http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSayakaMiki

This character is a Walking Spoiler. Therefore, all spoilers will be unmarked on this page. You Have Been Warned.

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (Japanese), Sarah Anne Williams (English)^{Foreign VAs}

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sayaka_magical_girl.png

"I can't remember... what I thought was so important; what was worth protecting, you know?"

^{Click here to see Sayaka in her normal attire.}

"Well, I'm gonna be a different kind of magical girl; that's what I decided. I'm not gonna screw anyone over or take anyone for granted. And I won't associate with anyone who does. I don't need anyone's thanks. I'll be the only magical girl around who doesn't use her magic for herself."

Madoka's best friend. She has an unwavering sense of justice. She forms a contract with Kyubey to heal the wrist of her childhood friend Kyosuke, allowing him to play the violin again. As a side effect of her wish, she is afforded prodigious healing abilities and a musical motif. She wields cutlasses, of which she can conjure infinite amounts.

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A-G

Action Girl: Like all magical girls. Sayaka spends her free time after becoming a magical girl battling witches with a pair of sabers. And sometimes a lot of sabers.
All for Nothing: Her entire journey through magical girlhood. She initially becomes a magical girl to heal her crush, Kyosuke, but even after that she can't bring herself to confess. After discovering what she really is, she had hoped Kyousuke's love would be her redemption. It was all rendered moot upon him falling in love with Hitomi.
Ambiguously Bi: Sayaka has a crush on Kyosuke, but she sure does joke about Madoka being her wife a lot, and calls Homura "Gorgeous" while lamenting that she's weird. The second drama C.D also had her way too interested in Hitomi's underwear..
And Then John Was a Zombie: After a Trauma Conga Line, she becomes the first magical girl the audience sees transform into a Witch.
Anti-Hero: While she starts out very traditionally heroic and maintains her heroic goals to the bitter end, the revelation that she is effectively a zombie with no future prospects other than fighting witches forever, plus the realization that her wish was All for Nothing, makes her a lot more brutal in her methods. It is also strongly implied that she killed two normal humans, though not confirmed. Very ironic, in a horribly tragic way, since it all happened because she wanted to become a straight-up hero.
Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: At the end of the anime, her soul is taken by Madoka to retroactively save her from becoming a witch. She is last seen watching Kyosuke's concert along with Madoka, before leaving for whatever comes next.
Attack! Attack! Attack!: Against Elsa Maria, the witch in Episode 7. She abandons all sense of strategy for straight-forward attacking, partly due to her worsening mental state.
Ax-Crazy:
- Progressively she becomes a more violent person. She gleefully hacks a witch to pieces without any regard for her own safety, as seen in the above entry, and is hinted to have done... something to a pair of men for spouting misogynistic rants.
- In the manga, she does kill them, confirmed by manga artist Hanokage. In the anime, however, it was left unclear. Akiyuki Shinbo outright stated she doesn't kill them, but Urobuchi prefers to leave it ambiguous.
Back from the Dead: Madoka's wish in The Different Story is to bring Sayaka back to life, though that timeline was reset by Homura.
Badass Cape: In line with her heroic ideals, she wears a cape.
Batter Up!: While accompanying Mami on patrols, she brings a bat with her for protection. Mami enchants it so that it'll be of actual use.
Being Good Sucks: Being a magical girl in general sucks, but Sayaka truly wants to be a great hero. This puts her on a downwards spiral into self-sacrificing that ultimately makes her cross the Despair Event Horizon.
The Berserker: Sayaka doesn't take the knowledge of what Kyubey's contract did to her well at all. As she continues to fight witches, she throws herself into the fray with total, reckless abandon, nullifying all the pain and tanking hit after hit as she beats her enemies senseless.
Berserker Tears: In Episode 7, during her fight with Elsa Maria the witch. It emphasizes her worsening mental state.
Bifauxnen and Lad-ette: The Bifauxnen to Kyoko's Lad-ette. Sayaka has boyish short hair and a personality of Knight in Shining Armor, while Kyoko has her hair tied a Tomboyish Ponytail and has a more aggressive and rude personality.
The Big Girl: She has this role on The Team during the third timeline when Mami creates a magical girl team, since she's a close-quarters fighter with a Healing Factor.
Black-and-White Insanity: Has shades of this as the series goes on, continually trying to convince herself that as long as she blocks out the pain, it doesn't hurt. The fight against Elsa is even framed this way to highlight her descent into madness.
Black-and-White Morality: Sayaka is fairly simplistic in her worldview, seeing it as heroes like Mami, and villains like Kyoko and Homura. She fails to see the more complicated grey-areas that might lead to people like Kyoko doing what she does, or that people like Mami still have issues to struggle with. Her hopeless attempts at being the hero leads her into a downwards spiral of despair.
Blood Knight: Horribly, horribly deconstructed. If she wasn't so obsessed with Kyousuke, maybe she would have realized she was breaking down. Although, since it came from love, it's more of a consequence than a cause.
Boyish Short Hair: She has short blue hair, befitting her tomboyish personality.
Break the Cutie: She took up Kyubey's offer and it bit her in the ass horribly. It starts with her soul trauma, goes through crush despair and then witchification.
Bully Hunter: Sayaka has been best friends with Madoka ever since she protected her from bullies in elementary school.
Bungled Suicide: Sayaka assumes that if her soul gem grows fully corrupted, she'll simply die, which she doesn't mind at this point. Unfortunately, the fate in store for her is far worse.
Cannot Spit It Out: Sayaka cannot bring herself to tell Kyosuke how she feels about him. Sayaka's inability to spit it out makes Hitomi confess to Kyosuke and they get together instead. However, she has her reasons since she believes she now is a zombie and feels unworthy of Kyosuke.
The Cape: She follows a classical "hero of justice" belief as a Magical Girl, as she considers herself to be Mami's successor after the former kicks the can, and her outfit even sports a white cape. According to Homura, this is why she turns into a witch in the timelines where she makes a contract; because she's unable to live up to this ideal, she falls into despair.
Character Catchphrase: In the English dub, "For reals."
Childhood Friend Romance: Unlucky variant. She's crushing on her childhood friend, Kyosuke and while Kyosuke does care for her, he is genuinely oblivious to any feelings she has for him.
Childhood Friends: With Madoka. It's why Sayaka's death hits her especially hard.
Classical Anti-Hero: She's determined to be a hero, but she's barely decent at fighting, extremely angsty and emotional, and mostly unable to gain the attention of her love interest. She eventually breaks down completely and becomes a witch.
Conspiracy Theorist: She thinks Homura is against her, and is very distrustful of her in general. She blames her for Mami's death and refuses her help. How Homura conveniently arrived right after Mami's death is suspicious. Of course, Homura had been prevented from helping by Mami herself, but since she never bothers to explain, it only made thing worse.
Corrupt the Cutie: Sayaka gets put through the ringer, going from an idealistic magical girl who wants to follow in Mami's footsteps to be a hero of justice. Then she learns that her body is dead and animated by her soul gem and loses any hope of being with the boy she gave up everything for. This results in her becoming steadily more jaded and cynical, dropping any hope that she can accomplish anything good, until she's worse than Kyouko. And then she becomes a witch.
Cosmic Play Thing: Nothing ever seems to go right for poor Sayaka. Over the course of the series, her mentor is killed in front of her, she learns that she is hardly human anymore and effectively a zombie, and the guy she gave up her humanity for starts dating one of her friends. The endless misery wears her down so much that she succumbs to despair and becomes a witch. Word of God is that this is Sayaka's fate in any timeline she contracts, and of the main cast she's the only one who remains dead at the end (not counting Madoka's unique situation).
Covert Pervert: In the second drama CD, there are Les Yay implications, such as being much too eager to hold Hitomi's panties, her inspecting them with an odd interest, and even sniffing them.
Creepy Monotone: Used when confronting those trash talking chauvinists in the subway at her breaking point.
Curtains Match the Window: Blue hair and eyes.
Death Amnesia: In The Different Story, she doesn't remember her time as a witch after Madoka wishes her back.
Death Seeker: She has effectively become this. Grows increasingly apathetic with the thought of her own death, until her soul gem is completely corrupted and she finally becomes a witch. It could've been subconsciously a part of her character after she discovers the truth about Soul Gems.
Decoy Protagonist: Word of God said she is The Protagonist. Then she dies two-thirds of the way through.
Despair Event Horizon:
- In Episode 8, Hitomi confesses to Kyosuke and becomes his girlfriend. With this, Sayaka sees she essentially gave up her humanity for a guy that she can't get and all her self-sacrificing gestures have gone unrewarded, which forces her to recognize she's just been selfish all the time despite denying it. Concluding she's a failure both in love and in being a hero of justice, Sayaka succumbs to despair and becomes a witch.
- In The Different Story, Sayaka starts to break down when she feels obligated to tell Kyosuke the truth about her becoming a magical girl to heal his hand and how she basically left Hitomi to die so he wouldn't be stolen away. Mami comes to rescue her when Sayaka is about to let a witch kill her and confesses what she really wants is not to fight for justice, but not be alone anymore. While Sayaka does feel glad that Mami needs her, she can't take learning there's no such thing as the perfect magical girl and turns into a witch.
Destined Bystander: In every timeline in which she contracts, she will die.
Detachable Blades: According to the production notes, her cutlass has a trigger which can either turn it into a Whip Sword or launch and detonate the blade. While it is Dummied Out in the anime, it is used in a cutscene of the SLOT Puella Magi Madoka Magica slot machine, where she launches the blade towards a barrel in a Pop-Up Pirate-esque minigame to send Kyubey out of it. Unlike most examples, Sayaka simply summons her swords instead of swapping the blades.
Detrimental Determination: She wants to prove herself a hero so she decides to ask a wish from Kyubey to restore the health of her crush, Kyosuke Kamijo, which in turn would turn her into a Magical Girl. However, hunting and battling against witches ends up taking a toll on Sayaka's mind, not helped by the fact that the death of a fellow magical girl, Mami Tomoe, had already left her scarred. Despite her need to be a hero, Sayaka's reasons behind it are because of a selfish desire, one that would not be reciprocated as Kyosuke doesn't reciprocate Sayaka's romantic feelings for him, further worsening her mental state and making her susceptible to succumbing to despair and becoming a witch, which she does.
Did Not Get The Guy: Kyosuke hooks up with Hitomi instead of her because she felt unworthy of confessing her feelings.
Died Happily Ever After: Madoka takes her to Heaven after fulfilling her last wish to see Kyosuke in concert one last time.
Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Sort of. She rejects both help and sympathy at various moments in the show, but there are some valid reasons behind them, so it's only partly out of pride.
- Grief seeds? No thanks. She refuses Homura's help due to her suspiciousness, accusing her of trying to manipulate her.
- She also refuses literal and metaphorical help from Kyoko multiple times. She refuses a grief seed out of suicidal bravado, and rejects an apple as a symbolic refusal to follow Kyoko in selfish survivalism, seeing it as her duty to follow in Mami's footsteps and help others before herself.
- She also tells Madoka not to act concerned for her because Kyubey told her Madoka has more potential than she could ever hope to have. It turns vicious when Sayaka accuses her of selfishness, by not using her potential to help others and simply stand on the sidelines and do nothing.
Doomed Protagonist: Word of God states that Sayaka is the protagonist and that she is preordained to die in every timeline in which she contracts, and cannot be saved.
Due to the Dead: Her funeral is held in Episode 11, and it's a real Tear Jerker. Since Madoka rewrites the rules in the final timeline and Sayaka as such does not turn into a witch, she Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence after Kyosuke's latest concert and left nothing behind in her wake. A token funeral was still likely held.
Elemental Motifs: Her transformation sequences involve water, after the first one, with bubbly sounds, actual water bubbles, etc. That said, this is more ironic than anything, as she has very few of the traits that are commonly associated with water. Water is fluid and, while Sayaka is rigid to the point of stubbornness. Water is adaptable and fits into any container, while Sayaka is so unshakeable and unwilling to change her views that it eventually kills her. If anything, she has more in common with a person with an earth motif (i.e Homura, out of all people), which is infamous for being difficult to move and uncompromising.
Elemental Personalities: Not only is she The Little Mermaid - themed, her personality (sensible, tends to go off the deep end if confronted badly, kind, caring) ties into the element of water.
Entertainingly Wrong: Played for Drama. After Mami's death, Sayaka assumes that Homura is a selfish bitch like every other magical girl, Mami being a rare exception. It's hard to blame her, since Homura did conveniently show up to kill the witch once Mami was already dead, and Homura's aloof and mysterious attitude does her no favours. However, Sayaka didn't see that Homura actually tried to team up with Mami and desperately warned her about the danger, but was ignored and tied up, only getting free once Mami died.
Evil Laugh: During her Curb-Stomp Battle against Elsa Maria. This was before she became a witch.
Failure Is the Only Option: In Episode 10, it seems that in every timeline where she creates a contract, Kyosuke doesn't return her affections and she becomes a witch. The poor girl can't win.
Fairytale Motifs: Parallels to the original "The Little Mermaid" fairy tale by Andersen. Sayaka (the mermaid) falls in love with Kyosuke (the prince), heals his hand (saves his life) and makes a contract with Kyubey (the Sea Witch) to become something she's not—a magical girl (a human) to win his love, only to become a witch (die of a broken heart) when he falls in love with Hitomi (the neighboring princess). The Little Mermaid was doomed and The Power of Love was not enough to save her. What did save her was a literal Deus ex Machina from Heaven that turned her into a benevolent spirit. The same thing happens here. Also, Oktavia von Seckendorff roughly resembles an armored, three-eyed mermaid and the barrier has the bubbles and water theme.
Fallen Heroine: After witnessing an apparently successful confession by Hitomi to Kyosuke, as well as the awful jealousy she feels as a result, as well as feeling shame and self-disgust at feeling said jealousy in the first place, she view herself as unworthy of life, becomes suicidal, and ends up refusing any grief seeds to rejuvenate her soul gem. As a result, the darkness swells up enough that the gem shatters, turning her into a full-blown witch.
Fatal Flaw:
- Her downfall comes from her inability to reconcile her desire to be a hero when she's anything but.
- Her inability to change her ideals and accept that Humans Are Flawed is also a major contribution to her downfall.
Fate Worse than Death: This is how Sayaka sees her magical girl form when Kyubey explains what her soul gem is for. Because of that, she gets pushed towards the Despair Event Horizon very quickly.
Fashionable Asymmetry:
- Her skirt's hem is angled to the left. According to Aoki, this was to make it easier for her to fight.
- Her hair is also usually longer on the right.
Feel No Pain: Sayaka learns to block out any sense of pain after learning that her soul gem is actually her soul, while her body is just a remote puppet. This makes her The Juggernaut in battle, but is not great for her mental state.
The Fettered: She knows how deep in the latrine pit she is, yet she won't let go of her idealism until the very bitter end.
Gave Up Too Soon: As the PSP game revealed, had Sayaka chosen to simply confess to Kyousuke that she's a Magical Girl, he'd actually believe her and compose a song for her. She comes really close to getting Kyousuke if it wasn't for her lack of confidence and her mental breakdown.
Go Mad from the Revelation: Once Kyubey reveals that becoming a Magical Girl turns the subject into an undead body, Sayaka does not take it well, and she undergoes Sanity Slippage that becomes worse on her thoughts that the boy she likes will never love her for what she's become, triggering her Despair Event Horizon.

H-S

Hate at First Sight: She mistrusted Homura from the moment she saw her. Of course, this was after she saw Homura seemingly attack her friend, and apparently leaving Mami to die against Charlotte, so it's less "Hate at First Sight" and more "You're a bad person so of course I don't trust you." Homura's refusal to explain herself also contributes to this. The only occasion where she is friendly to Homura is during the First Timeline, where she stole Hitomi's math homework and lent it to Homura.
Healing Factor: By virtue of her wish involving healing she heals faster than other magical girls. Kyouko hits her so hard that she should be in the hospital for three months, yet Sayaka gets up a few seconds later.
Healing Hands: Sayaka demonstrates the ability to heal Mami in The Different Story. She can presumably do this in other timelines, though doesn't make use of it. Homura in the "Bonus" route of Puella Magi Madoka Magica Portable suggests she has this ability. She may not be aware of it since Kyubey isn't much for explaining things.
The Hero Dies: Word of God describes her as the hero of the show, and she dies and remains dead at the end.
Heroic BSoD: Goes through one when discovering the truth about Soul Gems, spending days in bed too depressed to do anything.
Heroic Sacrifice: Ultimate Madoka says that she could have brought Sayaka back to life, but she'd have to undo Sayaka's wish and she didn't think Sayaka would want her to do that. Sayaka agrees, satisfied with the way things are.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Inverted. Sayaka put herself above other magical girls for understandable reasons (such as letting innocents die for the sake of saving energy), but her nonexistent self-esteem means that she has some serious issues. When she fails to be the perfect hero she expects herself to be, her mental condition deteriorates rapidly.
Heroes Prefer Swords: She wields cutlasses and tries her best to be seen as a Knight In Shining Armour.
Heroic Wannabe: Partly what drove her to the extremes is because of this persona. It does not end well at all. Sayaka wants to be an ally of justice, but is bad at it. This is mainly due to Sayaka's definition of "hero" being too impossible and inflexible for anyone to truly live up to, likely as a result of Mami's influence and death.
The Heroine: While Madoka is the viewpoint character, Sayaka is the hero of the first eight episodes, which center around her attempts at becoming a good magical girl and her slow fall to despair. Then she dies.
Hidden Depths: While she's usually a Book Dumb tomboy, her attempts at connecting with Kyosuke has given her an apparent genuine interest in classical music.
His Own Worst Enemy: Sayaka's lack of internal self-confidence does her in. When she learns that she has become a lich, she feels unworthy of Kyosuke's love, and cannot bring herself to confess her feelings to him before Hitomi does. She also starts hating herself when she can't live up to the image of the perfect magical girl and heroine of justice she wanted to be. Those things combined are why she descends into despair and becomes a witch.
Honor Before Reason: One of the reasons why Sayaka becomes a witch so soon. While Sayaka may be right about having a moral high ground in many cases, her lack of pragmatism (sometimes crossing into Holier Than Thou territory) drives her to do some stupid things, like not caring if her soul gem gets too tainted.
Hot-Blooded: At first, she's gung-ho about her magical girl duty. Then her "boldness turns into carelessness", and her hot-bloodedness turns to grim determination.
Humans Are Bastards: A misogynist conversation on the train makes Sayaka feel that there is no point in using her Magical Girl powers to save the world if it is full of obnoxious jerks, leading her to become a Witch.
Hyperspace Arsenal: She can summon more swords in battle with her cloak which she could throw. In a way, this could be her homage to Mami, who summoned guns from her hat and Magic Skirt.
I Am a Monster: This is what she thinks of herself after she finds out the Awful Truth about being a Magical Girl, hence the reason she was unable to confess her feelings to Kyosuke.
Identity Breakdown: Learning the Awful Truth about magical girls pushes her over the edge, in part because it makes her season-long attempt to become a heroic ideal futile. Her eventual acceptance of this truth hurts more than it helps and the resulting Sanity Slippage, which includes Laughing Mad and becoming Ax-Crazy, quickly brings her to the Despair Event Horizon, at which point she turns into a witch and has to be put down by Kyouko.
Ignored Aesop: A non-comedic example. Sayaka hears and acknowledges Mami's warning that making a wish for someone else may not be as selfless as she thinks, and that it could have serious consequences. Kyoko even goes so far as to outline Sayaka's reasoning: basically, "if I save him, he owes me his love." The comment hits home, and after Mami's death, Sayaka seems to have taken the message on board, and agrees with Madoka that throwing away their lives for a wish that might be a double-edged sword is foolish. Unfortunately, Kyosuke has his meltdown shortly afterwards, and in the heat of the moment, Sayaka forgets everything she's learned.
Incoming Ham: Every time Sayaka comes in, she's always saying something about JUSTICE.
Innocent Blue Eyes: They reflect her innocence in regards to the world she lives in. She has a traditional "Hero of Justice" mindset that, in this setting, is naive, and she admires Mami as the ideal role model without comprehending the rest of her.
Innocently Insensitive: Sayaka tries to make Kyosuke listen to music thinking it will make him feel better, but Kyosuke hates it since it's music he can't play and he accuses Sayaka of wanting to torture him.
Insecure Love Interest: Because of her unrealistic and idealized view of love and nonexistent self-esteem, Sayaka considers herself unworthy of Kyosuke's affections for even wanting to be loved by him. It only gets worse after she learns the first Awful Truth of becoming a Magical Girl and comes to believe she's now a walking zombie that will never be worthy of being with Kyosuke. This insecurity leads to Hitomi becoming Kyosuke's girlfriend instead and poor Sayaka goes off the deep end.
Instant Expert: While this is not the case for most of her combat skill, which is largely much weaker than more experienced magical girls, Sayaka does know how to throw her swords with deadly precision right away.
Irony: In one of the timelines shown in Episode 10, Sayaka is reluctant to work with Homura because, as a melee fighter, she's afraid that she'll get caught in one of Homura's bombs. When she becomes a witch, she is killed by Homura's bombs.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In the end, she accepts that Kyosuke and Hitomi are a happy couple. While she is a little hurt, Sayaka decides to not hold it against them, and Kyosuke later recalls her and may have felt her presence in his first recital after recovery.
Jade-Colored Glasses: She at first believes she can be a "hero of justice", but her idealism is shattered after learning some grave facts about becoming a magical girl the hard way before becoming a witch.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Although she can be rather brash and temperamental, Sayaka is a charismatic and friendly person who is fun to be around, and deeply cares about her friends, even warming toward former enemy Kyoko, while her motives for being a magical girl aren't purely selfless, her desire to protect the innocent is very much genuine. There's a reason why both Madoka and Kyoko try so hard to save her after she turns into a witch.
The Juggernaut: Sayaka's magic lets her heal injuries almost instantaneously, and she later learns how to block out her pain receptors entirely. These factors combined means that she can more or less steamroll any witch she comes across by sheer force of perserverance.
Killed Off for Real: In the main series, she's the only one that stays dead.
Knight in Sour Armor: After learning the first Awful Truth of becoming a Magical Girl and having a heart-to-heart with Kyoko who tells her that she is better off battling witches for her own rewards than to protect others, she still chooses to continue to stay a hero. However, when her Locked Out of the Loop friend Hitomi admits to having also been in love with Kyosuke and gives her a day to admit her feelings, which she can't due to the nature of the truth, her ideals, self-esteem, and attitude begin to gradually shift more and more until she becomes a Witch herself.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: In The Different Story, when Madoka's wish brings her back to life, she has no memory of becoming a witch, and instead believes that Madoka saved her just before she was killed by a witch.
Last Request: She attends Kyosuke's latest concert with Madoka before the two go to Heaven together. Madoka sustains her long enough to fulfill that request.
Laughing Mad: During her fight with Elsa Maria, Sayaka is laughing maniacally over realizing that she's learned how to block out her pain.
Leitmotif: "Decretum" and "Conturbatio". As Oktavia von Seckendorff, her theme is "Symposium magarum".
Love Hurts: Her love for Kyosuke is nothing but a source of pain and despair for her.
Love Martyr: Albeit an unrequited love, and even a cause of her fall into a witch, she is ready to give up her own life twice over for it.
Madness Mantra: One area of her barrier as a witch has runes reading "Look at me"◊ over and over again.
The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: The Different Story manga shows that even without finding out that she's a lich, Sayaka refuses to pursue a romantic relationship with Kyosuke because she thinks she doesn't have time to date now that she's a magical girl and her only duty is to protect innocent people from witches.
Meaningful Name: The first character in her last name (美) means "beauty". The last character (樹) means "tree". Her name could also be written (幹) "tree trunk" or (神酒) "sake offered to the gods." The word sayaka (さやか【明か／清か, usually written in hiragana) can mean "clear", "fresh", or "bright" in Japanese.
- Trees are generally associated with witches in the series, especially Walpurgisnacht, and an offering to the gods is a sacrifice. So, Sayaka Miki is a "fresh sacrifice" whose very name foreshadows her becoming a witch.
Meaningful Rename: Her witch name is Oktavia von Seckendorff, after the composer Karl Siegmund von Seckendorff.
Mentor's New Hope: To Mami in The Different Story after Mami's falling out with her first student, Kyoko.
Mercy Kill: On the receiving end of one. Twice, if we count Madoka's wish. The first one was Kyoko's Dying Moment of Awesome as well, but in the second, Sayaka talks to Madoka and dies in peace. We see her funeral in Episode 11, and she likely got a token funeral shortly after Madoka took her to Heaven following Kyosuke's latest concert.
Mirror Character: To Homura Akemi. Both started out as regular girls who were taken under the wing of a Magical Girl (Mami for Sayaka, Madoka for Homura), developing great admiration and even hero worship of them. Both watched the girl in question die, leading them to make a contract with Kyubey to become a magical girl themselves, using their wish selflessly to help someone they love (Kyosuke for Sayaka, Madoka again for Homura). Despite their good intentions, both their wishes ended up causing them endless misery, with Sayaka turning into a witch and Homura nearly doing the same when she comes to see that she's just making things worse. In the end, neither get what they wanted to begin with, as Homura can't be with Madoka due to Madoka being a god, and Sayaka can't be with Kyosuke due to being dead herself, but they both find some degree of bittersweet contentment at the end. Ironically, they detest each other, and Homura thinks Sayaka is foolish for making her wish on someone else's behalf.
Morality Pet: Becomes this to Kyoko after they get over their initial rivalry, as Kyoko shows her softer side around her and seems to be the only person she can open up to, this is because of Sayaka's straightforward and idealistic personality, which reminds Kyoko of herself prior to losing her family. When Sayaka turns into a witch Kyoko is heartbroken, tries everything in her power to restore Sayaka and when she realizes she can't, she ultimately resolves to sacrifice her life to Mercy Kill Sayaka so she doesn't have to suffer anymore, something that would have been almost impossible before meeting Sayaka.
Murder the Hypotenuse: Downplayed in The Different Story. Sayaka sees Hitomi has been possessed by a witch and deliberately turns a blind eye to it so Hitomi can't confess to Kyosuke later on. Although Hitomi was later saved by Mami, Sayaka feels absolutely disgusted at herself afterwards.
My God, What Have I Done?:
- "I made Madoka cry!"
- She has a mental breakdown after she leaves Hitomi to die in Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story.
Naïve Newcomer: To the world of magical girls. She has no idea how far apart her idea is from their reality.
Navel Window: The white corset of her Magical Girl outfit is just short enough to reveal her soul gem, which she wears like a navel piercing.
No Body Left Behind: Averted in episodes 9-11 where her soul gem shatters but her body remains and played straight in Episode 12 following Madoka's wish where her body disappears along with her soul.
Ordinary High-School Student: Just like Madoka, she's a bog standard student with latent magical girl potential.
Overshadowed by Awesome: She comes off as weak in comparison to other magical girls, and is often dismissed as a weak magical girl by the fandom, even though she ripped H.N. Elly to pieces with ease and eventually managed to take down Elsa Maria, who seems to be in the upper tier of witches in terms of power. Note that the magical girls she is being compared to include Homura (who definitely won the Superpower Lottery and has multiple timelines' worth of experience), Kyoko (who also has years of experience and constantly keeps her Soul Gem clean, while Sayaka prefers to save innocents over cleaning hers), Mami (who is probably the most experienced out of all the girls minus Homura and can easily stand up to the latter in combat), and Madoka (no comment). So the problem is not that Sayaka is abnormally weak and more that everyone involved in the story is very experienced and/or powerful. Rebellion and side materials help establish Sayaka as a badass in her own right.
Patient Childhood Love Interest: She has loved her childhood friend Kyosuke for a long time, but she has never actively pursued him. Her lack of assertiveness, nonexistent self-esteem, and horror at the true nature of herself, leads to Hitomi becoming Kyosuke's girlfriend instead and this is one of the several reasons why Sayaka fell into despair and became a witch.
The Perfectionist: Sayaka's biggest flaw: She has to be perfect. This is related to her self-esteem issues: Mami died, and so she feels a responsibility of picking up the torch and being a true hero, never quite picking up Mami herself had issues she hid Beneath the Mask. When she feels extreme jealousy and snaps at Madoka, her sanity takes another hit. When she learns the truth behind her transformation, it takes another hit. When Kyoko offers her an apple, she refuses, twice, choosing purity and honor over selfish survivalism. She refuses to tolerate any sins, including her own. In short, she feels herself unable to live up to Mami's legacy due to her feeling certain things, without realizing that she can still be a hero without being perfect.
Plucky Girl: At first she is an upbeat and positive Magical Girl despite witnessing Mami's death, but as the series goes on she loses her more comedic and upbeat features for extremely understandable reasons, to the point where she's a broken teary shell of her former self in her final moments.
Poor Communication Kills: Her prejudice against other magical girls comes from misunderstanding Homura's intentions in Episode 3.
Protagonist Journey to Villain: Her character arc in a nutshell; Starts off as an idealistic warrior of Justice, only to turn into a figure of tragedy and horror, with strong implications that she turned into a brutal, violent and possibly murderous vigilante even before all of her negative emotions are unleashed in the form of Oktavia von Seckendorff.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Kyoko's red; she has the color scheme and the fettered personality.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: When Madoka says she dreamed about Homura before meeting her, Sayaka remarks that maybe the two of them met in a past life. If by 'past life', you mean 'previous timeline'.
Sacrificial Lion: Main character and, according to Word of God, The Protagonist, dies in episode 9.
Sanity Slippage: Kyubey's revelation that the Puella Magi are technically liches sends Sayaka's sanity into a downward spiral until she transforms into Oktavia.
Say My Name: "Kyoko!"
Secretly Selfish: Her self-esteem hinges upon being a noble Love Martyr and protector of the weak. She learns fairly quickly that she does have ulterior motives, no matter how hard she tries to convince herself otherwise: she thought being Kyosuke's saviour would get her closer to becoming his girlfriend, and the thought of being the "selfless hero" was good for her vanity. When she learns otherwise, she can't adjust her idealistic worldview, and comes to the conclusion that since she can't be the perfect hero, she must be a monster.
Shipper on Deck: In the manga version, she imagines Homura and Madoka embracing while calling it "the mystery of the universe".
Slasher Smile: While fighting Elsa Maria, and when killing the two men on the subway in the manga. Both times it's a sign of her deterorating mental state.
Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Afte contracting, Sayaka can summon sabers at will. One of her attacks involves summoning a large number of swords sticking out of the ground around her and throwing them at her target.
Stepford Smiler: Becomes this after her descent into madness, but even before she tries to pretend to be happy and cheery when she's around Kyosuke while he's in the hospital when she's clearly saddened by his condition. But after finding out about her soul being contained in the gem, it really shows, at one point she completely breaks down in front of Madoka over her situation, then returns to a cheery smile and tells her she's fine so that Madoka doesn't worry about her, only to sadly prove afterward that she wasn't. Even in her final moments, she shows an utterly broken smile to Kyoko. It makes sense considering how her very plucky and idealistic front contrasts with her self-loathing, and with every episode, the front breaks down more and more.
Superheroines Wear Capes: Fitting with her "Magical girls are righteous superheroines" mindset. When she turns into a witch, the cape stays.
Superpowered Evil Side: Her witch form, Oktavia, after succumbing to despair.
Swashbuckler: Her swords, her knight-like outfit, cape and her disposition all invoke this image.
Swiss-Army Tears: Inverted, as when she becomes a witch, it is her tear that turns her soul gem into a grief seed.

T-Y

Tareme Eyes: A Double Subversion. At first, her fiery and impulsive personality runs contrary to the personality one would expect of someone with Tareme Eyes eyes; however, as the series progresses, it becomes apparent that her most salient attribute is really her naïveté, which fits perfectly with the type. In other words, her eyes are less "droopy" than they are "open."
Tearful Smile: Before she turns into a witch, and in the last episode, when she decides she simply wants Kyosuke to be happy.
Tears of Blood: She cries these in Episode 7, as she vents her mind-breaking frustration on Elsa Maria the witch.
Technically a Smile: She can be seen grinning like this while furiously attacking the witch Elsa Maria at the end of Episode 7, saying she can no longer feel any pain. She pulls quite a few of these in the manga, too.
Tempting Fate: "There's no way I'd ever regret this!" Three episodes later: "I was such a fool."
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Played with. She saves Madoka from a witch's minions in her first fight by throwing swords, but the flying swords aren't visible. Then she fights a familiar by throwing swords at it... and would've hit and killed the familiar, if not for Kyoko showing up to stop the battle. After this, she only swordfights melee-style but frequently injures herself in the process, contributing to her mental instability. Maybe she should have stuck with sword-tossing.
Throw the Dog a Bone:
- In Puella Magi Madoka Magica Portable, if Sayaka confesses to Kyousuke that she's a Magical Girl, he'll actually believe her and compose a song for her, thus averting her tragedy all because she Gave Up Too Soon.
- Due to Madoka's death at Oriko's hands, she's Spared by the Adaptation in Puella Magi Oriko Magica.
Together in Death: This was Kyoko's intention. The manga makes it clear that, yes, they did meet again, but the anime does no such thing.
Tomboy: Her boyish hair and knight-like personality suggest this. This especially prevalent when she was a first grader.◊
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Madoka's girly girl. She can also be seen as the girly girl to Kyoko's tomboy, since unlike Kyoko she has a girly streak.
Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Despite her tomboyish nature, and dream of being a Knight in Shining Armor, she's very interested in romance and the idea of love.
Too Dumb to Live: It's one possible way of interpreting her refusal to be saved by Homura. After all, who cares if she isn't helping Sayaka especially for her, being helped still beats dying... but Sayaka foolishly refuses and sure enough dies soon later.
Took a Level in Badass: After making a contract with Kyubey she becomes a knight in a magical girl outfit. She also becomes far more badass in Rebellion after remembering the previous timelines she lived through and becoming able to summon and control Oktavia.
Took a Level in Jerkass: The Awful Truth makes Sayaka less friendly and more bitter towards Madoka, though she heavily regrets lashing out at her.
Took a Level in Kindness: In The Different Story, after Madoka wished her back from the dead she becomes more friendly towards Homura.
Tragic Dream: Sayaka wanted to be Mami's successor: A perfect magical girl who fought for all that was right. Unfortunately, Sayaka has major self-esteem issues and has enormous pressure to continue Mami's legacy, never realizing that Mami herself was far from perfect behind the heroic face she projected, causing her to refuse help, and view herself as tainted, twisted, and wrong for feeling and acting like a normal human being.
Tragic Hero: Her fatal flaws were her nonexistent self-esteem and her sense of perfectionism. These, with her unrequited love for Kyosuke as a trigger, are what doom her into becoming the witch Oktavia von Seckendorff, a being who represents the warped desires of Sayaka's.
Tragic Mistake: Refusing to cleanse her soul gem leads to her becoming a Witch, and Kyoko's death. Although, part of it was done fully knowing that she would die. In a tragically ironic example, one of the first people she saves as a magical girl is her own romantic rival, which she realizes as she's talking with Madoka.
Trauma Conga Line: She swears to uphold Mami's legacy as a omnibenevolent magical girl, to prevent Madoka from contracting (to protect her), to be a hero, and to maybe/hopefully win Kyosuke's heart. She first gets her ass kicked by Kyoko, who casually mocks and stomps over Sayaka's ideals. Then she learns that her crush left the hospital without even telling her. Then she learns that she's actually a rock, and views herself as an abomination that no one could love. Then one of her two best friends, Hitomi, tells her that she also likes Kyosuke, but will give Sayaka time to confess first, having met him first and all... which Sayaka can't do, due to the whole soul situation. Then she begins hating herself for a moment of weakness about saving Hitomi, making her think that she fails as a hero, too. And all this while, nearly every word and action from everyone else is a constant reminder that she's nowhere near as good of a fighter as Mami was, making her doubt her own capabilities, as well. And finally, only pushing herself forward due to her last remaining belief that the world is worth dying for... she encounters two sexist assholes on a train, which drives her over the edge. And then she becomes a witch, and if other materials are any indication, she was conscious of it the entire time.
Unrequited Tragic Maiden: She's got a crush on her childhood friend, Kyosuke, who fails to notice her even after she becomes a Magical Girl and uses her wish to heal his arm. Even worse, one of her best friends, Hitomi, has also told her that she plans to confess her own love to Kyosuke, and Sayaka's lack of self-esteem and learning the truth of what she is prevent her from confessing. Eventually Sayaka falls into despair and becomes a Witch.
Walking Spoiler: An impressive feat, since she is one of the main characters present from the start. It is hard to discuss Sayaka's arc without revealing either of the massive twists surrounding the nature of magical girls, or that Sayaka dies.
War Is Glorious: Subscribes to a highly idealistic view of fighting and battles. Needless to say, she does not take the reality that War Is Hell in this universe very well.
Water Is Womanly: Although her powers are not water-related, Sayaka has a water motif with a blue color scheme and her Transformation Sequence incorporating water and bubbles. Although somewhat tomboyish with her aspiration to be a hero of justice, she's very caring, has an interest in classical music, and holds a very idealistic view of romance. She falls into despair because of her failure in love and being a hero, becoming Oktavia von Seckenforff, the mermaid witch.
What Have I Become?: Sayaka eventually learns that she's a lich and so technically no longer human. She did this for someone who didn't reciprocate her feelings. This is where her Start of Darkness begins.
Whole-Plot Reference: To The Little Mermaid. Specifically, the original story, and the not the Disney version. In the story, the mermaid falls in love with a prince, saves him, makes a Deal with the Devil to try to be with him, but the prince marries another woman because he thinks that woman was the one that saved him, dies because the contract she made states that, but gains a soul and ascends to heaven because she wanted her beloved to be happy. As for Sayaka, she fell in love with Kyosuke, made a wish to save him/try and be with him, wasn't able to let him know about her wish, Kyosuke gets together with Hitomi, and Sayaka dies, but her soul is ultimately saved by Madoka. It's no wonder that Sayaka's witch is a mermaid!
Wide-Eyed Idealist: Believes herself to be a "hero of justice" that can keep her hometown "super safe" from all evil and that any newcomer magical girls will be the same. At least part of her realizes it's dangerous and not a life to envy, and quickly loses the "newcomer magical girls are the same" bit.
Wrong Genre Savvy: No, Sayaka, you're not the main character of Sailor Moon, Tokyo Mew Mew, or Futari wa Pretty Cure no matter how much you want to be. You'll always be the modern day Darker and Edgier version of The Little Mermaid and nothing more, remember that.

"I was stupid... So stupid..."

Characters / Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Sayaka Miki

This character is a Walking Spoiler. Therefore, all spoilers will be unmarked on this page. You Have Been Warned.

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (Japanese), Sarah Anne Williams (English)^{Foreign VAs}

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Characters / Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Sayaka Miki

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This character is a Walking Spoiler. Therefore, all spoilers will be unmarked on this page. You Have Been Warned.

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (Japanese), Sarah Anne Williams (English) Foreign VAsCarmen Calvell (Spanish), Gea Riva (Italian), Esra Vural (German)

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Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (Japanese), Sarah Anne Williams (English)^{Foreign VAs}