Lydia Martin is a recurring character in the series. She is a Banshee and Jackson's girlfriend.
Initially skeptical of the supernatural, she became aware of such phenomena when she was nearly killed by an Alpha werewolf, which activated her Banshee abilities. She has been in sexual relationships with Jackson Whittemore, Stiles Stillinski, a brief fling with Seth Pederson, and has even showed romantic feelings for Diana Meade and Erica Reyes.
She is played by Holland Roden.
Throughout Teen Life as a Monster[]
Lydia was born to Natalie Martin and Mr. Martin in mid-March of 1994 and has attended school with Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski for most of her life, judging by Stiles' comments that he has had a crush on her since the third grade ("Formality"). At some point in her academic career, her IQ was tested, and she rated a genius-level score of 170. ("Unleashed") When she was young, she was very close to her paternal grandmother Lorraine, with whom she read many books. Her favorite was The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, which she loved so much that she insisted she be called Ariel, a trait Lorraine found adorable. ("Monstrous")
Backstory[]
When Lydia was in elementary school, her grandmother was sent to Eichen House; while Lydia's parents were sure that Lorraine was mentally ill, in reality, she was a Banshee who could hear voices and other sounds on a level of the universe no one else could perceive, as well as experience almost psychic-esque premonitions of impending deaths. ("Time of Death") One day, Lorraine performed trephination on herself while in the bathtub at Eichen House, which caused Natalie to be called to help deal with it. Though the young Lydia was told to stay in the car, she eventually got bored and followed her mother inside, where she found Lorraine surrounded by a pool of blood. Lorraine saw her in the doorway and stated, "They're coming, Lydia. They're coming for all of us," but for some yet-unexplained reason, Lydia repressed the memory until she read Gabriel Valack's novel The Dread Doctors, which was intended to trigger suppressed memories, specifically those that were suppressed by the Dread Doctors themselves. ("Required Reading")
According to Lydia, her mother made her go to a hypnotist when she was ten years old to help her stop biting her fingernails. ("Memory Found") It has also been implied that Natalie and Mr. Martin's marriage was not great when Lydia was growing up, and the constant fighting between Lydia's parents seemed to have an affect on Lydia's behavior, likely contributing to the mean-girl persona she adopted until mid-way through high school. Natalie also once mentioned that, after their divorce, Mr. Martin gave Lydia the option to choose which parent she would live with, which appeared to have had a negative effect on Lydia's self-esteem. ("The Tell") Despite this, Lydia excelled in school and demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities, something that surprised both of her parents.
Season 1[]
In Half-Moon, Lydia arrived at school in the morning, and when Stiles Stillinski greeted her and complimented her on her beautiful appearance, Lydia either didn't hear him or purposely ignored him. In between classes, Lydia approached new student Diana Meade at her locker and complimented her on her leather jacket, declaring Diana to be her new best friend as a result of her fashion sense. She was then joined by her boyfriend Jackson Whittemore, who kissed her before they invited Diana to the party Lydia was throwing at her house after the lacrosse team's scrimmage on Friday. They discussed the fact that lacrosse was the sport of choice at Beacon Hills High School rather than football, and Lydia bragged that the team had won three state championships thanks to Jackson's leadership as team captain.
Lydia and Diana went to the lacrosse try-outs that afternoon to support Jackson. When another new student Seth Pederson, (who had been bitten by a Werewolf the night before and was becoming one himself), demonstrated uncharacteristically amazing lacrosse skills due to his superhuman agility and reflexes, Diana asked Lydia if she knew who he was. Lydia, confused, stated that she didn't know him, which Seth overheard with his enhanced hearing, but it became clear that she was impressed by his athletic prowess when she commented on how good he was.
At her party on Friday night, Lydia was seen in the backyard, where she was making out with Jackson against the house. However, when Jackson began kissing her neck, Lydia's eyes were fully on Seth as he danced with Diana nearby, indicating that she was beginning to develop feelings for him. Lydia switched the music to techno, and Diana started dancing sexy, including waving her hair in her face, twerking, and rubbing her hands on her breasts.
In Second Chance at First Line, Lydia and Seth were standing beside each other in math class while the two were completing math equations for their teacher. She used her close proximity to confront Seth about why she had heard rumors that he wouldn't be playing in the upcoming lacrosse game despite recently making first line. When Seth reluctantly confirmed that the rumors were true, Lydia snidely informed him that he had to play in the game since he had "brutally injured" her boyfriend Jackson by ramming into him at in practice that morning. Setg argued that Jackson "brutally injured" himself by ramming into him, causing Lydia to argue that while Jackson would indeed be playing in the upcoming game as well, he wouldn't be at "peak performance," which was her preference when it came to her boyfriends.
She went on to remind him that she was dating the captain of the winning lacrosse team, and implied that Seth not playing in the opening game would hurt her reputation. When Seth anxiously retorted that potentially losing one game wouldn't kill anyone, Lydia threatened to introduce Diana to the hottest members of the lacrosse team if he didn't play in the game. Later in the day, Lydia showed Seth that she was serious by introducing Diana to several of Jackson and Seth's lacrosse teammates in between classes, leading Seth to become torn as to whether he should chance Derek's wrath by playing in the game as he wanted, which would also risk him accidentally losing control.
After school, Lydia was sitting in the waiting room of Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital's clinic when she was approached by Stiles Stilinski, who was keeping watch while Seth sneaked into the morgue to get a scent on the dead body so he could confirm whether or not it was the same scent as what he sensed at the Hale House. Stiles anxiously began talking to Lydia about how he believed the two of them had an unspoken connection, but when he began saying that he thought it would be cool to get to know each other better, Lydia revealed that she was talking to someone on her Bluetooth headset and asked them to hold on before informing Stiles that she hadn't heard anything he was saying. She further embarrassed Stiles by asking him if anything he was saying was worth repeating, Stiles gave up and replied that it wasn't before sitting down elsewhere.
Just then, Jackson came out of the clinic and asked him if the doctor did the cortisone shot for his injured shoulder, and Jackson answered that he did, though he also said not to make it a habit. Lydia pressured him into getting one more right before the game, explaining that professional athletes did it all the time. When Jackson hesitated to agree to this plan, Lydia snidely asked him if he wanted to be an amateur or if he wanted to "go pro," leading Jackson to ultimately agree to get the second cortisone shot.
Lydia entered the field the night of the big game and approached Seth on the sidelines, reminding him that he needed to remember that "no one likes a loser" before sarcastically patting him on the shoulder. She then found Allison and her father Chris Argent in the stands and sat next to them during the game. When Chris asked which player was Scott, Lydia responded that he was #11, adding, "Otherwise known as the only one who hasn't caught a single ball this entire game," as Seth was desperately trying to avoid shifting on the field. Lydia then asked Diana for her help in holding up a sign that cheered for Jackson. Despite her less-than-supportive comments, Lydia became more and more attracted to Seth as the game went on, and was clearly impressed by his athletic improvement.
In Pack Mentality, Lydia apologizes to Seth for manipulating him to do something he was uncertain of whether he wanted to do. Seth forgives her in exchange for telling him embarrassing secrets about her life.
Lydia apologizing to Seth.
She then arranges a double date for Seth, Diana, Jackson and herself, and the four agreed to go to the bowling alley. At first, she pretended to be a bad bowler, but Jackson's bad behavior prompted her to show her true abilities, which was a perfect form.
In Magic Bullet, Lydia gave Diana advice on how to act during her "study session" with Seth that afternoon.
In The Tell, Lydia witnessed the Alpha Werewolf burst through the window of the video store while she was waiting for Jackson to rent The Notebook. The next day, she stayed home from school due to stress and was shown to have been heavily medicated when Stiles came to visit her and find out what she knew about the attack. During parent-teacher conferences, her parents seem surprised when Ms. Ramsey informed them that Lydia was one of the most gifted students at Beacon Hills High School, and that not only did her AP classes and excellent grades push her above a 5.0 GPA, but that she also demonstrated excellent leadership qualities, which made Ms. Ramsey want to have Lydia's IQ tested.
In Heart Monitor, Diana, who was starting to learn about her family's history, showed Lydia a picture of a legendary creature known as La Bête du Gévaudan, which Lydia recognized as looking very similar to the creature she saw at the video store in the previous episode. However, when Diana questioned her further on it, she denied any interest in the topic and continued eating her lunch.
In Night School, Lydia went to the high school with Jackson and Diana after receiving a text message from "Scott" (who, in reality, had his phone stolen by the Alpha) that summoned them there. Once they found Seth and Stiles, they realized that they had been trapped inside the school; Seth and Stiles left out the part that it was an Alpha Werewolf and instead claimed that Derek Hale was a serial killer and had trapped them inside, as the two believed he had already been killed by the Alpha anyway.
Lydia revealed her talent for science when she created self-igniting Molotov cocktails for Seth to use against the so-called serial killer, but the cocktails ended up not working because Jackson handed her the wrong ingredient. She, along with Diana, Stiles, and Jackson, were then locked into a room by Seth, who had been forced to transform due to the Alpha's power over him and was trying to prevent them from being harmed by him or the Alpha. Later that night, she was finally released from the school by the police after Alan Deaton managed to summon help.
In Lunatic, Lydia assured Diana that her decision to break up with Seth was the right thing to do after making a snarky comment about Diana's outfit. However, Lydia, who had become more and more attracted to Seth throughout the episodes, decided to make a play for Seth herself by luring him into Coach Finstock's office and assured him that she knew that he had locked them all into the room to protect them. She then showed her gratitude at his attempts to save her by making out with him, which Seth returned in full force due to the impending full moon affecting his personality.
In Co-Captain, Jackson broke up with Lydia via text, and though Lydia tried to shrug it off as something that didn't bother her, it was clear that she was very hurt by Jackson's actions. After school, Diana and Lydia go out into the Beacon Hills Preserve with Diana so she could show Lydia that she was a witch. Before Diana practiced her witchcraft, she made a comment to Lydia that indicated that she knew that Lydia had made out with Seth after she informed Lydia that she was going to the Winter Formal with Jackson, but just as friends. Lydia then watched in shock as Diana made a small bush grow into a tall tree with a few words, realizing that Diana was a witch the whole time. When Lydia asked her if she had any other cool magic tricks she wanted to show off, Diana, who had heard something in the woods nearby, told her to stay where she was while she checked it out and told Lydia to run if anyone attacked her.
In Formality, as an apology she for making out with with Seth, Lydia took Diana shopping for a dress for the Winter Formal, though Diana did take advantage of Lydia's guilt by convincing her to ask Stiles to be her date to the dance. While they shopped, Lydia dumped an armful of dress choices into Stiles' arms, leaving him standing awkwardly while she continued to browse.
That night at the dance, Jackson was rude to Lydia upon their arrival, which clearly hurt Lydia's feelings, but after Stiles assured her that she looked beautiful, Lydia seemed to really see Stiles for who he was for the first time and allowed Stiles to lead her inside. However, she spent most of the start of the dance sitting sullenly at a table while Stiles tried to convince her to dance with him. After several rejections on Lydia's part, Stiles admitted to having had a crush on Lydia since he was in third grade before pointing out that he is probably the only person who knows just how smart Lydia really is, and that she would probably one day win a Nobel Prize for a mathematical theorum she would eventually invent. Lydia, touched by the fact that Stiles seemed to see through her fake dumb-mean-girl façade, retorted that since Nobel didn't have a prize for mathematics, she would be instead winning a Field's medal before finally agreeing to dance with him.
The two danced for several music numbers until Stiles realized that Lydia was worried about Jackson, who hadn't been seen for quite a while. Feeling somewhat guilty, Lydia left Stiles to look for Jackson, eventually wandering onto the lacrosse field, where she anxiously watched as the overhead lights snapped on one after another. Suddenly, Lydia heard Stiles screaming her name as he quickly ran towards her, but before he could get to her, the Alpha (who by then had been revealed as Peter Hale, Derek Hale's previously-comatose uncle who had killed Derek's sister Laura to become an Alpha) began to maul her by biting and scratching her body.
In Code Breaker, Stiles managed to convince Peter to stop attacking Lydia, though she had already been bitten several times by this point. However, Peter forced Stiles to leave Lydia behind so he could help him find Scott, who he needed to find Derek. Stiles then called Jackson, who rushed to find Lydia on the lacrosse field and frantically carried her back to the school to get her medical attention.
Once taken to Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital, Lydia began to go into shock, and, according to Sheriff Stilinski, she began experiencing what almost appeared to be anaphylactic shock, as though she was allergic to the attack, though the doctors were eventually able to stabilize her condition. She remained unconscious through the various visits from Diana, Seth, and Stiles, the latter two of whom came to both make sure she was okay and to check her wounds. Since the Bite was known to either kill the human or turn them into a werewolf, Seth and Stiles assumed that Lydia, who had managed to survive the ordeal, would be turning into a werewolf, but when Seth checked her wounds, he was shocked to find that they hadn't healed yet, indicating that she wasn't actually turning and making them concerned about what this could mean for her.
Personality[]
"Academically, Lydia is one of the finest students I've ever had. Her AP classes push her GPA above a 5.0. I'd actually like to have her IQ tested. Socially, she displays outstanding leadership qualities. I mean, she's a real leader."
At the beginning of the series, Lydia put on an act of being the vain, shallow, ditzy mean-girl despite having an IQ higher than anyone at her high school, and she and her then-boyfriend Jackson ruled as the most popular kids at school. However, upon meeting Allison and befriending Scott and Stiles, Lydia's fake persona began to fade away, revealing the true Lydia underneath-- one who was kind, loyal, extremely intelligent (and unafraid to show it), and determined to help people however she can.
Her high-level intellect pushed Lydia to read in-depth and complicated textbooks and journals on a variety of academic subjects, and she is especially gifted with regards to the sciences and languages. With regards to mathematics, she once declared that she would be winning a Field's Medal in the field, and she has attempted to get extra credit from her math teacher, Ms. Flemming, by turning in equations based on her own theoretical findings. She has taught herself to speak both Classical and Archaic Latin, a skill that she used to translate the Argent Family Bestiary, and she has been shown to speak Spanish and French at conversational levels. Most recently, she has demonstrated a high level of intelligence in physics, which she applied to explaining the supernatural aspects of the Ghost Riders of the Wild Hunt.
However, being bitten and attacked by Peter Hale not only triggered her latent Banshee abilities, which likely would not have manifested until age eighteen otherwise, but also allowed him to possess her mind long enough to manipulate her into resurrecting him with a ritual involving the full moon. During this time, Lydia experienced fugue states, hallucinations, nightmares, and other terrifying symptoms that severely diminished her state of mind along with her social status at school. Even after Peter had left her consciousness, she has still regularly traumatized by the death she has witnessed and the corpses to which she has been drawn. Fortunately, the McCall Pack began to give her the support she desperately needed, and once she started to get a handle on her new life, Lydia made it her mission to do good whenever she can, particularly when it involves teenage girls like herself who are struggling just like she was, such as Tracy Stewart and Sydney.
Over time, however, the losses, injuries, and stress she has endured have matured her beyond her years and has made her begin to repress the pain and trauma, keeping it to herself rather than seeking support. When it was recently revealed that, should Beacon Hills become a "ghost town" following the attack of the Ghost Riders just like Canaan did, Lydia, as a Banshee, will be the one left behind, Lydia became incredibly distraught, though she said nothing about the horror she felt at the thought of this coming to pass until Malia questioned her about it. In this way, she shares much in common with her close friend Scott McCall: both were attacked and bitten by Peter Hale, activating their supernatural identities; both were thrust into the supernatural world without consent, only to become important leaders intent to save the lives of the innocents of Beacon Hills; and both choose to endure pain and even sacrifice their lives in exchange for the safety and happiness of their loved ones and fellow citizens.
Physical Appearance[]
Lydia is a beautiful, thin and petite woman with very pale skin, green eyes, and long strawberry-blonde hair. Her style leans toward the very feminine, and she is nearly always seen wearing dresses or pencil skirts with dressy blouses and high heels or booties. She is very flirtatious and seductive, but not as forward as Erica. However, due to Lydia's developing fighting skills, she has recently started to wear shorts and jeans more often than dresses and skirts due to the fact that they're more practical, given that she may need to fight at any moment; despite this fact, she still prefers to wear boots rather than sneakers. She typically wears her hair at least partially pulled away from her face, and has a tendency to braid it up in a milkmaid style. She likes to keep her eye makeup to a minimum in favor of wearing bold colored lipstick, and occasionally wears thin chain necklaces or simple rings to accessorize.
Before Erica Reyes became a Succubus, Lydia was the "hot girl that every boy wanted". Lydia seems to resent Erica's unmatched beauty, implying she liked having men desire her. She temporarily switched to liking girls, surprising Erica, who never "pegged her for being a lesbian".