Claire Kagenou

Claire Kagenō (クレア・カゲノー) is a student at Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy and heirress to the Kagenō family. She constantly worries for her younger brother, Cid, due to his seemingly nonchalant attitude and disregard for his future, to the point of suffering from a brother complex. Following the "Red Moon Incident," she became the vessel of the Demon Diablos.

Appearance
Claire is a young woman with a tall, slender build, as well as long black hair and red eyes evocative of her brother's depiction. She wears the Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy uniform consisting of a blazer jacket, dress shirt and stockings.

After becoming host to Aurora, Claire's eyes turn violet whenever the ancient mage asserts control on her body with her right arm started to appear ancient magical circles.

Personality
"Don't you dare touch a hair on Cid's head"

- Claire

Being the heir to the Kagenō family, she has to be uptight and stoic in order to maintain her family's reputation. She also possesses a sharp tongue and doesn't mind criticizing or insulting people including her own father, Mr. Kagenō, who she (like many people) called him as 'Baldy' due to his cowardice.

Although her biggest flaw is her reckless behavior which has gotten her in trouble on multiple occasions. This reckless side of her is often shown when she is worried about her younger brother, Cid Kagenō. Claire has been shown to be overly protective of him, willing to kill anyone if someone hurts him. When princess Alexia was kidnapped and Cid was being interrogated as a "suspect", Claire immediately rampaged and attempted to rescue him. She was only stopped by Rose Oriana, who had to use her physical strength to nearly break one her arms, but even this wasn't enough to stop Claire, who immediately attempted to attack Princess Iris Midgar, seeking revenge for the torture inflicted onto Cid.

Training and Youth
Claire was born to Mr. and Mrs. Kagenō of the Kagenō Baron Family, and always wanted a baby brother until she finally got Cid. During her childhood, Claire was trained in swordsmanship and magic in order to continue on the family name, surpassing her brother in performance and academics.

At age 12, Claire often trained with her younger brother Cid outside their house, but was unfortunately disappointed in his underwhelming performance and berated him for it before choosing to punish him. Despite this, she still sought to practice with him whenever possible as she would refine her skills better than with anyone else, and hoped to teach Cid to be better.

Claire learned that she contracted the Demon Possession when she reached age 14. Fearful that she may not live long, she dedicated much of her time with Cid and prepared him for the future. Unbeknownst to her, Cid had already cured her, and she continued on watching out for him.

Kidnapping and Rescue
When Claire already become 15, she was ready to leave to the capital of Midgar Kingdom and attend the Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy. The night before her departure, the Cult of Diablos infiltrated her family home and kidnapped her with the purpose of using her for their experiments.

Claire was held inside a dungeon where she learned that her kidnapper was Viscount Grease. After delivering some cruel comments about him, Grease inquired if she had suffered Demonic Possession, to which she vaguely confirmed and accidentally brought up Cid during their conversation, causing Viscount Grease to decide to bring him in as well for questioning. Enraged at this admission, Claire broke free of her chains and attacked the Viscount, only to have him knock her unconsciousness. Unbeknownst to her, she was rescued by Cid and his Shadow Garden, and she returned home safely by her own power.

Outcome in the Novel/Manga
Claire hurriedly confronted Iris Midgar after learning that her brother was suspected of kidnapping Iris's sister, Alexia Midgar. She knew that whether or not Cid was a suspect, this would ultimately lead to his execution, and tried vouching that her brother was innocent. This did not move Iris, causing Claire to nearly assault her but was dragged out by Zenon Griffey before that could happen.

Outcome in the Anime
After hearing that her brother was a suspect for the kidnapping of Alexia, although she was told to stay in her dorm wanting to save her brother she left her dorm room wanting to speak with the knights and explain that her brother couldn't have kidnapped anyone. However she was stopped by the other students trying to stop her, Claire had also knocked out two of the students that were trying to stop her. When Rose tried stopped her, and Claire had assaulted her and later was subdue by her. Claire would also dislocate Rose's shoulder still trying to go save Cid but was stopped by the others students. After hearing the knights had cause harm to her brother, Claire wanted to give the knights what they deserved for hurting him but was stopped by Rose and the other students would force Claire back to her dorm.

Sanctuary Infiltration
In the anime, Claire would stop by at Cid's dorm to search for him to go back home for summer vacation with him, which is earlier due to half of the academy being destroyed. But, Claire was unable to find him due to him hiding above her on the ceiling and had left to go home alone for summer vacation.

Bushin Festival Tournament
When the Bushin Festival began, Claire became her school's representative after the previous representative, Rose Oriana, became a fugitive and was disqualified. Claire went to Cid's room to invite him to see her matches, but much to her anger, he was gone. She eventually found her brother and throttled him for making her wait at his dorm, before she explained to Cid and offered him a ticket to a special seating at the tournament.

On the semifinal tournament, Claire's match has started and she wins the fight hoping Cid will watch her match. In the anime, during Iris's match against Mundane Mann, she went to the VIP lounge to find Cid but only to find him missing. Causing her to leave the stadium go search for him in the city. While searching for him she was unware of his battle as Shadow against Iris and Beatrix all over the capital.

At the tournament's climax, despite the several incidents that had occurred, Claire ultimately won the victory of the Bushin tournament by default.

Red Moon Incident
After winning the Bushin Festival, Claire was treated to dinner at Mitsugoshi Co's restaurants by Cid, where she expressed disappointment at Cid for falling behind his studies and not thinking enough about his future. So Claire proposed to her brother that she was going to take him to Lawless City to take part in the assault during the Red Moon event in hope to gain some credit and secure a better position for him.

Once they arrived, Claire left Cid alone while she attended a meeting between swordsmen at the Magic Swordsmen Association to form a plan to subjugate the Red Tower, and discovered that her brother was missing upon her return. She headed out to Outlaw City to search for him and encountered the Vampire Hunter, Milia, who informed Claire that her brother might have been taken to Red Tower to be sacrificed. Because their goals aligned, the two agreed to work together to stop the vampire queen's revival.

Using a tunnel to bypass the Vampires and Ghouls, Claire and Milia met Beta from Shadow Garden, who were there to get a sample of the progenitor's blood due to similarities with Demon Possession. Claire asked Beta if there was a way to cure Demon Possession for which Beta did not clarify but informed the former not to worry about it, much to Claire's confusion. The two then encountered Juggernaut who decided to kill them and nearly overwhelmed them until Milia was forced to reveal her secret to Claire, becoming a full-fledged Vampire to defeat their enemy.

But, Juggernaut was defeated by Shadow as he launches a fast casual upward kick, which the blow sends him flying until he smashes through the wall that leads outside of the tower and cursing Shadow. Claire saw Shadow, but she feels like she knows him but she never met him until Shadow left. When Milia asked about her situation, Claire replied that she was fine and wanted to give an explanation about who she really was and Milia revealed to Claire that she was a Vampire then told her past as a follower of the Blood Queen. After telling her story, Claire doesn't care about her true origins and decides to save her brother together

Eventually, the two finally reached the tower where Claire was relieved her brother wasn't the sacrifice and that Elisabeth was finally resurrected. Claire was impaled before the Vampire Queen grabbed her and sucked her blood, allowing Elizabeth to regain full power. Thankfully, Claire was saved by the spirit of Aurora, who temporarily took over her body and unlocked her full abilities to combat Elizabeth. This fight held the Vampire Queen long enough for Shadow to finish it.

After the battle, Claire reunited with Cid and the two siblings leave Outlaw City, but not before saying goodbye to their vampire friends.

The Academy Disappearances
As the Cult began abducting students, Claire was among those taken and readied for an experiment to merge with the other arm of the demon, Diabolos. After Shadow and Zeta defeated the Fenrir Sect carrying out this villainy, and as Claire was already Aurora's host, Zeta followed her own scheme to immortalize her master Shadow and forcibly bonded Claire to the demon arm.

Powers & Abilities
Due to having been trained since childhood, Claire possesses abilties far above the average Dark Knight. She is widely considered to be the current strongest student at the Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy, after Rose Oriana was expelled and Iris Midgar graduated. The Knight Order is very interested in recruiting her and even Iris herself wants her to join her Crimson Order after she graduates.

Physical Prowess
At age 15, she was strong enough to easily break the chains that bound her, despite tearing her skin in the process. She barely reacted to the pain due to intense rage towards Viscount Grease for the threats against her brother's life. She was also able to dislocate Rose's shoulder (anime only).

Swordsmanship
Claire is a sword and magic prodigy who is hailed as the future of her house. Having trained since childhood, Claire's abilities are superior to normal Spellswords. Through her training with Cid, Claire learned how to efficiently control her mana usage, allowing her to defeat an opponent whose mana pool is higher. Although her swordsmanship is quite good, surpassing guardian or royal knights, she is still not at the level of Princess Rose or Iris.

She was also strong enough to win the God of War Tournament; although the competition's favorites (Rose Oriana, Iris Midgar, Beatrix and "Mundane Mann") all quit before facing her.

Magic
Before her brother Cid was born, Claire learned some normal teachings on how magic should be handled by her family.

When her brother was born, a few years later she developed a good talent for handling the sword and magic, but soon after she began to practice with the sword with her brother Cid, although she saw that her brother was not progressing. not at all, at the level that his swordsmanship was partially equal and that his growth and development with the sword were normal, she discovered the way his brother advised him on how to use and handle magic instead of having more magic, It was very good and recommended more than what she had learned, compared to what they taught her and Cid, even though she was older than him.

After a while, she began to follow the advice and teachings of her brother, which in the end made her more and better at knowing how to use it, although she never wondered how her brother knew about this, or how he discovered it, already developing at 12, the ability to normally heal others and herself normally as others would but more quickly and efficiently.

Even after Claire received power from Aurora when her possession has been cured, her body couldn't withstand the strain when Aurora temporarily takes over due to Aurora's sheer prowess.

Fast Flash Special
Claire can move quickly, using her magic power, although it is a skill that can be learned normally when you reach the level of a magic knight at least, or a strong magic swordsman, it is speculated that this skill of Claire, She is a bit taller and more efficient than the others, as she has more control of her magic, thanks to her younger brother's teachings. Cid.

Cid Kagenō / Shadow
Claire had shown to be stern and strict to her younger brother Cid, who she constantly trained and scolded whenever he was slacking off. Although she's strict, Claire deeply loves him and is genuinely trying everything she can to toughen him up to secure a better future for him. When she was little, Claire was excited at his birth and they had gotten into her fair share of troubles due to her reckless behavior, only to be saved by her brother. She loves him for this, hence she gets upset when people think so little of Cid and that the two are miss-matched siblings. Another factor for her over-attachment to Cid was her learning that she had Demonic Possession, causing her to believe that she had little time left and chose to spend as much as she can with him, completely unaware Cid had already cured her when she hugged him. Rumor spread and eventually the Cult learned of this, and Claire was violently protective of Cid when Viscount Grease voiced wanting to bring him in.

Having shown she can be overly protective for her brother, such as if someone shows the intention to harm him, she will unleash her rage on them. Not even Princess Iris was exempted from her wrath when she had her brother detained. Claire's protectiveness of Cid also extends to putting herself in harm's way to save him, such as when she ventured the Crimson Tower to save him, only to find some stranger mistaken for Cid. Consequently, due to her protective nature over Cid, she has started to notice feint similarities in his Shadow stands and the side of his face, but Claire has not made the connection due to her notices being during duress and fleeting instances.

Mr. Kagenō
Claire's father, of whom she has no respect for, due to his cowardice and how he constantly tries to get out of his responsibilities as family head. Claire doesn't hold any qualms of insulting her father by calling him as "Baldy", which many people always call him due to his cowardice.

Mrs. Kagenō
Claire's mother, and their exact relationship is unknown, though she seems to at least respect her more than her father.

Zeta
When Claire began displaying symptoms of becoming Diabolos' host, Zeta sent Nina to infiltrate the Academy to watch her. Upon confirming her suspicions, Zeta forcefully had Claire absorb Diablos' severed arm, intending to use her to harvest Tears of Diablos to make Cid immortal.

Rose Oriana / 666
The two shown no interactions with each other each other while at the Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy in the novel and manga. But in the anime, two would have an interaction when Cid was interrogated about Alexia's kidnapping, Claire tried to confront Iris to clear Cid's name but almost had her arm broken when the former princess stopped her. After Rose joined Shadow Garden under the guise of No. 666, the two would meet in the Crimsion Tower in the Lawless City when the former panicked for her brother went missing.

Game
In the game both of them would get into arguments when it come to Cid.

Nina
Claire and Nina became good friends after the latter joined the Academy though with very contrasting performance. Claire is unaware of her true allegiance to Zeta.

Alexia Midgar
As princess and underclassman, Alexia is held in respect by Claire. This was until Cid enrolled into the academy and started a "relationship" with the princess.

Claire despised Alexia for "breaking" her brother's heart and has not interacted with her until the two were investigating matters regarding Diablo. During their first interaction, the two made an uneasy alliance to further investigate the cult and student disappearances. To some extent, Alexia cares for Claire since she's Cid's brother. The two are unaware of Shadow's true identity and are beginning to pick up hints about it.

Iris Midgar
Despite being the Princess, Claire was willing to hurt Iris to save her brother. After Alexia's return and the terror attack on the academy being quelled, Claire and Iris bonded over their shared worries as elder sisters and their younger siblings causing them hassle.

Mary
Mary and Claire met during the Red Moon Incident with a shared goal. With Mary's vampire hunting knowledge, Claire joined her to save Cid, but the two instead found a fallen dark knight boy who partly resembled Cid. When Aurora took possession of her body and worked with Shadow Garden, they escaped alive and Claire reunited with her brother, bidding farewell to Mary as she took Elizabeth somewhere safe away from people to restart their lives.

Aurora
Aurora first appeared before Claire in her mind during the battle against Elisabeth, which she was capable of because she is her descendant. The witch proceeded to take over her body to protect her and managed to hold the Blood Queen off long enough for the Shadow to arrive and save her. Afterward, a weird mark appeared on Claire's hand, signifying that she had become Aurora's host.

Since then, Aurora becomes Claire's companion and is always advising Claire to avoid seeking trouble which has fallen into deaf ears and the witch continued appearing in her mind, regularly disrupting her daily life. Claire has questioned Aurora multiple times regarding who she is and what is happening to her but the witch refuses to elaborate, believing that "that person" is trying to protect Claire.

Trivia

 * Claire often annoys Cid, because he does everything possible to avoid her. Despite this, Cid genuinely cares about her and her well-being.
 * Claire has shown that she's able to guess on what Cid's thinking.
 * Claire's obsession with Cid is so great that she is even able to recognize Cid's way of walking and standing, for example: during the events of the Crimson Tower, she only needed a few moments to recognize that Shadow's way of standing it was very similar to his brother's.
 * Given how Claire was cured by Cid of her possession symptoms, it is likely that him curing her led to her being so strong.
 * This is comparable to the Seven Shadows, as they each gained tremendous power after Cid cured them.
 * Claire is the only person who can threaten or abuse Cid without arousing the wrath of the Seven Shadows.
 * Since her kidnapping and after the events of the Crimson Tower, Claire's safety is the highest priority for Shadow Garden, in case she gets involved in the fight against the Diabolos cult. This has led Zeta to keep her under constant surveillance, keeping this fact a secret from the Shadow Garden itself.
 * Due to her relations with Cid, some members of Shadow Garden hold the highest respect for her, with Beta referring her to the title of mistress as a sign of respect.