I probably answered way more than I needed to, but once you got me thinking, I thought I may as well just let you know all about Claude’s past! Thank you for the request, by the way!
- So, Claude’s named after his maternal great-grandfather who fought in World War I, and he’s one-sixteenth French. His maternal great-grandmother and both maternal grandparents were British, as was his mother. His father was born in the States, the grandson of Romanian and Czech immigrants. A LOT of his summers were spent visiting Nana and Papa in Staffordshire, and it’s one of these fateful visits where he chanced upon Integra and the No-Life King.
- Claude was absolutely the most curious, excitable child growing up. Always the one who was a bit too curious for his own good and getting into trouble, making it real difficult for his parents to keep up with him. The stereotypical child climbing trees and making a mess with his toys and food, that was him. He was also an only child so he never really had the opportunity to hang out with someone near his age.
- A lot of his excitability was weeded out by school, and he settled down to become much more quiet and curious, if prone to outbursts of anger when pushed. He read a lot when he started going to school. He didn’t make many friends because, whenever anyone wanted him to do something he didn’t feel like doing, he’d overreact and start yelling at them.
- In eighth grade and early ninth grade, he discovered his obsession with the occult and the supernatural, and consumed pop-culture horror movies and novels by the dozen. This actually contributes to why he’s so unfazed by a lot of the beings he fights for Hellsing, because he essentially became accustomed to the thought of dealing with them. Vampires were always his favorite.
- He spent much of his time in high school in an ROTC program, training to discipline himself. His goal was to go into the military after graduating high school, like his father did, because he hoped it would give him a chance to really see the world and meet someone new just like dad. His skill with a gun comes from a mixture of paintball practice in ROTC and live weapons training with his father. Claude’s obeisance to Integra Hellsing is from a mixture of genuine respect, thankfulness, and the discipline that was drilled into his head at school.
- It’s worth noting, he had no inclinations of any extranormal ability growing up. All of his psychic visions came about directly after the incident with Alucard and the unnamed vampire.
The Rose-Clad Demon Doctor 