more as he steps past the opening doors, but gets nothing else.
The communicator’s static buzzes in his ears as the blue elevator doors close with a click.
Comms Sample:
[The communicator buzzes with fading static and sound as Russia wearily glances about, leaving the video on this strange little device turned off. The disorientation hasn’t fully worn off and he’d rather not let whoever was here see him with weak.]
I’m hoping this is some elaborate prank someone decided to pull, and I did not wake up in a glass tube straight out of one of America’s silly little sci-fi movies in some attempted kidnap attempt. I am not in the mood for such foolish attempts, nor do I wish to hear blabbering about said kidnapping.
You will tell me exactly what it is you want with me, whoever you are, and send me back or you better start praying to your deities to spare you.
[He scoffs, voice tight and strained from the anger he’s trying unsuccessfully to hold back. There’s a rustle as he settles in the little corner he’s currently occupying and he lets his voice go sugar sweet.]
I will be merciful, children, if you come forth. It’s really in your best interests not to keep me waiting.