Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Webcomic / NatureOfNaturesArt

Go To

1->''"Animals have long been our cohabitants on this planet, but they have no structure in their lives apart from instinct.'' Homo sapiens sapiens ''has dominated the landscape thanks to its unsurpassed primacy in communication skills. But what forces fueled this engine?''
2
3->''It is the power of Art which the animals turn to in solving this problem. Ambitiously adopting the title of 'man', they are determined to control Art and create a prosperous society for themselves. But Art is not easily understood, its powers dangerous and meaning fleeting. For to understand Art, the animals must peer into the depths of their own nature, and excise the animal itself, becoming human. Just how incredible is this feat?"''
4
5Alternative explanation in simpler English: in the future of an alternate universe, animals have evolved human-level intelligence, and are trying to develop a society comparable to that of humans. Just like humans, people have different opinions about what the best way to do this might be. Naturally this can result in fighting -- both figurative and literal.
6
7This is the idea behind Zachary Braun's ''Nature Of Nature's Art'': an experimental webcomic with martial arts, talking animals, plenty of big words, flashy special effects and potentially frightening imagery. It's also a character drama with surprisingly deep, psychological and difficult themes, dealing with such subjects as exploitation and insanity. And the art is spectacular, despite being drawn in oekaki.
8
9So far, the comic consists of three self-contained story arcs, all of which have been completed. In order of publication, they are:
10* '''10%+''': It is the year 2108. Meander, a maned wolf and college student, develops a metanoia (an innovative martial arts style) which allows him to focus his attention on dozens of things at once -- [[DeadlyUpgrade but this turns out to be damaging to his mind]]. Meanwhile, two teachers at the same college have been working on a solution to an economic crisis: [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything turn wild coyotes into mindless slaves]]. When Meander finds out, he is outraged. Cue the epic battle.
11* '''Secretary''': SV is an eccentric degu who basically [[IJustWantToBeSpecial wants to be famous]] - but in animal society, that requires inventing something which can be used to help it progress. His idea? Years ago, his tooth stopped growing after he was bitten by his older brother; he decides to try harnessing the power which stops it from growing. This leads him to enroll in the college, become markscraft to a jerboa called XZ, fight to keep his mind outside of convention, go into self-imposed exile, and discover a terrifying power. But what is its secret? What is malice, and what causes it?
12* '''Lycosa''': This arc is about SPIDERS. Specifically, it stars ''Lycosa gulosa'', a "[[RuleOfCool spider ronin]]" who's looking for her lost egg sac. Meanwhile, a group of spiders called the Venom 8 Team are trying to create some sort of internet-like information network... using egg sacs. [[MamaBear Guess who's unhappy when she finds out that her unhatched kids have been stolen?]]
13* '''Solar System''': Several hundred years after the events of 10%, humans and animals have united their societies, and animal factures have been used to advance human technology in all areas of society. A small company's mission into space is interrupted by extraterrestrial invaders, and to get back to Earth in time to save it, they must meet and ally with the other sapient societies of the solar system.
14* '''Syconium''': XX is a stoat with two innate gifts: abstract painting, and amazing physical beauty. After society fails to appreciate her artwork, she takes up prostitution to make ends meet. However, she soon catches the attention of the MoralGuardians, and is escorted to a brothel where escape is both literally and figuratively impossible. As her trapped situation becomes clear, her passionate artist persona is slowly replaced by a [[SexierAlterEgo seductress facade]], and nobody seems really interested in knowing the real XX. Is there still a way for her to return to being a respectable member of society?
15* '''Wild Style''': Not so much an arc as a series of gag a day comics. It's had cameos from ''Secretary'' protagonist SV and ''10%+'' protagonist Meander, but not much else to connect it the other arcs thematically beyond sapient animals.
16* '''Pika''': Braun's contribution to AprilFoolsDay, which proved so popular that it's now permanently up on the site. A Franchise/{{Pokemon}} trainer takes a ''very'' unorthodox approach to training a Pikachu. (Be warned: it's all on one long page.)
17
18In addition to the above, the author has stated that there is a complete but as of yet unreleased story involving ungulates, (presumably deer).
19
20In addition, there is a print version of ''10%+'' which comes in six volumes, along with a seventh called ''[[AllThereInTheManual The 10%+ Addendum]]''. ''Secretary'' was also made into a print version, in four volumes. There's also a a print version of ''Lycosa'''s prologue titled (we promise you) ''Untitled'', which comes with a car-themed calendar. ''Wild Style'' is expected to become a print version.
21
22The webcomic -- which updates as often Braun can manage it, usually weekdays at minimum -- can be found [[http://www.nofna.com/ here]].
23
24----
25!!Tropes in NOFNA
26
27* NinetyPercentOfYourBrain: True with Halo brains, and fairly realistic in that animals are only supposed to use 10% at once, more risks overheating.
28* ActionGirl: Quintet and Fiat in ''10%+''; XZ/Nutsedge in ''Secretary''; lots of spiders in ''Lycosa''... judging from the setting, there'd also be countless others.
29* AllThereInTheManual: The website's "about" section has a glossary. There's also the rare print-only ''The 10%+ Addendum'' which contains two epilogues (only one of which is canon) and analyses of the different fighting styles. Presumably there'll be one for ''Secretary'' as well.
30* AlternateCalendar: The animals divide each day by four naps instead of one big long sleep. Also, a week is four days long, with the fourth day being the "weekend".
31* AlternateTimeline: The print version of ''Secretary'' has a different, though still bittersweet, ending.
32* AnachronicOrder: According to WordOfGod, each arc is numbered according to when it takes place. Going by this, the chronological order seems to be ''Secretary'' (#12), then ''Lycosa'' (#15), then ''10%+'' (#50) and finally ''Solar System'' (#88).
33* AnthropomorphicShift: Happens in-universe. As the timeline progresses, halo-brained animals adopt more human traits, as seen in the clothed shrews at the end of ''Wild Style''.
34* ArcWords: Percentages in ''10%+''. In particular, 10% comes up quite a bit.
35* ArtEvolution
36* ArtShift:
37** [[spoiler:On page 248 of ''Secretary'', XZ "morphs" from a highly stylised Pikachu-like jerboa to being drawn much more realistically. In addition, from page [[http://www.nofna.com/?T=1-1-12-254 254]] on, the previously monochrome story has COLOUR in it; this in turn leads up to a shift to full-colour after SV dies.]]
38** ''Lycosa'''s prologue and epilogue are done in the comic's usual full-colour style, but for the story proper it changes to a more "painted" style, possibly to reflect the fact that spiders percieve the world differently than we do. Furthermore, [[spoiler:when Lycosa awakens the Power of I and invents a metanoia, the aliased and painterly style of the comic ceases to apply to her and she is drawn with unaliased clarity and definition.]]
39** ''Wild Style'' is a black-and-white comic except for the final (so far?) page, which is done in full colour.
40** A [[FictionalMedia game within the comic]] in ''Solar System'' has anime-style art, as well as old-school pixel sprites. The guy ''playing'' the game is still done in the comic's usual style, though.
41* AuthorAvatar: A man that is assumed to be Zachary Braun appears sporadically (until recently) in ''Wild Style.'' His design [[TheNthDoctor varies]] [[IncrediblyLamePun wildly]] from page to page.
42* BabiesEverAfter: in ''Lycosa'' [[spoiler: the titular character adopts the eggsacs of the late Venom 8.]]
43* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The first two arcs.]]
44* BlackHumor: Lycosa Gulosa loves it.
45* BodyHorror: Quite a bit of it in ''Secretary''. Ye have been warned.
46* BondVillainStupidity: Polarizing spends an awful lot of time talking and boasting about the things he can do to Quintet, instead of actually doing most of them.
47* BookEnds: ''[[http://www.nofna.com/index.php?image=1&A=15&fromtop=2 Ly]][[http://www.nofna.com/index.php?image=291&A=15&fromtop=2 cosa]]''
48* BrokenPedestal
49* [[CallingYourAttacks Calling Your Factures]]:
50** If someone's calling the facture they're using, the name of the facture and/or style is emphasised. How emphasised? On one end of the spectrum, bigger and bolder letters are used. On the other end, it might as well be called ''Calligraphy Porn''.
51** This went up to eleven in Lycosa, with its ''animated speech bubbles''. [[spoiler:Lycosa's facture]] names must be seen to be believed.
52* [[spoiler: CainAndAbel: The alternate ending of ''Secretary''.]]
53* CartoonyEyes: Used in ''10%+'' to show that differentiate between the sapient animals, and those [[spoiler: that have had their halo brain destroyed.]]
54* CatsAreMean: Subverted with Quintet in ''10%+''.
55* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve[=/=]YourMindMakesItReal: The animals' martial arts styles run at least partially on this, to the point that denial is a viable combat tactic. There's also mention of a "telenoetic barrier" which, if pierced, makes denial useless; this is what can potentially make telenoises dangerous.
56* ContemplateOurNavels
57* [[CourtroomEpisode Courtroom Arc]]: The second half of ''10%+''.
58* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Secretary''.
59* DeceptiveDisciple
60* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler: With his character development and focus at the start of ''10%+'', Meander certainly seems to be the arc's hero. Sadly, his personality is destroyed halfway through, passing the torch to Quintet to finish the story.]]
61* DeliberatelyMonochrome: ''Secretary''. [[spoiler:At first.]]
62* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In '''spades'''.
63* ADogNamedDog: In a variant, every named spider character in ''Lycosa'' goes by their species' scientific name. [[spoiler:It also takes advantage of how one particular species of spider is known by multiple scientific names: "'''''Lycosa''''' ''gulosa''" and "'''''Gladicosa''''' ''gulosa''"]].
64** There's even an equivalent for first name/last name basis; species name is used mainly in a familiar context (Lycosa calls Pisaurina "Mira", for instance), while genus name appears to be more formal for talking to strangers (and is used in dialogue tags).
65* [[FantasyForbiddingFather Fantasy-Forbidding Mother]]: SV's mother.
66* FateWorseThanDeath: Removing an animal's halo brain destroys its personality and memories, leaving it as an utterly base animal. [[spoiler:Poor Meander.]]
67* FinalSpeech: Every single antagonist in ''Lycosa'', usually with shades of DyingAsYourself.
68* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Pisaurina siccs a mantis on her, Lycosa briefly tries to scare it away by acting like a mantis herself, before realizing that's a stupid idea given the circumstances. After escaping, Lycosa remarks that it's cool in theory, but would probably only work with other spiders. [[spoiler: The Power Of I is a metanoia based on PowerCopying other spiders through mimicry.]]
69* ForWantOfANail:
70** So what caused the differences between this Earth and ours? ''The moon formed differently.'' [[note]]Specifically the comic follows the idea that in our universe, a Mars-sized space object crashed into a very young Earth, and this began the process that created our moon. That didn't happen in the [=NofNA=] 'verse.[[/note]]
71** The print version of ''Secretary'' had another unlikely divergence point from the web version. ''A different eye turned red.''
72* {{Filler}}: ''Wild Style''. Arguably ''Pika'' as well, but the latter seems too ambitious (and only appears once a year anyway) to count.
73* FromBadToWorse: ''Secretary'' in a nutshell.
74* FurriesAreEasierToDraw: Averted. The more recent arcs show that Braun is not only perfectly capable of drawing humans, but just as good at it as he is at drawing animals.
75* FutureImperfect: Compare ''Solar System'''s in-story retelling of ''10%+'' to what actually happened. You'll find a few differences...
76* GenreShift: The first few arcs are pretty much {{Xenofiction}}. Then there's ''Solar System'', which has [[LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy humans and sapient animals mingling]], focuses on technology, features [[spoiler:aliens as the antagonists]], and is generally a different kind of sci-fi to what we've seen in the comic before.
77* GiantSpider: ''Lycosa'' usually averts this (even featuring a ''really tiny'' one), though it still features ''Theraphosa blondi'', the very aptly-named Goliath Birdeater. It ''dwarfs'' the titular wolf spider.
78* GreyAndGreyMorality: One of the comic's draws, although this isn't quite as obvious in ''10%+''.
79* HorseOfADifferentColor: ''Lycosa'' does this with ''insects'' of all things - first with a praying mantis, and more recently [[spoiler:with a wasp]].
80* HumansAreSpecial: After failing to get any other animal to draw something funny enough for ''Wild Style'', Braun, one of the planet's "Ultimate Organisms", steps up to the plate. [[spoiler: And bombs miserably.]]
81* HurricaneOfPuns: One page of ''Wild Style'' has a bunch of "chip" puns. ([[VisualPun Mostly visual, of course.]]) Naturally, some of them involve ''chip''munks.
82* ImprovisedWeapon: Lycosa of, um, ''Lycosa'' uses plenty of improvised weaponry, as her compulsion to carry an egg sac drives her to pick up debris in its place, which becomes weaponry when she gets into a fight. Thanks to spiders being so much smaller than humans, a ''pill'' effectively becomes a gigantic club, and the prongs of a capacitor make a dangerous lance. Lampshaded when she tries to adopt a golf ball for this purpose, only to abandon it because it's way too big for her. [[spoiler: Somehow, she manages to use an even bigger weapon later on... a desktop electric fan!]]
83* InstantExpert: When major characters learn Metanoia/Telenoia, they tend to also learn all of their factures within the systems. [[spoiler:Most obvious when SV unlocks the Telenoia of Malice and Lycosa taps The Power Of "I".]]
84* [[IndividualityIsIllegal Individuality Is Outdated]]: Venom 8's plan to borrow eggsacs from every spider wasn't some diabolical scheme by they and their supporter's estimation due to this trope. Every one else was so thoroughly on board with it, it hadn't occurred to them that someone would object.
85%%* InfiniteCanvas
86* {{Kiai}}: ''"MARK!"'' (There's no clear in-universe explanation for where that one came from.)
87* KillerRabbit: Let's just say that not all of the comic's ass-kickers are animals you'd expect to be able to kick ass. In particular, a number of characters in ''Secretary'' fit, since it's mostly about rodents.
88* LighterAndSofter: ''Wild Style''.
89* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: ''Wild Style'', though it works well with the slapstick humor. ''Solar System'' does this as well; at one point it's implied that human and animal society merged.
90* LongestPrologueEver: ''Solar System'' currently holds the record for the longest one in the comic, taking over 60 pages to get to the title. This is going to be a lengthy story-arc...
91* {{Magitek}}: Among other things, in ''Solar System'', factures have been used to allow people to talk directly to their computers. And vice versa.
92%%* MartialArtsAndCrafts
93* MediumBlending: In ''Lycosa'', animated arrows appear in the speech bubbles you have to highlight to translate the spider speech every so often in order to better demonstrate the sense of movement, surprise, or the emotions a spider face is completely incapable of conveying. [[spoiler:Later on in the arc, animated speech bubbles are used to elaborate the supernatural quality of Lycosa's factures with ridiculously complex animations]]
94* MeaningfulName: If a character has a proper name, then it's near-guaranteed to be one of these. Justified - they picked their names themselves.
95* MindScrew: The author has stated that one of the reasons he started creating the webcomic is that he couldn't find any difficult webcomics to read. Even though some apparent mind screws end up [[ItMakesSenseInContext making sense in context or hindsight]], it's a difficult read.
96* MoodWhiplash: The manic ''Wild Style'' ends with a serious, semi-autobiographical page about a frustrated artist.
97* MundaneUtility: Possible inversion; ''very few'' styles are used exclusively for combat. Many are/were developed for non-combat use and just happened to be useable ''in'' combat (for example, Meander's metanoia). In fact, there are actually styles which are ''not'' supposed to be used to attack someone!
98* MythologyGag: A few jokes in ''Wild Style''. SV's/[[spoiler:Malice's]] over dramatic speech giving is parodied in the second strip, and [[spoiler:the halo brain-dead]] Meander is described as the "perfect man" by a female maned wolf in another.
99* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler: Had Rule not used Galena on Meander, Meander would likely have been found guilty, and the question of the legality of destroying the halo brain might never have become an issue, seeing how Quintet only cared because it was used on her best friend.]]
100* OneSteveLimit: Played straight as a plot point in ''Lycosa'', despite the spiders only using scientific names for themselves. Two spiders of the same species are using different classifications for themselves, giving them different genus names.
101* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Having a name is one of the highest prestiges in this setting. Most animals are therefore known by scent codes (usually abbreviated to the last two letters), by where they're from, or by nicknames.
102* OurSoulsAreDifferent: The halo brain, which contains the will and personality of each individual. [[spoiler: Destroying it renders the poor victim a SoullessShell.]]
103* PaintingTheMedium: One page of ''Secretary'' is a blank webpage, presumably to convey loss of consciousness. If that wasn't enough, towards the end, the webpages change background colour to go along with the comic doing the same. ''Lycosa'' goes even further; aside from an above-mentioned ArtShift, you have to mouse over the speech bubbles in order to read them.
104* PrecisionFStrike:
105** An example for a character rather than a story: [[spoiler:"[...]the origin of malice will be your own ''damn'' self."]]
106** Polarizing in ''10+'' ''[[{{Bowdlerise}} originally]]'' had a literal one of these, as well, followed shortly by a ClusterFBomb spawned from [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge sheer rage.]]
107* [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil Promotional Images Always Spoil]]: The promotional image for the print version of ''Secretary'' depicts one of the [[ForWantOfANail major differences]] from the web version: [[spoiler:a fight between NT and Malice!SV]].
108* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: Played straight (and occasionally for laughs) in ''10%+'', and ''nastily'' subverted in ''Secretary''. [[spoiler:TY, the punch-ee, is killed almost instantly by the impact.]]
109* PunctuatedForEmphasis: [[http://www.nofna.com/?T=1-1-15-37 Give me. My. CHILDREN BACK!]]
110* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:SV is an arguable case, as in his dying moments he realises that the origin of malice is, "your own damn self"... whatever ''that'' means. This ''did'' redeem him in the eyes of some anti-SV readers, in any case.]]
111%%* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: ''Lycosa'' in a nutshell.
112* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Played straight in ''10%+'' with Amanita. ''Secretary'' plays with the trope.
113* RuleOfCool: The martial arts styles ''thrive'' on this trope (one example being a style that turns your teeth red and apparently rips some of the blood out of your opponent). And even in ''Lycosa'' the rule's in full effect. An early fight scene can basically be summed up as, "a fist fight while bungee-jumping".
114* SceneryPorn
115* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Oh dear god. Big words are ''everywhere'' - in the martial arts techniques, in dialogue, ''in the freaking manual'', ''everywhere''.
116* [[HeWhoFightsMonsters She Who Fights Monsters]]: Lycosa Gulosa certainly has shades of this in her brutality, apathy, and penchant for black humor each time she offs an enemy. Though, ultimately this led to [[spoiler:Lycosa's heroic MegaManning of her enemies -- she understood the individual identity, uniqueness and worth of her enemies and internalized them, leading to her invention of her own metanoia.]]
117%%* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:''Secretary'']].
118* ShownTheirWork: While Braun does slip up at times, the comic is surprisingly well-researched overall.
119* ShoutOut:
120** [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]] has a cameo appearance in one comic. And then there was ''[[AprilFoolsDay Pika]]''.
121** [[Franchise/MortalKombat "GET OVER HERE!!"]] With an animated Scorpion cameo, no less!
122** One of the games on Abe's high score list is ''[[VideoGame/{{Raiden}} Raidendendendendenden Jr. & Lil' Son]]''.
123** Lycosa exclaims "son of a ''muffet''" when attacked by a mantis. Nursery rhymes, anyone?
124* SiblingRivalry: NT has some issues with SV.
125* SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism: [[PartiallyCivilizedAnimal Partially Civilized Animals]] in ''Secretary'' and ''Lycosa''. [[CivilizedAnimal Civilized Animals]] in ''10%'' and ''Solar System''. In all cases, they retain their animal anatomy.
126* StayInTheKitchen: [[spoiler:Poor XZ got this from ''tons'' of people, leading to her decision to quit the college.]]
127* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: The antagonists of ''Solar System'' can destroy planets and recreate them with little problem. All of the other planets' inhabitants also have technology far in advance of Earth's, usually to do with dimensional manipulation.
128* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Rule to Meander... sort of.]]
129* ThemeNaming:
130** The various moves of the styles are often (but not always) named like this. Some examples: [[spoiler:''both'' versions of SV's malice style and Lycosa's factures.]]
131** At least some of ''Solar System'''s characters have a space theme going on in their names - Yuri is likely named after Yuri Gargarin, Able after a monkey who went to space, and Strelka after a Russian space dog. (She even points out that [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt there's a reason she wasn't named Laika]].)
132** FloralThemeNaming: A fair few animals take their names (or nicknames) from plantlife, such as Amanita and Talinum from ''10%+'' and Chrysanthemum, Marigold (SV) and Nutsedge (XZ) from ''Secretary''. Note that Nutsedge is the only female character on this list.
133* TranslationConvention: In ''10%+'' and ''Secretary'', characters are assumed to be speaking the common language when their text is handwritten (and looks "rougher"). When speaking their species's own tongue (which can still be learned by some other animals) their text is typed in a very clean, simple font. In ''Lycosa'', it is implied that spiders somehow communicate visually, with little speech bubbles filled with images depicting what the spider wishes to convey to others that must be moused over for a proper English translation.
134* TranslatorMicrobes: The animals in ''Solar System'' still speak Common, but they (and humans) are permanently connected to a world-wide network that handles the translation for them. [[spoiler:When ''Discovery'' is stranded in space, the signal to the 'net is lost, and the astronauts have to fall back on more primitive translators.]]
135* UnusualEuphemism: How in the colulus did Braun come up with "SUCK MY PALP"?!
136* VisualPun: ''Lycosa's'' image speech bubbles are brimming with them.
137* WellDoneSonGuy: [[spoiler:Rule to Meander]].
138* WellIntentionedExtremist: Possibly SV; ''definitely'' 10%'s Rule and Polarizing and Lycosa's Gulosa.
139* WhamLine: ''Solar System'': [[spoiler:"That's '''Plutonian''' technology."]]
140* WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt: {{Defied|Trope}} in ''Solar System'' when deciding what to name a new space shuttle.
141-->'''Abe:''' 'Challenger'.\
142'''Strelka:''' Ah... the Challenger blew up.
143* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: One could argue that the entire purpose of ''Lycosa'' is to challenge this trope, by making the audience sympathise with realistically-drawn, (somewhat) realistically-behaving spiders. So far, it seems to be working.
144* {{Xenofiction}}
145

Top