When MTV debuted their supernatural series Teen Wolf, Lydia Martin was one of the first characters to be introduced to what would become the show's dedicated fanbase. Played by Holland Roden over the course of 100 episodes, Lydia grew from the typical popular girl in teen television to an integral part of Scott McCall’s pack.
Though she appeared “normal” when the series began all those years ago, Lydia eventually revealed herself as the smartest person in Beacon Hills. Her supernatural abilities also manifested over seasons two and three until she learned she was a banshee, like her grandmother before her. Though fans of the series learned a lot about Lydia over the years, there might be a few things they missed. Here are 10 things that even the most sharp-eyed fans may not know about Lydia Martin.
Lydia Appears In Almost Every Episode Of Teen Wolf
Of the main characters, only one actually appeared in every episode of the series: Scott McCall. As the titular Teen Wolf, Scott never missed an episode. The only other character to come close to his number of appearances is Lydia Martin.
Lydia only missed a handful of episodes in season two and three, though actress Holland Roden was still credited as appearing since she was a main cast member. The only other character to come close to appearing in as many episodes as Lydia and Scott was Stiles, but he missed half of the final season.
She Is Multilingual
It didn’t take long in the first season of Teen Wolf for Lydia’s intelligence to shine through her supposedly vapid persona. It’s not just math and science that Lydia shines in because if fans were paying attention through the years, they would have noticed that Lydia is one of the few characters in the series who speaks multiple languages.
Over the course of the show, Lydia speaks at least four languages conversationally. In addition to her usual English, Lydia also converses in Spanish and French. She also happens to know two different versions of the Latin language: Archaic and Classical.
Her Scream Is Recorded
While promoting Teen Wolf, Roden let fans in on a little secret: Most of her banshee screams were pre-recorded and added in editing.
In season two, when Lydia first began exhibiting her banshee abilities, Roden did scream as the script instructed. Following season two, however, Roden discovered she had stripped her vocal cords and requested not to scream anymore. Now whenever Lydia screamed on camera, Roden just pretended to scream and the sound editing team added it in later. Similarly, Lea Michele and Ariana Grande did the same thing when they joined the cast of Scream Queens.
Lydia Is Immune To The Supernatural
Banshees are supernatural creatures, and since Lydia is one, it would be reasonable to think substances that affect supernatural creatures would affect her as well. Her biology begs to differ, though it’s never clear why.
Besides being able to handle mountain ash like a human, Lydia also isn’t affected by things that should hurt her. A werewolf bite from Peter in the first season doesn’t turn her or make her ill. Instead, it activates her masked banshee abilities. Kanima venom doesn’t paralyze her either. Though it works on shapeshifters and humans, it has no effect on her at all.
She Is A Genius
A lot is said about Lydia’s intelligence on the series. She’s not simply smart; Lydia is actually a genius. Case in point, the standard IQ for genius intelligence is around 145 while Lydia has an IQ of 170.
When Teen Wolf came to an end, Lydia was revealed to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lydia wouldn’t be entering M.I.T. as a freshman, however. She had enough credits from high school to skip two years of classes and enter the university as a junior.
She Chose To Live With Her Mother
We don’t often see Lydia’s father. He’s present when she’s in the hospital at the start of season two, but other than that, Lydia is shown spending more time with her mother. That’s likely because Lydia opted to live with her mom.
The series frequently implies that Lydia’s parents didn’t have a happy marriage. Her mother, however, reveals that when the two divorced, her father allowed Lydia to choose where she wanted to live instead of her parents forcing her into one situation over the other. Lydia chose to stay with Natalie Martin.
She Has Seen A Hypnotist
Not everyone is susceptible to hypnosis. Those who have a difficult time clearing their mind of stray thoughts, for example, are less likely to succumb to hypnosis than others. Hypnotherapy is still a technique people try, even if they think it might not work.
When Lydia was younger, her mother couldn’t get her to stop biting her nails. She gave up and sent Lydia to a hypnotist, which did the trick. The audience might wonder if it worked only because of Lydia’s latent banshee skills. Once those abilities are unlocked, Lydia is practically able to hypnotize herself to induce premonitions.
She Could Have Been Allison
Many of the actors who became a part of the Teen Wolf series actually auditioned for other roles other than the one they got. For example, Dylan O’Brien read for Scott McCall, but ended up cast as Stiles while Adelaide Kane read for Erica Reyes, but ended up cast as Cora Hale.
Holland Roden’s journey to the show was similar, because she originally auditioned for the role of Allison Argent. In fact, she read for Allison multiple times before reading for Lydia and getting into the show's cast.
Lydia And Allison Have The Same Origin
Interestingly, the names Lydia and Allison derive from the same root in German and Scandinavian languages. Both names are modern variations of the name Adelheid.
Though the names have different meanings depending on their regional origin, it’s a nice unintentional nod to the relationship between the two characters on the show. Lydia is the first character to befriend Allison when the latter moves to Beacon Hills. The two become as close as sisters over the course of Allison’s time on the series.
Lydia Illustrated The Argent Bestiary
As hunters, the Argent family keeps track of the supernatural beings they encounter. To teach the next generation about these creatures, they created the Bestiary: an illustrated book of these beings as well as details about their strengths and weaknesses.
By Teen Wolf's end, the Argent family’s book was in the hands of the McCall pack. While it’s not outright stated, it’s strongly implied that the new additions to the book were courtesy of Lydia’s artistic hand. Considering how much time she spent drawing the nemeton in class, that page was probably a breeze for her.