Niels

Niels is a web comic done by Humon, of Scandinavia and The World fame.

Niels Gyldensted is a Danish mob boss in America who has a relationship with married couple Duncan and Natalie. The comic mainly focuses on Niels' life as both a violent criminal and a lover and father figure, as well as exploring the polyamorous relationship between Niels, Duncan, and Natalie.

Other important characters include Elliot ("Kiddo"), Duncan and Natalie's child; Peter, an insane hippie rapist and leader of a cult; Agent 300, a James Bond-esque secret agent who flirts with Niels just a little too much; Thomas, a detective who lost all interest in catching Niels when his wife died; Wendy, Thomas's daughter; and Caron, Thomas's partner who is determined to re-motivate him and defeat Niels. Then there is new character Billy, a very masculine woman who apparently also sleeps with Niels, is attracted to Natalie, has a girlfriend named Rose, and at least makes out with Duncan. Humon calls her a 'family friend.' Another recent character is Agent 250, a tough man who is friends with Agent 300 - and who, eventually, is the one to get him out of the closet. The newest character is Niels' biologically female son (also called Niels) by a woman from his past.

The strip ran from September 11, 2009 to June 28, 2015.

Needs More Love.

Tropes used in Niels include:

Affably Evil: Niels. He does everything his job entails with a smile.
Affectionate Parody: Agent 300 is a parody of suave secret agent womanizers such as James Bond.
- Perhaps not so affectionate, as the author has mentioned disliking the character archetype.
Abhorrent Admirer: Niels for Thomas, Agent 300 for Natalie, Peter for everyone.
Amicably Divorced: Agent 250 is better friends with his ex wife now than he ever was when they were married, and they still go on vacations together with their daughter.
- Definite Truth in Television here- many divorced couples, especially ones who break up due to one partner's discovery of their homosexuality, get along much better post-divorce.
Angry Black Man: Duncan, on occasions. One comic was even named 'Angry Black Man'.
Armored Closet Gay: Agent 250, who was a cold and distant husband and father because he took extreme lengths to prevent them from finding out about his homosexuality.
Art Shift: Thomas's dream about Niels and Agent 300 was rendered in manga style art.
A-Team Firing: Niels sucks at guns.
Berserk Button: Shooting Agent 250 is 300's Berserk Button. Niels hits it. The result is fucking awesome. And we see none of it. Also it's not very convenient to threat Duncan's family.
Beware the Nice Ones: Agent 300 is mild-mannered and calm, but if somebody presses his Berserk Button he will shoot them in the head with their own gun and send half of their team to the hospital.
- In a more harmless way, Robert is a Shrinking Violet... with a penchant for bondage and really dominating in bed.
Big Bad: Niels is this
Bigger Bad: Peter seems to be meant as this.
Bilingual Backfire: Niels is talking on the phone to his mom, in Danish. Duncan, getting impatient, tells Niels to hurry up in a... rather vulgar way. Turns out that even though Niels is speaking to his mom in Danish, she also speaks English. Oops!
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Niels can seem all suave and polite, but he is a mob boss who will kill you without a second thought if he deems it neccessary (or funny).
Bratty Teenage Daughter: Agent 250's teenage daughter is more than a handful. For no clear explainable reason she once tried to bite off 300's penis. And nearly succeeded.
- Humon's latest relationship chart shows that she seems to genuinely hate every character besides her parents.
Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick:

Niels: It's a holiday for the kids. They dress up and eat candy like on Halloween. It's all harmless fun.
Duncan: Well...
Niels: And then they put a cat in a barrel and beat it to death with a bat!

Breakout Character: Agent 250, who starred in several Niels comics by himself shortly after being introduced, and was the main focus in one of the longest continuous story lines so far.
- To some extent, Jacob, the demon that Peter and his cult worship. Humon enjoys drawing him so much that the majority of drawings featuring him are completely unrelated to the Niels universe in any way.
  - He and his girlfriend now star in their own webcomic, Manala Next Door.
Butch Lesbian: Deconstructed with Rose, Billy's girlfriend. Her pasttimes include bodybuilding, knitting and baking.
- Billy is a bit of a Butch Bisexual. Since she dresses and acts like a man. (Including going by Billy instead of Rebecca) But sometimes like guys if they're super girlie.
But Not Too Evil: After growing sick of all the Draco-ing of rapist/child molester/cult leader Peter, Humon posted an image of him about to molest his daughter, to underline the fact that "He is not a nice person, no matter how funny he is." The Internet Backdraft was incredible. Most of it was made of people asking how could she draw something so cruel.
- Humon has also repeatedly tried to show this is the case with Niels himself, occasionally showing him doing things that no sane person should be able to think he's a good guy after doing. Arguably, Niels is a case of where you can like him, you're just supposed to feel bad about it.
Carpet of Virility: Parodied. One of the Yaoi Rules states that the man with the most body hair is the seme. In this case, it'd be Agent 300, but he couldn't bring himself to top Niels, since he's still in the closet.
- Interestingly, Agent 300 seems to have gotten hairier as the series went on. Compare this early drawing, with him more recently.
Characterisation Marches On: Nearly everyone, to some extent, evolves into a much more fleshed out character over time.
- Referenced in one comic, where Duncan thinks Niels poisoned some chocolate. Humon said the joke came from when she didn't know if Niels loved Duncan and Natalie or was just using them and would kill them when done. Now she knows he'd just give them chocolate with chili in it.
Closet Key: Niels for Agent 300. Stated directly here.
- And it appears that 250 might take over. He's kinda out and proud and trying to get into 300's pants.
- Inverted with Duncan -- Natalie made him realize he was bisexual, not gay.
Convenient Miscarriage: The fate of Natalie's first child.
Cosmic Plaything: Agent 250 seems to be this, for good or ill. Every now and then he'll have a silent conversation with God, in which the good old Almighty actually answers him.
Crossover: Various fanarts incorporate a fan's original character.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Niels gets a lesson on what happens when you push 300 a bit too far.
Crowbar Combatant: Duncan's weapon of choice.
Cult: Peter runs one.
Daddy's Girl: Agent 250's daughter. It would seem he's the only man she is tolerable with.
Dark Messiah: Peter.
Death by Childbirth: Anni died from complications after Wendy's birth, leading to Thomas's BSOD.
Depraved Bisexual: Duncan and Niels may be likable and polite, but they are still horrible people who do horrible things, and the artist would like to remind us that they are the bad guys.
- Also, Peter, though he's more of a Depraved Pansexual.
Double Standard: Natalie has no problem with Duncan being bisexual, but gets offended at the insinuation she might be. Amusingly, when doing the "Rules of Yaoi" series, Humon somehow neglected to call out the one about "If there is a threesome, the guys are bi and the girl is straight."
Everyone Is Bi: Except for Natalie, who's heterosexual but bi-romantic.
- And Thomas and Caron, who are heterosexual. And most of the supporting characters are straight, like the people working for Niels.
Furry Fandom: Niels mentioned one time about how he went to a furry convention to kill a man. It had been so easy to get away without notice because everyone was wearing a fursuit, and no one even realized the victim was dead until two hours later.
Gayngst: Duncan was severely depressed in his teens because of his homophobic environment, and clung to Natalie as a desperate attempt to make himself purely straight. Luckily for Niels it didn't work, and Duncan's now much more at ease with himself.
Gayngster: Niels, Duncan slightly less openly. Though technically both are bisexual, not gay.
Girl-On-Girl Is Hot: Duncan's reasoning for bringing over his bisexual friend Billie to try and "turn" Natalie gay. Though Billie makes it clear to him that it doesn't work that way.
Groin Attack: See example for Bratty Teenage Daughter
Happily Married: Natalie and Duncan. Legally, anyway.
Hero Antagonist: Of a sort. The reason Caron doesn't appear in the comics much at all is because she is too professional in her job protecting the law to play around with Niels and the other bad guys, and would simply shoot them on the spot.
Heroic BSOD: Agent 300 has two, one where he realizes that yes, he is crushing on Niels, and no, it is not a case of Stupid Sexy Flanders or Even the Guys Want Him, and the other where he's fired for fraternizing with Niels.
- Thomas had one when he realized that he let chasing Niels take over his life, causing him to nearly miss his daughter's birth and actually missing his wife's last breath, leading him to quit the Niels case.
Het Is Ew: Many of the fans seem to despise or just flat out ignore Natalie's presence and put all the focus on Duncan and Niels being Yaoi Guys. Which is pretty much the exact opposite of what Humon wants.
Hot Dad: Duncan and Agent 250 could count. ... Peter has a daughter but that's a whole 'nother can of beans...
Hot Mom: Natalie and Irene.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: Though more of partner, 250 acts this way for 300 when dealing with Niels.
If It's You It's Okay: Type 3 for 300. 300 sees himself as heterosexual in general, but he starts developing uncomfortably erotic feelings for Niels, and eventually enters into into a romantic relationship with 250.
Informed Ability: Humon states that 300 is actually very competent at his job, but is distracted by Niels. His relationship with 250 actually helps because 250 isn't distracted and has an interest in keeping 250 safe.
Kick the Dog: Niels shooting Agent 250 for getting too close to 300.
- Before 250 was revealed to be alive, some fans treated this as crossing the Moral Event Horizon.
Klingon Promotion: How Niels took over the crime syndicate.
Knife Nut: Elliot shows signs of being one in the future.
Laser-Guided Karma: Poor Peter. Only not, because, well, you know.
Laughably Evil: Peter may be a Complete Monster, but when he shows up, it's usually funny.
Luke, You Are My Father: It happened to Niels with Mercia's son.
Malcolm Xerox: Duncan's cousin. He later disowned Duncan for being with Niels, and for Niels coming to his 'African Pride' party as a European Colonist then verbally tangling with Agent 300.
Male Frontal Nudity: Just once, here (needless to say, NSFW).
Mama Bear: Natalie.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Peter is tormented by a demon that only he can see. Whether or not it is real or just a hallucination is up for the reader to decide.
- It's been shown that other members of Peter's cult seem to see him too, and some even claim to have slept with him. Though Humon states that with all the images of him they have combined with their mental state, it is still far from conclusive.
- And it seems Jacob is definitely real, it's just a matter of whether he's real in the univers of Niels or not that's in question.
Meaningful Name: Niels Gyldensted, or "golden place," versus Thomas Yellowfield.
Mistaken Nationality: Agent 300 is often mistaken for English for being a parody of the James Bond-type character and his overall politeness and manner of speaking. In reality, he's Scottish. And very good at log-throwing, thankyouverymuch.
Nobody Over 50 Is Gay: Agent 250 is in his mid to late 40s and is openly gay.
Oedipus Complex: Part of the reason Niels was attracted to Johnny was because of his Parental Abandonment issues, he was looking for mother and father figures. When Johnny didn't reciprocate, Niels burned him alive.
- He also lost his virginity to a black woman he looked up to as a mother.
- And parental issues are a reason he hooked up with Duncan and Natalie.
- There's a possibility that this might happen between Elliot and Niels, depending on circumstances when Elliot turns eighteen.
Only Known by Their Nickname: Elliot is mostly called 'Kiddo'.
Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?: What happens when Niels and Ed reunite in prison: Ed apologizes, saying that Niels was soft and his girlfriend had left him.
Pals with Jesus: Agent 250 has quite a direct connection with God.
Parental Abandonment: Cemented a huge part of Niels's adolescence. His parents were never there for him, and were more concerned about their image than anything, brushing off concerns about Niels not being 'right in the head'.
- Oddly, it would appear their relationship warmed up, as they're shown to be on good terms now and even invite Niels and Natalie over and recently have come to visit. However, the author has said they still block out his weirder actions (ie. being bisexual and a horrible murder/crime boss).
- Duncan never knew his father, and his mother died from drugs when he was six.
Polyamory: Niels, Duncan, and Natalie's relationship.
Parental Incest: What Peter plans to do with his daughter in order to conceive a messiah for his cult. (And it's hinted that he might have already done this with other illegitimate daughters of his.)
Plot Threads: The most recent comics have been focused on Agent 250 and Agent 300, and their possible love life.
Primal Scene: Kiddo walks in on his parents and Niels together and is presumably scarred for life. (If the name of the strip is to be believed)
Running Gag: Agent 300 will never let Agent 250 forget that his daughter almost bit of his man parts. Surprisingly, Agent 250 doesn't seem to mind hearing about his daughter's... conquests.
- Also, Niels and 300 stealing each other's clothes.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Agent 300 and Agent 250, Niels and Duncan, respectively
Sinister Minister: In the 19th Century re-imagining, Peter is a Swedish priest who ' is grossly abusing his position and people’s faith in him" who is rumoured to have fled to the Danish West Indies (where the story takes place) after his bad reputation chased him out of both Sweden and Denmark.
The Sociopath: Niels is the Affably Evil variety, Peter is the Evilly Affable variety.
Spotlight-Stealing Squad: The moment Agent 250 was introduced, he and 300 had been getting much more attention than Niels and the others, mostly because if 250 was in the same room as the other's he'd shoot them dead. Humon seems to enjoy making multiple pages of their budding relationship.
Stalker with a Crush: Kinda. Niels likes following and bugging Thomas, even after he quit the case. It's to the point where Thomas was concerned when Niels didn't follow him for a couple weeks.
- Also, Peter for Niels.
Invisible to Gaydar: Agent 250, who is the only homosexual man in the comic, who is also a badass gun toting fighter in his 40s who has a number of scars on his face.
Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Thomas, before his wife's death caused him to quit the case. Caron is the Replacement Goldfish of this, and tried to bring Thomas back to this.
- Agent 300, as well, before he got fired.
Token Good Teammate: Natalie for Niels and Duncan.
Token Minority: Inverted, of the three main characters, the white Niels is the odd man out. Likewise with the crime syndicate, the only other white person with a high ranking position is Harold.
Trademark Favorite Food: Milk for Niels.
Transgender: Niels' child with Mercia, who introduced himself as 'Niels', is anatomically female but identifies as male.
Transvestite: Mistaken For Transvestite, technically, Niels thinks Thomas is one, since he kept all of Anni's makeup and clothes.
Triang Relations: Of the Type 8 variety.
The Un-Smile: Thomas is out of practice.
Villain Protagonist: Niels and Duncan.
Villainy Discretion Shot: Almost always averted by Niels. In fact, most of the original pictures of him were eerie graphic drawings of him torturing or murdering innocent people. Though this is pretty much played straight with Peter, as the kind of evil he commits is just a little too graphic and sickening for both Humon and Deviantart to handle.
Violently Protective Girlfriend: Agent 300 is a Violently Protective Boyfriend.
Wham! Episode: This strip: [1] After 250 and 300 have basically taken over the script, it suddenly ends with Niels taking it, and 300, back, violently.
- And now this one: [2] a strange, black boy claims Niels is his father.
What Could Have Been: Humon shows just what Niels, Natalie, and Duncan's life would have been like if none of them had met. It's depressing to say the least, although the rest of the world would probably be better off.
Wholesome Crossdresser: Deconstructed here.