Maxine Caulfield, better known as Max (born September 21, 1995), is the main protagonist of Life is Strange: Double Exposure. She is a returning protagonist, having featured in the first Life is Strange game.
An Arcadia Bay native, Max spent time travelling as a freelance photographer, and has recently settled at Caledon University as a photographer and Artist in Residence. She is now at the center of a new mystery on the campus surrounding her friend Safi.
Max has the supernatural ability to interact with time, which originally manifested as the ability to rewind time, but she has recently discovered that her ability to rewind time has atrophied, leading to the discovery of an all-new power: the ability to shift her consciousness between timelines.
Personality[]
Max appears to have kept her nerdy, endearing personality into adulthood. Self-proclaimed as nosy, she has a curious streak and cannot help but become involved when it comes to protecting the people she cares about.
Compared to her emerging personality in the first game, Max is now a more fully realized version of herself and has grown in confidence since her time in Arcadia Bay.[1]
Max comes from daunting beginnings. When she was a teenager, she had unlocked her iconic ability to rewind time, and utilised this ability to save her best friend, Chloe Price and investigate the darker side of Arcadia Bay, such as the corruption of the Prescott family, the disappearance of Rachel Amber and the Dark Room conspiracy. All the while, Max had been terrorised by prophetic visions of a supernatural waterspout that would come into reality to destroy Arcadia Bay due to her tampering with time. Max was then left with a decision which would haunt her for the next 10 years, sacrifice Chloe to erase the storm, or let Arcadia Bay be destroyed to spare Chloe's life. Whichever one you chose, Max would visibly be traumatised by the events of October 2013, vowing never to use her powers again.
Appearance[]
Max has shoulder-length auburn brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles. She is seen wearing rings on her right ring- and middle finger. Her wardrobe consists of long-sleeved shirts or sweaters with jeans and boots. When she's outside she wears a cyan jacket over a light gray hoodie with a shoulder bag and yellow winter accessories, such as her gloves and beanie.
Autobiography[]
"Hey, that's me!"
- Max's Notes, Double Exposure
Background[]
Max grew up in Arcadia Bay and became best friends with Chloe Price who lived just half a mile away. They were both "only children," which made them so much closer. They both engaged in many fun games and activities as well as daydreaming of their future and the adventures they would have together. Max has an enduring love of art and photography, getting her first camera (a Contax T2) at the age of six.[2]
In 2008, Chloe's father, William Price, tragically died in a car crash. Max was at Chloe's house on that day and found this hard to deal with as William was like a father to her. Soon after this tragic event, Max had to move to Seattle with her parents, leaving Chloe to deal with her grief alone. According to the original game, Max didn't call or text Chloe at all over the five years she was in Seattle.
In late 2013, Max returned to her hometown of Arcadia Bay after winning a scholarship to study at Blackwell Academy. She had just turned 18 years old and was an aspiring photographer. After saving Chloe from being shot and killed by Nathan Prescott in one of Blackwell Academy's bathrooms, she discovers she could rewind time and even stop it in its tracks. While searching for clues to solve the mysterious disappearance of Chloe's friend, Rachel Amber, Max also discovers how to use her powers to either save the town of Arcadia Bay from a tornado, or save her best friend Chloe. After the events of the original game, Max vows never to use her powers again, seeing the dangerous things it could do.
If Arcadia Bay had perished in the storm in the original game, Max and Chloe's friendship continued into July, 2017 (as discovered in Life is Strange 2, Episode 5). It is unclear whether this particular timeline is consistent with the one we see in Double Exposure. However, it is revealed that she and Chloe have gone their separate ways.
Max began traveling, working as a freelance photographer and artist. She settles at Caledon University six months before the start of Double Exposure, wanting to start fresh and escape her past. [1] Max has an exhibition at Caledon, in which her pictures are displayed. From the info plaque there, the exhibition is entitled "Walking with Ghosts".
The exhibit fits with Max's focus on work that captures "life that evades explanation", often featuring environmentally impacted areas and highlighting "everyday people on the brink of change" - a nice nod to the "Everyday Heroes" contest featured in the first game. One of the images featured depicts an abandoned diner, with booths that bear similarities to the Two Whales Diner in Arcadia Bay.
During her time before Caledon, she is credited with winning the IPA Award, and a National Geographic Fellowship. Her official position is noted as the "Hannah Hellerton Artist in Residence".
After Max's close friend Safi Llewellyn-Fayyad was murdered, she was still hearing her voice. This led Max to try and tap into her inactive powers to try and prevent Safi's murder, but instead realized it had evolved into the power to switch between timelines, and ended up in an alternate timeline where Safi is still alive, but still in grave danger.
Chapter 1: Still Life[]
The game starts with Max and Safi breaking into an abandoned bowling ally where they take a few pictures while almost being crushed by a plant mobile. Afterwards, they go to the Snapping Turtle to have a drink. Max gets into conversations with Safi and Amanda before Moses arrives and invites them to see an upcoming meteor shower.
Max is later seen watching the shower with Safi and Moses on a balcony. As they listen to music and drink hot chocolate, Max learns that Safi has some good news, but does not want to share it. Max is determined to find out. After she unsuccessfully tries to convince Safi to explain the news, she asks Moses for help, who gives her a bottle cap and tells her that whoever has it must do as they're told. Max slips it into a candy box and tricks Safi into taking it. Safi discovers her and Moses's prank and she finally reveals the news: she met a publisher who is interested in her poems. Upon receiving a phone call, Safi leaves. After chatting with Moses, Max sees the moon and decides to take a photo, but she suffers head pains upon doing so. Max decides to head home; though Moses offers to give her a ride, she declines.
While listening to music from an iPod, Max walks through campus. She sees an owl on a statue and after taking a picture, she suffers from more head pains that caused her to fall unconscious and have memories of the Arcadia Bay storm. She regains consciousness because Moses finds her. Noticing footprints going into the forest, Max senses something is off and follows them, with Moses right behind her. Max spots Safi and follows her, but suddenly hears a gunshot. She is relieved to see Safi okay as she disappears around a corner. She finds Safi sitting on a bench, but upon touching her, she drops her camera and falls to the ground; she has been shot. As Moses catches up, the two are horrified by the death of their friend. Max grieves for Safi while Moses takes out his phone and calls the authorities.
The next day, Max is devastated by Safi's loss. After a visit from Amanda and receiving a phone call from Yasmin, they head to campus. Max visits Yasmin, but has to wait for her to finish talking to Moses first before seeing her. They then talk about Safi's death. After a conversation with Moses and a confrontation with Lucas, Max and Moses part ways and Max then discovers that she has gained the ability to "shift' to another timeline where Safi is still alive.
Chapter 2: Penumbra[]
During her time in the Living World (the alternate timeline), Max learns more about her new ability, which allows her to travel between the Living World and the Dead World (the original timeline). She then begins digging up dirt on Abraxas, Lucas, and Gwen. After her investigation, she could not find any clues, but after learning that Reggie spotted a doppelganger of himself in the observation point, Max goes there to take a look, but has to use her swift powers to get past obstacles. She gets into conversations with Living World Gwen and Dead World Loretta while discovering a shape the resembles a person. She then heads to Moses's place after receiving a call from him.
Max visits Moses at his office as a detective named Vince Alderman is busy looking around. She learns that Moses hid Safi's camera in his office out of fear that it would fall into the hands of the police, leading the two to realize that Moses made a mistake doing this as the camera has evidence of the murder case. Vince then comes over and explains that the maintenance tech is coming over to unlock Moses's office so he can investigate it, leading Max to see that she needs to get the camera before he does. He then has an unfriendly greeting with Max before telling her to leave while he talks to Moses. Max uses this time to travel to the Living World. She finds Living World Moses at work on a telescope in his office. After a musical ornament on a nearby Christmas tree gets her attention, Max criticizes Moses about it. As she indirectly tries to ask him about hiding places, the telescope almost falls, but Moses catches it in time. He asks Max to get an Allen wrench from Carla. Not having enough time to do that, Max returns to the Dead World, finds the wrench that she's looking for, and goes back to the Living World to give it to Living World Moses. After she asks about the writing on the wall, Moses explains that it has something to do with Safi. He then decides to make tea for Max. Discovering that the cabinet that Moses opened may be where the camera is, she takes the cabinet key and travels back to the Dead World, She then uses the key to unlock the cabinet, and learns of the camera's true hiding place via projected star constellation, but Vince's arrival forces her to hide. She takes refuge in the Living World so that she can safely watch Vince without being seen. After distracting Vince and getting the camera, she escapes without being seen and gets into a conversation with Vince after that.
She and Moses return to Max's place to examine the photo, where Max also brings in a stray cat. After looking at the final photo, they discover it's of Max (apparently an alternate version of herself) pointing a gun directly at the camera, much to Max's bewilderment, leading Moses to think Max is the killer and leaves her.
Chapter 3: Spin[]
After spending the night studying the picture, she gets a cup of coffee and receives an unfriendly visit from Alderman. She travels to the Overlook to tell Moses about her powers while demonstrating it in front of him. After seeing an image of Alderman's past self, they try to leave, but are caught by the present day Alderman. They witness him touch his past self and is erased from existence after Max tries to help him or chooses to save herself. After a brief talk with Moses, she is advised to speak to Gwen.
After confrontations with Gwen, Yasmin, Amanda (actually Safi in disguise), and Lucas, she tries to tell Safi, but she is mad at her for digging up information on her past and refuses to listen. Max spends the night at the Snapping Turtle and chats with Living World Amanda (with the option of creating romance with her if possible) and Dead World Vinh before heading back to her place to find that it is ransacked. She discovers Safi disguised as Max in the basement. After chasing her down and saving her from drowning in the lake, Max discovers Safi's supernatural power when she returns to normal.
Chapter 4: Diptych[]
Max and Safi return to Max's home where they learn more about each other's past and powers. Max finally reveals to Safi why she never talks about her past (topic determinant on what ending the player picked). Max also learns Safi's motive to avenge Maya. They then decide to ruin Lucas's legacy at the upcoming Krampus part as payback for stealing Maya's ideas. They get Vinh, both versions of Moses, and potentially Gwen to help them and the plan is successful.
Later, when everyone falls under Safi's influence as a storm (similar to the one that appeared in Arcadia Bay), Max goes to confront her and Yasmin at the Overlook, revealing that Yasmin was responsible for canceling Safi's book deal and ordered Gwen to do it for her. After either stopping her or trying to talk her down, shooting Yasmin in the shoulder in the process, Safi's powers grow out of control, so Max tries to stop her using her own powers.
Chapter 5: Decoherence[]
Max finds herself back at the point where she will kill Safi while still in the Living World. Refusing to kill her to stop the storm, she discards the gun as the girls enter the storm where Max journeys through various parts of a transformed reality created by both timelines and the mixture of her and Safi's powers to find Safi: the campus grounds, the balcony, Blackwell Academy, the bowling alley, the Snapping Turtle, and four versions of a motel room. Along the way, she finds her fellow classmates and teachers, who are also trapped in the warped reality and frees some of them from Safi's influence using her camera. After finding Safi, they talk to each other as the area changes to the balcony, the Snapping Turtle, and Max's place before Max takes a selfie to return reality to normal, sending them back to the Overlook, but fusing both timelines together in the process. Here, Max must choose whether to join Safi with uniting those with supernatural powers to keep them safe or not. Safi leaves after the choice is made.
A few days later, Max starts to adjust with the merged timelines and may either plan to return to Arcadia Bay or reconcile with Chloe. She speaks with various characters along the way, gets a phone call from Yasmin, and heads to the Snapping Turtles to meet up with Moses. She then gives out a speech in the bar to be ready for Safi's return and get used to the new reality.
Associated Deaths[]
- Arcadia Bay residents (Caused, Determinant) - If you sacrifice Arcadia Bay, half the town die from the storm.
- Chloe Price (Caused, Determinant) - If Max decides to sacrifice Chloe for the town's sake, she will leave her to be killed in the girl's bathroom by Nathan.
- Safiya Llewellyn-Fayyad (Caused, Undone) - Max shot the original Safi to end a time paradox; however, she refused to do the same to the alternate Safi, reversing her death after both timelines combined.
Relationships[]
Due to the choice-based nature of the game, Max's relationships could advance or decay depending on the players choices.
Friends[]
- Safiya Llewellyn-Fayyad - Safi and Max were very close at the time of her death. She was fixated on learning about Max's past, this is seen when she snoops around Max's wallet and finds the picture of Chloe. After finding her new power and the "Alive" timeline, Max makes it her mission to investigate Safi's murder while preventing the Safi in the parallel timeline from facing the same fate. When Max gets a hold of Safi's camera, she is bewildered when she finds a picture of what appears to be herself holding a gun on Safi.
- Chloe Price - In the original game, Max and Chloe are best friends but their relationship is disrupted when Max moves to Seattle and doesn't make contact for 5 years. Chloe felt abandoned due to this but she makes up for it when Max saves her from getting shot with her rewind. Depending on what ending you picked, Chloe and Max's relationship would advance further into 2017. However, prior to the events of the game, she and Chloe had split due to Max being unable to move on from the past. If you sacrifice Arcadia Bay, Max makes an angry diary entry after they part ways, criticising how she left Max because she was unable to move forward, and compared Chloe's inability to go to the cities she planned to go with Rachel, before ending the entry with "Fuck you, Chloe." If you sacrifice Chloe, Max holds anger at her for urging her to rewind and not save her. This is seen when you look at the journal for the first time, the first entry being written after Chloe’s funeral. Max says at the end “Fuck you. I miss you.”
- Moses Murphy - Max considered them acquainted since they both were best friends with Safi but they grew closer after Safi's mysterious murder. Max quickly assists Moses after seeing that he was being detained by Detective Alderman, and uses her powers to retrieve Safi's camera so they could both take a look. Their relationship is interrupted upon seeing a photo of Max welding a gun at Safi. Despite suspicion of Max being the killer, Moses still goes to Max to give her a chance to explain herself, and finds out about her time-bending powers. Max shows her trust in Moses when she tells the latter about her past with Arcadia Bay and her original power to rewind time. When Moses gets trapped in the storm and Max frees his mind, they salute each other with the phrase "Machine Angel Psychic Storm", the phrase used to showcase Max's ability. Max deems Moses close enough to tell him about Chloe, this is seen at the end of the game (if you saved Chloe in the first game) when Moses asks if Max will stop running from her.
Romantic[]
- Chloe Price - Should you sacrifice Arcadia Bay, Max and Chloe leave the town after it's destruction and start a romantic relationship. They travel America together, but eventually, they end their romantic ties. This was due to Chloe wanting Max to move forward in time, without needing someone to constantly rewind for. Max expresses her hurt with a series of frantic scribbles, with the words "She left me." However, it is implied that she will eventually reconcile with Chloe.
- Amanda - Max is spotted by Safi looking with interest towards Amanda, and Max can be encouraged into a romance with her. If successful, Max can flirt with her and arrange a date. In Living World, the date never happens as Max never responds to Amanda's messages. In Dead World, Max's affections are set aside by Amanda while she is actively allowing Max to deal with her grief.
- Vinh - Vinh appears to be attracted to Max in both timelines, however it’s only in Dead World that he’s able to open up and be vulnerable enough to bond with Max after Safi’s death. Starting in Chapter 1, Vinh will ask Max to fetch a package for him while she waits for Yasmin to be finished in her office. After Max gives him the package, Vinh will casually ask if this is the start of them becoming friends, to which Max can respond with “more than friends”. Later, Vinh will text Max thanking her for the package, to which Max can respond in a flirty way. In Chapter 2, after Max informs Alive World Vinh that Diamond doesn’t have his phone after all, Vinh is quite impressed with her deduction skills and soon asks her if she wants to drink with him either at his or her house. Max can then reciprocate by stating that the offer is “tempting.” Eventually Max will find Dead World Vinh day-drinking in his office, to which he urges Max to join him. If she accepts, they engage in friendly banter up until Vinh admits he likes Max because she feels “haunted.” In Chapter 3, Dead World Vinh will invite Max to come drink with him at the Snapping Turtle after a confrontation with Diamond. If Max joins him, they both share a vulnerable moment where Vinh opens up about his past, and afterwards they play a game of Smash or Pass. Eventually, Vinh questions Max’s feelings for him, and this is where Max is given the option to kiss him or not. Kissing him will result in Max thanking him for this moment and that she really needed this. She will also comment that Vinh is a good kisser in her head if prompted. In Chapter 4, Max can admit to Safi that she and Vinh made out in the Dead World, much to Safi’s amusement. In Chapter 5, after experiencing Safi’s thoughts in his head and realizing that she no longer feels anything for him, Max will comfort Vinh and suggest that he should focus on what’s in front of him instead from now on. Vinh responds by agreeing with Max while smiling warmly at her. After the Dead and Alive timelines combine, Vinh will send a flurry of messages to Max worrying about her safety and about how confused he is about the whole situation. Upon seeing her at the Snapping Turtle, Vinh will immediately hug Max and express how happy he is to see that she’s okay. Unlike Amanda’s potential romance, it’s heavily implied that Max and Vinh’s relationship will continue by the end of the game.
Powers and Abilities[]
Main article: Max's Abilities
Previous Life Is Strange abilities:[]
- Temporal Rewind: Max could rewind time around her. She would stay still while the flow of time was reversed, and she would retain memories of what happened before rewinding. Any items on her would remain with her. As part of Rewind, she also had other abilities such as prophetic visions, time traveling through photographs of herself, and temporarily freezing time.
- Chronoskimming/Polarewind: Max was able to use photographs as an extension of her powers, using them to travel further back in time. She could change whatever she wanted before traveling back to the present, but doing this could change the entire timeline.[3]
Life is Strange: Double Exposure abilities:[]
- Timeline Shifting: Max swore she'd never use her rewind again, but after finding her friend Safi shot to death, she tries to use her powers to save her. Instead of rewinding time, Max is now able to transfer her consciousness between timelines. Focal points between the timelines known as "Shift spots" allow Max to effectively travel between two realities at a set location where the fabric of time is weak. Max's Shift power can also be used to gain a glimpse into the different realities through a "Pulse", which highlights differences without completely shifting.
- Max's Shift can also be used to swap items between the two timelines. This is seen in Moses' office when Detective Alderman is investigating. The barrel containing parts of Moses' telescope (which hadn't been assembled in the Dead timeline) started to glow, and after channeling her power, Max managed to transport the unopened barrels to the Living World timeline, swapping the constructed telescope with them.
- Temporal Rewind: In Double Exposure, Max has let the Rewind power atrophy, "like losing fluency in a language", and is unable to use the original power. Using the previous key binds for activating Rewind will lead to her making remarks on her power no longer being accessible to her. Though she cannot directly use her rewind, it seems to activate in certain situations. This is seen in Penumbra where you hide from Detective Alderman in Moses' office, if he catches you, Max suffers a headache and finds herself in a hiding spot with Alderman still examining the area.
- Chronoskimming/Polarewind: Due to Max letting her original ability atrophy, her Polarewind was also affected. Max can still utilise this power, but it causes great strain on her. Max describes it as flexing an atrophied muscle.
Consequences[]
- Like in the first game, Max's powers, combined with Safi's, summoned a storm and caused the surrounding areas to transform under the effects of their powers while also engulfing the consciousnesses of people around them. It's also likely that due to Max's side of the storm, any major decision that Max and Safi make ripples through time. This is shown when Safi takes a photo of Max welding the gun before using it on the former, this would end up going to the first episode where that Safi also dies, erasing the storm from history.
Memorable Quotes[]
- "Let's thrash, shakabrah!"
Theories[]
- Although Max's alternate self is supposedly the killer, they have been claims that this alternate Max could be someone impersonating her, presumed to be some kind of shapeshifter. Another possibility is that this Max could be from the future.
- When Max heard the gunshot from Chapter 1, a strange distortion appeared, which could be the presence of alternate Max.
- The shapeshifter theory was proven correct, except the shapeshifter was Safi and that she wanted Max to kill her to prevent the storm from happening in the first place, though this was changed when Max refused.
- When Max heard the gunshot from Chapter 1, a strange distortion appeared, which could be the presence of alternate Max.
- It is also possible that the photo of Max holding a gun was forged. Some theorized it to be Moses, who stole Safi's camera.
- This theory was proven wrong as the picture came from the future that Max would later change.
- Some fans believe that the reason why Max killed Safi is because Safi was possibly a hidden antagonist.
- This theory is proven half-correct. Safi is indeed an antagonist, but the true reason why Max killed the original Safi is to end a chaotic paradox.
- It can be presumed that after the events of Chapter 2, Max would either be arrested or on the run from the police and school residents due to Moses seemly telling them that she killed Safi.
- Max might have to take refuge in the Living World to avoid capture until she can solve the mystery.
- Both theories were proven incorrect as Moses did not inform the authorities regardless.
- Max might have to take refuge in the Living World to avoid capture until she can solve the mystery.
Trivia[]
- Max could have some problems with her parents due to referring to them by name instead of “Mom” or “Dad”.
Gallery[]
Main article: Maxine Caulfield (Double Exposure)/Gallery
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 This was discussed by developers and Hannah Telle during the Life is Strange: Double Exposure Reveal Livestream interviews.[1]
- ↑ Info plaque in Caledon University, as seen in the promo videos in the Double Exposure reveal livestream.
- ↑ See the first game's third episode, Chaos Theory for use of this power, and Dark Room, the fourth episode, for the changes Max enacts on the timeline.