He is a Vietnam War veteran who plans to start a new life and set up his own criminal empire to enact his revenge on the Marcono crime family for killing his foster family. Depending on his mood, Lincoln can go on to rule New Bordeaux as a mafia boss, be killed by Father James for his treachery of killing his allies, or become a drifter and leave New Bordeaux. Not much is yet known of Clay's personality other than that he is a fairly serious man who values those he refers to as family. Having grown up in Saint Michelle's orphanage, he has never had a conventional family, thus he looks to the black mob and Brotherhood of Darkness as a source of support and love. He is extremely protective of those he views as family due to having lost his "family" 2 times in his life, the first time when the orphanage he grew up in closed down and the second time when the Italian mafia murdered the black mob. He clearly despises the Marcanos for what they have done to his family, as evidenced by the way he speaks to a mafioso he is about to execute; in particular, he feels their concept of a family based solely on blood ties and surnames is a mockery of what a family is supposed to be.