Witch Runes
Witch Characters (マジョ文字 Majo Moji)[1], more commonly yet unofficially referred to as Runes by fans, are a recurring element in the Madoka Magica franchise. Witch Characters are used by Witches and can be read by magical girls. Four different Witch Character alphabets exist, which were named Modern, Archaic, Musical and Latin by fans. The Witch 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 Witch Characters
| Roman | Cyrillic | Modern | Archaic | Musical | Roman | Cyrillic | Modern | Archaic | Musical |
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| A | А | 
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P | Р | .png)
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| B | 
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Q | 
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| C | С | 
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R | 
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| D | 
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S | 
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| E | 
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T | 
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| F | 
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U | 
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| G | 
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V | 
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| H | 
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W | 
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| I | 
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X | 
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| J | 
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Y | У | 
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| K | 
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Z | 
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| L | 
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Ä | 
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| M | М | 
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Ö | 
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| N | 
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Ü | 
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| O | 
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ß(ẞ) | 
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| Я | |
Unidentified (Possibly an "N" variant) | 
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| Numbers | Modern | Archaic | Musical | Numbers | Modern | Archaic | Musical | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 
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5 | 
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| 1 | 
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6 | 
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| 2 | 
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7 | 
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| 3 | 
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8 | 
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| 4 | 
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9 | 
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| Math Symbols | Modern | Archaic | Musical | Math Symbols | Modern | Archaic | Musical | ||
| ^ | 
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− | 
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| Roman | Cyrillic | Latin | ? | Roman | Cyrillic | Latin | ? |
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| A/a | А/а | 
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P/p | Р/р | 
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| B/b | 
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Q/q | |||||
| C/c | С/с | 
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R/r | 
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| D/d | 
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S/s | 
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| E/e | 
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T/t | 
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| F/f | U/u | 
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| G/g | 
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V/v | ||||
| H/h | 
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W/w | 
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| I/i | 
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X/x | ||||
| J/j | Y/y | У/у | 
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| K/k | 
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Z/z | |||||
| L/l | 
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Ä/ä | 
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| M/m | М/м | 
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Ö/ö | ||||
| N/n | 
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Ü/ü | ||||
| O/o | 
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ẞ/ß | |||||
| Я/я |
Official Translation
- Gertrud, Charlotte and Oktavia's names were typed in Japanese for some products and merchandises.
- In the English dub of the Magia Record Anime, Some Witch's name are translated in English. When a Witch's name is displayed in Witch Characters, its name is also shown in English-styled Witch Characters.
- 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 Witch Characters are an original art by Inu Curry.
- During the Aniplex USA Madoka Premiere, the production staff was very surprised when overseas fans cracked the Witch Characters. It was stated that even obsessive Japanese fans had not gone that far.
- Even though punctuation marks rarely appear in Witch Character 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 Witch Characters.
- The Latin Witch Characters resemble the actual letters they represent more than the normal Witch Characters.
- 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.
Witch Characters 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
- Other sources
Using Witch Characters on this wiki
You can use Witch Character 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 Witch Characters, 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.