Claire Dunphy

Claire is a perfectionist when it comes to dealing with her family, often knowing what to do during stressful times more than her husband Phil. She tends to be uptight and "bossy" in getting things done in the house, which usually leads to humorous disagreements with the laid-back Phil, who adores her. Her daughters claim she has excellent hearing because she could hear them whenever they say they are bored ("Aunt Mommy"). She is also actively participating in her children's school, and helps in organizing events, but it has been commented that she can be tactless and unlikable. In any case, Mitchell and Cameron often go to her for parenting advice in raising Lily.

She has a habit of being controlling, arrogant, abrasive and hostile, which Mitchell attributes to the fact that she couldn't control the chaos in her own home ("Sarge & Pea"). He also remembers that Claire used to bully him and she seems to possess certain traits of a bully (self-righteousness, vicious moments of cynicism and physical aggression). She makes precious little effort to conceal her opinion of her daughter Haley and the fact that she can't stand a few of Phil's eccentricities. However, she is capable of compassion that is often misinterpreted - she quit ice skating when she and Mitchell were young in order to protect him from humiliating himself ("En Garde").

Claire has been shown to be extremely competitive, a trait she got from her father Jay who encouraged her into sports and winning ("Egg Drop"). She is also shown to be blatantly honest and almost enjoy delivering bad news to people ("The Last Walt"). Claire will do anything to win, including dishonest or underhanded tactics, just to have one of many moments in the spotlight. Claire is also competitive to such a ludicrous degree that, when she sought to be the best house at Halloween, the result was so intense for the children that visited that, the next year, every trick-or-treater made sure they routed around their house and one child shrieked for her mother when Claire offered her candy.

Claire has a mysterious penchant for death and the macabre, implied first in "Halloween" which she says is her favorite holiday. Every year she would meticulously organize Halloween displays and pranks at her house, except one year after she scared an adult who fainted at their doorstep, and neighbors petitioned that they keep decorations "family friendly" ("Open House of Horrors"). After gay marriage was legalized in California, she suggests to Mitchell gruesome ways on how to propose to Cameron ("Suddenly, Last Summer").

Along with Phil, Claire enjoys what she refers to as "cheesy cinema" ("Our Children, Ourselves "). Claire also seem to enjoy arts and crafts, insisting that during Luke's birthday party, there be a table where kids can make personalized comb sheaths ("Fizbo"). Claire enjoys reading and jogging, as she demonstrates that she can beat Phil in a race in "Run for Your Wife". It is revealed in "Virgin Territory" that she regularly goes to shooting gallery to unwind, during which she tells her family she is doing yoga.