Lydia (TF)

### Overview

**Lydia** is a former antagonist and a survivor of the outbreak in Image Comics' *The Walking Dead, and the original tv series of the same name.* She was one of the Whisperers who attacked Jesus and his group, before they promptly lost the fight and she was taken prisoner at the Hilltop Colony for interrogation. Eventually, she meets and strikes up a friendship and eventual relationship with Carl Grimes, having fully defected from her mother's group and fighting alongside the survivors in the eventual war against them.

Several years after Rick Grimes' death, Lydia became a messenger for the Commonwealth and got married to Carl Grimes. She also keeps wearing Carl's hat as a symbol of their friendship and as a reminder of the person who saved and protected her, giving her a chance of a better life.

## Character Information

### Alias

The Outsider Whisperer

Kiddo

Babygirl

Bug

## Overview

Lydia is a cunning and hardened, yet deeply traumatized young woman, suffering from years of physical and psychological abuse inflicted on her by her mother, Alpha. While initially being fully devoted to the Whisperer way, and only acting as a scared little girl, her time at the Hilltop reawakened memories of her childhood. While she initially believed her father was abusive and her mother caring, these memories were the product of years of gaslighting from Alpha. The truth was quite the opposite, as Lydia finally realized during her brief captivity. Lydia also believed her mother's physical abuse was done out of love and was necessary to strengthen her. Her time with Carl made her resent the Whisperer lifestyle, and she expressed a desire to stay at the Hilltop. Nonetheless, Lydia selflessly chose to go back to her mother and the Whisperers in order to save Alden and Luke, that were being kept hostage by Alpha. When Carl came after her and was captured, Lydia punched him in anger, though this was most likely an act. Later, she is unable to kill Carl when her mother commands her to, and chooses to run away with Carl when Daryl and Connie come to rescue him.

When Alpha kills Carl and 9 other fair attendees, Lydia becomes depressed and even suicidal, and is shown to feel tremendous guilt over the event, particularly as she was in love with Carl as she revealed in "Silence the Whisperers". Once Michonnerefuses to kill her and encourages her to live, Lydia regains some of her old self back, and even participates in a snowball fight at Alexandria.

Once away from her mother, Lydia displayed a greatly caring and gentle personality, though she was unwilling to suffer abuse or be used as a pawn by those around her. While initially appearing to be something of a coward, surrendering without a fight in her first encounter to Daryl and the others, she has displayed a great deal of courage and determination over time, bravely risking her own life to defend the Hilltop even though she knew her mother wanted her back. However, this can work against her in some situations such as when she fought back against her bullies with kindness and only succeeded in enraging them more in the attempt.

Unlike some survivors of the zombie apocalypse, Lydia does not like violence and killing, a trait she shared with Carl. To this extent, Carl promised before going into a fight that he wouldn't kill anyone, but Lydia forgave him when he was forced to in self-defense, recognizing the necessity of it despite her hatred for all of the killing. Notably, when Lydia did begin training in combat, she chose to utilize Carl's staff as a weapon rather than the more lethal spears, knives or bows of the Coalition. Along with potentially being an act of sentimentality since the staff belonged to her boyfriend before his murder, utilizing the staff gave Lydia the ability to non-lethally take out a human opponent and avoid killing if faced with such a situation while still being a lethally effective weapon against walkers and humans if need be.

After falling in love with Elijah, Lydia becomes afraid of acting upon her feelings due to her fears of losing someone that she loves again, even pulling away from Elijah to keep herself from getting hurt. After Aaron gives her advice based upon his own relationship, Lydia opens herself up to love again, although she reassures Michonne that she will never stop loving Carl. Upon being separated from Elijah by a herd, Lydia is desperate to get to him, even after losing her arm, and despairs that she may have lost someone else she loves when Elijah doesn't show up at the Commonwealth.

A year after Pamela Milton's defeat, Lydia is still happily with Elijah, has adjusted well to her missing arm and enjoys the peaceful life that she's finally gotten the chance to experience.