Puella Magi Madoka Magica/Tropes A-E

Late Arrival Spoiler Warning: Puella Magi Madoka Magica is one of the most popular anime franchises in the anime fandom as of the Winter 2011 season. It also has a Wham! Line roughly every episode. In other words, there are a great deal of SPOILERS below—most marked, some unmarked, but all of which will ruin your enjoyment of the story. 

A
"Sayaka: Hmmm... fabulous riches, eternal youth, Chinese delicacies... Madoka: I don't know about that last one..."
 * Abstract Apotheosis:.
 * Accidental Pun:
 * Mami Tomoe's name "Mami" means Mommy in Spanish and other languages like German. Considering her mentor role it fits her.
 * On a slightly pervier note, her name's resemblance to the word "mammaries" has not gone unnoticed by the fanbase.
 * Acid Trip Dimension: Almost literally Invoked by the Witch's Realms, and implied by Homura's room. It does not help that most of it is symbolic.
 * Actor Allusion: Due to the all-star voice actors ensemble, we were expecting this.
 * Eri Kitamura voices Sayaka Miki, the blue-themed member of what amounts to Madoka's magical girl team. In Fresh Pretty Cure, she voiced Miki Aono, the blue-themed member of that show's team. Add also that she played Saya Otonashi from Blood+ a sword wielder.
 * Junko Iwao plays Kazuko Saotome, Madoka's school teacher, who happens to be a scorned lover who can't keep boyfriends. Junko Iwao also plays every incarnation of Akane in the My-HiME metaverse, and most of that character's drama revolves around how she's constantly separated from her sole love interest, Kazuya, no matter what universe she's in. "Kazuko" is literally the feminine form of "Kazu," which is the nickname Akane always calls her boyfriend.
 * Adult Fear. Let's see,, and Madoka is troubled but refuses to share what had actually happened. Not to mention that with all the Witches, there must've been a whole lot of suicides, missing persons and who knows what else - which makes Madoka's behaviour all the more alarming in her mother's eyes.
 * Alien Geometries: The barriers around the Witches, and the Witches themselves, are this. A great example is the first witch we actually see in episode 2; it simultaneously is and isn't two-dimensional.
 * All There in the Manual: The official website and supplemental materials are quite interesting to read for the fan.
 * Technically the names of the witches appear in the episodes themselves (written in Cypher Language), but other things like the names of their familiars and their personality traits (such as they are) can only be found on the official website. In addition, this information includes witches that have not appeared themselves or only appeared in a Flash Back. Fortunately, they are translated on this page (spoilers, of course). Special note that the creators have left open the rest of The Un-Reveal to Wild Mass Guessing.
 * The black cat in the OP is explained in the drama CD 1 from DVD volume 1, but never in the show proper.
 * The third drama CD reveals Kyoko and Mami have a shared past, something that is only hinted at in the anime proper. However, this has somewhat taken form when Oriko Magica came around.
 * The concept art booklet in the sixth Blu-Ray volume reveals a character's name. . The name is never spoken or written in the show. However, since fans have been using Fan Nickname for it, it isn't such a problem.
 * The You Are Not Alone guidebook includes or alludes to other Magical Girls' wishes.
 * All There Is to Know About "The Crying Game": Let's keep this as clear as possible: the majority of these spoilers have circulated the internet five times over, and it would be impossible to not know about most of them. Even though the anime didt not have a proper English release until March 2012, a newcomer to the series will have to wonder about the size of this page and the rather large amount of spoiler tags. In other words, this page is Tempting Fate for anyone who reads it. You, on the other hand, have been warned.
 * Alternate Character Reading: Invoked. The kanji used for "Mahou Shoujo" can be rewritten to reveal multiple key plot points. Similarly, "Puella Magi" has multiple meanings, which are also key plot points. All of these are explained in the anime proper and their respective tropes.
 * Averted in the manga adaptation,
 * : It is a Running Gag on the Puella Magi internet pages that you will see . Detailed explanation:
 * Altum Videtur: "Puella Magi" almost, but not quite, translates to "Magical Girl".
 * All of the OST's track titles (save two) are in Latin and uses the correct translation for Magical Girl: "puella magica".
 * And Then John Was a Zombie:
 * Animalistic Abomination:
 * Anthropomorphic Personification:
 * Anyone Can Die:
 * Apocalypse How: Any good show should have an apocalypse. Let's review the scale for this one:
 * Walpurgisnacht will cause a Class 0 that leaves, at a minimum, Mitakihara in ruins.
 * Apocalypse Wow:
 * Arc Words: Walpurgisnacht is used as some sort of omnious threat.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Second episode, discussing wishes:
 * Walpurgisnacht will cause a Class 0 that leaves, at a minimum, Mitakihara in ruins.
 * Apocalypse Wow:
 * Arc Words: Walpurgisnacht is used as some sort of omnious threat.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Second episode, discussing wishes:
 * Apocalypse Wow:
 * Arc Words: Walpurgisnacht is used as some sort of omnious threat.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Second episode, discussing wishes:


 * Artistic License Physics:
 * Art Shift/Medium Blending: A witch and her barrier will employ one or the other.
 * The third episode stops borrowing from the Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei opening and starts borrowing from cute 1980s-style cartoons.
 * Episode 4 has a strange, flat, Louis Vuitton-esque design to the witches dimension. In the witches' TV screens, one can see the same art style used for the Maria Holic ED.
 * Episode 5 features a realm that resembles an elementary school kid's drawings. Kyoko's explanation of her past is shown in a similar way.
 * Episode 7's realm is Deliberately Monochrome, looking like a shadow-play.
 * Art Style Dissonance: It uses characters done in the cute style of Hidamari Sketch to tell a story that can be accurately likened to Neon Genesis Evangelion.
 * In the manga,
 * Ascetic Aesthetic: For starters, the school building is about 90% glass. The utter sterility of the city itself makes a nice contrast against both the characters and the bizarre world of the Witches.
 * Asshole Victim: In Episode 8, Sayaka encounters two rude misogynists on a train.
 * Word of God on this is more like Flip-Flop of God: Shinbo says she didn't, the manga author says she did, and Urobuchi says he intentionally left it ambiguous.
 * Astral Checkerboard Decor:
 * Many of the witches have this motif somewhere inside their closed off worlds. The first few minutes of the opening episode is nothing but this.
 * The end of the manga takes place in a dungeon with a checkered floor. Acts as nice Book Ends.
 * Awful Truth: Coincides with Wham Episodes.
 * Episode 6, Kyubey reveals some disturbing tidbits about soul gems.
 * Episode 8 reveals witches' origins.
 * Episode 9 reveals why Kyubey is turning girls into magical girls.
 * Episode 11 reveals the reason why Madoka has so much power.
 * Ax Crazy: A character becomes more and more Ax Crazy to show her descent into madness and despair.
 * Ax Crazy: A character becomes more and more Ax Crazy to show her descent into madness and despair.

B
"Kyubey: Before you took up the burden of this fight, you had a wish you wanted to see fulfilled. And I did make that wish come true, didn't I?"
 * Bait and Switch Credits: The opening is something that would fit perfectly on any typical Magical Girl show, with Shout Outs to Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon, and Pretty Cure. The ending ... has distorted music, is nearly completely devoid of color, has creepy lyrics, and ends with Madoka floating in the fetal position in the eye socket of a giant skull. Prior to Episode 3, the anime avoids showing the ending, instead running the credits along the conclusion of the episode and using the song for fight scenes.
 * Subverted later, when it becomes clear just whose perspective the opening song is from.
 * The Blu-rays for the first two episodes have an ending theme which plays this trope straight as well.
 * Barbie Doll Anatomy:
 * For the briefest moment when Kyoko and Homura transform.
 * Madoka in the opening, also in a transformation sequence.
 * Also shows up in episode 12, during the encounter between Homura and Madoka
 * Batman Gambit: Kyubey's modus operandi is the Batman Gambit.
 * A specific example:
 * Batter Up: On her first witch hunt alongside Mami, Sayaka brings along a baseball bat to compensate for a lack of magical girl powers.
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: Played With. It's is sometimes Played Straight, sometimes surprisingly Subverted : the problem isn't in the literal granting of the wish, it's the fact that the wishers aren't asking for what they really want. The repeated warnings against making selfless wishes are there because there is no such thing as a selfless wish. Each wish was made in the hope that it would result in something the magical girl would ultimately benefit from, but since that result isn't what they asked for, that isn't what they got. This plays into Kyubey's plans rather nicely, since it means.


 * Played Straight for Mami's wish.
 * Subverted for Sayaka's wish: She wished for the boy she loved to get better; he did, and no bad consequences came from it, but what Sayaka didn't wish for was for him to fall in love with her, which was what she really wanted. Kyoko pointed out that what she should have wished for was for him to never recover and become completely dependent on her.
 * Played Straight for Kyoko's wish:
 * Played Straight for Homura's wish.
 * And finally Averted for
 * Being Good Sucks:
 * Sayaka's attempt at being a moral crusader backfires.
 * The ending also qualifies,.
 * Berserk Button:
 * Kyoko doesn't like it when people waste food.
 * Don't mess with Madoka in any way or form if you want to stay on Homura's good side.
 * Better to Die Than Be Killed: Arguably
 * In Episode 10,
 * Beyond the Impossible: As noted above, WhamLines lines are frequent and rules can be rewritten.
 * Big Damn Heroes: Is done frequently, usually by Homura. It's eventually subverted when Kyoko tries to step in for, who refuses Kyoko's help, gets back up and defeats the witch she was fighting.
 * Big Eater: Kyoko rarely appears without some kind of snack food in hand.
 * Madoka herself comes off as this in the 100 Questions.
 * Bigger Is Better: Not enuff dakka? Try bigga shoota!
 * Bilingual Bonus: The German graffiti in Episode 2 are quotes from Faust.
 * Homura's wall is decorated with a full transcription of "Das Hexen-Einmaleins" (Counting with witches basically), which reads like a nursery rhyme, but again origins from Goethe's Faust.
 * The Anthonies in Episode 1 chant a series of phrases in German.
 * "Tiro Finale" is Italian for "last shot". It was originally supposed to be "Filo Finale".
 * Madoka's homework in Episode 6 is apparently to translate the English nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle." To see her word processor giving a closely translated suggestion to the words "Hey diddle diddle" in Japanese is quite an amazing feat.
 * Graffiti on the wall shown right before says "Love Me Do".
 * Black and White Magic: Magical girls are powered by wishes, while witches are powered by curses.
 * Black Box: Magic is impossible to figure out even to Kyubey, but it seems to work and its better to think that a black box that involves the transformations of adolescent girls is just fine.
 * Black Comedy: The official franchise has a lot of fun making fun of Mami . For instance, when about to air episode 3, an official broadcast tweet said something along the lines of "This episode features Mami - ". Aniplex of USA got in on the fun as well when they uploaded Mami's voice actress' interview.
 * In a meta-example overlapping with Misaimed Marketing, we have this promotional wishboard. Either the ones behind this idea were oblivious to what making a wish with Kyubey entails, or they really do have a warped sense of humor.
 * Black Speech: Shown when the art shifts and the witches come out.
 * Bland-Name Product: Kyoko offers Homura some Rocky. The Dog Drug Reinforcement dancing game she's playing in the same scene is another one.
 * Blatant Lies: Kyubey does not, since he considers himself above lying, but Gen Urobuchi does. A lot.
 * Blessed Are the Cheesemakers: Well, according to Charlotte the dessert witch. She can create any dessert in the world, but she can't create her favorite food, cheese.
 * Blessed with Suck: In exchange for putting their life on the line, a magical girl will have any wish of theirs granted. Of course, there are a few things in the fine print Kyubey "forgets" to mention. Like
 * Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Mami, Homura, and Kyoko
 * Bloodier and Gorier: Where the anime avoids depicting gore, the manga revels in it. Gory Discretion Shots are frequently averted. Blood is added to scenes that didn't originally have it, and characters are drawn with Nightmare Face expressions that give Higurashi no Naku Koro ni a run for its money.
 * Strangely, the mangas reads like a bastard child of Elfen Lied: extremely cute characters with a Fan Service cover, but Gorn all over the place. All we need now is an R-Rated Opening...oh wait, that already happened in the original anime and Oriko Magica.
 * Here's a comparison of Sayaka's fight with Elsa Maria in the TV and BD version. (spoiler warning) The BD version adds more blood to the scene.
 * The BD release keeps better consistency with Kyoko's injuries.
 * Blue and Orange Morality: Kyubey, who is apparently gathering energy to stave off entropy. It just so happens that having teenage girls  is a very efficient way to do so, and he doesn't understand how anyone who knows the whole story could object to the plan.
 * His consistent reply to the girls' protests is "I don't understand what you mean," which has become a Memetic Mutation associated with him in Japan.
 * In the epilogue
 * Bright Is Not Good: A Talking Animal, colored Puella Magi Madoka Magica white and pink? How dangerous could it be?
 * Body Horror: Episode 4 features a witch that kills its victims by stretching them until they tear apart. The effect is exaggerated by the art style used for it.
 * Bolivian Army Ending:
 * Sequel Hook:
 * Book Ends: The very beginning and the very end of the series are set to the sound of a projector running, and then the sound of it abruptly shutting off.
 * Boss Subtitles: Every witch has one written in Cypher Language.
 * Bread and Circuses: The modus operandi of the series. See the trope page for the explanation. Almost taken literally with  witch realm, which is represented like a operatic cinema/three-ring circus.
 * Break the Cutie: To be expected:
 * Madoka, who over the course of the series is forced to suffer through.
 * Kyosuke is revealed to have been on the fence for some time, since his injuries meant he would never be able to play the violin again.
 * Breather Episode: Episode 5 is much lighter in tone compared to the previous two episodes, which dealt with (Episode 3) and the effect it has on the characters (Episode 4).
 * Broad Strokes:
 * The author of the Madoka Magica manga has stated that the anime and manga are based on the same scenario, but has implied that the manga could be very different down the road. This is completely false; the manga is based on the exact same script as the anime, and is simply a Bloodier and Gorier Compressed Adaptation. The closest it gets to diverging from the anime is the addition of a short, highly ambiguous, epilogue.
 * Kazumi Magica appeared to be this in the first three chapters, but the fourth chapter ultimately explained most of the inconsistencies. On the other hand, the soul gems and grief seeds look different until the third chapter, where they suddenly look like the ones in the anime. This was fixed in the collected edition.
 * : For the most blatant one out there: . The series' ending was obtained because Homura's Aesop Amnesia actually caused it.
 * Breather Episode: Episode 5 is much lighter in tone compared to the previous two episodes, which dealt with (Episode 3) and the effect it has on the characters (Episode 4).
 * Broad Strokes:
 * The author of the Madoka Magica manga has stated that the anime and manga are based on the same scenario, but has implied that the manga could be very different down the road. This is completely false; the manga is based on the exact same script as the anime, and is simply a Bloodier and Gorier Compressed Adaptation. The closest it gets to diverging from the anime is the addition of a short, highly ambiguous, epilogue.
 * Kazumi Magica appeared to be this in the first three chapters, but the fourth chapter ultimately explained most of the inconsistencies. On the other hand, the soul gems and grief seeds look different until the third chapter, where they suddenly look like the ones in the anime. This was fixed in the collected edition.
 * : For the most blatant one out there: . The series' ending was obtained because Homura's Aesop Amnesia actually caused it.
 * Kazumi Magica appeared to be this in the first three chapters, but the fourth chapter ultimately explained most of the inconsistencies. On the other hand, the soul gems and grief seeds look different until the third chapter, where they suddenly look like the ones in the anime. This was fixed in the collected edition.
 * : For the most blatant one out there: . The series' ending was obtained because Homura's Aesop Amnesia actually caused it.

C

 * Call Back/Brick Joke: We have a separate page for this.
 * Calling Your Attacks: Mami calls out the name of her final attack when she's fighting witches.
 * Canis Latinicus: Though the song titles are real Latin, the lyrics to songs such as "Sis puella magica!" and "Credens justitam" are not (composer Yuki Kaijura apparently does this often enough that fans call the "language" Kaijuran). Latin with Italian pronunciation and word construction, with Japanese grammar, would be as good a guess as any.
 * Can't Catch Up: In every  shown, Sayaka is the weakest Magical Girl shown.
 * Cash Cow Franchise: One episode was all it took for this series' (and the company's) popularity to go through the roof. Now Studio Shaft is rolling in money. Maybe. (NSFW?)
 * Cast From Lifespan/The Corruption: Using magic of any kind, as well as experiencing negative emotions (especially despair and Angst) dims your soul gem. When it's completely dark,
 * Censor Steam: Madoka and Homura  Adds 100% pure liquid Les Yay.
 * Cessation of Existence: Kyubey implies this is what happens to human souls after their receptacle is destroyed. However the wish-magic of the setting, render this less than certain.
 * Cheeky Mouth: Madoka displays a very wide one during the first episode, when she's talking about her dream.
 * Chekhov's Gun:
 * Homura's original art featured her as the one with a bow. Then there was the later illustration of her and Madoka holding the bow together in what looked like a disguised spoiler for the last battle. They left guns outside the Fourth Wall.
 * Chromatic Arrangement/Trio: Done brilliantly throughout the series. Genius Bonus if you can figure out how this applies to the series itself. May also explain the reason why Gen Urobuchi is such a Lying Creator.
 * For the main Trio, we have Madoka, Sayaka, and Hitomi. This represents the Red-Blue-Green, or what we see personally.
 * For the second Trio, we have Madoka, Sayaka, and Mami. This represents the Red-Blue-Yellow, or what the artist sees.
 * Class Is in Room X-01: Mami is briefly shown to be in class 3-A (at least, in the manga).
 * Combat Pragmatist: Homura. The justification, however is explained on the character page.
 * Combat Tentacles: Gertrud has this attack, as does Elsa Maria.
 * Conspicuous CG:
 * The train tracks at the beginning of Episode 9 are quite obviously a flat CG surface.
 * also uses copious amounts of it, though this was likely intentional.
 * Cosmic Balance: Everything revolves around this.
 * Cosmic Close Call: tries to create these to save close friends, only for something far worse to take its place, and ends up going mad in the process.
 * Cosmic Forces Trio: There's several:
 * Hitomi, Sayaka, Madoka (Basing solely on the beginning character arc).
 * Homura, Madoka, Sayaka (Due to {{spoiler|Sayaka's Start of Darkness arc.)
 * {{spoiler|Homura, Madoka, Kyubey (Basing on Episode 10).}}
 * Cosmic Retcon: {{spoiler|Madoka's wish results in all witches having never existed.}}
 * Cool Big Sis: Mami. Though it's also deconstructed in {{spoiler|Episode 10, where Mami attempts to kill her younger comrades as an alternative to letting them "grow up" into witches.}} While she's still acting perfectly in line with her protective, motherly archetype, she's clearly out of her mind and few people would argue this action exemplifies "cool" qualities.
 * Cool Guns: Homura mainly uses guns and explosives to deal with witches. Her primary weapon in Episode 10 is a Desert Eagle.
 * Costume Porn: The magical girls have beautiful battle outfits.
 * Covers Always Lie: Played with. Official artwork for the series constantly shows Madoka in full Magical Girl attire. She doesn't make the contract {{spoiler|until the final episode. However, she became a magical girl in the previous four timelines Homura has experienced.}} Aside from that, the bow and arrow Homura is shown with in one piece of official artwork is actually {{spoiler|the weaponry one of the alternate-timeline Madoka uses. We do see her use it at the very end, though}}.
 * Crapsack World: Just wrap your mind around it: {{spoiler|the laws concerning magical girls in this world were specifically created, in-universe, to cause as much grief and suffering as possible to all involved. The Powers That Be are not so much incompetent [debatable] or outright evil as they are purely sadistic, because that's the most efficient way of getting what they want.}}
 * Crap Saccharine World: Everyone in the world of Madoka gets a raw deal. Muggles, despite living in a nice city with advanced technology and apparently quite nice welfare system, are either killed by witches or branded with their "kiss", filling them with despair and brainwashing them into committing suicide. Witches can creates world fit to their preferences inside the barrier, spread despair and grief in process {{spoiler|after having lost all of their own hopes as Magical Girls}}, and exist mostly to be destroyed by magical girls. Magical girls have their wishes fulfilled, got magic power and fancy costumes,  {{spoiler|turned into liches, and}} must live a life of constant battle, where the tiniest mistake can be fatal, until they die {{spoiler|or become witches themselves}}. All of this is because {{spoiler|Kyubey's race, the Incubators, apparently want to counter entropy by using the souls of teenage girls as an energy source.}}
 * This is visible even in the artwork. Check out most of the environments: Everything in the foreground is bright, clean, sterile and lifeless. Everything in the background is dark, and largely consists of black skeletons of buildings under construction.
 * Creator Breakdown: Gen Urobuchi's self-confessed "tragedy syndrome" from his afterword to Fate/Zero (see the Quotes page) is in full play here.
 * {{spoiler|...but eventually subverted! Everyone gets a happy ending in the last episode, with the exception of Madoka and Sayaka, who get Bittersweet Endings.}}
 * Credits Running Sequence
 * Cry Cute:
 * All of the main characters.
 * Just about every past and future magical girl as they hit their Despair Event Horizon.
 * Cryptic Background Reference: Mami states that witches cause all sorts of bad things to happen with their mere presence, but we're only shown two attempted suicides. Walpurgisnacht's true nature and name are also never divulged, even in the manual.
 * Cryptic Conversation: Somewhat justified. The last time Homura tried to explain everything, {{spoiler|none of the girls in timeline 3 believed her until Sayaka became the witch Oktavia. Immediately after Oktavia's defeat, Mami suffered a breakdown and murdered Kyoko, forcing Madoka to kill her.}}
 * Curb Stomp Battle: {{spoiler|In one timeline (specifically, the one that the very opening sequence from the first episode is from), Madoka becomes a magical girl and defeats Walpurgisnacht on her own very easily. She becomes a witch almost immediately, however, with enough power to destroy the world within a few days.}}
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Cute Is Evil: {{spoiler|Kyubey. His full name is Incubator, as in the incubator of the witches that magical girls fight and eventually become themselves, if their soul gems are completely corrupted.}}
 * Charlotte, which looks and acts like something from a goofy kid's cartoon, in a setting that is anything but {{spoiler|even after Mood Whiplash sets in}}. This {{spoiler|and speculations regarding what led to her fixation on cheese}} apparently inspired enough sympathy for Charlotte within certain elements of the fandom such that some began to think that she would have made a good pet/friend/adopted-family for Mami while a handful of others even outright crackshipped the two of them together.
 * Cyberpunk: While it uses magic rather than technology, and the city is much cleaner than in usual works, the show's hints at transhumanism and, to a lesser extent, Kyubey's mottos and personality could feel right at home in a Cyberpunk series.
 * Cypher Language: The runes. They are not just a substitution cypher, they are also in German. See the Trivia page for the translations. The Wiki Rule, however, is filled to the brim with the translations.
 * Cyberpunk: While it uses magic rather than technology, and the city is much cleaner than in usual works, the show's hints at transhumanism and, to a lesser extent, Kyubey's mottos and personality could feel right at home in a Cyberpunk series.
 * Cypher Language: The runes. They are not just a substitution cypher, they are also in German. See the Trivia page for the translations. The Wiki Rule, however, is filled to the brim with the translations.

D

 * Darker and Edgier: Expect no less from the author of Saya no Uta.
 * Darkest Hour: In Episode 11,
 * Dark Reprise: Somewhat. "Magia", the ending song of the series, made its appearance in the first scene of the first episode. There, the song is slowed down quite a lot, giving it a much darker atmosphere than it already had.
 * Which turned out to be a production error as all of the music in the first episode was slowed down and it was back to its normal speed and pitch in later airings.
 * The Day the Music Lied:
 * The music in the scene near the end of episode 8. See Musicalis Interruptus below.
 * The opening theme song The lyrics and symbolism make perfect sense once you realize this.
 * Kyubey will give them anything they want, but in exchange, they will have to fight witches.
 * Dead Person Conversation:
 * Deconstruction: The director outright said he was aiming for this while still maintaining some traditional Magical Girl elements. This is a Deconstruction of certain aspects of magical girls. Now, a lot of these elements are merely subverted or toyed with in various ways, rather than deconstructed outright; see the Darker and Edgier entry above. However, the "sending young girls out to fight monsters of the week" aspect is played straight, but with the potentially horrific and traumatizing consequences of it allowed to realistically play out. Also, even though many of the Darker and Edgier elements aren't necessarily deconstructive in themselves, it does draw attention to the fact that the sort of creature who sends young kids out to fight would turn out to be rather morally skewed.
 * Death by Origin Story: Mami's and Kyoko's parents.
 * Department of Redundancy Department: The Latin title reads as this, but it's subverted in that there's an alternate, more accurate translation (based off of Altum Videtur):
 * Deranged Animation: For example, [[media:sweet-dreams 3701.jpg|the Anthonies']] South Park-ish appearance (read: reminiscent of that series' cutout style), as well as how it doesn't match the art style of the other characters, is already bad enough for them to deserve to be the page image for the Nightmare Fuel subpage, but their laggy animation really drives the point home.
 * Design Student's Orgasm: The witches' mazes. The first witch, Gertrud, is a gardener, so the maze is covered in roses and thorns, with floating scissors and butterfly- and puffball-themed familiars. The second, Charlotte, has a maze made of cake and sweets with syringes and bottled body parts everywhere. Charlotte herself looks like a children's cartoon from the 80s.
 * A certain aspect of Charlotte takes heavy inspiration, too, from Takeshi Murakami's Superflat artwork.
 * As noted below, if you're into architecture, this is the series for you.
 * Despair Event Horizon: For magical girls, this is more than a metaphor: it's an actual, literal point of no return that has tangible consequences. Sayaka starts heading towards it when Kamijo hits it, gets really close when Hitomi confesses that she wants to ask Kamijo out (going Ax Crazy in the process), and
 * In Episode 10,
 * Did Not Do the Research:
 * When, what you actually hear is a viola.
 * The description of "entropy" in episode 9 is a bit off.
 * Homura's explosive and flash grenades seem to have been mixed up. Odd when you consider how much care they put into detailing her other weapons.
 * Supplementary material states that "Walpurgisnacht combines with other witches in the same way two powerful tornadoes are able to combine and become larger. It's essentially a "conglomeration"-type witch." Thing is, real tornadoes don't do that.
 * Died Happily Ever After:
 * And then there's Rebellion, where.
 * Diegetic Theme Cameo: Madoka listens to "Connect", the opening theme, at the record store in the mall in episode 1. Episode 6 also features Kyoko dancing to a techno version of the song on a DDR stand-in.
 * Distant Finale: The last pages of the manga occur some unspecified time after the last scene in the anime.
 * The Ditz: Madoka, and
 * Divided We Fall: One of the major subversions of this series: the Magical Girls are not working together. In fact, there is a reason for them to not work together: they're competing for the same resource (the witches' grief seeds). At the same time, the girls are clearly inclined to help one another, and yet are also unwilling to accept the others' help. The results are sadly unfortunate.
 * Doing In the Wizard: Sort of. Magic is still magic, though.
 * Downer Beginning: The curtain rises with Kaname Madoka dreaming of a mysterious black-haired magical girl battling giant falling pieces of buildings in a grey, war-torn world.
 * Dramatic Irony: Sayaka blames Homura for
 * Dreaming of Things to Come: Madoka's dream at the beginning of Episode 1.
 * Driven to Suicide: People affected by the witches, who radiate despair.
 * The backstory of once the truth is revealed to them.
 * Due to the Dead:
 * Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Magical girls get this after their.
 * DVD Bonus Content: The DVD / Blue Ray releases have soundtracks and audio dramas - at least two of the dramas can be considered canon, and reveal important backstory information.
 * Dying Alone:
 * Dying as Yourself: Arguably,
 * Dying Alone:
 * Dying as Yourself: Arguably,

E

 * : The series' would not have been possible without.
 * Easter Egg: There's a ton of content in the series that is easy to miss at first, such as Freeze-Frame Bonuses, hidden phrases in a Cypher Language, and more information about witches on the official website.
 * Eldritch Abomination: The true form of witches.
 * Eldritch Location: The barrier that surrounds each witch.
 * Homura's Apartment: Word of God is that "the white walls, floating texts, and clockworks are all a holographic projection superimposed on a more mundane setting. At the same time, there is the suggestion that Homura's residence was intentionally drawn to resemble a witch's barrier."
 * Emotion Eater:
 * Emotions vs. Stoicism: Most of the girls (Sayaka especially) are often hindered by their emotions, and are always being rescued by the more stoic Homura, who advises that they not let their feelings get the better of them.
 * This is a running argument throughout the series.
 * Empathic Environment: The barrier seems to work this way. When Madoka says that she will become a magical girl and fight alongside Mami (who, at this point, is bitter from all the fighting but hides it well), medicine capsules fall from above and then warm, fuzzy-looking wispballs float from below.
 * Episode 8 has Madoka and Sayaka at a bus stop in the rain. The rain gets more intense to match Sayaka getting more riled up.
 * The End Is Nigh: Apparently, this is what Walpurgisnacht will entail, or at least that's what Homura seems to imply.
 * Enhanced on DVD: The DVD / Blue Ray releases have fixed up a large number of Off-Model shots, added additional details to the backgrounds, and fixed one lingering question --
 * Environmental Symbolism: Due to the classrooms looking like cages, there has been speculation by fans that the school (lots of glass, generally futuristic) was based on Justice Center Leoben, an Austrian prison with a similar design.
 * Equivalent Exchange: Vaguely, this is how having a wish granted is related to being a Magical Girl.
 * Interestingly, it's possible that the implication that Equivalent Exchange is being strictly enforced (or is inherent to the process) may well just be a masterful piece of misdirection on Kyubey's part.
 * Essence Drop: A defeated Witch usually leaves behind a Grief Seed, which a magical girl can then pick up and use to refill her lost Mana and thus restore the brightness of her Soul Gem --
 * Evolving Credits:
 * If you watch closely, you can see the OP change slightly from episode to episode.
 * Similarly, each ending progressively becomes darker.
 * The final image of episode 10's outro is changed from just Sayaka, Madoka, and Mami. This time Kyoko and Homura are in the picture, too.
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin:
 * Expy: Mami has the same hair style as Kanaria, both with flower accessories.
 * Madoka's Magical Girl dress (as shown in promo artwork and the OP) is suspiciously similar to Sakura's, including the frills.
 * Thanks to Ume Aoki's Signature Style, many of the characters bear a resemblance to those from Hidamari Sketch. Madoka is pink Yuno, Sayaka is swordsman Nori, Madoka's mom Junko is the office-version of the landlady, and Mami has the same voice actress as Miyako.
 * Considering the results of the whole Magical Girl deal, Kyubey is starting to look and act a lot like Koyemshi...
 * Or The Millennium Earl.
 * A Tall, Dark and Bishoujo girl who is aloof, is determined to protect the timid main character, and doesn't give a damn about the lives of others... yeah, where have we seen someone like that?
 * Homura's ability, and  Oh, that's a.
 * is somewhat similar to Miranda from D.Gray-man.
 * Kyoko looks like Yoko from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and has a similar name. She also bears more than a passing resemblance to Shana in both appearance and personality.
 * She's a lot closer to Etna, though.
 * Eyes of Gold:
 * is somewhat similar to Miranda from D.Gray-man.
 * Kyoko looks like Yoko from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and has a similar name. She also bears more than a passing resemblance to Shana in both appearance and personality.
 * She's a lot closer to Etna, though.
 * Eyes of Gold: