Max Mayfield

Maxine Mayfield, also known as MADMAX, Max Mayfield, Random Girl, Red and Zoomer, is one of the main characters from the Stranger Things series.
== Charactah Account ==
Max is the newcomer to the Party, and the stepsister of Billy Hargrove, she is best friends with Will Byers, Dustin Henderson, Jane "Eleven" Hopper, Lucas Sinclair and Mike Wheeler; she also has an on-and-off romantic relationship with Lucas.
Max is a tomboy, having many interests that some wouldn’t consider "conventional" for a girl during the time period. While growing up in California, she displayed no interest in things like press-on nails, perms, or getting a tan. She greatly enjoys skateboarding and is skilled at arcade games, being proficient enough to achieve the top scores. She also displays a slight interest in horror films, having dressed as Michael Myers for Halloween. Max has some driving experience and was able to drive her brother's car fairly well. Whenever Billy's dad beat him, Max stood up for Billy to protect him and even offered him ice. Max admitted sometimes she hated Billy and sometimes she did warm to him.
Due to moving to Hawkins and her brother’s abusive treatment towards her, Max was initially anti-social and cautious towards other people and frequently proved to be highly acerbic and overall aloof. Her distrust made her skeptical, and she had a hard time believing the strange events that occurred in her new town. Nevertheless, she was willing to lend a helping hand once she accepted the gravity of the situation. While she initially brushed off Lucas and Dustin’s attempts at befriending her, she was shown to be eager to become a member of the Party, continuously enduring their harsh treatment in order to be included. When she was eventually accepted into the Party, she was immensely loyal toward her new friends, self-identifying as a "zoomer" as her role in the group and going so far as standing up to Billy in order to protect them.
== Appearance ==
=== Literature ===
* Stranger Things: Runaway Max
=== TV Series ===
* Stranger Things Season 2
* Stranger Things Season 3
* Stranger Things Season 4
=== Video Games ===
* Stranger Things 3: The Game
* Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales
* Stranger Things: The Game
== Trivia ==
* Max's alias, MADMAX, is a reference to the post-apocalyptic films of the same name, Mad Max, first beginning in 1979.
* Max's skateboard was produced by Madrid Skateboards, the same brand as Marty McFly's skateboard from the 1985 film Back to the Future. Her skateboard's design, called 'Explosion', was a staple of Madrid's skateboard collection throughout the '80s. The company partnered with Netflix to sell replicas of Max's skateboard, as well as skateboards with various other designs inspired by the show.
** Max's bedroom and high school locker are decorated with Madrid stickers.
* In the Party, Max's role is the "Zoomer", a self given rank likely derived from her driving ability and skateboarding skill. The rank does not actually exist in Dungeons and Dragons.
* Max is the third main character of Stranger Things to have a book explaining her past; first being Martin Brenner and second being Jim Hopper, and would be followed by Robin Buckley and Lucas Sinclair. Her backstory book is called Stranger Things: Runaway Max.
* Max is the first character in the show to have a stepfamily; a stepfather and stepbrother, and the first character to have a sibling killed off.
* Despite not appearing in the first season, Max has appeared in every episode since the second season.
** Despite this, Max only appears in archival footage in one of episode of season 2.
* In the Hawkins Middle School Yearbook, Max was shown to be voted as the "Star Skater". It is stated that her career goal is to be a professional skateboarder. Her favorite subject is Math. Her hobbies are skateboarding and dominating Dig Dug. When she's not studying she's beating all of Dustin's high scores at the arcade. The extracurricular activity she did is the AV Club. She was also one of the staff's of the yearbook.
* In "E Pluribus Unum", Max is the third character to drop the word "Fuck", though it cuts before she can fully say it, whereas Will and Billy said the word in full.
* In "E Pluribus Unum", Max is shown to not believe brain damage is a real thing.
* In "E Pluribus Unum", Sadie Sink's younger sister, Jacey, portrays a younger Max seen in Billy's past after Eleven gets into his mind.
* In "The Battle of Starcourt", when Lucas and Max help pack the Byers' home, their outfits match the main couple, Eric and Donna, in That '70s Show.
* During the fourth season, Max's favorite song that eventually saves her from Vecna's grasp is "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush. The season brought large popularity to the song nearly 36 years after its release, resulting in it reaching number one on iTunes and re-entering the American Top 40.
** The lyrics "And if I only could, I'd make a deal with God, And I'd get him to swap our places" mirrors Max's belief that things would've been better if Billy had survived and she died.
* As of "Papa", Max is the only member of the Party to never meet Dr. Martin Brenner.
* Max is the first of Vecna's victims to survive (though Nancy was cursed by Vecna, she was used as a "messenger" for Eleven rather than a victim).
** In the official teleplay for "The Piggyback", Max's revival is described like this: "...a BRILLIANT KALEIDOSCOPE OF COLORS fly at camera. Just like when Eleven sent One into another dimension". Though the 'kaleidoscope of colors' was absent from the final scene, some fans believe this indicates that Max, like One, has been sent to 'another dimension'.
== Gallery ==
File:Max Mayfield Render 01.png
File:Max Mayfield 01.png
File:Max Mayfield 02.png
== External Links ==
* Max Mayfield at Stranger Things Wiki
Category:Characters
Category:Females
Category:Stranger Things