Helen

Helen is Claymore #22 in Clare's Time and is often hot tempered and aggressive. Her mouthy and sometimes insensitive nature means that she can appear to be something of a bully. She seems to have a large appetite for a Claymore and can often be seen eating an apple. She is also the only Claymore seen eating and drinking for pleasure.

Etymology
The name Helen is of Greek origin, meaning 'sun ray' or 'shining one'. This is perhaps a reference to her cheerful and optimistic personality.

Appearance
Helen has short hair, around the same length as Clare, but parted down the middle with one side tucked behind her ear. She wears black pieces of armour on her arms and legs to allow her to stretch her limbs. Helen is usually seen smiling.

As an official Claymore, she wore a regulation uniform, in addition to "extenders". These were highly durable, extremely flexible, portions of fabric that provided protection over her arms. These allowed her coverage while using her special technique. This was also very likely the same material used in Alicia's uniform.

After abandoning the organization in the north after the battle of Pieta, she dawns a full body black outfit, light shoulder plates, and high collar top. She is the most conservatively dressed of the ghosts (along with Yuma)

Personality
Helen is a brash, loud Claymore who can appear to be a bully at times. She can be compared to Noel in respect. However, she is one of the most optimistic and cheerful of the Claymores, looking on the bright side of life whenever she can. She also has the widest emotional range out of all the warriors, who are normally very cold and emotionless. She is capable of great loyalty to her friends however and will defend them faithfully. Though she is headstrong and often acts before she thinks, she is also able to give good wisdom when she told Deneve that Claymores were 'only human'.

Abilities
Extending Limbs: Helen's unique ability was gained after her part-Awakening. She is able to stretch her limbs to extraordinary lengths, which can aid her in reaching targets and doing multiple damage. For this, she was given special dark armour on these parts so she can use this ability better.

Yoki Suppression: Having spent seven years hidden in the northern mountains Helen has learned to completely suppress her Yoki to remain hidden from the organization.

(Extendable) Drill Sword: During her time in the North, she was able to master Jean's ability to twist her arm to deliver a punishing blow to the enemy. Unlike Jean, who was only able to use the Drill Sword at close range, Helen can use her Drill Sword either at close range or far range with the help of her extendable arms, making her extremely dangerous offensively.

Employment as a Claymore
Nothing is known of Helen's past, except that she berated Deneve for her suicidal methods of fighting. She said that it was all right to be afraid to die: they were only human.

She rose to Number 22, caused some trouble among her clients and became partially Awakened when she lost control during a fight. She said that the impulse to Awaken almost overwhelmed her, like with the males. However, she managed to pull herself back and develop her trademark ability of being able to stretch her limbs to extraordinary lengths.

Hunting with Clare
When Helen first met Clare, it was on her first Awakened Being hunt. She immediately teased Clare about taking Raki, calling him her 'play-thing'. When she hears what Clare's number is, she bursts out laughing at the idea of the weakest being there. She taunts Clare all the way to the Awakened Being hunt, calling her weak and useless. When the battle is upon them, Helen immediately used her stretching arms to dismember the Awakened Being but to little effect. She is soon wounded with a deep gash across her back, putting her out of action.

She attempted to rejoin the battle but her wound prevented her. In the end, Clare and Miria won the battle.

Northern Campaign
Helen is one of the 24 Claymore chosen to fight in the Northern Campaign, along with Deneve. She greeted Clare in her brash manner and was astonished to find her accompanied by Jean. She is put into Veronica's team. She played a vital part with her extendable arm ability during the first battle, severing the Awakened Being's blades.

In the second wave and the fight with Rigardo, she defended Miria fiercely along with Deneve and Clare. She correctly guessed that Rigardo was not good at regeneration and slashed his severed arm apart to aid in his battle with the half-Awakened Clare. Through the battle, she attempts to aid Clare by using her extending arms to strike, though she never landed a blow. When Rigardo is killed, Clare begged Helen to kill her since she could reach her without being too close. Helen was stopped by Jean, who pulled Clare back at the cost of her life. For the remainder of the battle, Helen fought hard against the advancing Awakened Being army but was eventually defeated.

After Seven Year Time-Skip
Fortunately, she was only unconscious and, along with Clare, Miria, Deneve, Cynthia, Tabitha and Yuma, trained to take down the Organization. She and the others perfected their control over their Yoki, allowing them to stay hidden. Helen managed to master Jean's special technique "Drill Sword".

After having helped defeat Agatha by utilitising her drill sword to drive out her true form, she is given drinks as thanks, which she accepts wholehearted. She soon makes herself very drunk and raucous. The next day, she decided to return to her hometown with Deneve while Clare goes West.

While on her journey, Helen comes across some Claymore fighting and losing to an Awakened Being. She and Deneve stop to watch the battle until only one of the four Claymore is left standing. She asks Deneve if she wants to help them, to which Deneve says no as Miria told them to avoid trouble as much as possible. Helen then says that they should continue their journey, only to jump down off the cliff and slice off on of the Awakened Being's arms.

Deneve soon joins her, cutting off another arm. Helen then tries to knock the remaining Claymore out with a punch, but the Claymore dodges. The Awakened Being attacks Helen, but she is pulled out of the way by the other Claymore, who introduces herself as #8 Dietrich. Helen lies and tells her that they are secret warriors of the Organisation. Helen, Deneve and Dietrich then pull the three unconscious Claymore to safety, before turning their attention back to the Awakened Being. Helen uses her Drill Sword technique on the creature after Deneve blinded it, but missed its brains, instead destroying part of its face. It is then finished off by Dietrich, who slices it in two.

Battle with Isley
Having defeated the Awakened Being she and Deneve continue on their journey south but are followed by Dietrich. They eventually agree to let Dietrich travel with them due to the fact that she knows the south and that she had deduced they were survivors of the Northern Campaign. Despite this they ignore Dietrich's warnings of demons that live and the south and carry on their journey. When they reach the next town Helen convinces Deneve to enter the town with her to catch a glimpse of Isley, who they believe to be the demon Dietrich was talking about.

Despite hiding their Yoki Isley realises they are Claymores and cuts straight through Deneve's right side, leaving Helen in total shock and horror. Helen stands to fight Isley while using her ability to stretch her arms and cuts off Isley's leg. But she feels she can't win. Deneve saves Helen when Isley was about attack. Helen releases her yoki for the first time in seven years. However, right afterward the 11 Abyss Feeders come to the town, and Helen attempts to attack one of them but loses her right arm and left eye in the process. She is quickly thrown away from the fight by Deneve before she can come to further harm and manages to reattach her arm, but has trouble regenerating her left eye. Dietrich then comes along and saves her and Deneve, and the three of them manage to escape out of town.

Journey to the West
Having discovered she is no match for Isley or the Abyss Feeders, even when they are injured, she agrees to Deneve's plan to head west to meet up with Clare's group so that Cynthia can heal Helen's eye. She sends Dietrich to convey the latest developments to Miria and, on the way there, they sense Clare's Yoki rocketing. On the way to meet Clare she and Deneve find Cynthia and Yuma. Cynthia helps regenerate Helen's damaged eye. Helen then takes off with Deneve to find Clare.

Helen and Deneve eventually come across Clare, just as the combined Luciela and Rafaela Awakened Being attacks. Clare warns them not to come any closer. Helen thanks Clare for warning them but is interrupted when the spikes begin to take the form of Yoma. Helen is taken by surprise when one suddenly attacks her but she is saved by Clare. She continues to battle the large number of creatures and manages to use her "Drill Sword" to decapitate one of them. However it survives and attacks again, pinning her down and preparing to impale her with its spikes, but Clare saves her again. After the battle is over Helen collapses from exhaustion, hoping to get some rest. Clare then warns her the fight is not over and Helen gets back up, ready to fight off the next batch of creatures.

When the three of them are confronted by Priscilla, Helen and Deneve cannot move to help Clare because of the still-ongoing yoma spike barrage. She does, however, save Clare's life by extending her sword arm and striking at Priscilla from a distance. Although this merely distracts Priscilla, who catches her arm and prepares to break it or rip it off, it gives Clare enough time for a counter-attack that saves Helen. She later tries to convince Clare to not Awaken by reminding her of Raki but unsuccessfully. When it is revealed that Clare cannot Awaken at all, Helen is as surprised as Clare herself and resolves to save that "helpless idiot". She and Deneve then distract Priscilla and snatch Clare from under her nose, making a run for it. However, as Priscilla closes in on them fast, Deneve resolves to hold her back, tossing the unconscious Clare to Helen. Helen attempts in vain to dissuade Deneve but in this moment, they are saved by the infected Dauf, who attacks Priscilla from behind.

Using Dauf's distraction, Deneve leads Helen (who is still carrying Clare) to Rafaela-Luciela merged being. When it looks like Dauf may be overpowering Priscilla, Helen suggests they might return to finish her off, but Deneve refuses, saying that his success is only temporary.

After the Rafaela-Luciela reveals its true form in the confusion Helen accidentally drops Clare. After Deneve asks where Clare is and both turn around Helen notices Clare with her lower half missing in the grip of the Rafaela-Luciela she begins crying at the sight of her apparently dead friend and screams Clare's name.

Helen watches with Deneve the black mass of youki absorb Clare, as well as being a witness to Clare's supposed last words. Just as Clare gets sucked in, Priscilla shows up and destroys a large chunk of the Destroyer. As Priscilla questions them as to where Clare was, Helen gets pissed and screams at Priscilla, telling her that "Only if you did not exist!!" that she would still be here. In a raging fury, she launches a ranged attack at Priscilla, only for her arm to be pinned to the ground by Priscilla's ribbons. She watches helplessly as Deneve gets pierced by Priscilla in many areas after she tried a surprise attack. After Deneve tells her that Clare is dead, Priscilla starts stabbing Deneve many times again out of shock while Helen screams for Priscilla to "Stop it!!". The Destroyer then interrupts, stabbing Priscilla through the mid-section and freeing Helen long enough for her to retrieve Deneve and escape to a safe location. She begins to get scared after she laid Deneve on the ground and Deneve starts coughing up blood. However, Yuma, Cynthia and Deitrich appear, and Yuma starts healing Deneve's arm. As Deitrich asks what happened, Helen starts tearing up and relucently tells them Clare is dead. However, she listens intently as Deneve explained her analysis in full detail to the team.

Her, Deneve (with a fully recovered arm), Yuma, Dietrich and Cynthia head towards the east, away from the Destroyer and Priscilla. Upon reaching Rabona, Deneve and Helen notice a large amount of yoma and Awakened Beings gathering there. Helen then appears behind a wall of a small house where she catches a mother and child when Tabitha tried to block an attack from an approaching Awakened Being. After the assault was over, everyone regrouped near the center of town. It was then that Deneve noticed that Miria wasn't there, and started asking loudly at Tabitha, wondering where she was, starting to startle Helen. That's when Galatea came in, telling them that Miria headed off towards the Organization by herself, and that the mass destruction of Rabona was the end result. She then told them all bluntly that Miria "is probably dead" as to not delude them in some fantasy. When Galatea questioned the Deneve's team was missing someone, everyone got quiet. Tabitha started to cry as she thought Clare was dead, but Helen immediatly interurrpted while crying a bit, telling them all that "Clare....Clare isn't dead yet."

Deneve
Deneve is Helen's best friend and could be called Helen's foil, since their personalities are so opposite. When Helen first met Deneve, she was exasperated at her suicidal fighting technique. She chastised her accordingly and explained to her the importance of living and their continued humanity dispite their transformation into Claymores. They became seemingly inseparable after that, their opposing traits complimenting each other. Deneve has to often rein in her reckless actions and Helen lets her see the brighter side of things.

Clare
Helen scorned Clare at first for her low number and apparent low amount of power. However, when she saw Clare's true power, she stopped mocking her and began to actually respect her for her power.

Miria
Helen has a great deal of respect for Miria, calling her 'Miria-neesan'. She will follow her orders respectfully, though she treats her like an equal.

Dietrich
Helen is often exasperated by Dietrich's serious attitude, calling her 'no fun'. She does follow her advice however and considers her a comrade.

Behind the Scenes

 * She has a song on the Claymore Intimate Persona CD sung by her voice actor, called Doukoku, meaning 'wailing'.
 * In the anime, during the final episodes, she attempted to aid Clare by fighting Priscilla but was struck down in the process. She recovered completely and is last seen deserting the Organization with Deneve.
 * During a DVD commentary during the Awakened Being Hunt (her first appearance), Helen's English voice actor calls her "The Claymore that went to the mall", referring to Helen's attitude and wide emotional range.