Madeline

Madeline
Madeline on Celeste's box art
Other names	Maddy
Age	between 20 and 30
Gender	Female (trans)
Status	Alive
Friends	• Theo  • Granny
List of characters

Madeline is the protagonist of Celeste, and is the character whom the player controls in nearly all instances. She is a trans woman that struggles with her mental illnesses, depicted throughout multiple times throughout the course of 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 seven chapters.

Presumably because of Celeste Mountain's influence, as foreshadowed by Granny, Madeline is frequently confronted by a doppelganger, known as a part of her, whom attempts to convince her to return home and to give up; this character, known more commonly as Badeline, serves as Celeste's primary antagonist between chapter 2 and chapter 6, being responsible for many of her pitfalls.

Outside of Celeste, she and Badeline make an appearance in the Nintendo Switch version of TowerFall Ascension, an earlier game by Maddy Thorson, as playable characters. Additionally, Madeline makes an appearance on many pieces of Celeste-associated merchandise, often alongside Badeline.

Renaming

Madeline may be freely renamed to anything else beneath NUM characters. This does not impact gameplay or the plot whatsoever, except that all characters (in the base game, at least) will adjust their dialogue to mention Madeline's new name. However, there is one exception (an easter egg): if Madeline is renamed to Alex, the same name as Theo's sister, Alex will be renamed to "Maddy".