The Klonoa series comprises several 2½DPlatformers starring the eponymous... creature. Exactly what he is remains undefined throughout the games' 15-year history; the only explanation being that he is a 'Dream Traveler'. That is more of a job description; Klonoa's main goal in each of the games — in which he and his abilities remain virtually the only constant — is to solve the mysteries of the dream worlds he finds himself inhabiting.The games are, roughly in chronological order:
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (1997/1998, PlayStation— remade in 2009 under the title Klonoa for the Wii)
Klonoa: Dream Champ Tournament (2002, Game Boy Advance— not released outside Japan until 2005)
Klonoa Beach Volleyball (2002, PlayStation— landed in Japan and Europe only)
Klonoa Heroes (2002, Game Boy Advance— a top-down RPG which, you guessed it, never left Japan)
A remake of the original, this time for the Wii, was released in 2009. Klonoa also appears in Namco Bandai's Massive Multiplayer CrossoverNamco X Capcom in his Klonoa Heroes incarnation, while the character often winds up getting cameos in the Tales games (the most notable, from Tales Of Symphonia, being a full costume for the Cute Bruiser, complete with deadpan "wahoo").In addition to the games, a short manga loosely based on them, titled Shippuu Tengoku Kaze no Klonoa and created by Hiroshi Katou, ran in CoroCoro Comic for the equivalent of two volumes. Although it borrows many characters, settings, and plot devices from the series, it's largely a gag manga that depicts Klonoa as a well-intentioned fool, trying to solve problems in the most slapstick way possible. Not surprisingly, it never officially made it out of Japan. Also, starting on September 26th 2012, a webcomic titled Klonoa: Dream Traveler of Noctis Sol began being published on Shifty Look. Written by Jim Zub and drawn by Hitoshi Ariga (creator of Mega Man Megamix), the comic appears to finally provide insight on Klonoa's adventures after the series, and will depict characters and elements from more than one of the past games under a single storyline.Klonoa avoids some of the major issues with voiced cutscenes needing expensive localization by having the characters speak in a gibberish language that is neither Japanese nor English. Text-based translations of the dialogue are shown as in traditional games. One could easily assume that the game is using stock gibberish clips for each character, were it not for the fact that the voiced lines include recognizable proper nouns (albeit heavily accented in the Klonoa-ese; for example, the text "Klonoa" usually gets voiced as "Klo~oa"). The Wii remake offers this and a proper language track.This series has a Character Sheet, currently under construction.
The series contains examples of the following tropes:
2½D: One of the many games from the 90s to utilize walking a set path.
American Kirby Is Hardcore: The Japanese box art for Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil had Klonoa smiling and relaxed, while the US version had him scowling in a tensed-up Asskicking Pose.
And Your Reward Is Clothes: In the remake. Upon completion of the game, Klonoa gains three additional outfits: his original "collar and trousers" outfit, his Klonoa 2 outfit, and his summer wear. Done for laughs at the end of Klonoa's Beach Volleyball, as Leorina receives a suit (and even face makeup and hair dye!) that imitates her partner Tat's black and white pattern. She looks so ridiculous that her victims burst into laughter when she later resumes her criminal activities.
Backtracking: Sometimes you'll do this straight, and other times the branching paths act as Doors to Before.
Blinding Mask: Ghadius' eyes (if he even has any) are permanently obscured by the enormous golden mask/headdress that he wears.
Bottomless Pits: This series features many of them - especially in Vision 6-1 and 6-2 of Door to Phantomile. In the latter level, they usually had to be crossed by jumping on incredibly tiny floating platforms.
Break the Cutie: The entire plot of the first game is essentially one long case of this trope, with Klonoa as said cutie.
Brutal Bonus Level: In Door to Phantomile, Balue's Tower, accessed by collecting all six Phantomilians in each level. Also counts as a Difficulty Spike; to get through the main game, you need to use the mook-climb once or twice in a safe environment, whereas in the Tower you have to do it repeatedly and perfectly over instant-death pits, multiple times. And as for Klonoa 2, so you've completely finished Lunatea's Veil and found a quaint "Chamber of Fun," have you? This level doesn't seem so tough - and it isn't. The level after it is called the "Chamber of Horrors", and hoo boy, it most certainly lives up to that name.
Death Equals Redemption: The King of Sorrow and Emperor Julius too, but the latter's death was just a dream and he hurried to correct his wrongs.
Does Not Like Spam: Klonoa shows in Empire of Dreams that he hates carrots. He gets more upset about it than truly angry, though.
Dolled-Up Installment: The first Keroro game for the Nintendo DS, which is based on the fourth movie, is essentially a quite good Klonoa clone with more characters. Namco later made Keroro RPG, Tales Of Hearts which is good in its own right.
The Dragon: Joka (spelled as "Joker" in the Wii remake) in Door to Phantomile. Tat and Leorina herself in Lunatea's Veil serve as an unwilling Dragon for The King of Sorrow.
Dream Land: Phantomile, the setting of the first game, is a world that was created from dreams.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal is made of this, but hey. At least Klonoa gets a happy ending here.
Ears as Hair: Klonoa's ears wave like hair when running.
Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Implied in Lunatea's Veil. The five bells are Tranquility, Joy, Discord, Indecision, and Sorrow. Tranquility and Discord naturally oppose each other, as do Joy and Sorrow, and Indecision falls neatly in the middle.
The End of the World as We Know It: Ghadius is trying to bring about this. Spectacularly inverted in Lunatea's Veil, as Klonoa and Lolo discover that instead of trying to doom the world, The King of Sorrow just wanted to restore Lunatea's natural balance, and the dreaded fifth bell of Sorrow always had been a vital part of Lunatea. Then it gets played tragically straight when the King of Sorrow loses what little sanity had left and goes Ax Crazy.
Evil Laugh: Ghadius has a rather awesome one in pretty much all of the dubs.
Expy: Garlen, host of the eponymous Dream Champ Tournament, is very close to human-like in a world of mostly non-human creatures, is decidedly oval-shaped, wears a military-looking uniform with a colored top and black bottom, has one hand replaced with a claw, is building a mechanical empire, supports said empire by turning people into (literal) cogs for his machine, and fights in a Humongous Mecha. Now if only he was a doctor...
Final Boss: Nahatomb in Door to Phantomile, the King of Sorrow in the Lunatea's Veil.
Foreshadowing: At the end of Lunatea's Veil, Popka notices that Klonoa, while holding the dying King of Sorrow in his arms, looks like Lunatea's ancient Goddess Claire, to which Lolo quickly agrees. Perhaps it was in preparation for a future Klonoa 3?
Getting Crap Past the Radar: A mild one, but during Leorina's Heel Realization, Leorina belts out, "Damn it! Damn it all!" Lunatea's Veil is rated E. Tat also accuses Klonoa and Popka of being "perverts", as mentioned earlier.
Klonoa says "Damn it! Not again!" in Empire of Dreams, also rated E.
Go Karting with Bowser: Klonoa's Beach Volleyball puts all heroes and villains (like Nahatomb itself!) happily playing beach volleyball for a prize in cash.
Heel Face Turn: Leorina and Tat in Lunatea's Veil. Emperor Julius in Empire of Dreams.
100% Completion: What is unlocked for each task varies upon game, but generally the tasks themselves don't differ; get all the dolls, collect 150 gems or more per stage, and beat the bonus stages. Rewards range from the aforementioned bonus stages to being able to listen to the game's soundtrack.
Hyperspace Arsenal: In the RPG especially. In addition to the Wind Ring (which can already become a sword and a shield), Klonoa is somehow able to carry around a hammer, and boomerang, and a pair of arm cannons. All of which are bigger than his head.
There's also Guntz, who has way more firearms than should be possible for him to carry. There's his twin handguns that he typically uses, and a much larger handgun that's so big he has to hold it over his shoulder. Not only that, but he later gains access to a flamethrower, a bazooka, a missile launcher, and some kind of beam weapon. Lastly, there's his father's rifle, which he has to get back from Janga.
Pango isn't as extreme as the above examples, given his size, but he still counts. His arsenal consists of a variety of explosives, namely cartoon bombs that are usually close to wrecking balls in size, and some of which are spiked. He also carries some smaller explosives such as grenades. Seriously, how is all this stuff supposed to fit in these guys' pants?!
Informed Ability: Lolo in Dream Champ Tournament assures Klonoa that her training has made her a viable competitor just like everyone else, though it is never shown exactly how she fights.
Interspecies Romance: Klonoa and Lolo, which also counts as "Inter-realities Romance." Played for laughs in Namco X Capcom, as Klonoa bonds with Felicia, who is twice his age and size but shares his same cheerful attitude.
Mook Maker: The aforementioned Moos, along with any other casual enemy in the game, will regenerate by hopping onto the field from off-screen. Though, instead of being for annoyance, the regeneration is so that if you mess up and accidentally kill one you needed to jump with or something, you won't be stuck in the level.
Monster Clown: Joka/Joker is a cross between this and Villainous Harlequin. He veers more into the Monster Clown territory when he eventually crosses the Moral Event Horizon, and adopts a much, much creepier voice (especially in the original game) just before the boss fight with him.
Nintendo Hard: The aforementioned bonus level, "Balue's Tower." It helps that the series creator, Hideo Yoshizawa, also designed the NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy. Let's just say he's had plenty of experience on how to create Nintendo Hard.
No Export for You: Moonlight Museum didn't make it out of Japan due to the WonderSwan not catching on; Beach Volleyball didn't get to North America because Sony was trying to phase out the PS1 by 2002. Namco subsequently decided that North America hated Klonoa for some reason and refused to localize any other games until 2005.
One-Winged Angel: This happens to Leorina, against her will, in Lunatea's Veil. It's an interesting case of One-Winged Angel crossing over with Clucking Funny and Humongous Mecha. That is one weird boss fight. It also happens with Joka, during the boss fight against him in Door to Phantomile.
Platform Hell: Balue's Tower and the bonus segments added to each level in Reverse Mode. They would make the Kid break down into tears.
Raymanian Limbs: Joka has them in Door to Phantomile, but, in the remake, he gains gangly, stringy limbs. He regains the Raymanian Limbs in his boss fight in the latter game, though.
Remixed Level: Lunatea's Veil has four. See the page for details.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: Leorina delivers an amazingly epic one to the King of Sorrow in Lunatea's Veil. The King of Sorrow is going on about how the world has ignored him and his kingdom for a very long time, and she (despite being heavily injured), gives him one hell of a burn, about how he chose to isolate himself drowning on his own self-pity instead of facing life and doing something productive. It's pretty impressive.Popka also delivers one to Lolo... and it was supposed to cheer her up.It did.
Snap Back: Despite the game's ending, during all the bonus content, Klonoa's back in Phantomile and it's like nothing ever happened. So, uh... what actually happened, then? Some sort of Gameplay and Story Segregation, of course.
Split Personality: Done literally with Tat and her ability to split in two. Normally she behaves as a Magnificent Bastard, but after performing the split, her black self is much meaner and naughtier, while her white self is much nicer and friendlier. The conflict between her split personalities ends up ruining her plan to steal Klonoa's collected elements, as her good side actually helps Klonoa to capture her evil side.
Speaking Simlish: Did it before The Sims, actually. Everyone speaks "Phantomilian" in the games (even when they don't take place in Phantomile, oddly enough). The theme song of Lunatea's Veil is even sung entirely in the language, and it remains an option in the Wii remake.
Spell My Name with an S: In the Wii remake. Joka/Joker and Huepow/Hewpoe being the big offenders.
In the American version of Dream Champ Tournament, Guntz was renamed "Gantz."
Suspicious Video Game Generosity: Balue's Tower, the Bonus Dungeon, hands you 9 free extra lives right from the beginning. If that's not an indicator of what you're in for, nothing is.
Take My Hand: Two near the very end of the first game—one where Klonoa saves human Hewpoe from falling, and then, in the last cutscene, where Hewpoe tries to stop Klonoa from being dragged out of the world. Only the first one works.
Tsundere: As mentioned above, Tat has a case of Literal Split Personality: her white side likes Klonoa (to the point that the subtitle for Joliant Fun Park is "~ A Date With Tat ~"), her black side... doesn't. As such, Tat comes across as very love-hate in her interactions with Klonoa and Popka when whole.
Turns Red: Gelg Bolm in the first game does this, as do several of the bosses from the second game.
Every boss in Lunatea's Veil has two phases. They generally turn red again when their second phase's life bar gets low.
Video Game 3D Leap: Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil was a presentation upgrade, as the game mostly played on a 2D plane.
Video Game Remake: The original PS1 game was remade for Wii, with updated graphics, easier gameplay and English voice acting (Japanese for that release), in addition to the original voice acting in that made-up language.
Wind is Green: Klonoa's Wind Bullet-firing ring has a green gem.
In the first game, Nahatomb eats you and everything else after you complete the first phase of the boss battle. The next phases take place inside Nahatomb's body.
In Dream Champ Tournament, one of the levels appears to be taking place inside a whale's stomach.
began being published on Shifty Look. Written by Jim Zub and drawn by Hitoshi Ariga (creator of Mega Man Megamix), the comic appears to finally provide insight on Klonoa's adventures after the series, and will depict characters and elements from more than one of the past games under a single storyline.Klonoa avoids some of the major issues with voiced cutscenes needing expensive localization by having the characters speak in a gibberish language that is neither Japanese nor English. Text-based translations of the dialogue are shown as in traditional games. One could easily assume that the game is using stock gibberish clips for each character, were it not for the fact that the voiced lines include recognizable proper nouns (albeit heavily accented in the Klonoa-ese; for example, the text "Klonoa" usually gets voiced as "Klo~oa"). The Wii remake offers this and a proper language track.This series has a Character Sheet, currently under construction.
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