Theory:Claire Bennet

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The following fan theories are about Claire Bennet.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
Claire cannot age.	In Five Years Gone Claire does not look noticeably older than normal, despite being about 16 in 2006.	+ Aging is caused by tissue damage and degradation - if Claire's body heals all damage done to it she will presumably forever look the same as she does now. • Most likely, Claire did not look much older because the actress was not actually any older, and the makeup artists did the best they could. If this theory is true, Claire will most likely stop aging in about a decade, because right now she is still growing. - Peter looks slightly older in Five Years Gone despite having Claire's power, though as with Claire the time frame is too short to be certain. + This may be because unlike Claire, Peter does not possess regeneration as a core ability: it is only active for him either while Claire is nearby, or while he is consciously keeping it active. Likely, he would not find it necessary to keep it active constantly, and he may not have considered the anti-aging effects of the power. - Since Claire's power heals damage after it occurs, if it healed the effects of aging, it would reverse all of its effects, "resetting" Peter's age whenever he turned it on. It is very unlikely that he would go five years without activating regeneration. + Peter exploded, killed millions of people, and changed after this. This could be why he looks older: he stopped being innocent and became a serious man. - Claire's power is akin to Wolverine's healing ability in X-Men: it heals physical damage and slows cellular decay but does not stop it. Claire does age. For her aging to stop, the rate of cellular decay would have to be stopped altogether, and thus would make her almost invulnerable and immortal. + The comparison to Wolverine actually implies that she will at least age extremely slowly, as Wolverine is currently over 120 years old in marvel continuity yet appears to be no older than 40 (at most) and has the physical abilities of 'a man in his prime'. (Wolverine on the Marvel Directory) + This is also noted in Adam; he looks in his 30's or 40's, but he is supposed to be about 357 years old. - If Claire couldn't age, she would look like a baby. • From birth through late teens to early twenties a person is still growing, thus there is no cellular degradation. If there is no cellular degradation there is no need for her power to correct it, ergo she would age. + Adam stopped aging, but only once he had grown up. - Claire is not as grown up as Adam was yet. She is a teenager. + Claire doesn't exhibit regeneration (chronologically) until Six Months Ago. - Claire survived a fire as a child. + Noah took Claire out of the fire. + Takezo Kensei, who seems to possess the same regenerative ability as Claire, is confirmed to be alive and well after more than 300 years. - Logically speaking, she would age until she was an adult (as Adam obviously did), as her body is not degrading; it is merely growing. • Once she reaches the point when her body would naturally begin to degrade, she should cease physically aging. It is also worth noting that the aging process ceases after a certain amount of regeneration has occurred; Adam was hundreds of years old and thus used his powers countless times; Claire has only been using them since the events of Six Months Ago.
Claire's power shows a mythological theme in the inheritance of powers.	None.	+ Claire is the daughter of Nathan, whose gift is the power of flight, and Meredith, whose gift is the power of pyrokinesis. A mythological creature with both these attributes is the phoenix, which also has the power of rebirth, not unlike Claire's rapid cell regeneration. - This theory does not seem to generalize to all evolved humans. + This doesn't have to be an element of the show's mythos, but merely a literary insertion unique to Claire's character. Indeed, The Second Coming seems to indicate Claire is unique even among the special. - Sylar was referring to her being the catalyst.
Adam Monroe is Claire's ancestor.	None.	+ There have been many instances in the series where evolved humans are spawned from evolved humans, and both Claire and Takezo Kensei possess the power of rapid cell regeneration (Lizards). + Adam had two sons with his Italian wife, Maria. Claire's biological father's last name, Petrelli, is Italian.
Claire's amputated toe will grow into another Claire.	None.	- Claire's toe has no brain, and her brain apparently is needed to start the regeneration. + Claire's blood/Adam Monroe's blood enables regeneration in other people without being attached to Claire or Adam's brain. The blood in the amputated toe could regenerate a whole new body. - If this was true (that only blood could start regeneration), any drop of Claire's blood could slowly grow in a new Claire? Very unlikely! + The genetic material in Claire's toe might be the thing that starts the regeneration, as Claire doesn't seem to have to think to start the regenerating process. • Being as it is an entire body, it would take a considerable time to grow it. + It is unlikely that the toe would grow to a new Claire, but perhaps it would be possible if Claire was cut in half. - It is doubtful that any cut-off portion of Claire would regenerate into another Claire. This is due to the fact that even though she can regenerate, her biological system is still tied into her brain. We have been shown on several occasions that people with spontaneous regeneration who have their central nervous pathways interrupted, via some object lodged in the spine/neck, cannot regenerate. Therefore, the toe would not spawn another Claire because it would not have a brain or central nervous system instructing it. The same is true with cutting her in half. Most likely this would kill her, just the same as shooting her in the head or cutting off her head, because this is destroying the connection to the brain.
Claire can't be affected by the virus, like other characters.	Mohinder discusses the use of Claire's blood with the virus with Bob. (Truth and Consequences)	+ The virus supposedly attacks the person's nerves, but Claire's nerves would just regrow. + Claire's ability may require her brain, which the virus has not yet been shown to attack. - The virus has been shown to inhibit the abilities of superpowered individuals, so it is possible it may block Claire's healing ability. + Claire's blood can be used to cure the Neo-Shanti virus. - Mohinder states that Claire's blood reinforced his antibodies to cure the strain, thus implying that her powers wouldn't be enough on their own. + That statement, however, is hard to reconcile with reality, since rapid cellular regeneration should have no business altering extracellular proteins in the bloodstream. Therefore it can be assumed that RCR has an improved immune system as a side effect. It could possibly work like this: Claire's leukocytes can, upon "attacking" a pathogen, detect the effectiveness of a particular antibody and produce an improved design if necessary. This would mean that they would eventually develop the "best" antibodies without any external help. The decision to use Mohinder's antibodies with Claire's blood could have simply served for shortening the time needed for success, as they were already "almost good enough" to defeat the virus. - While her power would, uninhibited, be capable of repairing damage to any organs or tissues caused by a disease, it does not (necessarily) convey any improved ability of the body to detect or destroy pathogens. If the virus flies under the radar, so to speak, her body wouldn't know to fight it, and even if it was detected, she may not be able to naturally produce the proper antibodies. If the property which allows her blood to heal others is some sort of hormone, the virus could somehow block the production of the hormone (without actually damaging any cellular tissue), which would mean that the hormone in her blood could continue to work until "used up," at which point her power would seem to vanish. This could cause the damage done by the virus to be much slower to manifest, without constituting an immunity. Along with the full extent of cellular regeneration and any characteristics of the virus beyond its symptoms and the pool of potentially infected, Mohinder's antibodies (and how he has them) haven't been fully explained; if the term is a misnomer, which seems unlikely coming from a geneticist who one would expect to have more than a passing knowledge of biology, the "antibodies" could in fact be some sort of specialized cellular body.
Claire is unaffected by Maya's ability.	None.	+ Claire can come back from death. - It's unknown if it affects the brain, in that case, Claire could die.
Claire can die if her head is cut off or her brain has an object lodged into it and not removed.	Angela's vision in The Butterfly Effect seems to suggest that beheading Claire would kill her.	+ In Truth & Consequences, Adam and Victoria both say that shooting Adam in the head would result in his permanent death. + In Powerless, Angela tells Matt that to stop Adam they need to put a bullet through his head. - In The Second Coming, Sylar tells Claire that he couldn't kill her even if he wanted to, and that she can never die. - In One of Us, One of Them, Sylar tells Noah that his daughter can't die, and Angela tells him that he knows he couldn't kill Sylar. - Noah, Claire, and Peter have all had an object lodged inside their brain, and all have come back to life. + According to a response in Sept. 30, 2008 Behind the Eclipse CBR Q&A,Claire can be killed by decapitation. - Knox says to Claire that, unlike her, he and Daphne can die, and Claire doesn't correct this (I Am Become Death). + Claire says that one bullet to the back of Peter's head should kill him (I Am Become Death). - In, Angels and Monsters, Peter is incapacitated, but not killed, due to Angela putting a shunt in his head. + In Angels and Monsters, in Angela's dream, Peter is apparently killed by a pipe stuck in the back of his head. - By the time Angela saw in her dream, Peter's powers could have been removed by Arthur.
Claire's sudden inability to feel pain is a psychosomatic response to Sylar's attack on her.	Claire appears to feel her hands burn when touching the side of the heated container in One of Us, One of Them.	- She may be able to feel something burning, but her brain does not register it as pain. - Pain is our brain's way of telling us that we have a wound. Seeing as Claire's ability allows her wounds to heal instantly, it's entirely possible that her ability evolved so that she no longer needs to feel pain.
In One of Us, One of Them, Meredith did not actually burn much of the oxygen in the container, and Claire's suffering was simply in her head.	Meredith asks Claire if she has ever heard of waterboarding, and tells her it's a method of torture where a person isn't drowning, but the body tells the mind it is, and they think they're going to die.	+ Claire does not appear to begin suffocating until Meredith mentions the air must be getting thin in the container, and seems to cease suffocating when Meredith stops emotionally 'pushing' her. - In a BTE interview, the Rule of Ted and the chemstry of combustion were cited as reasons that Meredith was not affected by the lack of oxygen in the container. + Combustion requires an oxidant to burn, and so some oxygen would have had to be left in the container. - It is possible that Meredith's fire doesn't need an oxidant, since it is an ability, and therefore may not be subject to the known chemical and physical laws. + Meredith never actually says the air is getting thin in the container; she says she imagines it is. + Claire tells Meredith to stop it, and to 'turn it off', suggesting that it is a psychosomatic effect rather than an actual physical one. - Claire may have simply meant for Meredith to turn off her power. + If Claire was truly suffocating, it's likely her speech would be affected, but it wasn't. + Adam survived buried alive for quite some time, thus people with rapid cellular regeneration may not need oxygen. - Adam died in the coffin countless times, but repeatedly resurrected.
Claire could be killed through the use of Bob's ability.	In the graphic novel The Golden Goose, Bob turns a human being into solid gold.	+ It is possible that if Claire's entire body was turned into gold her regeneration would be unable to change the molecular structure of her body back to normal.
Even though Claire has the healing ability, she can still be knocked out.	In The Butterfly Effect, Sylar is incapacitated due to Elle's electrical outburst. In I Am Become Death, Future Claire is down for a while after being punched by Peter. In Angels and Monsters, Sylar is able to render Peter unconscious by using telekinesis to throw Peter against a glass wall.	+ This would be possible as there would be no physical wounds to heal, meaning the knock out would just be the same as if it had been for a person without rapid cellular regeneration. + Claire can still die, even though she can heal (of course, she doesn't die permanently). She's susceptible to the same injuries as regular humans are, except without the consequence of injuries or permanent death.
Claire is the only one that can stop Arthur.	None.	+ Arthur may not be able to kill Claire, cause she may regain the ability even after he "steals" it and can't feel pain. In the future, she is evil because the villains got to her. + Sylar tells Claire she is special. • Claire believes he was referring to the catalyst. - Arthur is the one who wants to use the formula with the catalyst. • It may be possible that Arthur can only absorb the same ability once. This would mean along with Claire, Elle and Sylar could defeat him also. - Arthur was able to take Peter's regeneration ability even though he already had taken regeneration from Adam. • Arthur saw Peter use the abilities of Elle's and Sylar's. He has not seen Peter regenerate and if he absorbed Peter's ability, he may not have taken all the powers Peter once had. - Peter can no longer regenerate. • Perhaps he still has the ability, however is unable to access it due to the loss of his empathic mimicry, meaning he cannot simulate the ability untill he gets his power back. - The Haitian may also be able to stop him.
Claire is neither the catalyst nor its host.	None.	• Nathan and Tracy would have been given their abilities by the formula. Claire was not born by that time, and it would have been impossible to have their abilities without horrible like the one shown in It's Coming. + The catalyst must have existed during Nathan's baby years. - The catalyst isn't something that was born with her, it's something that was hidden inside her. • Adam had the same ability as Claire; he may have been used for Tracy, Niki, Barbara, and Nathan. • No connection between rapid cell regeneration and the catalyst has been hinted in any way.
Claire is Linderman's granddaughter.	None.	+ Abilities often show similar (not necessarily the same) characteristics among relatives (e.g. Meredith and Flint, or e.g. Arthur Petrelli, Peter and Sylar.) + So, Linderman's ability of healing shows again - slightly altered - in the third generation. - Rapid cell regeneration and healing, though similar, are not the same ability. - Relatives having different abilities is far more common, see Nathan and Claire, Meredith and Claire, Nathan and Angela, Bob and Elle, D.L. and Micah, Niki and Micah, D.L. and Paulette... • Fair point. A key to this question would be to know if Arthur took any abilities from Nathan. + If Nathan -and by that: Claire- was the offspring of Angela Petrelli and Linderman, this would perfectly explain why Nathan does not share the ability with the rest of Petrelli male line (Arthur, Peter, Sylar). + Angela and Linderman are close. Angela had affairs before (e.g. Kaito). + Linderman took issue with Arthur when he was ordered to assault Nathan. - Nathan and Linderman were nothing alike. - Linderman was confirmed not to have children in a BTE interview.