Webcomic / Klonoa: Dream Crusaders

WARNING: Since this comic uses elements from almost all preceding Klonoa games, all spoilers for these games will be unmarked.

Klonoa: Dream Crusaders is a Fan Sequel to Klonoa: Dream Traveller of Noctis Sol, the ShiftyLook comic based on Klonoa that was unfortunately Cut Short when Shiftylook was shut down. It is written and illustrated by Esteban Girolami.

The comic picks up immediately where Dream Traveler of Noctis Sol left off, with the evil Tenebrae Hue summoning Nightmare Klonoa and a brainwashed Chipple and Guntz to attack Klonoa and friends. The comic follows Klonoa and his friends as they deal with these three attackers before continuing their adventure. Meanwhile, Tenebrae Hue gains the dream power he wants from the magical Noctis Sol, and we learn more about what his plans are and why he's executing them...

The comic is notable for having very high-quality artwork on par with the official comic it's based on. It's also notable for bringing in characters from across the franchise who didn't appear in Dream Travellers of Noctis Sol, and also introducing some new ones.

The comic was started on April 10, 2020. Rather than posting one strip on a frequent basis, Girolami posts multiple pages at once, every few months or so.

You can read the comic here.

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This webcomic contains examples of:

• Adaptational Badass: In the games (aside from Klonoa Heroes), Garlen was overall a pathetic joke of a villain who was rarely taken seriously. Here, he pilots a war machine and is made to look much more intimidating than he did in the games. He still gets some funny moments, but not at his own expense.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Heart Moo seems to be a lot smarter here than he was in Klonoa Beach Volleyball. For comparison: here, he's able to speak a language that other characters can understand, and is cunning and trustworthy enough for Lephise to let him be The Mole in Hue's operations; in Beach Volleyball, he could only say "Moo" and thought the ball used in the tournament was another Moo.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: King of Despair (aka Bagoo) doesn't cycle through his three masks this time, only using his red one during his fight with the heroes. Additionally, his body is mentioned to be made out of stone whereas its implied to be made out of liquid metal during his fight in Klonoa: Empire of Dreams.
• Adaptational Villainy: While Claire the Ancient, the goddess of Lunatea, was an unseen but benevolent figure in Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, she is made here into the Greater-Scope Villain. Subverted in that the High Priestess says that Goddess Claire and Claire the Ancient are not the same being "anymore"; this is likely in reference to the aforementioned game, where Popka mentions that Claire the Ancient was what remained after Goddess Claire was purged of all evil.
• Adaptational Wimp: Though King of Despair is portrayed as a threat in the comic, it's clear that he's far less dangerous than his ally Janga who carries them during the fight with his poison attacks. Bagoo himself however doesn't use all 3 of his masks or any of his attacks from his game of origin, preferring to use brute force instead. Once Leorina helps to empower Klonoa's Wind Ring, Bagoo completely folds and even dies by inflating like a balloon and shattering to pieces.
• Are We There Yet?: Joka keeps repeating this during his, Heart Moo's, and Popka's trek to Breezegale, much to both of the latter's annoyance.
• Art Evolution: While this webcomic initially replicated Hitoshi Ariga's art style, the character and setting designs transitioned over time to Girolami's personal art style.
• Ascended Extra: Lolo's superior, the High Priestess of La-Lakoosha, is only seen a few times in at least three games. However, she joins Klonoa and Leorina, or rather gets thrown into the adventure here, thanks to Claire's portals. She also powers Klonoa's wind ring during the fight against Janga and Bagoo, as both Hewpoe and Lolo were MIA at the time.
• Back from the Dead:
  • Tenebrae Hue's ritual brings previous Klonoa villains back from the dead.
    Tenebrae Hue: With the power of a million dreams, I reach upon all of you whose time in this world was cut short! Whether it be from old age or someone else's hands... on this blessed night, I'll grant you all... a second chance!
  • Played for Laughs later when Joka, one of these revived villains, states that he "[doesn't] know why [he's] alive in the first place," with a big smile.
• Beat the Curse Out of Him: Klonoa tries this tactic with the Brainwashed and Crazy Guntz and Chipple, in an attempt to give them their real-world memories back. It doesn't work.
• Berserk Button: If you value your life, do not compare Nightmare Klonoa to, or mistake him for, the real Klonoa. Garlen briefly takes advantage of this while fighting him.
  Garlen: You're right, there's no way you're him! You're nowhere near as strong as the real deal, copycat!
  Nightmare Klonoa: (irritated) S-stop comparing me to that decrepit hero!
• Big Bad: While Tenebrae Hue starts the plot with his mysterious, ambitious plans, Claire the Ancient is a far more evil being who was sealed away long ago, and upstages Hue as the main antagonist when she is released.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Tenebrae Hue starts the conflict with his grand ambitions to use dream power for nefarious purposes. But then he accidentally summons an ancient evil who teleports everyone to various locations, leaving Hue angry, confused, and probably frightened as he's stranded with Lolo and the King of Sorrow. Then Claire recruits Hue to help her with her plans, making Hue The Dragon.
• Big Good: The High Priestess, who knows all about the Greater-Scope Villain Claire and why she was sealed away. She doesn't take part in the action until the fight with Janga and Bagoo, but still attempts to protect the heroes, especially Lolo, her apprentice.
• Broad Strokes: The webcomic this was based on continued from Lunatea's Veil, yet this comic references events from Klonoa Heroes despite it being an Alternate Continuity from the main series. Thus, this is one of the only ways it could work in this continuity.
• The Bus Came Back: Tenebrae Hue performs a ritual to summon some Klonoa villains who haven't been seen in a while (and never appeared in person in the original comic): Joka, Garlen, Janga, Bagoo, and the King of Sorrow. Hue also mentions a mysterious "him" that he also wants to summon, but the identity of this "him" has not been revealed yet (though Phantomile's Council of Investigation suspects that it's Ghadius).
• Call-Back: In Klonoa 2: Lunatea' s Veil, it was revealed that Sky Pirate Leorina was once a Priestess like Lolo, until she abandoned her role in her thirst for power. During the fight against Janga, she joins the High Priestess in powering Klonoa's Wind Ring further.
• Calling Your Attacks: "DOUBLE THUNDER HURRICANE!!!"
• The Cameo:
  • Several O.C.s that the artist had previously commissioned make background appearances as villagers, police officers, etc.
  • @YeahBeezii's character Mags is seen heading the control room for one of Volk's reactor towers.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Possibly subverted. Tenebrae Hue calls his own evil plan "selfish," but the context implies that he's saying it sarcastically, possibly quoting someone else who he doesn't agree with. It's a little hard to tell in written format.
• Clue from Ed.: In addition to the Cutting Off the Branches example below, Klonoa's first encounter with Janga has them reference character details and events that occurred in the Game Boy Advance game Klonoa Heroes: The Legendary Star Medal. The writer provided a footnote explaining this, as Heroes was never released outside of Japan.
• Cool Mask: Leorina wears one over her nose and mouth, as a webcomic-exclusive addition to her outfit. Given that she mentions early on that something's happening to her, the mask might not just be there to look fashionable...
• Curb-Stomp Battle: After accidentally summoning the evil goddess Claire the Ancient, Tenebrae Hue and his minions attempt to fight her. Hue's attack results in a No-Sell, and Claire beats up Hue and his minions with minimal effort.
• Cutting Off the Branches: The sports spinoff Klonoa: Beach Volleyball, which wasn't released in the US, allows the player to play and win a beach volleyball tournament as one of several Klonoa characters. So, when Leorina asks Guntz if he's still mad about losing said tournament, a Clue from Ed. indicates that in this comic's canon, it was Tat who won.
• Do I Know You: A newly-revived Bagoo asks this upon seeing Leorina among Klonoa's friends. Cue Flashback Cut of her robbing a laughing Bagoo at gunpoint, while wearing a ridiculous half-black, half-white outfit (along with matching face makeup and body paint) imitating Tat's Duality Motif design. ^note This was a Call-Back to Tat's ending in Klonoa Beach Volleyball, as Leorina promised to wear the outfit if the former won the tournament (as she did in this comic's canon).
  Leorina: (embarassed, frantically waving her hands in denial) Haha no, you uh, got the wrong person!
• Emo: Garlen firmly believes that Nightmare Klonoa is actually the real Klonoa, just that he's going through this trope.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Tenebrae Hue, the Big Bad Wannabe, states that he had a "despicable failure years ago" and wants to take back something that was "stolen" from him. The Council of Investigation discovers that Hue may be related to Ghadius, the Big Bad of the first Klonoa game, who died trying to destroy Phantomile. It's implied that Hue is trying to (or already did) bring back Ghadius.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Downplayed. Tenebrae Hue steals the power of Noctis Sol to summon nightmare creatures. Noctis Sol attempts to warn Hue that stealing Sol's power will unleash a far greater evil, Claire the Ancient, but Hue doesn't listen and goes through with the process anyway, only to be easily overpowered by Claire. It's less a case of "villain summons a threat he knows to be dangerous and is then surprised when said threat betrays him"^note like when Garlen tried to reawaken Nahatomb in Klonoa Heroes and more "villain summons threats and gets a much bigger threat that he didn't ask for."
• Evil Overlooker:
  • Inverted on the cover of the first chapter. Klonoa, the hero, and Noctis Sol, the Living MacGuffin, are the overlookers, while Chipple, Guntz, and Nightmare Klonoa, who are antagonists^note Chipple and Guntz are heroes, but they are Brainwashed and Crazy at the time. Nightmare Klonoa really is evil, though. are front and center.
  • Played straight on the second chapter's cover, which features a silhouette of Claire the Ancient levitating several different-colored gems, with the heroes - along with Tenebrae Hue, Joka, and Nightmare Klonoa - appearing to be trapped inside.
• Evil vs. Evil: Nightmare Klonoa decides to fight Garlen after the latter ticks him off one too many times.
• Fan Sequel: The comic is an unofficial continuation of Klonoa: Dream Traveller of Noctis Sol, picking up where the comic left off.
• Faux Affably Evil: Claire the Ancient, the incredibly powerful Greater-Scope Villain, has a very playful and informal manner of speech. For example, she calls Tenebrae Hue "kitten" (because he's an anthropomorphic lion) and at one point effortlessly beats up one of Hue's minions with a nonchalant "Oops."
• Heel–Face Turn: Of the four (later five) villains Hue summons, the first two that we see seem to have given up on villainy.
  • Joka claims to be "not looking for a fight" and "tired of getting beaten up" as he happily joins Popka and Heart Moo. Considering that Joka has always sided with the villains in his past appearances, the latter two have every right to be suspicious, especially when he plays the If I Wanted You Dead... card.
  • In his first appearance, the King of Sorrow enters just in time to stop Tenebrae Hue from hurting Lolo, and later offers her shelter as they wait for Klonoa to find her. This makes more sense, because in Lunatea's Veil, the King was a Well-Intentioned Extremist at worst, and he went through Redemption Equals Death at the end of the game.
• Heroic Sacrifice: A nonfatal version. Realizing that he's about to be sucked into one of Claire the Ancient's portals, Klonoa ejects Lolo from his Wind Ring to get her to safety with the High Priestess. Unfortunately, Lolo and the High Priestess are unsuccessful in hiding from the portals, and get sucked in moments later... which Klonoa learns about once he regains consciousness in the Empire of Dreams, with the High Priestess and Leorina looking over him.
• Killed Off for Real:
  • This is implied to happen to Noctis Sol, the Living MacGuffin. After Tenebrae Hue saps all its power, Noctis Sol loses its magical glow, leaving a darkened, cracked husk. Its last words also end with an ellipses, implying that it's speaking those words with its last breath (if a magical star thing even can breathe.)
  • Bagoo's confirmed to be dead by Castle Leljimba's guards, after they examine the King of Despair's shattered remains (courtesy of Klonoa) in Jillius' throne room. Doesn't mean that Claire and Hue can't bring him back again, though...
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: This webcomic assumes the reader's caught up on the Klonoa series up to that point, so several key plot points from the games are spoiled here, including:
  • Leorina's Heel–Face Turn and the King of Sorrow's existence in Lunatea's Veil (as well as Baguji the Wise being an illusion created by the latter).
  • Bagoo's role as the true antagonist of Empire of Dreams.
  • The previous demises of the villains Hue brought back.
  • Janga's poisoning of Klonoa (and the former's subsequent demise) in Klonoa Heroes.^note This one was specifically referenced by a Clue from Ed.
• Literal Disarming: How Klonoa escapes the King of Despair's grasp.
• Living Weapon: The High Priestess (and later Leorina) powers Klonoa's wind ring for the fight with Janga and Bagoo, as Hewpoe is still in Jugkettle with Suiryu and Nightmare Klonoa, and Lolo is still in Hyuponia with the King of Sorrow.
• Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: While fighting Klonoa, the King of Despair manages to tear off the former's collar and right shirtsleeve. Once the fight's over, Ellie replaces them with a new outfit.
• Medium Awareness: Played with. After Joka runs into a pole, he remarks that he doesn't have "infinite health." "Health" in this context is definitely a video game term, and while the comic itself isn't a game, it's based on a video game franchise.
• Mistaken Identity: Upon seeing Nightmare Klonoa for the first time, Suiryu and Garlen immediately mistake him for the actual Klonoa. The former isn't too happy, and threatens to kill Garlen for it.
  Nightmare Klonoa: Wha- really now?! Need a pair of glasses? (holds up a crude drawing of the real Klonoa) We look nothing alike, we're totally different!
• The Mole: One of Hue's minions, the Nighty-Knights, is shown secretly talking to someone else through a walky-talky about what Hue's plans are, and he seems quite frightened. We find out later that this minion is actually Heart Moo, one of the good guys, who infiltrated Hue's army under Lephise's orders to uncover his plans.
• Never Found the Body: Maruji notes that Janga's body was never found after Klonoa defeated him, advising his party to stay cautious should the cat return.
• No One Could Survive That!: Klonoa and Janga's first conversation upon seeing each other again leans on this as they recount the end of their previous fight in Klonoa Heroes:
  Janga: ...I thought my poison killed you...?^note he survived
  Klonoa: How did you survive your fall in that moon crater? [...]
  Janga: Oh, I didn't survive it.^note it was Hue's spell that brought him Back from the Dead
• Obviously Not Fine: Leorina keeps insisting that her "illness" is just a simple headache, even when the High Priestess asks her to have Dr. Medim check it out. This is despite said headache temporarily preventing her from powering Klonoa's wind ring in the fight against Janga and Bagoo, nearly getting the boy killed.
• O.C. Stand-in:
  • In the games, Claire the Ancient is an unseen deity who is worshipped, but doesn't play a direct role in the story. This comic has her appear in person as a Greater-Scope Villain.
  • Although Tenebrae Hue was the main antagonist of the original comic, he seemed like a Generic Doomsday Villain due to the comic being cancelled before we could learn much about him. This comic gives him more personality and motivation.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Joka's reaction when Phantomile's Council of Investigation believes that Hue might be related to - and working to summon - Ghadius, who Joka has served and has disappointed in Door to Phantomile.
  • Klonoa's reaction upon seeing that Janga, who poisoned him in Klonoa Heroes^note and whose other acts include killing Guntz's father, using Klonoa as a shield and kidnapping Lolo to concentrate nightmare energy before falling into a magma crater on the moon, was one of the villains Hue revived. He gives a more severe reaction when he's pinned down and held at poison-clawpoint.
• One-Winged Angel: Once again, Bagoo turns into his true form as the King of Despair to fight Klonoa.
• Original Character: Ellie is an all-new character, created to be Emperor Jillius' niece.
• Pet the Dog: Tenebrae Hue treats his right-hand scientist with respect when the scientist does his job well, and orders all his minions to stay inside the fortress to protect them, in case the summoning ritual he's about to perform goes wrong. He still acts kind of cold and distant towards them, but still, not bad for an Evil Overlord.
• Phlebotinum Overload: Downplayed. When absorbing the dream power from Noctis Sol, Tenebrae Hue states that he "can barely handle it" and seems to be in at least a little pain, but he is ultimately able to handle the power and does not suffer any lasting impacts from it.
• Pinned to the Wall: Ellie leaves Janga open for Klonoa's surprise attack by spearing the cat's scarf to the King of Despair's back.
• Psychotic Smirk: Claire the Ancient does a few wicked smirks as she toys with Hue and his army while beating them up.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Claire the Ancient, an evil goddess, has red irides.
• Repressed Memories: Grandpa believes that Klonoa's subconsciously erasing or altering memories of his past dreams to try and patch emotional wounds caused by traumatic events (i.e. Grandpa's demise).
• Samus Is a Girl: When Noctis Sol warns Tenebrae Hue of an ancient evil who will be released if Hue carries out his plans, Hue assumes that this evil is a "he." It turns out to be Claire the Ancient, who is most definitely female.
• Ship Tease: In addition to the ongoing one between Klonoa and Lolo, one also appears to develop between Lolo and the King of Sorrow while they're alone in Hyuponia.
• Shoot the Hostage: Though Janga's initial plan to help Bagoo involved holding Emperor Jillius at poison-clawpoint, he decides that he still has some unfinished business with Klonoa, but can't fight him head-on and hold Jillius hostage at the same time. His solution? Stab Jillius in the neck with said claws, knocking him unconscious.
• Shower of Awkward: Ellie inadvertently walks in on Klonoa in the middle of his shower, intending to let him know his new outfit was ready. The furious Klonoa kicks her out and chews her out for it.
  Ellie: Whatever, buddy. I like girls anyway.
  Klonoa: That's beyond the point!
• Stupid Evil:
  • Tenebrae Hue, the Big Bad Wannabe, has a few moments:
    • Downplayed and maybe justified when Noctis Sol warns Hue that the latter's ritual will summon an ancient evil. Hue stubbornly dismisses it as "nonsense" and goes through with the procedure anyway. He does try to prepare his minions to fight this evil, but Claire the Ancient turns out to be just as dangerous as Noctis Sol said, and wipes the floor with all of them. It's implied that Hue ignored this warning because he had a personal reason for his evil plans and really didn't want anyone trying to talk him down.
    • Played straight later on when Hue is stranded in another world with Lolo (and the King of Sorrow, though Hue and Lolo don't know he's there yet). Hue immediately turns his wrath against Lolo, even though she had nothing to do with the portals scattering everyone, and she was the only person around as far as he knew. Even Joka, who is usually one of the most incompetent villains, realized it would be wise to cooperate with the heroes he was stranded with.
  • Claire creates a bunch of portals that scatter the main characters, including Tenebrae Hue, to different locations. But then she realizes that she needs Hue for her own plans, so she is forced to track him down. This shows that while Claire is immensely powerful, she is not very good at forward thinking.
    Claire: Maybe I should have thought twice before flinging you into space with my portals...
• Suddenly Speaking: Heart Moo is able to speak English (err... Phantomilian) here, despite that in his previous appearances, he could only say "Moo". The author justified this, saying it'd be tedious trying to work with a mute character in a print medium.
• Taking You with Me: As our heroes try to get away from Claire the Ancient's portals, Guntz, who's still recovering from Klonoa's beat-down, grabs the latter in hopes of continuing their fight elsewhere. Fortunately, Leorina kicks him away and allows Klonoa to escape.
• Talking Is a Free Action: As per the medium.
  • When summoned by Tenebrae Hue, Nightmare Klonoa, along with the brainwashed Guntz and Chipple, seem more than content letting Lolo and Klonoa discuss their attack strategy before taking any action. Same goes when Leorina pulls a Big Damn Heroes and gives Klonoa her fake wind ring.
  • More blatant during the fight against Janga and Bagoo, as the latter pins Klonoa to the ground in his King of Despair form, allowing the former to hold him at poison-clawpoint, ready to strike. They then hold their positions while the High Priestess (still in Klonoa's wind ring) apologizes to Klonoa for not being able to protect him and subsequently tries to convince Leorina to power the ring with her.
• Technicolor Toxin: The poison secreted from Janga's claws is a bright, sickly green color.
• Technobabble: How Hue's scientist describes their plan to reach their master in Hyuponia (with their body blocking a portion of their speech bubbles):
  I could calculate the metaphysical dream path and link a wormhole from point A to point B using residuals......could in turn...to traverse said path and arrive directly to the kingdom of sorrow in less than an instant! And boom, we're there!
• Turn the Other Cheek: Even though Joka mercilessly killed him in Door to Phantomile, Grandpa, who has been revived by Hue's ritual, is willing to trust Joka when the latter claims he has no bad intentions this time, even allowing him to go with Popka and Heart Moo to help Klonoa.
• Villain Team-Up:
  • Claire the Ancient ends the first chapter offering to help Hue find the "someone" he's looking for if he helps her with her own plans in return. He accepts.
  • After the two are brought Back from the Dead, Bagoo hires Janga to help him take over the Empire of Dreams. This is the first time they have met, as they never did so in any of the games.
• Voice of the Legion: Bagoo is implied to speak this way after transforming into the King of Despair.
• Watch Out for That Tree!: Upon their arrival in Breezegale, Heart Moo warns Joka to watch out for a pole up ahead... which the latter immediately runs into.
  Joka: Ouch... This is the second time already, I don't have infinite health!
  Popka: Wah! You should have paid more attention!

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