Oh, me too, Czeslaw needs hugs.
Also, why would you want to defeat Claire anyway? I mean, I understand that it bothers you that he's so invincible, but really, there's no reason to try. Don't tick him off and you'll be fine. Although admittedly it's often arbitrary what does and doesn't tick him off, it's close enough to being a sort of moral code that if you don't act like an asshole there shouldn't be much trouble from him.
Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember them, you are not alone.And he doesn't exactly know any other women that we know of (especially not including others he's asked to marry him
).
@Anarchy: To quote Dennis Miller before he started to suck, "Never try to be the hip parent. All my friends with hip parents growing up eventually got into really hard drugs, because with hip parents you have to either become staunchly conservative or go even futher over the top in order to rebel."
And I think any kid they had would eventually resent them their immortal youth and beauty.
@Anarchy I could imagine that, I think. It involves heavy [1] and frequent forced/"government-sponsored" trips to the shrink (Not sure if they do the latter in the US, though). They'd be cool relatives, but somehow I don't think being their child would be that sweet a deal. Then there's the entire growing old and dying before them thing...
@gingerninja: If it helps any, Claire doesn't have The Gift. There's a scene in the novels where he talks about hating the fact that people think he has The Gift, because he genuinely worked for his Charles Atlas Superpower.
And I don't believe he's met his match in the novels, either, but he acknowledges a Worthy Opponent and seems to actually break a sweat when fighting certain characters.
Who is said Worthy Opponent? A little effort from him is all I'm asking for here.
Just let someone dodge one of his punches even.
Also, just finished watching the anime. Did Claire have any respect for Ladd at all? I mean he clearly didn't while the two of them were fighting, but I'm talking about after Claire throws Lua off the FP and Ladd jumps to save her. He says something like: "I initially thought he was just some lowlife, but him, he was something else." With a smile on his face. I'm not sure if he was complimenting, or insulting Ladd in that scene.
Tbh, what I dislike most about claire is his arrogance. It's the cold hard fact that this nutjob will never be put in his place, no matter how hard anyone tries. I always thought that arrogance is only a good trait for a character to have, if it ends with a Break the Haughty moment, of some kind
edited 1st Aug '11 5:06:22 PM by gingerninja666
"Contests fought between two masters are decided instantly. An invisible battle is now raging between the two of them." Lulu vs Schneizel
There's two different characters that Claire calls a Worthy Opponent:
- The former Felix Walken, a woman from whom Claire buys his new identity after the Flying Pussyfoot incident. Never actually appears in the story, but Claire claims that she's second only to himself.
- Christopher Shouldered, one of Huey's homunculi. He fights Claire in 1933 and knees Claire in the chin and shoots him in the shoulder. Chris ends up losing, but Claire comments that he might have actually had a bit of trouble if Chris was using a proper weapon. Claire ranks him at third, next to himself and the character above.
edited 1st Aug '11 5:20:06 PM by UntunedStrings
Its actually a fairly interesting point as to why few people are annoyed by Clare. To go with my favored working definition, a Sue is a character for whom the normal standard of the work are broken in order that we might find him impressive. Clare fits this definition in wonderfully perfect fashion in universe. The normal rules of reality seem suspended around him to such a degree that he has decided that the world exists to make him look good.
Thing is, the show itself doesn't really go out of its way to make us in awe of Clare. I'd need to have another look over it to be sure, but having re-watched the show recently, I found Claire and Ladd's show down to be much more of a non-event than I remembered. Claire doesn't beat Ladd pillar to post. He dodges a few punches, does a somersault and chucks the man's kind-of-sort of Morality Pet off a train. I'd argue both Jacuzzi's showdown with the black suits boss mook (Goose?) and Szilard's attack on the Martellos are given way more dramatic heft, in terms of time and DRAMATIC camera work, than anything post-reveal Claire does. This is a man whose most memorable moments are torturing a small child, chucking a helpless young woman off a train, and proposing to a woman he barely knows. Less Light Yagami, more Snidely Whiplash. Clare is a Chuck Norris joke. His sheer invincibility is a source of humor, and actually showing it (as opposed to showing him being a demented Knight Templar who Crosses the Line Twice , which we see a lot) would ruin the gag. Rather than shoving their mary sue in our face, Baccano, already an ensembley show, puts more focus on the dramatically challenged members of its cast.
Plus, he gave his girlfriend a dress as an engagement present - with customized knife sheathes hidden at the back. How can you not adore a man that thoughtful?
They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams for an instant, then it's night once more
You bring up some really good points. but when you have a character that strong, he makes other characters look bad. At least that's how I saw it. After a series worth of build-up, making Ladd out to be this unstoppable killing machine. (aswell as the prime Badass Normal) this guy comes along and makes him look patheic. It felt Anti-Climactic, and a huge betrayal of the menace that Ladd had earned via his actions.
I'm also peeved that Claire was the one who saved Isaac and Miria, when they could've given the honour to Rachel (it would've been awesome given her injured leg)
edited 1st Aug '11 6:09:40 PM by gingerninja666
"Contests fought between two masters are decided instantly. An invisible battle is now raging between the two of them." Lulu vs SchneizelJust gonna drop this off here...
edited 2nd Aug '11 9:55:59 AM by KSPAM
I've got new mythological machinery, and very handsome supernatural scenery. Goodfae: a mafia web serialI'm not sure what Badass Normal means in the context of this show, given that the only superpowered people are merely immortal and terrible fighters. All the badasses in the show are normal people. Claire himself is a Badass Normal.
edited 5th Aug '11 7:41:11 AM by Clarste
Firo, Maiza and Ennis are immortals, and they're pretty badass.
I really hesitate to call Claire normal though
(I know he is) I swear some of the stuff he pulls is physically impossible. Ladd was badass enough to fight off a girl who can slice bullets out of the air, while also doing nothing that outlandish himself. That takes talent.
Well, Durarara has people getting punched so hard they fly across the street and crash into a sign and just get a black eye from it. Both by normals. Durarara and Baccano have a flexible definition of what consitutes a normal.
edited 5th Aug '11 7:22:30 PM by Arha
I swear there has to be a point when someone's Charles Atlas Superpower becomes so great that it disqualifies them from being a Badass Normal
He also owned some punk who thought he was hot shit because he has Super-Strength and is able to deflect/catch bullets with a wrench.

Me too. His story is so horrible, poor thing. The bit where he thinks that Isaac is going to kill him, and all he does is clasp his hand is pretty heart-warming.