Kyubey
| Kyubey | |
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| Japanese Name | キュゥべえ (Kyūbē) |
| Voiced by | Japanese: Emiri Katou English: Cassandra Lee Italian: Loretta di Pisa Spanish: Inmaculada Villalonga (Anime) / Marta Barbará (Rebellion) Cantonese: Wong Wai Zu French: Pascale Chemin Russian: Anna Mosolova (Magia Record) Mexican Spanish: Susana Moreno (Magia Record) Brazilian Portuguese: Bianca Lua (Magia Record) |
"I want you to make contracts with me and become magical girls!" - Kyubey, Episode 1.
Kyubey (キュゥべえ Kyūbē) is a "messenger of magic" (魔法の使者 mahō no shisha) who grants the wishes of young girls, but in exchange contracts their services as magical girls. Girls who form a contract with him are tasked to defeat witches — bizarre entities that feed upon the hopes and dreams of normal people. Kyubey features prominently as a character within the entire Puella Magi series.
Appearance
Kyubey is a small cat-like creature about two feet long (including tail). His entire body is covered in often clean, white fur. He has what appear to be four ears; two that resemble an average cat, pointed and up, while the other two appear as long tassel-like appendages that split into three sections at their tip. The tassels fade from white to pink and have three red dots horizontally before the splits. they also bear a pair of floating golden rings.
Kyubey's face is his most well known feature; two beady pink and eyes with dark maroon irises and a tiny, omega-shaped "cat mouth". Due to Kyubey's method of telepathic communication, his face remains almost completely unmoving except for blinking and consuming food. This unmoving face is often a source of fan stigma involving Kyubey "staring into one's soul".
On his back is an egg-shaped red oval. In episode 6, this oval flips up, like a trapdoor to act as a receptacle for grief seed fragments.
In the anime, Kyubey has not been evidenced to bleed, however, when injured, he has red matter underneath his fur. When he is shot by Homura several times, Kyubey's body does not seem to contain organs, only solid red. Whether this is artistic censorship or an actual attribute of Kyubey's anatomy is yet unknown.
In the anime, Kyubey's body often makes noises like a plush toy when squeezed or pressed against, suggesting that he is soft and cuddly, at least physically.
In Oriko Magica, Kyubey takes on even more of a "plush toy" appearance than before. Now, his sharp tipped tassel ears are soft and curved, lacking the pink gradient and red spots. His magical hoops have moved further up his ears and his front legs appear to have shortened.
Personality
Kyubey is an alien known as an "incubator". Because of this, he, like his race, cannot exhibit emotions of any kind. As a result, Kyubey often appears cold, calculating and scheming; traits that make him appear villainous in the series. Kyubey, however, only seeks to achieve a goal; to preserve the universe from entropy. To meet this goal, he takes all means logically efficient and reasonable; namely creating Magical Girls. Initially, Kyubey appears enthusiastic to help the Magical Girls in their quest, offering advice where applicable, however, as more of his true motive is revealed, either by him or others, Kyubey becomes progressively more passive and observatory in manner (although this could be because he has no advice left to offer).
Kyubey uses certain speech patterns that indicate he may see himself as superior to the magical girls; the lack of honorifics, the use of the pronouns "Boku" (僕) and "Kimi" (君) and the misuse or overall lack of polite verbs suggests that he is either rude or very casual towards the girls. However, due to his emotionless nature, and the fact that he is an alien, Kyubey may simply not understand the need to be polite, as opposed to being direct.
Throughout the series, Kyubey is often accused of trickery and deceit by turning girls into Magical Girls, and subsequently witches, treating humans as energy livestock under the guise of being a miracle granter. Although this can easily be understood, Kyubey states that he never intended to "trick" Magical Girls, but simply leave out traumatizing subtext in order to make the process more appealing to a potential Magical Girls.
Description
| Warning, this section contains spoilers about the anime. |
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Kyubey is an Incubator, a member of an alien race dedicated to counteracting the effects of (and possibly negating) entropy: the principle that energy output is always less than energy input, a fact that is presently causing the universe to slowly die out. In order to achieve this, Kyubey collects raw energy from a source that seems to be excepted from entropy: the emotions of girls in their second growth stage (14-18). To harvest this energy, Kyubey forms contracts with teenage girls, trading one wish for their servitude as a Puella Magi, magical girls who use their powers to defeat the evil witches, who then drop grief seeds. The energy produced during this process is then harvested by Kyubey through unknown means. Kyubey does not reveal, however, that Puella Magi turn into witches after falling into despair, which are then fought by other Puella Magi, creating an endless cycle. Because of this, Kyubey is often seen as the true antagonist of the series, despite the fact that his justification is that he is saving countless other sectors of the universe in doing so. Kyubey's goal during the course of Madoka Magica is to turn Madoka into an incredibly powerful Puella Magi, who will then destroy Walpurgis Night and become the most powerful witch, Kriemhild Gretchen, a process which apparently produces obscene amounts of energy, at the expense of the human race (as there would be no Puella Magi able to defeat the most powerful witch). |
Story
In Wraith Arc
"There are times when humans become attached to dreams. Until now, civilization has been build in order to repeat those desires. But, longing too much for ungranted wishes hinders the consciousness and leads humans towards ruin." - Kyubey, Wraith Arc, Ch. 7
- Kyubey first appears in Chapter 1, watching Kyoko and Sayaka quarrel and talking with Mami about the giant wraith that looms over the city. He worries about their lack of teamwork.
- In Chapter 2, Kyubey tells Sayaka of a wraith that is currently hunting down Hitomi. Later he appears again after Kyoko and Sayaka's second fight to warn them that Mami is in danger as it seems the giant wraith has taken advantage of their absence in order to target Mami.
- In Chapter 3, he tells Homura to pace herself better in her relentless battle against the wraiths. They discuss the law of cycles and Kyubey's doubts on the veracity of Homura's tale of the previous universe.
- In Chapter 4, Kyubey continues their discussion on the nature of Homura's new magical ability of memory manipulation, stating her time-manipulation magic would be very useful and voicing a curiosity at seeing this time of ability. Later, he is seen riding on Homura's shoulders as they search the city for the whereabouts of the giant wraith.
- In Chapter 6, Kyubey examines the mutant wraith posing as Madoka, noting Homura's magic and a large amount of curses emanating from within the wraith. Later, Homura talks with Kyubey and asks him what she wished for in this world in order to become a magical girl, but Kyubey doesn't know the answer.
- In Chapter 7, Kyubey is seen in flashback granting Homura's original wish to go back in time in order to protect Madoka. At Homura's apartment, Kyubey comes to see what has become of Homura now that she has let all her emotions be consumed by a wraith in order to avoid meeting the Law of Cycles.
- In Chapter 9, Kyubey appears it the final pages as Homura discusses with him the previous universe despite Kyubey not believing what she is telling him. As Homura drops to the streets below to battle the wraiths, Kyubey takes out the piece of Homura's time shield he salvaged in the previous timeline, allowing him to keep his memories of all the events of Wraith Arc and giving him the proof he needed of the existence of Madoka.
In The Rebellion Story
Kyubey spends the majority of the movie playing as the cute mascot he appears to be, complete with only responding with the word "Kyu" whenever anyone interacts with him.
| Warning, this section contains spoilers about the movie. |
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By the end of the film, as Homura is transforming into a witch, Kyubey drops his charade and reveals this world to be a witch's barrier that was created inside of Homura's soul gem as a way to lure the Law of Cycles in. This way the Incubators will be able to observe her and ultimately control her, bringing back the old witch system rather than relying on grief cubes to harvest their emotional energy. He is unable to convince Madoka to exhibit her ultimate powers and Homulilly is defeated. After Homura resets the universe, Kyubey and the other Incubators are forced to shoulder the burden of the world's curses. |
In Kazumi Magica
"We Incubators don't have individual consciousnesses. We belong to a single consciousness." - Kyubey, Kazumi Magica, Ch. 21.
Kyubey appears in Chapters 2, 4, 5, 14, 20 and 21 of Kazumi Magica.
- In Chapter 2 Kyubey appears as a silhouette along with Madoka as Kaoru explains magic to Kazumi.
- In Chapter 4 Kyubey is seen at the very beginning of the chapter, sitting next to Jubey as they watch the Pleiades Saints. He cryptically asks if things will go better "this time".
- In Chapter 5 Kyubey's role is expanded. He appears briefly when Yuuri becomes a witch, similar to the end of Episode 8. He then further appears in the extended flashback of Yuuri's and Airi's backstory. First he contracts with Yuuri, and then after Yuuri becomes a witch and is killed by the Pleiades he explains exactly what happened to Airi, culminating in her contracting with him. When she contracts, he tells her that "Your wish has surpassed entropy." Kyubey also tells Airi about the Pleaides Saints when she asks who killed Yuuri. During the entire chapter, Kyubey either appears as a shadow or in the shadows. It's quite clear that he is manipulating Airi, and that he is ultimately responsible for almost all of the subsequent events in the series beyond simply contracting magical girls to become witches.
- In Chapter 14, Kyubey's face is seen as Satomi realizes the truth of where witches come from after watching Michiru become one. He is also seen watching from above (like Niko and Jubey, who can be seen a few panels before) while Satomi reveals the truth of the clones to Kazumi and forces them to fight one another.
- In Chapter 20, Kyubey appears in person when Umika and Kaoru call for him, having recovered their memories of Incubators, which were suppressed by a spell cast by Umika.
- In Chapter 21, Kyubey reveals that Incubators don't have individual consciousnesses. They are like a network terminal connected to one single consciousness.
- Strangely, Kyubey "wanted" to talk to Juubey, it wanted to talk to another of his kind, even if it was man-made.
- It's implied that in all of the flashbacks from previous chapters, any appearances by Juubey were actually of Kyubey. This suggests that Kyubey was manipulating Airi and Kanna in order to make them go after the Pleiades Saints.
In Oriko Magica
"What a shame, huh?"
--"Incubator...!!"
"Well, I found her. I found Madoka Kaname." - Kyubey, Oriko and Homura. Puella Magi Oriko Magica, Chapter 6.
- In Chapter 1, Kyubey contracts with Oriko, who tells him of Yuma, another Puella Magi candidate he should try contracting. He later tries to convince Yuma to contract with him, but is stopped by Kyoko. Kyoko then learns from him about the recent murders of Puella Magi. When he appears again, speaking with Oriko, he claims that human emotions are unfathomable to him. Oriko replies that he should learn to appreciate them, as they give him what he desires.
- In Chapter 2, he successfully contracts with Yuma after Kyoko is attacked by a witch.
- In Chapter 3, he tells Mami about the recent murders of Puella Magi. He says that the most recent victim told him the murderer was a "black Puella Magi," and not a witch.
- In Chapter 5, Kyubey discusses the identity of the black magical girl with Mami, and told her he never mentioned Kirika because he had no proof it was her. He discovers Oriko's plot to kill Madoka before she can contract and eventually become a witch, and tries to stop her.
- In Chapter 6, he sends Kyoko and Yuma to help Mami defeat the witch that has put a barrier around Mitakihara Junior High, as well as stop Oriko, who has gone out of control. Despite both Homura and Oriko's attempts to hide Madoka from him, he finds her inside the barrier.
- In Chapter 7, Oriko uses the last of her life to shoot a piece of Kirika's witch body through him and Madoka, who was hidden behind him, through a wall. She kills the girl before she can contract, foiling both Homura and Kyubey's plans.
Kyubey also appears in Noisy Citrine, the prequel manga that focuses on Kirika Kure.
Additionally, Kyubey exhibits a power he hasn't shown before Oriko Magica: levitation. He is rarely seen standing on anything in the manga, usually preferring to float in mid-air.
In Suzune Magica
"...But apart from the use we've found for them, emotions are nothing but illogical, needless impulses that you ought to expunge from yourselves. " - Kyubey, Suzune Magica Ch. 8
- Kyubey first appears at the end of Chapter 2, telling the Hohzuki magical girls about Suzune assassinating magical girls.
- In Chapter 3, Kyubey is shown in a flashback forming a contract with Arisa.
- In Chapter 5, Kyubey is shown in a flashback forming a contract with Haruka.
- In Chapter 6, Kyubey appears at the end of the chapter to confirm Suzune's claims.
- In Chapter 7, Kyubey informs the girls that he is the one who proposed the magical girl system in the first place. He explains entropy and the reason he withheld information from the girls. After Suzune leaves, he shows the girls a vision of Suzune's past and her reason for assassinating magical girls as well as his role in forming a contract with Suzune.
- In Chapter 8, Kyubey's head is crushed by Arisa after explaining it was more efficient to let Suzune murder magical girls rather than stop her. At the end of the chapter, he has a short discussion with Suzune on how illogical and useless emotions are.
- In Chapter 9, Kyubey is seen at the end of the chapter urging Kagari to action.
- In Chapter 11, Kyubey is seen at the end of the chapter asking Kagari what her next action will be.
- In Chapter 12, Kyubey is shown in a flashback, forming a contract with Matsuri and offering the same to Kagari. He is walking around the city with the girls as they search for Tsubaki.
- In Chapter 13, Kyubey is shown in flashback eating what appears to be a previous body of his as he explains to Kagari the manner in which magical girls turn into witches. Afterwards, Kagari makes a contract with Kyubey in order to exact revenge on Suzune. Kyubey is willing to go along with her plan so long as the energy that is lost from the murdered magical girls is less than the energy he'll collect from Kagari, Matsuri and Suzune.
- In Chapter 15, Kyubey appears to assist Matsuri in combat against Kagari. He explains Kagari's abilities to her and helps her by reminding her of her ability to track people.
- In Chapter 16, Kyubey appears to inform Suzune that even should she use her last grief seed to save Matsuri, Matsuri may turn into a witch from the sheer grief of losing Kagari and Suzune. At the end of the chapter, Kyubey is seen talking to Matsuri and lamenting the amount of energy he would have gathered from her.
In Tart Magica
"I must admit, you aren't the first to have called me an angel. Are there that many outward similarities between what you call "angels" and myself?" - Kyubey, Tart Magica, Ch. 2.
Kyubey appears in Tart Magica, calling himself "Cube" (キューブ Kyūbu) and often times (an) Angel by Tart.
- He first appears in Chapter 2 alongside Riz Hawkwood when she saved Tart and her sister Catherine from a witch.
- Because the rings that float around his tassels resemble angel halos, Tart believes him to be an angel and refers to him as such. Kyubey notes that Tart isn't the first to have called him one and wonders if there are that many similarities between himself and angels. He also states that he doesn't mind being called an angel by Tart.
- Kyubey and Riz reveal to Tart that they have been searching for her. Upon asking for her name, she introduces herself as Jeanette and Kyubey asks her to write it to see how it's spelled (where she spells her full name as "Jeanne Tart"). Kyubey likes the sound of Tart better than Jeanne (as it is a common name) and begins referring to her as Tart.
- Riz and Tart travel to meet the King, encountering Melissa in the process. Melissa can see Cube, but Tart says she doesn't want Melissa to contract.
- Tart and La Hire are gravely wounded by an attack from Flèche, causing Melissa to make a wish to save their lives.
- It is revealed that Cube made a wish with Isabeau to have everything that you (Cube) possesses, like his immortality and ability to grant wishes.
In Magia Record
"Mokyu!" - Small Kyubey
Kyubey initially appears as a small Kyubey that Iroha is tracking in Kamihama City. It isn't until after she is able to capture it that she suddenly recalls all memories of her missing sister Ui. Thereafter, the name of the creature is whatever the player inputs as their player name and serves as a proxy for the player. It often stands in when Iroha is thinking or talking to herself and will present her with two or three different dialogue options presented as some variation of "Mokyu" with the actual dialogue in parenthesis underneath. The dialogue choice often has no bearing on the story outside of branching events. The small Kyubey itself doesn't speak outside of saying "Mokyu", unlike the regular version of Kyubey.
Iroha also attempted to make Touka and Nemu remember her sister Ui by having them hug the small Kyubey, but they knocked it away before it could make contact.
In Chapter 10 it was revealed that Ui, Touka, and Nemu all contracted in order to save Iroha from the fate of turning into a witch. They each took Kyubey's ability to absorb, convert and create energy. As soon as the contract was made, Kyubey's hoops fell off and he regressed into the small Kyubey of the present day.
Kyubey himself initially only appeared in events or side stories, often in the past, and is presented as being unable to enter Kamihama City due to the doppel barrier. Beginning in Arc 2, Touka Satomi was able to make contact with Kyubey via a sophisticated machine that allowed her to view and speak with Kyubey on a screen.
A pink Kyubey also appears in the event Kamihama Cheese Panic!. It seems to be an envoy of the Law of Cycles and accompanies Nagisa to Kamihama city. It doesn't speak and has a pink color scheme with white ear tips. Nagisa is shown blowing it up in front of the other magical girls.
The small Kyubey in the Magia Record manga
Pink Kyubey
In Null Magical Girl
In Null Magical Girl, Kyubey acts as a messenger and guide for Kosane during her journey of finding out the truth of magical girls. He reveals to Kosane that she has no soul and also lacks a brain. Throughout the story, Kyubey lives inside Kosane's empty head and is shown to have the ability to alter her cells. Using this alteration, he has giving Kosane the ability of flight and has also made it so Kosane can no longer perceive emotion.
As the two travel on the Time and Space Railway, the two of them are attacked by five Homo magica. Kosane blacks out and, when she awakens, she finds herself and Kyubey in a plane full of Homo magica. Kyubey doesn't sense any Incubators, and assumes that they had all gone extinct due to attacks from the Homo magica.
He uses his future sight as the planet Terminus, where Kosane was hiding, is destroyed in order to find the best path for her to escape alive.
Powers
Kyubey has a wide variety of magical abilities which he uses in his mission to counteract entropy. They are listed below
- Telepathic Communication: Kyubey communicates with potential and contracted Magical Girls through telepathy, as opposed to verbally. He is able to use himself as a medium through which non-contracted girls can communicate to each other or contracted Magical Girls.
- Vision Sharing: Kyubey can share visions of sights and sounds with potential and contracted Magical Girls.
- Elective Invisibility: Kyubey is invisible to everyone except for Magical Girls and girls with sufficient magical potential. Normal humans do not notice his presence at all, just as he does not seem able to communicate with them.
- Teleportation: Kyubey has been evidenced to cross long distances in impossibly short time spans, the method for which is yet unknown, but can be assumed to be teleportation. In episode 10, he also fades into reality above Homura, which may be the visible manifestation of him teleporting.
- Wish Granting: Kyubey can grant wishes to those with magical potential, no matter how wild and unrealistic they may be. However, this process is limited by the karmic potential of a contractee, and insufficient karmic power may result in negative or unintended side-effects, such as lack of power control or a wish that cannot be properly or completely executed. Kyubey himself has no control over how a wish is interpreted, and seems to be unable to refuse or revoke a wish once a proper one has been made. However, there have been shown to be some exceptions to what he can grant, unlimited by a girl's karmic potential, such as if a wish is for something that he does not understand (for example, wishing to visit a fictional location he isn't familiar with).
- Soul Gem Creation: Kyubey is capable of creating a small egg-shaped gemstone called a soul gem for each Magical Girl. He does this by pulling the contractee's soul out of their body and forming it into their soul gem. As such, this results in temporary pain on the contractee while the contract is made. This makes the newly formed Magical Girl capable of transforming and using magic, as well as increased agility, strength and pain threshold, at the expense of the soul being separate from the body and thus controlling it externally, akin to a puppet.
- Soul Gem Stimulation: As referenced in episode 7, Kyubey can create impulses of certain feelings on a soul gem simply by touching it. In Sayaka's case, he emulates a pike (probably mimicking Kyoko's) impaling Sayaka's stomach.
- Energy Conversion/Collection: Kyubey is able to collect emotional energy from witch transformations, and Doppel emergences. As explained in Magia Record, Kyubey does not need to be in proximity to a witch formation or the summoning of a Doppel to obtain its energy, as he collects it even while he cannot enter Kamihama City. This implies that the collection of this emotional energy is an inherent part of either process that he merely facilitates, or that this energy is naturally released into the universe when it is created. In Wraith timelines, he collects it by magical girls dropping grief cubes into a hatch-like "mouth" on his red oval on his back. How he is able to transport this energy also remains a mystery.
- Grief Seed Consumption: Said to be one of Kyubey's "many duties", he can open a hole in the teardrop-like marking on his back to consume grief seeds. This permanently destroys the grief seed, preventing the witch within it from regenerating when it accumulates enough taint from a soul gem it purifies. It is unclear if he only does this to prevent witches from reappearing, and thus keeping their population manageable, or if it is part of his process of collecting emotional energy, given he already collects it when soul gems become grief seeds.
- Replication: Kyubeys, or Incubators, are an artificially-created hive-mind/collective that span the universe, looking for people to turn into Magical Girls so as to collect emotional energy and combat entropy. Multiple individuals of his kind, referred to as "terminals", exist simultaneously, and can act, think, and talk independently of each other, but they all retain the same knowledge and memories. Typically, only one Kyubey terminal is primarily active in a given territory at any time, though several are either kept in reserve nearby or are somehow instantly deployed to replace one another if they are killed by some means. So as to save energy, they will consume the remains of their fallen selves when possible.
- Isolation Field: Kyubey's able to create an isolation field similar to a barrier, but only chooses to do so in extreme circumstances, usually to uphold, or sometimes restore the magical girl system. The isolation field can work as a method to trap others, such as when he reclaimed the Doppel System, and to isolate them from outside presences. This was also done with Homura's soul gem, which resulted in it not turning into a grief seed, breaking, or being taken by the Law of Cycles, instead creating a labyrinth within the gem. He was even able to make adjustments to let the victims which Homura invited to be absorbed in the world inside her soul gem, while not letting them leave.
- Cell Alteration: Kyubey can alter the bodies, including the brains, of beings who have incubator cells within them and make it possible for them to do things they otherwise couldn't.
- Observation and Calculations: Kyubey can keep track and measure many criteria through his observations, and can thus make attempts to follow the alternative that benefits him the most, or directly manipulate the situation. In Kyubey's own words: "If we can observe it, then we can interfere with it. And if we can interfere with it, we can control it." Because this is merely a calculation, it is not a true "sight into the future", as he's merely calculating statistics which he can keep track of. This can apply to many things, such as calculating time, speed, momentum, etc.
Observations
- Kyubey's speech patterns may have been used to give a "foreign" touch to Kyubey's speech, as this pattern emulates the typical way of speaking in other languages, such as English.
- It can also be interpreted as Kyubey treating personal names just as tags for identifying individuals, similar to a social security number.
- Boku is also used by girls, but this is uncommon in real life. In manga, anime and alike, this is often employed for girls exhibiting "boyish" personality traits. Such girls are called boku-kko (僕っ子) a western equivalent is a "tomboy".
- He will often flick his ears or roll around when teasing or being interested.
- In Madoka's new universe, he seems to have lost most of his knowledge and is very interested in what Homura is actually saying.
- It would seem that Kyubey never lies but instead holds back important information, often under the pretense of no-one asking him. An example for this is episode 9: when Kyoko asks him if Sayaka can be saved, he only says that nobody ever tried to turn a witch back into a human being (which could in fact be true), rather than saying that it's indeed possible (which would be a lie, as he reveals to Homura at the end of the episode). However, Kyubey also tells Madoka that he is incapable of manipulating humans, which contradicts the reason why he allowed Kyoko to chase after Sayaka in the first place: he wanted her to be killed so that only Homura would be left to battle the powerful Walpurgis, thus forcing Madoka to become a magical girl. This is clearly an attempt to manipulate Madoka's actions, making his earlier statement to her a lie.
- Apparently Kyubey selects the right moment and the right time to appear to grant wishes to his victims, and he seems to await for the conditions to be perfect to secure a good level of energy. At first glance he gives the impression that he is coming to rescue his victims by allowing them a wish during their weakest moment. He probably can sense a great moment of despair and he awaits for the girls' state of mind to be in turmoil and ready to ask for a (selfish) wish. It is speculated that he does this to guarantee that their wishes will be selfish in nature so it would fail to meet their expectations. In doing so Kyubey secures a great amount of despair thus releasing a great level of energy.
- To our knowledge, Kyubey has thus far only accepted wishes that his species's technology can "grant:" the healing of a paralyzed hand (Sayaka), the rescuing of a girl trapped in a crushed automobile (Mami), mass mind-control (Kyoko), and time travel (Homura).
- While we don't know for sure the bounds of this technology or of his wish granting abilities, we definitely do know that Kyubey's species can't end the heat death of the universe on its own, meaning that Kyubey may not be able to grant the wish "Save the universe from entropy!" Kyubey most likely can't provide the catalyst necessary for such a wish to come true. He'd have to rely entirely on the magic of the girl in question, and so far as we know Madoka has been the only person he's met who might have the magical potential to rewrite the laws of the universe.
- No limits on wishes were stated. He hasn't failed to grant (or rejected) any wish on the first request, even though he was shown to have negotiated with Kagari in Suzune Magica due to the potential counterproductivity of her wish. (Was technology ever mentioned?)
- However, note, that wish granting may essentially be considered as an exertion of energy. Yet, magical girls generate more energy upon their deceit, therefore it is anti-entropy. To wish against entropy, all the energy in the universe would not suffice.
- Some fan speculation has arisen that the "Kyu" in Kyubey may be resemblant to a tag or identification number, just as Juubey has the number 10 affixed to "Juu" Kyubey is Number 9 in the series. although this would make sense, Kazumi Magica conffirms that the "Juu" in Juubey does not mean 10. Juubey, however is also not a "real" incubator
- In Chapter 21 of Kazumi Magica, Kyubey "wanted" to communicate with Juubey, even if it was man-made, as it wanted to connect with another of his kind. It is unknown if Kyubey's reasons were because it wanted to learn more about Juubey or if it was "feeling lonely".
Name spelling
- Kyubey's Name spelling is often a topic of argument amongst fans, the many various spellings in different texts have caused confusion as to its meaning
- His name is written in both Hiragana and Katakana as キュ(kyu)ゥ(u)べ(be)え(e), so Kyuubee or Kyuubey would be most accurate as a romanization.
- On the other hand, the fifth commercial has his name romanized as "Kyubey", which resulted in controversy. However, the lack of the extra u is probably just a use of the modified Hepburn system, which never accounts for extended vowels.
- Gen Urobuchi joked that the "Kyu" comes from the katakana of the English word Cute so it could also be Cubey.
- Episode 8 suggests that his name comes from 'Incubator', which when spelled in katakana would be romanized as 'inkyubeetaa.' In the same episode, it is revealed that he has multiple replacements.
- During Kyubey's dialogues in episode 9, he keeps saying "we", meaning that he isn't the only Incubator.
- Some fans of 2ch have taken to assigning the kanji 「九兵衛」 (Kyūbē, lit. nine protector soldiers or nine warriors in defense) to his name, speculating that like Doraemon (whose name can be written as 「銅鑼衛門」), Kyubey's naming might have been inspired by old Samurai dramas.
- 'QB' is short for 'Kyubey' in Niconico Douga. This name is also common on 2ch.
Trivia
- For more information about energy, entropy and thermodynamics in general, see Thermodynamics.
- In Null Magical Girl, Kosane is a thermodynamics major.
- Kyubey apparently enjoys hot baths and human food, as evidenced in the second episode of the anime.
- Kyubey's appearance (and name) share an affinity to Kyuubi, Mythical Japanese foxes with nine tails. In folklore, Kyuubi were known to possess men and have them do the Kyuubi's bidding, a trait identical to Kyubey's desire to collect energy from magical girls.
- In the Drama CD "Sunny Day Life" Kyubey tries to convince to an exasperated Madoka that "he" doesn't see himself as male (in human terms) so "he" doesn't understand why "he" isn't allowed to be in the bathroom with a naked Madoka.
- On the Blu-ray commentary it was pointed by Gen Urobuchi that Kyubey has no gender.
- According to the Blu-Ray Episode 2 voice commentary:
- Kyubey was not based on any animal, just the concept of a "small mahou shoujo animal"
- When asked what animals were used as the basis for Kyubey's design, Ume Aoki was very cryptic because of spoilers.
- The only clue she gives is "coil". According to the drama CD interpreter, it's possible that it relates to the theory that Kyubey's design is based on the uterus. Supporters of this theory believe Kyubey's ears look like fallopian tubes. It could also refer to Incubator, which has a similar meaning to it. This interpretation was proven wrong in the commentary for episode 8, where Chiwa Saito explained that the truth that was hidden was that the marking on Kyubey's back is that of an egg, and that was the connection to Incubator.
- The word 'incubator' derives from the Latin word 'incubare', meaning 'to lie upon'. Another term derived from it is incubus, a male demon said to have sex with women while they sleep and causing their dreams to become perverted. This happening was believed to be the cause of the birth of witches.
- A fanart meme tends to point out Kyubey's similarity to Hummy, the mascot of Suite Precure♪, the other (much more traditional, child-friendly, and optimistic) magical girl series that began airing in Winter 2011. Due to the closeness of their airing dates, this is likely a coincidence, but it has not gone unnoticed and adds to the series' postmodernist deconstruction of the magical girl genre.
- In an interview with NewType, Shinbo was thinking of giving lip-synching to Kyubey in the new world but Yukihiro Miyamoto said no since fundamentally Kyubey remains the same creature as before, only interested in energy efficiency, so he remains unchanged. Also in the interview it's stated Kyubey doesn't move his mouth to speak because he is communicating by telepathy.
- Prior to broadcasting, no one told the seiyuu (specially Emiri Kato) that Kyubey's mouth doesn't move, so she tried to properly lip-synch her lines. When they saw the first episode on the air, the seiyuu were shocked that they were tricked.
- Aoi Yuuki (Madoka), Chiwa Saito (Homura), and Kaori Mizuhashi (Mami) tried for the role of Kyubey. Saito was told her Kyubey sounded too stupid, and in Yuuki's part hers sounded too naive and that she was too cute for it (no surprise there). They all found the role for Kyubey to be too difficult and the Kyubey character too smart for them.
- In the Audio Commentary for Episode 9, before reading the script or knowing the nature of the show, Emiri Kato (VA of Kyubey) was very happy that she was voicing a cute animal character.
- Gen Urobuchi comments in the Audio Commentary for Episode 12 that Kyubey's presence is world wide. This can be interpreted as multiple Kyubeys are being used to contract and reduce entropy; and are not limited to just using one single Incubator at a time. This would explain as to why Kyubey can consume dead predecessors. It may also suggest that instead of Kyubey being able to teleport, there are simply several, each one assigned to go with a magical girl or clusters thereof, at a time.
- During the Sakura-Con 2012 panel interview, Urobuchi explains that Kyubey is not evil, it is his lack of human feelings that makes him scary.
- Urobuchi compares H.P. Lovecraft's creatures to be same as Kyubey, in that they are uninterested in humans feelings.
Gallery
See Gallery:Kyubey
Memoria Cards
To edit a memoria's details, click on the specific memoria
| Card | Effect | Cooldown | EN Text | JP Text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isn't this too flashy? The ribbon I picked out with my mom flutters in the breeze. I feel at ease, untouched by despair. "Yeah, a Magical Girl is still just a girl after all." | 「ちょっと派手じゃないかな？」 お母さんと相談して決めたリボンを、そよ風がくすぐるように揺らしている。絶望なんて見当たらない、穏やかな時間。 「そうだよね、魔法少女だって、ただのひとりの女の子だもん」 |
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| Like a great river, time flows from the past to the future. Resisting the current countless times, she continues her endless journey. She leaps into the torrent again, motivated by both an oath to herself and her irreplaceable friends. | 時間は大きな川の流れのように、過去から未来へ進んでいく。
その流れに幾度も逆らって、彼女は果てしない旅を続ける。 かけがえのない友のために、自ら立てた誓いを果たすために 彼女は時の奔流に飛び込み、そして、抗い続ける。 |
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| Kyubey, you sure are strange... That thing coming out from your ear... Is that...a lock of hair or another...arm...? Those rings...are they attached to you or just floating there? And your tail!...Oh, I just want to grab it... | 「キュゥべえって、やっぱり変わってるよね…。
その、耳から伸びているのは…髪？…ひょっとしたら…手？ その輪っか、付いてるの？浮いてるの？ あと、その尻尾！…ちょっと握ってみたいかも…」 |
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| Kyoko: "Hey, Sayaka! Gimme a bite of that!" Sayaka: "What?! Another one?! Kyoko, do you even know what ‘a bite’ means?" Mami: "Oh, this will make the perfect picture! Say cheese!" Sayaka & Kyoko: "Huh?" | 杏子「なーなーさやか！ちょっとそれ一口！」 さやか「えー？またぁ？杏子の一口は一口じゃないんだよなぁ…」 |
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| There must be a way for the two of them to spend their days together, smiling and happy. She believes this with conviction. She just hasn't found it yet. She will find it. She has to.... | 彼女は強く信じているー
ふたりが笑い合って過ごせる日々へと繋がる道があるはずだ、と。 今はまだ見つかっていないだけで、きっとどこかにあるはずだ、と。 そして、その道を、自分は見つけられるはずだ、と…。 |
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| One girl made a contract. The other is hesitant to make her own. Still they stay together. They are friends, Magical Girl or not. | 契約を交わした少女。 契約へ踏み切れない少女。 それでもふたりは一緒にいる。 魔法少女になってもならなくても、ふたりは友達だから。 |
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| Sayaka: "Here I come.... Splash attack!" Madoka: "Eep! Hey, Sayaka! It's cooooold!" Kyoko: "Ugh, quit it! My ice cream's gonna melt!" Sayaka: "Heheh, melt away!" | 「さやか「よーし、やっちゃおうかな…それーっ！」
まどか「きゃっ！もう、さやかちゃん！冷たいよ〜！」 杏子「うわっと！やめろって！アイス溶けんだろ！」 さやか「へへ〜！溶けろ溶けろ〜！」 |
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| **Unique to Madoka Kaname** I still can't settle on what wish I want granted... It would be great to become a glorious hero, helping others just like Mami... Before she knew it, being a Magical Girl had become a dream for Madoka. | 叶えたい願いごとは、すぐには決められないけれど人助けのために頑張る先輩の姿はとても素敵で私もあんな風に誰かの役に立てたら…と思ってしまういつしか彼女にとって【魔法少女】という存在は憧れになっていた | |||
| "My, Kaname-san, you did a wonderful job with the decorations."
"I worked hard on them! But Mami, this cake looks great!" "Oh, I baked a special one today. Hmm, who's that at the door? Miki-san only just left to get drinks from the store a few minutes ago..." | 「あら、鹿目さん、すごく素敵な飾り付けになったわね」
「頑張っちゃいました。マミさんのケーキもすごく美味しそうですね」 「今日は腕によりを掛けてつくったわよってあら、誰かしら？美樹さんは飲み物の買出しに出たばかりのはずだけど…」 |
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| **Unique to Madoka Kaname (Haregi ver.)** KA-KON KA-KON Let's play shuttlecock. Let's pay all the troubles so that the precious child will not be suffering. I wish I can spend it peacefully, safely ... Happiness will soar in ... Wishing with a wish | カコンッカコンッ羽根を突きましょう。大切なあの子が患わぬよう全ての厄を払いましょう。どうか無事平穏に過ごせますよう…幸せが舞い込みますよう…願いを込めて | |||
| Cube, a mysterious being invisible to all but those who believe in him. Tart, pure and innocent, takes his halos as proof he is an angel. She fashions his likeness, "Monsieur Angel," onto a banner that she raises on the battlefield. Melissa, Tart's servant and close friend, does the same. | キューブは、信じる者にしか見ることができない不思議な存在純粋なタルトは、その光輪こそが天使のあかしと信じ“天使様”の旗を掲げて戦場を馳せるタルトに心酔するメリッサもまた同様… | |||
| I don't think I could even try to explain how we got there. It's too complicated for words. I suppose you could say it all started with Mitama and a little misunderstanding of hers. | 「どうしてこうなったのって言われるとややこしすぎて、説明でさそうもないんだけど…元はと言えば…多外みたまさんの勘違いから始まったんだと思う…」 | |||
| **Unique to Mito Aino** Ya know, I just looove thinkin' up all kinds of stuff in my head! It's fun, and there's no rules, and you can do it any time you want! I doodle all the creatures I think up in my notebook! Look, here they are! See? It's like my own "Mito Zoo," right? | 私ね、頭の中で色んな想像をするのが大好きなんだ～！ 楽しいし、自由だし、いつでもできるし！ 思いついた生き物とかは、ノートに絵を描いてるの！ ほら、これ！見て見て！ちょっとした『みと動物園』でしょ？ | |||
| **Unique to Iroha Tamaki (Swimsuit ver.)** Taking a short break from the blazing rays of sun Leaving aside the swimming ring just this time As I peacefully watch at the waves washing over the beach, I relish in this restful moment ...Ah, look! There's a giant cloud spreading out in the sky! | 照りつける日差しから逃れて、ちょっと休憩
この時ばかりは浮き輪たちともちょっとお別れして 静かに吹き抜ける風を感じながら、ゆっくりとした時間を味わう …あ、見て！あんなに大きな入道雲が広がってるよ！ |
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| Sorry to keep you all waiting! Here, check me out! A straw sunhat, a water gun...and this season’s must-have, a swim float! This is my perfect look for the beach! I’m gonna enjoy this summer as much as I can! | お待たせしましたー、皆さん！ほらほら、見てください！
麦わら帽子にウォーターガン…そしてマストアイテムの浮き輪！ これが私のパーフェクトな海のスタイル！ さー、思いっきり楽しんじゃうからねーっ！ |
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| We just happened to stumble upon this perfect little place! With deliciously made tea and snacks, it transforms into a perfect spot for a break! It’s too wonderful here to not share with all of our friends. (T Card Collab Commemoration) | 偶然見つけた素敵な場所！
手際良く紅茶とお菓子の準備をしたら とっておきの休憩スポットが完成！ せっかくだから、友達をたくさん誘っちゃおう（Tカードコラボ記念） |
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| The doubt that sprouted in my heart is all gone. I remembered what’s important, something I can never forget. I won’t panic or get scared anymore. I’ll go far, even if it’s just one step at a time, all the way to becoming like Miss K! | 心に芽吹いていた不安はもう消えた
忘れちゃいけない大切なことも思いだした 焦らないし、不安にもならないし、怖がったりだってもうしない 遠くても一歩ずつ近付いてみせる。“理想のお姉さん”に！ |
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| A lively, friendly world that will snuggle up beside you! Get the events on the other side of the screen, big and small, and introduce them to everyone freely and carefree! Then together with everyone, Magi Magi Magireco~♪ (Comic Release Collaboration) | かたわらで寄り添ってくれる、賑やかで優しい世界！ 画面の向こうの出来事を、大小構わず汲み取って 自由気ままに奔放に、いつもみんなにご紹介！ それでは皆さんご一緒に、マギマギマギレコ～♪（コミック発売記念） | |||
| There's one more answer we can't reach. I'm sure if we keep going, we'll wake up somewhere where we can't turn back. What are we lacking? How can we be forgiven? It's up to the universe, and up to what you and I will do. | もうひとつ届かない答え
きっと歩みを進めれば 引き返せないところで目を覚ます 足りないのは何？ どうすれば許される？ それは宇宙次第 目の前のあなたとどうするか |
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| "I thought you'd call forth an animal through your mysterious dance,
but I'm surprised to find Lord Kyubey is the one who grants wishes! I don't understand how he's able to do that, but I'm certain it's amazing! Whatever happened, it gave me pride!" | 「不思議な舞で、動物を呼び出したと思ったら、
それが神秘を叶えてくれる久兵衛様だっていうからビックリだよぅ！ なんで、そんな事ができるのか全然わからないけど、すごいのは確か！ 何があったとしても、わたしに誇りを与えてくれたもんね！」 |
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| "My after school break, the game center's medal game.
Because you win or lose medals, It's no fun to play lightheartedly. Seriously, it's a very serious game." | 「わたしの放課後の息抜き、ゲームセンターのメダルゲーム
得るのも失うのもメダルだからって 軽い気持ちで遊んだら楽しくありません 本気の本気、真剣勝負ですっ」 |
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| Card | Effect | Cooldown | EN Text | JP Text |
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See Also
- Kato Emiri's Data file
- Emiri Katō's page on the wiki
- Thermodynamics
- Kyubey is Evil Theory
- This speculative philosophical essay deals with the nature of Kyubey's utilitarianism: Talk:Philosophical Observations