Nikolai Gogol (Bungou Stray Dogs)

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Character
Name: Nikolai Gogol
Occupation: Terrorist (member of the Decay of Angels); formerly the secretary to the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice (for infiltration purposes)
Relationships: Considers Fyodor Dostoyevsky his best friend while trying to kill him
Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs
Other:
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Nikolai Gogol is a Bungou Stray Dogs character based on the author of the same name. He is a member of the Decay of Angels and has an ability called the Overcoat.

In Canon

Nikolai first appears when he shoots a police officer and kidnaps Mushitaro Oguri. He is next seen in his mole role as Tonan's secretary. Undisguised, he tortures Atsushi. He tells Atsushi that he doesn't actually enjoy acting sadistically but performs terrible actions against his feelings in an effort to escape human emotion and therefore attain what he believes is free will. Nikolai murders many people, frames the Armed Detective Agency, and fakes his own suicide using his ability. He shows up again to save Sigma from falling to his death, tells him of Nikolai's plan to kill Fyodor because Nikolai cares about him and it would show free will, and forces Sigma to help him break Fyodor and Dazai out of prison. He makes Fyodor and Dazai compete to see which will live to escape and which will die. Happy with Fyodor's apparent victory, he is devastated when Fyodor is apparently killed in a helicopter crash with a vampire. Dazai finds Fyodor's arm in the wreckage, gives it to Nikolai, and gives Nikolai a moment of peace to mourn.

In Fandom

Nikolai is popular for his whimsical attitude and angst. This results in some polarizing portrayals in fan works, where he may be a fun-loving eccentric, extremely violent, or both simultaneously.

Though Nikolai says he is sane despite his façade, many members of the fandom dispute this, and he is frequently headcanoned as having some form of mental illness.

One of his eyes has a starburst-shaped pupil and corresponding lines above and below it, so it is often headcanoned that he is partially blind due to eye trauma.

While BSD Nikolai's origins are mysterious, the real Gogol was Ukrainian and Nikolai canonically likes piroshki, so he is universally or near-universally headcanoned as Ukrainian.

He is most frequently shipped with Fyodor (Fyolai), followed by Sigma, both Fyodor and Sigma, and Dazai.

Fanwork Tropes

  • Birds: In fan art (and more rarely fic), he is often depicted as an actual bird. Fanfiction about him often includes a lot of bird metaphors or other references to his love of birds.
  • The severed arm scene: Him cradling Fyodor's arm or doing other activities with it is popular in art and not uncommon in fic.
  • Knives and blood: He is often depicted holding bloody knives or otherwise covered in blood in art.
  • Extreme violence: He is often described or depicted graphically murdering people and sometimes as a cannibal.
  • References to Ukrainian culture: He is often depicted wearing traditional Ukrainian clothing in art and speaking bits of Ukrainian to those he is close to in fics.
  • Strong build: He is often depicted as being very buff, and his height difference compared to other characters is sometimes exaggerated to make him seem taller than his canon height (6'0). In genderswap art, Fem Nikolai is usually very buxom as well as muscular.
  • Clowns: Nikolai being referred to as a clown and/or depicted like a clown from a horror story.
  • Angel: He is often depicted as an angel, sometimes one with damaged wings.
  • Cards: He is often depicted holding or surrounded by cards, possibly for card tricks.
  • Flamboyant clothing: He is most often depicted wearing his typical clown outfit; when he is not, he is often depicted in very colorful attire.

Fan Works

Writing

Art

Video

Miscellaneous

Archives & Links

References

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