Claire Augustus is a 24-year-old[1] intern at the Williston Library of Smif College. She was introduced in strip 2203, and her name was revealed in strip 2207, along with her fellow interns Emily and Gabby.
Family
She is Clinton's sister[2] - not that she's particularly fond of the fact[3]. They are NOT twins[4]. They seem to be close and supportive underneath the squabbling and teasing. Their parents are divorced[5].
Career and personality
Claire tends to be a bit high-strung about her internship at the library[6], and jumped to the conclusion that the inept way Marten showed them around the library was "some kind of weird hazing ritual."[7] This may have been representative of a general tendency to jump to conclusions[8].
She is good at taking things in stride in other circumstances, though, for example meeting Marten's family and even his AnthroPC[9].
Claire really wants to be a librarian, giving Marten her reasons here. She likes books, too.
History
Claire's character is somewhat unusual in that Jeph had been sketching her out for some time prior to introducing her in the comic.[10]
Sex and drugs and rock&roll
Claire is attracted to men[11][12][13]. The only recreational drug we have seen her use is alcohol, and she seems unused to it[14]. She is on hormone-replacement medication and occasionally uses Ativan[15].
Her musical tastes are eclectic but include the indie band Low[16]. She vehemently dislikes at least one techno piece[17].
Other characteristics
Claire has luxuriant but unruly[18][19] hair.
Claire's character is the first known human transgender character to appear in QC[20]. Jeph revealed that he was nervous about revealing this fact, as he has wanted to include a trans character for years, but wanted to execute it properly.[8]
There may be other trans characters in the comic. Both Bianchi cats have undergone sex reassignment (Princess[21][22], Mieville[23][http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=442]). Unless of course Questionable Content is a work of fiction whose author sometimes gets minor details wrong. And perhaps Dora was just talking about neutering the cat...
Claire owns a car[24], and is the only other main character (besides Raven [25]) to have this fact confirmed in the comic.
A fan (Josh Bryant, aka "Su1c1deK1ng") noted on Twitter that Claire may be an unintentional copy of a character in Calvin and Hobbes[26].
There is a funny strip just about Claire trying on dresses for Henry Reed's wedding[27].
Speculation
Claire and Hannelore share a love of organization[28] and might become friends.
