Known in Japanese as majokko (魔女っ子, literally "witch-girl"), this is the original Magical Girl archetype. Sometimes she's from Another Dimension or otherwise Magical Land unless the whole show is in a magical setting. Magic study is often equated with school, and many characters are out getting their licenses. The origin of magic is implied to be genetic with training required to hone it. She may be a princess, who may or may not be visiting Earth as part of training to become queen - if so, she may have to compete with rivals to the throne.
She may or may not be actively fighting monsters. Usually, it's a hard enough life just trying to get through the day, and she'll use her magic (often a non-flashy variety) to make things easier. Theoretically.
Cute Witches are sometimes thought to have influenced the rather benevolent image of witches in Japan; even the standard Goth Girl tends to be somewhat cute. Will almost always wear a Robe and Wizard Hat, and may or may not use a Magic Wand. If she has a pet, it will likely be a cat.
If and when she grows up, if she doesn't lose her powers and is still cute, she usually becomes the Hot Witch.
A subtrope of the Witch Classic. Contrast the Wicked Witch, who is usually "old and ugly,"note though not always — occasionally the two overlap. If she, the Hot Witch, and the Wicked Witch appear together, they may form a Maiden, Mother, and Crone trio.
Example Subpages:
Other Examples:
- Magic Trixie: The titular character is a little girl with pink hair dressed as a witch... because she comes from a family of them.
- The French-Belgian comic Mélusine is about a 119 year-old witch who resembles a beautiful young red-haired girl.
- Piruja from Minimonsters is a rare version. She's considered as ugly to her peers due to her wart. But, when you see her, she is rather cute. She's also a Stalker with a Crush to Victor.
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch is one of most famous example with multiple incarnation. Sabrina sometimes appeared in the elementary school-set Little Archie stories, where she'd be billed as "Little Sabrina: That Cute Little Witch." Of course, she's cute as her usual teenaged self, too.
- Hazel gives off this vibe in Seconds. At one point, when Katie brings the cauldron into Seconds from Lucknow, Hazel grabs and observes it, and everyone in the room imagines Hazel with green skin, a robe and pointy hat, as well as a broom. She likes sweeping, you see.
- Wendy The Good Little Witch, Casper's friend. Harvey Comics created Wendy the Good Little Witch as a backup feature for Casper the Friendly Ghost back in 1954. She got her own title in 1960. All adults witches appearing in the various series are green-skinned and wicked, just as all the "big" ghosts in Casper are mean and scary.
- Mariner Chibi Moon, from The Bridge, an eleven year old School for Gifted Unicorns student who fangirls over Junior, whom eventually becomes her sensei. When she's not firing giant pink magic beams or launching herself with the energy pulse shockwaves, she's playfully hounding her mentor while trying find him a date, preferably with her other idol Princess Luna.
- Chloe Cerise dresses up as one in Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail when she begins to narrate one of her stories to some Sorbet Sharks.
- Dinky Doo, from RainbowDoubleDash's Lunaverse, is both incredibly adorable and one of the rare unicorns whose cutie mark talent encompasses all forms of magic, not just a few specialized spells.
- Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service. She's a relatively mild version of the folklore witch rather than the overly cute magical girl type.
- Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, and Ginny Weasley in the early films of Harry Potter before they get old enough to qualify as Hot Witches. They are young girls with an intrinsic talent for magic, studying at an academy of magic, in a magical world. They are good witches, using their magic more or less routinely, and young enough to appeal to the Moe attraction in older males (an implied element of this trope).
- Louise in Teen Witch is a cute teenage girl who discovers she has witch powers, and uses them non-maliciously.
- Boobela from the Boobela And Worm series is a giant who possesses the ability to perform magic, and resembles a large 8-year-old girl.
- Hexene Candlemas in City of Devils and its sequel is a subversion. She's outwardly cute, though she's the world's equivalent of a drug dealer, and she likes to punctuate her hexes with obscene gestures. Oh, and her familiar is a grumpy toad.
- Tiffany Aching from her series of Discworld books is an aversion. Just because you're 11 years old doesn't mean you can't be angry, defiantly plain, and wearing shitkicker boots.
- Sephrenia from The Elenium trilogy by David Eddings. Though she was not, technically speaking, a witch, she was often called that by those who opposed the use of magic for religious reasons. And despite being a few hundred years old, she was said to be extremely lovely.
- In Magical Girl Raising Project, magical girls are supposed to help people with more mundane problems using their magic they received from the Magical Kingdom and otherwise just live a normal life. Some embody this spirit well, though others prefer to use their gifts for more combat-related purposes.
- Kurino Ishiria of Ryuunosuke Akiyama's A Terribly Dangerous Coat is a bright, cheery girl who flies on a broom and is exceptionally good at making magic to raise winds. Though the term "witch" isn't used, she has all the trappings of one.
- The Worst Witch book series naturally features one of these as a heroine. She was an extremely clumsy witch to boot.
- Samantha of Bewitched is an older example, being a very attractive woman with the ability to cast spells just by wiggling her nose.
- Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, more so as the series goes on. Just don't make her angry. Parodied in "All the Way", where Willow is ranting about the Wicked Witch stereotype...until she sees a little girl dressed up as a witch and finds it adorable.
- Charmed (1998):
- Before their powers were bound, the sisters used them for various cute childish things — such as freezing playmates during games of tag. They're Hot Witches now.
- Baby Wyatt is a rare male example. The fact that he's an adorable baby doesn't detract from the precocious ways he uses his powers — such as bringing a dragon to life from a TV show he watched, setting off an alarm just to get extra attention and conjuring up extra cards to win Go Fish.
- Winnie Goodwin from Free Spirit (1989) looks fairly attractive, and acts great with children, but also has her share of adorably naïve moments.
- Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie would normally be too old for this trope (besides, she's strictly a djinn), but it is noteworthy that the name of the show in Japan is "Cute Witch Jinny," possibly making her a Trope Maker.
- Alaska in La Bola de Cristal, a Spanish children's television program. As the hostess of the show she educates children about mythology, cast spells, and falls in love with movie monsters.
- Luna Nera: The youngest witch Persepolis is a pretty, sweet girl despite having a kleptomaniac streak.
- The live-action tokusatsu show, Magic x Warrior Magi Majo Pures!, features five "Magic Warriors" as the main cast.
- Urara and Houka of Mahou Sentai Magiranger: Urara of the Shy Blue-Haired Girl variety with Oracular Urchin powers of divinity, and Houka the Manic Pixie Dream Girl type with the Mundane Utility power of Shapeshifting.
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch:
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Sabrina is a teenage witch who goes to regular high school. She's petite, blond, pretty and usually a Nice Girl. She becomes a Hot Witch once she graduated high school.
- The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Sabrina again. While beginning her dark education, she tries to maintain a normal life.
- Cassie, Diana and Melissa from The Secret Circle are cute teenage girls who practice White Magic, although Cassie becomes a lot less cute when she lets Black Magic overtake her.
- Bonnie from The Vampire Diaries is an attractive teenage girl with the abilty to use divination, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, aerokinesis, accelerated healing and necromancy.
- In the BBC/Starz series The White Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort to Edward IV, and her mother Jacquetta Woodville, Lady Rivers, are both portrayed as actual witches, with the ability being a heritable trait. At one point, the two of them work together to cast a spell to summon a terrible storm with which to strike at their political opponents, and Elizabeth's daughter (also Elizabeth), who at that time was an adorable three-year-old girl, innocently joins in, obviously not realizing just what it is they're doing. Needless to say, this qualifies her for this trope, while her mother is, of course, a Hot Witch. It should go without saying that, in Real Life, none of the Woodville women were actually witches, or had actual supernatural powers.
- Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place is an extremely pretty girl with dark brown hair and dark eyes, and like all members of her family, she possesses magical powers.
- Alaska Y Dinarama is a Spanish band from the 80s whose lead singer, Alaska, dressed as a stereotypical European witch complete with pointed hat, but was always cute and friendly.
- One of these meets a particularly gruesome fate at the hands of the eponymous witch hunters in Rob Zombie's "Lords of Salem" music video. Link Here
- Long-running South African children's' TV show Die Liewe Heksie was about a well-meaning but rather dim Cute Witch who lived in an idyllic elfland, and served as its guardian against incursions by evil goblins led by a Wicked Witch, winning the day more by accident than design.
- The main character of the '90s children's show Eureeka's Castle, Eureeka, is both a Cute Witch and a Cute Monster Girl (she has horns).
- The Oracle Think Tank of Cardfight!! Vanguard are mainly this (some are nuns with guns) with varying degrees of Honest Corporate Executive, run by CEO Amaterasu.
- Hester from Blip is a very powerful witch, and also a cute red-haired girl with large eyes.
- Mye, the zombie witch from Charby the Vampirate - she's remarkably cute for a zombie, and has the power to transform into a very attractive winged bunny demon.
- Peridot from Cucumber Quest, a young girl who, prior to becoming henchwoman to the Big Bad, learned magic so she could boss people around. She flies around on a star-ended broom and wears a dress and witch's hat.
- Jenny from Gunnerkrigg Court is a Perky Goth apprentice witch who is first introduced here
as a Replacement Goldfish for Jack. While she bears some superficial resemblance to Zimmy, she is very friendly to everyone she meets and does not hesitate to help when events get serious. And she's adorable. Renard even comments on it
.
- Homestuck: Jade, when she rises to God/Dog Tier, gaining powerful abilities and a witch outfit to match, complete with striped stockings and ruby slippers ... and later being killed by a falling house after going evil. She gets better.
- Magick Chicks: The Hellrune Coven are a trio of witches, who originated from Eerie Cuties before being given their own Spin-Off series. Of three, Jacqui is the one who best fits the description, both in terms of appearance and her cheerfully ditzy personality.
- Sleepless Domain: In a world where magical girls are commonplace, Rue Bahia
takes inspiration from this particular subtype, with some heavy urban/punk flair. Her costume includes a pointed witch's hat, a black coat lined on the inside with potion bottles, and a black bandana decorated with fangs. She has the power to create Magic Potions that can be used for a variety of effects, such as explosives or health potions.
- The "three little witches" from the story of the same name in the Whateley Universe. Clover even has a witch's hat. They regularly scheme to collect essence so they can do more impressive magic, usually stirring up trouble along the way. They also don't hesitate to play the 'cute and innocent' card when it suits them.
- Sadira from the Aladdin: The Series is a very attractive young woman who gains sand-based magic after stumbling upon the ancient lair of the long-disappeared sand witches. Saleen the mermaid counts as one, too, although she's more of an Evil Witch.
- The Woodstock Witches in the American Dragon: Jake Long episode "Game On". Jake was expecting to meet traditional old hags but quickly changes his mind when he sees they're actually three pretty girls.
- In Babar's episode "Land of Witches" Babar and family met Lulu, a cute witch; she is nice, young, small and friendly.
- Lynn of Filly Funtasia is an adorable little purple pony with red hair and the ability to use magic thanks to her magic cape.
- In a Futurama episode parodying The Wizard of Oz, Amy plays the role of, in her own words, "the cute witch of the North."
- Obscure 1960s character Honey Halfwitch is actually half-wizard/half-girl, according to the theme song).
- Posey, Hazel and Lavender, The Little Charmers, fit this trope perfectly. Although prim and proper, Hazel's mother, Mrs. Charming the Enchantress, fits more the Hot Witch stereotype.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
- Twilight Sparkle, the protagonist of the show, is very adorable,
◊ very nice and a very powerful magician.
- The Great and Powerful Trixie. Sure, she's an arrogant jerkass (although she becomes nicer as the series progresses), but she's also a really cute pony. She looks like this.
◊
- Twilight Sparkle, the protagonist of the show, is very adorable,
- Luz Noceda, the heroine of The Owl House, is a young teenage human girl who goes looking for adventure on the Boiling Isles and becomes the apprentice of Eda, becoming a witch in training. Her classmates and friends the 'witchlings' Willow Park and Amity Blight also qualify
- Rupert has two examples: A young witch who's upset because "witches aren't supposed to be cute," and Tiger Lily, who's learned a few things from her father, the Conjuror.
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch:
- Filmation's adaptation of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Sabrina and The Groovie Goolies (which had a shared universe with The Archie Show)
- Sabrina again, this time as a junior high schooler in Sabrina: The Animated Series (no relation to the above) and a high schooler in Sabrina's Secret Life. She's a petite teenager witch, blond, pretty and usually a Nice Girl. Also, to bring the cartoon in line with the preceding TV films and live-action series, Hilda and Zelda, who were stereotypical old hags in the original comics, became humanlike and pretty, while looking youthful enough to qualify (they look like girls in their late teens in the cartoon).
- The Smurfs (1981) have Brenda and Melina as good little witches who are cute in their own little ways as girls.
- Sofia the First features one named Lucinda in one episode who starts out as a troublemaker but then is converted to a "good little witch"
- Tara Duncan from Tara Duncan is Spellbinder who defeats villains from the Otherworld with her friends and fellow Spellbinders.
- Raven from the Teen Titans is an attractive Goth with extensive magical powers.
- Total Drama Revenge of the Island has Dawn, who Zoey suspects that she might be a Wizard in "Backstabbers Ahoy". In fact she is the only contestant in the series who's been implied to have supernatural powers.
- The main girls in Trollz are cute troll girls who possess the ability to perform magic using magic beads.
- Mirta is much nicer than most other witches in Winx Club and is really the only cute witch. In season two she becomes a fairy.