Plagues and Prophecies

EDIT: Ah, looks like I've been disproved again . . . The actual event has Heracles dressed up in what looks like a human version of Abu from Disney's version of Aladdin. Or Princess Jasmine. It's kinda hard to tell. as Aladdin himself. Hmm.

Ah well, this art piece's merely for fun anyhow, so. XD No worries!



A (very, very late) Happy Halloween to everybody!

Some time ago Himaruya posted something in his blog regarding asking the nation-tans what costumes they'd wear for Halloween. You can read the translated version here. Anyway, reading their answers, some certain headcanons regarding what they'd come as popped into my head. Of course Himaruya has other ideas, but oh well. XD;;

Of all the ideas that popped into my head, the ideas I had for Tino (Finland) and Heracles (Greece) were the ones that resonated with me the most. I don't really know why; I just find them the most interesting. No, last year's Social Sciences class and this year's English class have nothing to do with this. *cough* Anyway, yeah, i had a ton of fun drawing these two.

As for their costumes . . .


Tino as a Plague Doctor - During the times of the Black Death (onslaught of bubonic plague) in the Middle Ages, plague doctors were the ones to call when a town or village was infested with disease. They were recognizable by means of wide hats, bird masks (which served as gas masks), long cloaks and canes, among other things. Unfortunately they weren't very effective - lots of plague doctors weren't even licensed/professional doctors to begin with, plus medicine back then was still rather primitive - and many plague doctors themselves ended up dying of the very disease they were supposed to cure.

The reason I chose a plague doctor for Tino's costume was because in the blog posted he said he wanted to look scary. I don't know about you guys, but I find plague doctors rather scary - and if you were a European during the Middle Ages, there would definitely be a reason to be scared of seeing a plague doctor about. I took some artistic liberty as to the design of Tino's costume - and some, I meant a lot of artistic liberty. If you'd look at an actual plague doctor's costume, this one I drew . . . well, doesn't look like it at all. X__x If anything, Tino looks more like a witch with a bird mask instead of what he was supposed to be. Or some masked festival attendee. But ah well, I did want to redesign the plague doctor's outfit after all. That, and I still liked how he turned out.

This headcanon has been jossed - in the actual event Tino, along with the other Nordics, came as a ghost pirate. A pretty creepy one.

Heracles as Oedipus - Oedipus Rex, translated to Oedipus the King, was a tragedy written by Sophocles during the time of the Ancient Greeks. In the story, Oedipus was a Theban prince who as a baby was sent away by his parents because a prophecy stated that he would murder his father and marry his mother. As a grown man Oedipus came to Thebes without any knowledge of his true identity. On the way there he killed a man for blocking his way, and once he was in Thebes he helped the people of the place get rid of the Sphinx that was terrorizing them, and because of this became King of Thebes and married the previous king's widow. But some years later bad things began to happen to the city, and after some events Oedipus learns the truth that the man he had killed on the road was his father the king, and the woman he married was his own mother. In anguish, Oedipus gouges his eyes out and banishes himself from Thebes. It's from this play we get the term 'Oedipus Complex'.

Um, I don't really know what prompted me to draw Heracles, of all characters, as Oedipus. No, he does not have an Oedipus Complex. =__= I think it's merely because Oedipus Rex is a Greek play, and it proves that I'm very unoriginal. Also, wouldn't an ancient Greek guy with bleeding eyes be a scary-cool Halloween costume? Anyway. I based the design off the drawing of Oedipus and the Spinx that appears in Edith Hamilton's Mythology (unfortunately I can't find an online picture of said illustration, so ). Of course, some changes, the largest being Heracles' cloak thingy being ripped up to add a Halloween-like effect. The bleeding eyes of course are a Halloween favorite. However his eyes are open because, well, how can he enjoy Halloween if he can't see anything? XD And the cat - well, looks kinda familiar, doesn't he? XD;;

As far as I know, Heracles doesn't have an official Halloween costume yet. And he doesn't want to join Sadik in whatever plans the latter has. So, maybe yes, maybe no? :3 _{Most likely it's a no.} Jossed.


Actually, this drawing was supposed to include Feliks (Poland) as well - he was supposed to be drawn as either the White Knight from Through The Looking-Glass or the King of Hearts/the Queen of Hearts from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (since the rest of the Eastern Europeans are doing Alice and all), but it didn't work out and in the end he wasn't added int the picture. Besides, my headcanon regarding him was pretty much jossed anyway - in the actual event Feliks came as the Prince of Hearts, a character that doesn't even exist in Alice canon. Or maybe he was being the Knave of Hearts? And I saw bit of White Knight influence in his costume. Ah well.

Please do tell me what you think~! ^_^


===*===
Hetalia (c) Hidekaz Himaruya
Oedipus Rex (c) Sophocles
Art (c) me
Drawn with a pencil on my sketchpad and scanned with Sadie the Spooktacular.