Clawroline
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| “ | Clawroline tried to cut your adventure short at the Wondaria circus. She normally acts as a point of contact for the Beast Pack's boss, but she couldn't resist the chance to track Kirby down herself. Her grace and speed are quite impressive, so the rest of the pack think of her as an idol. She has lots of fans! | ” | — Clawroline's figure description in Kirby and the Forgotten Land |
Clawroline, titled Lethal Leopard and known as Carol in short, is a character in the Kirby series, appearing in Kirby and the Forgotten Land as a member of the Beast Pack's council. She is an agile anthropomorphic leopard entity with extended eyelashes and eyeshadow, along with nail polished claws, which are able to be greatly extended. She is famed by many, and according to the "Leon & Carol" figure description, she can only speak through meows. She is firstly fought as a boss, but once the main game is completed, she becomes an ally to Kirby and his friends.
According to Shinya Kumazaki, her name is a mix of "cat", "claw", "line" (representing the limberness of her body lines)[1] and the name "Caroline", hence her nickname being "Carol". It could also be a pun including the word "feline".
Game appearances
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
In Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Clawroline is fought in the last stage of Wondaria Remains as its boss, at first under the cover of a cloak. She is later fought again in the Gathering of the Beast Council stage of Redgar Forbidden Lands, and is also battled in the Meta Knight Cup and The Ultimate Cup in the Colosseum. After Elfilin uses the rest of his power to stop Popstar from crashing into the New World at the end of the game's main story, Clawroline saves him off-camera, and shows up in Waddle Dee Town. Here, she notices that all of the Beast Pack except for Leongar had been accounted for after things had returned to peace, and requests Kirby's assistance. Speaking to her at first will lead Kirby to a small rift that sucks him and Elfilin up into the game's Extra Mode—Isolated Isles: Forgo Dreams, where Clawroline is replaced by a stronger doppelgänger known as Phantom Clawroline in the Forgo Park stage.
According to several figure descriptions, Clawroline was referred to by Carol and was closely partnered with Leongar—also referred to differently as Leon—before the Beast Pack was formed, as the two were the renowned leaders over the animal kingdom. Leon came across a long forgotten specimen known as "ID-F86" one day and set his sights on the power offered by it. This resulted in the forming of the Beast Pack, and caused Leon to grow distant as he began speaking in a new language that Carol was unable to understand. She shifted her identity per what was preferred in the pack, becoming Clawroline instead, and joined in the scheme to stick by Leon, in the hopes that he would eventually change back to normal.
Completing the Extra Mode by defeating Forgo Leon in the end will role a cutscene where Clawroline and the rest of the Beast Pack return several wayward soul pieces to Leon, returning him back to his old self and allowing Clawroline to reunite with him.
Attacks
Clawroline has a few different moves as follows (attack names are conjectural unless otherwise stated). Attacks in italics are only used in Phase 2.
| Clawroline's attacks in Kirby and the Forgotten Land | ||||
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| Attack | Description | Variants | ||
| Claw Swipe | Clawroline takes out her claws and slashes twice in front of her, leaving a Drop Star with each slash. | She may finish with a third swipe with both claws, leaving three Drop Stars. | ||
| Feline Dash | Clawroline takes out her claws, gets into position, and dashes at high speed towards Kirby, leaving a Drop Star wherever she created an afterimage of herself. | |||
| Knife Toss | Clawroline takes out five knives before throwing them at Kirby, leaving one Drop Star once they reach the edge of the arena. Inhaling her knives will give Kirby the Sword ability. | |||
| Falling Claw Slam | Clawroline leaps toward Kirby and then falls straight downward with her claws out, creating a shockwave on landing and producing several Drop Stars. | |||
| Acrobat Dive | Clawroline jumps to one of the metal structures surrounding the arena before taking out her claws and diving towards Kirby's current location, leaving six Drop Stars in a hexagonal pattern on impact with the ground. | |||
| スリルエッジ[2] Thrill Edge |
Clawroline jumps to one of the metal structures surrounding the arena before taking out seven knives and throwing them at Kirby in rapid succession, leaving a Drop Star on impact. She may repeat this move once, twice or three more times before following up with an Acrobat Dive. | Clawroline always begins with the second phase with this attack at least once. | ||
| Vanishing Act | Clawroline gets on all fours and vanishes in a puff of smoke. After a drum roll and swiveling lights hint to where she might appear, she reappears and uses a finisher Claw Swipe on Kirby, leaving three Drop Stars. | |||
Trivia
- It is implied that the language Leongar learned that could not be understood by Clawroline was English (or whatever language the game is set to). However, Elfilin communicates with her using this language and is understood without any issues. The most likely possibility is that Elfilin speaks another language that is translated for the player's benefit.
- Clawroline's voice is sampled from a male pet cat currently owned by Shinya Kumazaki, who is called Sora-kun.[1]
Gallery
Clawroline's in-game splash screen
Clawroline attacking downwards onto Kirby as he dodges
Clawroline rushing past Ranger Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee
Clawroline with her hairs on end, as she transitions into the second phase of the fight
Elfilin comments on Clawroline on the Kirby JP Twitter.
Figure of Clawroline
Figure of Clawroline holding a Piece of Leon's Soul
Figure of Carol with Leon
Picture of the main mode credits, showing Clawroline celebrating the happy ending with others
Picture of the main mode credits, showing Clawroline buying a Car-Mouth Cake at the Waddle Dee Café
Picture of the extra mode credits, showing Clawroline and various members of the Beast Pack giving Leon the last pieces of his soul
Picture of the extra mode credits, showing Clawroline reuniting with Leon
Picture of the extra mode credits, showing Clawroline celebrating the true happy ending with others
Video gallery
Video playthrough of Kirby battling Clawroline in the Colosseum.
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Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 女爪豹 キャロライン Mesōhyō Kyarorain |
Clawed Leopardess, Caroline The title is a pun on 女豹 (mehyō, leopardess) and 女爪 (mesō, women's nails). |
| Traditional Chinese | 女爪豹 卡洛凌 Nǚzhuǎbào Kǎluòlíng |
Clawed Leopardess, Caroline From 卡洛琳 (Kǎluòlín, Caroline) and 凌 (líng, to climb high and also to bully) |
| Simplified Chinese | 女爪豹 卡洛凌 Nǚzhuǎbào Kǎluòlíng | |
| Dutch | Linke luipaard, Klauwdia | Dangerous leopard, Clawdia Klauw (Claw) + Klaudia (girl's name) |
| French | Panthère furieuse, Mistigrif Misti |
Furious leopardess, Mitsigrif Griffe (claw) + Mitsi (girl's name); pun on Mistigri (informal word for a cat) |
| German | Listige Leopardin, Tatzandra | Cunning Leopardess, Tatzandra Tatze (paw) + Sandra (girl's name) |
| Italian | Leopardessa feroce, Grinfiolina Grinfy |
Ferocious leopardess, Grinfiolina - |
| Korean | 강철 손톱 케롤라인 Gangcheol Sontop Kerollain |
Steely Nails, Caroline |
| Spanish | Leoparda letal, Zarparina | Lethal leopardess, Zarparina Zarpa (paw) + Carolina (girl's name) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nintendo Dream vol. 337, page 15
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Kirby_JP/status/1493057610039566336
