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PLAYER INFO
Name: Alison
Contact: PMs at![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Lexa
Canon: The 100
Canon Point: Episode 3x7, after Clarke leaves to return to her room.
Appearance: Lexa is someone who is very imperious in how she stands and carries herself, making her seem much taller than she is. She is, however, only of average height, standing at five-foot-seven with a lean, but incredibly trim frame. That is because she's a trained warrior, and it shows in how she's built. She has light brown hair that can lighten in the sunlight with a little blonde, and she has green eyes. She isn't the most expressionate person, as she's usually careful to school her facial expressions into a fierce neutrality.
On her back and neck, she has a set of tattoos.
Reference pictures: one (not the blonde) | in her commander wear | how she'll be dressed during her rescue | tattoo on the back of her neck (this is where her chip is) | tattoo on her back | tattoo on her right arm
Age: Likely around 21 or 22. Clarke is canonically 18, and Lexa is "probably a few years older," putting her into that age range.
Setting: Official Wikipedia page | Episode summaries | Timeline of events from the Fan Wiki.
History: Lexa's page at the Fan Wiki.
Personality: As the Commander, Lexa has been trained in a number of values, even if each and every one of them could be considered to err on the side of "too cautious." She is meant to be alone, ignoring all aspects of her own desires so that she is the best and strongest commander for her people. She is meant to show her strength as often and as ruthlessly as possible. Her people come to the point where they are accustomed to these shows of strength. The idea that only the strong survive reigns supreme in this dystopian future, and they are unsurprised if people die as a result of failing to adhere to this. All of this is because as the Commander, she is more than a leader: she is the symbol of her people. During one of Lexa's audiences, one of the people from her coalition challenges her choices, insisting that she might be weak. What is shown time and time again throughout the show is that Lexa will act as ruthlessly as possible. She draws this challenger toward her for a "private conversation," and then proceeds to kick him off the top floor of her capital building (which is a tall skyscraper that looks like it was once a tall apartment building). None of her people are surprised by this decision, and the script itself hints that this was a commonplace circumstance. As the Commander, she has to both come across as strong and unwavering while still putting her people first. That strength has to show itself in how little she allows people to challenge her—and offering mercy could show that she is much too sentimental. She cannot linger on thoughts of regret, as it will only weaken her. People die every day, and they will continue to die. Perhaps the most telling remark from Lexa is to Clarke: "The dead are gone, Clarke. The living are hungry." Death must be repaid, but she cannot let that repayment come without the thought of those who are living. She can't mourn for long, as it will limit her ability to act on her people's behalf.
As the Commander, Lexa has to be the most "extreme" and most ruthlessly pragmatic person among her people. While erring on the side of "too cautious," true strength is defined by being willing to give everything to her people. Lexa is very much the result of someone who has grown up in a culture of people who know nothing more than survival. Extremes become necessary. That's why Lexa has to be willing to show herself as the most ruthless individual. As people who somehow managed to survive following an apocalypse that destroyed civilization, they've developed ideals on the foundation of doing anything possible to survive. These ideals lead to many people within Lexa's culture developing harsh ideas of how to approach matters. All of the people that have taught Lexa throughout her life have supported the need to be ruthless, to trust no one, and to be unforgiving. There is a reason why here people came to believe in the idea of "blood must have blood"—they believe it's the only way to assert strength in response to violent actions, as every action should have an equal and opposite reaction. Given the fact that survival is at the very heart of their culture, taking someone's life for criminal reasons is seen as unforgivable. Treason is right up there, as are other forms of betrayal.
On the matter of teaching, Lexa has both been trained as a warrior and a future Commander (as she would have been found to have black blood and been placed under the Commander's care for future lessons, as that's how the Commanders are found and eventually chosen). In Lexa's culture, the warriors enter training as someone's second to learn how to fight. Although we never see them onscreen together, Lexa's teacher is Anya, a woman who is even-keel in most of her approaches to others, but also harsh and unforgiving. She has a rash and angry side to her, but she's good at directing it in useful ways. We see that Anya cares for her seconds, and that she'll even bring in healers from enemy forces to care for them (even if that action comes with an additional threat to that healer's loved one). Much of Lexa can be discerned from Anya's actions. She puts her people first, she's stoic and harsh, but her reasons for disliking her enemy in the form of the Sky People is largely because they have caused actual harm. In many ways, the audience is meant to be reminded of Anya when they see Lexa, as they are similarly unemotive but harsh and angry when the situation calls for it. Lexa's other teachers and advisers are men who seek to undermine her in some ways while helping her. The first the audience meets is Gustus, and while Lexa cares for him and respects him, she both cannot show it and cannot stand by him when it turns out that he betrays her. He fears that her willingness to build an alliance with the Sky People will turn people against her, and he does what he can to try to break that alliance, framing one of the Sky People for the crime of attempting to poison Lexa. When Lexa finds out the truth, she has to be as harsh as always: she has to sentence him to death, and is the one to drive the final blade through his chest to take his life. In all ways, Lexa has to be the vision of the Commander, and she shows her continued strength to her people by being willing to take out someone so close to her because of his treason (which also showed that her judgment wasn't as clouded as Gustus believed it to be). Her other adviser is the teacher who has taught and trained several commanders before her: Titus. There is no doubt that Titus has Lexa's best interests at heart, but he reinforces ideals of lack of individuality among a commander, and ensuring that the Commander doesn't let the matters of her heart to rule her. To ensure that this happens, Titus goes behind her back to both manipulate Clarke because he perceives her to be a threat to Lexa's judgment, and in capturing and torturing one of the Sky People for information on Clarke to use it against her and end up manipulating Lexa. While much of this is not done by Lexa herself, each of these actions not only show the complicated political situation of her life, and the people by which she constantly has to prove herself. Lexa is used to having a lot of eyes on her at all times, whether it's the eyes of her people or of her advisers. As such, she has to continually rise to the expectations set for her by all of them, a fact which often ends in some extreme brutality.
Apart from having to be controlled and unsentimental, Lexa asserts time and time again that she believes that love is a weakness (so much that it seems as if she's almost trying to convince herself). Part of that reinforcement is because Titus actually introduced the idea that love is a weakness, and it's not a concept that Lexa came up with herself. We learn rather early on in Lexa's appearances that she loved once, and that the girl she loved ended up being brutally murdered because of her relationship with Lexa. As she explained, "I lost someone special to me, too. Her name was Costia. She was captured by the ice nation, whose queen believed she knew my secrets. Because she was mine ... they tortured her, killed her, cut off her head." After providing this explanation, Lexa goes on to state that "love is a weakness." In adhering to the Titus' teachings, Lexa has to come to believe that must be alone. But since Lexa didn't come up with the idea herself, it shows that she is not without her ability to love, and that's apparent in just how much she devotes to her people. She absolutely does love her people, and is willing to do (and give) anything to them. Everything she does, either wise or otherwise, is for the sake of her people. That doesn't mean that she doesn't make mistakes, but she tries to act with their best interests at heart within the confines of the world she knows best. The other reason is because Lexa does make a mistake, setting aside her love for one person for her people, and she comes to act to make up for that later. Even when she acts with her head and not her heart, she is unable to completely separate the two.
Lexa's love for her people is what actually defines her as a great Commander, and it's what leads to her people believing she is be a visionary. She is the first Commander to begin to introduce ideas that would lead them to no longer going to war constantly, and brings peace within the different clans. One of these clans (the Ice Nation) was responsible for the loss of Costia, but she still accepts them into her coalition. She understands the necessity of this action, and will set aside her personal interests for the sake of all of her people. This coalition of all of the clans is a very new thing, and a tenuous one. The fact that it's tenuous is partly because her people are used to a lifestyle of warring, but Lexa is willing to continue to work diligently to find ways to ensure its continuation. She is prepared to do anything possible to give her people a better future, even if it means she might die for it. In fact, it's apparent that Lexa values self-sacrifice. When she captures two of the Sky People's leaders, she asks them to fight it out and choose who should survive. She comes to respect the man who is willing to offer up his own life for his people, and tortures the other man, sending him away with a threat (one that she may not have been willing to follow up on—as she certainly doesn't direct her people to attack). The fact that Lexa acts as a symbol for her people is apparent in a lot of ways, but she holds a leader's willingness to put their people first in high esteem. This much is apparent with the self-sacrificing Sky Person in her prison (Kane), and it's also obvious later with how she comes to fall in love with Clarke (who will go above and beyond for the sake of her people). In private moments around the people she loves and respects, Lexa is able and willing to show a softer side, and it's almost like she's being released from the oppressive appearances she must always put on for others.
For someone who is meant to uncaring and stoic, Lexa is certainly defined by the opposite; still, that isn't to say that she's far from ruthless, manipulative, and callous. She is all of these things, but she is flexible in her presentation of this mindset. Once again, Lexa comes from a society that believes "blood must have blood." If someone is a traitor, they will kill that person for acting against her, and few (if any) challenge her when she takes this out on someone who has proved himself to be a threat to her ideas or her rule. At the same time, she is willing to accept the death of only one of the Sky People in exchange for an alliance. As long as this teenage boy (Finn Collins) turns himself in, then she will accept his life in exchange. When Clarke eventually kills Finn to keep him from being tortured in the ritual demanded by Lexa's people (they torture them by a thousand cuts until they finally die), she understands that Clarke has undertaken a difficult task and asks no more from her or her people. She later accepts the Sky People into her coalition, bypassing concerns of alliances, truces, and peace treaties, all so that she can promise her protection to them. While her people challenge this action and force her to act, it still shows the eventual creativity for Lexa.
The dark side of this is that while Lexa can be the flexible peace-bringing visionary, she can also be too ruthless. Much of this is an unfortunate side effect of both her teachings and her society, but it leads to Lexa almost being blinded when it comes to more peaceful solutions. She refuses to accept that Finn undergo a trial process, as she doesn't trust the Sky People to end up choosing to take his life. When Bellamy has snuck inside the base of their enemy (the Mountain Men), he informs Clarke (and later Lexa) about a missile headed for a meeting of Lexa's coalition, she believes that they have to let the missile hit to ensure that Bellamy isn't found inside of the base as a trespasser. The risk of him being found was high, but she still allowed a over two hundred of her people to die. Later, when offered a deal by the Mountain Men, she takes it, partly because she believed it was the only way to save her people. Other instances show that she is quick to threaten her people for challenging her, to kick them off buildings (even if it's a necessary show of strength), and to call upon her armies when her people have been killed. Many of these are absolutely understandable situations within the context of the society she grew up in, but she often leaps to the absolute worst conclusion to resolve a problem. Still, acting in absolutes isn't always a bad thing. When Lexa tries to show her strength to her people after she's challenged to a duel to the death, she acts outside of the box. Instead of killing the man who had been chosen to fight her on behalf of the Ice Queen (this is the very same woman who killed Costia), she kills the Ice Queen herself, and declares the man (who just so happens to be the Prince of the Ice Nation) the new King. This action is not only a show of ruthlessness but a show of strength, as she takes a spear and throws it pretty far to stab the Ice Queen in the heart.
What is most unfortunate is that many of these actions are excused by her people. One of the commanders of her army, Indra, says that Lexa allowing her people to die at the hand of the Mountain Men's missile showed her to be a truly great commander because she was carry out that action. As a result of this almost blind belief in Lexa, she starts to try to drag Clarke down the same path as her. Lexa only believes in ruthlessness as a strength. She doesn't think emotion is, and she encourages Clarke to clamp down on all of these things so that she can be the best leader for her people. She tries to remake Clarke the leader into Lexa's own version of a leader, encouraging her to act harshly and without emotion, even if it's not necessarily in Clarke's best interests. Lexa comes to see that Clarke is strong because she will extend a helping hand to others, but that doesn't keep her from continuing to challenge Clarke's sentimentality. She forces Clarke to be party to the deaths of her people at the hands of the missile, and she later forces Clarke to kill the entire population of the Mountain Men so that her people can survive. Why? Because Lexa had taken that deal, and it was a deal that would save only her people and not Clarke's. She thus betrays Clarke, carrying out the greatest extent of all of her actions. Had Clarke not gone on to kill the Mountain Men to fully take out the greatest enemy of Lexa's people, her actions here would have been praised as well. Unfortunately, Clarke's ability to slaughter the Mountain Men makes her a folk hero among Lexa's people, and it leads to the idea of Lexa being weak.
All of this ties back neatly into the idea of Lexa being a symbol for her people, and as that symbol, she has to act without any remorse or regret on the behalf of her people. She cannot let any challenges arise to the status of her identity as her people's commander and symbol. That means she can betray and break an alliance if it means that she protects them (and it also means that she can accept the Sky People into her coalition and offer them the same extent of protection later on). Her position as a commander lends her a certain degree of charisma, but Lexa goes beyond that. The way she carries herself is very much the image of someone who withholds her emotions and gives little of herself away. She holds her head high when she walks, she rarely exhibits any emotions on her face, and she's practiced at swallowing down any disruption in either of these things. On multiple occasions, the audience sees Lexa swallow down her tears and close her eyes to collect herself, and it's clearly an action that she has practiced throughout the years. But she is not only stoic. As the Commander, Lexa has to be able to speak to her people in a powerful way. She is allowed to show her anger, especially if she's issuing a threat in combination with it (and she's known to be someone who will follow through). She doesn't hesitate to issue orders to people, to direct people to act, and to ask for things from others. Lexa has to be decisive in just about everything she accomplishes, and she has to show a sharpness to her decisions among her people. This aspect comes across in her ability to speak bluntly and directly, not only in everyday conversation (though that is most certainly true), but also in how she speaks to her people. Her charisma and training allows her to have the skills to break outside of that: she can give speeches easily, to rally her people, and she can be clever to know exactly what it is her people need to see and hear. She has her finger on the pulse of her people at all times.
The ability to be decisive and have her finger on the pulse of her people is something Lexa manages because of her sharp intelligence, especially as the leader of a warring nation. She might act rashly or end up taking the most ruthless route because she isn't accustomed to thinking outside of the box, but she knows her people well and is able to understand the constraints of the world she lives in. To say Lexa is wise is probably giving her too much credit (as she's still very young), but she is certainly cunning. Given the rather political nature of her life, she has to be able to navigate the interests of all of the twelve clans within her coalition, and do what she can to meet all of their needs in a world where surviving is extremely difficult. She is also able to see the opportunities within a situation, and she knows when to not press her luck—or, knows when not to press her luck most of the time. For what it's worth, the historical parallel to Lexa is actually Charlemagne, as he managed to combine a number of war bands together in order to create his kingdom. They were both clever visionaries who knew exactly what was necessary for their people. (And it's apparent that much like in the case of Charlemagne, Lexa's accomplishments will not hold for long following her death.)
No matter how clever or how decisive Lexa is, she is still young. As someone in her early twenties, that means she is prone to make mistakes, and prone to change her mind on things that she believes might otherwise weaken her. That is ultimately what leads her to falling in love with Clarke, and it's a large part of why she acts to bring Clarke's people into her coalition. Initially, this action is incredibly condescending, and both Clarke and her people are against the choice. (They later split on whether this is a good idea, with a rather xenophobic leader coming into command to force any loyalties to become extinct.) But she does have the Sky People's best interests at heart, even if her solution is not one that can necessarily be taken at face value. As someone young, she is going to be rash. She is going to act on her emotions even if she tries to suppress them. She is going to do everything she can for her people, but still struggle under the weight of both being a symbol and a woman in her early twenties. All of this is rather natural. She may have her moments of maturity and she is almost always willing to act on behalf of her people rather than what lies in her heart (as is the case with accepting the Ice Nation into her coalition), but her decision-making record is hardly impeccable and perfectly consistent.
That youth certainly has an upside: it is what leads to her being able to be adaptable, and being willing to change her ways when she believes it suits her and her people. This mindset is shown early on in how she is both willing to only accept Finn's death but also Clarke's killing of him (rather than at the hands of her people). Later, it's all the more apparent in how she creates an alliance with Clarke … and even after betraying her, she brings Clarke in to offer her protection. In the latter scenario, it's believed that she brings in Clarke partly because Clarke has earned a reputation among Lexa's people as Wanheda—the Commander of Death. This motivation may be part of Lexa's decision, but that's hardly all of it. She sees Clarke as the leader of her own people, and therefore, she has to extend an olive branch to her and request that she join her coalition. Lexa is smart enough to know that her betrayal to Clarke's people was a betrayal to Clarke herself, because Clarke trusted Lexa, and Lexa betrayed her by leaving her people to die at the hands of the Mountain Men. If this sounds convoluted, it's because it is. Lexa's plan to rectify that later is via the acceptance into her coalition, and accepting Wanheda into her coalition is a show of strength. But—of course, she also wants to protect Clarke and her people. Her adaptability comes into play her because she doesn't only offer her protection: she apologizes for her actions and later pledges fealty to Clarke, promising to protect her and her people in all ways. Lexa is absolutely genuine in both of these circumstances, and she comes to value Clarke's opinion above all others because of it. The greatest show of her flexibility comes as a result of this: when Clarke asks Lexa to change her people's ways and demand a different approach to living, she accepts it. This approach involves turning the motto of "blood must have blood" into "blood must not have blood." Lexa accepts Clarke's argument that if her people want to have a better future, they have to stop the cycle of bloodshed. She will act with force if and when necessary, but she will not immediately jump to warfare, bloodshed, and violence. Even when her people struggle against this altered motto, she still reinforces it (and when Clarke nearly hypocritically demands the blood of one of the Mountain Men, Lexa is quick to point it out).
Finally, there is the matter of Lexa being a symbol to her people, and that isn't just tied to the identity of the commander within the lore of her people, but to a chip that is inserted into the back of her neck. In this chip, she has the minds of the previous commanders. It is currently unclear how much autonomy these commanders have as artificial intelligences within the chip, but Lexa tells Clarke of a moment when she has a dream where the other commanders come to warn her for going against her people's way of "blood must have blood." There is no doubt that Lexa's mind is her own. She thinks, acts, and loves all on her own, but at the same time, Lexa is bizarrely unafraid of dying. This is likely the result of knowing she will live on inside of the chip. During the multiple times where she has to face her death, she is overtly matter of fact about it, believing that death is not the end because of the reincarnation process within her people's culture (and this process is tied to the insertion of the chip). By being the holder of the chip, she carries the long tradition of commanders within her people, and she can also become worryingly single-minded about leadership. That's undoubtedly part of why she sees Clarke as the "special" leader of her people: Lexa is accustomed to commanders being symbols and them having that unique quality attached to them. (This mindset certainly does lead Lexa to seeing only Clarke and not the Sky People for who they are on multiple occasions.) Again, there is no doubt that Lexa is her own person. She can love, hope for a life where she doesn't constantly owe her people something, and act out of selfishness. She certainly has free will, even if the chip inside her head leads to the commanders advising against her decisions.
Canon Abilities/Skills:
Like many Grounders in the world of The 100, Lexa has been trained from her second year of life to be a warrior. At the age of sixteen, she took in the computer chip that her people believe to be the "commander's spirit," which is really a chip that lodges into the back of a person's neck and uploads and integrates with a person's mind. Because she was physically strong, she managed to win a fight to the death with the other potential commanders to get a chip placed into the back of her neck. (Note: updated on 3/31 with "Stealing Fire" clarifications.)
Before she entered the conclave to become a commander, she had been training for a long time to become that strong. As a result, her fighting prowess has left her with the following skills:
Fighting
She can easily wield a sword with little difficulty.
She can easily wield a spear and whip it at a high speed to kill an enemy with perfect accuracy. She is shown to be working with different types of pole-arms on different occasions.
As a result, it's safe to say that she's a talented marksman, as well.
People in her society are often competent with archery, so she likely at least has training in that.
Even without a weapon in hand, she's held her own in combat, making her likely good at hand-to-hand combat as well.
Strength is also a huge part of the Grounder society, so Lexa has to be both competent enough to go up against a warrior who can kill several people in a blink of an eye—and confident enough in her ability to come out on top. As the commander, her strength can readily be challenged, so she's a highly trained, albeit normal human being. Though her age is unknown, she's been the Commander for at least four years.
Physiologically:
In order to identify the next commander, there are unique Grounders who are born with black blood flowing through their veins. Lexa is one of them, making it so that the color of her blood is actually black. In order to survive in the intense radiation on the Ground, Lexa's people evolved from a group of people whose blood had been turned black. This allows them to metabolize large amounts of radiation, but it's clear that only those born with the black blood can handle unique types of technology made for them. This likely makes them more resilient against the radiation in question.
She has a silicone computer chip in the back of her head that is an artificial intelligence designed to help and consider the facets of humanity so that it can continue on. Given the spiritual nature of her people, she doesn't know exactly what this entails, and believes that she communes with them in her dreams. In reality, the chip actually has the uploaded minds of the previous commanders. What this means about autonomy for these figures and whether they have "true" life is yet to be seen.
Politically:
Once someone in the Grounder society is identified as a Nightblood, they are brought to the capital so that they can train under the Commander. As a result, Lexa has been trained since childhood in the ins and outs of her society, as well as the land and everything surrounding it.
Additionally, she has been trained in military tactics. On numerous occasions, Lexa has shown herself to both be politically and militarily savvy, thinking fast on her feet, even if the best decision and conclusion is the most ruthless one available. She is sharp enough to make deals to protect her people, though she sometimes gets lost in what is the most ruthless solution instead of the most logical one.
That said, Lexa is also said to be a visionary within her society. While her people often tend toward violence and rash actions, she managed to unite the twelve clans, and does everything in her power to keep them stable. These efforts are sometimes in vain, but she is able to improvise and come up with solutions—in time. She is also willing to listen to outside opinions, and she clearly values self-sacrifice to some degree. As the Commander, she believes that her time will come to an end at some point, and is often able to separate her feelings from her position for that reason. (In fact, she seems almost overly matter-of-fact about her eventual death.)
She has also been trained in the values of her society, as she's had it embedded in her mind again and again that as the Commander, she has to be strong for her people.
But along with that, she's also willing to be resourceful, and thanks to maturity and a healthy helping of guilt after a major mistake, she's become better at seeking out solutions that take a third path. They are still ruthless, but they don't include jumping to decimating and screwing over their enemies in incredibly violent and bloody ways. She is leading her people down a path of hope, where no one is required to believe that "blood must have blood," instead endorsing "blood must not have blood," all to keep the cycle of bloodshed from continuing.
ON STATION 72
Symbiote Specialization: Iota.
Symbiote Ability: Burning touch.
Rank One
At the initial rank, Lexa will only be able to burn things that are readily flammable. This will naturally necessitate oxygen for chemical reasons, but she will be able to burn wood (so long as it is not wet: though she can also heat it and eventually make it burn), paper, melt plastic, make rubber smoke, or just about anything you can expect with a flame. Her power is strongest when centralized through her hands, with her hands (or body) almost acts as the flame. She need not be on fire to achieve this reaction, though that's possible even at this earlier stage (but, like you might expect, setting her hands on fire doesn't come with a single bit of finesse). Though much of her power will be projected through her hands, she will require an inflammable suit (likely similar to the unstable molecules that the Fantastic Four use in Marvel canon, as it can adapt). Outside of the flaming appearance, her hands will burn in appearance, glowing bright like there is a flame inside of them. She'll have the bonus of resistance to flames at this point (but only when she consciously activates her ability, so it comes with a price).
The negative effects of this rank are ones that carry all the way through: using her flame massively dehydrates her, especially in these early stages. With the loss of water comes the loss of energy, and she can only do much. (And with that, comes the slowed ability to breathe, create oxygen, and so forth.) The dehydration will almost always be present, but short-term use of the touch will only necessitate a bottle of water. Long-term use may lead to her requiring IVs injecting fluids into her system or further assistance. Also, if she comes to control less of her flames and develop finesse, it will naturally use up less of her water stores, as well as her energy, because it's centralized and more precise.
Rank Two
At this rank, the melting comes into play. A table of metals and their melting points is extremely necessary here. She will be able to melt elements up to 1000 degrees fahrenheit. Initially, hitting that peak point will do two things: her entire body will be molten in appearance, and it will be a quick one time thing. Basically, it will be a one-and-done scenario.
There will be a greater risk of her running hotter at rank two when she utilizes her abilities, if only because they are defined less by her ability to control them and more by the fact of their strength. Though she can gain finesse here, her forcefulness will almost define her power here: strength and overdoing it is how the progression goes.
This will come with less costs to her body, but she will be more dangerous to be around when she utilizes her power. "Less costs" doesn't mean no costs, and if she hits the peak of her power, she will absolutely require medical assistance.
She will likely require either an inflammable suit that adapts, or a new one.
Rank Three
The natural progression of power versus finesse continues here. Lexa will exhibit incredible power and will be able to melt metals that melt up to 2000 degrees (linking the chart again), but with the same "one and done" qualification. The previous set of metals will be able to be melted with greater ease.
Again, the peak of her power will require medical assistance. She will have continued resistance to heat (almost nullification, except for heats greater than 2000 degrees), though that's only when her power is activated consciously. She will still need to chug water after using her power, but lesser usage will be easier (once she manages to once again rein in that control).
Inventory:
Her clothes (a shirt [minus the bullet wound], boots, pants, undergarments)
A dagger
A one-handed sword
The "Spirit of the Commander" AKA Alie 2.0 AKA a computer chip that attaches to the brain stem and uploads and downloads the consciousness of Lexa and the previous commanders (this is literally inside of her neck: as it's coming out [CW: body horror], when it's out)
SAMPLES
Samples: A musebox thread.
Test drive.
Rescue Write-up: Clarke had said: maybe someday they will owe nothing more to their people. But today, mere moments after the door closes behind Clarke, Lexa is not surprised to find that this will not be the case. As the Commander, she is the most significant person when it comes to her people, and she isn't surprised by the sound of Polis shaking, indicating that an attack is happening. She isn't surprised that, despite having just managed to pull her clothes back on, that she's forced to grab a sword and dagger, paired in each hand, so that she can prepare for what's coming next.
Lexa can hear unfamiliar sounds of feet skittering across the floor outside her door. As a trained warrior, she's experienced in being able to read someone's movement, even if she can't see them. But these feet sound unfamiliar, almost like there are too many of them to fit down the hallway just outside of her room.
When they still, when they don't burst through the door, she takes a risk in crouching low, placing both her blades at her sides, and she finishes lacing up her boots. The actions are quick yet methodical, each tug of a lace meant to be purposeful. It feels like counting down time, and she can feel her blood pounding behind her ear.
She finishes just in time, just when the door slams open. Both her hands take up her blades, and she stands tall, ready to fight.
If this is how she'll die, at the hands of creatures that have undoubtedly killed all her guards on the way to her, then so be it. This is how the Commander should fall.
Should—at least. Just as she's ready to charge, a hand pulls her back, and tells her that they're here for her and her alone, and if she doesn't leave, then her people can't be safe. Though some of her men have died, she runs the risk of all of them dying by remaining.
There isn't enough time to ask whether she can trust this person, this someone who offers her help. She doesn't, because all her trained and honed instincts tell her that trusting anyone blindly would be unwise and run the risk of harming her people further. But she can't stay here. That much is plain to Lexa.
"Let's go," she says, making the decision. She straightens up, and she thinks of her people as she leaves, realizing that there would truly never be a time in which she owed them nothing. She thinks of Clarke, and how she may never see her again, and how that might have been the case anyway, what with Clarke being forced to return to them or be killed by Lexa's own kill order. Even that had been selfish—and perhaps this is, too. Perhaps these creatures aren't here for the Commander but Lexa.
Still, there isn't enough time. She can find her answers later.
Name: Alison
Contact: PMs at
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CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Lexa
Canon: The 100
Canon Point: Episode 3x7, after Clarke leaves to return to her room.
Appearance: Lexa is someone who is very imperious in how she stands and carries herself, making her seem much taller than she is. She is, however, only of average height, standing at five-foot-seven with a lean, but incredibly trim frame. That is because she's a trained warrior, and it shows in how she's built. She has light brown hair that can lighten in the sunlight with a little blonde, and she has green eyes. She isn't the most expressionate person, as she's usually careful to school her facial expressions into a fierce neutrality.
On her back and neck, she has a set of tattoos.
Reference pictures: one (not the blonde) | in her commander wear | how she'll be dressed during her rescue | tattoo on the back of her neck (this is where her chip is) | tattoo on her back | tattoo on her right arm
Age: Likely around 21 or 22. Clarke is canonically 18, and Lexa is "probably a few years older," putting her into that age range.
Setting: Official Wikipedia page | Episode summaries | Timeline of events from the Fan Wiki.
History: Lexa's page at the Fan Wiki.
Personality: As the Commander, Lexa has been trained in a number of values, even if each and every one of them could be considered to err on the side of "too cautious." She is meant to be alone, ignoring all aspects of her own desires so that she is the best and strongest commander for her people. She is meant to show her strength as often and as ruthlessly as possible. Her people come to the point where they are accustomed to these shows of strength. The idea that only the strong survive reigns supreme in this dystopian future, and they are unsurprised if people die as a result of failing to adhere to this. All of this is because as the Commander, she is more than a leader: she is the symbol of her people. During one of Lexa's audiences, one of the people from her coalition challenges her choices, insisting that she might be weak. What is shown time and time again throughout the show is that Lexa will act as ruthlessly as possible. She draws this challenger toward her for a "private conversation," and then proceeds to kick him off the top floor of her capital building (which is a tall skyscraper that looks like it was once a tall apartment building). None of her people are surprised by this decision, and the script itself hints that this was a commonplace circumstance. As the Commander, she has to both come across as strong and unwavering while still putting her people first. That strength has to show itself in how little she allows people to challenge her—and offering mercy could show that she is much too sentimental. She cannot linger on thoughts of regret, as it will only weaken her. People die every day, and they will continue to die. Perhaps the most telling remark from Lexa is to Clarke: "The dead are gone, Clarke. The living are hungry." Death must be repaid, but she cannot let that repayment come without the thought of those who are living. She can't mourn for long, as it will limit her ability to act on her people's behalf.
As the Commander, Lexa has to be the most "extreme" and most ruthlessly pragmatic person among her people. While erring on the side of "too cautious," true strength is defined by being willing to give everything to her people. Lexa is very much the result of someone who has grown up in a culture of people who know nothing more than survival. Extremes become necessary. That's why Lexa has to be willing to show herself as the most ruthless individual. As people who somehow managed to survive following an apocalypse that destroyed civilization, they've developed ideals on the foundation of doing anything possible to survive. These ideals lead to many people within Lexa's culture developing harsh ideas of how to approach matters. All of the people that have taught Lexa throughout her life have supported the need to be ruthless, to trust no one, and to be unforgiving. There is a reason why here people came to believe in the idea of "blood must have blood"—they believe it's the only way to assert strength in response to violent actions, as every action should have an equal and opposite reaction. Given the fact that survival is at the very heart of their culture, taking someone's life for criminal reasons is seen as unforgivable. Treason is right up there, as are other forms of betrayal.
On the matter of teaching, Lexa has both been trained as a warrior and a future Commander (as she would have been found to have black blood and been placed under the Commander's care for future lessons, as that's how the Commanders are found and eventually chosen). In Lexa's culture, the warriors enter training as someone's second to learn how to fight. Although we never see them onscreen together, Lexa's teacher is Anya, a woman who is even-keel in most of her approaches to others, but also harsh and unforgiving. She has a rash and angry side to her, but she's good at directing it in useful ways. We see that Anya cares for her seconds, and that she'll even bring in healers from enemy forces to care for them (even if that action comes with an additional threat to that healer's loved one). Much of Lexa can be discerned from Anya's actions. She puts her people first, she's stoic and harsh, but her reasons for disliking her enemy in the form of the Sky People is largely because they have caused actual harm. In many ways, the audience is meant to be reminded of Anya when they see Lexa, as they are similarly unemotive but harsh and angry when the situation calls for it. Lexa's other teachers and advisers are men who seek to undermine her in some ways while helping her. The first the audience meets is Gustus, and while Lexa cares for him and respects him, she both cannot show it and cannot stand by him when it turns out that he betrays her. He fears that her willingness to build an alliance with the Sky People will turn people against her, and he does what he can to try to break that alliance, framing one of the Sky People for the crime of attempting to poison Lexa. When Lexa finds out the truth, she has to be as harsh as always: she has to sentence him to death, and is the one to drive the final blade through his chest to take his life. In all ways, Lexa has to be the vision of the Commander, and she shows her continued strength to her people by being willing to take out someone so close to her because of his treason (which also showed that her judgment wasn't as clouded as Gustus believed it to be). Her other adviser is the teacher who has taught and trained several commanders before her: Titus. There is no doubt that Titus has Lexa's best interests at heart, but he reinforces ideals of lack of individuality among a commander, and ensuring that the Commander doesn't let the matters of her heart to rule her. To ensure that this happens, Titus goes behind her back to both manipulate Clarke because he perceives her to be a threat to Lexa's judgment, and in capturing and torturing one of the Sky People for information on Clarke to use it against her and end up manipulating Lexa. While much of this is not done by Lexa herself, each of these actions not only show the complicated political situation of her life, and the people by which she constantly has to prove herself. Lexa is used to having a lot of eyes on her at all times, whether it's the eyes of her people or of her advisers. As such, she has to continually rise to the expectations set for her by all of them, a fact which often ends in some extreme brutality.
Apart from having to be controlled and unsentimental, Lexa asserts time and time again that she believes that love is a weakness (so much that it seems as if she's almost trying to convince herself). Part of that reinforcement is because Titus actually introduced the idea that love is a weakness, and it's not a concept that Lexa came up with herself. We learn rather early on in Lexa's appearances that she loved once, and that the girl she loved ended up being brutally murdered because of her relationship with Lexa. As she explained, "I lost someone special to me, too. Her name was Costia. She was captured by the ice nation, whose queen believed she knew my secrets. Because she was mine ... they tortured her, killed her, cut off her head." After providing this explanation, Lexa goes on to state that "love is a weakness." In adhering to the Titus' teachings, Lexa has to come to believe that must be alone. But since Lexa didn't come up with the idea herself, it shows that she is not without her ability to love, and that's apparent in just how much she devotes to her people. She absolutely does love her people, and is willing to do (and give) anything to them. Everything she does, either wise or otherwise, is for the sake of her people. That doesn't mean that she doesn't make mistakes, but she tries to act with their best interests at heart within the confines of the world she knows best. The other reason is because Lexa does make a mistake, setting aside her love for one person for her people, and she comes to act to make up for that later. Even when she acts with her head and not her heart, she is unable to completely separate the two.
Lexa's love for her people is what actually defines her as a great Commander, and it's what leads to her people believing she is be a visionary. She is the first Commander to begin to introduce ideas that would lead them to no longer going to war constantly, and brings peace within the different clans. One of these clans (the Ice Nation) was responsible for the loss of Costia, but she still accepts them into her coalition. She understands the necessity of this action, and will set aside her personal interests for the sake of all of her people. This coalition of all of the clans is a very new thing, and a tenuous one. The fact that it's tenuous is partly because her people are used to a lifestyle of warring, but Lexa is willing to continue to work diligently to find ways to ensure its continuation. She is prepared to do anything possible to give her people a better future, even if it means she might die for it. In fact, it's apparent that Lexa values self-sacrifice. When she captures two of the Sky People's leaders, she asks them to fight it out and choose who should survive. She comes to respect the man who is willing to offer up his own life for his people, and tortures the other man, sending him away with a threat (one that she may not have been willing to follow up on—as she certainly doesn't direct her people to attack). The fact that Lexa acts as a symbol for her people is apparent in a lot of ways, but she holds a leader's willingness to put their people first in high esteem. This much is apparent with the self-sacrificing Sky Person in her prison (Kane), and it's also obvious later with how she comes to fall in love with Clarke (who will go above and beyond for the sake of her people). In private moments around the people she loves and respects, Lexa is able and willing to show a softer side, and it's almost like she's being released from the oppressive appearances she must always put on for others.
For someone who is meant to uncaring and stoic, Lexa is certainly defined by the opposite; still, that isn't to say that she's far from ruthless, manipulative, and callous. She is all of these things, but she is flexible in her presentation of this mindset. Once again, Lexa comes from a society that believes "blood must have blood." If someone is a traitor, they will kill that person for acting against her, and few (if any) challenge her when she takes this out on someone who has proved himself to be a threat to her ideas or her rule. At the same time, she is willing to accept the death of only one of the Sky People in exchange for an alliance. As long as this teenage boy (Finn Collins) turns himself in, then she will accept his life in exchange. When Clarke eventually kills Finn to keep him from being tortured in the ritual demanded by Lexa's people (they torture them by a thousand cuts until they finally die), she understands that Clarke has undertaken a difficult task and asks no more from her or her people. She later accepts the Sky People into her coalition, bypassing concerns of alliances, truces, and peace treaties, all so that she can promise her protection to them. While her people challenge this action and force her to act, it still shows the eventual creativity for Lexa.
The dark side of this is that while Lexa can be the flexible peace-bringing visionary, she can also be too ruthless. Much of this is an unfortunate side effect of both her teachings and her society, but it leads to Lexa almost being blinded when it comes to more peaceful solutions. She refuses to accept that Finn undergo a trial process, as she doesn't trust the Sky People to end up choosing to take his life. When Bellamy has snuck inside the base of their enemy (the Mountain Men), he informs Clarke (and later Lexa) about a missile headed for a meeting of Lexa's coalition, she believes that they have to let the missile hit to ensure that Bellamy isn't found inside of the base as a trespasser. The risk of him being found was high, but she still allowed a over two hundred of her people to die. Later, when offered a deal by the Mountain Men, she takes it, partly because she believed it was the only way to save her people. Other instances show that she is quick to threaten her people for challenging her, to kick them off buildings (even if it's a necessary show of strength), and to call upon her armies when her people have been killed. Many of these are absolutely understandable situations within the context of the society she grew up in, but she often leaps to the absolute worst conclusion to resolve a problem. Still, acting in absolutes isn't always a bad thing. When Lexa tries to show her strength to her people after she's challenged to a duel to the death, she acts outside of the box. Instead of killing the man who had been chosen to fight her on behalf of the Ice Queen (this is the very same woman who killed Costia), she kills the Ice Queen herself, and declares the man (who just so happens to be the Prince of the Ice Nation) the new King. This action is not only a show of ruthlessness but a show of strength, as she takes a spear and throws it pretty far to stab the Ice Queen in the heart.
What is most unfortunate is that many of these actions are excused by her people. One of the commanders of her army, Indra, says that Lexa allowing her people to die at the hand of the Mountain Men's missile showed her to be a truly great commander because she was carry out that action. As a result of this almost blind belief in Lexa, she starts to try to drag Clarke down the same path as her. Lexa only believes in ruthlessness as a strength. She doesn't think emotion is, and she encourages Clarke to clamp down on all of these things so that she can be the best leader for her people. She tries to remake Clarke the leader into Lexa's own version of a leader, encouraging her to act harshly and without emotion, even if it's not necessarily in Clarke's best interests. Lexa comes to see that Clarke is strong because she will extend a helping hand to others, but that doesn't keep her from continuing to challenge Clarke's sentimentality. She forces Clarke to be party to the deaths of her people at the hands of the missile, and she later forces Clarke to kill the entire population of the Mountain Men so that her people can survive. Why? Because Lexa had taken that deal, and it was a deal that would save only her people and not Clarke's. She thus betrays Clarke, carrying out the greatest extent of all of her actions. Had Clarke not gone on to kill the Mountain Men to fully take out the greatest enemy of Lexa's people, her actions here would have been praised as well. Unfortunately, Clarke's ability to slaughter the Mountain Men makes her a folk hero among Lexa's people, and it leads to the idea of Lexa being weak.
All of this ties back neatly into the idea of Lexa being a symbol for her people, and as that symbol, she has to act without any remorse or regret on the behalf of her people. She cannot let any challenges arise to the status of her identity as her people's commander and symbol. That means she can betray and break an alliance if it means that she protects them (and it also means that she can accept the Sky People into her coalition and offer them the same extent of protection later on). Her position as a commander lends her a certain degree of charisma, but Lexa goes beyond that. The way she carries herself is very much the image of someone who withholds her emotions and gives little of herself away. She holds her head high when she walks, she rarely exhibits any emotions on her face, and she's practiced at swallowing down any disruption in either of these things. On multiple occasions, the audience sees Lexa swallow down her tears and close her eyes to collect herself, and it's clearly an action that she has practiced throughout the years. But she is not only stoic. As the Commander, Lexa has to be able to speak to her people in a powerful way. She is allowed to show her anger, especially if she's issuing a threat in combination with it (and she's known to be someone who will follow through). She doesn't hesitate to issue orders to people, to direct people to act, and to ask for things from others. Lexa has to be decisive in just about everything she accomplishes, and she has to show a sharpness to her decisions among her people. This aspect comes across in her ability to speak bluntly and directly, not only in everyday conversation (though that is most certainly true), but also in how she speaks to her people. Her charisma and training allows her to have the skills to break outside of that: she can give speeches easily, to rally her people, and she can be clever to know exactly what it is her people need to see and hear. She has her finger on the pulse of her people at all times.
The ability to be decisive and have her finger on the pulse of her people is something Lexa manages because of her sharp intelligence, especially as the leader of a warring nation. She might act rashly or end up taking the most ruthless route because she isn't accustomed to thinking outside of the box, but she knows her people well and is able to understand the constraints of the world she lives in. To say Lexa is wise is probably giving her too much credit (as she's still very young), but she is certainly cunning. Given the rather political nature of her life, she has to be able to navigate the interests of all of the twelve clans within her coalition, and do what she can to meet all of their needs in a world where surviving is extremely difficult. She is also able to see the opportunities within a situation, and she knows when to not press her luck—or, knows when not to press her luck most of the time. For what it's worth, the historical parallel to Lexa is actually Charlemagne, as he managed to combine a number of war bands together in order to create his kingdom. They were both clever visionaries who knew exactly what was necessary for their people. (And it's apparent that much like in the case of Charlemagne, Lexa's accomplishments will not hold for long following her death.)
No matter how clever or how decisive Lexa is, she is still young. As someone in her early twenties, that means she is prone to make mistakes, and prone to change her mind on things that she believes might otherwise weaken her. That is ultimately what leads her to falling in love with Clarke, and it's a large part of why she acts to bring Clarke's people into her coalition. Initially, this action is incredibly condescending, and both Clarke and her people are against the choice. (They later split on whether this is a good idea, with a rather xenophobic leader coming into command to force any loyalties to become extinct.) But she does have the Sky People's best interests at heart, even if her solution is not one that can necessarily be taken at face value. As someone young, she is going to be rash. She is going to act on her emotions even if she tries to suppress them. She is going to do everything she can for her people, but still struggle under the weight of both being a symbol and a woman in her early twenties. All of this is rather natural. She may have her moments of maturity and she is almost always willing to act on behalf of her people rather than what lies in her heart (as is the case with accepting the Ice Nation into her coalition), but her decision-making record is hardly impeccable and perfectly consistent.
That youth certainly has an upside: it is what leads to her being able to be adaptable, and being willing to change her ways when she believes it suits her and her people. This mindset is shown early on in how she is both willing to only accept Finn's death but also Clarke's killing of him (rather than at the hands of her people). Later, it's all the more apparent in how she creates an alliance with Clarke … and even after betraying her, she brings Clarke in to offer her protection. In the latter scenario, it's believed that she brings in Clarke partly because Clarke has earned a reputation among Lexa's people as Wanheda—the Commander of Death. This motivation may be part of Lexa's decision, but that's hardly all of it. She sees Clarke as the leader of her own people, and therefore, she has to extend an olive branch to her and request that she join her coalition. Lexa is smart enough to know that her betrayal to Clarke's people was a betrayal to Clarke herself, because Clarke trusted Lexa, and Lexa betrayed her by leaving her people to die at the hands of the Mountain Men. If this sounds convoluted, it's because it is. Lexa's plan to rectify that later is via the acceptance into her coalition, and accepting Wanheda into her coalition is a show of strength. But—of course, she also wants to protect Clarke and her people. Her adaptability comes into play her because she doesn't only offer her protection: she apologizes for her actions and later pledges fealty to Clarke, promising to protect her and her people in all ways. Lexa is absolutely genuine in both of these circumstances, and she comes to value Clarke's opinion above all others because of it. The greatest show of her flexibility comes as a result of this: when Clarke asks Lexa to change her people's ways and demand a different approach to living, she accepts it. This approach involves turning the motto of "blood must have blood" into "blood must not have blood." Lexa accepts Clarke's argument that if her people want to have a better future, they have to stop the cycle of bloodshed. She will act with force if and when necessary, but she will not immediately jump to warfare, bloodshed, and violence. Even when her people struggle against this altered motto, she still reinforces it (and when Clarke nearly hypocritically demands the blood of one of the Mountain Men, Lexa is quick to point it out).
Finally, there is the matter of Lexa being a symbol to her people, and that isn't just tied to the identity of the commander within the lore of her people, but to a chip that is inserted into the back of her neck. In this chip, she has the minds of the previous commanders. It is currently unclear how much autonomy these commanders have as artificial intelligences within the chip, but Lexa tells Clarke of a moment when she has a dream where the other commanders come to warn her for going against her people's way of "blood must have blood." There is no doubt that Lexa's mind is her own. She thinks, acts, and loves all on her own, but at the same time, Lexa is bizarrely unafraid of dying. This is likely the result of knowing she will live on inside of the chip. During the multiple times where she has to face her death, she is overtly matter of fact about it, believing that death is not the end because of the reincarnation process within her people's culture (and this process is tied to the insertion of the chip). By being the holder of the chip, she carries the long tradition of commanders within her people, and she can also become worryingly single-minded about leadership. That's undoubtedly part of why she sees Clarke as the "special" leader of her people: Lexa is accustomed to commanders being symbols and them having that unique quality attached to them. (This mindset certainly does lead Lexa to seeing only Clarke and not the Sky People for who they are on multiple occasions.) Again, there is no doubt that Lexa is her own person. She can love, hope for a life where she doesn't constantly owe her people something, and act out of selfishness. She certainly has free will, even if the chip inside her head leads to the commanders advising against her decisions.
Canon Abilities/Skills:
Like many Grounders in the world of The 100, Lexa has been trained from her second year of life to be a warrior. At the age of sixteen, she took in the computer chip that her people believe to be the "commander's spirit," which is really a chip that lodges into the back of a person's neck and uploads and integrates with a person's mind. Because she was physically strong, she managed to win a fight to the death with the other potential commanders to get a chip placed into the back of her neck. (Note: updated on 3/31 with "Stealing Fire" clarifications.)
Before she entered the conclave to become a commander, she had been training for a long time to become that strong. As a result, her fighting prowess has left her with the following skills:
Fighting
Physiologically:
Politically:
ON STATION 72
Symbiote Specialization: Iota.
Symbiote Ability: Burning touch.
Rank One
At the initial rank, Lexa will only be able to burn things that are readily flammable. This will naturally necessitate oxygen for chemical reasons, but she will be able to burn wood (so long as it is not wet: though she can also heat it and eventually make it burn), paper, melt plastic, make rubber smoke, or just about anything you can expect with a flame. Her power is strongest when centralized through her hands, with her hands (or body) almost acts as the flame. She need not be on fire to achieve this reaction, though that's possible even at this earlier stage (but, like you might expect, setting her hands on fire doesn't come with a single bit of finesse). Though much of her power will be projected through her hands, she will require an inflammable suit (likely similar to the unstable molecules that the Fantastic Four use in Marvel canon, as it can adapt). Outside of the flaming appearance, her hands will burn in appearance, glowing bright like there is a flame inside of them. She'll have the bonus of resistance to flames at this point (but only when she consciously activates her ability, so it comes with a price).
The negative effects of this rank are ones that carry all the way through: using her flame massively dehydrates her, especially in these early stages. With the loss of water comes the loss of energy, and she can only do much. (And with that, comes the slowed ability to breathe, create oxygen, and so forth.) The dehydration will almost always be present, but short-term use of the touch will only necessitate a bottle of water. Long-term use may lead to her requiring IVs injecting fluids into her system or further assistance. Also, if she comes to control less of her flames and develop finesse, it will naturally use up less of her water stores, as well as her energy, because it's centralized and more precise.
Rank Two
At this rank, the melting comes into play. A table of metals and their melting points is extremely necessary here. She will be able to melt elements up to 1000 degrees fahrenheit. Initially, hitting that peak point will do two things: her entire body will be molten in appearance, and it will be a quick one time thing. Basically, it will be a one-and-done scenario.
There will be a greater risk of her running hotter at rank two when she utilizes her abilities, if only because they are defined less by her ability to control them and more by the fact of their strength. Though she can gain finesse here, her forcefulness will almost define her power here: strength and overdoing it is how the progression goes.
This will come with less costs to her body, but she will be more dangerous to be around when she utilizes her power. "Less costs" doesn't mean no costs, and if she hits the peak of her power, she will absolutely require medical assistance.
She will likely require either an inflammable suit that adapts, or a new one.
Rank Three
The natural progression of power versus finesse continues here. Lexa will exhibit incredible power and will be able to melt metals that melt up to 2000 degrees (linking the chart again), but with the same "one and done" qualification. The previous set of metals will be able to be melted with greater ease.
Again, the peak of her power will require medical assistance. She will have continued resistance to heat (almost nullification, except for heats greater than 2000 degrees), though that's only when her power is activated consciously. She will still need to chug water after using her power, but lesser usage will be easier (once she manages to once again rein in that control).
Inventory:
SAMPLES
Samples: A musebox thread.
Test drive.
Rescue Write-up: Clarke had said: maybe someday they will owe nothing more to their people. But today, mere moments after the door closes behind Clarke, Lexa is not surprised to find that this will not be the case. As the Commander, she is the most significant person when it comes to her people, and she isn't surprised by the sound of Polis shaking, indicating that an attack is happening. She isn't surprised that, despite having just managed to pull her clothes back on, that she's forced to grab a sword and dagger, paired in each hand, so that she can prepare for what's coming next.
Lexa can hear unfamiliar sounds of feet skittering across the floor outside her door. As a trained warrior, she's experienced in being able to read someone's movement, even if she can't see them. But these feet sound unfamiliar, almost like there are too many of them to fit down the hallway just outside of her room.
When they still, when they don't burst through the door, she takes a risk in crouching low, placing both her blades at her sides, and she finishes lacing up her boots. The actions are quick yet methodical, each tug of a lace meant to be purposeful. It feels like counting down time, and she can feel her blood pounding behind her ear.
She finishes just in time, just when the door slams open. Both her hands take up her blades, and she stands tall, ready to fight.
If this is how she'll die, at the hands of creatures that have undoubtedly killed all her guards on the way to her, then so be it. This is how the Commander should fall.
Should—at least. Just as she's ready to charge, a hand pulls her back, and tells her that they're here for her and her alone, and if she doesn't leave, then her people can't be safe. Though some of her men have died, she runs the risk of all of them dying by remaining.
There isn't enough time to ask whether she can trust this person, this someone who offers her help. She doesn't, because all her trained and honed instincts tell her that trusting anyone blindly would be unwise and run the risk of harming her people further. But she can't stay here. That much is plain to Lexa.
"Let's go," she says, making the decision. She straightens up, and she thinks of her people as she leaves, realizing that there would truly never be a time in which she owed them nothing. She thinks of Clarke, and how she may never see her again, and how that might have been the case anyway, what with Clarke being forced to return to them or be killed by Lexa's own kill order. Even that had been selfish—and perhaps this is, too. Perhaps these creatures aren't here for the Commander but Lexa.
Still, there isn't enough time. She can find her answers later.
original personality before revisions
Lexa exhibits the behavior of someone who is callous and cannot risk letting people into her heart. She reveals to Clarke that she loved once, and it cost both her and the girl she loved: "I lost someone special to me, too. Her name was Costia. She was captured by the ice nation, whose queen believed she knew my secrets. Because she was mine ... they tortured her, killed her, cut off her head." She insists to Clarke that she got past it by realizing that love is a weakness, and something she needs to simply bypass for the sake of her people. We learn later that Lexa's adviser, Titus, had been the one to teach her that love was a weakness, and that she had to remove it from her life. Because of her need to set aside her weaknesses, Lexa even accepts the ice nation into her coalition, which is a union of all the clans, for the sake of peace and protection among all of them. She is willing to set aside her feelings for the betterment of all, even if it is both difficult and comes with great costs. When offered a deal by the technologically advanced Mountain Men to protect her people while giving up Clarke's, Lexa can only see her people, and she shuts off what her heart wants to ensure that her people survive. She might have an alliance with Clarke, but they are not her people. She insists that she doesn't want this to happen, and that she had to make a choice with her head and not her heart.
The problem with this approach to life is that what truly defines Lexa as a great Commander for her people is the fact that she cares so much for all of them. She is willing to bring together all the clans in a coalition, which largely involves a lot of precarious political juggling. When two members of Skaikru's leadership (Kane and Jaha) end up in her prison, she ends up valuing Kane's approach to life because of his willingness to sacrifice himself for his people. Jaha, on the other and, is ruthless in another way. He thinks only of himself and his values, rather than what is best for his people. Kane later informs Skaikru that Lexa is a visionary because she doesn't believe in leaping to violent solutions to problems. She is willing to reason, so long as that reason makes sense according to her people's values. (She doesn't allow Finn Collins to live after he slaughters a village of her people, but only demands his life. In a culture where "blood must have blood" this is seen as merciful.) Later, she comes to fall in love with Clarke because of everything that Clarke will do for her people—in part because you come to realize that this is a value that Lexa holds above all else. Being willing to go to great lengths to sacrifice anything for her people is important, and she clearly holds a lot of love in her heart for them.
For all that love that Lexa has, she has just as much ability to both be ruthless and manipulative and prepares herself for that. Lexa is both emotionally closed off and clipped in almost all ways. When she sees Clarke seemingly weakened by her amount of love for her people, she tries to forge her into someone else, almost like a blacksmith working a piece of steel to make it sharper. In time, she does realize that Clarke's strength is different from her own (and, again, she falls in love with Clarke because of how much she cares for her people). But by then, she's already done a great deal of harm with this outlook. Clarke had been forced to murder a great deal of people because of Lexa's tendency toward ruthlessness. First, she had to allow hundreds of Lexa's people to die from a missile attack when there was to be a meeting of the clans, and second, Lexa forced Clarke's hand in fighting the Mountain Men, making it so that Clarke has to infect all of them with radiation in order to save her people after Lexa left with just her own. Her ruthlessness often leads to Lexa becoming narrow-minded in her actions, as she cannot see beyond what ultimately ends up being the harshest solution. When Clarke attempts to take revenge for Lexa's betrayal, Lexa uncharacteristically apologizes (for she's someone who cannot risk regretting her choices), and says, "I'm sorry. I never meant to turn you into this." By then, Lexa has not only stained Clarke's hands with blood but her own. She's revealed her own weaknesses in the process, and seen herself as someone who is not the visionary that many others praise her to be. She has had to also accept that weakness, and that she can be narrow-minded in her solutions.
All of Lexa's mannerisms tie into how she thinks and how she acts. Few would think of her as anything but a leader in how she carries herself. This leaderly behavior means that she's rather dominating and imperious in her composure, and she even comes off as condescending on more than one occasion. She rarely allows herself to show any emotion. When alone, you see her close her eyes, swallow, and compose herself. She does this often enough that you know that she's practiced in this action. When around others, she speaks bluntly and clearly. She knows how to give speeches and lead her people every step of the way. Few would call Lexa anything but charismatic, but it's the type of charisma associated with someone who leads a band of people always at war: her people appreciate her ruthlessness, her use of force, and her willingness to use violence when the occasion calls for it. They also know that she will act to protect them, using all of these things in her arsenal. When she's challenged, she even says that no one else can fight for her, as she needs to show her people her strength. If it is her time to die, then so be it. She accepts this, setting aside her own autonomy for her belief in her people's spirituality and the fact that another Commander will come along. But she knows she has to be strong and always willing to take actions with her own two hands. She has to be able to rely on her soldiers, but she can't lead without being able to lead by example. Strength in her culture is defined more by actions than by words, after all.
Along with these mannerisms, Lexa has to show restraint. She has to be willing to listen and come up with alternate solutions. Any rash decisions may truly cost her and her people. That isn't to say that Lexa can't be rash. When she's angry or her views are challenged, she speaks out against it immediately and takes whoever has done wrong by her to task. She can't let these indiscretions go unpunished, as it will show her weakness in allowing mercy even for those she cares for. One of her people tried to betray her by making it seem as if Skaikru had attempted to poison her, and even if she cared for him, she had to kill him in the ritualistic way that her people take a life for betrayal. She couldn't allow her emotions to rule her. (It is after this event that Lexa informs Clarke that love is a weakness.) Restraint means that one of the only emotions that she can show openly is anger, and that anger almost always leads to some kind of action.
For all these aspects of her character, Lexa is still young. Though she has been raised from infancy to be the best warrior her society could expect, she is will prone to the very rash actions that she is meant to avoid. Because of her tendency toward ruthlessness and believing that it is the only solution, she ends up making the wrong choices. As someone who cannot risk regretting her actions, she has to come up with rather creative solutions to amend for those actions. The prime mistake she makes is in betraying Clarke. Since she cannot simply apologize for what she's done (at least—with more sincerity than she offered on that day), she sends someone out to capture her to keep her safe, and then offers to accept Clarke's people (Skaikru) into her coalition. These actions come across as incredibly convoluted and callous, and above all else, condescending because Clarke has to bow down to her in order to gain her protection. She has no reason to trust her. Knowing that she has to go the extra mile, Lexa later pledges her fealty to Clarke, promising to protect her and her people, and swearing to never do what she had gone before. This fealty leads to Lexa going the extra mile: when Clarke asks Lexa to stop demanding bloodshed in exchange for bloodshed, she accepts the proposition, dramatically overhauling her people's approach to life in one solution. So, though she is young, she is willing to learn from her mistakes, and she's willing to turn over a new leaf.
Complicating all of these aspects of Lexa's autonomy and identity is the fact that as the Commander, she has a chip in the back of her head of the minds of the previous commanders. There is no doubt that Lexa's mind is her own. She thinks, acts, and loves all on her own, but she also doubts her own choices because of the actions of the previous commanders. When she makes a decision that they do not agree upon, they visit her in her dreams to issue a warning and tell her that she's made a mistake. She mentions this in a way that makes it seem impossible (or even too spiritual), but the show eventually reveals that the chip in the back of her head is responsible for these moments. Lexa also seems bizarrely unafraid of dying, as she believes that death is not the end. The chip in her head would seem to be proof of that. Her own identity is likely also uploaded onto that chip, and it needs to live on. The fact that the chip is embedded in her head and is implied to be impossible to remove except after death shows just how much of Lexa's being is dedicated to her people. Once the Commander becomes the Commander, they are the Commander until death.
original symbiote ability before revisions
As she comes to use the power more and adjusts to living in the Nest, she will be able to burn through objects that aren't naturally flammable. Think of how a lightsaber is put through a door in Star Wars—only she'll be able to accomplish that with her hand (only minus the stabbing through the door). With time and precision, she will come to be able to carefully direct her "flame" from her body, and her skin will begin to burn bright with the amount of heat she's putting into something, making her seem almost molten (at least—temporarily).