Claire Voyance[3] is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing. She was an anthropomorphic howler monkey and the psychic op of the Diamond Cutters. She was betrayed by their infiltrator; Mimic the Octopus and killed by Shadow Androids. Before she perished, she was the one who was able to order her teammate; Whisper the Wolf, to stay in the shadows in order to live and survive.
Quick Answers
Who betrayed Claire Voyance in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series?
Which character from the Metal Gear series was Claire Voyance designed as a homage to?
What species is Claire Voyance in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series?
What was Claire Voyance's role in the Diamond Cutters?
How did Claire Voyance die in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series?
Concept and creation[]
As with all of the first-generation Diamond Cutters members, Claire was designed as homage to a member of the FOXHOUND group from the Metal Gear series, specifically the character Psycho Mantis. Because of this, Evan Stanley's original designs for Claire (originally spelled as "Clair") portrayed her as a blue mantis shrimp.[4] Later designs would change Claire's coloration to green. However, the choice of species for Claire was rejected by higher-ups, resulting in her being changed to a howler monkey.[5] When designing Claire as a monkey, Evan Stanley took inspiration from the styles of mid-century Jazz singers, also aiming for a "spooky fortune teller" vibe.[4]
Appearance[]
Claire was a short, green-furred, anthropomorphic howler monkey with light green skin. She possessed light yellow eyeshadow and lipstick. She had longer fur on the top and the sides of her head and a long, curly tail. For attire, Claire wore a cream dress with four black buttons on the top level, gray leggings and a gold earring on each ear.[3]
Claire wore a military outfit that matches the other Diamond Cutters: a black, hooded cloak, tall, black gloves with gray palms, and gray boots with dark gray toes.
History[]
Claire along with Diamond Cutters, from Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper #3.
Past[]
Around the time that the Eggman War began, Claire Voyance would volunteer to fight against the Eggman Empire, eventually meeting Smithy the Lion, Slinger the Ocelot, and Whisper the Wolf. Together, they would become the Diamond Cutters, an elite anti-Eggman mercenary team, with Claire as their psy-op. Her Wisp companion was a Green Wisp. With it, Claire used a custom Hover Wispon built by Smithy the Lion and nicknamed it "Mantis".[1][3]
One day, as she was looking over blueprints with Slinger and Smithy in their base, Whisper excitedly showed them Mimic the Octopus impersonating her, and they were all baffled by his shapeshifting abilities.
A few missions after Mimic decided to join the team, the Diamond Cutters would accept a job to take down an Eggman base surrounded by snow. As Mimic attempted to infiltrate the base, an Egg Walker saw through his disguise, and the Badnik fleet started to shoot at him. Before an Egg Hammer could crush him, the rest of the group jumped in front of him, their Wispons at the ready, covering Mimic as he went to deactivate the whole fleet. As Claire, Slinger, and Smithy lunged forward, Slinger ran towards the Egg Hammer, firing at its face. Barely damaged, the large Badnik attempted to crush Slinger, but Claire quickly swooped in with her Hover Wispon and grabbed him before it could do so. She noted that this was the ninth time she had to save Slinger during a mission. After Mimic had successfully accessed the main control hub, Smithy and Slinger started to tease each other. Claire told the two to stop since she saw a platoon advancing toward the base's entrance. Mimic decided to shapeshift into Eggman and order the reinforcements to leave. His plan was successful, and Claire praised him with the rest of the team, saying that Eggman had better watch out.
After several successful missions, Smithy would eventually bring the team out to a spot in the middle of a forest. As Slinger and Smithy talked with each other, Claire and Whisper watched on. Whisper jokingly asked Claire if she had any idea what the other pair was talking about, to which she responded that she never did. Smithy proceeded to hand out his newly built Concealers to the group and give a speech about how he cared for them. Claire expressed that if there ever was an end to the war, she wanted them to stay a team. She suggested that they could possibly become a faction of their own, like the Resistance. Slinger said that their faction would be way cooler, and she responded by saying that his "genius" never stopped. Whisper then thanked Claire for always keeping an eye out for everyone, and the team, except for Mimic, cheered " Diamond Cutters". Mimic stepped away from the group for a moment, feeling hurt by the team's extended friendship, and Claire continued to talk with the rest of the group, completely unaware of Mimic's inner turmoil.[6]
During one mission at an Eggman base, Claire, along with Smithy and Slinger the Ocelot, pretended to be captured by Mimic, who had shapeshifted into an Egg Pawn. After they managed to fool the guarding Egg Pawn there, Claire sensed a formation of Badniks on the far end of the base and two more on the inside that were recharging. Claire then went to destroy the central command tower and followed Mimic out of the facility after he created an exit with his Cube Wispon.
Demise[]
Claire perishing, from Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper #3.
Later, at the onset of the Eggman War, Mimic secretly betrayed the Diamond Cutters and aligned himself with Dr. Eggman. He brought a plan before the Diamond Cutters to take down an Eggman base that cause a blackout among his forces along the coastline. Claire, suspicious of the circumstances, told Whisper stay back, despite Mimic's insistence that all of them would be needed on the field, but she did agree that they could not pass up the opportunity. At the Eggman base that the team decided to take down, the Diamond Cutters found no opposition. Claire tried to use her extrasensory but could not sense anything, deducing that Eggman must have been emitting alpha waves somewhere to block her. After Mimic went to scout for an ambush, Claire, Smithy and Slinger pressed onwards to find large capsules where Claire believed the source of the alpha waves was coming from. In the capsules, the trio discovered Shadow Androids. Suddenly, the room was automatically locked and trapped them inside. As the Shadow Androids began to emerge from their capsules, Claire tried to use her Hover Wispon to break out but to no avail. Claire was then forced to fight the Shadow Androids with all her might and tried to call out for Mimic, but he did not respond. Claire was soon killed in battle.[3]
Legacy[]
Whisper crying happy tears knowing she finally avenged Claire Voyance after defeating Mimic, from Sonic the Hedgehog #79.
Claire's death would weigh heavily on Whisper, who blamed herself in part for not being able to save her, Smithy, and Slinger. Because of Claire's orders to stay back, she actually saved Whisper from being killed in the incident. Because of this, Mimic used her appearance as a means of traumatizing and intimidating Whisper.[7][8]
Claire is finally avenged when Mimic used his knife to stab his power core which killed himself, Whisper opens her eyes wide in public for the first time as she begins crying tears of joy, her voice becoming more audible as she calls out for Claire and cries out that the battle is finally over.[9]
Personality[]
Claire was quite a cheerful person who believed in justice and personally opposed everything Dr. Eggman stood for. She was more cautious than the other members of the Diamond Cutters when it came to missions and other potential dangers.[3]
Powers and abilities[]
As the group's psy-op, Claire possessed extrasensory perceptive abilities, allowing her to gain information without the use of normal senses. Her abilities enabled her to sense targets from a distance. Additionally, Claire's powers included slight precognition, as she had a "bad feeling" before her final mission.[3]
Claire was also a trained soldier and thus, had experience fighting in war-like situations.[1]
Weapons and equipment[]
Claire using the Hover Wispon, from Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper #3.
For missions, she would wear a circular cream Concealer with a gray lower part. The mask had three holes at the center and a circular, green "mouthpiece" with a black marking surrounding it.[3] The mask also had a built-in camera and was networked, so that all teammates could watch the footage as means of reviewing mission performance and studying each others' perspectives. It also had a built-in translator that let her understand the Wisps' language.[3]
Claire also used a Hover Wispon nicknamed "Mantis," which was powered by her Green Wisp companion. Claire would use both its offensive and utility functions during missions.[1][3]
Weakness[]
Claire's abilities could be hindered by alpha wave projectors, making her unable to sense targets. She is, however, able to locate where the alpha waves are at their strongest.[3]
Relationships[]
Diamond Cutters[]
Claire was very close friends with her teammates, Whisper, Smithy, Slinger and Mimic. She deeply cared for their well-beings and was always looking after them. Unfortunately Claire, as well as her other teammates, had no idea of Mimic's true nature, which costed most of the Diamond Cutters' lives.
Green Hover[]
It's unknown how exactly Claire's relationship with Green Hover was, but it is clear they were very close and loved each other.
Friends/allies[]
- Diamond Cutters (teammates)
- Mimic the Octopus (impersonator) †
- Slinger the Ocelot †
- Smithy the Lion †
- Whisper the Wolf
- Wisps
- Blue Block
- Cyan Laser
- Green Hover (companion)
- Orange Rocket
- Pink Spike
Enemies[]
- Eggman Empire
- Badniks
- Dr. Eggman
- Shadow Androids (killers)
Trivia[]
- Claire's name is a pun of the word "clairvoyance", the ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception.
- Claire's custom Hover Wispon is nicknamed "Mantis" by her, as well as her originally having been a mantis shrimp, are references to the character Psycho Mantis from the Metal Gear series, who Claire herself is a homage to.[1][5]
- As stated by Ian Flynn on his podcast, "Claire was kind of sort of hinted to have a thing for Mimic so she's straight."[10] Which was implied during the scene where Mimic watches past footage of each of his old teammates praising him.[8]
- If it weren't for Claire telling Whisper to stay put, then she wouldn't have survived and perished with the Diamond Cutters.
- In Claire's concept art, she is shown to have gloves with a similar pattern to those of Silver's. In one of her concepts, she is also shown to be using an ability resembling psychokinesis.
Gallery[]
Concept artwork[]
Model sheets[]
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Trading Cards[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Claire's Trading Card
- ↑ Evan Stanley on Twitter. Twitter (5 September 2019). Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved on 24 October 2019.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper #3, "Betrayal"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Evan Stanley (@spiritsonic) on Tumblr. Tumblr (21 January 2024). Retrieved on 22 January 2024.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ian Flynn (30 June 2023). Sonic's HAPPY birthday?! BumbleKast for June 23rd, 2023 - Ian Flynn Q&A Podcast. YouTube.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog Annual 2024, "Shattered Diamonds".
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper #2, "Ambush"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper #4, "Showdown!"
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog #79, "Story one"
- ↑ Ian Flynn (3 October 2022). Ian Eats a Phantom Ruby Steak?! BumbleKast for October 3rd, 2022 - Q&A Podcast with Ian Flynn. YouTube.
External links[]
- Claire Voyance at IDW Sonic Hub Wiki, the IDW Sonic wiki.
