Clara Barrett

Clara Barrett was the Ultimate Scientist. She was a member of the Ultimate Knowledge. She was responsible for the events of Danganronpa: Cold Horizon

## Appearance

Clara is about a normal height for a person her age, but as far as her appearance goes, that may just be the only normal thing about her. Upon a first glance, undoubtedly the first thing you would notice is her long, messy, bright orange hair, which twists in untidy knots all the way down her back and almost to her knees, suggesting that she has never had a haircut in her life. Under her mess of hair, Clara has a pale but freckled face, never decorated with any cosmetics or make-up, but instead, perpetually littered with various minor cuts, burns, and other inexplicable marks. Clara’s eyes are a bright, intelligent blue, almost always wide with emotion. They are framed by her thick, white safety goggles, which she never seems to take off.

As for her attire, her most notable item of clothing is a tattered old white lab coat, which looks just a little too big for her, and is covered in all sorts of peculiar stains and holes. Underneath, the rest of her clothes aren't much neater, but at least look newer and cleaner. She usually wears smart purple shirts, although they will often be scruffily worn, with visible creases and the top button undone. She wears brown cargo trousers, held up by a thick leather belt, outfitted with various slots and pouches which carry her assorted tools and Scientific equipment. On her feet, she will wear a pair of faded, unpolished black boots, over just about any socks imaginable, except, seemingly, any socks that ever match. The whole outfit comes together in such a way that makes it seem like she only cares about the utility of what she is wearing, with not a single thought spared for how she looks.

*Written by UniqueImpact*

## Personality

Clara comes across as very energetic and extraverted, to the degree you could describe her as hyperactive. She has a low attention span, and she gets bored easily, so she always has to be doing something. Often, this will be something completely spontaneous, without much of a thought put into things like whether it is safe, or even possible. She is naturally very curious and optimistic, and so is always open to trying new things. She talks a lot, even if there is nobody around, and has a habit of changing the topic of conversation on a whim. In a single word, her general behaviour could be described as “chaotic”.

Clara has schizophrenia, which causes her to sometimes experience hallucinations and delusions. Her hallucinations can be of just about anything, and can seem very realistic to her. This can sometimes cause her to be confused about what is real and what is imaginary, but she can calm them down if she is able to calm herself down first and focus.

Despite all of her quirks and oddities, Clara is still quite intelligent. When she has a goal in mind, she is willing to focus on that goal, and go to even very extreme extents to achieve that goal. She is also very cunning and manipulative, allowing her to get seemingly very close to people and influence them without them knowing. Her outwardly "crazy" personality often causes others to misjudge her, and she is more than willing to use this to her advantage.

*Written by UniqueImpact*

## Story

### Backstory

Clara was born to Michael and Amanda Barrett on the 11th of December, in London. At the time, her father was a medicinal researcher, and her mother was an electrical engineer. The two had met a few years earlier at university, while both working on PhDs, and started dating. After they both graduated, they got married and moved to London for work, before deciding to have a child. Their jobs afforded them good salaries, so by the time the twins were born, they had a decent home in London, which they and their two daughters could live in comfortably.

From a very young age, Clara showed a great curiosity and interest in the world. From more or less the moment she started speaking, she would ask seemingly endless streams of questions. When she was given toys to play with, she would instead take them apart to see what was inside. And, whenever she was taken outside, she had to be watched especially carefully to make sure she couldn’t wander off on her own, in search of adventure. Needless to say, her parents were often exhausted, but at the same time, they were delighted to see all of these positive signs in their daughter, and optimistic about her future.

Some of Clara’s favourite places to go in her early childhood were those such as zoos, libraries, or museums; in other words, anywhere she could go to learn something new. Naturally, then, Clara absolutely loved school. From her very first day, Clara thrived in the classroom, frequently impressing her teachers with her curiosity, ingenuity and passion for learning. She was often among the top of her class in many subjects, and was particularly good at figuring things out for herself, even before they were taught to her. By many accounts, she was a “star pupil”.

However, just as often as she was praised by her teachers, Clara was also labelled as a “misbehaver”. Frequently, she would disrupt lessons by shouting out over the teacher, or getting up to do something without permission. She had a “bad habit” of letting her attention drift when she was supposed to be listening or working. And, worst of all, she seemed to have absolutely no respect for the school rules or health and safety. On one occasion, for example, Clara had literally been playing with fire, leading to her accidentally setting a classmate's hair alight. Or, on another occasion, she accidentally broke a classmate's nose while trying to stack loose bricks on the playground. Over her years at primary school, she inadvertently caused numerous such incidents, and no matter how many times she was told off or punished for her behaviour, she never seemed to stop. This is because, to Clara, learning about the world was more important than anything. She didn't care about the risks or consequences; she just wanted to learn.

When Clara turned 10, she was visited by her grandfather, Murphy, who told her that he was the leader of a secret organisation called the Ultimate Knowledge, and that he wanted to invite her into it. Murphy had seen potential in Clara's abilities, and wanted to recruit her to join. Murphy offered Clara any resources, equipment or funding she wanted in exchange, and Clara accepted right away. While in the Ultimate Knowledge, Clara learned about their desire to learn and document everything they could about the universe, and create a utopia where everyone can know everything. Clara subscribed to their ideology, and from then on, devoted her life to the cause. While working for the Ultimate Knowledge, Clara invented a number of groundbreaking pieces of technology. This included the creation of the first Time Machine capable of transporting objects through time, as well a Memory Machine, capable of changing or clearing peoples' memories.

When Clara got a bit older, she learned about a theoretical concept called the Essence of Talent. It was thought that this was some sort of energy that existed within highly talented individuals, that enabled them to achieve skill far beyond what any ordinary person could. Clara was intrigued by this idea, and so put all of her efforts into researching it. To get closer to the people who she thought most likely possessed this Essence of Talent, she entered the Ultimate Academy as the Ultimate Scientist. She hypothesised that it would be far easier to research and observe the Essence of Talent if the subjects were put into a high-stakes situation. So, she planned the first Killing Game Experiment, where she would kidnap a class of Ultimate students from the school to play a game of life or death, while she observed and collected data.

*Written by UniqueImpact*