The Champions of Justice at the CLAMP School Academy
Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders (Gakuen Tokkei Duklyon) is a shonen manga by CLAMP, which was serialized in Newtype Comic Genki from 1991 to 1993 and compiled into two volumes. The manga is licensed in English by Viz Media.
It tells the story of two teenagers at CLAMP Campus (which is also the setting of Man of Many Faces and CLAMP School Detectives), Kentaro and Takeshi. As the superheroes 'Duklyon', they battle the evil Imonoyama Shopping District and their monsters.
This show provides examples of:
- Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Nokoru, Suoh and Akira.
- Abusive Parents: Straight from the source manga, Akira's mothers force him to steal stuff and, in one occasion, kidnap people. Also Played for Laughs.
- Action Girl: Erii, who is often more competent than Kentaro and Takeshi.
- Aliens Speaking Japanese
- Affectionate Parody: Of superhero stories, as the Duklyon team does very little to hide their identities and yet the public never suspects who they really are. The villain team is also a shopping district, whose methods are rather petty (taking classes hostage, hijacking the lunch room) despite wanting to Take Over the World.
- Affably Evil: Sure Sukiyabashi starts as the Big Bad of the series, but he really is a polite and likeable guy.
- Arranged Marriage: And Kotobuki is not happy.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Used at the climax.
- Becoming the Mask: Kotobuki.
- Big Eater: Kentaro says he's seen Erii eat four cholocate parfaits in one go. Kotobuki says he'd be able to take on fifteen cakes in one go. Erii goes on to state she could eat twenty.
- Big "WHAT?!": Takeshi and Akira, twice: first when the Cultural Festival's play is revealed to be a confront between 20 Masks and the Duklyon Defenders, then once again when the casting choice is revealed.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: When Eri and Kotobuki's romance gets more focus, Kentaro complains that he and Takeshi are supposed to be the real heroes of the manga.
- 'Listen up, Meatball Head, because even if this is a CLAMP book, I won't say it twice!'
- Calling Your Attacks: Duklyon Final Crush!
- Chick Magnet: Nokoru. Every girl in the room squeals when he speaks on Chapter Seven.
- Clark Kenting: Kotobuki's civilian disguise consists only of glasses. Hilariously Lampshaded in an exchange between Erii and Kotobuki's fiancée.
- Also, Nokoru's disguise as the General consists only of military uniform and sunglasses, and no one ever makes the connection between him and the President of the Elementary Student Council.
- Same can be said of Akira and his alter-ego 20 Masks.
- Erii's costume as a Duklyon fighter is also very obvious, as she doesn't even bother covering her face. Noteworthy because Kotobuki does notice the similarity between her two identities, but never makes the connection.
- Color Character: The fandom tends to refer to Takeshi as Blue Duklyon and Kentaro as Red Duklyon.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Well, it is a Sentai parody.
- Creator Cameo: Mokona's Author Avatar makes a one-panel appearance at the end of the story.
- Crossover: With Clamp School Detectives and Man of Many Faces. Eri, Kentaro and Takeshi appear in Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE- too. Characters also see a movie about X1999.
- Cuteness Proximity: Exploited by the bad guys, who once deploy a lamb monster whose wool is charged with electricity and which is so visually adorable that it moves everybody to stroke it. Erii rapidly discovers that the way to defeat it is blowing away its face, showing the plain mask underneath and thus decreasing the cuteness factor.
- The Ditz: Kentaro.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Erii kicks Takeshi and Kentaro around all the time, and it's Played for Laughs.
- Elaborate University High
- Elevator School: It's CLAMP Gakuen, after all.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Takepon and Kenpi. Subverted with Kentaro because he made up the nicknames in the first place, but played straight with Takeshi.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Kotobuki's fiancée is never named in canon. Similarly, the General (though the audience knows his name very well.)
- Freudian Trio: Takeshi is the Superego, Erii is the Ego, and Kentaro is the Id.
- Genre Blindness: Despite awareness of the Fourth Wall, the entire cast has a bad case of this. It's the only way the characters can get away with all the Clark Kenting.
- Happily Ever After: One for Kotobuki and Erii and one for Takeshi and Kentaro.
- Henohenomoheji: All the minions, from the mooks to what seems to be The Dragon, wear one of those as masks.
- Hilarity Ensues: A lot.
- Human Aliens: Eri and Kotobuki.
- Kotobuki's fiancée too.
- I Choose to Stay: Kotobuki
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Takeshi.
- In the Name of the Moon: Kentaro is prone to those speeches. Takeshi often points out they're not appropriate for kids.
- Improbable Age: The leader of the Duklyon is twelve. Lampshaded by Takeshi when he meets Nokoru in his civilian identity, though he doesn't know he's talking about the General as well.
- Keeping Secrets Sucks: That's what Kentaro thinks, at least.
- Large Ham: Everyone but Takeshi.
- Lighter and Softer: Lampshaded. “Will justice and true love prevail? Well, of course they will! (This isn’t X/1999, you know!)"
- Love at First Punch: A variation in that Erii punched Kentaro, not Kotobuki... But Kotobuki fell in love all the same.
- Make My Monster Grow: In the last chapter, the Big Bad does it to Inuko. Then, in a rare heroic example, Nokoru does it to Kentaro and Takeshi.
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover: It might count as one: Akira and Utako are originally from Man of Many Faces and Akira, along with Nokoru and Suoh, stars in CLAMP School Detectives. Also, all three main characters show up in Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-.
- Minion with an F in Evil: More like Evil Overlord with an F in Evil.
- Monster of the Week: Once a chapter.
- No Name Given: Kotobuki's fiancee.
- Official Couple: Erii and Kotobuki.
- Only Sane Man: Takeshi.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Takeshi really wants to be one.
- Overt Operative: Kentaro.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Abounds. See Clark Kenting.
- Poke the Poodle: The Imonoyama Shopping District Association's schemes are rarely more dire than stealing some of the school's food.
Which makes some sense, considering that if Kotobuki ever did succeed in conquering the globe, he'd have to go home and marry his fiancee. - Puny Earthlings: Subverted. Erii and Kotobuki think Earthlings are inferior to them, but they like Earth anyway.
- Recruit Teenagers with Attitude: Takeshi and Kentaro are in high school, and yet the General seems to think they're better than campus security. Might have something to do with the fact he's twelve to begin with...
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Takeshi and Kentaro, Color-Coded Characters.
- Romantic Plot Tumor: Lampshaded In-Universe by Kentaro, when Breaking the Fourth Wall.
- School Play
- Secret Identity Change Trick: Kentaro and Takeshi often have to make-up ridiculous excuses to go change into Duklyon.
- Secret Public Identity: Kentaro and Takeshi wear Power Ranger-esque costumes but don't go by aliases and frequently scream each other's names in battle. Eri wears an elaborate outfit, but no disguise over her face. And Kotobuki wears a ridiculously huge outfit and face paint, but no disguise over his face. Yet nobody seems to know who they are when they're in costume.
- Sentai
- Shipper on Deck: Everyone seems to ship Kentaro/Takeshi, except Takeshi himself.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Kotobuki and Erii.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Erii and Kotobuki.
- Stripperiffic: Sukiyabashi's fiancee.
- Super Mode: When Nokoru powers up Takeshi and Kentaro.
- Take That Us!: The students watch the X1999 movie in the campus theater. Takeshi doesn't think too highly of it, while Kentaro weeps over how “those CLAMP women are so cruel!”
- Those Two Guys: Takeshi and Kentaro become this in the anime adaptation of CLAMP School Detectives.
- Transformation Sequence: Subverted in one of the last chapters of the manga. We're shown that Takeshi and Kentaro actually undress, fold their clothes, and put on their suits piece by piece. And hide their normal clothes after, and have a hard time finding them.
- The little special CLAMP in Wonderland gave them one, though.
- Unsound Effect: Cadillac!
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue / And the Adventure Continues
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Kentaro wants to be one. He fails to understand why he can't.
