Klonoa JUS

Klonoa, sometimes referred to as Klonoa of the Wind is an anthropomorphic humanoid long-eared cat like creature who is the main protagonist in the Klonoa franchise. He was created by Namco and Klonoa Works, and has starred in his own series since 1997. Klonoa was designed by Yoshihiko Arai. Arai’s first design, “Shady”, had a shadow-like appearance. However, he felt that the lack of color did not seem tasteful, and therefore dropped the design. His next design was created with characteristically animal eyes and long ears, as Arai felt that a person’s eyes and silhouette are the features noticed when they are first met. He added a large hat with a Pac-Man emblem on it and collar to give the character a childlike and energetic quality. The design was kept and used for Klonoa.^[1] Another early idea for the character was for him to be a robot-like stone figure brought to life by a human soul being trapped in it.

Klonoa’s general appearance is very simple. He has primarily black fur, with his muzzle/snout fur, hand-paws, feet-paws and the ends of his long ears being white. He also initially had yellow eyes. However, from Dream Champ Tournament onward, his eyes are shown to be orange. He also has long, fluffy ears with the ends resembling maple leaves.

In Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, Klonoa was much more feline in appearance, with large, yellow eyes that resembled real cat-like eyes with very little, if any sclera showing and noticeable fangs. His attire consisted of red shorts, a teal green belt, a light blue Pac-Man cap, yellow gloves, a large oversized red dog collar that was worn around his neck and brown and white shoes. He also went around shirtless.