Judith Grimes
Born in the fire of the apocalypse, she is the future that refuses to die.
Judith Grimes is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead. In the television series of the same name, she is primarily portrayed by Cailey Fleming. She was portrayed by several child actors when the character was younger. Judith is the daughter of Lori Grimes and the adopted daughter of Rick Grimes, and the younger half-sister of Carl Grimes. Judith's biological father is probably Shane, though this has not been confirmed. However, Rick told Lori he did not care if she was Shane's daughter because he will still love her as his daughter.
Quick Facts
- Series
- The Walking Dead
- First
- Comic:
- "Issue #39" (2007)
- Television:
- "Killer Within" (2012)
- Last
- Comic:
- "Issue #48" (2008)
- Television:
- "The Last Time" (2024)
- Portrayed by
- Cailey Fleming (Season 9–11, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live); Several child actresses (Seasons 3–9)
- Nickname
- Jude
- Creator
- Robert Kirkman
- Tony Moore
- Charlie Adlard
- Adapted by
- Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead)
Lore & Background
Judith Grimes first appeared in the episode "Killer Within" where she was born via caesarean section carried out by Maggie due to complications that Lori Grimes had during labor. During the caesarean section, Lori loses a lot of blood and agonizingly says goodbye to Carl as he shoots her out of mercy to avoid her reanimation. On the day she was born, Glenn and Maggie go to get formula milk when Hershel told them baby Judith could not survive without it.
Daryl nicknames her the "Little Asskicker". Baby Judith was often in the care of Beth and Carol throughout the season. When an outbreak of a deadly flu came to the prison community, Judith fortunately survived the outbreak. During the last assault of the Governor, she was saved by the sisters Lizzie and Mika Samuels who take the little baby with Tyreese and together they begin making their way to Terminus.
On the road, Tyreese decides to help a father and his son, leaving the little ones to their fate as a group of walkers approach. The girls were saved by Carol. When Tyreese and Carol realized Lizzie's mental breakdown after seeing Lizzie murder Mika, Lizzie reveals that she wanted to kill Judith to see her become a walker and Carol manages to stop her. During a debate with Tyreese, they decide to eliminate Lizzie to avoid hurting Judith and the rest of the people. Later, they travelled with Judith to Terminus.
Reader's Guide
When Negan meets Judith, he becomes fond of her despite having a rough relationship with her father and promises to protect her and Carl. Later, Judith was transported to the Hilltop. She sits on the ground while Maggie and Jesus talk. Shortly after, Judith stands up and is carried away by Enid.
Judith was always in the care of the Alexandrians during the war against the Saviors, later Carl discovers that he was bitten by a walker, he decides to spend a day with his little sister. Before his death, she manages to survive under the sewers when Negan bombs Alexandria and the little girl is successfully taken to the Hilltop Colony. Eighteen months after the fall of Negan, Judith lives happily with Rick and Michonne. When problems begin within the communities, Rick is forced to deal with a herd of walkers by destroying a bridge in order to save the communities.
The group believes that Rick died. Six years later, a group of survivors led by a woman named Magna are overwhelmed by a herd of walkers. A little girl with a sheriff's hat appears and saves them from the herd. She introduces herself as Judith Grimes.
It is later revealed that Judith disagrees with her adoptive mother Michonne about Judith's friendly relationship with Negan. Judith also has a half-brother named Rick Grimes Jr., the son of Rick and Michonne conceived before Rick's presumed death. Several months after the massacre during the community's fair done by Alpha, she was saved by Negan when she attempted to save Daryl's dog in the large blizzard during the winter. In "Lines We Cross", some months after the blizzard, Judith and the Coalition form a militia in order to train the residents of the communities to face any future threats.
She takes part in a training exercise on the Oceanside beach. As Ezekiel and Jerry methodically release walkers from a shipwrecked boat, Judith and the other militia work together as a unit to take out the walker threat. Later on, Judith and R.J. play with some shells that R.J. found. As they dump out their seashells in the sand, a Whisperer mask falls out.
Judith gets scared and informs the rest of the group. A while later, Judith tells R.J. the story about Rick blowing the bridge to save his friends. "He died and went to heaven," Judith tells R.J. about "the brave man" in her story. Michonne walks up to hug them, telling them she'd do anything to protect them.
Suddenly, an explosion rings out and everyone looks up to witness streaks of fire cascading from the sky. Judith then stays at the camp looking after her brother as the adults deal with the situation.
More in Characters & Survivors
Related in The Walking Dead
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Elsewhere in The Walking Dead
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