Charlotte
Charlotte (CHARLOTTE) is a witch appearing in Episode 3 of the anime. She has two forms.
The dessert witch, with a tenacious nature. She desires everything. She will never give up. Though she is capable of creating infinite amounts of any dessert she desires, she is unable to make the cheese that she loves most. One could easily catch her off-guard with a piece of cheese. |
See above. |
Minions
The dessert witch's minion. His duty is to search for cheese. However, one shouldn't expect much from him. |
Trivia
- A charlotte is a type of dessert.
- The name Charlotte could also refer to Charlotte Buff, a woman Goethe unrequitedly loved and that deeply influenced him. The central and homonym character from Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther was based on her.
- Runes in Charlotte's card are styled like biscuits.
- On the official website, mousing over Charlotte's card changes the image from the first to the second using JavaScript.
- Although official pronunciations of almost all witches' names are undisclosed, "Charlotte" is pronounced "シャルロッテ" (Sharurotte) like a German name (Shar-lot-teh) according to an official product's document.
- Pyotr is the Russian form of the given name Peter.
- Charlotte makes a brief appearance in Puella Magi Oriko Magica.
Observation
- The head of her first form is shaped like a piece of candy in wrap.
- Watching carefully one can see that when Charlotte's second form gets injured a new Charlotte comes out of the mouth replacing the old as if the layers are being blown away.
- Charlotte reveals witches' kisses differ from witch to witch.
- A line in the design for Charlotte's labyrinth in the Official Guidebook says "It's really a delicious cheese cake. My dying mother wanted to eat it, but maybe I should have cured her disease instead. However, that surely wasn't possible."
- A description in the Production Note reveals that Charlotte obtained "one single cheesecake" in strict accordance with her wish.
Speculation
- Her second form may have been inspired by The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
- Her second form seems to be visually based on - or inspired by japanese modern artist Takashi Murakami's art.
- Charlotte might have been a cancer patient. Patients undergoing chemotherapy are unable to eat certain foods such as cheese. This would explain her hospital-based labyrinth theme and the location of her grief seed. Kyubey is likely to target terminally ill girls.
- In that case, her caterpillar-like second form would represent unlimited reproduction of cancer cells.
- A fan theory about Charlotte's life as a magical girl has a number of similarities to Airi, from Kazumi Magica. Like Airi, she was a hospital patient and she wished to live and enjoy eating, just like Charlotte's obsession with cheese. Plus, both become witches.
- It is possible that she was designed around the theme of bulimia nervosa, which involves restrained food intake, periodic binge-eating, and frequently the purging of consumed foods through vomit. Issues of self-image may be involved.
- Charlotte might have another true body separately and be immortal without its destruction. (See the gallery)
- If the cancer patient theory is true, then there's the possibility that she wished to be able to eat sweets without consequences. This wish would likely cure her. She would then have to live with the fact that she wished for something so selfish, though, and this fact could be why she turned into a witch. If she had wished for something like "I wish cancer didn't exist" she could've saved tons of people. Instead, she merely gets sweets and a remarkable recovery. The reason for her double form would then be because the guilt was eating away at her, and even though she looked like an innocent girl, she felt like she was a selfish monster.
- The Guidebook line on Charlotte indicates that it was Charlotte's mother who was ill. One speculation is that her mother loved food, especially cheese and sweets, and often shared them with Charlotte. When Kyubey approached during an emotional moment, Charlotte wished to share a cake with her mother one last time. After they ate the cake and the mother died, Charlotte realized that she could have wished to cure her mother, and quickly became a witch. Cheese, which Charlotte cannot create in her labyrinth, represents her mother.
- Since the shock of such a realization could darken a soul gem very quickly (much like the speed with which Homura's darkened in Episode 11), this theory allows for the possibility that Kyubey contracted Charlotte while Madoka and Sayaka were visiting the hospital in Episode 3.
- Perhaps Kyubey was hanging around on Madoka's shoulder, telepathically eavesdropping on people in the hospital, and heard Charlotte and her mother. "Charlotte, I wish I could eat cake with you one last time before I die." Kyubey sent one of his other bodies to make a contract. Once the cake was finished and they said their goodbyes, the wording of the wish caused the mother to die on the spot, and then Kyubey wondered out loud why Charlotte didn't wish to cure the disease instead. Instant witch, and he stuck the new grief seed into the wall where Madoka and Sayaka were headed to pressure them into contracting.
- The last two lines from the guidebook seem to imply that Charlotte had actually considered wishing for her mother to be healed, but simply never made said wish on the grounds of "But that wish is impossible, isn't it?" It seems very likely that once QB had actually granted said wish and made her into a magical girl, she saw that impossible things really could happen and was either driven into immediate regret and despair or she slowly broke down and destroyed herself with never ending questions and doubts.
- Since the shock of such a realization could darken a soul gem very quickly (much like the speed with which Homura's darkened in Episode 11), this theory allows for the possibility that Kyubey contracted Charlotte while Madoka and Sayaka were visiting the hospital in Episode 3.
See Also
Gallery
Official Art
- Charlotte's Nurse Familiars.jpg
Sketches for Charlotte's nurse familiars.
- Production note Charlotte 4.jpg
- Production note Charlotte storyboard 1.jpg
- Production note Charlotte storyboard 2.jpg
Charlotte Grief Seed from Puella Magi Madoka Magica Portable
Screenshots
Speculation and Analysis
This sketch from the production notes shows the Walpurgis familiar suspected to be Charlotte with bangs similar to Charlotte's and polka-dotted tights.
Fanart
- Charlotte sick fanart.jpg
Fanart depiction of Charlotte as a hospital patient.
- Charlotte close up smiling avatar fanart.jpg
- Heart-warming.gif
- MadoKami Charlotte final wish cheese.jpg
Happy Ending.
- Mamilotte big love.jpg
Ume Aoki doujin "RKGKMDK"
- A world full of charlottes.jpg
nightmare fuel just before bedtime.
- Charlottewithcake.jpg
Charlotte in human form. She is crying because she wanted cheese and all she got was cake.
- My wish by yunare-d3jv9oy.jpg
- Charlotte as a normal girl.jpg
- Charlotte yellow pancake.png
Mmmm... taste like Mami.
- Charlotte mami execution style.jpg
It was self-defense, your honor.
- Charlotte kyoko not so different after all.jpg
- Charlotte familiars cookies cupcakes sweets.jpg
- Charlotte loves cheese.jpg
- Charlotte pacman game.gif
Charlotte pacman game
- Charlotte wins eat mamicakes.png
Charlotte: 1
Mami: 0 - Charlotte human puella magi wings fanart.jpg
- Hungry hungry charlotte ready to eat fanart.jpg
- Charlotte to eat mami fanart.jpg
- Charlotte like a bossu fanart.png
- Charlotte human form smile fanart.jpg
- Charlotte daily activity fanart.png
Charlotte's daily activities
- Charlotte v sign for cheese fanart.jpg
- Genderbender charlotte magical boy fanart.png
Charlotte as a magical…boy?
- Mami charlotte kill me baby cheese fanart.png
- CHARLOTTE black white fanart work.jpg
- 18471637 p6.jpg
Other
- And-then--black-mr-dob-takashi-murakami.jpg
And Then, And Then, And Then, And Then, And Then (Black Mr. DOB) by Takashi Murakami: This style of "superflat" might have been applied to the design of Charlotte's second form.
Not even Charlotte can defeat Gen Urobuchi.
External links
- Charlotte card at official website (Japanese)
- Pyotr card at official website (Japanese)
- Ask Charlotte! (a fan blog)
- Charlotte pixiv fanart