Claymore

The Organization creates the Claymores by implanting Yoma flesh and blood into humans, thus creating hybrids that are more powerful than the original Yoma, in addition to their weapons training and often greater intelligence. On a side note, the hair color of each Claymore changes from their original color to blonde. These hybrids use large claymore swords that normal humans lack the strength to wield and are characterized by their silver eyes and light-blond-to-white hair (a few of them also have elf-like ears). A Claymore's standard abilities include overall enhanced physical prowess (most noticeably, strength), faster healing, limited shape modification and the ability to detect Yoma by sensing their Yoki. To use their special abilities, they access the powers of their Yoma-half. However, if the Yoma powers of each Claymore are pushed over a certain limit the Claymore loses all humanity and becomes a powerful, highly intelligent, and incredibly bloodthirsty Yoma called an Awakened Being. A Claymore will ask a friend (usually a fellow Claymore) to kill them if they sense they are "Awakening", ensuring that they do not turn into the very monsters they hunt.

Lifestyle of a Claymore
Despite saving humans on a regular basis, Claymores are often alienated from and feared by humans due to their incredible powers, their relation to Yomas, and generally aloof attitudes. Humans will often call them "silver-eyed witches/slayers" or "monsters". Family members of individuals impersonated by Yoma tend to be banished from villages for fear that they might be Yoma too. Claymores are often girls who suffered this fate or survivors of villages wiped out by Yoma. Due to one or more of their background, Yoma blood, training, social isolation and harsh lives, Claymores tend to be serious and at least outwardly cold. Claymores often live unhappy, lonely lives due to their solitary lifestyle and the knowledge that they will eventually die or become monsters. Some become hot-tempered and easily angered, while some other Claymores become bloodthirsty killers who enjoy taking life, more savage than the Yoma they hunt. Almost all of them avoid any sort of companionship with humans. All current Claymores are female, since the organization's past experiments with male hybrids have shown them to be prone to become Awakened Beings too quickly, due to the extreme pleasure they experience when releasing Yoki.

Claymore Characteristics
Due to their hybrid nature, Claymores possess strength, speed, and reflexes far greater than that of any human. Because of their great strength, Claymores can wield a heavy claymore single-handed with ease and grace. In addition to this, Claymores possess vast regenerative capabilities and resilience, allowing them to survive normally-fatal injuries such as evisceration. Any wound that does not kill them heals over completely within hours. Defensive type Claymores, such as Deneve, can even regenerate entire limbs within minutes. These abilities, combined with their combat training and weaponry, allow Claymores to fight on par with most Yoma.

Aside from their strength, perhaps the most well-known ability wielded by Claymores (and the one for which they are most prized by their clients) is their ability to sense Yoma. This is achieved through the sensing of Yoki (Yoma energy). Specialized Claymore can detect the aura of a Yoma from as far as several miles away, depending on the individual Claymore's skill. Clare herself has proven capable of sensing residual Yoki on humans who come into close contact with Yoma. A refined use of sensing Yoki allow the Claymores Teresa and Clare to read and predict the Yoma movements, to the point of reacting before the Yoma attacks.

All of a Claymore's abilities are dependent upon her control over her body's Yoki. By regulating the amount of Yoki used or localizing it to specific body parts/functions, Claymores can further augment their already-prodigious physical attributes, or utilize a number of exotic abilities. The average Claymore will tend to simply tap/release a greater percentage of their total Yoki, causing great increases in base strength, speed, and healing ability. If a Claymore releases 10% of their power, their eyes will gleam gold and become cat-like. If they release 30%, their face will contort and become monstrous. If they release 50%, their body will deform. Tapping too great an amount (over 80% of the body's total Yoki), however, causes Claymores to become Awakened. Higher-ranking Claymores usually display far greater control, and exhibit enhanced ability with their standard abilities or unique powers, such as Irene's Quicksword, or Helen's ability to extend her arms.

Claymores require far less food in order to survive than normal humans. They need only consume a few bites of food every few days, and if required, can go for over a week without any. Partially awakened Claymores occasionally feel hungry. Claymores are generally only seen resting by sticking their claymore swords into the ground and leaning against them, rather than sleeping in a lying position or on a bed. In terms of physical appearance, most Claymores appear fully human save for their silver eyes and pale hair (extremely weak Claymores can retain some hair color). However, some possess inhuman traits such as pointed ears. Early in the manga, it appears that the front of Teresa's torso is hideously deformed, although we never see it directly. However, when we do see Jean's or Ophelia's, later, no deformation is seen. This discrepancy has not been explained, though it may be related to the implanting of Yoma flesh and its placement.

Almost all Claymores are created against their will, only becoming Claymores because they had no other way of living or because they were sold to the organization. Many are orphans, abandoned children, or survivors of towns and families attacked by Yoma (although the organization has been known to take children from their family, if they have an unusual quality they desire). The only known exception is Clare, who asked the organization to put Teresa's flesh and blood inside her body in order to become a Claymore and take revenge on Priscilla. Thus, many Claymores have a personal vendetta against Yoma and throughout the series, stories appear of the horror of these young survivors; most notably, Deneve and Priscilla. Some, such as in the case of Clare and Ophelia, seek revenge against specific Yoma (usually Awakened Beings).

The Claymore organization has a strict hierarchy, in which the Claymores are each given a rank corresponding their relative strength. Claymore #1 is the strongest, while #47 is the weakest (and receives a corresponding lack of respect). The number of existing Claymores at any time is officially 47 as that represents the total number of regional jurisdictions that the Claymores are responsible for. Claymores take orders from their black-clad handlers/money-collectors, who in turn appear to take orders from a small council of older males. It should be noted that the name 'Claymore' was originally coined by laymen - the organization and its warriors do not, in fact, have any official name. As such, few Claymores will ever refer to themselves as a 'Claymore'. Instead they refer to themselves by the term "senshi" which roughly translates to "warrior". All Claymores seem to go by a single name with a few earning particular epithets due to a distinguishing characteristic such as personality (Teresa of the Faint Smile), physical prowess (Muscular Sophia), fighting styles (Stormwind Noel, Undine of the Twin Swords, Quicksword Irene) and special techniques (Phantom Miria, Windcutter Flora). During the "Endless Gravestones" arc, the character Ophelia expresses the desire to have such an epithet of her own (Ophelia of the Ripples).

Attack Styles
In Volume #7, the character Ophelia reveals that there are two types of Claymore combat style: The offensive and defensive style. The nature of a Claymore's attack style determines the Claymore's regenerative/self-healing abilities. According to Ophelia, a Claymore's fighting is determined by "whether one tries to win a fight by surviving, or by killing the opponent." In a further explanation in Volume #10 by Deneve, the strength of a Claymore's instinct to live will determine the attacking style that she will use. The stronger the desire to live, the more likely the claymore's attacking style will be the defensive attacking style.

The defensive category endows the Claymore with incredible self-healing abilities. A unique characteristic is that if a Claymore loses any limbs and regenerates them, the new limbs will maintain their original demonic strength and powers. Galatea, Veronica, Cynthia, Deneve, and Yuma are known to be in this category.

Those in the offensive category are capable of more powerful attacks. However, they are not able to regenerate their bodies as effectively. If a Claymore in this category loses any limbs and she regenerates them, the strength of these limbs will only be equivalent to that of a normal human being. Clare, Ophelia, Rafaela and Irene are in this category. However, they can reattach recently severed limbs, including limbs originally belonging to another Claymore.

Uniform
Claymores wear a distinctive uniform consisting of a pale grey, close fitting shirt and pants. Over this they wear some pieces of armour: shin high, slightly high heeled metal boots (Sabatons); large wrist guards (Vambraces); large shoulder pieces (Spaulders); and a partial skirt (Fauld). Finally, they wear a short cape and a piece of fabric marked with the individual Claymore's specific certification symbol attached to their neck. Each Claymore's symbol is unique and serves as an identification marker. It also appears on their sword and Black Card.