Micronation-chans

Micronation-Chans
Micronation-Chans
	"GUM-Chan" - A personification of the GUM and the first well-known -chan made by the micronational community; Image by: Seann Torres
Author(s)	Various
Website	Various
Launch date	1 May 2020 (De-Jure),; 12 June 2009 (De-Facto)
Alternate name(s)	GUM-Chan, Micro-Chan
Genre(s)	Political cartoons, comedy.

Micronation-chans (popularly referred to as Micro-chans)^[1] are a form of micronational comic designed to satirize current events within the MicroWiki sector. Similarly to Microball, Characters are represented as an often over-the-top allegory of political and historic events as well as more general cultural comparisons. Similar to the popular anime Hetalia: Axis Powers, the countries (and organisations) are represented as humans. Both positive and negative cultural stereotypes form part of each character's personality. Unlike Microballs, countries are usually just referred to as their country or organisation name.

History

Possibly the first anime-style representation of a micronation was made in 2009 by Japanese manga writer Hidekaz Himaruya, with Sealand's appearance on Hetalia: Axis Powers, an anime series about personified nations. Additional micronations were depicted in 2013 (Seborga and Wy) and 2015 (Hutt River, Kugelmugel, Ladonia, and Molossia)

The first-known anime-style representation of a micronation outside of Hetalia was Ella Jones, created in 2014 to be a representation of Theodia by an unknown fan of that micronation.^[2] Swena, the founder of Theodia, discovered this in 2016, and promptly made it known to a few micronationalists and to MicroWiki itself.^[3]

However, this idea of personifying micronations as anime-style characters did not become a widespread phenomenon in the micronational community until the 24 Hour Quorum of 2020, when Amelia I of Lytera jokingly suggested creating a "GUM-Chan"^[4] in a similar vein to the Earth-Chan meme. Chloris, the representative of Gaia, drafted the first design for this GUM-Chan, but Amelia was the creator of the GUM-Chan's most-recognised and accepted design. For the rest of the Quorum, additional sketches were made of GUM-Chan, and by the next day, people were discussing creating additional characters in -chan form.

Examples

Referent: Sealand
Origin: Hetalia
Date: 12 June 2009
Referent: Seborga
Origin: Hetalia
Date: 14 June 2013
Referent: Wy
Origin: Hetalia
Date: 14 June 2013
Name: Ella Jones^[2]
Referent: Theodia
Origin: Wattpad
Date: 26 July 2014
Referent: Hutt River
Origin: Hetalia
Date: 28 August 2015
Referent: Kugelmugel
Origin: Hetalia
Date: 28 August 2015
Referent: Ladonia
Origin: Hetalia
Date: 28 August 2015
Referent: Molossia
Origin: Hetalia
Date: 28 August 2015
Name: Hosamia-chan
Referent: Hosamia
Author: Hosamulas
Date: 19 December 2019
Name: Hosamia-chan
Referent: Cycoldian Hosamia
Author: Hosamulas
Date: December 2019
Referent: Cycoldia
Author: @sebo_chan
Date: 17 February 2020
Name: GUM-Chan
Referent: GUM
Author: Chloris of Gaia
Date: 1 May 2020
Note: The first GUM-Chan
Name: GUM-Chan
Referent: GUM
Date: 1 May 2020
Name: GUM-Chan
Referent: GUM
Author: Chloris of Gaia
Date: 1 May 2020
Note: a 'fight' between GUM-Chan and unidentified Microballs
Referent: Niko Niko
Date: 1 May 2020
Name: GUM-Chan
Referent: GUM
Date: 1 May 2020
Note: The first full-color GUM-Chan
Name: GUM-Chan
Referent: GUM
Author: Seann Torres
Date: 1 May 2020
Name: Orientia-Chan
Referent: Orientia
Author: SovietWeeb
Date: 16 May 2020
Referent: Cycoldia
Author: @sebo_chan
Date: 15 November 2020
Note: For Cycoldia's independence day
Name: Wendatia-tan
Referent: Wendatia
Author: WeaponizingArchitecture
Date: 16 December 2020
Name: Sister Sawdustistan
Referent: Sawdustistan
Author: SawdustistanOfficial
Date: 2 March 2022
Note: created for the 6th anniversary of the nation's founding
Name: Sister Sawdustistan
Referent: Sawdustistan
Author: SawdustistanOfficial
Date: 8 August 2022
Note: eating a glizzy
Referent: Lomoria
Author: @kotomo190
Date: 20 March 2023
Referent: Lomoria
Date: 20 June 2023
Referent: Lomoria
Date: 19 September 2023
Name: Dali-chan
Referent: Daliwood
Author: Di
Date: 4 October 2023
Name: Blazzie-chan
Referent: Blazdonia
Author: King Kevin of Blazdonia
Date: 12 February 2024
Note: He is classified as a national mascot and an advertising asset.