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'''Elsa Maria''' ({{Runes|ELSAMARIA}}) is a [[witch]] who battles [[Sayaka]] at the end of [[Episode 7]]. She reappears in [[Madoka Magica Portable]] and [[Madoka Magica Mobage]]. Her familiars make an appearance in [[The Rebellion Story]] and [[Magia Record]]
'''Elsa Maria''' ({{Runes|ELSAMARIA}}) is a [[witch]] who battles [[Sayaka]] at the end of [[Episode 7]]. Her [[barrier]] is full of dark shadows with a white background. Her symbolism includes Christian crosses, and the terrain forms a large arm holding either a torch or a monstrance. Elsa Maria appears to be praying before this object when Sayaka engages her. She fights with fanged snake-like minions and tree branches that extend from her body.
==Witch Card==
 
{{Card
{{Card
|name          = Elsa Maria
|name          = Elsa Maria
Line 15: Line 14:
== Minions ==
== Minions ==
{{Card
{{Card
|name          = Sebastian's
|name          = Sebastian
|runes        = SEBASTIAN'S
|runes        = SEBASTIAN
|image        = File:Card Sebastian.png
|image        = File:Card Sebastian.png
|japanese_desc = 影の魔女の手下。その役割は妄信。 影の魔女によって平等に救われてしまった命達の集合体。 彼らは同胞を求めている。
|japanese_desc = 影の魔女の手下。その役割は妄信。 影の魔女によって平等に救われてしまった命達の集合体。 彼らは同胞を求めている。
Line 22: Line 21:
|type          = Shadow witch's minions
|type          = Shadow witch's minions
|task          = Blind belief
|task          = Blind belief
|episodes      = [[Episode 7]]
|episodes      = [[Episode 7]], [[The Rebellion Story]]
}}
}}


==Speculations==
==History==
*Elsa Maria may be [[Momo Sakura|Kyouko's younger sister]], who Kyubey secretly made into a Puella Magi.
===Original Anime===
**It would appear to be very hard for there to be a magical girl that other magical girls didn't know about in the first place, especially when another one was her ''sister''. This seems too unlikely, especially since Kyouko said, in episode 7, that everyone but her in her family were killed...
Elsa Maria appears at the end of [[Episode 7]] where she fights [[Sayaka]]. [[Madoka]] accompanies her and [[Kyoko]] arrives to help. Elsa Maria uses an attack where a thick tree grows out of her back to stop Sayaka growing close to her. She is swiftly defeated due to Sayaka's emotional state, she hacks at her mercilessly with blood spurting out of the witch. Her [[Grief Seed]] is shown after the fight. Sayaka rejects it and gives it to Kyoko.
***There's no doubt that Elsa Maria has some sort of religious symbolism to her, since she's praying, but there's not even a single reference to the Sakura family religious symbol, whereas Kyouko literally wears it as part of her magical girl outfit. This speculation seems at best very unlikely.
 
*Some think that Elsa Maria, as a girl, was abused by the church and wished for it to stop/for the abuser to perish. When this then happened she may have been overcome by grief and turned into a witch, which nature is self-righteous. Could fit if we consider that her barrier is based on a church because she became a witch in a church.
===The Rebellion Story===
*Possibly a reference to the song Ave Maria which [[Kyousuke Kamijou]] is known to play.
While Elsa Maria doesn't make a reappearance in [[The Rebellion Story]], her familiars do. [[Nagisa]] rides on them during the fight against {{Spoiler|Homulilly}}.
*It could also be a reference to Jeanne d'Arc, another magical girl (as shown in episode 12.) Jeanne said she was hearing the voices of saints, angels and God, and prayed very often.
===Madogatari Song===
*The praying stance she has and the shadows that form her world lead some fans to think Elsa Maria is a referance to the game 'Limbo' in which a young girl is seen praying (or kneeling at least) at two points in the game. The protagonist searches for her since she is his missing/dead sister.
'''The Witch's Hymn''' (魔女の賛美歌)<br>
*Elsa Maria ''may'' be linked to [[wikipedia:Kakure_Kirishitan|Kakure Kirishitan]] (or "Hidden Christians") which were a group of practicing Christians that existed in hiding from the mid 1600's and on. Freedom of Religion was finally granted to Japanese citizens in 1871, which may have been the result of a wish. This would explain the heavily religious nature of the witch.
<table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: #ddd; margin-top: 20px;">
**The counter-argument to this is since there's strong evidence that magical girls do not tend to live long, with mid-20s to 30s being considered a [[Puella_Magi_Production_Note#Roberta|long life]] for a magical girl, it is unlikely that Elsa Maria's wish was related to events that occurred hundreds of years in the past.
<tr>
***However, it is possible that she is a long-lived witch.
<th style="text-align: right; background: #efefef;">Original text</th>
** On the other hand, Elsa Maria could simply be a modern Japanese Christian, possibly a descendant of the ''Kakure Kirishitan'' and/or simply very influenced by their history and martyrdom (like real life writer [[wikipedia:Shusaku_Endo|Shusaku Endo]], who was Catholic). She could be from either [[wikipedia:Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] (the city with the biggest historical connection with Japanese Catholicism, and one of the places where the ''Kakure Kirishitan'' came from) or the Madoka world's equivalent to Nagasaki.
<th style="text-align: left; background: #efefef;">Translation</th>
*[[Puella_Magi_Madoka_Magica_Official_Guidebook_"You_Are_Not_Alone"#Labyrinth_design|The Guidebook]] indicates that Elsa Maria's labyrinth design is a Church, with the words ''"I wish you, although not seen from me, to be happy."'' (まだ見ないあなたが幸せであるように). It indicates when the Witch dies, the stained glass collapses and drops into the air. There's a 'baaaaaaahn' sound like from a pipe organ.
</tr>
**Perhaps the line indicates that while Elsa Maria wished the happiness of others (or someone else's), it could not reflect or attain her own happiness.
<tr>
**Perhaps Elsa Maria was an organist or had a connection to a church pipe organ.
<td>
***Historic Fact: The word ''organ'' is derived from the Latin [[wikipedia:Organum_(musical_instrument)|''organum'']], an instrument similar to a [[wikipedia:Portative_organ|portative organ]] used in ancient Roman circus games. In the 3rd century BC, the Greek engineer [[wikipedia:Ctesibius|Ctesibius of Alexandria]] is credited with inventing an instrument called the [[wikipedia:Hydraulis|hydraulis]] (aka a Water Organ), which delivered a wind supply maintained through water pressure to a set of pipes. The hydraulis was played in the arenas of the Roman Empire.
光よ 祈りよ ビン底よ<br>
****Interestingly enough, Ctesibius is considered to be the "father of [[wikipedia:Pneumatics|pneumatics]]", which deals with the study and application of use of pressurized gas to effect mechanical motion: ''ex.'' trains.
主なる骨のこびり付き肉<br>
*The tree growing from Elsa Maria's back may be a reference to the tale of Eve & Adam. Sebastian may then be the animals in The Garden of Eden.
殻の内には 美徳の炭塊<br>
 
主なる力よ 罪 沈め給え<br>
この怒りは 悲しみは<br>
歓声の群れの食べ残し<br>
 
舐め取り給え 誰も等しく<br>
伸びる炭影 その全てまで<br><td>
O light, o prayer, o bottle-base<br>
Clinging bits of meat upon the Lordly bones <br>
Inside the shell are the coal lumps of virtue<br>
O Lordly power, submerge our sins<br>
This anger-- this sorrow-- they are<br>
The table scraps of the crowding cheers of joy <br>
Lick them up equally, one and all<br>
Those long coal shadows, to the very last drop<br></td>
</tr>
<tr>
</table><br>
==Observations==
*She is named after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Asenijeff Elsa Asenijeff], also known as Elsa Maria Packeny. After refusing many proposals, she was forced by her parents to marry a diplomat eleven years her senior; She felt at the mercy of her husband, a theme that influenced her literary works. She eventually divorced the diplomat and remarried an artist, though this marriage too suffered when her second husband took an 18-year-old girl named Gertrude Bock as a model and companion, whom he eventually married shortly before his death after he and Asenijeff also divorced. After this divorce, she lived in poverty as her second ex-husband refused to support her financially; she eventually became isolated from her friends and family and was admitted to a psychiatric clinic
*Her name is possibly a reference to the song Ave Maria which [[Kyousuke Kamijou]] is known to play
*She could also be a reference to Jeanne d'Arc, another magical girl (as shown in episode 12.) Jeanne said she was hearing the voices of saints, angels and God, and prayed very often
*Elsa Maria may be linked to [[wikipedia:Kakure_Kirishitan|Kakure Kirishitan]] (or "Hidden Christians") which were a group of practicing Christians that existed in hiding from the mid 1600's and on. Freedom of Religion was finally granted to Japanese citizens in 1871, which may have been the result of a wish. This would explain the heavily religious nature of the witch.
**This can be an accurate theory because witches can not only live forever if never killed, which in this case would be difficult because of how she can only be defeated by a magical girl "with the blackest anguish," but they can also live on as familiars that break away and grow back into witches. Not all witches are necessarily new, they can survive for a very long time and duplicate if a part is broken off.  
** On the other hand, Elsa Maria could be a modern Japanese Christian, possibly a descendant of the ''Kakure Kirishitan'' and/or just ''very'' influenced by their history and martyrdom (like real life writer [[wikipedia:Shusaku_Endo|Shusaku Endo]], who was Catholic). She might be from either [[wikipedia:Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] (the city with the biggest historical connection with Japanese Catholicism, and one of the places where the ''Kakure Kirishitan'' came from), [[wikipedia:Akita|Akita]] (the prefecture where the Marian apparitions known as [[wikipedia:Our_Lady_of_Akita|Our Lady of Akita]] took place) or the Madoka world's equivalent to Nagasaki and Akita.
*The tree growing from Elsa Maria's back may be a reference to the Biblical tale of Adam & Eve. The familiars could be a reference to the animals in The Garden of Eden
*There is possibility that Elsa Maria is praying for America to end World War II, given the Statue of Liberty-like image in her labyrinth.  The dead tree look of her attacks may reference the effect of the fallout radiation from the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Japan.  Her minions also are representative of the twelve zodiac, which may imply the transition after World War II from Eastern thought to the Western thought that happened after World War II
 
==Trivia==
*[[Puella_Magi_Madoka_Magica_Official_Guidebook_"You_Are_Not_Alone"#Labyrinth_design|The Guidebook]] indicates that Elsa Maria's labyrinth design is a Church, with the words ''"I wish you, although not seen from me, to be happy."'' (まだ見ないあなたが幸せであるように). It indicates when the Witch dies, the stained glass collapses and drops into the air. There's a 'baaaaaaahn' sound like from a pipe organ


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
Line 48: Line 79:
===Official Art===
===Official Art===
<gallery position="center" captionalign="left">
<gallery position="center" captionalign="left">
File:ElsaMaria_manga_version.jpg|Elsa Maria in manga
File:Puella Magi Production Note by Inu Curry Elsa Maria.jpg|TL of Upper right corner: ''"A girl has become a mahou shoujo to save the world. However, Nothing has changed at all. Even a little. For sure, there is lack of salvation. I must help. I must help. Equally, All impartially."''
File:PN 17.jpg|Sketches from production notes.
File:PN 17.jpg|Art of Elsa Maria from the [[Puella Magi Production Note]]
File:Production Note 0015.jpg
File:Image Note 0034.jpg
File:PN 18.jpg
File:PN 18.jpg
File:Production note elsa maria.jpg
File:Production Note 0011.jpg
File:Guidebook 0051.jpg|Puella Magi Madoka Magica Official Guidebook "You Are Not Alone"
File:Image Note 0035.jpg|Storyboards of Sayaka fighting Elsa Maria
File:Guidebook 0062.jpg
File:Image Note 0037.jpg
File:Production Note 0011.jpg|Production notes.
File:Image Note 0038.jpg
File:Production Note 0015.jpg
File:Guidebook 0051.jpg|Art from the [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica Official Guidebook "You Are Not Alone"]]
File:GRIEF GS ICON ELSA.png|Elsa Maria's Grief Seed from [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica Portable]]
File:Guidebook 0066.jpg
File:Key Animation Note Vol 6 01.jpg|Art featuring Elsa Maria and Sebastian from the [[Key Animation Note]] volume 6
File:Memoria 1008 c.png|Memoria card from [[Magia Record]]
</gallery>
</gallery>


===Screenshots===
===Screenshots===
<gallery position="center" captionalign="left">
<gallery position="center" captionalign="left">
File:Elsamaria-runes.jpg|Runes circling the left and right sides of the screen reveal Elsa Maria's name.
File:em barrier opening.png|The labyrinth begins to appear in [[Episode 7]]
File:Elsa maria rune bd.jpg|The same scene on BD version.
File:Elsamaria-runes.jpg|Runes circling the left and right sides of the screen reveal Elsa Maria's name
File:Elsamaria_whole_image.jpg|Combined images of Elsa Maria's labyrinth.
File:Elsa maria rune bd.jpg|The same scene on BD version
File:Elsamaria-grief-seed.PNG|Elsa Maria's grief seed.
File:Elsamaria_whole_image.jpg|Combined images of Elsa Maria's labyrinth
File:Elsa_Maria%27s_grief_seed.jpg|Another look at her grief seed.
File:anime sebastian 1.png|Sebastian
File:Elsa maria statue.jpg|Elsa Maria's labyrinth, outside view on BD version.
File:anime sebastian 2.png
File:anime sebastian 3.png
File:em tree attack 1.png|Elsa Maria's tree attack
File:em tree attack 2.png
File:em tree attack 3.png
File:em dead.png|Sayaka kills Elsa Maria
File:em flails.png
File:em star explosion.png
File:em dead hands.png
File:em dead trees.png
File:em barrier shawl 1.png|A shawl floats down as the labyrinth crumbles
File:em shawl.png
File:Elsa maria statue.jpg|Elsa Maria's labyrinth, outside view on BD version
File:Elsamaria-grief-seed.PNG|Elsa Maria's Grief Seed
File:Elsa_Maria%27s_grief_seed.jpg
</gallery>
</gallery>


===Miscellaneous comparisons===
===The Rebellion Story===
<gallery position="center" captionalign="left">
<gallery position="center" captionalign="left">
File:Elsamaria.PNG|Elsa Maria in her barrier.
Ptyor adelbert sebastian.PNG|Sebastian in [[The Rebellion Story]]
File:Monstrace.png|A monstrance side by side with the witch's object.
</gallery>
File:Statue of Liberty.png|The Statue of Liberty's torch side by side with the witch's object.
 
File:Ep7witchandflashback.jpg|Shared symbolism raises the possibility that Elsa Maria might be [[Kyouko Sakura]]'s sister.
===Manga===
<gallery>
File:ElsaMaria_manga_version.jpg|Elsa Maria in the [[Madoka Magica Manga|manga]]
File:Manga elsa2.png
File:Manga elsa barrier.png|Elsa Maria's labyrinth
File:Manga elsa barrier2.png
File:Manga elsa grief seed.png|Elsa Maria's grief seed
File:Dsmanga Screenshot 2020-08-15 at 19.59.25.png|Elsa Maria in [[The Different Story]]
File:Dsmanga Em 2.png|Sebastian
File:Dsmanga Em 1.png
File:Dsmanga em barrier.png
File:Dsmanga em 3.png
Manga Army 3.png|Sebastian in the [[Rebellion Manga]]
Manga Army 4.png
Manga Fams 2.png
Manga Fams 4.png
File:Manga Familiars 3.png
File:Rmanga Sebastian 1.png
File:Rmanga Witch group 2.png
Rmanga Witch group 1.png|Elsa Maria's cameo
</gallery>
 
===Madoka Magica Portable===
<gallery>
File:Por elsie.png|Elsa Maria's introduction from [[Madoka Magica Portable]]
File:Por elsie runes.png|Elsa Maria's name in Runes
File:Por elsie familiars 1.png|New familiars that resemble hands
File:Por elsie familiars 2.png|They make shapes when idle
File:Elsie barrier 1.PNG|Elsa Maria's barrier
File:Elsie barrier 4.PNG|Elsa Maria's boss room
File:Elsie barrier 5.PNG|The entrance to Elsa Maria's boss room. This part was never seen in the anime
File:Por elsie kiss.png|Elsa Maria's witch kiss from the loading screen
File:GRIEF GS ICON ELSA.png|Elsa Maria's Grief Seed
</gallery>
 
===Madoka Magica Mobage===
<gallery>
File:mobage elsie in battle.png|Elsa Maria in [[Madoka Magica Mobage]]
File:mobage sebastian.png|Sebastian
File:mobage sebastian in battle.png
</gallery>
 
 
===Madoka Magica Plus===
<gallery>
File:Mobage elsa maria.jpg|Art of Elsa Maria from Madoka Magica Plus
</gallery>
 
===SLOT Puella Magi Madoka Magica===
<gallery>
File:Slot_1_elsie_death.PNG|Elsa Maria from SLOT Puella Magi Madoka Magica
</gallery>
 
===The Battle Pentagram===
<gallery>
File:Bp em introduction.png|Elsa Maria's introduction from [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Battle Pentagram|The Battle Pentagram]]
File:Bp em runes.png|Elsa Maria's name in Runes
File:Bp sebastian.png|The hand shaped Sebastian
File:Bp em recolour barrier 1.png|A white recolour of Elsa Maria's labyrinth
File:Bp em recolour barrier 2.png
File:Bp em recolour barrier 3.png|In this recoloured labyrinth, the red spire resembles [[:Media:Production Note 0011.jpg|art]] from the [[Puella Magi Production Note]] while also having a moon instead of a sun at the centre
</gallery>
</gallery>


==Fanart==
===Merchandise===
{{fanart}}
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:Elsa maria fanart human witch praying shadows.jpg
File:Movic_witch_coll2_ad.jpg|Movic Witch Collection 2
File:Elsa maria covering face sebastians fanart.jpg
File:Elsie_glass.png|Ichiban Kuji G prize art glass
File:Tumblr_lr0ev9Em0M1qjzzhoo1_500.jpg
File:Familiar folder.png|Ichiban Kuji H prize clear file
File:Elsa maria witch pray for me fanart.jpg
File:Soul Gem cell phone straps.jpg|Grief Seed phone strap
File:Elsa maria witch labyrinth fanart.jpg
File:31002_4.jpg|Grief Seed pin
File:Elsa_Maria.png
File:Entering_the_barrier.jpg
File:18471637 p18.jpg
File:ELSAMARIA black white artwork.jpg
</gallery>
</gallery>



Revision as of 13:04, 13 January 2021

Elsa Maria (ELSAMARIA) is a witch who battles Sayaka at the end of Episode 7. She reappears in Madoka Magica Portable and Madoka Magica Mobage. Her familiars make an appearance in The Rebellion Story and Magia Record

Witch Card

Card Elsa Maria.png

影の魔女。その性質は独善。全ての生命のために祈り続ける魔女。祈りの姿勢を崩さぬまま、その影の中へとあらゆる命を平等に引きずり込む。この魔女を倒したくば、黒色の苦痛を知らなくてはならない。

Elsa Maria

RunesELSA MARIA
TypeShadow witch
NatureSelf-righteousness
EpisodesEpisode 7

The witch of shadow with a self-righteous nature. She continually prays for all of creation and drags all life equally into her shadow without breaking her posture. One hoping to defeat her must know the blackest anguish.

Minions

Card Sebastian.png

影の魔女の手下。その役割は妄信。 影の魔女によって平等に救われてしまった命達の集合体。 彼らは同胞を求めている。

Sebastian

RunesSEBASTIAN
TypeShadow witch's minions
DutyBlind belief
EpisodesEpisode 7, The Rebellion Story

The shadow witch's minions, whose duty is to blindly believe. They are an aggregate of the lives who have found salvation thanks to the shadow witch. They continually seek out companions.

History

Original Anime

Elsa Maria appears at the end of Episode 7 where she fights Sayaka. Madoka accompanies her and Kyoko arrives to help. Elsa Maria uses an attack where a thick tree grows out of her back to stop Sayaka growing close to her. She is swiftly defeated due to Sayaka's emotional state, she hacks at her mercilessly with blood spurting out of the witch. Her Grief Seed is shown after the fight. Sayaka rejects it and gives it to Kyoko.

The Rebellion Story

While Elsa Maria doesn't make a reappearance in The Rebellion Story, her familiars do. Nagisa rides on them during the fight against Homulilly.

Madogatari Song

The Witch's Hymn (魔女の賛美歌)

Original text Translation

光よ 祈りよ ビン底よ
主なる骨のこびり付き肉
殻の内には 美徳の炭塊

主なる力よ 罪 沈め給え
この怒りは 悲しみは
歓声の群れの食べ残し

舐め取り給え 誰も等しく

伸びる炭影 その全てまで

O light, o prayer, o bottle-base
Clinging bits of meat upon the Lordly bones
Inside the shell are the coal lumps of virtue

O Lordly power, submerge our sins
This anger-- this sorrow-- they are
The table scraps of the crowding cheers of joy

Lick them up equally, one and all

Those long coal shadows, to the very last drop


Observations

  • She is named after Elsa Asenijeff, also known as Elsa Maria Packeny. After refusing many proposals, she was forced by her parents to marry a diplomat eleven years her senior; She felt at the mercy of her husband, a theme that influenced her literary works. She eventually divorced the diplomat and remarried an artist, though this marriage too suffered when her second husband took an 18-year-old girl named Gertrude Bock as a model and companion, whom he eventually married shortly before his death after he and Asenijeff also divorced. After this divorce, she lived in poverty as her second ex-husband refused to support her financially; she eventually became isolated from her friends and family and was admitted to a psychiatric clinic
  • Her name is possibly a reference to the song Ave Maria which Kyousuke Kamijou is known to play
  • She could also be a reference to Jeanne d'Arc, another magical girl (as shown in episode 12.) Jeanne said she was hearing the voices of saints, angels and God, and prayed very often
  • Elsa Maria may be linked to Kakure Kirishitan (or "Hidden Christians") which were a group of practicing Christians that existed in hiding from the mid 1600's and on. Freedom of Religion was finally granted to Japanese citizens in 1871, which may have been the result of a wish. This would explain the heavily religious nature of the witch.
    • This can be an accurate theory because witches can not only live forever if never killed, which in this case would be difficult because of how she can only be defeated by a magical girl "with the blackest anguish," but they can also live on as familiars that break away and grow back into witches. Not all witches are necessarily new, they can survive for a very long time and duplicate if a part is broken off.
    • On the other hand, Elsa Maria could be a modern Japanese Christian, possibly a descendant of the Kakure Kirishitan and/or just very influenced by their history and martyrdom (like real life writer Shusaku Endo, who was Catholic). She might be from either Nagasaki (the city with the biggest historical connection with Japanese Catholicism, and one of the places where the Kakure Kirishitan came from), Akita (the prefecture where the Marian apparitions known as Our Lady of Akita took place) or the Madoka world's equivalent to Nagasaki and Akita.
  • The tree growing from Elsa Maria's back may be a reference to the Biblical tale of Adam & Eve. The familiars could be a reference to the animals in The Garden of Eden
  • There is possibility that Elsa Maria is praying for America to end World War II, given the Statue of Liberty-like image in her labyrinth. The dead tree look of her attacks may reference the effect of the fallout radiation from the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Japan. Her minions also are representative of the twelve zodiac, which may imply the transition after World War II from Eastern thought to the Western thought that happened after World War II

Trivia

  • The Guidebook indicates that Elsa Maria's labyrinth design is a Church, with the words "I wish you, although not seen from me, to be happy." (まだ見ないあなたが幸せであるように). It indicates when the Witch dies, the stained glass collapses and drops into the air. There's a 'baaaaaaahn' sound like from a pipe organ

Gallery

Official Art

Screenshots

The Rebellion Story

Manga

Madoka Magica Portable

Madoka Magica Mobage


Madoka Magica Plus

SLOT Puella Magi Madoka Magica

The Battle Pentagram

Merchandise

External links