Mabel Simmons

Mabel Simmons, commonly known as Madea, is a fictional character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry. The character is a towering, massive, and tough elderly woman, who has no qualms with becoming thuggish if to right a perceived wrong. Especially noted for her vindictive nature, Madea is quick to not only stand up for herself but get even as well; in fact, when asked why she felt the need to get somebody all the time, Madea answered: "Well when you gettin' got and somebody done got you and you go get them, when you get em', everybody's gon' get got." To add to this, Madea is overreactive, willing to threaten the use of deadly weapons; destroy property, such as buildings; use physical violence; take on the law; and use any and all means necessary to show up an offending party.

Incorrigible in her overreactive ways, Madea is constantly landing herself in court (usually before Judge Mablean), anger management classes, house arrest, and even prison. Despite the way she goes about it, the character stands for what's right and is used to teach a lesson. In fact, Madea is often seen officiously involving herself in circumstances in which others have been wronged, offering them self-defense advice, instruction, or avenging them on her own. She has a very distinct manner of pronunciation, along with catchphrases, such as "Heller, how ya dern?" or "Halleluyer praise da lort!"

Although Madea is featured as a costarring role in most of Perry's plays and films, including Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea's Family Reunion, Meet the Browns, Madea Goes to Jail, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, and most recently, Madea's Big Happy Family, she is not the protagonist, but the comic relief. Despite this, she is often a title character. The only exception is Madea's Witness Protection in which she is the main character.