Kriemhild Gretchen

Kriemhild Gretchen (KRIEMHILD GRETCHEN) is the witch form of Madoka Kaname. She appears in the fourth timeline of Episode 10 as a mountain-sized creature. Her name was not shown during initial broadcast, but was added in a Nicovideo broadcast version one week later.

Nothing is known about the specifics of her powers or personality, but her formation in the second timeline involves thunderclouds coalescing into a giant humanoid (the name is not shown then, however, and thus it is not known whether that witch is also called Kriemhild Gretchen). According to Kyuubey, her strength in the fourth timeline is of such a magnitude that she could obliterate the planet within ten days.

Observations and speculah

• In Goethe's Faust, Gretchen, also known as Margarete, was the name of Faust's lover.
• Kriemhild, also known as Gudrun, is a figure from Norse Mythology. She is an important character in the epic poem Nibelungenlied. Note also that Kriemhild comes from the German words for "mask" and "battle".
• Some have come to believe that the mask shown at the end of the ending credits is actually Kriemhild's face, considering "Kriemhild"'s meaning of "battle mask".
• Kriemhild Gretchen's appearance as a giant shadow may be based off the phenomenon known as a Brocken Spectre. In both German folklore and Goethe's Faust, Walpurgis Night occurred on the Brocken, a mountain peak in Germany. The conditions on the Brocken often causes Brocken Spectres - magnified shadows of climbers being projected onto mist or clouds. Kriemhild Gretchen appears after the witch known as Walpurgis Night is defeated. If this is true, it's also possible that Kriemhild is not as large as she appears.

Gallery

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  Madoka/Kriemhild's grief seed.

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  Madoka's witch transformation in the second timeline.

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  This is either Madoka's witch form or her display of power in the second timeline.

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  Kriemhild Gretchen as seen just before Homura resets in the fourth timeline in the Nicovideo Channel broadcast.