CLU

"You have a little item called the Keyblade. Hand it over, and I'll change Rinzler back into Tron."

—CLU

CLU is an antagonist who appears in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. He originated from the Disney film, Tron: Legacy, but despite being the film's main antagonist, he is not a boss in the Kingdom Hearts series.

Development

Though The Grid was confirmed to appear as early as Jump Festa 2012, CLU himself was not shown until the February 2012 Special Trailer. After Claude Frollo, the Beagle Boys and Rinzler‎‎, he is the fourth new Disney villain revealed to appear in the game.

Story

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

CLU serves as the main antagonist of The Grid, his role similar to that of Tron Legacy. He first encounters Riku after he is captured by the Black Guards and forces him to participate in a Light Cycle race against his men. Riku manages to defeat them easily so CLU sends the Commantis Dream Eater to eliminate him but Riku forces it to retreat and escapes. Riku's use of the Keyblade intrigues CLU who plans to acquire it in order to to achieve his goal of taking over the real world. After he discovers that Sora knew Tron in the past, he tries to persuade him to give him the Keyblade in exchange for turning Rinzler back into Tron. Sora refuses so CLU orders Rinzler to destroy him.

However, Sora manages to defeat Rinzler and a furious CLU attempts to kill him personally. But this attack causes Rinzler to revert back to Tron and he defends Sora from CLU's attacks. CLU proves to be too powerful for Tron who is knocked through the floor and seemingly destroyed. CLU retreats but later retrieves Tron and converts him back to Rinzler.

Having failed to acquire a Keyblade, CLU pursues Riku, Quorra, Sam and Kevin, determined to obtain the Identity Disk. He corners them on the bridge and summons the Commantis Dream Eater again to eliminate them although Riku manages to destroy it for good. CLU refuses to give in and attacks Kevin and takes the disk, only to discover that it is a fake and Sam took the real one. Realising that CLU will not give up, Kevin sacrifices himself to reintergrate CLU into his body, destroying the program once and for all.

Appearance

CLU looks virtually identical to a younger Kevin Flynn, his creator, as well as his predecessor, CLU, who was derezzed in the original Tron. His outfit consists of a black skintight suit with yellow-orange circuitry.

Origin

"Out there is a new world! Out there is our victory! Out there... is our destiny."

—CLU 2

Top: CLU in the original film.
Bottom: CLU in Tron: Legacy

CLU 2's predecessor, simply known as CLU, or "Codified Likeness Utility", makes a brief appearance in the 1982 film Tron. Flynn codes and sends CLU into the ENCOM server in order to retrieve evidence of Ed Dilinger's plagiarism of his work. However, CLU is caught by a Recognizer and is subsequently derezzed by the Master Control Program.

After Flynn's promotion to CEO of ENCOM, CLU 2 is created in order to oversee the Grid in his place with help from Tron. At one point, a new race of programs, ISOs, emerge from the Sea of Simulation; Flynn sees these as the next step in human evolution, but CLU 2, having been programmed by Flynn to build the "perfect world", sees the ISOs as an imperfection, and due to their differing opinions, performs a coup d'etat. In the ensuing scuffle, CLU 2 fights against Tron while Flynn makes a run for it, but CLU 2 gains the upper hand and defeats Tron, but rather than kill him, he repurposes him to serve him as Rinzler. CLU 2 then oversees the "Purge", a genocide of the ISOs, and brings the Grid under his control.

Over the next twenty years, CLU 2 discovers that Flynn's identity disk, the Grid's master key, will lead him to the real world, which he hopes to take over and make a part of his "perfect world". To this end, he sends a page to Flynn's son, Sam, in order to lure him into the Grid, but Sam escapes with help from the last remaining ISO, Quorra. Eventually, CLU 2 tracks them to Flynn's hideout and gains possession of Flynn's disk with help from a double-agent, Zuse. However, as CLU 2 prepares to lead his army into the real world, he is stopped by Kevin, Sam and Quorra, who aim to reach the I/O tower and escape while leaving CLU 2 trapped inside forever. During the chases and fights, Rinzler remembers his past as Tron and almost kills CLU 2, but CLU 2 survives and pursues the Flynns and Quorra to the I/O tower. A final confrontation breaks out, and Flynn sacrifices himself to reintegrate CLU 2 into his being while Sam and Quorra escape, destroying CLU 2 once and for all.

In the film, CLU 2 is physically portrayed by John Reardon and voiced by Jeff Bridges. His resemblance to Jeff Bridges is acquired through CGI.