Character Profile
character.
CHARACTER NAME: Claire Bennet
SERIES: Heroes
CANON POINT: Directly following the ending of the series (Episode 4x20, "Brave New World")
AGE: 18
APPEARANCE: A blonde, not a Barbie.
PERSONALITY:
Life was supposed to get easier in college, or at least somehow more normal, but it’s really just become a different kind of abnormal for Claire. She feels like she wants to change, to become someone more secure in who she is, but it’s hard when she’s still not sure who she wants to be. Having finally come most of the way to terms with her ability, a whole new batch of questions have presented themselves. She knows for sure who she doesn’t want to be like: her father, who was so focused on his work that he missed seeing his children grow up, or her mother, who seems to have settled for a life of mediocrity. She wants to live a life in which she doesn’t have to hide the most important things about herself, but at the same time, she doesn’t want them to define her. As a former cheerleader, she’s had her fill of being defined by what the world sees on the outside rather than what’s inside her.
Her desire to be truly understood means that she is fiercely loyal to her friends. This tends to be to her advantage, but can also lead to her making unwise decisions when she thinks they’re being threatened. She’s quick to anger and can be a little bit ruthless. She hates to be assumed harmless by anyone and will go to stubborn, dangerous lengths to prove herself.
Claire is also an adept liar, having been forced to develop the skill after years of lying to her friends, her family, and complete strangers about her ability. She would say she learned from the best--her adopted father, Noah, lied to his family about nearly everything for most of her life. It’s not a skill she takes pride in, but she’s never had many reservations about weaving someone a tale if the situation demands it.
That being said, betrayal by her family (and Noah specifically) is a major element of Claire’s past. In dealing with the lies and manipulations all of them have used on her in some way, she’s learned a great deal about protecting herself emotionally. For a while she felt that she was better off being less attached to family, but since the deaths of both of her biological parents, she’s started to work on healing the relationship with her adopted father--at her core, she’s always been a daddy’s girl.
Mostly, though, Claire is just trying to figure out how life works when she’s not on the run or fighting some overwhelming entity. In less than a year, she’s gone from being hunted by the government to having a regular 8am sociology class, and every time she thinks she’s getting a handle on how to reconcile those things, something happens to remind her she’ll always be different. Even her feelings for Gretchen, the one real friend she has, threaten to become something strange and unexpected. So she’s become adept at sectioning off parts of herself, tamping down painful memories or unwanted emotions and putting on a happy face. At least her cheerleader training still comes in handy sometimes.
ABILITIES:
Rapid cell regeneration: Claire can be hurt just like any other human, but her wounds heal almost instantaneously. She feels most sensations but has trouble feeling pain. Her blood can be transfused into other people in order to provide them with temporary self-healing powers.
POSSESSIONS:
Mobile phone, full set of clothes, compass that doesn't show north, set of keys, tube of lip gloss, heart necklace that her adopted father gave her
samples.
THIRD-PERSON SAMPLE:
It’s a little tacky for a sorority party. Claire glances at the streamers hung on the walls, somewhat ragged from the last party they were used for, and the punchbowl on the table in the entryway. It’s filled with something that looks suspiciously like Tampico, the cheap orange drink her mother used to buy for them to take medicine with when they were sick. She didn’t get sick much--and not at all, once she hit high school--but she still has the memories of being younger and being forced to down disgusting cups of cough syrup followed by a swig of sugary orange liquid. It makes her stomach churn. The thick smell of incense in the air doesn’t help.
“You okay?” Gretchen is at her elbow, looking even more unimpressed than she is. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”
“Yeah, just--”
“Hey, you must be Claire!” She’s cut off by a girl coming out from the hallway. She doesn’t look like your typical sorority girl, but then nothing about this place looks very typical. Claire supposes that’s why Gretchen suggested they come to this open-house. “The Alternative to Sorority Princess Syndrome”, the flier said. The girl coming towards them definitely appears to be an alternative to something: she’s got a head full of dreadlocks, thick plugs in her ears, piercings scattered across her face, and some delicate curling tattoos radiating out from her eyebrows. The end result is kind of weird, exotic beauty.
“And you’re Gretchen!” The girl holds out her hand. “I’m Annie, we’re glad you guys could make it.” She glances around the entryway with a sheepish grin. “Not a great turn-out today, so we’re back in the rec room. You wanna follow me?”
Claire glances at Gretchen, who looks much less sure of this whole idea now. Claire raises her eyebrows and purses her lips together. We’re here now... might as well see what it’s all about? Gretchen shrugs and nods, looking relieved that Claire seems game.
The rec room looks like the basement playroom of a 1970’s family: the walls are wood paneling, an old television set sits in one corner, and a few well-worn couches are pushed up against the walls. There’s a foosball table in one corner, but it’s covered in what looks like sign-making supplies: big squares of white cardstock, colored markers, wooden sticks, and various colored rolls of duct tape.
“Take a seat,” Annie tells them, plopping onto an empty space on one of the couches. Most of the other girls sitting with her look similarly atypical for sorority sisters. Their hair is dreadlocked, like Annie’s, or dyed bright neon shades, or cut short and spiky. One of them is wearing combat boots, another is in skinny jeans and an untucked flannel shirt, and there’s not an Abercrombie & Fitch or Juicy Couture logo in sight.
The girls sitting on the floor must be the pledges, Claire decides. They all look a little nervous, a little uncertain about whether they want to be here. Claire sits down near the door, and Gretchen follows suit, both of them leaning back against the wall.
These girls look like the kind of people she never would have talked to through most of high school. It’s a strange feeling, suddenly considering becoming one of them. Just another line she’s walking since discovering her ability. She’s in between so many worlds: sororities and academics, normals and specials... she’s beginning to think there isn’t a world that she belongs in completely, and it’s a lonely feeling.
She feels someone squeeze her hand and turns her head to see Gretchen giving her a little smile. You okay? They’ve reached the point where they can have whole conversations without speaking a word. Claire nods and shrugs. Fine. Annie has started talking about something--she missed the beginning, but the gist seems to be how the sorority values social activism over parties.
Claire’s never considered herself an activist before. That would mean being outspoken, intentionally putting herself in the public eye, when she’s spent most of her recent life trying to keep herself out of it. On the other hand, the idea of having a cause, of being bonded to a whole group of people who want to be different, want to change things... it’s alluring. Claire wants to change things, she just hasn’t decided what yet.
“Do you wanna get out of here?” Gretchen has decided to forgo the wordless questions and just murmur in her ear. “It’s kind of...weird.”
Claire shrugs again. “Kind of interesting, though, isn’t it?”
They both turn to listen to Annie again: now explaining how much time they are all required to put into volunteering each month.
“There’s an organic vegetable garden out back where we’re all expected to work, that’s in addition to your other volunteering hours. And, of course, you all get to come with us when we go on protests or marches!” Some of the girls sitting on the floor are looking much more excited now, while a few are edging toward the door. Gretchen’s voice is in her ear again. “I don’t know if I have time for all this stuff, with my classes.”
“Yeah.” If Claire’s honest with herself, she isn’t really this kind of person either. She wants to be, she feels like it would be nice to have so much passion about being different from the mainstream community of students, but they aren’t exactly her kind of different. Her kind of different would just be someone forever balancing on a tightrope between groups of people, she thinks. Maybe she should join the circus.
Gretchen is standing, and Claire realizes they’ve made the decision to go. She shoots Annie an apologetic smile as Gretchen pulls her out of the room, and they hurry back down the hallway.
“I’m sorry, this was a bad idea.” Gretchen looks disappointed in herself for bringing them here.
“No, it wasn’t.” Claire gives her a smile as they open the front door and step back out into the afternoon sun. “It was good to look around... see all our choices. That’s what college is all about, right? Seeing all our options in life.”
“There is one thing that I liked.” Gretchen gives her a sly smile. “Their hair. I’ve always kind of wanted to cut mine off.”
“Your hair?” Claire’s eyes widen in horror. “Gretch, no, your hair is beautiful! You can’t cut it!”
The color in Gretchen’s cheeks rises a little. “I’ve just always wanted to look a little more... obvious.”
“Obvious?” Claire frowns in confusion, then her face smooths out in realization. “Oh. Oh, Gretchen.” She links her arm in the other girl’s. “You don’t have to cut your hair to do that.”
“You don’t think so?” Gretchen looks unsure.
“Nope. You just have to do this.” Claire stops them both in the middle of a grassy quad, students scattered around them on their way to class. She smiles and puts her hands on either sides of Gretchen’s face, pushing up on her toes so she can press her lips lightly against Gretchen’s. Gretchen feels frozen in shock for a moment, then her long arms snake around Claire and pull her tighter.
The sound of some nearby guys whooping breaks them apart. Gretchen looks flushed, her eyes wide as she glances at the students cheering them on, and then back at Claire.
“See? Now it’s obvious.” Claire grins.
“Yeah...” Gretchen’s mouth slowly resolves itself into a matching grin. “Think maybe now I’ll get a date?”
Claire rolls her eyes. “Only if I get to pick out the movie.”
Gretchen pauses. “I guess that’s fair.”
“Good. Come on.” Claire twines her fingers around Gretchen’s as they walk out of the quad. The sorority house fades into the horizon behind them, becoming another story to tell someday.