10 Recently Confirmed Truths You Didn't Know About Famous Video Games
1. Madeline Is Trans - Celeste
Celeste was released in 2018 to rave reviews for its devilishly demanding platforming gameplay, appealing visuals, and uncommonly rich themes for the genre.
The Farewell DLC was then released in late 2019, and because the ending cutscene showed gay and trans pride flags in Madeline's room, many fans began to speculate that Madeline herself might be trans.
Roughly a year later, Celeste's creator Maddy Thorson - herself a trans woman who transitioned following the game's release - confirmed that Madeline was indeed trans. She said:
"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."
Artists using their work as an outlet to process their issues is nothing new, and in Thorson's case it seems to have helped land her in a place of greater understanding about who she is, while also providing some welcome LGBTQ+ representation for the gaming community.
Though some expressed disappointment that Celeste didn't engage with Madeline's transness more overtly, Thorson responded that Celeste reflects her own uncertainty with her identity during its development:
"If I could start over from the beginning of Celeste's development, knowing everything about myself and Madeline that I know now, would I write her differently? Yeah, probably. But then again, I'm a very different person and Celeste wouldn't be the same game. For my part, Celeste is about who I was, which includes that struggle for understanding."