Max Mayfield

Maxine "Max" Mayfield, portrayed by Sadie Sink, is a main character in Stranger Things, being introduced in the second season; she is also the protagonist of the book Stranger Things: Runaway Max. A 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 was originally from California, 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 Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Mike, 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 skeptical 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.

By the summer of 1985, Max had befriended Eleven, while going through cycles of dating Lucas, breaking up with him and getting back together again. However, to Max's discomfort, the Party's attention shifted to Billy after he was noted to be acting unusually. The group would later discover that Billy had become possessed by the Mind Flayer, prompting the Party and their allies to band together to defeat them. While the group battled the Spider Monster with fireworks at Starcourt Mall, Eleven reminded Billy of his humanity; her words prompted Billy to sacrifice his life to save Eleven's, which horrified and traumatized Max. Despite her rocky relationship with Billy, Max was deeply affected by her stepbrother's loss and experienced a profound sense of grief, survivor's guilt, and depression. Three months later, Max, along with the rest of the Party, tearfully said goodbye to the Byers and Eleven, who had been relocated to California by Dr. Owens.

Months later, Max still struggled with Billy's loss, suffering from frequent nightmares in which she would relive the moment of his death. She isolated herself from her friends, breaking up for good with Lucas. However, in March 1986, she decided to help her old friends investigate the murder of Chrissy Cunningham. After learning she was experiencing the same disturbing hallucinations and symptoms that Chrissy had, Max and her friends came to the conclusion that she had been "cursed" by a mysterious Upside Down entity dubbed "Vecna", and that she didn't have much time to live. However, Max was able to survive Vecna’s attacks when her friends played her favorite song over her headphones, giving her the emotional strength to defy Vecna and return to reality.

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 made herself hallucinate 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; for a moment, her heart even stopped. This technical 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.

Aliases:

Maxine MADMAX Zoomer Random Girl (by Steve) Red (by Eddie)

Family:

Sam Mayfield (father) Susan Hargrove (mother) Neil Hargrove (ex-step father) Billy Hargrove (dead ex-step brother) Unnamed grandmother Jack (uncle)

Relations:

Nate Walker (former best friend) Lucas Sinclair (ex-boyfriend/best friend) Eleven/El (best friend, Mike's girlfriend) Dustin Henderson (best friend) Will Byers (best friend) Mike Wheeler (best friend, Eleven's boyfriend) Joyce Byers (friend) Jim Hopper (friend) Steve Harrington (friend/brother figure) Nancy Wheeler (friend) Jonathan Byers (friend) Robin Buckley (friend) Erica Sinclair (friend) Eddie Munson (dead friend) The Mind Flayer (enemy) Vecna (enemy)

It's 1985 at Max's trailer at 3 am. You're throwing rocks at her window, waking her up.