| Claire Bennet | |
 |
|
| Portrayed By | Hayden Panettiere |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Date of Birth | April 5, 1990 |
| Age | 16 |
| Zodiac Sign | Aries |
| Aliases | Claire Butler (California), Sandra (Dark Future), Paige Williams (New York) |
| Place of Birth | Kermit, TX |
| Current Location | New York City, NY, USA |
| Occupation | It's complicated. |
| Known Relatives | Noah Bennet (father), Sandra Bennet (mother), Lyle Bennet (brother), Meredith Gordon (biological mother), Nathan Petrelli (biological father), Peter Petrelli (uncle), Angela Petrelli (grandmother) |
| Significant Other | None, because guys suck. |
| Known Abilities | Regeneration |
| First Appearance | Genesis |
Claire is a high school student from Odessa, Texas. She led a relatively normal life (as far as she knew) until she discovered she couldn't die, was hunted by a serial killer, and was blackmailed by the Company. Suffice it to say that life isn't so normal any more.
History
Claire Bennet was adopted at 18 months old by Noah and Sandra Bennet, a young couple who had been unsuccessful in their attempts to have a child of their own. Her biological mother, Meredith Gordon, was said to have died in a fire; the truth, of course, was that Meredith had survived, and had gone on to live in Mexico for several years before returning to Texas.
In the grand scheme of things, Claire's upbringing was fairly normal. Her father was overprotective, her mother was more lenient. Her little brother learned early on that it was easy to push her buttons and get a rise out of her. Still, despite a somewhat moody nature, she was a happy girl, taking great joy in simple pleasures in life: family, friends, and having fun.
She was kind enough to most people, though her desire to be popular occasionally led her to be elitist and two-faced. Deep down, however, she was always compassionate, standing up for people who were being treated unfairly. It just… took her some time to realize that she didn't have to be selfish all the time, and that popularity was really not the most important thing in the world.
Several things in her life changed when she was fifteen. An unfortunate mishap in her bedroom sent her stumbling into a glass display case, but the wound, which was deep enough to require stitches, was gone a short few hours later. This would trigger a series of events in her life that would culminate in a confrontation at Kirby Plaza, where she stood with a gun in her hands, aimed at her once-savior Peter Petrelli.
Claire wanted nothing more, after that, than to live a normal life. Her family moved to Costa Verde, California, taking on a new name and starting anew. It wasn't meant to be; the Company found her after a particularly unfortunate accident. They cornered her on her way home from school, presenting her with a choice: she could refuse their offer and be responsible for the deaths of her family, or she could accept their offer, go with them to New York City, and keep her family safe.
She chose her family's safety.
For the first month, Claire was kept under lock and key at the Company's facilities in NYC, subjected to 'exhaustive' tests of her regenerative abilities. In time, the Company began to allow her out, knowing that she was too paranoid of discovery to give herself up to anyone. She grew accustomed to looking over her shoulder, trusting no one, assuming that anyone she spoke with could be an agent of the Company.
She was used at least once to bring an Evolved human in for tagging. It was a moment that she struggled with for a long time afterward, being responsible for the capture of another girl her age. It was also the moment where she started breaking rules.
Claire started with small things, like staying out later than she was supposed to. It escalated, from there, to speaking with people she had been instructed to avoid, being much less careful with her power being exposed…
…and when a Company van crashed into Common Grounds, everything changed. Meeting Hiro inspired hope. Clandestine meetings with him ensued, and the Company tried to crack down on her, including a period on house arrest. Old allies of her father's aided her in a second escape, and she went to the Petrelli Mansion, where she met both Angela and Nathan for the first time since the Peter-bomb exploded. She had meant to stay only long enough to heal Nathan's injuries, with every intention to be back in her room at the Company before they noticed she was gone.
Angela Petrelli was not the type of woman to let her go. Especially not since Claire's adoptive father, Noah, had come to New York City. Claire was still at the Petrelli Mansion when Noah and Mohinder brought a lifeless Hiro in, expecting her to be able to save him.
She's been reunited with her father, finally, and they have finally found a place to call 'home' in NYC, near her biological father. She's never been more glad to be back in a house with normal rules and a family that loves her. Maybe this time they'll be able to stay.
Timeline
Relationships
Quotes
- "Nothing is inevitable. The future is not written in stone!"
- "Who I am? So, what? I can crawl through a woodchipper and live to tell about it. That narrows my choices in life to freak or guinea pig. In most cases, both. What's wrong with wanting to be normal? You should try it."
Trivia
- Claire's drink of choice is chocolate milk.
- She draws mermaids in the margins of her notes.
- Her father brings her teddy bears from business trips.
- She likes to put crackers in her sandwiches.
- Her favourite music is indie rock.
- She has a fondness for romantic comedies.