Claire Redfield[a] is a character inResident Evil (Biohazard in Japan), asurvival horror series created by the Japanese companyCapcom. Claire was first introduced alongsideLeon S. Kennedy as one of twoplayer characters inResident Evil 2 (1998). The character was conceived as Elza Walker, a blonde motorcyclist character in theprototype of the game, but her name and role were changed for the final version to connect its story to that ofResident Evil (1996). InResident Evil 2, Claire arrives inRaccoon City, a settlement in the Midwestern United States that has been overrun byzombies, to find her missing brotherChris Redfield.
Claire is the protagonist of severalResident Evil games, novels, and films, and has appeared in other franchises, includingMonster Hunter andTeppen. Several actors have portrayed Claire; inResident Evil 2 (1998) , she is voiced byAlyson Court, whose features were later used for the character. In the2019 remake ofResident Evil 2, she is voiced by Stephanie Panisello and modeled on the Canadian model Jordan McEwen. In thelive-actionResident Evil films, Claire has been portrayed byAli Larter andKaya Scodelario.
Critics have positively responded to Claire's personality and her role as a strong, female lead character. Several journalists considered Claire to be significantly less-sexualized than other female game characters. She was exemplified as a female character who is as competent and skilled as her male counterparts.
Claire's appearance was designed by the artists Isao Ohishi and Ryoji Shimogama.[1] To avoid sexual objectification ofwomen in video games, Mikami refused to eroticize or portray women inResident Evil as submissive; instead, Claire was characterized as independent.[18] Mikami said: "I don't know if I've put more emphasis on women characters, but when I do introduce them, it is never as objects ... In [other] games, they will be peripheral characters with ridiculous breast physics. I avoid that sort of obvious eroticism."[18]
Claire continued to be redesigned during the series.[19] She was given a tougher appearance inResident Evil – Code: Veronica (2000) because her experiences inResident Evil 2 toughened her and increased her confidence to handle situations.[20] This characterization is emphasized in the opening scene, in which she appears in aJohn Woo-inspired action scene.[21] ForResident Evil: Revelations 2 (2015), Claire was written as practical and aggressive to contrast with her partner, the young, immature, and easily scaredMoira Burton. According to the producer Michiteru Okabe, they had not reduced the two characters to their gender and had instead given them unique personalities, which he said reflected positively on the video-game industry's direction at the time.[22][23] According to Okabe, the director Morimasa Sato is a big fan of Claire so Okabe felt obliged to bring her back into the game.[24]
In the2019 remake ofResident Evil 2, Claire was redesigned and modeled after the Canadian model Jordan McEwen.[25] She was given a new wardrobe, and her original hotpants and cycling shorts were replaced with jeans and a long-sleeved jacket.[26]
The events ofResident Evil 2 occur in 1998 in the fictional American metropolisRaccoon City.[27][28] Claire is a college student who is searching for her brotherChris Redfield, a member of the Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) team. Claire arrives in Raccoon City to find it overrun byzombies, for which the pharmaceutical companyUmbrella Corporation is responsible.[27][29] Claire meets with the police officerLeon S. Kennedy but is later separated from him.[27] In the Raccoon Police Department building, Claire encountersSherry Birkin, a young woman who is being pursued by her father, the mutated scientistWilliam Birkin.[27][29][30] After defeating William Birkin, Claire arrives at NEST, an Umbrella underground facility, and finds a vaccine to cure Sherry, who has become infected with the G-virus. Claire gives Sherry's scientist motherAnnette Birkin the vaccine so she can cure Sherry but Annette dies from her injuries, which William inflicted.[27][30] Claire escapes from the facility on a train, along with Leon and Sherry, before Raccoon City is destroyed by anuclear strike as part of aU.S. government cover-up.[27][28]
Mikami, the lead producer of bothResident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) and the concurrently-producedCode: Veronica, wanted each game to highlight an existing female character in the series. Jill is the protagonist ofNemesis while Claire is thelead character inCode: Veronica.[31] Commentators said these decisions were made as a result of the success of theTomb Raider series, whose protagonist isLara Croft.[32]Code: Veronica is set three months after Claire's escape from Raccoon City; she is apprehended while trying to find Chris and raiding a European Umbrella facility.[27] She is sent to an island prison under the command ofAlfred Ashford, a descendant of one of the Umbrella Corporation's founders. There is an outbreak; Claire sets out to find Chris, runs into fellow prisonerSteve Burnside, and plans to leave the island as soon as she is released.[27][33] After discovering Chris is not on the island, Claire escapes on a plane. Ashford remotely controls the aircraft and crashes it into an Umbrella facility in Antarctica.[27] Chris defeats the main antagonistAlexia Ashford and escapes with Claire before the Antarctic facility self-destructs.[27] After that, they vow to put an end to the Umbrella Corporation.[27] In thePlayStation 2 andGameCube versions,Veronica X, Claire also briefly encounters the series' main villainAlbert Wesker.[33]
InResident Evil: Revelations 2 (2015), Claire is a member of the counter-bioterrorism group TerraSave.[34] The game follows Claire andBarry Burton's daughter Moira as they are kidnapped, infected with the T-Phobos virus, and trapped on a mysterious, abandoned, prison island.[35][36] They defeatAlex Wesker and some monsters.[34][36] Claire and Moira, and Barry arrives to look for them and a young girl namedNatalia Korda.[34][36]
Claire features in several of theResident Evil films that were directed byPaul W. S. Anderson. InResident Evil: Extinction (2007), Claire is the leader of a convoy of zombie-apocalypse survivors who, at the end of the film, go to Alaska to find safety.[29] She also appears inResident Evil: Afterlife (2010)[12] but does not appear in its sequelResident Evil: Retribution (2012), in which she is presumed dead.[37] Claire returns in the sixth-and-final film of the original film seriesResident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016), in which she teams up with Alice before an artificial intelligence called Red Queen attempts to destroy humanity.[38][39] She also appears in the reboot filmResident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021).[14]
Claire also appears in the animatedResident Evil films. She plays a major role inResident Evil: Degeneration (2008), in which she is reunited with Leon. The film is set seven years after the events of the gameResident Evil 2, and Claire has become a prominent TerraSave member.[40] Claire has also appeared with Leon in theNetflix seriesResident Evil: Infinite Darkness (2021), in which TerraSave staff member encounters a mysterious image a young boy draws in a country she visited while providing refugee assistance. She is haunted by this drawing of a victim of viral infection and begins her own investigation.[41] She returns in the sequelResident Evil: Death Island (2023).[42] Claire's youthful appearance in the film is said to be a result of the T-Phobos virus slowing her aging.[43]
Claire appears in novelizations of the films and games,[55][56][57] and plays a main role in the third novel in a series byS. D. Perry,Resident Evil: City of the Dead (1999).[56] Several comic books based on the games were released.[58] She is one of the main characters inNaoki Serizawa's mangaBiohazard: Heavenly Island, which was serialized inWeekly Shōnen Champion magazine in 2015; in this manga, Claire is a TerraSave investigator on an isolated South American island.[59] She features inBandai'sResident Evil Deck Building Card Game (2011) and Steamforged Games'Resident Evil 2: The Board Game (2017).[60][61] The character was featured in aResident Evil-themed attraction atUniversal Studios Japan's rideHalloween Horror Nights.[62] Claire's likeness has been used for merchandise including figurines, plushies, keychains, vests, and standees.[63]
Claire Redfield has received positive reviews from critics for her personality and characteristics.GamesRadar+ described her as one of Capcom's best characters.[64]IGN editors and Kimberly Wallace ofGame Informer praised Claire; Wallace stating Claire is her favoriteResident Evil character, "caring, strong-willed, and a total badass".[65][66] Critic Scott Rogers, writing forLevel Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design described Claire as a perfect example of the theme "opposites attract" inResident Evil 2 as a companion character who is capable of anything, while Sherry is a "defenseless little girl".[67] Other critics praised Claire's role as a strong female lead character;[68][69][70]Syfy's Brittany Vincent described her as a "strong-willed young woman who's tough as nails and ready to take on any challenge".[69]
Critics have commented Claire is not oversexualized in her initial appearances,[71][72] and she has been exemplified as a female character from the series who is not exclusively evaluated on the basis of her gender.[71] TheDigital media academicEsther MacCallum-Stewart saidResident Evil's female characters have unique qualities, making them viable choices for players to select over their male counterparts, and that their combat attire helps avoid criticism for pandering to themale gaze.[73] The feminist media criticAnita Sarkeesian ofTropes vs. Women in Video Games criticized theResident Evil series' trend of rewarding male players with unlockable outfits that reduce the oft-capable women into sexual objects, citing Claire's rodeo outfit inRevelations 2 being an example.[74] The academic writer Jenny Platz said women in video games are generally not shown with anygender fluidity, and that Claire is reduced to a "sexless object" who is comparable with the "typical trope" of "a virgin or tomboy".[75]
Sarkeesian, Anita; Enthusiast, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (August 31, 2015)."Women as Reward".Feminist Frequency.Archived from the original on January 12, 2017. RetrievedJune 1, 2021.
Media related toClaire Redfield at Wikimedia Commons
