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This page covers tropes in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''.

'''Tropes A to F''' | PuellaMagiMadokaMagica/TropesGToM | PuellaMagiMadokaMagica/TropesNToS | PuellaMagiMadokaMagica/TropesTToZ
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[[folder:#-A]]
* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects:
** The train tracks at the beginning of Episode 9 are obviously a flat CG surface.
** Walpurgisnacht also uses copious amounts of it, though this was likely intentional, [[SignatureStyle given Shaft's fondness for]] MediumBlending and especially for this series.
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture:
** There isn't anything in terms of technology that isn't possible in this day and age, but things like motion-activated lamps, the architecture, and [[http://images.puella-magi.net/a/a4/Ep04_CD_Player.jpg an extremely stylized (and somewhat unsafe) CD player]] lend things a futuristic vibe.
** The soul gems in the BD release.
** While identifiable technology is fairly rare in the series, what does appear suggests the very near-future. In the battle with Walpurgisnacht, [[spoiler:Homura used an M249 and some type-88 surface-to-ship missiles]], and a car that looks similar to a 2010-2015 model year Prius (a more widespread car in Japan than in most countries where it's an import) appears on the highway before [[spoiler:Sayaka and Kyouko's fight revealing the true nature of Soul Gems]]. Without more details, it's hard to know when exactly the series is set, but its futuristic appearance may reflect [[spoiler:the impact of the Incubators more than the passage of time]].
* AbominableAuditorium: The labyrinth of the witch Oktavia von Seckendorff is a concert hall with seating that goes all the way to the top of the domed ceiling and has a mirror image of itself under the floor. Like other labyrinths, the danger of the location is in its occupants; the violin music that the Holger familiars play can steal listeners' souls, and Oktavia herself attacks anyone who enters with a giant sword or summoned wooden wheels.
* TheAbridgedSeries: ''WebVideo/MedukaMeguca: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps46cPHKVh4 The Animation]]'' and ''WebAnimation/MadokaAbridged'' among others
* AbstractApotheosis: [[spoiler:Madoka's wish turns her into the abstract concept of hope and also a kind of force of nature. This fulfills her wish to erase all witches (past, present, and future, including ''her own'') from existence and preventing magical girls from becoming Witches-- instead they fight a new sort of incarnation of humanity's evils, called Wraiths, and eventually die when they run out of magic, but are no longer consumed by despair and transformed into Witches. It's implied that Madoka is also waiting for them when they do die. In fact, this trope was originally named Becoming Hope, after [[TropeNamer this series]].]]
* AccidentalPun: [[TheMentor Mami Tomoe's]] name "Mami" means Mommy in Spanish and Romanian and some non-romantic languages like German. In American English, it may not be ''spelled'' "Mommy", but it definitely ''sounds'' like it. Considering her mentor role it fits her. On a slightly pervier note, her name's resemblance to the word "mammaries" has not gone unnoticed by the fanbase.
* AcidTripDimension:
** The [[PocketDimension Witchs' Realms]] look like the animators were drugged for these things because of the ArtShift and horrifyingly bizarre things there.
** Implied by Homura's room which has floating objects and mirrors which respond to her mood.
* ActorAllusion: Creator/EriKitamura, previously the voice of [[Anime/FreshPrettyCure Cure Berry]], here plays Miki Sayaka, another blue-themed MagicalGirl named Miki.
* AdaptationExpansion:
** The {{Drama CD}} "'Memories of You" is an expansion of the first part of the anime's tenth episode.
** ''[[Manga/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheDifferentStory The Different Story]]'' manga begins with an adaptation of "Farewell Story", the anime's third Drama CD. This is acknowledged by the manga's author. The manga then segues into its own story from there.
* AgonizingStomachWound: In order to justify its methods, Kyubey [[spoiler:asks Sayaka how long she could hold out if she was impaled with a spear had her consciousness not been removed from her body and placed in a vessel. Then it demonstrates by pressing on the Soul Gem, and Sayaka is clutching her stomach and gasping on the floor in seconds.]]
* AlienGeometries: [[PocketDimension The barriers around the Witches]], and the Witches themselves, are this. A great example is the first witch we see in Episode 2; it simultaneously is and '''isn't''' ''two-dimensional''.
* AllThereInTheManual: The official website and supplemental materials make an interesting read for fans.
** Technically the names of the witches appear in the episodes themselves (written in CypherLanguage), but other things like the names of their familiars and their personality traits can only be found on the official website. In addition, this information includes witches that have not appeared themselves or only appeared in a {{Flashback}}. Fortunately, they are translated on [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Characters this page]] (spoilers, obviously). Special note that the creators have left open the rest of TheUnreveal to WildMassGuessing.
** The black cat in the OP never appears in the show proper, but it is explained in the first {{Drama CD}} from DVD Volume 1. [[spoiler:In the first timeline, Madoka became a magical girl to save the cat when it was hit by a car. She kept this a secret because she didn't want to be scolded for contracting for such a small reason.]]
** The third Drama CD reveals Kyoko and Mami have a shared past which is only hinted at in the anime proper.
*** ''[[Manga/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheDifferentStory The Different Story]]'' devotes its entire first volume to adapting the third drama CD.
** The concept art booklet in the sixth Blu-Ray volume reveals a character's name. [[spoiler:Madoka's goddess form is called "Ultimate Madoka"]]. The name is never spoken or written in the show. However, since fans have been using Fan Nickname ([[spoiler:Godoka[=/=]Madokami[=/=]etc.]]) for it, this isn't a problem.
** The ''You Are Not Alone'' guidebook includes or alludes to other {{Magical Girl}}s' wishes.
* AlternateCharacterReading: {{Invoked|Trope}}. The kanji used for "Mahou Shoujo" can be rewritten to reveal multiple key plot points. Similarly, "Puella Magi" has multiple meanings, which are also key plot points. All of these are explained in the anime proper and [[GratuitousLatin their]] [[MeaningfulName respective]] tropes.
* AlternateTimeline: It is a RunningGag on the Puella Magi internet pages that you will see [[spoiler:''how many times is it now'' formatted like this in some kind of way]]. Detailed explanation:
** [[spoiler:Homura is capable of jumping back to a certain point and creating as many of these as she wishes. We know of at least five she's been in (the last being the "current" timeline), and parts of her end monologue in Episode 10 as well as some of the dialogue in 11 and 12 implies ''even more'' resets than shown onscreen. Official answer: [[http://pastebin.com/BHgRHdZu "Approaching 100"]].]]
** [[spoiler:Madoka's wish in the final timeline changes all timelines ever as a side-effect of retro-actively destroying all witches.]]
** [[spoiler:Most of the sidestories are alternate timelines. For example, ''Different Story'' is set in a timeline where Mami survives the battle with Charlotte, while ''Oriko Magica'' has the titular character becoming a magical girl and interacting with the main characters for her own purposes.]]
* AlwaysInClassOne: Mami is briefly shown to be in class 3-A (in the manga).
* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:The series ends with witches being replaced with wraiths, so that Magical Girls still have something to fight. The very last scene shows Homura continuing to fight.]]
** {{Averted}} in the manga adaptation, [[spoiler:wherein after this, the final page has Ultimate Madoka taking Homura with her to the higher plane of existence to be with her for all eternity.]]
* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: [[spoiler:Kyubey reveals at the end of Episode 8 that witch is the later stage of a magical girl's existence. Magical girls can only delay the inevitable transformation of her soul by shoving TheCorruption into limited-use Grief Seeds (which are incidentally fully-corrupted souls). The same episode also showed a magical girl's transformation into a witch.]]
* AngelsDevilsAndSquid: The magic system in the Puella Magi universe runs off this with Magical girls representing the angel side. The role of the devils falls on the witches that [[spoiler:are fallen magical girls]] that feed on negative emotions as opposed to positive emotions. The role of the squid falls to [[spoiler:the incubators, aliens that use the emotions of human as a source of energy, granting wishes to humans only to feed off their hope and despair]].
* {{Angst}}: It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler: Kyubey and the rest of his species have found a way to convert human emotions to energy]]. And who are the most emotional people in the universe? Why teenage girls of course! They have enough pent up angst to overcome the universal force of entropy and then some *rimshot*
* AngstNuke: While it doesn't kill anyone, [[spoiler:Sayaka's rather explosive transformation into a witch]] sends Kyoko and several objects around, [[spoiler:including Sayaka's corpse]], flying.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: [[spoiler:Ultimate Madoka in Episode 12 is the anthropomorphic personification of hope.]]
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Mami]] dies in the third episode, with the ending credits theme changing to hammer in the true darker style of the series. [[spoiler:Two episodes away from the series finale, three of the main characters have fallen. Only two remain... in this timeline. In the four shown timelines, Homura was the only main character alive following the battle against Walpurgisnacht.]]
* AnywhereButTheirLips: Madoka kisses the top of her own head at the end of her OP transformation sequence.
* ApocalypseHow: Let's review the scale:
** Walpurgisnacht will cause a Class 0 that leaves, at a minimum, Mitakihara in ruins.
** [[spoiler:Madoka's transformation into a witch in previous timelines is guaranteed to cause a Class 6.]]
** [[spoiler:Madoka's last wish and her subsequent transformation into a goddess causes a chain of destruction leading up to a Class X-5, although it's all part of her plan to fix things and rewrite reality in all timelines.]]
** [[spoiler:Kyubey and his race are actively trying to stall and/or prevent a very prolonged Class X-4 throughout the series]].
* ApocalypseMaiden: [[spoiler: Madoka]]. Although she was initially a normal human being and has no desire to destroy the world, [[spoiler:Homura's constant rewriting of history means that in her current state, the entire world will be living on borrowed time if she makes a contract with Kyubey. Averted in the end of the series, but only through LoopholeAbuse, since the Universe-consuming witch she becomes is destroyed by her before it can be created]].
* ApocalypseWow: [[spoiler:Episode 12, but Ultimate Madoka saves the day... by causing ''another'' one.]]
* ArcWords: Walpurgisnacht is an [[VaguenessIsComing ominous threat]] that Homura is preparing for in two week's time. [[spoiler:It turns out to be the appearance of a super powerful witch.]]
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Second episode, discussing wishes:
-->'''Sayaka:''' Whoa! We could wish for treasure, or eternal youth, or a 108-course banquet!
-->'''Madoka:''' [[LampshadeHanging Maybe that last one's a bit much]]...
* ArtificialScript: The series contains a number of inscriptions made in not one but [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Deciphering_the_runes three different runic scripts]], which had to be deciphered by the fans, who discovered that the runes were used to write sentences in [[GratuitousGerman German]].
* ArtisticAge: All of the girls look to be about 12 because of the cutesy art style, when they're really about 14 (with the exception of Mami, who is about 15 or 16, but looks the same age as the others).
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The cattle car housing the Nazis' captives in episode 12 was incredibly spacious in comparison to the ones that existed, which were usually packed so tightly passengers barely had room to stand.
* ArtShift: A witch and her barrier will employ one or the other because of their reality bending ''otherness''.
** The third episode stops borrowing from the ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' opening and starts borrowing from cute 1980s-style cartoons.
** Episode 4 has a strange, flat, Louis Vuitton-esque design to the witches dimension. In the witches' TV screens, one can see the same art style used for the ''Manga/MariaHolic'' ED.
** Episode 5 features a realm that resembles an elementary school kid's drawings. [[{{Backstory}} Kyoko's explanation of her past]] is shown in a similar way.
** Episode 7's realm is DeliberatelyMonochrome, looking like a shadow-play.
* ArtStyleDissonance: The characters were originally designed by Creator/UmeAoki, being drawn in a very similar PuniPlush art style to her light-hearted SchoolgirlSeries manga ''Manga/HidamariSketch''. However, from Episode 3 onwards, it's made clear that this series is much darker and more tragic than the adorable character designs might suggest.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence
** [[spoiler:Madoka does this in the last episode by disconnecting herself from time to ensure witches never exist. In the process, she becomes something akin to a magical girl goddess. It is implied that all magical girls post-Madoka are also like this, with Ultimate Madoka guiding them to her own plane of existence after they die.]]
** In the manga, [[spoiler:Ultimate Madoka takes Homura to be with her forever some unspecified time afterwards.]]
* AsceticAesthetic: For starters, the school building is about 90% glass, with even the "classrooms" only having glass partitions as opposed to actual walls. The utter sterility of the city itself makes a nice contrast against both the characters and the bizarre world of the witches.
* AssholeVictim: In Episode 8, Sayaka encounters two rude misogynists on a train. [[spoiler:The context implies that she killed them.]]
** Word of God on this is more like FlipFlopOfGod: Shinbo says she '''didn't''', the manga author says she '''did''', and Urobuchi says he [[TakeAThirdOption intentionally left it ambiguous]].
* AstralCheckerboardDecor: Many of the witches have this motif somewhere inside their barriers. The first few minutes of the opening episode is nothing but this. The end of the manga takes place in a dungeon with a checkered floor and acts as nice BookEnds.
* AthleticallyChallenged: When Homura first came to Madoka's school, she was very clumsy and bad at sports, due to having a heart condition. After going through a time loop of repeating the previous month numerous times and having to fight many witches, she became the best athlete in the class.
* {{Autocannibalism}}: [[spoiler:After Kyubey is killed, something that looks just like him waltzes onto the scene and eats the corpse. WordOfGod says that he has many functioning bodies, all with one shared consciousness, so chances are he was recycling the protein or something. That, or he didn't want some random person to stumble across the dead Kyubey.]]
* AwardBaitSong
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH6NB2F-Jcw and I'm home]]".
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5o-WogIxZM Hikari Furu]]", a vocal version of "Sagitta Luminis" in the second movie is this even moreso.
* AwfulTruth: Coincides with {{Wham Episode}}s, due to [[spoiler:Kyubey's ExactWords policy]].
** Episode 6: [[spoiler:Soul Gems are actually {{Soul Jar}}s. The process of becoming a magical girl involves ripping out the soul and transforming it into a gem. The human bodies become empty shells animated by the Soul Gem; the two must remain in close proximity. In other words, "magical girl" is synonymous with "lich".]]
** Episode 8: [[spoiler:Witches are magical girls whose Soul Gems are sufficiently corrupted.]]
** Episode 9: [[spoiler:Kyubey's race has been using magical girls as an energy source since the beginning of human history. The energy released when one transforms into a witch overcomes entropy.]]
** Episode 11: [[spoiler:Madoka has incredible latent potential because of Homura's time resets. Each timeline is centered on Madoka, and all of those timelines have converged on her. This means that all of Homura's attempts to save her have made her into the most powerful magical girl ever and thus the most powerful witch.]]
* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:Sayaka hacks a witch to pieces in Episode 7 and all the while laughing about how she doesn't feel any pain.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:B]]
* BackFromTheDead: Specifically mentioned as something that Kyubey can't do. [[spoiler:Unless it's Madoka making the wish as Madoka's wish in ''[[Manga/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheDifferentStory The Different Story]]'' brings Sayaka back to life after her transformation into a witch. Presumably, it takes place during one of the later timelines]].
* BaitAndSwitchCredits: The opening is something that would fit perfectly on any typical MagicalGirl show, with {{Shout Out}}s to ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'', ''Anime/SailorMoon'', and ''Anime/PrettyCure''. The ending has distorted music, is nearly completely devoid of color, has sombre lyrics[[note]] The song is Magia by the band Kalafina[[/note]], and ends with Madoka floating in the fetal position in the eye socket of a giant skull. Prior to Episode 3, the anime avoids showing the ending and instead ran the credits along the conclusion of the episode and used the song for fight scenes. The bait and switch disappears when it becomes clear just whose perspective the opening song is from.
** The Blu-rays for the first two episodes have an ending theme which plays this trope straight.
* BarbieDollAnatomy
** Madoka's ScrewYourself transformation sequence in the OP.
** Seen during Kyoko's and Homura's transformation sequences.
** Shows up in Episode 12, during the encounter between Homura and Madoka [[spoiler:after the latter's ascension to law-of-naturehood]].
* BarredFromTheAfterlife: [[spoiler:A magical girl transformed into a witch is implied to be unable to properly pass on to whatever afterlife exists in this world. During the conversation in the AfterlifeAntechamber in episode 12, Mami and Kyoko (who died when their Soul Gems were shattered) appear so they can talk to Madoka, while Sayaka (who became a witch and was subsequently killed by Kyoko) does not.]]
* BatmanGambit: [[ManipulativeBastard Kyubey's]] modus operandi [[spoiler:involves appearing to MG candidates when they are at their most vulnerable and least able to resist a miracle. Afterwards, he twists their motivations to ensure their fall into despair in order to harvest their energy.]] A specific example: [[spoiler:Kyubey misleads Kyoko into believing there may be a way to make Sayaka human again, which leads to Kyoko's death and leaves Homura as the only magical girl left; since Homura can't possibly defeat Walpurgisnacht alone, Kyubey hopes this will force Madoka into making a contract.]]
* BatterUp: On her first witch hunt alongside Mami, Sayaka brings along a baseball bat to compensate for a lack of magical girl powers.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: See [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica here]].
* BeachEpisode: No, not in the anime itself but in the fourth {{Drama CD}}.
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: [[spoiler:Cleopatra, Queen Himiko, Joan of Arc and Anne Frank were magical girls.]]
* BeingGoodSucks:
** [[DiscussedTrope This is Kyoko's motto and something she tries to convince Sayaka of.]] Magical Girls should only use their powers to benefit themselves because doing things for others will only make them miserable and even the person receiving the help may end up miserable too.
** Sayaka's attempt at being a moral crusader backfires [[spoiler:and the strain of fighting as a magical girl while not getting what she wanted causes her sanity to leak down the drain]].
** The ending also qualifies, [[spoiler:as Madoka's tradeoff for saving magical girls from their inevitable fate was being [[RetGone erased from physical existence]], and magical girls still eventually die--they just no longer corrupt into Witches (it's implied they go to some sort of Magical Girl heaven with Madoka)]].
* BerserkButton:
** Kyoko doesn't like it [[LostFoodGrievance when people waste food]].
** Don't mess with Madoka in any way or form if you want to stay on Homura's good side.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled:
** [[spoiler:Kyoko's HeroicSacrifice, because she had no intention of transforming into a witch.]]
** In Episode 10, [[spoiler:after TheReveal in a previous timeline, Mami suffers a mental breakdown and tries to kill the other main characters and herself, following this logic. After the battle against Walpurgisnacht in the same timeline, Madoka asks Homura to MercyKill her before she turns into a witch.]]
* BigBad: Walpurgisnacht is effectively the head witch, and will destroy the world if not stopped. [[spoiler: [[DiscOneFinalBoss However,]] it is the adorable but duplicitous and secretive little WeaselMascot Kyubey [[ManBehindTheMan who created her and the other witches.]] It doesn't tell the {{Magical Girl}}s he creates certain key facts, including that Magical Girls are essentially liches, that the wishes they make with him frequently turn out badly for them because they're not wishing for the right things, that every [[EldritchAbomination Witch]] that the Magical Girls fight (aside from those born from familiars) was once a Magical Girl herself -- and that they're [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie ultimately doomed to become Witches themselves]]. Not only that, but he doesn't care one whit about humans as long as the universe itself continues to exist. Also played with, since while Kyubey does not directly oppose or antagonize the girls, [[NoBiologicalSex it]] is the reason why the bad events of the show happen.]]
** [[spoiler: If you count [[InconsistentSpelling Walpurgis Night]] as a character and not a force of nature then it becomes a BigBadEnsemble, given its influence on the plot.]]
* BigDamnHeroes:
** Homura frequently steps in to save someone; usually Madoka.
** It's defied when Kyoko tries to step in for [[spoiler:Sayaka]] but this girl refuses Kyoko's help, gets back up and defeats the witch she was fighting.
** Sayaka pulls this off in Episode 4, saving Madoka from being torn apart by the witch's minions.
* BigEater:
** Kyoko rarely appears without some kind of snack food in hand. This is probably related to the fact that her family was too poor to afford enough food before Kyoko made her wish.
** Madoka herself comes off as this in the 100 Questions.
** [[spoiler:A certain infamous dessert-based witch...]]
* BigGood: [[spoiler:Due to her CosmicRetcon, Madoka becomes the patron goddess of Magical Girls. She saves them from witching out, gives them hope, and is implied to take them to magical girl heaven]].
* BigNo: In Episode 10, [[spoiler:in the timeline shown just before the current one, Homura does this as she falls while Madoka makes the contract from the scene in the first episode.]]
* BiggerIsBetter:
** [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}} "Not enuff dakka, Mami? Try a bigga shoota!"]] [[spoiler:Averted. The bigger gun doesn't hit the enemy's weak spot (its head), and it rushes out of its shell to engage her in melee.]]
** Played straight with Walpurgisnacht: The second largest witch shown and infamous among magical girls for its power.
** [[spoiler:Both of Kriemhild Gretchen's forms are ''huge'': the first time we see her, she's obscured by weather and distance, but she's ''mountainous'' in height and estimated to be able to destroy the world in a little over a week; the second time, she's big enough to ''envelop the planet''.]]
* BilingualBonus:
** The German graffiti in Episode 2 are quotes from ''Theatre/{{Faust}}''.
** Homura's wall is decorated with a full transcription of "Das Hexen-Einmaleins" (''Counting with witches'' basically), which reads like a {{nursery rhyme}}, but again originates from Goethe's ''Faust''.
** The [[{{Mooks}} Anthonies]] in Episode 1 chant a series of phrases in German.
** "Tiro Finale" is Italian for "[[FinishingMove last shot]]". [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Translated_Official_Documents#Mami.27s_special_move It was originally supposed to be "''Filo'' Finale".]]
** Madoka's homework in Episode 6 is to translate the English nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle." To see her word processor giving a closely translated suggestion to the words "Hey diddle diddle" in Japanese is quite an amazing feat.
** Graffiti on the wall shown right before [[spoiler:Kyoko and Madoka enter Sayaka's Labyrinth]] says "[[Music/TheBeatles Love Me Do]]".
** As noted above, many of the songs in the soundtrack have Latin titles; the lyrics for a few of them are in Italian.
** The reveal that witches are [[spoiler: corrupted magical girls]] is potentially easier to guess if you speak Japanese, noting the spelling of [[spoiler: "majo" and "mahou shoujo"]]. Kyuubey even points this out [[spoiler: after Sayaka transforms into a witch]], in a line that might come off confusing for those who are only reading subtitles.
* BittersweetEnding:
** [[spoiler:Walpurgisnacht has been defeated, there are no witches, there never will be, [[CosmicRetcon and there never have been]], magical girls are carried off by Madokami to Magical Girl {{Heaven}} instead of turning into witches, Incubators are able to gather curse energy harmlessly, and both Kyoko and Mami return from death. Madoka is a goddess, and one day, she and Homura will be together again. On the bitter side, the magical girls fight wraiths (rather than witches), Sayaka is still dead (though at least this time it was while fighting wraiths alongside her friends), and Madoka has disappeared from normal existence, forgotten by all except Homura and Madoka's pre-verbal little brother.]]
** [[spoiler:In the {{manga}}, there's more sweetness. An [[DistantFinale unspecified period]] after Homura's battle with the wraiths, she is shown in Madoka's {{heaven}}, restored to her innocent and adorable self, to be with Madoka forever.]]
* BizarreAlienPsychology: The Incubators seem to operate in an extremely rational HiveMind. They view emotions as a mental sickness, and do not consider not telling every part of the truth as lying. Simply put, their only concern is to offset the heat-death of the universe.
* BlackAndWhiteMagic: Magical girls are powered by wishes [[spoiler:and in Ultimate Madoka's universe, hope]], while witches are powered by curses. [[spoiler:[[TheCorruption Guess how]] [[DespairEventHorizon witches are created.]]]]
* BlackBox: Magic is impossible to figure out even to Kyubey [[spoiler:and the race of SufficientlyAdvancedAliens he comes from]], but it seems to work and he doesn't mind that it's a black box that involves the [[spoiler:suicidal grief and monstrous transformations of adolescent girls]].
* BlackComedy:
** The official franchise pokes a ''lot'' of fun making fun of Mami [[spoiler:for losing her head]]. For instance:
*** When about to air Episode 3, an official broadcast tweet said something along the lines of "This episode features Mami - [[spoiler:keep your heads on!]]".
*** Aniplex of USA got in on the fun as well when they uploaded Mami's voice actress' interview.
*** In Madoka Online's summary about the game, where you can design your Magical girl, Mami is wearing an accessory [[spoiler:of Charlotte biting her head, as she says [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/File:Mmo5.jpg "It sorta feels like the dice decide your fate, huh?"]]. We know the dice didn't roll in her favor.]]
*** In the game, the staff released Mami's[[note]]the rarest and strongest type of card[[/note]] Tiro Finale card. The card's image? [[spoiler:[[http://25.media.tumblr.com/bcb0a493842939a65f024a2057888904/tumblr_mhmjqeeKzS1r45ppgo1_250.png Mami about to be mogu mogu'd by Charlotte]].]]
*** Speaking of merchandise, we have [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jnRQjAE-blo/TtVgNPqJeKI/AAAAAAAAHGM/hOiEuOQB_nA/s1600/ccc2ee059738f982612503f2ad34a2e8.jpg this gem]] of a USB drive.
** [[invoked]] In a meta-example overlapping with MisaimedMarketing, we have [[http://twitpic.com/5xd3fe this promotional wishboard]]. Either the ones behind this idea were oblivious to [[FateWorseThanDeath what making a wish with Kyubey entails]], or they really ''do'' have a warped sense of humor.
** In another meta-example concerning the producers, the [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Tweets#Earthquake_reactions animation team briefly cracked some jokes about Walpurgisnacht showing up early on their twitter and chat feed]]s about the Tsunami that hit Tokyo hours after Episode 10 aired.
* BlackSpeech: Shown when the art shifts and the witches come out to add a verbal ''otherness' to the images.
* BlandNameProduct: Kyoko offers Homura some Rocky [[note]] which is also an actual product but clearly represents Pocky [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/Rocky_sticks.jpg in Malaysia]][[/note]]. The [[VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution Dog Drug Reinforcement]] dancing game she's playing in the same scene is another one.
* BlatantLies:
** Defied by [[ManipulativeBastard Kyubey]] since he considers himself ''above'' lying.
** [[{{Troll}} Gen Urobuchi]] lies ''[[LyingCreator a lot]]''.
* BlessedWithSuck: A magical girl will have any wish of theirs granted in addition to MagicalGirl powers that they can use for any purpose they want. However there are a few things in the fine print Kyubey doesn't mention. Like [[spoiler:having to experience despair equal to the happiness gained from that wish, and spending the rest of their life as a lich fighting witches [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie and possibly becoming a witch themselves]].]]
** [[spoiler:CursedWithAwesome: This is the final fate of magical girls in Madoka's reconstructed universe. A wish is granted to the girls at the cost of fighting the wraiths until the girls exhaust their soul gems and die. However, as long as they keep fighting the wraiths, their soul gems keep replenishing -- so it's very much a willpower thing. Finally, when they wear out at last, Madoka appears to guide them to Magical Girl {{Heaven}}.]]
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Mami, Homura, and Kyoko, respectively, are the three veteran Magical Girls, contrasting with newcomers Madoka and Sayaka's more improbable hair colors. [[spoiler:They are the only main magical girls who still exist in the rewritten universe]].
* BloodierAndGorier: Where the anime avoids depicting gore, the manga revels in it. {{Gory Discretion Shot}}s are frequently averted. Blood is added to scenes that didn't originally have it, and characters are drawn with NightmareFace expressions that give ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' a run for its money.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc_q5WNQ8uA Here's]] a comparison of Sayaka's fight with Elsa Maria in the TV and BD version (spoiler warning). The BD version adds more blood to the scene.
** The BD release keeps better consistency with Kyoko's injuries [[spoiler:during her fight with Oktavia]].
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Kyubey discusses this trope with the magical girls and Madoka. He says he's [[spoiler:an alien]] gathering energy to stave off entropy. It just so happens that having teenage girls [[spoiler:turning into {{Eldritch Abomination}}s]] is a very efficient way to do so, and he doesn't understand how anyone who knows the whole story could object to ThePlan. When Madoka asks him how he could have been doing this for so long and never even try to understand the girls' feelings, his response is that if his people could understand human emotions they wouldn't have needed humans at all.
** Kyubey reveals that his species, the [[spoiler:[[MeaningfulName Incubators]], are incapable of emotion and seem to function as a single, very rational HiveMind. He says that the Incubators consider emotions to be a mental illness and were utterly baffled by the existence of humans, believing that a society in which every individual has emotions would be incapable of functioning. Just as Madoka (and the viewer) cannot understand Kyubey's coldheartedness and total lack of concern for any of the girls under his care (and indeed, the entire human race), Kyubey and the rest of the Incubators can't understand humanity's emotional nature and concern for individuals.]].
** His consistent reply to the girls' protests, "I don't understand what you mean," has become a MemeticMutation associated with him in Japan.
** In the epilogue, [[spoiler:he's still this, but his race's best chance to work on things in the new paradigm is to work very closely and openly with the magical girls. He even warns them up front that they ''will'' fade away when they run out of magic.]]
-->'''[[WordOfGod Gen Urobuchi]]:''' There is no malicious intent in him, but his moral values are fundamentally different from those of humans.
* BodyHorror: Episode 4 features a witch that kills its victims by stretching them until they tear apart. The effect is exaggerated by the art style used for it.
* BolivianArmyEnding:
** [[spoiler:In the anime, Homura's final fate is uncertain; it could be that she's gained new superpowers, or she's going to Heaven as soon as the series is over or both. Averted in the manga, when Madoka does indeed take her to Heaven, where they'll be together forever, along with Sayaka.]]
** [[spoiler:It is possible that Homura in the anime had split into two separate people. The anime depicts two versions of her: one with Madoka's bow defeating large Mooks and another with symbolism showcasing her badass purple wings. WordOfGod, so far, has not given a confirmation on the ending. See the WMG page for speculation.]]
** [[spoiler:''Different Story'' ends in this way, with Madoka, Sayaka, and Homura getting ready to fight Walpurgisnacht. However, readers who have already seen the anime know that the result of the battle is a ForegoneConclusion.]]
* BookEnds: The very beginning and the very end of the series are set to the sound of a projector running, and then the sound of it abruptly shutting off. There are several within the story, as well:
** Madoka's mother chooses a pair of ribbons for her in the first episode, which she wears throughout the rest of the series. Near the end, [[spoiler:Homura]] tries to give one of them back to Madoka's mother; she doesn't take it because she's too old to pull off that look, but says that [[spoiler:[[RetGone if she had a daughter]], she'd make her wear it.]]
** Kyoko announces her intent to kill Sayaka in her first appearance, and they both try to kill each other in their first encounter. Eventually, they become somewhat friendly. [[spoiler:After Sayaka becomes a witch, Kyoko kills herself and Sayaka simultaneously.]]
** The first time Homura [[spoiler:sees Madoka about to go and sacrifice herself, she tells [[LastNameBasis "Miss Kaname-!"]]]]. The final time this happens, [[spoiler:she yells [[FirstNameBasis "MADOKA-!"]] instead. Both incidents also feature Homura being ripped from her forcibly; first by not having MagicalGirl powers, second by a rewrite of the universe itself]].
** In the first episode, Sayaka teases Madoka about [[ThisIsReality acting like an anime character]]. In the last episode, [[spoiler:Madoka has been erased from existence, but her kid brother Tatsuya is seen drawing her as an ImaginaryFriend. When Homura seems to recognize the drawing, Madoka's mother asks Homura if Madoka is an anime character.]]
** In the first episode, before the opening credits, Homura is fighting alone against overwhelming odds, [[spoiler:in an alternate timeline]]. [[spoiler:In the last episode, after the closing credits, Homura is again fighting alone against overwhelming odds. The difference is that Homura is smiling in the final fight, because she knows that Goddess!Madoka is watching over her.]]
* BossSubtitles: Every witch has one written in CypherLanguage.
* {{Bowdlerize}}: In the original Japanese, when Kyoko is [[spoiler:revealing her past to Sayaka, she says that her family was inadvertently destroyed]] by her prayer. In the English dubs and subtitles, she says "wish" instead of "prayer".
* BreadAndCircuses: A "stable but not always comfortable status quo" version. Kyubey provides wishes so magical girls will fight for his goals [[spoiler:and enable him to collect the energy generated by their despair]]. This trope is almost taken literally with [[spoiler:Sayaka]]'s witch realm, which is represented as an operatic cinema/three-ring circus.
* BreakTheCutie: A list:
** Madoka, who over the course of the series is forced to suffer through [[spoiler:the deaths of Mami, Sayaka and Kyoko, on top of learning how the system works]].
** Kyosuke is revealed to have been on the fence for some time, since his injuries meant he would never be able to play the violin again. [[spoiler:Until Sayaka uses her wish to heal him.]]
** [[spoiler:Sayaka becomes a magical girl for Kyosuke's sake, only to find out the truth about soul gems and discover that Hitomi also has feelings for Kyosuke. She falls into despair, and eventually becomes a witch.]]
** [[spoiler:Homura was originally a very shy girl from an alternate timeline, who befriends Madoka and Mami after they save her from a witch. After the two magical girls die fighting Walpurgisnacht, Homura wishes to go back in time and protect Madoka, hoping to save her. Instead, she's forced to watch all of her friends die or become witches in each of the four iterations we have seen her experience. The series offers what appears to be a fifth iteration, however, in Episode 11, Kyubey remarks that Homura has gone through this cycle countless times and it is still not looking any better.]]
** [[spoiler:Mami gets her turn with ''[[Manga/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheDifferentStory The Different Story]]'' as it spells out what was hinted at in the TV series; SurvivorGuilt, turf wars, falling out with her students, etc.]]
* BreatherEpisode: Episode 5 is much lighter in tone compared to the previous two episodes, which dealt with [[spoiler:Mami's death]] (Episode 3) and the effect it has on the characters (Episode 4).
* BrickJoke: You'll be wondering where the {{Deconstruction}} elements are laid in, but it will take about two and a half episodes for it to be noticed. That is within itself a BrickJoke, [[{{fanon}} created by the fanbase]]. No surprise when Episode 10 comes around do the elements of other Episodes [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything suddenly become very familiar]], [[StartOfDarkness for good reason]]. This list of {{Brick Joke}}s[=/=]{{Call Back}}s from earlier Episodes may be spoileriffic if read under the right context, so beware of potential spoilers.
** Episode 1 in its entirety is a BrickJoke: almost everything that happens has some important relation to the plot later on.
*** The opening CreditsRunningSequence has black-and-white AstralCheckerboardDecor, which looks extremely out of place when compared to other episodes. Later Episodes showcase the Witches with AstralCheckerboardDecor. [[spoiler:Episode 10 shows that Madoka became a Witch in several timelines.]]
*** The second sequence shows Homura fighting off against a powerful floating...thing. Homura in later Episodes tells Madoka that something powerful is coming soon. [[spoiler:Episode 10 reveals that the Witch from Episode 1 was actually Timeline 4 Walpurgisnacht.]]
*** A seemingly out-of-place sequence shows Madoka looking in several directions, and then randomly waking up, which looks like a ShoutOut to ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei''. Episode 4 introduces Kyouko, whose VA was [[ActorAllusion was previously a part of the same show.]] The [[{{Mook}} Anthonies]] shown throughout the series also look like a direct rip from the opening sequence of SZS as well. [[spoiler:Apparently, every single Magical Girl [[AscendedMeme really is in despair]] because of the DealWithTheDevil.]]
*** Madoka asks her mom about her ribbons. She wonders if her ribbons will make her look cool and stand out above the crowd at school. [[spoiler:The final episode has Madoka giving Homura her ribbons. Then, Homura meets Madoka's mother (or at least, the woman who was Madoka's mother when Madoka still existed as a person), who remarks that the ribbons look uncannily like something she would make her daughter wear, if she had one.]]
*** The entire introduction sequence for Homura at school has her doing incredible stunts and then proceeding along a walkway to the nurse's office with Madoka, the designated class nurse. Strangely, Homura is breaking down along the way while Madoka gives heartfelt encouragement. [[spoiler:The first few minutes of Episode 10 has this whole sequence replicated but with reversed positions and Homura being the exact inverse she was in the current timeline. In particular, the dramatic shot of Homura turning on her heel (literally) to face Madoka appears again in episode 10, with their roles reversed.]]
*** Kyubey is running from Homura in the air shaft in the mall, with the intent to kill him. Kyubey, at this point in time, looks extremely hurt and defenseless, while Homura already looks like an AntiHero. [[spoiler:She was doing it to try to prevent Kyubey from making a contract with Madoka, knowing what would happen if she didn't. In the Drama CD, Madoka used her wish to save a cat from death, with Homura appalled for such an innocent wish. In Episode 10, Madoka is shown to be a very kind and caring person.]]
*** Episode 1's Witch has copious amounts of flowers and scissors stylized like a "secret garden" EldritchLocation, but Mami defeats this Witch. Episode 3 has LevelAte, complete with knives and cakes. [[spoiler:Episode 3 was also the episode that had the OffWithHerHead with Mami. There's also a taboo about cutting off the heads of flowers.]]
** Episode 2:
*** Mami Tomoe's name is stylized in a strange way on the plaque at the apartment she lives in. Her name is written like "巴マミ", and "Tomoe" is also the same name[[invoked]] of a famous female samurai named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoe_Gozen Tomoe Gozen]]. [[spoiler:Her name turns into a VisualPun when her head gets chomped off. This is also a reference to Tomoe Gozen, who was a [[OneManArmy One Woman Army]] who defeated thousands of enemies and returned with the head of one of the enemies.]]
*** Mami talks about the role of the Magical Girl, but there's a lot of unexplained questions, like how the Witches are formed at all. It does not help that Mami's VA is [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime the same as an infamous]] ExpositionFairy. [[spoiler:When Kyubey talks in Episode 7 about how their souls aren't attached to their bodies, he adds that Mami [[LockedOutOfTheLoop had never known about this before her death]]. Ironically, when she did know about the truth in one timeline, she had [[GoMadFromTheRevelation gone mad and killed Kyoko in the process]].]]
*** Mami also explains that the Soul Gem is formed as proof of a contract with Kyubey. Eventually we learn that [[spoiler:it's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. The Soul Gem literally contains the magical girl's soul, to help them with pain tolerance]], as Kyubey demonstrates with Sayaka Miki.
*** In one part Sayaka asks something along the lines of [[spoiler:"How are witches different from magical girls?", apparently not by much.]]
*** Remember the teacup Mami summoned after defeating Gertrud in Episode 2? It reappears in Episode 3 [[spoiler:after Homura blows up Charlotte, the witch that ate Mami. It's broken.]] Also, Homura said that "this is the fate of a magical girl", while it shows [[spoiler:what's left of Mami (blood and a broken teacup) and]] a Grief Seed.
*** There is [[http://i.imgur.com/g5EnVbS.jpg a seemingly innocuous shot of Mami]] sitting like a ProperLady with her hands folded neatly in her lap. The glass tabletop shows a reflection of Mami's head, which is framed in such a way that it looks like she's holding her head in her lap. [[spoiler:Guess what happens in the next episode.]]
** Episode 3: Before Mami arrives at the room that has Charlotte, she says that to celebrate Madoka becoming a magical girl, they should eat cake. [[spoiler:In Episode 12, when Madoka is in the meta-world talking with Mami and Kyoko, Mami is [[VisualPun serving]] her cake - right before she becomes a magical girl.)]]
** Episode 6: Madoka asks how to deal with Sayaka, who keeps fighting for what she thinks is right, but the more effort she puts into it, the worse things turn out for her. Madoka's mother suggests to do [[CruelToBeKind the wrong thing to snap her out of it]]. During Episode 8, Homura [[spoiler:threatens to '''kill''' Sayaka Miki if she keeps troubling Madoka with her self-destructive behavior]]. The [[WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises look on Sayaka's face]] shows that doing ''that'' got her attention. If saving Sayaka was Homura's true intentions, then it might have worked if [[spoiler:Kyouko didn't pull a BigDamnHeroes moment by restraining Homura]].
** Episode 10: The OP itself turns out to be a BrickJoke when it's shown at the end of the episode instead of the beginning, to reveal that [[spoiler:the entire song had always been from Homura's point of view, not Madoka's. This wasn't exactly obvious before, since shots of Madoka take up about 99% of the OP; but the 10th episode is all about Homura, and the OP's lyrics are practically a plot summary. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nksprQwm4K4 Like This]]]]
* BrightIsNotGood: A TalkingAnimal, colored white and pink? How dangerous could it be?
* BroadStrokes:
** The author of the ''Madoka Magica'' manga has stated that the anime and manga are based on the same scenario, but has implied that the manga could be very different down the road. This is [[LyingCreator completely false]]; the manga is based on the exact same script as the anime, and is simply a BloodierAndGorier CompressedAdaptation. The closest it gets to diverging from the anime is the addition of a short, highly ambiguous, epilogue.
** ''Kazumi Magica'' appeared to be this in the first three chapters, but the fourth chapter ultimately explained most of the inconsistencies. On the other hand, the Soul Gems and Grief Seeds look different until the third chapter, [[ArtEvolution where they suddenly look like the ones in the anime]]. This was [[OrwellianRetcon fixed in the collected edition.]]
* BrokenBird: Every MagicalGirl who lives long enough will despair, become bitter, and otherwise broken.
* ButterflyOfDoom: Episode 10: The incident where [[spoiler:Madoka saved Homura from a witch]] snowballed over the course of several [[spoiler:timeline resets]] and eventually results in [[spoiler:a ''CosmicRetcon'']].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:C]]
* CallingYourAttacks: Mami calls out the name of her final attack when she's fighting witches.
* TheCameo: Volume 3 of ''[[Manga/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheDifferentStory The Different Story]]'' contains [[spoiler:[[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/File:Tds_michiru_cameo.jpg the brief appearance of Michiru Kazusa]] from ''Manga/PuellaMagiKazumiMagica'', referencing an event that occurred in the latter's backstory]].
* CanisLatinicus: Though the song titles are real Latin, the lyrics to songs such as "Sis puella magica!" and "Credens justitam" are not. The lyrics are gibberish that Kajiura writes according to what sounds pleasant, matches the melody, and is easy to sing.
* CantCatchUp: Sayaka is the weakest MagicalGirl shown. [[spoiler:Even in the best-possible-timeline ending, she still dies, despite being partnered with Kyoko and Mami. She's also the only one who has a DespairEventHorizon to reach because the object of her wish is still alive to die for, one way or the other; the others have already lost theirs.]]
* CantTakeCriticism: It is implied that [[spoiler:Isabel the Artist Witch was once a magical girl who didn't like criticism. Like what her card description says, "In order to defeat this Witch, remember to bring a critic."]]
* CassandraTruth: Kazuko warns her students against [[{{Foreshadowing}} upcoming dangers in the plot]]. But since she phrases them in the form of a midlife crisis, nobody listens. Her scenes are framed as unrelated comic relief so the viewer is also prone to brushing her off.
* CastFromLifespan:
** Using magic of any kind dims soul gems. When it's completely dark, [[spoiler:the magical girl turns into a witch.]]
** [[spoiler:In the new universe, this is even more true -- when the soul gem runs out of power, Ultimate Madoka takes the despair -- and the soul gem -- away to the afterlife.]]
* CensorSteam: Madoka and Homura [[spoiler:in Madoka's dimension "beyond reality"]]. The disk sets use BarbieDollAnatomy instead.
* CentralTheme:
** Is there truly such a thing as a SelflessWish, or is everyone SecretlySelfish? Is there a way to benefit others as well as yourself at the same time?
** BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor ! -don't rush into things without thinking.
* CessationOfExistence:
** In the anime, Kyubey implies this is what happens to human souls after their receptacle is destroyed. [[spoiler:Madoka's "omnipotent" potential, Kyubey's own ability to be reborn, the witches cloning themselves via familiars, and Homura coming from an alternate timeline]] render this less than certain.
** In the manga, it's [[AvertedTrope averted]]: [[spoiler:Kyōko]] and [[spoiler:Sayaka]] are shown together in the afterlife after their death.
* CheekyMouth: On occasion. [[http://i55.tinypic.com/2qx7386.jpg Madoka]] displays a very wide one during the first episode, when she's talking about her dream.
* ChekhovsGun:
** [[spoiler:The long haired Madoka from the OP. Also, before the last two episodes aired, the website was redesigned to have a picture of Madoka with a pair of wings. Madoka gets both in the final episode.]]
*** [[spoiler:The same OP scene, with a short-haired girl and long-haired girl [[LesYay snuggling while nude]] in a [[TrippyFinaleSyndrome weird zero-gravity sparkly realm]], is very much like the "space hugs" scene from the final episode.]]
** Homura's original art featured her as the one with a bow. Then there was the later [[CoversAlwaysLie illustration of her and Madoka holding the bow together]] in what looked like a disguised spoiler for the last battle. They left guns outside the FourthWall. [[spoiler:In the epilogue, Homura is shown using a modified version of Madoka's bow instead of her time-stopping powers. Which makes sense, as in the new reality there was no Madoka to sacrifice herself and gain time powers for.]]
* ChekhovsGunMan: [[spoiler:Homura sets the timelines in motion that strengthens Madoka to become the most powerful MagicalGirl.]]
* TheChosenMany: Aside from the main characters, it is shown that there are other {{Magical Girl}}s all around the world.
* ChromaticArrangement:
** For the main PowerTrio, we have Madoka, Sayaka, and Hitomi. This represents the Red-Blue-Green.
** For the second PowerTrio, we have Madoka, Sayaka, and Mami. This represents the Red-Blue-Yellow.
* ClothingDamage: Madoka's uniform slowly shreds off doing the ending.
* ColorCodedCharacters: Each of the main girls has her own colour theme.
** Madoka: Pink.
** Sayaka: Blue.
** Mami: Yellow.
** Kyoko: Red.
** Homura: Purple.
* CombatPragmatist: Homura. The justification is [[Characters/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica explained on the character page]].
* CombatTentacles: Gertrud has this attack, as does Elsa Maria.
* CoolBigSis: Mami. The idea is exploited in that she admits to Madoka that she was anything but cool and collected during fights (being a middle-schooler fighting to the death regularly against otherworldly abominations), and she simply put on the appearance of the cool big sister/mentor role to endear herself to her younger companions and hide her fears from both them and herself.
* TheCorruption: [[spoiler:When a magical girl experiences negative emotions (''especially'' despair and {{angst}}), their soul gem darkens. Eventually, such emotions turn them into witches.]]
* CosmicHorrorStory: [[spoiler:We have mortals fighting eldritch abominations only to eventually fall to despair, go insane, and become abominations themselves. There is also a race of StarfishAliens who operate on BlueAndOrangeMorality and [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet consider the human race and Earth ultimately inconsequential in the greater scheme of things]].]]
* CostumePorn: The magical girls have beautiful battle outfits.
* CoversAlwaysLie: Played with. Official artwork for the series constantly shows Madoka in full MagicalGirl attire. She doesn't make the contract [[spoiler:until the final episode. However, she became a magical girl in the previous four timelines Homura has experienced]]. Aside from that, the bow and arrow Homura is shown with in one piece of official artwork is actually [[spoiler:the weaponry one of the alternate-timeline Madoka uses. Homura doesn't touch it until the very end]].
** More generally, the cover was deliberately designed to give the impression it is a low-budget clone of shows like ''Anime/SailorMoon'' when it is anything but.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: Technology has advanced and is ubiquitous, there's no visible pollution, and everything's shiny and white. However...[[spoiler:The only reason human society has advanced this far is because of the intervention of the Incubators and the suffering of countless magical girls since the beginning of human history. Without them, humans would still be living in caves. Also there's still disease, domestic abuse, murder, organised crime, a need for a military response, and witches that can destroy whole cities or even the whole world.]]
* CreatureHunterOrganization: Madoka and co form one in one of the timelines. though even if they didn't, they'd still count as "backed, individual members", given they fight witches exclusively.
* CreditsRunningSequence: A silhouette of Madoka running into darkness.
** Revealed in episode 10 to be [[spoiler:Foreshadowing Madoka embracing her destiny to stop the Walpurgisnacht and change the world. The shadows that drift by as she are the images of her friends who have died up to that point. The only shadow that moves is the only other one of them left alive, Homura, who reaches out to her because she's trying to save her from this fate.]]
* CrypticBackgroundReference: Mami states that witches cause all sorts of bad things to happen with their mere presence, but we're only shown two attempted suicides. Walpurgisnacht's true nature and name are also never divulged, even in the [[AllThereInTheManual manual]]. The muggles can only see her as a 'supercell' storm.
* CrypticConversation: Justified. The last time Homura tried to explain everything, [[spoiler:none of the girls in timeline 3 believed her until Sayaka became the witch Oktavia. Immediately after Oktavia's defeat, Mami [[GoMadFromTheRevelation suffered a breakdown]] and murdered Kyoko which forced Madoka to kill her.]]
** Even more frightening, [[spoiler:she thought it through enough that her first move was to restrain the one teammate that had time-control powers before attempting to kill everyone.]]
* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:In one timeline (specifically, the one that the opening sequence from the first episode is from), Madoka becomes a magical girl and defeats Walpurgisnacht in one shot. She becomes a witch immediately after and with enough power to destroy the world within ten days.]]
* CurtainCall: At the end, a picture appears showing the silhouettes of the five {{Magical Girl}}s in the show [[spoiler:with the magical girl forms of all the witches fought in the anime]].
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow:
** All the Magical Girls have matching hair, eye and even costume colors; Madoka (pink), Sayaka (blue), Mami (yellow), Kyoko (red)... except Homura who has black hair, purple eyes and a purple costume. However, a lot of official art tends to color her purple for all three.
** Averted for [[spoiler:Madoka in the final episode where she gains amber eyes and a white dress in her Ultimate Madoka form, but her hair is still pink]].
* CuteIsEvil:
** [[spoiler:Kyubey. His full name is Incubator, as in the incubator of the witches that magical girls fight and eventually become themselves, if their soul gems are completely corrupted. It's also only a syllable and a half away from "Incubus", continuing the Faustian theme...]]
** Charlotte, which looks and acts like something from a goofy kid's cartoon, in a setting that is anything but [[spoiler:even before MoodWhiplash sets in. This and speculations regarding what led to her fixation on cheese]] inspired enough sympathy for Charlotte within certain elements of the fandom such that some began to think that [[FixFic she would have made a good pet/friend/adopted-family for Mami]] while a handful of others outright [[CrackPairing crackshipped the two of them together]].
* CyberPunk:
** While it primarily uses magic rather than technology[[note]]even though technology itself is still pretty advanced[[/note]], and the city is much cleaner than in usual works, the show's hints at [[{{Transhuman}} transhumanism]] and, to a lesser extent, Kyubey's mottos and personality could feel right at home in a CyberPunk series.
** Homura's character in particular feels like a typical CyberPunk protagonist.
* CypherLanguage: The runes. They are not just a substitution cypher, they are also in German. See the [[Analysis/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Analysis page]] for the translations. The wiki is ''filled to the brim'' with the translations.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:D]]
* DarkReprise: "Magia", the ending song of the series, made its appearance in the first scene of the first episode. There, the song is slowed down to give it a much darker atmosphere than it already had. This turned out to be a production error as all of the music in the first episode was slowed down and it was back to its normal speed and pitch in later airings.
** "She is a Witch", the song that plays in the menu of the DVD/Blu-Ray of the first and second movies, is a DarkReprise of "Sagitta Luminous". Fitting, considering where and when you hear both.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Expect no less from the author of ''VisualNovel/SayaNoUta'' to take magical girls and create a show that makes you want to scream and sob. [[spoiler:The finale makes things LighterAndSofter but MagicalGirl death still occurs and the wraiths are still scary.]]
* DarkestHour: Episode 11 [[spoiler:Walpurgisnacht has endured an army's worth of firepower from the lone Homura, who has finally given up hope of her GroundhogDayLoop ever saving Madoka, who steps up to make her wish...]]
* DarkMagicalGirl: Homura starts the main narrative as a stoic and antagonistic Magical Girl opposing our friendly protagonist, Madoka. [[spoiler: The truth is closer to a inversion as she was on Madoka's side from the start as her Mysterious Protector and began the story as her shy friend.]]
* TheDayTheMusicLied:
** [[spoiler:Episode 3's battle scene starts with standard battle fare when the fight with Charlotte starts, but it immediately switches to grim dark once Caterpillar!Charlotte appears.]]
** The music in the scene near the end of Episode 8. See MusicalisInterruptus in the next section.
** The opening theme song [[spoiler:is sung by Homura in the post-Episode 12 world. The lyrics and symbolism make perfect sense once you realize this.]]
* DeadPersonConversation: [[spoiler:When Madoka was on her way toward goddess-hood, she met [[HeroicSacrifice Kyoko]] and [[CruelAndUnusualDeath Mami]] in... somewhere suspiciously similar to Mami's apartment. Chat and [[BrickJoke cakes]] were had. Sayaka isn't there because she didn't die: she became a Witch and her soul was destroyed. After Ultimate Madoka rewrites the universe she is revived/never died/etc and the two have a last conversation at Kyosuke's recital before leaving for the new magical girls' {{heaven}}.]]
* DealWithTheDevil: The ''Puella Magi'' universe turns the standard MagicalGirl contract with the MentorMascot into one of these. Kyubey will make any one wish you have come true in exchange for turning you into a MagicalGirlWarrior who has to fight Witches. [[spoiler:By accepting the contract, the girl becomes a Lich, with her Soul Gem becoming her SoulJar, and she will eventually become one of the very monsters she's fighting because of her wish backfiring in ways that drive her to despair combined with the way magic works serving to corrupt her Soul Gem. All of this happens so Kyubey can collect the energy generated by the arc from hope to despair and use it to stave off entropy]].
* DeathByOriginStory: Mami's parents died in the process of her becoming a magical girl, while Kyoko's lasted long enough to (along with her sister) become a collective CynicismCatalyst.
* DeceptivelyCuteCritter: The Incubators take the form of ridiculously adorable weasel/cat/fox-things, the better to appeal to the girls that they target with their [[DealWithTheDevil contracts]] to become {{Magical Girl}}s. Their agenda for the girls, unfortunately, is anything but benign: [[spoiler:every magical girl they create is doomed to become a witch, and to be killed by other magical girls who are in turn doomed to become witches, all to try to prevent the heat death of the universe]].
* DeconReconSwitch: [[spoiler:Specifically, this series deconstructs [[ThePowerOfLove the power of heart]] often used in MagicalGirl anime. The show does this by drawing attention to the fact that the power of what the girls wish for (the desires of their heart) are never as pure and noble as many shows often assume they would be (these are young girls after all and HumansAreFlawed). Tragedy ensues because of their often selfish and unclear desires. The ending, however, reconstructs the power of heart in that a wish made for all the right reasons can essentially become the most powerful force to ever exist.]]
* DecoyProtagonist: This trope gets played with [[ZigZaggingTrope all over the place.]] Despite being the title character, Madoka [[UselessProtagonist has little effect on the plot, and is mostly an observer]]. Sayaka does become a magical girl, and she has a personality much more commonly associated with protagonists, [[spoiler:except that becoming a magical girl is actually her StartOfDarkness.]] Then episode 10 comes along [[spoiler:and we find out that in many ways, this is Homura's story.]] And in the finale, [[spoiler:Madoka ''does'' become the hero, [[HeroicSacrifice selflessly erasing herself from existence]] to change the world.]]
* DemonSlaying: The [[spoiler:new]] magical girl system against the [[spoiler:wraiths. Whether they're demons or undead is up for debate.]]
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The Latin title [[CoversAlwaysLie reads as this]], but it's subverted in that there's an alternate, more accurate translation (based on GratuitousLatin): [[spoiler:''Girl of the Sorcerer: Magician Madoka''. Furthermore, "Puella" literally means "a young girl" but it's derived from "Puerulus", which means "a young slave".]] Going in a sillier direction, though, the official full title is ''Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica: Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', which can be interpreted as ''Magical Girl Magical Madoka: Magical Girl Magical Madoka''.
* DerangedAnimation: For example, [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sweet-dreams_3701.jpg the Anthonies']] ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark-ish'' appearance (read: reminiscent of that series' cutout style), as well as how it ''doesn't'' match the art style of the other characters, is already bad enough for them to deserve to be the page image for the show's [[NightmareFuel/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Nightmare Fuel page]], but their laggy animation really drives the point home.
* DesignStudentsOrgasm:
** The witches' mazes. The first witch, Gertrud, is a gardener, so the maze is covered in roses and thorns, with floating scissors and butterfly- and puffball-themed familiars. The second, Charlotte, has a maze [[LevelAte made of cake and sweets]] with syringes and bottled body parts everywhere. Charlotte herself looks like a children's cartoon from the 80s.
** A certain aspect of Charlotte itself takes heavy inspiration, too, from Takeshi Murakami's Superflat artwork.
** As noted below, if you're into architecture, this is the series for you.
* DespairEventHorizon: For magical girls, this is more than a metaphor: it's a literal point of no return that has tangible consequences.
** Sayaka starts heading towards it when Kamijo hits it, gets really close when [[spoiler:Hitomi confesses that she wants to ask Kyosuke out]] (going AxCrazy in the process), and [[spoiler:passes it in Episode 8, turning into a witch. In Episode 12, however, she's "purified" by Madoka's wish, which gives her a more peaceful death.]]
** In Episode 10, [[spoiler:Mami from one of the previous timelines snaps and tries to kill the other magical girls when she finds out about the AwfulTruth. She murders Kyoko and took aim at Homura but Madoka killed her before she could fire]].
** Homura becomes so desensitized [[spoiler:due to her past failures that she becomes a KnightTemplar for Madoka's survival. Kyubey notes that the only thing keeping her away from the edge is her belief that she can hit the ResetButton and try again. If she wavered for a moment, her soul gem would instantly corrupt.]]
** Kyoko appears to have crossed it by the time she's introduced, and the incident where she's supposed to have crossed it is shown in graphic detail in Episode 7, but it turns out that she had simply been straddling the line all along and ultimately comes back from it [[spoiler:just in time to have to do a HeroicSacrifice to stop Sayaka's vigilante killing spree against both the scum of the Earth and the magical girls that are trying to stop her]].
* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: Madoka listens to "Connect", the opening theme, at the record store in the mall in Episode 1. Episode 6 also features Kyoko dancing to a techno version of the song on a DDR stand-in.
* DiedHappilyEverAfter: [[spoiler:This is the only way a magical girl can have a happy ending of any sort and Madoka had to make a reality changing wish to make it possible. Each magical girl in the series has one of these: Sayaka disappears and she is taken into the Law of Cycles by Madoka. Homura rejoins Madoka there in the manga but the anime only implies it. Mami and Kyoko are slated to go out this way, too, eventually.]]
* DisguisedHorrorStory: The show initially appears to be, and was marketed as, just another cutesy MagicalGirlWarrior series, to the point that the creators actively tried to hide the involvement of Creator/GenUrobuchi (a writer famous for his grim and depressing stories) until [[LateArrivalSpoiler the show's true, macabre nature became an open secret and Mr. Urobochi becomes credited in trailers]]. In the series, a {{Ridiculously Cute|Critter}} WeaselMascot [[CartoonCreature or whatever]] offers to make a deal to [[MakeAWish grant a young girl's wish]] and give her powers beyond imagination in return for fighting evil entities and saving the world. But the protagonists are fighting Witches that look like [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] and can MindRape innocent people until they're DrivenToSuicide. Then one of them rips the head off one of the girls on camera, traumatizing the others, and from then on the show becomes a GenreDeconstruction that displays just how psychologically damaging their job actually is. And that's even before we learn that this Weasel Mascot is keeping some [[AwfulTruth horrible secrets]] about being a Magical Girl from the girls.
* DistantFinale: The last pages of the manga occur some unspecified time after the last scene in the anime.
* DividedWeFall: The {{magical girl}}s are not working together. In fact, there are ''reasons'' for them to not work together, because they're competing for the same resource (the witches' grief seeds). At the same time, the girls are clearly inclined to help one another, and yet are also unwilling to accept the others' help. The results are [[PoorCommunicationKills sadly unfortunate]].
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: As is evident by statements elsewhere on this site as well as in {{Fanon}}, many viewers see Kyubey as reminiscent of a human trafficker who lures young girls into child porn or prostitution.
** Then there's the people who feel that the show demonstrates the girls' plight as them being given something to want for whilst making them feel bad for wanting it, pushing them into doing work until they're unable to work anymore and then kicking them while they're down in a cycle that creates more girls to do the work. Or, as Youtube SulMatul put it: [[CapitalismIsBad 'There is no ethical consumption under Kyubey.']]
* DoingInTheWizard ''and'' DoingInTheScientist: [[spoiler:Kyubey is a SufficientlyAdvancedAlien, not a magical creature, and he wants to prevent the universe's heat death by breaking the second law of thermodynamics. However, he does this by performing genuine miracles and drawing out real magical potential in human girls so he can collect energy generated by emotions; none of these are governed by thermodynamics or any kind of science and that's why they suit Kyubey's purpose.]]
* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:Any spinoff depicting a previous timeline is doomed to end either in the world's destruction or Madoka's death, since the cycle isn't broken until the final timeline in the anime.]]
* DownerBeginning: The curtain rises with Kaname Madoka dreaming of a mysterious black-haired magical girl battling giant falling pieces of buildings in a grey, war-torn world.
* DramaticIrony: Sayaka blames Homura for [[spoiler:Mami's death, on the grounds that she didn't enter the fight until Mami was killed in order to take the witch for herself. However, both the audience and Madoka know that Mami cast a binding spell on Homura before the battle, meaning that she couldn't step in until the spell was broken by Mami's death.]]
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Madoka's dream at the beginning of Episode 1. [[spoiler:Inverted, as Episode 10 reveals the dream(?) depicts a scene from another timeline, the predecessor.]]
* DreamIntro: The first episode begins with a scene involving Madoka running through a surreal building to see a girl fighting a monster that has destroyed a whole city, and a strange creature who tells her she can stop the destruction by becoming a magical girl. She then wakes up, but is surprised to meet the girl from her dream at school that day. [[spoiler:Ultimately, it's revealed that it wasn't an ordinary dream but a memory of the previous timeline.]]
* DrivenToSuicide:
** People affected by the witches, who radiate despair. Mami says that all the unexplained suicides are caused by witches. [[spoiler:In Episode 4, they form a suicide pact.]]
** [[spoiler:Kyoko's father killed himself when he found out about her wish.]]
** [[spoiler:Mami, in Episode 10, as a result of discovering the AwfulTruth about becoming a witch. She was also going to take down everyone else, but Madoka stops her after Kyoko's death.]]
** [[spoiler:Mami at the end of ''[[Manga/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheDifferentStory The Different Story]]'' manga, where she simply can't cope with living as a magical girl anymore. Homura even references Mami's breakdown in Episode 10 of the anime by warning Kyoko that this is part of Mami's nature. Once she finds out the truth about the origin of witches, she is likely to commit suicide.]]
* DudeWheresMyReward: It is inverted and played straight at the beginning and end of a magical girl's tenure.
** The Inversion: Kyubey will grant a single wish, ''any'' wish, of a chosen girl in exchange for a contract to be a MagicalGirl as payment-up-front. The cost of that one reward is a lifetime of battles against witches and familiars.
** The straight version: no matter how hard and long a magical girl fights, her efforts will never be recognized, never known, and she is most likely to die alone.
-->'''Homura''': ...there's no gratitude.
* DueToTheDead: [[spoiler:Sayaka's funeral at the start of Episode 11, and after Madoka takes her to Heaven in the current timeline, it's implied she gets a token funeral shortly afterward.]]
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: Magical girls get this after their [[spoiler:Soul Gem is taken away from them, due to being effectively dead]].
* DVDBonusContent: The DVD/Blu-Ray releases have soundtracks and audio dramas - at least two of the dramas can be considered canon, and [[AllThereInTheManual reveal important backstory information]].
* DwindlingParty: Some of the cast members get killed off as the series goes on, and in some cases, more than once.
* DyingAlone: [[spoiler:Kyoko performs a HeroicSacrifice to kill Oktavia so that Sayaka doesn't have to die alone.]]
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:What Ultimate Madoka does for every magical girl that has ever, or will ever, exist. By taking them off to heaven with her, she prevents them from turning into witches and allows them to fade away instead.]]
* DyingDealUpgrade: Mami Tomoe's backstory involves her being caught in a fatal car accident. In her dying moments, Kyubey appears before her to allow her to make a wish to survive in exchange for becoming a magical girl.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Kyoko]]'s death is a YouShallNotPass combined with a big explosion and a ''Revolutionary Girl Utena'' reference.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:E]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: The series' [[spoiler:BittersweetEnding]] would not have been possible without [[spoiler:Madoka and Homura's sacrifices]].
* EasterEgg: There's a ton of content in the series that is easy to miss at first, such as [[FreezeFrameBonus Freeze Frame Bonuses]], hidden phrases in a CypherLanguage, and [[AllThereInTheManual more information about witches on the official website]].
* EatingTheEnemy: This ended up becoming the center point of the WhamEpisode that was episode 3. [[spoiler:Mami]] was such an accomplished MagicalGirl that she wound up fighting [[LeeroyJenkins very recklessly]] against the witch Charlotte. This becomes her undoing as [[spoiler:just when it seems she won, the witch takes on a monstrous worm-like form and '''''bites her head off''''' and then eats the rest of the body soon after.]] It's very unsettling, even with the GoryDiscretionShot.
* EldritchAbomination: The witches are bizzare creatures that warp the space around them into a personal labyrinth and can drive {{muggle}}s to despair and insanity.
* EldritchLocation:
** The barrier that surrounds each witch disregards every law of science and houses dangerous familiars.
** Homura's Apartment: WordOfGod is that "the white walls, floating texts, and clockworks are all a holographic projection superimposed on a more mundane setting. At the same time, there is the suggestion that Homura's residence was intentionally drawn to resemble a witch's barrier."
* EmotionEater: [[spoiler:Kyubey's true purpose. They're able to turn emotions into surplus energy that violates the second law of thermodynamics in order to save the universe.]]
* EmotionalPowers: [[spoiler:Magic is fueled by emotional energy and gradually expends it. Likewise, negative emotions cause magical ability to diminish. A combination of the two nearly inevitably causes the magical girl to transform into a witch.]]
* EmotionsVsStoicism: This is a running argument throughout the series.
** [[spoiler:Kyubey's arguments make a lot of sense, but only from a coldly logical, utilitarian standpoint; the girls' counter-arguments always run along the lines of "But it's ''so horrible.''"]]
** Most of the girls ([[TheMcCoy Sayaka]] especially) are hindered by their emotions, and are regularly rescued by the more [[TheSpock stoic]] Homura, who advises them to control their emotions. [[spoiler:The one girl who did not heed her advice, Mami, was quickly met with a gruesome death.]] When Homura ''does'' lose control of her emotions, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it's a sign that things have really gone bad]].
* EmpathicEnvironment:
** The barrier seems to work this way. When Madoka says that she will become a magical girl and fight alongside Mami (who, at this point, is bitter from all the fighting but hides it well), medicine capsules fall from above and then warm, fuzzy-looking wispballs float from below.
** Episode 8 has Madoka and Sayaka at a bus stop in the rain. The rain gets more intense to match Sayaka getting more riled up.
* TheEndIsNigh: This is what Walpurgisnacht will entail according to Homura. [[spoiler:She's right. Walpurgisnacht can wipe out a town in one night and the only times it was ever defeated was by Madoka, who then corrupted into a witch more powerful than her, that, according to Kyubey, would destroy the planet in a matter of days. It remains debatable whether Walpurgisnacht itself would be a global threat if not stopped.]]
* EnemyExchangeProgram: {{Zigzagged}} as it's not done to an actively hostile party but a neutral, non-allied one. Due to the lack of offensive potential of her magic, Homura steals all sorts of weaponry (and even vehicles) from Japan's Armed Forces and Yakuza to use against the [[EldritchAbomination witches]]. She's commonly seen with pistols and assault rifles, but if the necessity arises, she pulls out grenades, machine guns, rocket launchers, and even tanks from her BagOfHolding.
* EnhancedOnDVD: The DVD/Blu-Ray releases have fixed up a large number of low-quality shots, added additional details to the backgrounds, and fixed one lingering question -- [[spoiler:The witch in the Episode 1 prologue was re-drawn to look like the witch in Episodes 11 and 12.]]
* EnlightenedSelfInterest: Most of the Magical Girls who made a wish with Kyubey thinks of this when they make a wish: they wished for someone to prosper so that they will somehow benefit from it. The common source of despair in this series is that they often ''don't'' get those benefits in the end.
* EnvironmentalSymbolism: Due to the classrooms looking like cages, there has been speculation by fans that the school (lots of glass, generally futuristic) was based on Justice Center Leoben, an Austrian prison with a similar design.
%%* EpicMovie: The films definitely have this feel.
* EquivalentExchange:
** [[spoiler:The hope spread by magical girls is equally counteracted by the despair in their everyday lives, eventually turning them into the very witches they fight against. This is on purpose. However, the system Kyubey presents does not balance out, since he claims the "good" energy himself to "prevent the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe Entropic Heat Death of the Universe]]".]]
** [[spoiler:One of the things Kyubey doesn't tell the magical girls is that the hope generated by a wish is spread out to everyone that hope touches, but the equivalent amount of despair is shouldered ''only'' by the one who makes the wish. Others may suffer in the wake of a wish, like Kyoko's family, but that baseline equivalent despair is always going to go right back into the Soul Gem that made it. That's what Kyubey is ''counting on'' for the energy.]] Interestingly, it's possible that the implication that EquivalentExchange is being strictly enforced (or is inherent to the process) may well just be a masterful piece of misdirection on Kyubey's part. [[spoiler:The real reason they meet despair proportional to the hope they bring is because it lets him double-dip--he profits from ANY sufficiently strong emotional swings.]]
** At the end of the last episode, [[spoiler:Madoka's final wish destroys this aspect of magical girl life, by removing all witches before they're created, and ensuring that magical girls do not meet with despair in the very end.]] Even ''this'' wish is shown to [[spoiler:eventually release enough despair to destroy the universe... only for Madoka to appear and destroy ''that'' witch]]. Basically, [[spoiler:Madoka uses her wish to annihilate that form of Equivalent Exchange itself]].
* EssenceDrop: A defeated Witch leaves behind a Grief Seed, which a magical girl can then pick up and use to refill her lost {{mana}} and thus restore the brightness of her Soul Gem -- [[spoiler:That's what they're led to believe. What they actually do is transfer TheCorruption that they had accumulated from the Soul Gem into the Grief Seed, thus delaying their eventual fate of transforming into Witches themselves.]]
* EvolvingAttack: Madoka's finisher attack goes from a simple supercharged, pink energy arrow to an elaborated pattern that rains several pink arrows from the sky. When first used, it's {{implied}} she needs several of them to beat [[spoiler: [[FinalBoss Walpurgisnatch]]. As Homura's repetitions of the timeline increase Madoka's potential]], by the FinalBattle she can finish said witch with only one shot. After [[spoiler: becoming a DeityOfHumanOrigin]], Madoka can launch it at a planetary scale -- she uses it to [[spoiler: cleanse the corruption of every and each magical girl who ever existed]].
* EvolvingCredits:
** If you watch closely, you can see the OP change slightly from [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/images/1/1d/Op1.png episode]] to [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/images/f/f9/Op2.png episode]]. The final image of Episode 10's outro is changed from just Sayaka, Madoka, and Mami. This time [[http://images.puella-magi.net/thumb/9/93/Ep10-ending-group.jpg/800px-Ep10-ending-group.jpg Kyoko and Homura]] are in the picture, too.
** Each ending progressively becomes darker.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin:
** [[spoiler:[[SoulJar Souls are literally inside the Soul Gem.]] This is even more literal if one considers that [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/結晶 the Japanese word for "crystal" is also used to mean manifestations in general;]] a "soul gem" would be a "materialized soul".]]
** [[spoiler:As stated by Kyubey, young growing females are called girls. So what do we call the girls that will grow up into a witch? Magical girls, of course!]]
*** Even more exact in Japanese where [[spoiler: the words for 'witch' and 'magical girl' can just as easily be read as 'magical woman' and 'young witch' respectively.]]
* ExactWords: Kyubey is never ''untruthful'', he merely leaves out information that people entering the contract would want to know [[spoiler:thus reinforcing his Faustian Deal-type operation.]]
* {{Expy}}:
** Mami has the same hair style as [[Manga/RozenMaiden Kanaria]], both with flower accessories.
** Madoka's MagicalGirl dress (as shown in promo artwork and the OP) is similar to [[Manga/CardcaptorSakura Sakura's]], including the frills.
** Thanks to Creator/UmeAoki's SignatureStyle, many of the characters bear a resemblance to those from ''Manga/HidamariSketch''. Madoka is pink Yuno, Sayaka is swordsman Nori, Madoka's mom Junko is the office-version of the landlady, [[ActorAllusion and Mami has the same voice actress as Miyako]].
** Considering the results of the whole MagicalGirl deal, Kyubey looks and act a ''lot'' like [[Manga/{{Bokurano}} Koyemshi]] or [[Manga/DGrayMan The Millennium Earl]].
** An AloofDarkHairedGirl girl who is determined to protect the timid main character and doesn't give a damn about the lives of others... [[VisualNovel/YamiToBoushiToHonNoTabibito Where have we seen]] [[Manga/ZettaiShoujoSeiikiAmnesian someone like that?]] [[spoiler:[[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Did we mention that she's going through an endless loop until she gets it right?]]]]
*** Homura resembles [[Anime/MyHime Natsuki Kuga]], another magical girl who specializes in firearms [[spoiler:and caught in a battle that might pit her against her friends]].
** Homura's [[spoiler:MentalTimeTravel]] ability, and [[spoiler:her unshakable determination on saving Madoka from her death?]] Oh, that's a [[spoiler:certain [[VisualNovel/SteinsGate Mad Scientist]]'s ability and goal too]].
** [[spoiler:Past!Homura]] is similar to Miranda from ''Manga/DGrayMan''. [[spoiler:Clumsy, shy, nervous, no self-esteem, determined despite herself, comes into her power when she realises she wants to protect someone, and controls time using a disc on her arm.]]
** Kyoko resembles a younger and more modest Yoko from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', and has a similar name. She also bears more than a passing resemblance to [[Literature/ShakuganNoShana Shana]] in both appearance and [[{{Tsundere}} personality]].
** Kyoko is similar to [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka]] with red hair and costume, abrasive personality, introduction about one-third into the series, wielding a spear and [[spoiler:a dead family]]. It's not too hard to see the connection there. [[spoiler:Her father ending his life by hanging himself is a bit too similar to Asuka's mother (who's name as it happens, was Kyoko)]].
** Kyoko's powers and magical girl niche are very reminiscent of ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'' (trickster-thief with a definite Christian overlay, plus the ponytail). St. Tail's rival/love interest was, Asuka Jr.
* EyeColourChange: [[spoiler:Madoka's eyes change from pink to gold after becoming a magical girl and essentially becoming a god in the penultimate timeline.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:F]]
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:Homura's refusal to accept this trope is why she repeatedly goes back in time to save Madoka. Word of God says the total number of loops "approaches 100".]]
* TheFairFolk: Some witches behave like this. Gertrud is focused on her roses; while Charlotte is fixated on cheese and will be caught off-guard if one throws her some. It's also a tantalizing irony for Charlotte: despite being able to make candies out of nothing, she can't create cheese.
** ''Kazumi Magica'' refers to contract-making creatures like Kyubey as fairies.
* FairytaleMotifs: Sayaka's storyline has parallels to the non-[[{{Disneyfication}} Disneyfied]] ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid''. [[spoiler:Girl has affection for a high status boy and wants to be with him so she makes a DealWithTheDevil that causes her great pain. She's offered relief but refuses it, and because of this, she dies. Ultimately, she goes to heaven.]]
* {{Fanservice}}:
** The nude transformation scene with two Madokas in the OP.
** Kyoko and Homura each get one TransformationSequence each with BarbieDollAnatomy.
** Madoka and Homura's nude forms in [[spoiler:the space between realities]] in the final episode; made more explicit in the [=BDs=].
** The movies lengthen and enhance the transformation sequences (complete with lots of MaleGaze added in) but tone down the nudity in the above example by giving Madoka and Homura ethereal dresses.
** There is also a lot of subtle or blink-and-you'll-miss it MaleGaze shots. Some of the many slow pans over the girls also qualify.
* FastForwardToReunion: [[spoiler:Homura and Madoka because the latter is now [[DontFearTheReaper The Reaper]].]]
* FatalFlaw: Common in most of the main cast.
** Madoka: Her selflessness. Kyubey often attempts to manipulate her into contracting by exploiting her desire to help others at her expense, [[spoiler:and would have succeeded multiple times over in the final timeline if it weren't for Homura's interference.]]
** Sayaka: Her self-righteousness. Some would say it's her naivete, [[spoiler:but what dooms her is her unwillingness to listen to Homura or Kyoko since she sees them as evil. Even after finding out about the nature of the Soul Gems, if she had been willing to accept their help, she could have survived.]]
** Homura: Her unwillingness to work and communicate with others based off of her past experiences.
** Even Kyubey can be said to have one flaw that [[spoiler:contributes to his downfall: greed. Usually, he doesn't let anyone he wants to contract with know anything relevant about the whole "magical girl" system until it's too late. He didn't need Madoka to continue harvesting humans for energy, but he continues to attempt to contract with Madoka even after she's made aware of the whole system (by Kyubey himself, no less). If he had just left her alone, he would have been untouchable.]]
* FateWorseThanDeath: Any girl [[spoiler:who becomes a MagicalGirl must continue to kill witches or else they'll become one as well. (Until Madoka figures out how to TakeAThirdOption.)]]
* FaustianRebellion:
** [[spoiler:Up until the last episode, Homura's time-manipulation powers were the only factor capable of catching Kyubey off guard.]]
** [[spoiler:Madoka's wish in Episode 12 coupled this with CosmicRetcon to change Kyubey's system to favor the magical girls instead of him.]]
* FearIsTheAppropriateResponse: Type 1, and is consistent throughout the entire series, ''including'' ''Kazumi Magica'' and ''Oriko Magica''. It can be considered a MythologyGag ([[BrickJoke although a very Nightmarish one]]) for the series due to [[spoiler:Mami doing this in Episode 3 and getting her head chomped off in the process.]] Every time a character performs this trope, something bad happens directly next to it.
* FieldOfBlades: [[spoiler:[[http://i.imgur.com/3xwTD.png Queen of Dakka, do you have enough rockets?]]]] Naturally, this too would be subject to fan videos comparing [[spoiler:Homura to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAQ-GAVI8x8 Archer]]]].
** Mami is capable of creating a field of rifles.
* TheFilmOfTheSeries: The anime has been adapted into three movies, the first two being recaps of the show, and the third expanding the plot after the anime's ending.
* FingerTwitchingRevival: {{Inverted}} by [[spoiler:Sayaka]]. Her entire body twitched except her fingers.
* [[FiveManBand Five-Girl Band]]: Played with as the magical girls are more likely to fight each other than work together. However there is [[spoiler:at least one time line]] where they formed TheTeam and that team would be as follows
** TheLeader: Mami, the CoolBigSis and veteran.
** TheLancer: Kyoko is also a veteran but a JerkAss that prefers to work alone and fights up close to contrast Mami's rifles.
** TheBigGirl: Sayaka the knight. She's the one fighting up close.
** TheSmartGirl: Homura [[spoiler:still Moemura at this point]] has to be creative with her powers to be effective and knows the most about MagicalGirl life [[spoiler:because of the loops]].
** TheHeart: Madoka, who also doubled as {{The Hero}}ine. [[spoiler:She kills Mami to keep her from killing the others and gives Moemura her final grief seed at the end.]]
* FlashStep: One application of Homura's power looks very similar to this [[spoiler:because no one is aware that she's using TimeStandsStill to mimick SuperSpeed]].
* FluffyTheTerrible: The witches' names, such as Charlotte. The exceptions would be [[spoiler:ones like Walpurgisnacht]].
* FoodChainOfEvil: Magical girls need Grief Seeds, which witches leave behind upon death, while familiars don't. Familiars need to eat (figuratively or literally) weak people to grow into full-blown witches. [[TheSocialDarwinist Kyoko wholeheartedly embraces the necessary philosophy of it]]. [[spoiler:If the magical girl doesn't get grief seeds? They become a witch.]]
* ForcedEuthanasia: "I Won't Rely on Anyone Anymore" reveals that in [[spoiler:one timeline, Homura Akemi tried to warn the other girls about Kyubey's true nature and that Magical Girls turn into Witches, [[CassandraTruth but no one believed her]] until Sayaka turned into a Witch. After Homura is forced to MercyKill Sayaka, the girls only have a brief moment to mourn the latter before Mami [[GoMadFromTheRevelation decides to]] [[MurderSuicide kill the other girls and herself so they won't share Sayaka's fate]]. She succeeds in killing Kyoko and forces Madoka to kill her before she can do the same to Homura, [[BreakTheCutie leaving the poor girl broken and in tears]]]].
* ForDoomTheBellTolls: "Magia" by Kalafina plays during fight scenes and Madoka's dream at the beginning of the first episode. It's also the regular ending song.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** In Episode 2, when Mami is sitting seiza at her table, [[spoiler:the way she places her hands in her lap and the reflection of the glass makes it look like she's holding her head]].
** Madoka asking her mother what she would wish for. Her mother talks about what she would change about her job, like getting two crappy co-workers fired and forcing the current CEO to retire. Madoka asks why she doesn't just wish to be CEO, and her mother's answer is that it never occurred to her. [[spoiler: Her mother is making the same mistake all magical girls make with their wishes. She's wishing to remove ''obstacles'' to her goal rather than wishing to succeed in her goal because she never thought it was an option. It foreshadows Madoka's wish and her reasons for making it.]]
** In Episode 3, Homura confronts Mami about Madoka becoming a Magical Girl, and in response, Mami accuses Homura of being scared of Madoka's incredible magical potential. Homura doesn't have a rebuttal. It looks like Mami won the confrontation, but it's very telling that Homura is standing on a staircase above Mami. [[WhamEpisode Guess what happens later in the episode.]] [[spoiler:Mami earns herself a gruesome death by having ''her head chewed off'' because she refused Homura's help against the witch Charlotte (and instead tied Homura up so she ''couldn't'' help), and Homura is forced to clean up her mess.]]
** In the form of a FreezeFrameBonus when Mami and Madoka enter Charlotte's maze: "Caution" with [[spoiler:a row of decapitated bodies on crosses]].
** [[SpoilerOpening Kyoko appears in the opening credits long before making her first appearance in an episode proper.]]
** When Mami fights the first witch, in retrospect, you can see how careful she is, attacking from only long range, and [[AttackItsWeakPoint attacking the weak spot.]] [[spoiler:When she fights Charlotte, she bashes the witch with her gun, shoots it at point-blank range, jumps recklessly into close range, freezes when she got surprised...]]
** In Episode 4, paying close attention to the contents of Elly's monitors reveals [[spoiler:they seem to be telling the story of an unknown magical girl, presumably Elly herself.]]
** During a [[FreezeFrameBonus brief moment]] in Episode 7, when Kyoko and Sayaka are in the church, [[spoiler:an angel appears to come out of Sayaka's shadow and stab Kyoko's shadow with a sword. It's a RedHerring because what happened was [[HeroicSacrifice different]].]]
** Episode 7. The witch-like ArtShift in Kyoko's flashback is foreshadowing the final fate of most magical girls, before the revelation...
** In the new ending that starts in Episode 3, we see the five main characters as Madoka walks towards the light. Four of them are looking forward or has their head up straight, but Sayaka's head is downcast. [[spoiler:Sayaka is the one to give into despair and become a witch, revealing the final fate of all magical girls who lose hope.]]
** The conversation between Madoka, Sayaka, and Hitomi about [[spoiler:Homura]] in Episode 1. [[spoiler:In Episode 10 we find all of it is relevant, even Sayaka's throwaway joke about "Is this moe?"]]
** Meta example: "Puella Magi" was initially thought to be a botched mistranslation of "magical girl". [[spoiler:It means "girl of the mage"]]
** [[spoiler:The bow that Homura carries in the initial concept art is finally seen in the last episode; she's using it because Madoka herself has ascended to a higher plane of existence. ]]
** [[AllThereInTheManual According to the website]], [[spoiler:Madoka's witch form wishes to make a perfect world free of suffering. When Madoka finally makes a wish, it isn't far off.]]
** When Madoka talks to Kyubey in the park in Episode 8, there's a shot of the water from a fountain as it passes by a crescent moon, which looks like either a bow-and-arrow, or a comet. [[spoiler:The bow-and-arrow is Madoka's weapon as a magical girl; the comet shape can be seen on [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Speculah:Grief_Seeds Kriemhild Gretchen]]'s grief seed.]]
** There's one present throughout the series until the {{Reveal}}. Note that Kyubey always [[spoiler:seems far more interested in steering the conversation to making people in Magical Girls]] rather than [[spoiler:protecting the innocent]] or [[spoiler:getting Magical Girls to work together]].
** When Madoka draws examples of her future possible costumes, she draws herself with black eyes, rather like [[spoiler:various soulless beings]] in stories like {{Literature/Coraline}}.
** In the first of the films, when Sayaka saves Madoka a clip of [[spoiler:Oktavia von Seckendorff's theme]] is slipped into the music.
** A less obvious one: When Homura transfers into Madoka's class and is being shown by her to the nurse's office, Homura walks in front of her, not behind. [[spoiler:This is because Homura has repeated this moment multiple times while trying to save Madoka, to the point that she knows the path by heart and can instead lead Madoka.]]
** [[spoiler:When Madoka and Homura meet just as Madoka has ascended, the presence of the Anthony suggests that every part of a Magical Girl (Girl, Witch and Familiars) ascends. It foreshadows ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion'' and both Sayaka and Nagisa's control over their witches and the familiar army they bring with them]].
* ForgottenFirstMeeting: The third drama CD, which takes place before the anime, reveals that [[spoiler:Kyoko saved Madoka and Sayaka from a witch. They exchange dialogue, but it's never face to face, so Madoka and Sayaka never see who's talking to them.]]
* TheFourLoves:
** Becoming a MagicalGirl automatically detaches the girl from their loved ones but all girls have Phileo love (friendship) as a main motivation.
** Madoka almost [[spoiler: became a magical girl (thus accepting a DealWithTheDevil)]] to rescue her friend. In the last episode she demonstrates Agape love in [[spoiler:her wish to rewrite the laws of the universe so no magical girl will have to suffer turning into a witch by absorbing all of their despair]].
** Sayaka Miki became a MagicalGirl because she wanted Eros (romantic) love. [[spoiler:Not getting it drove her to a FaceHeelTurn.]]
** Mami Tomoe despised being alone, and wished Phileo love from Madoka and Storge love from Sayaka. [[spoiler:Shortly after getting the former, she died.]]
** Kyoko's [[spoiler:sacrifice in Episode 9 for Sayaka's sake could be Agape love. It's fitting considering the worldview she originally lived by and was brought up in.]]
** Episode 10 reveals that Phileo love is [[spoiler:Homura's initial ''motivation'' for everything she does. Over the course of the show it matures into agape.]]
* FreakOut: Poor [[spoiler:Mami in the third timeline. When she's confronted with AwfulTruth about Soul Gems and Grief Seeds she murders her fellow magical girls to prevent them from becoming witches.]]
* FrillsOfJustice: All of the magical girls have some form of this; Mami's hat, Madoka's ribbon etc. In the movie trilogy, Sayaka gets a new hairpin when she transforms.
* FriendsTurnedRomanticRivals: Hitomi starts off as an out of focus good friend of Miki and Madoka. However, after she realises that Miki has feelings for Kyousuke, she quietly sits her down to sadly tell her that she likes Kyousuke, too. Neither can stop shake their feelings for him, and though Miki eventually feels forced to step back and let them be happy together, her jealousy and depression also keep her from ever being friends with Hitomi again.
* FromBadToWorse: An extended series of revelations about [[spoiler:how much it sucks to be a Magical Girl; first it shows the risk of death, then it reveals that they're undead anyway, then it reveals that even if you make it through all that you're inevitably going to become one of the mindless, monstrously destructive witches you were fighting anyway, and this is all ''by design''.]]
* FrozenFace: Kyubey's face in the anime is always frozen in an intense stare, and his mouth never moves since he talks telepathically. There are exceptions but they are rare and limited to the early part of the series. This makes him extremely creepy to look at face to face. However, this is averted in the manga, where Kyubey uses normal facial expressions. [[spoiler:[[NightmareFace Usually]]. [[http://twitpic.com/482jda Sweet dreams.]]]]
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