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About
Klaud is a slug alien character who appears in the 2019 film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. In February 2022, the character gained prominence in memes on Twitter and later on Tumblr, with an image of him staring in bewilderment being used as a reaction for depictions of LGBTQ+ romance, particularly when combined with the Live Tucker Reaction meme format.
Origin
On December 20th, 2019, the sci-fi fantasy film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premiered. In the film, the character Klaud, a Trodatome mechanic working for the Resistance, is introduced. The character assists Poe and Finn on their mission to Sinta Glacier Colony, also appearing in one of the final scenes in which the Resistance celebrates their victory, in which he is hugged by a resistance fighter.
The character was first seen on a leaked poster for the film in April 2019 (shown below). Although the exact frame does not appear in the film, this image of Klaud would later become source material for the reaction image.
Spread
On January 30th, 2020, Redditor Oobedoob_S_Benubi created a subreddit for Klaud memes that gained nearly 1,000 subscribers in two years.
The character did not achieve notable presence in memes until February 20th, 2022, when Twitter user @PinkRangerLB falsely wrote that Klaud appears in the film right after the first gay kiss, staring blankly for four seconds. The tweet was accompanied by a cropped image of Klaud from the leaked poster and gained over 7,500 retweets and 69,200 likes in four days (tweet and image shown below, left and right).
In the same thread, @PunkRangerLB wrote that "All acts of queer love should immediately be followed by a slug monster reaction," with the tweet gaining over 860 reactions and 10,100 likes in four days.
On February 21st, 2022, Twitter user @yeb_sakoda posted a still image from Neon Genesis Evangelion, with a Live Tucker Reaction Klaud meme edited in (shown below, left). The post gained over 4,900 retweets and 25,600 likes in one day. In the same thread, @yeb_sakoda, @ArsonRaboot and other users posted similar memes, editing "Live Klaus Reaction" into various scenes featuring LGBTQ+ characters (examples shown below, center and right).
In the following days, Klaud maintained moderate popularity on Twitter as a reaction image, with fancams dedicated to the character also being created.
On March 3rd, 2022, Tumblr user itsmissdorothy reposted @PinkRangerLB's tweet, with user the greatgbrumbolia responding with a Live Tucker Reaction meme featuring Klaud. The exchange gained over 140,000 likes and reblogs within a week, with the meme format going viral on Tumblr.
Various Examples
Rise Of Skywalker: KLAUD Fancam pic.twitter.com/4YMg8t9UtV
— Sofia Coppium (@HydraSPOOKY) February 22, 2022Templates
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