Max Mayfield

Maxine "Max" Mayfield,[6] portrayed by Sadie Sink and voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, is a main character in Stranger Things, being introduced in the second season; she is also a main character in Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, additionally being the protagonist of the novel Stranger Things: Runaway Max. A newcomer to the Party, and the ex stepsister of the late Billy Hargrove, she is best friends with Jane "Eleven" Hopper, Mike Wheeler, Will Byers, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair. She also has an on-and-off romantic relationship with Lucas, until they finally kept their relationship stable after enduring many horrors together.

Max was originally from California, born July 1971, and had a keen interest in skateboarding from a young age. Following her mother's divorce and remarriage to Neil Hargrove in 1984, Max and her erratic stepbrother Billy moved to Hawkins, Indiana. Max quickly gained a reputation at the Palace Arcade for topping the game leader boards, her high scores submitted under the player name "MADMAX". Max's high scores captured the attention of arcade regulars Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will, who mistakenly assumed her to be a boy. After Maxine joined the boys' class at Hawkins Middle School, they realised the new girl and the mysterious MADMAX were one and the same. On Halloween, Max crossed paths with the boys while trick-or-treating, and despite being weirded-out by their earlier behaviour, had a change of heart, and sought to befriend them. Dustin and Lucas, each secretly pining for her affection, wanted to make Max an official member of the Party, but Mike pushed back against the idea.

When Will started experiencing strange 'episodes', Max took notice, and became even more curious after learning of Will's disappearance the previous year. Though her new friends were initially reluctant to explain what had happened to Will, Lucas eventually divulged the whole history of events involving Will, Eleven, the Demogorgon and the Upside Down. Though sceptical at first, Max's convictions would shift after encountering a pack of faceless humanoid predators alongside Lucas, Dustin and their friend Steve Harrington. Max and her friends soon realized Will was possessed by the "Mind Flayer", a malevolent entity serving as the mind and heart of the Upside Down, whose influence in Hawkins was expanding in the form of gigantic, vine-like tunnels burrowing deep beneath the city.

Max grew romantically attached to Lucas, but had an awkward first meeting with Eleven upon her return to Hawkins. After standing up to an erratic and violent Billy after his assault on Steve at the Byers house, Max further proved her worth, stealing Billy's car and transporting the group to the underground tunnels. There, they assisted in the fight against the Mind Flayer by attacking the Upside Down's shared hive mind. After defeating the Mind Flayer, Max attended the Snow Ball with her new group of friends, and after sharing her first kiss with Lucas, would begin a relationship with him.

After discovering Vecna's plan to use the murders to open four gates, the group came up with a plan of attack; Max would act as bait to distract Vecna, while Nancy, Steve and Robin would attack his real body in the Upside Down. At the abandoned Creel House, Max let herself become possessed again, but to her surprise, Eleven appeared in her visions, via her power of psychic projection. However, Vecna overpowered Eleven, and began killing Max. Due to the actions of Eleven, Nancy, Steve, and Robin, Max initially survived the attack, though she was blinded and her limbs were broken, but she eventually succumbed to her injures. Her death triggered the opening of the fourth and final curse gate, wreaking havoc across Hawkins. However, Eleven used her abilities to restart Max's heart. She was brought back to life, but remained comatose, teetering on the boundary between life and death