Teresa

''"This little girl, who's not even half my size... taught me that tears can flow even from these silver eyes." - ''Teresa of the Faint Smile

Teresa was Claymore No. 1 of the 77th generation of Claymores, and is the 182nd warrior to be created by the Organization. She is known to be one of the eight most powerful No.1 Claymores of all time, and possibly even the strongest warrior the Organization has ever produced.

She was known as "Teresa of the Faint Smile" (微笑のテレサ, Bishō no Teresa, lit. "Smiling Teresa") for the faintest of smiles that graced her face as she effortlessly slaughtered yoma. Her power was so great that she rarely had to use even ten percent of her Yoki.

Etymology
"Teresa" is a transliteration of the Japanese "Teresa" (テレサ, pronounced "te-re-sah" or "te-re-zah").

In the West, "Teresa" was originally a 4th-century Spanish name, confined to Spain and Portugal, until the 17th century. The word "Teresa" was possibly derived from the Greek θέρος, meaning "heat" or "summer," or θερίζω, meaning "to harvest." It could also have been derived from Θηρασία, an island in the volcanic island group of Santorini in the Greek Cyclades.

In the series, Teresa is depicted as one of the Twin Goddesses of Love, the other being Clare.

Human
In a dream, Teresa remembered her once long, black hair, and dark eyes, and was permanently haunted by the betrayal of the people she trusted, and were responsible for her being sold to the Organization.

Claymore
Teresa had long, wavy, pale blonde hair parted down the middle, which she wore loose. She had silver eyes like all other Claymores, and wore the standard uniform.

Height: 180 cm (5 ft 10.86 in)—same height as Irene (Ilena in the manga)

Personality
As a trainee, Teresa always attempted to escape. She was known as a "problem child."

Before Teresa met Clare, she was a cold-blooded, solitary killer who would accept any assignment without complaint. She would often intimidate the townsfolk and made it sound as if the Organization was responsible for sending yoma to towns that did not pay the required fees. When Teresa met Clare, she was obstinate to have the little girl follow her around and even physically beat and kicked her away. When Clare did not give up following her, however, she opened up her heart and her former cold personality changed and she became very attached to her. In Irene's opinion, being with Clare had caused Teresa's heart to lose its toughness as a warrior. Though eventually this change led to Teresa's death, Irene theorized Teresa was happier in her last days because of Clare and would not have changed her actions would she have had the chance to relive her life.

Acute Yoki Sensing
Teresa possessed an exceptionally sensitive ability of yoki sensing. She could detect minute changes in the flow of yoki in both yoma and Claymores alike, accurately predicting and defending against their every move. As a child, Teresa was also able to track down Rafaela, who had completely erased her aura after the incident with Luciela, in the woods. Irene concludes that Teresa's adeptness at sensing yoki was the main reason why she was the top notch warrior.

After Teresa's death, Clare inherited this gift by taking in her flesh.

Unrivaled Yoki Power
Augmenting Teresa's already superior physical qualities was her massive yoki. A mere ten-percent release was enough to easily frighten and dispatch an awakened Rosemary, who was a former No. 1, and to defeat a near-awakened Priscilla, the incredibly powerful No.2 warrior of Teresa's generation who became the strongest character in the series subsequent to her awakening.

Organization Rating
From Claymore Databook 1.


 * Yoki: S (Special Level of Ability)
 * Agility: A
 * Muscular Strength: A
 * Spirit: A
 * Perception: S
 * Leadership: B

Early Life
Teresa's early life is vague. She guessed that her parents named her after one of the Twin Goddesses of Love. In her dreams, she remembered having black hair, that she believed was her best feature. At some point in her life, she was sold to the Organization by the people she trusted. It wasn't clear whether it was her family, or the town she was from.

During her Claymore training, she was called a "problem child" by her handler. It was during one of her escape attempts that she met Rafaela in a yoma-infested forest.

As a Claymore, Teresa was a cold-blooded killer who cared for no one, performing her assignments in a blase manner. She liked to frighten clients with horror stories. She outwardly appeared to be obedient, but was not above keeping some secrets from the Organization, and even had her own suspicions about dubious actions.

Her handler was Orsay.

Time with Clare
In the village of Theo, Teresa sensed the yoki of seven yoma. After killing six, she spotted the seventh hiding behind a young girl. After killing the Yoma, Teresa discovered that the girl was kept as a prisoner and toy of the yoma.

Despite rebuffs to the mysterious girl's attempts at affection, the girl persisted. The mystery girl followed Teresa through the wilderness and despite Teresa's initial annoyance, she eventually became fond of the young girl. Teresa named the girl Clare, after the Twin Goddesses of Love, Clare and Teresa. Clare mutely affirmed that it was indeed her name. A few nights before Teresa had a run in with some bandits, where she accidently cut off one bandit's hand, the rest off the bandits soon revealed themselves afterwards where the leader states the cardinal rule: "that Claymores couldn't kill humans" implying that they could do anything to her (rape her) without fear of being killed. Teresa then smiles and tells them: "Is that all?" and shows them her terrible wound telling them she would gladly "have fun with all of them" driving away the bandits. The bandit who had his hand cut off then tracks down Teresa to rape her. Teresa then states that he saw her body and that he wouldn't gain any pleasure from raping her, the bandit the replies it was to humiliate her. Afterwards Clare awakens Teresa's lost compassion, leading Teresa to say:

"This little girl, who's not even half my size... taught me that tears can flow even from these silver eyes."

From that point onwards, Teresa began openly displaying her affection for Clare without holding back. However, she decided to leave Clare with foster parents in Rokut, believing a normal life would be best for the young girl. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, the village was raided by a group of bandits. Teresa rushed back to save Clare and seeing the latter's bloodied form, Teresa flew into a rage. She killed all the bandits, breaking the cardinal rule that a Claymore should never kill humans, no matter what the circumstances.

Battle with Priscilla
By breaking the Organization's cardinal rule, Teresa became a target for execution. At the execution site, instead of accepting her punishment, Teresa disabled all five of the Claymores tasked to slay her. She calmly said that she had found a reason to live—Clare.

Priscilla (Claymore No. 2), Irene (No. 3), Noel (No. 4) and Sophia (No. 5) were then summoned to execute Teresa. Teresa defeated them easily but considered killing Priscilla, noting the monstrous potential the younger Claymore possessed. However, Clare had softened her warrior heart. Thus, she spared Priscilla and left the town with Clare.

Priscilla, her idealist views shattered, went into a fit and pursued Teresa. Priscilla released over 70% of her yoki and attacked in blind rage. However, she still lost to Teresa, who released a mere 10% of her yoki. Priscilla, then, passed her limit and begged Teresa to euthanize her before she fully awakened. Teresa agreed to do so, lowering her yoki release and shifting her eye color back to silver. Priscilla, then, grabbed her sword and struck. Teresa's arms were cut off first before she was decapitated. This cast some doubt whether Priscilla deliberately lured in Teresa to strike her down when she least expected it. After this, Priscilla completely awakened.

Clare, then, decided on using the Organization as a means of revenge. She carried Teresa's head back into the town and wandered, searching for a man-in-black. Upon meeting Rubel, she demanded that Teresa's flesh and blood be put inside her own body.

Clare
At first Teresa was irritated by Clare's persistence in following her. Eventually, she became attached to the young girl and the two eventually developed a mother-daughter relationship. Teresa also comments about how Clare taught her true love and how the two forged an unbreakable bond.

Irene
While Irene showed familiarity with Teresa at the start of the battle, it was unclear what sort of friendship, if any, existed beforehand.

Priscilla
Teresa is an object of obsession for Priscilla. She sees Teresa as evil for killing humans. During her battle with Dauf, she regained her memory of the incident with Teresa and expressed delight that she would be able to kill her again.

Behind the Scenes

 * Teresa has a song on the Claymore Intimate Persona CD called "Tensei" meaning "Reincarnation."