Elsa Maria

Elsa Maria (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

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
Runes	ELSA MARIA
Type	Shadow witch
Nature	Self-righteousness
Episodes	Episode 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

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's
Runes	SEBASTIAN'S
Type	Shadow witch's minions
Duty	Blind belief
Episodes	Episode 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.

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.
Possibly a reference to the song Ave Maria which Kyousuke Kamijou is known to play.
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.
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

Elsa Maria in manga
Puella Magi Madoka Magica Official Guidebook "You Are Not Alone"
Memoria card from Magia Record

Puella Magi Production Notes by Inu Curry

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."
Art of Elsa Maria from the Puella Magi Production Note
Storyboards of Sayaka fighting Elsa Maria