My internet keeps crashing and rebooting so this is my third time writing this.
Maggy is one of the most interesting characters in the game for me, because she's one of the earliest unlockable characters (she was in the original 2011 version), and also she's one of the ONLY characters arguably seen fronting.
Because The Binding of Isaac has so little narrative, all you can learn about the characters is through their appearance, play style, items, and (if you're lucky) they appear for a hot second in a cutscene or level transition animation. Maggy, I argue, has all of the above, which is rare.
Mom (who shares Maggy's name) is depicted as this huge lumbering terror in a wig and as a boss, she of course comes with a lot of health. As a player character, Maggy is also slow and high on health, and in her Tainted form (implied to be her abused persona), she can attack by charging, or maybe hugging, while continually bleeding out health, and in this form, she's referred to as The Dauntless. This is somewhat similar to Mom's high-contact attack style. However, Maggy's items (both starting and unlockable) are focused on healing and vitality (and cuteness), not violence or suffering. Mom never heals herself; Maggy's gameplay depends on it.
Maggy is also wearing a wig, like Mom. One of the level transition animations shows Isaac putting on a blond wig very similar to her hair and smiling, only for other children to laugh at him; another goes similarly with Isaac wearing a dress. What's more, a blond girl appears in a couple photographs shown briefly in cutscene endings. Since McMillen, the creator, has stated that ALL the playable characters are Isaac, and also that Isaac has no sister, this implies that Maggy was fronting, and that the family was at least somewhat aware of it. Heck, for all we know, Mom was intentionally trying to duplicate herself, get the "pure" daughter/clone she always wanted. (And Maggy is the only blonde; it can't be anyone else.) There's also a red fetus familiar named Sister Maggy in the game, which combined with the Scarred Womb level, implies that maybe Mom miscarried a daughter. If so, maybe Maggy became the replacement.
If Maggy WAS intended to be the good daughter replacement, it failed. The existence of her brutalized Tainted form (with half her wig's hair ripped out) proves that.
So I interpret Maggy to be a senior system member who perhaps started as a Mom clone, only to then become her own person with a focus on trauma absorption, healing, bravery, and her own form of embraced girlhood. She managed to heal and transform herself in a way Mom was never able to, purging her demons like the biblical Magdalene she's named for.
MAGGY OPINIONS!
Maggy is one of the most interesting characters in the game for me, because she's one of the earliest unlockable characters (she was in the original 2011 version), and also she's one of the ONLY characters arguably seen fronting.
Because The Binding of Isaac has so little narrative, all you can learn about the characters is through their appearance, play style, items, and (if you're lucky) they appear for a hot second in a cutscene or level transition animation. Maggy, I argue, has all of the above, which is rare.
Mom (who shares Maggy's name) is depicted as this huge lumbering terror in a wig and as a boss, she of course comes with a lot of health. As a player character, Maggy is also slow and high on health, and in her Tainted form (implied to be her abused persona), she can attack by charging, or maybe hugging, while continually bleeding out health, and in this form, she's referred to as The Dauntless. This is somewhat similar to Mom's high-contact attack style. However, Maggy's items (both starting and unlockable) are focused on healing and vitality (and cuteness), not violence or suffering. Mom never heals herself; Maggy's gameplay depends on it.
Maggy is also wearing a wig, like Mom. One of the level transition animations shows Isaac putting on a blond wig very similar to her hair and smiling, only for other children to laugh at him; another goes similarly with Isaac wearing a dress. What's more, a blond girl appears in a couple photographs shown briefly in cutscene endings. Since McMillen, the creator, has stated that ALL the playable characters are Isaac, and also that Isaac has no sister, this implies that Maggy was fronting, and that the family was at least somewhat aware of it. Heck, for all we know, Mom was intentionally trying to duplicate herself, get the "pure" daughter/clone she always wanted. (And Maggy is the only blonde; it can't be anyone else.) There's also a red fetus familiar named Sister Maggy in the game, which combined with the Scarred Womb level, implies that maybe Mom miscarried a daughter. If so, maybe Maggy became the replacement.
If Maggy WAS intended to be the good daughter replacement, it failed. The existence of her brutalized Tainted form (with half her wig's hair ripped out) proves that.
So I interpret Maggy to be a senior system member who perhaps started as a Mom clone, only to then become her own person with a focus on trauma absorption, healing, bravery, and her own form of embraced girlhood. She managed to heal and transform herself in a way Mom was never able to, purging her demons like the biblical Magdalene she's named for.
She's my favorite playable character.