Theory:Claude Rains

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The following fan theories are about Claude Rains.

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Theories

Theory	Citations	Notes
Claude has been tagging along invisibly for at least the most recent events in Season 3.	Claude encountered Elle in Sum Quod Sum, Part 1.	+ Even if he couldn't help Elle, the way she came after him shows that hiding isn't enough. Once he realized that the Company could find him anyways, he might have chosen to get involved and find out what's going on. + In Sum Quod Sum, Part 2, he was willing to help her, but also saw that she could be dangerous to those around her, even unintentionally. He might have followed to see what he could do, either to help her or keep her under control. + There was an empty seat on the airplane next to Claire and Elle. - If Claude was there, he likely would have reacted to Elle's electrical meltdown. + Its possible he was not in the seat at the time. + Its also possible that he wanted to see if Claire could handle Elle herself.
Claude taught Sylar how to control his powers.	When Peter Petrelli asked Claude if he had trained anyone else, Claude gave him a look and then blew off the question without providing an answer one way or another. (The Fix).	- It is unlikely that Claude taught Sylar, since Sylar would have simply killed Claude to gain the power of invisibility. - It is also unlikely that Sylar could have been able to see Claude, as it seems the only way to see him is to posses Claude's powers or if Claude turns them off. - Sylar possibly learned to control his powers using the power he took from Charlie Andrews. - Because Sylar's own power is to understand how things work, it seems unnecessary to have someone tell him. • Claude at one point was keeping an evolved human hidden from the Company.
Claude was part of a former generation of heroes from the seventies and eighties. Because of this, he has trained or been trained by members of the last generation.	None.	+ Claude appears to be in his 40's which is far beyond the ages of the other heroes (all of whom are between 11 and 35). + His comment "Oh, one of those" may indicate that he has experience hunting down and training someone who has empathic power absorption- and as a possible former hunter, knows what's at stake if Peter doesn't control his power.
Claude trained the Haitian in how to use his abilities better.	None.	+ It appears Claude may have trained other evolved humans in how to use their powers. + Claude's history with the Company is confirmed in Company Man.
Claude is Patient Zero.	None.	+ Chandra Suresh was looking for Patient Zero, two days before he was murdered by Sylar. Claude appears to have had a power far longer than any other character. This could indicate he was the first person to have developed powers. Chandra was looking for Patient Zero in New York, and Claude's invisibility would make him hard to find. - Chandra's journal indicates that he had tracked more than five persons he believed to have powers; at least one of them, the Bangladeshi woman, was much older than Claude. - The term "Patient Zero" indicates that this is some sort of infection, rather than a genetic mutation. For there to be a patient zero in this case, taking into account the incredibly high number of people and families from across the globe who are discovering super-powers - not to mention the fact that this is a cross-generational phenomenon - that person would need to be hundreds of years old and intertwined in the lives of each family. While this could be Linderman, it is unlikely, seeing as we have seen him age from being young to old. It could possibly be Adam. - Sylar's dossier states that Chandra termed Sylar his "Patient Zero."
Claude removed the tissue containing the tracking mechanism that was planted in his back by the Company.	None.	+ Claude may have had an "old school" device rather than a radioactive isotope. Technology has bound to have changed. The radioactive isotope used to track could be a relatively new method adopted after Claude dropped off the grid. + His scar looked like a crater, as if something had been burned out of his body. + Claude says that Peter led them straight to him.
The evolved human Claude was protecting was a character with whom we're already familiar.	Claude was shot for allegedly protecting an evolved human. (Company Man)	+ It seems likely given the show's penchant for character connections, that whomever Claude was protecting is one of the current roster of characters.
Claude was protecting a young Sylar.	Claude was shot for allegedly protecting an evolved human. (Company Man)	- It seems unlikely that Gabriel Gray's initial ability would have been detected so early, especially when Chandra could not detect it using modern medical equipment that can detect telepathy (such as the equipment measuring the resting rates of Matt). + Now that Angela has revealed that Sylar is her son, it's possible she gave him to Claude to hide him from the company, just like she did with Claire.
The evolved human Claude was protecting was either Charles Deveaux or his daughter, Simone.	None.	+ Claude showed no interest in training Peter until he mentioned in passing that he had taken care of Charles Deveaux. Claude's hangout is on the roof of Deveaux's building. - Charles Deveaux was in the group of twelve, there would be no reason to hide from the Company. + Not necessarily; Bob viciously experimented on Elle. That's why Noah wanted to protect Claire; and why Charles would want to protect Simone, perhaps?
Claude was protecting Meredith.	None.	+ Tim Kring said Claude and Meredith would have a connection, and it's possible that he found her later after the fire or was even him who suggested Meredith to create the fire and play dead. + It has been stated by the writers that the person he was protecting is "...someone we know." - Claude was sent to bag and tag Meredith (Trial By Fire). + Bennet was sent to bring Claire in to the Company, and arranged to have the Haitian stage a attempted murder and kidnapping. This does not rule out that Claude could have Meredith do the same thing.
One of the pigeons on the Deveaux's building roof is an animorph, and the evolved human who Claude was protecting.	None.	+ The only thing that worried Claude were the pigeons.
Claude trained Maury Parkman.	None.	+ We know Claude trained someone who he considered dangerous. - Maury was in the group of twelve, and likely honed his powers before Claude.
Claude Rains is not his real name.	When Peter Petrelli asks him who he is, he states, "I'm the Invisible Man. I'm Claude Rains." (The Fix) This is the name of the actor who played the Invisible Man in the original 1933 film.	+ For someone who doesn't want to be found, doesn't it seem unlikely that he would right away divulge his full name to a complete stranger? It seems more like he was being witty. - He signed his name "Claude R" in the official report in The Golden Handshake + It's possible that he was using the Rains alias from long before 1990. - Thompson refers to him as "Claude". (Company Man)
Claude Rains was protecting Claire Bennet.	None.	+ When Mr. Bennet asks Claude the identity of the person he is protecting, Claude says, "What if it is your little girl?", implying that the child is the one he is protecting. + The fact that Mr. Bennet said that the Haitian should shoot him specifically in one spot so it wouldn't kill him, he shoots Claude Rains in the same spot right after Claude tells Mr. Bennet he might be protecting his daughter. - Mr. Bennet is protecting Claire. + Claude could have been protecting a future Claire that time traveled into the past.
Claude was protecting Rollo Fusor's accomplice.	None.	- The accomplice died in 1990. Claude is ordered to be killed in 1999 for protecting an evolved human. - Claude was one of the woman's victims and has no perceivable reason for protecting her. + In Interview:Golden Handshake, the writers have confirmed that the depicted events were from Claude's report, and that the report was falsified. - The implication was that the words read on the page were falsified, but the pictures were the actual events.
Claude's power is dynamic camouflage.	None.	+ Dynamic means movement and camouflage keeps people from being seen - If Claude or Peter bent light around themselves, they would be unable to see because light has to hit the retina for us to see.
Claude was hiding Adam Monroe.	None.	+ Claude was shot for hiding an evolved human in Company Man. + Adam was imprisoned by the Company, he may have escaped with the help of Claude. - Adam says he was locked up for 30 years, before Peter helped him escape. If he had escaped during Claude's time as well, it obviously wasn't for long.
Claude is going to be killed by Sylar at some point and have his power taken.	After Peter became invisible in .07% Sylar said that he "couldn't wait to try that one", and when Sylar says something like that it usually means he is going to kill someone with that ability (Claude.)	- Sylar was referring to the fact that he planned to shortly kill Peter and take all his powers.
Claude was protecting Victoria Pratt.	Pratt was in hiding and Angela kept Pratt's whereabouts a secret. (Cautionary Tales)	• This would imply further that Pratt had an ability. - Pratt already had a hiding place. - Most of the Company appeared to be on her side; the only assailant was Adam, who was locked up in the first place.
Peter was the first empathic mimic that Claude had met, but he mistook Peter's empathic mimicry for another ability that allows the copying of powers.	Claude says to Peter, "Fantastic, one of those." (The Fix)	- Claude was most likely referring to the fact that Peter had an ability. When Claude made that comment, he had no knowledge or hint of Peter's mimicry. - Claude knew that Peter could somehow see him while he was invisible. That would be enough evidence to constitute the existence of an ability; so why was he surprised then? + This isn't correct. While he may not have understood the empathetic nature of Peter's power, he stated this in reply to Peter telling him that he mimicked others' powers. + Claude tried to convince Peter that he needed to forget his benefactors instead of remembering them to access their individual powers. + It is likely that Linda's ability was to steal the abilities of others. This may be the ability referred to. + It's probable that Claude had met Arthur before, therefore he could have been referring to Arthur's power.
Claude survived the fall and the gunshot wounds he received in Company Man because he had a needle and a supply of either Adam's or Claire's blood.	None.	+ It seems impossible that anyone who's only power is invisibility could survive two bullets to the chest and a 40 foot fall by normal means. - He could have clung to the ledge and/or hoisted himself back up onto the bridge. Just because Bennett assumed he fell doesn't mean that he did. + The Company may have needed Claire's blood because Claude had stolen Adam's. - In the period between Claude's execution and Adam's escape, it is absurdly unlikely that they would not have noticed the missing blood. They could have simply extracted more blood from Adam to replace anything Claude stole. + We've seen that the Company keeps their prisoners on special drugs to disable their powers, which would likely disable his bloods healing power. If they were doing this to Adam, they may not have wanted to take him off the drug just to get at his blood for fear of his escape. + Claire's blood may have some properties that Adam's didn't. + Even if he didn't take all of it, Claude still could have taken enough blood to cure any wound he might receive from Bennet after he found out about his execution. + Claude states he saw Noah and Thompson talking about his execution. He may then have taken some of Adam's blood so he would survive. + He just turned invisible at the edge of the bridge, he may not have fallen over at all and just pretended to as we never saw the actual fall.
Noah will have The Haitian seek out Claude to help them take down the Company from the inside.	None.	+ Noah knows that Claude is alive and hates the Company as much he does. - Noah tried to kill Claude (Company Man). So it seems very unlikely that Claude and Noah will work together in the future. + The Company gave the order to kill Claude, not Noah. Claude may realize this and put aside his differences with Noah if it means taking down the Company. + Claude has the perfect ability to get inside information about the Company. • It is unknown where the Haitian is or who he's currently working with. + Claude is slated to return in Volume Three.
Claude once knew Linda Tavara.	None.	+ When Peter explained to Claude how his ability works, Claude said "one of those" as if he'd met someone with a similar ability. Linda's ability is probably to steal the abilities of others, making her similar to Peter. - Linda died before the formation of the Company. (War Buddies, Part 7) + If Linda was multipowered, it is entirely possible that she had the ability of replication, rapid cell regeneration, pyrokinesis, or some other ability that allowed her to survive being struck and burned. • Although this theory may prove to be true, power theft and empathy are not the same thing. Peter just has to meet someone to absorb their powers, whereas Linda has to physically touch someone to gain their power.
Bennet and the Haitian will seek out Claude to help them fight the escaped prisoners.	None.	+ Claude was slated to return in Volume 3. - This might only be for a flashback sequence. + Although Bennet and Claude have their differences, Claude may understand the need to stop the escaped prisoners. • For all we know, Claude helped put some of those prisoners away. + Claude would be a great asset as he has invisibility and has been shown to be a skilled fighter.
Claude was participating in Company operations sometime in 2006-07, after he was "retired" in 1999.	Flint says he was tackled by an "invisible man" (Villains) approximately a year before the events of season 3.	+ Claude is the only known unique "invisible man." + Claude's casefile indicates his activities in this period are classified, and that the Company knew he was alive. - Claude was violently retired and has displayed no interest in working with the Company since. Nor would he have any interest in doing so. • Claude may have stumbled across Flint committing a crime, stopped him, and left him for the authorities. + When Noah was running away from the Company, he stopped Marcus and told the Company to go get him. • When Isaac told HRG that Peter was invisible, HRG's response would seem to indicate he believed meant Claude was still alive. Presumably, then, HRG at least didn't know of any others with the ability of invisibility.
Claude is protecting Elle.	None.	- Sylar killed Elle. If Claude was protecting her, he could have stopped Sylar from killing her.