Max Steinmarder is a German Jewish refugee struggling to survive in Nazi Germany. He has typical stone marten coloration (soft brown with darker brown limbs and tail, and a large white patch on the chest/neck/shoulders/jaw), brown eyes, and dark brown hair, which he wears parted on the left. Underneath the layers of worn-out clothing that barely keep him from freezing in winter, he is quite gaunt, due to rarely finding a full meal. He harbors an intense feeling of survivor's guilt because he was the sole member of his family that managed to escape the Nazis on Kristallnacht.

Personality-wise, Max is gentle, softspoken, loves to read, write, and sketch (although he's not a particularly good artist). He's Jewish in terms of heritage and culture, but he and his family were never very religious.