Many characters on this list are here because I love the way that they develop as a character. Other characters here are honestly just so awesome that not including them on this list is simply a disservice to how utterly amazing they are. Claire Stanfeld from
Baccano! is the latter.
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| Yea this is messed up... |
Claire Stanfield goes by many names; he's the "Young Conductor", "Vino", "The Rail-Tracer". He might even try and make you call him god. Claire is unbelievably arrogant at times, while at the same time can be a really good guy.
Nevermind the fact that he's a sadistic killer on par with his rival, Lad Russo. Nevermind the fact that he's an expert assassin who does the Gandor family's dirty work. Claire Stanfield possesses all the regular things that make one an awesome character (awesome personality, badass skills, dashing good looks). Like most characters in
Baccano! he's a quirky,
Bunny-Ears Lawyer who is so good at his job that it makes up for most, if not all, of his personality quirks. You know, like thinking he's a physical god, covering himself in his victim's blood, interrogating people above train tracks in order to find out where his crush lives...you know...normal stuff. He refuses to believe He's the only character who's able to out-talk Ladd Russo and kick his ass in the process. Jack Bauer could take interrogation lessons from this guy; JACK BAUER of all people. Claire lurks in the background for most of the series, posing as a conductor on the
Flying Pussyfoot before taking action as the "RailTracer" when hell breaks loose on the train. Need I say more? Claire Stanfield is a badass.
So yes, Claire is a badass (despite the first name but this is
Baccano! where characters with names like Jacuzzi Splot exist). But he's an awesome personality as well. When he's not kicking ass and taking names, he's generally being an awesome guy. In the last few episodes we get to see Claire interact with the rest of the cast, with hilarious results. We get to see that this guy is more that just the crazy killer we've gotten to know over the course of the anime, he's a human being. (resulting in the quote from the top picture). Yes, Claire is absolutely hysterical in the moments when he's not doing his job. We also get to see how much he loves Chane, the girl he met on the train, becoming way more human than one would expect. In this way, Claire really becomes a complete character in my book and one who is unrelentingly awesome. Have you noticed a trend with the characters on this list? Most of them are awesome in the conventional way, being a badass and possessing humorous and engaging personalities that make them feel real. At the same time, they have multiple layers beneath them. Claire is the personification of this. Yes, he's messed up and gets pretty sadistic when he's on his job but he's still human underneath. Since
Baccano! only runs a total of 16 episodes we probably don't get as much development from Claire as we get from other characters on this list. Yet despite this, he still packs a major punch in the badass department and the depth department. (a testament to how well
Baccano! is written)
So yes, Claire Stanfield is one of my favorite characters ever. Of course, the fact that we only see him for such a limited time does hold him back a bit on this list. This doesn't diminish how strong of a character he is however. When you do eventually watch
Baccano! (seriously...watch it right now...even though this post is littered with spoilers) he'll easily become your favorite character. Unless, you prefer Isaac and Miria to which I'll say I don't blame you. Either way, Claire is great and he's #12.
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