Sophia Grimes (Comic Series)

"I don't like it here. I don't want to go to school. I want to go home."

- Sophia to Maggie, regarding the Hilltop Colony.

Sophia is a character first encountered in Issue 2 of Image Comics' The Walking Dead and is one of the few remaining survivors of the original Atlanta band. Sophia is a young blonde girl who survived with her mother, Carol; she is now the only surviving member of her family. Later after her mother's death, she was adopted by Glenn and Maggie.

Location Unknown
Very little is known about Sophia's life before or as the outbreak began, she presumably lived a normal life; she was frequently doted upon by her mother. As the outbreak occurred, she lost her father to suicide and was in the process of being driven to her aunt's house in Atlanta.

Atlanta
The two could not make it into the city, so they stayed at Dale's camp that he, Andrea, and Amy had set up. Also at the camp was a man named Glenn, and a family of four with twin sons that were Sophia's age. Sophia spent most of her time at the camp playing with the twin boys, Ben and Billy, until a woman named Lori Grimes showed up at camp with her son, and a family friend.

The Prison
Sophia and her mother were among the survivors that moved into the Prison. At this point in the series, Sophia asks Carl to be her boyfriend, while disgusted at the idea at first, he eventually agreed to it. That time period was particularly difficult for Carol, who saw her relationship with Tyreese disintegrate, due to the interference of Michonne. Sophia did not receive a lot of support or attention from her mother at that time and eventually had to deal with the terrible trauma of her suicide. When Tyreese was thought to be dead, having been surrounded and left in a gym full of zombies, Carol commented on the fact that Sophia didn't really register it, and that all the death going on confused her. After Carol's suicide, she remained in a catatonic state for the remainder of her stay at the prison.

The Road to Washington, D.C.
After having come across Maggie and Glenn, Rick, Carl, and Michonne all meet up with the other survivors who left the prison prior to the Woodbury assault. Carl sees Sophia and tells her that he knows how she feels about not having a mother, since he now has lost his. Sophia says that her mom isn't dead, and is crying in the next room. Sophia had apparently repressed all memories of Carol as her mother, and now believed Maggie to be her actual biological mother. She still, however, remembers Carl and the other members of the group she had met before.

Alexandria Safe-Zone
Along with Carl, Sophia is one of the two remaining children of the group to reach the Alexandria Safe-Zone. She appears to adapt well, as she eagerly participated in a Halloween event for the kids and enjoyed some candy for the first time. She has even taken to calling Glenn her father, though its unknown if she's repressed her memories of her true father or she truly is bonding with him.

Alexandria Safe-Zone Chaos
When a horde of zombies break into the Safety Zone, Maggie and Sophia take shelter in Rick's house with Rick, Carl, Michonne, Denise, and Morgan. When Rick hatches a plan to leave and make an escape, Sophia and Maggie stay behind in his house. They do this mainly because both Maggie and Sophia are slow runners and would never make it. Maggie, wanting to protect Sophia, chooses to stay behind.

Alexandria Safe Zone Aftermath
After Carl woke up from his coma, she is seen with him, reading and asked him about his eye. He tells her that it doesn't hurt as much now. She says that it's unfair that nothing bad happens to her, Carl then snaps at her that both her mom and dad are dead and Glenn and Maggie are just two people who took her in; he then apologies for what he had said. She says it's okay and tells him that she knows Glenn and Maggie aren't her real mother and father and that she is just pretending. She is later seen running up to Glenn and Maggie when they return, telling them that she is just pretending that they are her mother and father and that she isn't scared anymore about the fact that her real mom and dad are dead.

The Saviors, Glenn's death, and Life at The Hilltop
Sophia is among those in Rick's group when they travel to the Hilltop Colony. On the way there, Negan intrudes and picks someone to kill. He goes over Sophia and Maggie, to Glenn. He brutally kills Glenn with his baseball bat, Lucille. After he leaves, Maggie begins swinging at Rick and hits him. Carl aims his gun at Maggie to get her to stop and Sophia bites Carl on the arm. She gets pulled off by Heath and the others pack up to leave. Sophia walks away from the others as they prepare Glenn's body and Carl walks up to talk to her. She wonders why everyone in her family dies and wonders if it's her fault. Carl reassures Sophia that it isn't because of her; 'it's just the way it is.' Maggie tells Rick that she still wants to go live at the Hilltop with Sophia and that Glenn should be buried there. Sophia is later seen saying a tearful goodbye to Carl as he and the others journey from the Hilltop back to the Safe-Zone. After several weeks living at Hilltop, Sophia tells Maggie that she doesn't like it there and she wants to leave. She seems to have adapted after a while, as she is later seen playing with Brianna's Son.

Carol
Carol was her previous and biological mother whom Sophia loved very much. After she committed suicide, like her father, Ed, Sophia didn't talk for months. Shortly after leaving the prison, Sophia pretended that Maggie was her biological mother, in order to repress all her memories of Carol. Later, she admits to Carl, and then Maggie and Glenn that she has been pretending that they were her biological parents. She admits that she does remember Carol and her father as her biological parents.

Carl Grimes
Being his childhood "girlfriend", Carl and Sophia seem to get along pretty well. They are often seen kissing and holding hands, and pretty much together having fun. Carl usually protects the more vulnerable Sophia from walkers. After living with Maggie at the Hilltop for several weeks, she says that she no longer wants to live there, possibly hinting that she misses Carl. However, she does bite Carl on the arm once for pointing a gun at her "mother", Maggie, for assaulting Rick.

Maggie Greene
Maggie unofficially adopted Sophia (or she sees Maggie as her mother) after they and everyone else escaped from the Prison. They develop a close bond as the series continues. Sophia knows that Maggie is not her biological mother, but, likes to pretend she is. In Issue 101, Sophia bites Carl's arm, when he raises his gun at Maggie for punching Rick.

Glenn
Since Glenn is married to Maggie, Sophia sees Glenn as her father. Their relationship hadn't been shown to be as strong as Sophia and Maggie's, but even so, Sophia saw him as a father, and Glenn seemed to care for her. When Negan beat Glenn to death with his baseball bat, Sophia was absolutely devastated and clung to Maggie, crying.

Rick Grimes
Rick and Sophia were shown to have a good relationship. Rick was happy to see Carl playing and having fun with her, after Carol committed suicide Sophia fell into depression and convinced herself that Glenn and Maggie were her real parents. At first Carl thought it was strange and that she was going insane but Rick supported Sophia understanding that it is hard for her, possibly due to him going through his mental issues after the death of Lori and Judith.

Appearances
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Volume 21: All Out War - Part Two

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Trivia

 * It is said in the script book that Sophia is 6 years old. However, in Issue 109, Maggie states her to be 10 years old.
 * In the Comic Series, it was never directly stated how Sophia's father died. Carol merely states that, "He watched his parents die right after everything started to happen. He couldn't deal with it... he just gave up on life." In the TV Series, Sophia's father, Ed Peletier, was alive and living with the survivors before being killed in a zombie attack. It is also implied in the TV Series that Ed regularly abused Carol and Sophia, both physically and emotionally.
 * In AMC's The Walking Dead, Sophia is twelve years old. While in the Comic Series, she is eight when Rick first met her.
 * Another difference between the Comic and the TV Series is Sophia's fate. In the Comic Series, she is still alive and well, whereas she turned into a walker and was subsequently shot and killed by Rick in the second season of the TV Series.
 * Sophia is one of the four known surviving members of the original Atlanta group, the others being Andrea, Carl and Rick.
 * The Walking Dead Survivors' Guide ​incorrectly states Sophia as Jim's daughter.