Claus

Claus / Masked Boy
Species	Human
Hair color	Red
Relatives	Hinawa (Mom), Flint (Dad), Lucas (Brother), Alec (Grandfather)
Debut	Mother 3

Claus is the twin brother of Lucas, who is the main protagonist in Mother 3. Though he appears as frequently as Lucas at the very start of the game, he meets a tragic fate early on and does not return until after he has become the antagonistic Masked Boy and ends up serving as the last boss of the game. Where Lucas is weak, Claus is strong; he is energetic and a little too hot-headed for his own good, while Lucas is calm and a bit of a crybaby.

Background

Daring Twin

At the beginning of Mother 3, Claus was visiting his grandfather along with Lucas and his mother, Hinawa. He taught Lucas how to dash by practicing on the Dragos, giant lizards that lived nearby. Before the family had a chance to return to their home in Tazmily Village, they were caught in the Telly Forest when the Pig Mask Army set it on fire. One of the Dragos had been turned into a robot by the army and killed their mother in the confusion, though the boys were able to escape by letting the river wash them back into town.

Though Lucas wept for his mother and Flint, their father, had to be arrested in his rage, Claus decided to seek revenge. He slipped a file into Flint's jail cell and told Lucas of his plan (refusing to let his brother come along), then took his father's knife and went to kill the Drago, stopping only to speak with the Magypsies and learn how to use PSI. Though Flint and Alec went after to save Claus, neither arrived in time and Claus was last seen dead at the bottom of the Drago's mountain home.

Masked Boy

Some time in the next three years, Claus's body was picked up by the Pig Mask Army and taken to New Pork City, where King Pokey had Claus rebuilt into a cyborg warrior. Losing all traces of his former self, Claus was assigned to be the commander of the Pig Mask Army; this led to some confusion when Lucas himself was assumed to be the commander by some Pig Mask soldiers, the first clue as to the Masked Boy's identity.

After Lucas and co.'s efforts at the Thunder Tower, Claus was assigned to pull the seven needles scattered across the Nowhere Islands and awaken the dragon that had been put to sleep by an enchantment involving them. He and Lucas were the only ones capable of doing so, both having learned PK Love from the Magypsies. He drew the one at Osohe Castle before Lucas had even begun on the quest, causing the Magypsy Aolia to disappear before his brother's very eyes. The brothers met again at Snow Mountain, though Claus only stays long enough to take the needle and sic a Mecha Gorilla on Lucas and Kumatora.

When Lucas and co. washed up on Tanehineri Island, they were forced to eat Energy Mushrooms to stave off hunger, though the mushrooms sent them into a hallucinatory trance. During this, Lucas runs into Claus several times. The hallucinated Claus attempts to bring Lucas down by claiming that everyone he loves hates him, begging him to trade places, and telling him that he should stop worrying about everything. These images are all subsequently destroyed. After this event, the group makes their way to a cave on the island to take the next needle, but Claus arrives at the same time and knocks them away with lightning, claiming the needle for himself.

With Claus about to collect the majority of the needles, the group rushed to meet him at ChupiChupyoi Temple. Lucas had collected the Franklin Badge beforehand and was able to deflect Claus's attack, forcing him to battle the group. Claus was defeated and flew away, leaving the needle to the victors.

The Last Needle

Not long after, when Lucas and co. went to confront Pokey in the Empire Pokey Building, they learned the truth of the Masked Boy's identity from Flint, who was relieved to have finally found his son after three years of searching. Pokey mocked the group in turn by sending Claus to pull the last needle and pointing out how thorough the transformation into a cyborg had been; Claus was completely lifeless, moving only to serve his master.

Once Pokey had been sealed away, the group went to confront Claus at the needle. Claus knocked them down with a lightning attack, though Lucas was once again protected by the Franklin Badge. Unwilling to fight his own brother, Lucas let himself be attacked while Flint jumped in to protect him from Claus's PK Love. Hinawa called to the boys from beyond the grave, urging Claus to remember who he was. After some time, Claus finally came to his senses; however, rather than continue on as a cyborg, he cast a final lightning attack at Lucas, reflecting it off the Franklin Badge to kill himself. In his final moments, Claus apologized for what he had done and thanked Lucas for being with him.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In the Super Smash Bros. series, one of Lucas's alternate costumes in all of his appearances uses the color of Claus's hair and clothing, essentially making that costume variant a substitute for Claus. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U also added another alternate costume that was based on the Masked Boy: this variation of Lucas had paler skin, with silver/gray coloring in his hair and clothing as well as a badge on his shirt of a Masked Man sprite. Claus has also been represented by a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a trophy in the 3DS/Wii U game and as two Primary Spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. One was a Legend-rank Spirit of Claus, and the other was an Ace-rank Spirit of him as the Masked Man which also boosted one's sword attack power. The Masked Man's Spirit could be unlocked by completing Adventure Mode, although it could also be faced in a Spirit battle..
  • When fought against in a Spirit battle, Claus's Spirit would possess Lucas (with the costume based on Claus). After the initial Lucas was defeated, the player would then have to face a metallic version of Lucas, in reference to the Masked Man. As for the Masked Man's Spirit, that Spirit battle involved his Spirit possessing Lucas (this time with aforementioned costume based on the Masked Man) and fighting in a stamina battle with a stronger Final Smash. Lucas with Claus's color variation also joined in on the Spirit battles with Hinawa (alongside a normal Lucas, simulating the twins defending their mother) and Flint.

Trivia

• Claus and Lucas were inspired by a pair of twins of the same name from the Agotha Kristof novel "The Notebook".
• It seems that he was originally intended to have a different role as part of the protagonist's party in earlier versions of the game, especially when it was known as Earthbound 64. In Mother 3, there are a wide variety of unused sprites for Claus that seem to reflect this. There were also unused sprite for the Masked Man, showing him exploding as well as what appears to be his 'construction' or repair.