Congratulations, Walking Dead TV viewers. You’ve just met Juanita Sanchez a.k.a. “Princess.” Princess is played by Paolo Lazaro in the TV series and the character has a multi-issue history in the comics. Here is everything you need to know about The Walking Dead’s latest and most unusual addition.
Though the pages of The Walking Dead comic book are printed in black and white, Princess is one of its most colorful characters. Princess is first introduced in Issue 171 during the “Lines We Cross” arc. She remains a central figure in the series for 22 more issues, all the way through the comic’s series finale in issue 193. Princess’s introduction in the show hews closely to her introduction in the comics as well, as does her excitable personality.
Just like in the show, a band of characters gathers together in the comic to meet with Stephanie’s community. The full team consists of Eugene, Yumiko, Magna, Michonne, and Siddiq. This five-some is en route from Alexandria, Virginia to somewhere in Ohio. It’s when they make a pit stop in Pittsburgh that they first come across “The Princess of Pittsburgh” Juanita Sanchez. Pittsburgh obviously has an important history with the undead thanks to George Romero, which is why Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman chose to introduce it in the series. In the show, however, Eugene, Yumiko, and Ezekiel are en route to Charleston, West Virginia and the skyline is clearly not Pittsburgh. The best we can tell based on the crumbling buildings and the group’s route is that this version of Princess calls Charlottesville, Virginia home.
Princess’s defining character trait early on is how lonely she has been. She tells her new friends that they are the first human beings she has seen in over a year. Mostly she’s been biding her time in Pittsburgh (or Charlottesville), killing walkers and talking to herself. Her enthusiasm at having company is very, very apparent — as is her inability to repress that excitement. As evidenced by her cheerful greeting in the show, Princess is irrepressibly optimistic and so…darn…chatty. Her speech balloons dominate just about every panel of the comic she appears in. It’s hard to tell how much of Princess’ personality is informed by her long isolation and how much is simply her being herself. Prior to the apocalypse, she worked service jobs at a coffee shop and a record store. She also eventually reveals that she had a troubled childhood and was abused by her stepfather and stepbrother.
Though Michonne and company are at first understandably cautious of (and frequently annoyed by) Princess, her prowess with that machine gun and later a spear convinces them to let her join their team and accompany them to Ohio and the Commonwealth.
