Is Madeline Canonically Trans?
Photo: The Gamer.
Well, yeah, of course she is.
And that’s how Maddy Thorson, co-creator of the wildly popular platforming game, Celeste, began his article on Medium, November 5, 2020.
Thorson admits that, during the development of the game, they did not know that Madeline, or themselves, were trans. Thorson writes, “During Celeste’s development, I did not know that Madeline or myself were trans. During the Farewell DLC’s development, I began to form a hunch. Post-development, I now know that we both are.”
The question of whether or not Madeline was trans was one hotly debated by Celeste fans, when, in Celeste’s final chapter released last year, players noted two pride flags on Madeline’s desk, including a trans flag, and a bottle of pills on her nightstand.
Thorson writes:
This feels painfully obvious to a lot of (mostly trans) people, and likewise it feels painfully obvious to me too, in retrospect. It has also become painfully obvious to me that I, myself, am trans. But these are things that I was not aware of during the development of Celeste, where I was writing Madeline and speaking from her perspective. Creating Celeste with my friends helped me reach the point where I could realize this truth about myself.
And my gender identity still isn’t all “figured out” by any means. The Celeste community has wanted clarification on Madeline’s identity for a long time now, and I don’t blame anyone for wanting that, but the messy realities of my gender identity and coming out have meant that I needed time before I could talk openly about it.
So, okay, let’s get into the weeds on this.