User:Sweet Beanie/Sandbox

Cosmology

This article explains the cosmology of the Madoka Magica multiverse, including the nature of universes, timelines, and interdimensional spaces that connect them together.

Madoka Magica contains many instances of alternate universes, branching timelines created through time travel, as well as universal rewrites which affect both of the former. To clarify these concepts, this article uses the following defined terms:

Universe: A reality defined by a Core set of metaphysical rules, usually established by a universal rewrite, such as the creation of the Law of Cycles. A reality with a fundamentally different history and/or rules that did not originate from a rewrite in the primary sequence is considered an alternate universe, such as the Magia Record Universe, which even contains its own version of Homura.

Timeline: A linear sequence of events within a Universe. Multiple timelines can be created one after the other through wishes or time travel, forming a Time Axis, such as Homura's time loops. The distinction between a branch timeline and a true alternate universe is often unclear, particularly in cases involving time travel.

Multiverse

Parallel universes and the multiverse are at least in part formed by choices, where every time a choice is made, there is a world where that choice was made, and one where it wasn't. This follows the Many-Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics. It should be noted that parallel universes formed through this process aren't explored in the franchise. Instead, the multiverse of the series is explored through worlds created through magic—most often through the application of time travel.

The Many-Worlds Interpretation is only utilized as an explanation in Magia Exedra, where the phone in the Lighthouse Theatre connects to the phones in the Lighthouse Theatre of different worlds (meaning that the Many-Worlds Interpretation applies in interdimensional places). This is the in-story explanation of the PvP function of the game, and thus not explored further. It can be interpreted that this is another layer of the multiverse, while worlds created through time travel are a separate layer altogether. Additionally, besides these two kinds of worlds, there are alternate universes with entirely different rules which have seemingly always existed.

As seen in the Magia Record Anime, Oriko Magica, as well as Scene 0, the timelines Homura created continue to exist after she leaves them, simply proceeding without her presence or Mabayu's. However, it is unknown if all forms of time travel yield this effect.

Afterlife

The afterlife has been referred to with many names in the franchise, such as the underworld, or tomorrow, and it is unknown whether the afterlife is nothingness, a sort of Abrahamic version of the afterlife, or reincarnation. Even Asahi Miura—whose magic allows her to commune and manifest the spirits of the dead under her control—is uncertain whether her manifestations are the real souls. The journey to the afterlife is often compared to the story of Night on the Galactic Railroad, where a train goes through space with the souls of the deceased as its passengers.

Besides the souls of Magical Girls which are placed into Soul Gems after contracting, other living beings' souls have been stated by Kyubey to simply disappear after the death of the physical body. The ghosts of the deceased are occasionally able to physically manifest on their own, though most often they commune to the living through dreams or thoughts. The ghost of Kei Seto was able to entangle itself with a Paola Witch and then even possess Madoka herself.

Kei was able to trap Homura and Madoka inside a black void where time went on in a loop, rendering Homura's time stop useless. She was only detectable to Ren, whose magic allowed her to somewhat sense and harm spirits, and visible to Homura, as she was similar to the person Kei was looking for in that they both survived while their companion did not. After Kei was separated from Paola, her abilities waned and she quickly faded, resorting to commune with kindred souls through dreams and occasionally empty voids as well until she was ready to go to "tomorrow."

Yachiyo Nanami has often communed with the spirits of her dead companions in her dreams. According to her dreams of Kanae Yukino, ghosts are intagible and imperceptible to normal people, though beside the living, they're able to manifest anything they desire. This seems to be the case as long as the ghosts do not reach "tomorrow."

Even Magical Girls leave souls behind after their Soul Gems break, or they become Witches, as seen by the apparition of Paola. The ghost of Kanae was only able to manifest as her Soul Gem was broken, while the ghost of Mel Anna was only able to be created because Kanae's ghost intervened at the moment Mel became a Witch. This is revealed to Yachiyo in a dream, which she herself doubts the validity of. It is likely their spirits remained due to their loyalty to Yachiyo.

Asahi's magic is much more direct through giving spirits a physical form as transparent apparitions, able to interact with the physical world. Most often, she is able to control the spirits she manifests, though in cases where her magic was strengthened, she was unable to control or banish them. Asahi calls them forth from the "underworld," and through the scope of her summons, it is possible she even summons spirits who have moved on to "tomorrow." It should be noted that Asahi herself is skeptical of her manifestations, uncertain to whether they're their real selves, or whether they're constructs containing their memories.

Will of the Universe

In Null Magical Girl, the Universe itself is revealed to be a self-reproducing living organism. The Universe reproduces through black holes and eventually reaches heat death, at which point it is overtaken by a black hole and begins anew, creating an endless cycle. This concept is known as the Cosmological Natural Selection Theory, also famously called the Fecund Universes hypothesis.

Magical Girls oppose this process through their use of emotional energy, which reduces entropy by collapsing multiple possible futures into a single outcome. For this reason, the universe uses its immune system against Magical Girls, particularly to prevent information about them from reaching the general public, as this would lead to an overpopulation of Magical Girls. Such a scenario is seen in the Null Magical Girl timeline.

Its manifestations are referred to as the Universe's "antibodies." The phenomenon can interfere with attempts to expose magic, produce events that work against Magical Girls and even grant secret powers to significant forces that oppose them.

For more information, see the Will of the Universe.

Universal Rewrites

A universal rewrite changes the rules and history of a reality or multiple realities rather than simply creating another branch of an existing timeline. These are usually accompanied with the birth of a new concept or rule of the universe, though that isn't always the case.

Madoka's wish is the clearest example, where she rewrites the rules of all realities within her reach, while residing outside them in the Law of Cycles. This creates the cluster known as the Law of Cycles Universe.

Homura later performs another rewrite when she overtakes the Law of Cycles and separates Madoka from her divine aspect. The resulting singular altered reality is known as the Devil Universe.

Paradox Events

In the context of cosmology and time travel, a paradox occurs when characters travel through time and create a contradiction in the timeline.

The Grandfather Paradox occurs when an entity, object, or piece of information travels into the past and alters history in a way that retroactively destroys the very conditions required for its own departure. Because its origin or journey becomes impossible, it could never have existed to travel back and cause the disruption in the first place, creating an unresolvable logical contradiction.

On the other hand, the Bootstrap Paradox—often called a Causal Loop—occurs when an entity, object, or piece of information is sent into the past and becomes the root cause of its own future existence. This creates a closed loop of cause and effect where the subject has a history but completely lacks a true, linear origin point.

Despite universal rewrites, Grandfather Paradoxes have been stated to potentially bring about the end of the Universe, while Casual Loops have not. Despite the many cases of time travel, no Grandfather Paradox has come to pass, thus creating the theory that each instance of time travel creates a bifurcated time branch of its own, or the changes to the timeline were always meant to be Casual Loops of their own.

It is likely that the Universe itself course-corrects contradictions to the timeline, as seen during the Lovers in the Pax Romana, where three separate methods of time-travel conversed. This resulted in the creation of a Time Paradox Zone, a space outside conventional spacetime which actively helped the heroes to solve the paradox.

Anomalies

Certain cases of time traveling, such as Homura's, not only create new timelines, but also retroactively change events or details of the timeline she enters in, even if they occurred before her arrival. Perhaps the most well-known case of this happening was the pebble which caused Iroha Tamaki's survival in the Magia Record Universe.

Traveling between dimensions is also shown to cause this, as seen when Nagisa Momoe entered the Magia Record Universe from the Law of Cycles by using the Endless Mirrors, which caused Yusa Yumeno, or Yu, to make a contract and become a Magical Girl. However, it is also possible Nagisa was sent to a past point in time as well.

This particular case caused Yu to become what Nagisa refers to as a Frayed End (Hotsure). A Frayed End is recognized as a factor which, if left unchecked, would be the catalyst for the worst possible future for the reality it resides in. In Yu's case, she was likely meant to have died, and when she was later killed, the danger she posed to the timeline was removed.

In Magia Exedra, from the Lighthouse, a similar type of anomaly is observable, having been caused by a Darklight. This phenomenon changed a key aspect of Sayaka Miki within a certain world, causing the very concept of Sayaka to be at risk of being erased from every reality. The full aspects of this type of anomaly are currently unknown, but it bears many resemblances to Frayed Ends.

Interdimensional Spaces

There are spaces from which multiple timelines and worlds are accessible. In these places, the different versions of Magical Girls (and presumably other beings or objects) seem to merge together. Oftentimes, they maintain some kind of fundamental concept in conventional universes, and also function as archives of magical beings.

The scope of every interdimensional space in reaching different worlds in the multiverse is unique. For example, while the Law of Cycles was able to access and rewrite many worlds, Endless Mirrors was still able to access all the worlds beyond the Law of Cycles' reach. On the other hand, some only enable exchanging information. While Itzli's able to access information from previous points of the timeline and time axis, 10^-43 can only do so from points of time in its current timeline.

Nazukasokotsune

Seemingly the first interdimensional space to be created. Originally, Magical Girls had their souls encased in Cores and had no normal means of purifying them. Once a Magical Girl's Core filled with curses, it would shatter and, usually along with the girl's body, create a being called a Demon, lacking an identity or distinguishing traits. After Marguerite made her wish to save all Magical Girls, she was able to purify their Cores, but eventually there were too many of them, and the accumulated curses took over Marguerite as well.

Marguerite turned into a creature called a Witch, fusing with the Demons of the past. Meanwhile, Magical Girls who would become Demons after that point would instead keep their identity, each receiving a new name and becoming Witches. This is because Marguerite's transformation created the realm which would be called Nazukasokotsune, which works as a device creating the identities of all Witches at the moment of their creation, keeping them in books called Witch Encyclopedias within Crystal Archives.

This event seemingly also caused Magical Girls to have their souls encased in Soul Gems instead of Cores, and due to Witches dropping Grief Seeds, they also gained a method of purifying them as well. Marguerite's Witch herself had no name and would only come to be referred to as Walpurgisnacht.

It is unknown whether each timeline, or even time axis, has its own Nazukasokotsune, or whether the space is connected to many universes. Additionally, in the event that a Witch exclusive to another universe were to appear, it is also possible that the appearance of those Witches is simply a standard behind-the-scenes production shortcut used to save time and budget, and not meant to be taken literally. Thus, the number and scope of the Nazukasokotsune is currently unknown.

After the creation of the Law of Cycles and the rewrite of all Witch worlds within Ultimate Madoka's reach, Witches would no longer be created and Magical Girls would instead fight Wraiths, who lacked identities of their own and dropped Grief Cubes. However, after Homura pulled Madoka out of the Law of Cycles, becoming Devil Homura and rewriting the world in which she resided, the Law of Cycles became an entity akin to a machine.

This simplified Law of Cycles would become increasingly unstable, only working automatically and fulfilling its purpose of collecting girls before they are to become Witches, but itself lacking an identity. During this, a pathway between the Law of Cycles and Nazukasokotsune was able to be opened through a new structure in the Nazukasokotsune called the Nameless Star. Through the Nazukasokotsune, one is also able to go back to the world of Devil Homura.

The door connecting the Nameless Star and the Law of Cycles is only able to be opened by Walpurgisnacht, who gained a new form as a Witch Girl. However, the result of going through the Nazukasokotsune would turn the girls from the Law of Cycles into Witch Girls, who kept their souls in Melt Gems. Due to the absence of Madoka, Walpurgisnacht—now Wasu and resembling Homura in appearance—had lost her memories, only remembering a need to retrieve Marguerite, who she mistook Madoka as.

During the mission to return Madoka to the Law of Cycles, Kyubey is able to sneak his way into Nazukasokotsune. After the Witch Girls and Madoka return to the Law of Cycles, Kyubey's access remains and he plans to gain control of the device entirely. What becomes of the Nazukasokotsune afterwards is unknown. It should be noted that the Lighthouse Theatre bears many similarties to the Nameless Star, yet as the number of Nazukasokotsunes in the multiverse is unclear, it is possible the Lighthouse Theatre is what became of a different Nazukasokotsune, or something else entirely.

Itzli

The Mysterious Witch's Barrier is an extensive Labyrinth, seemingly having its outer layers copy Witches, Familiars and layouts connected to the memory of the Magical Girl exploring them, though in an anachronistic order. Its been named the Joyful Barrier to Madoka Kaname, the Sufficiency Barrier to Mami Tomoe, the Fool's Barrier to Sayaka Miki, the Impeachment Barrier to Kyoko Sakura and the Oblivious Barrier to Homura Akemi.

Homura was able to reach the end of the Oblivious Barrier, fighting the Witch Quitterie as the first one she apparently hadn't encountered before, and Itzli as the second and final one—being the eponymous Witch herself. In another universe, Homura was able to enter Itzli's Barrier directly, instead having to fight against the Familiars and Witches she summoned.

Itzli has been said to have originally been "a Magical Girl who came from the end of the galaxy." Her origins are unknown, however Kyubey has noted that her her magical signature is different from that of the other Witches on Earth. She is able to see through all the clovers in the world, and thus has gained power by taking magic from the Magical Girls she observed in all eras.

She remembers the previous loops that Homura went through and was also able to grow in power from them. Itzli herself attacks by creating copies of Witches of the past, with the copies having a old film-like effect on them. This is a similar trait to Winchester, whose Barrier connects to other realities entirely, even outside of its time axis. The Witch is also often surrounded by silhouettes of Magical Girls surrounding Walpurgisnacht, however it is unknown if this means there's a connection between Itzli and Walpurgisnacht, or Nazukasokotsune. It should be noted that Quitterie's is one of the Witch Girls Wasu brings along to Earth.

It is possible that instead of connecting to previous loops' versions of itself, Itzli travels alongside Homura on her time travels, similar to Mabayu.

Law of Cycles

The Law of Cycles functions as the only salvation for the souls of Magical Girls. It was created as a concept of the universe when Madoka Kaname made her wish to erase Witches before they're born in the past, present and future everywhere. As a result, Madoka became Ultimate Madoka, creating the realm of the Law of Cycles, to where she collects the souls and bodies of Magical Girls at the moment when they would become Witches. This new Magical Girl system seems to have also resulted in Magical Girls always having had Soul Gems instead of Cores.

Besides collecting Magical Girls before they become Witches, the Law of Cycles facilitates the existence of Wraiths, giving Magical Girls a reason to fight and a method to purify Soul Gems. Unlike Witches or Demons, they never had any semblance of individuality—only manifesting as the curses of the world and absorbing emotions into Grief Cubes.

In contrast to how the Law of Cycles collects the girl's body as well, it appears that when a Magical Girls' Soul Gem breaks, she is only able to collect their soul. Such was the case with Selema Terez, who returned to Earth as a Witch Girl through the Nazukasokotsune. After she transformed her Melt Gem back into a Soul Gem, which was then shattered by Nagisa, her soul was then brought back to the Law of Cycles alongside the other Witch Girls.

It is implied that in the Law of Cycles, different versions of the Magical Girls collected merge together. Ultimate Madoka is able to send Magical Girls to other worlds as emissaries, giving them the power to summon their Witch forms and Familiars as well. The inside of the Law of Cycles also seems to have the inhabitants be in a perpetual state of rest, similar to one's idea of heaven.

After it was formed, the Law of Cycles rewrote many universes into Wraith worlds, also erasing the concept of Madoka Kaname from the world and only leaving the version of Homura that helped in its creation to remember the truth. That version of Homura was used by the Incubators to try and lure Ultimate Madoka in order to observe and then gain control of the Law of Cycles, hoping to bring back the Witch system. After Madoka sent herself down to rescue Homura alongside Sayaka and Nagisa, Homura—on the brink of becoming a Witch—split Madoka from the Law of Cycles, stealing a fraction of her power and causing another universal rewrite.

In the new world, ruled by Devil Homura, Madoka has no memory of her divine status and leads a normal life, similar to Sayaka and Nagisa who had their memories suppressed. The Law of Cycles from this point forward, began to fall apart and lost its personality, leaving it only as a machine which collected Magical Girls before they became Witches and causing its inhabitants to also suffer.

Through this act, the many girls which made up Walpurgisnacht lost their identity, forming into Wasu, who was then able to use the Nazukasokotsune to return to a Witch's form, and then into a Witch Girl, alongside Selema Terez and Zi Ding Xiang. They were ultimately able to save Madoka and return her to the Law of Cycles, restoring it to the complete Ultimate Madoka. However, during their mission, Kyubey was able to gain access to the Nazukasokotsune, planning to use it to restore the Witch system in some way.

10^-43

The Symbol Witch functions as a distributed interdimensional phenomenon rather than a conventional Witch confined to a single Labyrinth. Its defining characteristic is the ability to create and control separate offshoots of itself across multiple eras simultaneously, allowing it to interfere with the entire span of history leading to the present day. Unlike other interdimensional spaces that connect to different worlds or timelines, 10^−43's scope appears limited to points of time within its current timeline, though its reach across those eras is extensive.

The Witch's temporal scope expands as it grows through its forms. Its 10^−3 form can watch over three eras, 10^−5 over five, 10^−7 over seven, suggesting that its ultimate limit is forty-three eras. Despite this limitation to a single time axis, the Witch's influence across those eras is profound—it can plant offshoots in different historical periods that remain connected to the main body, allowing it to act simultaneously across centuries.

The Witch was rooted beneath Mizuna Castle since the Sengoku period, approximately 500 years before the present day, and devoured other Witches over the centuries to build strength. During the events of Arc 2, it stole fragments of Infinite Iroha's concept as she traveled to six different eras, destabilizing her existence. When its main body finally awakened, it absorbed the Automatic Purification System and its world-covering membrane, transforming its body into a single massive city and its Labyrinth into a structure vast enough to engulf the entire Earth.

In this final form, the Witch came close to achieving its goal: to suffuse itself through past and future, making itself the only individual existing in any era. The last step would have been to absorb the power of infinity, but because it could no longer move on its own, it was forced to rely on its offshoots. This vulnerability was exploited when Yachiyo Nanami traveled through time to gather the hope of Magical Girls from across history with her unique magic, transforming into Historia Yachiyo and delivering the final blow.

The Witch's defeat did not erase its influence entirely and the offshoots it had planted across history, as well as the historical changes it had caused, remained part of the timeline. The Witch's influence seems to also be responsible for many of the conflicts in the Lighthouse Theatre, however the ultimate scope and nature of 10^−43's connection to the broader multiverse remains unclear.

Endless Mirrors

Winchester's Labyrinth—the Endless Mirrors—is able to connect to other versions of itself from other worlds through the many mirrors it possesses, often by accident. The Witch, her offshoots and Familiars are also able to use the mirrors to connect to different points of time and space, even without another Endless Mirrors on the receiving end. Mirrors also appears to be able to fully connect to worlds created through the Many-Worlds Interpretation instead of just worlds with different rules altogether.

The Barrier passively steals magic from all Magical Girls who enter, and potentially even other beings like Witches. Winchester's Familiars are able to copy that sample of magic and transform into clones of the Magical Girls, also gaining their memories, powers and sometimes forgetting they're not the original altogether. It is possible that some of the Barrier's other extraordinary properties are due to this copying of magic.

Due to its nature, Endless Mirrors often connects to the worlds that the Law of Cycles isn't able to reach, as the Witch never came to be in worlds where Wraiths exist. In the event where a mirror connects to a world where governed by the Law of Cycles, it would mean the destruction of the original world as it would be rewritten, potentially losing many of its unique aspects of the world as well.

Cases such as this, as well as potential paradoxes are quite common and they're either solved by having the entity go back through the mirror, or by breaking the mirror itself. A unique property of using the mirrors to travel across time is that if the mirror the person or entity emerged from is broken, they're sent back to the time they came, however this doesn't apply to travel through mirrors from different worlds, such as Nagisa Momoe.

The odd properties of the Witch are at least in-part due to Mitama Yakumo wishing to become the one to bring the destruction of Kamihama City. Elsewhere at that same moment, Mikoto Sena turned into a Witch, with Mikoto's persona being uniquely transplanted to Hanna Sarasa. Mikoto would eventually make her way back to the Witch and then give the power of Endless Mirrors to Infinite Iroha, ending the Barrier in the Magia Record universe and giving her the task of making records of the Magical Girls of the past in their world. Other instances of Mirrors Labyrinths in other worlds remain, with one even being in the Lighthouse Theatre.

Magia Record

Originally starting out as the Barrier of the Automatic Purification System, after Iroha gathered the Kimochi Stones and fused with Ui, Lil' Kyubey and the Core of the Automatic Purification System, she was able to spread the Barrier—and thus the Doppel System—across the entire globe with the help of Touka Satomi and Nemu Hiiragi. The Barrier was then also connected with the Barrier of the Uwasa of the Eternal Sakura with Sakurako's help. Due to the wish of Kagome Satori, Kyubey is unable to interfere with the Purification System.

The space serves as the gathering point for impurities collected from Soul Gems across the world. Within the Magia Record, these impurities are converted into Phase Shift Energy and released back into the universe, fighting entropy while also preventing Magical Girls from becoming Witches and instead allowing them to manifest Doppels. The Doppel System releases a lower amount of energy compared to the previous Witch system, making it less efficient from the perspective of the Incubators.

As an interdimensional space, the Magia Record's scope is unique among the spaces documented in this article. While the Law of Cycles can access and rewrite multiple worlds, and the Endless Mirrors can reach worlds beyond the Law of Cycles' reach, the Magia Record is confined to a single timeline—that of the Magia Record universe—though it can observe many more. The Barrier initially covered only Kamihama, then expanded to cover the entire planet, then finally ascending to a law of the entire Magia Record universe. Through Iroha's acquisition of Mikoto's Endless Mirrors powers, she also gained the ability to travel through both space and time, accessing any point in the timeline to gather records of Magical Girls long past.

This allows Iroha to fulfill her promise to Mikoto by recording the histories of Magical Girls who would otherwise be forgotten, creating a comprehensive archive within the Magia Record. The records gathered in this manner are stored within the Magia Record, making it an archive comparable to the Witch Encyclopedias, though the Magia Record preserves the identities of Magical Girls rather than Witches.

While the Magia Record serves as the system's core and the dwelling place of its essential inhabitants, the Eternal Sakura's Barrier functions as a point of interface between the system and the physical world. Magical Girls of Kamihama can still feel the presence of Iroha and Ui within the Eternal Sakura's Barrier even after all traces of their existence have been erased from the memories of non-Magical Girls.

Due to Touka and Nemu's actions and partially due to 10^-43's influence, Iroha and Ui were able to leave the Magia Record for some time to live normal lives, also restoring their memories to non-Magical Girls. However, after the system began to increasingly malfunction due to the immense strain of maintaining the Doppel Barrier, Iroha and Ui made the decision to fully elevate the Magia Record as a concept of the universe, transforming it into a constant rule akin to Madoka becoming the Law of Cycles. This transformation ensured the system's permanence, allowing it to continue gathering impurities and compiling records of Magical Girls indefinitely. All traces and memories of Iroha and Ui's existence were once again wiped from everyone who wasn't a Magical Girl, and the two continue their work within the Magia Record alongside Lil' Kyubey, Touka, Nemu and Sakurako. In its elevated form, the Magia Record functions as a universal law within the Magia Record Universe.

The Magia Record's relationship to the Law of Cycles seems to be parallel in that the two realms likely cannot directly contact with each other due to their conflicting concepts. The Magia Record's final form was done so through its timeline's absorption of the Endless Mirrors and 10^-43, however its relationship to Nazukasokotsune is unclear. Prior to Iroha and Ui's return to the Magia Record, the malfunctioning Law of Cycles allowed Alina Gray to use her Labyrinths in conjunction with the magic of other Magical Girls and create Witch Portraits—seemingly tapping into the power of the Nazukasokotsune without the girls becoming Witches. The Magia Record has many connections to the Lighthouse, such as having the Puella Magi Diarum, or at least a copy of it, as well as keepsakes of its original inhabitants. The real connection between the two realms is ultimately unknown.

Philosopher's Stone

The Philosopher's Stone is a unique interdimensional artifact featured in Tart / Darc Magica event stories within Magia Record. Unlike the other interdimensional spaces documented in this article, the Philosopher's Stone functions as a catalyst capable of transforming powerful "what if" desires into fully realized alternate realities known as If-Worlds. The process of their creation is unknown, as the only person who has been able to create them is the alchemist Nicholas Flamel.

The Stones' primary function is to transform a powerful "what if" desire from a mere concept into a physical If-World. When used to create an If-World, the Stone sustains its existence and laws of physics, effectively acting as the anchor for an entire reality. Philosopher's Stones also have effects similar to magic, such as completely halting the aging process, and they contain vast reserves of magical energy.

If-Factors are physical manifestations of "what if" thoughts or desires that seep into an If-World from other universes. They are usually "impossible" items that operate on the natural laws of their world of origin, which often conflict with the laws of the If-World they invade, causing dangerous reality-warping incidents. If-Factors are described as the crystallized "seeds of a world"—born from statements that begin with "What if...?" and ranging from simple, whimsical thoughts to profound, world-changing desires.

The relationship between If-Factors and other interdimensional phenomena is unclear, however If-Factors appear to be specific to If-Worlds and are directly tied to the Philosopher's Stone's function of manifesting desires. Additionally, the name implies a connecton to the What-If stories explored in Magia Exedra.

The Ark of Feelings is a metaphysical archive where people's emotions and memories are stored as books, created by Pernelle and Nicholas Flamel in the 15th century. It is a spiritual or mental space—almost like a dream realm or psychic library—that can be explored and people can access memories that are otherwise forgotten or erased from history through it. Even when historical records are wiped or altered, the Ark of Feelings holds onto what people once felt and remembered. This is how Jeanne's legacy survives in the Ark even though she had been temporarily erased from the outside world.

The Ark of Feelings seems connected to the concept of Jeanne d'Arc herself, however it is unknown if it also archives the legacy of other beings. It is also unknown whether the Ark of Feelings is akin to an If-World, an If-Factor, or some other creation of Nicholas's alchemy and Pernelle's magic.

The Ark's purpose is to preserve the memories of people, particularly those connected to Jeanne d'Arc from being erased by an attempt to change history through Magical Girl contracts, which also utilized Endless Mirrors. In the end, this effort to change history was undone by another Magical Girl contract.

Lighthouse Theatre

The Lighthouse Theatre, often simply called the Lighthouse, is an interdimensional space that exists outside of any universe in a realm of pure "rules" or "concepts." Unlike other spaces documented in this article, which are either created through magical events or exist as natural features of the multiverse, the Lighthouse was deliberately constructed within a universe before being pulled outside of conventional reality due to its accumulation of vast amounts of data from various times and spaces.

In the Lighthouse, things exist in their "complete forms"—a ball is a ball as long as it can be rolled, regardless of its color or size. The existence of individuals within this conceptual space is described as "anomalous" and a special phenomenon that could theoretically collapse at any time. The twinkling lights visible from the Lighthouse are not stars but likely entire universes, as the structure exists in a place from which one can "wholly gaze at all the universes."

The Lighthouse's primary function involves the collection of Memsparks—fragments of memory that serve as proof of Magical Girls' lives. If the Memsparks were to disappear, those memories would vanish entirely. The Window of Memory, a central feature of the Lighthouse, allows its inhabitants to enter and experience the memories of Magical Girls directly. By collecting Light of Memory through these windows, the Nameless Girl who resides there can recover her own lost memories and rekindle the light within the Lighthouse.

The space's residents include the Nameless Girl, who arrived from an endless darkness with only the memory of having once been a Magical Girl; A-Q, the current lighthouse keeper who guides her and possesses the ability to create Labyrinths similar to those of Witches; and Nighthawk, a collector and trader of items who communicates through squawks. The Kioku—manifestations of Magical Girls' memories that take physical form within the Lighthouse—also inhabit the space, serving as allies for the Nameless Girl in her exploration of the Memory Windows. In the Lighthouse, the Kioku of the Magical Girls are confirmed to all fuse into a single version of themselves containing all the memories of the various versions. From the Lighthouse, a Kioku's destruction also means the concept of that very girl disappearing from every universe.

Within the Lighthouse, several distinct areas serve different functions. The Main Room contains A-Q's art corner, where he draws portraits and stores them on a shelf, and Nighthawk's shop, set up in a cracked wall where he trades collected items. The Fate Weave is a large door that can be opened with a Magia Key, allowing the summoning of Kioku. The Window of Memory is the primary means by which the Nameless Girl retrieves Memsparks, entering different worlds to experience the memories contained within. A phone connects to parallel worlds, enabling communication with alternate versions of the Nameless Girl—this serves as the in-story explanation for the PvP function, allowing the Nameless Girl to communicate with other worlds formed through the Many-Worlds Interpretation..

The Chamber of Light serves as a place to review Memsparks, functioning as a library that displays stories, unlocked music, obtained characters, enemy models, Kioku, and Portraits. The Library, a room mentioned in Lighthouse Memories but not yet shown, is said to store a massive collection of books, including the Puella Magi Diarium. This collection was likely built before the previous lighthouse keeper took up the torch, suggesting the Lighthouse has existed for a considerable time and has had multiple custodians.

The Lighthouse maintains connections to Ultimate Madoka and the Law of Cycles. The Window of Memory features a design showing Madoka and the wings of Ultimate Madoka, and this same symbol appears on the floor of the Main Room. The symbols of the Law of Cycles can also be seen above windows to either side of the Soul Gem mural. The opening animation of Magia Exedra prominently features these connections, suggesting a fundamental relationship between the Lighthouse's function of guiding Magical Girls' souls and the Law of Cycles' role as their salvation.

The relationship between the Lighthouse and the Magia Record is a subject of significant speculation. The Lighthouse contains the Puella Magi Diarium, which is also said to be stored within the Magia Record, suggesting a connection between the two archives. Both spaces serve as repositories for the memories and records of Magical Girls and it is possible the Lighthouse is what became of the Magia Record. The Lighthouse bears similarities to the Nameless Star within Nazukasokotsune, and given the unclear number of Nazukasokotsunes in the multiverse, it is possible the Lighthouse is what became of a different Nazukasokotsune, or something else entirely.

A-Q himself is theorized to be what became of Alina Gray, based on his ability to create Labyrinths similar to hers, his interest in art, and his stated history of having been part of a trio (the three Magius), then a duo (Alina and Mikoto Sena, or Alina and Karin Misono), and part of a greater group (the entire Automatic Purification System). Similarly, Nighthawk bears many associations with Kuroe, including connections to the Nighthawk Witch and the cookbook he treasures, which is likely Iroha's. The drawing of four girls in front of a cherry blossom tree found within the Lighthouse is almost certainly of Iroha, Touka, Nemu, and Ui in front of the Eternal Sakura. The Nameless Girl has been theorized to have been the original identity of 10^-43, as the Witch was once responsible for allowing Iroha, Ui, and Lil' Kyubey to leave the Magia Record, or alternatively to be the previous keeper of the Lighthouse who lost her identity.

Overall, the scope of the Lighthouse seems to be comparable, or even surpass that of the Endless Mirrors and Law of Cycles. As the story of Magia Exedra seems to take place in a future point in time compared to the rest of the franchise, forming definitive connections between them is not currently possible.

The Exedra Quest story reveals that the Lighthouse is connected to a phenomenon called the Darklight, which corrupts the space and threatens to erase Magical Girls from every universe. The Darklight is capable of eating away at Memsparks, and if left unchecked, could proceed to erase every Magical Girl from every reality. This threat prompted the Nameless Girl and her Kioku to enter a warped Memspark to save Sayaka Miki, whose concept had collapsed and was at risk of being erased from existence.

The Lighthouse's ultimate nature and purpose remain subjects of ongoing revelation. What is certain is that it exists as a unique interdimensional space that transcends the boundaries of any single universe, serving as a guide for Magical Girls' souls and a repository for their memories. Its connections to the Law of Cycles, the Magia Record, and the broader multiverse suggest it may play a crucial role in the cosmological structure of the entire franchise.

Time Railroad

In Null Magical Girl, there are similar spaces outside conventional space-time that are given names.

Super-time is the dimensional space beyond linear, conventional time and Inner Universes are spaces where countless timelines are accessible from and converge. In contrast, Outer Universes are implied to be the physical cosmoses governed by the laws of thermodynamics and entropy.

It should be noted that these terms have only been used in Null Magical Girl, thus they're not used outside of articles dedicated to it.

By using the Time Railroad, created by the Homo magica to conquer all of spacetime, Kosane is able to go 800,000 years into the future. When she tries to make her way back, an explosion on the engine causes her to fuse with it, as well as the many Incubators she was carrying.

Kosane is able to see all of human history from the formation of the Homo sapiens to the end of the universe at the hands of Homo magica, even spending millions of years trying to stop it. Despite her many powers from the fusion and the Symmetry Chrysalis, Kosane is unable to access other worlds, eternally confined to the time axis where she fights Eruna for eternity.

For more information, see Kosane Kiriha, or the story of Null Magical Girl.

Known Universes

The franchise depicts several such universes, each with fundamentally different histories and/or rules. The relationships between these universes are complex, with an extensive time axis formed through Homura's time travel, and then all of the created timelines changing from rewrites within the primary sequence of events, while others have seemingly always existed as separate realities with their own distinct rules.

Original Universe

The Original Universe is the first universe depicted in the franchise, where Kyubey created the system of Magical Girls becoming Demons. In this reality, Magical Girls are contracted by Kyubey, granted a single wish, and given a Core that contains their extracted soul. As they use magic and succumb to despair, their Soul Gems darken until they transform into Demons, creatures of despair without individuality that spread curses and must be fought by other Magical Girls. This cycle of hope and despair is the fundamental metaphysical rule of the Original Universe.

After Marguerite's wish and subsequent creation of the Nazukasokotsune, Magical Girls gained Soul Gems and became Witches.

The Original Universe's timeline is characterized by the time loops created by Homura Akemi. After witnessing Madoka Kaname's death in the first timeline, Homura makes a contract with Kyubey to go back in time and save Madoka, creating a new timeline in which she repeats the same month. She continues this cycle for an unknown number of iterations—estimated at around one hundred by staff interviews at most, though at the very least being fourteen—each time failing to save Madoka and growing more isolated and desperate. These loops form a Time Axis, with each iteration being a branch timeline within the Original Universe.

The Original Universe's final timeline culminates in Madoka making a contract with Kyubey to erase Witches before they are born in the past, present, and future everywhere. Thanks to her immense karmic potential—accumulated through Homura's countless time loops—Madoka becomes a godlike being, Ultimate Madoka, and rewrites the rules of all realities within her reach. This universal rewrite creates the Law of Cycles Universe, fundamentally altering the metaphysical rules of the Original Universe and all its timelines. Madoka herself becomes the Law of Cycles, a conceptual entity that exists outside any specific timeline, and her existence is erased from the world she saved, leaving only Homura to remember her.

Law of Cycles Universe

The Law of Cycles Universe refers to the vast cluster of countless universes and timelines unified under the Law of Cycles—the metaphysical rule established by Madoka Kaname's wish.

The Law of Cycles manages innumerable "Records," each representing a different reality. These Records include timelines Homura left behind after her time loops, as well as alternate universes that always existed separately. Ultimate Madoka can observe all of them, but she cannot always intervene without destroying a Record's unique nature. One such anomalous Record is the Magia Record Universe, where Witches still exist because its inhabitants developed the Doppel System—a separate method of purification that falls outside the Law of Cycles' direct management. Despite this, the Magia Record Universe remains within the Law of Cycles' broader reach.

After Homura splits Madoka from the Law of Cycles, the Law of Cycles loses its personality and becomes a mere machine, automatically collecting girls before they become Witches but lacking the consciousness and personality that Ultimate Madoka once provided.

Devil Universe

In contrast to the Law of Cycles Universe, the Devil Universe is a single, singular reality lacking any particular Interdimensional Space watching over it and it is signified by the moon being unnaturally missing its left half. When Homura separated Madoka from her divine aspect and stole a part of its power, she rewrote the world according to her own will and became Devil Homura. This rewrite only changed the reality she resided in, where Homura rules absolutely and Madoka lives a normal human life.

As this world is inside Devil Homura's Barrier, she often uses her Labyrinth as a sort of Otherworld, making the people around her and others disappear and then return to normal. She is also able to turn the landscape and architecture itself into metallicized pillars she can manipulate, as well as red liquid, which she can then transform back into different kinds of landscape even after it has shifted. Paired with her memory powers, she is able to shift the layout and workings of the world without normal humans, or even Magical Girls noticing. These powers allow her to also keep increased surveillance around her and even keep Kyubey following her orders—particularly in Mitakihara City.

Magical Girls still fight Wraiths in the Devil Universe, so the simplified Law of Cycles still has access to this timeline, though its scope is limited. It can only retrieve girls about to become Witches and cannot interfere in Homura's rule. The Devil Universe exists alongside other universes—including the Magia Record Universe—without erasing them.

After the creation of this Universe, Wasu was able to use the Nazukasokotsune to enter the Devil Universe from the Law of Cycles as Witch Girls. Through their mission, Kyubey gained access to the Nazukasokotsune, beyond Madoka or Homura's domains, and plans to use it to fulfill his plans again after the Witch Girls return to the Law of Cycles.

As Madoka is about to return to the Law of Cycles after she's regained her memories, Homura tries to stop her once more and Madoka agrees to stay with Homura for a bit more time. Homura changes the world to allow them to spend more time together, but eventually Madoka returns to the Law of Cycles with Homura's approval, with the two implied to be keeping contact with each other from then on.

Magia Record Universe

The Magia Record Universe is an alternate universe that exists within the broader reach of the Law of Cycles, yet is marked as a significant anomaly due to the continued existence of Witches within it. Ultimate Madoka can observe the Magia Record Universe but cannot directly intervene without destroying its unique nature.

The point of divergence for this universe is the survival of Iroha Tamaki. In nearly every other timeline, Iroha died in a car accident, but in this reality, her survival was caused by an unintentional act of time travel from another Homura.

The history of this universe has been affected by retroactive time travel from the present. Notably, this universe and ones similar to it seem to have had the Witch system even before Marguerite's time. While this phenomenon can be attributed to the past being changed due to the presence of Endless Mirrors, or 10^-43, this divergence isn't explained.

Narratively, the events of the Magia Record Universe are surmised to take place between the establishment of the Law of Cycles and before the formation of the Devil Universe. This is able to be determined as it is implied that the same Nagisa was sent to the Magia Record, as well as on the mission to save Homura. In the event that the two Nagisas are separate, Arc 2 of Magia Record can be interpreted as taking place concurrently with the formation of the Devil Universe.

Magia Exedra Universe

The Magia Exedra Universe is unique among the known universes documented in this article in that its events do not take place within any single conventional reality. Instead, the story unfolds exclusively from within the Lighthouse Theatre—an interdimensional space that exists outside of all universes in a realm of pure "rules" or "concepts."

Additionally, the events of Magia Exedra appear to take place much further into the future than any other universe or interdimensional space depicted in the franchise. The presence of things like the Puella Magi Diarium and Sorana Nagiboshi's Memory Window confirms this, though the exact interval of time between them is unknown.

Because the Lighthouse was pulled from its original universe and now resides in an "outer place" from which all universes can be observed, the events of Magia Exedra are uniquely not confined to any one timeline. The Magia Exedra Universe has many connections to the Magia Record Universe, though it bears similarities to the Nazukasokotsune as well.

Given the unclear number of Nazukasokotsunes in the multiverse, it is also possible the Lighthouse is what became of a different Nazukasokotsune, or something else entirely. A-Q himself is theorized to be what became of Alina Gray, Nighthawk bears many associations with Kuroe, and the Nameless Girl has been theorized to have been the original identity of 10^-43, or alternatively to be the previous keeper of the Lighthouse who lost her identity.

Other Universes

In addition to the primary universes documented above, the franchise depicts numerous alternate universes and branch timelines that exist outside the main continuities. These realities range from alternate versions of the Original Universe created through Homura's time loops, to entirely separate worlds with fundamentally different rules and histories. The distinction between a branch timeline and a true alternate universe is often unclear, particularly in cases involving time travel, and many of these realities exist in a state of uncertain canonicity relative to the main storylines.

Several alternate timelines branch off from the Original Universe, depicting different outcomes of Homura's time loops or entirely separate scenarios involving the same characters under different circumstances:

1. Oriko Magica depicts a Time Axis focused on Oriko Mikuni, a Magical Girl who can see the future.
2. The Different Story depicts a timeline where Mami Tomoe and Kyoko Sakura confront their shared past after Kyoko returns to Mitakihara.
3. Homura's Revenge! depicts a non-canonical scenario where Homura takes Madoka back in time with her, with Kyubey also following them.
4. Madoka Magica Portable presents a branching narrative structure that explores numerous "what-if" scenarios based on different choices Homura or the others could make during her time loops.
5. Madoka Magica Online depicts a separate continuity where another Magical Girl, possibly named Suzuka Ando, lives in Mitakihara and becomes an irregular variable in Homura's time loops.
6. Magia Exedra What-If Stories include numerous short stories framed as possible memories from within the vast tapestry of time and space. These stories depict various slice-of-life moments that may or may not have occurred in any specific timeline.

The Magia Record Universe also contains numerous alternate timelines and parallel worlds, many of which are connected through the Endless Mirrors Labyrinth.

1. Among these is the universe of the Magia Record Anime, which depicts a near-duplicate of the game's universe with critical deviations, ultimately leading to the universe being made into a Record by Ultimate Madoka.
2. Other universes explored in Magia Record also include crossovers with other franchises such as Lyrical Nanoha and Lycoris Recoil.

The Null Timeline is a unique reality that exists isolated from other universes, forming a closed causal loop that defines its own reality. The story follows Kosane Kiriha, a "null Magical Girl" who exists as a self-replicating soul loop and fights an eternal battle against her twin sister Eruna ad infinitum.

Several works in the franchise also take a more comedic or experimental approach, often breaking the fourth wall and existing outside the main continuity.

Magia Exedra explores alternate universes more directly and in greater quantity than other entries in the franchise, framing them from the viewpoint of Name experiencing them herself.

1. Among them are worlds where the Magical Girl System and history are entirely different, even having them called Sorceresses, or Guardians.
2. The reality affected by the Darklight, where the concept of Sayaka Miki is at risk of disappearing from the entire multiverse.
3. Sorana Magica, which is a story starting out in the year 2225, where humanity has spread to the stars.

Trivia

• The franchise also seems to take from Monadism in how it defines souls. Monadism is a philosophical doctrine stating that the universe is made up of basic, indivisible, and independent units called monads. In the universe of the Magia Record anime, when Iroha spoke to Ui's departing soul, Ui tells her that they were all made of small particles which lie between everything.
  • In Episode 15 when Mitama talks about Doppels, one of the slides says "The me who is not 'I'." Additionally, the white-dressed Homura in Wraith Arc labeled herself as "I," thus leading to the possible interpretation that the "Me" is the light of the soul, while the "I" is the light. This also ties in to what Ui told Iroha in episode 25, where she referred to the entirety as "Us." It is possible that the black and white silhouettes of Homura inside Homura's Soul Gem Rebellion could be the so-called monads of her soul.
• The Universe's "Antibodies" bear a resemblance to the aura that Wraiths give out, suggesting a connection between them, or that the Wraiths are extensions of the Will of the Universe created after Madoka rewrote its laws. However, this connection is only a fanmade analysis and not confirmed.
  • It is also unknown if the aforementioned antibodies are somehow connected to the symmetry chrysalis of the universe, or whether they are one and the same.
• The definition of what constitutes an "era" in the case of 10^-43 is unclear and likely not meant to be analyzed literally. If we take the smallest time possible between Puella Historia missions—that being the time after the end of Mirage of Alexandria starting at 29 BCE, and the end of The Lovers in the Pax Romana at 79 CE—we can make a rough estimate that each era spans approximately 108 years, resulting in 43 eras covering the period from 2621 BCE to 2514 BCE, until 1916 CE to 2023 CE.