Friday, November 10, 2023

Character Analysis: Madoka

 This blog was made as part of my new Patreon. I'll be setting up a new vote for my next character blog there as well. The candidates this time will be Aile (Megaman ZX), Blaze the Cat, Megamind and Scott Pilgrim.

Background

An average girl from the city of Mitakihara. Madoka spent her days attending school, hanging out with friends, etc. Until one day she and her best friend Sayaka wandered into the domain of a witch, a supernatural creature that threatens mankind. While death seemed imminent, Madoka and Sayaka were saved by a “magical girl” named Mami. Mami then told them that Magical girls are warriors that are bound to protect mankind from witches after contracting with an alien being known as Kyubey. Additionally Magical girls have one wish granted in exchange for their contracts.


Madoka and Sayaka subsequently shadowed Mami on several of her missions as a magical girl, with the intention of potentially contracting with Kryubey themselves. Unfortunately Mami was very infamously killed by a witch during one of her missions. This caused Madoka to reevaluate her desire to become a magical girl and led to the series as a whole taking on a much more dramatic storyline .


Further into the series it is also revealed that Kyubey is a manipulator. He manipulates girls into contracting with him, with the intention of their wishes typically backfiring. In reality Magical girls turn into witches when they undergo despair, and the emotional energy they create when doing so can be collected by Kyubey’s race, the incubators. The incubators use that energy to help stave off the entropy of the universe.


This ties into the plot of another major character in the series, Homura. Homura originates from an alternate timeline where Madoka had contracted with Kyubey and become a magical girl.


That original version of Madoka died fighting the “ultimate witch”  walpurgisnacht. Homura then contracted with Kyubey herself to become a magical girl and gained time travel powers. 


As a result Homura traveled back in time over and over to prevent Madoka from getting hurt or ever contracting with Kyu. Unfortunately the eventual arrival of Walpurgis either tended to force Madoka into contracting regardless or was impossible for Homura to defeat on her own. The timeline depicted in the original series is the latest attempt we see to avert fate.


At the end of the original series after most of the cast has been killed by witches or in various disasters, Madoka goes against Homura’s desires and contracts with Kyubey. She wishes to destroy all witches before they had even existed by her own hand. This wish transforms Madoka into a higher dimensional being that essentially rewrites the laws of the multiverse to protect magical girls from their fate of becoming Witches.


In the movie Rebellion Madoka’s god-like role is disrupted by Homura, who was uncontent with Madoka sacrificing her life as a normal human. After foiling a plot of the Incubators to enslave Madoka’s godly form, Homura tears Madoka’s human portion out of her god form. Homura then becomes a god herself and rewrites reality so the events of the prior series hadn't happened.


Alternate timelines: There’s numerous other minor timelines and “what if” scenarios shown throughout Madoka’s spin offs and games.

Arsenal

Soul Gem

The soul gem is a crystalline structure that holds the soul of a magical girl. This separation of soul and physical form, allows a magical girl’s body to be more susceptible to damage. Destroying a magical girl's soul gem will instantly kill them. A magical girl must also stay within 100 meters of the soul gem in order to maintain control their bodies. 


Cleansing and Contamination

Soul gems are also the retainer for a magical girl's magical power. Should they overexert themselves these soul gems will become tainted. Magical girls can purify their soul gems by using the grief seeds, which are dropped by defeated witches.


Birthing a witch

If a soul gem's contamination reaches the breaking point it shatters, and causes the magical girl in question to transform a witch. Extreme negative emotions can also increase the speed of this taint and can result in instant shattering if they fall to complete despair. The former soul gem of a given magical girl will also transform into a grief seed.


Sensing

Magical girls can use their soul gems to sense other sources of magic.


Body swapping

Under specific circumstances it's possible for Magical girls to switch bodies, assuming they can align their soul gem with another body that’s currently empty of a soul.


Regeneration

Magical girls can restore their bodies from any bodily harm as long as they have magic to fuel the regeneration. They can also dissociate themselves from any form of pain.

Abilities

Magical girl Abilities

Magical girls by default have superhuman strength, durability and speed. They also have the ability to manifest magical weapons or utilize magical energy through various attacks. The overall “strength” of a magical girl is determined by their projected impact on “karmic destiny” and “fate”. For example Jean de arc was the most powerful magical girl of her time due to being integral to the fate of an entire nation. In the plot of Madoka Magica it's established that because Homura created hundreds of timeline centered around Madoka, Madoka’s karmic destiny was artificially strengthened.


Magic bow

Madoka’s primary weapon is a magic bow. It can fire explosive arrows of magical energy.


Homing shots

The shots from Madoka’s bow can also curve and home in on opponents.


Magical Squall / Puruwia ★ Magica 

An attack where Madoka will create a pentagram in the sky that will rain down hundreds of arrows on her opponents. In Magia Record it also reduces the attacking power of those hit, and can restore the stamina of allies. Magica Record also has a variant of the move that can inflect the ailment darkness, and lowers opponent accuracy.

  • Rebellion 7-9 Madoka fires hundreds of arrows to destroy the incubators imprisoning Homura https://mangatoto.com/chapter/727053/62 #Abilities #Experience

  • Rebellion 1:33:12 Modoka fires an arrow into the sky and it rains down hundreds of arrows 

  • Magica Record This game has a variant that fires numerous tennis racket balls at an opponent instead of arrows. The move can inflict the ailment darkness, which lowers opponent accuracy https://youtu.be/vDEBPJ2sdJY?t=8 


Staff form

Madoka’s bow can take the form of a staff for melee attacks.


Umbrella 

The tip of Madoka’s bow can turn into a sphere of energy that allows her to float in the air.


Time travel arrows

Madoka’s arrows are able to travel through time and space, making them potentially omnipresent. The arrows also seem to be capable of turning into copies of herself.


Merge

Madoka can fire man-made projectiles or combine her bow with the magical power of an ally to increase their overall attack strength.


Pannier Rocket

A move where Madoka will inflate herself and ram into opponents while exploding like a bomb.


Healing light

In the PSP game Madoka also has the ability to heal others.


Purifying light

A healing move that removes status effects.


Gospel of resurrection

Madoka can revive knocked out allies.


Purification/white light of salvation

A light magic based instant kill move.


Magica Record spells

I'll Shoulder Your Burden: Restores HP and MP

Let’s have a good year: Resources HP and increases attack power 


Misc

Madoka seems to have some sort of magical binding ability that affects an opponent's ability to hit accurately and dodge https://youtu.be/wtgLrIxPvNs?t=93 

Transformations

Kriemhild Gretchen

The witch form of Madoka. It initially  was only powerful enough to alter the weather of a city, but as Madoka grew in power after Homura’s timeline resets it eventually became larger than the planet Earth itself. Witches are “normally” invisible to normal humans.

  • Madoka ep 10 11:40 Madoka becomes a witch. Her witch contorts the weather 

  • Madoka ep 12 8:44 God Madoka’s witch is larger than the Earth 


Barriers

Witches can create pocket dimensions called labyrinths 


Familiars

Witches can spawn lesser entities to attack foes called familiars.


Mental manipulation

Witches can control and manipulate the minds of ordinary people.

  • Madoka ep 4 18:15 A witches power seemingly takes control of various humans and makes them suicidal 


Absorption

This being stated in a witch card that Gretchen can absorb life on Earth and assimilated it into herself


Doppel

A doppel is a modified witch under the control of the magical girl it originated from. They’re accessed by confining a soul gem's taint to a specific location of a magical girl's body, then removing that taint before it can fully manifest as a witch. They can primarily only be used in the city of Kamihama in the Magica Record game. Madoka’s dopples typically cause massive explosions with a variety of stat debuffs. 

  • Megica record s2ep2 10:30 Soul gems can be used to make doppels 

  • Magica Record s2ep2 11:04 Doppels are reflections of emotions. When a soul gem is tainted, curses manifest in the body and those curses can be removed to be used as a weapon

  • Magica Record s2ep3 9:10 A soul gems taint can be confined to a part of a magical girls body and then removed to form a doppel

  • Magica Record s2ep3 9:14 A Doppel can create labyrinths 


Examples of Madoak’s doppel


Ultimate Madoka 

Madoka’s most powerful form. Ultimate Madoka was created when she wished to destroy all witches in all timelines at the end of the original anime series. Due to her wish, Madoka became a higher dimensional being linked to the concept of destroying witches on a multiversal scale. She’s later renamed the “law of cycles” by ordinary magical girls. In this form Madoka no longer has a traditional physical body.


Shooting star

A powered up version of Madoka’s magic bow. It can fire magic arrows that dwarf planets. Allegedly in the PSP game she can fire an infinite amount of arrows at once.


Law of cycles

Ultimate Madoka is the embodiment of the law of cycles. A law that prevents all magical girls from turning into witches. Madoka seemingly takes them to something akin to an afterlife.


Omniscience 

Ultimate Madoka exists in every timeline and in every location of the universe all at once.


Reality warping

It’s implied that Ultimate Madoka can rewrite laws of the universe and timelines as a whole. She technically does this when creating the law of cycles in the first place.


Avatars

Under some circumstances Ultimate Madoka does seem to be capable of creating an avatar of herself to act within the normal universe. For example she was able to enter and act within Homura’s Labyrinth in the movie Rebellion.

  • Rebellion 1:15:20 Madoka was able to enter Homrua’s labyrinth and manifested in her human form 


Empowerment

Ultimate Madoka can empower others 


Magica Record abilities

Prayer for salvation: Restores Hp and increases resistance to status ailments


Memoria: Memoria are crystalized memories of magical girls that can be used for stat buffs. It’s implied in production notes that all magical girls literally “become part” of Ultimate Madoka’s god-like form when she rescues them, meaning Ultimate Madoka should have all of them.

Cosmology

Madoka has more than one timeline, and in some of the spin offs is specified to have infinite timelines.

Feats

AP and Endurance


Ultimate Madoka


Kriemhild Gretechen


Speed


Ultimate Madoka


Grentechen 

  • Madoka ep 12 8:44 God Madoka’s witch is larger than the Earth 

Scaling

Statements of Madoka’s strength


Magical girls


Walpurgis


Devil Homura 

  • Rebellion manga ch 7-9 Homura has taken some of Madoka’s power and altered the laws of the universe https://mangatoto.com/chapter/727053/85

  • Rebellion manga ch 7-9 Sayaka implies Devil Homura has enough power to destroy the universe https://mangatoto.com/chapter/727053/104 

  • Rebellion 1:37:11 Homura’s soul gem energy spreads across the universe in moments 

  • Rebellion 1:39:19 Homura becomes a god after stealing some of Madoka’s power and changes the universe 

  • Rebellion 1:42:11 Homura took a piece of Madoka off the law of cycles. She then altered the universe 

Experience

Training


Main timeline

  • Madoka ep 10 10:20 Madoka battles the witch Patricia

  • Madoka ep 10 13:20 Madoka helps fight Sayaka’s witch form Ophelia

  • Madoka ep 10 20:20 Madoka destroyed Wapurgis with one attack

  • Madoka ep 12 7:11 Madoka destroys Walpurgis 

  • Rebellion 13:00 Madoka helps fight monsters called nightmares in Homura’s Labyrinth 


Alt timelines

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1 comment:

  1. leabladieNovember 14, 2023 at 9:53 AM

    Happy to see this analysis on Madoka. Hope we can see her in Death Battle next year.

    ReplyDelete

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