Claire Redfield

Claire Redfield
Resident Evil character

First game Resident Evil 2 (1998)[1]
Created by Noboru Sugimura
Designed by Isao Ohishi (Resident Evil 2)[2]
Voiced by (English) Alyson Court[3]
Voiced by (Japanese) Yūko Kaida (Degeneration, Operation Raccoon City, Revelations 2)[4]
Hiroe Oka (Extinction)[5]
Motion capture Lori Rom (Degeneration)
Portrayed by Adrienne Frantz (RE2 commercial)
Ali Larter (Extinction, Afterlife, The Final Chapter)

Claire Redfield (クレア・レッドフィールド Kurea Reddofīrudo) is one of the most important characters in the Resident Evil (Biohazard in Japan) horror franchise by Capcom. Claire is the younger sister of Chris Redfield, an American special police officer who is a protagonist of the first Resident Evil game, and is herself a protagonist of the video games Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil Code: Veronica, where she is a zombie outbreak survivor turned an activist and vigilante. She will return as a protagonist of the upcoming video game Resident Evil: Revelations 2.

Claire has also appeared in various other media, including several additional video games, the computer-animated anime film Resident Evil: Degeneration, and the non-canon live-action films Resident Evil: Extinction, Resident Evil: Afterlife and the upcoming Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, as well as in the promotion and merchandise for the franchise. The canonical version of Claire was well received by critics and became one of the most popular Resident Evil characters.

Appearances

In video games

Claire first appears in Resident Evil 2 (1998), which revolves around her search for her missing brother Chris, an officer in the local police special force STARS. Claire arrives in the Midwestern United States town of Raccoon City to find it overrun by zombies. She soon meets up with a rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy, but along the way she is separated from him. The rest of the game focuses on Claire's struggle to escape from the city alive.[6] She maintains radio contact with Leon and teams up with a young girl named Sherry, while fighting against the various undead creatures infesting the Raccoon Police Department building, including the mutated scientist William Birkin. Claire eventually escapes from the city through the Umbrella Corporation's underground research complex along with Leon and Sherry, after the three of them manage to destroy Birkin. As revealed in the epilogue of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Claire left to continue her search for Chris, while Leon and Sherry were rescued by the U.S. military.

Claire, still searching for her brother, is the player character for the bulk of Resident Evil Code: Veronica (2000), set three months after the events of Resident Evil 2. After an unsuccessful infiltration of Umbrella's medical branch in Paris, Claire finds herself imprisoned on Umbrella-owned Rockfort Island.[7][8] She escapes following another viral outbreak caused by a rival corporation of Umbrella's and teams up with fellow ex-prisoner named Steve Burnside. Claire manages to discover the whereabouts of her brother and send a message to Leon. Claire and the arriving Chris escape from the island, only to find themselves in another of Umbrella's secret labs, this time in Antarctica, before they are taken captive by Alexia Ashford. The second half of the game follows Chris trying to save his captured sister from Umbrella. Chris finds his way into the Antarctic lab and rescues her before the final battle with Alexia. The siblings escape from the facility via the transport airplane Chris used to get there. During the game's ending they vow to put an end to the Umbrella Corporation.

Claire is also playable in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (2009), which retells the events of Resident Evil 2 and Code: Veronica, and in the uncanonical spin-off games Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (2011) and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (2012). Claire is also one of two playable characters in Resident Evil: Zombie Busters, which started as a browser game in the Capcom Party line and in 2011 was converted for mobile phones,[9] and in Resident Evil: Uprising, which is a mobile game version of Resident Evil 2. In addition, she is an unlockable bonus character in the unrelated Capcom title Trick'N Snowboarder (1999),[10] and appears in the browser-based social game Onimusha Soul, where she is re-designed to fit the feudal Japan theme.[11]

Claire appears as the main protagonist in Resident Evil: Revelations 2. Released in early 2015, Revelations 2 follows Claire and Barry Burton's daughter Moira as they explored an abandoned island facility, encountering Alex Wesker and the "Afflicted", but survive the events along with Barry who arrived to look for them, and a little girl called Natalia Korda.[12]

In films

Claire's live-action film actress Ali Larter in 2008

In Paul W. S. Anderson's film Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), 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.[6] According to reporting in 2007 Gamasutra, a live action spin-off featuring Claire as the main character has also been suggested.[13] In Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), Claire is ambushed by the Umbrella Corporation and manipulated by a device that controls her and impairs her memory by injecting a drug into her bloodstream, before she is rescued by Alice and reunited with her brother Chris.[14] Together, the three manage to defeat Albert Wesker with the help of convoy survivor K-Mart, who had been a close friend of Alice and Claire, and find themselves preparing to fend off an attack by Umbrella led by a device-controlled Jill Valentine. Claire did not return in Resident Evil: Retribution, where she, Chris, and K-Mart are presumed dead but were captured by Umbrella,[15] but Anderson confirmed that Ali and her character "are still in the franchise."[16] She is set to return in the sixth film, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.[17]

Claire plays a major role in the CG-animated film Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008) alongside Leon S. Kennedy. The film is set seven years after the events of Resident Evil 2.[18] In it, Claire is now a member of TerraSave, a non-governmental organization which handles search and rescue at chemical and biological attacks. She and Angela Miller, a police officer, are rescued from a bio-terrorist incident at the Harvardville Airport by Leon. Together, the three survive a zombie outbreak at the WilPharma Corporation's research complex, in the end exposing and arresting WilPharma's researcher Frederic Downing.

Other appearances

The video game series' version of Claire is featured in the 1998–1999 manhua Shēnghuà Wēijī 2 ("Biological Crisis 2").[19] A romantic comedy retelling of the story of Resident Evil 2, centered on Claire, Leon and Ada, was released by Ching Win Publishing Co., Ltd. in the two-issue Taiwanese comic Èlíng Gǔbǎo II in 1999.[20] She also appears in S.D. Perry's 1999 novels Resident Evil: City of the Dead (a novelization of Resident Evil 2), Resident Evil: Underworld (an original story) and Resident Evil Code Veronica (a novelization of the game of the same title and the last book in the series), as well as in the comic book series Resident Evil by Capcom (1998) and Resident Evil: Code Veronica by WildStorm (2002).[21]

Claire appeared in George A. Romero's Japanese TV commercial for Resident Evil 2, as well as in a viral marketing video to promote Resident Evil 5 (despite Claire not appearing in actual game).[22] Several action figures of Claire were released by various manufacturers, including one by Toy Biz in 1998,[23] as well as two by Moby Dick Toys,[24][25] two by Palisades Toys,[26][27] and one by Volks in 2001.[28] A Claire block-style figure was also released by Dragon in the Kubrick's Resident Evil line,[29] while Vanilla Chop produced a resin kit.[30] In addition, one of costumes for the character C. Viper in the fighting game Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was inspired by Claire's iconic look in Resident Evil 2.[31]

Design and portrayal

Claire Redfield was originally known as 'Elza Walker', the female lead in the original version of Resident Evil 2 (in 1997, after a year of work, this version of the game was scrapped by the development team and is now widely referred to as "Resident Evil 1.5"). In the released version of the game, Elza Walker, a blond[32] college student and motorcycle racer,[33][34][35] was changed into Chris Redfield's sister named Claire.[36] Her appearance and background remained mostly unchanged, but she was given an explanation for her skills with firearms and other weapons and her reason for coming to Raccoon City was to search for Chris, as opposed to trying to recruit fans at Raccoon City university to form a racing team back in her hometown. She was also given physical features which more closely resemble her brother, her signature jacket with "Made in Heaven" printed on the back, and a sheath for a standard-issue STARS knife from Chris.[37][38] These changes that occurred were done to connect Resident Evil 2 to the original game. The book Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design called Claire a "perfect example" of the theme "opposites attracts", as she and her fellow Raccoon City survivor Sherry Birkin (a little girl dressed in a Japanese school uniform in RE2) "couldn't be more different."[39]

For Revelations 2, the now hardened and aggressive Claire was redesigned to be a contrasting character to the young, immature and easily scared Moira Burton, who was defined as a purely supporting character, and they both serve different roles in the story and have different functions. Producer Michiteru Okabe said: "Really, only after did we look back and say, 'Oh, I guess they are both girls.' Which is good, because it means we’re treating them as whole characters and not just as their gender. What we settled on is the idea that you have different roles -- it isn’t two against the world, it’s one against the world with a helper."[40] Okabe also said the game's writer Dai Satō "is a big fan of her personally" which was one of the factors that led to Claire's return.[41]

Claire is voiced by Alyson Court in the games and in Resident Evil: Degeneration (her Japanese voice actress in the Japanese version is Yūko Kaida), for which she was motion-captured by Lori Rom. In the Resident Evil 2 commercial she was played by Adrienne Frantz.

The character of Claire Redfield from the Resident Evil live-action universe did not exist in the early drafts of the film Resident Evil: Extinction, as Jill Valentine was supposed to re-appear from her debut in Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Later, producers Paul W. S. Anderson and Jeremy Bolt decided to have a separate game character appear alongside the previous film's lead Alice: "We thought, rather than bring Jill back, put her with another game heroine."[42] The film's Claire has no connection to the video game character and her look has been completely redesigned.[43] According to Claire's actress Ali Larter (dubbed by Hiroe Oka in the Japanese version of the films), in the sequel to Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Afterlife, she was dressed in the outfit that Claire wears in "the videogame".[44]

Reception

The character of Claire Redfield was very well received by critics for her good looks and survival prowess. The staff of Eurogamer nominated her for the Gaming Globes 2000 awards in the category "Female Lead Character".[45] She was chosen as one of the 20 "muses" of video games by Brazilian magazine SuperGamePower in 2001.[46] That same year, Omar Ali of Gaming Target included Claire and Jill together on his list of "all time favorite leading ladies in video games" for being "two girls who made the dead rise up with their looks."[47] In 2007, Rob Wright of Tom's Games listed Claire among the 50 greatest female characters in video game history.[48] CHIP ranked her as 16th on their 2008 list of top "girls of gaming".[49] Featuring her in their 2009 list of top nine greatest video game heroines of all time, Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle chose Claire as an example of a positive female game character that "Brandi Chastain would be proud of,"[50] while GameDaily featured her among the "chicks who will kick your ass" (listed alongside Ada Wong, Jill and Sheva Alomar).[51] That same year, Jesse Schedeen of IGN chose her as one of the characters to recruit for an ultimate counter-zombie strike force.[52] Claire's guest appearance in Trick'N Snowboarder placed fifth in GamesRadar's 2010 list of best character cameos.[10]

Several publications included Claire among the most attractive video game characters. Dreamcast Magazine ranked this "gun-toting, zombie killing, foxy babe" as the fifth top "girl on the Dreamcast" in 2000.[53] In 2008, she was included in GameDaily's list of top "hottest game babes", ranked as 42nd,[54] as well as in UGO's list of top "videogame hotties", ranked as 46th.[55] In 2011, Rich Knight of Complex pitted her against Jill Valentine in the feature "Battle of the Beauties", category "zombie killer", but chose Jill over her.[56] In 2011, Peter Rubin of Complex ranked the live-action version of Claire as 15th on the list of "hottest women in video game movies" and rated Ali Larter's likeness to the character at 56%.[57] Lisa Foiles of The Escapist ranked Claire as the third "cutest redhead" in video games,[58] and Brazilian GameHall's Portal Play Game ranked Claire as the 56th best looking game woman in 2014.[59] There was an urban legend-style rumor of a nude code for Claire in Resident Evil: Code Veronica.[60]

Claire Redfield makes a welcome return after being absent since Code: Veronica (you could count Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles: we're not). She's older, calmer and more capable, but she still retains everything that made her compelling in the first place. Where Rachael from the first Revelations was part centrefold, part melted-ice cream, Claire feels distinct from many women in the Resi universe in that there's more to her than lady-lumps and lycra. She's the perfect choice for the game's brand of isolated horror. Capable, but never cocksure.

CVG Australia preview of Revelations 2[61]

IGN included her among the characters they would like to see returning for Resident Evil 6, with Jesse Schedeen calling Claire "leagues above that walking bag of useless called Sheva."[62] PlayStation Universe also chose Claire in her outfit from Resident Evil 2 as one of the five characters they wanted to appear in Resident Evil 6‍ '​s Mercenaries mode as she "is long overdue a canonical appearance in the series."[63] In 2012, Resident Evil 6 producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi wrote they have "heard a lot of love for Jill and Claire recently and people asking if they’ll be in the next Resident Evil."[64][65] Including Claire among the 30 best characters in the three decades of Capcom's history, GamesRadar staff commented in 2013: "Sadly she's fallen into the background of the series, which makes sense she avoided work as a government zombie hunter, but we hope Capcom has plans for her in the future. Here's a suggestion: a co-op focused RE that teams Claire up with the almost as underused Jill. It's your move Capcom."[66] Reacting to Claire's return in Resident Evil: Revelations 2 IGN's Mitch Dyer wrote: "The Resident Evil series places women in prominent, powerful, playable roles. Jill Valentine, Rebecca Chambers, Sheva Alomar, and Ada Wong, to name a few. Still, they're often opposite a male lead. This is the first time a Resident Evil game has revolved around the story of two women. It's fun to get to play as Claire again."[40]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Claire Redfield – IGN". Uk.ign.com. 2007-09-22. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  2. ↑ Capcom Design Works (in Japanese). Enterbrain, Inc. August 1, 2001. pp. 22–30. ISBN 4-7577-0412-7.
  3. ↑ "RAD Interview- Alyson Court / Claire Redfield". Blisteredthumbs.net. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  4. ↑ "声優 甲斐田裕子". Yuhko-kaida.com. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  5. ↑ (Japanese) 日曜洋画劇場｜テレビ朝日｜アフレコ現場から
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Phil Pirrello and Jesse Schedeen, Babes of Resident Evil, IGN, March 12, 2009.
  7. ↑ Resident Evil: Code Veronica Dreamcast manual, page 3.
  8. ↑ Mac Donald, Ryan (February 10, 2000). "Resident Evil Code: Veronica Review – To call it a must-own game is a definite understatement.". GameSpot. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  9. ↑ Don't Let Any Zombies Cross The Line In Resident Evil: Zombie Busters, Siliconera, June 1, 2011.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "55 awesome character cameos | GamesRadar". GamesRadar. January 1, 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  11. ↑ Capcom Heroines Have Their Biggest Crossover In Onimusha Soul, Siliconera, March 23, 2013.
  12. ↑ Resident Evil: Revelations 2 will debut as four weekly episodic downloads, Eurogamer.net, September 10, 2014.
  13. ↑ David Jenkins, Capcom Announces Resident Evil CG Movie, Gamasutra, October 29, 2007.
  14. ↑ Phil Hornshaw, The Unofficial Resident Evil Trivia Challenge.
  15. ↑ Ayres, Tom (September 18, 2011). "Milla Jovovich reveals 'Resident Evil: Retribution' details". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  16. ↑ Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub, Writer-Director Paul W.S. Anderson RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION Set Visit Interview, Collider, January 19, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Resident Evil TV series to air after Resi 6 film". PlayStation Universe.
  18. ↑ Schedeen, Jesse (December 19, 2008). "Cast of Characters: Resident Evil: Degeneration – Milla may be missing, but we go in-depth with the new RE movie anyway.". IGN. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  19. ↑ 生化危機2 (in Chinese) (1–60), King's Fountain Ltd, February 1998 – April 1999
  20. ↑ 惡靈古堡II (in Chinese) (1–2), Ching Win Publishing Co., Ltd., January 11, 1999
  21. ↑ "Claire Redfield (comic book character)". Comicvine.com. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  22. ↑ Resident Evil 5 Video Game, Viral Campaign Episode 3: Claire, GameTrailers.com, January 30, 2009.
  23. ↑ "Claire Redfield / Zombie Cop". Figurerealm.com. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  24. ↑ "Claire (Jacket)". Figurerealm.com. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  25. ↑ "Claire (Pink)". Figurerealm.com. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  26. ↑ "Claire Redfield". Figurerealm.com. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  27. ↑ "Claire Redfield (Wounded)". Figurerealm.com. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  28. ↑ "Biohazard: Code Veronica – Claire Redfield – 1/6 (Volks)". Myfigurecollection.net. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  29. ↑ "Biohazard: Code Veronica – Claire Redfield – Minis (Dragon)". Myfigurecollection.net. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  30. ↑ "Biohazard: Code Veronica – Claire Redfield – 1/6 (Vanilla Chop)". Myfigurecollection.net. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  31. ↑ "Ryan > Blog > UMvC3 Costume Inspiration Blog – WESKER and C. VIPER". Capcom-unity.com. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  32. ↑ "Sneak Preview", GamePro 71 (December 1996).
  33. ↑ Research on Biohazard 2 (final edition) (in Japanese). Micro Design Publishing Inc. September 1, 1998. ISBN 978-4-944000-77-7.
  34. ↑ "Resident Evil 2: The Horror Continues". GamePro (IDG Communications, Inc. – via WebCite) (101): 36–37. February 1997.
  35. ↑ Capcom Design Works (in Japanese). Enterbrain, Inc. August 1, 2001. pp. 22–30. ISBN 4-7577-0412-7.
  36. ↑ Fahs, Travis (March 11, 2009). "IGN Presents the History of Resident Evil – page 2, Misfire". IGN. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  37. ↑ Collura, Scott (September 21, 2007). "Resident Evil Movies Character Rundown – IGN takes a look at some of the most popular characters in the film franchise.". IGN. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  38. ↑ "The Shocking Evolutions of 8 Iconic Female Gaming Characters". Mashable. September 30, 2014.
  39. ↑ Scott Rogers, Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design, page 113.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Mitch Dyer (October 1, 2014). "Resident Evil Revelations 2: Profanity, Fear, and Female Leads". IGN.
  41. ↑ "Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Producer On Bringing Claire Redfield Back". Siliconera.
  42. ↑ "Resident Evil: Extinction – Interview w/Star Ali Larter". bloody-disgusting.com. Archived from the original on September 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  43. ↑ Patches, Matt (2010-08-31). "Ali Larter as Claire Redfield". Ugo.com. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  44. ↑ Ryan Turek (2010-04-08). "Ali Larter on Claire Redfield in Resident Evil: Afterlife". Shocktillyoudrop.com. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  45. ↑ "Gaming Globes 2000 – (5/19)". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2002-01-07. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  46. ↑ "As Musas Do Videogame" [The Muses of Videogames]. SuperGamePower (in Portuguese) (85): 14. April 2001.
  47. ↑ Omar Ali, Too Hot to Handle, Gaming Target, August 8, 2001.
  48. ↑ Wright, Rob (February 20, 2007). "The 50 Greatest Female Characters in Video Game History". Tom's Games. p. 6. Archived from the original on February 19, 2008.
  49. ↑ "Top 20 Girls of Gaming - Gallery 7 - EN". Download.CHIP.eu. August 22, 2008. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  50. ↑ Hartlaub, Peter (February 17, 2009). "Top 9 greatest video game heroines". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  51. ↑ "Girl Power: These Chicks Will Kick Your Ass". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  52. ↑ Jesse Schedeen, Ultimate Zombie Strike Team, IGN, September 8, 2009.
  53. ↑ Dreamcast Magazine issue 5 page 102.
  54. ↑ Buffa, Chris (March 21, 2008). "Top 50 Hottest Game Babes on Trial". GameDaily. Archived from the original on 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  55. ↑ "Top 50 Videogame Hotties – These girls are some of the hottest digital vixens we've ever seen.". UGO.com. November 25, 2008. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  56. ↑ Rich Knight, Battle of the Beauties: Gaming's Hottest Female Characters Face Off, Complex.com, November 9, 2011.
  57. ↑ Peter Rubin, The 15 Hottest Women In Video Game Movies, Complex, February 16, 2011.
  58. ↑ Lisa Foiles. "Top 5 Cutest Redheads | Top 5 with Lisa Foiles Video Gallery | The Escapist". Escapistmagazine.com. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  59. ↑ "TOP 100 – As Personagens mais gatas dos games". Portal Play Game (in Portuguese).
  60. ↑ PlayStation Official Magazine Australia issue 4, page 53.
  61. ↑ "Hands-on: Resident Evil Revelations 2 channels modern horror - and tones down the bangs". computerandvideogames.com.
  62. ↑ Jesse Schedeen, Players Wanted: Resident Evil 6, IGN, April 14, 2009.
  63. ↑ Mike Harradence, 5 characters we need to see in Resident Evil 6's Mercenaries mode, PlayStation Universe, August 7, 2012.
  64. ↑ Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield not in Resident Evil 6, Rely on Horror, May 24, 2012.
  65. ↑ A message from Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, producer of Resident Evil 6 for those who have been asking about Jill and Claire., Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City at Facebook.
  66. ↑ "The 30 best Capcom characters of the last 30 years". GamesRadar. 2013-06-25. Retrieved 2014-04-12.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Claire Redfield.