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File:Klonoa.jpg
Cquote1

 Wahoo!

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The Klonoa series comprises several Two and a Half D Platformers starring the eponymous... creature. Exactly what he is remains undefined throughout the games' 10-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 (1998, PlayStation-- remade in 2009 under the title Klonoa for the Wii)
  • Klonoa: Moonlight Museum (1999, WonderSwan-- not released outside Japan)
  • Klonoa: Empire of Dreams (2001, Game Boy Advance)
  • Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil (2001, PlayStation 2)
  • 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 Crossover Namco x Capcom, 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").

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:[]

  • Two and a Half D: One of the many games from the 90s to utilize walking a set path.
  • Accidental Pervert: In Klonoa 2, Klonoa and Popka accidentally groped Tat during a chase scene. Either that or the catgirl's evil side was just messing with their heads for the last time.
  • Action Bomb: Throw them at the right time to solve puzzles.
  • Alternate Continuity: While the two main games share the same canon, the spin-off titles are all set in alternate continuities.
  • All Just a Dream: The ending of Empire of Dreams... Or Was It a Dream?
  • All There in the Manual: According to Word of God, Klonoa is really a cat with long floppy ears. Though the fandom insists on calling him a catrabbit.
  • 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.
  • Back Tracking: Sometimes you'll do this straight, and other times the branching paths act as Doors to Before.
  • Big Bad: Ghadius in Door to Phantomile.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Door to Phantomile! Lunatea's Veil and Empire of Dreams count as well.
  • Blinding Mask: Ghadius' eyes (if he even has any) are permanently obscured by the enormous golden mask/headdress that he wears.
  • Boss Dissonance: Depending on the game, the levels are harder or the bosses are ridiculously harder. And this is a kids' game.
  • 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.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: King Seadoph and Pamela in Door to Phantomile.
  • 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.
  • Caramelldansen Vid: Oooh oooh oh-a oh-a...
  • Catapult Nightmare: In the opening of "Door to Phantomile".
  • Catch Phrase "Wahoo!"
  • Check Point: In the form of floating clocks in bubbles that the player must burst to activate.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Klonoa himself!
  • Cute Clumsy Girl: Lolo.
  • 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.
  • The Dragon: Joka (spelled as "Joker" in the Wii remake) in Door to Phantomile, Tat and Leorina herself in Lunatea's Viel serves 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.
  • Ear Wings: Klonoa's long, flappy ears.
  • 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.
  • Escape Sequence: In the ruined Volk City in Lunatea's Veil.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"/No Name Given: The King of Sorrow
  • 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.
  • Follow the Money: Dream Stones in 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?
  • Friendship Moment: Klonoa with Huepow and Lolo.
  • Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: Several of the bosses.
  • Giggling Villain: Joka.
  • 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.
  • Hundred-Percent 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.
  • 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.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Popka in Lunatea's Veil. Guntz in Klonoa Heroes and Namco X Capcom.
  • Laughably Evil: Joka. At first.
  • Mascot Mook: The ridiculously adorable Moos.
  • 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 three NES Ninja Gaidens. 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 PS 1 by 2002. Namco subsequently decided that North America hated Klonoa for some reason and refused to localize any other games until 2005.
  • Noob Cave: Vision 1-2 in the original game.
  • 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 Everything's Better with Chickens and Humongous Mecha. That is one weird boss fight. It also happens with Joka, during the boss fight against him in "Door to Phantomile".
  • Orphaned Series
  • 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.
  • Respawning Enemies: Usually when needed for the Double Jump-heavy puzzles.
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: Most everything, though especially Klonoa.
  • Say My Name: "GHADIUS!!!" (Or "Ghadis" if you listen to how it's pronounced in the original dub.)
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Ghadius, prior to the events of Door to Phantomile. Then he manages to escape...
  • Sequel Hook: Lunatea's Veil left off on one.
  • 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.
  • Split Personality: Done literally with Tata 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.
  • 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.
  • Speaking Simlish: Did it before The Sims, actually. It remains an option in the Wii remake.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Joka/Joker and Huepow/Hewpoe being the big offenders.
  • Sudden Downer Ending: The ending of the first game.
  • Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: See Taking You with Me below.
  • Suspicious Videogame 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.
  • Taking You with Me: Ghadius wants revenge for his imprisonment so badly, that he really doesn't care that reawakening Nahatomb will destroy him along with the rest of the world.
Cquote1

 Ghadius: "It doesn't matter. I have already been abandoned by the world. This time, it's my turn to throw the world away."

Cquote2
  • Tomato in the Mirror: Klonoa himself.
  • 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 PS 1 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.
  • Womb Level:
    • In the first game, Nahatomb eats you and everything else after you complete the first phase of the boss battle. The next phase takes place inside Nahatomb's body.
    • In Dream Champ Tournament, one of the levels appears to be taking place inside a whale's stomach.
  1. "Let's Go!"
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