Lucas & Claus

Lucas & Claus is the family ship between Lucas and Claus from the EarthBound fandom.

Canon
Lucas and Claus are twin brothers, with Claus being the elder. They look extremely alike, with similar hair styles and the same outfit of a striped shirt and shorts, just differently coloured. Both have the ability to learn the elusive PK Love.

In the beginning of MOTHER 3, Lucas and Claus, along with their mother, Hinawa, are at their grandfather's cabin. Claus gets Lucas to play-fight with the Dragos with him. Hearing that someone's play-fighting, a mole cricket appears and challenges the two young boys. Lucas and Claus defeat him easily, and then they are called back by Hinawa to eat lunch and get ready to go home.

On the way back through the forest, a huge fire breaks out. A Drago, while normally a peaceful creature, attacks Lucas and Claus. Hinawa protects them from the Drago, but she is killed in doing so. The twins end up falling in a river and are later found by the residents of Tazmily. In response to Hinawa's death, Claus later goes to avenge her and kill the Drago. Lucas wanted to go with him, but Claus said he was going alone. Claus's venture ended unsuccessfully, and he goes missing at the bottom of a cliff, presumably dead.

After 3 years, Lucas infiltrates Thunder Tower along with Boney, Kumatora and Duster. The Pigmasks mistake Lucas for their commander due to their similar appearances. Once he reaches the top, Lucas and co. latch onto a nearby helicopter to escape the exploding tower. A mysterious masked man briefly appears before them, and then attempts to shake the party off. Unknown to Lucas, the masked commander is actually Claus.

Throughout Chapter 7, Lucas tries to pull as many Needles as he can before the Masked Man does, to prevent the sleeping dragon from being awakened for evil. The first Needle at Osohe Castle, Lucas just misses the Masked Man, but picks up the walkie-talkie he dropped. The Pigmask on the other side notes that the "commander" sounds cheerier than usual.

The next time Lucas meets the Masked Man is at Snowcap Mountain, where he sees him right after he had pulled the Needle there. The Masked Man sends out the Mechagorilla for Lucas to deal with before flying away.

After that, Lucas and his party wash up on Tanetane Island. Forced to eat mushrooms to regain their strength, Lucas begins seeing bizarre and traumatizing hallucinations, including ones of his brother. Once he reaches Tanetane's Needle, the Masked Man appears and blasts him out of the way with his lightning sword, and pulls the Needle first.

The penultimate Needle is at Chupichupyoi Temple, where this time, Lucas confronts the Masked Man. The Masked Man attempts to shock Lucas like before, but Lucas's Franklin Badge reflects the attack back at him, injuring and shocking him. Lucas manages to defeat the Masked Man in battle, and he retreats for the time being.

The final Needle is deep below New Pork City. On Lucas's path to it, Flint realizes that the Masked Man is Claus and tells Lucas. Lucas reaches the location of the Needle, and the Masked Man engages him in a battle. He fires a bolt of lightning, knocking out everyone except Lucas, and will continue to do so if any of his party members are revived. Though the Masked Man is able to attack Lucas, Lucas is unable to attack knowing that it is his brother in front of him.

Throughout the battle, Hinawa's voice tries to reach the both of them to remind Claus who he is, and that he and Lucas are brothers. Finally, a flashback of Lucas and Claus when they were just babies occurs. The Masked Man's attacks become weaker and he seems to be conflicted. Lucas isn't sure what to do anymore and wants to cry. Finally, the Masked Man comes to his senses and removes his mask. Claus purposely fires an intense bolt of lighting, reflecting it off of Lucas's Franklin Badge, and causing mortal damage to himself. In his final moments, he embraces Lucas. Claus apologises for everything and hopes to see Lucas again someday, as he dies in Lucas's arms.

Quotes
"Everyone's waiting for you. Everyone's waiting to throw rocks at you, spit on you, and make your life hell. Who's "everyone"...? Everyone you love."

- Hallucination of Claus

"Lucas! We finally meet again! It's me, Claus. Touch my heart. See how it beats in and out? Lucas, there's noooothing to worry about now. It's me, Claus!"

- Hallucination of Claus

"Lucas. I hope we meet again someday. Bye. Thank you. I'm sorry. I'm sure we'll meet again."

- Claus's final words

Fanon
Lucas and Claus is a popular familyship for the significance of their relationship in the plot of MOTHER 3. They have a deep brotherly bond, and have a dynamic many people like. Lucas is more reserved and quiet while Claus is forthgoing and energetic. In fanworks, Lucas's hallucinations and the final battle are commonly referenced. Due to the amount of heart-wrenching moments between them, there is also plenty of angst in fanworks. There are many AUs for the two of them, particularly those in which after Lucas pulls the last needle, the Dark Dragon is able to return Claus and the two twins are able to live together again, and overcoming challenges from their trauma together. Role swaps are also common, where Lucas is the Masked Man instead.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * In the second phase of the final battle with the Masked Man, if Lucas manages to attack, the text will read "Lucas... felt heartbroken." and if he continues to attack, Lucas will start to cry.
 * Lucas and Claus are anagrams of each other.
 * There are a couple unused scenes in MOTHER 3:
 * A flashback where Lucas and Claus are playing in the water.
 * A flashback where Lucas and Claus get into a fight.