Maria-Clara de la Cruz

  '''[ Admin's Notice: I've locked this page down due to excessive vandalism. The creator may contact me regarding editing or removal. LittleIreland (talk) 21:14, October 21, 2012 (UTC) ]'''

Philippines is a fanmade character for the anime and web comic, Hetalia Axis Powers. She represents the Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. Her human name is Maria Clara de la Cruz or Maria for short.

Appearance
Maria has dark gold eyes and long, black (or dark brown) wavy hair. She is often seen in a traditional Baro't Saya or occasionally in a Maria Clara. She has the physical features of an Asian and a little bit of Latin (result of Spain's 300-year colonialization). Together, she has a small frame, but is curvy. She is a little bit shorter than Honda Kiku (Japan). When she was a child she was mistaken for a boy by Spain until she hit puberty. She started to have some feminine features which was reported by Mexico while helping Philippines change into her (boy) clothes. From that day on she started to wear a a dress, as instructed by Spain.



Personality and Interests
Maria is outspoken, can be very stubborn sometimes and is known for her love of mangoes, hospitality, and her violent edge. She is said to be rather tsundere, as commented by Kiku. Whenever a country betrays her, she starts to have extreme backpains (reference to backstabbing). It is thought that she appears to be very frightening when mad. She has been trained in many things that allow her a great advantage against her opponent. Even so, she tends to be very gullible and fails to read the atmosphere, which is why other countries bully her. Maria is very fond of food, especially Filipino dishes. She loves making all the food so she could give it to others. Food also seems to be one of the things that can cheer her up when she is depressed or calm her down when she's angry.She loves waking up early in the Morning to start work and she tends to sleep in the afternoon because of this. Although she appears happy-go-lucky around other countries, she can be quite serious when she's alone, often thinking about her economy and politics.

Maria is deathly afraid of spiders. She also has a deep fear of Duendes (mythical Philippine dwarves). At first, she did not believe in them, until one day she accidentally destroyed a Duende's home. Because of that she ended up having terrible luck that lasted for a long while. Note: Arthur can see these little dwarves and finds them quite interesting.

China (Wang Yao)
Main Article: China

Yao was the earliest of Maria's friends and traded with him back in the days. Yao took a liking to Maria and tried teaching her about the Chinese way. Then Antonio discovered her and swept her away from him. Yao tried to fight back but failed miserably due to lack of resources. But Maria still carries a lot of his teachings to this day and still greatly cares for him. She still enjoys visiting him, but they usually end up fighting about something in the past. Normally, they argue about the ownership of Spratly's.

In the Early days before Spain, China had the tendency to call Philippines, "Ma-I" or "Maniolas" meaning "Beautiful Islands". Also she earned the name "The Golden Isles" from both China and Spain, due to the abundant gold being found around her Islands.There were rumours between Philippines and China where she once traded a big rock of gold to China for some herbs.

Spain (Antonio Fernandez Carriedo)
Main Article: Spain

Maria was raised by Spain for a long time which resulted in her inheriting a lot of traits from him, such as her guitar skills and love of fiestas. Spain's eternal legacy, however, would be Catholicism.

When Spain invited Piri to stay with him and Romano, she greatly accepted. Although, after staying with them, she began to realize that she was being treated like a maid. At first, she ignored it, but as time went on, she became more rebellious. She had also decided to leave Spain's household when she saw that Romano was extremely jealous. Antonio was slightly overprotective when it came to the other nations trying to conquer her (note: Netherlands once tried to take her away from Spain, which resulted in war between him and Spain). In turn, she is fairly affectionate toward him, and thinks of him as a fatherly figure. Nowadays, they maintain a platonic relationship. Maria was also named 'the Philippines' because of Spain, and King Phillip. She was somewhat traumatized when her name was changed from 'Tawalisi', but she decided to let it go.

When Philippines Celebrated her 100th birthday Spain Visited her and (reluctantly) congratulated her for her 100th year independence from Spain. Spain even tried convincing her of making Spanish her official language again.

Mexico (Juan Carlos Fernandez Carriedo)
Juan was introduced by Antonio to Maria as his "Little Sister" when she was discovered. He did fair trade with Maria in her early Spanish-colonial days as she was an important strategy point for good business. He and Maria liked to spend a lot of time with each other, exchanging more than just objects. They shared ideas and dreams. Juan also developed a crush on her, one that might have not fully disappeared to this day. It was because her who inspired him to try to break off Antonio and declare himself an independent country. Even after all that, they still maintain a close "sibling" bond in modern day.

Juan and Maria tend to be very close when they were under Spain. Mexico had planned to help the Philippines gain independence from Spain, but failed because of Spain's tight hold on her after his independence. After numerous failed attempts on his plans to help The Philippines to gain Independence Mexico's people quoted "The Philippine people are very strong, let's not underestimate them. Let us just pray for their future successful Independence".

''Note: Mexico's human name is unconfirmed, but the above is commonly used. Others include: Alfonso Hernandez and Alejandro Fernandez''

United States of America (Alfred F. Jones)
Main Article: America 

America took Philippines away from the Spanish house and taught her his ways. Maria used to idolize America so much to the fact that she adapted some of his culture, such as eating hamburgers and drinking pop. Alfred is her best trading partner and a lot of stuff in her house are from America. She doesn't like to admit it but it's quite obvious that she still relies on him a lot. Maria thinks that she somehow eternally indebted to Alfred because of everything he has done for her, such as helping her gain independence. So whenever he visits, she welcomes him joyfully. Even though he tends to exploit her kindness, she looks forward to his visits. She doesn't want to admit it, but she had a "little" crush on Alfred, however all those feelings were demolished when she realized that he had taken away her independence. She now highly respects him and tends to call him "Kuya" (meaning older brother).

When Philippines discovered that she wasn't completely independent she got really angry at America for breaking his promise of helping her to gain independence. It angered her even more when one of America's soldiers shot one of her soldiers which led to the Philippine-American War. This was stopped when America noticed that Philippines was badly wounded and he didn't want to hurt her any further seeing her state. When Kiku attacked her vital region (Manila City) during WWII, both of them weren't visibly prepared which forced America to leave a greatly weakened Maria but promised that he will return for her.

On modern day, America and Maria built a strong bond.

Australia (Jett Kirkland)
Steve had helped Maria alongside Alfred in WWII. Maria is very grateful towards him as well and always enjoys his visits. Together, they supported Timor Leste's recognition as an independent country and as a member of ASEAN. Maria also notes (quite reluctantly) that he looks a lot like Antonio.

''Note: Australia's human name is unconfirmed. The above is a commonly used fan term. Others include : Bruce/Cody Walters  || Jack/Steve Kirkland''

Japan (Honda Kiku)
Main Article: Japan 

After Antonio and Alfred were just about ready to give her independence, Japan conquered her. He managed to seize her vita then tried to drive out Alfred, Douglas McArthur promised "I shall return". With Maria's hope of near independence shattered, Kiku was then faced with the prospect of a very hostile Maria. He tried to win her trust and offered her gifts, but she simply threw them away. Even though they have a rough past, they maintain a healthy friendship in modern days but Maria still remains traumatized by his katana, since the Japanese soldiers used katanas to execute or torture POWs in the most horrible of ways. During WWII Japan granted her a republic status while still having control over her. "Me a Republic? I rather consider this a Puppet Government than a Republic". Kiku had a tight hold over her during the war which caused Taiwan to be slightly jealous of Maria since he fought hard to prevent Spain and America from reclaiming her. He reluctantly surrendered her to America and because of the damages that he made, it took a long time for Maria to forgive him. The two countries weren't in good relations for many decades after the war, and Maria's boss had re-established diplomatic relations with Kiku without her agreeing. She gradually learned to forgive Kiku little by little and the latter did his part by apologizing for everything that he did to her during the war. But, what really made Piri reluctant to forgiving was that, when they both were being 'taught' by China in their past, the two already had a brother-sister relationship. When she saw her so-called 'brother' come to take her over, she was devastated.

They have good relations on modern times with Kiku being one of Maria's biggest trading partners along with Alfred and other European countries. Even though she already forgave him, she can't help but become bitter when she's reminded of the things that Kiku did to her. Kiku and Maria are now what society considers today as "otakus". Also, sometimes, Philippines calls Japan "Kuya", because of how Japan takes care of her like a little sister, as mentioned earlier.

United Kingdom (Arthur Kirkland)
Main Article: England

England endured a short stay with Maria, three years to be exact. When Antonio found out, he became outraged and fought hard to drive the British out. Arthur fought back with equal vigor but eventually gave up as he saw the losses being made. Maria may not remember very well, but she occasionally has a recollection of Arthur's time, so she acts kind towards him whenever they meet.

While Spain was still settling himself with the Philippines, England discovered the southern islands of the Philippines known as Mindanao. He even tried colonizing Mindanao but failed, due to Mindanao being over protective of his territories and last remaining kingdoms.

When England failed to fully colonize the Philippines as his own he tried to be very close to her through trade thus earning the position of the biggest trading partner of the Philippines outside of Spain in the 19th Century.

During WWII Philippines quoted,"I should have Allied myself to England instead of America", mostly because during that time America was visibly unprepared for war while England was already ready for war, and he was known to be a very strong country.

Also, when he had successfully conquered Manila, the Philippines's capital, he had discovered that Piri was in a similar position to America. When she had told England that she was unsure of Spain's ownership over her, he told her, "Well, everyone deserves their freedom. If it's not given to them, they fight back. And whoever 'owns' the person who is fighting them should accept that too. But if the war just continues... then don't give up until it comes to you." After telling her all this, England had actually left the next day, leaving Piri to think about what he said. This may be the biggest reason why she had decided to confront Spain's way of treating her, and her persistence when rebelling against America and Japan as well.

see more info at Anglo-Filipino Relations

Canada (Matthew Williams)
Main Article: Canada

Despite the fact they don't have much history together, Maria and Matthew formed a close relationship when Maria was still extremely close to Alfred. She had noticed him right away and unlike most, she somehow immediately knew how to distinguish one brother from another, and with that Matthew became friends with her. He treats her like a sister. He is thankful for the nurses and caregivers that Maria sends to his house so that his citizens get quality healthcare, thus he prefers her nurses over other nationalities. Maria enjoys his visits, and Matthew enjoys hers. But he has to keep some distance from her sometimes just so that Alfred won't get too jealous.

N. Italy (Feliciano Vargas)
Main Article: N. Italy

Maria and Feliciano grew up together, thus Feliciano calls her "sister" or "sorella". Maria has many OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) sent to Italy, majority of them being female. Feliciano likes it when she comes over to cook and always asks her to make pizza or pasta for him. He is very friendly towards Maria, in turn, joyfully makes any dish he wants. She never gets tired of making his recipes as she enjoys them as much as he does. But, they can get into heated arguments when debating on whether pasta or pancit is better...

S. Italy (Lovino Vargas)
Main Article: S. Italy 

Like Feliciano, Lovino and Maria grew up together under Spain's house. They used to argue about whether tomatoes or mangoes are better. After Antonio brought Maria home, he treated her like a princess; thus Lovino grew jealous of her and grew up having negative feelings towards her. But over time he grew into liking her because of her personality and positivity towards all things, her cooking, and sleeping on her chest felt like--- umm nevermind. She always followed behind Antonio and copied whatever he did to be like him, which Romano found cute though he would never admit it. Lovino grew fond of her and developed a "crush" on her, but was crushed when she decided to go back to her own home. His feelings subsided, and when they met again in the future, Piri told him why she moved away, making him blush and throw a fit.