Klonoa

Klonoa, also known as Klonoa of the Wind, is the main protagonist from the Klonoa games.

Klonoa is "Dream Traveler" and is destined to travel to different dream universes and save them from destruction. He is kind-spirited and has a strong sense of justice; he's able to make friends wherever he goes, but he is also shown as naive.

Appearance
Klonoa's appearance has changed since his introduction in his first game, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, though he has retained his most recognizable features such as his large ears, dark blue and white color scheme, and cap depicting an image of Namco mascot Pac-Man eating a dot. In Door to Phantomile, Klonoa was much more feline in appearance, with large, yellow eyes and noticeable fangs when smiling. He wore magenta pants, a light blue cap, and had a large, red dog collar around his neck. Later, in Klonoa: Moonlight Museum, Klonoa's appearance was changed slightly; his eyes were given a more traditional animated look as well as making him somewhat taller, his belt is brown instead of teal green, and his collar lacked details.

The biggest change to Klonoa's design came in his third appearance in Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, where he went through a radical wardrobe change, gaining a blue shirt with a large zipper pin, dark blue shorts, yellow gloves, and a backwards blue cap. His face was altered a bit as well and gave more focus to the fur around his mouth. He occasionally takes off his hat, revealing his head is covered in black fur too and showing the long strands of hair.

Klonoa's design has him still wearing the attire from Lunatea's Veil but with a slightly altered look, as seen in Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament, making him have rounder, orange eyes and slightly bigger fangs. This is Klonoa's current design.

When sleeping, Klonoa wears pajamas that consist of light blue for pants and cyan for his shirt. When swimming, Klonoa wears blue swim trunks. When cooking, Klonoa wears a chef's hat, a red apron, and blue slip-on shoes. When scuba-diving, Klonoa wears a blue wetsuit with yellow features, a dual-hosed scuba tank, mask and flippers. When working out in the gym, Klonoa wears a blue headband with a Pac-Man design, a blue undershirt, blue and yellow legwarmers, and red sneakers.

It should be noted that once or twice (most recently, in the Wii version) his eye color appears to be two-toned (both orange and yellow in the irises)

In Klonoa: Dream Traveller of Noctis Sol, Klonoa looks older possibly now in his early or mid-teens. His attire has changed, as he now wears a red shirt similar to his usual blue shirt, but with a new hat, a large red collar on his neck, bluish green shorts, red and white sneakers, a red belt, and yellow gloves. He was also given a wider body and larger irises.

His design in the canceled film remains the same except for his collar and shirt are replaced by a yellow trenchcoat.

In Klonoa Heroes, his shirt and collar are types of equipment that can be equipped and changed in order to increase his defense and agility.

Personality
While most protagonists tend to be consistent with their level of bravery, Klonoa has a wide range of fear levels. For instance, when around water or heights, Klonoa can become uneasy as he can't swim but remains relaxed or confident when around even the nastiest of ghosts or monsters.

He also can be quite absent-minded and unclever at times since he can't see obvious teasing or insults. However, Klonoa is a pure, innocent, kind and gentle sweetheart who does anything possible to protect friends and to help others.

While in Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, he had more laid back and neutral, albeit flaky personality traits, it seems in his original design and storyline from his debut title he was childish and very optimistic, although both of his incarnations have kind hearts and strong wills.

His kindness was reflected in Klonoa 2, which a strange voice was calling him, known as a "Dream Voice", and was later found out to be the King of Sorrow, for he was sad because people had forgotten him. When Klonoa acknowledged who the voice was, with an open heart, he helped the King of Sorrow by ringing the Fifth Bell of the Kingdom of Sorrow and made sure that Lunatea would never forget sorrow. While that, Popka comments that Klonoa reminds him of the Goddess Claire. In Klonoa Heroes and Namco X Capcom, he protests against Joka's attempt of suicide, despite everything he did to him.

In addition to kindness, Klonoa never gives up through fights against evil and challenges. Through this, he has garnered the respect and admiration of several characters such as Lolo, Popka, Chipple, Gantz, and Pango.

He is also capable of showing great respect to others who do heroic things, as seen when he showed Pango respect for his strength and when he called Lolo a hero for her role in saving Lunatea.

As about food, hamburgers are a favorite of his, but he doesn't like carrots.

Klonoa also dislikes those who call him a kid or look down him, causing him to go through great lengths to prove them wrong.

Abilities
Klonoa's small yet notable abilities have faithfully been retained in nearly every game he has been featured in, and very little has been changed about them throughout the years, despite changes in game engines and console hardware. Most of his talents come from his particular attributes such as his large ears or his special "Wind Ring" which can be used for a variety of effects.

The Wind Bullet
The magical jewel at the end of Klonoa's ring can fire a concentrated orb blast of wind known as a "Wind Bullet" that serves as his primary means of attack. When this bullet is fired against a square block or enemy, their bodies inflate and become rounded, filling up with a light substance that makes them float. Klonoa can then pick them up over his head and either toss them straight forward into other enemies or use them to perform a second jump in the air, allowing him to reach places he normally couldn't (and kicking the enemy he is holding downwards in the process). Many of the levels in the Klonoa series of games have been designed with this ability in mind, with large vertical obstacles being a common hindrance. It was revealed in Lunatea's Veil that the ring couldn't operate if some power source is not inside it. However, there have occurrences in several games where Klonoa's ring could fire wind bullets without anyone inside. The Wind Bullet can also hurt instead of just make enemies inflate, as shown in Klonoa Heroes.

Floating
Klonoa can often use his large, floppy ears to his advantage by flapping them in order to add a few more inches to his maximum jump height or to remain in the air for a moment longer. This move has been important in games where precise jumps are needed and leaves smaller room for error with judging Klonoa's landings.

Board Riding
In addition to Klonoa's other talents, Klonoa has demonstrated the ability to ride a special "Air Board " in several of his titles. Resembling a snowboard that hovers slightly off the ground, this board is usually only available in certain circumstances, but it allows him to travel over large areas of snow or water. His ears are also usable when on the board, as well as his Wind Ring, allowing Klonoa to make impossibly large jumps and stay in the air for an extended time. Lunatea's Veil was the first game that allowed the use of Board Riding.

Dive Suit
Introduced in Dream Champ Tournament. A special mechanical suit that was loaned Klonoa by Garlen to let him compete with Suiryu, because of his inability to swim. It was also used in Klonoa Heroes: Legend of the Star Medal, as a suit he gained from the people of Jugkettle Sea to help him for both breathing underwater and in space (or more specifically, the moon).

Tornado Attack
One of Klonoa's specials taught by Balue in Klonoa Heroes: Legend of the Star Medal and Klonoa's Super Attack in Klonoa Beach Volleyball. In Heroes, Klonoa wanted to learn a special attack strong enough to beat Guntz. He claims that he can 'see the wind' and it inspired him to think up of the attack, which he named "Klonoa Tornado Attack". When using the attack, he flies in the air then unleashes a massive amount of tornadoes around him. In Beach Volleyball, a single tornado appears wherever the ball lands on the opponents' side, pulling them in.

Tornado Attack EX
Used only in a cutscene in Klonoa Beach Volleyball. Klonoa used the attack to counter Chipple's Spinning Punch only for it to backfire and damage the Breezegale Windmill. The attack itself is unknown.

Thunder Hurricane
The second special from Klonoa Heroes: Legend of the Star Medal and his ultimate assault in Namco X Capcom. In the Volk City level in Heroes, Klonoa is defeated by Flower Joka and is thinking of a new attack. He then trips on a wire and gets electrocuted. This inspires him to create the 'Klonoa Thunder Hurricane'. When using the attack, he begins to spin as bolts of lightning spark around him.

Weaponry
Klonoa also has other weapons besides the Wind Ring, all introduced in Legend of the Star Medal and used in Namco X Capcom.
 * Sword: Besides creating the Wind Bullet, the Wind Ring can use the wind to create a Wind Sword to slash his enemies. It is his most used form of attack in other media, like commercials and artwork for the game.
 * Hammer: Powerful weapon used to smash his enemies, in Namco X Capcom Klonoa can use it to open chests without losing Action Points (AP).
 * Beam Gnome: The Wind Ring can create a beam that can act like a shield which he can use to tackle his enemies. in Namco X Capcom it can also be used as a defensive counter against long-range attacks.
 * Arm Cannon: a pair of cannons attached to each of Klonoa's arm that can fire a big spiked ball to his enemies.
 * Boomerang: A Boomerang used to hit multiple enemies, can rotate around Klonoa and hit anyone close to him.

Trivia

 * Klonoa had playable appearances in Moto GP, Alpine Racer 3 and World Kicks.
 * Klonoa and his rival Guntz from Klonoa Heroes also appear as a playable duo in Namco's cross-over RPG, Namco x Capcom, developed by Monolith Soft. They retain similar moves featured in Klonoa Heroes, such as Klonoa's Thunder Hurricane. Other appearances are made by Lolo, Janga (in his only console appearance as of 2006), Joka, the Priestess of La-Lakoosha and various varieties of Moos.


 * In Tales of Symphonia, the character Presea Combatir has a hidden costume based off Klonoa's outfit accessed by changing her title to "Dream Traveler". She also has a habit of saying "Wahoo" in a completely deadpan manner while wearing it (this happens during the optional skits and scenes wherein she wears the outfit, she talks normally whilst in battle and these lines are not voiced by her voice actor in the English version of the game. However, if one imports Titles to a New Game, Presea will occasionally say "Wahoo!" as an end-of-battle phrase, but only up until a certain plot event).


 * In the manga, Shibuutenkoku Kaze no Klonoa, Klonoa and the Breezegale residents are the major characters. But many changes are made in this manga - it portrays Klonoa as a complete idiot, obsessed with being a hero and causing trouble anywhere he goes (although not on purpose). His sidekick, surprisingly, is not Huepow - he is replaced by a Moo, who is the postman of Breezegale.
 * In Tales of Hearts and Keroro RPG, Klonoa appears as a summon character. Incidentally, both Klonoa and Sgt. Keroro have the same voice actress.
 * In Tales of Vesperia, Klonoa appears in the form of a fellowship statue named (C) F Statue. There is also a Klonoa costume for the character Karol as Downloadable Content in the PS3 version.
 * In Tales of Destiny 2, a Klonoa plushie can be seen at the left side of the character Harold's room.
 * In Ridge Racer 6 & 7, Klonoa appeared in ads and as a car design.
 * There are advertisements of him in tracks at Ridge Racer Type 4.
 * Klonoa has also recently appeared in Soul Calibur V as a keychain in his Klonoa 2 appearance as Downloadable Content for Character Creation.
 * Klonoa and Nahatomb's Beach Volleyball design make an appearance in Bravoman's 100th comic special during the heroes vs. villains panel.
 * Klonoa has also made a cameo in the Dig Dug Comic as one of the crew members wears Klonoa's Lunateas Veil attire.
 * As mentioned in The Bravoman Web comic Klonoa was supposed to appear in the game Time Crisis 3, but was cut at the last second.
 * Klonoa appears in Pro Famista Baseball 2011 for the 3DS. He, along with the King of Sorrow has recently appeared in Famista Dream Match.
 * Klonoa appears in Family Tennis Advance a super an unlockable character for completing a 5-match exhibition.
 * Klonoa is an unlockable character in the Japan-only PlayStation release of Smash Court 3". In addition, an image of him may appear on the floor during a match.
 * A Klonoa-themed stadium appears in Famista 2003
 * Klonoa appears in Tekken 7 as part of downloadable panel art along with other Bandai Namco characters.


 * The Pokémon Lopunny, Shaymin (Sky Form) and the Digimon Terriermon and Lopmon seem to share the same ear design as Klonoa.
 * In an game magizine interview, Hideo Yoshizawa confirmed that he got his idea of Klonoa from Mario Bros.
 * On the right side of his hat is Pac-Man (Since the Pac-Man series was also created by Namco).
 * Klonoa's artwork in Pro Famista Baseball 2011 and Famista Dream Match mirrors his artwork from Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Moonlight Museum respectively, while artwork for his Christmas outfit in Famista Dream Match mirrors artwork for Klonoa Beach Volleyball.
 * Early artwork shows Klonoa didn't originally wear gloves.
 * Klonoa bears an appearance to SEGA's Sonic The Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower.
 * Klonoa can't swim as mentioned in Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil and Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament.
 * He came in first place for the Dream Tournament, meaning he is the best hero in Dreamworld.
 * Balue, Pango, and Guntz seem to notice Klonoa has a crush on Lolo, while commenting on his behavior around her and concern for the her. It is unknown if it is true.