Walpurgis Night: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:19, 26 April 2011

Walpurgis Night (alternately referred to as "Walpurgisnacht" or "Walpurgis" in both the series and among fans) is supposedly the strongest witch current Magical Girls would have to fight. Her real name is unknown, while "Walpurgis Night" is a common moniker given to it by Puellae Magi. Her nature had been kept mysterious during most of the series, which led to a lot of speculation from fans during the original broadcast. This article's first purpose is, as with the other witches, to provide information about her.

However, this article is also a compilation of historical, mythological, and literary information concerning Walpurgisnacht (ワルプルギスの夜, Warupurugisu no Yoru, Night of Walpurgis), a term first mentioned by Homura in Episode 6. Any speculation regarding this subject has been archived here as well.

舞台装置の魔女（通称・ワルプルギスの夜 / 本名不明）その性質は無力。回り続ける愚者の象徴。歴史の中で語り継がれる謎の魔女。通称・ワルプルギスの夜。この世の全てを戯曲へ変えてしまうまで無軌道に世界中を回り続ける。普段逆さ位置にある人形が上部へ来た時、暴風の如き速度で飛行し瞬く間に地表の文明をひっくり返してしまう。

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Runes	?????
Type	Witch of stage settings
Nature	Helplessness
Episodes	Episode 1, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12

The witch of stage settings (alias: Walpurgis Night / real name: unknown); her nature is helplessness. She symbolizes the fool who continuously spins in circles. The witch's mysteries have been handed down through the course of history; her appellation is "Walpurgis Night." She will continue to rotate aimlessly throughout the world until she completely changes the whole of this age into a drama. When the doll's usual upside-down position reaches the top part of the witch, she completely roils the civilization on the ground in a flash through her gale-like flight.

Minions

舞台装置の魔女の手下。その役割は道化役者。強大な魔力に引かれ集まった無数の魂。ワルプルギスの夜自身が元々一人の誰かであったのか、或いは多くの魂が集合することにより生まれた幻であるのか、今となっては分からない。

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Runes	?????
Type	Minions of the witch of stage settings
Duty	Being clowns
Episodes	Episode 11, Episode 12

The stage setting witch's minions. Their duty is to be clowns. Countless souls drawn to her vast magical power. Nobody knows whether Walpurgis Night was initially a single person, or if it was a phantom born from the gathering of many spirits.

Trivia

Walpurgis Night is named for Walpurgisnacht, a traditional spring festival celebrated on 30 April or 1 May in large parts of Central and Northern Europe. For more information on the festival's history, cultural and literary impacts, and connection to witchcraft, see Speculah: Walpurgis Night.
Kyouko Sakura confirmed that Walpurgis was the most powerful witch in Episode 9; in Episode 10, however, Madoka Kaname eclipsed her in power in two of the timelines created by Homura Akemi, becoming the god-like Kriemhild Gretchen. Episode 11 showed that Walpurgis can withstand repeated attacks from heavy artillery, and her mere appearance can cause hundreds of deaths.
While Walpurgis does not need to hide in a barrier, like other witches, her arrival in Mitakihara Town is preceded by a carnival-like procession of familiars. This is apparently a reflection of her theatrical theme, and possibly also evidence of her desire to transform the world into a giant "stage."
The witch's most prominent familiars take the form of former magical girls, as evidenced by their resemblance to the puellae magi shown in the final scene of Episode 12.
Walpurgis never drops a Grief Seed in any of the timelines. Whether this is because she doesn't have one or because the Grief Seed is always lost in the confusion of battle is unknown.
The exterior view of Homura's residence resembles a scene from Shadow of Memories (Shadow of Destiny for North America). Interestingly, it went through several title changes before release, among them The Day and Night of Walpurgisnacht, Days of Walpurgis, and Time Adventure.

Speculation

Homura may have been tracking down several other magical girls to figure out which one of them became Walpurgis Night. She may also have been trying to figure out what the witch might look like; however, the visuals she has depict several magical girl appearances.
Walpurgis Night could be the witch of a magic girl who defeated the previous most powerful witch. As QB mentioned in Episode 10, the only choice left for a magic girl after defeating the most powerful witch "is to become a (even more powerful) witch herself".
Given the nature of Walpurgis Night and the presence of gears and the "falling" figure of the witch, Walpurgis Night could be the witch form of Homura. Although Homura's magic is very limited, her experience in multiple timelines makes the witch a formidable foe.
- Walpurgis Night could be Homura's witch form from the future, where she despairs with the fact that her involvement with Madoka only made her suffer some more. This would make sense if Timeline 1 was the best possible ending and the witch's goal is to kill Madoka alone (Timeline 1) or to kill Homura and end her fate.
It is possible that Walpurgis Night is a fusion of multiple witches into a single powerful entity. This is supported by Walpurgis Night in both real-world belief and Faust being a witch's gathering - in this case the witches are gathering into one entity. The magical girl silhouettes in Homura's room can be interpreted as Homura not tracking down one magical girl that becomes Walpurgis, but rather all of the magical girls that become Walpurgis. The Paul Klee painting "Walpurgisnacht," assuming it has relevance, does seem to depict several witches fused together.
- One of the pictures in Homura's room is of two lines of female silhouettes holding hands and dancing. In between the two lines is the word "Walpurgisnacht." Perhaps they're doing a fusion dance?
  - This theory is strangely sound, since the basis of Walpurgis Night is a gathering of witches. This could mean that Walpurgis Night could be a mash-up of many witches, thus creating a super-witch.
    - It's possible that the green haired magical girl in the 12th episode is Walpurgis Night, as she is lying in a field filled with Maypoles. Perhaps her final resting place influenced her witch form.

Gallery

Episode 1

Walpurgis Night's first appearance in the series.
The gear portion under the witch's skirt, moments before blowing Homura away.
A clearer shot of the gears.
Walpurgis's face can barely be discerned.
Ep1 Witch Approx.jpg

A fan's approximation of Walpurgis Night's appearance.
Ep1 Witch Prolog.jpg

Speculation that the Soul Gem shown in "Prolog in Himmel" scene may be that of Walpurgis.

Episode 8

One of the screens in Homura's residence displays an elaborate woodcut of the witch. She seems to be holding her "hands" to her mouth.
On the right-hand side of the image, Walpurgis Night is shown right-side-up and surrounded by flames. This is in line with her informational card, which states that she causes destruction when her upper body is righted.
The witch's familiars are shown more closely here.
A silhouette of an upside-down Walpurgis Night is accompanied by the text "Ein Narr," which translates to "a fool" in German; the witch's informational card also refers to her as a "fool."
Note the green figure above the caption "Walpurgis Night" on the left-hand side. This may have been Walpurgis's magical girl form, as a girl wearing a similar tulip-shaped skirt and conical headdress appears in the magical girl "lineup" at the end of the series.

Episode 10

Walpurgis from one of the previous timelines.
Her appearance seems to change every time Madoka and Homura encounter her.
Madoka's victory over the witch is a Pyrrhic one: Mitakihara is still in ruins, and she herself has become Kriemhild Gretchen.

Episode 11

The procession of familiars heralding the arrival of Walpurgis Night.
In order to defeat the witch, Homura gathered enough weapons to rival a small dictatorship. Unfortunately, this was not enough.