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3%% Please put tropes for Rebellion on its own page.
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6This page covers tropes in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''.
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8PuellaMagiMadokaMagica/TropesAToF | PuellaMagiMadokaMagica/TropesGToM | '''Tropes N to S''' | PuellaMagiMadokaMagica/TropesTToZ
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13* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: [[spoiler: Walpurgisnacht (famous for being a witch's night), Kriemhild Gretchen, Incubator, i.e. one who incubates young witches.]]
14* NaturalEndOfTime: [[spoiler:This is what the Incubators are trying to ''stop'', using the system of magical girls and witches to undo entropy and prevent the universe's heat death]].
15* NegatedMomentOfAwesome:
16** Episode 3. Mami blasts her way through hordes of familiars, has an internal monologue about ThePowerOfFriendship, a ThemeMusicPowerup and even manages to render the Witch helpless within seconds of the battle's start. Then [[FinishingMove Tiro Finale]] [[spoiler:fails to make the kill, the Witch unleashes its OneWingedAngel... [[CerebusSyndrome And things take a]] [[OffWithHisHead sharp turn for the worse]]]].
17** [[Recap/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaEpisode11TheOnlyThingIHaveLeftToGuideMe "The Only Thing I Have Left to Guide Me"]]: [[spoiler:Homura's]] battle against Walpurgisnacht. She unleashes a barrage of MoreDakka and MacrossMissileMassacre with military hardware, performing a SerialEscalation of ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill in an attempt to destroy the witch. Just when it seems Walpurgisnacht is defeated, [[spoiler:the witch reveals all the attacks were a NoSell and IAmNotLeftHanded as a FlunkyBoss with MindOverMatter]].
18* NegativeSpaceWedgie: When you stop to think about it, a witch's maze is a big entropy sphere that houses an alternate dimension; something that wouldn't be too unfitting in a sci-fi series.
19* NeverASelfMadeWoman:
20** Averted with Madoka's mother who is implied to be a bigwig at some company.
21** Played with in regards to [[spoiler: Kyubey's countless clients over the ages, which include Joan of Arc and Cleopatra. Kyubey claims that without his Miracle Contracts, humankind would still 'be naked in caves' which implies that the wishes were helpful for these women. However, [[AmbiguousGender Kyubey's gender is ambiguous,]] if the Incubators have genders at all. Second, considering how helpful Kyubey is after the contract is made, his clients still did everything themselves. Third, if Kyubey is right that humans would still be cavemen if he hadn't made contracts with certain girls and women, it implies that the male half of humanity did absolutely nothing.]]
22* NeverFoundTheBody:
23** [[spoiler:As Homura explains to Madoka, a magical girl who dies in a witch's barrier [[NoBodyLeftBehind does not leave a corpse in the real world]]. Thus, they will forever be "missing".]]
24** {{Defied}} in [[Recap/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaEpisode11TheOnlyThingIHaveLeftToGuideMe "The Only Thing I Have Left to Guide Me"]] with regards to [[spoiler:Sayaka]]. Kyoko makes sure to take her body out of the witch's barrier and place it in a hotel for it to be found by a {{muggle}}.
25* NeverTrustATrailer: The way the previews for the series were set up, the series looked to be a lighthearted MagicalGirl series.
26* NewTransferStudent: Homura transfers at the start of the series. [[spoiler:In the original timeline, this is the cause of her meeting with Madoka.]]
27* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
28** In Episode 6, Madoka nearly [[spoiler:kills Sayaka by throwing her [[SoulJar soul gem]] away in order to prevent her from fighting Kyoko. She hoped that by throwing away the gem she could prevent one of them from dying.]]
29** Episode 10. [[spoiler:The very first timeline was comparatively mild: Madoka and Mami defeat Walpurgisnacht and die in the process, without becoming witches. Homura wishes to redo it to save Madoka and with each attempt the endgames becomes worse and worse, down to Madoka becoming a super powerful witch and destroying the world.]] [[Recap/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaEpisode11TheOnlyThingIHaveLeftToGuideMe "The Only Thing I Have Left to Guide Me"]] drills it in: [[spoiler:Homura was giving Madoka more power with each reset by creating alternate universes. Greater MagicalGirl translates into greater Witch power.]] In Episode 12, [[spoiler: Madoka has enough power to bring the whole universe to an end. However, Madoka turns this around into an inversion. Homura's time loops gave Madoka enough power to break the system and achieve a better conclusion than the original timeline.]]
30** Actually subverted by Mami in Episode 3. [[spoiler: Although Mami's refusal to heed Homura's warnings and tying her up to prevent her from helping leads directly to Mami's death, said death actually brings home to Madoka and Sayaka some of the actual stakes of being a magical girl, giving them both (especially Madoka) serious second thoughts about their choice to do so.]]
31* NiceJobFixingItVillain:
32** [[spoiler:Kyubey grants Homura's wish to redo her meeting with Madoka and protect her instead of being protected by her. This means granting her time travel magic that can be used to learn his secrets and warn other magical girls.]]
33** [[spoiler: Kyubey sends an ExpositionBeam / MindRape into Madoka (who is not a magical girl) in order to explain how much he's done to/for the human race. It's implied that this is inspiration behind her wish to retro-actively destroy every witch ever and thereby reshape the universe into one more in favor of magical girls.]]
34* NiceMeanAndInbetween: Three experienced magical girls that appear in the series can be split as such: [[CoolBigSis Mami]] as nice, [[{{Jerkass}} Kyouko]] as mean and [[AloofDarkHairedGirl Homura]] as the one in-between.
35* NoBodyLeftBehind: This can happen to a witch's victim if they get stuck in the witch's PocketDimension after the witch is destroyed. [[spoiler:The final fate of all magical girls in the current timeline, including Sayaka, as Madoka takes them to Heaven, body and all, at the very moment they'd normally be slated to become witches.]]
36* NoConservationOfEnergy: [[spoiler: Played with! Conservation of energy totally applies... to everything EXCEPT magical girls. Kyubey is acutely aware of this and is exploiting it in the fight against entropy.]]
37* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: DoubleSubverted, {{Discussed}}, {{Exaggerated}}, and {{Defied}}.
38** [[TheSocialDarwinist Kyoko]] tells [[TheCape Sayaka]] that [[spoiler: every wish or other use of magic brings despair into the world exactly equal to the hope that it brings, so the best course of action is for magical girls to [[ComesGreatPerks live solely for themselves]].]]
39** Sayaka [[KirkSummation disagrees]] and declares that [[KnightInShiningArmour she will continue to fight in her own way,]] set to [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic the series' main theme, "You Should Become A Magical Girl"]].
40** A single episode later, [[spoiler:Sayaka realises Kyoko was right when her own wish blows up in her face, she decides the world isn't worth saving, and [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie becomes a witch herself.]]]]
41** [[FriendToAllLivingThings Madoka]] is nauseated by this system and [[spoiler:wishes to destroy all witches, removing this trope from the status of a physical law]].
42* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler:Sayaka]] goes into one of these against a witch to show how badly she's been [[BreakTheCutie broken]].
43* NonIndicativeFirstEpisode: Be careful of these episodes, as they make the series billed as a MagicalGirl series with SliceOfLife. That's half-correct, as the second half of Episode 3 demonstrates.
44* NoodleIncident: Several of them are found in [[spoiler:the OP]]. The very existence of these noodle incidents is a plot point.
45* NoOntologicalInertia: [[spoiler:Mami's bindings on Homura dissolve as soon as the former dies.]]
46* NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow: PlayingWithATrope. [[spoiler: The multiple bullets Kyubey takes kills that particular body, but [[ExpendableClone he has spares.]]]]
47* NoSell: During Homura's fights with Walpurgisnacht in [[Recap/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaEpisode11TheOnlyThingIHaveLeftToGuideMe "The Only Thing I Have Left to Guide Me"]], she launches a massive attack against the witch, utilizing a variety of weapons such as rockets, mines, and missiles. [[spoiler:It doesn't affect the witch, and Homura's attempts to stop or slow her down fail.]]
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51* OfficialCosplayGear: There are official soul gem necklaces. However, they aren't cosplay gear as such -- they're smaller than the canon Soul Gems -- and are more intended as jewelry.
52* OfficialCouple: [[spoiler:Hitomi confesses to Kyosuke and they are seen sitting and talking together later.]]
53* OhCrap: [[spoiler:From Kyubey in Episode 12. When Madoka seriously planned to become a goddess and screw over his system, he freaked out for the first time in the series.]]
54* OldTimeyCinemaCountdown: The show itself begins with a variation of this using runic symbols. This countdown also appears in the penultimate episode, before Homura's climactic battle with Walpurgisnacht.
55* OmniscientMoralityLicense:
56** [[spoiler:Kyubey's plans to combat entropy.]]
57** [[spoiler:[[BrokenBird One reason]] Homura is so callous is that every time she has been a friend and hero, she's failed to save anyone. This time, she's trying a different tack, doing whatever it takes to prevent Madoka from becoming a magical girl, no matter how much she gets hurt in the process.]]
58* OneDegreeOfSeparation: [[AllThereInTheManual The third drama CD]] reveals that [[spoiler:Kyoko and Mami worked together before the events of the anime]]. This was subtly hinted at in the anime proper. Then it further reveals that [[spoiler:Kyoko once helped Madoka and Sayaka escape from a witch]]. This was ''not'' hinted at the anime because [[spoiler:Madoka and Sayaka never actually saw Kyoko]].
59* OneWomanArmy:
60** Mami can summon a sky's worth of guns.
61** [[spoiler: By combining her TimeStandsStill ability with a sufficient number of guns, Homura can make herself a literal version of this trope. Stop time, fire the guns from different angles, start time, and an army's worth of bullets stream toward a witch.]]
62* OneWingedAngel: Charlotte in Episode 3. [[spoiler: Starts off as a shout-out of Pukka and becomes a supremely creepy Takashi Murakami-style thing that looks like what you'd get if you mated a clown with a {{Sandworm}}.]]
63* OnlySixFaces: The manga adaptation suffers from this.
64* OriginsEpisode: [[spoiler:Episode 10, for Homura. It doubles as a WholeEpisodeFlashback.]]
65* OurLichesAreDifferent: [[spoiler:You see, in this series, they're called "magical girls". The body is an empty shell operated by a soul jar, in this case their soul gem. However, they are even worse off than normal liches, as normal liches don't lose consciousness when their bodies are distanced from their phylactery.]]
66** But hey at least [[spoiler:they get to be girly, sparkly Liches and not a gross undead one, right? Well sure, unless for some reason they're distanced from the Soul Gem for too long. In one route of the Madoka PSP game, Sayaka's soul gem is misplaced for a long time. By the time it's returned to her, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-na_Bzmvk4 her body has already begun to rot]]. This normally wouldn't be a problem due to her HealingFactor, but unfortunately she runs into Kyosuke, her crush, shortly after waking up... and the result isn't pretty. Poor girl.]]
67* OurSoulsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: They take a physical form known as a 'soul gem'.]]
68* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They are reality-warping {{Eldritch Abomination}}s with specific powers that seem to be based on a combination of the location they were born at and whatever they were feeling at the time. [[spoiler:They are "matured" magical girls whose [[SoulJar soul gems]] became too corrupt]].
69* OutOfClothesExperience: [[spoiler: Madoka and Homura in Episode 12 because they're somewhere between the physical plane and a higher plane.]]
70* OutOfTheInferno: [[spoiler: Walpurgisnacht emerges from huge flames of Homura's making unharmed.]]
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74* PainfulPersona: Akemi Homura is cold to the point of being insensitive to other's pain unless they are Madoka. She's reserved and TheStoic. Or so she pretends. As the plot progresses, it's slowly revealed that she represses her emotions so ruthlessly and never gives herself the opportunity to bond with anyone because of the sheer amount of trauma she has suffered as a MagicalGirl in this CrapsackWorld. [[Recap/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaEpisode10IWontRelyOnAnyoneAnymore "I Won't Rely On You Anymore"]], in particular, shows us that she used to be [[spoiler: the opposite of her current self -- emotional, shy, and very trusting]].
75* ParentalAbandonment
76** Mami's and Kyoko's [[spoiler: are dead. The former by mundane causes and the latter's was killed as a side-effect of the wish.]]
77** Homura appears to live alone; the nameplate of her residence only has her name, [[spoiler: much like Mami's. She is also conspicuously by herself when seen in the hospital, and seems to be the one filling out the forms to transfer to another school.]] The implication is that she's ConvenientlyAnOrphan.
78** Averted with Madoka who has a nice happy family. Sayaka also has parents, but they never appear outside of a flashback in episode 3 and a quick mention in episode 8.
79* {{Parody}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNGr-KKzYaQ Meduka Meguca]].
80* PeggySue: [[spoiler:Homura Akemi has been resetting time over and over again to save Madoka. The prologue is one attempt of many.]]
81* PhantomZone: The nightmarish other world where Witches hide.
82* PietaPlagiarism: [[spoiler:Episode 9. Kyoko as Mary and Sayaka as Jesus.]]
83* PimpedOutDress: The magical girl outfits, as is standard for the genre. Also, [[spoiler:look at Walpurgisnacht upside-down]].
84* PinPullingTeeth: When Kyoko grabs Homura to keep her from [[FlashStep Flash Stepping]], Homura pulls a flashbang grenade out of her BagOfHolding and pulls out the pin with her teeth, forcing Kyoko back.
85* PlotBasedVoiceCancellation: Homura yells some things to Madoka in the prologue scene in Episode 1, but we don't hear it - and neither does Madoka. We learn in Episode 10 that [[spoiler:she was begging her not to make the contract again]].
86* PoorCommunicationKills: The ''series''. So, so much of the grief would've been averted if the girls had been willing to communicate thoroughly and objectively with one another. This is somewhat justified by some of the characters' past experiences, but not completely. Although it's also very easily justified when you recall that the characters are young teenagers, untrained in conflict resolution and also all dealing with severe trauma. In retrospect, it's incredible that they were as civil as they were.
87* PostModernism: The witch barriers include many references to both ''Myth/{{Faust}}'' with the runes and writing, and classical artwork. Meanwhile the plot bears many similarities and several {{Shout Out}}s to other anime such as ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'', and ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}''.
88* PowerBornOfMadness: [[spoiler:From the Incubators' perspective, this is what turning emotions into energy is because they view emotions ''as'' madness.]]
89* PowerCrystal: Soul gems are the source and focus of magical girl power.
90* PowerDyesYourHair: More or less. While the color doesn't change, the cast's hair colors become more vibrant in their MagicalGirl forms (in Homura's case, it gets darker).
91* PowerGlows: [[spoiler:Madoka]], in Episode 12. In one particular shot you might be tempted to wonder "Why is the sun [[spoiler:pink]]"?
92* PowerSource: {{Inverted}} with grief seeds: magical girls shove their corruption into it to prevent their soul gems from dimming.
93* PowerUpgradingDeformation: [[spoiler:Falling into a DespairEventHorizon can trigger a transformation into a witch.]]
94* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler: Kyubey's race decided they wanted to violate entropy and save the universe from heat death. The only way to do this was to find a source of energy that was not bound by the laws of thermodynamics. They settled on emotions and the greatest arc between hope and despair is in teenage human girls.]]
95* ThePowerOfFriendship: Episode 10. [[spoiler:The reason Homura keeps repeating things is because she wants to save Madoka. She outright says so at the end of her DayInTheLimelight episode.]]
96-->'''Homura:''' I'll do it over no matter how many times it takes. I'll relive it over and over again. I will find the way out. The one path that will save you from this destiny of despair. [[spoiler:Madoka]], my one and my only friend. I don't care. Because if it's for you, I'll stay trapped in this endless maze... forever.
97** Inverted in Episode 3. When Mami gets hyped up on the PowerOfFriendship during the battle with Charlotte, [[spoiler:it leads to her fighting recklessly against the witch, as opposed to the cool, careful and methodical style of witch-killing she employed in the second episode, resulting in her freezing up when Charlotte goes OneWingedAngel, leading directly to her CruelAndUnusualDeath.]]
98* PrematureEmpowerment: The ultimate example of how this trope can go wrong for those empowered this way. Kyubey frequently makes contracts with girls without informing them of everything that being a MagicalGirl entails -- namely, [[spoiler:being turned into {{Lich}}es, getting broken by the use of their powers, becoming the very monsters they fight, and getting their souls eaten in the end so that Kyubey and his Incubators can try to avert the heat death of the universe]].
99* ThePresentsWereNeverFromSanta: Sayaka (and Mami) falsely believe that their MagicalGirl powers are righteous in nature, and people like Homura and Kyoko are misusing their powers for selfish interests. [[spoiler:They are wrong, their powers have nothing to do with morality.]]
100* PrideBeforeAFall:
101** In Episode 3, [[spoiler: Mami blithely disregards Homura's warnings and even ties her up to prevent her from helping, treating her like a fractious child. She doesn't get the chance to regret it as she is eaten by Charlotte.]]
102** After the reveal of Episode 6, [[spoiler: Sayaka refuses sincerely-offered help from Kyoko and Humura, concluding that they are evil because they don't share her views about what it means to be a magical girl. This contributes to her witching out at the end of Episode 8.]]
103* ThePromise:
104** In Episode 10, [[spoiler:Homura gives a tearful one to Madoka, promising that she'll stop her from making a contract.]]
105-->[[spoiler:'''Homura:''' I swear I'll save you! I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe! I'll come back again and again and again! I'll save you, I swear!]]
106** In Episode 12, [[spoiler: Madoka promises Homura that she will see her again someday. It's insinuated that all magical girls will be with Madoka after they run out of magic; she is shown collecting their grief and taking their soul gems.]]
107* {{Protectorate}}: [[spoiler:Madoka]], for Homura.
108* PsychologicalHorror: The city is cold and sterile. An unspeakable atmosphere of alienation and helplessness permeates it. The witches are [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm completely incomprehensible]]. Something about the supposedly-helpful mascot is very, ''very'' off. MagicalGirl [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''TabletopGame/TheWorldOfDarkness''[[spoiler: namely, ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'']]; indeed.
109* PuniPlush: The characters are designed by Creator/UmeAoki, the mangaka of ''Manga/HidamariSketch''.
110* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:Any timeline where Walpurgisnacht is beaten ends up with Mitakihara in ruins and the combatants either dead or having used so much magic that they'll shortly become witches themselves.]]
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114* RainAura: In [[Recap/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaEpisode11TheOnlyThingIHaveLeftToGuideMe "The Only Thing I Have Left to Guide Me"]]. [[spoiler:Miki Sayaka]]'s funeral is held under the rain, with an off-screen character narrating the details of her disappearance and death. As the camera pans out to a shot of the city, a white fog over the ground can be seen. It has to be noted, though, that there's no such thing when the camera is closing up in the characters and funeral scenery.
115* RainOfArrows: In the final episode, [[spoiler:Madoka]] uses this twice, and [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome both were awesome rains of arrows indeed]]!
116** First time --[[spoiler: She fires a single arrow into the sky which instantly blows away the black storm clouds caused by Walpurgisnacht and reveals a brilliant blue sky. The arrow then bursts into [[RainOfArrows an infinite number of arrows]] that shoot off in all directions. These arrows transcend space and time to save ''every single magical girl, past, present and future'', from their FateWorseThanDeath.]]
117** Second time --[[spoiler: A galaxy-sized Madoka in what can only be described as her [[PhysicalGod goddess form]] fires thousands of arrows at a planet-sized witch -- the [[TimeyWimeyBall witch form of herself]] from the timeline that made the wish to save everyone, everywhere -- that is threatening to end the universe. ''[[ApocalypseWow Everything is blown away.]]'']]
118* ReadTheFinePrint: [[spoiler: Kyubey's contract has several unknown clauses such as: no wish warrantee, lichification, and inevitable ''witchifiation''. He doesn't let them know there's a fine print in the first place but that's because YouDidntAsk.]]
119* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The conversation between the two misogynists on the train in Episode 8 was based on a conversation Urobuchi overheard while riding on a train.
120* RealPlaceBackground: Madoka's town is basically a [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Mitakihara_Town#Architecture_in_the_Anime_versus_Real-Life_Architecture hodgepodge of famous architecture]].
121%%* RecurringExtra: Nakazawa-kun
122* RedEyesTakeWarning: Kyubey. [[spoiler: Played up in Episode 8 to VideoGame/IrisuSyndrome levels. This is the point where it becomes unmistakably clear that he is sinister. [[http://images.puella-magi.net/3/3f/Kyuubey_aaah.PNG Like this.]] ]]
123* RedOniBlueOni:
124** Later episodes have clearly made it Kyoko and Sayaka; the former is enjoying their battles and is hedonistic while the latter is serious and duty bound and selfless.
125** Madoka and Homura; friendly vs aloof and cheerful vs stoic.
126* RedRightHand: Magical Girls have unique marks on the fingernail of their left middle finger. It can most prominently be seen on Homura and Kyoko in episode 7.
127* RedStringOfFate: Implied. [[spoiler:Madoka's giving her red ribbons to Homura while promising to meet again]] is the spirit of this trope.
128* RefusalOfTheCall:
129** Madoka and Sayaka are at first hesitant to make a contract with Kyubey, which is only worsened after they witness [[spoiler:Mami's death]]. Sayaka doesn't become a magical girl until Episode 4, and Madoka is a plain {{muggle}} [[spoiler:until the final episode (which doesn't last long anyway)]].
130** In Episode 10, it turns out that what is going on is that [[spoiler:Madoka would have JumpedAtTheCall if Homura had not [[DefiedTrope stopped her or Kyubey every time]].]]
131* RegularCaller: In the form of Kyubey, who tries to get Sayaka and Madoka to make wishes every episode and in the [[ManipulativeBastard most pushy and manipulative manner possible]]. [[spoiler:He succeeds with Sayaka after waiting until the exact moment that her friend hit the DespairEventHorizon, to say nothing about what he did to get Mami to sign up.]] He finally succeeds in the latter [[spoiler: in Episode 12, but he was too clever by half. By explaining to Madoka the true story of the history of magical girls, he inspires her to perform a CosmicRetcon ... and she's powerful enough to ''force'' him to grant the wish, much to his [[OhCrap surprise]] -- this is the only time in the entire series that Kyubey expresses ''any'' emotion on more than a superficial level.]]
132* RelationshipValues: Crosses over with TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife. A very good premise of the plot is the questioning of ''why'' Madoka wants to become a MagicalGirl, or why anyone would want to do so. Homura brings this topic up so much, it's almost her catchphrase whenever you see them together. [[spoiler:Kyoko]] and [[spoiler:Mami]] learned this the hard way, and suffered because of their misunderstanding.
133* RescueEquipmentAttack: In the first episode, Sayaka uses a fire extinguisher on Homura Akemi when she seemingly threatens Madoka and Kyubey, before throwing the extinguisher itself in her direction.
134* ResurrectiveImmortality: [[spoiler: Kyubey can come back every time he's killed and devours his old body. ]]
135* {{Retconjuration}}: [[spoiler:Madoka's wish causes Witches to cease to exist because she causes magical girls to vanish before becoming witches. This makes her AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence and erase every trace of her existence, except Homura's memories. It's insinuated that magical girls at the end of their lives also see her, and she can interact with them as a guardian angel.]]
136* RewatchBonus: Watching the series knowing that [[spoiler:Kyubey is the BigBad]] makes a lot of their behavior a ''lot'' more sinister. In particular, [[spoiler:he always suggests contracting whenever any of the girls are in danger or a situation where they have little choice in the matter (Mami being the perfect example, having been in a car crash and contracted out of desperation). Even beyond simply offering them to contract, he subtly pushes them to make the decision for themselves, appearing when they are emotionally vulnerable and likely to make rash decisions, and subtly guilt tripping them after Mami's death]].
137* TheRightOfASuperiorSpecies: Kyubey plays with this trope. [[spoiler: He turned vunerable teenage girls into magical girls in order to fight witches, but doesn't tell them that he does so by turning them into [[OurLichesAreDifferent Liches]]. Then the girls find out that if they don't keep their [[TransformationTrinket soul gem]] pure, they become witches too, and it '''then''' it turns out he's doing all this to collect energy to fight the heat death of the universe. He justifies it by wanting to prevent said heat death, and by the fact that his kind has been assisting humanity since the stone age. All this while subtly implying that his race regards humanity the way humanity regards cattle. However, Kyubey doesn't have emotions, so he doesn't do this because he is thinks he superior to humanity (or at least that's not the most important reason). He does it because they need to prevent the universe ending, and this is the most efficient way to do it.]]
138* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment:
139** In regards to the series as a whole: Some people have called ''Puella Magi Madoka Magica'' the Anti-''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]]'', as the philosophy is entirely different. Whereas in ''Evangelion'', the main character transforms from a depressed boy who hates himself to a happy boy who appreciates his shitty life [[spoiler:in the last episode, while preventing the AssimilationPlot]], Madoka transforms from a girl who hates herself to[[spoiler:…a happy girl who essentially kills herself and disembodies her spirit in order to create a new system where all [[MagicalGirl magical girls]] are saved while the Energy system is not compromised. Madoka let the Kyubey exist to prevent entropy and give humanity civilization, only now the worst and unnecessary waste products of the Magical Girl system (witches) are gone.]]
140** In regards to characters themselves: The cold ruthless TotalitarianUtilitarian Enlightened scientific [[spoiler:Incubators]] who will do [[PoweredByAForsakenChild anything]] to harvest energy and reverse entropy, versus Homura's equally ruthless Romanticist AntiHero-ism who will do anything for the sake of [[spoiler:protecting her beloved Madoka. Madoka provides a decision buffer between the two conflicting philosophies; she is disgusted with both of them for their antiheroism, but also at the same time appreciates their intentions, knowing that Incubators try to prevent [[ApocalypseHow Heat Death]] and [[AncientAstronauts liberated mankind from the Stone Age]], while [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl Homura is doing her best to protect Madoka]].]]
141* RuleOfSymbolism:
142** Everything references Myth/{{Faust}}; ''everything''. [[spoiler: Thanks to the Gretchen symbolism with Madoka and Homura's desire to protect her, Homura may represent Faust. Since different interpretations of Faust include both redemption and doom, one could argue both Homura and Sayaka are Faust.]]
143** The dream in the beginning and Sayaka arc are also full of freemason symbolism. The TabletopGame/{{chess}} boards symbolize the life of people who have not fully understood the truth and are therefore destroying themselves and being {{Unwitting Pawn}}s. (Because of this, Sayaka in nearly all important plot points to her as well as in her death, stands on a checkered floor.) While the stairs Madoka climbs up before seeing the battle against Walpurgisnacht in her dream represent initiation/learning.
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147* SacredBowAndArrows: Madoka’s bow takes this role in aesthetics and [[spoiler:divine]] function.
148* SailorEarth: Very common in {{fanfic}}; easiest is creating new magical girls; but also Kyubey variants with personalities named '''"Prefix"-bey''' are often villains or characters since Kyubey's personality is really tricky to do correctly.
149* SanityMeter: The amount of darkness in a magical girl's Soul Gem shows how close she is to crossing the DespairEventHorizon. [[spoiler:When the Soul Gem turns completely black, its owner will turn into a witch.]]
150* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Poor, poor Sayaka...She loses sanity points by the episode until she finally becomes a witch.]]
151* SayMyName: In Episode 8. [[spoiler:Sayakaaaaaa!]] This is notable for the fact that Homura showed a NotSoStoic moment and that [[spoiler:Kyoko]] never calls ''anyone'' by name, then proceeds to spend a good deal of Episode 9 calling for [[spoiler:Sayaka]].
152* SceneryDissonance: Many of the witches' labyrinths look as if they came from Wonderland -- they are collages of vibrant, bizarre, colorful elements. Some of the minions even go around singing and dancing. As a result, everything fits surreal and out of place (in a good sense) whenever an unsuspecting or mind-controlled civilian gets trapped or a magical girl goes hunting the witch and its minions down. It's made worse after TheReveal that the witches are [[spoiler: the corrupted versions of magical girls that fell into despair or ran out of magic and that the labyrinths are depictions of their broken mindscapes and unfulfilled wishes]].
153* SceneryGorn:
154** During Madoka's dream in Episode 1.
155** The majority of Episode 10 [[spoiler:after the Walpurgisnacht wrecks Mitakihara in each timeline]]. It was hard to watch, because later on the very same day that episode aired, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Sendai_earthquake_and_tsunami a catastrophic tsunami hit Japan following a severe earthquake]], leaving many coastal areas resembling the destroyed city.
156* SceneryPorn: Mitakihara is a gigantic skyscraper-laden futuristic city, and there are plenty of establishing shots dedicated to showing it off. Hell, with each time the series is remade and the budget is, as a result, increased, everything just gets increasingly fancier, until the roof of Mitakihara Junior High starts looking like a straight-up [[https://i.imgur.com/Ew7wtlj.jpeg gothic cathedral]] by the movie.
157* SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack: The Mitakihara Junior High girls are rarely ever seen in something other than their uniforms and magical girl outfits. This averted in the manga, where Sayaka is shown in 'casual' outfits on several occasions.
158* ScienceFantasy: [[spoiler:Kyubey reveals that he and the other Incubators are an alien race trying prevent (or stave off) the heat death of the universe. However, he also states explicitly that magical girls/witches really ''are'' magic and this is why the energy they produce is effective against entropy; it's not bound by the rules of science.]]
159* ScreeningTheCall: Homura is actively trying to prevent Madoka from becoming a magical girl. [[spoiler: This is because the Madoka of a previous time line made her promise to save her from Kyubbey's trickery.]]
160* ScrewDestiny: Homura's primary goal is to [[spoiler: save Madoka from dying horribly or becoming a witch, as it happened many times before in many different timelines]].
161* ScrewYourself: In the BaitAndSwitchCredits, we see a pair of naked Madokas doing a very touchy-feely TransformationSequence together.
162* SecondEpisodeMorning: Madoka awakens to find out the first episode was not a dream.
163* {{Seinen}}: It looks like a normal Shoujo but in reality, this is what happens when you place magical girls in a CosmicHorrorStory.
164* SekaikeiGenre: The fact that magic is dependent on Emotional Powers is the perfect fuel for a world whose fate is ultimately dictated by a key relationship between two otherwise normal people. In this case, [[spoiler:Madoka and Homura's status as either StarCrossedLovers or star-crossed close friends (depending on your perspective)]] eventually has cosmological implications. By the time of The Movie's conclusion, [[spoiler:both characters have taken a stab at rewriting the laws of reality for the greater good, tragically pushing their partner away in the process.]]
165* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler:From Kyubey's point of view, Kyoko's death was not this at all. It served a very important function for his plans. Due to her death, Homura must fight Walpurgisnacht by herself and both of them know she will fail. Thus, Madoka will be forced to make a contract to save Homura and the town from Walpurgisnacht.]]
166* {{Sentai}}: Although they're never all together as a team, the girl's costumes do fit the formula: Pink Madoka, Black Homura, Blue Sayaka, Yellow Mami, and Red Kyouko.
167* SequelHook:
168** The [[spoiler:BittersweetEnding]] leaves room for a possible sequel. WordOfGod admits that they would like to make a second season.
169** Specific ones from the last episode are: [[spoiler:Madoka says (as she [[AscendedToaHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascends To a Higher Plane Of Existence]]) that she is going to meet "everyone", and will meet Homura again one day. Madoka's little brother still seems to remember her. The ending is AndTheAdventureContinues, and then there's a TheStinger showing in silhouette what are presumably the human forms of the witches.]]
170** [[TheMovie The third movie of the film trilogy]] is a {{Continuation}} of the story. WordOfGod has stated that it began as a plot for the second season that simply wasn't long enough for a TwelveEpisodeAnime. He also confirmed that [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-10-13/madoka-magica-story-will-not-end-in-3rd-film the story will not end with the 3rd movie, but he cannot personally predict how the story will unfold]]. A trailer for the third film is TheStinger for the second movie.
171* SerialEscalation: While the whole anime decides to do this from the get-go, a specific mention should go to the first Drama CD: [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Drama_CD_1 The wiki's page on it]] ('''has spoilers''') decides to explain that '''Episode 10 was ''light''''' when comparing the versions of Homura's DarkAndTroubledPast. This is extremely appalling after you have watched said episode and LighterAndSofter would be the ''last'' thing you would ever want to describe it, since it was ''[[DarkerAndEdgier one of the darkest ones in the entire series]].''
172* SeriousBusiness:
173** [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Madoka_Magica_and_Science There are people running MATLAB simulations over this show.]]
174** There's a ''[[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Cage_Named_Maturity 224-page book]]''!!!
175** Fans have gone deep and wide to discover '''every single''' symbolism in the show; from the Witches' back-stories, meaning of their name and its connection to said back-stories, astronomy connection of said names, philosophical and psychoanalysis of the characters, foreshadowings, deciphering the runes, thermodynamic, Homura's [[spoiler:time travel mechanic]], Mitakihara's architectures and their comparison to the real-life buildings, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking canon's evidences of those yuri undertones]]...
176* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: [[spoiler: The nature of Homura's powers and goal, as of Episode 8. (Later expanded on, in Episode 10.) Over and over again, Homura repeats the month of the series to save Madoka from Kyubey and death.]]
177* ShipSinking: In an interview, Gen Urobuchi sank fan-favorite ship Madoka x Homura, saying that Homura's feelings for Madoka were ultimately platonic rather than romantic.
178* ShipTease: Despite conflicting tropes throughout this very wiki, it's more or less accepted in the 2020's that Homura and Madoka are meant to have a ship teasing feel to them and are of course very shippable. Supplementary content such as games have elevated their ship tease on occasion. It could similarly be said for Sayaka and Kyoko, especially with their well-known end-card.
179* ShootTheDog: In Episode 10, [[spoiler:in one of the previous timelines, Madoka asks Homura to kill her to prevent her from turning into a witch. [[TearJerker She does it]].]]
180* ShownTheirWork: In regards to [[spoiler:Homura's weapons]], which are not only real-life weapons but also are drawn properly to detail. [[spoiler:They even made sure to give Homura's Beretta [=M9=] exactly 15 shots, which is its capacity in real life.]]
181* SignatureMove: Mami's Tiro Finale is pretty iconic and there hasn't been one installment of the franchise where she hasn't launched it at least once. She merges a handful of her muskets to produce a gun that is as big as her and then fires a devastating energy beam. This also makes it the SuperSpecialMove version of her normal musket attacks.
182* SignificantAnagram: Soul Gems are abbreviated SG, Grief Seeds are abbreviated GS. [[spoiler:Fittingly, GS are created from SG of magical girls who crossed the DespairEventHorizon.]]
183* SilentConversation: Happens a couple times throughout the series. [[spoiler: Mami's first encounter with Kyubey is shown without dialog, and Sayaka's reaction tells us she can hear what Hitomi and Kyosuke are talking about,]] but it's never revealed to the audience.
184* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: Kyoko gets left out of a lot of early promo material and barely appears in the opening, likely to preserve the twist of her first appearance.
185* SkywardScream: When Homura sees Madoka ''next to Kyubey'' in the very first scene of the series. It's either a BigNo or a SayMyName moment. [[spoiler: It turns out to be a BigNo, since Madoka accepting the contract will end with her death and cause Homura to repeat the timeline ''again''.]]
186* SlasherSmile: Almost everyone except Madoka has one in the manga. Kyubey is no exception.
187* SliceOfLife: The anime is most certainly '''not''' this, but the second {{Drama CD}} is. On the other hand, some dialogue between Homura and Sayaka suggest the CD is [[CanonDiscontinuity not canon]].
188* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Pretty far on the cynical side; Kyoko gives a speech about how magical girls are best off when they live only for themselves and Sayaka, who takes the opposite viewpoint [[spoiler: is broken by her false(?) selflessness and becomes a witch]]. The finale moves things a bit closer to the idealistic side. [[spoiler:Madoka becomes a goddess and prevents any witches from ever existing or having existed... but now Wraiths exist, and the magical girls still have to fight them. Things are now less horrible and magical girls are more inclined to work together but most characters are dealing with roughly the same problems as they were before.]]
189* SoleSurvivor:
190** [[spoiler: In all the previous timelines she has gone through, Homura has always been the only survivor.]]
191** [[spoiler: The final scene implies that everybody but Homura has died and that she doesn't have much time left either.]]
192* SoulJar:
193** [[spoiler:The soul gem of a magical girl is exactly what it is called.]]
194** [[spoiler:On a smaller note, the grief seed of the witch is exactly the same thing.]]
195* SoundtrackDissonance: In Episode 9, we're treated to soft, relaxing violin music as the magical girls fight [[spoiler: Sayaka's Witch form, Oktavia von Seckendorff]]. Justified as [[spoiler: it's a [[SongsOfSolace Song Of Solace]] for Oktavia]].
196** The movie ''loves'' doing this with the witch fights as the original music has been replaced for most of them.
197* SpiderSwarm: One piece of artwork in the opening shows Madoka surrounded by one.
198* SpinOffBabies: The novel features a kindergarten-aged Madoka and Sayaka meeting for the first time.
199%%* SpiritualAntithesis: To ''Anime/KillLaKill''.
200* SpoilerOpening: The cover art (as seen in the picture above), and the opening prominently feature Madoka as a magical girl. However, [[spoiler: we don't see her as one until episode 10, as part of Homura's backstory, which makes sense as she was actively trying to dissuade Madoka from becoming one in the first place.]]
201** This is somewhat toyed with since [[spoiler:this raises the audience's expectations that Madoka will be a magical girl for most of the show and so spend the entire time expecting her to be one and are then caught off guard when it only happens so late in the show]].
202** Played straight with Sayaka though, who makes her wish a few episodes in.
203* StandardFemaleGrabArea: [[spoiler: Kyoko tries this on Homura]], '''and it works!''' [[spoiler: It's later revealed that this is because Homura's abilities are based on time travel. She can't escape a grab by freezing time.]] The trope is then defied when the 'victim' drops a live stun grenade on the floor and easily escapes in the panic.
204* StarfishAliens: [[spoiler: Kyubey's race, are cat/weasel things that exist as a HiveMind and place [[ExpendableClone little value in individual physical bodies]].]]
205* StartOfDarkness: [[spoiler: Sayaka's starts around Episode 7, after she stops caring about fighting witches for justice as she originally believed, and [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill relishes on the overkill]] towards the witch she's fighting.]]
206* StealthPun:
207** Fans have noticed that the 魔法少女 (''mahō shōjo'', "magical girl") kanji in the title are stylized enough to make 廃怯少女 (''haikyō shōjo'', "faltering girl") a valid interpretation.
208** More important and [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] later: [[spoiler: A young witch is a girl who uses magic, a "magical girl". What magical girls grow into was always inevitable.]]
209** This gets even ''more'' interesting and treads into MeaningfulName territory when you consider "廃怯少女": [[spoiler:so a '''魔'''法少'''女''' eventually evolves into a 魔女, a witch, right? Going by that logic, a '''廃'''怯少'''女''' would mature into a 廃女, a ''haijo'', or roughly a "girl who abolishes"]]. Right, then: [[spoiler:consider the ending]].
210** [[spoiler:Sayaka]]'s witch is named Oktavia von Seckendorff and fights by summoning giant wheels. The German poet Karl von Seckendorff wrote ''The Wheel of Fate''.
211** Octavia appears in episode ''eight''.
212* StealthHiBye: Homura's modus operandi [[spoiler: thanks to TimeStandsStill]].
213* TheStinger:
214** [[spoiler:Depending on how you interpret the ending, Homura appears to have lived for so long that she's developing witch-like powers. Despite this she never gives up hope.]]
215** There's also [[spoiler: the silhouettes of what might be the human forms of the witches]].
216** The second movie, ''[[CompilationMovie Eternal]]'', has a trailer for the third movie after the second set of credits.
217* StockFootage: A couple of Kyoko's moves in Episode 5 are repeated via this method. [[StockFootageFailure There are problems with them meshing with surrounding footage.]]
218** Fixed for the DVD version.
219* StockSoundEffects: Though not of the usual sort. If you've watched both series you'll notice this anime shares a lot of sound effects with Literature/{{Bakemonogatari}}.
220** One of the explosion sounds from Mami's final attack hitting Charlotte in Episode 3 is the same as the sound of a warship exploding in VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}.
221* StylisticSuck: [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Puella_Magi_Madoka_Magica_Official_Guidebook_%22You_Are_Not_Alone%22 An interview with some of the production staff]] indicates that Madoka's notebook sketches of herself as a magical girl were intentionally drawn somewhat badly in order to seem authentic. (The same interview also indicates that the first pass at those sketches were too far in the "suck" direction.)
222* SuicidePact: In episode 4, a witch [[spoiler: trances a large group of people to gather in a warehouse and gas themselves to death.]]
223* SuperSpecialMove:
224** Madoka's magical girl weapon is a bow that fires pink energy arrows. When dealing with particularly resilient witches, she has an unnamed, stronger version of it. She charges an arrow for a while and then shoots it at the sky where it appears a pattern made of circles and lines, also pink. Finally, several big energy arrows rain from the pattern. She's launched this attack successfully against [[spoiler: the FinalBoss witch Walpurgisnatch]] on several occasions. It doubles as an EvolvingAttack because it gets considerably stronger [[spoiler: with each new timeline]].
225** Mami's weapons are ribbon-made muskets that she often summons in batches. Her finisher attack consists of merging a bunch of them to create a giant gun that fires an equally big beam of yellow energy. She calls it "Tiro Finale", which is the Italian for "final shot". It's also Mami's SignatureMove.
226* SupportingProtagonist: Madoka. In contrast to the other four, who spend the whole story--or, in Sayaka's case, most of it--as magical girls fighting witches and sometimes each other, Madoka remains on the sidelines and refrains from becoming a magical girl until the very end. [[spoiler: Ultimately, she is the main character because it is her observations of and empathy with her friends' misery and mistakes that saves the universe, not the actual actions they take.]]
227* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
228** Magical girls aim to kill Witches. However, as is the case with fights, one mistake can be lethal even if the person who made it was previously winning the fight, as [[spoiler:Mami]] found out- and there's no second chances or miraculous saves at the last moment.
229** Sayaka becomes a magical girl and gets powers and the ability to summon weapons. But what she doesn't automatically get is the knowledge of ''how'' to fight, which puts her far behind all the other magical girls, especially since they all had a lot more experience.
230* SurrealHorror: The witch's labyrinths tend to use a [[ArtShift very strangely animated collage-like style]] that can often drift into this.
231* SweetsOfTemptation: Charlotte is an adorable, harmless-looking doll-like witch who resides in a barrier filled with desserts. [[spoiler:Mami thinks she's going to be an easy kill, but gets the shock of her life when Charlotte suddenly reveals her second form, a giant worm with razor-sharp teeth. She bites Mami's head clean off and feasts on her remains right in front of a horrified Madoka and Sayaka.]]
232* SynchronizedMorningRoutine: In [[Recap/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaEpisode01AsIfIMetHerInMyDream "As If I Met Her In My Dream..."]], Madoka and her mother do their MorningRoutine together as a way to show their close relationship and their difference in maturity --Junko wears makeup while Madoka ties her hair in GirlishPigtails, Junko is a night owl because of her job (and stress) while Madoka is an early riser. This part becomes important later in the anime, as [[spoiler:the Incubators]] target teenage girls because they are more gullible and emotional and overall less experienced than adult women.
233[[/folder]]
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