Claude is the Captain’s mentor in The Sympathizer, having trained him in spycraft. Robert Downey Jr. plays Claude.
Claude is a CIA agent operating in South Vietnam. He was responsible for taking the Captain out of his village and sending him to study in the US.
Apart from teaching him how to be a good agent, Claude taught the Captain everything he now knows about American pop culture.
The Captain was meant to be another Westernized Vietnamese loyal to the US in South Vietnam, but he always knew that Claude was doing him these favors to buy his loyalty.
What Claude does not know is that the Captain’s loyalties lie with North Vietnam, and he is a spy planted in South Vietnam by the communists.
Calculating and diplomatic
The fall of Saigon brings the Vietnam War to an end, forcing those who had been loyal to the US to flee the country.
Being a CIA agent, Claude is not worried about his own safety. He is unaffected by the changing circumstances, as he can simply return home and continue living his life as if nothing has changed.
Unlike the Captain, Claude is not even affected by the suffering of others, having grown accustomed to death and torture in his line of work.
As the General has been working with Claude all along, it falls upon Claude to help the General and his men get to the US.
Claude successfully gets them to the US, but he deliberately delays getting in touch with the General and finding him a home.
As Claude is a shrewd man, he wants the General to feel grateful to him as well as the US, so he deliberately keeps him in the refugee camp longer than necessary.
However, he eventually helps the General, and the two of them continue working together like old times to hunt down the spy that the General believes is among his men.
Eventually, Claude starts growing suspicious of the Captain in the US. However, the Captain ensures that Claude’s suspicions are never confirmed.
The Captain manages to frame the Major as the spy before killing him, effectively diverting suspicion from himself.
Claude then introduces the Captain to a filmmaker named Nicos, believing that it is time for him to move on from working for the General and to start working for bigger names.