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Puella Magi Madoka Magica is unlike any other dark fantasy anime. Not only did it redefine and subvert the magical girl genre in ways no one was expecting, but it introduced a world of lore and intriguing characters that surprised viewers with every single episode. The revelation that magical girls eventually turn into witches is still one of the best in anime history.
The twelve-episode series is also known for its creative designs, especially those of the anguished witches that haunt Madoka and her friends. Gekidan Inu Curry, a duo of animators who often work with Studio Shaft, designed all witches, their labyrinths, and familiars in such a picturesque and unique style, that their art has become central to Madoka’s magical world.
10 Patricia Just Wants School To Last Forever
Patricia made her first appearance in Episode 10 of the Madoka Magica anime and is described as the Class Representative witch, with an Onlooker nature. She’s depicted as a spider-like creature with six arms sprouting from her sailor-uniform-wearing body. Patricia weaves threads with uniform shirts hanging from them to represent a school in the sky.
Her familiars, which are called Mathieu and are portrayed as the bottom half of a human body, are meant to be her classmates, though they have no will of their own and only obey Patricia. According to the official Guidebook, Patricia also hates the rain, which explains why it pours heavily when she’s destroyed.
9 Zenobia Is A Dedicated Sandcastle Builder With A Perfectionist Streak
Known as the Sandbox witch, Zenobia is said to always be striving to create the perfect sandcastle. She appears in both the Magia Record anime and game and has the nature of Immersion, which keeps her preoccupied with her sand creations. Her name is a reference to Syrian Empress Zenobia, who lived in the mid-200s AD and is considered one of the greatest female monarchs of all time.
Zenobia’s minions, Zabaii, are a reference to Empress Zenobia’s birth name, and look like clockwork, serpentine toys with numerous legs. They constantly try to help their witch build sandcastles, but they eventually give up when she gets frustrated.
8 Candy Is Cute But Deadly
With a Princess nature and a misleadingly adorable appearance, Candy is a particularly deadly witch. Despite her cute, plush bunny looks, Candy is known to throw tantrums that involve impaling things (and people) with her sharp spears. She enjoys being complimented on her looks and her extensive collection of clothes and toys.
Harold, her familiars, decorate her labyrinth in order to appease her and keep her content. If they do a bad job and Candy notices, she goes on a rampage and destroys them. When Candy’s getting ready to attack, her body rips apart down the middle, revealing the metal machinery inside.
7 Roberta Is Trapped By Her Own Rage
Roberta is special, as she turned into a witch well into adulthood and is said to enjoy alcohol and books. She’s the Birdcage witch with a nature of Rage and is depicted as a headless, lingerie-clad torso and legs trapped inside a neon green cage. Her minions, Gotz, which have the body of shirtless men with bird heads and wings made of paper, are described as “good-for-nothings” who only fly around trying to get her attention.
Homura defeats Roberta in Episode 10 of Madoka Magica. She then makes a cameo in The Veranda of Madoka, a spin-off manga where the Holy Quintet are sisters and everyone wields magic except Madoka.
6 Rebecca Can’t Seem To Fall Asleep
Rebecca the Sheep witch has an appearance that matches her name, with a massive, fuzzy body and a pair of curved horns like those of a ram. She has an Insomniac nature since she has too many eyes keeping her awake and is perpetually wary of her surroundings. Unlike other witches, Rebecca enjoys her familiars’ company and passively waits for them to feed her, letting them act like shepherds caring for her.
In the Magia Record anime, Rebecca’s eyes have been replaced with a single black and white spiral that shows her insomnia. Her labyrinth is made up of knitted fabrics resembling green pastures and multiple white crosses protecting her from the outside.
5 Ui Asked For Too Much & Turned Into Shitori Egumo
As Ui Tamaki’s witch, Shitori Egumo is one of the most powerful witches to date. Also known as the witch of Happiness, she has a Suffering nature and feeds off the dark energy that gets released when magical girls turn into witches. This shows how Ui’s wish of being able to harness Kyubey’s harvesting powers was too strong for her magical girl body to handle. Her familiars, the winged Oscar, provide her with “offerings” consisting of magic, emotions, and memories.
Shitori Egumo has two forms. The first resembles Ui’s Doppel and is encased within an energy field until it’s time for her to hatch into her second, much bigger form. Her fuzzy, insect-like design was inspired by the Bombyx Mori silk moth.
4 Oktavia Von Seckendorff’s Orchestra Will Never Stop
Episode 8 of Madoka Magica shocked fans when Sayaka succumbed to the darkness inside her heart and became Oktavia von Seckendorff, the Mermaid witch who falls in love. Her familiars are called Holger, and their duty is to play music for their witch, keeping her entertained and happy.
Oktavia’s half-knight, half-mermaid design alludes to Sayaka’s magical girl outfit, which vaguely resembles a knight’s uniform and the stories of mermaids whose love is never returned and are doomed to suffer for it. Her labyrinth, an orchestra hall, is a representation of her wish for Kyosuke to heal and play his violin again.
3 Ophelia Is A Marching Warrior
Despite not making an official debut in the anime, Kyoko Sakura’s witch, Ophelia, remains a fan-favorite. As the Wudàn witch, Ophelia has been designed to resemble the eponymous female warriors that appear in traditional Chinese operas. She wanders aimlessly on her horse alongside her minions, named Zoe, and has the nature of Abandonment.
Ophelia was possibly named after the Hamlet character, a young woman trapped between following his father’s wishes and pursuing her true love who ends her life towards the end of Shakespeare’s play. Ophelia’s flame, which replaces her head, could be a symbol of her eternal vigil as she marches on through the fog that constantly surrounds her.
2 Walpurgisnacht Just Wants To See The World Burn
Walpurgisnacht is the main antagonist (though some would argue that the role belongs to Homura) of the Madoka Magica anime, as her hatching is what brings despair and destruction to Mitakihara. She’s mostly a mystery, but she’s said to be an amalgamation of several witches, which could explain why her familiars appear as nameless shadows in the shapes of six different girls. Her name, Walpurgisnacht, meaning the Night of Walpurgis, is a reference to the German holiday of the same name when witches supposedly meet and celebrate their powers.
She’s known as the Stage-Construction witch, evidenced by her medieval costume and the giant gear under her skirt, and has a Helpless nature. The official Guidebook explains that Walpurgisnacht thinks that the world is fake, just a stage for more drama to develop.
1 Homulilly Just Wants To End Her Own Pain
Rebellion gave fans one of the best and more powerful witches in the form of Homulilly, Homura’s Nutcracker witch with a Self-Sufficient nature. Homulilly has three forms, but her third is arguably the best and most interesting of the bunch. After failing several times to save Madoka, all Homulilly wants is to die, and so she marches to her own execution.
She has more familiars than any other witch, with five different types including the Clara Dolls, whose duty is to mourn during Homulilly’s procession, and Lotte, the soldiers that will carry out her sentence. Homulilly also wears a crown of Red Spider lilies atop her melted head, flowers that the Japanese often associate with funerals, the afterlife, and the arrival of Autumn.
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