Max Payne (character)

Max Payne is a fictional character who is the titular protagonist of the neo-noir video game series of the same name. Created by and initially modeled after the likeness of Sam Lake, Max was introduced in an eponymous 2001 video game developed by Remedy Entertainment. Max was voiced by actor James McCaffrey in all his appearances, and was modeled after Lake, Timothy Gibbs and McCaffrey in the series' various installments; Mark Wahlberg portrayed Max in the 2008 film adaptation of the series. Inspired by the antiheroes of hardboiled fiction, Max is a weary and cynical ex-NYPD officer who becomes a vigilante and uncovers various criminal conspiracies. In the original Max Payne, Max is an NYPD police detective and an undercover special agent for the DEA. He 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 critics.