Max Caulfield

(WARNING! This page contains plot and/or ending details of Life is Strange and its related media. Proceed at your own discretion.)"Max you are not crazy. You are not dreaming. It’s time to be an everyday hero."

- Max Maxine "Max" Caulfield is a 12th grade student attending Blackwell Academy and the main protagonist of the 2015 episodic video game Life is Strange. After a five year absence from her hometown, Arcadia Bay, she returns to the small town in Oregon to attend a photography class and discovers she has the power to rewind time after her friend, Chloe Price, is shot and killed. Dreaming of an impending storm set to destroy Arcadia Bay, Max must discover how to save the town and the origin of her time traveling powers.

Pre-Game Events
Maxine Caulfield was born September 21, 1995 in Arcadia Bay, Oregon. There, she spent most of her childhood and a young adulthood. As a child, Max had decided she wanted to be a photographer. Her parents indulged her dream and gave her an old Polaroid camera to play and take pictures with. As she got older, she adopted a fondness for analog cameras over digital cameras.

At some point she met a girl named Chloe Price and the two became best friends. They spent most of their time together, drawing fictionalized versions of themselves in self-made comic strips; pretending to be pirates roaming their homes and the forests of Arcadia bay, constantly searching for treasure that would lead them outside Arcadia Bay. They regarded Seattle as a "far away island" from a fable and dreamed of going there.Max shared a strong rapport with Chloe's father, William Price, who also used an instant camera to take pictures of her family. Max visited the Price Household frequently, often sleeping over and having breakfast with Chloe's family. On at least one Halloween, Chloe and Max dressed up as pirates.

In 2008, Chloe's pet cat, Bongo had been killed by a passing car. Max helped Chloe bury her cat in the Price's backyard. That same year, Max had visited the Price Household to spend the day with Chloe and William. The two were working on their comic books and helping William fix pancakes when he received a call from his wife,Joyce. He took his car to pick her so they go shopping and was later killed in car accident.

Around that time, the Max's parents decided to move the family to Seattle. Max, despite realizing she would be moving away from Chloe, was excited by the prospect of living in Seattle. The fate of their friendship was left in question when Max moved away.

Living a comfortable life in Seattle, she made new friends (Kristen and Fernando) and worked on improving her photography skills. Eventually, despite the value of Chloe's friendship, Max fell out of touch with her. When she reached the twelfth grade, she decided to to apply for a spot in Blackwell Academy, a well-to-do private school with a photography class taught by Mark Jefferson.

During the middle of the Summer, she received a letter from Blackwell Academy confirming that she was accepted into the school. Excited, the Caulfield family helped their daughter pack her belongings. They bid her farewell and remained in Seattle, while she returned to Arcadia Bay in September of 2013.

Wanting to settle into her new environment at Blackwell, Max avoided the idea of contacting Chloe at all. She made friends with Warren Graham and Kate Marsh, a quiet religious girl who believed in abstinence. Though was she friendly and got along well with the teachers like Jefferson and Michelle Grant, Blackwell Academy's Principal, Ray Wells, was suspicious of her regardless.

Personality
Max is a shy young woman, preferring to observe people from a distance or through the lens of her camera, as opposed to interacting with them face to face. As a result, she keeps largely to herself and has very few friends outside of Warren and Kate at Blackwell Academy. When she reunites with Chloe, she initially isn't sure they could be considered friends, due to the long absence of contact.

Despite her somewhat timid nature, Max will stand up for herself or others when pushed, though drastic actions have her frequently wonder if she made the right choice. Within the Academy, Max holds a general respect for the people she either observes or decides to interact with, with the exception of Vortex Club members, whom she instinctively dislikes. However, in certain cases, she will correct this instinctive response, as with Dana and Hayden, who treat Max amiably.

While a tad nosy by nature, Max's sleuthing becomes more frequent after she discovers her ability to rewind time, allowing her to dodge potential repercussions of her actions. However, Max does occasionally chastise herself for snooping around in other people's possessions, claiming it's "fascinating, but terribly wrong".

Photography
Max is a practicing photographer. Since childhood, she has practiced to perfect her skills using analog camera equipment, preferring "old school" over the much improved technology of digital cameras. She owned a prized Polaroid camera before it was broken in the altercation with Nathan Prescott. Her teacher, Mark Jefferson, often encourages her to put her skills out to the public, but her lack of confidence in her own photography often prevents her from submitting her photos for critique.

Unique Abilities
Initially unaware, Max learns during the course of the game that she has the ability to travel through time by rewinding it. The event, triggered either by the "nightmare" of the storm she experienced in class, or the death of her friend Chloe, allows Max to manipulates moments in time to work in her favor or in the aid of others if she so chooses.

When witnessing Kate Marsh's suicide, Max's desperation pushes her power to the point that time freezes completely and she can move freely. However, this ability leaves Max drained physically. Additionally, Max can use her ability to manipulate time to travel further into the past to alter the present.