Post by B on Dec 24, 2005 4:05:26 GMT -5
Background
Claire is a motorcycle enthusiast and college student who ventures to Raccoon City in search of her older brother, Chris Redfield, only to become involved in the massive conspiracy that surrounds the Umbrella Corporation.
Raccoon City Incident
A college student prior to the T-Virus outbreak in Raccoon City, Claire left school in order to investigate her older brother's disappearance a few months after the Arklay Mansion incident. Her investigation led her to Raccoon City, which was already contaminated by the T-Virus. When she arrived there, Claire was attacked by the city's infected citizens, but was quickly rescued by rookie officer Leon S. Kennedy. They decided to seek refuge in the Raccoon Police Department (RPD). During their car ride to the police department, a man infected by the virus drives his semi-trailer into their vehicle. The two escape on opposite sides of the flaming vehicle and are separated by the car wreck. Upon her arrival at the RPD, Claire discovered that Chris had already left the city and went to Europe in order to investigate Umbrella's activities. Unable to find her brother, Claire and Leon split up to look for a way to escape the city.
During her search, Claire met with a little girl named Sherry Birkin, the daughter of Umbrella scientists William and Annette Birkin , who helped Claire in finding an escape route. In addition, Claire also confronted the RPD's corrupt chief, Brian Irons, who had murdered some of the survivors (including Mayor Michael Warren's daughter, Eliza). Chief Irons shortly fell victim either to a chest-bursting parasite or to a mutated William Birkin.
Claire and Sherry found a secret underground passage through the sewers, which led to one of Umbrella's underground labs. Claire and Sherry would often get separated through their escape. When Sherry's life was in jeopardy, Claire turned to Sherry's mother, Annette Birkin, for assistance and managed to save Sherry's life with her help. Unfortunately, Annette did not survive.
Claire and Sherry, along with Leon, made their escape through a secret railroad in Umbrella's lab and managed to put an end to the mutated William Birkin by leaving him to be blown up with the train. Afterwards, Claire left the US to continue her search for Chris.
Rockfort Island/Antarctic Lab Incident
Three months after the incident, Claire raided one of Umbrella's headquarters, but was captured and imprisoned in Umbrella's Rockfort Island facility. During Claire's captivity, the facility was attacked by an army led by the traitorous S.T.A.R.S. officer, Albert Wesker. The facility also contained a storehouse with various chemicals and B.O.W.s for training purposes, including the T-Virus. The virus escaped following an explosion and many of the soldiers and prisoners on the island were turned into zombies. Claire was released by Rodrigo Juan Raval, an Umbrella employee who had captured Claire in Paris and was accompanied during her escape by another prisoner, Steve Burnside. Claire and Steve were both hunted down by the facility's owner, Alfred Ashford and the two had eventually ended up in one of Umbrella's labs, secluded in Antarctica. Alfred was eventually defeated and killed, but not before reviving his twin sister, Alexia, from cryogenic sleep.
Claire and Steve were taken prisoner by Alexia. However, her brother, Chris, had received the e-mail Claire sent through Leon and managed to penetrate the Antarctica lab. He eventually rescued Claire and the two were reunited briefly, before being separated by Alexia herself. During her escape, Claire encountered a captured Steve, who transformed into a monster after being injected with the T-Veronica virus. However, Steve's body did not accept the transformation and he reverted back to normal before seemingly dying in front of Claire. With Steve gone, Claire helped her brother defeat Alexia and the two escaped from the facility.
Since then, Claire presumably joined her brother in his anti-Umbrella activities up until Umbrella's shutdown by the government.
Wardrobe
Claire's original outfit in Resident Evil 2 consisted of a black short sleeved, short legged cycling skinsuit worn under a red vest with a "Made in Heaven" design (which she gives to Sherry during the course of the game), red-colored jean shorts, brown boots, and black riding gloves. Her alternate outfit in the game consists of a leather jacket and pants with a "Let Me Live" design on the back and a red bandanna. In the N64 version, this outfit is colored purple and features the Angels Studio logo (the company that designed the N64 port) on the back.
In Resident Evil Code: Veronica, she wears a different red vest (this time with a "Let Me Live" design) over a short black T-shirt with jeans as her standard outfit. She wears an alternate outfit in the game's Battle Mode consisting of red and black hot pants and tank top with Umbrella's logo on the sides, and white boots. Claire is also shown wearing a third costume consisting of a red skintight unitard in the game's unlockable art gallery, but she never appeared in-game in this outfit.
The titles on the back of her jackets (in her original outfits and alternate ones as well) are homages to songs by the band, Queen. One of the games designers was once questioned about this link in an interview and expressed that they were indeed fans of the band and felt that the titles tied in so well with the theme of the games.