The anime "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" features a magical girl who wishes for hope and is tasked with fighting witches, as well as witches born from the despair of one of these magical girls, and a variety of other magical girls and witches that add excitement to the story. Both the cute-looking magical girls and the hideous-looking witches are full of charm. This time, we'll be ranking the magical girls and witches together in order of strength.
10th Place: Miki Sayaka
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
As a novice magical girl, Sayaka struggles to read and adapt to the situation. Unlike Mami and Kyoko, she lacks the flexibility to adapt to her opponents. However, she fights with a style that combines her natural speed with creating a large number of weapons, inherited from Mami, to make multiple attacks. Her weapons are swords, which she can also throw to attack. Furthermore, Sayaka became a magical girl with the wish to heal her childhood friend's injury, so she has stronger healing powers than most and heals injuries quickly. This, combined with Sayaka's tenacity and unafraid of injury, makes her an expert in charge-style attacks. She is also good at supporting others, as she can heal their injuries. However, she still lacks experience and often struggles, so we ranked her 10th.
9th Place: Charlotte, the Sweets Witch
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
First among the witches is Charlotte, who devoured Mami. You might be wondering, "Why is she ranked this high, even though she defeated Mami?", but based on the depictions in the story, Mami is overwhelmingly stronger. In her first form, Charlotte was almost entirely attacked unilaterally by Mami. In her second form, she bit Mami and defeated her, but when Homura appeared afterwards, she only attacked by biting. She was then defeated when Homura swallowed a bomb. Charlotte's attack method is simple, so unless you can launch a surprise attack like when she defeated Mami, it doesn't seem like it would be very effective against fast opponents. Mami could have taken some countermeasure if she had stayed alert and avoided the first blow. Incidentally, she has the ability to recover by shedding her skin even if she is injured.
8th Place: Homura Akemi
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
Homura can use powerful magic, such as stopping time and time leaping. However, since her magic itself has no offensive power, she can only use non-magical methods such as firearms and bombs. Homura also tends to rely on time stopping, so if her opponent can read this, she will be at a significant disadvantage. If someone like Mami can make Homura unaffected by touching her with her ribbon, or if someone like Sayaka in the movie can disable her functions before time stops, Homura, who has no magical means of attack, will be at a disadvantage. However, since she is nearly invincible while time is stopped, this is quite effective against witches who are not considered to have much intelligence. Homura herself is able to make calm decisions and has a quick mind, so she is by no means weak. However, she does have a mentally weak side.
7th Place: Kyoko Sakura
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
One of the veteran magical girls, Kyoko Sakura, is a powerful fighter who fights with a spear. She's very aggressive and impassioned, but she's also able to make calm decisions, such as quickly backing down when facing an enemy whose origins are unknown. She is a powerful character who shows a relaxed attitude even when facing witches. Her spear is taller than she is, and the handle is multi-jointed, allowing her to transform into a whip-like weapon, allowing her to fight flexibly and perform a variety of attacks, including slamming her opponents. Above all, she has an incredible mental strength, as she did not despair despite witnessing the double suicide of her family, and instead continues to live defiantly as a magical girl. Although she can no longer use it now, if she makes use of her unique magic, the ability to create an illusionary clone, she could be on the same level as Mami (in fact, she has even defeated Mami in an official spin-off work).
6th Place: Mami Tomoe
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
Mami is one of the most experienced magical girls in the series. In combat, she not only uses her magically generated muskets to accurately fire at enemies from long distances, but also repels approaching enemies by hitting them with her gun or capturing them with her ribbon. She also had accurate situational judgment skills, and was able to flexibly respond to the changing battle situation and various types of witches. She was able to avoid being affected by Homura's time stop by connecting with her with a ribbon, and she also quickly created an clone with a ribbon, showing her quick judgment. Although she was defeated by the Candy Witch, it was just that they were not a good match; if she had not let her guard down, she would not have been defeated in one hit, and she might have been able to fight well, escape, or even win.
5th Place: Mermaid Witch, Octavia von Zeckendorf
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
Sayaka's witch form, Octavia, is also a powerful witch. In a one-on-one battle with Kyoko, she inflicted a fatal wound on her (however, Kyoko was protecting Madoka while fighting). Considering that she was cornered to the point where Kyoko had no choice but to defeat her with a suicidal attack, she is significantly stronger than she was when she was a magical girl. From this perspective, she could be said to be a formidable opponent to face alone. However, in a different timeline, she was no match for the combined efforts of Madoka, Homura, Mami, and Kyoko, and was defeated. Considering that she hides behind a barrier, she can be said to be a weaker witch than she was on Walpurgisnacht.
4th Place: The Stage Set Witch - Walpurgis Night
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
Described as a super-powerful witch, she was the final boss of the story. Because of her immense power, she didn't need to hide within a barrier and instead manifested in the real world, causing storms and destroying towns. It is gigantic in size, and advances with an eerie laugh, unscathed by Homura's countless missile attacks. It launches incredible attacks, such as spearing flames and lifting buildings and slamming them into the ground. It also commands a large number of familiars known as Shadow Magical Girls. It is said that no single magical girl can stand up to it, and in the story, Madoka, Mami, and Homura all challenge it and are defeated. However, as Homura continues to time loop, Madoka becomes stronger, and Madoka is now the only one who can defeat it.
3rd Place: Kriemhild Gretchen, the Witch of Salvation
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
This is the form of the strongest Puella Magi Madoka after she transforms into a witch. She is incomparably larger than other witches, with a mountain-like appearance resembling a giant tree with roots in the ground, and at the top is an arm that seems to cover the world. She is an entity that absorbs the energy of life on Earth and leads it to a new world (the Witch of Salvation's barrier), and has enough power to destroy all life on Earth in just 10 days. Since powerful witches do not need to hide within the barrier, this Witch of Salvation manifests in the real world and destroys the Earth.
2nd Place: The Witch of Despair
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
This witch was born in the final episode as a price for Madoka's extraordinary wish to "erase all witches before they are even born." It was so large that it could swallow the Earth and had the power to destroy the universe, but because it was also the target of Madoka's wish to "erase all witches," it was destroyed by Madoka. It is said to have been born from the despair of all magical girls, so to destroy it requires the power to absorb that despair.
1st Place: Madoka Kaname
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
First place goes to the protagonist, Madoka Kaname. In the first timeline, when she first became a magical girl, her powers were normal and she even lost at Walpurgisnacht. However, because she was at the center of Homura's time loop, her "bigness of life," the standard for a magical girl's power, increased, and her strength grew until she was finally able to defeat Walpurgisnacht in a single blow. In the final episode, after passing through several world lines and becoming a magical girl, she wields such incredible magic that it even alters the laws of the universe, reshaping the universe and literally becoming a god. In exchange, she also annihilated the Witch of Despair, who was born as a result. With the power to eliminate all witches and the power of hope that cannot be defeated by any despair, she became a "goddess" to all magical girls.
There are still many more magical girls and witches!
Source: Puella Magi Madoka Magica ©Magica Quartet/Aniplex・Magia Record Partners
What did you think? There are many other magical girls and witches in spinoff works and other works. If we had included those characters, the ranking would have been even more competitive. In addition to pure power, specialized magic, accumulated experience, and compatibility with opponents are all important factors in magical girl battles. Therefore, in the anime, the winning character may be ranked lower. I have ranked them based on their overall abilities, so it may not be what you think. I hope you will enjoy comparing it with your own views.
