Chloe Frazer
Encyclopedia
Chloe Frazer is a fictional character in the Uncharted
series, and serves as a female protagonist
of the 2009 video game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
. Frazer was designed to provide a darker counterpart to main series protagonist Nathan Drake
, and to highlight these facets of his personality. She is voiced by Claudia Black
, who did the motion capture work for the character as well. Chloe is a strong character who aggressively looks out for her own interests.
In the game, she acts as part of team of thieves who are hired by a benefactor to help find the location of Marco Polo
's lost fleet, and through that the location of the lost city of Shambhala
and the Cintamani stone. When Drake is betrayed and imprisoned, she helps bribe his way out and infiltrates the organization of the war criminal Lazarevic, helping Drake stop his plot for immortality.
Reception to Frazer has been focused on her independence and sensuality. She has been cited as one of the few examples of a strong female character. Other reviewers have called her a unique and fun character. Black compared the character to movie adventurer Indiana Jones
. Character designer Justin Richmond stated that Frazer was one of his favorite characters to create.
, the main protagonist of the series. Through interaction, she brings out particular facets of Drake's personality. Amy Hennig
, series writer, wanted Frazer to act as a foil to Drake, essentially acting as a darker version of the main character. She also contrasts to Elena Fisher
, who acts as the "good girl" of Uncharted.
Claudia Black
voiced Frazer. In the Uncharted series, the actors were used for motion capture
, and acted as if performing in a movie. Motion capture was done on a soundstage, and the dialog recorded during this process was used in the game. The chemistry and interactions between Black and Nolan North
, voice actor for Drake, had a hand in determining Frazer's personality. Black compared the process to a combination of stage, movie, and voice acting.
had given to Marco Polo
with this ceramic lamp is a map and blue resin which reveal the location of Marco Polo's lost fleet. Unbeknownst to Flynn, Chole and Drake had a previous relationship in the past, and resume their romance behind Flynn's back. Without Frazer's knowledge, Flynn betrays Drake, who ends up in a Turkish
jail where he stays for 3 months. Chloe eventually engineers Drake's release, along with his associate Victor Sullivan
.
Chloe then begins traveling with Flynn, and war criminal Zoran Lazarevic. She discovers that they are after the fabled city of Shambhala
and the Cintamani stone, seeking immortality. She acts as a double agent within Lazarevic's criminal organization, and seemingly betrays Drake to keep her cover. She meets up with Drake in Nepal
to assist in searching for the location of Shambhala before Flynn can find it. Later, Drake attempts to rescue her from a train controlled by Lazarevic, but she refuses to go with him. She appears later in the game in a monastery in the Himalayas
, where she follows Drake and Lazarevic into the entrance of Shambhala, and assists in taking down Lazarevic's army, while Drake stops the leader himself. At the end of the game, seeing that Drake cares for Elena Fisher, she leaves the two in the mountains.
with Claudia Black
reprising the role.
called Frazer a strong woman, and compared her to Elika from Prince of Persia. He further called her a "first" in video games – a heterosexual female who badgers the male protagonist and displays competency and guile: "Chloe Frazer stands head and shoulders above all video game characters, but compared to most women in games, she is truly unique." He also characterizes her as one of "the most fun, interesting, inoffensive characters in video games." Cross also cited her as a character who accurately reflects the nature of human sexual desire and frustration. GamesRadar
named Frazer "Miss 2009" of the "Sexiest New Characters of the Decade", calling her exotic and flirtatious. The Daily Star called Chloe "saucy".
Black commented that Frazer was fun to portray, and is essentially "Indiana Jones with nice hair". Uncharted 2: Among Thieves game designer Justin Richmond called Frazer his favorite character. Black was nominated at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards under the category "Best Voice" for her work as Frazer.
Uncharted
Uncharted is an award-winning series of action-adventure/platform/third-person shooter video games developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation 3 video game console. The series follows modern-day treasure hunter Nathan "Nate" Drake as he...
series, and serves as a female protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the 2009 video game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is an action-adventure platform third-person shooter video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the sequel to the 2007 game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. It was first shown and announced on December 1, 2008...
. Frazer was designed to provide a darker counterpart to main series protagonist Nathan Drake
Nathan Drake (character)
Nathan "Nate" Drake is the fictional protagonist of the Uncharted video game series, developed by Naughty Dog. He is a playable character in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and appears in the motion comic prequel...
, and to highlight these facets of his personality. She is voiced by Claudia Black
Claudia Black
Claudia Lee Black is an Australian actress and voice actor, known for her portrayals of Aeryn Sun in the science fiction television series Farscape, Vala Mal Doran in the science fiction series Stargate SG-1, Chloe Frazer in the Uncharted series, the witch Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins and...
, who did the motion capture work for the character as well. Chloe is a strong character who aggressively looks out for her own interests.
In the game, she acts as part of team of thieves who are hired by a benefactor to help find the location of Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
's lost fleet, and through that the location of the lost city of Shambhala
Shambhala
In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala or Shangri-la is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia...
and the Cintamani stone. When Drake is betrayed and imprisoned, she helps bribe his way out and infiltrates the organization of the war criminal Lazarevic, helping Drake stop his plot for immortality.
Reception to Frazer has been focused on her independence and sensuality. She has been cited as one of the few examples of a strong female character. Other reviewers have called her a unique and fun character. Black compared the character to movie adventurer Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
. Character designer Justin Richmond stated that Frazer was one of his favorite characters to create.
Character design
Frazer was designed to play off of the personality of Nathan DrakeNathan Drake (character)
Nathan "Nate" Drake is the fictional protagonist of the Uncharted video game series, developed by Naughty Dog. He is a playable character in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and appears in the motion comic prequel...
, the main protagonist of the series. Through interaction, she brings out particular facets of Drake's personality. Amy Hennig
Amy Hennig
Amy Hennig is a video game director and script writer currently employed by video game company Naughty Dog. She began her work in the industry on the Nintendo Entertainment System, with her design debut on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City...
, series writer, wanted Frazer to act as a foil to Drake, essentially acting as a darker version of the main character. She also contrasts to Elena Fisher
Elena Fisher
Elena Fisher is one of the protagonists of the Uncharted series created by developer Naughty Dog. Fisher appears in all the three video games in the series: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. While not a playable character, Fisher acts as...
, who acts as the "good girl" of Uncharted.
Claudia Black
Claudia Black
Claudia Lee Black is an Australian actress and voice actor, known for her portrayals of Aeryn Sun in the science fiction television series Farscape, Vala Mal Doran in the science fiction series Stargate SG-1, Chloe Frazer in the Uncharted series, the witch Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins and...
voiced Frazer. In the Uncharted series, the actors were used for motion capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
, and acted as if performing in a movie. Motion capture was done on a soundstage, and the dialog recorded during this process was used in the game. The chemistry and interactions between Black and Nolan North
Nolan North
Nolan Ramsey North is an American actor and voice actor born in New Haven, Connecticut. He has been described as "the nearest thing the games industry has to a bona fide leading man."-Biography:...
, voice actor for Drake, had a hand in determining Frazer's personality. Black compared the process to a combination of stage, movie, and voice acting.
Personality
Frazer is an impulsive and reckless adventurer. She is witty, devious, and fun-seeking. Frazer is also a very sexually forward character; when she and Drake have a love scene, she acts as the aggressor. She looks out for her own interests, caring little for anything but what she wants. She has affection for Drake, but leaves him when she realizes the reality of the situation - that Drake is in love with Elena Fisher.Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Near the beginning of the game, Frazer and business associate Harry Flynn convince Drake to help with a museum robbery. They have been hired by a wealthy benefactor to steal a piece of ancient Chinese pottery, which Kublai KhanKublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...
had given to Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
with this ceramic lamp is a map and blue resin which reveal the location of Marco Polo's lost fleet. Unbeknownst to Flynn, Chole and Drake had a previous relationship in the past, and resume their romance behind Flynn's back. Without Frazer's knowledge, Flynn betrays Drake, who ends up in a Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
jail where he stays for 3 months. Chloe eventually engineers Drake's release, along with his associate Victor Sullivan
Victor Sullivan
Victor "Sully" Sullivan is a protagonist from the Uncharted video game franchise. He is voiced by Richard McGonagle, who also did the motion capture for the character. In the games, he is a friend and mentor to Nathan Drake, the main series protagonist. He is a man with large debts and a criminal...
.
Chloe then begins traveling with Flynn, and war criminal Zoran Lazarevic. She discovers that they are after the fabled city of Shambhala
Shambhala
In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala or Shangri-la is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia...
and the Cintamani stone, seeking immortality. She acts as a double agent within Lazarevic's criminal organization, and seemingly betrays Drake to keep her cover. She meets up with Drake in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
to assist in searching for the location of Shambhala before Flynn can find it. Later, Drake attempts to rescue her from a train controlled by Lazarevic, but she refuses to go with him. She appears later in the game in a monastery in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, where she follows Drake and Lazarevic into the entrance of Shambhala, and assists in taking down Lazarevic's army, while Drake stops the leader himself. At the end of the game, seeing that Drake cares for Elena Fisher, she leaves the two in the mountains.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
As seen in the E3 2011 trailer, Chloe returned in Uncharted 3: Drake's DeceptionUncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is the third game in the Uncharted series, created by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 3, and was released in North America on November 1, 2011, Europe on November 2, 2011 and Australia on November 3, 2011. It is the sequel to 2009's Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. It was...
with Claudia Black
Claudia Black
Claudia Lee Black is an Australian actress and voice actor, known for her portrayals of Aeryn Sun in the science fiction television series Farscape, Vala Mal Doran in the science fiction series Stargate SG-1, Chloe Frazer in the Uncharted series, the witch Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins and...
reprising the role.
Promotion
Frazer was used heavily in promotion for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, to showcase the fact that new characters were central to the story. She was displayed so heavily that at first some thought that Fisher, female protagonist of the first game, would not be in the second.Critical reception
Most critics have received Frazer positively, focusing on her strength and sexuality; they often cite her as an exceptional example of an independent female video game character. Tom Cross of GamasutraGamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
called Frazer a strong woman, and compared her to Elika from Prince of Persia. He further called her a "first" in video games – a heterosexual female who badgers the male protagonist and displays competency and guile: "Chloe Frazer stands head and shoulders above all video game characters, but compared to most women in games, she is truly unique." He also characterizes her as one of "the most fun, interesting, inoffensive characters in video games." Cross also cited her as a character who accurately reflects the nature of human sexual desire and frustration. GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
named Frazer "Miss 2009" of the "Sexiest New Characters of the Decade", calling her exotic and flirtatious. The Daily Star called Chloe "saucy".
Black commented that Frazer was fun to portray, and is essentially "Indiana Jones with nice hair". Uncharted 2: Among Thieves game designer Justin Richmond called Frazer his favorite character. Black was nominated at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards under the category "Best Voice" for her work as Frazer.