Judy Álvarez
| Judy Álvarez | |
|---|---|
| |
| Type | Main Character |
| Role | Romance option |
| Affiliation | The Mox |
Judy Álvarez is a braindance techie and editor, counted among the best in Night City, and a member of the Mox. She works from the basement of Lizzie's Bar and lives in an apartment in Kabuki, Watson. She is the closest friend of Evelyn Parker, and her side jobs about the dolls of Clouds tell one of the most loved stories in the game. She is a romance option for a V with a female body and voice.
Biography
Early Life
Judy was born in Laguna Bend, a small town in the Badlands outside Night City. Her father was never around and her mother died when Judy was a small child, so her grandparents raised her. Her grandfather was a techie, and he taught her everything she knows about machines. Her grandmother Ainara had a fiery temper, and Judy seems to have inherited it. The other children in town often mocked her for being poor and for growing up without her parents.
A corporation bought the land around Laguna Bend to build a reservoir. The people of the town protested, but in the end they were forced out of their homes, and the valley was flooded. Judy and her grandparents moved into a rented apartment in Night City. Her grandparents hated the city and soon left for Oregon, but Judy stayed and made the apartment her own.
As a teenager Judy found an old fire truck in a scrapyard and spent months fixing it up. The police arrested her on her very first drive and refused to believe she had not stolen it. The fire truck tattoo on her neck remembers that story.
Clouds and the Mox
Judy worked as a braindance technician at Clouds, the doll house in Japantown. There she met the dolls Evelyn Parker, Tom and Maiko Maeda. Judy and Maiko became a couple, and Judy even tweaked Maiko's doll chip to help her climb the ranks. Once Maiko gained power at the club, she began to change, and the two drifted apart. Their breakup was bitter, and it left Judy feeling betrayed.
Judy later left Clouds and joined the Mox, the gang that protects sex workers in Watson. She set up her editing gear in the basement of Lizzie's Bar for the gang's leader, Susie Q. She hoped the Mox could make life better for the people the city treats as disposable. Through all of this she stayed close to Evelyn, who became her best friend.
The Heist and Evelyn
Evelyn asks Judy for help with a braindance of Yorinobu Arasaka, recorded at Konpeki Plaza, and brings V to Lizzie's Bar to study it. Judy teaches V how to scroll a recording and hunt for clues. She warns that the plan could get them both killed, and she wants no part of the trouble that follows.
After the heist fails, Evelyn disappears. Following a lead through the ripperdoc Fingers, V and Judy obtain a black braindance from Lenny Nero that shows where Evelyn is held. They find her in a Scavenger den and bring her back alive, but the damage done to her is too deep. Some time later Evelyn takes her own life in Judy's apartment. Judy calls V in shock, and together they move Evelyn to the bed so the police find her in a more dignified place.
Taking Back Clouds
Grief turns into anger, and Judy decides to free Clouds from the Tyger Claws. She asks V to come with her to see Maiko and confront Woodman, the man who abused Evelyn. She then gathers Maiko, Tom and Roxanne in her apartment to plan the takeover. During the meeting with Hiromi Sato and the Tyger Claws, Maiko plays a double game and tries to keep the club for herself. The outcome of that meeting decides how Judy treats V afterwards.
If V stays loyal to her, Judy invites V to the shore of the reservoir that drowned Laguna Bend. They dive together to the ruins of her old town while she records the dive as a braindance. Afterwards bad news arrives from Clouds, and Judy breaks down. V finds her in the bathroom, and what V says there shapes their future.
Judy Álvarez Map
The map shows the places of the story of Judy Álvarez: Laguna Bend, Judy's Apartment, Lizzie's Bar and Clouds.
Judy Álvarez map location:
Map credit by Map Genie.
Personality
Judy is brilliant, stubborn and fiercely independent. She could earn a fortune at any corporate studio, but she turns down every offer because she will not sell her art or herself. She hates injustice and cannot keep quiet when she sees it, which often lands her in trouble. Some people call that her worst flaw, and others see it as her finest quality.
Under the tough exterior Judy is caring and easily hurt. She feels responsible for the people close to her, and she blames herself when they suffer. She has a temper, and when she feels betrayed she cuts people off completely. She smoked when she was younger and picks the habit up again during the story.
Relationships
Evelyn Parker is the most important person in Judy's life, and her death drives everything Judy does in the side jobs. Maiko Maeda is her former girlfriend, and Judy no longer trusts her ambitions. Susie Q took her into the Mox and gave her a place to work.
Johnny Silverhand finds her tiring at first and tells V so. If V stays with her to the end, even he admits that he has grown to like her. Her grandmother Ainara still calls her by the nickname Ranita, which means little frog. In a romance, Ainara sends V messages to find out whether V is good enough for her granddaughter.
Romance
Judy can only be romanced by a V with a female body and a female voice. The romance runs through her side jobs: Both Sides, Now, Ex-Factor, Talkin' 'bout a Revolution and Pisces must all be finished, and V must not accept Maiko's bribe at the end of Pisces. The relationship begins in Pyramid Song.
In Pyramid Song, V has to comfort Judy in the bathroom and choose the option to kiss her. The next morning they talk on the pier, and Judy asks what the night meant. Calling it the start of something lasting keeps the relationship. Calling it a pleasant distraction ends it for good, and Judy deletes V from her contacts.
After the romance begins, Judy gives V a key to her apartment and sends loving messages. She leaves a heart of drinks on the floor of V's apartment as a surprise. She also shares a picture from the braindance of their dive at Laguna Bend.
Jobs
Judy appears in the main jobs The Information, Automatic Love, The Space in Between, Disasterpiece and Double Life. In The Information she helps V study the Konpeki braindance, and in Double Life she helps rescue Evelyn. Her own story starts after Evelyn's death in Both Sides, Now, then runs through Ex-Factor, Talkin' 'bout a Revolution and Pisces, and ends in Pyramid Song. Judy also recommends V to Elizabeth Peralez, which leads to the side job I Fought the Law. In a romance she plays a part in Nocturne Op55N1 and All Along the Watchtower.
| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| The Information | Main Job |
| Automatic Love | Main Job |
| The Space in Between | Main Job |
| Disasterpiece | Main Job |
| Double Life | Main Job |
| Nocturne Op55N1 | Main Job |
| All Along the Watchtower | Main Job |
| Pyramid Song | Side Job |
| I Fought the Law | Side Job |
| Both Sides, Now | Side Job |
| Talkin' 'bout a Revolution | Side Job |
| Ex-Factor | Side Job |
| Pisces | Side Job |
Endings
Judy's fate depends on the ending. In The Star ending, a romanced Judy joins V and the Aldecaldos as they leave Night City, and her last message says she is happy for the first time in her life. In The Sun ending, she lives with V in the penthouse for a while but leaves the city when V goes on one last job.
In The Devil ending, Judy is furious that V trusted Arasaka. In the Temperance ending, she fears that V has stopped answering her calls. In the Phantom Liberty ending where V wakes up from a long coma, Judy has moved to Pittsburgh and married a woman named Bianca. If she was never romanced but Pyramid Song ended on good terms, she sends V a warm farewell message during the credits.
Notes
Judy's apartment in Kabuki is where much of her story happens. After Pyramid Song, several objects in it can be inspected, and V and Johnny comment on them.
Her tattoos carry lyrics from songs. One on her arm quotes Pyramid Song by Radiohead, the song that gives her last side job its name.
Optional items can be found during the dive in Pyramid Song, including the Heart of Laguna Bend.
All Main Characters