Ohio

"'This could very possibly be our finest hour!'" "- Ohio, to Louisiana whilst on the brink of winning the Arab-American War"Ohio, officially named the Free Republic of Ohio, was a Season 1 nation created by TSwany. It was one of the first nations ever created on the server, and owned the northern half of the former United States. At the end of the season, Ohio stood as the second-largest nation at the time, and the third-largest of all-time.

The nation has made plenty of notable achievements, such as pioneering the radio, the rocket, video games, and the personal computer. Although, he was best known for the occasions where he had "saved the world" and come in clutch during large wars, such as the Texas Liberation War. Many of Ohio's great accomplishments were made alongside their closest ally, Louisiana. They worked together to revolutionize the radio, the television, and bring the first humans into space. Ohio also finished with the second-highest number ballistic missiles, trailing only Trondheim.

Housing over 225 million people, and jam-packed with resources and great education, Ohio is widely considered to be a global power. The idea behind Ohio, according to TSwany, was simply because he lives in real-life Ohio, and wouldn't have it any other way. What, you thought it was because of that meme where Ohio takes over the world? Well, partially...

Behavior
As a character in International Custom Nations, Ohio is a bit of an oddball. Most of the time, however, he serves as a right-hand man to his best friend, neighbor, and ally, Louisiana, whom he refers to as "Louie."

The two have been acquainted for over half a century, and share a lot of cultural similarities. They always assist each other during wartime whenever possible. They're practically inseparable. In times of uncertainty, Ohio has always managed to pull through and lead the way in securing a bright future for them and their alliance.

Outside of his alliance with Louisiana, Ohio hasn't been known to intervene much in foreign affairs. Throughout past experiences, though, he's developed a deep hatred for communism along with fascism and nazism. If he sees a nation practicing these ideologies, he'll instantly break out his sarcastic and comedic side, taking any chance he gets to taunt the ideology they stand for. He's also allied with like-minded European nations, such as Hamburgo or Macedonia.

Ohio has a tendency to speak more formally towards Louisiana in comparison to other nations, as a symbol of his loyalty to his best friend. In addition, Ohio has been known to occasionally (but rarely) pluralize words that he doesn't intend to, sometimes even putting plurals on top of plurals.

Appearance
As a countryball, Ohio dons a red 1940's fedora, which fits him surprisingly well.

In the top left corner of his flag stands a Buckeye leaf, representing two things in particular:


 * The five points representing the 5 major cities from the original state of Ohio (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton)
 * The state's original nickname (the Buckeye state), and the secondary demonym

His HEX color palette is the following:


 * Scarlet - c60c30
 * White - ffffff
 * Gray - 979ba3

HISTORY OF OHIO
Ohio has a long and complex history, dating all the way back to 1900, where they rose from the ashes of the former U.S. state of the same name, after years of secretly hoping for independence. 

New Beginnings
Luckily for the Buckeye Boys (the name given to the group of Ohio's founding fathers), two of the other early settlements were in the former U.S. region as well. This close proximity helped the three nations, Ohio, Louisiana, and Texas, thrive in the early years and grow closer.

They even formed an alliance known as the New United States of America, later renamed to the American Alliance. Things were looking bright for the allies, as new nations began to form across the world. But, then, something unfortunate occurred.

The Fight Against Hiller
Ohioans woke up to a terrible fright one day, seeing both of their closest allies fallen under the control of radical fascists, later given the term "nazis." Confused and infuriated, they immediately started receiving cries for help from the nations they'd least expect: Mashrad and Canada. Texas had been overthrown by radical party, led by notorious dictator Alf Hiller, after going crazy with Nationalism. Louisiana had also been taken in as a puppet state to the newly-formed Texan Reich, much to Ohio's dismay. Soon after discovering that not all hope for restoring Louisiana had been lost, and subsequently contacting remaining officials, who gave them the go-ahead to uphold their legacy, the enemy had already declared war on the Ohioans. But then, something amazing happened. Louisiana broke free from Texan reign, soon followed by assistance from Canadian and Arabian forces. It now seemed clear that hope was on their side, as they marched forward and took back the new world from Hiller's grasp. Soon after being liberated, Texas would collapse as a Louisianan puppet, only to reform a couple years later.

Peace Cut Short
After forces had joined once more to stabilize the Chinese Civil War, tensions began to calm down. There was a stray war every now and again, but none of them involved Ohio or any of their allies, until a war broke out between Texas and Canada. While Ohioan communications were offline, Louisianan leaders had been guilted into assisting Texas with the war against Canada. This resulted in controversy over Texan actions which led both Ohio and Louisiana to question whether or not to expel them from the American Alliance.

Sizzling Tensions
Across the globe, another alliance had formed between many nations in the Eastern Hemisphere. Tensions reached a boiling point after word got out that Arabmaztan (formerly the Mashrad Caliphate) had defamed Ohio in a private meeting and had bombed Louisiana through a remote explosive implanted in a statue of their first leader. This led the Arabs to declare war on the Alliance (now just Ohio and Louisiana) with help from the Iberian army, in order to pass off the bombings as "false accusations." The Alliance would go on to win the war in an astounding comeback led by Ohioan corporal (and future president) Michael D. Wine. After the treaty was signed, Arabmaztan was kicked out of the Americas.

The Great Wars
Shortly after, the world would find itself united against a familiar foe: Alf Hiller, the infamous dictator who was thought to have been dead, had escaped from Texan prison and formed his own nation in the remote region of New Zealand, soon to be taken over by his much worse brother, Adolf, after Alf was found dead. Two large-scale wars against the returning evil were fought in back-to-back years, and each one ended in a victory for the Allied Powers, consisting of Ohio, China, Iberia, Saudi Arabia, and Louisiana. From that point forward, things would calm down once more, with occasional wars and elimination of nazi parties, usually not involving the American Alliance.

A Sense of Déjà Vu
Following a lengthy calm period, a surprise civil war had broken out in Louisiana, once again whilst Ohio's communication systems were malfunctioning. Feeling guilty and appalled at what seemed like the work of Texas, Ohio attempted once again to contact former Louisianan officials, who had been planning to overthrow the newly-established Confederacy after escaping from prison. Once informed of their plan, Ohioan communicators attempted to keep the phony replacement government at bay, accusing them of defamation and spreading lies about the former administration. In the meantime, the officials successfully assassinated the leader of the CSA. After winning a faux election, Louisiana, along with the Alliance was restored once again. But soon, the world would enter a new era...

The Missile Era
Ohioans pioneered the world's first rocket in 1942, a flying machine which allowed humans to enter outer space. Just a year later, the new technology had already been weaponized in the form of ballistic missiles. From that point onward, wars became a rarity due to worries over the sheer destruction that just a single strike could cause. During this time period, Ohio and Louisiana began to rise back into the top ranks, as they continued to expand, and pioneer many new things, such as Helicopters, Napalm, and Industrial-use Lasers. At one point, a large conflict did erupt between communists and fascists around the globe, but the American Alliance was not involved in the war. Later on, communists rebelled and overthrew Macedonia for a short while, before quickly being liberated. This signaled a defense pact to be formed between Macedonia, Alragasian, Louisiana, and Ohio, with the purpose of protecting themselves from communist nations.

The End is Not Quite Near
Various religions and scientists across the globe all began to simultaneously make predictions about a rather unfortunate future event. Top scientists in Ohio discovered that the Mauna Loa, a massive volcano in Hawaii, was expected to erupt within the next 14 years, causing cataclysmic damage to Hawaiian settlements, and potentially inflicting long-term effects on the planet. Many of the world's more religious nations started to panic after hearing this news, claiming stories of an upcoming rapture, or simply the end of the world. Despite this, scientists believed that while catastrophic effects are expected, the world will likely be able to continue to function as normal. However, nobody knew for sure what was going to happen. Only time will tell...

Fascism's Unwanted Encore
Unfortunately for basically everyone, after things settled down from the volcanic calculations, another boom in fascism had begun throughout the world, led by New Brunswick. With a radical nationalist on their border, and seeing that Trondheim had fallen to the fascists as well, it became clear to Ohio that something needed to be done. Alongside Louisiana and Hamburgo, a protection pact was formed in hopes of putting a stop to New Brunswick and their forces. Despite the new threat, however, a civil war broke out in New Brunswick, putting an abrupt end to the fascist regime.

The Clock is Ticking
After New Brunswick's short fascist reign came to a halt, the earth settled down for a while. Aside from a rogue conflict here and there, none of them involved Ohio or Louisiana, and therefore they did not intervene. As the deadline for the volcanic eruption inched closer, a new nation emerged, France, much to the happiness of Louisiana, due to their French heritage. Not even a month after forming, French diplomats asked Louisiana to "join their empire" as a vassal, something which Ohio immediately advised against doing. After some private discussions with Ohio about whether or not the idea was plausible, the offer was declined by Louisianan representatives. Shortly after confusion was cleared up, studies confirmed that the Mauna Loa was expected to erupt by 1967, three years from then. At this point, the world seemed to be at the mercy of whatever supernatural being happened to be controlling the imminent threat...

Down with Abdulistan!
After sudden war broke out over Kaliningrad, the nation of Abdulistan dropped a ballistic missile on Trondheim, alerting several nations, including Ohio and Louisiana, to join the war against them for their horrific actions. In the end, after a landslide victory, Ohio took a small bit of former Abdulistan's lands, denying the opportunity to gain one extra missile, instead leaving it for Louisiana as an act of kindness.

The Beginning of the End
Arriving earlier than expected, the Mauna Loa volcano experiences a cataclysmic eruption, triggering volcanoes throughout the rest of the Hawaiian islands to blow as well, and spreading an ash cloud throughout the earth, causing volcanic winter and global cooling. As both Israel and New Brunswick fell, the impending famine and apocalypse seemed to be driving Turkish socialists mad, as they launched a ballistic missile on the capital of Louisiana. This prompted Ohio to quickly retaliate with a missile strike of their own on the Turkish capital, followed shortly by a declaration of war. In the end, Ohio, accompanied by Louisiana and Trondheim, swiftly defeated the Turks and removed the plague of Socialism from their land.

Louisiana's Absence
Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, Louisianian communications fell silent, and would remain this way for six years. Without their guidance, Ohio would go on to make a couple of critical mistakes after the negotiation of a plan to clear up the ash clouds, which were continuing to lower Earth's global temperatures, on track to reach absolute zero in the next 10 years. After accepting one of the project's leading positions, a man named Jarrett Pale set up a moon landing hoax with the intentions of increasing national self-esteem. It didn't take long for his scummy plan to backfire, though, as word quickly got out, without anyone knowing it wasn't real. This signaled France, along with Jordan, to declare war on Ohio, seemingly dooming them without Louisiana's presence. Despite this, though, the truth came out, people quickly came to their senses, and crisis was averted. The project's lead role was handed over to Trondheim, and things remained quiet for the next few years. Until...

Falling Dominoes
After Louisiana finally returned, giving an explanation as to why they had been gone for so long, things seemed to be lining up. Following an apology session from Ohioan officials, which was quickly returned with Louisianian forgiveness, everyone was finally ready to launch the cloud-clearing project, now that Louisiana and Ohio had approved of it. Initially, a launch from the Florida Keys seemed to be successful, but things quickly went south as the missiles began to stall in the air before plummeting towards the ground. Everyone on site within a 100-mile radius was instantly killed, and the explosion triggered tremors all across the Western Hemisphere, and later the entire world. Unfortunately for humanity, these tremors were strong enough to knock over yet another domino, setting off every volcano known to man. This cataclysmic event drove everyone to their bunkers almost instantly, and the world was never heard from again. That was the end of Season 1.

OHIO'S RELATIONS
Ohio has many positive and negative relationships with the other nations of the world. Here, they are documented, and each relationship is given a little commentary from Ohio himself!

Friends
Louisiana - My best friend in the whole wide world! He's always been there for me in times of need. We've fought wars together, pioneered countless technological advancements... I don't think I'd be able to function properly if he was gone. Over the past 70 years, we've grown and learned aside one another, and I wouldn't have had it any other way!

Macedonia - Founder of the (now-defunct) Skopje Pact! I'm glad that amid all of the fog, there's a nation in Europe that thinks like I do. It's a shame he was taken away so soon, but if I ever see another commie, I'll teach 'em a lesson in his name!

Trondheim - I liked what I saw in your efforts to make things stay peaceful over in Europe. A great nation with great morals! Heard you've been having some feuds with New Brunswick, recently. Hope you two can settle that.

Hamburgo - Fellow founding member of the Freedom Preservation Pact! Definitely the best nation to come out of Germany, and expressed concern that one time I was at the hospital as well.

Neutral
Texas - You, mister, have made me question so many things. At first, you seemed like a nice guy, but ever since you came back, you've been nothing mores than a nuisance, and the biggest cupcake I've seen since Arabmaztan. Selling out to Iberia?!? REALLY?!? And let's not forget the time you were a communist and threatened to fund rebellions in my landses. Or the time you invaded Canada for no reason. Oh, and the fascisms. Can't ever forget that. You brought a bad omen to the rest of us westerners, and you should be ASHAMED!!

Canada - Helped me in the war to free Louie, but he also had his downsides... Lots of downsides...

Mashrad Caliphate - See above.

New Brunswick - You're tolerable, and we've both been wronged by that Iberian Liar..but, you did go fascist for a brief moment, and massacre a ton of Jews and Christians. He claims to be planning to assist me with annexations, though, so that's good.

Israel - Sort of controversial, but you haven't hurt me or Louie (yet), so we're cools.

Enemies
Greater Texan Reich - '''I HATE YOU SO MUCH IT HURTS!! You committed genocide against an entire religion, and more importantly, YOU TOOK AWAY MY BEST FRIEND, AND NOBODY GETS AWAY WITH THAT!! You're so bad, even the cannibals despised you! WHY DOES TEXAS HAVE TO BE SO CARELESS?! IF HE WASN'T, YOU'D NEVER EXIST! REMOVE! REMOVE!! REMOVE!!! REMOVE!!!! '''

Arabmaztan - '''TERRIBLE! HORRIBLE! FILTHY FIBBER PIECE OF SHIT!! EVERYONE KNOWS YOU TRIED TO BOMB LOUIE!! NOBODY DEFAMES US AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!! NO ONE WANTS TO JOIN YOUR STUPID ALLIANCE!!! THAT'S NO REASON TO BOMB MY BEST FRIEND!!! STAY DEAD AND DON'T RETURN!!! '''

Confederacy - '''FILTHY OLD-TIMEY SCUM!! I KNOW TEXAS CREATED YOU!! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST GET RID OF LOUIE AND EXPECT ME TO BE CONTENT WITH THAT?!? CALL ME A "UNION STATE" AGAIN AND I'LL MAKE YOU EAT DIRT! WATCH YOUR MOUTH, YOU WRETCHED TEXAN CLONE!! '''

New Zealand - ''' REMOVE!!! I THOUGHT WE DELETED YOUR ASS ALREADY!! ''MAYBE NOW YOU'LL KNOW TO STAY AWAY!!! '

Iberia - '''Filthy propagandist! Stay out of Brazil and let us colonize as we please! QUIT SPREADING LIES!'''

GALLERY
Here's a gallery of pictures and videos related to Ohio!