Binding of Isaac: Rebirth Wiki
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Magdalene, or Maggy, is unlocked when the player obtains seven or more heart containers at once in a run. Magdalene starts with four red heart containers and the Collectible Yum Heart iconYum Heart. (in Afterbirth † and Repentance) If the Aprils Fool challenge is completed, she will also start with a Speed Up pill.

Unlockable items

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Items & Strategy Notes

  • Magdalene's strong point is her vitality. Her naturally high health and her starting item, Yum Heart, allow her to survive more damage than other characters.
  • Magdalene's biggest disadvantage is her low speed, which makes her more vulnerable to threats, especially from fast-moving attacks and homing projectiles. Look to get items which increase speed and avoid those that lower it further.
    • (in Afterbirth † and Repentance) Once the Aprils Fool challenge is completed, this disadvantage is rendered moot as she will start every run with a Speed Up pill.

Favored Items

  • Items that trigger on player damage, such as Collectible Gimpy iconGimpy and Collectible The Virus iconThe Virus, stand to see more action through Magdalene's high health.
  • Sacrificing health with an Collectible IV Bag iconIV Bag can be quite useful if low on money.
  • A single speed boosting item such as Collectible The Belt iconThe Belt will negate Magdalene's speed weakness.
    • (in Afterbirth † and Repentance) If Aprils Fool has been completed, the Speed Up pill that Magdalene starts with will negate the weakness.
  • The AAA BatteryAAA Battery trinket allows the Yum Heart to take only 3 rooms to charge instead of 4.
  • Collectible Guppy's Paw iconGuppy's Paw allows Magdalene to turn her four initial heart containers into twelve Soul Hearts - the maximum number of soul hearts possible.
  • The Collectible Habit iconHabit and Collectible 9 Volt icon9 Volt are blessings to Magdalene's regeneration if she still holds Collectible Yum Heart iconYum Heart, as they allow the item to recharge itself much more quickly.
  • Collectible Leech iconLeech and Collectible Charm of the Vampire iconCharm of the Vampire are also useful for regenerating health upon killing enemies.
  • Collectible Old Bandage iconOld Bandage will have a chance to drop a heart upon being hit, which may come in handy if Magdalene's low on health.
  • Collectible Placenta iconPlacenta's regenerative abilities can further supplement Magdalene's self-healing. The same applies for Collectible Little C.H.A.D. iconLittle C.H.A.D.'s red heart generation and other similar healing items.
  • Collectible The Wafer iconThe Wafer is a godsend (no pun intended) to Magdalene's health-driven play style.
  • Shielding items can be used to compensate for Magdalene's low speed. (Collectible Infamy iconInfamy, Collectible Holy Mantle iconHoly Mantle...)

Disfavored Items

  • Collectible Abaddon iconAbaddon removes all red heart containers, which can turn out to be a disadvantage for Magdalene.
  • Collectible Bucket of Lard iconBucket of Lard's heart container bonus is tempting, though it's better to avoid this item initially as it would render Magdalene's speed very low. Any other speed down items are to be avoided as well (Collectible Taurus iconTaurus may make an exception from its speed increase over time and Collectible My Little Unicorn iconMy Little Unicorn effect if the speed becomes high enough).
  • Collectible Dark Bum iconDark Bum eats red heart pickups, which can dampen Magdalene's regenerative play style. However, used in conjunction with her starting Yum Heart, Dark Bum can be a powerful way to turn otherwise redundant pickups to your advantage.
  • If Collectible Dead Cat iconDead Cat is picked up early, it takes away Magdalene's primary strength (high health) and exacerbates her biggest weakness (low avoidance).

Bugs

Bug Bug! (in Rebirth and Afterbirth) There are some stray pixels on Maggy's "Bad Pill" animation.

Trivia

  • Maggy appeared in the original Binding of Isaac.
    • Maggy's unlock requirements in Rebirth are the same in the original Binding of Isaac.
  • Magdalene is a reference to Mary Magdalene, a follower of Jesus who had seven demons cast out of her body, referenced with the seven heart containers needed to unlock her. She has been canonized as a saint in several Christian denominations, and is believed to have been a prostitute before following Jesus (though this has no textual basis in the Bible, and is considered by scholars to be a baseless myth).
  • In the game files, the image file for Maggie's hair is named maggiesbeautifulgoldenlocks.png.
  • Maggy's hair appears to be identical to the wig that Isaac receives in one of his mid-floor nightmares. It is possible the character of Maggy might be Isaac wearing a wig.
    • The person with gold hair in ending 14 and the Final ending has been confirmed to be Isaac wearing a wig, which furthers this idea.
    • Another piece of evidence is that the three female playable characters all have Isaac's voice.


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