History Main / WidowWitch

* ''Fanfic/MiseryLovesCompany'': Hecate is an old witch who still mourns for her late husband. She has various powers including potion-making, teleportation, Magic Music and spells that alter a person's appearance. The one thing that seems to be beyond her power is a cure for her infertility. [[spoiler: Which is why she [[LaserGuidedAmnesia wipes Gaz's memories]] and adopts her as her new daughter.]]

* Grams of ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' is a widow for at least her first husband, Alan, who died. She went through a few more husbands after that.

When a woman is mysterious and solitary, at least in terms of a husband. The town community will probably shun her, calling her a witch. In a fantasy story it might be true as she is a WickedWitch who wanted to get rid of her husband so she cast a spell to [[BlackWidow help things get going]] or perhaps there is [[CartwrightCurse a curse on her family]] that makes it so they lose men. If the story is not one of fantasy, the witch impression might just be the vibe the old woman gives off as she is in mourning for her late husband.

Contrast CuteWitch, HotWitch and DeterminedWidow. When actually a witch, a Subtrope of WitchClassic.

* Witch Widow, who is a teacher of a little witches' school in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode "Sassette's Bewitching Friendship".

The whole thing exists because of the UnfortunateImplications of the similarities between widows and witches. It is understandable that the neighborhood would feel that she's creepy if the woman still dresses in black and her only friends are women or she only lives with women. Although her lack of interaction with men might be because [[HoYay she's not actually interested]] or they aren't interested in her because she's as ugly as a witch. Other similarities include tending to the herb garden that reminds her of all that is living and healthful, [[AllWitchesHaveCats having a cat]] because it's easy to take care of and will keep her company, being very old and unwell, being bitter towards people as the widow is old and lonely and [[EvilLaugh laughing wickedly]] because [[LaughingMad she's out of touch]] with reality.

* The witches of ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' are members of an [[OneGenderRace all female]] WitchSpecies. They sometimes marry mortal men. By the time the story reaches them, all of the major witch characters have been widowed many, many times. While a witch is technically immortal, the grief of mourning over all those husbands will eventually kill her.

* In ''Series/TheWhiteQueen'', Jacquetta Woodville, Lady Rivers, the mother of Elizabeth Woodville, who becomes consort to King Edward IV and the eponymous white queen, is revealed in the first episode to be a witch, and becomes a widow after Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, kills her husband. Elizabeth is also a witch ([[WitchSpecies it runs in the family]]), and is a widow even at the start of the show because her first husband, Thomas Grey, had died. She becomes a widow again when her second husband, King Edward IV, dies. Note that in RealLife, both Jacquetta and Elizabeth were in fact accused of witchcraft at different times, but no real historian takes the accusations seriously. They surely did not have actual supernatural powers, as they are shown having in this series!

** Nanny Ogg. She's had three husbands, "and that's only the official score." A jolly old woman with a lot of children, [[ReallyGetsAround mostly by said husbands]], it's unlikely she did anything to get rid of them. (It's also not clear how many of them are dead. Sobriety Ogg is, but in ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', Death comments that witches are matrilinear because they find it easier to change men than change names, possibly suggesting the traditions of witchcraft include quickie divorces.)

The whole thing exists because of the UnfortunateImplications of the similarities between widows and witches. It is understandable that the neighborhood would feel that she's creepy if the woman still dresses in black and her only friends are women or she only lives with women. Although her lack of interaction with men might be because [[HoYay she's not actually interested]] or they aren't interested in her because she's as ugly as a witch like the FagHag. Other similarities include tending to the herb garden that reminds her of all that is living and healthful, [[AllWitchesHaveCats having a cat]] because it's easy to take care of and will keep her company, being very old and unwell, being bitter towards people as the widow is old and lonely and [[EvilLaugh laughing wickedly]] because [[LaughingMad she's out of touch]] with reality.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eves_bayou.jpg]]

Contrast CuteWitch, HotWitch and DeterminedWidow. When actually a witch, a Subtrope of WitchClassic

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Board Games ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* In ''Film/EvesBayou'', Mozelle is a fortuneteller and hoodoo practitioner whose husbands have a tendency to die. [[spoiler: This isn't always the result of a curse, however. One husband was murdered by her secret lover when they fought over her]].

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Nanny Ogg from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels. She's had three husbands, "and that's only the official score." A jolly old woman with a lot of children, [[ReallyGetsAround mostly by said husbands]], it's unlikely she did anything to get rid of them. (It's also not clear how many of them are dead. Sobriety Ogg is, but in ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', Death comments that witches are matrilinear because they find it easier to change men than change names, possibly suggesting the traditions of witchcraft include quickie divorces.)

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* The episode "A Clue for Scooby-Doo" from the original ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' series has Widow Cuttler, a creepy old lady who lives by the seashore and claims to have used witchcraft to summon the ghost of her husband, who was killed at sea. Of course, as it turns out [[spoiler: she isn't really a widow, as her husband is still alive and helping her run a ScoobyDooHoax.]]

->"So every old woman who lives in the forest alone is a witch?"
-->--'''Märchen von Friedhof''', ''[[Music/SoundHorizon Märchen]]''

* Syaoran's mom Yelan in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' is this. She isn't a WickedWitch, though she is rather [[{{Kuudere}} brooding.]] She's also a lot younger and prettier than the standard.

* Grams of ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' is a widow for at least her first husband, Alan, who died. She went through a few more husbands after that.

* In John Updike's ''Franchise/TheWitchesOfEastwick,'' the women of the village of Eastwick only gain powers after their husbands/significant others either die or divorce them.

* In the BBC/Starz series ''The White Queen'', Jacquetta Woodville, Lady Rivers, the mother of Elizabeth Woodville, who becomes consort to King Edward IV and the eponymous white queen, is revealed in the first episode to be a witch, and becomes a widow after Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, kills her husband. Elizabeth is also a witch ([[WitchSpecies it runs in the family]]), and is a widow even at the start of the show because her first husband, Thomas Grey, had died. She becomes a widow again when her second husband, King Edward IV, dies. Note that in RealLife, both Jacquetta and Elizabeth were in fact accused of witchcraft at different times, but no real historian takes the accusations seriously. They surely did not have actual supernatural powers, as they are shown having in this series!

* In ''[[SweetValleyHigh Sweet Valley Twins]]'' #3 The Haunted House they think a witch lives in the neighborhood who keeps her husband chained up in the attic.

-->--'''Märchen von Friedhof''', ''[[SoundHorizon Märchen]]''

-->--'''Märchen von Friedhof''', ''[[SoundHorizon Märchen]]''

[[AC: Anime and Manga]]
* Syaoran's mom Yelan in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' is this. She isn't a WickedWitch, though she is rather [[{{Kuudere}} brooding.]] She's also a lot younger and prettier than the standard.

[[AC:BoardGames]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* In ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'', this is played with ''La bruja del 71'' ("The Witch from the [Apartment] 71"), whose [[AbhorrentAdmirer appearance]], antics and [[DeathbringerTheAdorable bad judgment on pet naming]] makes everyone in the neighborhood (especially the children) think she is a witch; however, she has been presented as an old spinster. Averted with Doña Florinda, who ''is'' a widow, only much younger and just bitchy.

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* The episode "A Clue for Scooby-Doo" from the original ScoobyDooWhereAreYou series has Widow Cuttler, a creepy old lady who lives by the seashore and claims to have used witchcraft to summon the ghost of her husband, who was killed at sea. Of course, as it turns out [[spoiler: she isn't really a widow, as her husband is still alive and helping her run a ScoobyDooHoax.]]

* ''Film/PracticalMagic'' has SandraBullock playing the part of a Widow Witch... same curse as below.

* In ''EvesBayou'', Mozelle is a fortuneteller and hoodoo practitioner whose husbands have a tendency to die. [[spoiler: This isn't always the result of a curse, however. One husband was murdered by her secret lover when they fought over her]].

* In ''TheSunWitch'', the Fyne sisters are cursed so that their husbands die.

* The witches of ''HisDarkMaterials'' are members of an [[OneGenderRace all female]] WitchSpecies. They sometimes marry mortal men. By the time the story reaches them, all of the major witch characters have been widowed many, many times. While a witch is technically immortal, the grief of mourning over all those husbands will eventually kill her.