"Puella Magi Madoka Magica" became hugely popular with its dark and hard storyline, in contrast to its cute illustrations, but it's not just the characters that color the work. The presence of the unique enemy characters, witches drawn by Gekidan Inu Curry, was one of the stimulants of this work, creating a dark style. Here we will introduce the horrifying yet somehow attractive witches that appeared in the anime.
What is a witch anyway?
Witches live in a special closed space called a barrier. It is a space that cannot be seen by ordinary humans, but if a human is recognized as food, they will wander into it and be eaten, becoming food for Grief Seeds. There is only one entrance between the real world and this barrier, and once a magical girl finds it, she can enter the barrier and fight the witch.
Witch of the Rose Garden
Gertrud
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
The witch of the rose garden, distrustful in nature. She values roses more than anything else, and steals the life force of humans who stray into the barrier and gives it to the roses. She is the first witch Madoka encounters, and she is also the witch who leaves an impression on us about what kind of existence witches are in this work. Rather than a human form, her design is based on motifs of roses, butterflies, and caterpillars. She attacks Mami by throwing chairs and scissors, but falls into Mami's trap and is destroyed by Tiro Finale in the end. Butterfly motifs are plentiful within the barrier and on the witch's body.
Anthony
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A familiar of the Rose Witch with a cotton head and a Kaiser mustache and the lower body of a butterfly. Her role is landscaping. She is usually invisible, but when she attacks people, she has blue lips and black eyes. In the first episode, he attacks Madoka and Sayaka, but is defeated by Mami who appears immediately after. According to Gekidan Inu Curry, he is the only familiar who is loyal to the witch (in other words, the other familiars do not obey the witch). He is a popular familiar among the staff, and is nicknamed "Bearded Uncle".
Adelbert
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A familiar of the witch of the rose garden, its role is vigilance. In other words, it is a security guard who patrols the rose garden, and when it finds a human, it sounds a bell-like alarm and headbutts. He looks like melted ice cream, has many eyes and a Kaiser mustache. He also has butterfly wings on his back. He appears in episode 2 when he spots Mami and the others entering the barrier and fights back, but is driven away. In the battle in the witch's room, he is effective at capturing Mami with vines, but is wiped out along with the Witch of the Rose Garden.
Witch of Darkness
Zulaika
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
She is the parent of the familiar "Ula" who appears in episode 3, but she has not appeared yet. In the setting, she is not very strong and is not very smart. Her nature is delusional. According to the official guidebook, it has a body like a candy candy similar to a shooting star, and five legs.
Ula
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
The familiar of the witch of darkness, her role is dreams. She can transform into anything and draw whatever the witch desires. Its head is similar to that of a Zuleika, and its body resembles that of an animal that normally walks on four legs. It appears in episode 3, but only for a moment, so not much is said about it in the main story.
The Witch of Sweets
Charlotte (First Form)
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
She is the one who shocked the viewers when she appeared in the third episode. She is obsessive by nature and will not give up anything she wants. She can produce an infinite amount of sweets, but she is unable to make her favorite food, cheese. As Homura says, "She's different from the witches we've seen so far," she can also be described as a strong witch. She has two forms, and the first form is when she hatches from a Grief Seed. She has a candy-shaped head and a very small body wearing loose clothing. She seems like a cute mascot character. She is soft like a stuffed animal, and she doesn't resist Mami's attacks and has no expression on her face.
Charlotte (second form)
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
The second form is the giant snake-like figure that emerges from the mouth of the first form after shedding its skin just before being restrained and killed by Mami. It has a distinctive black body, a comical face, and red and blue wings on its head. It is very large and has a wide range of expressions. It attacks by biting and swallowing its enemies whole with its large mouth. It kills Mami with this attack, but is defeated by Homura, who arrives at its aid.
Pyotr
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
As a servant of the candy witch, his role is to find cheese. His appearance is based on a mouse motif, with large ears and a thin tail. He is wearing a nurse's cap on his head, but there are other variations, such as one with an angel's halo or one dressed as a woman to play with the Candy Witch.
Polina
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
Originally an object within the barrier of the Candy Witch, she appeared as a familiar in the game version, and has since been treated as such. She is dressed as a classical nurse and has a head similar to Pyotr's body. Her role is to nurse Cheese, and we don't know what she's doing.
The Witch of the Box
H.N. Ellie (Kirsten)
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
She's a die-hard recluse witch, and her nature is longing. She has twin tails attached to a computer monitor, and the monitor displays other people's thoughts, such as their memories. She can also display text to express her intentions. She appears in episode 4, where she tries to curse the people of Mitakihara with a witch's kiss, leading them to commit mass suicide. She attacks Madoka, who happens to be there, but is defeated in the end by Sayaka, who appears to save Madoka.
Daniel & Jennifer
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
The familiars of the Box Witch, whose role is to transport. They look like ball-jointed dolls with grins on their faces, and are characterized by their angel halo and single wing (the two carrying Ellie in the middle). It seems that it breaks anything it touches into pieces, making it easier to carry. Together with the Box Witch, it drags Madoka into the barrier and attacks her.
Graffiti Witch
Anya
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A familiar of the graffiti witch, her role is to be a child. She is in the form of a crayon drawing and rides an airplane. She seems to be able to change her vehicle. In episode 5, she is found by Sayaka, who has just become a magical girl, and runs away. Her parent, the graffiti witch Albertine, does not appear again after that.
Silver Witch
Gizela
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A witch who appeared in Kyoko's flashback in episode 7, she has a free nature. She used to be a glittering silver, but now she is rusty. Her body is made out of what appear to be motorcycle parts, but she is one of the less noticeable witches as she appears in very few scenes. She has a familiar called "Dora", who also has pipes and lights attached all over her body and looks like a motorcycle. She barely appears in the main story, except for one scene where she is cut in half by Kyoko.
Shadow Witch
Elsa Maria
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A powerful witch who fought Sayaka in episode 7. She is self-righteous and says she continues to pray for all life. With a pitch black appearance, he would extend his shadow while maintaining a praying posture, and attack by stabbing his enemies with it. No matter how fast his opponent was, he would be able to hit them with certainty, giving him an advantage over Sayaka, whose speed was a weapon. However, Sayaka completely blocked his sense of pain in a suicidal attack, and he was broken through and cut in half with a sword, and was then slashed and stabbed countless times, brutally killing him.
Sebastians
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A familiar of the Shadow Witch, her role is to be a fanatic. It seems to be a collection of lives saved by the Shadow Witch. She has a tentacle-like body and a head with the twelve zodiac signs. In episode 7, she attacks Sayaka together with Elsa Maria, but is cut down by her sword. Also, tree branch tentacles grow from Elsa Maria's back, but these are not familiars, but Elsa Maria's own magic.
Dog Witch
Bartels
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A familiar of the dog witch Woolman, she appeared in episode 8. She is a headless humanoid familiar wearing a retro outfit, sculpted from paper clay. After Sayaka saw her best friend Hitomi confess her love to her boyfriend Kyosuke, she vented her frustration by defeating all the witches she could get her hands on. She is one of the victims. Bartels himself has no will of his own and just spins around. His parent, the dog witch Woolman, does not appear.
Mermaid Witch
Octavia von Zeckendorf
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A large witch who appeared at the end of episode 8, her nature is love. Sayaka's soul gem became a grief seed and was born into a witch, which is essentially Sayaka transformed into a witch. She wears a Western-style helmet and armor, has a fish tail for the lower half of her body, and is also a mermaid. Inside the barrier is a concert hall where she has her familiars play an orchestra. She attacks by swinging a large sword and throwing train wheels. It is thought that the reason she is a wheel is because she transformed into a witch was inside a train station, and so trains were used as a motif. She is an extremely powerful witch, and even the veteran Kyoko had a hard time fighting her. In the end, she disappears along with Kyoko due to a suicidal attack from Kyoko. There are things throughout the barrier and on Octavia herself that tell of her feelings for Kyosuke when she was Sayaka.
Holger
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
Octavia's familiar, whose role is to play. He just plays endlessly in the concert hall and doesn't seem to join the battle. Also, in the concert hall behind, there is a black-painted Holger who looks like Kyosuke and just stands there without playing. It is also said that if you listen to Holger's performance for a long time, your soul will be taken away.
Another version of Octavia
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
This is Octavia who appeared in the alternate world that Homura repeats in episode 10. Although the basic points are the same, there are differences from Octavia in episode 9, such as the orchestra music being rock and not just listening to the music, but dancing enthusiastically on the stage. She also uses two swords. Her familiar Holger has also changed into a backup dancer named Clarissa. It is unclear how she became a witch, but in this timeline, Kyosuke is set to be a guitarist.
Artist Witch
Isabel
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
She is the witch that Homura first encountered in episode 10 before she became a magical girl. She is vain by nature and says she can't wait to show someone her work. It has the appearance of an Arc de Triomphe, and does not attack itself, instead leaving attacks to its familiars. The barrier inside is reminiscent of Picasso or Van Gogh. After Homura takes an extended leave of absence from school and is unable to keep up with the others, he encourages her to commit suicide, and when he tries to attack her by absorbing her into the barrier, he is defeated by Madoka and Mami.
Michaela
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A familiar of an artist witch, her role is to create artwork. When a human is killed by this witch, a part of her body is stolen and absorbed into this familiar. She attacks with zombie-like movements.
The Witch of the Committee Chairperson
Patricia
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A witch who appeared in episode 10, she is a bystander by nature, and wears a black sailor uniform as her name suggests, the witch of the committee chairperson. However, she has no neck, four arms coming out of her sleeves, and arms rather than legs coming out of her skirt, giving her an eerie appearance with six arms. A rope is stretched across a barrier that stretches across the blue sky, and as she holds on to the rope with her six arms she looks just like a spider. She attacks her opponents, who struggle on their unstable footing, by hurling a large number of school desks and chairs at them. However, she is destroyed when Homura, in her debut battle as a magical girl, throws a bomb at her. By the way, according to the setting, the skirt side is her head, and what's inside her skirt is an impenetrable wall.
Mathew
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
She is the familiar of the class president's witch and her role is to create her own school within the barrier with her classmate Patricia, leading an ordinary student life. She is wearing only the lower half of her body in a skirt and is wearing ice skates. They skate along the ropes inside the barrier or drop from the sky to hinder their opponents. They have no will of their own, as they are simply being controlled by Patricia. Unfortunately, they also wear bloomers under their skirts.
The Birdcage Witch
Roberta
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A witch who appeared in episode 10, her nature is rage, and she has only the lower half of a human body in a birdcage. She continues to stomp her feet in anger at the things in the cage that have not been fulfilled. She seems to have a weakness for alcohol, as she is highly flammable. She is blown up by a grenade that is blasted into a beehive by Homura's machine gun. In fact, before she became a witch, she was apparently a person who had a long career as a magical girl from her mid-20s to early 30s. Since she was no longer a "girl," it is set that she did not become very strong even after becoming a witch.
Gotts
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
They are familiars of the Birdcage Witch, and their role is to be frivolous, thoughtless, and useless foolish men brought about by Roberta. They have the bodies of muscular men, but the heads of birds. She is considered to be a presence hated by witches, which is probably one of the reasons for the Birdcage Witch's rage.
Witch of Salvation
Kriemhild Gretchen
A very powerful witch with a merciful nature. She is a witch who absorbs all the life force of the planet and leads it to the new heaven (barrier) she created. She appeared in episode 10 and had the appearance of a huge mountain towering in the mist. At the top, she has arms pointing up to the sky and is posed as if she is embracing the world. Kyubey says she is the worst witch, and her power is the strongest. She is far stronger than Walpurgisnacht, the final boss of this game, and is capable of destroying all life on Earth in ten days. Initially, she was a witch without a familiar, but it was later revealed that she had a familiar whose role was to measure. She is actually Madoka's witch form, and as the strongest magical girl has been transformed into a witch, she is the strongest witch.
The Witch of the Stage Set
Also known as Walpurgis Night (real name unknown)
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
She is the final boss of this anime, and appears as a powerless, super-powerful witch. A storm occurs in the area where this witch is, destroying buildings. She appears as a woman in a blue dress, with no head above her nose, but instead has two horns. Instead of legs, she has a giant gear attached to her skirt, and she floats upside down with her head at the bottom and the gear on top. Her appearance is eerie as she moves forward, laughing and scattering disaster. Her attacks include black tentacle attacks, flaming spears, and large-scale attacks such as floating nearby buildings and slamming them down. She also has high defensive capabilities, and was able to laugh without being hurt by Homura's large number of missile attacks. This witch has existed for a long time, with her appearance predicted and documents relating to her existing. She is also the witch who caused Homura to repeat time many times in order to save Madoka, and is depicted as a special being.
Familiars
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
The familiars she creates are also special, and she can create shadow magical girls that look very similar to magical girls. Also, some familiars are not known to be combatants, but they have a big parade before Walpurgis Night.
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Witch of Despair
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A witch who appeared in episode 12, she is so huge that she can swallow the universe, and her nature is strong appeal. She is not a witch created by any one magical girl, but by the despair of all magical girls, and has only half of her face drawn, resembling a black sun. Born as a reaction to Madoka's wish to "erase all witches", she tries to cover the Earth and the universe with her curse, but she is purified by Madoka, who has become a goddess, refusing to succumb to the curse and believing in hope.
The Nutcracker Witch
Homulilii
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
A large witch who appears in the new movie version, she is self-contained. She is said to be a failed witch who cannot even crush seeds because she has no upper jaw and no teeth to bite with. The face, which has lost its head, is full of equinox lilies, and from the position of both eyes, they naturally produce familiars with teeth shaped like they are. This Homurily looks like Homura has become a witch, and her outfit is somewhat reminiscent of her time as a magical girl. The body is not physical and the bones are visible. He heads to the guillotine and tries to commit suicide, but he fights Madoka, Mami, Sayaka, Kyoko, and Nagisa, who try to stop him. It can be said that he remembers his promise to "save Madoka" and is heading to the guillotine to judge him for failing to fulfill that promise. This figure is also incomplete, with a wide-brimmed witch hat and a body that is not even skeletal. This is what he looked like when Homurily came out, but gradually his head fell down, causing him to become incomplete.
Lotte
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
He is a guard familiar similar to Homura when he was wearing glasses. His role is to carry out the execution of the sentence, serving as a funeral for the witch heading to the guillotine and wielding a spear at anything that interferes. They say they hate white mice, but when it comes to small white animals that appear in this work...
Lui Zelotte
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
He is a familiar who has the role of extermination of white rats, and is seen as a cavalry riding his back teeth with horse-like legs. They mainly chase white mice, but sometimes they help Lotte and attack those that interfere with the funeral procession.
Lilia
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
The Nutcracker looks like a back teeth, and its role is chewing. He has the role of crushing foreign objects for Miya, a familiar born one after another from Homurily's head, and is originally a witch who replaces the witch, but in the story, Kurumi spits out like cannon shells to attack him.
Lese
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
He is a familiar, in the form of a crow-like bird, and his role is to signal the beginning of a funeral. Although they are fed by the children in fake towns, they follow them, but their intelligence is only as good as birds.
Lisa
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
He is a familiar in the shape of an airship flying over the fake Mitakihara, and his role is to thoroughly inform the cast and manage the stage. In other words, he is a guard who manages whether there are any ominous movements among the fake Mitakihara that Homura created without her realising. However, Homura herself is shocked when she realizes the mystery of the barrier, and is influenced by the emotions and crashes while burning out.
Clara Dolls
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
Commonly known as the children of fake town, they are a familiar who plays crying to liven up the funeral procession. There have been 14 confirmed cases, and each of them has negative feelings that can be seen as "a slut, a lewd, a liar, a reckless, a self-assessment," each of which is negative about Homura's self-assessment, such as "a slut, a lewd, a liar, a slut, a slut, a stubborn, a slut, a stubborn, a slut, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stubborn, a stub There is also the 15th "Ai". They performed and managed the work to create a fake Mitakihara. As the barrier collapses, he takes action to help Homurily commit suicide and fights against other magical girls. Unlike the five familiars mentioned above, he has quite high combat power, and is extremely strong, catching Kyubee and stabbing him to kill him, kicking out Sayaka and the others' familiars who were struggling with (the familiars that Sayaka Yanagisa borrowed), and fighting on equal terms with magical girls.
Contrast between a cute magical girl and a terrifying witch
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
We've introduced all the witches that have appeared in the anime so far. If a magical girl is born from hope, then a witch is born from despair and creates a curse. She is clearly in the opposite position from a magical girl, with an inhuman and unconventional appearance. However, the presence of these witches has given the depth to the story and has made it a dramatic work. It would not have been such a hot topic as just an enemy character. Some witches are also very popular. In addition to the witches mentioned here, there are also witches that are original to the game. Is it an active part of not only magical girls but witches? Why not look at it as well?
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