Countryhumans Headcanons (literally a mess and outdated)

The World of Countryhumans

I decided to redo this again, and yes, it's weird. Note that a lot of this stuff also applies to statehumans and cityhumans.

SETTING
Countryhumans live in the same world as the people they're meant to represent. Rather than living in their nations, however, they all seem to have originated on one island, on which a majority of them spend most of their time.

This island is also populated by humans, but they are exclusively in the north. The personifications often venture into the human territory, but not vice versa. The UN Headquarters meant for the countries is situated on the outskirts of the human city, and generally the whole island is considered a "UN territory" rather than its own nation or anything of the sort.

Nations will leave often for trips, sometimes for a long time. Smaller or more isolated territories tend to be frequented by their personification more often than bigger ones.

STATUS
Personifications are recognized figures by the governments and public around the world. Generally, they hold little to no authority in what takes place in their nation and collaborate only loosely with their governments. It is very rare a nation will assume a position of real authority rather than acting as a secretive figurehead. On some occasions, countries will even be used by their governments.

A majority of people will never meet or get to know their countryhuman. It isn't as if the nations don't visit their territories or live in them sometimes, but they prefer to stay secretive about their real identity. As much as they cherish their people- an instinctual but complex love- they know that being open about exactly who and what they are isn't always the safest, even at home. The human relationships they have are often limited because of this, but also because of the general apprehensions around dealing with the deaths of their mortal friends.

Personifications often receive money to live from their governments, so it's rare any of them will be concerned with employment. They don't pay many taxes aside from utilities and the like, anyway.

In the case of war, they have no ability to be drafted, but they are able to enlist as they wish, usually as ordinary soldiers. Their ability to die and quickly regenerate is valued highly by their militaries, so they are typically encouraged to enlist because of that (and propaganda purposes).

HUMAN FORM
Like I said, countryhumans prefer to stay secretive about their identity. Their means of doing this is by taking on a wholly human form. In this form they will keep their scars and general physiology, but lose their inhuman eye colors, flag skin, and any animal features they may possess. The appearance of their human form is typically a fluid thing which changes according to the demographics of their population. It is additionally influenced by the human forms of their parents (at the time they were born).

Each nation uses a human name, one that is often subject to change over the years. It is rare that they stick with a name for life.

BIOLOGY
The biology of personifications is very unusual and sounds like something of fiction (which, to us, it is). For instance, even aside from their ability to take on a human form, they can also switch between male and female bodies at will (and sometimes their animal traits may change with this). Some nations will take advantage of this as an extra layer of protection to hide their human identities. 

Any personification can have animal features, but not everybody does. The manifestation of these features is pretty random, and a personification can grow the features of any symbolic or culturally significant animal of their land. Animal features can sometimes influence their behaviors (like a winged country getting the urge to fly and having to preen their wings).

Flag changes are often a simple change in skin patterns and body coloration, but the specific designs of their flag can sometimes affect the way their pupils are formed or even cost them an eye (this is rare, but a specific case could be considered Nevada). Their head shapes remain human even in the case of unusual flags like Nepal's.