Thunderdome
Claire Fraser is The Most Badass Female Character
“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!”— Claire Fraser
Thunderdome is a Fanfare series where our writers good-naturedly debate some matter of pop culture and then leave it to the readers to decide. Read each post and vote at the bottom!TW: Mentions Assault & Rape
When Eric Pierce announced that Thunderdome was returning to Fanfare for a limited run in February, I kept a close eye on what the opening debate would be.
“Most Badass Female Character”— Well, I had to be in that.
You don’t have to look too far these days to find strong, badass women in pop culture, and thank god for that. So it was easier said than done to pick one female character to argue the case for ‘most badass’. I almost called dibs on Buffy, I mean, her level of badassery is evident—She’s a vampire slayer. Then there’s Yennefer of Vengeberg, Black Widow, or Daenerys Targaryen that could be listed as some of the obvious choices that came to mind when I thought of ‘badass females’.
Instead, I decided to write in favour of a less obvious choice— Claire Fraser from the ‘Outlander’ Books and TV series.
That being said, I almost reconsidered my choice, because while Claire undoubtedly displays traits that would deem her to be ‘badass’ she has also experienced some extremely real, traumatic, life-altering events that are not to be trivialised. In no way is the intention of this article to imply that being able to move forward after experiencing trauma constitutes this particular trait. It’s part of Claire’s story and character arc, and would be remiss of me not to mention it, but it is far from the defining thing that makes her a strong, female character.
While Claire is a force to be reckoned with in both the books and the show, this piece will focus on the TV series version of Claire.
If you haven’t seen the show, you may be thinking, ‘what exactly is badass about a 20th-century British combat nurse falling through time and having a steamy love affair with a delicious 18th-century scot?’
The answer is—plenty. So, be warned, the following will contain spoilers for Seasons 1–5 of Outlander.
She’s Ordinary
When we are first introduced to Claire, she is Claire Randall, a married woman on a romantic getaway with her husband, Frank, who she has been separated from for the duration of World War II where she served as a combat nurse, treating the most grievous of the wounded. She is looking to settle into a slow, easy life with her husband and put the atrocities of the past behind her.
Then she is sucked back in time through a set of magical stones at ‘Craigh na Dun’ in Scotland and finds herself inconveniently, directly in the middle of a conflict between the English and the Scots in 1743.
Apart from her magical disposition for time travel, Claire is astoundingly ordinary. Armed with only her wits, she survives because she is a woman who is confident in her mind and her abilities in a strange land. Being both a woman and a ‘sassenach’ in a time where women had virtually no rights, gives us an insight into the adversity Claire is sure to face after travelling through the stones.
She is ripped from a world on the cusp of progression when it comes to women’s rights, back to a time when she is better to be seen and not heard. She has no superpowers to speak of, although the 18th century Scots view her as somewhat of a witch due to her ‘healing abilities’ and this also slowly but surely earns her the respect of the strangers she must survive amongst (as well as getting her into some seriously hot water).
On the subject of healing abilities, these are thanks to her time spent as a combat nurse during WW2. While her husband, Frank, is working for the British Army as an intelligence officer far from the frontlines, Claire puts herself to use in his absence by diving headfirst into the most dangerous position for a woman to be during the war.
This gives us an early insight into the strength of her character. She has no superhuman strength or magic at her disposal, and the monsters she is battling against are far from metaphorical. She is living in a world where simply being a woman is a challenge, yet she doesn’t allow that to deter her. She is confident (if not over-confident at times), intelligent, resourceful and headstrong.
Take the whole time-travel/fantasy element out of the equation and any one of us could be Claire, and have likely experienced her struggles in one way or another.
She’s Sexually Empowered
From episode one of outlander, there is something that is glaringly different about Claire when she is portrayed in relation to sex.
It’s the year 1945, and here we have a woman who is not only sexually active, but is confident and empowered to be so. To put it plainly— She has sex because she wants to, and she enjoys it.
What exactly about this is badass? Because it’s very clearly depicted that her drive is about her needs, and it’s a refreshing take as a viewer to see a woman who has a healthy relationship with sex.
She is portrayed as just as strong, if not stronger than the male characters
While the men of the Outlander series are displayed as strong, warrior types, Claire’s strength comes from within. Her determination and resilience is what sees her through frankly, an absurd amount of adversity.
We see Claire administer medical aid to wounded soldiers during WW2 with calmness and compassion indicative of her nature. We watch her survive her fall through time despite being terrified, alone and arguably never safe. She navigates an entirely different century, falls in love, avoids and escapes several kidnap, murder and assault scenarios, attempts to alter the course of history, loses a child, all the friends she has made over the last three years and ultimately the love of her life.
When she is forced to go back to her time and say goodbye to Jamie, accepting that he is going to die at Culloden and she is going to raise their child alone in the 20th century, she resolves to move forward with her life.
She moves to America with her daughter Brianna and Frank, who stays by her side despite her obvious lack of affection for him because she is determined to give Bri a good life.
She studies to become a surgeon and struggles with the obvious difficulties that come with being the lone female in a male-dominated field, she thrives and becomes exceptional at what she does.
And after all that, 20 years later and in her 50’s, she finds out that Jamie managed to survive the battle of Culloden and despite knowing exactly how difficult it will be, chooses to go back in time again, this time on the cusp of the American Revolution.
And when we think Claire has been through enough and she might finally settle into a quiet life with Jamie, she is abducted and endures a horrific gang rape.
When processing the entire, traumatic experience, it is Claire herself that articulates her resolve:
“No I have lived through a f*cking world war, lost our child, lost two husbands, I’ve been starved with an army, and I’ve been beaten and I’ve been betrayed, and I’ve been imprisoned, and I will not — I survived. And this — I’m supposed to be shattered by this? Well I won’t be. I won’t.”
I could pick a moment from just about every episode from seasons 1–5 where Claire operates in a way that justifies my selection of her for this round of ‘thunderdome’. And if I were to delve into the books this article would turn into a novel.
But without diving into every single plot detail supporting my case, I think we can agree that regardless of her role— wife, mother, friend, nurse, witch, surgeon, time-traveller or survivor, one thing is certain, she is undeniably badass.
What say you?
Based only on the arguments presented (you have read all of them, haven’t you?) and not on personal preference: who wins this bout? Voting closes on February 10 at 6:59 AM.The other entries:
