Clair Hull was born on Vulcan though her parents' homeworld is Earth. Her parents, Trish and Jonathan Hull, were attending a diplomats' retreat conference on Vulcan and not expecting the birth of their first child for another week. The Hulls resided on Vulcan for six months before returning to Earth.

Jonathan, of Arabic heritage, was born in North America and served in Starfleet as a diplomat. Trish, an American born in East Africa, worked as an environmentalist surveyor until she married Jonathan. After Clair they had five more children: Thomas, Jeremy, Nichole, Brandon, and Steven.

Clair inherited her father's black hair, her mother's blue eyes and has a complexion best described as dark caramel. Never married, but raising her nephew Ivan, Clair considers herself an adequate parent and hopes to one day have children of her own.

Clair's academic performance proved solidly average, but her athletic ability and love of combat sports compelled her to pursue a career in security. Secretly sensitive about being pigeon-holed as a "security goon" or "she-man" Clair reads and studies extensively and maintains a very feminine side to her personality. While competent and skilled, her promotion to chief of security and transfer to DS13 have made Clair apprehensive about her new responsibilities. Hoping to distinguish herself, she plans to run a strict and thoroughly capable security department.