I've talked to some of my friends about this before, but I
thought it would make an interesting discussion topic.
I've noticed some variance in the fandom when it comes to
people's opinions on the heights of characters. In some of the
older character profiles, Hidekaz listed the heights of some of
the major characters.
Italy - 172 cm ~ 5'8"
Germany - 180 cm ~ 5'11"
Japan - 165 cm ~ 5'5"
America - 177 cm ~ 5'10"
England - 175 cm ~ 5'9"
France - 175 cm ~ 5'9"
Russia - 182 cm ~ 6'0"
China - 169 cm ~ 5'6½"
Now, I don't know about everyone else, but these heights don't
seem... right to me. They seem almost arbitrary, since they
look to me like they came directly from a chart of the average
heights of men in each nation. Which is an understandable way
to decide their heights, except they're drawn quite differently,
even in canon art.
Russia is generally depicted as though he's really tall and
looming over the others, but he's only 2-3 inches taller than
most of the other allies. France and America are shown as
notably taller than England, but he's the same height as France
and only an inch shorter than America.
This isn't the first time where the creator of a series has listed
the characters with things like heights or weights that seem
impractical. One of my friends was talking about a similar issue
with Bleach characters. An example that comes to mind for me
is Jean Grey from X-Men, who is listed as 5'6" and 115 lbs. 115
lbs. is not necessarily an unreasonable weight for a woman who
is 5'6", but speaking from my own height/weight, and knowledge
of the height/weight of friends of mine, for a woman to have
those stats, she would most likely be small-chested and have
very little muscle. And Jean Grey is often drawn with a huge
chest and quite a bit of muscle, the combination of which
makes that weight pretty unreasonable. But it is
understandable that someone whose body type was nothing like
hers (i.e. a male author) would not realize that the stats they
listed for the character aren't as accurate sounding as they
could be.
Similarly, it is understandable that Japanese authors could
perceive heights differently than people living in countries
where the people are taller on average. 6'0" may seem very tall
to a Japanese man, as well as many women (the average
height of a woman in the US is about 5'4"), but to the average
caucasian man, that isn't actually considered extremely tall.
So, I guess my point is that although I used to go by the
official heights, I've started to view the characters as heights
that seem more accurate to my friends and I.
England's height sounds about right to me. I know that some
people view him as shorter than that, but it really bugs me to
think of him as being short. He may be short in comparison to
some of the other allies, but I really think he'd be about
average height. When people depict him as shorter than that, it
seems like it's just to make him fit more into the whole uke
stereotype, which really bugs me (but I could write a whole
separate post about that).
For Russia to tower over people as he's depicted, I think he
would have to be at least 6'3" (190.5 cm). I tend to see him as
being somewhere around 6'5"-6'6" (195.6-198 cm).
I think America would be somewhere around 6'0"-6'2" (183-188
cm), considering how he's drawn in comparison to England and
Russia.
France would probably be around 5'10"-5'11" (178-180 cm),
since he's often drawn taller than England too, but not as much
so it seems.
I haven't put much thought into the heights of other
characters, but I think Germany should probably be taller than
he's listed, and Italy should probably be shorter.
TL;DR: How tall do you think the characters are?
thought it would make an interesting discussion topic.
I've noticed some variance in the fandom when it comes to
people's opinions on the heights of characters. In some of the
older character profiles, Hidekaz listed the heights of some of
the major characters.
Italy - 172 cm ~ 5'8"
Germany - 180 cm ~ 5'11"
Japan - 165 cm ~ 5'5"
America - 177 cm ~ 5'10"
England - 175 cm ~ 5'9"
France - 175 cm ~ 5'9"
Russia - 182 cm ~ 6'0"
China - 169 cm ~ 5'6½"
Now, I don't know about everyone else, but these heights don't
seem... right to me. They seem almost arbitrary, since they
look to me like they came directly from a chart of the average
heights of men in each nation. Which is an understandable way
to decide their heights, except they're drawn quite differently,
even in canon art.
Russia is generally depicted as though he's really tall and
looming over the others, but he's only 2-3 inches taller than
most of the other allies. France and America are shown as
notably taller than England, but he's the same height as France
and only an inch shorter than America.
This isn't the first time where the creator of a series has listed
the characters with things like heights or weights that seem
impractical. One of my friends was talking about a similar issue
with Bleach characters. An example that comes to mind for me
is Jean Grey from X-Men, who is listed as 5'6" and 115 lbs. 115
lbs. is not necessarily an unreasonable weight for a woman who
is 5'6", but speaking from my own height/weight, and knowledge
of the height/weight of friends of mine, for a woman to have
those stats, she would most likely be small-chested and have
very little muscle. And Jean Grey is often drawn with a huge
chest and quite a bit of muscle, the combination of which
makes that weight pretty unreasonable. But it is
understandable that someone whose body type was nothing like
hers (i.e. a male author) would not realize that the stats they
listed for the character aren't as accurate sounding as they
could be.
Similarly, it is understandable that Japanese authors could
perceive heights differently than people living in countries
where the people are taller on average. 6'0" may seem very tall
to a Japanese man, as well as many women (the average
height of a woman in the US is about 5'4"), but to the average
caucasian man, that isn't actually considered extremely tall.
So, I guess my point is that although I used to go by the
official heights, I've started to view the characters as heights
that seem more accurate to my friends and I.
England's height sounds about right to me. I know that some
people view him as shorter than that, but it really bugs me to
think of him as being short. He may be short in comparison to
some of the other allies, but I really think he'd be about
average height. When people depict him as shorter than that, it
seems like it's just to make him fit more into the whole uke
stereotype, which really bugs me (but I could write a whole
separate post about that).
For Russia to tower over people as he's depicted, I think he
would have to be at least 6'3" (190.5 cm). I tend to see him as
being somewhere around 6'5"-6'6" (195.6-198 cm).
I think America would be somewhere around 6'0"-6'2" (183-188
cm), considering how he's drawn in comparison to England and
Russia.
France would probably be around 5'10"-5'11" (178-180 cm),
since he's often drawn taller than England too, but not as much
so it seems.
I haven't put much thought into the heights of other
characters, but I think Germany should probably be taller than
he's listed, and Italy should probably be shorter.
TL;DR: How tall do you think the characters are?
