Lydia

> "*I can’t be alone right now…*"
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**Lydia** is a major character in Last of The Walking Dead. She a cunning and hardened, yet deeply traumatized young woman, suffering from years of physical and psychological abuse inflicted on her by her mother. While initially being fully devoted to the Whisperer way, her time at Jackson reawakened memories of her childhood. While she initially believed her mother did what was best for her, these memories were the product of years of gaslighting from Alpha. The truth was quite the opposite, as Lydia finally realized after leaving the Whisperers.

## Biography

### Backstory and Early Life

From a young child she was taught how to manipulate the walkers to her own advantage, covering herself in their guts would virtually make her unnoticeable to the lumbering corpses. She was trained to properly take down walkers and humans alike from a young age, to have no display of weaknesses or flaws that others could exploit. Lydia was often assaulted on many occasions in the Whisperers, in ways she has tried to bury. Alpha would allow it to happen, even encouraged it to. However this was now a life that Lydia was accustomed to, believing these actions to be somewhat normal regardless of how it made her feel.

The Whisperers often gathered groups of walkers together and hid amongst them, wearing their faces as skin masks to go unnoticed by other survivors. For a long time they watched and observed a fallout between four major communities. These were later learned to be Alexandria, Hilltop and the Kingdom who had united to fight against the Saviors. There were talks of utilizing the weakened victor of the war to their advantage, however their scavengers and spies reported that the group situated at the Factory known as the Sanctuary had won the war, and had deemed control of all of the communities, more powerful than they had ever been. Due to this, the Whisperers set their sights on a smaller community further away, powered by a hydroelectric Dam.  The Jackson community was the easier target, whom the whisperers fell into an altercation with. During this time Lydia was sent to attack a small group of the Dam survivors, but the attack went south and she was captured and taken prisoner after begging them not to kill her, after being brought back to the Jackson community it was there where she met Carl Grimes.

### Events after the Jackson and Whisperer conflict (One year later)

After defecting from the Whisperers and aiding the Jackson Community in their defeat, Lydia is now a trusted and well established member of the community, attending the school there. She had previously gotten intimate with Carl Grimes, taking a liking to him due to the kindness and trust he had shown her when they had first met. However it had now been two months since she had told him what they had wasn't love, and that she didn't want him to think their time together was something it wasn't. Lydia was unsure if it was particularly healthy for the both of them… she felt exhausted, like she needed time to think for herself… however she made sure that the two of them remained good friends, ensuring that she didn’t cut him out, she still wanted to be close to him.

## Relationships

### Carl Grimes

> "*Wake up call, Carl. You're just some boy I tossed around with when Andrea wasn't home.*"
> ― Lydia to Carl after he asks her to help him and the rest combat the herd with Whisperer tactics.
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Lydia and Carl first met in Jackson's jail after Lydia had been captured and brought back to the community, coincidentally Carl had also been in the next cell due to an altercation with some bullies whom he had almost killed. Both bonding with each other during their stay. Eventually, Carl vouches for her and she is released under his watch. Lydia asks to see his missing eye, and after some reluctance, she is allowed to take off his sunglasses.

Over time their relationship continues to develop, with Carl more than once risking his life for her. He frequently defends her when people want to attack her for being a Whisperer. The relationship eventually did reach the stage where they began to sleep together. As the two spent more and more time together, Lydia later told Carl after the Whisperer War that she isn't in love with him. Saying that they can still spend time together, but what they have isn't love. Lydia was unsure if it was particularly healthy for the both of them… she felt exhausted, like she needed time to think for herself… however she made sure that the two of them remained good friends, ensuring that she didn’t cut him out, she still wanted to be close to him.

With Jackson on the brink of collapse, Carl, as a last ditch effort, barges into Lydia's apartment, much to her annoyance. He asks for to help to save the people of Jackson from the oncoming herd and pleads with Lydia to teach them the Whisperer's tactics in guiding the herd, believing they may be able to divert it elsewhere.

Problem was, Lydia would rather let her body be consumed by maggots before putting on another skin mask ever again. She unleashes on Carl for not understanding this, and reveals that he has no right to be asking this of her, underplaying their whole relationship as just a fling that should've long ended. After harsh words are exchanged between the two, Carl storms out, leaving Lydia to dwell in her apartment.

### Clementine

“There. Now go fuck yourself with it, slut.” - Lydia to Clementine, after chopping up her hat and throwing the pieces to her feet.

After a less than stellar first interaction between the two that led to them exchanging words and fists, Lydia was not able to stand the sight of Clementine. Both of the girls' personalities had naturally seemed to put them at odds with one another. The initial reason as to why the conflict first started seems to have been lost in the wind. After a failed training exercise outside of the walls forced the duo to work together, Lydia has grown slightly more tolerant of Clementine, enough not to punch her on sight at the very least. Against her better judgement, she would even go as far as to defend the girl from getting kicked out of Jackson, in the Church meeting that would decide Clementine's fate.

This tolerance would eventually progress to the two being able to play dress-ups and question games at Lydia's apartment, after Clementine knocked on her door upon being let back into the community, stating she had nowhere else to go.

It was a confusing and weird thing, but Lydia came to the conclusion that it was indeed 'fun'.... Whatever that meant to these Jackson people.

After having her meltdown on the expedition trip, things grew rather volatile. But after being comforted by Clementine, Lydia actually believed she might've finally made a real friend. That was until the day Clementine found out from Joel that her parents were dead. Words were exchanged between the two at Lydia's place, including fists. When an attempt to comfort the ball capped girl ended in a startling revelation.  A short time after, she took a knife to Clementine's hat, shredding it into chunks, because it was what she deserved. Even better, when Clementine finally came looking for the hat, Lydia returned it in its new form. The last thing she remembers was Clementine's tear-stained face when she slammed the door on it.

### Ellie

"Just let me… end this. Before I do *something else* I regret.” -Lydia to Ellie, trying to convince the redhead to keep away from her permanently.

Lydia’s first impression of Ellie was generally well received, finding her to be quirky and outgoing. This however steeply declined when tensions rose at the campfire meetup, Lydia believes that Ellie incited the whole fight by being the first to swear her off, something she still resents her for to this day. Lydia refuses to acknowledge any potential wrongdoing on her own part. These days she tends to try and steer clear from the redhead.

Lydia couldn't shake the feeling that Ellie came off as well intentioned, but two-faced nonetheless. She knew the type, and in her mind, it was confirmed when Ellie didn't show up at the Church to defend Clementine from being kicked out.  Lydia of course, was going to find any excuse she needed to take it out on Ellie. So when she came to apologise, Lydia unloaded on the redhead, causing Ellie to storm out in tears, referring to her as a 'fake fuck.' Though it was only after the duo were kidnapped by a radical Cult known as the Seraphites, was where Lydia began to realise that maybe she owed the girl her life, for saving her after being nailed to a cross. After their escape, the two shared a drink while hiding from the Seraphites at an old bottle shop.

### Violet

"You're **weak.** You, and the rest of your kind. I can do whatever I want to you." - Lydia to Violet, when attempting to drown her.

It was hate at first sight, when Lydia was dragged through Ericson's gates. Beaten and humiliated, she is angered when Violet tells her to 'quit screaming and shut up!' when the guards haul her inside. She quickly makes it as difficult as possible for them to control her, spouting off death threats in the direction of Violet and nearly biting off Louis' thumb before she was thrown in a cell. Lydia saw no clear distinction between this 'Ericson' group and The Saviors, deeming them both to be one and the same, as much they claimed otherwise.

When Lydia was invited to go on a 'Fishing Trip' by Violet, she thought it to be some kind of test/trial? To see if she would indeed try to run, stemming from her time in the Whisperers, she was expecting a trap. She indulged the idea and went along with it, believing it to be an opportunity to run, kill her, or at the very least, learn more about the enemy that'd plagued Jackson for so long. Tensions escalated between the two, what started as banter quickly devolving into something rabid. Lydia, in the heat of the moment, attacked and attempted to drown her. It failed, however, and they were instead both thrown into the current. After they washed up to shore, Violet finds Lydia lying on the ground, and tries to finish the job with a rock. Lydia is dissatisfied when she drops it beside her head, and asks that she pick it back up and finish her off, a request Violet does not grant.

With both girls essentially broken and in tears, they part ways, with a dazed and distraught Violet leaving her there and wandering off into the forest.

### James

"It's **nature**. It just makes me stronger." Lydia to James, attempting to justify the several acts committed on her by the Whisperers.

He finds her one night, clothes torn and shivering under a tree, segregating herself from the rest out of pure fear. James was Lydia's crutch, at one of the lowest points of her life, the only Whisperer to show kindness and offer her safety. Lydia always found his presence comforting, she felt better with him around, even if it was for selfish reasons.

## Killed Victims

* Numerous counts of Walkers/Infected
* Numerous counts of Survivors
* Numerous counts of Whisperers
* 1 Unnamed Savior
* Dwight

## Trivia

* (Lydia will deliberately attempt to avoid activities, places, people, thoughts or feelings associated with Alpha and the Whisperers since they bring back painful memories.
* She tends to overthink a lot of situations, mostly because she simply cares too much even if she tries to prove otherwise. If Lydia feels that someone is trying to talk down to her or undermine her in any way she will become aggressive as it reminds her of Alpha.
* Ledge kinda made her personality up from scratch and I really like his portrayal of Lydia over any other out there.
* It was confirmed on the expedition trip that Lydia suffers from panic attacks and possible auditory hallucinations, stemmed from traumas ranging back to her upbringing.
* She is extremely self conscious about her scars, which cover her arms, back and parts of her torso.
* Lydia tried to kill Violet, not because she thought she needed to (Like Dwight and countless others). It was because she wanted to, revealing a possible pattern of murderous tendencies sparked by moments of blind rage, (which she warned Clementine of in the bathroom, and Ellie when attempting to cut her off) stemming from the way she was raised in the Whisperers.