Kludd

"Surprise, little brother."

- Kludd to Soren after the latter discovers his identity as Metal Beak

"Hello brother"

- Kludd to Soren before their fight in the film

Kludd (also known as Metal Beak) is a barn owl, the first son and eldest child of Noctus and Marella, the older brother of Soren and Eglantine, the mate of Nyra, the father of Coryn, the main antagonist of the first half of Guardians of Ga'Hoole series and an anti-hero in the 2010 film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole.

He was voiced by Ryan Kwanten in the film.

Guardians of Ga'Hoole
Kludd the barn owl was the elder brother of Soren and Eglantine. He was a bully who hated his brother, and eventually pushed Soren from the nest as part of his initiation into the evil elitist group of owls known as the Pure Ones. He later killed his parents and took Eglantine to the Pure Ones's castle to be stone-stunned. Kludd was power-hungry, and wanted to rule the Pure Ones, so he battled with their leader and killed him, although he paid a price, as a large portion of his face was ripped off. He then had a metal mask made for him to cover the scars, and dubbed himself, Metal Beak. His mate was Nyra, an equally evil barn owl who became second-in-command of the Pure Ones.

In a later battle with Soren, who had survived and now lived at the great Ga'Hoole tree with the Guardians, Soren ripped off Metal Beak's mask and saw that he was his brother. Soren then melted part of his brother's mask off with a burning branch, which ended the battle and Metal Beak went off in search of water to cool it down.

When the Guardians launched an attack on St. Aegolius Academy, an evil organization that had previously captured Soren, Metal Beak was anticipating their assault, and set up a trap for the Guardians. During the ensuing battle, he lured Soren to a cave, where he had six of his owls waiting to ambush him. Soren and his companions, however, escaped the trap and fought Metal Beak himself, but Soren could not bring himself to kill his own brother. It was until Metal Beak wounded Gylfie, Soren's best friend, that he tried to kill him, but another of his fellow warriors, a great grey owl named Twilight, came in and slew Metal Beak with a fatal blow to the back (to save Soren from having to kill his own brother). The Pure Ones were defeated, but Nyra survived and hatched her and Metal Beak's son named Nyroc (later known as Coryn).

After his death, Metal Beak's bones are gathered to by Nyra for a final ceremony whilst his mask and battle claws were kept for Nyroc to inherit when he becomes the next king of the Pure Ones. Nyroc fled after failing his Special Ceremony to which Nyra warned him that the scroom (owl name for ghost) of his father would follow him. This proved true as Nyroc encountered images of Metal Beak in his mask who urged him to return to the Pure Ones. Eventually, Nyroc declared that he was only a mask and renounced being Metal Beak's son, before charging at the mask and shattering it, indicating that Metal Beak was finally in hagsmire (Hell)

Nyra later wore a mask made from the remains of Metal Beak's during the battle of the Middle Kingdom. The mask was left behind on three blood-stained owls, but was later retrieved by Nyra who began wearing it as a tribute to her mate and hide the wounds caused by The Striga when he saved the chaw of chaws in the Battle of the Middle Kingdoms, having her face as badly mutilated as Metal Beak's.

In the Movie
In the movie adaptation, Kludd and Metal Beak are two different owls, and Metal Beak was a sooty owl named Surtr (as revealed in the film's video game). Kludd's personality also not as dark as his book counterpart due to his better relationships with his siblings up until his betrayal. Also in the film, Kludd does not push Soren from the nest, resulting the latter's capture, as he hadn't been in league with the Pure Ones at this time and instead is captured along with Soren and taken to St. Aegolius.

Kludd originally lived in the forest of Tyto with his family. Kludd didn't believe in the legends of Ga'Hoole and was jealous of his younger brother Soren for being better than him and being favored by their parents. He longed to be appreciated and respected (which he found when joining the Pure Ones) and boasted about Tyto superiority. One day, after being taught branching by Noctus, Kludd and Soren fall from their tree (after Kludd got annoyed with Soren and shoved him for talking about his hero Lyze of Kiel) and are attacked by a Tasmanian Devil (who scars Kludd) before being captured by Jatt & Jutt and taken to St. Aggie's where Soren and his new friend Gylfie became pickers and Kludd, after,with some hesitation, denying Soren to be his brother, was trained to be a soldier for the Pure Ones by Nyra (whom Kludd is smitten by).

After succeeding in capturing a bluebird better than the other recruits, Kludd went with Nyra to try to recruit Soren to become a solider, but find him and Gylfie being taught to fly by Grimble (an owl working for the Pure Ones in order to protect his family). Grimble pins down Nyra and tells Kludd to go home with Soren and Gylfie. Kludd once again hesitates, but after seeing Nyra struggling to breathe, declares that he is home, before screeching at Grimble, giving Nyra time to overpower the older owl and throw him to his death. During this, Soren and Gylfie escape to find the Guardians.

Later when asked by Nyra what he can offer the Pure Ones, Kludd replies that he has his sister Eglantine, who would strong Tyto. Kludd takes Eglantine from the family hollow (possibly whilst Noctus and Marella where out either looking for him and Soren or hunting) and brought her to St. Aggie's. He listens to Metal Beak's speech and along with the rest of the Pure Ones present, chants Metal Beak's name. A worried Eglantine looks on before telling Kludd that she misses their parents, to which Kludd replies that she shouldn't worry as she with him and the Pure Ones appreciate them. Eglantine pleads with Kludd to come with her to find Soren, to which Kludd (who has grown to hate Soren), tells his sister to forget about Soren, saying that he is "weak". Eglantine promises not to say anything about what Kludd is doing and asks to go home. Kludd tells Eglantine that they will go home tomorrow, before he and Nyra moonblink her. Sometime after this, Kludd gives Eglantine and another moonblinked owlet to Allomere (a Guardian who is in league with the Pure Ones) to take make to the Great Tree.

During the battle against the Guardians and the Pure Ones, Kludd battles Soren in a forest fire and declares that the Pure Ones believed in him like no one has and how Metal Beak told him that the strong would survive, the broken would be put out of their misery and that honor is just another word for weakness. Soren replies that he knows that Kludd doesn't think like that, which makes Kludd reply that Soren doesn't know him at all. When launching at Soren, Kludd breaks his wing and dangles above the fire. Kludd pleads for Soren to help him, but when Soren tries to, Kludd tries to throw him into the fire, but the branch he is holding onto snaps, causing Kludd to fall into the flames. Believing his brother to be dead, an angered Soren, picks up a burning branch to go after Metal Beak to stop him destroying another owl's life, like he did to Kludd.

Following Metal Beak's death and the Guardians' victory, it is revealed that Kludd (now with red Pure One eyes) had survived the fire and comes across Metal Beak's body and gazes down at his mask, possibly taking it for himself.

Personality
Kludd was skeptical about the legends of Ga'Hoole and impatient with his siblings and his parents, though he seemed close to Eglantine, unlike his book counterpart who didn't care for her at all. His relationship with Soren differed slightly from the books where he hated his brother from the moment he hatched whereas in this film, their relationship is the stereotypical sibling rivalry.

Kludd was jealous of the attention his parents gave Soren, and seemed to have a desire to be appreciated and respected, something he found in the Pure Ones, whom he came to see as family more than his biological one. He was granted with the promised power, which proved that Kludd desired glory and power. Even before meeting the Pure Ones he seemed to think Tytos were better than other owls, although this may have been boasting or some sense of pride of being a Barn Owl.

During his time with the Pure Ones, Kludd's jealousy of Soren turned to hatred, enough for him to desire to kill Soren, which led to his defeat when he tried to trick Soren before another murder attempt. Kludd lost all love for his family, even Eglantine, whom he tried to recruit into the Pure Ones but became frustrated when she did not succumb and for mentioning Soren, and he intentionally had her moon-blinked though he did give her to Allomere, maybe hinting he wanted her out of harm's way. At times, he showed signs of being enamored with Nyra, referencing their relationship in the books, though the love is most likely one-sided and un-reciprocated, due to Nyra being a full-grown owl (and married to Surtr) and Kludd being an adolescent.

Appearance
"I imagined Kludd to be a bully and bitter older brother - just like some of us might have in our life too. I gave him a spiky short hair and a "faux hawk" and added a little weight to his body. These slight changes help Kludd exercise his dominance to Soren and Eglantine - reminding them just who's 'big brother'"

- Patrick Awa description of Kludd.

In the books, Kludd is a Barn Owl with a mask to cover his disfigured face.

In tge film, Kludd greatly resembles his mother Marella in having her Amber eyes and her bright feathers. He also has a small tuft of feathers on top of his head resembling a faux hawk.

After being attacked by the Tasmanian Devil, Kludd gains three scars on his face; one across his right eye, one across his left eye and one on his left cheek.

At the end of the film, Kludd gains red Pure One eyes.

Relatives

 * Father - Noctus


 * Mother - Marella


 * Brother - Soren


 * Sister - Eglantine


 * Mate - Nyra


 * Son - Nyroc/Coryn


 * Sister-In-Law - Pellimore


 * Nieces - Blythe, Bell and Sebastiana

Trivia

 * In the books, Kludd was in love with Nyra. However, this was never shown in the film, which gives him a chance to become pure evil if there will be a sequel to the 2010 movie.
 * At the end of the film, Kludd can be seen gazing at Surtr's mask with red Pure One eyes. This could mean that he will become the new Metal Beak and become an even more evil (and dangerous) leader than Surtr ever was.
 * It is possible that in the film that the reason Kludd chose to remain with the Pure Ones rather than escape with Soren and Gylfie was because of his love for Nyra.