Madison Paige

"We'll be able to forget what happened. We'll lead a normal life, and one day it'll all just seem like a bad dream. We've earned the right to be happy now, Ethan. All three of us."

- Madison to Ethan Mars in the game's best ending

Madison Paige is one of the main protagonists and four playable characters (the other three being Ethan Mars, Norman Jayden, and Scott Shelby) in Heavy Rain. Madison is a young journalist living alone in the city. Suffering from crippling insomnia and nightmares, she often finds herself checking into local motels for the night - the only place she can relax and sleep in. She is also the star of The Taxidermist, the first DLC for Heavy Rain.

Madison's motion capture is provided by the British model Jacqui Ainsley, and her dialogue is done by two different American actresses: Judi Beecher in Heavy Rain and Barbara Scaff in The Taxidermist.

Background
Little is known about Madison's life before the events of the game. In fact, in a developer video that explained some plot holes in the game, it is even admitted by the narrator that Madison is one of the game's most enigmatic characters. It's stated during the game that she was born on May 3, 1984, making her 27 years old during the events of the game which is set in October 2011. She does explain to Ethan, however, that she grew up with several brothers and would always be the one to tend to their injuries whenever they got into trouble. She also states she has had insomnia since she was a little girl in response to an inquiry from Ethan about it after the events of "Fugitive" and possibly "Under Arrest." However, she only gives this statement when choosing "Lie" in response to Ethan's inquiry, which implies her statement is false.

If Madison goes to the warehouse alone in "The Old Warehouse" chapter, she may tell the Origami Killer (whom she knew at the time to have had a troubled past with their parents) that there is nothing harder than not being loved by one's parents, suggesting she may have had a bad relationship with her father or mother.

Events of Heavy Rain
Madison is introduced in the eleventh chapter of the game, "Sleepless Night," the latest of any initial appearance. She wakes up at 2 a.m., tired and suffering from insomnia. She notices a series of strange goings-on in her apartment as if someone is there. Suddenly, a gang of intruders appear and ambush Madison. Madison will always end up being defeated by them, and will "die" - before this is all revealed to be a nightmare.

Madison will then check into the Cross Road Motel in the "First Encounter." She meets Ethan Mars for the first time in this chapter, and tends to his wounds from "The Bear." She later nurses him again after his wounds from "The Butterfly." In "Fugitive," Madison must help Ethan escape from Carter Blake and Norman Jayden; failure to do so will result in Ethan being imprisoned (only to be broken out by Norman later). During these chapters, Madison will learn about the Origami Killer and begins seeing how he has forced Ethan to do a series of trials for his son's sake. She now begins her own investigation into the killer.

In "The Doc," she confronts Adrian Baker, who is the legal owner of the apartment in which "The Lizard" takes place. Unfortunately, Madison will engage in a fight with Baker - in which she can end up killed - if she doesn't find the evidence she is looking for and get out. Whether she fights Baker or not, she will find evidence pointing her in the direction of Paco Mendez at the Blue Lagoon. In "Sexy Girl," Madison will go to Paco's office, and she will have no choice but to do a striptease (removing at least one article of clothing). Madison cannot die in this chapter. She will also appear briefly at the start of Norman's chapter "Fish Tank" if she is alive.

In Ethan's chapter "On the Loose," if she is alive, Madison will come to Ethan's motel room to sit with him and discuss how he did or didn't kill a man to save Shaun Mars. Either way, Ethan will have the choice of kissing Madison. If he doesn't, Ethan will push Madison away, and she promptly leaves. If he does kiss her, then they make love. Ethan wakes up the next morning and finds that Madison has taken photos and started a story about him possibly being the Origami Killer (thus learning she is a journalist). After hearing Madison claim that she was planning to quit after seeing the emotion in the story, Ethan can either reject or forgive her. Either way, Madison leaves the building, and notices Carter Blake and the cops outside. She can either get on her bike and exit or call Ethan from the motel's lobby. Ethan will then proceed to be arrested or escape.

In "Ann Sheppard," Madison goes to visit Ann Sheppard, who is suffering from Alzheimer's. Either way, she will be able to get her to divulge the Origami Killer's identity, Scott Shelby. She will then go over to his apartment in "Killer's Place." She will go into his secret room, and must find out the password to find Shaun. After finding Shaun's address, Scott finds Madison, points a gun at her, and sets the apartment ablaze after driving her back into the room, forcing Madison to find a way out. Staying in the fire too long, or jumping out of the first two windows seen will kill her. The player must jump out of the safety window or hide in the fridge in order to survive. If she finds the address, she will get the ability to inform either Ethan or Norman about it.

What happens in the game's final chapter, "The Old Warehouse," if Madison makes it, depends on whether she arrived alone, with Norman and/or Ethan. Then, Madison will get an ending.

Endings
Madison has 3 epilogues, and also appears in 3 of Ethan's epilogues.


 * Dead Heroine - Madison's grave is shown. If Ethan is alive, then he will be seen mourning near her grave.
 * Heroine - Madison is hailed as a hero for saving Shaun and writes a book detailing the case.
 * Square One - Madison sits in her apartment, tormented by hallucinations as her chronic insomnia has worsened.
 * Ethan's Grave - If Madison survives in "The Old Warehouse," she will be seen mourning near his grave.
 * A New Life - Ethan, Madison and Shaun all walk into their new condominium. Madison tells Ethan that the three of them have earned the right to be happy and that together they will try to forget the horrible things that happened to them, as if they were only a bad dream. She then watches Ethan play with Shaun. It is implied that Ethan and Madison are dating or married.
 * Tears in the Rain - Ethan and Madison stand near Shaun's grave, depressed. She begs Ethan to rebuild his life with her, claiming that they could go to a place where it never rains, and that she would like him to give her a child. After asking her to give him a few more minutes to say goodbye to his son, Madison walks away to wait for him in the car, and Ethan shoots himself. The camera zooms out as she cries helplessly over his body.

Chapter Appearances

 * Sleepless Night (killed in dream)
 * First Encounter
 * The Nurse
 * Fugitive
 * The Doc (can be killed)
 * Sexy Girl
 * Fish Tank (non-playable)
 * On the Loose
 * Ann Sheppard
 * Killer's Place (can be killed)
 * The Old Warehouse (can be killed)
 * Epilogue - Dead Heroine (dead)
 * Epilogue - Heroine
 * Epilogue - Square One
 * Epilogue - Ethan's Grave (if Madison survives in "The Old Warehouse")
 * Epilogue - A New Life
 * Epilogue - Tears in the Rain
 * The Taxidermist (can be killed)

People Killed

 * Leland White (if she grabs the chainsaw in the garage)
 * Adrian Baker (if he knocked her out and she escapes in time to fight him off)
 * Scott Shelby (if she arrives at the warehouse alone and wins the fight against him)

Possible Deaths

 * Sleepless Night - The intruders will either stab her or slit her throat in the bathroom. The deaths are just a nightmare and do not affect Madison's fate.
 * The Doc - If she fails to escape after being captured or fails QTEs, Baker will kill her with a circular saw, bandsaw, or drill.
 * Killer's Place - If she takes too long to escape from the apartment, she will die of smoke inhalation. If she walks into the fire and fails to extinguish herself, she will burn alive. If she decides to jump out any window other than the one in the kitchen, she will fall to her death. If she fails to take cover or escape before the apartment explodes, she will be killed by the blast.
 * The Old Warehouse (if Madison goes alone or with no more than one of the other two playable characters) - If she fails QTEs, she will be strangled to death by the Origami Killer near the drywell, shot dead in the container shipping yard, thrown off the ladder while climbing the crane, impaled with a metal pole in the cabin or on the arm of the crane, or choked to death and thrown off the arm of the crane.
 * The Taxidermist - If she fails two QTEs, Leland will either stab her anywhere in his house or bludgeon her with a hook inside the workshop. Given that these events take place before the events of Heavy Rain, these deaths are not considered to be canonical.

Trivia

 * Madison's first name is derived from Matthew, meaning "gift of God;" or from Matilda, meaning "strong fighter."
 * Madison's zodiac sign is Taurus.
 * Madison is the only playable female character.
 * Madison is similar to Carla Valenti from Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit: they both are the female protagonists of the story and both are investigating the main protagonist's criminal events.
 * When Madison checks into the Cross Road Motel in "First Encounter," the receptionist states that her age is 27. It's confirmed during the scene at the Blue Lagoon with Norman Jayden discovering her prints on the crime scene with her biography indicating that she was born in 1984. However, if Madison dies at any time during the course of the game, the gravestone in the ending "Dead Heroine" states that she was born in 1981, making her 30 years old in 2011 (the year the game takes place).
 * The game manual on the PS4 version of Heavy Rain erroneously states Madison is 28 years old.
 * There are three points during the game which display Madison with some degree of nudity: a shower scene in her apartment, a stripping scene at the Blue Lagoon, and a potential sex scene with Ethan Mars. Only her breasts and buttocks are shown. There is also a glitch where she, occasionally, will accidentally load her naked model.
 * Barbara Scaff, who voices Madison Paige in The Taxidermist DLC, also voiced Carla Valenti and Tiffany Harper in Indigo Prophecy, David Cage's previous game.
 * Despite mentioning that she's both a journalist and a photographer, Madison never uses the term "photojournalist."
 * Madison Paige is 5' 9" (1.75 m) and weighs 125 lbs (57 kg).
 * The Taxidermist is the only episode of Heavy Rain Chronicles to be released; it has since been discontinued. Some of the episodes were meant to explain how Madison got her insomnia.
 * It is revealed in Heavy Rain: Cutting Room Floor that in the early stages of Heavy Rain, Madison was intended to have been a reporter during the Iraq War, and the horrors she experienced apparently caused her insomnia. The canonicity of this part of her storyline is debatable, since it was removed from the game during development and isn't mentioned elsewhere.
 * The cause of her insomnia is most likely the events of The Taxidermist. Evidence that supports this theory is the fact that the intruders in "Sleepless Night" and Leland White in The Taxidermist use an identical knife.
 * Madison apparently works for The American Tribune.
 * In "Fish Tank," her info in ARI's database states that she was born in Columbus, Ohio, and her parents' names are Robert and Linda Paige.
 * One of her best sources and friends is Sam, an informant heard from multiple times in both the game and DLC, though he never appears on screen.
 * Out of the four main characters, Madison has the highest number of deaths. She can die in "Sleepless Night" (which is not real and occurs no matter what), "The Doc," "Killer's Place," "The Old Warehouse," and The Taxidermist.
 * Madison is the first main character who can be killed, and also the only one who cannot die in any of the epilogues in which she appears.
 * Madison is the only playable character who cannot possibly die in the scenario where all characters make it to the warehouse, possibly due to the fact that she is the last to arrive there.
 * Madison can choose to jump out a window of the Origami Killer's burning apartment even after observing that the fall will kill her. This makes her the only playable character who can intentionally take her own life when being controlled by the player. (There are other ways for her to die in the apartment, but none of them are triggered by pressing a button after she explicitly tells the player that they will be fatal.)
 * Madison is playable in every chapter she appears in except "Fish Tank."
 * Madison is one of two characters (the other being Ethan) to be playable in another character's chapter. She is partially playable in one of Ethan's chapters ("On the Loose").
 * In the ending "Heroine," the subtitles incorrectly state that her name is "Madison Page" when Glenn Sanders states her name.
 * She is the only main character to not appear in the first ten chapters of the game.
 * Madison has the third greatest number of fight scenes of the four main characters (the second being Norman). She fights the intruders, The Doc, Paco Mendez, Scott Shelby (optional), Carter Blake, and Leland White.
 * In "The Old Warehouse," Madison is the only one of the four main characters not to bring a gun.
 * When Ann Sheppard reveals the identity of the Origami Killer to Madison, Madison reacts with shock, as if she knows the killer, although she doesn't meet him in the game until the chapter "Killer's Place." However, it is possible that they met each other at some point before the game begins - an encounter that might have been detailed in an unreleased chapter of the Heavy Rain Chronicles.
 * Madison is playable in 10 chapters, the fewest of the four protagonists of Heavy Rain (compared with 20 for Ethan, 16 for Scott, and 13 for Norman). She is, however, the only protagonist to be playable in the DLC.
 * Seven of the game's trophies are related to her chapters.
 * Three of the epilogues are based around her. She also appears in three of Ethan's epilogues.
 * If you count her appearance in Ethan's epilogues, she appears in the second most epilogues with 6 (behind Ethan with 7 epilogues).
 * Madison and Lauren Winter are the only female characters in Heavy Rain who can kill someone (mainly Scott Shelby).
 * If Madison survives in "Killer's Place," once in the street, Madison can either call Ethan or Norman or choose to go the warehouse alone. It is unknown how Madison has Norman's number in her cellphone, as she never meets Norman face-to-face or talks with him (though they both appear in the chapters "Fugitive" and "Fish Tank"). The only time they can meet in person is in "The Old Warehouse," if Ethan doesn't make it. However, since he identifies her as a witness to the death of Paco, it may be possible that Norman contacted her offscreen. It is also possible that Norman publicly gave out his number so that anyone with information about the murders could contact him.
 * She is the only playable character who at first isn't involved with the Origami Killer case. Ethan Mars is the father of the Origami Killer's latest potential victim, Norman Jayden is called specifically to deal with the Origami Killer cases, and Scott Shelby is the Origami Killer himself.
 * She is implied to be either an atheist or agnostic, or at least was during the events of The Taxidermist, as one of her thoughts is "If I believed in God, this would be a time to start praying." Interestingly, this might be a reference to the player, as the player is responsible for the outcome of this DLC.
 * Madison is the only main character who is not playable for more than one chapter at a time, unless she survives in "Killer's Place" and makes it to "The Old Warehouse."
 * Madison owns a Beretta 3032 Tomcat, which she keeps in her purse.
 * Madison is the only playable character who doesn't own a car. Instead, she owns a Confederate Hellcat F-Series that she rides throughout Heavy Rain and The Taxidermist.
 * Madison is the only one of the four main characters who at no point in the game will have a scene where they are trapped in a car that is about to be destroyed.
 * Images of an early model showed Madison with long blonde hair, tied back into a ponytail, not dissimilar to Jacqui Ainsley's real life hairstyle. Her hair was eventually changed to the shorter brown hair look. In some of the concept art for The Taxidermist, she is shown with shoulder-length brown hair.
 * While in Debug Mode and using the free camera option, it is possible to see that the character model used for Madison's loading screen is the same one used during the book signing in the "Heroine" ending.
 * Madison is the last of the four main characters to begin their "search" for the Origami Killer and/or Shaun.
 * Throughout the story, Madison confronts three serial killers (Scott Shelby, Leland White, and Adrian Baker) and meets a potential fourth one in one of her endings. This number is the most out of the four characters.
 * She is apparently extremely attractive, as multiple characters throughout the game can often be seen leering at her body (usually, but not always, her rear) when they think she's not aware, much to her dismay. Some even go as far as to sexually assault her.
 * While it is never actually stated, it's implied throughout the game that Madison may suffer from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder (possibly as a result of The Taxidermist), as shown with her nightmares about strange people breaking into her apartment and trying to attack her. In "Square One," her condition is shown to have worsened to the point where she has started to see dozens of assailants roaming her apartment while she is still awake.

Quotes

 * "I suppose I like to play the guardian angel."
 * (To Paco Mendez.) "See you next time, lover boy."
 * "You're not the Origami Killer, Ethan. I can prove it."
 * (Attempting to reason with Ethan after he discovers her notes on him and the case.) "It's true. I'm a journalist.....And I knew you were the father of the boy who had disappeared, and....and I wanted to cover the story. But then I saw what you were going through to save your son, and.....and I understood how much you love him. I wanted to tell you the truth, but I couldn't. I was afraid that you....that you may not believe me....I was afraid that you'd ask me to go. All I want is for you to find your son alive. And when it's all over, I want to be with you."
 * "Take care, Ethan. I can't lose you now."
 * (To Scott in "Killer's Place.") "There's still one child left. There might still be time to save him. Let him go! Do what your father couldn't do."
 * (To Norman Jayden, if she chooses to call him in "Killer's Place.") "Madison Paige. You don't know me, I'm a journalist."
 * "Time to play the sexy girl..."
 * "Mars didn't do it, for christsakes! He's innocent!"

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