Nature of Nature's Art/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


WARNING! There are unmarked Spoilers ahead. Beware.

Characters from Nature of Nature's Art include:

10%+ (Ten Percent Plus)

Meander (Maned Wolf)

The protagonist of 10% and a student of Rule.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Canis Major: It's mentioned on one page that Meander is big for a maned wolf, which is how he ended up as Rule's student.
  • Deadly Upgrade: Noetic Chiasm's Meristogenous Transgression.
  • Disappeared Dad
  • Heroic RROD: Subverted. Yes, his metanoia severely damaged his halo brain, but it turns out that Rule destroyed it.
  • Idiot Hero
  • It's Personal: Meander's father was wild. Rule and Polarizing are exploiting wild coyotes. You do the mathematics.
  • Loss of Identity: When Meander's halo brain is destroyed by Rule, the construct that was Meander dies, even if his body and its base animal instincts survive him. The court case that follows factors this heavily.
  • Meaningful Name: "It means to worm around kind of leisurely." Turns out Meander chose that because his mind is constantly wandering.

Quintet (Cat)

Meander's friend and a fellow student.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Action Girl
  • Cats Are Mean: Subverted.
  • Eyepatch of Power
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sure, she isn't the nicest animal around, what with beating up and yelling at other people more than once. However, when it counts, she's willing to stick up for her loved ones. Yes, even those accused of murder.
  • Meaningful Name: Subverted! "Quintet" refers to the "main cat" and the cats created by her metanoia... but in fact, those cats are four different reflections of herself. So she's actually a "Quartet".

Rule (Wolf)

Meander's teacher. Works with Polarizing to exploit "wild" animals for things like slave labor and meat, an extreme taboo in their society.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

I have a goal, and I have no need of a body when I stand on my principles!

Polarizing (Tamandua)

A former doctor, and another of Meander's teachers.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Syncope (Kinkajou)

A law clerk and good friend of Meander.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Blue Oni to Fiat's Red Oni. This is very clearly illustrated on page 189, which shows how they use the same fighting style differently.
  • Love At First Sight: He fell for Fiat right away. This was amusingly lampshaded in the exact same panel.

Fiat (Kinkajou)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Action Girl
  • Hero of Another Story: On page 183, Fiat mentions that she was born with dextrocardia. When asked about why she mentioned this detail, Braun said that it's actually important to her own story (if it ever does get told). And by story, he means, well... this:

Fiat's story would be a full-blown NofNA storyline, since it would have its own plot. She just happened to be enough of a character to have a foot in this story.

Keratin Junior (Rabbit)

He's the one on Rule's head.

One of the many children of the crime lord Keratin. He (alongside a long tract of land) was sold to Rule and Polarizing in exchange for wild coyote slaves. A major source of comic relief for much of this arc's conflict.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Abusive Parents: His father has so many kids, he didn't think twice about offering one in exchange for valuable servants.
  • Break the Cutie: the pile of coyote pup corpses and the death of Rule will likely haunt his dreams forever.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Ultimately subverted. His testimony doesn't swing the ruling in the case of Rule's murder one way or another.
  • Head Pet: Technically, Keratin did sell him to Rule....
  • The Mafia: His father is more or less a bunny don.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: At first.
  • Royal Brat: he constantly refers to Meander and the coyotes as "bugs", due in part to the way he was raised. his father asks him not to say anything to Rule's detriment, but it's clear he'd no intention of doing so, anyway.

Secretary

SV / Marigold / Malice (Degu)

The protagonist of Secretary. An ambitious and impatient student out to prove he has something of worth to add to the world.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Tell them to come... to the new teacher! A teacher that is also themselves! That is also everyone! From behind.. from within!! MALICE!

XZ / Nutsedge (Long-Eared Jerboa)

Fellow student and sparring partner of SV. They jointly develop the Dust Bath fighting style.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

NT / Umbra (Degu)

Older brother of SV, goes to college at the same time as SV, but in the advanced class instead of beginner.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Lycosa

Lycosa gulosa (Wolf spider)

She's the big one. And she's hungry.

The protagonist of Lycosa. At the start of the arc, she's searching for her lost eggsack. When she finds out that Venom 8 have taken it, she goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge. And that's the basic plot of the arc... but it wouldn't be NofNA without a twist at the end, now would it?

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • One Spider Army: She takes on the entire Pisaurina clan by herself. And wins.
  • Inner Dialogue: What we're initially led to believe Gulosa is doing at one point, albeit with her unusually argumentative inner doubts instead of another personality. The reality of the situation is quite different....
  • Tomato in the Mirror: So apparently she's not quite a real spider, but was created from the 'I's that the members of Venom 8 tried to discard... or something.

Venom 8

The non-spoilery version.

The antagonists of Lycosa. The Venom 8 team is a group of eight (actually nine) spiders who aim to create a spider equivalent to the internet that all spiders are always connected to. This requires egg sacs from every spider species, which kicks off the arc. One by one, we meet them, and one by one, Lycosa kills them off.

The members of Venom 8 are, in order of appearance: Deinopis spinosa, Antrodiaetus unicolor, Argiope aurantia, Scytodes thoracica, Mastophora cornigera, Patu digua, Theraphosa blondi, and Nephila clavipes... with the ninth being Gladicosa gulosa.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Pisaurina mira (Nursery web spider)

Not actually a member of Venom 8, but "an appendage". Repeatedly fights Lycosa.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Solar System

Yuri Sergiev (Mankind)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Evander Oneir (Mankind?)

Yuri's friend and a consciousness specialist. He works with Acheff and Hector.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Diana (Mankind?)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Strelka (Dog)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Able "Abe" (Chimpanzee?)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Acheff (Guinea Pig)

Part of the development team that Yuri's company contracts to work on their spacecraft. Acheff is the software engineer and Hector's adoptive father.

Hector (Mouse)

Part of the development team that Yuri's company contracts to work on their spacecraft. Hector is a secretary and the art director, and is a firm believer in the power and relevance of art.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Abusive Parents: It's implied that Hector's birth father was one of these. Removing your son's tail because he "didn't deserve a 'tale'" is harsh.
  • Happily Adopted: At least, Acheff seems to be a better father than Hector's biological father.
  • Inexplicably Tailless: Type I. Specifically of the "formerly tailed" variety.