< Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Puella Magi Madoka Magica/Characters

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This page lists tropes specific to characters of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Studio Shaft's first original series. The anime aired as part of the Winter 2011 lineup.

Late Arrival Spoiler Warning: Please take heed that approximately three-fourths of this page is spoiler-filled, due to Troper Critical Mass present ever since the first Wham! Episode. Please watch the anime completely before reading this page.

Magical Girls

  • Humanoid Abomination: Some of them don't consider themselves human, or alive for that matter, after they find out their souls aren't in their bodies anymore (if they find out). Some get over it, some don't. Also an occupational hazard is becoming a witch. And of course there is the fact that they violate the laws of thermodynamics on a scale that when used en mass can stave off the heat death of the universe indefinitely.

Madoka Kaname

Voiced by: Aoi Yuki (JP), Christine Marie Cabanos (EN)

A well-behaved and very average girl who doesn't consider herself to have any particular athletic or academic prowess. This lack of confidence feeds into a strong sense of selflessness that on some occasions is a positive thing but a negative one on others. After saving Kyubey from Homura, she considers forming a contract and becoming a Magical Girl, which she believes will finally allow her to help other people. In the first Drama CD, it is revealed she demonstrates her altruistic but rash nature by forming a contract in the original timeline to save a dead cat.

Kyubey is determined on contracting her, but Homura intends to stop this from happening. In a twisted way, Madoka is the most important person in the universe because her innumerable deaths in the other timelines all converged into a single person with immense magical power. This power is demonstrated when she one-shots Walpurgisnacht, the most powerful Witch, in several timelines. As a magical girl, she wields a bow resembling a rose branch that can shoot energy bolts.

Her eventual wish in the penultimate timeline is to prevent the creation of all witches in the past, present, and future; this allows her to break down the Incubators' system by gaining the power to transcend time and space and save magical girls before they transform into witches. This forms one final timeline with dramatically different rules concerning magical girls, but at the cost of being recursively retconned out of existence.

  • Abstract Apotheosis: The former Trope Namer.
  • Adorkable She is an innocent, kind hearted girl who tries to make everyone happy. She is also a little bit shy at times.
  • And Then John Was a Zombie: In some of the alternate timelines Homura has experienced, Madoka becomes a witch. In another one, she is about to become one, and requests Homura to Mercy Kill her.
  • Apocalypse Maiden
  • The Archer: In concept art, in other timelines and the Grand Finale.
  • Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence: She basically becomes a law of physics (or a goddess in the metaphysical sense) as the result of her wish. After learning about all the suffering Magical Girls went through, she obviously made it clear with her wish that she doesn't care what she becomes as long as her wish ultimately saves the world.
  • Badass Adorable: Anytime where she's a magical girl.
  • Bait and Switch Boss: She's the only one who can defeat Walpurgisnacht, and she did that in one shot. But doing this will inevitably cause her to turn into a Witch strong enough to destroy Earth. Which is even more of a Hopeless Boss Fight for Homura, forcing her to use New Game+ feature of her power.
  • Big Eater: You wouldn't know it, but according to her 100 Questions, she thinks about food a LOT.
  • Big Fancy House: Madoka's home. Apparently, it was designed and built by friends of her parents.
  • Big Good: Somewhat. Her Retcon caused her to be something like this, but virtually no one knows she exists.
  • Break the Cutie: To be expected, this being a Deconstruction. It even provides the image on the trope's main page.
  • Celestial Body: After she becomes a god/force of nature/whatever in the final episode.
  • The Chick: Compared to the other characters who have signed the deal. The pink hair and short(er) stature doesn't help.
  • Curtains Match the Window Pink hair and Pink eyes.
  • Crucified Hero Shot: Madoka gets one in the beginning of Episode 11, following Sayaka's funeral, while Kyubey lectures her about the role of magical girls in history. Fitting, considering that she sacrifices herself to save the world.
  • Cuteness Proximity: 100 Questions: (link has some spoilers)

Question 8: Favorite animal?
Madoka: I love anything that's small and fluffy!

Some examples of soft and fluffy animals are Squirrels, Rabbits, Raccoons, Cats, Dogs and Foxes.

  • Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life: Although not as severe as that other magical girl, Madoka has a shade of this... which irritates Mami. See also Heroic Self-Deprecation.
  • Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: When she makes a contract with Incubator in the final episode.
  • The Ditz: Well, maybe not a ditz, exactly, but she is certainly naive and altruistic to a fault. And boy, does she pay for it. To the point that after several Break the Cutie moments, she's more of a Broken Bird or Knight in Sour Armor than a ditz.
  • Divide by Zero: This is what initially happens when she makes her wish.
  • Don't Fear the Reaper: She's actually really nice.
  • Energy Bow: Her weapon, if she became a Magical Girl.
  • Expy: A Distaff Counterpart to Kouta. She really wants to help others, but she has no idea how to do it. Unforturnately, she's not seeing the smoke behind the mirrors, and when Episode 3 pops around, she's unable to stabilize herself. Afterwards, she then justifies her actions by saying that she's trying to help others, even after the drastic revelations that have appeared in the other episodes.
  • Eyes of Gold: As Ultimate Madoka.
  • Fan Nickname/Punny Name: Godoka/Madokami/Madogod for obvious reasons pertaining to the final episode.
  • Faustian Rebellion: Madoka's wish is to erase every witch that had ever existed, or would exist in the future, or could possibly exist in another world, before they were born. With her own hands. Needless to say, reality gets a bit unstable.
  • Final Speech: Done every time she attempts a Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Girl Has A Lot Of Stuffed Animals
  • Girlish Pigtails Shows her Childishness.
  • Girly Run: In the OP sequence and the first episode.
  • The Heroine: Of previous timelines and the Grand Finale.
  • Heroic BSOD: Mami's death hits Madoka HARD. She practically spends a good half of episode 4 crying and Angst-ing.
  • Heroic Bystander: She prevents the forced suicide of Hitomi and Kirsten's other victims.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: In the original timeline, it was hinted that she launched a one-shot Suicide Attack against Walpurgisnacht and apparently worked such that Homura survived. In an alternate past, she saved Homura from despair using Sayaka's grief seed she had kept, in hope of Homura's ability to rewrite history to a better end; she then asks Homura for a Mercy Kill, since turning into a witch was against her life-time goal. She does it again in the final episode, where she wishes for the whole Magical Girl system to change, allowing her to destroy Walpurgis and stop any magical girl from becoming a witch (by causing them to vanish first), at the cost of Madoka herself vanishing from existence forever.
    • It is deconstructed by the fact that her sacrifices just make Homura go back in time again and again, making Madoka's power stronger(and her witch form, even more) to the point that she is a living Godzilla Threshold. Just the fact of her doing a possible contract with Kyubei can be considered Pyrrhic Victory.
  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: Subtly, but still present. At one point Madoka says the following about herself: "I thought I had nothing good going for me. I thought I would continue on living until I died, never helping anyone, never being useful. That made me frustrated, and it made me feel alone. But I thought I couldn't do anything about it." And yet her actions over the series often contradict this self-characterization.
    • This extends to the people around her who question why she would want to become a Magical Girl. She has everything she would ever want, and yet she still becomes a Magical Girl.
  • Hidden Depths: Before Episode 10, she appears to be an average girl caught in awful circumstances who at times behaves in a supposedly "stupid" or "cowardly" manner. Episode 10 reveals that Madoka is not only able to fight, but is willing to sacrifice herself, all because of her love for her friends. Many fans' opinion of her improved after this episode.
  • Holy Child: Her potential power is so massive, Homura's (silent) fight against Kyubey over her drives the story. Said power is also what makes her the Apocalypse Maiden.
  • I Cannot Self-Terminate: In a previous timeline, she asks Homura to Mercy Kill her before turning into a witch.
  • Improbable Age: she's in eighth grade. And she became GOD.
  • Karmic Jackpot: The living embodiment version. She has built up a massive amount of karma due to Homura's attempts to save her in multiple timelines, which enables her to have massive amounts of magical power.
  • Kung Fu Jesus: Saves the universe with KINDNESS so Badass that it rewrites the entire laws of time, space and REALITY itself to make the entire universe a kinder and gentler place. One of many reasons why Madoka is so Badass Adorable.
  • Kill the Cutie: Multiple times in previous timelines. Then, even though she actually does live, all traces of her existence vanish in the final timeline.
  • Leitmotif: "Clementia"and as Ultimate Madoka, "Sagitta Luminis".
  • Living Emotional Crutch/Only Friend: Done for Sayaka. And, boy, does she need her. And for Homura. Madoka's death will always shatter her completely, before she resets time all over again to try preventing it from happening.
  • The Load: Triple subversion. She's the only girl who doesn't become a Magical Girl but still tags along. It is later revealed that she did become a Magical Girl, but in other timelines. And since Homura has tried to prevent her from turning into a Magical Girl via time travel, her transformation was always retconned. However, in the last episode, she forms a contract with Kyubey and wishes that all witches from the past, present and future cease to exist, turning her into a being akin to a god.
  • Martyr Without a Cause: Exaggerated Up to Eleven. See the above. Episode 10 takes this to an extreme. Episode 11 subverts this, in which Kyubey gives her a Mind Rape while explaining that Magical Girls have been around for a long time. This indirectly helps Madoka rethink on her wish. Episode 12 averts the trope.
  • Meaningful Rename: Her witch name is Kriemhild Gretchen. Interesting to note that this was not shown on the original broadcast. Oh and for the record, Kriemhild means "battle mask", likely referring to the ending animation.
    • Similarly, what fans call Godoka/Madokami/Madogod or Goddess Madoka, tends to go by the name Penitent Gretchen. Name Gretchen is self-explanatory even if you are familiar with the show. The title of Penitent isn't, which means "feeling or expressing humble or regretful pain or sorrow for sins or offences". It explains Madoka's temperament at the time of her wish. Also, the full name is yet another reference to Faust...or more appropriately, how Gretchen saved him.
    • On official character sheets by Ume Aoki, she is referred to as Ultimate Madoka.
  • Meganekko: Apparently, she has poor eyesight (1.5 in both eyes). Fans have taken it quite nicely.
  • Mercury's Wings: Afterher apotheosis her shoes have these.
  • The Messiah: The poor girl just wants everyone to be happy. Too bad the universe has other plans...
  • Moe Couplet: Initially her and Sayaka, and then her and Homura especially when it was Meganekko Homura.
  • Muggle Best Friend: This is one of the major subversions of the series; Madoka initially seems like she'll be the typical magical girl hero, but when the series was almost over Madoka still hasn't become a magical girl (at least in the current timeline), instead trying to help the other magical girls emotionally and getting them to work together rather than against each other. It doesn't seem to be working all that well.
  • Naive Newcomer: As an Ironic Echo to current Homura, Madoka actually contrasts Meganekko Homura. Where Meganekko Homura just blurts out something randomly inappropriate, Madoka is a mostly calm and collected person in the same situation.
  • Nice Girl
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: To prevent Sayaka from fighting Kyoko, she snatches Sayaka's Soul Gem and throws it off the bridge they're on. Unfortunately, she inadvertently killed Sayaka because the Soul Gem is literally a Soul Jar. Cue Big Damn Heroes from Homura.
    • Even worse, she makes a contract to save Homura in one time line, and becomes a magical girl so powerful she destroys a massive Witch in one shot...and in turn becomes an even worse witch who will end up destroying the entire planet.
    • Earlier, she tried cheering Mami up with a You Are Not Alone speech. It results in Mami fighting more recklessly rather than methodical and calculating and ends up getting headchomped by Charlotte, in a battle she would've won if she never let her guard down.
  • Ordinary Junior High School Student
  • Pimped-Out Dress: Her Magical Girl outfit is pink, very frilly and overall rather standard issue for a magical girl, which emphasizes her kindness, idealism and will to be bringer of hope.
  • Power Gives You Wings
  • Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Ultimate Madoka gains extremely long hair before she kills Kriemhild Gretchen in episode 12.
  • Psychopomp: As a Goddess, she performs this function, particularly for Sayaka, allowing her to see Kamijo play violin one last time.
  • Reality Warper: Kyubey claims she has this sort of potential if she were to become a Magical Girl. Turns out, he was right. Her wish was all that was needed to reconstruct the whole universe into a more merciful place.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: To Sayaka. Worth noting that Madoka's color motif is Pink, which is a combination Red and White. You should have a good guess where the White motif comes into play.
  • Ret-Gone: The price of ending the Vicious Cycle.
  • Rose-Haired Girl She has a rose on her weapon.
  • Selfless Wish: A major premise of the series. When she learns that her wish has the potential of her becoming a god, she later makes it clear that she doesn't care what she becomes as long as her wish ultimately saves the world from destruction, either at the hands of Walpurgisnacht or Kriemhild Gretchen, let alone ensures that magical girls do not experience sadness anymore, and orders Kyubey to fulfill her wish anyway.
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: Supernatural example: Normal Girl Madoka falls right into Generic Cuteness and in-universe is considered fairly plain. Godoka, on the other hand, is achingly beautiful.
  • Signature Laugh: Wehihihi is an onomatopoeia of that little giggle of hers. Japanese fanworks naturally follow this and literally write it as ウェヒヒヒヒ.
  • The Soulsaver
  • Split Personality Merge: All of the alternate timeline Madokas combined themselves into Godoka; although the personality differences were pretty minimal, she still has a noticeably different outlook than the Madoka we know in the rest of the series.
  • Supporting Protagonist: Gen Urobuchi stated that actually, Sayaka is the central protagonist of his story, although Madoka is the main character originally planned by Ume Aoki.
    • Played With by Word of God. The primary character arc is basically the lead up to Sayaka's Start of Darkness, however the actual plot itself turns out to revolve around Homura's attempt to stop Madoka from dying or becoming a magical girl. Or both, really.
      • And the series could really be about Madoka becoming unbelievably powerful because of Homura's resetting the timeline so much, and her ultimate ascension to goddesshood
  • Story-Breaker Power: Is implied to have this. Soloing the entire Walpurgisnacht fight in several timelines definitely counts as one.
  • Take a Third Option: If she doesn't become a Magical Girl, Walpurgisnacht will happen and the Earth will die. If she does, then she'll become Kriemhild Gretchen and will destroy Earth. What does she do? She becomes a Magical Girl and uses her wish to erase all Witches from existence, safeguarding her own eventual transformation as well.
  • Tareme Eyes
  • Tender Tears: Usually accompanied by Tears of Remorse.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Zigzagged. She spends most of the series as a Muggle, before it was revealed that in previous timelines, she did become a magical girl. In fact, she does become stronger and stronger as a magical girl with each press of the Reset Button. Played straight at the end of the series where she becomes a goddess-like figure.
  • Useless Protagonist: In a series where the only way to be useful is to throw your entire life away, few can blame her for being hesitant to do just that.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: She just wants people to be happy in this world. What's wrong with that?!
  • You Are Not Alone: Madoka says this to Mami. In a subversion, this appears to distract her enough that she makes a critical error in her fight. Mami usually fights coldly and calculatedly, but in that particular fight she went reckless and show-off... and then HEADCHOMP.
    • Madoka also tells this to Homura after Mami's death. Homura seems a little receptive, but is soon back to warning Madoka about what could happen.
    • Also at the end of the last episode.
  • Zettai Ryouiki: Her normal attire is higher-grade than her Magical Girl outfit, though.

Homura Akemi

Voiced by: Chiwa Saitou (JP), Cristina Valenzuela (EN)

A new transfer student in Madoka's class and a highly stoic magical girl with unknown motives. For whatever reason, she will go to any length to prevent Madoka from striking a contract with Kyubey. She wields conventional weaponry such as handguns and explosives and carries a buckler. Her powers allow her to Flash Step. She is, in reality, a time traveller; the terms of her contract give her the power to turn back time so she can attempt to save Madoka from becoming a magical girl herself, and eventually, a witch. Using her buckler, she can also briefly pause time, allowing her to effectively Flash Step and set up powerful combination attacks. Her other weapons are completely unrelated to her wish: they are stolen and completely non-magical.

In Madoka's new, witch-free world, she wields a black bow similar to Madoka's.

  • Action Girl
  • Adorkable: No, really. Before she was the girl she is now, in the first few timelines she was also The Ditz, The Klutz, and not all that good at being a magical girl. In the manga, the look returns when she's in Heaven in the final scene.
  • Adrenaline Makeover: In the second-to-last timeline show in episode 10, she undoes her braids and uses her magic to heal her ailing eyes, partially so Madoka won't recognize her.
  • Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Goes with Ultimate Madoka to be with her forever in the Manga after her work as Dark Angel!Homura is done.
  • Aloof Ally
  • Always Save the Girl: To extreme amounts.
  • Anti-Hero: Type III.
    • Byronic Heroine: She has conflicting emotions, she is isolating herself from others, has a troubled past, is cynical, arrogant, and self-destructive. And she doesn't hesitate to render her enemies full of holes, with real guns, when things call for it.
  • Attack Reflector: According to Word of God, her wings in the new reality have this ability.
  • The Archer: Though that bow never seemed to get past the concept art point. Until the ending, that is.
    • Homura takes up a bow and arrow after Madoka's reality rewrite, taking up her powers.
  • Badass: For taking Combat Pragmatism and running with it to levels never before seen in a Mahou Shoujo series: ramming it together with Time Stop abilities and military ordnance, as well as being entirely willing to just shoot even if it won't stick.
  • Bag of Holding/Hyperspace Arsenal: Either up her sleeve or just behind her shield; she uses it to store all her conventional weaponry.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Her devotion to Madoka seems to stem from the latter's kindness.
  • Beneath the Mask: Despite pretending to be an Emotionless Girl, she has a soft side that she hides. Evidenced when she cried after Madoka almost became a magical girl. Episode 10 confirms this: she was a Shrinking Violet. Part of her new attitude is because she Took a Level in Badass, part because she is hiding the part of her that she considers "weak", part from the raw emotional and mental exhaustion of repeating the same month over and over and over, part of it was due to Madoka's comment that she should act more cool from the first timeline, and part because she promised Madoka in one timeline to prevent her from making a contract ever again.
  • Berserk Button: If you mess with Madoka in any way, she will drop her cool to stop you. With lots of firepower.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Employs this with good measure. The most notable occasion is when she stopped time and emptied a pistol into Kyubey, narrowly saving Madoka from screwing herself over.
  • Blinded by the Light: Flashbangs are amongst her arsenal.
  • Bolivian Army Ending: In the final scene, she sprouts dark wings, either as part of her new superpowers or as a sign that she'll go to Heaven soon, with No Body Left Behind (as that would normally be the sign of a Witch, and in this timeline, Witches don't exist because Madoka acts as Psychopomp the very moment a Magical Girl is slated to become a Witch under normal circumstances, i.e. when Witches still existed). Averted in the manga, when she does indeed go to Heaven in the final scene.
    • According to Urobuchi, "Homura's fight just goes on", and Iwakami states that he "personally believes it to be a Good End", making it unlikely that Homura actually dies in the final scene.
  • Braids of Action: Inverted; she becomes more badass after she removes them.
  • Break the Cutie: To the point that by the time we see her, she's not so much broken as emotionally numb. While things like Mami's decapitation, Sayaka's degeneration into a witch and Kyoko's Heroic Sacrifice certainly affect her, they carry less weight since she's seen them a minimum of four times before by dint of her Reset Button.
  • Broken Ace
  • Broken Bird: A complete loner, except for Madoka trying to approach her. Watching your best friend die horribly four times over or more and failing to stop it will do that.
  • The Cassandra: Nobody is ever willing to listen to her warnings.
  • Catch Phrase: "That won't be necessary."
  • Celestial Body: In the final episode, with her and Madoka after Madoka becomes a god/force of nature/whatever. Also her black wings when she fights the Demons has stars within them.
  • Combat Pragmatist: She employs a stun grenade, a handgun, pipebombs, and even military grade machine guns to complement her magical power.
  • Conveniently an Orphan: Heavily implied. We never see or hear of any parents, and the nameplate of her residence only has her name, much like Mami's. In episode 10, not only is no one with her in the hospital, but it seems she was filling out her school transfer forms by herself. It's convenient because it explains how she can get away with her drastic personality changes from being the Groundhog Peggy Sue without anyone noticing, and why she's so determined to help Madoka; she really doesn't have anyone else.
  • Crazy Prepared: Know why Homura can summon conventional weapons apparently from nowhere? It's because she stole them from the Yakuza and later the Defense Force.
    • It also helps that due to her special power as a magical girl to control time, whether stopping it, or being able to travel back in time, she retains her memories, which is why in the beginning she seems to know a lot about the school subjects, and seems to know a lot about Madoka even though they've never met before. But it must also be painful to remember watching Madoka get killed or turned into a witch repeatedly as well.
  • Crucified Hero Shot: With Madoka, after Sayaka's funeral.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: As a result of a lot of Mental Time Travel.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: It is hinted all along the series that her past was full of horrible moments, but it is not until episode 10 that we finally find out how deep in the shit she is. To summarize: Back in her timeline, it was Madoka who saved her from being killed by a witch. When Walpurgisnacht came, however, she saw Madoka die, and this was what pushed her to make a contract with Kyubey. She returned in time, but no matter how many times she tried, the events conspired against her to make her see Madoka die again and again and again. The trauma she carries on her back is beyond what a normal human could endure. Not that she considers herself human.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Despite the dark outfit, creepily sterile house, and aloof demeanour, she's not all that bad a girl. This gets taken Up to Eleven in the new universe, where she's still a magical girl, and arguably a significantly more heroic one than she once was... and manifests rather terrifying jagged black wings as part of her Battle Aura.
  • Dark Magical Girl: Fits this character archetype quite well.
  • Despair Event Horizon: She comes closest to Witchhood in episode 11 after giving up on protecting Madoka. Only Madoka volunteering to become a Magical Girl herself snaps her out of it, especially after she learns that Madoka's wish ultimately saves the world.
  • Determinator: After experiencing the same thing over and over for how many times already and not breaking down yet, she definitely counts. At least until Episode 11.
    • It was not her first breakdown, as seen in the episode 10. Only Madoka's request has kept her going.
  • Died Happily Ever After: One of several possible fates for her at the end of the series. Another possible fate is that she'll survive longer because those wings are actually part of her new superpowers.
    • This trope actually is her final fate in the manga, as she's reunited with Madoka and Sayaka in Heaven at the end.
  • Discard and Draw: Due to the Cosmic Retcon, she loses her time stop powers and Hyperspace Arsenal, but instead gets abilities similar to Madoka.
  • The Ditz: Before her dramatic character change, she was this.
  • Dojikko: Starts out as one. She's very timid, and seems rather uncoordinated during her first attempts at using her magical powers. She gets better later however.
  • Dynamic Entry: Justified by being a Time Master. Usually combines this with Big Damn Heroes.
  • Emotionless Girl: She does show emotion occasionally, but it's usually kept under tight lock and key.
    • Averted in her first manga appearance. The rendition of Madoka's dream has her almost tearing up.
      • When Episode 10 arrives, she's screaming for Madoka not to contract with Kyubey.
    • Completely breaks down in front of Madoka after stopping her from almost making a contract with Kyubey.
    • Actually it was as early as in episode 1. During a talk with Madoka, she makes this face. It's clear she's about to cry.
      • And after that, watch her CLOSELY when she turns away from Mami after Mami tells her to basically "leave before I kill you" in the first episode. As she's turning, she makes a pained expression about halfway through her turn.
  • Expy: Of Kiritsugu Emiya - cold and calculating Anti-Hero though not originally, usage of modern weaponry in magic fights, time-manipulation magic and the experience of having to kill the person most important to her. May be intentional on the part of Gen Urobuchi, whose Fate/Zero was the reason for him being drafted to work with SHAFT on Madoka (by Word of God).
    • Or Rintarou Okabe - Using Mental Time Travel to save her ditzy friend, and being determined to save her ditzy friend even if her death is fated. During White Day, the Steins;Gate anime's website has a picture of Rintarou acknowledging that Homura has the same ability as him and asking her to become his Lab member.
  • Failure Knight: The person she's trying to protect is the same one she failed to save in the first place, thanks to time travel.
  • Fan Nickname/Punny Name: Homerun-chan. This is derived from an Memetic Mutation in which "Homura" sounds very similar to "Homerun".
  • Faustian Rebellion: Almost literal considering the influences behind the story.
  • Flash Step: Can be considered, but not exactly. Actually a Time Stands Still, but it still can be considered a Flash Step.
  • Freudian Excuse: The reason why she changed her Meganekko look was because she wanted to look different to Madoka in the other, newer timelines. Hey, she looks good either way.
  • Full-Name Basis: For most of the series, toward most people, but refers to Madoka by her first name in particularly emotional moments toward the end. Kyubey tends to refer to her by her full name.
  • Girlish Pigtails: She used to have them, but after falling straight into AntiHeroine-dom, she removed them.
    • In the manga, she wears them again in Madoka's new world with Madoka's ribbons, though they aren't braided.
  • The Glasses Come Off
  • Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: The aforementioned Adrenaline Makeover also saw her Tareme Eyes changed to Tsurime Eyes.
  • Good Is Not Nice: A Magical Girl of the Anti-Hero variety.
  • Groundhog Peggy Sue
  • Hammerspace: The circular buckler/shield on her arm can apparently store lots of big items, such as bombs, swords, and guns.
  • Hair Decorations
  • Hair Flip: To memetic levels.
  • Hero of Another Story: And it's been a long, terrible one.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: Despite being a snarker and all, she actually cares about the well-being for everyone she knows. This is reinforced by the fact that she's an Dangerously Genre Savvy character. If not for her selfless efforts the entire cast would have been killed off several times over. Even Mami gets herself killed by not listening to her.
  • Ice Queen: Justified due to having Seen It All. Very literally. And as the series advances, she defrosts more and more.
    • Defrosting Ice Queen: Shows all the signs of this until it turns out she was a girl that became a Frosted Ice Queen. She finally defrosts around episode 11/12...mostly.
  • I Gave My Word/The Power of Friendship: All that she does, all that she's done so far in the series, is all to fulfill the promise she made to a dying Madoka to save her from the inevitable hell of Magical Girl-dom.
  • Ill Girl: The period of time she has been looping was the first few weeks where she was mainstreamed; before transferring to Madoka's class, she spent most of her life in the hospital because of a heart condition. Most likely healed herself with her magic.
  • Ineffectual Loner: Especially evident in timeline 4.
  • Instant Expert: Averted. The flashbacks show that she needed a lot of time to find out how to make the best use of her powers.
  • Intelligence Equals Isolation: The school kids admire her for her good grades, beauty and athletic prowess, but she turns down any offers to spend time together.
    • Amusingly, it was inverted in the original timeline. Justified since she missed out a lot in school while in the hospital.
  • I Will Protect Her: She will protect Madoka at any costs.
  • Jade-Colored Glasses
  • Jerkass Facade: For the most part, acts like either a heartless bastard or otherwise obnoxious Jerkass, but it's all for the sake of protecting her beloved Madoka.
  • Kuudere
  • Kleptomaniac Hero: Uses her time powers to steal high-grade weapons from the Yakuza and the Japanese Military.
  • The Klutz: Before her dramatic character change and after a lot of practicing.
  • Lady of War: Emphasized by her Combat Pragmatist/Dark Magical Girl nature.
  • Large Ham: Despite being extremely reserved with her emotions, her penchant for flipping her hair with flourish and dramatically appearing out of nowhere qualifies her as one.
  • Last-Name Basis: On most people in the alternate timelines, and even when meeting Madoka in Heaven at the end of the manga.
  • Leitmotif: "Puella in somnio".
  • Letting Her Hair Down: This is actually important to her character. Also, she's one of the few characters to have hair like that.
  • Lost Aesop/Aesop Amnesia: The Aesop being: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Her constant use of the Reset Button keeps getting everything messed up for worse, because she wants Madoka to stay alive. Even Madoka suggests to keep doing so, but Kyubey notes that Madoka is getting more powerful every time the Reset Button is pushed. However, her Aesop Amnesia indirectly causes the rewrite of how witches are formed, so this Aesop is Lost.
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Subverted. Her "weapon" is a buckler, although she almost never uses it as a shield. That's because it is not a shield. It's a play off the fact that it looks like a clock and stops time.
  • Magikarp Power: A good summary of how she became the Magical Girl she is now.
  • Meganekko: At first. But then The Glasses Came Off.
  • Magical Girl Packing Heat
  • Magic Skirt: In the last two episodes her skirt manages to stay down even as she takes hundred meter falls foot-first. Made all the more strange by the fact that she wears pantyhose.
  • Memento MacGuffin: In the last episode, her magical weapon of choice changes from a shield to a bow, which looks very similar to the bow Madoka had in previous timelines. This probably represents how she has saved Madoka, and no longer needs to protect her.
  • Mercy Kill: In one of the timelines Madoka asks Homura to kill her before she turns into a witch.
  • Mind Over Matter: She demonstrates the ability to use telekinesis in her fight against Walpurgisnacht. Whenever she used it, she was close to the objects in question. Plus considering she had obviously been preparing for a long time, there might be other limitations, like needing to touch the objects at some point before being able to use telekinesis on them. In the fight she also only used it on vehicles (a liquid fuel transport truck and some Type 88 Surface-to-Ship Missile). So it's possible that a lot of it is like driving. It never looks like she is straining herself when she used this ability. On a possibly related note, she was able to anchor herself to the fuel truck when she made it take a sharp turn.
  • More Dakka: And HOW! Those dakkas don't come from her magical power.
  • Muggle Best Friend: In the original timeline. It nicely parallels Madoka taking this role in the current timeline.
  • My Greatest Failure: Madoka's death.
  • My Greatest Second Chance: The how many times is it now attempt of the aversion of the above.
  • Nerves of Steel: She doesn't need time to recover from any emotional impacts. It just bounces off all the time, and she always makes the logical decision. She does have emotions, such as frequently getting angry or horrified on Madoka's actions, but that never makes any difference.
    • Horribly averted when we see her back story. She developed those Nerves of Steel.
  • New Transfer Student
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: If she had let Madoka stay dead in the original timeline, there would've been no danger of letting Kyubey turn her into a superpowerful witch. Episode 11 reveals that she made Madoka even more powerful through the time iterations.
    • It's worse. Her wish was for meeting Madoka again, but with their roles from Timeline 1 reversed, with Homura being the protector, instead of Madoka. The current state of endless timeloop where Homura inevitably fails to save Madoka every time and must return to its start (and Madoka grows more dependent on others with every iteration) is what she actually wished for.
    • But it's ultimately subverted. Homura's wish gave Madoka the chance to learn the truth about Magical Girl and wish for a complete revamp of the system, saving any current and future Magical Girl from becoming witches.
  • Nietzsche Wannabe: Defied! She did consider the option of simply destroying the world so all this suffering will come to an end, but Madoka made a Heroic Sacrifice for her sake.
  • No Body Left Behind: Her ultimate fate eventually, if not shortly after the end of the series. This actually is her final fate in the manga, as Madoka takes her to Heaven in the final scene.
  • No Kill Like Overkill/WAY More Dakka: Episode 11; Walpurgisnacht. Homura freezes time and fires dozens of rocket launchers at it. Then she drives a diesel tank up a bridge and detonates it in the witch's face. Then she lands on a battleship and hits it with a guided missile, and that knocks it into a stadium COVERED IN LANDMINES. It didn't work, but you have to give her props for the show.
  • No Social Skills/What an Idiot!: She has no problem telling Madoka, the girl she's trying to convince, that she is an idiot. The way she addresses other characters isn't any better. That's because it didn't work the first time. Not that her later modus operandi works any better. Justified because she was originally a Shrinking Violet.
  • Older Than They Look: Depending on your point of view, she could have gone through years of time-looping.
  • Pals with Jesus: Who, as of the epilogue, is there with friendly encouragement.
  • Physical Goddess: If not this, then at least a VERY powerful Magical Girl: she temporarily sprouts a pair of gigantic ANGEL WINGS at will just before the credits and, in the epilogue, generates a pair that looks like they're made out of THE UNIVERSE ITSELF. Yet ironically, throughout the anime her only powers are to stop time and store things in her shield, as she lacks any magical attacks. Granted, since she can stop time for a LONG while and her shield contains an UNLIMITED amount of stuff, she is very much to be reckoned with.
  • Pimped-Out Dress: Her Magical Girl outfit averts this, which fits with her apparently cold, sober personality.
  • Poisonous Friend: More or less Madoka's. Admittedly she doesn't hang out with Madoka.
  • Poor Communication Kills: You would think that should she be more explicit on many of her warnings, most tragedies (and plots) would not happen, or at least that bad. Alas, poor Mami.
  • Perpetual Frowner: Does she really have any reason to smile?
  • Pin-Pulling Teeth
  • Power Gives You Wings
  • Proper Tights with a Skirt: In all her outfits.
  • Purple Eyes
  • Rei Ayanami Expy: Could count as a Deconstruction of the archetype. Look at all of the tropes that relate to it: most of them are either subverted or inverted.
  • Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: When a young girl vows to repeat a time loop over and over for the sake of another girl that she has only known for barely a month (Technically three, since the vow was made on her second time loop), you have to wonder about their motivation.
  • Save Scumming: Deconstructed. Her time powers allow her to do this with the timeline whenever it reaches a Bad End... and also, due to "accumalted karma" from trans-timeline "fate lines", increases Madoka's magical power. The catch? It also guarantees that Madoka will turn into an immensely powerful Witch in every timeline where she ends up being the one to defeat Walpurgisnacht.
    • New Game+: And she keeps all the information, experience, and... say, "mental development" gained from all of the iterations. This does make her the most capable Puella Magi by a mile and a half, as she can fight any witch (short of Walpurgisnacht) effortlessly on her own. However the trauma changes her personality such that she's unable to emotionally connect the same way; she cannot get them to trust her the way Moemura could.
  • Set Right What Once Went Wrong
  • Seen It All: Fits this trope to a T. Quite literally.
  • Shell Shocked Senior: She even brushes off Mami's death as an occupational hazard.
    • It's explained in episode 10 that since she came from the future a lot of times, she already saw everyone die a lot of times, so her reaction may have bits of Oh, No, Not Again
  • She's Got Legs: Her magical girl outfit combines pantyhose and highheels .
  • Shoot the Dog: In one timeline, Homura is forced to kill Madoka before Madoka becomes a witch.
  • Shrinking Violet: Before she became a Magical Girl in the first place.
  • Slasher Smile: In manga version, when she intends to kill Sayaka after she refuses her help. There's something frightening when this normally stoic and aloof girl suddenly breaks into a murderous glee.
  • The Stoic: At first. Her overall demeanor has the traits of a Stoic, but then later episodes give visual prompts which subvert this trope to...
    • Not So Stoic: During the dream in episode 1 which is actually a part of Episode 10, when she sees Madoka she clearly calls out to her. Later in episode 1, while Madoka is walking with her to the nurse's office in the real world, she is seen clenching her teeth.
      • In episode 6, she looks kinda depressed when she retrieves Sayaka's Soul Gem and stares at it before returning it to her owner.
      • Again in episode 8, after she saved Madoka from making a wish. She breaks down and tearfully asks why Madoka refuses to listen to her.
      • Episode 10. Let's just say it puts all these moments into context. This girl is crying inside.
  • Sugar and Ice Personality
  • Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
  • Teleport Spam: Sort of. It's actually brief uses of her Time Stands Still power giving the illusion of a Flash Step. The distinction is important because it explains why she can't escape Mami's binding her in episode 3, or escape when Kyoko grabs her by the wrist.
  • Temporal Paradox: In the final timeline, the only one of two who remembers Madoka who no longer exists; and has her ribbon. There doesn't appear to be an alternate timeline explanation for her becoming a magical girl; and her wish no longer applies since there isn't a Madoka to save. Yet she exists as a magical girl.
  • Time Stands Still: Her main ability.
  • Time Traveler: Kyubey ends up realizing, and stating, that she's "from another timeline".
  • Took a Level in Badass: After turning into a Magical Girl, she starts taking level after level. Unfortunately...
    • Took a Level in Jerkass: Going through the same horrible events again and again has made her cold and bitter towards everyone except Madoka.
      • Jerk with a Heart of Gold/Jerkass Facade: Then again, she's really doing all of this for Madoka.
      • It's also implied that to some extent she's invoking the whole Jerkass Facade to stop Madoka getting close to her, and to shock her out of the idea that being a magical girl would be a good thing.
  • Tragic Keepsake: Madoka's ribbon. Should be noted that Homura only wears one of them, but Madoka gave her both.
  • Troubled but Cute
  • The Unfettered: She'll do anything to save Madoka. Anything.
  • Unflinching Walk: To show how badass she finally became after several timelines. By tossing a grenade at a group of witches.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid
  • Weak but Skilled: Word of God has stated that she possesses fairly little magical power, but relies on trickery, her rather exploitable ability and an unconventional arsenal of weapons to get the job done, with brio.
  • When She Smiles: She turns out to be quite softhearted, especially when truly happy; this comes out significantly in episode 10 and 12.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Invoked when Homura and Madoka are dying in one timeline and, accepting that they'll end up becoming witches together, Homura wonders if becoming such great witches as to destroy everything bad in the world would be so bad a fate. Ultimately averted by Madoka's Heroic Sacrifice.
  • You Are Not Alone: She recieves this repeatedly from Madoka, the most extreme instance being the last episode when Madoka basically ascends to godhood, and reminds Homura one last time that she will never be alone.
  • You Are Worth Hell: More like: Madoka, You Are Worth This Insane Groundhog Month Loop.
  • Zen Survivor: When the Zen Survivor is a Magical Girl, you know you're in for a wild ride.

Sayaka Miki

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (JP), Sarah Williams (EN)

Madoka's best friend. She has an unwavering sense of justice. She forms a contract with Kyubey to heal the wrist of her childhood friend Kyosuke, allowing him to play violin again. As a side effect of her wish, she is afforded prodigious healing abilities and a musical motif. She wields cutlasses, of which she can conjure infinite amounts. Her affections for Kyosuke go unacknowledged and she falls into despair, becoming the witch Oktavia von Seckendorff. She is later killed by Kyoko.

Madoka: Hang in there.


Mami Tomoe

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi (JP), Carrie Keranen (EN)

A nurturing upperclassman at Madoka's school and a veteran magical girl. She wields an infinite number of magical flintlock rifles along with various ribbon-based binding spells. Her parents died in a car accident, and she lives alone.

She falls to the witch Charlotte in the third episode, making her the first casualty of the penultimate timeline.


Kyoko Sakura

Voiced by: Ai Nonaka (JP), Lauren Landa (EN)

A veteran and morally ambiguous magical girl. Her view of a magical girl's duties are ruthlessly utilitarian; for example, on her first encounter with Sayaka, she suggests allowing a familiar to feed on humans and mature into a witch so as to ultimately gain a Grief Seed from slaying it. She wields a halberd whose shaft can split into chained-together segments, giving her weapon dangerous flexibility and reach. Her wish was to make people listen to her father's unorthodox preachings. This arguably mind-controlling wish afforded her illusory powers, but she lost due to the trauma of her father killing her sister, mother, and himself.

Despite her initial antagonistic behavior toward Sayaka, Kyoko sees a bit of herself in her and begins to warm up and reach out to her, but not in time to save her from becoming a witch. Kyoko eventually takes out Sayaka in a suicide attack so the latter wouldn't have to die alone.

  • Adorkable: In the Drama CD with her and Mami.
  • Amoral Redhead
  • Anti-Hero: Arguably Type V at the start (letting familiars kill people so they can become Witches with grief seeds) and moving up to Type II by the time of her death.
  • Back from the Dead: In the Grand Finale. Since she had died fighting a witch, Madoka is able to revive her with her wish.
  • Berserk Button: Do NOT waste food in Kyoko's presence if you value your life.
  • Better to Die Than Be Killed: After finding out the whole Awful Truth and unable to save Witch!Sayaka, Kyoko felt like she basically had two choices: To destroy her Soul Gem in a final attack to put Sayaka out of her misery and die together, or win the fight the usual way and still become a Witch sooner or later and be killed by a Mahou Shoujo and die alone. Considering her past, guess which one she picked?
  • Big Damn Heroine: Gen Urobuchi loves to play with this trope. In Kyoko's case, Homura saves Sayaka from her. And then she saves Sayaka from Elsa Maria. And then she saves Sayaka from a very pissed-off Homura. And then she tops it off by protecting Madoka and Homura's escape from Witch!Sayaka... By going out with a bang.
  • Big Eater: Not Played for Laughs, as there is a Freudian Excuse for it.
  • Blade on a Stick: Uses a spear.
  • Blood Knight
  • Broken Bird
  • Calling Your Attacks: She never does this in the anime, but the third drama CD reveals that in the past, Mami insisted on calling her Doppelganger Attack "Rossa Fantasma" - literally "Red Phantom". Kyoko actually does say it once during battle, but then breaks out laughing afterwards because she can't take it seriously.
  • Catch Phrase: "You want some?"
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Appears in the title and credits sequences before actually appearing in the series. It's also implied that she's the magical girl that Kyubey and Mami talk about in episode 3, who made a wish for someone else. This is all but confirmed in the third drama CD.
  • Cluster F-Bomb / Obligatory Swearing: In one translation of the manga, on a few occasions.

(to Sayaka after injuring her in their first fight) "What the fuck was that about? You'd better get your shit together, fuckhead."

Kyubey

Voiced by: Emiri Katou (JP), Cassandra Lee (EN)

A small, cute creature that communicates through telepathy. His duty is to form contracts with girls where they will become magical girls and fight witches in exchange for any one wish. He is intent on contracting Madoka due to her immense potential.

He is an "Incubator" and a member of an alien race that seeks to use the thermodynamics-violating energy produced by the magical girl/witch cycle to counteract entropy and stave off the heat death of the universe. The greater the wish and the more important the contractee, the better the payoff, and several powerful historical women were, in reality, magical girls. He is also a Hive Mind of sorts and can easily regenerate upon death.

  • Adorable Abomination
  • Aliens Are Bastards
  • Anti-Hero: He's Type II at the end of the series, following Madoka's wish. Until then he was something of an Anti-Villain instead.
  • Big Bad: Ohhhhhh yes. Subverted (kinda) when Madoka rewrites reality and he doesn't have to be evil anymore, but that's at the very end of the series.
  • Blue and Orange Morality: It literally can not comprehend why humans would care if their souls have been ripped out of their bodies or not. In episode 7, Homura states that "human values don't mean anything to it". And then in episode 9 it reveals that "they", the heavily implied Hive Mind, are actually aliens, and simply don't have emotions, bizarre alien ones included.
    • To put more emphasis on this, emotion is considered only a mental illness among his race.
  • Catch Phrase: "Make a contract with me!"
  • Cats Are Mean: His form is highly ambiguous, but his body and the way he moves seem to invoke a cat-like imagery (possibly a ferret instead - see Weasel Mascot below), and the things he says and does... he may not think he's being cruel, but pretty much everyone else disagrees.
  • Cat Smile: It's creepy as hell—mainly due to its face apparently being stuck semi-permanently in this expression. Whether this is its intention is a matter of much debate.
  • Cross-Dressing Voices: Kyubey is considered to be male, but voiced by a woman since he has a high cheery voice. Granted, he's so inhuman he isn't really obviously either gender.
    • In Drama CD 2, he claims to not see himself a male by human standards after walking in on Madoka taking a bath.
    • In audio commentary to episode 4, Gen Urobuchi said that Kyubey is in fact genderless.
  • Cute Is Evil: Or rather, amoral and without empathy, more than evil.
  • Deadpan Snarker: In the alternate universe created by Madoka. At one point, he remarks that it'd be cool if magical girls could become witches, but even he has to admit that in that universe, that's not possible.
  • Dissonant Serenity: He always wears that creepy smile (although in all likelihood that's just his face being cat-like) in the anime. He almost always talks cheerfully in both versions (probably his face is more expressive in the manga to show this), regardless of context, only demonstrating any degree of distress a few times.
  • Emoticon: ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Kyubey disapproves of Madoka killing Sayaka, be it ever so inadvertently, in her attempt to stop in-fighting amongst magical girls, and he even rebukes her for doing something "that's crazy."
    • Then again, at that point none of them even knew the true nature of the soul gems, so even if he was shocked by the action, Madoka had no idea in the first place that what she did could actually be fatal to Sayaka.
    • Besides, Kyubey probably only objected to Madoka killing Sayaka because it was a waste of a perfectly good Soul Gem. He has standards in the same way that a person who objects to throwing away a half-eaten sandwich has standards.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Holy crap...
  • From a Certain Point of View: More or less everything that comes out of his mouth. While never technically lying, Kyubey makes it a point to only speak in half-truths. When pressed, he responds with either confusion or incredulity; after all, it's their fault for not asking him the right questions in the first place.
    • He eventually tortures Madoka with the whole truth after Sayaka's funeral. Though it was probably not supposed to be torture but an explanation and a way to prove a point, from his point of view- being someone who wouldn't see why she would feel tortured by it.
  • Frozen Face: Kyubey's face does. Not. Move.
    • Averted in Episode 2 when Kyubey takes a bite of an omelette. It also closes its eyes at times, probably when it's supposed to be a smile.
    • Also averted in the manga, where it has quite a bit more facial expression. And doesn't even try to hide his intentions.
    • The DVD version sometimes even re-animates scenes with Kyubey, going great lengths to make his face even LESS expressive.
    • It stays the same even when he realizes what Madoka is up to, which he believes "violates the law of cause and effect".
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom
  • Hive Mind: Confirmed by Word of God. See the main page.
    • Does it count as Hive Mind, if there is no "hive" part, just one mind driving a lot of replaceable bodies?
  • Invisible to Normals
  • Ironic Echo: When trying to persuade Madoka to become a Magical Girl, he often states that her potential is so great that any wish could be granted, and that she could even become a god if she wanted. He even repeats this moments before Madoka finally does make a wish, and is suitably horrified when she uses it to do just that.
  • Just Desserts: Does this to himself in episode 8 after Homura executes him with a single bullet.
    • Single bullet? That's not what happened. She stops time and empties a whole clip into him, even though it was not nececary, resulting in Swiss Cheese. She really hates the thing. And for a good reason.
  • Japanese Pronouns: Kyuubey speaks in a rather tortured syntax, using only diminutive pronouns and entirely stripping out honorifics when talking to people. Its not so much disrespectful as it is just stilted, and gives the impression that he views people about the same way as he would furniture.
    • Or cattle. He even makes that comparison later on.
  • Kick the Dog: Although it was pretty obvious that there is something fishy about Kyubey, the scene where he makes Sayaka "experience real pain" just to prove a point makes it clear that he is evil, or at very least completely lacking in empathy. Additionally, that action wasn't entirely necessary or relevant to his plans.
    • From another point of view, it was entirely relevant to his plans. His entire goal is to have the girls fall into despair so they can become witches. His KTD moment was his way of reinforcing leading Sayaka to thinking "I done screwed up!" and witchifying her.
  • Lack of Empathy

"You people are all the same. Every time I tell someone, it's the same response. I don't get it. Why do humans care so much where their souls are?"

  • Leitmotif: "Sis puella magica!" is generally considered one for him or the series as a whole.
  • Make a Wish: Kyubey does not seem to have anything to do with how the wishes he grants carry out. He does not look for the worse interpretation. His explanation for bad things happening to wishers is that the power of the Wish creates equal parts despair and hope. (Like a magical version of two particles coming into being in vacuum fluctuation; both negative and positive) thus equaling zero. He cannot stop someone from making a wish that he wouldn't want them to make, and he can't force anyone to make a wish either.
    • Rather than exploit Jerkass Genie, he simply gives them exactly what they asked for because what they ask for is never what they actually want. The girls are never honest with themselves about their desires, every selfless wish has a selfish motive behind it, and the despair sets in when they realize that their selfless wish being granted did not guarantee their selfish desire being granted as well.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Seriously. He may have trouble understanding human values and emotions, but he's very good at asking the girls to make a contract with him at the exact moment when they'd have the most difficulty refusing. And he will abusively call you, even if you do refuse his offer.
  • Mean Character, Nice Actor: According to Gen Urobuchi, Emiri Katou is a nice lady who loves the Magical Girl genre and nearly had a Heroic BSOD when she learned just what sort of character she'd be voicing.
  • Meaningful Name/Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Incubator.
  • Mentor Mascot: Subverted. At first he looks like your standard Magical Girl cute critter mentor, until we find out that he views the girls as expendable power sources and it's in his best interests to make them as miserable as possible.... because it will mean gaining energy go save the universe.
  • Mysterious Backer: Just look at him and say that you trust him. Go on.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Arguably, his Info Dump toward Madoka about magical girl's role in history of humanity and his own confirmation that any of Madoka's wish can be granted is the one who inspires Madoka to make her Cosmic Retcon wishes.
  • Nigh Invulnerability: Of the Can Only Kill Part Of Him kind. An exact replica of it comes to eat its corpse after Homura riddles it with bullets in episode 8. It claims it has unlimited number of substitutions. Word of God says he instantly creates a body from surrounding Mana.
  • No Biological Sex: Most fans default to referring to Kyubey as "he", but the character actually doesn't have any physical sex.
    • In the Japanese dub he refers to himself with "boku" so its safe to say that if he isn't male he is at least pretending to be for the sake of brevity.
  • Obliviously Evil: There's evidence to the idea that he has no idea that people would consider his actions wrong. See Blue and Orange Morality above.
    • He has the idea. He's far from stupid, after all. He knows exactly what parts of his deal he should conceal as long as possible. He just can't really comprehend why humans are so upset about them.
  • Oh Crap: "That violates the laws of cause and effect! Do you really want to become a god!?"
  • Omniscient Morality License: The Incubators and the race that created them use the powerful emotions given off by Magical Girls and witches to counter entropy and prevent the heat death of the universe. And note that they ultimately consider humanity expendable.
  • Omniglot: Besides Japanese, Kyubey also speaks fluent French, Egyptian, Hebrew, Norwegian, Swahili and you-name-it-he-speaks it. After all, known victims include Jean De Arc, Cleopatra, Anne Frank, Viking and African children, not to mention countless others from presumably from every nation across our world. If ever he's forced to change careers, Kyubey would make quite a lucrative career as a Professor of Linguistics.
  • Perpetual Smiler: And it's VERY creepy.
  • Punch Clock Villain: A sublime example of just how far someone can be willing to go, simply to meet a quota for their job.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Eeep...
  • Regular Caller: The call is on reversed charges, though. With international call prices.
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: A brutal subversion. His cutesy appearance and placid temperament are only a façade to hide his true nature.
  • Somebody Else's Problem: And how. Something that doesn't involve magical girls hunting Grief Seeds? Then Kyubey doesn't have an opinion on it.
    • A massive Witch has been born and will destroy the whole earth in a matter of days? Good luck fighting it, he just harvested enough energy to meet his planetary quota.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Kyuubey, Kyuubee, Kyubei, and QB are also floating around out there.
    • "Cubey" was also a short-lived proposal since producers said that the "kyu" is as in "cute".
    • "Kyubey" seems to be the most official, though, since it has been used in official promo materials and moreover, most fansubbers and scanlators actually doing the show are spelling it like this.
    • Its name is also spelled quite bizarrely in original Japanese. It's half in katakana, half in hiragana, with an additional bonus for an unconventional use of small-sized katakana.
    • And it turns out that "Kyubey" is short for "Incubator".
    • The runes in episode 11 spell it as "Qbey".
  • Starfish Alien: It explains why his moral compass is completely out of whack, his creepy cheerful expression and his powers.
  • The Stoic: Of the "say something horrific without any emotions" variety. For example, his serene speeches in Episode 12. He calmly explains what's going on to Homura and seems to be more concerned about Madoka's fate, even when the Universe ends around him and he's already figured out that very soon he will cease to exist, to be recreated as a quite different version of self.
  • Super Empowering: This is its job. It's quite pushy about that.
  • They Killed Kenny: Homura has probably "killed" him dozens of times by now, but it never sticks.
  • Totalitarian Utilitarian: Kyubey's goal is to stave off the heat death of the universe, which he does by dooming teenage girls to lives of suffering (and eventual transformation into Eldritch Abominations that kill plenty of innocent people -- and potentially entire planets -- in the process).
  • Troll: Mainly due to the fact that he knowingly withholds vital info about the contract involving soul sucking and corruption, and then acting all innocent about it.
  • Weasel Mascot: And we do mean weasel, in the figurative sense.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: How he... it... they... whatever view themselves, since the stated goal is to stop the entropy of the universe. How? Create magical girls and witches to unleash energy, of course!
  • Will Not Tell a Lie: Kyubey never lies about anything and will happily cough up the truth if asked directly. It even seems offended at the mere idea that someone would accuse it of lying. It does however leave out a lot of vital information that would be to its disadvantage to reveal, invoking You Never Asked to a ridiculous degree. It's not above speaking in half-truths either: when Kyoko asks if there is any way to return Sayaka to normal, Kyubey states that there's no precedent for it. It's an answer that is technically correct but baits Kyoko into believing that there could be a way.
    • Happens again in episodes 9 and 10. In 9 he states that his actions would preserve humanity's future among the stars. However, he phrases it in such a way that it doesn't reveal whether he actually cares if humanity goes to the stars or not. We find in episode 10 that he does not care one bit about humanity or Earth, as long as his energy quota is reached.
  • Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Gives a Nice Job Breaking It, Hero Wham! Line on one occasion:

"You've done great, Homura. You've raised Madoka to become the most powerful witch ever."

Kaname family

Junko Kaname

Voiced by: Yūko Gotō (JP), Carrie Savage (EN)

Madoka's mother and the main breadwinner in the family, who works as an executive for a famous company.

Tomohisa Kaname

Voiced by: Tetsuya Iwanaga (JP), Kyle Hebert (EN)

Madoka's dad, as well as the one taking care of the house and the kids.

Tatsuya Kaname

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi (JP)

Madoka's three year-old younger brother.


Other characters

Hitomi Shizuki

Voiced by: Ryoko Shintani (JP), Shelby Lindley (EN)

Madoka and Sayaka's classmate and friend. Often walks to school with them, and while she cares for her friends she sometimes feels left out of their deals.

Kyosuke Kamijo

Voiced by: Seiko Yoshida (JP), Marianne Miller (EN)

Sayaka's friend and her crush. A wrist injury he received in an accident left him unable to play his beloved violin, and he drudges through a barely-hidden depression as he rehabilitates at the hospital. Sayaka's wish in her Magical Girl contract is to heal his wrist.

  • Alliterative Name
  • Berserk Button: Hearing "music (he) can't play" is a sore spot for him, to the point at which he accuses Sayaka of wanting to torture him.
  • Bishounen: Kyosuke is a fairly young example, in particular in the anime, where his voice is actually more fitting for a younger boy.
  • Break the Cutie: One of the first signs in the series. How much more redundant can you get with a violinist whose hand is broken?
  • Chekhov's Gunman: His hand is the Start of Darkness for the new character arc.
  • Curtains Match the Window
  • Disabled Love Interest
  • Disabled Means Helpless: This is pretty much what drove his mental state pre-healing.
    • Values Dissonance: The "you're helpless and a load on others if you're physically or mentally disabled" mentality is much stronger in Japan than in America. See Angelic Layer and how Misaki's wheelchair-bound mother sends her to live with her aunt because she feels like "a useless mother" and thinks Misaki will be bullied for it for another example. And not to mention, well, he's a violinist with an injured wrist...
    • Episode 4 shows him in rehab. His hand wasn't the only part of his body injured, judging by how he has difficulty walking as well.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: We get to see his injured hand in the manga. It's not pretty.
  • Gray Eyes
  • Humans Are Flawed
  • Ill Boy
  • Mean Character, Nice Actor: Yes, this applies to him as well (though he's more oblivious and flawed than evil or deliberately cruel). Seiko Yoshida has commented that "The dialogue by Sayaka: "I cannot ask him to embrace this body... I cannot ask him to kiss this body..." I heard it directly spoken to me in the studio, and it just came to me with this feeling of the pain and sadness coming from someone who has fallen in love with a person who she is certain will never love her, and I remember crying because of that. I was really hoping that Kyosuke and Sayaka could have an ending where both came together happily and my heart was left with a sad memory."
  • Oblivious to Love: Sayaka didn't have time to get his side of the story, but the fact that he didn't bother to tell her that he left the hospital says a lot. And Hitomi has to spell out her interest in him later.
  • Pet the Dog: Though he's not a villain, Kamijo can be quite unknowingly cruel. The scene from the PSP game where he shows Sayaka how to hold a violin after his accident shows just how someone like him could have both Sayaka and Hitomi fall for him, though.
    • Kick the Dog: In Sayaka's own route, however, he sees her in state of live decomposition (due to the distance of her soul gem), panics and calls her a disgusting monster, mentioning how Hitomi is "the only one for him". His Squick reaction is somewhat understandable, but adding the line about Hitomi?
  • Stepford Smiler: He pretended to be more or less fine at first, but in episode 3 we start to see how badly damaged he is in the mental sense. Becomes a full-blown Heroic BSOD in episode 4.
  • There Are No Therapists: Double subverted—looking at the poor guy's mental state, it doesn't seem that the therapists are at all effective.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The fact that Sayaka will do anything for him makes this apparent by the Start of Darkness story arc. She did heal his arm, after all, but since he cannot see her love when he plays the violin after his hand is healed, this only amplifies her sadness.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy

Kazuko Saotome

Voiced by: Junko Iwao (JP), Karen Strassman (EN)

Madoka's homeroom teacher. She has trouble with men and is a perennial drinking buddy of Junko.

Kyouko Sakura's family

Kyouko: "He was too honest. Too kind. Every morning reading the paper, the worries of the world brought him to tears(...)"

Witches

Mysterious magical beings who feed on the despair of humans. They employ minions known as familiars, who, if left unchecked, can grow into duplicates of the original witch. It is a magical girl's duty to slay witches and collect the Grief Seeds they drop. All witches reside in private pocket dimensions known as barriers which reflect their broken psyches. The only known exception to this rule is the colossal Walpurgisnacht, who is powerful enough to simply impose barrier-like properties onto reality instead of retreating into an alternate space.

All witches are either actually magical girls who exhausted their magical energies and succumbed to despair, or another witch's familiar that has evolved. According to Word of God, even Walpurgisnacht was once a single magical girl, but has combined with other witches over time to become more powerful.

  • All There in the Manual: There is a lot of information about each witch that is only found on the official website. It also provides information for witches that haven't been seen in the show. The You Are Not Alone guidebook also alludes to or outright states several of the witches' wishes.
  • Exclusively Evil
  • And Then The Magical Girls Were Witches: The fate of every magical girl not killed in battle to be consumed by despair and turn into a witch. The blackening of the soul gems show how much time there's left before this happens. The only way to stop this is to spend the rest of your life battling witches to have a steady supply of grief seeds to siphon off despair into, or be killed by external sources like Cleopatra, Anne Frank and Jean De Arc were.
  • Art Shift: as per their lovecraftian vibes, both the witches and their barriers are usually animated in a style that is completely different from the main style of the anime, to every witch her own style.
  • Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence: This is presumably what happens to them all at the end of the anime, thanks to Madoka rewriting the universe. In fact, all magical girls (including ones in the past) never become witches in the first place...they just vanish instead, smiling peacefully, and possibly joining Madoka Out There.
  • Assimilation Plot: Elsa Maria views absorbing people as "saving" them. Kriemhild Gretchen takes it to a global scale by absorbing all life into her barrier, which is described as her "heaven"
  • Asteroids Monster: The familiars are effectively part of the witch. If a familiar is separated from a witch, it can grow its own Grief Seed by causing suffering to other humans and become a full fledged witch in their own right. As magical girls need Grief Seeds to maintain their powers, some unscrupulous ones leave familiars alone to get more Grief Seeds.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever:
    • Kriemhild Gretchen is the size of a mountain At least in the 4th timeline.
    • Walpurgisnacht is a gigantic harlequin clockwork doll floating upside-down in the sky.
    • Charlotte's true form may be partially based on caterpillars (specifically The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar), with a Monster Clown motive added to boot.
    • Oktavia van Seckendorff, Sayaka's witch, is a gigantic mermaid knight.
  • Clipped-Wing Angel: Witches are usually less powerful than the magical girls they spawn from, judging by the fact that even a relatively weak magical girl like Sayaka can destroy a witch like Elly with ease. Usually, that is. Some witches, however, can pack an impressive punch - like Charlotte (who utterly destroys Mami, albeit that might have been due to the shock factor of her own One-Winged Angel), Elsa Maria (who almost kills Sayaka), Oktavia von Seckendorff, or ultimate witches the likes of Walpurgisnacht and Gretchen.
  • Cloning Blues: Familiars can become a copy of the original witch.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Anja
  • The Corruption: Inverted. Magical girls purify their Soul Gems by placing the darkness that grows inside of it into Grief Seeds. However, doing it too many times can allow the witch to regenerate. The trope is then played straight when it's revealed that Grief Seeds are fully corrupted Soul Gems.
  • Creepy Doll: The Klarissas, Oktavia's familiars in episode 10. They're just there to cheerfully dance around the witch that commands them, with creepy smiles on their faces and possessing limbs that look like they can be snapped with a single touch...
    • Also, Charlotte's original form.
    • Not to mention Daniyyel and Jennifer, Kirsten's familiars.
      • Kirsten herself looks something like one, as we see when Sayaka sends her flying out of a computer monitor.
    • Albertine, as revealed in the official PSP game, somewhat resembles a giant female clown doll.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Generally on the receiving end, but a few, such as Charlotte to Mami and Walpurgisnacht to everyone except Madoka give them.
  • Cypher Language: The odd runes appear to be messages from the witch or the familiars. Often they seem like a Madness Mantra. Oh wait, they are.
  • Dark Is Not Evil/Light Is Not Good: Elsa Maria invokes both tropes to varying degrees; she is apparently a practicing Catholic and constantly prays for the salvation of everyone around her. She's also a Living Shadow and accomplishes said salvation by consuming and assimilating anyone who gets too close.
  • Despair Event Horizon: The key to becoming a witch.
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Kirsten.
  • Eldritch Abomination: All the witches. All of them.
  • Emotion Eater: Witches feed off human suffering.
  • Expy: In the manga adaptation, Walpurgisnacht summons shadow dopplegangers of Mami, Sayaka, and Kyouko. Combined with her general demeanor and the fact that All There in the Manual calls her the witch of stage construction, she may very well be a reference to Type-Moon's similarly named Night of Wallachia.
  • Evil Makes You Monstrous: And how!
  • The Fair Folk: Some of them are described as acting in this fashion. Ultimately averted.
  • Fallen Heroine: Every witch who isn't a familiar-turned-copy was a magical girl who allowed her Soul Gem to fill up with The Corruption, causing it to break and become a Grief Seed.
  • Fusion Dance: The website speculates Walpurgisnacht is this, but says nobody knows. Word of God confirms it, although adds that she started as a perfectly normal witch.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Kirsten.
  • The Heartless: Said to be born of curses. The curses of magical girls.
  • Hero-Killer: Charlotte and Walpurgisnacht. The former kills Mami, and the latter is apparently strong enough that no Magical Girl except Madoka can defeat her alone.
  • Hikikomori: Kirsten
  • Immune to Bullets: Averted. As Homura demonstrates, military-grade firearms are enough to destroy them.
    • Played semi-straight with Walpurgisnacht, as Homura throws what basically amounts to enough firepower to destroy the city (in fact, her salvo is responsible for most of the initial property damage in episode 11) and it doesn't even have a scratch afterwards.
  • Improvised Weapon: Walpurgisnacht uses pretty much every object, even entire skyscrapers, in battle.
  • Invisible to Normals: Witches and their familiars apparently cannot be seen by people who haven't been "chosen" by Kyubey to become Magical Girls.
  • Ironic Hell: A witch's personality, powers, and barrier often combine to form a sick subversion of her magical girl counterpart's wish. For example, Charlotte loves sweets and can create any sweet she likes save for her favorite (cheese), and lives in a cross between a candy shop and a hospital. Her wish is implied to have been for cheesecake, when she could've wished for her mother's disease to be cured.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Charlotte. Unusually for this trope, she's killed off at the end of the episode she appears in.
  • Living Shadow: Elsa Maria and her familiar, Sebastian.
  • Lonely Doll Girl: Kirsten is a Hikikomori witch with two doll familiars.
  • Losing Your Head: In Sayaka vs. Elsamaria's fight, Sayaka actually chops Elsa's head off. It's still not enough to kill her, so she goes Attack! Attack! Attack! on her until she dies. It's even creepier in the Blue-Ray version, since Elsa actually bleeds in that one.
  • Lotus Eater Machine: Kriemheld Gretchen is said to absorb all of the planet's life into her personal "heaven", her barrier. What this implies is unknown, but it's likely to be something like this.
  • Meaningful Name: Several of the witches have names that relate to themselves. Charlotte is a type of dessert. Elsa Maria brings to mind a biblical prayer. Kirsten resembles a computer monitor, and so she has an "online handle": H.N. Elly. And Walpurgisnacht is the name of a real-world European festival during which legends state that witches gather together.
    • The biggest one though? In written Japanese, the characters for "witch" (魔女, phonetically pronounced "majo") are found in the characters for "magical girl". (魔法少女, phonetically pronounced "mahou shoujo"). Put another way, "magical girl" can be read as "young witch".
  • Meaningful Rename: The witches have different names than the magical girls they came from.
  • Mental World: A Witch's Labyrinth very much reflects the persona and psyche of the witch who makes it her home.
  • Mercy Kill: To kill a witch is to let a poor and broken girl die in peace. Madoka does this on a cosmic scale by making them Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence; witches are still created when a Magical girl loses her will to live and is consumed by darkness, but nobody understands where they go or what happens.
  • Mook: Their familiars.
  • Mind Control: Shown by the "witch's kiss", a mark that appears on a human who is being controlled by a witch.
  • Mind Screw: all of the witches and their barriers and minions take this to an absurd level.
  • Monster of the Week: A much Darker and Edgier version. Until Madoka rewrites the system to make sure this won't happen anymore.
  • Non-Standard Character Design: While every Witch and everything associated with them is drawn in a different art style from the rest of the show, Charlotte does double duty by having the Witch herself drawn in Thick Line Animation, while everything else in her barrier is constructed out of paper cutouts.
  • One-Winged Angel: Charlotte does this. Arguably you could consider witches as this to magical girls.
  • Pocket Dimension: Witches can create these; they're bizarre areas, to say the least, and it keeps the more elaborate fights out of view of normal people.
  • Porn Stache: The Anthony and Adelbert familiars have these. In the case of the Anthonies, Gertrud puts these 'staches on them.
  • Ret-Gone: Madoka's wish in the finale makes it so that the witches are deleted from existence and replaced with a different kind of monster altogether, so that the Incubators can still gather energy for their mission while not bringing misfortune to the girls.
  • Sliding Scale of Villain Effectiveness: As mentioned under Clipped-Wing Angel, witches can appear anywhere on the scale. Most fall under the Inadvertent category, but the stronger witches - such as Walpurgis Night or Kriemhild Gretchen - can fall under the High or even Infinite levels.
  • Songs of Solace: Oktavia has an orchestra of Holger familiars (who look like Kyousuke and play the violin). She won't allow anyone to disturb their playing.
  • Soul Jar: The witch's Grief Seed, left behind after their death. A Grief Seed is capable of regenerating the witch, which is why Kyubey devours them before they reach that point.
  • Stellar Name: All the witches and familiars appear to be named after celestial objects found in the solar system. Take a look.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: Witches ultimately originate from fallen magical girls, though as familiars can become a copy of the witch there might be some degrees of separation.
  • Tragic Monster: All of them, really.
  • The Un-Reveal: All There in the Manual example. Three of the witches described on the website are never seen in the series, and it doesn't show Walpurgisnacht's name.
  • Was Once A Girl: Well not all of them, but...
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Elsa Maria, who absorbs people in order to "save" them, and Kriemhild Gretchen, who wants to create heaven on earth by absorbing all life into her barrier. Oktavia von Seckendorff could count, seeing that in-series, she only goes after the morally bankrupt, also including on her headcount all those who would interfere in any way (i.e. the magical girls).
  • Witch Species: Familiars can break off from their mother Witch. When this happens, they are able to mature into witches in their own right by killing enough humans. Ultimately Zig Zagged, as Magical Girls mature into witches when their soul gem gets sufficiently tainted.

Charlotte

  • Level Ate: Being the witch of desserts, has a barrier mostly made of sweets.
  • Killer Rabbit: Her first form looks kind of like a soft toy rabbit.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Charlotte loves cheese, but is sadly unable to create it.
    • She also has a song, Wo Ist Die Käse?, in one of the movies about her desire for cheese in less than perfect german.

Elsa Maria

  • Dark Messiah: Elsa Maria seems to view herself as such, as she constantly prays for the world while sending out her shadows and familiars to kill whoever gets in her barrier.
  • Church Militant: Elsa Maria from Episode 7 acts like one, praying to an object that looks a lot like Catholic monstrance.

Gertrud

Oktavia von Seckendorff

  • Sirens Are Mermaids: Oktavia von Seckendorff is the mermaid witch and her familiar, Holger performs music which steals the souls of the audience.
    • Oktavia is the mermaid witch because the story of her Magical Girl (Sayaka)'s downfall has parallels with the original Little Mermaid.
  • The Von Trope Family: Oktavia von Seckendorff.

Patricia


Roberta

Kriemhild Gretchen

Madoka's witch form

  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Kriemhild Gretchen is a giant shadow. She may be based off the Brocken Spectre
  • As Long as There Is Evil: All There in the Manual The witch desires to create heaven on Earth. "The only way to defeat this witch is to make the world free of misfortune. If there's no grief in this world, she'll think this world is already a heaven."
  • Dark Messiah: She wants to save everyone by absorbing them into her barrier. She is the Witch of Salvation after all
  • The Un-Reveal: The only looks we get of are is a black, thundercloud-like entity mid-transformation in one timeline and a colossal grey silhouette in another timeline. The witch's name, Kriemhild Gretchen, was originally this but was shown in a subsequent broadcast.
    • Her witch card shows what Gretchen looks like here.

Walpurgisnacht

  • The Hyena: She doesn't even stop laughing as Madoka is shooting her out of the sky.
  • Playing with Fire: Walpurgis Night breathes fire. Excluding her power, it suddenly makes a lot more sense for Homura's artillery attacks to have no effect on her.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Walpurgisnacht or Walpurgis Night; both are equally valid in referring to the stage-constructing witch. The Hulu subs go with Walpurgisnacht, as does the English dub.
    • As an aside, one of the songs relating to this witch is named "Nux Walpurgis", which of course is simply Latin for the same.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Amazingly enough, even the website[context?] doesn't reveal Walpurgisnacht's name, just listing it, and her familiars, as ?????.
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