Prologue

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Prologue


Strawberries None
Sides Interlude
Characters  • Madeline
 • Granny
 • Bird
Soundtrack 01  •   Prologue

Level navigation
Prologue → Forsaken City

The Prologue is the first chapter the player unlocks in Celeste's level progression. It introduces the three basic moves within the game: a jump, a climb, and a dash. Madeline (she appears earlier during the save creation screen) and Granny, also known as the Old Woman, are introduced in this chapter as characters.

Three gameplay mechanics are introduced in this chapter: falling blocks (albeit one which falls on its own), a collapsing bridge, and the (in)famous intro car.

Prologue isn't considered an A-Side, but instead an "interlude" chapter, similar to Epilogue. Additionally, the chapter does not have any checkpoints, but does have a few spawn points throughout. It is shorter than all C-Sides but is longer than the epilogue.

Plot[edit | edit source]

For the list of dialogues, check Prologue/Dialogues.
Show/hide content


   This is it, Madeline.
   Just breathe.
   Why are you so nervous?

Madeline, having just arrived at the foot at Celeste Mountain by car, is about to embark on a journey. She jumps across several pits, narrowly avoiding a falling block of ice. The Bird is then introduced; it teaches Madeline how to climb a wall vertically. After making it past a few bumpy hills, she arrives in front of a shack where an old woman, also known as Granny, lives.

Madeline asks her whether she is on the right trail or not. After the woman confirms Madeline's statement, the mountain climber asks about the collapsing driveway. The old woman starts laughing, claiming that the mountain might be "too much" for Maddy, but she stays determined and states that she'll be fine. Granny then warns her about how Celeste Mountain is a strange place, where she might end up seeing things, but Madeline ignores her.

As Madeline steps onto the bridge, it starts collapsing under her feet. Managing to make it alive as she jumps across falling pieces, as the music intensifies and introduces the "Madeline" leitmotif, the bridge ends up self-destructing to the point where she can no longer make it to the other side. After making a leap of faith, the bird reappears, teaching Madeline how to dash to save herself.

Madeline starts panting as soon as she arrives on the other side safely. The camera scrolls upwards towards the night sky, and the text "You can do this." appears. Subsequently, the player is returned to the map screen with Chapter 1 unlocked.



Speedrun strategies[edit | edit source]

It is impossible to dash during the prologue, except at the very end. Therefore, the only way to progress quickly is via bunnyhopping and cornerboosting throughout the level. It's also possible to skip the dash cutscene right when Madeline stops falling.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

  • Upon release, the final dash cutscene wasn't meant to be skippable, yet speedrunners ended up finding an exploit requiring frame-perfect menu management to save time. The devs made it skippable in version 1.2.6.0 to remove the need for a very precise and tedious skip at the beginning of a chapter.
    • The original skip also allowed skipping the "You can do this" text that appears following the dash cutscene; however, this "feature" was removed because the developers wanted to remind speedrunners that they can do it, as a message of encouragement.