Why Supernatural Fans Are So Divided Over Claire Novak

On The CW's "Supernatural," the journey of Claire Novak is perhaps one of the most unique character arcs throughout the entire series history. 

Claire first appears in the series in Season 4, Episode 20 ("The Rapture") as portrayed by child actress Sydney Imbeau. The daughter of Jimmy Novak (Misha Collins), whose body is inhabited by the angel Castiel, Claire resents Castiel for taking her father away from her. Claire only appears in a single episode of Season 4, and when she returns in Season 10, she is portrayed in her troubled teenage years by actress Kathryn Newton. 

Although she often faces struggles in life due to her parentage, she is eventually adopted by Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes), a close friend of Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles). Notably, Claire and Jody were supposed to appear and star in a "Supernatural" spin-off titled "Wayward Sisters," but the network ultimately decided to pass on the project (via Deadline).

However, even after the scrapping of the spin-off, the duo appear in multiple episodes of the main show as very important supporting characters who consistently help the Winchesters. Notably, the character of Claire has received something of a divisive reception from the "Supernatural" fanbase. Here's what makes her such a contentious character for so many "Supernatural" viewers.

On a Reddit post on the r/Supernatural subreddit, u/dreadeddryad made it clear that they were not the biggest fan of how Claire Novak was portrayed on "Supernatural." "Claire is an absolute ungrateful, silly character," they said. "As soon as you think she is coming around to the end of an episode, she's back to her ungrateful, unapologetic, angsty self in the next episode." Evidently, this user wasn't the only one to feel that way, either. Similarly, u/gilded_lady noted the complete lack of growth for the character. This viewer also claimed that it would have been better had Claire at least attempted to improve herself.

However, others in the thread were very quick to defend Claire, pointing out that she endures a significant amount of trauma. "I love Claire, her anger is fully justified," u/EndsongX23 said. "Imagine your dad's meat puppet being strung along on celestial strings figuring out maybe he should have checked in on you when you've already gone so long in the foster system that you're just f**ked." In another reply, u/Simorie agreed, but also added context by noting that Claire is still a very young character, and is simply acting like anyone her age would in such a difficult situation.

Either way, Kathryn Newton herself has reflected positively on her time playing Claire. During an interview with Collider, the actress said that she loved the character and that stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles helped her realize exactly what being a star entails. Considering the actress's upcoming role as Cassie Lang in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," we have to imagine that particular advice will probably soon be more useful than ever.