| “ | "...How much longer should I keep playing along with your game?" | ” |
— Klaus to Flower Garden (Spy Classroom Volume 1) | ||
Klaus (クラウス Kurausu), code-name Bonfire, is a main character introduced in the Spy Classroom series. He is the boss and teacher of Lamplight.
Appearance[]
Klausis is relatively tall man he has an androgynous, practically feminine appearance that is simultaneously handsome and beautiful with a fair complexion and shoulder-length black hair.[2]
He wears a white collar shirt, black vest, black shoes and a black tie.
In the anime, Klaus’s hair has a grayer tone
Personality[]
Klaus is an aloof, intuitive young man who demonstrates a lack of outward emotion. Despite his phenomenal talent as a spy, he struggles to teach his students in an effective manner as his skills are more of a second nature that he can’t deconstruct properly.[3]
While Klaus is stoic and keeps a blank face, he isn't by any means uncaring. Guido notes that he won’t abandon an ally, he’ll sacrifice everything, but won’t leave a teammate behind[4]. Klaus demonstrates a great level of care and empathy to his students, despite his unconventional teaching methods. He believes each member of Lamplight is an individual of boundless potential, and he seeks to bring out the best in each of their abilities.
Klaus, even with his high intuition, also displays a lack of social awareness. Such as Chapter Two after he defeats the girls attempting to make him surrender while he’s in the shower, he goes onto explain why a well-trained spy thinks little of being naked instead of putting on a towel. [5].
Even though the girls of Lamplight see him as perfect, he feels that is an all illusion as he owes all of what he has to Inferno and Guido. [6]
Klaus doesn’t experience romantic attraction, nor does he have a high libido.[7] Klaus isn't tempted by pursuits of romantic or sexual desires. In fact, he is often oblivious to them entirely, seen in Volume 01 when Thea came to Klaus’s room for a ‘good time’ and he interpreted that as ‘a good time playing chess’, [8]causing Thea disappointment. Klaus seeks familial love, relationships forged among the hardest missions and the most peaceful times. Lamplight is his family, and Klaus loves Lamplight. [9]
Plot[]
Prior to Creating Lamplight[]
Klaus’s earliest memories were as an impoverished orphan in the slums sunned by others until he met Guido. He assigned him is alias and brought him into the world of spies. [10] Guido provided him hospitality and Inferno provided him the only family he ever had. Guido pushed Klaus with intensive training, always landing flat on his face. Klaus could never surpass his master. Guido would often degrade Klaus after his losses. In his time with Inferno, Klaus never defeated Guido once. [11]
Skills[]
Relationships[]
Inferno[]
Klaus thought of Inferno as his true family, he owes all of his abilities to the harsh training his spy team put him through. They didn't always get along, in fact they fought all the time. After their demise, Klaus spiraled into a dark era of grief, coping through his painting.
Lamplight[]
When it came to Lamplight, Klaus wanted to be there for the girls while also maintaining healthy boundaries. He had no desire whatsoever to abuse his role as their instructor or toy with their impressionable hearts.
"I'm not going to fall in love with any of you--but I do hope, with all my heart, that you all find happiness." -Klaus
Naturally, Klaus fretted those boundaries constantly and whenever he gave the girls advice out of concern for their well-being, he was never quite sure how far it was appropriate for him to tread into their personal affairs. However, there was one point he always came back to. He had become their teacher--and as such, it was his job to guide them. If any of the girls wanted to experience a normal romance, they are more than welcome to go out and do so. All he asked was that they didn't neglect their training.[12]
Guido[]
Klaus and Guido had what could best be described as a father-son relationship. Guido took Klaus under his wing as an orphan, street child and even gave Klaus an alias. Guido put Klaus through intense training where he failed constantly. Even through all those years, Klaus could never surpass his master. Guido would often degrade Klaus after his losses. In his time with Inferno, Klaus never defeated Guido once.
Hearth[]
Klaus viewed Hearth as a mother figure or something of the sort. Saying that there were times she was sweet and times she was strict. He believes that Hearth was fundamentally kind by nature, but stubborn as a bull in arguments. And it was all the more difficult as they had different opinions on things so they constantly butted heads.[13] He dislikes Grete calling him boss as he believes the title belongs to Hearth.[14]
Daughter Dearest[]
When Klaus and Grete first met, he was under the impression she was trying to avoid him.[15] After the bioweapon retrieval mission, Klaus is very much aware of Grete’s feelings towards him and feels indifferent towards this attraction. Starting to notice it as far back as their first mission together [14] He dislikes when Grete calls him boss and doesn’t appreciate her sexual and romantic advances. Nonetheless Klaus truly cares for Grete. There were times where he worried that he was leading Grete on. [16]While he doesn’t see Grete in a romantic light, [17] that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love her. Klaus loves Grete as he loves the rest of Lamplight, they are his family, and Grete is a part of his family. He appreciates how much she polishes her skills to win Klaus’s love. It made him realize how disciplined she was. Unlike other characters in Spy Classroom, he isn’t horrified or disgusted by Grete’s scars at all. In fact, he finds her true face beautiful. [18]
Pandemonium[]
Klaus thinks Sybilla has the gentlest heart of all the members, but doesn’t think through her actions. [19]
Deepwater[]
Klaus sees Roland as the worst kind of spy, the kind with no morals whatsoever. Klaus doesn't think highly of Roland or understands why Roland views him as a rival. Not seeing him as particularly threatening, or as he puts it: "a complete pushover".[20] In fact, Klaus had no idea what compelled Roland to think of him as such in the first place. Saying that it must be pretty embarrassing for him. Wanting to know whose 'bullshit' he had been listening to.
Flower Garden[]
Klaus Trusts Lilly with Missions, but he can easily trick and Manipulate her, He made her the team leader as she had the most sway in the team, He always outsmarts her but he does care about her and respects her skill as he chose her as one of the four for his mission. As far as Klaus saw it, his life as a spy was over.[21]
Fool[]
Klaus cares for her greatly as shown during the Hostage situation when he warned the thugs that if they touch her they will pay. He is aware of Misfortune and can easily avoid the incoming disasters, and he tells Erna to confide in him whenever she needs to. Klaus thinks that nobody can lead their enemies around by the nose quite the way Erna can, Klaus knew that the future would hold more hardships for her, but he knew she would be able to overcome them.[22]
Meadow[]
Klaus Understands Sara and unlike some he can see her talent clearly, he was disgusted by her treatment at her academy. He thinks that Sara becoming more assertive would suit her well, and think that there are plenty of times where she feels like she is one step behind the others. [23]Klaus also shares Sara's love for Animals and he helps her take care of the animals at the Manor, He also appreciates her hard work fixing the Manor.
Forgetter[]
When recruiting Lamplight, Klaus had concerns that the members were not ruthless enough and needed someone who could become as ruthless as they need to be when the chips were down and searched for someone who fit that description. A team comprised solely of soft people could collapse under the slightest pressure. For Lamplight to be as strong as it could be, it needed to be made up of a variety of different people. Those differences being what would give the team power. Annette was the person who gave Klaus the most pause in regards to putting Lamplight together. Worried he was giving Annette too difficult of a role. Annette can give off a malice to him more intense than even the most elite spies to give. He rejects the notion from the people in Annette's life that she is twisted to her core, that they can't see what is right in front of their eyes.
After Annette tricked Matilda into detonating the bomb inside the container she was trapped in, Klaus believed Annette had made the right call. Her methods had been suspect but she had gotten results. He thought of a multitude of things that could've gone wrong if Annette, being as ruthless as she was didn't step in, manipulate Lamplight, the army and an Imperial spy. After all, that mercilessness Annette carries is a weapon that nobody else on Lamplight has.
Klaus had known that someday, there would come a time when they needed someone who was pure, unadulterated evil on their side. That was the role he had cast Annette in--Lamplight's weapon of last resort.[24]
Klaus counted on Annette's out-of-the-box intuition of hers to help the team.[25]
Dreamspeaker[]
While Klaus holds no will towards her for trying to work on her skills, Klaus never falls for her seduction tactics and always outsmarts her. Klaus thinks that Thea, while a talented spy, needs to practice some self control when it comes to attempting to seduce authority figures in her life, as that is why her grades plummeted in her spy academy.[26] He trusts her skill as one of his team and cares for her like the rest of the team. Klaus believes differences between allies are the key to a strong team. The day will come when that empathy of Thea's will be exactly what Lamplight needs.[27]
When he first met Thea, he did not have any strong feelings towards her, and made too strong of an impression to be believable as his wife during missions.[15]
Welter Barth[]
Both Klaus and Welter Barth hate each other. The two met while Klaus was in Inferno and would bump into Welter during domestic missions. Klaus respected Welter's skills albeit because they both served the same nation but the two never saw eye to eye. While Klaus admits he doesn't care for him personally, he doesn't believe Welter is a bad leader and thought that the soldiers who were stationed to catch a certain Imperial spy looked pretty well trained. He dislikes how Welter sees everything between them as a competition to the point where it becomes obnoxious stating and I quote: "I hate him because he's a pompous ass"[28]
White Spider[]
During their battle in Volume 3, Klaus thought that White Spider displayed a lack in dignity in battle, screaming like he had no experience. [29]However his skills were an entirely different story. Skills of a spy far stronger. Klaus had no idea what in the world he was, combined with the Foreign Intelligence Office's complete lack of info on him. Klaus found it strange that despite White Spider admitting him being freaked out by Klaus, he was perfectly happy getting chatty and social during a life or death fight. He was someone just getting weirder and weirder.[30]
After finding out that White Spider killed Klaus's master, Gudio, Klaus was in total disbelief. the image Klaus had in his mind of the sniper and the man in question were incompatible. When he finally processed the information, Klaus immediately wanted revenge. However, he did not take to killing him in battle. Even after the two spared each others lives, Klaus still thought White Spider came across as a coward.[31]
Catchphrase[]
"Magnificant" -Klaus
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- At the end of Light Novel Volume 2, Klaus confirms to Grete that he does not experience romantic attraction. This can make him part of the aromantic spectrum [1].[32] by definition.
- Klaus has what is described in volume 2 chapter 2 as ‘god awful handwriting’.[33]
- It is also implied in volume 1 that combined with his bad handwriting and in chapter one where the girls find it difficult to imagine Klaus wrote the list of rules himself that Klaus may not have actually written the rules. [34] It is not currently stated in any of the English translations who wrote the list of rules for Heat Haze Palace.
- Klaus is the only member of Lamplight to not appear on a light novel cover so far.
- Deepwater's code name is a foil to Klaus’s code name Bonfire[17]
References[]
- ↑ 【ファンタジア文庫】第32回ファンタジア大賞「スパイ教室」【2020年1月編PV】
- ↑ Spy Classroom Volume 1, Chapter 1 Page 13
- ↑ Spy Classroom Volume 1, Chapter 1 Pages 33-34
- ↑ Spy Classroom Volume 1, Chapter 4 Page 160
- ↑ Spy Classroom Volume 1, Chapter 2 Page 62
- ↑ Spy Classroom Volume 1, Chapter 3 Page 120
- ↑ Volume 2 page 181
- ↑ Volume 1 page 92-93
- ↑ Volume 2 page 182
- ↑ Spy Classroom Volume 1, Chapter 3 Pages 104-105
- ↑ Spy Classroom Volume 1, Chapter 3 Page 121
- ↑ SSC 1 page 180-181
- ↑ Volume 3 page 24
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Spy Classroom Volume 2, Prologue Page 14
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 SSC 1 page 171
- ↑ SSC 1 page 180
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 volume 2 page 137
- ↑ volume 2 page 172
- ↑ Volume 2 page 60
- ↑ Volume 2 page 173
- ↑ vol 4 page 19
- ↑ vol 4 page 33
- ↑ SSC 1 page 72
- ↑ Volume 3 pages 186-194
- ↑ vol 4 page 32
- ↑ Volume 3 page 22
- ↑ vol 4 page 21
- ↑ Volume 3 page 96
- ↑ Volume 3 page 163
- ↑ Volume 3 page 164
- ↑ Volume 3 page 177
- ↑ Volume 2 page 181
- ↑ volume 2 page 62
- ↑ Volume 1 page 15