Safiya Llewellyn-Fayyad

Safi
Basic Information
Full Name	Safiya Llewellyn-Fayyad
Nicknames	The Shapeshifter
Age	25
Born	March 10
Died	December 4, 2023 (main reality; reversed)
Cause of Death	Fatally shot by Maxine Caulfield (as a mercy kill)
Physical Description
Gender	Female
Hair Color	Black
Eye Color	Brown
Height	5'8" (1.73m)
Biographical Information
Love Interests	Vinh Lang (fling, one night stand) Max (crush)
Relatives	Yasmin Fayyad (mother) Desmond Llewellyn (father)
Friends	Max Moses Maya
Profession	Aspirational Poet Shapeshifter
Game Information
Voice Actor	Olivia AbiAssi (ENG)

Safiya Llewellyn-Fayyad, better known as Safi or The Shapeshifter, is the main antagonist appearing in Life is Strange: Double Exposure. She is an aspirational poet, a people-person, and Max's best friend at Caledon University. She is also long-term best friends with Moses Murphy. However in reality, Safi is a sociopath formed by her powers, who intends to use them to gain vengeance on whoever she can.

Safi is integral to the mystery of Double Exposure, as Max finds her dead in mysterious circumstances after seeing her moments previously. This discovery is what prompts Max to discover that her Rewind power has atrophied, and she resolves to find Safi's murderer while navigating a timeline where she is dead, and another where she is alive.

It's revealed in the third chapter that Safi also has powers like Max. She has the power to shapeshift into anyone she has met, she used this on many people, like Vinh in the previous chapter trying to get into his phone, or Amanda, earlier after seeing Max talk to Yasmin. However, when her powers become unstable, she is able to manipulate the perception of people around her. Safi sees herself as a superior being to those around her due to her powers, and becomes hellbent on using them to become a 'God' amongst people so she'll be recognized for who she is.

At the end of the game, Safi is effectively brought back to life after Max fuses both the timelines and sets off to find others who have powers like her and Max, starting with Diamond Washington.

Personality

Striving to bring Max out of her shell and find her roots in Vermont, Safi always has Max's back. She is a true people-person and loves getting to know those around her better, and really dig beneath the surface of what makes them tick.

Due to this trait, Safi is shown to be invasive. This is seen when she goes through Max's wallet and finds a picture of a blue-haired girl.

However, upon learning that her own mother was the main cause of Maya's death, she become increasingly antagonistic and as a result, she cuts ties with Yasmin and becomes determined to be recognized by uniting others who have powers.

Appearance

With her dark hair, dark eyes and olive complexion, Safi appears to be of Arabic descent like her mother. Her hair is usually hidden under a hat, or held by a red hair tie in a ponytail, leaving two tendrils framing her face.

Usually seen with two small silver hoop earrings and a necklace with a red stone in the center, she also wears several rings. Safi has her left nostril pierced with a small silver stud.

Indoors, Safi can be seen with a dark button-down shirt, dark jeans and boots, and sports dark nail polish.

While outdoors she wears a grey hat, gloves and white puffer coat with a red accent section along the shoulder and neck area.

Background

Safi is the daughter of Caledon's president, Yasmin. She could be of Welsh and/or Arabic descent due to the origins of her name.

Safi has been mentored by Doctor Gwen Hunter, who is a Professor of Creative Non-Fiction at Caledon. Safi's latest book is compiled on Gwen's desk, entitled "All the Daughters We Don't Talk About". It is unclear whether this manuscript was given to Gwen or not, though it is plausible that her mentor would proof-read such an important part of Safi's work. It is confirmed that a ripple of tension is clear between them throughout Double Exposure, leading to Gwen being a suspect in Max's investigation.

Safi says the last time she was at a bowling alley was during John Wittle's 9th birthday party, where they had ice cream cake.

Biography

"Grad student. Poetry major. My best friend. Dead in one world, alive in another."

- Max's Notes, Double Exposure

Chapter 1: Still Life

Safi is first seen breaking into an abandoned bowling alley with Max. She seems to enjoy herself in Max's company, making jokes and messing around while they explore. Safi notes that she had a friend who was obsessed with the place, despite having never gone inside. She and Max continue to look around, with Max taking pictures and explaining more about her process. Safi off-handedly mentions that she's glad that the alley isn't on campus, since her mother would probably have it torn down.

As they uncover a large planet-themed Nebula Mobile, Max heads up to an onlooking balcony room to get a great shot. Safi helps her down by bringing a ladder to the window, and the two revel in the cool picture. Suddenly, the mobile crashes to the floor, and Safi pulls Max out of its path, saving her. After laughing off the near-accident, they both agree on having a drink to recover, and head to the Snapping Turtle bar back at the Caledon campus.

Max daydreams, and Safi interrupts her, noticing that she's staring off towards Amanda at the bar. Safi has a vodka shot, and watches Max's lukewarm response to Amanda's flirting. Safi queries whether it has to do with the blue-haired girl whose photo Max keeps in her wallet. This gives Max the opportunity to share about Chloe, with the player's choices reflected. She then encourages Max to speak to Amanda, either romantically or as a friend.

While Max heads to speak with Amanda, Safi waits at their table. Safi can recommend Max a horrible pickup line in order to help with her impressing Amanda. The line "Are you a campfire? Because you're smokin' hot and I was s'more" can then appear on the Worst Pickup Lines board if Max successfully uses the line on Amanda.

As Max returns to her conversation with Safi, Moses arrives and sits with them. Safi suggests that they hang out together as a trio, and Moses says he's conducting research on the meteor shower due that evening. He invites the girls to watch the shower with him on Caledon's Observatory roof. Safi then gets excited and heads to purchase a bottle of pricey champagne from the bar, "courtesy of Mommy Dearest" using Yasmin's credit card, which she hopes her mother has forgotten about.

Leaving the Snapping Turtle, the three friends head to the observatory. As they watch the shower, Safi asks for a Cliff's Notes version of what they are actually looking at, as she is not a science enthusiast like Moses and Max. She admits that she is the one who introduced them to one another. After asking whether the meteor would possibly destroy Earth, she then asks Max what she would do if she had twenty-four hours left to live.

They also listen to music and drink the champagne Safi purchased. Max learns that Safi has some good news, but does not want to share it. If Max manages to make Safi talk, she finally reveals the news: she met a publisher who is interested in her poems. However, should she figure out the trick beforehand, she won't tell Max at all. Upon receiving a phone call, Safi leaves. She then wonders tot he observation point where she is then shot and killed by an unseen murderer (later revealed to be an alternate version of Max) before Max and Moses discover her body.

Max later enters the Living World and meets the alternate Safi, happily embracing her.

Chapter 2: Penumbra

Max speaks with the alternate Safi along with her mother Yasmin in the Living World. Afterwards, they leave once they discover that someone vandalized Safi's car.

Chapter 3: Spin

Safi impersonated Amanda to talk to Max after her conversation with Yasmin. Once she found out that Max was digging up dirt on her past, Safi became angry with her actions.

Safi later turned into Max to dig up information on her at Max's place, but Max caught her and chased her to the Overlook. After a confrontation, they fall down a cliff and onto an ice lake. Safi fell into the lake when the ice gives way, but Max saves her and switches the cracking ice with the one from the other reality as Safi turns back to normal, revealing their powers to each other.

Chapter 4: Diptych

Back at Max's house, the girls reveal each others supernatural abilities and Safi's motive. Learning that Lucas was responsible for the cause of Maya's death, they decide to take him down at the upcoming Krampus party. They get Moses from both timelines, Vinh, and potentially Gwen to help. The plan was a success and after Safi learns that her mother was the true mastermind behind Maya's death and that Lucas was only part of it, she confronted her mother at the Overlook using Lucas's gun, which Max found earlier and gave to Safi. As Max tries to stop her, shooting Yasmin in the shoulder in the process, Safi's powers grow out of control as a storm happens behind them.

Chapter 5: Decoherence

Max and Safi end up in a transformed reality caused by their powers. When Max refuses to kill Safi to end the chaos, they try to find a way to return reality to normal. Max is separated from Safi at one point, but reunites with her and after taking a selfie, she and Safi return to the real world, merging both timelines together in the process. Safi decides to set off to find people who have powers like her and Max to ensure their survival against the outside world. Max can choose to help or not. Safi will leave after that.

Sometime later, Safi invites Diamond, who is hinted to have powers, to join her group.

Symbolism

• Safi is immediately juxtaposed with Chloe when it comes to her relationship with Max. Not only between fans, but in the first few minutes of the game, Safi gets Max's attention by calling out to her as her "partner in grime", while they explore the abandoned bowling alley. This is directly parodying Max and Chloe's well-known reference of being "partners in time".

Memorable Quotes

"Gotcha boss."

— Safi to Max.

Theories

There are several theories regarding Safi's murder, and the other mysterious incidents surrounding her during Double Exposure.

• There are some who suspect that Safi is responsible for stealing poetry from her late friend Maya Okada, who was in the same undergraduate class as her. It is plausible that Maya died leaving behind her work for Safi to take advantage of to further her own success and keep up with the pressure of being the daughter of Caledon's President.
  • This would also explain why her relationship with Gwen soured, with Gwen ultimately recommending the halting of Safi's book publication when she discovered Safi's plagiarism.
    • This theory would be disproven, as it would be revealed that Lucas stole Maya's work, which pushed her to suicide.
• As it stands, theories about Abraxas and Vinh's involvement with Safi and the breaking of Living World Safi's windshield are numerous, as Max herself first suspects they are related.
• There were theories that Safi could be an antagonist, which may be why Max killed her.
  • The antagonist theory was proven right, but the real reason why Max killed Safi is to prevent the same storm that occurred in Arcadia Bay from happening now. However, this changed when Max choose not to do so.
• It is also possible that Safi committed suicide, but Chapter 2's ending says otherwise.
  • This theory was proven incorrect.
• Safi was somehow shown alive after the gunshot was heard, which makes her murder more confusing to deduct.
  • Since what appears to be an alternate version of Max killed her, it is possible that her presence caused Safi to somehow appear after she was shot.
    • This theory was proven somewhat correct as the combination of Max and Safi's powers made it clear.
• There has also been a prominent theory that Safi has the power to shapeshift.
  • This would be proven at the end of Chapter 3.

Powers

Abilities

• Shapeshifting - Safi is able to shapeshift into anyone she has met. She explains that it has something to do with how she wants people to see her. She connects with the person she wants to shapeshift into and nudges that individual's brain. A side effect of this is that when she shapeshifts into someone, it embeds a part of her inside that person. Similar to Max, her powers were unlocked in her teens after experiencing a great amount of hurt and trauma.
  • Despite her power only relating to perception and manipulation, Max comments on how her power manages to imprint on objects as well. This could be more than what Safi's letting on.

Consequences

• When Safi goes through extreme stress, those around her mimic her words and emotions. The only way to free them is by taking a photo and double exposing it. It's shown that the only one resistant to this is Max, most likely due to her supernatural nature.
• It's possible that when coupled with Max's time power (which greatly affects the environment in devastating ways), it created a Storm that would engulf the consciousnesses of those close to it. Due to Max's side of the storm, any action that the two do ripple through time. This is shown when Safi takes a picture of Max welding a gun at her before the latter uses it. This goes through time and shoots Safi at Chapter 1.

Trivia

• In Dead World, Vinh makes a post on Crosstalk with a link to a site for Safi's obituary. This link can be entered into a browser outside the game to see a Tumblr page with Double Exposure imagery, including Safi's picture, and the promise of a "Bio coming soon".
• Like Gabe Chan, Safi's death causes great pain and grief for an entire community, which triggers those who are close to them to take action against their murderers.
• Max and Safi are the first characters with powers to interact with each other.
• Safi is the first life to be directly taken by Max.

Gallery