(Commonwealth of Puerto Rico)

Puerto Rico is a fanmade character for Hetalia Axis Powers. His name is often shortened to PR or Rico, most of his siblings call him Borinquen or Borikén. His human name is Marcos Borikén De Yuiza Y Agüeybana Maldonado but he'll often shorten it to Marcos Maldonado or Marcos De Loiza Y Maldonado for legal reasons.

Appearance
He is average height and has a bronze complexion. His dark brown hair is normally styled in a faux hawk taper fade with a shaved design on the sides. His aqua eyes represent the highest concentration of bioluminescent water in the world and glow in the dark. Slim but muscular and a bit underweight, Puerto Rico's body is filled with scars from his days as slave and military colony. Most of the recent scars/wounds are of the natural disasters that have plagued the archipelago, others are from his time of sugar plantation labor and US colonialism. He is often seen wearing his 65th Infantry Regiment Uniform, also known as the Borinqueneers, or his Puerto Rican National Guard uniform. Casually, he'll wear a shirt with rolled-up sleeves or t-shirt and ripped jeans with Nike sneakers or running shoes. Nothing he wears is without a PR flag somewhere or Taino tribute.

Personality & Interests
He is described as warm, hard-working, and sociable at best. Loud, crazy, and violent at worst. He is closest to the Greater Antilles; specifically, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haití, and Cuba. But he considers everyone of the Caribbean Antilles his family, including the US Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands. He also considers the Lucayan Archipelago and Bermuda as family as well. It's just who he is, he makes his own family.

He speaks quickly, so quick that sometimes the people around him don't know what he's saying. He hangs out the most with Cuba and Dominican Republic, which are two of his oldest siblings. Recently, he's been hanging around Jamaica and Haití a bit more.

Calm is not in his vocabulary. He is never calm. He always carries his firearm around and sometimes his machete as well. Now, Puerto Rico doesn't take crap from anybody so if you aren't the US or someone he cares about, he's going to at least punch you and walk away or at most shoot you and walk away. This type of behavior is what gets him describe as violent and has increased significantly since 2017.

He's an amazing cook and loves seasoning his food. Pasteles, arroz con gandules, lechón, pernil, mofongo, rellenos de papa, pastelón, plátanos maduros, asopao, empanadillas, alcapurrias, arroz con dulce, flanes, tembleque, tostones, etc. He knows how to make any and all Puerto Rican food and enjoys making food for visitors. He also knows how to make rum. You'll only catch him eating candy from Dulzura Borincana. He's great with coffee too.

He enjoys a lot of music that celebrates his cultural heritage. Bomba, salsa, plena, reggaeton, rumba, classical, danza, jazz, and jíbaro are the ones he dances and listens to the most. Each genre is an important part of his heritage. (Ex. Bomba is a celebration of his African American heritage and Plena blends in with his wide cultural background, including Taíno.) His favorite instruments are the Quatro, Güiro, Requinto, Maracas, and the Bordonua. But he also loves to play the palitos, trumpets, panderos, and pandereta.

The reason he is described as crazy is because of his tendency to take part in dangerous activities. Well, dangerous to the others but not to him. He loves climbing, hiking, cliff-diving, ziplining, and basically anything that provides a good thrill. In terms of sports, he loves boxing but plays baseball and basketball the most. At the beach, he'll be surfing, kiteboarding, or paddleboarding, it'll depend on what beach he's gone to. While he spends most of his time on the main island, Puerto Rico visits Vieques, Culebra, and Mona yearly. He likes to do all these things with at least one of the Caribbean Antilles with him, but sometimes he'll drag some Latin American countries with him too.

Why is he described as loud? He's Puerto Rican, what else was expected. But he does grow quiet at the mention of past events, sometimes even mute. Recently, he's had increasing trouble with his anxiety and PTSD. He'll be jumpy during hurricane season.

He keeps his mind off his mental health by distracting himself. He loves going to festivals and events all around his archipelago, like the Ponce Vejigante Festival, the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress, Saborea, Three Kings Day in Juana Díaz, the Casals Festival, and more.

Cuba
Puerto Rico's older brother and one of his closest family members. They've known each other for a long time and are around each other a lot. They are always together during meetings and Puerto Rico normally sits beside both him and Dominican Republic. The three also love to play baseball together and are very competitive with each other about almost everything.

Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico's older sister and also one of his closes family members. They have a competitive sibling relationship as everybody likes to compare them to each other. That doesn't ruin their love for each other as brother and sister, they're both always there for each other when needed. If PR is feeling like going on a parranda, he'll be inviting DR.

America
It is a complicated relationship. If you look behind the layers of their history, it can get really ugly. (Ex. Ponce Massacre, Gag Law, US-Appointed Governors on PR, and a lot more. Recommend reading 'War Against All Puerto Ricans' by Nelson Denis.) But Puerto Rico knows the Mainland America people are very generous and has witnessed it himself on the islands so he doesn't hate the nation. Puerto Rico's there if US ever needs someone to talk to and has his back.

Spain
There is no hatred but there is resentment and awkwardness. It is not because of who Spain is but because of what the people he left in the Puerto Rican archipelago did. Spain didn't take Puerto Rico back with him to Europe, nor did Puerto Rico see Spain that often during his time as a military colony, so PR doesn't consider him a father-figure. Puerto Rico just avoids Spain as much as possible. When they do have to talk, it is very awkward.

Jamaica
Puerto Rico's older sister and currently his closest family member. He tells her everything, from his mental issues to his past struggles. (Ex. The Jamaica Hospital Medical Center sent mental health professionals on a disaster relief mission to Puerto Rico in response to the string of earthquakes that struck PR in late 2019 and 2020.) This is why he's been hanging around her a bit more.

Haití
Puerto Rico's older sister and a close family member. Puerto Rico looks up to Haití for her perseverance. In times of struggle, he'll find comfort in talking to her since they're experiences can be quiet similar. Though they both love to challenge each other with their machetes.

United Arab Emirates
Recently, the company of ToroVerde has brought these two together. Puerto Rico is very social and friendly as long as you don't piss him off so it is no surprise that he befriended UAE. For Puerto Rico, UAE is a nice change of pace from his usual Latin and Caribbean companions.

England and the UK
He gets along well with most of the UK brothers, Scotland and Wales don't scold him for drinking while underage. Northern Ireland is also a good drinking partner. He has to get along with England since some of the Caribbean Antilles see him as a father-figure. The reason he knows all of them is because of their relations to the Caribbean but he and England have known each other for a long time. He's got a few scars from the many times they've met on the battlefield in the countless attempts the Englishman has tried to take the Puerto Rican archipelago.

Ireland
He gets along well with Ireland. They have a positive history with each other so Puerto Rico has no trouble hanging out with him. Puerto Rico also finds interest in Irish culture.

France & the Netherlands
Pretty much the same as England. Except a bit more positive because Puerto Rico is genuinely fine with both of them. Neither of them invaded the Puerto Rican archipelago as much as England. Puerto Rico encountered both of them more times at sea while he was assigned to protect other Spanish colonies in the Caribbean waters. Despite their many negative encounters, they've all put that behind them, since both are seen as father-figures to some of the Caribbean Antilles. Plus, he's no longer a Spanish colony.

The US Colonies
Guam, US Virgin Islands, Northern Marianna Islands, and American Samoa are all brothers to Puerto Rico. He considers them family and tries to keep as much contact with them as possible. When it comes to colonial struggles, he talks to them the most.

Latin America & The Caribbean Antilles
He loves all of them. No matter how many fights they have, they are family to him. He tries his best to keep good relations personally because he cares. But he's been having trouble with that recently.

Trivia

 * He doesn't have a specific birthday but he celebrates like it is his birthday nearly every day. If he did have to pick, it'd the second Tuesday of July which is when the National Puerto Rican Day Parade takes place in New York. US get's him tickets to it every year, it's a good bonding day for them.
 * As mentioned before, his glow-in-the-dark aqua eyes represent his bioluminescent waters. Puerto Rico has the highest concentration of bioluminescent waters in the world.
 * He carries a neck gaiter with him at all times. He uses it often for different activities and jobs.
 * Puerto Rico is not suicidal but the thoughts do bother him. He's been getting them since 2017 and they haven't gone away.
 * His surnames are a tribute to Taíno caciques. He changed his name from Juan to Marcos when he became a US colony. Maldonado is a tribute to a 7-year-old girl that got shot in the back in the Ponce Massacre.