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.

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 was physically portrayed by Jeff Bridges wearing a motion capture helmet. When he went to play Kevin Flynn, John Reardon would take his place and provide physical performance, mirroring Bridges. After all the CGI was done on his face, Jeff Bridges provided his voice.