History Literature / Noka

* {{Bishounen}}: Noka is perceived as one by Brendan, especially in light of the fact that the bluenette's hair grows abnormally fast.

* DaylightHorror: Solo's encounter with [[spoiler: Lesser Demons]] in the Tensian Forest. Of course, it's his first day on patrol too.
** Subverted with the zombies, as their appearance is usually accompanied by heavy rain.

* PoisonousFriend: Found. Don't even look at his division members wrong.
** FridgeHorror: [[spoiler: Elli informs Sebastian that Found was holding back during their fight. Found is supposed to be worse than Az when properly enraged. KT and Lev outrank both of them.]]

* AwesomeMcCoolname: The actual names of several Dires.
** Noka: [[spoiler: Nokari de Baatz]]
** KT: [[spoiler: Krieg Armand Torin]]
** Found: [[spoiler: Felix Isaac Vallon]]
** Aziu: [[spoiler: Azalais Henri Urien]]
** Ex: [[spoiler: [[GenderBlenderName Ashley Excel Fox]]]]

Unfortunately, for Noka, most dreams are meant to be shattered. The hammer to his brittle dreams is the Diresoldiers guild (usually shortened to "Dire" in-universe) who are seemingly set on showing him that the world isn't as magical as he thinks it is. Which would be true, if one of the guild captains didn't happen to be an elf. Or if their HQ wasn't located in TheLostWoods. ...[[OverlyLongGag Or if he wasn't]] attacked by a fire-breathing wyvern shortly after starting his journey.

* TheLostWoods: The general location of the Dire HQ. It doesn't help that it is a hotspot for numerous [[HellGate gates]].

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Especially considering that by two-hundred chapters in, we've only been introduced to a fraction of the entire cast.

* OneHeadTaller: Abel and [[spoiler: Rook]].
* OneManArmy: All of the guild Captains.

* ThisIsThePartWhere: Invoked throughout the story.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Discussed by Found and Az.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Usually the first thing most people notice about Noka.

* AxCrazy: Az tells Noka that Found used to be extremely violent before, compared to how relatively mellow he is now. He also warns Noka that he doesn't want to see the [[ChaoticEvil "Old"]] [[PersonOfMassDestruction Found]].

* HeroicAlbino: Az, being an elf, is essentially albino by default. His hair is platinum blonde though, just because it's such a dominant hair color for elves. [[spoiler: When he switches to Third Horseman of the Apocalypse mode, his skin turns bone white.]]

''[[http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2906624/1/Noka The RPS]]'' is a WebSerialNovel starring the titular protagonist in a setting that seems [[PurelyAestheticEra as though different parts were mixed and matched from other time periods]], along with ones that never existed. In a world where pistol-wielding guild members clash with everything from Demons lurking in forests, to Serial Killers prowling the alleyways, all bets are off on what could possibly show up. Enter Noka, a high-spirited young boy in his teens, set on joining a guild in the hopes that he can rush into the world of adventures that lie before him.

* BaconAddiction: Az lampshades how much Found loves his bacon:
-->'''Az:''' "—Yeah he gets the same look when I tell him we’re out of bacon. He gets that sort of shocked look of despair on his face, right?"

[[spoiler: End of Prologue]].

[[quoteright:288:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NokaCover_3044.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:288:A Webnovel that has cover art. +10 Redundancy Points[[spoiler: That cover art is for the prologue. The prologue is 224 chapters long.]].]]

->''"1. Has the blue-haired person sitting on the stretcher over there always been in guild, 2. Where does he buy his hair dye, and 3. Are those his real eyebrows or does he ignore the safety warning like I do?''"
--> -- '''[[CloudCuckooLander KT]]''', summing up his first impression of the main character in his own words

''[[http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2906624/1/Noka The RPS]]'' is a WebSerialNovel starring the titular protagonist in a setting that seems [[PurelyAestheticEra as though different parts were mixed and matched from other time periods]], along with ones that never existed. In a world where pistol-wielding guild members clash with everything from Demons lurking in forests, to Serial Killers prowling the alleyways, all bets are off on what could possibly show up. Enter Noka, a high-spirited young boy in his teens, set on joining a guild in the hopes that he can rush into the world of adventures that lie before him.

Unfortunately, for Noka, most dreams are meant to be shattered. The hammer to his brittle dreams is the Diresoldiers guild (usually shortened to "Dire" in-universe) who are seemingly set on showing him that the world isn't as magical as he thinks it is. Which would be true, if one of the guild captains didn't happen to be an elf. Or if their HQ wasn't located in TheLostWoods. ...[[OverlyLongGag Or if he wasn't]] attacked by a fire-breathing wyvern shortly after starting his journey.

After joining Dire in an [[FirstEpisodeResurrection unorthodox]] manner, Noka finds himself adjusting to the guild life through situations such as: involuntarily hunting pandas for target practice, getting lost in storms while out buying groceries, and tracking serial killers with his fellow guildmates for [[PerpetualPoverty money]].

----
!! ''The RPS'' provides examples of:
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: KT is immediately distracted by Noka's hair color, to the point where he temporarily forgot to ask why everything was ''exploding to pieces'' around him.
** There seems to be an increasing case of this the higher up you go in the guild's ranks. Lev manages to annoy even KT of all people.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: The actual names of several Dires.
** Noka: [[spoiler: Nokari de Baatz]]
** KT: [[spoiler: Krieg Armand Torin]]
** Found: [[spoiler: Felix Isaac Vallon]]
** Aziu: [[spoiler: Azalais Henri Urien]]
** Ex: [[spoiler: [[GenderBlenderName Ashley Excel Fox]]]]
* AxCrazy: Az tells Noka that Found used to be extremely violent before, compared to how relatively mellow he is now. He also warns Noka that he doesn't want to see the [[ChaoticEvil "Old"]] [[PersonOfMassDestruction Found]].
* {{BFG}}: The "[=XM78=] Anti-Materiel Rifle", which is soon Lampshaded by resident gun enthusiast, Crim.
-->'''Crim:''' "You bought a rifle that shoots bullets with over ''14,000 pounds of force.'' How did you even ''find'' an [=XM78=]?!"
* {{BFS}}: Found's height and build is emphasized by how he can wear a claymore sized broadsword at the hip and manage to conceal it under a coat.
* BigDamnHeroes: Dante shows up just in time to save Noka from being beaten to death by Elli.
* {{Bishounen}}: Noka is perceived as one by Brendan, especially in light of the fact that the bluenette's hair grows abnormally fast.
* BlatantLies: "I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about."
* BloodKnight: Found, when in the right [[AxCrazy mood]].
* BrownNote: Seeing the [[EldritchAbomination Sentinels]] has this effect on normal humans apparently.
* BreatherEpisode: Or breather chapters, to pace everything out. Even breather scenes show up in the middle of chapters from time to time.
* ButtMonkey: Solo's role has somewhat fallen into this. It doesn't help that Elli is constantly out to troll him with toasters either.
* CloudCuckooLander: KT isn't the most grounded guild captain, most of the time.
** Found qualifies by convincing Abel to "help" him make a fort out of furniture. By breaking down the furniture and building from scratch.
** Taken even further when Lev, the guild leader and KT's superior, is introduced. His plans during a mass outbreak of zombies? Why, hit a karaoke bar of course!
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass / ObfuscatingStupidity: Seriously, don't piss off that elf wearing the red coat, the redhead, the one in white armor, or the one wearing clogs. I know they're arguing over whether cucumbers are poisonous or not. Yes, one of them just got by a pie. No, I don't know where the pie came from. Just... trust me on this.
* ComedicSociopathy: Early as the third chapter in fact. Noka is stabbed through the shoulder and left bleeding out on the ground. He isn't paid any attention to though since Az crash lands his [[GiantFlyer eagle]] on top of his assailants. The ensuing scuffle overshadows his critical condition:
-->'''Az:''' (After being shot through the hand) "I was apologizing before you shot my right god damn hand!"
-->'''Noka:''' "Still bleeding here..."
* CurbStompBattle: Every one of Found's fights has ended this way so far. Thankfully he's one of the good guys.
* CurseCutShort: Played with. Closer to "Apology Cut Short" as Az is halfway through apologizing until he's shot through the hand. His ensuing reaction however is played straight, however:
-->'''Az:''' "Son of a-!"
-->'''[[NoNameGiven Archer:]]''' "Now that he can't use his bow, [[TemptingFate he can't fight back]]."
** Played straight when Az watches Abel absentmindedly walk out of a store still wearing the clothes he's trying on:
-->'''Az:''' "I've never seen anyone steal stuff by wearing it and just walking out. That guy's got massive ba—"
* DaylightHorror: Solo's encounter with [[spoiler: Lesser Demons]] in the Tensian Forest. Of course, it's his first day on patrol too.
** Subverted with the zombies, as their appearance is usually accompanied by heavy rain.
* DeadpanSnarker: Az and KT might be rubbing off on Noka a little bit.
* Debut Queue: First we meet Noka. Then he meets the guild. And as soon as he gets put into a Division, this trope kicks in when Abel joins his squad, followed by Lega, Wally, Brendan, Rook, Abra, Cait, Lenz, Cor, Deston...
* DisguisedInDrag: Noka.
* DramaticStutter: One of the reviews posted when the reader found out [[spoiler: everything they had just read, all 224 chapters, was just the prologue of the story]].
* DumbassHasAPoint: Found has his moments.
* EldritchAbomination: The Sentinels. Immense cosmic monsters that surround entire universes from their outer edge and slowly eat their way inward, annihilating almost everything in their path. They live in multiple dimensions at once and their image alone drives people to madness.
* EvilVersusEvil: May apply to the guild, depending on their actions and who they're fighting at any given moment.
* FirstEpisodeResurrection: To this day, the protagonist harbors a grudge against Wyverns.
* FourisDeath: Elli is the Fourth Division Leader, [[spoiler: and the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, Death]].
* GenreBusting: Yup, they were on that planet fighting serial killers, sea monsters, zombies, and [[KnightTemplar knights]]. Yup, they just took a interplanetary shuttle to a different planet using faster-than-light technology to be dropped into a warzone between transdimensional demons and the military's space fleet. Another normal day.
* GoodOldFisticuffs: Found vs Paladins in Solo's flashback.
** Noka states that he was trained in boxing prior to joining the guild. [[spoiler: In his first serious hand-to-hand fight however, it's shown to be closer to some form of brutal hunting method that involves the separation of body parts in rapid succession. Coupled with his apparent ability to nullify and absrob mana, it's clear why it was such a one-sided fight with Giroux. Beware the nice ones indeed.]]
* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Found has bacon print underwear, which he uses as a makeshift flag for a fort made out of furniture.
* HairTriggerTemper: Elli nearly kills Noka on two occasions, just for the hell of it.
** Although it is speculated in-universe that he does it to test newcomers for strength and willpower when they first come to the guild. [[spoiler: Confirmed by Elli himself several chapters later.]]
* HealingFactor: Anyone with enough mana. It's even used by Lenz through injection form to recover from wounds during battle.
* HereThereBeDragons: Averted, unfortunately for Noka. His napkin-map really should have had illustrations on it, especially when the directions on it leads him to a volcanic area where ''wyverns'' reside. Though, there ''was'' a grocery store ten miles away, but still...
* HeroicAlbino: Az, being an elf, is essentially albino by default. His hair is platinum blonde though, just because it's such a dominant hair color for elves. [[spoiler: When he switches to Third Horseman of the Apocalypse mode, his skin turns bone white.]]
* HighlyVisibleNinja: Az and Solo are the only members of the Third Division, the supposed recon specialists of guild. In a nutshell; ninjas with cameras. What do they wear? Az is fond of a bright red long-coat for starters.
* InMediasRes: We're tossed into the thick of things right from the start with Noka watching a catastrophe happen directly overhead.
* InsistentTerminology: Raido.
* ItAmusedMe: Elli, oh so much. His early appearances are scarce, but he runs with them every time he shows up. Included on his list is choking Noka, scaring Noka half to death through laughter, and beating the daylights out of him for fun.
--> '''Ellidon:''' "Great, you're just in time. Az is in the kitchen, go help him not burn water and cook something edible. Oh, and remember about the whole not screwing up part. Now go before I kill you. Hahaha!"
--> '''Noka:''' "Oh...yeah, haha..."
--> '''Ellidon:''' "I'm not kidding."
--> '''Noka:''' "Sorry!"
--> '''Ellidon:''' "Geez, calm down. It's a joke."
* KnightOfCerebus: Sebastian showing up is a signal that something horrible is either happening off-screen, just happened, or is about to happen. So far, [[spoiler: his sole appearance had him leading a manhunt for Abel, where his paladins were unsuccessful in capturing him. Directly afterwards, Noka meets Abel, who himself is a pretty serious person compared to the [[ComedicSociopathy other]] [[CloudCuckooLander main]] [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits characters]].]] Judging from peoples' reactions to him, he seems to fit the bill in-universe as well.
** Solidified in his most recent appearance, right as [[spoiler: Az wipes out an entire universe twice the size of our own.]]
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Especially considering that by two-hundred chapters in, we've only been introduced to a fraction of the entire cast.
* FriendlessBackground: The driving reason [[ParentalAbandonment Abel]] wants to join Dire.
* JigsawPuzzlePlot: Considering all that's happened in the prologue, the story sure seems like it's going in this direction. And by prologue, we don't mean that sliver of text on the first page of the story.
* KilledMidSentence: [[NoNameGiven The warrior]] that stabbed Noka is shot dead by Az, and promptly DiesWideOpen.
* LaughingMad: Found in Solo's flashback.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Elli's fight with found is filled with these.
* MadeOfIron: Any Lieutenant in guild is just about guaranteed to be this trope to survive the shenanigans they go through. The upper tiers of this universe fall into NighInvulnerability land.
** Shout out to Sebastian, who survives a brutal beatdown from FOUND of all people, and later states that he wasn't even fighting back.
* {{Metaphorgotten}}: Whenever Found tries to pull a metaphor out, this is usually the end result.
* MoodWhiplash: Chapters aren't exempt from ping-ponging between ludicrous stupid-but-funny scenes, and serious situations where silence permeates the background.
* {{Multishot}}: Az takes the second kill of the story with a five arrow volley [[ImprobableAimingSkills in one shot]].
* NoHuggingNoKissing: Averted with Brendan and Wally, which leads to...
** ButNotTooGay: ...being also averted by the same couple.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted. Apparently zombie movies exist in this universe, making the Fifth Division very efficient at zombie killing.
* OneHandedZweihander: [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Found]].
* OneHeadTaller: Abel and [[spoiler: Rook]].
* OneManArmy: All of the guild Captains.
* OverlyLongName: Caron Allegretto Levant Xiomara.
* ParentalNeglect: Abel is on the receiving end of this during his introductory background exposition.
* PerpetualPoverty: Once again, the guild. May have to do with the voracious appetites possessed by its members. Either that or just the amount of bacon consumed by Found is enough to offset the already frail bank account.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: [[spoiler: Az.]] Full stop. Anyone that can destroy a universe twice as large as ours within seconds of entering it deserves this title at the very least. Presumably anyone around his rank would be able to do the same amount of damage.
* PoisonousFriend: Found. Don't even look at his division members wrong.
** FridgeHorror: [[spoiler: Elli informs Sebastian that Found was holding back during their fight. Found is supposed to be worse than Az when properly enraged. KT and Lev outrank both of them.]]
* PurelyAestheticEra: Full medieval body armor? Check. Flying fire-breathing wyverns? Check. Pistols, Cellphones, and [=TVs=]? Check, Check, and Check!
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Applies to the entire guild in general, but seeing Az, an albino elf dressed in a long coat, and Found, a very tall, very intimidating looking redheaded human, cracking sarcastic jokes together showcases it well. They don't hesitate to accept Noka, a random boy with blue hair initially dressed in armor, as one of their own.
** The guild was the only one that Wally and Brendan could join. All of the others refused a gay couple in their ranks.
* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: The high-end of the characters' destructive capacity is shown to be this by [[spoiler: the end of the prologue]].
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Wyverns' eyes shine red when exposed to sunlight.
** [[spoiler: Az's eyes glow red from the sheer amount of mana he's exerting when destroying universes.]]
* SchizoTech: A staple of the verse at this point.
* ShirtlessScene: Noka wakes up in his room wearing only pants. Justified in that he was badly wounded and wearing restricting armor when he was brought in, and needed it to be removed for surgery. He spends the next few minutes going door-to-door asking guildies for a spare t-shirt to wear. Subverted in that almost every person he came across gave him blank stares when he asked for their clothes.
--> '''Az:''' "And you didn't look in your closet for a shirt? You went around asking everyone for one, including—oh look, she just sent me a message on the [[InsistentTerminology Raido]] 'why is there a kid with blue hair asking people for their clothes o.o;?'."
* ShootTheMedicFirst: HIGHLY unadvisable with the Sixth Division as [[AxCrazy Cait]] is their medic. The same man that walks into traffic and gets hit by a car just so he can punch a gun through its windshield and threaten its driver at point blank range.
* SleepCute: Abel and Rook during their road trip to Sunko. It doubles as both a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, and Tear Jerker when understood within context.
* SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness: Can and will jump the line between the two, and often.
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Abel and Noka play odd word games while navigating through loud crowds, and are usually on the same wavelength when it comes to ideas.
* SuperReflexes: Az takes an arrow to the hand when his guard is down, but he'll effortlessly catch them if he's focused.
* SuperSoldier: [[spoiler: Noka is revealed to be one when his past is shown, and his [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown fight]] with Giroux backs it up.]]
* SwordAndGun: One of Found's fighting styles. Averted during the Serial Killer Arc in that the [[AwesomeButImpractical trench coat]] he wears doesn't have enough space to carry both weapons at the same time, forcing him to choose between his broadsword or his pistol. [[TriggerHappy He opts for the pistol.]]
** He demonstrates in Solo's flashback.
* TheLostWoods: The general location of the Dire HQ. It doesn't help that it is a hotspot for numerous [[HellGate gates]].
* ThisIsThePartWhere: Invoked throughout the story.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Discussed by Found and Az.
* TranquilFury: Don't piss off Noka. Just... Don't. You can ask [[Giroux]] how he feels about a teenage boy handing him his own ass within seconds of provoking him.
* TrueCompanions: The Guild. Found threatens to bring Abel back to life and kill him if he ever commits suicide. It's just Found's way of showing love. Love through irrational thought processes.
* UnstoppableRage: Giroux went and done messed up on that train. Noka [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge was not amused]].
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Presumably because the residents of the universe are desensitized to such high amounts of weirdness, or all the sane people died from insanity long ago.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Az and Found can bicker with each other until the end of time over the most pointless things. At the same time, they're both captains, they're both close friends, and in actual serious situations they can [[spoiler: handle a squad of Paladins and ''three Lesser Demons'' with ease.]]
* WhamLine: [[spoiler: "End of Prologue". Cue reactions of readers finding out that the year-long, 224 chapter arc was only the PROLOGUE to the story, which was renamed from Noka to The RPS.]]
** Subverted immediately by Ru when Lenz informs Noka that the Fifth Division was overrun.
* WhoWouldBeStupidEnough: Everyone in the guild is prone to this. EVERYONE.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Usually the first thing most people notice about Noka.
* ZombieApocalypse: It spreads across the continent with part of it reaching the Tensian HQ. The problem? Crim, the resident guild marksman, is there with his division captain. Along with his entire division, which numbers in the hundreds. Cue one-sided zombie stomp.

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* BaconAddiction: Az lampshades how much Found loves his bacon:
-->'''Az:''' "—Yeah he gets the same look when I tell him we’re out of bacon. He gets that sort of shocked look of despair on his face, right?"

->''"1. Has the [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair blue-haired person]] sitting on the stretcher over there always been in guild, 2. [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny Where does he buy his hair dye]], [[RuleOfThree and 3.]] Are those his real eyebrows [[CompletelyMissingThePoint or does he ignore the safety warning like I do?]]''"

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Pick a fight scene. Any fight scene.

Along with Elli's initial reaction:
--> '''Elli:''' "Alright then...wouldn't have been surprised if it was Found's room 'cause it's Found, but...I'm just gonna take this TV away then...yeah..."

* MemeticSexGod: KT is a sexy bitch.