Celeste creator Maddy Thorson has confirmed the game’s protagonist, Madeline, is a transgender woman.
The game – which is available to play on mobile via Xbox Game Pass for Android and Google Stadia – had already heavily hinted at this last year when an ending screen in the game’s final chapter included Gay Pride and Trans flags on Madeline’s desk, implying a possible queerness on her part.
Players led this to assume that Madeline was indeed queer, but there was never a full confirmation until Thorson wrote a blog post last week confirming it: “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.”
Thorson goes on to explain how they personally came to understand more about themself during the process of writing Madeline’s character: “When I wrote Celeste I sincerely still believed that I was cisgender, but I was nevertheless waist-deep in gender feelings (among other anxieties). When Madeline looks in the mirror and sees her other self; when she attempts to abandon her reflection, who then drags her down the mountain; when the two reconcile and merge to become stronger and more complete… that was all unknowingly written from a trans perspective.”
Thorson then talks a lot more about queerness in Celeste and clears up any possible questions about its inclusion in the game. If you have a spare ten minutes, I would really recommend that you check it out.