Madeline: Difference between revisions

| image = [[File:Madeline farewell artCeleste.png|200px150px|alt=|link=Madeline|frameless]]

| caption = ''Madeline asreaching depictedfor ina [[Farewell]]winged strawberry''

'''Madeline''' is the protagonist of ''[[Celeste]]'', and is the character whom the player controls in nearly [[Variant Mode|all]] [[5A|instances]]<ref name="playercontrol">except the 5A minigame and if using the Other Self variant</ref>. She is a [[CW:TR|trans]] woman who struggles with her mental illnesses, depicted multiple times throughout her ascension of Celeste Mountain. Even though her motives for climbing the mountain are left open to interpretation, her determination manifests itself throughout the events of Celeste's first [[List of chapters|seven chapters]] and continues even after that.

Presumably because of [[Celeste Mountain]]'s influence, as foreshadowed by [[Granny]], Madeline is frequently confronted by a doppelganger, known as (a partPart of herHer), who attempts to convince her to return home and to give up;. thisThis character, known more commonly known as [[Badeline]], serves as ''Celeste'''s primary antagonist between [[Old Site|chapter 2]] and [[Reflection|chapter 6]], being responsible for many of her pitfalls.

Even though Madeline takes a more "realistic" appearance in many of [[Amora Bettany|Amora B.]]'s works and many pieces of fanart, within ''Celeste'' itself, especially when it comes to portraits used during conversations, she is depicted more unrealistically. Madeline appears asis a relatively short Canadian woman with pale skin, brown eyes, and a distinctive cowlick near the center of her hair. Her hair is typically auburn in color but shifts to cyan blue after dashing, or pink {{c|after acquiring a second dash via [[Badeline]]}}. Throughout the game's events, Madeline is depicted with a turquoise-blue hood-less winter jacket, charcoal gray pants, and black-and-gray winter boots. From Prologue to Reflection and (in someCore, she also chapters)has a brown backpack containing a red sleeping mat and a water bottle.

Within Celeste's official art, Madeline is depicted reaching for a winged [[strawberry]]; in other official art, includingIn Theo's [[InstaPix]] account, more details about Madeline's appearance are revealed;: for instance, she is depicted with an indigo shirt underneath her jacket, and, in photos taking placetaken after the events of ''Celeste'', many other pieces of clothing. Despite thatStill, inMadeline is almost allalways ofpictured with her auburn hair and a distinctive cowlick. In Celeste's officialgame artcover, Madeline is depictedshown withreaching herfor auburna hairwinged and distinctive cowlickstrawberry.

Madeline's status as trans is impossible to decipher solely from her appearance; however, hints shown in {{Ch|9|lf=1}}[[Farewell]]'s end cutscene suggest this. {{c|Notably, there are small pride and trans flags near the computer in the end cutscene}}.

=== {{ch|Pr|lf=1}}[[Prologue]] through {{ch|Ep|lf=1}}[[Epilogue]] ===

Madeline wakes up and attempts to talk to Badeline. She explains that she'd like to set her free and that they would both be happier that way. Badeline, scared of the consequences, attacks her, causing a panic attack. The protagonist attempts to calm herself using the feather technique, but Badeline cuts the feather in half, causing her to drop all the way down and to a deep cavern, being a turning point of the game. Heartbroken, the protagonist wanders aimlessly through the area, trying to find a way out. She eventually finds the Old Woman, who laughs at her for giving up. Deep in her heart, Madeline doesn't want to give up yet, but the long fall caused her to lose all hope of getting back to the top. The Old Woman advises her to try talking with Badeline and find out what she's afraid of. As the conversation ends, the protagonist goes down through a deep ravine, trying to find Badeline at the rock bottom of the area, and apologises for the behavior. Badeline doesn't trust her, and suddenly the roles switch — Madeline starts chasing the Part of Her. Eventually, they stop, and she convinces Badeline to talk to her, comforting her and telling her they both can get back up if they cooperate. They fuse, giving the player an additional dash. After climbing back from the giant pit, they find theirTheo friendsand Granny, who further encourage them to complete the climb.

=== {{ch|8|lf=1}}[[Core]] and {{ch|9|lf=1}}[[Farewell]] ===

Throughout multiple locations, Badeline appears several times in multiple locations, trying to convince Madeline to wake up, with no effect. Madeline pursues to catch the bird, trying to get information on how to findfinding Granny, but it escapes every time. After several attempts, she finds it stuck, but the bird does nothing and tries to leave. Madeline starts to lose hope that she may meet Granny again. Badeline finds her again and apologises for her harsh behavior, attempting to tell her they will face the future together. The protagonist agrees, but she also feels guilty for trapping the bird in the collapsing dimension, so they lead it out.

Madeline manages to encounter Granny for the last time, presumably in heaven, and she apologises for not being able to attend her funeral, thanking her for all Granny's done throughout her climb. Shortly after, Granny disappears and the protagonist finally wakes up. She hears a call from Theo and picks it up, apologisingsaying sorry for her absence due to the struggle of coping with the loss of someone. Theo decides to share an old picture of his grandfather, on which they could also see Granny (called Celia in the photo); they were friends and they shared the mountain with themselves, much to Maddy's excite.}}

Upon creating a new save file for ''[[Celeste]]'', Madeline may be renamed to anything else up to 12 characters. This does not impact gameplay or plot, except that all characters (inwill theuse basethis gamechosen atname least)when willreferring useto Madeline's new nameher. However, there are two exceptions:

* Madeline technically has her own voice lines hidden inside the "In The Mirror" track. If reversed, it will reveal a lament voiced by [[Lena Raine]], talking about her (presumably in Madeline's name) struggles, fears, and thoughts, followed by quiet sighs and sobbing.

* Upon Celeste's release, especially afterAfter [[Farewell]] has been introducedreleased, a huge amount of curiosity has grown about the possibility of Madeline being transgender. This has officially been [[CW:TR|confirmed]] on a blog post by [[Maddy Thorson]], on the 6th of November, 2020.

* Maddy Thorson has made joke tweets revealing Madeline's height (213.36 cm = 7 feet)<ref name="height">{{Cite tweet|user = MaddyThorson|number = 1557484995618295808|title = hmmm i'd say about 213.36cm|date = August 10, 2022|access-date = November 7, 2023|archive-date = August 10, 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220810215613/https://twitter.com/MaddyThorson/status/1557484995618295808}}</ref>, last name (Madeline McButt)<ref name="lastname">{{Cite tweet|user = MaddyThorson|number = 1557483970677260288|title = McButt. She's Madeline McButt 😔 sorry gamers|date = August 10, 2022|access-date = November 7, 2023|archive-date = August 10, 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220810215641/https://twitter.com/MaddyThorson/status/1557483970677260288}}</ref>, and the contents of her backpack (full of spiders)<ref name="backpack">{{Cite tweet|user = MaddyThorson|number = 1552735660234006528|title = It's full of spiders 😬|date = July 28, 2022|access-date = November 7, 2023|archive-date = August 9, 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220809224327/https://twitter.com/MaddyThorson/status/1552735660234006528}}</ref>.