Noelle

Basic Information:

Name: Noelle Jolidaze

Nicknames: N/A

Gender: Female

Age: Programmed to be 9

Birthday/ Codebirth: 25th December (Christmas Day)

Species: Human/ Video game character

Occupation: Sugar Rush Racer / Holiday-exclusive Racer (formerly)

Nationality: (Technically) American

Residence: Litwak's Family Fun Center, LA, California

Relationship status: Taken! (Platonic)

Powers: N/A

Personality: Funny, joyful, determined, brave, nice, loyal, quiet (at times), closed-off (at times)

Likes: 

• Christmas!
• Snow
• Being able to explore around the arcade and beyond
• Prenedict

Dislikes: 

• Hot weather
• Not able to walk fast
• Being alone at times (especially during off-seasons when her fans aren't around)

General appearance:

Hair: Light brown and wavy with a side high ponytail tied with a holly scrunchie, with a fine dusting of chocolate powder on top (formerly creamy white)

Eyes: Red with green specks (formerly red)

Skin: Brown with vitiligo condition (formerly without vitiligo)

Code color: Red with green specks (formerly red)

Physical features: Chibi appearance with five fingers on each hand (formerly with four fingers)

Outfit: Red and white woolly coat over a jumper with red and green and white colors, and a green ballerina skirt. Red-and-green striped stockings with a bandage over her right leg, and brown shoes with white tops

Other: Sometimes seen mildly glitching with red and green sparks, but never seen without her candy cane walking stick with a bell and bow attached

Sugar Rush Racer Information: 

Theme: Gingerbread and candy canes, along with an overall Christmas theme

Fans: Gingerbread men and marshmallow snowmen (absent during non-Christmas times)

Kart: The Festive Fever (during Christmas time), The Frosty Sleigher (during off-season)

Power-up:
- Jingle all the Way
(Christmas time exclusive: Kart transforms into a sleigh pulled by reindeer and soars above the track for 10 seconds, while 'presents' drop from the back in the form of traps or objects that can slow others down)

- Snow-Baller
(Normal Power-up: Three sugar-powdered chocolate balls shoot out from behind the kart and roll backwards, increasing in size until either they hit a fellow racer, splattering them with chocolate and sugar, or until they reach their programmed size, becoming obstacles on the track)

Stats:

- Speed: 60%

- Handling: 60%

- Candy Coating: 75% 

- Sweetness: 75%

Catchphrase: "Let it snow!"

Connections: 

Prenedict Azurefrost: A fellow racer in the Celebratory Package, and the one Noelle spent the most time with when she was unlocked. He was a reckless racer, but his friendly and trustworthy personality won her over. He was also the one determined to break her out of her locked phase, and even after her appearance was changed after her code was contaminated, he was still as caring as ever to her. Prenedict later revealed that he had a crush on her the very first moment he saw her, and asked if she would like to be his Soulmate. Although she was initially shocked at the offer, eventually she agreed and the two are still platonic soulmates to this day.

Glaziella Flosselberry: A fellow racer in the Celebratory Package, and the one mainly in charge of creating Noelle's new kart. She often hangs out with Noelle after she was unlocked for good, asking if she has adapted yet to both her new appearance and the off-season environment of Sugar Rush. Although she does wonder time to time why Noelle would accept Prenedict's offer to become his soulmate: what does the Christmas racer see in the reckless daily-kart-destroyer?! Nonetheless, Glaziella is happy for their relationship and is glad that Noelle found someone she could really trust in.

RJ (Ralph Jerome): Prenedict's 'Chaotic Uncle Figure', who was also formerly a locked character and felt sympathetic towards Noelle, seeing himself in her situation. He was the one in charge of unlocking her, hoping that by intervening, the mistakes in his Glitch may be able to counter the timed program of locking her back up. It worked...but at the same time it backfired, for in the process his Glitch had gotten entangled with her code, contaminating it and causing her appearance to change permanently. RJ was horrified by this and had apologized to Noelle again and again for messing with her code, but instead she didn't see him as someone who corrupted her code (albeit unintentionally), rather someone who risked his code to save someone he barely knew.

Backstory:

(NOTE: This backstory happens within and after the main story canon of Ralph breaks the Internet, where the concept involved Swati buying a Celebratory Package released by the company as compensation for the damaged steering wheel. For details, please read Prenedict’s backstory.)

One day in late November, about a year after the Celebratory Package had been plugged in, the racers woke to a Winter Wonderland: snow-like sugar was falling from the sky and frosting coated the mountains. They went down to the racetrack only to see a brand new racer at the Starting Line, decked out in Winter clothing and surrounded by a horde of Christmas treat fans and candy creatures. She introduced herself as Noelle Jolidaze, and that she lived in a cozy cabin with her fans up in the Ice Cream Mountains. The racers, both the veterans and the newcomers, were all confused as they've been racing around that area for a lot of times but have never seen anything remotely like a house in that area. It isn't the time for questions though, for the second the player came up to the console, Noelle was the racer being selected over and over again, the gamers clearly wanting to play with the newest character in the game.

When the day was over, Noelle invited the racers to her cabin where she treated them with great hospitality. Some of the racers were a bit salty by this though, as they thought her in-game Power Up was too overpowered but some enjoyed her company. Among one of those in the latter group was Prenedict Azurefrost. Prenedict struck her as a troublemaker, someone reckless and up to no good but he seemed friendly with her. He often took her to different places around the game, showing her around Sugar Rush.

The days passed quickly. Despite being a newcomer, Noelle managed to get along with the racers, playing and exploring around the game after the arcade closed. She also got the chance to head out of her game, though she preferred the environment of Sugar Rush better. She also really enjoyed Prenedict's company: the blue-clad racer still struck her as reckless, but she really enjoyed the times he showed her around in the game; meanwhile for Prenedict he was starting to see Noelle more than just a racer or even a friend, but it was something he couldn't put a finger on. One night, just a few hours after the arcade closed though, Noelle felt a strange feeling over her, a feeling of sudden drowsiness. This was strange since video characters are not required to sleep as much as the gamers do but this prompted her to return to her cabin. As the tiredness washed over her, she sank her head into the pillows and fell into a deep sleep.

After some time, Noelle woke up and trotted across the Winter landscape towards the Starting Line. The moment she arrived though, she was met with with a flurry of questions. This made Noelle confused: it seemed like nothing was out of the ordinary, nothing had changed. She had no idea why they were so worried about her.

Then Prenedict told her: it had been almost a year since the racers last saw her. The snow suddenly stopped falling shortly after midnight one day, and when they came to the spot where she resided with her fans and companions, the cabin was just...gone. Absolutely gone. There was no trace of it existing in the first place, and it stayed that way...until today.

Noelle shrugged off their thoughts as the gamers began to play, but some part of her was worried if what they had said was true, that shortly after she fell asleep, she was somehow...removed from the game, and did not reappear until today. She carried that thought during the entire time she was playable in Sugar Rush. Turns out the racers did some research after her disappearance and found she was not a normal racer: Noelle was a Holiday-Exclusive Racer, which meant she only appeared for certain times during the year. However, with the realization that one of the veterans was also holiday-themed (Gloyd with Halloween), they hoped her disappearance was merely a fluke from the system and she'll stay for good this time.

The racers managed to recall the exact date Noelle and her Christmas companions vanished one year before, and on that fateful day one year later, Noelle braced herself on what it is to come. The racers had gathered in her cabin, and once again she felt the overwhelming urge to fall asleep. She had expected this and willed herself to stay awake, but nothing could have prepared for what she saw next. In front of all their eyes, bits and pieces of the cabin started breaking off and dissolving into binary, the ones and zeros floating into the sky and vanishing. Her kart soon followed suit, followed by her fans and companions as they all broke apart into raw code. When they had all vanished, Noelle looked down and saw her hands starting to transform into binary, and the transformation was rapidly spreading through her body. A couple of racers, including Prenedict, ran and grabbed onto her to try and stop the process but it was no good: Noelle could only give a sad smile at their futile attempt before she broke apart completely, vanishing along with the others as the snow stopped falling.

This time though, Prenedict had enough. The young racer had a crush on Noelle, and he felt he had to do something about it. He immediately turned to the character he trusted most in the arcade, aka his 'chaotic uncle figure' Ralph Jerome (RJ). Prenedict told him everything, and RJ had sympathy on Noelle, revealing that he himself was once a locked character, and if it weren't for Ralph and Felix he wouldn't be able to talk to Prenedict right now. Prenedict then asked if a recreation of the unlocking could be done, so that Noelle could be a character all year-round in the game. RJ, along with Ralph and Felix, told the racer that the procedure was not only risky and may cause damage to the code (RJ pointed at his prosthetic while saying this), but that Noelle was different from RJ that she was time-locked instead of being a bonus feature and thus the side effects may not be as severe. Nonetheless, their sympathy won them over, and they said they would try their best at freeing the Christmas racer.

Months went by and soon it was Holiday time once again. The moment Noelle was unlocked, Prenedict approached her with a plan: he told her a character unlocking had taken place in the arcade before, and they could help her to get unlocked for good. The theory is that RJ would try and intervene the locking mechanism in the code room, and his Glitch (aka 'a system error') may be unstable enough to counter the program. They told Noelle again and again of the risks of this action, that her code might be altered in unpredictable ways, and asked if she wanted to take the risk. At first Noelle was conflicted whether or not she could risk her code for the unlocking process, but deep down she wanted to explore the world more, and so she agreed to undertake the process. She was scared, but she felt she needed to try and be free, to be free of her timed programming.

The day of where she was programmed to be locked back up came. The entire time she was playable, Noelle was lectured over and over again on what would hopefully happen in the unlocking process: while RJ, Ralph, and Felix will be in the code room and intervene with the program, she herself will have to fight to stay awake, fighting against the system. The racers would be with her in her cabin, and although they can't fight the program themselves, they will be with her in spirit as support. The moment the clock struck twelve, Noelle felt fatigue take over her, but this time she was prepared for it, and willed herself to stay awake. Meanwhile in the code room, the three men found themselves staring in shock as a large chest appeared out of nowhere and started devouring the boxes of code related to the Christmas update, starting with those of the cabin. Ralph and Felix held him back, but RJ ignored and threw himself between the boxes of code, manually trying to stall the process. It backfired, badly: a stray burst of coding knocked RJ out cold, his Glitch going completely haywire as he crashed onto Noelle's code box. Meanwhile, Noelle's figure was blurring and glitching uncontrollably as she fought against her programming, but fatigue finally took over her and she was knocked out cold as well, just as the snow started to cease falling.

When the snow stopped falling, the racers were standing on the Ice Cream Mountain, with no sign of the cabin or the Christmas companions in sight. But what was different was that this time in the middle of it, there lay the Christmas racer, unconscious. Prenedict wanted to help Noelle to her feet but the other racers pulled him back, seeing mild glitches come off the racer, and upon closer observation realized that it wasn't only glitches she had gotten: her appearance has been altered. Prenedict had no time to worry though, for the next moment he saw the three men that had entered the code room rush out of it towards the exit of the game, yet only two characters ran: his 'chaotic uncle figure' was completely knocked out and glitching uncontrollably in his brother's arms. Prenedict will later learn that RJ had been knocked out within the Code Room, and if not for Ralph getting him back home in time it would have been Game Over for good. Noelle, on the other hand, fared better: slowly but surely she was starting to recover, yet her code remained damaged for good. Prenedict still really cared about her and never left her side as she healed, and he was the first one to suggest making a house and a new kart for her to use during the off-season times. One day, he plucked up the courage and told her he had a crush on her, which explained why he greatly enjoyed her company and was so worried about her unlocking going wrong. Noelle was a bit surprised, but she really felt comfort in Prenedict's company as well, and the two started becoming more than just friends (on a platonic scale though).

Some time later, having heard from Prenedict what might have happened during the unlocking, Noelle went outside of her game to Fix-it Felix jr. to visit RJ. It had taken a week for the Glitch to fully recover, and upon finding Noelle not only had her appearance permanently changed, but also his Glitch had somehow made its way into her code, he was horrified. RJ felt incredibly guilty for messing with Noelle's coding, and apologized to her again and again, asking her to forgive him. Noelle, however, didn't see him as a character who quote unquote, 'corrupted her code', but thanked him instead for giving her a chance to be free of her programming. RJ however, thought he definitely still held responsibility since his Glitch did cause trouble, and vowed to help Noelle get her Glitch under control. Luckily, her Glitch wasn't as severe as RJ's, and the others all showed kindness to her and even extending a hand to her when she was in trouble. But all in all, Noelle greatly treasures the opportunity she was given, and she enjoys spending every single moment in the arcade, knowing despite her appearance, she will never be locked up against her will again.

Trivia:

- Noelle is created because of my love of Christmas, which is my all-time favorite holiday. This concept has been floating around for quite some time and I thought it's best to use it on a racer, and it'll be more interesting to work with.

- Noelle is a Christmas name, and Jolidaze sounds like the word 'holiday'.

- This is not Noelle's original coded appearance: her appearance was altered permanently due to a glitch contaminating and corrupting her code. Although every Christmas she regains her original kart, fans, and cabin from the update, she retains her current appearance due to her code being too damaged for the program to fix.

- Noelle suffers from a 'phasing' glitch: she will sometimes clip into other objects but it doesn't happen often nor it is serious enough that a stabilizer is required. Moreover, since the character whose Glitch contaminated her code isn't confined to his game, Noelle's Glitch doesn't bar her from leaving Sugar Rush either.

- The broken right leg Noelle has is not only due to a plot-point in her story, but is also inspired by a co-worker in one of my previous jobs: she unfortunately suffered from a stroke and had to use a walking cane, as well as losing mobility of her right hand; nonetheless, she was a very brave and determined person and I wanted to remember her by with this character of mine.

- Noelle's right leg is not entirely disabled: she can still move it but with harder difficulty, causing her to walk in a dragging fashion at times. The bandage is applied in the area where it hurts the most. 

- Her walking stick has a bell attached in case she falls and someone could hear her and help.

- She has heterochromia in both eyes: she has green specks in her red eyes.

- Occasionally slips into Christmas-themed puns and sayings.

- The Christmas holiday update runs from November 29th to January 6th.

- Her Christmas kart's Power Up is meant to be overkill by the programmers since they think it will attract players to use her during her limited appearance. After Noelle broke free of her programming though, the kart she uses has a much milder Power Up to give other characters a fighting chance. She regains her Christmas kart during Christmas times though.

- The kart is using during off season is made by the racers in her Celebratory Package as a gift after she was unlocked for good, it was mainly Prenedict's idea though. Since her right leg has become disabled, they made it so the left pedal was the one for acceleration instead.

- Since her cabin is gone during off-season, the racers also built her a home in the Ice Cream Mountains, not far from where her original home was, so she could have a place to rest in.

- Is Soulmates with Prenedict!