The Noordegraaf Files

The Noordegraaf Files

Theo Noordegraaf, an average 17-year-old male from Toronto, has just moved to New York for an internship as a programmer working for the online shopping firm Gridco. He doesn't expect much out of his new job, just some irritating glitches, traffic jams, and eating lots of instant ramen. Of course, nearly getting shot by some hooded maniac wielding a crossbow isn't one of these expectations.

After Theo discovers said hooded maniac, a strange black-haired girl named Katrina, searching for something in Gridco's sub-basement, he's pulled from his banal everyday life into a massive world of technology and abilities beyond his understanding. Apparently, the World Tree Yggdrasil is real, and it has an entire society full of magic and other strange things living inside it. There’s just one problem: Yggdrasil isn’t some fantasy wonderland, and everybody has something to hide...

NOTE: If you add a new trope to this page, and the entry for this comic is not on said trope page, please put a tilde "~" at the end of the line. Thank you.

The Noordegraaf Files provides examples of:

• Abandoned Info Page: There's a database of characters and places found on the website, though don't expect it to get done any time soon.
• Animesque: The author describes the comic as this trope, and links the trope page on the comic's homepage.
• Anime Hair: Many of the characters have spiky, brightly colored hair, but Akila and Davis are the most prominent.
• Arms Dealer: A minor character, Edythe, is a rare heroic version. She's portrayed rather sympathetically, and seems to be on friendly terms with the majority of the main cast
• Art Evolution:Compare this to this, and then to this. It's come a long way.
• Alt Text Nearly every image has some - usually just a comment on the image itself. Sometimes they're jokes, though.
• The Berserker: Violet, given her tendency to fly in to a violent rage when she gets overly emotional.
• Blood Upgrade: Violet combines this with a Major Injury Underreaction, in when Katrina shoots her with a crossbow bolt. Violet calmly looks at the wound, tells Katrina "You're in for it now," and proceeds to knock her down with a single punch.
• Boobsand Butt Pose: The dryad on the dryad info page. Justfied, as this is the only pose allowing her face to be seen while not showing any nipples or genitalia — she's naked.
• Broken Bird: Violet - her past is arguably one of the worst of the main cast, having been kiddnapped and tortured. It didn't leave her in the best mental health.
• Censor Steam: Used with Akila in on occasion, in a bath scene.
• Change the Uncomfortable Subject: Theo does it here to Akila when he asks if she has a crush on Katrina, her best friend. She does.
• Cool Uncle: Theo's uncle taught him swordfighting. Or at least tried. It didn't end well.
• Creepy Basement: Ok, it's a SUB-basement, but the office building's basement is still unnerving. Theo is naturally creeped out. Lars denies it, but it's obvious he's lying.
• Crush Blush: Akila whenever questioned about her feelings for Katrina. Backed up by her stammering when responding, as she is normally very collected and calm.
  Akila: What? No! No, we're just... just friends. I mean, I can see why you thought that... but no. Just friends. Nothing more.
• Cute and Psycho: Violet. She doesn't talk (much), and is implied to be very good looking, but hurt her and she'll go bezerk. Literally. By book II she's working on getting less agressive and working through her issues.
• Cute Monster Girl: Akila. The author has stated how much she looks like the creature from the black lagoon, and she has tentacles on occasion.
• Deadpan Snarker: Akila. Some of the time. Violet would count as this as well.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Theo, upon meeting Akila, stares at her chest. As Akila is a Nereid, which are known to be attractive (and have no nudity taboo), she's just dressed in a strapless armor that bares her midriff and a pair of tight shorts. (It's stated in the Alt Text that she doesn't mind being stared at.)
• Exactly What It Says On The Tin: Cave City. It's a city built in a cave.
• Facial Markings: Violet has a few. The minor characters who took care of her in a flashback also have them.
• Fanservice: Not very prevalent, with the exception of Akila's outfits- but it's there.
• Fish People: Nereids. Technically they're more squidlike, but given Akila's generic form having fins and webbed feet, it would make sense they could appear in a similar way.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe Akila always seems to wear a strapless, Midriff-Baring top and either a very short skirt or tight — fitting shorts. Violet would fit this as well, thanks to her tight suit — but she's incredibly flat-chested, so all Fanservice potential is nullified.~
• Four Is Death: The number four shows up a lot in TNF. The second page has the numbers 4 and 4444 written in binary, along with the GRAVE "'" key in groups of four. Not to mention the panel was about the inescapably of death. Also, pages post every Wednesday (4th day of the week, not using biblical calendar) at 4:00.
• Gibberish of Love: Akila, when asked about her attraction to Katrina.
• Glowing Mechanical Eyes: Violet has one on the left side of her face.
• Godiva Hair: Nereids have this by default, and a drawing of a siren in concept art wears her hair like this.
• Hime Cut: Young Violet in the flashbacks about her past. She starts wearing it in a ponytail after she is rescued from her kidnapping.
• Hot Witch: Circe, the minor character in Violet's backstory is magical and has the largest chest in the comic. The unnamed winged woman in white could count as this too.
• Jumped at the Call: Theo. He's a fantasy geek and discovering this world is like the greatest thing that could happen him. He doesn't realize that he isn't protected by Plot Armor and treating the world as if it is a fairy tale is liable to get him killed.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: Akila. She's a nymph that has no taboo against nudity, and it is stated she'd prefer not to wear clothes, but does so out of respect for Katrina's dignity. Doesn't stop her flirting though.
• In the Back: Violet tries to stab Kat in the back in their sparring match. It doesn't end well for her.
• Killer Robot: The robots that attack in chapter 6. Granted, they were under orders in their programming, so they themselves are more like mindless drones, but they still count.~
• Lady Looks Like a Dude: Violet. She doesn't talk, and is very, very flat-chested, so Theo initially mistakes her for a boy. The only possible way of noticing her true gender is that her arms are very feminine in appearance, and she has a ponytail.
• Lady of Black Magic Circe (not her real name) certainly would be.
• Love Triangle: Akila, Theo and Kat. Theo and Akila both love Kat. If her feelings for them are romantic or not is yet to be revealed.
• Luminescent Blush: Theo, upon being walked in on (by a girl) while shirtless in bed. Akila also gets this whenever questioned about if her feelings for Katrina are platonic, or something more... intimate. (It's stated she's attracted to Kat, but if they are in a relationship is currently unknown.)
• Malevolent Masked Women: Violet, at least in the start of the story. She wears a mask for the first book of the comic, and takes it off once she starts to try and work through her issues.
• Made of Iron: Violet had her lower legs, some of her fingers, and her breasts chopped off, suffered a wound that caused her to lose an eye, was starved for presumably two months, and somehow still survived. Granted, she was going to die if someone hadn't found her (and the wounds were cauterized), but she lived to tell the tale. She's a little messed up in the head because of it, though.~
• Mockbuster: The movie posters in the New York page: "The Rapid and the Raging 17:Goblin Truckers From Outer Space!"
• Mook Horror Show: Violet goes bezerk after one of the robots in chapter six kills Ezra.Cut to three pages of robots having their arms and legs torn off.~
• Mugging the Monster A man attempts to rob an unknown woman in the part 2 prologue. Turns out she's a powerful magic wielder, who promptly kills him.
• Ms. Fanservice: Akila - she wears Midriff-bearing clothes constantly and her skirt is cut into slits showing she's not wearing anything underneath.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: Even though Akila and Katrina aren't sisters, they're close enough to be,and Akila will do anything in her power to stop Katrina dating someone she doesn't like. Revealed to be due to her being attracted to Katrina herself. She lightens up in the second book, though.
• Mysterious Waif: The majority of the orphans could count, but Katrina◊ takes the cake. Theo first sees her in a robe, attempting to break into a locked closet. When this happens, the whole plot is set in motion. To this day, still absolutely nothing is known about her. Even for her biography, all that is said about her(besides physical characteristics) is: "No information currently available."
• Nature Spirit: Akila is a Nereid. (For info on Nereids in TNF, go here.) Dryads (who have their own page too) and something called "Incindads" (fire nymphs) are also said to exist, but have not been seen in-comic.
• Opaque Lenses: Octavian, Chris and Violet all have glasses which hide their eyes.
• Our Nymphs Are Different: Nereids are a species of Always Female aquatic humanoids with the lower bodies of squid. They breathe water through microscopic gill slits on their faces, and some can stay on land as long as their gills stay moist. They have eyes with colored scleras and grey irises, and live in a monarchical society where one's standing is determined by her physical beauty Naiads are subspecies adapted for life in bodies of freshwater, although "Nereid" can be used to refer to both kinds as a whole. Dryads and something called "Incindads" (fire nymphs) are also said to exist, but have not been seen in-comic.
• Hiding the Handicap: Orion has bangs to cover a missing eye from a fight at a young age.
• Portal Network: Talked about, not seen. Apparently this is how the characters get from Earth to the varying dimensions featured in the comic.
• Prophet Eyes: Lost (mages who have given into The Dark Side of magic) have these. It's stated that if you see them, RUN.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Katrina. Although, most of the cast has pale skin, due the lack of sun exposure that comes with living underground.~
• Reference Overdosed: There's twelve in the first four pages- such as some of the books on Theo's shelf, or the fish in his aquarium.
• Ready for Lovemaking: Akila in supplemental art — but it's stated she does do this to persuade her friends to sleep with her. It usually works.
• Really Gets Around: Katrina, in a non-sexual way. According to the author, she's had over 30 different boyfriends, and she gets a new one every two to three weeks. Akila is this too, except sexually.~
• Run or Die: The appropriate plan of action upon meeting a hostile dark mage. It's very unlikely to help, but when it's life and death, any advantage helps.~
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Violet's mask would qualify. They appear to glow in low light The mysterious magic user in the prologue to part II also has them, this time use in a much more menacing fashion.
• Shorttank: Katrina has a tank top and shorts as her default outfit.
• SkeleBot 9000: The robots in chapter 6 were deliberately made to look skeletal, according to Word of God.
• Speech-Bubble Censoring: Used on Katrina here. Unfortunately, it's a daydream of Theo's.~
• Spikes of Villainy: Inverted, as Lars wears Red and Black spiked armor, yet he's one of the heroes.
• Spy Catsuit: Violet wears what appears to be a nylon one-piece... thing resembling feety pajamas. This would make great Fanservice, but, unfortunately, Violet is flat-chested, enough to be mistaken for male.
• Sultry Bangs: Circe has bangs that emphasize her sensual nature.
• Sword Fight: A sparring match between Lars and Theo, which lasts around one second. Theo's sword shatters, due to improper hardening of the blade.
• The Tease: Akila. Hinted to be because she's a Nereid, which means that she can't date human men, due to Nereid law, so a Male Gaze is the most she can get. Human women are allowed, which adds more fuel to the theory that she and Katrina, her best friend, are in a relationship. [Spoiler: It's later revealed she can't date human men - but sleeping with them is allowed, so she does that quite a bit.]]
• Token Minority: Lars, being the only black character in the comic.
• Token Nonhuman: Akila, being a Nereid
• Tsundere: Akila was originally meant to be one, but due to characterization changes she became more of a friendly, yet flirty character.
• Urban Fantasy: The page for this trope is linked in the comic's description.
• Wall of Weapons: Edythe from owns one of these in this page, featuring guns from Wolfenstein ^Note The Schockhammer X , Subnautica ^Note The Stasis Rifle, Half-Life 2 ^Note Combine Assault Rifle , Dirk Valentine ^Note Chain Cannon , Terraria ^Note Clockwork Assault Rifle , Fallout 4 ^Note Plasma Scattergun , and The SCP Foundation ^Note The Micro HID . Justified — she's an arms dealer.~
• Vapor Wear: Akila's normal frilled skirt with slits clearly shows she's not wearing anything underneath. How people don't manage to see up inside it is a riddle for the ages.
• World Tree: Like its source material, Yggdrasil serves as the hub for all multiversal travel. Unlike its source material, it’s also a giant endless cavern with wooden walls and has thousands of people living inside it.
• Yandere: Violet has aspects of this with her relationship with Octavian. Granted, she's never attacked anyone for trying to date him — but this is because nobody dates him because they know Violet would kill them. Alt Text has stated that Octavian has Specifically had to speak with Akila to ask her never to flirt with him because it puts both of them in danger.~