Witch

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Gertrud, a Witch

A Witch (魔女, Majo) is a monstrous creature that appears across the Puella Magi franchise. Witches are the main enemies of Magical Girls, but in reality they are the final form of Magical Girls, a fact usually hidden by Kyubey.

Mechanics

Witch Era

"On this planet, you call females who have yet to become adults 'girls'. It makes sense then, since you'll eventually become Witches, you should be called 'Magical Girls'." — Kyubey, Madoka Magica Episode 8.

After a Magical Girl's Soul Gem accumulates too many curses, it will transform into a Grief Seed, and the girl will transform into a Witch, a fact Kyubey hides from the Magical Girls as to not discourage them. The Witch takes on a new form made out of magic, leaving the human body of the Magical Girl soulless, sometimes even going as far as to destroy it. Kyubey considers this transformation the ultimate purpose of a Magical Girl, as it is the thing that releases energy into the universe, pushing entropy further. These Witches go on to spread curses, targeting humans by controlling them and either eating them for energy^{[citation needed]} or using them to cause further chaos. They are mostly aggressive, attacking any humans that don't have a Witch's Kiss on them, any Magical Girls, and even other Witches who stumble into their labyrinth, though this depends on the Witch's nature.

Doppel System

In the Magia Record Universe, the Magical Girls were able to create the Automatic Purification System, a system that frees them from the fate of becoming Witches, and even lets them harness the power of their Witch as Doppels. Instead of transforming into Witches when their Soul Gems gather curses, they release a Doppel instead, a smaller Witch tied to a part of their bodies. This transformation isn't permanent, and because the Doppel uses the curses from the Soul Gem to form, it also uses them up, meaning that it disappears after some time and leaves the Soul Gem fully clean. This system is limited to one Universe, as it managed to work under very rare circumstances.

See also Doppel for more information.

Law of Cycles Era

After being taken into the Law of Cycles, Sayaka Miki is able to summon her Witch form, Oktavia von Seckendorff, at will

After Madoka Kaname makes the wish to erase every Witch before they are born across all of time, she becomes a goddess and creates a new universe with a new rule, called the Law of Cycles by Magical Girls. In this new universe, Magical Girls no longer turn into Witches, as Madoka takes their soul and body away before they can.

Even though Witches are supposed to be fully gone, they aren't, as after being taken by the Law of Cycles, the Magical Girls gain new powers, related to their Witches. These powers include being able to turn into their Witch form, summon the Witch as a separate being (that is presumably still controlled by the Magical Girl) and summon their Familiars to help them. The reason for why these new powers are tied to the Witches even though they're not supposed to exist in this new universe, is because the Witch system is still there, it's just overwritten by the Law of Cycles. This is why Kyubey could still make Homura Akemi turn into a Witch by just separating her from the Law of Cycles' reach.

Souls

Grief Seed

Gertrud's Grief Seed

A Grief Seed (グリーフシード, Gurīfushīdo) is a gem which usually appears after a Witch is defeated. It is a Magical Girl's Soul Gem transformed after collecting too many curses, so it's also the Witch's literal soul. It is useful to Magical Girls, and is treated like a reward, or even a currency.^{[citation needed]}

Grief Seeds are useful because they drain impurities when used on a dim Soul Gem, replenishing a Magical Girl's magic and staving off her transformation into a Witch. After a Witch turns into a mere Grief Seed, it isn't fully dead, as the Grief Seed absorbing too many impurities from Soul Gems could revive the Witch. To prevent this, Kyubey can swallow the Grief Seed, making it unable to hatch for unknown reasons; he considers this one of his many duties. Grief Seeds can also be consumed by Witches to make themselves stronger.^{[citation needed]}

Due to unknown reasons, a Witch is not always guaranteed to leave behind a Grief Seed when defeated, even though the Grief Seed is confirmed to be literally inside of its Witch.^{[citation needed]} This has been theorized to be at random or due to the attack also destroying the Grief Seed inside the Witch, but the reason is ultimately unknown.

Inside a Grief Seed is an energy with properties similar to an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC).^{[citation needed]} Unlike other stem cells, iPSCs are not found naturally within a living organism; rather, they are created in a laboratory by genetically reprogramming ordinary adult cells, effectively returning them to a pluripotent state where they have the potential to become any cell type.^{[citation needed]} This process mirrors the nature of a Grief Seed, which is a "programmed" Soul Gem that now contains an energy that can "become any emotion".^{[citation needed]} Grief Seeds can be reached and stimulated by the hydrogen line, a specific radio wave used to send and receive signals during searches for extraterrestrial intelligence; it can penetrate through any obstacle, including the bodies of Witches, and resonate with their Grief Seeds within, allowing whoever is sending the signal to stimulate and manipulate their emotions.^{[citation needed]} Touka Satomi further explains that, somehow, the hydrogen line can be emitted "with brain waves", such as brain waves used in hypnotism and waves that are emitted when one is excited, meaning that Witches can also feel others' emotions.^{[citation needed]}

See also Lists of Grief Seeds for lists of Grief Seed designs.

Witch's Heart

Umika Misaki holding Michiru Kazusa's Witch Heart

The Witch's Heart, also called Cuore Maleficus, is a physical manifestation of the Witch's life. When retrieved in a specific way through magic, it does not disappear like the rest of the Witch. It's likely that this part of a Witch is different for each Witch, and it may even be created only with specific application of magic to cultivate.

Satomi Usagi presenting Michiru Kazusa's Witch flesh

The flesh of a Witch has been referred to with many names, such as "Evil Stuffing," "Stuffed Witch," or "Malefica Farce" and it was used by the Pleiades Saints, in combination with the cultivated copy of the corpse of the girl whom the Witch came from, to create Witch Hybrids (unofficial name). These Witch Hybrids looked human and inherited some of the Pleiades' magic, but at their core, were still Witches and would suffer from frequent mutations and berserk states. This roster includes the main character of the manga this was all introduced in, Kazumi Subaru.

See also Kazumi Subaru for more information about Witch Hybrids.

Powers and Abilities

Witch's Kiss

H. N. Elly's Kiss on a victim's body

A Witch's Kiss is a marking used by a Witch or her Familiars to control the minds of humans. They can be used to exacerbate pre-existing negative emotions and thoughts, change personalities, make people commit crimes or suicide, or simply lure them into their Labyrinth to be consumed by the Witch.^{[citation needed]} Familiars can Kiss humans well outside of the Labyrinth they hail from in order to bring them to their Witch.^{[citation needed][verification needed]}

The Witch Kiss is visible on a victim's body, such as on the neck, the face or even limbs. Because of how magic is usually hidden from regular humans, this might be limited to Magical Girls. Humans with magical potential can still become Kissed. It is unconfirmed though implied, that even contracted Magical Girls can also be Kissed under special situations.

The symbol that makes up a Witch's Kiss is the Witch's personal symbol, often seen throughout her Labyrinth.

See also Witch's Kiss for a list of Witch Kiss designs.

Labyrinth

Kyoko Sakura slashing open an entrance to Oktavia von Seckendorff's Labyrinth out of thin air

Witches and Familiars reside in magical Labyrinths, hidden away from normal humans. These labyrinths interface with the real world at specific locations, and can be entered by Magical Girls through finding a clean entrance, or ripping open one. Because Witches look for people that are easy to kill, Witches tend to gather around places like violence-prone areas and hospitals. Extremely strong Witches, such as Walpurgisnacht, don't need to hide inside of a Labyrinth, and instead roam the real world freely. Regular humans still can't see them so the damage the Witch causes tends to be attributed to natural disasters such as tornadoes and earthquakes.

The labyrinths are also affected by their locations in reality, borrowing themes and context and incorporating it into the design of the Labyrinth's early levels. Deeper within the Labyrinth, more references to the Witch will be seen and fewer elements from reality show up. For example, in Madoka Magica Episode 3, Charlotte's Labyrinth is set in a hospital, therefore surgery signs, needles, gallipots, and wards are presented first, but deeper in, those are replaced by various kinds of desserts, and the boss room features nothing related to a hospital.

Familiars

Ulla, Suleika's Familiar

A Familiar (使い魔, Tsukaima) is an offspring of a Witch, summoned for a variety of purposes. They are described as "projections of the Magical Girl's heart before they became a Witch".

Unlike their parent Witches, Familiars are approximately weak enough for a human to do significant damage to them without magical assistance.^{[citation needed]} Familiars also do not drop any Grief Seeds when killed unless they have matured into a full Witch (See the section below). It appears that when a Witch is killed, Familiars in its Labyrinth also die alongside it.

After either eating 4 to 5 humans or fed enough magical energy^{[citation needed]}, Familiars will turn into a filled Grief Seed and grow into either identical copies of their parent Witch^{[citation needed]} or a different Witch that keeps their parent's type^{[citation needed]}, both able to spawn their own Familiars and dropping their own Grief Seed. This is a troubling topic amongst Magical Girls, as even though killing a regular one means it won't kill more people, it also means getting no reward, which prompts some Magical Girls to let loose Familiars eat a few people and grow a Grief Seed, just so they don't waste their magic. This fact is also exploited in a practice known as "Witch farming", where Magical Girls will collect familiars, feed them humans or magical energy, and harvest the Grief Seeds after they've grown.^{[citation needed]}

See also Category:Familiars for a list of named Familiars.

Terminology Through Time and Culture

Witches seem to be collectively named with different terms, depending on the time period and area. It is likely that in certain cases, the distinction between Witch and Familiar wasn't made.

In modern Japan and USA, as well as 15th century France, 13th century Tibet, and 11th century Norway, Denmark, and England (specifically by Vikings stationing there), the term is generally simply Witch (魔女, Majo) for the main monster and Familiar (使い魔, Tsukaima) for the smaller ones, which are the terms used through most of the series.

The traditional term used by the Tokime Clan is Devil (悪鬼, Akki) for Witch and Devil's Underling (悪鬼の子分, Akki no Kobun) or simply Underling (子分, Kobun) for Familiar, though eventually most characters belonging to the faction updated their terminology to the more common "Witch" and "Familiar".

Based on Puella Historia: The Ikusamiko of Kamihama, the term for Witch commonly used in Sengoku period Kamihama was Demon (妖魔, Youma). No term for Familiar has been shown.

Based on Puella Historia: The Heiress of Yamatai, the term for Witch commonly used in Yamatai in 3rd century CE was Cursed God (祟り神, Tatarigami). No term for Familiar has been shown.

Based on Puella Historia: The Lovers in the Pax Romana, the term for Witch commonly used in Pompeii in the 1st century CE was Monster of Myth (神話の怪物, shinwa no kaibutsu) or simply Monster (怪物, kaibutsu). This would likely translate to Latin as monstrum fabulae. No term for Familiar has been shown.

Based on Puella Historia: The Mirage of Alexandria, the term for Witch commonly used in Alexandria in the 1st century BCE was Evil God (魔の神, Ma no Kami). The dominant language spoken in Egypt at the time would have been Koine Greek, and this term would possibly translate as κακή θεᾱ́ (kake thea). However, Ebony also remarks that Kyubey has been simply using the term "Witch", and quickly switches to it upon talking to the Tokime Clan who used that term at the time. Familiars are known as Messengers of Evil Gods.

See Also

• Pseudo-witches, Witch-like creatures that appears when a human is imbued with an Evil Nut.