I've recently been thinking about how the game's plot would change if Kluke wasn't a part of the story and decided I might as well make a post about it.
The first thing I wanna say is that this post will be based on the assumption that Kluke's parents don't join Shu and Jiro on the adventure because they'd most likely have similar achievements to what she does and I find them not being in the party more interesting for this scenario.
Anyway onto the changes.
The first major change would happen in Lago Village. In canon, Kluke is the one who remembers the real medicine which, by extension, leads to the devee being cured. I think there are multiple scenarios that could happen in her absence.
1) Another character (maybe Jiro) is able to figure out what the medicine is and things are basically the same.
2) Ditto but a few devee die beforehand because the cure is discovered a little bit later on.
3) The devee are never cured. In this scenario, Marumaro would realistically develop a more jaded personality than he has in canon.
The next change would be the absence of the love triangle and all scenes involving it would either be removed or changed to be focused on something different.
Kluke's kidnapping is a major plot point. I feel lile it's still possible that another character would get kidnapped. If Zola did, she'd come up with a lie on how she was captured though she'd obviously be in on it.
As for Kluke's fever. I believe that either someone else would get it (Jiro, being the original White Magic user, would work best in my opinion due to the irony) or it wouldn't happen.
I think that Sahlia may not be stopped from committing suicide in this version as Shu originally sees her after deciding to ponder upon seeing the sick Kluke. If someone else gets sick instead, then he still would but if not, it's possible she'd actually die here.
Assuming Sahlia is saved and Shu still gets his magic back like in canon, I feel like the rest of the game's events wouldn't differ too much from this point onwards. Kluke's birthday party at the end wouldn't happen though of course.
The only thing left to discuss is Phoenix. I believe that in this version Nene's soul would be split up into one less piece or someone else's shadow would be a hybrid of their canon shadow combined with phoenix. I can see Sabre-Tooth Tiger being combined with Phoenix in this version and giving Marumaro a griffon-like shadow instead.
In conclusion, the plot would change quite a lot in Kluke's absence, at least in some areas. In the worst case scenario, Nene never gets defeated.
Anyone find it odd that Shu/Kluke's strongest scene is optional? Like, you can easily miss it if you're trying to get an achievement or believe that Nene's telling the truth.
Doubly amusing is how the scene itself is CGI, but when the cutscene triggers in-game, it doesn't use the same footage as we see in the intro cinematic.
Funny how up until this point, Kluke had (arguably) stronger chemistry with Jiro. Anyway, let's talk Shu/Kluke and why this scene is so important to both characters!
Shu is headstrong, reckless, and never gives up. He has a habit of speaking his mind to someone regardless of their social status (eg: King Jibral). To Jiro, Shu is the polar opposite but despite these differences, they're as close as brothers. To Kluke, Shu isn't quite as opposite to her as he is with Jiro and I'd say they do have some things in common where Jiro & Kluke do not.
(screenshot taken from World of Longplays (played by: RickyC) on youtube)
Kluke is described as mature beyond her age and the tragedy of losing her parents pushed her to become closer with Shu and Jiro. And yet there are moments where she's the first to take action (eg: when Marumaro flees towards the Ancient Hospital; when the party rescues Guru-Guru). With Jiro, Kluke can rely on him for advice or to lend an ear when she needs. It's very different from her relationship with Shu, where she tends to tease him and doesn't seem to pull her punches. Shu brings out a childish side to her that we don't see with her and Jiro.
Although Shu and Kluke both lost their parents to the Land Shark (outright stated for Kluke; implied for Shu, and his booklet description contradicts the opening prologue text), there aren't any scenes where they have one-on-one conversations about their similar tragedies. Thanks to losing her parents, Kluke withdrew and started hiding her real feelings behind teasing. If she needed to cry, she'd go off by herself where no one could see. Shu knew about this and told Jiro, but it seems Kluke was somewhat aware of Shu knowing (src: Pachess Town). Because of this, there's an unspoken connection between Shu and Kluke that isn't there with Shu and Jiro or Jiro and Kluke.
(screenshot taken from World of Longplays (played by: RickyC) on youtube)
Shu & Kluke bicker like siblings, which may be why their ship *Shu/Kluke doesn't have much of a following and you're more likely to see anime!Shu/Kluke than game!Shu/Kluke. While they bicker, it's clear that Kluke does worry about Shu when he charges into things w/o thinking. First and foremost, they're friends. It's that simple.
So why is the bomb collar scene so important?
Because Kluke has been alone since her parents were killed. Of course she has Shu and Jiro and they'd put aside everything to help in ways they could, but we know that if she's suffering, she'd rather keep it to herself than bother anyone.
When Kluke is stuck in the "bomb" collar, you can see how unnerved she is just from her silence throughout Nene's Fortress dungeon. While she appears calm, this all shatters when the collar starts to beep rapidly. Even to the end, Kluke doesn't want to burden anyone, so when she thinks the collar is literally going to take off her head, she runs. She shouts at Jiro not to follow her (which makes him hesitate) and has full intention of dying alone. In fact, she looks determined to spare her friends and only crumbles when Shu manages to catch up to her. Kluke urges him to let her go, shouting that he'll die if he stays with her. And Shu's response?
"No. I'm with you."
It's at this point, Kluke knows that she can't change his mind and there's even a part of her that doesn't want to. So she accepts it.
(to be completely frank though, if the bomb collar was an actual bomb collar, it would've killed all of them. you can't tell me that blast radius wouldn't have hit jiro, marumaro, and zola)
I think it's around here where Kluke started to have feelings for Shu. I guess you could say she always had them hence her teasing (she does tease to hide her true feelings after all), but it's this scene that brings them to the forefront. You'll notice that most of her interactions with Shu in Act 3 lack the sharp-tongued remarks she'd throw at him in Act 1 and she seems a bit more honest with herself and the others.
Shu was there for Kluke when she needed someone in (what she thought) her last moments, and I think that speaks louder than any of their previous scenes together.
Now of course, I don't think this mitigates her relationship with Jiro in any way. It seems to imply she's started opening up to Jiro more (rewatch the scene where Shu tries removing the rings they made her), which isn't something you'd get from Act 1!Kluke. However, I think it made her realize how important both boys are to her.
As for Shu, he's much more oblivious to love/affection than Jiro to the point where it's lampshaded in Plus. However, he does say that he always thought Kluke was "special" because of how she kept moving on despite all the hardships she's been through. For someone who never gives up, it makes sense for Shu to admire such inner strength. It's also part of why he said what he said to Sahlia when she tries to take her life.
Shu likes Kluke, but he may not know that he likes her. Of course, his feelings are more obvious at the end of the game where he gives Kluke her birthday gift. And I believe if Awakened Shadow hadn't butchered the characters, he may have reciprocated the feelings without playing this long ass game of cat-and-mouse.
I've seen arguments that Shu doesn't like-like Kluke and is more focused on 1-upping Jiro in their friendly competitions (making rings for Kluke, getting her a bday gift, etc) or is too young (mentally) for Kluke. I disagree with this because I think by the start of Act 3, Shu has matured greatly from the reckless boy he was at the start of the game. Would it be that surprising of him to recognize that his feelings for Kluke go beyond simple friendship? I don't think he'll ever be as levelheaded as Jiro, but he definitely goes through significant character development.
(screenshot taken from World of Longplays (played by: RickyC) on youtube)
Branching off from this, I think Shu does pay attention more than we think. After all, he gets Kluke that flower for her birthday. Why a flower though? Flowers eventually die. Well, if you think about it, Kluke had a shelf full of plants in her room. So it makes sense why Shu would get her one, esp since it's shown that they're moving to the cube worlds, thus abandoning their old villages (Shu even flies by Landon and his family building a house with some Baroy robots).
Finally, I don't like discussing it because it has such horrible character writing (and I partially blame the anime), but Awakened Shadow had a fanbook that was announced at the time of its Japanese release. In this, there are mini character descriptions. For Kluke's, it says "seems to have slight affection towards Shu". This isn't present in her in-game description in Plus, but the petty ^_^ passive aggressive spat she has with Sahlia makes it clear she doesn't like her going after Shu. (...again: I blame the anime. I'd expect this pettiness from Kluke and Bouquet, not Kluke and Sahlia).
(Translation: You sure? I can teach you how to use your Shadow?)
(screencap from にゃみーず on youtube)
In Awakened Shadow, if you don't complete "A Cookie for You" but have completed "Jiro In Love" and helped Jiro rather Shu, you can see Jiro and Kluke sitting together in the final cutscene (before postgame). Jiro will even ask Kluke if she'd like to go with him for Mechat flight, and she declines him by saying she can't leave the hospital unattended... even if the two get together in the end. And yet, despite this, you can still complete "A Cookie for You" in the postgame and choose Kluke for Shu instead of Sahlia. The events play out the same where she still kisses Shu even if she's with Jiro in the end-game cutscene. In fact, Shu will even say "Don't tell anyone about this - especially Jiro". Whether this was an oversight or left to show that Kluke prefers Shu or not, is unknown. Although given how the writing is handled in Awakened Shadow, it wouldn't surprise me if this was an oversight...
Another way to look at this is that Kluke loves both Shu and Jiro. I still think she'd probably have gone claws out if Sahlia had liked Jiro instead of Shu. It's likely she just isn't used to another girl (around her age) in the mix and "threatening" to break apart the Talta Trio (ie: Shu-Jiro-Kluke). ...But I could be overthinking this and giving Awakened Shadow (and Plus for that matter...) too much credit. For them, I don't think it was ever This Deep and the petty rivalry of Kluke/Shu/Sahlia was just there for "derp girls fighting over a guy lol".
...Besides, I've babbled on too much about AS and would rather stick to just the first game and (tentatively) Plus.
SO! I adore both Jiro/Kluke and Shu/Kluke because each relationship offers something different to the respective characters. I think Jiro's the better listener and I love their moments together, but I also think she has some potential with Shu and that both of their character growths bridge that "immaturity" gap of Act 1!Shu/Kluke. I can see her ending up with either character and it wouldn't ruin her relationship with the "third wheel" (LOL). The bomb collar scene in the first game is just their (Shu/Kluke) strongest moment and shows how far both characters have come, which is why I find it hilariously ironic that it's in an easily-missed cutscene despite appearing in the CGI intro.
(screenshot taken from Brad_Ry's video on youtube)
Both myself and my sister have been fans of the Blue Dragon game for years, so for her upcoming birthday I decided to make her a doll of the Black Magic user, Kluke.
As the game uses Akira Toriyama's distinct style I wanted to create a hybrid doll using a more anime-style head, as well as a less exaggerated body type like the Monster High dolls do.
