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Grace Monroe is a passenger on the Infinity Train and was the leader of a group of other passengers known as The Apex. She is the secondary antagonist of Book Two, and the main protagonist of Book Three. After seeing the error of her ways, she dissolves the Apex in favor of new group that is dedicated to getting her former followers' numbers down.
She is first seen as an image in "The Engine", where it is shown that she has an extremely high number. She makes her first proper appearance in "The Lucky Cat Car".
Appearance[]
Grace is a young African-American woman with short dark hair. As a child she had chest length straight hair, but once she got on the train, she cut it short and had it done in locks. Like all members of the Apex, she has a red sine wave painted across her face in lipstick.
Her outfit consists a pale salmon top with a red and purple triangle pattern on the trim of the sleeves over a purple tank top. Clipped onto both of her shirt's sleeves are two shoplifting tags. She wears grayish purple shorts, gold earrings that resemble upside-down exclamation marks, a green fanny pack, purple knee-pads and pale red sneakers.
Her "The Lucky Cat Car" disguise consists of a black robe, a yellow mask (lost in "The Musical Car"), and grayish purple opera gloves, one of which hides her number.
In "The Debutante Ball Car", Grace wears a puffy-sleeved ball gown with the same color scheme as her usual outfit. Her hair is tied back using a headpiece with three orange feathers, she wears a yellow choker with a white diamond, and keeps her earrings and opera gloves.
As of "The New Apex", she has erased her Apex mark.
Personality[]
As a child, Grace was extremely isolated and lonely because of her parents' focus on private education and had a hard time forming positive relationships. She's shown to be manipulative as a defense mechanism, stirring up a fight between the girls who laugh at her for being alone. Her difficulty making friends or bonding with her family may have carried over to the train, as she was never shown or referenced to have bonded with any denizens before her encounter with Amelia and the Steward in the Pumpkin Car.
When Grace met Simon for the first time, she told him that the train was scary and claimed to have a high number because she was "good at the train". The longer she spent with Simon, and eventually the Apex, the more she leaned into that belief, as she was afraid of being seen as weak, disappointing others, and ultimately being left alone. She manipulated and controlled others to keep them from leaving her, and rebelliously raided train cars following what she perceived as instructions from the conductor.
When One-One regained control of the train, Grace viewed it as a hostile takeover, and believed the renewed efforts to get passengers' numbers down were an attack on the Apex. Despite her manipulation of others, Grace believed what she claimed about the train, scolding Simon for calling Jesse weak after his exit and being distressed when her number began to fall.
During Book 3, Grace's fears resurface as she explores the train for herself as an adult, away from the bubble she'd formed in the Apex. She becomes protective toward Hazel, and shows sympathy toward Tuba before her death. After Tuba's death and discovering the truth about Hazel and Amelia, Grace realizes she was wrong, but is still too afraid of losing Simon and the Apex to act on it. After confronting her own guilt and fear inside of her tape, Grace became actively kind toward denizens, and gains the courage and self-confidence she needs to confront Simon, as well as admit her own failings to the Apex. She values honesty and compassion, and is dedicated to improving herself and others.
History[]
To read all the appearances of Grace visit the synopsis article.
Early Life[]
Before boarding the Infinity Train, Grace grew up in a wealthy family. Her parents were all about "learning from the best" and always put her in private classes. Additionally, due to their status, her parents hired various assistants to watch her rather than spend time with her personally. Because of this, Grace was usually alone. When one of Grace's private instructors put her in their group class, Grace's parents were unable to come to her recital and none of the other students knew Grace, so they did not invite her to get ice cream afterwards and even laughed at her upon seeing her there. This lack of guidance and companionship inevitably steered Grace toward the person she would eventually become, starting with turning her fellow students against each other for laughing at her and culminating in petty theft just to get her parents to notice her.
At some unknown point in time, Grace ended up boarding the Infinity Train after being arrested for shoplifting. Seven years prior to the beginning of Book Three, she briefly encountered Amelia inside the Pumpkin Car, her appearance at the time leaving a lasting impression on her. Some time after this, she became friends with Simon after saving him from a Gohm, and together they formed the Apex.
As a Passenger[]
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As a Leader[]
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Legacy[]
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Relationships[]
Simon[]
Preteen Grace and Simon cuddling as they explain the Apex to another child.
Grace and Simon used to be the closest of friends after Grace rescued Simon, who was unwittingly abandoned by Samantha, from a Gohm. Grace provided Simon with emotional and mental support, whilst he wholeheartedly believed what she told him about the train. As a result of this, they used their beliefs to form the Apex together
It is heavily implied the two had a romantic relationship as the two frequently exchanged flirtatious remarks whilst acting intimate such as holding hands and cuddling. A deleted scene during Grace's memories shows young Grace and young Simon having an awkward first kiss.
Although they once shared their ideology together, their relationship gets strained after Grace met Hazel and softened up to Tuba, a Denizen, whilst Simon doubled down on his Apex's beliefs as a result of being reminded of his original trauma with Samantha and the Ghom.
After the death of Tuba and the outing that Grace had been keeping the truth of Hazel's identity as a Denizen away from Simon, Grace's relationship with Simon deteriorates, as he completely loses his trust in her under the belief she'd abandon him like Samantha did.
Eventually, Grace was branded as a "void" by the deranged Simon who swore her as his enemy and nearly got murdered by the conflicted and increasingly mentally unstable teen, even after she tried rescuing him. Despite their broken friendship, Grace realized her mistakes of how she made him believe in lies about the Apex and was heartbroken when a Ghom killed Simon. She cried over Simon's ashes and dissolved the Apex to prevent new victims.
If one examines the relationship between Simon and Grace, it resembles a codependent relationship, with Simon being desperate for guidance and young Grace being desperate for someone to look up to her. As a result of this, the two become unhealthily reliant on the other and act as enablers.
Hazel[]
Grace saw the young girl as a potential new recruit for the Apex, and eventually begins to see aspects of her younger self in Hazel. They formed a sisterly bond and Grace became very protective of Hazel. When Hazel was revealed to be a denizen, Grace tried keeping the secret from Simon, however when Hazel's secret was revealed, she tried to save face in front of Simon; this causes a strain on their relationship, causing Hazel to leave Grace with Amelia, despite Grace's pleas to reconsider. The journey with Hazel was ultimately the catalyst for guilt-ridden Grace to live up to her mistakes and become a better person.
Tuba[]
At first, Grace disliked Tuba since she saw all denizens as nothing. While she did later come to view Tuba as "one of the good ones", after seeing her bond with Hazel and how devastated Hazel was after her death, she became remorseful of her actions. Grace feels guilty for Tuba's death because Simon got the idea of "wheeling" Denizens from her. Tuba's fate is one the motivations for Grace to right her wrongs.
The Apex[]
Grace was one of two leaders of a gang of rogue passengers called the Apex who vandalize the train and attack its denizens to keep their numbers high.
After leaning that their entire philosophy was wrong, seeing Simon die because of the group's beliefs and developing guilt for how horribly she treated denizens, Grace dissolves the group in order to turn it into a new group dedicated to getting her followers' numbers down to zero so they can leave the train. After learning the truth, the ex members of the Apex agree with her new mission and join her cause.
The Cat[]
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Amelia[]
Amelia was Grace's inspiration for the Apex. After meeting her again after seven years, Grace did not recognize her because she was not in her robot suit anymore. She tried avoiding her, but after Amelia saved her and Hazel she was wiling to listen to her and accepted her invitation to breakfast. After Amelia revealed that she was the "conductor" Grace encountered in the Pumpkin Car, Grace was shocked.
Grace then learned the truth how Amelia usurped control, how One-One was the true conductor and had just regained his position and that the whole point of the train is to work though your problems and get your number to zero in order to go home. After leaning the truth, Grace's vision of the conductor was shattered as she realized that Amelia did not even care about her or the Apex. Following this revelation, Grace used her newfound knowledge she got from Amelia to fix the wrongs she had done on the train.
Denizens[]
Grace used to love terrorizing the "Nulls" of the train and thought they were nothing to her. Her travels in Book 3 makes Grace more sympathetic to the train's denizens, even befriending some of them. When she realizes what she thought she knew about the train is wrong she feels very deep compunctions for how terribly she treated denizens over the years. In the end, after fighting off Simon's attempt to usurp control and failing to save him, Grace resolves to face up to and mend her mistakes, starting by ending the Apex and its beliefs.
Jesse[]
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Lake and Alan Dracula[]
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Grace's Mother & Father[]
Grace, ever since her childhood, has been detached with her parents who are always occupied by their work. Rather than spending quality time with her, her parents only hire faceless caretakers to "look after" her, sent her to private classes and constantly dismiss or disapprove of her. Their negligence resulted in Grace committing petty theft to seek their attention.
One-One[]
Grace believed that One-One was the "False" conductor and considered him her enemy. After learning from Amelia that One-One was the real conductor all along, all of the hostilities she had towards the robot vanished.
Behind the scenes[]
The writers of Infinity Train characterize Book 3 as a tragedy. Tragedies in the classical sense involve an intense amount of sorrow that befalls the main character, with a key element being it is the choices of said character that, intentionally or not, lead to their downfall. This description is often invoked to describe Simon in his role as the season's tragic villain, and the same logic applies to Grace as the tragic hero. Like Simon, Grace is offered the chance to change through her friendship with Hazel and learning the truth about the train. Even more like Simon, Grace tries to reject these chances in the name of preserving the status quo in her life, i.e. leading the Apex and maintaining her friendship with Simon. While she is ultimately redeemed in the end, Owen Dennis notes that by the events of "The New Apex" Grace's initial reluctance has cost her in much the same way Simon's stubborness cost him everything: Grace has ruined whatever relationship she could have had with Hazel and watched her former best friend die. As Dennis puts it, "...I think people sometimes think that the ending was supposed to be a big happy uplifting ending because that’s what most things are. It’s not. When I watch that season, I don’t feel good by the end, I feel kinda sad. It sucks."[2]
Trivia[]
- Grace is the first protagonist to have a memory tape process that was not initiated by the train. Grace is also the second protagonist, behind Jesse, to have a tape that features memories starting on the train.
- Grace's habit of performing lip trills before doing something is borrowed from her voice actor Kirby Howell-Baptiste, who performed the same action while warming up in voice over sessions.
- Grace Monroe was designed by Kellye Perdue.[3]
- When asked if Simon and Grace were ever a couple Owen Dennis responded with "they have a history".[4]
- Kirby Howell-Baptiste puts on an American accent to portray Grace, but uses her natural English accent to voice Grace's Mother. According to the writers, this was done to provide an explanation for some of the small British accent quirks that remain in Howell-Baptiste's performance.[5]
- Grace and Simon are the only passenger protagonists whose hometown and country of origin are never referenced in-canon. From a writing standpoint, this has to do with their attempt to separate themselves from life before the train. In a January 25, 2023 Instagram AMA, Owen Dennis stated from his memory that Grace is from Washington, D.C. while Simon is from either Ohio or Louisiana.[6] Dennis has gone on-record that any extratextual statements he makes should not be considered canon; however, the location for Grace makes sense given what is presented in the show, as her parents seem to hold a great deal of status and host parties for ambassadors.
Gallery[]
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References[]
- ↑ Confirmed by Owen Dennis in the Book 3 Reddit AMA.
- ↑ "The Ethics of Fiction: Infinity Train."
- ↑ Owen's reply to "Grace the character with the best design"
- ↑ Book Three Twitter AMA Grace & Simon couple question.
- ↑ Book 2 DVD Commentary: "The Lucky Cat Car"
- ↑ Owen Dennis' Instagram AMA archived on Reddit (3/8).
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