Klonoa

"The many dreams I've had sometimes jumble together. I have trouble remembering them all... But they all felt pretty real and I know, somewhere, they all happened." Adventures Yet to Come #2 - Klonoa: Dream Traveler of Noctis Sol

Klonoa is the main titular character in the video game franchise with the same name. He is a long-eared cat-like creature who has made his debut in the 1997 PlayStation platform game, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, which got a remake for the Wii titled simply Klonoa in 2008 and years later part of Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series collection in 2022.

Why He Rings A Dream

 * 1) He's one of the most liked characters created by Bandai Namco, only behind their mascot, Pac-Man, of course.
 * 2) He has an awesome and cute character design, especially from Lunatea's Veil and onward. His Pac-Man cap is an nice addition due to Pac-Man being Bandai Namco's mascot, which could hint that Klonoa is a huge fan of Pac-Man.
 * 3) He's very friendly and helps people out, especially if they are in a bad situation caused by Joka or other antagonists in the franchise.
 * 4) Kumiko Watanabe does a wonderful job at voicing him, still does to this day and even has a few soundtracks (Stepping Wind and Sign of Hero) featuring the character's voice. The English voice actor for the Wii remake, Eric Stitt, also does a great job at voicing him, same with the uncredited voice actor for the English version of Klonoa: Beach Volleyball.
 * 5) All of his catchphrases, "Rupurudu!", "Manya!" and of course, "Wahoo!" never, ever get old.
 * 6) Interesting weapons and abilities like Wind Ring, Air Board, Wind Sword (and other weapons he uses in Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal) and his useful flap ears move.
 * 7) He cares deeply for his friends, especially Lolo and does, or simply tries to do good things for them, like comforting them if they are completely mocked by other people, either for no reason or due to weakeness.
 * 8) *He also seems to have a romantic relationship with Lolo, with her often blushing when someone notices her crush on Klonoa.
 * 9) *He doesn't always fight as the solution and shows remorse to his enemies, even to Joka as shown in one event from Namco X Capcom.
 * 10) Even if something bad happens to either Klonoa or his relatives that could make him sad, he does not give up no matter what, proving how much Klonoa can get over it easily to not abandon his adventure, especially in Door to Phantomile.
 * 11) His designation of being a dream traveler and him traveling to places where the state of dreams is in danger can serve as another proof on how Klonoa can be a massive hero and save the day.
 * 12) There are moments where he recognises and shows respect to others for their heroic actions.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Depending on your view, while Klonoa's voice is as good as his Japanese voice in the English version of the Wii remake, he sounds a bit older than his age, often sounding like a 15-year-old.
 * 2) Klonoa's personality change in Shippuu Tengoku Kaze no Klonoa ignores some of his likable qualities for an inconsistent wanna be a hero type who almost always causes harm (intentionally or not) to others, including himself and acts without thinking twice, throught it does work fine for a comedy manga.
 * 3) *Sometimes the manga goes too far by showing gross out shots of him, a lot of butt-monkey treatment and even having moments with the character feeling depressed.
 * 4) He gets threated like a butt-monkey in his ending from Klonoa: Beach Volleyball, where he accidentally destroys the windmill and is forced to pay for the damage, it's not limited to that as such treatment also happens for stupid reasons (like in Lolo and Chipple's endings), in a few games and the afromentioned manga.

Trivia

 * Klonoa's fanbase often refers Klonoa as a cabbit, which is like a mix of a cat and rabbit, despite Bandai Namco saying that he's a cat.
 * One cutscene from Klonoa: Empire of Dreams states that the character doesn't eat carrots.
 * According to Hideo Yoshizawa, he got his idea for Klonoa from Mario Bros.
 * Klonoa's English voice actor for the Wii remake, Eric Stitt, was often criticised by Klonoa's fanbase due to him giving Klonoa the voice of a teenager. However, Eric Stitt responded to them saying that he picked the voice based on the design, and had no idea what voice he should give to Klonoa, nor was aware of Kumiko Watanabe's voice for Klonoa.
 * For the English version of the Wii remake, Bandai Namco had a special redesign for Klonoa due to his original design being considered "too cute" for western audience. However, this design was panned by critics and compared it to a bat, causing the redesign to be scrapped due to the original design's strong support from fans.
 * Hideo Yoshizawa has confirmed on September 6, 2022 (Klonoa day) that Klonoa's birthday is on December 11th, which is the same day as Klonoa: Door to Phantomile was released in 1997.
 * His design was originally a robot, and his first game was going to be very different back then, but it was scrapped and Klonoa and his first game were made into the character and a game we all know today.