In Anthem, little harmless creatures called Klauninchen are running around. BioWare is giving more and more hints that there is more to these cute beings than meets the eye. What is behind them?
What are Klauninchen? These animals are a crazy mix of squirrel, fox, lizard, and moth. They are about the size of dogs and are suspected of stealing and hoarding things, but are otherwise harmless. At least that is the impression.
Klauninchen unleash a big debate among players, which quickly made them fan favorites:
- some are slaughtering the creatures and do not trust them
- others find Klauninchen cute and want to protect them
What suggests that Klauninchen play a bigger role:
- BioWare repeatedly hints that Klauninchen are dangerous and that one should leave them in peace
- Klauninchen reportedly have hidden levels according to employees
- BioWare had a counter running in the demo for how many Klauninchen were killed
In a letter to fans, the Head of Live Service, Chad Robertson, informed the community that over 2 million Klauninchen were killed in the VIP demo of Anthem. He referred to these players as monsters. In other letters, Robertson also mentioned that one should be nice to Klauninchen.
Other BioWare employees also imply that slaughtering the creatures could have consequences. The employee BioWareBen revealed after the open demo that Klauninchen even have a secret level. This is a clear indication that Klauninchen can be found in various strengths.
What role could Klauninchen play?
The clues are pretty clear that BioWare is planning something with the Klauninchen. The only question is, what.
A big boss enemy? It is conceivable that there is a gigantic Klauninchen that appears as a boss enemy. The Klauninchen could sit in a stronghold at the end of a Klauninchen den. Strongholds are mini-raids.
This boss would, of course, take revenge on the players who killed his brothers and sisters. Strongholds will be part of the endgame content of Anthem. So it could be quite a chunk of Klauninchen.
An event around Klauninchen? It is exciting that BioWare allowed a counter for Klauninchen kills to run in the demo. It is also important that BioWare revealed the kill count to the players.
This could indicate that an event is planned here, once players have killed a certain number of Klauninchen. It is possible that Klauninchen will go berserk on the map of Anthem as soon as the event is triggered. It would also fit that they have hidden levels. They could swarm the players in masses.
Great significance in the story? BioWare is known for writing stories for its games that continually surprise. In Mass Effect, for example, there are bug-like beings called “Keepers” that maintain the space station Citadel like janitors. They remain unimportant for the players for a long time and ignore them until they suddenly gain great importance for the story.
Typically for BioWare, players might expect a surprise in the story with the Klauninchen. Maybe Klauninchen actually belong to the ancient technologies left behind by the god-like Shapers?
This is the MeinMMO community’s stance on Klauninchen
We asked you how you feel about Klauninchen. The MeinMMO community is divided in the debate about the creatures. A total of 1,634 readers voted at the time of evaluation (February 5, 6:00 PM).
The result:
- 53% say: “I want to save Klauninchen!”
- 47% say: “I want to kill Klauninchen!”
Most of you side with the Klauninchen. What this will mean for the future of Anthem, we will have to wait and see.
With all the hints from BioWare, it is already quite certain that something will happen with the Klauninchen. The only question is how big the players’ influence on this will be.
The Klauninchen kill counter is certainly still running in the background at BioWare. Maybe it is just a ticking time bomb.
What do you think will happen to the Klauninchen in Anthem?
Anyone wanting to learn more about the enemies in Anthem should click on the box below. Who knows if the Klauninchen will count among them soon:
