is a

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

in ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a

survival horror Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...

video game series created by Japanese company

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...

. She was introduced as one of two

player characters A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

in ''

Resident Evil 2 ''Resident Evil 2'' is a 1998 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation. The player controls Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, who must escape Raccoon City after its citizens are transformed into zom ...

'' (1998), alongside

Leon S. Kennedy is a character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. He debuted as one of the two player characters of the video game ''Resident Evil 2'' (1998), alongside Claire ...

. Claire is the younger sister of series hero

Chris Redfield is a character in '' Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. Chris debuted as one of the two playable characters of the original ''Resident Evil'' (1996), alongside his ...

, former officer of Raccoon City Police Department's S.T.A.R.S team to fight the

Umbrella Corporation This is a list of ''Resident Evil'' characters, which includes playable and recurring characters that were introduced in ''Resident Evil'', a series of survival horror video games. Appearances P - Playable character (campaign/unlocka ...

, a pharmaceutical company whose

bioterrorism Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...

creates

zombies A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...

and other bio-organic weapons. She became a member of TerraSave, an organization that was formed after the Raccoon City incident. Claire is the protagonist of several ''Resident Evil'' games and

novelizations A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative work, derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, Play (theatre), stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particula ...

. She also appears in the CG

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

'' Degeneration'' (2008), and in the animated miniseries '' Infinite Darkness'' (2021). In later games, such as '' Code: Veronica'' (2000), '' Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica'' (2001), ''

The Darkside Chronicles ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (2009), '' The Mercenaries 3D'' (2011) and '' Operation Raccoon City'' (2012), her features were based on Canadian actress

Alyson Court Alyson Stephanie Court (born November 9, 1973) is a Canadian actress. Beginning her career as a child actress, her first role was on the series ''Mr. Dressup'' (1984–1994) and she made her film debut in '' Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bi ...

. In the live-action films, Claire has been portrayed by actress

Ali Larter Alison Elizabeth Larter (born February 28, 1976) is an American actress and model. She portrayed fictional model Allegra Coleman in a 1996 ''Esquire'' magazine hoax and took on guest roles on several television shows in the 1990s. She made her ...

and

Kaya Scodelario Kaya Rose Scodelario-Davis ( née Humphrey; born 13 March 1992) is an English actress best known for her roles as Effy Stonem on the E4 teen drama '' Skins'' (2007–2010, 2013), and Teresa in the ''Maze Runner'' film series (2014–2018). Ot ...

. Claire has received mostly positive reviews from video game publications. Most of the critics listed Claire among the most popular and attractive video game characters.

Concept and design

Claire Redfield was originally known as 'Elza Walker', the female lead in the original version of ''

'' (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, rewritten by

Noboru Sugimura was a Japanese television and video game writer best known for his work on the ''Metal Hero'', ''Super Sentai'', ''Resident Evil'', ''Dino Crisis'', and ''Onimusha'' series. Career He had studied under Ei Ogawa, one of the main writers of the Jap ...

, Elza Walker, a blond college student and motorcycle racer, was changed into

's sister named Claire. 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 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 S.T.A.R.S. knife from Chris. These changes that occurred were done to connect ''Resident Evil 2'' to the original game. While Hideki Kamiya created Claire alongside

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

, he was aided by novelist Sugimura in order to make the writing more appealing. Sugimura often revised the ''Resident Evil 2'' scenario such as the multiple interactions the two player characters have and what weapon should each acquire. '' Resident Evil – Code: Veronica'' producer

Shinji Mikami is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer. Starting his career at Capcom in 1990, he has worked on many of the company's most successful games. He directed the first installment of the ''Resident Evil'' series in 1996 and the f ...

said "Claire became a lot tougher than I Imagined. I thought she should look the same, but the game director made her that way because she had such an experience in ''Resident Evil 2'', she could handle any situation now!" For '' Resident Evil: 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. The game's 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." Okabe also cited Claire's "great popularity with fans" and the game's writer

Dai Satō is a Japanese screenwriter and musician. Having begun scriptwriting at a young age and writing scripts for various companies, Satō later focused his attention on writing for anime series. The first major series he worked on was the groundbrea ...

being "a big fan of her personally" as factors that led to Claire's return. During the development of '' Resident Evil: Degeneration'', producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi stated that Leon and Claire returned as protagonists due to their relationship and role in ''Resident Evil 2''. For the

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of the original ''Resident Evil 2'', the "modernized" Claire has been redesigned and modeled after Canadian model Jordan McEwen. Her hair style is different and her hair is no longer brownish red; instead, she is a brunette. Her wardrobe was also redesigned, with her original

hotpants Hotpants or hot pants are extremely short shorts. The term was first used by ''Women's Wear Daily'' in 1970 to describe shorts made in luxury fabrics such as velvet and satin for fashionable wear, rather than their more practical equivalents th ...

and

bike shorts Cycling shorts (also known as bike shorts, bicycling shorts, chamois, knicks, or spats or thigh cling shorts) are short, skin-tight garments designed to improve comfort and efficiency while cycling. Their useful properties are: * reduce win ...

replaced by jeans and the jacket now being long-sleeved. Although '' Resident Evil: Vendetta'' takes place after ''

Resident Evil 6 ''Resident Evil 6'' is a 2012 third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. A major installment in the '' Resident Evil'' series, ''Resident Evil 6'' was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in October 2012, and for ...

'', Eiichiro Sasaki made the mini-series '' Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness'' to be set before the game events in order to have more freedom with the younger incarnations of Claire and Leon. He also noted that they were too popular and thus they wanted to be careful wiith their characterizations.

Appearances

In ''Resident Evil'' series

Claire Redfield 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 S.T.A.R.S.. 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. 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. In the game's epilogue, Claire leaves to continue her search for Chris, while Leon and Sherry are rescued by the U.S. military. Claire, still searching for her brother, is playable 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. She escapes following another viral outbreak caused by a rival corporation of Umbrella's and teams up with fellow ex-prisoner Steve Burnside. Claire manages to discover the whereabouts of her brother and send a message to Leon. Claire, Steve 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 the antagonist 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 their final battle with Alexia, which costs Steve's life, and the siblings escape from the facility via the transport airplane he used to get there. During the game's ending they vow to put an end to the Umbrella Corporation. In the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

version, ''Veronica X'', Claire also has a brief encounter with the series' main villain

Albert Wesker is a fictional character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. He is first introduced in the original ''Resident Evil'' (1996), in which he is the captain of the R ...

that would have resulted in her death had Wesker not been called away by his associates. In '' Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica'' (2001), the entire plot of which is actually just her nightmare dream after the escape from Antarctica in the original ''Code: Veronica;'' and in ''Resident Evil: Uprising'', a mobile game version of ''Resident Evil 2''. Claire is playable in '' Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles'' (2009), which retells the events of ''Resident Evil 2'' and ''Resident Evil - Code: Veronica''. Claire returned as a protagonist in the episodical game ''Resident Evil: Revelations 2'' (2015), set between the events of ''

Resident Evil 5 ''Resident Evil 5'' is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. It is a major installment in the ''Resident Evil'' series, and was announced in 2005—the same year its predecessor ''Resident Evil 4'' was released. ' ...

'' and ''Resident Evil 6''. Claire is now a member of TerraSave, a non-profit humanitarian aid and protest activism organization. The game follows her and Barry Burton's daughter Moira as they get kidnapped and find themselves trapped in a mysterious abandoned prison island. There they fight Alex Wesker and the "Afflicted" creatures. In the end both of them survive the events along with Barry, who arrived to look for them, and a little girl named Natalia Korda. She also returned as a playable character in ''Resident Evil 2'' (2019), a remake of the 1998 game. Claire also appears in several

non-canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...

games in the series. She is a further playable in the non-canonical spin-off games '' Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D'' (2011), and in '' Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City'' (2012) where she is also one of the game's bosses in the game's main mode. In addition, Claire is 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. Claire, along with Leon's costume, appears in '' Resident Evil: Resistance'' (2020).

In films

Paul W. S. Anderson Paul William Scott Anderson (born 4 March 1965) is an English filmmaker who regularly works in science fiction films and video game adaptations. Anderson made his feature film debut with the British independent film '' Shopping'' (1994), a ...

, who wrote the screenplays for the six films in the original ''Resident Evil'' film series (2002–2016), did not include the character of Claire Redfield in the first two films. He did not include her in the early drafts of the third film, '' Resident Evil: Extinction'' (2007), as the character of

Jill Valentine Jill Valentine is a character (arts), character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. She was introduced as one of two player characters in the original ''Residen ...

was supposed to re-appear from her debut in the second film, '' Resident Evil: Apocalypse'' (2004). Later, Anderson and producer

Jeremy Bolt Jeremy Bolt (born 1965) is a British film producer. After co-founding Impact Pictures with Paul W. S. Anderson in 1992, Bolt has produced the majority of Anderson's films. He is most well-known for producing the ''Resident Evil'' series and '' D ...

decided to have a different game character, Claire, appear alongside series lead protagonist Alice: "We thought, rather than bring Jill back, put her with another game heroine." Actress

portrays Claire in ''Resident Evil: Extinction'' (2007). In the film, 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. The ''Extinction'' version of Claire has no connection to the video game character and her look was redesigned. When Larter reprised the role in the fourth installment, '' Resident Evil: Afterlife'' (2010), she was dressed in an outfit more resembling Claire's costumes in the games and she is red-haired. In ''Afterlife'', Claire is ambushed by the Umbrella Corporation and manipulated by a device that controls her and impairs her memory, before she is rescued by Program Alice and reunited with her brother Chris. Kaya Scodelario (14781570315) (cropped)

Claire did not appear in the fifth film, '' Resident Evil: Retribution'' (2012), where she is presumed dead. Larter returned to the role a third time, 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. Her design in this film was inspired by that from the game installment ''Revelations 2''. The video game series' Claire plays a major role in the computer-animated film ''Resident Evil: Degeneration'' (2008), reuniting her with Leon S. Kennedy. The film is set seven years after the events of the game ''Resident Evil 2'' and Claire has become a prominent TerraSave member. Claire has also appeared in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness'' (2021), alongside Leon. Claire, played by

, is a lead protagonist in the reboot film '' Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City'' (2021), which does not include the Alice character of the original film series.

Other appearances

A romantic comedy retelling of the story of ''Resident Evil 2'', centered on Claire, Leon and

Ada Ada may refer to: Places Africa * Ada Foah, a town in Ghana * Ada (Ghana parliament constituency) * Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria Asia * Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, ...

, was released by Chingwin Publishing in the two-issue Taiwanese comic ''Èlíng Gǔbǎo II'' in 1999. Claire is also prominently featured in S.D. Perry's 1999 novels '' Resident Evil: City of the Dead'' (a novelization of ''Resident Evil 2'') 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 1998–1999

manhua () are Chinese-language comics produced in China and Taiwan. Whilst Chinese comics and narrated illustrations have existed in China in some shape or form throughout its imperial history, the term first appeared in 1904 in a comic titled ''Cu ...

''Shēnghuà Wēijī 2'' ("Biological Crisis 2"), and in the comic book adaptation series ''Resident Evil'' by Capcom (1998) and ''Resident Evil: Code Veronica'' by

WildStorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wilds ...

(2002). In S. D. Perry's 1999 original-story novel ''Resident Evil: Underworld'' and ''Resident Evil: Code Veronica''. She is also one of main characters in

Naoki Serizawa is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Serizawa. It was adapted into a television drama in 2009 and a live action film in 2010. A reboot series titled ''Saru Lock Reboot'' began serialization in Shonen Gahosha's ''Yo ...

's manga ''Biohazard: heavenly island'', serialized in ''

Weekly Shōnen Champion is a Japanese ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Akita Shoten. History ''Shōnen Champion'' was first published on July 15, 1969. It has had numerous popular series by manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai, Shinji Mizushima, Masa ...

'' magazine in 2015, in which she is a TerraSave investigator on an isolated South American island. She also appeared in

George A. Romero George Andrew Romero (; February 4, 1940 – July 16, 2017) was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and actor. His ''Night of the Living Dead'' series of films about an imagined zombie apocalypse began with the 1968 film of the ...

's Japanese TV commercial for ''Resident Evil 2'' In 2000, a 1,800-unit special "Claire Redfield red" limited edition series of the

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

game console was released in Japan. Merchandise featuring Claire include action figures, jacket, and figurines. Outside the ''Resident Evil'' franchise, Claire appears as an unlockable bonus character in sports game ''

Trick'N Snowboarder ''Trick'N Snowboarder'', known in Japan as , is a snowboarding video game published by Capcom in 1999. It is the follow-up to Cave (company), Cave's previous snowboarding game, ''Steep Slope Sliders''. Unlike its predecessor, which was released ...

'' (1999), and in 2013 she has been added to the browser-based social game ''

Onimusha Soul is a series of video games developed and published by Capcom. It makes use of the historic figures that shaped Japan's history, retelling their stories with supernatural elements. Most of the games are of the action-adventure genre, a combinatio ...

'', for which she was redesigned to fit the

feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to Japanese Paleolithic, prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millenni ...

theme. One of costumes for the character Crimson Viper in the fighting game ''

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom in collaboration with Eighting. It is an updated version of '' Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds''. The game features characters from both Capcom's video game franchises and comic book se ...

'' was inspired by Claire's iconic look in ''Resident Evil 2''. Her costume also appears in ''

Dead by Daylight ''Dead by Daylight'' is an asymmetric multiplayer survival horror online game developed by Canadian studio Behaviour Interactive. It is a one-versus-four game in which one player takes on the role of a savage Killer and the other four play as Su ...

'' as a legendary skin for Jill Valentine.

Reception

The character of Claire Redfield was very well received by critics and general public alike for her good looks and survival prowess. Readers of German magazine ''Mega Fun'' voted her as #2 "Video-Babe" of 1998. She was one of the seven nominees for the ''

Nintendo Power Awards ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninte ...

'' 1999 in the category "Best New Hero" for ''Resident Evil 2'' (the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

version), placing third by popular vote, and the staff of ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...

'' nominated her for the Gaming Globes 2000 awards in the category "Female Lead Character". Claire was chosen as one of the 20 "

muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

s" of video games by Brazilian magazine ''SuperGamePower'' in 2001. Rob Wright of '' Tom's Games'' listed Claire among the 50 greatest female characters in video game history in 2007 Her guest appearance in ''Trick'N Snowboarder'' placed fifth in ''

GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...

''s 2010 list of best character cameos and in 2015 ''Entertainment Monthly'' placed Claire Redfield and Steve Burnside among the top ten tragic relationships in video games. In 2017, '' Inverse''s Jessica Famularo ranked her as the third best character in the series: "She's feminine and stronger for it — Claire is definitely an example of the sort of female protagonist games need." Retrospectively, ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' included her among the best Japanese video game characters of the 1990s. 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

" in 2000, while ''Dreamcast Das Offizielle Magazin'' opined she is more beautiful than

Lara Croft Lara Croft is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the video game franchise ''Tomb Raider''. She is presented as a highly intelligent and athletic British archaeologist who ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around th ...

. Omar Ali of ''Gaming Target'' included Claire Redfield and Jill Valentine together in his 2001 list of "all time favorite leading ladies in video games" noting them for being "two girls who made the dead rise up with their looks." In 2008, she was included in ''

GameDaily GameDaily (GD) was a video game journalism website based in the United States. It was launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads. The site changed its business model from a flat fee ...

''s list of top "hottest game babes" (ranked 42nd) and in ''

UGO Ugo is the Italian form of Hugh, a widely used name of Germanic origin. Its diminutive form is Ugolino. It is also a Nigerian Igbo first name. It may refer to: People * Vgo (stonemason), medieval stonemason * Ugo Bassi, a Roman Catholic prie ...

''s list of top "videogame hotties" (ranked 46th). 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%. That same year, Rich Knight of ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' pitted the video game version of Claire against Jill Valentine in the feature "Battle of the Beauties", category "zombie killer", but chose Jill over her.

Lisa Foiles Lisa Renee Foiles Cloninger (born September 29, 1986) is an American actress, presenter, video game journalist, model and author, who first came to prominence as a cast member of the Nickelodeon series ''All That''. Career Foiles was one of the ...

of '' The Escapist'' ranked Claire as the third "cutest redhead" in video games ''GameDaily'' featured her among the "chicks who will kick your ass" listed alongside

Ada Wong is a character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. She was first introduced as a supporting character in ''Resident Evil 2'' (1998), and became a playable charac ...

, Jill and Sheva Alomar, and Jesse Schedeen of ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' chose her as one of the characters to recruit for an ultimate counter-zombie strike force. 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 (a little girl dressed in a

Japanese school uniform The Japanese school uniform is modeled in appearance similar to that of the European-style naval uniforms. It was first used in Japan in the late 19th century, replacing the traditional kimono. Today, school uniforms are common in many of the J ...

in ''RE2'') "couldn't be more different." Featuring her in their 2009 list of top nine greatest video game heroines of all time, Peter Hartlaub of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' chose Claire as an example of a positive female game character that " Brandi Chastain would be proud of." In 2015, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

s Holly Nielsen listed Claire among the attractive female characters who in her opinion "were intelligently written and who were not overtly sexy" and Gita Jackson of '' Paste'' wrote an article about Claire Redfield's wardrobe, which "shows us that femininity, emotionality and practicality aren't exclusive from each other." ''

Official PlayStation Magazine (UK) ''Official PlayStation Magazine'' may refer to one of several magazines: *'' Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine'', a U.S. magazine by Ziff Davis *'' PlayStation: The Official Magazine'', a U.S. magazine by Future Publishing *''PlayStation Official ...

'' retrospective on ''RE2'' opined Claire and Leon both "demonstrat dthe absolute apex of apocalyptic fashion." ''IGN'' included Claire among the characters they would like to see returning for ''Resident Evil 6'', with Schedeen calling Claire "leagues above that walking bag of useless called Sheva." ''PSU'' too chose Claire (in her original 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." In 2012, ''RE6'' 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''." 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." Reacting to Claire's return in ''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." According to a ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' preview of ''Revelations 2'', "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." In January 2019, Brittany Vincent of ''

SyFy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

'' claimed that Claire is "another good-looking video game heroine." She also described that "Claire is a strong-willed young woman who's tough as nails and ready to take on any challenge." In 2021, Alice Bell of ''

Rock Paper Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' (also rendered ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun''; short ''RPS'') is a UK-based website for reporting on video games, primarily for PC. Originally launched on 13 July 2007 as an independent site, ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' was acquir ...

'' complimented Claire and said that she "has lovely hair" in ''Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City''. Claire also received some negative reactions from reviewers. In ''

Tropes vs. Women in Video Games ''Tropes vs. Women in Video Games'' is a YouTube video series created by Anita Sarkeesian examining gender representation in video games. The series was financed via crowdfunding, and came to widespread attention when its Kickstarter campaign t ...

'', feminist media critic

Anita Sarkeesian Anita Sarkeesian ( ; born 1983) is a Canadian-American feminist media critic and public speaker. She is the founder of '' Feminist Frequency'', a website that hosts videos and commentary analyzing portrayals of women in popular culture. She h ...

criticized Claire's alternate costumes as too revealing, particularly the motorsport umbrella costume. Meanwhile, Ravi Sinha of ''GamingBolt'' considered the character's design at the remake of ''Resident Evil 2'' among the worst in video games, noting that the developers should have kept her original design. One of the essays in Nadine Farghaly's ''Unraveling Resident Evil'' also criticized and compared Claire to a "typical

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

" of "a virgin or tomboy".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Redfield, Claire Capcom protagonists Characters in American novels of the 20th century Female characters in video games Fictional American people in video games Fictional female martial artists Fictional gunfighters Fictional human rights activists Fictional prison escapees Fictional zombie hunters Female horror film characters Fictional martial artists in video games Resident Evil characters Science fiction film characters Video game characters introduced in 1998 Vigilante characters in video games