"That jacket is absolutely killer. And you are my new best friend." - Lydia to Allison Argent

"I do. I do - I do still love you." - Lydia to Jackson Whittemore

"I've been predicting death longer than you. ... They don't always happen." - Lydia to Deputy Jordan Parrish

Series

Lydia Martin is Beacon Hills High School's most popular student and the girlfriend of Jackson Whittemore. In Season 1, Lydia becomes Allison Argent's best friend. She is then bitten by alpha werewolf Peter Hale. In Season 2, Lydia recovers from her attack, but then exhibits supernatural attributes as her latent powers awaken. She is possessed by Peter, so to orchestrate the latter's resurrection. She saves Jackson, allowing him to be cured of being a kanima, coming into her friends' world. In Season 3, Lydia has formed a close bond with Stiles Stilinski, starts an affair with the werewolf Aiden Steiner, discovers she is a banshee, and becomes a founding member of Scott's pack. Lydia resolves to learn how her banshee abilities work and how to control them, goes along with the pack to save Stiles' life, making contact with fellow banshee Meredith Walker. She is devastated over the deaths of Allison and Aiden. In Season 4, Lydia, along with Stiles, works to solve the mystery behind the Deadpool, the identity of the Benefactor and recruits Meredith to help her. She discovers her banshee heritage came from her late paternal grandmother Lorraine Martin. Lydia learns a mislead Meredith was the Benefactor all along, then becomes close friends with Deputy Jordan Parrish. In Season 5, Lydia is taught hand to hand combat by Parrish. She is rendered catatonic by the chimera Theo Raeken then institutionalized at Eichen House. Lydia is then taught by Meredith how to use her banshee voice as a weapon and awakens from her coma. She is then held and has her abilities amplified by Gabriel Valack, but is rescued by the pack. Lydia saves Mason Hewitt's life with her Scream, separating him from the spirit of the Beast of Gévaudan. In Season 6, Lydia witnesses Stiles being erased by the Ghost Riders after he tells her he loves her before she forgets him. She subconsciously and instinctively remembers Stiles and works to restore him to reality, learns that Claudia Stilinski, Sheriff Noah Stilinski's wife is a ghost rider summoned by the sheriff's grief and she and Noah stop her from killing Stiles, and she and Stiles begin a romantic relationship. It is implied that Stiles and Lydia are still together at the end of the series, but during a Q&A stream Holland Roden said that it was left vague enough to be open to interpretation for people who are not Stydia fans.

 

Personality

Lydia is depicted as being the archetypal high school queen bee. She is carefree, shallow-minded and spoiled, being the attractive teenage girl who is wealthy and gets everything she wants. She is sexually active, enjoys the admiration she receives from the male populace and rules the high school social structure.

" ... Jackson's going to play tomorrow. ... And I prefer my boyfriend" (downward glance) "at peak performance."

Lydia has a focus on the materials and has a very blunt and sexualised sense of humour. She presents herself with a ditzy, self-absorbed appearance so to maintain her relationship with Jackson Whittemore and promote her popularity at school. Lydia can also be exploitive and manipulative with people using them whenever it suits her purposes as she makes out with Scott in spite of her relationship with Jackson and being close to Allison.

" ... Lydia's one of the finest students I've ever had. Her A.P. classes push her G.P.A. above a 5.0. ... socially, she displays outstanding leadership qualities." - a school teacher on Lydia

"A Field's Medal is the one I'll be winning." - Lydia, smiling, to Stiles

In truth, behind her mean girl facade, Lydia actually does care for her friends, being supportive of and understanding of them. She befriends Allison Argent on her first day. She proves to actually care for Jackson to the point she's in love with him, despite Jackson's abhorrent behavior. She also discerns that Scott would do anything to protect Allison. She is initially disdainful and dismissive towards Stiles because of his antics and obsessive behavior towards her. Overtime she becomes best friends with him as they work together. She is also a meta level genius, excelling at reading and her studies in a wide variety of subjects.

 

"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" ... Are you real? ... Why me?" - Lydia suffering under Peter

Upon her introduction to Beacon Hills' supernatural side, being attacked bitten, then possessed at the hands of Peter Hale, the subsequent symptoms and psychological torture inflicted upon her, Lydia suffers multiple mental traumas and breakdowns, being massively confused and terror-stricken. Though she was forlorn that her friends were keeping secrets from her, and that she was suffering because of it, she manages to put on a stoic, brave face, as pointed out by Peter, and determinedly pushes forward. Once she comes out the other end, and then recovers with the support of her friends, finally being let in on the supernatural, Lydia matures by overcoming her insecurities, becoming more confident and sensitive.

 

After coming into the supernatural, Lydia decides to no longer hide her natural strengths and lets go of her superficial concern of others' perception of her. She displays a braver, more selfless side in facing the kanima side of Jackson leading to his being cured, and coming to accept his moving away. Once she adapts to her new world, Lydia demonstrates that she is not afraid to tell people what she thinks of them, firmly telling Aiden Steiner, her lover, that he's a killer, a bad guy because of his part in Boyd's murder ignoring his charms though she continues her liaison with him. Similarly she stands up, refuses to back down from people like the malevolent alpha Kali or Gerard Argent. Though she is initially terrified by her strange powers, her being drawn to murder scenes, Lydia eventually makes the decision to stop fighting her abilities, and upon the discovery she is a banshee, she decides to potentially use her powers to do good, to prevent any innocent people from dying. With this benevolent new mindset, she naturally comes into her position as a member of Scott's pack.

" ... I helped save someone's life. That felt really good."

With her natural intelligence and leadership skills, Lydia joins Stiles Stilinski in the role of being the detective and sleuth in the pack. She grows into her own as a selfless, caring person with a sense of duty and responsibility. Despite her grief and suffering, Lydia eventually learns to not only endure the multiple horrors and tragedies she experiences including the loss of Allison her best friend as well as the redeeming sacrifice of Aiden, but also grows from them. Lydia, sooner than later, completely sheds her immaturity and shallow-mindedness. In exchange, she becomes a compassionate, intuitive and vibrant young woman, being a genuinely kind and supportive friend towards everyone in the pack as well as other individuals who are similarly insecure or suffering as she previously was. She becomes more strong-willed and self-reliant, especially after being taught hand-to-hand from Jordan Parrish, then gaining control of and weaponizing her banshee abilities from Meredith Walker.

 

Biography

 

Lydia Martin was born to Natalie Martin and her husband.

 

Lydia's parents are recently divorced and she lives with Natalie. Her father told her she had to decide who she'd rather live with+.

When Lydia was little, she had a close relationship with her grandmother Lorraine Martin. Her favourite hobby with Lorraine was reading The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson. Lydia became enamoured with the name Ariel. She'd insist on her being called Ariel for months. It drove her parents crazy, but Lorraine acceeded and thought it was adorable+.

 

At one point, after Lorraine had been committed to Eichen House, Natalie drove to the institution to check on her mother-in-law, but told Lydia to stay in the car. Lydia didn't listen and wandered into the asylum. She saw Natalie with Lorraine, whose head was bleeding after having used trephination upon herself. Lorraine noticed her granddaughter, and told her "They're coming, Lydia. They're coming for all of us." Lorraine was referring to the Dread Doctors, though Lydia eventually blocked the memory from her mind+.

 

Lydia's GPA is above a 5.0 because of her AP classes.