History Main / WidowWitch

Contrast CuteWitch, HotWitch and DeterminedWidow.

* The witches of ''HisDarkMaterials'' are members of an [[OneGenderRace all female race]]. They sometimes marry mortal men. By the time the story reaches them, all of the major witch characters have been widowed many, many times. While a witch is technically immortal, the grief of mourning over all those husbands will eventually kill her.

* In ''CityOfHeroes'', every member of The Cabal (except for Kattie Hannon, who was a child at the time) is a widow because their enemies the Red Caps killed all of the men in their village.
* Widow Greenpaw in ''WorldOfWarcraft'' is an old pandaren woman who is sometimes reffered to as "The Jade Witch" because of the lifelike jade statues in her yard. However, it's quickly revealed she uses magic to turn people into jade, plus being guarded by magical tigers made of stone.

* The Witches of ''HisDarkMaterials'' are members of an [[OneGenderRace all female race]]. They sometimes marry mortal men. By the time the story reaches them, all of the major Witch characters have been widowed many, many times. While a Witch are technically immortal, the grief of mourning over all those husbands will eventually kill her.

* ''PracticalMagic'' has SandraBullock playing the part of a Widow Witch... same curse as below.

* Syaoran's mom Yelan in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' is this. She isn't a WickedWitch, though she is rather [[{{Kuudere}} brooding.]] She's also a lot younger than the standard.

* Syaoran's mom Yelan in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' is this.

* In John Updike's ''TheWitchesOfEastwick,'' the women of the village of Eastwick only gain powers after their husbands/significant others either die or divorce them.

* In ''EvesBayou'', Mozelle is a fortuneteller and hoodoo practitioner whose husbands have a tendency of dying. [[spoiler: This isn't always the result of a curse, however. One husband was murdered by her secret lover when they fought over her]].

The whole thing exists because of the UnfortunateImplications of the similarities between widows and witches. It is understandable that the neighborhood would feel that she's creepy if the woman still dresses in black and her only friends are women or she only lives with women. Although her lack of interaction with men might be because [[HoYay she's not actually interested]] or they aren't interested in her because she's as ugly as a witch like the FagHag. Other similarities include tending to the herb garden that reminds her of all that is living and healthful, [[AllWitchesHaveCats having a cat]] because it's easy to take care of and will keep her company, being very old and unwell, being bitter towards people as the widow is old an lonely and [[EvilLaugh laughting wicked]] because [[LaughingMad she's out of touch]] with reality.

When a woman is mysterious and solitary, at least in terms of a husband. The town community will probably shun her, calling her a witch. In a fantasy story it might be true as she is a WickedWitch who wanted to get rid of her husband so she cast a spell to [[BlackWidow help things get going]] or perhaps there is [[CartwrightCurse a curse on her family]] that makes it so they lose men. If the story is not one of fantasy, the witch impression might just be the vibe the old women give of as she is in mourning for her late husband.

* Syaoran's HotMom Yelan in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' is this.

* ''Literature/MrsPiggleWiggle'' is this, using a chest of potions (left by her late {{Pirate}} husband), as well as ReversePsychology, to cure children of bad habits. She's a bit of a subversion, as she is most certainly a [i]good[/i] witch.

* In ''ElChavoDelOcho'', this is played with ''La bruja del 71'' ("The Witch from the [Apartment] 71"), whose [[AbhorrentAdmirer appearance]], antics and [[DeathbringerTheAdorable bad judgment on pet naming]] makes everyone in the neighborhood (especially the children) think she is a witch; however, she has been presented as an old spinster. Averted with Doña Florinda, who ''is'' a widow, only much younger and just bitchy.

* ''Literature/MrsPiggleWiggle'' is this, using a chest of potions (left by her late {{Pirate}} husband), as well as ReversePsychology, to cure children of bad habits.

* In the BBC/Starz series ''The White Queen'', Jacquetta Woodville, Lady Rivers, the mother of Elizabeth Woodville, who becomes consort to King Edward IV and the eponymous white queen, is revealed in the first episode to be a witch, and becomes a widow after Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, kills her husband. Elizabeth is also a witch ([[WitchSpecies it runs in the family]]), and becomes a widow when Edward IV dies. Note that in RealLife, both Jacquetta and Elizabeth were in fact accused of witchcraft at different times, but no real historian takes the accusations seriously. They surely did not have actual supernatural powers, as they are shown having in this series!

* In the BBC/Starz series ''The White Queen'', Jacquetta Woodville, Lady Rivers, the mother of Elizabeth Woodville, who becomes consort to King Edward IV and the eponymous white queen, is revealed in the first episode to be a witch, and becomes a widow after Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, kills her husband. Elizabeth is also a witch ([[WitchSpecies it runs in the family]]), and becomes a widow when Edward IV dies. Note that in RealLife, both Jacquetta and Elizabeth were in fact accused of witchcraft at different times, no serious historian takes the accusations seriously. They surely did not have actual supernatural powers, as they are shown having in this series!

* In the BBC/Starz series ''The White Queen'', Jacquetta Woodville, Lady Rivers, the mother of Elizabeth Woodville, who becomes consort to King Edward IV and the eponymous white queen, is revealed in the first episode to be a witch, and becomes a widow after Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, kills her husband. Elizabeth is also a witch ([[WitchSpecies it runs in the family]]), and becomes a widow when Edward IV dies.

* The Witches of ''HisDarkMaterials'' are members of an all female race. They sometimes marry mortal men. By the time the story reaches them, all of the major Witch characters have been widowed many, many times. While a Witch are technically immortal, the grief of morning over all those husbands will eventually kill her.

* Willow of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' is a good witch (mostly) who look the part

* Another series for young girls is ''Babysitters Little Sister'', spin off to ''TheBabySittersClub'' where in the first book, ''Karen's Witch'', she is sure that the neighbor, Mrs. Porter, who dresses all in black is a witch. It's never stated what her marital status is but the girl never considers that the black might be for mourning, not being wicked. [[spoiler: In fact, Mrs. Porter is actually very kind, hosting a Halloween party for the neighborhood kids, and letting Karen pick a goldfish out of her pond.]]
* ''MrsPiggleWiggle'' is this, using a chest of potions (left by her late {{Pirate}} husband), as well as ReversePsychology, to cure children of bad habits.

* In ''Snow White and Rose Red'', by PatriciaCWrede, the Widow Arden fits this.

She was probably a very devoted wife like the YamatoNadeshiko who is perhaps especially sad because she wasn't able to have children, they never visit her, or they won't even get her out of the house.

* In ''ElChavoDelOcho'', this is played with ''La bruja del 71'' ("The Witch from the [Apartment] 71"), whose [[AbhorrentAdmirer appearance]], antics and [[DeathbringerTheAdorable bad judgment on pet naming]] makes everyone in the neighborhood (especially the children) think she is a witch; however, she has been presented as an old spinster. Averted with Doña Florinda, who ''is'' a widow, only much younger and just bitchy.