Madeline: Difference between revisions

| age = between19+ 20 and 30(implied)

| status = Alive{{Spoiler inline|Madeline can die fromfor countless different reasons; however, she respawns within seconds of dying, making her ''de facto'' immortal.}}

'''Madeline''' is the protagonist of ''[[Celeste]]'', and is the character whom the player controls in nearly [[Variant Mode|all]] [[5A|instances]]. She is a [[CW:TR|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 [[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 part of her, whomwho 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 [[Old Site|chapter 2]] and [[Reflection|chapter 6]], being responsible for many of her pitfalls.

Outside of ''Celeste'', she and Badeline make an appearanceappear in the Nintendo Switch version of ''[[{{w:TowerFall Ascension|TowerFall Ascension]]}}'', an earlier game by Maddy Thorson, as playable characters.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/8/28/17791722/towerfall-nintendo-switch-release-date-celeste-nindies |title=TowerFall arrives on Nintendo Switch this September |work=Polygon |last=Goslin |first=Austen |date=August 28, 2018 |accessdate=January 9, 2021}}</ref> Additionally, Madeline makes an appearance on many pieces of Celeste-associated merchandise, often alongside Badeline.

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 in a more unrealistic fashionunrealistically. Madeline appears to be 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, black-and-gray winter boots and (dependingin on thesome chapterchapters) 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, including 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 place after the events of ''Celeste'', many other pieces of clothing. Despite all of that, in practicallyalmost all of Celeste's official art, with the exception of [[Core|Chapter 8]]'s end card, Madeline continues to beis depicted with her auburn hair and distinctive cowlick.

Madeline's status as trans is impossible to decipher solely from her appearance; however, hints shown in {{Ch|9|lf=1}}'s end cutscene may suggest this. {{c|Notably, athere are photosmall ofpride Madelineand duringtrans herflags childhoodnear showsthe hercomputer within muchthe shorterend haircutscene}}.

Her age is technically unknown and up to interpretation, however, due to certain acts and references, such as her being able to drive a car and her having a possible alcohol addiction, it's implied that she's over either 18 or 19 years old, it being the legal age for buying alcohol in Canada.

|level=''[[Celeste]]''

|Madeline appears first appears in [[Prologue]] as a very determined person, with the ultimate goal of climbing the mountain. Her goal is to reach [[The Summit]] in order to prove and challenge herself,. She refusingrefuses to listen to the [[Granny|Old Woman]], who warnedwarns her about the mountain's dangers. On her way, she meets [[Theo]], depending on which chapter he's found, who wanders around the place with the intention ofto findingfind places worth showing on his [[InstaPix]] account. On their first encounter, Madeline appears as a rather shy person, being distracted by her own goals. They end up workingwork their way up eventually, with Theo occasionally meatingmeeting her through different chapters.

After reaching the mirror in [[Old Site]], Madeline encounters a [[Badeline|Part of Herself]] she's not happy with. It's a culminationreflection of her anxieties, worries and other thoughts she's afraid of. Badeline tries to convince Madeline that the mountain climb might be too hard for her, and that they should turn back, however the protagonist refuses to listen to her, and pushes forwards. It shows Madeline's stubbornness and desire to reach her goals. She thinks that her other part tries to hurt her even more, avoidingand avoids contact with her as much as possible, making encounters with her even more intimidating as the story goes on,. suchExamples asinclude lashing out at [[Oshiro]] in the Presidential Suite, multiple panic attacks such as at the end of [[Golden Ridge]], when the gondola got stuck in place for a short period of time, or the entirety of the [[Mirror Temple]] which has unleashed a terrifying world full of monsters and deadly hazards that waswere sitting inside Madeline's mind.

Despite her prioritiesgoal, Madeline doesn't refusetries to help other people who are struggling as well. She attempts to help Mr. Oshiro who appeared to be, overwhelmed by the events that happened in the [[Celestial Resort]], which ended up being interrupted by Badeline, who told him that her only reason offor helping him is to "fuel her twisted ego". She also rescues Theo, who gets lost in the Mirror Temple, ending up being encased inside a giant [[Theo crystal|crystal structure]].

In [[Reflection|Chapter 6]] is the turning point of the game, revealingshe duringhas a conversation with Theo, where she reveals that Madelineshe has been struggling with depression and anxiety for a long time, causing various negative effects such as lashing out onat other people on the internet, or the consumption of alcoholic drinksalcohol. She also explains that she's been chased by Part of Her that she isn't happy with, coming to a conclusionconcluding that she may want to setfree Badeline free, and be able to live without her. She also thanks Theo for teaching her the feather technique during the gondola ride in [[Golden Ridge]], which has been helping herhelpful to cope with panic attacks. sheTheo learnedtells duringMadeline theabout gondolahis ridejourney inand [[Goldensupports Ridge]]her psychologically.

Once the night passes, Madeline wakes up and attempts to talk to Badeline. She explains that she'd like to set her free, and that they both would be happier that way. Badeline, scared of the consequences, attacks her, causing a panic attack to happen. The protagonist attempts to calm herself using the feather technique, however itBadeline wasn'tcuts the feather in successfulhalf, causing her to drop all the way down and to a deep cavern, leavingbeing Parta ofturning Herselfpoint behindof herthe 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 in being able to get back to the top. The Old Woman advicesadvises her to try to talk 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 Part of HerselfBadeline at the rock bottom of the area, and apologises her for the behavior. Badeline doesn't trust her, and suddenly the roles switch - Madeline starts chasing towardsthe Part of HerselfHer. Eventually, they stop, and she convinces Badeline to talk to her, comforting her and telling her that they both can get back up if they cooperate. They fuse together, giving the player an additional dash. After climbing back from the giant pit, they find their friends, onwho further encourage them to complete the wayclimb.

ThroughThroughout the entire climb back toup the summit, Madeline goes on a conversationtalks with Part of HerselfBadeline, apologising for their mistakes and trying to move on, quickly reaching the top of the mountain at the end of the chapter. They later come back to homeGranny's shack, where they meet friends theyand met on the way, ending upMadeline bakingbakes a strawberry pie for them.}}

|A year after reaching the summit, Madeline meets up with Granny again, at the entrance to the [[Core]]. They talk about what events have occurred during the time span after the main game's has concludedconclusion. Later, she enters the mysterious cave and finally reaches the center of Celeste Mountain, finding her inner peace.

A long time passes by, and Madeline discovers that Granny has passed away, and within her dream, she arrives toat her gravestone, apologising for not attending to her funeral. She finds the [[Bird]], thinking that it might know where Granny could be found. Badeline tries to convince her, that she's in denial and that it's just a dream. The protagonist refuses to listen to her, and embarks on the journey without her help.

ThroughThroughout multiple locations, Badeline appears several times, trying to convince Madeline to wake up, with no effect. Madeline pursues to catch the bird, trying to get information on how to find Granny, but it escapes every time. After several attempts, she manages to findfinds it stuck in an area, but the bird does nothing and tries to leave. Madeline starts to lose hope that she may meet Granny again. Part of HerselfBadeline finds her again, and apologises for her harsh behavior, attempting to tell her that they will both face the future together. The protagonist agrees, but also she feels guilty for trapping the bird in the collapsing dimension., Theyso endthey up leadinglead it to the end, through a hazarouds pathout.

Madeline manages to encounter Granny for herthe last time, presumably in heaven, and she apologises for not being able to attent toattend her funeral, thanking her for all sheGranny's done throughthroughout theher entirety of the gameclimb. Shortly after, Granny disappears and the protagonist finally wakes up. She hears a call byfrom Theo thatand she decided topicks pickit up, apologising 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 both him and Granny (known as Celia on the picture),; whothey were friends and they shared the mountain with themselves, much to Maddy's excite.}}

Upon the creation ofcreating a new save file for ''[[Celeste]]'', Madeline may be freely renamed to anything else beneathup to ten12 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 mentionuse Madeline's new name. However, there are two exceptions (both [[easter eggeggs]]s). If Madeline is renamed to <code>Alex</code>, the same name as [[Theo]]'s sister, Alex will be renamed to "Maddy". If Madeline is named '''<code>Fwahaha'''</code>, [[Kevin]] blocks make a different sound when they are dashed into.

* Madeline technically has her own voice lines, however they're hidden inside the "In The Mirror" track, which, if reversed through an audio editing program, will reveal a hidden lament voiced by [[Lena Raine]], talking about her (presumably in Madeline's name) own struggles, fears, and thoughts, followed by quiet sighs and sobbing.

* Upon Celeste's release, especially after [[Farewell]] has been introduced, a huge amount of curiousitycuriosity has grown about the possibility of Madeline being a transgender woman. This has officially been [https[CW://maddythorson.medium.com/is-madeline-canonically-trans-4277ece02e40 TR|confirmed]] on a ''Medium'' blog post by [[Maddy Thorson]], on the 6th of November, 2020.

** In the blog post, Maddy also explains on how the development of them and the character has gone through changes, as well as explainingand that her gender identity was purposefully been shown very subtly to give Madeline and the trans community respect without it feeling forcefully shown, as well as they realisingrealized over time that they've been writing a trans narrative all along. TheyShe also wanted to bemake sure everyone is able tocould relate to theher story without feeling alienated.

** There are a couple of images hintinghints towards Madeline being trans, such as the pride flags, prescriptive pills, anda short-haired photopicture of her in the Farewell ending cutscene, and ana imagephoto of Madelineher wearingwith rainbow socks on Theo's [[InstaPix]].

** The consistent usage of mirrors as a theme, visualisationvisualization of Badeline, Madeline's reactionreactions to taking selfies, and the hidden lament in the Mirror Temple theme can be seen as references toreference common struggles of trans people dealing with gender dysphoria.

* Many emojis about ''Celeste'' are Madeline emojis. Even though manyMany are based directly on expressions she shows in the game. others consistOthers simply consist of something completely unrelated with Madeline's hair stamped on top. The most notable example of this is [[Frogeline]] with its many variations.