Claire Redfield[a] is a character in Resident Evil (Biohazard in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by the Japanese company Capcom. She was first introduced as one of two player characters in Resident Evil 2 (1998) alongside Leon S. Kennedy. The character was initially conceived as a blonde motorcyclist named "Elza Walker" for the prototype of the game, but her name and role were changed for the final build to connect its story to that of the original. During the events of Resident Evil 2, Claire arrives in the Midwestern United States town of Raccoon City, which has been overrun by zombies, to find her missing brother Chris.
Claire is the protagonist of several Resident Evil games, novels, and films, and has also appeared in other franchises, including Monster Hunter and Teppen. Several actresses have portrayed Claire. In her initial video game appearance, she is voiced by Canadian actress Alyson Court, whose features were also later used for the character. In the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2, she is voiced by Stephanie Panisello and modeled after Canadian model Jordan McEwen. In the live-action Resident Evil films, Claire has been portrayed by Ali Larter and Kaya Scodelario.
Critics have positively responded to Claire's personality and her role as a strong female lead character. Several journalists also considered Claire significantly less sexualized than other female game characters. She was also cited as an example of a female character who was as competent and skilled as her male counterparts, though she was criticized for being a "sexless object", as well as her alternate costume in Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (2015).
Concept and design
Claire was introduced as one of two playable protagonists, alongside police officer Leon S. Kennedy, in Capcom's 1998 survival horror video game Resident Evil 2.[14][15] She was developed out of an earlier character named Elza Walker, the original female lead during its first prototype,[14][16] who was supposed to be a blonde motorcyclist that arrived at the Raccoon Police Station after crashing her bike into its front entrance.[16] Creative director Hideki Kamiya created unique and expanded circumstances for characters such as Leon and Elza, similar to those that distinguished protagonists Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield in the original Resident Evil (1996).[14] However, following the game's development, storywriter Noboru Sugimura, felt the story lacked conceptual coherence and depth; he also took issue with Kamiya crafting a narrative that had no connection to the original game. Producer Shinji Mikami and Kamiya agreed with Sugimura's criticism,[14] and as a result the development was scrapped and recreated by Sugimura, who replaced Elza with Chris's sister, Claire.[14] She was designed by artists Isao Ohishi and Ryoji Shimogama.[1] To avoid the sexual objectification of women in video games, Mikami refused to eroticize or portray women as submissive in Resident Evil; instead, Claire was characterized as independent.[17] Mikami explained, "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."[17] Despite this, later games in the series not produced by Mikami depicted her wearing revealing costumes.[18][19]
Claire continued to be redesigned over the course of the series.[20] She was given a tougher appearance in Resident Evil – Code: Veronica (2000), the reason being her experiences in Resident Evil 2 built her toughness and confidence to handle any situation.[21] For Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (2015), Claire was written as hardened and aggressive to contrast with her partner: the young, immature, and easily scared Moira Burton. Producer Michiteru Okabe reflected that they had not reduced the two characters to their gender and had instead given them unique personalities, which he felt reflected positively on the direction of the video game industry at the time.[22][23] According to Okabe, director Morimasa Sato is a big fan of Claire, which was why he felt obligated to bring her back into the game.[24]
In the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2, Claire was redesigned and modeled after Canadian model Jordan McEwen.[25] Her hairstyle and hair color were changed. She was also given a new wardrobe, with her original hotpants and bike shorts replaced by jeans and her jacket now long-sleeved.[26]
Resident Evil 2 takes place in 1998 in the fictional American metropolitan area of Raccoon City.[27][28] Claire searches for her missing brother Chris, a member of the Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) team. She is a college student who arrives in the town of Raccoon City to find it overrun by zombies, for which the Umbrella Corporation, a pharmaceutical company, is responsible.[27][29] She meets up with police officer Leon S. Kennedy, but is later separated from him.[27] In the Raccoon Police Department building, she also encounters a young girl named Sherry Birkin, who is being pursued by her father, the mutated scientist William Birkin.[27][29][30] After defeating William Birkin, Claire later arrives at the Umbrella underground facility called NEST and finds a vaccine to cure Sherry, who has become infected by the G-virus. Claire gives Sherry's scientist mother Annette Birkin the cure so she can cure Sherry, but Annette dies from her injuries that were inflicted by William.[27][30] Claire escapes on a train out of the facility along with Leon and Sherry before Raccoon City is destroyed by a nuclear strike as part of a U.S. governmentcover-up.[27][28]
Mikami – the lead producer of both Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) and the concurrently-produced Code: Veronica – wanted each game to highlight a female character who had previously appeared in the series; Jill is the protagonist in Nemesis, while Claire is the lead character in Code: Veronica.[31] Commentators suggested these decisions were made as a result of the success of the Tomb Raider series, which featured Lara Croft as the protagonist.[32]Code: Veronica is set three months after Claire escaped Raccoon City. She attempts to raid a European Umbrella facility in pursuit of her brother Chris, only to be apprehended.[27] She is sent to an island prison under the command of Alfred Ashford, a descendant of one of the Umbrella Corporation's founders. There is an outbreak, and Claire sets out to find Chris and leave the island as soon as she is set free; she also meets Steve Burnside.[27][33] After discovering Chris is nowhere to be found, Claire escapes on a plane. Ashford takes remote control of the aircraft and crashes it into another Umbrella facility in Antarctica.[27] Later, Chris defeats Alexia 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 the PlayStation 2 and GameCube version, Veronica X, Claire also has a brief encounter with the series' main villain, Albert Wesker.[33]
In Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (2015), Claire is a member of TerraSave, a group entrusted with clearing up after bioterrorism incidents.[34] The game follows her and Barry Burton's daughter Moira as they get kidnapped and infected with the T-Phobos virus before they are trapped on a mysterious abandoned prison island.[35][5] They defeat Alex Wesker and the monsters.[34][5] In the end, both of them survive, along with Barry, who arrived to look for them, and a little girl named Natalia Korda.[34][5]
Claire features in several of director Paul W. S. AndersonResident Evil films.[12] In Resident Evil: Extinction, Claire is the leader of a convoy of zombie apocalypse survivors who, at the end of the film, go to Alaska in search of a safe haven.[29] She reprises her role in the fourth film Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010).[11] She does not appear in the fifth film, Resident Evil: Retribution (2012), in which she is presumed dead,[36] but she returns in the sixth and final film of the original film series, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016). Claire teams up with Alice and the Red Queen to save the remnants of humanity.[37][38] She also appears in the reboot film Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021).[13]
Claire also appears in the animated Resident Evil films. She plays a major role in Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008), where she is reunited with Leon. The film is set seven years after the events of the game Resident Evil 2, and Claire has become a prominent TerraSave member.[39] Claire has also appeared alongside Leon in the Netflix series Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness (2021).[40] She returns in the sequel, Resident Evil: Death Island.[41] Claire's youthful appearance in the film was said to be a result of the T-Phobos virus slowing her aging.[42]
Claire features in novelizations of the films and games,[53][54][55] and plays a main role in the third novel in a series by S. D. Perry, Resident Evil: City of the Dead (1999).[54] Several comic books based on the games were released.[56] She is one of the main characters in Naoki Serizawa's manga Biohazard: heavenly island, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine in 2015, in which she is a TerraSave investigator on an isolated South American island.[57] In printed trading card media, she appears as a card in Bandai's Resident Evil Deck Building Card Game (2011).[58] The character was featured in a Resident Evil-themed attraction at Universal Studios Japan's Halloween Horror Nights.[59] Merchandise featuring Claire includes figurines, plushies, keychains, vests, and standees.[60]
Critical reception
Claire has received positive reviews from critics for her personality and characteristics. She has been described by GamesRadar+ as one of the best Capcom characters.[61]IGN editors and Kimberly Wallace of Game Informer both praised Claire, with Wallace stating that she is her favorite Resident Evil character, "caring, strong-willed, and a total badass".[62][63] Critic Scott Rogers, writing from Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design has cited Claire as a perfect example of the theme "opposites attract" in Resident Evil 2 as a companion character, as Claire is "capable" of anything, while Sherry is a "defenseless little girl".[64] Other critics also praised her role as a strong female lead character,[65][66][67] such as Syfy's Brittany Vincent, who described her as a "strong-willed young woman who's tough as nails and ready to take on any challenge".[66] Michael McWhertor of Polygon commended her in the remake of Resident Evil 2 and felt that the character no longer moved like a "tank", but a "contemporary video game action hero" that feels like a human being.[68]
Critics have commented that Claire was not oversexualized in her initial appearances,[69][70] and she has been used as an example of a female character from the series who is not evaluated exclusively on the basis of her gender.[69]Digital media scholar Esther MacCallum-Stewart said that Resident Evil's female characters possess unique qualities making them viable choices for players to select over their male counterparts, and that their combat attire helps avoid criticism of pandering to the male gaze.[71] Conversely, feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian of Tropes vs. Women in Video Games criticized Claire's alternate costumes in Revelations 2 – particularly her motorsport Umbrella costume – as too revealing,[72] while academic writer Jenny Platz opined that women in video games are generally not shown with any gender fluidity, including Claire who is reduced to a "sexless object" comparable to the "typical trope" of "a virgin or tomboy".[73]
Notes
^Known in Japan as クレア・レッドフィールド (Kurea Reddofīrudo)
^ abMiller, Zachary (January 29, 2012). "Resident Evil: The Story So Far". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
Sarkeesian, Anita; Enthusiast, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (August 31, 2015). "Women as Reward". Feminist Frequency. Archived from the original on January 12, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
