Magic
Magic in the Magica Universe are forces created from fluctuation of emotion, unbounded by the First Law of Thermodynamic. When QB's scientifically-advanced civilization discovered Magic, they realized Magic's capacity to create new energy can postpone maximum Entropy and delay the heat death of the Universe. However, QB's civilization are incapable of emotions, thus they scoured the Universe for species with the most emotional potential. QB found his answer in the Earth's human females, especially those still developing secondary sex characteristics. Mahou Shoujo and Witches, thus the settings of the story, are the result of QB's quest to harvest this energy.
Magical creatures
Three types of magical creatures exist in Magica universe: magical girls, witches, and familiars. However, because both familiars and magic girls can mature into witches, all three may be considered stages of a single species. Souls of magic girls and witches are separated from their bodies and reside in soul gems and grief seeds, respectively. Because of this, magic girls and witches are nigh invulnerable as long as their soul gems or grief seeds are intact and can recover in due time. Familiars do not have grief seeds, so they are presumed dead when killed. Both soul gems and grief seeds are adorned by the emblem of the holder, and familiars carry the emblem of witch whom they budded from.
Read more about emblems at soul gems and grief seeds.
Common abilities
All magical girls are capable of:
- Summon weaponry: Magic girls typically summon their offensive weapon from thin air at will. Each has their own characteristic weaponry and fighting style that they gain increasing proficiency at. The weapons themselves are typically of mandane in nature, such as rifles or swords, and not magically imbued.
- Henshin: Magical girls undergo a magical transformation that summons fancy new costume onto their body. It is assumed that the costume provides protection.
- Physical enhancements: All magical girls exhibits superhuman strength, agility, reaction, and regeneration. Further training allows the girls to be able to shut off their sense of pain during battle.
- Witch Detection: Soul gems glow when there are witches nearby, or if there have been witches nearby recently. From Episode 1, when Mami tells Homura that she can still chase after the witch, and from Episode 6, when Sayaka tries to find the trail of the familiar Anja, witches seem to leave behind some sort of trail of energy which magical girls can detect and follow. From episode 9, when Kyouko assures Madoka that the witch she's chasing has the same energy signature, it can be surmised that each witch has a different trail, possibly similar to a fingerprint or other identifier. In essence, every witch may be unique. It is unclear whether a witch's familiar has the same energy signature as the original witch, and it is unclear whether soul gems can also detect victims of a witches' kiss.
- Telepathy: Magic girls are capable of telepathically communicate with others as needed. There appear to be a range limit for this.