Claude Aldrich

Claude Aldrich, is the chosen Wielder of King Jethro's Earth element and is the second main character of Kirsten Nimwey's first and featured novel series, The Explorers.

Appearance and Personality
''“It is you who taught me on how to behave that way. Remember the time when the baker in Damsville caught me when I stole their bread? They almost killed me, but it was you who came by to protect me from sure harm. I will never forget that, Kenji.”''

- Claude to Kenji

Claude is Kenji's best friend and close companion and is considered to be the deuteragonist of the novel. He is the chosen Element Wielder of King Jethro's Earth element. Due to the power of his element, Claude possesses superhuman ability in his right arm, which the Wielders believe it is called as "Godhand".

Claude is a loner and less friendly compared to other characters as he is very short-tempered, impatient, and a hot-headed person. He gets easily mad from practical jokes or pranks from his friends. Sometimes, the Explorers (especially Clio and Zoroaster) refer him as "Mr. Eyebrow" because of his thick eyebrows.

Claude wears a caramel hooded sweatshirt with a white shirt inside, a grayish slouch pants, and a pair of black boots. He has some accessories in his body like a necklace, a glove in his right hand which is his primary weapon, a cross-shaped earring in his left ear, and a red long headband, His hair is short and black, with blue eyes combined with thick eyebrows. His body built is average with fair skin tone. Although Claude is younger than Kenji, he is slightly taller than him by an inch.

Etymology
Roman family name Claudius, from Latin claudus "lame".

Claude, both a masculine and feminine name, is a derivative of the Roman name Claudius, which is, in turn, derived from the Latin claudus “lame” “crippled.” Claudius was originally the surname of a great Roman family (Julio-Claudian dynasty), but it came to be used as a first name by Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, known as the Roman Emperor Claudius. He’s mentioned simply as Claudius in the New Testament: “There he (Paul) met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.” (Acts 18:2)

Trivia

 * Claude's last name was firstly named as Skywalker, but later on it changed into Aldrich.
 * His only main signature is his long red headband, a reference to his inspirational character design, Ryu from Street Fighter.
 * Claude's primary weapon is glove, but sometimes he is also wearing an arm brace depending on the glove type he is wearing. His glove weapons are usually worn in his right hand only, but if you look at his main appearance on the The Explorers Book 1's cover, it appears that the glove is in his left hand.
 * Although Claude's name is pronounced as "KLOD" (French) and "KLAWD" (English), his name in Filipino version is literally pronounced as "KLAWDE".
 * Claude is named after the French composer, Claude Debussy.
 * Claude was the first and original Water Wielder, but later on changed to becoming the Earth Wielder and made Prince Maximus the new Water Wielder.
 * In the original The Explorers comic version (2006), his main nemesis is Lucky.