Shadowhunters' Maia Roberts is a symbol of radical values coming together as a sexy werewolf bartender
When Freeform's fantasy show 'Shadowhunters' introduced us to the character of Maia Roberts, she was a plain, simple bartender serving our leading man, Jace Wyland (Dominic Sherwood). She was the seemingly nice girl who offered Jace free drinks and even let him use her phone so he could contact fellow Shadowhunter, Izzy (Emeraude Toubia.) But soon our perception of her as a side-character passing free drinks changes, all thanks to Jace, as he is able to figure out that she's a werewolf, owing to the marks on her neck. And thus began the riveting journey of Maia, whose transformation to the badass werewolf left us speechless not only because Alisha Wainwright does a spectacular job at playing her, but the character's backstory - as mentioned in Cassandra Clare's hit novel 'The Mortal Instruments' (which the show is based on) is an equally touching story to unfold.
Maia is your quintessential brave, strong, and bold fighter, but at the same time, she is riddled with issues from her traumatic past where she was a victim of abuse from her family. Growing up, it wasn't lost on Maia that her brother was the favorite child because once he passed away, it was almost like her parents just forgot about her. And it's significant because from that almost abandoned, barely cared for childhood, Maia grew up to be this exceptionally strong woman who's exceedingly well at masking her issues and insecurities with an active sense of humor, effortless charm, and hilarious sarcasm.