Forgive the long answer, this one was just perfect for my MC.
He’d lose it. It’s his ultimate insecurity. Being of an anthro jaguar race (called Ocholturi), he is considered to be one of the most feared hunters, but this is a double edged sword. He wants to maintain his belief of being the “apex,” and is deeply ashamed of past trauma related to his own kidnapping a few years before the events of the book. He sees anyone taking either himself or someone he cares about hostage as the ultimate insult.
While Thaleen typically acts rationally and methodically, he would fly into a full hysterical rage. I’m picturing the classic “otherwise well composed, well dressed leader looking disheveled with a crooked tie grabs a gun from an incompetent crony and says ‘fine I’ll do it myself’ before shooting wildly at everything that moves.” Add the fact that it was the doing of a clown, something already absurd, would just add to the level of humiliation channeled into rage. He’d get sloppy, and probably end up seriously injured or maimed depending on what weapons the killer clown had at its disposal, and would probably end up getting the person he loved killed to be honest.
How would your MC react if they woke up in the morning as a different species, but everyone treated them as though nothing were different?