Max Payne (character)

Max Payne is a character and the playable protagonist of the neo-noir video game series of the same name. Max was introduced in the 2001 third-person shooter Max Payne, which was written by Sam Lake and developed by Remedy Entertainment. The game's publisher, 3D Realms, intended Max to serve as the "foundation of a new gaming franchise". In the first game, the character was portrayed by Lake, with Timothy Gibbs and James McCaffrey later taking over the role, and was consistently voiced by McCaffrey. Mark Wahlberg portrayed Max in the 2008 film adaptation of the series. The first and third game in the series present the story as retold by Max from his point of view, while the second game alternates between his and that of the femme fatale character Mona Sax.

In the original Max Payne, Max is an NYPD police detective and an undercover special agent for the DEA. Max becomes a vigilante following the murder of his family and, later, the murder of his police partner, for which he was framed. In the second game, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, he returns to the department as a detective and must solve a conspiracy filled with death and betrayal, which has a deep effect on his personal life. At the start of Max Payne 3, which was developed by Rockstar Games, Max finds himself employed as a bodyguard for Rodrigo Branco, a wealthy businessman in São Paulo, Brazil, but is soon drawn into another conspiracy. The character has been well-received by media.