Teresa biographical information and vital statistics

• Rank Number: No. 1
• Generation: 77th
• Alias: Teresa of the faint smile
• Strengths: Perception ability and Yoki power
• Status: Dead

Teresa’s Backstory

Teresa’s back story is unclear mainly because she doesn’t tell much about her life before becoming a warrior. The only time she talks about her life is when she remembers her dreams of the past. She remembers having long black wavy hair and black eyes. 

Teresa’s Family Background

She also says that she might have been named by her parents after one of the twin goddesses of love: Teresa and Clare.

What we do know is that Teresa was sold to the organization by the people she trusted. Because of this, Teresa has trust issues. It’s the reason why she has no friends, even among her batch-mates. It is why it takes her so long to accept Clare.

Teresa’s time in training

During her time as a trainee in the Organization, she often escapes to see the town and visit the forest. During one of her escapes, she meets Rafaela in a forest full of Yomas. Rafaela is then brought back by one of Teresa’s handlers in training to the Organization, along with Teresa. 

Teresa’s relationship with The Organization

Teresa has always been a problematic child to the Organization. 

When she becomes a fully fledged warrior with a rank, she keeps up an obedient act, while all the while remaining very cautious of the Organization’s questionable deeds. She remains this way until she meets Clare who changes her life forever. 

Teresa’s Appearance

As a human, Teresa had long black wavy hair. Her eyes were also black. In the manga, Teresa describes her human look after she remembers it in a dream. She was exceptionally beautiful even at a young age. 

After her transformation, Teresa kept her long wavy hair. But her hair color was changed into light blonde, and her eyes turned silver. Her beautiful hair accentuates her elegant and proportionate face. 

One of the key features of Teresa really is her beauty. Her seemingly mature but highly seductive look makes many a red-blooded male anime fan look twice.

If all claymore were ranked according to beauty, Teresa would surely be in the top running for the number one spot!

But it’s not just her beauty. Her mannerisms and her voice, both in Japanese and English dub, are mesmerizing. Her elegance is second to none. Her movements when she fights! You can tell that she has had her fair share of battles. You can see in her very moves why she has earned the no. 1 spot. 

Teresa is the embodiment of the word “Finesse”.

Teresa’s Uniform

Terese’s uniform is pretty standard for a Claymore. Her crest symbol sports a triton. 

Aside from her beauty, Teresa is hard to distinguish from the other warriors. Her outward appearance is largely typical of a Claymore. 

Nor does Teresa have special moves that make it easy for her to be identified. She is swift which can be seen in the way she can easily dodge her opponent’s attacks.  Because of her wide experience, she’s got good fighting skills across the board.

According to Ilena, Noel and Sophia are far more powerful when it comes to tactical abilities.  Ilena aslo lists herself as being a superior tactician to Teresa. 

However, Teresa’s gift of being able to perceive Yoki aura makes a huge difference to her abilities as warrior. This skill is not very obvious to her fellow warriors. 

Teresa’s Strengths and Skills

Yoki aura

Teresa’s greatest skill is her ability to sense Yoki aura. Indeed, her ability goes beyond that. She can read the minute flow of Yoki in every part of her target’s body. She can predict the action of her targets. This is evident in Clare’s ability which she inherits from Teresa. 

Being able to see every detail of a warrior’s Yoki aura means Teresa can easily foresee her enemy’s actions. She can thus counter their attacks every time, which makes her a formidable opponent. This makes the character of Priscilla the perfect opponent.  Priscilla can fight while suppressing her Yoki aura, making it difficult for Teresa to read Priscilla’s moves and presence.

Battles Skills

In addition to her perception ability, Teresa also has a lot of experience in Battle. In fact, she is able to kill two previous No.1s and fight several awakened beings. 

During her first fight with Priscilla, Teresa eventually stops relying on her special sensing abilities. These abilities are useless against Priscilla so she fights using her more general warrior instincts. This immediately changes the tide of the fight. 

She has other opponents at the time (Noel, Sophia, and Ilena) so she has to switch back and forth between sensing ability and regular fighting. This would be very difficult for an ordinary warrior. But because Teresa has years of experience fighting a range of enemies, she’s able to master the art of switching between two modes in an instant. 

Yoki Power

It is not only that she has a special ability, and long experience in battle, but Teresa’s own Yoki power far exceeds ordinary Claymore. In fact, according to the manga, her Yoki is comparable to that of an Abyssal. Having powerful Yoki power is important in order to activate a Claymore’s other abilities. 

Regeneration ability

Her Yoki power is the reason why Teresa also has an exceptional regeneration ability, even as an attacker type. Attacker types are known to have lesser regeneration ability. They are known to be only able to heal minor wounds without being able to regenerate lost body parts whatsoever.  Teresa exceeds even ordinary defence-type warriors who can regenerate severed body parts, with the notable exception of the head. 

Combining all these strengths, Teresa is one of the only 8 warriors in the history of the Organization that can rival an Abyssal being without awakening.

Teresa’s Personality

Teresa is known to be cold and ruthless. She never misses the opportunity to kill when necessary. Here is a list of some of her personal traits:

• Before she met Clare, Teressa was very hard on her subordinates. 
• Aside from her cold personality, Teresa also likes to tease those around her. She frightens her clients with scary stories and makes them tremble in fear. 
• She likes sarcasm. 
• She is very open about sharing her feelings when she’s not happy about something. In spite of this, you would not see her as someone who’s crass. 
• She is somewhat free-spirited but mindful of what she says especially when dealing with the Organization.
• She never reveals her trump card. This is one of the reasons why The Organization had trouble getting rid of her, in spite of her rebellious behavior. 
• She knows she is strong and she is confident with her battle strengths. 
• Teresa remains level-headed and calm in any battle.
• Teresa is not one who takes no for an answer. If she changes her mind, it stays changed. This is the reason she loves Clare. Clare was persistent enough to make Teresa change her mind.
• According to Ilena, Teresa became soft when she met Clare. Teresa is turned into a conscientious warrior, which sometimes “clouds her judgement”. Nonetheless, she remains fierce and confident without being arrogant. 
• She became a little more empathic throughout her time with Clare. 

Theories About Teresa

What is Teresa from Claymore’s Age?

The general consensus among fans is that Teressa must be around 22 years old. Others say that she would be closer to 37-40 years old when she meets Clare.  

However, you need to remember that Claymores stop ageing just after puberty – some fans say around 21 years old. 

Teresa is from the 77^th generation and has killed two No.1s by the time she meets Clare. it’s really hard to say each Claymore’s age.

Many fans try to hypothesize Teresa’s age using the number of years gap between each generation. But here is really no precise, set gap period between warrior generations. When a warrior is killed, she is replaced from the pool of warriors in training. 

For example, Miria is from the 127^th generation while Clare is from the 130^th. Despite that, Miria and Clare are still under the same ranking system since Miria was able to maintain her rank over time. 

Another example is No.5, Raphaela. She met Teresa when they were both still young. And yet, Raphaela still ranks as No.5, even in Clare’s time. 

So age calculation based on the generation-gap is next to impossible. There is an inconsistency in years between each generation. 

Consequently, Teresa’s age is not something fans can easily theorize about, as there is little firm foundation on what to base conjecture on.  At the end of the day, it is really only the author that can really say what each Claymore’s ages are. 

Why is Teresa called “Teresa of the faint smile”

Many warriors identify her by her smile whenever she kills Yoma and she, thus, earns the nickname of “Teresa of the faint smile”.

Awakening and relationship between Teresa & Clare

In the later part of the manga, it wasn’t explicitly said whether it was Clare who awakened and turned into Teresa or if it was really the awakened Teresa who took over Clare’s body. In the manga, it was said that something was trying to awaken inside of Clare. But it was never mentioned whether Teresa was alive inside of Clare or if it was just Clare’s conviction that transformed into Teresa. 

In a scene where Teresa fights Priscilla, Teresa has a conversion in her mind with Clare.  Clare morphs into Teresa. Teresa tells Clare that she will always be with her inside her own mind. It is not clear whether this is meant literally or figuratively. Teresa also says that she has become the way she is because Clare has imagined her that way. In reality, Teresa is not as strong as the version of her that is conjured by Clare during the final fight with Priscilla.

This may mean that Clare may only have transformed into Teresa out of her own desire to see Teresa again. 

At the beginning of the last fight, Teresa tells Priscilla that she had returned to resolve unfinished business – namely killing Priscilla. When Clare transforms into Teresa, Galatea sees a different Yoki aura with her “God eye”. This could imply that the awakened being (Teresa) might be a different entity to Clare. 

But as long as the author doesn’t clarify this information, I would like to think that Clare unintentionally turned into the kind of Teresa she always envisioned her to be. And that this is just another form of awakening. Instead of a Yoma, another warrior is implanted in Clare.

Conclusion

Teresa is one of the most important characters from Claymore. Not only because of her exceptional beauty, but also because of her exceptional ability. While there were many mysteries about her character, she is an iconic character in the Otaku community. 

In conclusion, Teresa is a strong and admirable character. She is selfless, putting others before herself, and is fiercely loyal to her friends. She is an excellent fighter and strategist, able to think on her feet and adapt to any situation. Her tragic backstory only makes her more sympathetic and relatable, and her determination to fight for what’s right is inspirational. Teresa is a true hero, and someone to look up to.

Contributor

Article by John Salinas.

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