This continues that trend. Though each Witch is unique, they all share some key features which allows a tenuous classification together to justify it being done as one article rather than a series of articles on each individual Witch.
And there will be spoilers. Oh so many spoilers.
As mentioned in the previous article, the Witches of Madoka were once themselves Magical Girls.
The words simply flow into each other, as Kyubey says. It’s more obvious in Japanese, where Magical Girl is “Mahou Shojo” (魔法少女) and Witch is simply “Maho” (魔女). A slight change in Kanji, to produce a different meaning.
Japan loves its puns.
Symbolism
The Witches of this series embody despair and ‘curses’ against the world. Used up and thrown aside by the Incubataors, they resign themselves to futile self-indulgence. Each one tailored to the tiniest happiness they still had in their prior lives, but each one works towards that end in futility. Feasting on the despair and death of humans to fuel their selfish, futile quests.
As an example, the infamous witch Charlotte. Officially, she is known as the Dessert Witch, though I see her more as an embodiment of Gluttony. Biting off the head of the mentor character of the series sorta earns you that epithet.
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| “Did I mention spoilers would be in this article?” |
Aside from her standard witch abilities, which I’ll describe below, she has the power to generate any desert she likes. Except for cheese, which she loves. Her minions go out and search for it, but they are extremely incompetent. There she is, able to create a paradise for herself, but with the best part of it out of her reach.
Another example would be Elly, the Box Witch. This appears to represent a person who became a recluse (the Japanese term Hikikomori (ひきこもり) would apply), but her reclusive nature and minions who exist to move things around her personal space is hampered by the fact that the space generates screens which display both her thoughts and the thoughts of those who enter, forcing her to acknowledge them.
A final example to cement the point, Izabel, the Artist Witch. She tries continually to create art in the form of her familiars, but they all take form of well-known work by other artists. She is an artist robbed of her originality.
Just fills you with joy, doesn’t it?
Biology
Witches form from magical girls who give into despair. In truth they are not bodies, but souls with enough cohesion to act as a solid—as least, using Ghostbusters physics (which we sorta have to default to again—such a great movie). Individually, they are unique, but they do have a method of reproduction. What they do is analogous to the budding process plants and certain animals like corals undergo as they age.
One of the things a Witch does is create familiars – creatures designed only to serve it as best they can (which isn’t very well).
They are simple, stupid and prone to getting lost. This is where they bud. Left to their own devices, they will still feed in a similar manner to a full witch. After ‘consuming’ half a dozen humans or so, they have enough energy to become full-fledged witches on their own, becoming an exact copy of the witch they spawned from. This ensures that there is a steady supply of witches for the Magical Girls to hunt.
A full blown witch will leave behind a “Grief Seed”, effectively their semi-solid core. This can absorb the despair and darkness generated by a magical girl’s soul (which is crystalized into a “Soul Gem”). Once full, the Incubator can take it back to their masters. For them, it’s an efficient way of gathering energy.
The feeding habits of a witch are also worth talking about. As souls, witches don’t eat normally. Instead, they feed on the souls of others, particularly, those in despair. Their hunting method relies n them hiding, by and large. Though they are normally invisible to humans, there are those with magic (especially magical girls) who can see them. Magical girls, in fact, can use their soul gem to home in on them to varying degrees. So they hide in places known as “Witch Space,” which they control. Usually making it a labyrinth with their familiars guarding it as a last ditch defense before they must act.
Given the intelligence off their minions, they get lost more than the unlucky human who wanders in.
Witch Space works a lot an alternate dimension, though it does have some relation to real world space and covers the same area, just not on the same dimensional coordinates.
The reach out of these places and leave a mark on a targeted humans and leave a mark on them called a “Witch’s Kiss”. This wears on the consciousness of the person, controlling their actions and leading them to despair and suicide. Once the human dies, then the witch can feed freely on the soul released.
Isn’t that just lovely?
