Chloe Frazer

Character design

Frazer was designed to play off of the personality of Nathan Drake, the main protagonist of the Uncharted 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. For the series, motion capture actors 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.

Chloe 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 initiator. At first, she appears only to look out for her own interests, caring little for anything but her goal.

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, the female protagonist of the first game, would not be in the second.

Appearances

Near the beginning of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, 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 Khan had given to Marco Polo. Inside this ceramic lamp is a map and blue resin which reveal the location of Marco Polo's lost fleet. Unbeknownst to Flynn, Chloe 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 three 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, due to him bringing Elena and Jeff earlier. 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.

Chloe returns in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, working with Nathan, Sully and new character Charlie Cutter to infiltrate the inner circle of Katherine Marlowe, who possesses the clues about the details of Sir Francis Drake's voyage to Arabia. They discover that the final clues lie in Crusader crypts in France and Syria, and Nate sends Chloe and Cutter to Syria to uncover it. During the search, Marlowe's men ambush them and a gunfight and chase ensues. Though they manage to escape alive, Cutter breaks his leg, and Chloe subsequently backs out of the adventure to get Cutter medical aid.

Chloe does not appear in the main story of Uncharted 4, however, during the beginning events of the game, it is shown that she sent a note to Nathan, saying she's available if he were to ever start treasure hunting again. She also is available to play as in the multiplayer. However, in December 2016, an upcoming DLC story was revealed called Uncharted: The Lost Legacy featuring Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross in a standalone story apart from the events of the Uncharted series, set after the events of Uncharted 4 after Nadine escapes.

Reception

Most critics have received Chloe 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 Gamasutra called Chloe 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 Chloe "Miss 2009" of the "Sexiest New Characters of the Decade", calling her exotic and flirtatious. Entertainment Weekly's Darren Franich listed her as one of "15 Kick-Ass Women in Videogames", describing her as "tough, funny, and prone to backstabbing."

Claudia Black commented that Chloe 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 Chloe.