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Klonoa (クロノア, Kuronoa) is a video game series created by Namco and Klonoa Works.

The games take place in the world of Phantomile. Klonoa lives in a small village called Breezegale with his grandfather. Klonoa is described as a "Dream Traveler", who is fated to travel to various places where the state of dreams is in danger. During his travels to several Dream Worlds, he has met several characters who would later become mainstays in the series, such as Popka, Huepow, Chipple, Leorina and the young priestess Lolo. He has also made a rival of a gun-toting mercenary named Guntz.

Klonoa: Klonoa is described as a "Dream Traveler", who is fated to travel to various places where the state of dreams is in danger.

Huepow: A mystical being that Klonoa found within the ring he discovered in the forest. He instantly became Klonoa's friend and became a source of power for his Wind Bullet. At the end of Klonoa: Door To Phantomile, they are separated. But every other game, they are reunited

Lolo: A priestess-in-training who first showed up in Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil. Like Huepow, she can transport inside Klonoa's ring to let him perform the Wind Bullet. Additionally, she makes appearances in Dream Champ Tournament and Klonoa Beach Volleyball.

Garlen: A round man with a mechanical claw for a hand who sponsors the Dream Champ Tournament to find out who is the greatest hero in the land. Using magic invitations, he is able to teleport all the participants to his arena, and sends them one by to neighboring lands to take part in his competition. There is a darker side to this shady character...

Guntz: (Gantz outside Japan & Europe. Namco intended to downplay his usage of firearms) Called the "Golden Killer", he is an adventurer who wields a large handgun and rides a motorcycle.

Suiryu: A blue dragon who competes with Klonoa at the Southern Resort. Though he lacks any real formalities, he has actually been trained as a Knight before entering the tournament. As an expert swimmer, he feels that he has a natural edge in the competition. In fact, he has another identity hidden from other competitors.

Chipple: A boxing kangaroo competes with gloves and a headguard that covers his eyes. Usually displays a positive attitude and encourages others to do the same. Although, he does happen to go into a depression fit when he fails to achieve a goal.

Joka: A maniacal clown. Often resorts to cheating and other underhanded tricks in order to win. Joka appeared in the first Klonoa game, Door to Phantomile, acting almost as a servant to Ghadius.

Popka: Lolo's talkative friend who resembles a dog with pointed features and a pair of green jewels for eyes Popka is a character featured in Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil for Sony PlayStation 2. He has also made appearances in Klonoa Beach Volleyball (released only in Japan and Europe) and Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament.

Popka is a small beige dog with brown ears and legs, striped arms and a tufted pink/purple tail; one of his more characteristic traits are his green shattered glass eyes. Popka also wears a red bandana around his neck.

First featured in Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, Popka was used as a secondary character, noted as Lolo's sidekick and as comic relief. According to Klonoa Beach Volleyball, he was adopted by young Lolo as an abandoned puppy. Popka's quick-temper, talent for thievery and no-nonsense attitude seemed to clash with Lolo, who as a priestess-in-training, appeared slightly naive and rather prude-like in her actions.

King of Sorrow: The ruler of a kingdom that was supposedly ignored by the other kingdoms in Lunatea. He summoned Klonoa into Lunatea in order to help him. In the end however, the king decides to use Klonoa as a vessel for the pain he suffered in isolation, and was killed in the battle that resulted. Klonoa did however activate the bell in the kingdom of Sorrow so the kings legacy would live on, and people wouldn't ignore sorrow anymore. Also it is implied that the King of Sorrow was reincarnated in the end credits. This impression is given by a picture of an infant resembling the King of Sorrow in the arms of a high priestess.

The Klonoa series began in early 1997 in Japan and was critically well received by numerous gaming publications and magazines. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile was not only Klonoa's first adventure, but also one of the first PlayStation platformers to feature two-dimensionsal character artwork on a rendered, three-dimensional backdrop. This led to the creation of the phrase 2.5D to distinguish it between other games that either relied totally on one or the other. Since Door to Phantomile, several other games have employed this method. A remake of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile by the same name was released December 4th in Japan for the Wii console. It features completely revised graphics and voice acting, as well as many unlockable bonuses that were not in the original. These include new costumes, Mirrored Visions, and challenge areas.

Klonoa's second appearance, Klonoa: Moonlight Museum was released solely in Japan for the Japanese-only WonderSwan handheld system in 1999. It is noteworthy for being Klonoa's first handheld appearance and his first fully two-dimensional one. Despite lacking the artful style of the first game, Moonlight Museum set the standard for the approaching Game Boy Advance titles like Klonoa: Empire of Dreams the following year. Though it was very similar in style and execution to the previous game, it was developed for the more sophisticated Game Boy Advance hardware and was also available in North America and Europe.

Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil was released for the PlayStation 2 with moderate success in 2001. It returned to the series' roots and had more in common with the original game than the other titles in the series. This game used a cel-shading method for the characters and also marked the first appearances of several prominent Klonoa characters, such as Lolo, Popka, Leorina and Tat.

A third handheld title, Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament was released for the Game Boy Advance in Japan in 2002 with a heavily belated release in North America three years later. Utilizing the same game engine as Empire of Dreams, Dream Champ Tournament was a similar gaming experience that benefited from more sophisticated puzzles and featured a newer cast of supporting characters.

A Klonoa: Door to Phantomile is due to be released in the UK only for Wii. The game has already been released in Japan and the release date for the UK has not yet been confirmed.

His sole sports title, Klonoa Beach Volleyball released for the PlayStation in Japan and later Europe, featured Klonoa and his friends in a unique version of volleyball. A North American version was never made.

Klonoa Heroes: Legend of the Star Medal was released solely in Japan in late 2002. Taking a unique twist on the series, the game is an Action RPG, rather than a platformer and is played from a top-down perspective.

• Klonoa had cameo appearances in Moto GP^[1] and Alpine Racer 3.

• Klonoa and Guntz appear as a playable duo in Namco's cross-over RPG, Namco × Capcom. They retain similar moves from Klonoa Heroes. Joka, Janga & various varieties of Moos also appear as a part of the game's enemies while Lolo & The High Priestess of La-Lakoosha appear as non-playable characters.

Shibuutenkoku Kaze no Klonoa is a comedy/slapstick Manga that, unlike the more serious tone from the videogame saga, features Klonoa as a good natured, yet clumsy kid obsessed with being a super hero. His attempts to make good deeds tend to fail or cause the opposite effect, due to his being overly enthusiastic, his habit of jump to conclusions and, sometimes, just because of bad luck.

His patient sidekick is a Moo, who is the postman of Breezegale. Garlen is the main villain, trying to scam or catch Klonoa but failing every time, making a fool of himself in the process.

The Manga borrows characters, villains and locations from most of Klonoa's games, but instead of following any canon personality or storyline, it simply puts Klonoa and Moo in lots of everyday situations that quickly snowball into huge confusions or spectacular (and painful) accidents.

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 dropped the design. His next design was created with cat 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 and necklace to give the character a childlike and energetic quality. The design was kept and used for Klonoa.^[2]

• Klonoa Web: The Official Klonoa Website (Japanese)