Clarke Griffin
| Clarke Griffin | |
|---|---|
| |
.png) Eliza Taylor as Clarke Griffin in the television series The 100. | |
| First appearance | |
| Last appearance |
|
| Created by | |
| Portrayed by | Eliza Taylor |
| Information | |
| Aliases |
|
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation |
|
| Family |
|
| Significant other(s) | |
Clarke Griffin is a fictional character from the American post-apocalyptic young adult science fiction novel series The 100 by Kass Morgan, and the television series of the same name on The CW. She is the lead character in both the trilogy and the television series, where she is portrayed by Eliza Taylor. She first appears in Morgan's first novel, The 100, and later in the pilot episode of the television series, as a prisoner on a space colony charged with treason. Clarke was one of the original hundred delinquents sent down to Earth to test if it was habitable again after a nuclear apocalypse destroyed it almost a century prior.
Character
Novels
Clarke Griffin was born and raised in a space colony above Earth to Dr. David and Mary Griffin. She is a medical student who hopes to follow her parents' footsteps as a physician, taught by the Council's chief medical adviser Dr. Lahiri. She is also in a relationship with the colony's Chancellor's son, Wells Jaha. Clarke discovers that her parents are conducting illegal experiments on children under threat of the corrupt Vice Chancellor Rhodes. She confides in Wells, who despite swearing his secrecy, tells his father, hoping to save the Griffins from Rhodes. However, due to the lack of evidence of Rhodes' involvement, the Griffins are arrested, which also ends Clarke's relationship with Wells; Clarke assumes that her parents are executed following their arrest, leading her to hate Wells.
Two years later, the Colony decides to send one hundred of its teenage prisoners to investigate whether Earth is habitable. Among the one hundred are Clarke, Wells, Octavia Blake, her older brother Bellamy Blake, and Clarke's friend, Thalia. After arriving on Earth, Clarke and Bellamy become attracted to each other and eventually develop a romantic relationship while co-leading the 100 with Wells.
Eventually, someone sets fires to their camp, ultimately they discover that they are not alone on Earth. The 100 captured an Earth-born girl, Sasha Walgrove, and she reveals there are people from the Colony who arrived before the 100. Clarke eventually meets Sasha's father, Max, who is a leader of an underground colony underneath the ruins of Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center. Max reveals that he helped Clarke's parents two years ago, giving her hope that they are still alive. She also discovers that Wells and Bellamy are paternal half-brothers after Wells realizes that Bellamy is his father's secret son from a previous relationship.
After drop ships from the Colony arrive, Vice Chancellor Rhodes attempts to take control over the community Clarke built with Bellamy and Wells on Earth. With Sasha's help, Clarke, Wells, and Bellamy escape, but Sasha is killed when she tries to help Octavia. As Mount Weather's and Rhodes' forces battle, Clarke, Bellamy, and Wells are captured during the initial exchange, but their allies defeat and capture Rhodes before he can execute the trio.
During Sasha's funeral, Clarke reunites with her parents and reconcile with Wells since her parents are actually alive, but will not resume their past relationship because she is now in love with Bellamy, whom she felt happier to be with than when she was with Wells.
Television
Background
Clarke was born in the year of 2131 and raised on the Ark to Jake and Abigail Griffin. Before her imprisonment, Clarke's father discovered that the Ark space station was running out of oxygen, and had an estimated 6 months worth left. He shared this information with Clarke and planned to reveal his findings with the larger community against the Chancellor's orders, only to have Abigail report him. He was later 'floated', a form of execution where one is ejected into space. Clarke, who was under the age of 18 and therefore not subject to capital punishment, was imprisoned for acting as his accomplice. Because of her status of prisoner she was considered to be expendable by the council and was volunteered by her mother to be sent down to Earth to test the air to see if it was livable again with 99 other delinquents, including Wells. Bellamy Blake acting as a guard, snuck onto the drop ship.
Storyline
In the first season, Clarke and the other 99 delinquents are sent down in an exodus ship which crash lands after Earth's atmosphere cuts all communication and nearly fries the ship. After the ship lands Clarke soon realizes that they landed in the wrong location. They were originally aimed for the Mount Weather complex, a quarantine zone that had food and supplies, only to find out that they were dropped on the wrong mountain.
In 2015, it was confirmed that Clarke is bisexual, making her the first lead character to be LGBT on The CW and making her the first bisexual lead on network television (in reference to the five major networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, The CW and Fox).[1][2][3]
Reception
The character of Clarke Griffin has received extremely positive praise with some describing her as the "heart and drive" of the show.[4] Clarke was placed in Buzzfeed's "29 amazingly Badass Female characters of 2015[5] and third on Tell-Tale's 5 "TV Heroes Who Crushed It" in 2015.[6]
References
- ↑ "CW's 'The 100' Reveals LGBT Lead Character". TheWrap. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- ↑ "The 100 2x14 Review: Bodyguard of Lies - The Geekiary". The Geekiary. February 26, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
- ↑ "Will The CW Have Its First Bisexual Lead Hero? –". Pop Insomniacs. February 25, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
- ↑ "The Rise and Reign of Clarke Griffin: The 100 Character Spotlight". SciFi Mafia. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- ↑ "29 Amazingly Badass Female TV Characters". BuzzFeed. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- ↑ "5 TV Heroes That Totally Crushed It in 2015". Tell-Tale TV. Retrieved December 29, 2015.