''Stop right there, writer! Don't turn yourself loose on your readers and viewers without the knowledge you need to write a good story with wands, transformations and miniskirts! ♥ I am [[CaptainObvious Magical]] [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses Princess]] [[WordSaladTitle Mystic Keyboard]], and with the power of originality, [[InTheNameOfTheMoon I'll teach you everything you need to know!]] ♥♥''

The MagicalGirl genre may have began with a handful of old-school manga aimed at being ''{{Bewitched}}'' [[RecycledInSpace For Kids]], but throughout its history, it's seen a lot of changes, typical plots evolving from "a kindhearted CuteWitch does anonymous good deeds" to "an elementary-school-aged dreamer uses GlamOfShazam to become an IdolSinger" to "a group of {{Magic Warrior}}s fights off DemonicInvaders" -- and the fun thing about it is that every single one of these plots remains viable for a story. You can even mix and match them with each other or with other genres if you really feel like it. And hey, it'll be fun!

Of course, check out [[SoYouWantTo/WriteAStory So You Want To Write A Story]] for all-purpose advice.

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!'''Necessary Tropes'''

*First things off: magic. You need to establish it, and you need to know what it does. However, MagicAIsMagicA isn't too important, as it would be with other genres that use magic. All you need to do is make it work; you don't have to explain it with anything but a few sentences.
*Make all the naked transformation scene jokes you want, but the fact is that, especially in the olden days, a MagicalGirl story was really a ComingOfAgeStory. You don't need to go so far as to have the main character happily abandon her powers to run off with some guy at the end, like they did in TheEighties and earlier - in fact, that really ticks modern readers off. Still, character interactions, maturation, and important milestones are good. Don't run the tropes listed under Coming Of Age Story into the ground, though. It's distracting and can get disturbing pretty fast, which isn't quite what we're looking for either.
*ThePowerOfFriendship and ThePowerOfLove ''cannot'' be thrown away or ignored. Most magical girls' powers run off the stuff. Even if they don't, they're still going to have to bail out their friends once in a while and work together. Even if she works alone, your main character shouldn't be completely shut out from the world all the time, unless she's going to learn how valuable the people around her are. This applies to normal, optimistic series, but also to the ''SailorNothing'' imitators. If you absolutely have to, subvert it, deconstruct it -- just don't ignore it.
* Related to the previous item, it's rare for magical girl shows not to have at least a hint of {{romantic two girl friendship}} somewhere. You can have the main character involved in one or keep it between secondary characters only, but it's rarely a good idea to have more than two of such relationships going on at the same time. If you decide to focus on the main character, try to be subtle about it. A popular way is to have a {{fangirl}} pining for the main character, while the lead herself is mostly oblivious to the romantic overtones (like Tomoyo to Sakura in ''CardCaptorSakura''). Another way is to make the feelings mutual, but to introduce a {{relationship ceiling}} (Honoka and Nagisa from ''FutariWaPrettyCure''). The latter is rather tricky, as it can lead to confusion with the audience--unless you aim for that. Secondary characters are fair game and you can crank up the {{les yay}} between them quite a bit (see Michiru and Haruka from ''SailorMoon''), but it really depends on the setting and target audience. Use your own judgment there.

!'''Choices, Choices'''

Are you doing a CuteWitch story, an IdolSinger story or a MagicWarrior story? All three have their obvious perks, so it depends whether you prefer slice of life, celebrity life or saving the world as your type of wish fulfillment. However, remember this:
*The CuteWitch template could use some dusting off, as it was last popular quite some time ago - but you're in the company of ''KaitouSaintTail'' and ''OjamajoDoremi'', so you're not the first to revive it. Just try and avoid making it into ''{{Bewitched}}'' like it was originally intended to be. If we wanted that, we'd watch a MagicalGirlfriend show.
*The IdolSinger is going to have to deal with the politics of her career, and, eventually, probably losing it in favour of a cuter, younger girl - not exactly uplifting. How are you going to get around that? ([[{{Deconstruction}} Do you plan to?]])
*The MagicWarrior story, no matter how original or entertaining or how many times it's been done before, ''will'' be called a ''SailorMoon'' ripoff in the comments. It's unavoidable, so you'd better learn to deal with it.

Does your heroine work alone, or in a group? The latter has become much more common nowadays, probably because it allows ThePowerOfFriendship to be exercised more often. If you're doing the MagicWarrior thing, you might want to throw in a MysteriousProtector or AloofAlly along with the band. (Actually, that might work for IdolSinger, too...)

Especially in an IdolSinger series, a [[TheRival rival]] character is good for motivating your lead. You don't have to limit yourself to a singer from a competing label, though; the character works equally well as a selfish witch jealous of the Cute Witch's popularity or a DarkMagicalGirl competing for the PlotCoupons (or anything else you can think of).

Want to throw out the genre tropes and instead use the plot devices from HumongousMecha series? How about {{shounen}} battle series? Or maybe you want to send in a DeconstructorFleet? These can be done extremely well to a wide reception, but we only know this because of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', ''[[{{Mai-HiME}} My-HiME]]'' and ''SailorNothing'', in that order. If you want to go off the beaten path, don't just rely on novelty - do it as well as they did.

!'''Pitfalls'''

*One must not ignore CharacterizationTropes, as with everything. Nobody wants a boring cast, and nobody wants one we've seen a million times, either.
*For {{Magic Warrior}}s, don't just focus on the battles. No matter what the ''Nanoha'' fanbase will tell you (no offense, it's a wonderful show), character development and interaction are key to any shoujo series (or any seinen/shounen series if you decide to go the ''Nanoha''/''[=My-HiME=]'' route).
*Moving to the cynical end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism is for ''SailorNothing'' and DarkFic. If you want to occupy that spot yourself, do something they didn't do, which is practically impossible. You'll be written off as a DarkerAndEdgier mindless [[NightmareFuel childhood-corruptor]] otherwise.
*The liberated among us plead with you not to fall to the old cliche of the heroine giving up her powers to run off with the boy. That became a DeadHorseTrope years ago.
*Magic Warriors will be accused of ripping off ''Sailor Moon'', as previously mentioned. This does not, I say, '''not''' mean that you can just go ahead and rip off ''Sailor Moon'' because they'll say you are anyway. You're not doing anyone any favours.
*Some people are going to bash your show [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch without having watched it]]. Just accept it. Your show can still last. ''WeddingPeach'' has somewhat of a fanbase, even though a lot of people blindly assume it's all about how marriage is important, when it's more about how love is important (and that marriage isn't right when there isn't love).

!'''Potential Subversions and Variations'''
*Having the MysteriousProtector go BrainwashedAndCrazy makes for good emotional drama, of course, especially when he's finally gotten together with TheHero. Too bad it's been done to ''death''. We don't want to cringe when we see that scene in ''SailorMoon'', ''TokyoMewMew'', or any of the other series that have used it in the past, so please stop it from becoming a DeadHorseTrope. Don't worry, you can still play with it and churn out something original! ''CorrectorYui'' and ''PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'' both had the lead's close friend and teammate catch the crazy in place of her boyfriend. ''MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' appeared to be leading up to Gackto brainwashing Kaito, all the way up to invading his dreams and kidnapping him, but he just wanted to steal his powers and blackmail Lucia with a FriendOrIdolDecision. Do something new.
* IJustWantToBeNormal. Ever since Sailor Moon said those words, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny people have copied them until it turns into a blur of unoriginality]], not to mention [[{{Wangst}} ungratefulness]] for [[CursedWithAwesome awesome powers]]. Too few girls actually want them.
* Try mixing and matching the three genres! It's worked before and quite well, and it's not done enough to be boring yet.
* How about a male romance prospect who is an ''equal partner'' to the female lead? Emphasis on "equal", emphasis on "partner." Please don't just rely on [[FauxActionGirl sudden cases of helplessness]] to facilitate [[RescueRomance feelings of love]], that are then expressed by them just [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry talking about it nonstop.]] This makes the romance feel [[StrangledByTheRedString forced.]] If you can write a female/male team that works together, that has ''conversations'' together, and that respects each other, ThisTroper will shake your hand. A note: beware of perfect matches when creating romances, everybody involved should preferably be a real character.
* Why don't you try to explore the view from the sidekicks and {{Secret Keeper}}s? Especially the ones who have no powers and are more often than not in the rescued side, or [[MissedTheCall were skipped by The Call]]. At least for ADayInTheLimelight or a AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent episode.
* We know TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse, and since Magic Warrior series mostly take place within the last 20 years or so, so who says there's only one Magic Warrior (or one team of them) active at a time? To that effect, instead of creating a Magic Warrior team in the {{Sentai}} mold, go for a JusticeLeague style group consisting of a bunch of different sorts of magical girls.
* In the same vein, how about magical girls from different cultural/ethnic/religious/socio-economic backgrounds? This troper is currently in an RPG where he plays a homeless magical girl who protects kids on the street. How about an inner-urban black or hispanic magical girl? A MilitaryBrat girl? An Islamic girl?
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!'''Writers' Lounge'''

!!'''Suggested Themes, Plots, and Aesops'''

One overall theme around Magical Girls is the Power of the Feminine, who is not necessarily "Grrl Power". In a way, a Magical Girl is a celebration of the way girls do things, and the power to overcome everything and find the strength inside herself, all while looking fabulous. Don't underestimate this wish fulfillment aspect; even if they later claim that they just [[IJustWantToBeNormal want to go back to normal]], very few girls won't enjoy having a little bit of magic power to do what they want ;).

The ever-popular BeYourself is a very common aesop we can use, and becomes more appropriate when we focus on the CharacterDevelopment. "We can do everything with ThePowerOfLove''/''[[ThePowerOfFriendship Friendship]]" is another popular one, because it's especially powerful for females.

!!'''Potential Motifs'''

Hearts. Stars. [[strike:Horseshoes.]] Things that [[MerchandiseDriven look like plastic]]? [[MineralMacGuffin Jewels never go out of style.]]

If you're writing a team of characters, giving them a united theme is a must - but planets/gods have already been done by ''Sailor Moon''. What else? ''Ojamajo Doremi'' used musical notes, ''Tokyo Mew Mew'' had endangered animals, and ''Pichi Pichi Pitch'' just went for colours (since the team would obviously be ColourCodedForYourConvenience anyway). A team based on semiprecious stones is a possibility, or pick out some esoteric pattern that you like - the Zodiac, Tarot, uppity women of history (imagine Sailor Hatshepsut, Sailor Joan of Arc, Sailor Elizabeth I...). This will be a good starting point for crafting your team's powers and personalities, and you could base villains around them, too (Sailor Elizabeth I faces off against the despicable Spanish Armada Five! For example.)

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!'''Departments'''

!!'''Set Designer / Location Scout'''

These kinds of stories tend to be set in the present day, usually in a big city. [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Tokyo is popular.]]

The bad guys in a Magic Warrior series will live in a sea of black, purple and gray. It could just look like a void with only those colours in it, but you can always add some variety by making it a fortress, a ruin, even [[YesPrecure5 an office building]] if you really want it to.

!!'''Props Department'''

[[MerchandiseDriven Cute, pink, plastic weapons and accessories are a must.]] In a Cute Witch series, you could use some typical witch accessories - usually for magic purposes, but maybe when she's fretting over the lunch she's making for that cute boy in her class, she's cooking it in a big pink cauldron with heart-shaped jewels on the sides. In an Idol Singer series, showy microphones and cute stage show props should be within arm's reach. In a Magic Warrior series, {{Improbable Weapon User}}s are the most popular, but the LadyOfWar might have a glowy or jewel-studded sword. All three types like wands.

!!'''Costume Designer'''

Cute. Flashy. ImpossiblyCoolClothes. The Cute Witch should have a few witchy elements to her design, like a pointed hat and short spiky dress, but should look adorable overall rather than threatening. For the Idol Singer, check the streets and fashion magazines, and check them often. Try some FrillsOfJustice for your Magic Warrior, and put your DarkMagicalGirl in leather or SpikesOfVillainy. Overall, when in doubt, err on the cute side.

!!'''Stunt Department'''

Magic Warriors: Ballet-fu, LeParkour, and lots and lots of twirling to shoot beams of death out of your parasol or heart-shaped flute. The other types don't have to worry about this.

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!'''Extra Credit'''

!!'''The Greats'''

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Magic Warrior ]]

* ''SailorMoon'': Pretty much [[TropeMakers set the standards of the tropes]] for a majority of the shows that came after it, including the [[FiveManBand multi-character team]] concept and {{Transformation Sequence}}s.
* ''CardcaptorSakura'': A good example of a series where the heroine works alone (okay, so she has a FairyCompanion in Kero, but that's beside the point) and is quite enthusiastic about her new powers. She's half this and half CuteWitch; {{CLAMP}} worked off their fuzzy childhood memories to create a "typical" magical girl series, but ended up with one of the most original things that the genre had seen.
* The ''PrettyCure'' franchise is good for a post-modern feel, twisting, subverting and playing with the genre tropes all over the place. Their girls fist-fight, have WonderTwinPowers (at least for the first two continuities), and take ThePowerOfFriendship to a [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship whole new level.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Idol Singer ]]

* ''FancyLala'' is an old-school, cutesy-plastic-transformation-pen whirl through the Magical Idol Singer's life. Yes, it's old, and it uses some storytelling devices that the modern day rolls its eyes at - but the main character's use of creativity to tweak her own powers should alone grab some attention, plus there's the nostalgia factor and knowing the roots of the genre.
* ''FullMoonOSagashite'' is an early-2000s anime by Tanemura Arina. If you know her, you know exactly what you'll get. This is a TearJerker with a lot of relationship drama, from family to friends to love triangles, and sometimes a combination of two or more of the three.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Cute Witch ]]

* A modern example is ''OjamajoDoremi'', which is adorable condensed. The art style might put you off if you're not into that sort of thing, but it's a good crash course for the do-gooder witch (even though they ''might'' be a little selfish sometimes). The main characters sometimes have a quest or two, but never to the level of the Magic Warrior's workload - these girls just want to be happy.
* A much more classic example is ''MagicalPrincessMinkyMomo'', both the original and early 1990s remake. The original is famous for its [[spoiler:DownerEnding -- the main character is run over by a car and dies.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Non-Shoujo Genre Hybrids - these are gaining in popularity ]]

* ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'': A rare example of a magical girl series set for [[{{Seinen}} older audiences]]. People who hate magical girls love it, because [[GrowingTheBeard after the first few episodes]], it turns into a HumongousMecha series pretending to be a MagicalGirl series. The ShipTease and {{Fanservice}} are a side bonus.
* ''[[{{Mai-HiME}} My-HiME]]'': A recent {{shonen}}-oriented series, though it doesn't skimp on magical powers or character interaction and/or development.
* ''SailorNothing'': A ''[[DarkFic very dark]]'' {{deconstruction}} of the MagicalGirl genre that is entertaining in its own right.

!!'''The Epic Fails'''
* ''{{Moetan}}'': The premise looked interesting: an EdutainmentShow for {{lolicon}}s. However, it fails because it really is an EdutainmentShow for {{lolicon}}s. It at least tries to have a plot in the beginning, but is overwhelmed by [[strike:five-year-old]] [[OlderThanTheyLook seventeen-year-old]] (really?) {{pantyshot}}s. An early episode was removed from syndication for too much {{fanservice}} and replaced with a ClipShow, which should tell you something.
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''[[CallingYourAttacks Princess Magical Finish!]] Wasn't that fun? Hey, what do you mean you asked for [[{{Moetan}} that Engrish loli girl]]? Stupid fanservice always stealing my business... I need a new destiny. This career isn't working out.''

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