History Characters / PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaMagicalGirls

** Madoka deconstructs the IJustWantToBeSpecial and ChronicHeroSyndrome tropes. Madoka spends the entire show wondering if she should become a magical girl despite learning just how destructive it is and without a wish in mind, just do she can feel useful in some way. As Kyoko points out, Madoka has a happy, stable life and a family who loves her, while most magical girls only become what they are out of desperation. Madoka would be pointlessly throwing that safety away by getting mixed up with something she doesn't ''need'' to be a part of just to feel she's doing something meaningful, which wouldn't last long since she'll simply die [[spoiler:or witch out in the end.]] Her trying to help the others when she doesn't have any powers only puts her in more danger that requires them to constantly rescue her, and repeatedly sacrificing herself only drives Sayaka and Homura to further extremes to protect her. This only aggravates those who have to keep saving her and as ''Rebellion'' shows, her constant selflessness causes a very dangerous long-term problem [[spoiler: via Homura and Kyubey]].

* BoobsOfSteel: In the design interviews Creator/UmeAoki explicitly states that she gave Mami "an impressive pair of hooters", a fact that the camera lingers just that little bit longer enough to emphasize. And in sheer raw-power [[spoiler:before Madoka's ascension to Godhood]] and talent/skill in combat, Mami is the the most fearsome MagicalGirl in the franchise.

* YamatoNadeshiko: She's feminine, polite, good at cooking, acts like a mother figure towards the other girls, and has a graceful fighting style. In one scene, she calmly sips tea immediately after a battle. [[spoiler:Discussed in ''[[Manga/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheDifferentStory The Different Story]]'' when Mami mentions during an internal monologue that she exaggerates this part of her personality in order to be a perfect role-model MagicalGirl for her pupils]]. However, she doesn't have any of the yamato nadeshiko's typical looks; she has blonde hair that she wears in OjouRinglets, is [[BoobsOfSteel noticeably well-endowed]], and the creators have also stated that she isn't fully Japanese.

* TheHeart: She's the kindest, compared to the other characters who have signed the deal.

* CrucifiedHeroShot: Madoka gets one in the beginning of Episode 11, following [[spoiler:Sayaka's funeral]], while Kyubey lectures her about [[spoiler:the role of magical girls in history]]. Fitting, considering [[spoiler:that she sacrifices herself to save the world]]. She gets another while [[spoiler:saying goodbye to Homura before she disappears.]]

* AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: She becomes a [[spoiler:law of physics (or a goddess in the metaphysical sense) as the result of her wish. After learning about all the suffering Magical Girls went through, she made it clear with her wish that she doesn't care what she becomes as long as her wish ultimately saves the world.]]

* KarmicJackpot: The living embodiment version. [[spoiler:She has built up a massive amount of karma due to Homura's attempts to save her in multiple timelines, which enables her to have massive amounts of magical power.]]

* SenpaiKohai:
** Sees herself as Sayaka and Madoka's senpai as a magical girl, and is a year ahead of them at school but they call her "Mami-san" rather than "senpai".
** She calls herself ''Kyoko's'' senpai in [[AllThereInTheManual the third drama CD/''[[Manga/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheDifferentStory The Different Story]]'' Manga]].

** Madoka deconstructs the IJustWantToBeSpecial and ChronicHeroSyndrome tropes. Madoka spends the entire show wondering if she should become a magical girl despite learning just how destructive it is and without a wish in mind, just do she can feel useful in some way. As Kyoko points out, Madoka has a happy, stable life and a family who loves her, while most magical girls only become what they are out of desperation. Madoka would be pointlessly throwing that safety away by getting mixed up with something she doesn't ''need'' to be a part of just to feel she's doing something meaningful, which wouldn't last long since she'll simply die or witch out in the end. Her trying to help the others when she doesn't have any powers only puts her in more danger that requires them to constantly rescue her, and repeatedly sacrificing herself only drives Sayaka and Homura to further extremes to protect her. This only aggravates those who have to keep saving her and as ''Rebellion'' shows, her constant selflessness causes a very dangerous long-term problem [[spoiler: via Homura and Kyubey]].

** Homura deconstructs the IWorkAlone and CassandraTruth tropes. Homura has learned first hand [[spoiler:from multiple timelines]] that the other girls never believe her claims about the truth behind what being a magical girl encompasses, [[spoiler:especially about Kyubey and the Witches]]. As such, she works alone and acts cold towards the others to get the work done without distractions. Except this aloofness does the exact opposite by [[SelfFulfillingProphecy making people suspicious of her and refusing to take simple advice that could save their lives]].

** Madoka deconstructs the IJustWantToBeSpecial and ChronicHeroSyndrome tropes. As Kyoko points out, Madoka has a happy, stable life and a family who loves her, while most magical girls only become what they are out of desperation. Madoka would be pointlessly throwing that safety away by getting mixed up with something she doesn't ''need'' to be a part of just to feel she's doing something meaningful. Her trying to help the others only puts her in more danger that requires them to constantly rescue her, and repeatedly sacrificing herself only drives Sayaka and Homura to further extremes to protect her. This only irritates those who have to keep rescuing her and makes everyone miserable in the process.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: The five magical girls are realistic examples of what happens when naive and impulsive pre-teen girls discover a world of magic, trust a foreign creature claiming it needs help and constantly battling for their lives:
** Madoka deconstructs the IJustWantToBeSpecial and ChronicHeroSyndrome tropes. As Kyoko points out, Madoka has a happy, stable life and a family who loves her, while most magical girls only become what they are out of desperation. Madoka would be pointlessly throwing that safety away by getting mixed up with something she doesn't ''need'' to be apart of just to feel she's doing something meaningful. Her trying to help the others only puts her in more danger that requires them to constantly rescue her, and repeatedly sacrificing herself only drives Sayaka and Homura to further extremes to protect her. This only irritates those who have to keep rescuing her and making everyone miserable in the process.

** Mami deconstructs the CoolBigSis and TheParagon. One one hand, Mami is a genuinely friendly person who is caring towards her magical girl wards and a near-flawless fighter when showing off on their trial run. Except Mami is also purposely invoking that image because she wants them to contract and fight alongside her. In reality, Mami is a BrokenAce with [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish motivations]] and a ''seriously'' dangerous MaskOfSanity problem that stems from survivors guilt and the trauma of constantly battling for her life. Her putting on the appearance of a perfect and selfless magical girl leads to the others believing they ''have'' to match those standards, especially Sayaka, [[spoiler:and her dying without being honest about her faults leads everything beyond Episode 3 to spiral into a complete catastrophe. The protective aspect of sisterly mentorship reaches a dangerous conclusion when in one timeline, she tries to kill her teammates and herself to spare them the fate of witching out.]]
** Kyoko deconstructs TheSocialDarwinist and JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Kyoko learned firsthand that there is no gratitude for helping people when her father commits familicide to spite her when she used her wish to try and help him. This CynicismCatalyst lead to stop caring about others; indulging in nihilistic hedonism and letting innocents die so she can get more grief seeds or drive off competing magical girls. While this attitude has helped her survive, it had also kept her in a state of suppressed misery and loneliness because people are put off by her selfish philosophy. Whenever Kyoko tries to bring up a solid point or her good nature surfaces, people don't listen or take it seriously because most of her advice stems from self-preservation. Her abrasive attitude contributes to Sayaka [[spoiler:becoming a witch, something that Kyoko takes personally and blames herself for.]] [[spoiler:In the video game, all it took was Sayaka witching out and dying for Kyoko to become a witch herself, proving that her pent-up negativity would have caught up to her sooner or later with one extremely stressful moment.]]

** Kyoko deconstructs TheSocialDarwinist and JerkassHasAPoint. Kyoko learned firsthand that there really is no gratitude for helping people when her father commits familicide to spite her when she used her wish to try and help him. This CynicismCatalyst lead to stop caring about others; indulging in nihilistic hedonism and letting innocents die so she can get more grief seeds or drive off competing magical girls. While it has helped her survive, it had also kept her in a state of suppressed misery with no way to heal, and her brash and self-centered attitude means that no one trusts her, least of all Sayaka. Whenever Kyoko tries to bring up a solid point, people don't listen to her because her advice stems from selfish preservation, and her abrasive attitude contributes to Sayaka [[spoiler:a witch, something that Kyoko takes personally and tries to get Sayaka back to normal.]] [[spoiler:In the video game, all it took was Sayaka witching out and dying for Kyoko to become a witch herself, proving that her pent-up misery would have caught up to her sooner or later with one extremely stressful moment.]]

** Kyoko deconstructs TheSocialDarwinist and JerkassHasAPoint. Kyoko learned firsthand that there really is no gratitude for helping people when her father commits familicide to spite her when she used her wish to try and help him. This CynicismCatalyst lead to stop caring about others; indulging in nihilistic hedonism and letting innocents die so she can get more grief seeds or drive off competing magical girls. While it has helped her survive, it had also kept her in a state of suppressed misery with no way to heal, and her brash and self-centered attitude means that no one trusts her, least of all Sayaka. Whenever Kyoko tries to bring up a solid point, people don't listen to her because her advice stems from selfish preservation, and her abrasive attitude contributes to Sayaka [[spoiler:a witch, something that Kyoko takes personally and tries to get Sayaka back to normal.]] [[spoiler:In the video game, all it took was Sayaka witching out and dying for Kyoko to become a witch herself, proving that her pent-up misery would have caught up to her sooner or later with one particularly stressful moment.]]

** Kyoko deconstructs TheSocialDarwinist and JerkassHasAPoint. Kyoko learned firsthand that there really is no gratitude for helping people when her father commits familicide to spite her when she used her wish to try and help him. This CynicismCatalyst lead to stop caring about others; indulging in nihilistic hedonism and letting innocents die so she can get more grief seeds or drive off competing magical girls. While it has helped her survive, it had also kept her in a state of suppressed misery with no way to heal, and her brash and self-centered attitude means that no one trusts her, least of all Sayaka. Whenever Kyoko tries to bring up a solid point, people don't listen to her because her advice stems from selfish preservation, and her abrasive attitude contributes to Sayaka [[spoiler:a witch, something that Kyoko takes personally and tries to get Sayaka back to normal.]] [[spoiler:In the PS2 game, all it took was Sayaka witching out and dying for Kyoko to become a witch herself, proving that her pent-up misery would have caught up to her sooner or later with one stressful enough moment.]]

** Kyoko deconstructs TheSocialDarwinist and JerkassHasAPoint. Kyoko learned firsthand that there really is no gratitude for helping people when her father commits familicide to spite her when she used her wish to try and help him. This CynicismCatalyst lead to stop caring about others; indulging in nihilistic hedonism and letting innocents die so she can get more grief seeds or drive off competing magical girls. While it has helped her survive, it had also kept her in a state of suppressed misery, and her brash and self-centered attitude means that no one trusts her, least of all Sayaka. Whenever Kyoko tries to bring up a solid point, people don't listen to her because her advice stems from selfish preservation, and her abrasive attitude contributes to Sayaka [[spoiler:a witch, something that Kyoko takes personally and tries to get Sayaka back to normal.]][[spoiler:In the PS2 game, all it took was Sayaka witching out and dying for Kyoko to become a witch herself, proving that her pent-up misery would have caught up to her sooner or later.]]

** Kyoko deconstructs TheSocialDarwinist JerkassHasAPoint. Kyoko learned firsthand that there really is no gratitude for helping people when her father commits familicide to spite her when she used her wish to try and help him. This CynicismCatalyst lead to stop caring about others; indulging in nihilistic hedonism and letting innocents die so she can get more grief seeds or drive off competing magical girls. While it has helped her survive, it had also kept her in a state of suppressed misery, and her selfishness means that no one trusts her, least of all Sayaka when she starts falling into despair. Whenever Kyoko tries to bring up a solid point, people don't listen to her because her untrustworthiness, and her abrasive attitude contributes to Sayaka [[spoiler:a witch, something that Kyoko takes personally and tries to get Sayaka back to normal.]]

DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: The five magical girls are realistic examples of what happens when naive and impulsive pre-teen girls are discover a world of unknown magic, trust a foreign creature claiming it needs help and constantly battling for their lives:

* ActionGirl: Her introduction is saving Madoka and Sayaka from witches. She's a veteran.

* HiddenDepths: Before [[WholeEpisodeFlashback Episode 10]], she appears to be an average girl [[spoiler:caught in awful circumstances]] who at times behaves in a supposedly "stupid" or "[[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass cowardly]]" manner. Episode 10 reveals [[spoiler:that Madoka is not only able to fight, but is willing to sacrifice herself because of her love for her friends.]]

* BladeOnAStick: Uses a spear as her signature weapon.

* SkilledButNaive: Ultimately while Mami is quite the experienced magical girl in combat with a wider variety of hard learned skills and talent, her greatest weakness is a lack of awareness of the darker side of her job. [[spoiler: She is well aware that being a magical girl is lonely, dangerous, and you will regret a bad wish, but she is completely unaware of the origin of witches and seemingly the nature of Soul Gems.]] As a result she does have a lot of, and gives, Madoka and Sayaka genuine, hard learned advice, but there is simply parts of the job she can't give them advice or warnings on because she doesn't know about it.

%%* StatuesqueStunner

* StoryBreakerPower: [[spoiler:As Homura's quest goes on, Madoka as a magical girl becomes more and more powerful. ''[[Manga/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheDifferentStory The Different Story]]'' is presumably one of the later resets, since Madoka demonstrates the ability to ''bring Sayaka back to life''.]]

* RealityWarper: [[{{Foreshadowing}} Kyubey claims she has this sort of potential]] if she were to become a Magical Girl. [[spoiler:Turns out, he was right. Her wish was all that was needed to reconstruct the whole universe into a more merciful place.]]

* '''[[Characters/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSayakaMiki Sayaka Miki]]'''

** MundaneUtility: As shown in Rebellion, she uses magic to curl her hair into their iconic corkscrew shape.

* SkilledButNaive: Ultimately while Mami is quite the experienced magical girl in combat with a wider variety of hard learned skills and talent, her greatest weakness is a lack of awareness of the darker side of her job. [[spoiler: She is well aware that being a magical girl is lonely, dangerous, and you will regret a bad wish, but she is completely unaware of the origin of witches and seemingly the nature of Soul Gems.]] As a result she does have a lot of, and gives, Madoka and Sayaka a lot of genuine, hard learned advice, but there is simply parts of the job she can't give them advice or warnings on because she doesn't know about it.