Puella Magi Madoka Magica/Tropes K-O

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. 

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 * Killer Rabbit: The witch Charlotte starts off looking like an adorable little stuffed doll.
 * Knight in Sour Armor: Madoka and Homura both exemplify this, but especially Madoka.
 * Knight Templar:
 * Killer Rabbit: The witch Charlotte starts off looking like an adorable little stuffed doll.
 * Knight in Sour Armor: Madoka and Homura both exemplify this, but especially Madoka.
 * Knight Templar:
 * Knight in Sour Armor: Madoka and Homura both exemplify this, but especially Madoka.
 * Knight Templar:

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"WASSYOI WASSYOI WASSYOI WASSYOI"
 * Late Arrival Spoiler: seems to be one now, due to fan-reactions, blogs, and especially 4chan mentioning it everywhere.
 * The reason why the headline at the top exists. If you did not know that Episode 3 was a Wham! Episode and did not decide to look at the spoilers (there's a lot of them), you've seen the series properly. Otherwise, good luck.
 * Laughing Mad:
 * The Law of Conservation of Detail: Done straight, but with consequences. This trope was one reason why the storyline was predicted ahead of time, mostly due to the numerous Faust references (again, there's a lot of them). Lists are on The Wiki Rule (here), the Trivia page, and the Fridge page. There is, however, one notable one that is very easy to pass off:
 * Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Dog Drug Reinforcement makes its debut! Supports up to three players!
 * Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Dog Drug Reinforcement makes its debut! Supports up to three players!
 * Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Dog Drug Reinforcement makes its debut! Supports up to three players!
 * Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Dog Drug Reinforcement makes its debut! Supports up to three players!


 * Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
 * Leitmotif: Each of the six main characters has one. Madoka has Sagitta Luminis (Arrow of Light), Sayaka has Conturbatio (Disorder) and later Decretum (Decision) (same motif, different arrangements), Mami has Credens Justitiam (Believing in Justice), Homura has Puella in Somnio (The Girl in the Dream), Kyoko has Anima Mala (Evil Soul), and Kyubey has Sis Puella Magica (You should be a Magical Girl).
 * Light Is Not Good:
 * The witch from Episode 7, Elsamaria, was Catholic, apparently.
 * Invoked with the, according to a concept art sheet.
 * Lighter and Softer: The second drama CD (appropriately named "Sunny Day Life") is probably the closest we will get to a canon depiction of the show as a conventionally cute Magical Girl series.
 * Limited Wardrobe: Every girl is shown with two outfits each: her school uniform (Madoka, Homura, Sayaka, Mami)/one casual outfit (Kyoko) and her magical girl costume. A slight subversion in the last episode when
 * Literal Genie: Seemingly averted in the few instances Kyubey is seen granting wishes.
 * The Little Detecto: Soul gems, in addition to everything else they do, also function as handy witch detectors.
 * Live Action Adaptation: Apparently, there's going to be a comedic one, courtesy of Nico Nico Douga.
 * Lock and Load Montage: Homura
 * Love Makes You Evil: Played with in regards to Sayaka.
 * Love Triangle: See also the above trope.
 * Lucky Charms Title: 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ, Mahō Shōjo Madoka ☆ Magika.
 * Lying Creator: So much. Gen Urobuchi enjoys teasing the fans.
 * Claiming that the "kyu" in "Kyubey" comes from "cute" . Technically he wasn't lying. The 'Kyu' in 'Kyubey' really did came from "cu-" of "cute". Just without the "-te" part.
 * Before Episode 3, he made a point of complaining about fans speculating as to when the show was going to get really dark: "Come on, we still haven't shown even a single scene with bloodshed yet!"
 * He also claimed that
 * Lyrical Dissonance: The opening may have an irritatingly cute demeanor, but the lyrics are so sad.
 * Lyrical Dissonance: The opening may have an irritatingly cute demeanor, but the lyrics are so sad.

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 * Made of Iron: Justified.
 * Made From Real Girl Scouts:
 * Magical Girl: It's half of the title, duh.
 * Magical Girl Warrior/Five Woman Band: An archer, a gunner , a swordswoman , a polearm user , and a modern weapons user.
 * Magic Skirt: Madoka's magical girl skirt is basically justified since there are a lot of frills underneath. The other skirts are rather short and the show has a tendency to show a lot of leg, but never more. Especially apparent when is carrying  in her arms in episode 9. There is a side shot with  leg conveniently in the way.
 * Magical Underpinnings of Reality
 * Magitek:
 * Manipulative Bastard:
 * The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: Being a magical girl is a lonely job.
 * Meaningful Name: There is a freakin' good reason they are called magical girls. . Also,
 * also the name Madoka can be written with the character for "circle"or "round" in Japanese reflecting the  as well as the
 * The final and most powerful Witch seen in the series is Walpurgisnacht. This is the name of spring festival in Central and Northern Europe, and tradition dictates that it is a time that witches would gather together.
 * Mean Character, Nice Actor:
 * Meganekko: Surprisingly enough,
 * Memento MacGuffin: In the last episode,  weapon of choice changes to
 * Million-to-One Chance: What Kyubey says about —it's never been tried, it's completely illogical, and even he doesn't think it'll work—raises all the flags for this trope.
 * Mind Rape: This happens to Madoka, when she
 * is not above doing this.  She did not enjoy it.
 * Mini-Dress of Power
 * Mistaken for Gay: Madoka and Sayaka in the second episode by Hitomi, since Sayaka did spend some time flirting with Madoka in Episode 1.
 * Mood Whiplash: People were trying desperately to figure out where exactly the Deconstruction lay in this series. Episodes 1 and 2 were fairly tame, although ominous. Then came Episode 3, complete with new ending.
 * Monster of the Week: The witches. Subverted in that they're not harmless mooks, and that fighting them is actually an emotionally scarring experience. It is even more scarring when.
 * More Dakka: In one scene, Mami briefly manages to achieve this trope using only an unlikely number of single-shot rifles. Also, in Episode 11
 * More Hero Than Thou: Every magical girl or magical girl candidate is adamant about being the only one who will have to throw herself on the blade for the sake of somebody else. As they all get in each other's way doing this, it causes an amount of conflict that would be downright ridiculous if it weren't so depressing.
 * Morning Routine
 * Morton's Fork: On Walpurgisnacht, Homura's choices are:
 * or
 * or
 * Mundane Wish
 * of all people attempts this when she finds out.
 * Musicalis Interruptus: In episode 8, Kyubey finally manage to convince Madoka to make her wish while the overly optimistic music is building up in the background. However,
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Several examples:
 * Sayaka after her Despair Event Horizon where events just keep giving her one Gut Punch after another.
 * Kyoko perhaps felt this way due to her telling Sayaka her backstory, and why she's such a Jerkass who only cared about herself. Which helps explain why Sayaka began to care less and less about the reason why she became a magical girl in the first place. As well as finding out more about their roles and the gems. This may be one reason why she seemed to be trying to hard to help Madoka save her later on.
 * My Greatest Second Chance:
 * Mythology Gag: That black cat that keeps on popping up in the opening? Okay, it doesn't show up in the anime proper, but you can interpret it entirely differently. A black cat is normally associated with witches (you know, the one on a broomstick, casting spells, wearing a pointy hat, and so on). Now think about this for a moment: what was one of the biggest Wham Lines that Kyubey mentioned?
 * Musicalis Interruptus: In episode 8, Kyubey finally manage to convince Madoka to make her wish while the overly optimistic music is building up in the background. However,
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Several examples:
 * Sayaka after her Despair Event Horizon where events just keep giving her one Gut Punch after another.
 * Kyoko perhaps felt this way due to her telling Sayaka her backstory, and why she's such a Jerkass who only cared about herself. Which helps explain why Sayaka began to care less and less about the reason why she became a magical girl in the first place. As well as finding out more about their roles and the gems. This may be one reason why she seemed to be trying to hard to help Madoka save her later on.
 * My Greatest Second Chance:
 * Mythology Gag: That black cat that keeps on popping up in the opening? Okay, it doesn't show up in the anime proper, but you can interpret it entirely differently. A black cat is normally associated with witches (you know, the one on a broomstick, casting spells, wearing a pointy hat, and so on). Now think about this for a moment: what was one of the biggest Wham Lines that Kyubey mentioned?

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 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast:
 * Negative Space Wedgie: When you stop to think about it, a witch's maze is nothing but a big entropy sphere that houses an alternate dimension, something that wouldn't be too unfitting in a sci-fi series.
 * Never Found the Body:
 * This trope's straight version (someone's not really dead unless you see a corpse) seems like it may be coming into play with the revelation about, until you realize that
 * Never Trust a Trailer: The way the previews for the series were set up, the series looked to be rather average and normal as a Magical Girl series.
 * New Transfer Student: Homura.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Almost. In Episode 6, Madoka nearly . To her credit, this actually worked, and to be fair she didn't know the consequences of such an action.
 * Episode 10.
 * Episode 11 drills it in:
 * In Episode 12,
 * Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
 * No Body Left Behind:
 * No Conservation of Energy:
 * When Kyubey explains entropy, he says it involves the net loss of energy, which is not possible in physics. What the term actually describes is the decay of energy into internal energy (associated to its temperature) and its subsequent scattering through space, until the system reaches equilibrium, at which point all energy conversion ceases until further external energy input.
 * No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Double Subverted, Discussed, Exaggerated, and Defied.
 * Kyoko tells Sayaka that
 * Sayaka responds that she disagrees, and will continue to fight in her own way, set to the series' main theme, "You Should Become A Magical Girl".
 * A single episode later,
 * Madoka is nauseated by this system and.
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: goes into one of these against a witch to show how badly she's been broken.
 * No Ontological Inertia:
 * Non-Indicative First Two-and-a-Half Episodes: Be careful of these episodes, as they make the series billed as a Magical Girl series with Slice of Life. That's half-correct, as the second half of Episode 3 demonstrates.
 * Normally I Would Be Dead Now: Subverted with
 * Not So Different:
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: goes into one of these against a witch to show how badly she's been broken.
 * No Ontological Inertia:
 * Non-Indicative First Two-and-a-Half Episodes: Be careful of these episodes, as they make the series billed as a Magical Girl series with Slice of Life. That's half-correct, as the second half of Episode 3 demonstrates.
 * Normally I Would Be Dead Now: Subverted with
 * Not So Different:

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 * The Obi-Wan: quickly becomes this.
 * Official Cosplay Gear: There are official soul gem necklaces. However, they aren't cosplay gear as such—they're smaller than the canon Soul Gems—and are more intended as, well, jewelry. Still really nice, though.
 * Official Couple:
 * Off-Model: Really doesn't have that much of a problem with it (and the instances tend to be from distance shots), but it's absurdly popular so it's a meme anyway. (Spoilers for the entire series!)
 * Oh Crap:
 * Omniscient Morality License:
 * One Degree of Separation: The third drama CD reveals that This was subtly hinted at in the anime proper. But then it further reveals that  This was not hinted at the anime - although to be fair,
 * One Magical Girl Army: With the exception of, Homura is able to defeat literally every witch she encounters by herself.
 * One-Winged Angel: Charlotte in Episode 3.
 * Origins Episode:
 * Our Liches Are Different:
 * Our Souls Are Different
 * Our Witches Are Different: They are reality-warping Eldritch Abominations with more specific powers that seem to be based on a combination of the location they were born at and whatever they were feeling at the time..
 * Out-of-Clothes Experience:
 * Out of the Inferno:
 * Our Witches Are Different: They are reality-warping Eldritch Abominations with more specific powers that seem to be based on a combination of the location they were born at and whatever they were feeling at the time..
 * Out-of-Clothes Experience:
 * Out of the Inferno: