Ophelia

Ophelia was ranked #4 in her time and widely known among her fellow warriors as a sadistic sociopath of a warrior. Despite the law among warriors that killing humans is strictly forbidden under pain of death, it is hinted that she murdered humans to sate her bloodlust, giving her the nickname "Blood-Soaked Warrior"(血塗られた凶戦士, Chinurareta Kyōsenshi, literally Blood-Smeared Wicked Warrior), but her crimes remain undiscovered or unproven.

Her self-invented nickname is "Rippling Ophelia" (漣のオフィーリア, Sazanami no Ofīria), after her trademark sword movement. But in the anime version, she used the title "Ophelia of the Ripples".

Appearance
Claymore: Ophelia has long pale silver hair that she wears in a long tidy plait and her hairline is a strong widow's peak. Her eyes are silver, like all warriors, and she is a little taller than Clare. Like Irene, she has elf-like pointed ears.

Awakened Form: Her hair is darker, her eyes are golden and her skin is a greenish colour. Blades grow from her back and her elongated arms are clawed. Her lower body is a very long snake's tail like a lamia. She somewhat is similar to a Gorgon like Medusa from Clash of the Titans.

Early Life
It is unknown what happened to Ophelia's parents but her older brother was killed and devoured by Awakened Priscilla as he protected Ophelia from the One Horned Monster. Witnessing this act spawned her grudge against Yoma, particularly Awakened Beings, and her vow to 'slay the one-horned monster'.

Employment as a Claymore
Presumably, she was found by a member of the organization and turned into a warrior. Ophelia became very powerful and ascended the ranks to Number 4, perhaps succeeding Sophia. Wanting a nickname like Phantom Miria and Windcutter Flora, she invented a move involving swift undulation of her sword arm so her sword has the appearance of rippling. So she gave herself the name, "Rippling Ophelia".

During her time as a Claymore, she gained the reputation of being sadistic and bloodthirsty. It is hinted that she committed the capital crime of killing humans but killed all who would give evidence against her so she was not punished.

She also displayed sadistic tendencies towards her fellow Claymores. When Hilda was about to awaken, she asked Ophelia to give her Black Card to Miria so she could die as a human. However, Ophelia ripped it to pieces, condemning Hilda to awaken. She was in the Awakened Being hunt that was sent to kill Hilda and so was Miria. When Miria discovered when it was Hilda she had slain, Ophelia showed signs of interest when she began to Awaken from the shock. This was the reason that spawned Miria's dislike of Ophelia.

Awakened Being Hunt with Clare
Ophelia's dangerous behavior may be the result of her many Awakened Being hunts. It is hinted that she did some hunts on her own. She was assigned to hunt a former single-digit warrior with Clare. Upon meeting Clare, she proceeded to taste her blood until Raki intervened. This resulted in playing her own sadistic game in which she sliced off Clare's legs and fought Raki until she could repair her them. Ophelia's game was interrupted by the appearance of the Awakened Being.

When Clare partially awakened to save Raki and repair her legs, Ophelia's interest in her grew. When Clare fled with Raki, she proceeded to fight the Awakened Being herself. Despite having her head turned 180 degrees, she killed the Awakened Being and pursued Clare. After cornering her on a cliff-face, she proceeds to battle her. Ophelia has the upper-hand due to her rippling sword ability and soon uses it to cut off Clare's right arm. When Clare fell down the cliff, Ophelia follows her, suspicious that she kept a hold on her arm. When Clare attempts to reattach it, Ophelia cuts it to shreds, realizing that Clare is an offensive type warrior and thus preventing her from regenerating it. After another battle, Ophelia manages to cut off Clare's other hand and would have killed her while she was disarmed and helpless. Despite her own vow of vengeance, she mocks Clare for her resolve to live on for Raki and Teresa.

The battle is then interrupted by the arrival of Irene. Irritated at having her 'fun interrupted', Ophelia proceeds to strike her but, even with her rippling sword, she cannot match Irene's Quicksword and is soon defeated by her.

Awakening and Death
After her defeat, she remains scared of what happened and begs for her older brother to save her. However, she spitefully rebukes herself for being weak and, in her rage at Irene, she unwittingly awakens. She soon comes across Clare and proceeds to battle her. Upon realizing that she is not good to devour, she attempts to drown Clare in a lake. Ophelia doesn't realise she has Awakened until she sees her reflection in the water.

Stricken and distraught at having become the very thing she hated, she strikes out at Clare. After Clare severs both her arms, she gathers all human portions of herself at the end of her tail. Ophelia then introduces another game: if Clare can use the Quicksword to shred her body up to her human part, then she will leave her vow of vengeance with her but, if Clare Awakens before she can get to her human part, she 'loses'.

Ophelia only makes one attempt to stop her but then remembers her brother's sacrifice and allows Clare to continue. In the end, Clare 'wins' and Ophelia allows her to strike the final blow. Her body floated in the lake and was later discovered by the organization who presumably buried her with her abandoned sword.

Personality
Ophelia is first described as a sadistic and bloodthirsty warrior with no shame or morals by Miria. This is proven true when Clare encounters her. When causing injury and death, she is playful and gleeful in the bloodshed. She delights in toying with her prey before destroying it. Ophelia has a grudge against Awakened Beings especially since the Awakened Priscilla killed her older brother before her. Despite her own grudges, she talks down to those who hold them. She seems fascinated with blood and enjoys the taste of it.

She has an ongoing obsession with Awakened Beings. She insists on hunting and engaging only Awakened Beings in combat and has little concern for the Claymores who do. This is shown in her permissive attitude toward Hilda's awakening and her excitement at the prospect of Miria's awakening. One theory could be that she hunts only Awakened in order to train and develop her power to face Priscilla (as Clare did early in her career focusing only on youki detection) - this however is never realized.

Her vanity and arrogance is apparent when she expresses her wish for a personal nickname and invents a unique sword technique simply to gain one. Despite her sadistic nature, she speaks in a polite, feminine way until someone 'interrupts her fun', when she speaks in a rude and blunt manner.

However, she showed her redeeming qualities at the end of her life, even being helpful to the one she'd previously been trying to kill. Ultimately, she sacrifices herself with dignity rather than let her Awakened Being instincts take over and let herself become the very thing she hates.

Therefore in an ironic way Ophelia regained her humanity after awakening instead of losing it.

Abilities
Incredible Constitution: The Awakened Being she was assigned to fight with Clare twisted her head 180 degrees. Ophelia managed to not only survive what would have killed a human but she also successfully twisted it back round again. Despite a small trickle of blood from her mouth, she suffered no other ill effects. She commented to the Awakened that she should have beheaded her instead - possibly suggesting this had happened to Ophelia before, due to her calmness. Ophelia, when confronted by Irene, survived Irene's Quick-Sword (Flash Sword) technique with enough stamina to retreat to the forest, despite the obvious heavy damage. Although it is not stated how much power Irene put into the attack; Ophelia was quickly overwhelmed.

Rippling Sword: In order to receive a unique nickname, Ophelia invented a sword technique that involves swift undulation of her sword arm so her sword appears to be rippling. The optical illusion it creates makes "forecasting" extremely difficult. She uses this ability to avoid her attacks being blocked by Clare but this ability was not effective against Irene's Quicksword technique.

Inner Focus: Awakened Ophelia was able to move her (remaining) real (human) body (with her vital organs) inside her Awakened "shell or exoskeleton" snake-naga-gorgon body down to her tail. Clare stabbed this real (human) body of Ophelia's roughly through the heart, fatally injuring her (Ophelia didn't die instantly, she died as she sunk down into the water).

Brother
Ophelia was close to her older brother, who protected her fatally from Priscilla. On his death, she vowed to avenge him by 'slaying the one-horned monster'. She never shows these feelings outwardly, however.

Other Claymores
Ophelia seems to have no close relationships between warriors. Indeed, she enjoys seeing them in pain and often did things deliberately to make them suffer. She seems to like doing her work on her own since she sees Clare as merely an 'extra' in the Awakened Being hunt. Her arrogance makes her think that she has no equal among her comrades.

Hilda
Ophelia knew Hilda only briefly. She met Hilda in the woods having picked up on her youki where she found Hilda somewhat blindly searching for Miria (as she was on the verge of awakening). Having a fondness of fighting awakened beings and looking for good sport - Ophelia took the card and tore it up defiantly. As a result of shredding up the Black Card Hilda gave her meant for Miria, she condemned Hilda to awaken.

Miria
Miria was sent on a hunt to slay Hilda and it was only after she was slain did Miria realise that it was her friend. In her shock, she began to Awaken. Ophelia showed interest when this happened and it is probable she prevented the Black Card reaching Miria simply for her to Awaken.

Clare
Initially, Ophelia looks down at Clare for her low amount of power and toys with her and Raki. She plays sadistic games with them until Clare partially Awakens. It is only then does Ophelia show interest in her and pursue her with the intent to torture and kill her. She seemingly sees Clare as more of an opponent rather than a toy, even when Ophelia herself Awakens.

When she realizes what has happened to herself, she seems to show her respect for Clare and does the equivalent of giving her Black Card to her. She allows Clare to kill her and 'puts her resolve' in Clare's hands.

Etymology
Ophelia derives from the Greek word for help. It is the name of a character in Hamlet who loses her sanity and drowns. This might be an allusion to Ophelia's madness and sadism. It may also contribute to the fact that Ophelia's body was left floating in a lake.

Behind the Scenes

 * Ophelia's voice actor in the anime is Emi Shinohara.
 * Ophelia has a song sung by her voice actor on the Claymore Intimate Persona album released while the anime was being recorded. This song is called 'Zōo', translated as 'Hatred'.
 * The same women that voice her in english had voiced the Black Snake from Black Blood Brothers and Medusa from Soul Eater.Not only that they all have to do something with ophidians ( snakes ).

Appearances

 * Claymore Manga Chapter 31
 * Claymore Manga Chapter 32
 * Claymore Manga Chapter 33
 * Claymore Manga Chapter 34
 * Claymore Manga Chapter 35
 * Claymore Manga Chapter 36
 * Claymore Manga Chapter 37
 * Claymore Manga Chapter 39
 * Claymore Manga Chapter 40
 * Claymore Anime Episode 12
 * Claymore Anime Episode 13
 * Claymore Anime Episode 14