Index
1.What is Claymore?
2. Yoma and Halfs?...
3. Becoming hybrid
4. How does it all come together?
5. Sides
6.How does the "organization" work/Suspicions?
8.Current Episode
9.Current Chapter
1.What is it?: Claymore is a manga published in monthly Shonen Jump by Norihiro Yagi.
The story is set in a fictional world with medieval technology. Most people live in towns or cities separated from each other and at the time there does not seem to be any large political or regional governments.
It centers around the life of Clare(Kurea) and Raki. Clare was presumably the only one who survived a attack from a Yoma in which she lost both her parents. Sequentially the Yoma took a liking to her and took her along with it. One day a Claymore came to town and vanquished the Yoma which had been traveling with the girl. Turned on by the look of her saviour "Teresa", Clare took a liking to her and followed her around even jumping off a cliff in order for Teresa to take her in from the abuse she'd suffered.
Some time later a group of bandits raided a town where Teresa had left Clare to start a new life and Teresa intervened. Killing the bandits which is deemed a unforgivable crime by the "organization" to kill humans. Several other Claymores were sent after Teresa to kill her but Teresa had the position of number "1" out of all Claymores and could not be defeated. A epic battle took place with a specific Claymore by the same of "Priscilla" and Teresa let down her guard to show mercy and was killed as Priscilla "awakened". Clare stumbled into town and encountered a mysterious man in black who asked if she wanted revenge. Clare grew up and encountered the same situation with a boy by the name of Raki and so the story starts.
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2.Claymore? Yoma?: Nobody knows for sure where the Yoma came from but the have for the longest time been with humans. They have a particularly nasty habit of eating on human organs as their diet and can make themselves look like those they've consumed. They are the antagonists in the story.
Claymore are for the most part female only. Before male Claymores existed but they were stopped being "made" since when they used their power it led to feeling of lust and ecstasy which resulted in them going out of control quickly and "awakening". They all have silver eyes due to hybridization and require very little food to survive. Because of this they are given the Claymore name and that of "White eyed witches" by regular folk. . They are also immune to most extreme conditions and can heal quickly from a wound by releasing their "Yoki" a.k.a their spiritual energy. They are given the name Claymore due to the well...claymores they carry.
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3.Becoming a Hybrid: In order to become a Claymore one must take into their body either the blood of a Yoma or in the case of Clare the blood of Clare making her 1/4 hybrid not 1/2. The transformation can be very painful and as such most Claymores are made from people who have fallen on bad luck. Usually those who had loved ones killed by a Yoma become Claymores as they have nothing left. One would assume that they would be respected but in reality most people revile them for being half "monster".
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4.How does it all work?: Humans cannot distinguish between Yoma or real people and as such are regulated to asking the Claymores for help. Typically a Claymore is sent to the area requiring assistance and dispatches of the Yoma. Afterwards the mysterious man in black who is part of the "organization" will come and collect a fee.
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5.So it's just Claymore vs Yoma?: Not quite. It is discovered that one someone "awakens" i.e. When a Claymore uses to much of their Yoma powers they cannot revert back to human form and become an awakened being. A merge of the Yoma and Human aspects. Typically they acquire monstrous forms and as all Yoma hunt humans. Both males and females have somewhat of an "orgasmic" affect when getting close to releasing(yeah...) and some do it on purpose for this effect. Unfortunately those who get caught up in it lose control. Awakened ones are very powerful and typically require higher level Claymores to take them down.
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6.What's this "Organization"?: Just that. They are a mysterious group of men who reign over the Claymore and send them on missions and collect the fee afterwards. It is a secret society and they are never seen by most. The man in black who confronts Clare as a child is shown to surprisingly never have aged over the time she has become an adult. Suspiciously he covers his eyes and mouth and seems to always know where any Claymore is.
The rest of the organization is similar they all have non human features that resemble those of Yoma very closely and weark all black usually covering most of their bodies.
Town that do not pay the fee or are short of the amount by the organization mysteriously are attacked by large numbers of Yoma and wiped out. Even if somehow they rebuild that town will never receive assistance again.
For the group which claims to have human interests at heart such behaviors is suspicious. Likewise the rules they set that "no claymore may harm a human" has led to horrible situations. Such as Claymore being sexually abused or taunted without having any means of retaliating. Any Claymore disobeying this rule is quickly hunted down by their own kind and killed.
Suspicion has arisen amongst many of the strongest Claymores and the Clare herself and as such many of them have deserted and are being hunted by those still loyal to the organization.
8.Wait! Wait! How do Claymore fight?: Claymore are given the name claymore for the swords they carry. Each sword is unique not physically but in that each has a symbol corresponding to the power of that individual Claymore. Alternatively since Claymore are half Yoma they can utilize Yoma powers. When this is done veins and muscles contract and their strength grows enormously.There are two stages to a Claymore:
1) Base: This is the initial stage and the one most Claymore fight in all the time. They look perfectly human and utilize their swords to deal wit foes.
2) Second: This is the most powerful form of a normal Claymore as they channel Yoma powers and increase strength, speed and recovery. Teresa only used this form once due to the enormous amount of power she held and was regarded as the strongest due to only having to use her base form.
3) Awakened: Nobody fights in this form save those who became awakened and ran away. Their forms are usually monstrous and they can change back from human form to released at any time. No normal Claymore can match these and none try to attain that power as it causes one to lose their sanity. If a Claymore detects they are reaching their limit they will usually ask a fellow Claymore to slay them while they are still human.
Interestingly it has been discovered that one can surpass their limit and yet still revert to normal form. However this requires great willpower and is not guaranteed to work again.
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8.Current episode: Claymore 13
Current Manga chapter: Claymore 73
9.Releases: Claymore manga usually comes out on monthly but recently is has been found out that Claymore will become a WEEKLY release as it has gained popularity and the shutting down on monthly Jump. The Anime has no set time as of yet. Currently it is only scheduled for 26 episodes but if enough support is given it could become another Naruto, Bleach or One Piece.
Warning: All though this is a Shonen it is a surprisingly dark series. After I watched all 13 episodes so far and all 73 chapters today at times it really made me feel sick with the dismemberments. This is such a bad thing though as it really tugs at your heart strings but if you're like me and never seen something such as Berserk take it slow!
(Originally posted by crushdance [sorry konex])
