Maximilian Alanzo Ernesto Russo is the youngest of the three Russo siblings, he is the naive younger brother, who at the beginning of the series is an underachiever (when it comes to wizard school), being far behind his siblings in his magic lessons (as seen in "Potion Commotion"). Even though his full name, Maximilian, is stated by his grandma, he mentions his name is Maximum in "Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie". In a cut scene from "Helping Hand", it is revealed that Max's middle name is Justin, but they didn't tell him to keep him from getting confused. He also made a sandwich called "To the Max".

In season 4, Max has a greater chance to become the family wizard because he is ahead of both Alex and Justin now, also the fact that he is turned into a little girl named "Maxine" for a short time until the episode Back to Max. He is now the only mortal Russo sibling, having lost the competition, but he is happy with his new life without magic because this means he can now own the sub station.