Runes

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Production Note New Edition, page 187
Features all English alphabet letters in the Archaic variant, in order. Numerals, punctuation and German letters were not included.

Runes (unofficial name, officially referred to as Witch Characters (マジョ文字, Majo Moji)) are a recurring element in the Madoka Magica franchise. Runes are used by Witches and can be read by magical girls. Four different runic alphabets exist, which were named Modern, Archaic, Musical and Latin by fans. The runic characters correspond to letters of the real-life Latin and Cyrillic alphabets (with extra letters with German diacritics also being known), Arabic numerals, and punctuation marks. The alphabet was at first deciphered by fans, and the findings were eventually partially confirmed through the Puella Magi Madoka Magica Production Note.

Table of runes

Roman	Cyrillic	Modern	Archaic	Musical	Roman	Cyrillic	Modern	Archaic	Musical
A	А				P	Р
B					Q
C	С				R
D					S
E					T
F					U
G					V
H					W
I					X
J					Y	У
K					Z
L					Ä
M	М				Ö
N					Ü
O					ß(ẞ)
	Я				Unidentified (Possibly an "N" variant)

Numbers		Modern	Archaic	Musical	Numbers		Modern	Archaic	Musical
0					5
1					6
2					7
3					8
4					9
Math Symbols		Modern	Archaic	Musical	Math Symbols		Modern	Archaic	Musical
^					−

Roman	Cyrillic	Latin	?	Roman	Cyrillic	Latin	?
A/a	А/а			P/p	Р/р
B/b				Q/q
C/c	С/с			R/r
D/d				S/s
E/e				T/t
F/f				U/u
G/g				V/v
H/h				W/w
I/i				X/x
J/j				Y/y	У/у
K/k				Z/z
L/l				Ä/ä
M/m	М/м			Ö/ö
N/n				Ü/ü
O/o				ẞ/ß
	Я/я

Official Translation

• Gertrud, Charlotte and Oktavia's names typed in Japanese in some products and merchandises.
• In the English dub of Magia Record Anime, Some Witch's name are translated in English. When a Witch's name is displayed in runes, its name is also shown in English-styled runes.
  • This was eventually provided for the English dub of the original series as well.
  • Witches that were given official translations are:
• In the Magia Record Anime Official Guidebook Vol.1, Box Wood's name is translated in English.

Trivia

• The runes are an original art by Inu Curry.
• During the Aniplex USA Madoka Premiere, the production staff was very surprised when overseas fans cracked the runes. It was stated that even obsessive Japanese fans had not gone that far.
• Even though punctuation marks rarely appear in runic texts, it is notable that the marks don't receive new arts and will be similar to their actual symbols. As of now, exclamation marks, caret characters, negative symbols and question marks are the only punctuation marks to have been seen in Runes.
• The Latin runes resemble the actual letters they represent more than the normal runes.
• Latin O takes the appearance of a Soul Gem.
• There are many minor alterations used by witches and familiars. One such alteration can be seen here.

Runes by appearance

• TV series
  • Opening
  • Episode 1
  • Episode 2
  • Episode 3
  • Episode 4
  • Episode 5
  • No runes were featured in episode 6.
  • Episode 7
  • Episode 8
  • Episode 9
  • Episode 10
  • Episode 11
  • Episode 12
• Movies
  • Beginnings and Eternal
  • Rebellion
  • Walpurgisnacht Rising
• Other sources
  • Manga
  • Novel
  • Puella Magi Kazumi Magica
  • Cards of witches and familiars
  • Madoka Café, promotional uses
  • Tiro Finale Book
  • Magia Record Game
  • Magia Record Anime Season 1
  • Magia Record Anime Season 2
  • Magia Record Anime Season 3

Using runes on this wiki

You can use runes on this wiki with the {{Runes}} template, e.g. {{Runes|HOMULILLY}} becomes HOMULILLY (use uppercase for archaic variant and lowercase for modern variant).

To use musical runes, add |variant=musical to the template, eg. {{Runes|OKTAVIA VON SECKENDORFF|variant=musical}} becomes OKTAVIA VON SECKENDORFF. The font does not distinguish uppercase and lowercase letters, so either will produce the same results.